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8,054 | Politics of Dominica | The politics of Dominica takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Dominica is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the House of Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
A president and prime minister make up the executive branch. Nominated by the prime minister in consultation with the leader of the opposition party, the president is elected for a five-year term by the parliament. The president appoints as prime minister the person who command the majority of elected representatives in the parliament and also appoints, on the prime minister's recommendation, members of the parliament as cabinet ministers. The prime minister and cabinet are responsible to the parliament and can be removed on a no-confidence vote.
The House of Assembly has 32 members. Twenty-one members are elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies. Nine members are senators appointed by the President; five on the advice of the Prime Minister and four on the advice of the leader of the opposition. The Speaker is elected by the elected members after an election. There is also one ex officio member, the clerk of the house. The head of state – the president – is elected by the House of Assembly. The regional representatives decide whether senators are to be elected or appointed. If appointed, five are chosen by the president with the advice of the prime minister and four with the advice of the opposition leader. If elected, it is by vote of the regional representatives. Elections for representatives and senators must be held at least every five years, although the prime minister can call elections at any time.
Dominica has a two-party system, which means that there are two dominant political parties, with extreme difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party. Dominica was once a three-party system, but in the past few years the Dominica Labour Party and the greatly diminished Dominica Freedom Party have built a coalition.
Dominica's legal system is based on English common law. There are three magistrate's courts and a High Court of Justice. Appeals can be made to the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal and, ultimately, to the Caribbean Court of Justice.
The Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court is headquartered in Saint Lucia, but at least one of its 16 High Court judges must reside in Dominica and preside over the High Court of Justice. Dominica's current High Court judges are The Hon. Brian Cottle and The Hon. M. E. Birnie Stephenson-Brooks.
Councils elected by universal suffrage govern most towns. Supported largely by property taxation, the councils are responsible for the regulation of markets and sanitation and the maintenance of secondary roads and other municipal amenities. The island also is divided into 10 parishes, whose governance is unrelated to the town governments: Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Joseph, Saint Luke, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick, Saint Paul, and Saint Peter.
ACP, ALBA, Caricom, CDB, CELAC, Commonwealth of Nations, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, ITUC, NAM (observer), OAS, OIF, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO | [
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"text": "A president and prime minister make up the executive branch. Nominated by the prime minister in consultation with the leader of the opposition party, the president is elected for a five-year term by the parliament. The president appoints as prime minister the person who command the majority of elected representatives in the parliament and also appoints, on the prime minister's recommendation, members of the parliament as cabinet ministers. The prime minister and cabinet are responsible to the parliament and can be removed on a no-confidence vote.",
"title": "Executive branch"
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"text": "The House of Assembly has 32 members. Twenty-one members are elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies. Nine members are senators appointed by the President; five on the advice of the Prime Minister and four on the advice of the leader of the opposition. The Speaker is elected by the elected members after an election. There is also one ex officio member, the clerk of the house. The head of state – the president – is elected by the House of Assembly. The regional representatives decide whether senators are to be elected or appointed. If appointed, five are chosen by the president with the advice of the prime minister and four with the advice of the opposition leader. If elected, it is by vote of the regional representatives. Elections for representatives and senators must be held at least every five years, although the prime minister can call elections at any time.",
"title": "Legislative branch"
},
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"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Dominica has a two-party system, which means that there are two dominant political parties, with extreme difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party. Dominica was once a three-party system, but in the past few years the Dominica Labour Party and the greatly diminished Dominica Freedom Party have built a coalition.",
"title": "Legislative branch"
},
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"text": "Dominica's legal system is based on English common law. There are three magistrate's courts and a High Court of Justice. Appeals can be made to the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal and, ultimately, to the Caribbean Court of Justice.",
"title": "Judicial branch"
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"text": "The Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court is headquartered in Saint Lucia, but at least one of its 16 High Court judges must reside in Dominica and preside over the High Court of Justice. Dominica's current High Court judges are The Hon. Brian Cottle and The Hon. M. E. Birnie Stephenson-Brooks.",
"title": "Judicial branch"
},
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"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Councils elected by universal suffrage govern most towns. Supported largely by property taxation, the councils are responsible for the regulation of markets and sanitation and the maintenance of secondary roads and other municipal amenities. The island also is divided into 10 parishes, whose governance is unrelated to the town governments: Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Joseph, Saint Luke, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick, Saint Paul, and Saint Peter.",
"title": "Administrative divisions"
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"text": "ACP, ALBA, Caricom, CDB, CELAC, Commonwealth of Nations, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, ITUC, NAM (observer), OAS, OIF, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO",
"title": "International organization participation"
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"title": "References"
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] | The politics of Dominica takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Dominica is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the House of Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. | 2001-04-26T23:57:41Z | 2023-10-03T21:20:27Z | [
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8,056 | Telecommunications in Dominica | Telecommunications in Dominica comprises telephone, radio, television and internet services. The primary regulatory authority is the National Telecommunication Regulatory Commission which regulates all related industries to comply with The Telecommunications Act 8 of 2000.
Calls from Dominica to the US, Canada, and other NANP Caribbean nations, are dialed as 1 + NANP area code + 7-digit number. Calls from Dominica to non-NANP countries are dialed as 011 + country code + phone number with local area code.
AM 0, FM 15, shortwave 0 (2007)
46,000 (1997)
0 (however, there are three cable television companies, Dominica Broadcast, Marpin Telecoms and Digicel Play – a merger of Digicel and SAT Telecommunications Ltd.)
11,000 (2007) | [
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"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Calls from Dominica to the US, Canada, and other NANP Caribbean nations, are dialed as 1 + NANP area code + 7-digit number. Calls from Dominica to non-NANP countries are dialed as 011 + country code + phone number with local area code.",
"title": "Telephony"
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] | Telecommunications in Dominica comprises telephone, radio, television and internet services. The primary regulatory authority is the National Telecommunication Regulatory Commission which regulates all related industries to comply with The Telecommunications Act 8 of 2000. | 2023-05-10T01:11:47Z | [
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8,058 | Dominica Defense Force | The Dominica Defense Forces (DDF) was the military of the Commonwealth of Dominica. There has been no standing army in Dominica since 1981, following the disbandment of the defence forces after two violent coup attempts against Dame Eugenia Charles. Defense is the responsibility of the Regional Security System (RSS).
By the 1960s, the police were the only security force in the country. As a result, a Volunteer Defence Force was established in 1974. In November 1975, a full-time Defence Force was established by an act of the House of Assembly to replace the Volunteer Defence Force, headed by Patrick John as Minister of Security. In March 1981, Charles announced the discovery of a coup d'état attempt known as Operation Red Dog, which involved Major Frederick Newton, the head of the Defence Force. A month later, parliament disbanded the Defence Force.
The civil Commonwealth of Dominica Police Force includes a Special Service Unit and Coast Guard. In the event of war or other emergency, if proclaimed by the authorities, the Police Force shall be a military force which may be employed for State defence (Police Act, Chapter 14:01). | [
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"title": ""
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] | The Dominica Defense Forces (DDF) was the military of the Commonwealth of Dominica. There has been no standing army in Dominica since 1981, following the disbandment of the defence forces after two violent coup attempts against Dame Eugenia Charles. Defense is the responsibility of the Regional Security System (RSS). | 2023-06-07T16:00:11Z | [
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|
8,059 | Foreign relations of Dominica | Like its Eastern Caribbean neighbours, the main priority of Dominica's foreign relations is economic development. The country maintains missions in Washington, New York, London, and Brussels and is represented jointly with other Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) members in Canada. Dominica is also a member of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, and the Commonwealth of Nations. It became a member of the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1978 and of the World Bank and Organization of American States (OAS) in 1979.
As a member of CARICOM, in July 1994 Dominica strongly backed efforts by the United States to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 940, designed to facilitate the departure of Haiti's de facto authorities from power. The country agreed to contribute personnel to the multinational force, which restored the democratically elected government of Haiti in October 1994.
In May 1997, Prime Minister James joined 14 other Caribbean leaders, and President Clinton, during the first-ever U.S.-regional summit in Bridgetown, Barbados. The summit strengthened the basis for regional cooperation on justice and counternarcotics issues, finance and development, and trade. Dominica previously maintained official relations with the Republic of China (commonly known as "Taiwan") instead of the People's Republic of China, but on 23 March 2004, a joint communique was signed in Beijing, paving the way for diplomatic recognition of the People's Republic. Beijing responded to Dominica's severing relations with the Republic of China by giving them a $12 million aid package, which includes $6 million in budget support for the year 2004 and $1 million annually for six years.
In June 2020, Dominica was one of 53 countries backing the Hong Kong national security law at the United Nations.
Dominica is also a member of the International Criminal Court with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US-military (as covered under Article 98).
Dominica claims Venezuelan controlled Isla Aves (Known in Dominica as Bird Rock) located roughly 90 km. west of Dominica.
List of countries which Dominica maintains diplomatic relations with
The Commonwealth of Dominica has been a member of the Commonwealth of Nations since 1978, when it became an independent from the United Kingdom as a republic in the Commonwealth of Nations.
Dominica's highest court of appeal is the Caribbean Court of Justice, in effect from 6 March 2015. Previously, the nation's ultimate court of appeal was the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.
This article incorporates public domain material from U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets. United States Department of State. | [
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"text": "As a member of CARICOM, in July 1994 Dominica strongly backed efforts by the United States to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 940, designed to facilitate the departure of Haiti's de facto authorities from power. The country agreed to contribute personnel to the multinational force, which restored the democratically elected government of Haiti in October 1994.",
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] | Like its Eastern Caribbean neighbours, the main priority of Dominica's foreign relations is economic development. The country maintains missions in Washington, New York, London, and Brussels and is represented jointly with other Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) members in Canada. Dominica is also a member of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, and the Commonwealth of Nations. It became a member of the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1978 and of the World Bank and Organization of American States (OAS) in 1979. As a member of CARICOM, in July 1994 Dominica strongly backed efforts by the United States to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 940, designed to facilitate the departure of Haiti's de facto authorities from power. The country agreed to contribute personnel to the multinational force, which restored the democratically elected government of Haiti in October 1994. In May 1997, Prime Minister James joined 14 other Caribbean leaders, and President Clinton, during the first-ever U.S.-regional summit in Bridgetown, Barbados. The summit strengthened the basis for regional cooperation on justice and counternarcotics issues, finance and development, and trade. Dominica previously maintained official relations with the Republic of China instead of the People's Republic of China, but on 23 March 2004, a joint communique was signed in Beijing, paving the way for diplomatic recognition of the People's Republic. Beijing responded to Dominica's severing relations with the Republic of China by giving them a $12 million aid package, which includes $6 million in budget support for the year 2004 and $1 million annually for six years. In June 2020, Dominica was one of 53 countries backing the Hong Kong national security law at the United Nations. Dominica is also a member of the International Criminal Court with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US-military. | 2001-04-26T23:59:12Z | 2023-12-23T00:10:08Z | [
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8,060 | Dominican Republic | The Dominican Republic (/dəˈmɪnɪkən/ də-MIN-ik-ən; Spanish: República Dominicana, pronounced [reˈpuβlika ðominiˈkana] ) is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with Haiti, making Hispaniola one of only two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that is shared by two sovereign states. It is the second-largest nation in the Antilles by area (after Cuba) at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi), and third-largest by population, with approximately 10.7 million people in 2022, of whom approximately 3.3 million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city.
The native Taíno people had inhabited Hispaniola before the arrival of Europeans, dividing it into five chiefdoms. Christopher Columbus explored and claimed the island for Castile, landing there on his first voyage in 1492. The colony of Santo Domingo became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas and the first seat of Spanish colonial rule in the New World. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which became the independent state of Haiti in 1804.
The Dominican people declared independence from Spain in November 1821, but were forcefully annexed by Haiti in February 1822. Independence came 22 years later in 1844, after victory in the Dominican War of Independence. Over the next 72 years, the Dominican Republic experienced several civil wars, failed invasions by Haiti, and a brief return to Spanish colonial status, before permanently ousting the Spanish during the Dominican War of Restoration of 1863–1865. The U.S. occupied the Dominican Republic (1916–1924) due to threats of defaulting on foreign debts; a subsequent calm and prosperous six-year period under Horacio Vásquez followed.
From 1930 the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo ruled until his assassination in 1961. Juan Bosch was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. A civil war in 1965, the country's last, was ended by U.S. military intervention and was followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer (1966–1978 and 1986–1996). Since 1978, the Dominican Republic has moved toward representative democracy.
The Dominican Republic has the largest economy (according to the U.S. State Department and the World Bank) in the Caribbean and Central American region and is the seventh-largest economy in Latin America. Over the last 25 years, the Dominican Republic has had the fastest-growing economy in the Western Hemisphere – with an average real GDP growth rate of 5.3% between 1992 and 2018. GDP growth in 2014 and 2015 reached 7.3 and 7.0%, respectively, the highest in the Western Hemisphere. Recent growth has been driven by construction, manufacturing, tourism, and mining. The country is the site of the third largest gold mine in the world, the Pueblo Viejo mine.
The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. The year-round golf courses and resorts are major attractions. A geographically diverse nation, the Dominican Republic is home to both the Caribbean's tallest mountain peak, Pico Duarte, and the Caribbean's largest lake and lowest point, Lake Enriquillo. The island has an average temperature of 26 °C (78.8 °F) and great climatic and biological diversity.
The country is also the site of the first cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress built in the Americas, located in Santo Domingo's Colonial Zone, a World Heritage Site. The Dominican Republic is highly vulnerable to natural disasters.
The name Dominican originates from Saint Dominic, the patron saint of astronomers, and founder of the Dominican Order.
The Dominican Order established a house of high studies on the colony of Santo Domingo that is now known as the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, the first University in the New World. They dedicated themselves to the education of the inhabitants of the island, and to the protection of the native Taíno people who were subjected to slavery.
For most of its history, up until independence, the colony was known simply as Santo Domingo – the name of its present capital and patron saint, Saint Dominic – and continued to be commonly known as such in English until the early 20th century. The residents were called "Dominicans" (Dominicanos), the adjectival form of "Domingo", and as such, the revolutionaries named their newly independent country the "Dominican Republic" (la República Dominicana).
In the national anthem of the Dominican Republic (himno nacional de la República Dominicana), the term "Dominicans" does not appear. The author of its lyrics, Emilio Prud'Homme, consistently uses the poetic term "Quisqueyans" (Quisqueyanos). The word "Quisqueya" derives from the Taíno language, and means "mother of the lands" (madre de las tierras). It is often used in songs as another name for the country. The name of the country in English is often shortened to "the D.R." (la R.D.), but this is rare in Spanish.
The Arawakan-speaking Taíno moved into Hispaniola from the north east region of what is now known as South America, displacing earlier inhabitants, c. 650 C.E. They engaged in farming, fishing, hunting and gathering. The fierce Caribs drove the Taíno to the northeastern Caribbean, during much of the 15th century. The estimates of Hispaniola's population in 1492 vary widely, including tens of thousands, one hundred thousand, three hundred thousand, and four hundred thousand to two million. Determining precisely how many people lived on the island in pre-Columbian times is next to impossible, as no accurate records exist. By 1492, the island was divided into five Taíno chiefdoms. The Taíno name for the entire island was either Ayiti or Quisqueya.
The Spaniards arrived in 1492. Initially, after friendly relationships, the Taínos resisted the conquest, led by the female Chief Anacaona of Xaragua and her ex-husband Chief Caonabo of Maguana, as well as Chiefs Guacanagaríx, Guamá, Hatuey, and Enriquillo. The latter's successes gained his people an autonomous enclave for a time on the island. Within a few years after 1492, the population of Taínos had declined drastically, due to smallpox, measles, and other diseases that arrived with the Europeans.
The first recorded smallpox outbreak, in the Americas, occurred on Hispaniola in 1507. The last record of pure Taínos in the country was from 1864. Still, Taíno biological heritage survived to an important extent, due to intermixing. Census records from 1514 reveal that 40% of Spanish men in Santo Domingo were married to Taíno women, and some present-day Dominicans have Taíno ancestry. Remnants of the Taíno culture include their cave paintings, such as the Pomier Caves, as well as pottery designs, which are still used in the small artisan village of Higüerito, Moca.
Christopher Columbus arrived on the island on December 5, 1492, during the first of his four voyages to the Americas. He claimed the land for Spain and named it La Española, due to its diverse climate and terrain, which reminded him of the Spanish landscape. In 1493, fighting broke out between the Spanish and the Taíno, resulting in the deaths of 39 Spaniards and the destruction of their fort, La Navidad. In 1496, Bartholomew Columbus, Christopher's brother, built the city of Santo Domingo, Western Europe's first permanent settlement in the "New World". The Spaniards created a plantation economy on the island. The colony became the springboard for the Spanish conquest and exploration of Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Cuba, Darién (Panama) and Yucatán (Mexico).
The Taínos nearly disappeared, above all, due to European infectious diseases. Other causes were abuse, suicide, the breakup of family, starvation, the encomienda system, which resembled a feudal system in Medieval Europe, war with the Spaniards, changes in lifestyle, and mixing with other peoples. Laws passed for the native peoples' protection (beginning with the Laws of Burgos, 1512–1513) were never truly enforced. After the near-total destruction of the Taíno population, a successful resistance took place between 1519 and 1534. Seeking refuge in the Bahoruco mountains, the Taínos raided Spanish plantations, defeated patrols, and negotiated the first truce between an Amerindian chief and a European monarch. The Taínos were pardoned and granted their own town and charter. African slaves were imported to replace the dwindling Taínos. On December 25, 1521, enslaved Africans of Senegalese Wolof origin led the first major slave revolt of the Americas on the plantation of Diego Colón, son of Christopher Columbus. After its conquest of the Aztecs and Incas, Spain neglected its Caribbean holdings. Hispaniola's sugar plantation economy quickly declined. Most Spanish colonists left for the silver-mines of Mexico and Peru, while new immigrants from Spain bypassed the island. Agriculture dwindled, enslaved people were no longer transported to the island, and white colonists, free Black people, and enslaved Black people alike lived in poverty. The breakdown of racial and class-based social hierarchies facilitated an increase in cross-cultural contact, resulting in a population of predominantly mixed Spanish, Taíno, and African descent. Except for the city of Santo Domingo, which managed to maintain some legal exports, Dominican ports were forced to rely on contraband trade, which, along with livestock, became one of the main sources of livelihood for the island's inhabitants.
In 1603, Philip III of Spain issued a mandate to depopulate towns in the north and west of Hispaniola, ordering the relocation of the inhabitants to the southeast to curb contraband trade. The inhabitants resisted, but Governor Antonio de Osorio carried out the king's orders. His troops hanged insurgents, demolished property, and burned the towns. All the inhabitants were forcibly removed from these regions and strictly prohibited from returning under the penalty of death. This resulted in Spain abandoning half the island.
During the Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660), on April 23, 1655, an English fleet of 346 warships carrying 13,000 men (7,000 sailors and 6,000 soldiers) arrived at the city of Santo Domingo, the main Spanish stronghold on the island. The expedition aimed to conquer Hispaniola and the rest of the Spanish possessions in America. However, after suffering 1,500 casualties and only killing 25 of the outnumbered defenders, the English forces retreated.
In the mid-17th century, France sent colonists to settle the island of Tortuga and the northwestern coast of Hispaniola (which the Spaniards had abandoned by 1606) due to its strategic position in the region. In order to entice the pirates, France supplied them with women who had been taken from prisons, accused of prostitution and thieving. After decades of armed struggles with the French settlers, Spain ceded the western coast of the island to France with the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick, whilst the Central Plateau remained under Spanish domain. France created a wealthy colony on the island, while the Spanish colony continued to suffer economic decline.
The House of Bourbon replaced the House of Habsburg in Spain in 1700, and introduced economic reforms that gradually began to revive trade in Santo Domingo. The crown progressively relaxed the rigid controls and restrictions on commerce between Spain and the colonies and among the colonies. The last flotas sailed in 1737; the monopoly port system was abolished shortly thereafter. By the middle of the century, the population was bolstered by emigration from the Canary Islands, resettling the northern part of the colony and planting tobacco in the Cibao Valley, and the importation of slaves was renewed.
Santo Domingo's exports soared and the island's agricultural productivity rose, which was assisted by the involvement of Spain in the Seven Years' War, allowing privateers operating out of Santo Domingo to once again patrol surrounding waters for enemy merchantmen. Dominican privateers in the service of the Spanish Crown had already been active in the War of Jenkins' Ear just two decades prior, and they sharply reduced the amount of enemy trade operating in West Indian waters. The prizes they took were carried back to Santo Domingo, where their cargoes were sold to the colony's inhabitants or to foreign merchants doing business there. The enslaved population of the colony also rose, as numerous captive Africans were taken from enemy slave ships in West Indian waters.
The colony of Santo Domingo saw a population increase during the 18th century, as it rose to about 91,272 in 1750. Of this number, approximately 38,272 were white landowners, 38,000 were free multiracial people of color, and some 15,000 were enslaved people. This contrasted sharply with the population of the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) – the wealthiest colony in the Caribbean and whose population of one-half a million was 90% enslaved and overall, seven times as numerous as the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo. As restrictions on colonial trade were relaxed, the colonial elites of Saint-Domingue offered the principal market for Santo Domingo's exports of beef, hides, mahogany, and tobacco. With the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution in 1791, the rich urban families linked to the colonial bureaucracy fled the island, while most of the rural hateros (cattle ranchers) remained, even though they lost their principal market.
Inspired by disputes between white people and mulatto people in Saint-Domingue, a slave revolt broke out in the French colony. Although the population of Santo Domingo was perhaps one-fourth that of Saint-Domingue, this did not prevent the King of Spain from launching an invasion of the French side of the island in 1793, attempting to seize all, or part, of the western third of the island in an alliance of convenience with the formerly enslaved rebels. In August 1793, a column of Dominican troops advanced into Saint-Domingue and were joined by Haitian rebels. However, these rebels soon turned against Spain and instead joined France. The Dominicans were not defeated militarily, but their advance was restrained, and when in 1795 Spain ceded Santo Domingo to France by the Treaty of Basel, Dominican attacks on Saint-Domingue ceased. By 1804, the mulattoes and former slaves had driven the French and British out of Saint-Domingue, establishing Haiti, while a small French garrison remained in Santo Domingo.
In October 1808, the Dominicans revolted against the French colonial administrators in the city of Santo Domingo, opposing Governor General Louis Ferrand's decision to stop trade with Haiti. The Dominicans annihilated Ferrand's small army in close-quarters combat at the Battle of Palo Hincado, killing or capturing 400 out of 500 enemy troops, at the cost of only 7 of their own killed. Afterward, the French governor committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. The Dominicans, aided by a British fleet and Spanish soldiers from Puerto Rico, besieged the remaining French defenders in the capital. The French, averse to facing public and historical disgrace by submitting to the Dominicans, surrendered to the British on July 11, 1809, after eight months of siege, which led to the return of Santo Domingo to Spanish rule. During the siege of Santo Domingo, 3,300 French citizens fled the city, representing nearly half of its population. In 1809, the Spanish government in Cuba expelled the French from the island, resulting in their mass exodus to New Orleans and other regions. This marked the end of 200 years of French presence in Hispaniola.
After a dozen years of discontent and failed independence plots by various opposing groups, including a failed 1812 revolt led by Dominican conspirators José Leocadio, Pedro de Seda, and Pedro Henríquez, Santo Domingo's former Lieutenant-Governor (top administrator), José Núñez de Cáceres, declared the colony's independence from the Spanish crown as Spanish Haiti, on November 30, 1821. This period is also known as the Ephemeral independence.
The newly independent republic ended a mere two months later, when it was occupied and annexed by Haiti, then under the leadership of Jean-Pierre Boyer. As Toussaint Louverture had done two decades earlier, the Haitians abolished slavery. Boyer attempts to redistribute land conflicted with the system of communal land tenure (terrenos comuneros), which had arisen with the ranching economy, and some people resented being forced to grow cash crops under Boyer and Joseph Balthazar Inginac's Code Rural. In the rural and rugged mountainous areas, the Haitian administration was usually too inefficient to enforce its own laws. It was in the city of Santo Domingo that the effects of the occupation were most acutely felt, and it was there that the movement for independence originated.
Haiti's constitution forbade white elites from owning land, and Dominican major landowning families were forcibly deprived of their properties. Many emigrated to Cuba, Puerto Rico, or Gran Colombia, usually with the encouragement of Haitian officials who acquired their lands. The Haitians associated the Roman Catholic Church with the French slave-masters who had exploited them before independence and confiscated all church property, deported all foreign clergy, and severed the ties of the remaining clergy to the Vatican. All levels of education collapsed; the university was shut down, as it was starved both of resources and students, with young Dominican men from 16 to 25 years old being drafted into the Haitian army. Boyer's occupation troops, who were largely Dominicans, were unpaid and had to "forage and sack" from Dominican civilians. Haiti imposed heavy taxes on the Dominican people.
In 1838, Juan Pablo Duarte founded a secret society called La Trinitaria, which sought the complete independence of Santo Domingo without any foreign intervention. Also Francisco del Rosario Sánchez and Ramon Matias Mella, despite not being among the founding members of La Trinitaria, were decisive in the fight for independence. Duarte, Mella, and Sánchez are considered the three Founding Fathers of the Dominican Republic.
In 1843, the new Haitian president, Charles Rivière-Hérard, exiled or imprisoned the leading Trinitarios (Trinitarians). After subduing the Dominicans, Rivière-Hérard, a mulatto, faced a rebellion by blacks in Port-au-Prince. Haiti had formed two regiments composed of Dominicans from the city of Santo Domingo; these were used by Rivière-Hérard to suppress the uprising.
On February 27, 1844, the surviving members of La Trinitaria, now led by Tomás Bobadilla, declared independence from Haiti. The Trinitarios were backed by Pedro Santana, a wealthy cattle rancher from El Seibo, who became general of the army of the nascent republic. The Dominican Republic's first Constitution was adopted on November 6, 1844, and was modeled after the United States Constitution. The decades that followed were filled with tyranny, factionalism, economic difficulties, rapid changes of government, and exile for political opponents. Archrivals Santana and Buenaventura Báez held power most of the time, both ruling arbitrarily. They promoted competing plans to annex the new nation to another power: Santana favored Spain, and Báez the United States.
Threatening the nation's independence were renewed Haitian invasions. In March 1844, Rivière-Hérard attempted to reimpose his authority, but the Dominicans put up stiff opposition and inflicted heavy casualties on the Haitians, compelling them to retreat back into Haiti after a short war. In early July 1844, Duarte was urged by his followers to take the title of President of the Republic. Duarte agreed, but only if free elections were arranged. However, Santana's forces took Santo Domingo on July 12, and they declared Santana ruler of the Dominican Republic. Santana then put Mella, Duarte, and Sánchez in jail. On February 27, 1845, Santana executed María Trinidad Sánchez, heroine of La Trinitaria, and others for conspiracy. In August 1845, Haiti made another attempt to conquer the Dominican Republic. However, this time the Dominicans were better prepared, and the Haitian army was unable to advance beyond Las Matas de Farfán. Later that year, the Haitians tried a naval attack, but their efforts ended in failure when the ships ran aground in Puerto Plata harbor, and all the sailors were captured. In November 1849, Dominican seamen raided the Haitian coasts, plundered seaside villages, as far as Dame Marie, and butchered crews of captured enemy ships. Two more attempts by Haiti to conquer the Dominican Republic, in 1849 and 1855–56, ended in failure.
The Dominican Republic's first constitution was adopted on November 6, 1844. The state was commonly known as Santo Domingo in English until the early 20th century. It featured a presidential form of government with many liberal tendencies, but it was marred by Article 210, imposed by Pedro Santana on the constitutional assembly by force, giving him the privileges of a dictatorship until the war of independence was over. These privileges not only served him to win the war but also allowed him to persecute, execute and drive into exile his political opponents, among which Duarte was the most important.
The population of the Dominican Republic in 1845 was approximately 230,000 people (100,000 whites; 40,000 blacks; and 90,000 mulattoes). Due to the rugged mountainous terrain of the island the regions of the Dominican Republic developed in isolation from one another. In the south, also known at the time as Ozama, the economy was dominated by cattle-ranching (particularly in the southeastern savannah) and cutting mahogany and other hardwoods for export. This region retained a semi-feudal character, with little commercial agriculture, the hacienda as the dominant social unit, and the majority of the population living at a subsistence level. In the north (better known as Cibao), the nation's richest farmland, farmers supplemented their subsistence crops by growing tobacco for export, mainly to Germany. Tobacco required less land than cattle ranching and was mainly grown by smallholders, who relied on itinerant traders to transport their crops to Puerto Plata and Monte Cristi. Santana antagonized the Cibao farmers, enriching himself and his supporters at their expense by resorting to multiple peso printings that allowed him to buy their crops for a fraction of their value. In 1848, he was forced to resign and was succeeded by his vice-president, Manuel Jimenes.
After defeating a new Haitian invasion in 1849, Santana marched on Santo Domingo and deposed Jimenes in a coup d'état. At his behest, Congress elected Buenaventura Báez as president, but Báez was unwilling to serve as Santana's puppet, challenging his role as the country's acknowledged military leader. In November 1849, Báez launched a naval offensive against Haiti. A Dominican squadron appeared off the Haitian coast, capturing prizes. On November 4, the squadron bombarded Anse-à-Pitres and conducted a landing operation, seizing booty. The next day, the Dominican ships bombarded Les Cayes, captured a schooner, and sank several smaller boats. Although plans were made to sail up the Windward Passage between Haiti and Cuba in search of more prizes, a mutiny among the Dominican crews forced their return to the port of Santo Domingo. Báez dispatched a second naval expedition against Haiti. On December 3, the squadron commanded by Juan Alejandro Acosta bombarded and burned the town of Petit Rivière. Two days later, Dominican and Haitian flotillas encountered each other off Les Cayes, but a storm broke up the battle.
As the fighting disrupted sea commerce, the major maritime powers became involved. On March 6, 1850, the United Kingdom and the Dominican Republic signed a commercial treaty. On December 19 of that year, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States declared to the Haitian government that if it persisted in invading the Dominican Republic, they would take appropriate measures.
In 1853, Santana was elected president for his second term, forcing Báez into exile. Three years later, he negotiated a treaty leasing a portion of Samaná Peninsula to a U.S. company; popular opposition forced him to abdicate, enabling Báez to return and seize power. With the treasury depleted, Báez printed eighteen million uninsured pesos, purchasing the 1857 tobacco crop with this currency and exporting it for hard cash at immense profit to himself and his followers. Cibao tobacco planters, who were ruined when hyperinflation ensued, revolted and formed a new government headed by José Desiderio Valverde and headquartered in Santiago de los Caballeros. In July 1857, General Juan Luis Franco Bidó besieged Santo Domingo. The Cibao-based government declared an amnesty to exiles and Santana returned and managed to replace Franco Bidó in September 1857. After a year of civil war, Santana captured Santo Domingo in June 1858, overthrew both Báez and Valverde and installed himself as president.
In 1861, after imprisoning, silencing, exiling, and executing many of his opponents and due to political and economic reasons, Santana asked Queen Isabella II of Spain to retake control of the Dominican Republic, after a period of only 17 years of independence. Spain, which had not come to terms with the loss of its American colonies 40 years earlier, accepted his proposal and made the country a colony again. Haiti, fearful of the reestablishment of Spain as colonial power, gave refuge and logistics to revolutionaries seeking to reestablish the independent nation of the Dominican Republic. The ensuing civil war, known as the War of Restoration, claimed more than 50,000 lives.
The War of Restoration began on August 16, 1863. The Spanish garrison of Santiago was forced to retreat to Puerto Plata by mid-September. According to the New York Times, the Dominicans bombarded the port of Puerto Plata and destroyed much of the town, with very few houses left standing. The estimated cost of the damages to Santiago and Puerto Plata caused by the fighting were at $5 million ($120 million today). In the south, Dominican forces under José María Cabral defeated the Spanish in the Battle of La Canela on December 4, 1864. The victory showed the Dominicans that they could defeat the Spaniards in pitched battle. After nearly two years of fighting, Spain abandoned the island in July 1865. Political strife again prevailed in the following years; warlords ruled, military revolts were extremely common, and the nation amassed debt.
In 1869, U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant ordered U.S. Marines to the island for the first time. Pirates operating from Haiti had been raiding U.S. commercial shipping in the Caribbean, and Grant directed the Marines to stop them at their source. Following the virtual takeover of the island, Báez offered to sell the country to the United States. Grant desired a naval base at Samaná and also a place for resettling newly freed African Americans. The treaty, which included U.S. payment of $1.5 million for Dominican debt repayment, was defeated in the United States Senate in 1870 on a vote of 28–28, two-thirds being required. Báez was toppled in 1874, returned, and was toppled for good in 1878. A new generation was thence in charge, with the passing of Santana (he died in 1864) and Báez from the scene.
During the 19th century, the Dominican Republic lost a higher percentage of its population to war than did the United States. Relative peace came to the country in the 1880s, which saw the coming to power of General Ulises Heureaux. "Lilís", as the new president was nicknamed, enjoyed a period of popularity. He was, however, "a consummate dissembler", who put the nation deep into debt while using much of the proceeds for his personal use and to maintain his police state. Heureaux became rampantly despotic and unpopular. In 1899, he was assassinated. However, the relative calm over which he presided allowed improvement in the Dominican economy. The sugar industry was modernized, and the country attracted foreign workers and immigrants.
Lebanese, Syrians, Turks, and Palestinians began to arrive in the country during the latter part of the 19th century. At first, the Arab immigrants often faced discrimination in the Dominican Republic, but they were eventually assimilated into Dominican society, giving up their own culture and language. During the U.S. occupation of 1916–24, peasants from the countryside, called Gavilleros, would not only kill U.S. Marines, but would also attack and kill Arab vendors traveling through the countryside.
From 1902 on, short-lived governments were again the norm, with their power usurped by caudillos in parts of the country. Furthermore, the national government was bankrupt and, unable to pay its debts to European creditors, faced the threat of military intervention by France, Germany, and Italy. United States President Theodore Roosevelt sought to prevent European intervention, largely to protect the routes to the future Panama Canal, as the canal was already under construction. He made a small military intervention to ward off European powers, to proclaim his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, and also to obtain his 1905 Dominican agreement for U.S. administration of Dominican customs, which was the chief source of income for the Dominican government. A 1906 agreement provided for the arrangement to last 50 years. The United States agreed to use part of the customs proceeds to reduce the immense foreign debt of the Dominican Republic and assumed responsibility for said debt.
After six years in power, President Ramón Cáceres (who had himself assassinated Heureaux) was assassinated in 1911. The result was several years of great political instability and civil war. U.S. mediation by the William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson administrations achieved only a short respite each time. A political deadlock in 1914 was broken after an ultimatum by Wilson telling the Dominicans to choose a president or see the U.S. impose one. A provisional president was chosen, and later the same year relatively free elections put former president (1899–1902) Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra back in power. To achieve a more broadly supported government, Jimenes named opposition individuals to his cabinet. But this brought no peace and, with his former Secretary of War Desiderio Arias maneuvering to depose him and despite a U.S. offer of military aid against Arias, Jimenes resigned on May 7, 1916.
Wilson thus ordered the U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic. U.S. Marines landed on May 16, 1916, and seized the capital and other ports, while General Arias fell back to his inland Santiago stronghold. In late June, the Marines began advancing from the north coast towards Santiago. On June 27, they encountered a strong defensive position on Las Trencheras Ridge. Covered by artillery, the Marines attacked and overran the position. The Dominicans fell back to a second defensive line but could not hold this either. A peace delegation from Santiago surrendered the city on July 5, coinciding with General Arias' surrender to the Dominican governor. The U.S. then extended the occupation to the inland cities of Moca and La Vega. The military government established by the U.S. on November 29, led by Vice Admiral Harry Shepard Knapp, was widely repudiated by the Dominicans, with caudillos in the mountainous eastern regions leading guerrilla campaigns against U.S. forces. The Dominican insurgents, who typically operated in groups of less than 150 men, possessed mainly antiquated rifles, and more commonly, were armed only with pistols and shotguns. The U.S. Marines were equipped with machine guns and modern artillery, resulting in a significant weaponry disparity that contributed to the defeat of the Dominican insurgents. The U.S. Marines stationed in the Dominican Republic were Anglo-Americans. African-Americans were not allowed to join the Marines until 1942 due to segregation policies.
The occupation regime kept most Dominican laws and institutions and largely pacified the general population. The occupying government also revived the Dominican economy, reduced the nation's debt, built a road network that at last interconnected all regions of the country, and created a professional National Guard to replace the warring partisan units. Additionally, with grass-roots support from local communities and assistance from both Dominican and US officials, the Dominican education system expanded significantly during US occupation. Between 1918 and 1920, more than three hundred schools were established nationwide. The system of forced labour used by the Marines in Haiti was absent in the Dominican Republic.
Opposition to the occupation continued, nevertheless, and after World War I it increased in the U.S. as well. There, President Warren G. Harding (1921–23), Wilson's successor, worked to put an end to the occupation, as he had promised to do during his campaign. The U.S. government's rule ended in October 1922, and elections were held in March 1924. The victor was former president (1902–03) Horacio Vásquez, who had cooperated with the U.S. He was inaugurated on July 13, 1924, and the last U.S. forces left in September. In six years, the Marines were involved in at least 370 engagements, resulting in 950 "bandits" killed or wounded in action, while 144 Marines were killed, and 50 were wounded.
Vásquez gave the country six years of stable governance, in which political and civil rights were respected and the economy grew strongly, in a relatively peaceful atmosphere. During this time, Rafael Trujillo, who was trained by the U.S. Marines during the occupation, held the rank of lieutenant colonel and was chief of police. This position helped him launch his plans to overthrow the government of Vásquez. Trujillo had the support of Carlos Rosario Peña, who formed the Civic Movement, which had as its main objective to overthrow the government of Vásquez.
In February 1930, when Vásquez attempted to win another term, his opponents rebelled in secret alliance with the commander of the National Army (the former National Guard), General Rafael Trujillo. Trujillo secretly cut a deal with rebel leader Rafael Estrella Ureña; in return for letting Ureña take power, Trujillo would be allowed to run for president in new elections. As the rebels marched toward Santo Domingo, Vásquez ordered Trujillo to suppress them. However, feigning "neutrality", Trujillo kept his men in barracks, allowing Ureña's rebels to take the capital virtually uncontested. On March 3, Ureña was proclaimed acting president with Trujillo confirmed as head of the police and the army. As per their agreement, Trujillo became the presidential nominee of the newly formed Patriotic Coalition of Citizens (Spanish: Coalición patriotica de los ciudadanos), with Ureña as his running mate.
During the election campaign, Trujillo used the army to unleash his repression, forcing his opponents to withdraw from the race. Trujillo stood to elect himself, and in May he was elected president virtually unopposed after a violent campaign against his opponents, ascending to power on August 16, 1930. Desiderio Arias led a failed revolt against Trujillo and was killed near Mao on June 20, 1931.
There was considerable economic growth during Rafael Trujillo's long and iron-fisted regime, although a great deal of the wealth was taken by the dictator and other regime elements. There was progress in healthcare, education, and transportation, with the building of hospitals, clinics, schools, roads, and harbors. Trujillo also carried out an important housing construction program and instituted a pension plan. He finally negotiated an undisputed border with Haiti in 1935, and achieved the end of the 50-year customs agreement in 1941, instead of 1956. He made the country debt-free in 1947. This was accompanied by absolute repression and the copious use of murder, torture, and terrorist methods against the opposition. It has been estimated that Trujillo's tyrannical rule was responsible for the death of more than 50,000 Dominicans and foreign nationals, including Cubans, Costa Ricans, Nicaraguans, and Puerto Ricans.
During World War II, Trujillo symbolically sided with the Allies and declared war on Japan the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor and on Nazi Germany and Italy four days later. Soon after, German U-boats torpedoed and sank two Dominican merchant vessels that Trujillo had named after himself—the San Rafael off Jamaica and the Presidente Trujillo off Fort-de-France, Martinique. German U-boats also sank four Dominican-manned ships in the Caribbean. The country did not make a military contribution to the war, but Dominican sugar and other agricultural products supported the Allied war effort. American Lend-Lease and raw material purchases proved a powerful inducement in obtaining cooperation of the various Latin American republics. Over a hundred Dominicans served in the American armed forces. Many were political exiles from the Trujillo regime. Following World War II, Trujillo sought direct military aid from the United States. However, his request was rejected, prompting Trujillo to establish his own arms factory. In addition, he assigned agents to acquire surplus fighters and bombers from the civilian market. Trujillo's arsenal at San Cristóbal produced carbines, submachine guns, light machine guns, anti-tank guns, hand grenades, and ammunition.
Several Dominicans were assassinated in New York after taking part in anti-Trujillo activities. In July 1949, a failed invasion of the Dominican Republic was carried out by Dominican rebels from Guatemala, and on June 14, 1959, a Cuban invasion at Constanza, Maimón, and Estero Hondo also met with failure. On June 26, Cuba broke diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic due to widespread Dominican human rights abuses and hostility toward the Cuban people. Trujillo formed a Foreign Legion of 3,000 mercenaries to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba. Major William Morgan agreed to lead the attack for $1 million, but the invasion plan never materialized as Castro learned of the plot and instructed Morgan to go along with it and report back. The plan involved causing rebellion in the Sierra del Escambray and sabotaging the Cuban air force, followed by the Foreign Legion landing in Las Villas Province. Trujillo was tricked into believing that Morgan had captured Trinidad and that the airport was available to him, but remained reluctant to commit the Foreign Legion. On August 13, 1959, a C-47 transport flying from the Dominican Republic carrying military advisors and supplies landed at Trinidad airport. Castro seized the aircraft and the ten occupants and arrested some 4,000 suspects throughout Cuba.
On November 25, 1960, Trujillo's henchmen killed three of the four Mirabal sisters, nicknamed Las Mariposas (The Butterflies). Along with their husbands, the sisters were conspiring to overthrow Trujillo in a violent revolt. The Mirabals had communist ideological leanings, as did their husbands. The sisters have received many honors posthumously and have many memorials in various cities in the Dominican Republic. Salcedo, their home province, changed its name to Provincia Hermanas Mirabal (Mirabal Sisters Province). The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is observed on the anniversary of their deaths.
For a long time, the U.S. and the Dominican elite supported the Trujillo government. This support persisted despite the assassinations of political opposition, the massacre of Haitians, and Trujillo's plots against other countries. The U.S. believed Trujillo was the lesser of two or more evils. The U.S. finally broke with Trujillo in 1960, after Trujillo's agents attempted to assassinate the Venezuelan president, Rómulo Betancourt, a fierce critic of Trujillo. As the Venezuelan president was en route to preside over a military parade in Caracas, SIM agents detonated nearly 30 kg of explosives packed into two suitcases within a parked car nearby. The force of the explosion hurled the presidential vehicle across the street and engulfed it in flames. As a result of the incident, Betancourt was injured, and Colonel Ramón Armas Perez, the chauffeur, and a bystander were killed. Investigation revealed that the ammonium-nitrate bomb had been assembled in Ciudad Trujillo (Santo Domingo), and that the operation was orchestrated by Johnny Abbes García, the chief of the secret police under Trujillo's regime. This was not the first assassination attempt Trujillo had made on the liberal Betancourt. During Betancourt's earlier exile in Cuba, Trujillo's agents tried to inject poison into him on a Havana street in broad daylight.
In June 1960, Trujillo legalized the Communist Party and unsuccessfully attempted to establish close political relations with the Soviet Bloc. Both the assassination attempt and the maneuver toward the Soviet Bloc provoked immediate condemnation throughout Latin America. After its representatives confirmed Trujillo's complicity in the nearly successful assassination attempt of Venezuela's president, the Organization of American States, for the first time in its history, decreed sanctions against a member state. The United States severed diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic on August 26, 1960, and in January 1961 suspended the export of trucks, parts, crude oil, gasoline and other petroleum products. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower also took advantage of OAS sanctions to cut drastically purchases of Dominican sugar, the country's major export. This action ultimately cost the Dominican Republic almost $22,000,000 in lost revenues at a time when its economy was in a rapid decline. Trujillo had become expendable. Dissidents inside the Dominican Republic argued that assassination was the only certain way to remove Trujillo.
According to Chester Bowles, the U.S. Undersecretary of State, internal Department of State discussions in 1961 on the topic were vigorous. Richard N. Goodwin, Assistant Special Counsel to the President, who had direct contacts with the rebel alliance, argued for intervention against Trujillo. Quoting Bowles directly: "The next morning I learned that in spite of the clear decision against having the dissident group request our assistance Dick Goodwin following the meeting sent a cable to CIA people in the Dominican Republic without checking with State or CIA; indeed, with the protest of the Department of State. The cable directed the CIA people in the Dominican Republic to get this request at any cost. When Allen Dulles found this out the next morning, he withdrew the order. We later discovered it had already been carried out."
Trujillo was assassinated by Dominican dissidents on May 30, 1961. Although the dissidents possessed Dominican-made San Cristóbal submachine guns, they symbolically used U.S.-made M-1 carbines supplied by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to gun down Trujillo. Out of the 14 Trujillo assassins, 12 were subsequently killed, with some of them being fed to sharks.
Ramfis Trujillo, the dictator's son, remained in de facto control of the government for the next six months through his position as commander of the armed forces. Trujillo's brothers, Hector Bienvenido and Jose Arismendi Trujillo, returned to the country and began immediately to plot against President Balaguer. On November 18, 1961, as a planned coup became more evident, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk issued a warning that the United States would not "remain idle" if the Trujillos attempted to "reassert dictatorial domination" over the Dominican Republic. Following this warning, and the arrival of a fourteen-vessel U.S. naval task force within sight of Santo Domingo, Ramfis and his uncles fled the country on November 19 with $200 million from the Dominican treasury. The OAS lifted its sanctions on January 4, 1962, since the Dominican Republic no longer posed a threat to regional security.
In February 1963, a democratically elected government under leftist Juan Bosch took office but it was overthrown in September. On April 24, 1965, after 19 months of military rule, a pro-Bosch revolt broke out in Santo Domingo. The pro-Bosch forces called themselves Constitutionalists. The revolution took on the dimensions of a civil war when conservative military forces struck back against the Constitutionalists on April 25. These conservative forces called themselves Loyalists. Despite tank assaults and bombing runs by Loyalist forces, the Constitutionalists held their positions in the capital. The Constitutionalists destroyed several Swedish tanks with bazookas and pre–World War I 75 mm cannons. By April 26, armed civilians outnumbered the original rebel military regulars. Radio Santo Domingo, now fully under rebel control, began to call for more violent actions and for killing of all the policemen.
On April 28, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson, concerned that communists might take over the revolt and create a "second Cuba", sent 24,000 troops into Santo Domingo in Operation Powerpack. "We don't propose to sit here in a rocking chair with our hands folded and let the Communist set up any government in the Western Hemisphere," Johnson said. The forces were soon joined by comparatively small contingents from the Organization of American States (OAS). Following U.S. intervention, psychological warfare became the primary weapon of the Constitutionalists, who numbered between 2,000 and 4,000. Dictator Trujillo had established an extensive and sophisticated telecommunications and radio broadcasting system that could reach every corner of the republic; Radio Santo Domingo, equipped with numerous alternative transmitter and antenna field sites, as well as relay stations, was nearly invulnerable. The Constitutionalist rebels adeptly utilized the radio to incite the population to revolt and communicate with their own forces. Despite the robust electronic warfare capabilities of U.S. forces in the region, designed for military targets, they had limited effect on commercial transmitting systems. Therefore, the rebels were able to use this propaganda weapon until the main Radio Santo Domingo facility was physically put out of operation by Loyalist forces, who used the U.S. presence to deploy its forces and attack Constitutionalists.
Loyalist forces destroyed most Constitutionalist bases and captured the rebel radio station, effectively ending the war. A ceasefire was declared on May 21. The U.S. began withdrawing some of its troops by May 26. However, Col. Francisco Caamaño's untrained civilians attacked American positions on June 15. Despite the coordinated attack involving mortars, rocket launchers, and several light tanks, the rebels lost a 56-square-block area to 82nd Airborne Division units which had received OAS permission to advance. During this pitched battle, the armed civilians sustained 232 casualties and the U.S. soldiers sustained 36 casualties.
Over 7,000 Dominicans were killed or wounded in the civil war, most of them prior to the U.S. intervention. A total of 48 Americans died and 189 were wounded in action. U.S. and OAS peacekeeping troops remained in the country for over a year and left after supervising elections in 1966 won by Joaquín Balaguer. He had been Trujillo's last puppet-president. Balaguer remained in power as president for 12 years. His tenure was a period of repression of human rights and civil liberties, ostensibly to keep pro-Castro or pro-communist parties out of power; 11,000 persons were killed, tortured or forcibly disappeared. His rule was criticized for a growing disparity between rich and poor. It was, however, praised for an ambitious infrastructure program, which included the construction of large housing projects, sports complexes, theaters, museums, aqueducts, roads, highways, and the massive Columbus Lighthouse, completed in 1992 during a later tenure. During Balaguer's administration, the Dominican military forced Haitians to cut sugarcane on Dominican sugar plantations.
In February 1973, former Colonel Francisco Caamaño, along with his group of around 30 rebels, landed on the coast of the Dominican Republic. Balaguer declared a state of emergency and mobilized the army, which quickly defeated the insurgency, resulting in Caamaño being killed. Dominican Republic fighter-bombers strafed a Norwegian ship, mistaking it for a vessel carrying guerrillas. In September 1977, twelve Cuban-manned MiG-21s conducted strafing flights over Puerto Plata to warn Balaguer against intercepting Cuban merchant ships headed to or returning from Africa. Hurricane David hit the Dominican Republic in August 1979, which left upwards of 2,000 people dead and 200,000 homeless. The hurricane caused over $1 billion in damage.
In 1978, Balaguer was succeeded in the presidency by opposition candidate Antonio Guzmán Fernández, of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). Another PRD win in 1982 followed, under Salvador Jorge Blanco. Balaguer regained the presidency in 1986 and was re-elected in 1990 and 1994, this last time just defeating PRD candidate José Francisco Peña Gómez, a former mayor of Santo Domingo. The 1994 elections were flawed, bringing on international pressure, to which Balaguer responded by scheduling another presidential contest in 1996. Balaguer was not a candidate. The PSRC candidate was his Vice President Jacinto Peynado Garrigosa.
In 1996, with the support of Joaquín Balaguer and the Social Christian Reform Party in a coalition called the Patriotic Front, Leonel Fernández achieved the first-ever win for the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), which Bosch had founded in 1973 after leaving the PRD (which he also had founded). Fernández oversaw a fast-growing economy: growth averaged 7.7% per year, unemployment fell, and there were stable exchange and inflation rates. His administration supported the process of modernizing the judicial system, making transparent the creation of an independent Supreme Court of Justice. Efforts were also made to reform and modernize the other state bodies. In addition, relations with Cuba were reestablished and the Free Trade Agreement with Central America was signed, which was the genesis for the signing of DR-CAFTA.
In 2000, the PRD's Hipólito Mejía won the election. This was a time of economic troubles. Under Mejía, the Dominican Republic participated in the US-led coalition, as part of the Multinational Plus Ultra Brigade, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, suffering no casualties. In 2004, the country withdrew its approximately 300 soldiers from Iraq. The Dominican Republic has also contributed troops to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
In 2008, Fernández was elected for a third term. Fernández and the PLD are credited with initiatives that have moved the country forward technologically, on the other hand, his administrations have been accused of corruption.
Danilo Medina of the PLD was elected president in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. On the other hand, a significant increase in crime, government corruption and a weak justice system threaten to overshadow their administrative period.
He was succeeded by the opposition candidate Luis Abinader in the 2020 election (weeks after protests erupted in the country against Medina's government), marking the end to 16 years in power of the centre-left Dominican Liberation Party (PLD).
The Dominican Republic comprises the eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola, the second-largest island in the Greater Antilles, with the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south. It shares the island roughly at a 2:1 ratio with Haiti, the north-to-south (though somewhat irregular) border between the two countries being 376 km (234 mi). To the north and north-west lie The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and to the east, across the Mona Passage, the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The country's area is reported variously as 48,442 km (18,704 sq mi) (by the embassy in the United States) and 48,670 km (18,792 sq mi), making it the second largest country in the Antilles, after Cuba. The Dominican Republic's capital and largest city Santo Domingo is on the southern coast.
The Dominican Republic has four important mountain ranges. The most northerly is the Cordillera Septentrional ("Northern Mountain Range"), which extends from the northwestern coastal town of Monte Cristi, near the Haitian border, to the Samaná Peninsula in the east, running parallel to the Atlantic coast. The highest range in the Dominican Republic – indeed, in the whole of the West Indies – is the Cordillera Central ("Central Mountain Range"). It gradually bends southwards and finishes near the town of Azua, on the Caribbean coast. In the Cordillera Central are the four highest peaks in the Caribbean: Pico Duarte (3,098 metres or 10,164 feet above sea level), La Pelona (3,094 metres or 10,151 feet), La Rucilla (3,049 metres or 10,003 feet), and Pico Yaque (2,760 metres or 9,055 feet). In the southwest corner of the country, south of the Cordillera Central, there are two other ranges: the more northerly of the two is the Sierra de Neiba, while in the south the Sierra de Bahoruco is a continuation of the Massif de la Selle in Haiti. There are other, minor mountain ranges, such as the Cordillera Oriental ("Eastern Mountain Range"), Sierra Martín García, Sierra de Yamasá, and Sierra de Samaná.
Between the Central and Northern mountain ranges lies the rich and fertile Cibao valley. This major valley is home to the cities of Santiago and La Vega and most of the farming areas of the nation. Rather less productive are the semi-arid San Juan Valley, south of the Central Cordillera, and the Neiba Valley, tucked between the Sierra de Neiba and the Sierra de Bahoruco. Much of the land around the Enriquillo Basin is below sea level, with a hot, arid, desert-like environment. There are other smaller valleys in the mountains, such as the Constanza, Jarabacoa, Villa Altagracia, and Bonao valleys.
The Llano Costero del Caribe ("Caribbean Coastal Plain") is the largest of the plains in the Dominican Republic. Stretching north and east of Santo Domingo, it contains many sugar plantations in the savannahs that are common there. West of Santo Domingo its width is reduced to 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) as it hugs the coast, finishing at the mouth of the Ocoa River. Another large plain is the Plena de Azua ("Azua Plain"), a very arid region in Azua Province. A few other small coastal plains are on the northern coast and in the Pedernales Peninsula.
Four major rivers drain the numerous mountains of the Dominican Republic. The Yaque del Norte is the longest and most important Dominican river. It carries excess water down from the Cibao Valley and empties into Monte Cristi Bay, in the northwest. Likewise, the Yuna River serves the Vega Real and empties into Samaná Bay, in the northeast. Drainage of the San Juan Valley is provided by the San Juan River, tributary of the Yaque del Sur, which empties into the Caribbean, in the south. The Artibonito is the longest river of Hispaniola and flows westward into Haiti.
There are many lakes and coastal lagoons. The largest lake is Enriquillo, a salt lake at 45 metres (148 ft) below sea level, the lowest elevation in the Caribbean. Other important lakes are Laguna de Rincón or Cabral, with fresh water, and Laguna de Oviedo, a lagoon with brackish water.
There are many small offshore islands and cays that form part of the Dominican territory. The two largest islands near shore are Saona, in the southeast, and Beata, in the southwest. Smaller islands include the Cayos Siete Hermanos, Isla Cabra, Cayo Jackson, Cayo Limón, Cayo Levantado, Cayo la Bocaina, Catalanita, Cayo Pisaje and Isla Alto Velo. To the north, at distances of 100–200 kilometres (62–124 mi), are three extensive, largely submerged banks, which geographically are a southeast continuation of the Bahamas: Navidad Bank, Silver Bank, and Mouchoir Bank. Navidad Bank and Silver Bank have been officially claimed by the Dominican Republic. Isla Cabritos lies within Lago Enriquillo.
The Dominican Republic is located near fault action in the Caribbean. In 1946, it suffered a magnitude 8.1 earthquake off the northeast coast, triggering a tsunami that killed about 1,800, mostly in coastal communities. Caribbean countries and the United States have collaborated to create tsunami warning systems and are mapping high-risk low-lying areas.
The country is home to five terrestrial ecoregions: Hispaniolan moist forests, Hispaniolan dry forests, Hispaniolan pine forests, Enriquillo wetlands, and Greater Antilles mangroves. It had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.18/10, ranking it 134th globally out of 172 countries.
The Dominican Republic has a tropical rainforest climate in the coastal and lowland areas. Some areas, such as most of the Cibao region, have a tropical savanna climate. Due to its diverse topography, Dominican Republic's climate shows considerable variation over short distances and is the most varied of all the Antilles. The annual average temperature is 25 °C (77 °F). At higher elevations the temperature averages 18 °C (64.4 °F) while near sea level the average temperature is 28 °C (82.4 °F). Low temperatures of 0 °C (32 °F) are possible in the mountains while high temperatures of 40 °C (104 °F) are possible in protected valleys. January and February are the coolest months of the year while August is the hottest month. Snowfall can be seen on rare occasions on the summit of Pico Duarte.
The wet season along the northern coast lasts from November through January. Elsewhere the wet season stretches from May through November, with May being the wettest month. Average annual rainfall is 1,500 millimetres (59.1 in) countrywide, with individual locations in the Valle de Neiba seeing averages as low as 350 millimetres (13.8 in) while the Cordillera Oriental averages 2,740 millimetres (107.9 in). The driest part of the country lies in the west.
Tropical cyclones strike the Dominican Republic every couple of years, with 65% of the impacts along the southern coast. Hurricanes are most likely between June and October. The last major hurricane that struck the country was Hurricane Georges in 1998.
Bats make up 90% of the native terrestrial mammal species residing in the Dominican Republic. Lake Enriquillo, located in the Dominican Republic's southwest, is home to the largest population of American crocodiles.
The Dominican Republic is a representative democracy or democratic republic, with three branches of power: executive, legislative, and judicial. The president of the Dominican Republic heads the executive branch and executes laws passed by the congress, appoints the cabinet, and is commander in chief of the armed forces. The president and vice-president run for office on the same ticket and are elected by direct vote for four-year terms. The national legislature is bicameral, composed of a senate, which has 32 members, and the Chamber of Deputies, with 178 members.
Judicial authority rests with the Supreme Court of Justice's 16 members. The court "alone hears actions against the president, designated members of his Cabinet, and members of Congress when the legislature is in session." The court is appointed by a council known as the National Council of the Magistracy which is composed of the president, the leaders of both houses of Congress, the President of the Supreme Court, and an opposition or non–governing-party member.
The Dominican Republic has a multi-party political system. Elections are held every two years, alternating between the presidential elections, which are held in years evenly divisible by four, and the congressional and municipal elections, which are held in even-numbered years not divisible by four. "International observers have found that presidential and congressional elections since 1996 have been generally free and fair." The Central Elections Board (JCE) of nine members supervises elections, and its decisions are unappealable. Starting in 2016, elections are held jointly, after a constitutional reform.
The three major parties are the conservative Social Christian Reformist Party (Spanish: Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC)), in power 1966–78 and 1986–96; and the social democratic Dominican Revolutionary Party (Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD)), in power in 1963, 1978–86, and 2000–04; and the Dominican Liberation Party (Spanish: Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD)), in power 1996–2000 and 2004–2020.
The presidential elections of 2008 were held on May 16, 2008, with incumbent Leonel Fernández winning 53% of the vote. He defeated Miguel Vargas Maldonado, of the PRD, who achieved a 40.48% share of the vote. Amable Aristy, of the PRSC, achieved 4.59% of the vote. Other minority candidates, which included former Attorney General Guillermo Moreno from the Movement for Independence, Unity and Change (Spanish: Movimiento Independencia, Unidad y Cambio (MIUCA)), and PRSC former presidential candidate and defector Eduardo Estrella, obtained less than 1% of the vote.
In the 2012 presidential elections, the incumbent president Leonel Fernández (PLD) declined his aspirations and instead the PLD elected Danilo Medina as its candidate. This time the PRD presented ex-president Hipólito Mejía as its choice. The contest was won by Medina with 51.21% of the vote, against 46.95% in favor of Mejía. Candidate Guillermo Moreno obtained 1.37% of the votes.
In 2014, the Modern Revolutionary Party (Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Moderno) was created by a faction of leaders from the PRD, and has since become the predominant opposition party, polling in second place for the May 2016 general elections.
In 2020, protests erupted against the PLD's rule. The presidential candidate for the opposition Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), Luis Abinader, won the election, defeating the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), which had governed since 2004.
The Dominican Republic has a close relationship with the United States, and has close cultural ties with the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and other states and jurisdictions of the United States.
The Dominican Republic's relationship with neighbouring Haiti is strained over mass Haitian migration to the Dominican Republic, with citizens of the Dominican Republic blaming the Haitians for increased crime and other social problems. The Dominican Republic is a regular member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.
The Dominican Republic has a Free Trade Agreement with the United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua via the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement. And an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union and the Caribbean Community via the Caribbean Forum.
The Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic are the military forces of the Dominican Republic. They consist of approximately 56,000 active duty personnel. The President of the Dominican Republic is the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic and the Ministry of Defense is the chief managing body of the armed forces.
The Army, with 28,750 active duty personnel, consists of six infantry brigades, an air cavalry squadron and a combat service support brigade. The Air Force operates two main bases, one in the southern region near Santo Domingo and one in the northern region of the country, the air force operates approximately 75 aircraft including helicopters. The Navy operates two major naval bases, one in Santo Domingo and one in Las Calderas on the southwestern coast.
The armed forces have organized a Specialized Airport Security Corps (CESA) and a Specialized Port Security Corps (CESEP) to meet international security needs in these areas. The secretary of the armed forces has also announced plans to form a specialized border corps (CESEF). The armed forces provide 75% of personnel to the National Investigations Directorate (DNI) and the Counter-Drug Directorate (DNCD).
In 2018, Dominican Republic signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The Dominican Republic is divided into 31 provinces. Santo Domingo, the capital, is designated Distrito Nacional (National District). The provinces are divided into municipalities (municipios; singular municipio). They are the second-level political and administrative subdivisions of the country. The president appoints the governors of the 31 provinces. Mayors and municipal councils administer the 124 municipal districts and the National District (Santo Domingo). They are elected at the same time as congressional representatives.
The provinces are the first–level administrative subdivisions of the country. The headquarters of the central government's regional offices are normally found in the capital cities of provinces. The president appoints an administrative governor (Gobernador Civil) for each province but not for the Distrito Nacional (Title IX of the constitution).
The Distrito Nacional was created in 1936. Prior to this, the Distrito National was the old Santo Domingo Province, in existence since the country's independence in 1844. It is not to be confused with the new Santo Domingo Province split off from it in 2001. While it is similar to a province in many ways, the Distrito Nacional differs in its lack of an administrative governor and consisting only of one municipality, Santo Domingo, the city council (ayuntamiento) and mayor (síndico) which are in charge of its administration.
During the last three decades, the Dominican economy, formerly dependent on the export of agricultural commodities (mainly sugar, cocoa and coffee), has transitioned to a diversified mix of services, manufacturing, agriculture, mining, and trade. The service sector accounts for almost 60% of GDP; manufacturing, for 22%; tourism, telecommunications and finance are the main components of the service sector; however, none of them accounts for more than 10% of the whole. The Dominican Republic has a stock market, Bolsa de Valores de la República Dominicana (BVRD). and advanced telecommunication system and transportation infrastructure. High unemployment and income inequality are long-term challenges. International migration affects the Dominican Republic greatly, as it receives and sends large flows of migrants. Mass illegal Haitian immigration and the integration of Dominicans of Haitian descent are major issues. A large Dominican diaspora exists, mostly in the United States, contributes to development, sending billions of dollars to Dominican families in remittances.
Remittances in Dominican Republic increased to US$4571.30 million in 2014 from US$3333 million in 2013 (according to data reported by the Inter-American Development Bank). Economic growth takes place in spite of a chronic energy shortage, which causes frequent blackouts and very high prices. Despite a widening merchandise trade deficit, tourism earnings and remittances have helped build foreign exchange reserves. Following economic turmoil in the late 1980s and 1990, during which the gross domestic product (GDP) fell by up to 5% and consumer price inflation reached an unprecedented 100%, the Dominican Republic entered a period of growth and declining inflation until 2002, after which the economy entered a recession.
This recession followed the collapse of the second-largest commercial bank in the country, Baninter, linked to a major incident of fraud valued at US$3.5 billion. The Baninter fraud had a devastating effect on the Dominican economy, with GDP dropping by 1% in 2003 as inflation ballooned by over 27%. All defendants, including the star of the trial, Ramón Báez Figueroa (the great-grandson of President Buenaventura Báez), were convicted.
According to the 2005 Annual Report of the United Nations Subcommittee on Human Development in the Dominican Republic, the country is ranked No. 71 in the world for resource availability, No. 79 for human development, and No. 14 in the world for resource mismanagement. These statistics emphasize national government corruption, foreign economic interference in the country, and the rift between the rich and poor.
The Dominican Republic has a noted problem of child labor in its coffee, rice, sugarcane, and tomato industries. The labor injustices in the sugarcane industry extend to forced labor according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Three large groups own 75% of the land: the State Sugar Council (Consejo Estatal del Azúcar, CEA), Grupo Vicini, and Central Romana Corporation.
According to the 2016 Global Slavery Index, an estimated 104,800 people are enslaved in the modern day Dominican Republic, or 1.00% of the population. Some slaves in the Dominican Republic are held on sugar plantations, guarded by men on horseback with rifles, and forced to work.
The Dominican peso (abbreviated $ or RD$; ISO 4217 code is "DOP") is the national currency, with the United States dollar, the Euro, the Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc also accepted at most tourist sites. The exchange rate to the U.S. dollar, liberalized by 1985, stood at 2.70 pesos per dollar in August 1986, 14.00 pesos in 1993, and 16.00 pesos in 2000. As of September 2018 the rate was 50.08 pesos per dollar.
Tourism is one of the fueling factors in the Dominican Republic's economic growth. The Dominican Republic is the most popular tourist destination in the Caribbean. With the construction of projects like Cap Cana, San Souci Port in Santo Domingo, Casa De Campo and the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (ancient Moon Palace Resort) in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic expects increased tourism activity in the upcoming years.
Ecotourism has also been a topic increasingly important in this nation, with towns like Jarabacoa and neighboring Constanza, and locations like the Pico Duarte, Bahía de las Águilas, and others becoming more significant in efforts to increase direct benefits from tourism. Most residents from other countries are required to get a tourist card, depending on the country they live in. In the last 10 years the Dominican Republic has become one of the world's notably progressive states in terms of recycling and waste disposal. A UN report cited there was a 221.3% efficiency increase in the previous 10 years due, in part, to the opening of the largest open air landfill site located in the north 10 km from the Haitian border.
The country has three national trunk highways, which connect every major town. These are DR-1, DR-2, and DR-3, which depart from Santo Domingo toward the northern (Cibao), southwestern (Sur), and eastern (El Este) parts of the country respectively. These highways have been consistently improved with the expansion and reconstruction of many sections. Two other national highways serve as spur (DR-5) or alternative routes (DR-4).
In addition to the national highways, the government has embarked on an expansive reconstruction of spur secondary routes, which connect smaller towns to the trunk routes. In the last few years the government constructed a 106-kilometer toll road that connects Santo Domingo with the country's northeastern peninsula. Travelers may now arrive in the Samaná Peninsula in less than two hours. Other additions are the reconstruction of the DR-28 (Jarabacoa – Constanza) and DR-12 (Constanza – Bonao). Despite these efforts, many secondary routes still remain either unpaved or in need of maintenance. There is currently a nationwide program to pave these and other commonly used routes. Also, the Santiago light rail system is in planning stages but currently on hold.
There are two main bus transportation services in the Dominican Republic: one controlled by the government, through the Oficina Técnica de Transito Terrestre (OTTT) and the Oficina Metropolitana de Servicios de Autobuses (OMSA), and the other controlled by private business, among them, Federación Nacional de Transporte La Nueva Opción (FENATRANO) and the Confederacion Nacional de Transporte (CONATRA). The government transportation system covers large routes in metropolitan areas such as Santo Domingo and Santiago.
There are many privately owned bus companies, such as Metro Servicios Turísticos and Caribe Tours, that run daily routes.
The Dominican Republic has a rapid transit system in Santo Domingo, the country's capital. It is the most extensive metro system in the insular Caribbean and Central American region by length and number of stations. The Santo Domingo Metro is part of a major "National Master Plan" to improve transportation in Santo Domingo as well as the rest of the nation. The first line was planned to relieve traffic congestion in the Máximo Gómez and Hermanas Mirabal Avenue. The second line, which opened in April 2013, is meant to relieve the congestion along the Duarte-Kennedy-Centenario Corridor in the city from west to east. The current length of the Metro, with the sections of the two lines open as of August 2013, is 27.35 kilometres (16.99 mi). Before the opening of the second line, 30,856,515 passengers rode the Santo Domingo Metro in 2012. With both lines opened, ridership increased to 61,270,054 passengers in 2014.
The Dominican Republic has a well developed telecommunications infrastructure, with extensive mobile phone and landline services. Cable Internet and DSL are available in most parts of the country, and many Internet service providers offer 3G wireless internet service. The Dominican Republic became the second country in Latin America to have 4G LTE wireless service. The reported speeds are from 1 Mbit/s up to 100 Mbit/s for residential services.
For commercial service there are speeds from 256 kbit/s up to 154 Mbit/s. (Each set of numbers denotes downstream/upstream speed; that is, to the user/from the user.) Projects to extend Wi-Fi hot spots have been made in Santo Domingo. The country's commercial radio stations and television stations are in the process of transferring to the digital spectrum, via HD Radio and HDTV after officially adopting ATSC as the digital medium in the country with a switch-off of analog transmission by September 2015. The telecommunications regulator in the country is INDOTEL (Instituto Dominicano de Telecomunicaciones).
The largest telecommunications company is Claro – part of Carlos Slim's América Móvil – which provides wireless, landline, broadband, and IPTV services. In June 2009 there were more than 8 million phone line subscribers (land and cell users) in the D.R., representing 81% of the country's population and a fivefold increase since the year 2000, when there were 1.6 million. The communications sector generates about 3.0% of the GDP. There were 2,439,997 Internet users in March 2009.
In November 2009, the Dominican Republic became the first Latin American country to pledge to include a "gender perspective" in every information and communications technology (ICT) initiative and policy developed by the government. This is part of the regional eLAC2010 plan. The tool the Dominicans have chosen to design and evaluate all the public policies is the APC Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM).
Electric power service has been unreliable since the Trujillo era, and as much as 75% of the equipment is that old. The country's antiquated power grid causes transmission losses that account for a large share of billed electricity from generators. The privatization of the sector started under a previous administration of Leonel Fernández. The recent investment in a 345 kilovolt "Santo Domingo–Santiago Electrical Highway" with reduced transmission losses, is being heralded as a major capital improvement to the national grid since the mid-1960s.
During the Trujillo regime electrical service was introduced to many cities. Almost 95% of usage was not billed at all. Around half of the Dominican Republic's 2.1 million houses have no meters and most do not pay or pay a fixed monthly rate for their electric service.
Household and general electrical service is delivered at 110 volts alternating at 60 Hz. Electrically powered items from the United States work with no modifications. The majority of the Dominican Republic has access to electricity. Tourist areas tend to have more reliable power, as do business, travel, healthcare, and vital infrastructure. Concentrated efforts were announced to increase efficiency of delivery to places where the collection rate reached 70%. The electricity sector is highly politicized. Some generating companies are undercapitalized and at times unable to purchase adequate fuel supplies.
The Dominican Republic's population was 11,117,873 in 2021, compared to 2,380,000 in 1950. In 2010, 31.2% of the population was under 15 years of age, with 6% of the population over 65 years of age. There were an estimated 102.3 males for every 100 females in 2020. The annual population growth rate for 2006–2007 was 1.5%, with the projected population for the year 2015 being 10,121,000.
The population density in 2007 was 192 per km (498 per sq mi), and 63% of the population lived in urban areas. The southern coastal plains and the Cibao Valley are the most densely populated areas of the country. The capital city Santo Domingo had a population of 2,907,100 in 2010.
Other important cities are Santiago de los Caballeros (pop. 745,293), La Romana (pop. 214,109), San Pedro de Macorís (pop. 185,255), Higüey (153,174), San Francisco de Macorís (pop. 132,725), Puerto Plata (pop. 118,282), and La Vega (pop. 104,536). Per the United Nations, the urban population growth rate for 2000–2005 was 2.3%.
In a 2014 population survey, 70.4% self-identified as mixed (mestizo/indio 58%, mulatto 12.4%), 15.8% as black, 13.5% as white, and 0.3% as "other". According to recent genealogical DNA studies of the Dominican population, the genetic makeup is predominantly European and Sub-Saharan African, with a lesser degree of Native American ancestry. The average Dominican DNA of the founder population is estimated to be 73% European, 10% Native, and 17% African. After the Haitian and Afro-Caribbean migrations the overall percentage changed to 57% European, 8% Native and 35% African. Due to mixed race Dominicans (and most Dominicans in general) being a mix of mainly European and African, with lesser amounts of indigenous Taino, they can accurately be described as "Mulatto" or "Tri-racial". Dominican Republic have several informal terms to loosely describe a person's degree of racial admixture, Mestizo means any type of mixed ancestry unlike in other Latin American countries it describes specifically a European/native mix, Indio describes mixed race people whose skin color is between white and black.
The majority of the Dominican population is tri-racial, with nearly all mixed race individuals having Taíno Native American ancestry along with European (mainly Spanish) and African ancestry. European ancestry in the mixed population typically ranges between 50% and 60% on average, while African ancestry ranges between 30% and 40%, and the Native ancestry usually ranges between 5% and 10%. European and Native ancestry tends to be strongest in cities and towns of the north-central Cibao region, and generally in the mountainous interior of the country. African ancestry is strongest in coastal areas, the southeast plain, and the border regions. In Dominican Republic and some other Latin American countries, it can sometimes be difficult to determine the exact number of racial groups, because the lines between whites and lighter multiracials are very blurry, which is also true between blacks and darker multiracials. As race in Dominican Republic acts as a continuum of white—mulatto—black and not as clear cut as in places like the United States. And many times in the same family, there can be people of different colors and racial phenotypes who are blood related, this is due to the large amounts of interracial mixing for hundreds of years in Dominican Republic and the Spanish Caribbean in general, allowing for high amounts of genetic diversity.
Dominican Republic's citizenship is given by right of blood (Jus sanguinis), not right of soil, meaning being born in Dominican Republic does not guarantee citizenship if parents are illegal immigrants, one would either have to be born in Dominican Republic to parents who are legal citizens or apply for citizenship, citizenship is granted quite easily to people born abroad if they can prove Dominican ancestry. This means that being a Dominican citizen and being a ethnic Dominican is not always interchangeable, as the former implies citizenship that one can receive moving from any country in the world to Dominican Republic, while the latter implies a people tied by ancestry and culture. Ethnic Dominicans are people who are not only born in Dominican Republic (and have legal status) or born abroad with ancestral roots in the country, but more importantly have family roots in the country going back several generations and descend from a mix of varying degrees of Spanish, Taino, and African, the three principal foundational roots of Dominican Republic. Nearly all Dominicans are mixed race, with 75% being "visibly" and "evenly" mixed, and the remaining 25% being predominantly of African or European blood but still with notable admixture. According to a 2017 estimate from the Dominican government, Dominican Republic had a population of 10,189,895, of which 847,979 were immigrants or descendants of recent immigrants and 9,341,916 were ethnic Dominicans. Most Dominicans embrace all sides of their mixed race heritage, but often identify with their nationality first and foremost. Many Dominicans born in the United States now reside in the Dominican Republic, creating a kind of expatriate community, whom have growing influence and play a significant role in the economic growth in Dominican Republic.
Haitians make up the largest ethnic immigrant group in the country, a large majority of them are illegal, in a distant second place are the Venezuelans. Other groups in the country include the descendants of West Asians—mostly Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians. A smaller, yet significant presence of East Asians (primarily ethnic Chinese and Japanese) can also be found throughout the population. Dominicans are also composed of Sephardic Jews that were exiled from Spain and the Mediterranean area in 1492 and 1497, coupled with other migrations dating to the 1700s and during the Second World War contribute to Dominican ancestry.
The population of the Dominican Republic is mostly Spanish-speaking, with the only people who do not speak Spanish fluently being some immigrants. The local variant of Spanish is called Dominican Spanish, which closely resembles other Spanish vernaculars in the Caribbean and has similarities to Canarian Spanish. In addition, it has influences from African languages and borrowed words from indigenous Caribbean languages particular to the island of Hispaniola. Schools are based on a Spanish educational model; English and French are mandatory foreign languages in both private and public schools, although the quality of foreign languages teaching is poor. Some private educational institutes provide teaching in other languages, notably Italian, Japanese and Mandarin.
Haitian Creole is the largest minority language in the Dominican Republic and is spoken by Haitian immigrants and their descendants. There is a community of a few thousand people whose ancestors spoke Samaná English in the Samaná Peninsula. They are the descendants of formerly enslaved African Americans who arrived in the nineteenth century, but only a few elders speak the language today. Tourism, American pop culture, the influence of Dominican Americans, and the country's economic ties with the United States motivate other Dominicans to learn English. The Dominican Republic is ranked 2nd in Latin America and 23rd in the World on English proficiency as a second language.
95.0% Christians 2.6% No religion 2.2% Other religions
As of 2014, 57% of the population (5.7 million) identified themselves as Roman Catholics and 23% (2.3 million) as Protestants (in Latin American countries, Protestants are often called Evangelicos because they emphasize personal and public evangelising and many are Evangelical Protestant or of a Pentecostal group). From 1896 to 1907 missionaries from the Episcopal, Free Methodist, Seventh-day Adventist and Moravians churches began work in the Dominican Republic. Three percent of the 10.63 million Dominican Republic population are Seventh-day Adventists. Recent immigration as well as proselytizing efforts have brought in other religious groups, with the following shares of the population: Spiritist: 2.2%, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 1.3%, Buddhist: 0.1%, Baháʼí: 0.1%, Chinese Folk Religion: 0.1%, Islam: 0.02%, Judaism: 0.01%.
The Catholic Church began to lose its strong dominance in the late 19th century. This was due to a lack of funding, priests, and support programs. During the same time, Protestant Evangelicalism began to gain wider support "with their emphasis on personal responsibility and family rejuvenation, economic entrepreneurship, and biblical fundamentalism". The Dominican Republic has two Catholic patroness saints: Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia (Our Lady Of High Grace) and Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes (Our Lady Of Mercy).
The Dominican Republic has historically granted extensive religious freedom. According to the United States Department of State, "The constitution specifies that there is no state church and provides for freedom of religion and belief. A concordat with the Vatican designates Catholicism as the official religion and extends special privileges to the Catholic Church not granted to other religious groups. These include the legal recognition of church law, use of public funds to underwrite some church expenses, and complete exoneration from customs duties." In the 1950s restrictions were placed upon churches by the government of Trujillo. Letters of protest were sent against the mass arrests of government adversaries. Trujillo began a campaign against the Catholic Church and planned to arrest priests and bishops who preached against the government. This campaign ended before it was put into place, with his assassination.
During World War II a group of Jews escaping Nazi Germany fled to the Dominican Republic and founded the city of Sosúa. It has remained the center of the Jewish population since.
In the 20th century, many Arabs (from Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine), Japanese, and, to a lesser degree, Koreans settled in the country as agricultural laborers and merchants. The Chinese companies found business in telecom, mining, and railroads. The Arab community is rising at an increasing rate and is estimated at 80,000.
Immigrant groups in the country include West Asians—mostly Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians; the current president, Luis Abinader, is of Lebanese descent. East Asians, Koreans, ethnic Chinese and Japanese, can also be found. Europeans are represented mostly by Spanish whites but also with smaller populations of Germans, Italians, French, British, Dutch, Swiss, Russians, and Hungarians.
In addition, there are descendants of immigrants who came from other Caribbean islands, including St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, St. Vincent, Montserrat, Tortola, St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Guadeloupe. They are known locally as Cocolos. They worked on sugarcane plantations and docks and settled mainly in the cities of San Pedro de Macorís and Puerto Plata. Puerto Rican, and to a lesser extent, Cuban immigrants fled to the Dominican Republic from the mid-1800s until about 1940 due to a poor economy and social unrest in their respective home countries. Many Puerto Rican immigrants settled in Higüey, among other cities, and quickly assimilated due to similar culture. Before and during World War II, 800 Jewish refugees moved to the Dominican Republic.
Numerous immigrants have come from other Caribbean countries, as the country has offered economic opportunities. There are many Haitians and Venezuelans living in the Dominican Republic, there are the largest immigrant groups in the country currently, and large numbers of both groups are present in the country illegally. There is an increasing number of well-off Puerto Rican immigrants, owning businesses and vacation homes in the country, many retiring there, they are believed to number around 10,000. Many Europeans and Americans (non-Puerto Rican) are also retiring in the country.
The 2010 Census registered 311,969 Haitians; 24,457 Americans; 6,691 Spaniards; 5,763 Puerto Ricans; and 5,132 Venezuelans. In 2012, the Dominican government made a survey of immigrants in the country and found that there were: 329,281 Haitian-born; 25,814 U. S.-born (excluding Puerto Rican-born); 7,062 Spanish-born; 6,083 Puerto Rican-born; 5,417 Venezuelan-born; 3,841 Cuban-born; 3,795 Italian-born; 3,606 Colombian-born; 2,043 French-born; 1,661 German-born; 1,484 Chinese-born; among others. In the second half of 2017, a second survey of foreign population was conducted in the Dominican Republic. The total population in the Dominican Republic was estimated at 10,189,895, of which 9,341,916 were Dominicans with no foreign background. According to the survey, the majority of the people with foreign background were of Haitian origin (751,080 out of 847,979, or 88.6%), breaking down as follows: 497,825 were Haitians born in Haiti, 171,859 Haitians born in the Dominican Republic and 81,590 Dominicans with a Haitian parent. Other main sources of foreign-born population were Venezuela (25,872), the United States (10,016), Spain (7,592), Italy (3,713), China (3,069), Colombia (2,642), Puerto Rico (2,356), and Cuba (2,024).
Human Rights Watch estimated that 70,000 documented Haitian immigrants and 1,930,000 undocumented immigrants were living in Dominican Republic.
Haiti is the neighboring nation to the Dominican Republic and is considerably poorer, less developed and is additionally the least developed country in the western hemisphere. In 2003, 80% of all Haitians were poor (54% living in abject poverty) and 47.1% were illiterate. The country of nine million people also has a fast growing population, but over two-thirds of the labor force lack formal jobs. Haiti's per capita GDP (PPP) was $1,800 in 2017, or just over one-tenth of the Dominican figure.
As a result, hundreds of thousands of Haitians have migrated to the Dominican Republic, with some estimates of 800,000 Haitians in the country, while others put the Haitian-born population as high as one million. They usually work at low-paying and unskilled jobs in building construction and house cleaning and in sugar plantations. There have been accusations that some Haitian immigrants work in slavery-like conditions and are severely exploited.
Due to the lack of basic amenities and medical facilities in Haiti a large number of Haitian women, often arriving with several health problems, cross the border to Dominican soil. They deliberately come during their last weeks of pregnancy to obtain medical attention for childbirth, since Dominican public hospitals do not refuse medical services based on nationality or legal status. Statistics from a hospital in Santo Domingo report that over 22% of childbirths are by Haitian mothers.
Haiti also suffers from severe environmental degradation. Deforestation is rampant in Haiti; today less than 4 percent of Haiti's forests remain, and in many places the soil has eroded right down to the bedrock. Haitians burn wood charcoal for 60% of their domestic energy production. Because of Haiti running out of plant material to burn, some Haitian bootleggers have created an illegal market for charcoal on the Dominican side. Conservative estimates calculate the illegal movement of 115 tons of charcoal per week from the Dominican Republic to Haiti. Dominican officials estimate that at least 10 trucks per week are crossing the border loaded with charcoal.
In 2005, Dominican President Leonel Fernández criticized collective expulsions of Haitians as having taken place "in an abusive and inhuman way". After a UN delegation issued a preliminary report stating that it found a profound problem of racism and discrimination against people of Haitian origin, Dominican Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso issued a formal statement denouncing it, asserting that "our border with Haiti has its problems[;] this is our reality and it must be understood. It is important not to confuse national sovereignty with indifference, and not to confuse security with xenophobia."
Haitian nationals send half a billion dollars total yearly in remittance from the Dominican Republic to Haiti, according to the World Bank.
The government of the Dominican Republic invested a total of $16 billion pesos in health services offered to foreign patients in 2013–2016, according to official data, which includes medical expenses in blood transfusion, clinical analysis, surgeries and other care. According to official reports, the country spends more than five billion Dominican pesos annually in care for pregnant women who cross the border ready to deliver.
The children of Haitian immigrants are eligible for Haitian nationality, but they may be denied it by Haiti because of a lack of proper documents or witnesses.
The first of three late-20th century emigration waves began in 1961 after the assassination of dictator Trujillo, due to fear of retaliation by Trujillo's allies and political uncertainty in general. In 1965, the United States began a military occupation of the Dominican Republic to end a civil war. Upon this, the U.S. eased travel restrictions, making it easier for Dominicans to obtain U.S. visas. From 1966 to 1978, the exodus continued, fueled by high unemployment and political repression. Communities established by the first wave of immigrants to the U.S. created a network that assisted subsequent arrivals.
In the early 1980s, underemployment, inflation, and the rise in value of the dollar all contributed to a third wave of emigration from the Dominican Republic. Today, emigration from the Dominican Republic remains high. In 2012, there were approximately 1.7 million people of Dominican descent in the U.S., counting both native- and foreign-born. There was also a growing Dominican immigration to Puerto Rico, with nearly 70,000 Dominicans living there as of 2010. Although that number is slowly decreasing and immigration trends have reversed because of Puerto Rico's economic crisis as of 2016.
There is a significant Dominican population in Spain.
In 2020, the Dominican Republic had an estimated birth rate of 18.5 per 1000 and a death rate of 6.3 per 1000.
Primary education is regulated by the Ministry of Education, with education being a right of all citizens and youth in the Dominican Republic.
Preschool education is organized in different cycles and serves the 2–4 age group and the 4–6 age group. Preschool education is not mandatory except for the last year. Basic education is compulsory and serves the population of the 6–14 age group. Secondary education is not compulsory, although it is the duty of the state to offer it for free. It caters to the 14–18 age group and is organized in a common core of four years and three modes of two years of study that are offered in three different options: general or academic, vocational (industrial, agricultural, and services), and artistic.
The higher education system consists of institutes and universities. The institutes offer courses of a higher technical level. The universities offer technical careers, undergraduate and graduate; these are regulated by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology. The Dominican Republic was ranked 94th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023, down from 87th in 2019.
In 2012, the Dominican Republic had a murder rate of 22.1 per 100,000 population. There was a total of 2,268 murders in the Dominican Republic in 2012.
The Dominican Republic has become a trans-shipment point for Colombian drugs destined for Europe as well as the United States and Canada. Money-laundering via the Dominican Republic is favored by Colombian drug cartels for the ease of illicit financial transactions. In 2004, it was estimated that 8% of all cocaine smuggled into the United States had come through the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic responded with increased efforts to seize drug shipments, arrest and extradite those involved, and combat money-laundering.
The often-light treatment of violent criminals has been a continuous source of local controversy. In April 2010, five teenagers, aged 15 to 17, shot and killed two taxi drivers and killed another five by forcing them to drink drain-cleaning acid. On September 24, 2010, the teens were sentenced to prison terms of three to five years, despite the protests of the taxi drivers' families.
Due to cultural syncretism, the culture and customs of the Dominican people have a European cultural basis, influenced by both African and native Taíno elements, although endogenous elements have emerged within Dominican culture; culturally the Dominican Republic is among the most-European countries in Spanish America, alongside Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. Spanish institutions in the colonial era were able to predominate in the Dominican culture's making-of as a relative success in the acculturation and cultural assimilation of African slaves slightly diminished African cultural influence in comparison to other Caribbean countries.
Dominican art is perhaps most commonly associated with the bright, vibrant colors and images that are sold in every tourist gift shop across the country. However, the country has a long history of fine art that goes back to the middle of the 1800s when the country became independent and the beginnings of a national art scene emerged.
Historically, the painting of this time were centered around images connected to national independence, historical scenes, portraits but also landscapes and images of still life. Styles of painting ranged between neoclassicism and romanticism. Between 1920 and 1940 the art scene was influenced by styles of realism and impressionism. Dominican artists were focused on breaking from previous, academic styles in order to develop more independent and individual styles.
The 20th century brought many prominent Dominican writers, and saw a general increase in the perception of Dominican literature. Writers such as Juan Bosch (one of the greatest storytellers in Latin America), Pedro Mir (national poet of the Dominican Republic), Aida Cartagena Portalatin (poet par excellence who spoke in the Era of Rafael Trujillo), Emilio Rodríguez Demorizi (the most important Dominican historian, with more than 1000 written works), Manuel del Cabral (main Dominican poet featured in black poetry), Hector Inchustegui Cabral (considered one of the most prominent voices of the Caribbean social poetry of the twentieth century), Miguel Alfonseca (poet belonging to Generation 60), Rene del Risco (acclaimed poet who was a participant in the June 14 Movement), Mateo Morrison (excellent poet and writer with numerous awards), among many more prolific authors, put the island in one of the most important in Literature in the twentieth century.
New 21st-century Dominican writers have not yet achieved the renown of their 20th-century counterparts. However, writers such as Frank Báez (won the 2006 Santo Domingo Book Fair First Prize) and Junot Díaz (2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao) lead Dominican literature in the 21st century.
The architecture in the Dominican Republic represents a complex blend of diverse cultures. The deep influence of the European colonists is the most evident throughout the country. Characterized by ornate designs and baroque structures, the style can best be seen in the capital city of Santo Domingo, which is home to the first cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress in all of the Americas, located in the city's Colonial Zone, an area declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The designs carry over into the villas and buildings throughout the country. It can also be observed on buildings that contain stucco exteriors, arched doors and windows, and red tiled roofs.
The indigenous peoples of the Dominican Republic have also had a significant influence on the architecture of the country. The Taíno people relied heavily on the mahogany and guano (dried palm tree leaf) to put together crafts, artwork, furniture, and houses. Utilizing mud, thatched roofs, and mahogany trees, they gave buildings and the furniture inside a natural look, seamlessly blending in with the island's surroundings.
Lately, with the rise in tourism and increasing popularity as a Caribbean vacation destination, architects in the Dominican Republic have now begun to incorporate cutting-edge designs that emphasize luxury. In many ways an architectural playground, villas and hotels implement new styles, while offering new takes on the old. This new style is characterized by simplified, angular corners and large windows that blend outdoor and indoor spaces. As with the culture as a whole, contemporary architects embrace the Dominican Republic's rich history and various cultures to create something new. Surveying modern villas, one can find any combination of the three major styles: a villa may contain angular, modernist building construction, Spanish Colonial-style arched windows, and a traditional Taíno hammock in the bedroom balcony.
Dominican cuisine is predominantly Spanish, Taíno, and African in origin. The typical cuisine is similar to what can be found in other Latin American countries. One breakfast dish consists of eggs and mangú (mashed, boiled plantain). Heartier versions of mangú are accompanied by deep-fried meat (Dominican salami, typically), cheese, or both. Lunch, generally the largest and most important meal of the day, usually consists of rice, meat, beans, and salad. "La Bandera" (literally "The Flag") is the most popular lunch dish; it consists of meat and red beans on white rice. Sancocho is a stew often made with seven varieties of meat.
Meals tend to favor meats and starches over dairy products and vegetables. Many dishes are made with sofrito, which is a mix of local herbs used as a wet rub for meats and sautéed to bring out all of a dish's flavors. Throughout the south-central coast, bulgur, or whole wheat, is a main ingredient in quipes or tipili (bulgur salad). Other favorite Dominican foods include chicharrón, yuca, casabe, pastelitos (empanadas), batata, ñame, pasteles en hoja, chimichurris, and tostones.
Some treats Dominicans enjoy are arroz con leche (or arroz con dulce), bizcocho dominicano (lit. "Dominican cake"), habichuelas con dulce, flan, frío frío (snow cones), dulce de leche, and caña (sugarcane). The beverages Dominicans enjoy are Morir Soñando, rum, beer, Mama Juana, batidas (smoothie), jugos naturales (freshly squeezed fruit juices), mabí, coffee, and chaca (also called maiz caqueao/casqueado, maiz con dulce and maiz con leche), the last item being found only in the southern provinces of the country such as San Juan.
Musically, the Dominican Republic is known for the world popular musical style and genre called merengue, a type of lively, fast-paced rhythm and dance music consisting of a tempo of about 120 to 160 beats per minute (though it varies) based on musical elements like drums, brass, chorded instruments, and accordion, as well as some elements unique to the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, such as the tambora and güira.
Its syncopated beats use Latin percussion, brass instruments, bass, and piano or keyboard. Between 1937 and 1950 merengue music was promoted internationally by Dominican groups like Billo's Caracas Boys, Chapuseaux and Damiron "Los Reyes del Merengue", Joseito Mateo, and others. Radio, television, and international media popularized it further. Some well known merengue performers are Wilfrido Vargas, Johnny Ventura, singer-songwriter Los Hermanos Rosario, Juan Luis Guerra, Fernando Villalona, Eddy Herrera, Sergio Vargas, Toño Rosario, Milly Quezada, and Chichí Peralta.
Merengue became popular in the United States, mostly on the East Coast, during the 1980s and 1990s, when many Dominican artists residing in the U.S. (particularly New York) started performing in the Latin club scene and gained radio airplay. They included Victor Roque y La Gran Manzana, Henry Hierro, Zacarias Ferreira, Aventura, and Milly Jocelyn Y Los Vecinos. The emergence of bachata, along with an increase in the number of Dominicans living among other Latino groups in New York, New Jersey, and Florida, has contributed to Dominican music's overall growth in popularity.
Bachata, a form of music and dance that originated in the countryside and rural marginal neighborhoods of the Dominican Republic, has become quite popular in recent years. Its subjects are often romantic; especially prevalent are tales of heartbreak and sadness. In fact, the original name for the genre was amargue ("bitterness", or "bitter music"), until the rather ambiguous (and mood-neutral) term bachata became popular. Bachata grew out of, and is still closely related to, the pan-Latin American romantic style called bolero. Over time, it has been influenced by merengue and by a variety of Latin American guitar styles.
Palo is an Afro-Dominican sacred music that can be found throughout the island. The drum and human voice are the principal instruments. Palo is played at religious ceremonies—usually coinciding with saints' religious feast days—as well as for secular parties and special occasions. Its roots are in the Congo region of central-west Africa, but it is mixed with European influences in the melodies.
Salsa music has had a great deal of popularity in the country. During the late 1960s Dominican musicians like Johnny Pacheco, creator of the Fania All Stars, played a significant role in the development and popularization of the genre.
Dominican rock and Reggaeton are also popular. Many, if not the majority, of its performers are based in Santo Domingo and Santiago.
The country boasts one of the ten most important design schools in the region, La Escuela de Diseño de Altos de Chavón, which is making the country a key player in the world of fashion and design. Noted fashion designer Oscar de la Renta was born in the Dominican Republic in 1932, and became a US citizen in 1971. He studied under the leading Spaniard designer Cristóbal Balenciaga and then worked with the house of Lanvin in Paris. By 1963, he had designs bearing his own label. After establishing himself in the US, de la Renta opened boutiques across the country. His work blends French and Spaniard fashion with American styles. Although he settled in New York, de la Renta also marketed his work in Latin America, where it became very popular, and remained active in his native Dominican Republic, where his charitable activities and personal achievements earned him the Juan Pablo Duarte Order of Merit and the Order of Cristóbal Colón. De la Renta died of complications from cancer on October 20, 2014.
Some of the Dominican Republic's important symbols are the flag, the coat of arms, and the national anthem, titled Himno Nacional. The flag has a large white cross that divides it into four quarters. Two quarters are red and two are blue. Red represents the blood shed by the liberators. Blue expresses God's protection over the nation. The white cross symbolizes the struggle of the liberators to bequeath future generations a free nation. An alternative interpretation is that blue represents the ideals of progress and liberty, whereas white symbolizes peace and unity among Dominicans.
In the center of the cross is the Dominican coat of arms, in the same colors as the national flag. The coat of arms pictures a red, white, and blue flag-draped shield with a Bible, a gold cross, and arrows; the shield is surrounded by an olive branch (on the left) and a palm branch (on the right). The Bible traditionally represents the truth and the light. The gold cross symbolizes the redemption from slavery, and the arrows symbolize the noble soldiers and their proud military. A blue ribbon above the shield reads, "Dios, Patria, Libertad" (meaning "God, Fatherland, Liberty"). A red ribbon under the shield reads, "República Dominicana" (meaning "Dominican Republic"). Out of all the flags in the world, the depiction of a Bible is unique to the Dominican flag.
The national flower is the endemic Bayahibe rose (Leuenbergeria quisqueyana) and the national tree is the West Indian mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni). The national bird is the cigua palmera or palmchat (Dulus dominicus), another endemic species.
The Dominican Republic celebrates Dia de la Altagracia on January 21 in honor of its patroness, Duarte's Day on January 26 in honor of one of its founding fathers, Independence Day on February 27, Restoration Day on August 16, Virgen de las Mercedes on September 24, and Constitution Day on November 6.
Baseball is by far the most popular sport in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Professional Baseball League consists of six teams. Its season usually begins in October and ends in January. After the United States, the Dominican Republic has the second highest number of Major League Baseball (MLB) players. Ozzie Virgil Sr. became the first Dominican-born player in MLB on September 23, 1956. Juan Marichal, Pedro Martínez, Vladimir Guerrero, and David Ortiz are the only Dominican-born players in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Other notable baseball players born in the Dominican Republic are José Bautista, Adrián Beltré, Juan Soto, Robinson Canó, Rico Carty, Bartolo Colón, Nelson Cruz, Edwin Encarnación, Cristian Javier, Ubaldo Jiménez, Francisco Liriano, Plácido Polanco, Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramírez, Manny Ramírez, José Reyes, Alfonso Soriano, Sammy Sosa, Fernando Tatís Jr., Miguel Tejada, and Framber Valdez. Felipe Alou has also enjoyed success as a manager and Omar Minaya as a general manager. In 2013, the Dominican team went undefeated en route to winning the World Baseball Classic.
In boxing, the country has produced scores of world-class fighters and several world champions, such as Carlos Cruz, his brother Leo, Juan Guzman, and Joan Guzman.
Basketball also enjoys a relatively high level of popularity. Tito Horford, his son Al, Felipe Lopez, and Francisco Garcia are among the Dominican-born players currently or formerly in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Olympic gold medalist and world champion hurdler Félix Sánchez hails from the Dominican Republic, as do former NFL defensive end Luis Castillo and 2020 World and European Cyclo-cross champion Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado.
Other important sports are volleyball, introduced in 1916 by U.S. Marines and controlled by the Dominican Volleyball Federation, taekwondo, in which Gabriel Mercedes won an Olympic silver medal in 2008, and judo.
19°00′N 70°40′W / 19.000°N 70.667°W / 19.000; -70.667 | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Dominican Republic (/dəˈmɪnɪkən/ də-MIN-ik-ən; Spanish: República Dominicana, pronounced [reˈpuβlika ðominiˈkana] ) is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with Haiti, making Hispaniola one of only two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that is shared by two sovereign states. It is the second-largest nation in the Antilles by area (after Cuba) at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi), and third-largest by population, with approximately 10.7 million people in 2022, of whom approximately 3.3 million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The native Taíno people had inhabited Hispaniola before the arrival of Europeans, dividing it into five chiefdoms. Christopher Columbus explored and claimed the island for Castile, landing there on his first voyage in 1492. The colony of Santo Domingo became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas and the first seat of Spanish colonial rule in the New World. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which became the independent state of Haiti in 1804.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The Dominican people declared independence from Spain in November 1821, but were forcefully annexed by Haiti in February 1822. Independence came 22 years later in 1844, after victory in the Dominican War of Independence. Over the next 72 years, the Dominican Republic experienced several civil wars, failed invasions by Haiti, and a brief return to Spanish colonial status, before permanently ousting the Spanish during the Dominican War of Restoration of 1863–1865. The U.S. occupied the Dominican Republic (1916–1924) due to threats of defaulting on foreign debts; a subsequent calm and prosperous six-year period under Horacio Vásquez followed.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "From 1930 the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo ruled until his assassination in 1961. Juan Bosch was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. A civil war in 1965, the country's last, was ended by U.S. military intervention and was followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer (1966–1978 and 1986–1996). Since 1978, the Dominican Republic has moved toward representative democracy.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The Dominican Republic has the largest economy (according to the U.S. State Department and the World Bank) in the Caribbean and Central American region and is the seventh-largest economy in Latin America. Over the last 25 years, the Dominican Republic has had the fastest-growing economy in the Western Hemisphere – with an average real GDP growth rate of 5.3% between 1992 and 2018. GDP growth in 2014 and 2015 reached 7.3 and 7.0%, respectively, the highest in the Western Hemisphere. Recent growth has been driven by construction, manufacturing, tourism, and mining. The country is the site of the third largest gold mine in the world, the Pueblo Viejo mine.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. The year-round golf courses and resorts are major attractions. A geographically diverse nation, the Dominican Republic is home to both the Caribbean's tallest mountain peak, Pico Duarte, and the Caribbean's largest lake and lowest point, Lake Enriquillo. The island has an average temperature of 26 °C (78.8 °F) and great climatic and biological diversity.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The country is also the site of the first cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress built in the Americas, located in Santo Domingo's Colonial Zone, a World Heritage Site. The Dominican Republic is highly vulnerable to natural disasters.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The name Dominican originates from Saint Dominic, the patron saint of astronomers, and founder of the Dominican Order.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The Dominican Order established a house of high studies on the colony of Santo Domingo that is now known as the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, the first University in the New World. They dedicated themselves to the education of the inhabitants of the island, and to the protection of the native Taíno people who were subjected to slavery.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "For most of its history, up until independence, the colony was known simply as Santo Domingo – the name of its present capital and patron saint, Saint Dominic – and continued to be commonly known as such in English until the early 20th century. The residents were called \"Dominicans\" (Dominicanos), the adjectival form of \"Domingo\", and as such, the revolutionaries named their newly independent country the \"Dominican Republic\" (la República Dominicana).",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In the national anthem of the Dominican Republic (himno nacional de la República Dominicana), the term \"Dominicans\" does not appear. The author of its lyrics, Emilio Prud'Homme, consistently uses the poetic term \"Quisqueyans\" (Quisqueyanos). The word \"Quisqueya\" derives from the Taíno language, and means \"mother of the lands\" (madre de las tierras). It is often used in songs as another name for the country. The name of the country in English is often shortened to \"the D.R.\" (la R.D.), but this is rare in Spanish.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The Arawakan-speaking Taíno moved into Hispaniola from the north east region of what is now known as South America, displacing earlier inhabitants, c. 650 C.E. They engaged in farming, fishing, hunting and gathering. The fierce Caribs drove the Taíno to the northeastern Caribbean, during much of the 15th century. The estimates of Hispaniola's population in 1492 vary widely, including tens of thousands, one hundred thousand, three hundred thousand, and four hundred thousand to two million. Determining precisely how many people lived on the island in pre-Columbian times is next to impossible, as no accurate records exist. By 1492, the island was divided into five Taíno chiefdoms. The Taíno name for the entire island was either Ayiti or Quisqueya.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The Spaniards arrived in 1492. Initially, after friendly relationships, the Taínos resisted the conquest, led by the female Chief Anacaona of Xaragua and her ex-husband Chief Caonabo of Maguana, as well as Chiefs Guacanagaríx, Guamá, Hatuey, and Enriquillo. The latter's successes gained his people an autonomous enclave for a time on the island. Within a few years after 1492, the population of Taínos had declined drastically, due to smallpox, measles, and other diseases that arrived with the Europeans.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The first recorded smallpox outbreak, in the Americas, occurred on Hispaniola in 1507. The last record of pure Taínos in the country was from 1864. Still, Taíno biological heritage survived to an important extent, due to intermixing. Census records from 1514 reveal that 40% of Spanish men in Santo Domingo were married to Taíno women, and some present-day Dominicans have Taíno ancestry. Remnants of the Taíno culture include their cave paintings, such as the Pomier Caves, as well as pottery designs, which are still used in the small artisan village of Higüerito, Moca.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Christopher Columbus arrived on the island on December 5, 1492, during the first of his four voyages to the Americas. He claimed the land for Spain and named it La Española, due to its diverse climate and terrain, which reminded him of the Spanish landscape. In 1493, fighting broke out between the Spanish and the Taíno, resulting in the deaths of 39 Spaniards and the destruction of their fort, La Navidad. In 1496, Bartholomew Columbus, Christopher's brother, built the city of Santo Domingo, Western Europe's first permanent settlement in the \"New World\". The Spaniards created a plantation economy on the island. The colony became the springboard for the Spanish conquest and exploration of Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Cuba, Darién (Panama) and Yucatán (Mexico).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The Taínos nearly disappeared, above all, due to European infectious diseases. Other causes were abuse, suicide, the breakup of family, starvation, the encomienda system, which resembled a feudal system in Medieval Europe, war with the Spaniards, changes in lifestyle, and mixing with other peoples. Laws passed for the native peoples' protection (beginning with the Laws of Burgos, 1512–1513) were never truly enforced. After the near-total destruction of the Taíno population, a successful resistance took place between 1519 and 1534. Seeking refuge in the Bahoruco mountains, the Taínos raided Spanish plantations, defeated patrols, and negotiated the first truce between an Amerindian chief and a European monarch. The Taínos were pardoned and granted their own town and charter. African slaves were imported to replace the dwindling Taínos. On December 25, 1521, enslaved Africans of Senegalese Wolof origin led the first major slave revolt of the Americas on the plantation of Diego Colón, son of Christopher Columbus. After its conquest of the Aztecs and Incas, Spain neglected its Caribbean holdings. Hispaniola's sugar plantation economy quickly declined. Most Spanish colonists left for the silver-mines of Mexico and Peru, while new immigrants from Spain bypassed the island. Agriculture dwindled, enslaved people were no longer transported to the island, and white colonists, free Black people, and enslaved Black people alike lived in poverty. The breakdown of racial and class-based social hierarchies facilitated an increase in cross-cultural contact, resulting in a population of predominantly mixed Spanish, Taíno, and African descent. Except for the city of Santo Domingo, which managed to maintain some legal exports, Dominican ports were forced to rely on contraband trade, which, along with livestock, became one of the main sources of livelihood for the island's inhabitants.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "In 1603, Philip III of Spain issued a mandate to depopulate towns in the north and west of Hispaniola, ordering the relocation of the inhabitants to the southeast to curb contraband trade. The inhabitants resisted, but Governor Antonio de Osorio carried out the king's orders. His troops hanged insurgents, demolished property, and burned the towns. All the inhabitants were forcibly removed from these regions and strictly prohibited from returning under the penalty of death. This resulted in Spain abandoning half the island.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "During the Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660), on April 23, 1655, an English fleet of 346 warships carrying 13,000 men (7,000 sailors and 6,000 soldiers) arrived at the city of Santo Domingo, the main Spanish stronghold on the island. The expedition aimed to conquer Hispaniola and the rest of the Spanish possessions in America. However, after suffering 1,500 casualties and only killing 25 of the outnumbered defenders, the English forces retreated.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In the mid-17th century, France sent colonists to settle the island of Tortuga and the northwestern coast of Hispaniola (which the Spaniards had abandoned by 1606) due to its strategic position in the region. In order to entice the pirates, France supplied them with women who had been taken from prisons, accused of prostitution and thieving. After decades of armed struggles with the French settlers, Spain ceded the western coast of the island to France with the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick, whilst the Central Plateau remained under Spanish domain. France created a wealthy colony on the island, while the Spanish colony continued to suffer economic decline.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The House of Bourbon replaced the House of Habsburg in Spain in 1700, and introduced economic reforms that gradually began to revive trade in Santo Domingo. The crown progressively relaxed the rigid controls and restrictions on commerce between Spain and the colonies and among the colonies. The last flotas sailed in 1737; the monopoly port system was abolished shortly thereafter. By the middle of the century, the population was bolstered by emigration from the Canary Islands, resettling the northern part of the colony and planting tobacco in the Cibao Valley, and the importation of slaves was renewed.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Santo Domingo's exports soared and the island's agricultural productivity rose, which was assisted by the involvement of Spain in the Seven Years' War, allowing privateers operating out of Santo Domingo to once again patrol surrounding waters for enemy merchantmen. Dominican privateers in the service of the Spanish Crown had already been active in the War of Jenkins' Ear just two decades prior, and they sharply reduced the amount of enemy trade operating in West Indian waters. The prizes they took were carried back to Santo Domingo, where their cargoes were sold to the colony's inhabitants or to foreign merchants doing business there. The enslaved population of the colony also rose, as numerous captive Africans were taken from enemy slave ships in West Indian waters.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The colony of Santo Domingo saw a population increase during the 18th century, as it rose to about 91,272 in 1750. Of this number, approximately 38,272 were white landowners, 38,000 were free multiracial people of color, and some 15,000 were enslaved people. This contrasted sharply with the population of the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) – the wealthiest colony in the Caribbean and whose population of one-half a million was 90% enslaved and overall, seven times as numerous as the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo. As restrictions on colonial trade were relaxed, the colonial elites of Saint-Domingue offered the principal market for Santo Domingo's exports of beef, hides, mahogany, and tobacco. With the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution in 1791, the rich urban families linked to the colonial bureaucracy fled the island, while most of the rural hateros (cattle ranchers) remained, even though they lost their principal market.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Inspired by disputes between white people and mulatto people in Saint-Domingue, a slave revolt broke out in the French colony. Although the population of Santo Domingo was perhaps one-fourth that of Saint-Domingue, this did not prevent the King of Spain from launching an invasion of the French side of the island in 1793, attempting to seize all, or part, of the western third of the island in an alliance of convenience with the formerly enslaved rebels. In August 1793, a column of Dominican troops advanced into Saint-Domingue and were joined by Haitian rebels. However, these rebels soon turned against Spain and instead joined France. The Dominicans were not defeated militarily, but their advance was restrained, and when in 1795 Spain ceded Santo Domingo to France by the Treaty of Basel, Dominican attacks on Saint-Domingue ceased. By 1804, the mulattoes and former slaves had driven the French and British out of Saint-Domingue, establishing Haiti, while a small French garrison remained in Santo Domingo.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "In October 1808, the Dominicans revolted against the French colonial administrators in the city of Santo Domingo, opposing Governor General Louis Ferrand's decision to stop trade with Haiti. The Dominicans annihilated Ferrand's small army in close-quarters combat at the Battle of Palo Hincado, killing or capturing 400 out of 500 enemy troops, at the cost of only 7 of their own killed. Afterward, the French governor committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. The Dominicans, aided by a British fleet and Spanish soldiers from Puerto Rico, besieged the remaining French defenders in the capital. The French, averse to facing public and historical disgrace by submitting to the Dominicans, surrendered to the British on July 11, 1809, after eight months of siege, which led to the return of Santo Domingo to Spanish rule. During the siege of Santo Domingo, 3,300 French citizens fled the city, representing nearly half of its population. In 1809, the Spanish government in Cuba expelled the French from the island, resulting in their mass exodus to New Orleans and other regions. This marked the end of 200 years of French presence in Hispaniola.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "After a dozen years of discontent and failed independence plots by various opposing groups, including a failed 1812 revolt led by Dominican conspirators José Leocadio, Pedro de Seda, and Pedro Henríquez, Santo Domingo's former Lieutenant-Governor (top administrator), José Núñez de Cáceres, declared the colony's independence from the Spanish crown as Spanish Haiti, on November 30, 1821. This period is also known as the Ephemeral independence.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The newly independent republic ended a mere two months later, when it was occupied and annexed by Haiti, then under the leadership of Jean-Pierre Boyer. As Toussaint Louverture had done two decades earlier, the Haitians abolished slavery. Boyer attempts to redistribute land conflicted with the system of communal land tenure (terrenos comuneros), which had arisen with the ranching economy, and some people resented being forced to grow cash crops under Boyer and Joseph Balthazar Inginac's Code Rural. In the rural and rugged mountainous areas, the Haitian administration was usually too inefficient to enforce its own laws. It was in the city of Santo Domingo that the effects of the occupation were most acutely felt, and it was there that the movement for independence originated.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Haiti's constitution forbade white elites from owning land, and Dominican major landowning families were forcibly deprived of their properties. Many emigrated to Cuba, Puerto Rico, or Gran Colombia, usually with the encouragement of Haitian officials who acquired their lands. The Haitians associated the Roman Catholic Church with the French slave-masters who had exploited them before independence and confiscated all church property, deported all foreign clergy, and severed the ties of the remaining clergy to the Vatican. All levels of education collapsed; the university was shut down, as it was starved both of resources and students, with young Dominican men from 16 to 25 years old being drafted into the Haitian army. Boyer's occupation troops, who were largely Dominicans, were unpaid and had to \"forage and sack\" from Dominican civilians. Haiti imposed heavy taxes on the Dominican people.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "In 1838, Juan Pablo Duarte founded a secret society called La Trinitaria, which sought the complete independence of Santo Domingo without any foreign intervention. Also Francisco del Rosario Sánchez and Ramon Matias Mella, despite not being among the founding members of La Trinitaria, were decisive in the fight for independence. Duarte, Mella, and Sánchez are considered the three Founding Fathers of the Dominican Republic.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In 1843, the new Haitian president, Charles Rivière-Hérard, exiled or imprisoned the leading Trinitarios (Trinitarians). After subduing the Dominicans, Rivière-Hérard, a mulatto, faced a rebellion by blacks in Port-au-Prince. Haiti had formed two regiments composed of Dominicans from the city of Santo Domingo; these were used by Rivière-Hérard to suppress the uprising.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "On February 27, 1844, the surviving members of La Trinitaria, now led by Tomás Bobadilla, declared independence from Haiti. The Trinitarios were backed by Pedro Santana, a wealthy cattle rancher from El Seibo, who became general of the army of the nascent republic. The Dominican Republic's first Constitution was adopted on November 6, 1844, and was modeled after the United States Constitution. The decades that followed were filled with tyranny, factionalism, economic difficulties, rapid changes of government, and exile for political opponents. Archrivals Santana and Buenaventura Báez held power most of the time, both ruling arbitrarily. They promoted competing plans to annex the new nation to another power: Santana favored Spain, and Báez the United States.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Threatening the nation's independence were renewed Haitian invasions. In March 1844, Rivière-Hérard attempted to reimpose his authority, but the Dominicans put up stiff opposition and inflicted heavy casualties on the Haitians, compelling them to retreat back into Haiti after a short war. In early July 1844, Duarte was urged by his followers to take the title of President of the Republic. Duarte agreed, but only if free elections were arranged. However, Santana's forces took Santo Domingo on July 12, and they declared Santana ruler of the Dominican Republic. Santana then put Mella, Duarte, and Sánchez in jail. On February 27, 1845, Santana executed María Trinidad Sánchez, heroine of La Trinitaria, and others for conspiracy. In August 1845, Haiti made another attempt to conquer the Dominican Republic. However, this time the Dominicans were better prepared, and the Haitian army was unable to advance beyond Las Matas de Farfán. Later that year, the Haitians tried a naval attack, but their efforts ended in failure when the ships ran aground in Puerto Plata harbor, and all the sailors were captured. In November 1849, Dominican seamen raided the Haitian coasts, plundered seaside villages, as far as Dame Marie, and butchered crews of captured enemy ships. Two more attempts by Haiti to conquer the Dominican Republic, in 1849 and 1855–56, ended in failure.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "The Dominican Republic's first constitution was adopted on November 6, 1844. The state was commonly known as Santo Domingo in English until the early 20th century. It featured a presidential form of government with many liberal tendencies, but it was marred by Article 210, imposed by Pedro Santana on the constitutional assembly by force, giving him the privileges of a dictatorship until the war of independence was over. These privileges not only served him to win the war but also allowed him to persecute, execute and drive into exile his political opponents, among which Duarte was the most important.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The population of the Dominican Republic in 1845 was approximately 230,000 people (100,000 whites; 40,000 blacks; and 90,000 mulattoes). Due to the rugged mountainous terrain of the island the regions of the Dominican Republic developed in isolation from one another. In the south, also known at the time as Ozama, the economy was dominated by cattle-ranching (particularly in the southeastern savannah) and cutting mahogany and other hardwoods for export. This region retained a semi-feudal character, with little commercial agriculture, the hacienda as the dominant social unit, and the majority of the population living at a subsistence level. In the north (better known as Cibao), the nation's richest farmland, farmers supplemented their subsistence crops by growing tobacco for export, mainly to Germany. Tobacco required less land than cattle ranching and was mainly grown by smallholders, who relied on itinerant traders to transport their crops to Puerto Plata and Monte Cristi. Santana antagonized the Cibao farmers, enriching himself and his supporters at their expense by resorting to multiple peso printings that allowed him to buy their crops for a fraction of their value. In 1848, he was forced to resign and was succeeded by his vice-president, Manuel Jimenes.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "After defeating a new Haitian invasion in 1849, Santana marched on Santo Domingo and deposed Jimenes in a coup d'état. At his behest, Congress elected Buenaventura Báez as president, but Báez was unwilling to serve as Santana's puppet, challenging his role as the country's acknowledged military leader. In November 1849, Báez launched a naval offensive against Haiti. A Dominican squadron appeared off the Haitian coast, capturing prizes. On November 4, the squadron bombarded Anse-à-Pitres and conducted a landing operation, seizing booty. The next day, the Dominican ships bombarded Les Cayes, captured a schooner, and sank several smaller boats. Although plans were made to sail up the Windward Passage between Haiti and Cuba in search of more prizes, a mutiny among the Dominican crews forced their return to the port of Santo Domingo. Báez dispatched a second naval expedition against Haiti. On December 3, the squadron commanded by Juan Alejandro Acosta bombarded and burned the town of Petit Rivière. Two days later, Dominican and Haitian flotillas encountered each other off Les Cayes, but a storm broke up the battle.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "As the fighting disrupted sea commerce, the major maritime powers became involved. On March 6, 1850, the United Kingdom and the Dominican Republic signed a commercial treaty. On December 19 of that year, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States declared to the Haitian government that if it persisted in invading the Dominican Republic, they would take appropriate measures.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "In 1853, Santana was elected president for his second term, forcing Báez into exile. Three years later, he negotiated a treaty leasing a portion of Samaná Peninsula to a U.S. company; popular opposition forced him to abdicate, enabling Báez to return and seize power. With the treasury depleted, Báez printed eighteen million uninsured pesos, purchasing the 1857 tobacco crop with this currency and exporting it for hard cash at immense profit to himself and his followers. Cibao tobacco planters, who were ruined when hyperinflation ensued, revolted and formed a new government headed by José Desiderio Valverde and headquartered in Santiago de los Caballeros. In July 1857, General Juan Luis Franco Bidó besieged Santo Domingo. The Cibao-based government declared an amnesty to exiles and Santana returned and managed to replace Franco Bidó in September 1857. After a year of civil war, Santana captured Santo Domingo in June 1858, overthrew both Báez and Valverde and installed himself as president.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "In 1861, after imprisoning, silencing, exiling, and executing many of his opponents and due to political and economic reasons, Santana asked Queen Isabella II of Spain to retake control of the Dominican Republic, after a period of only 17 years of independence. Spain, which had not come to terms with the loss of its American colonies 40 years earlier, accepted his proposal and made the country a colony again. Haiti, fearful of the reestablishment of Spain as colonial power, gave refuge and logistics to revolutionaries seeking to reestablish the independent nation of the Dominican Republic. The ensuing civil war, known as the War of Restoration, claimed more than 50,000 lives.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "The War of Restoration began on August 16, 1863. The Spanish garrison of Santiago was forced to retreat to Puerto Plata by mid-September. According to the New York Times, the Dominicans bombarded the port of Puerto Plata and destroyed much of the town, with very few houses left standing. The estimated cost of the damages to Santiago and Puerto Plata caused by the fighting were at $5 million ($120 million today). In the south, Dominican forces under José María Cabral defeated the Spanish in the Battle of La Canela on December 4, 1864. The victory showed the Dominicans that they could defeat the Spaniards in pitched battle. After nearly two years of fighting, Spain abandoned the island in July 1865. Political strife again prevailed in the following years; warlords ruled, military revolts were extremely common, and the nation amassed debt.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "In 1869, U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant ordered U.S. Marines to the island for the first time. Pirates operating from Haiti had been raiding U.S. commercial shipping in the Caribbean, and Grant directed the Marines to stop them at their source. Following the virtual takeover of the island, Báez offered to sell the country to the United States. Grant desired a naval base at Samaná and also a place for resettling newly freed African Americans. The treaty, which included U.S. payment of $1.5 million for Dominican debt repayment, was defeated in the United States Senate in 1870 on a vote of 28–28, two-thirds being required. Báez was toppled in 1874, returned, and was toppled for good in 1878. A new generation was thence in charge, with the passing of Santana (he died in 1864) and Báez from the scene.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "During the 19th century, the Dominican Republic lost a higher percentage of its population to war than did the United States. Relative peace came to the country in the 1880s, which saw the coming to power of General Ulises Heureaux. \"Lilís\", as the new president was nicknamed, enjoyed a period of popularity. He was, however, \"a consummate dissembler\", who put the nation deep into debt while using much of the proceeds for his personal use and to maintain his police state. Heureaux became rampantly despotic and unpopular. In 1899, he was assassinated. However, the relative calm over which he presided allowed improvement in the Dominican economy. The sugar industry was modernized, and the country attracted foreign workers and immigrants.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Lebanese, Syrians, Turks, and Palestinians began to arrive in the country during the latter part of the 19th century. At first, the Arab immigrants often faced discrimination in the Dominican Republic, but they were eventually assimilated into Dominican society, giving up their own culture and language. During the U.S. occupation of 1916–24, peasants from the countryside, called Gavilleros, would not only kill U.S. Marines, but would also attack and kill Arab vendors traveling through the countryside.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "From 1902 on, short-lived governments were again the norm, with their power usurped by caudillos in parts of the country. Furthermore, the national government was bankrupt and, unable to pay its debts to European creditors, faced the threat of military intervention by France, Germany, and Italy. United States President Theodore Roosevelt sought to prevent European intervention, largely to protect the routes to the future Panama Canal, as the canal was already under construction. He made a small military intervention to ward off European powers, to proclaim his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, and also to obtain his 1905 Dominican agreement for U.S. administration of Dominican customs, which was the chief source of income for the Dominican government. A 1906 agreement provided for the arrangement to last 50 years. The United States agreed to use part of the customs proceeds to reduce the immense foreign debt of the Dominican Republic and assumed responsibility for said debt.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "After six years in power, President Ramón Cáceres (who had himself assassinated Heureaux) was assassinated in 1911. The result was several years of great political instability and civil war. U.S. mediation by the William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson administrations achieved only a short respite each time. A political deadlock in 1914 was broken after an ultimatum by Wilson telling the Dominicans to choose a president or see the U.S. impose one. A provisional president was chosen, and later the same year relatively free elections put former president (1899–1902) Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra back in power. To achieve a more broadly supported government, Jimenes named opposition individuals to his cabinet. But this brought no peace and, with his former Secretary of War Desiderio Arias maneuvering to depose him and despite a U.S. offer of military aid against Arias, Jimenes resigned on May 7, 1916.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Wilson thus ordered the U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic. U.S. Marines landed on May 16, 1916, and seized the capital and other ports, while General Arias fell back to his inland Santiago stronghold. In late June, the Marines began advancing from the north coast towards Santiago. On June 27, they encountered a strong defensive position on Las Trencheras Ridge. Covered by artillery, the Marines attacked and overran the position. The Dominicans fell back to a second defensive line but could not hold this either. A peace delegation from Santiago surrendered the city on July 5, coinciding with General Arias' surrender to the Dominican governor. The U.S. then extended the occupation to the inland cities of Moca and La Vega. The military government established by the U.S. on November 29, led by Vice Admiral Harry Shepard Knapp, was widely repudiated by the Dominicans, with caudillos in the mountainous eastern regions leading guerrilla campaigns against U.S. forces. The Dominican insurgents, who typically operated in groups of less than 150 men, possessed mainly antiquated rifles, and more commonly, were armed only with pistols and shotguns. The U.S. Marines were equipped with machine guns and modern artillery, resulting in a significant weaponry disparity that contributed to the defeat of the Dominican insurgents. The U.S. Marines stationed in the Dominican Republic were Anglo-Americans. African-Americans were not allowed to join the Marines until 1942 due to segregation policies.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "The occupation regime kept most Dominican laws and institutions and largely pacified the general population. The occupying government also revived the Dominican economy, reduced the nation's debt, built a road network that at last interconnected all regions of the country, and created a professional National Guard to replace the warring partisan units. Additionally, with grass-roots support from local communities and assistance from both Dominican and US officials, the Dominican education system expanded significantly during US occupation. Between 1918 and 1920, more than three hundred schools were established nationwide. The system of forced labour used by the Marines in Haiti was absent in the Dominican Republic.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Opposition to the occupation continued, nevertheless, and after World War I it increased in the U.S. as well. There, President Warren G. Harding (1921–23), Wilson's successor, worked to put an end to the occupation, as he had promised to do during his campaign. The U.S. government's rule ended in October 1922, and elections were held in March 1924. The victor was former president (1902–03) Horacio Vásquez, who had cooperated with the U.S. He was inaugurated on July 13, 1924, and the last U.S. forces left in September. In six years, the Marines were involved in at least 370 engagements, resulting in 950 \"bandits\" killed or wounded in action, while 144 Marines were killed, and 50 were wounded.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Vásquez gave the country six years of stable governance, in which political and civil rights were respected and the economy grew strongly, in a relatively peaceful atmosphere. During this time, Rafael Trujillo, who was trained by the U.S. Marines during the occupation, held the rank of lieutenant colonel and was chief of police. This position helped him launch his plans to overthrow the government of Vásquez. Trujillo had the support of Carlos Rosario Peña, who formed the Civic Movement, which had as its main objective to overthrow the government of Vásquez.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "In February 1930, when Vásquez attempted to win another term, his opponents rebelled in secret alliance with the commander of the National Army (the former National Guard), General Rafael Trujillo. Trujillo secretly cut a deal with rebel leader Rafael Estrella Ureña; in return for letting Ureña take power, Trujillo would be allowed to run for president in new elections. As the rebels marched toward Santo Domingo, Vásquez ordered Trujillo to suppress them. However, feigning \"neutrality\", Trujillo kept his men in barracks, allowing Ureña's rebels to take the capital virtually uncontested. On March 3, Ureña was proclaimed acting president with Trujillo confirmed as head of the police and the army. As per their agreement, Trujillo became the presidential nominee of the newly formed Patriotic Coalition of Citizens (Spanish: Coalición patriotica de los ciudadanos), with Ureña as his running mate.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "During the election campaign, Trujillo used the army to unleash his repression, forcing his opponents to withdraw from the race. Trujillo stood to elect himself, and in May he was elected president virtually unopposed after a violent campaign against his opponents, ascending to power on August 16, 1930. Desiderio Arias led a failed revolt against Trujillo and was killed near Mao on June 20, 1931.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "There was considerable economic growth during Rafael Trujillo's long and iron-fisted regime, although a great deal of the wealth was taken by the dictator and other regime elements. There was progress in healthcare, education, and transportation, with the building of hospitals, clinics, schools, roads, and harbors. Trujillo also carried out an important housing construction program and instituted a pension plan. He finally negotiated an undisputed border with Haiti in 1935, and achieved the end of the 50-year customs agreement in 1941, instead of 1956. He made the country debt-free in 1947. This was accompanied by absolute repression and the copious use of murder, torture, and terrorist methods against the opposition. It has been estimated that Trujillo's tyrannical rule was responsible for the death of more than 50,000 Dominicans and foreign nationals, including Cubans, Costa Ricans, Nicaraguans, and Puerto Ricans.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "During World War II, Trujillo symbolically sided with the Allies and declared war on Japan the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor and on Nazi Germany and Italy four days later. Soon after, German U-boats torpedoed and sank two Dominican merchant vessels that Trujillo had named after himself—the San Rafael off Jamaica and the Presidente Trujillo off Fort-de-France, Martinique. German U-boats also sank four Dominican-manned ships in the Caribbean. The country did not make a military contribution to the war, but Dominican sugar and other agricultural products supported the Allied war effort. American Lend-Lease and raw material purchases proved a powerful inducement in obtaining cooperation of the various Latin American republics. Over a hundred Dominicans served in the American armed forces. Many were political exiles from the Trujillo regime. Following World War II, Trujillo sought direct military aid from the United States. However, his request was rejected, prompting Trujillo to establish his own arms factory. In addition, he assigned agents to acquire surplus fighters and bombers from the civilian market. Trujillo's arsenal at San Cristóbal produced carbines, submachine guns, light machine guns, anti-tank guns, hand grenades, and ammunition.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Several Dominicans were assassinated in New York after taking part in anti-Trujillo activities. In July 1949, a failed invasion of the Dominican Republic was carried out by Dominican rebels from Guatemala, and on June 14, 1959, a Cuban invasion at Constanza, Maimón, and Estero Hondo also met with failure. On June 26, Cuba broke diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic due to widespread Dominican human rights abuses and hostility toward the Cuban people. Trujillo formed a Foreign Legion of 3,000 mercenaries to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba. Major William Morgan agreed to lead the attack for $1 million, but the invasion plan never materialized as Castro learned of the plot and instructed Morgan to go along with it and report back. The plan involved causing rebellion in the Sierra del Escambray and sabotaging the Cuban air force, followed by the Foreign Legion landing in Las Villas Province. Trujillo was tricked into believing that Morgan had captured Trinidad and that the airport was available to him, but remained reluctant to commit the Foreign Legion. On August 13, 1959, a C-47 transport flying from the Dominican Republic carrying military advisors and supplies landed at Trinidad airport. Castro seized the aircraft and the ten occupants and arrested some 4,000 suspects throughout Cuba.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "On November 25, 1960, Trujillo's henchmen killed three of the four Mirabal sisters, nicknamed Las Mariposas (The Butterflies). Along with their husbands, the sisters were conspiring to overthrow Trujillo in a violent revolt. The Mirabals had communist ideological leanings, as did their husbands. The sisters have received many honors posthumously and have many memorials in various cities in the Dominican Republic. Salcedo, their home province, changed its name to Provincia Hermanas Mirabal (Mirabal Sisters Province). The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is observed on the anniversary of their deaths.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "For a long time, the U.S. and the Dominican elite supported the Trujillo government. This support persisted despite the assassinations of political opposition, the massacre of Haitians, and Trujillo's plots against other countries. The U.S. believed Trujillo was the lesser of two or more evils. The U.S. finally broke with Trujillo in 1960, after Trujillo's agents attempted to assassinate the Venezuelan president, Rómulo Betancourt, a fierce critic of Trujillo. As the Venezuelan president was en route to preside over a military parade in Caracas, SIM agents detonated nearly 30 kg of explosives packed into two suitcases within a parked car nearby. The force of the explosion hurled the presidential vehicle across the street and engulfed it in flames. As a result of the incident, Betancourt was injured, and Colonel Ramón Armas Perez, the chauffeur, and a bystander were killed. Investigation revealed that the ammonium-nitrate bomb had been assembled in Ciudad Trujillo (Santo Domingo), and that the operation was orchestrated by Johnny Abbes García, the chief of the secret police under Trujillo's regime. This was not the first assassination attempt Trujillo had made on the liberal Betancourt. During Betancourt's earlier exile in Cuba, Trujillo's agents tried to inject poison into him on a Havana street in broad daylight.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "In June 1960, Trujillo legalized the Communist Party and unsuccessfully attempted to establish close political relations with the Soviet Bloc. Both the assassination attempt and the maneuver toward the Soviet Bloc provoked immediate condemnation throughout Latin America. After its representatives confirmed Trujillo's complicity in the nearly successful assassination attempt of Venezuela's president, the Organization of American States, for the first time in its history, decreed sanctions against a member state. The United States severed diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic on August 26, 1960, and in January 1961 suspended the export of trucks, parts, crude oil, gasoline and other petroleum products. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower also took advantage of OAS sanctions to cut drastically purchases of Dominican sugar, the country's major export. This action ultimately cost the Dominican Republic almost $22,000,000 in lost revenues at a time when its economy was in a rapid decline. Trujillo had become expendable. Dissidents inside the Dominican Republic argued that assassination was the only certain way to remove Trujillo.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "According to Chester Bowles, the U.S. Undersecretary of State, internal Department of State discussions in 1961 on the topic were vigorous. Richard N. Goodwin, Assistant Special Counsel to the President, who had direct contacts with the rebel alliance, argued for intervention against Trujillo. Quoting Bowles directly: \"The next morning I learned that in spite of the clear decision against having the dissident group request our assistance Dick Goodwin following the meeting sent a cable to CIA people in the Dominican Republic without checking with State or CIA; indeed, with the protest of the Department of State. The cable directed the CIA people in the Dominican Republic to get this request at any cost. When Allen Dulles found this out the next morning, he withdrew the order. We later discovered it had already been carried out.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Trujillo was assassinated by Dominican dissidents on May 30, 1961. Although the dissidents possessed Dominican-made San Cristóbal submachine guns, they symbolically used U.S.-made M-1 carbines supplied by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to gun down Trujillo. Out of the 14 Trujillo assassins, 12 were subsequently killed, with some of them being fed to sharks.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Ramfis Trujillo, the dictator's son, remained in de facto control of the government for the next six months through his position as commander of the armed forces. Trujillo's brothers, Hector Bienvenido and Jose Arismendi Trujillo, returned to the country and began immediately to plot against President Balaguer. On November 18, 1961, as a planned coup became more evident, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk issued a warning that the United States would not \"remain idle\" if the Trujillos attempted to \"reassert dictatorial domination\" over the Dominican Republic. Following this warning, and the arrival of a fourteen-vessel U.S. naval task force within sight of Santo Domingo, Ramfis and his uncles fled the country on November 19 with $200 million from the Dominican treasury. The OAS lifted its sanctions on January 4, 1962, since the Dominican Republic no longer posed a threat to regional security.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "In February 1963, a democratically elected government under leftist Juan Bosch took office but it was overthrown in September. On April 24, 1965, after 19 months of military rule, a pro-Bosch revolt broke out in Santo Domingo. The pro-Bosch forces called themselves Constitutionalists. The revolution took on the dimensions of a civil war when conservative military forces struck back against the Constitutionalists on April 25. These conservative forces called themselves Loyalists. Despite tank assaults and bombing runs by Loyalist forces, the Constitutionalists held their positions in the capital. The Constitutionalists destroyed several Swedish tanks with bazookas and pre–World War I 75 mm cannons. By April 26, armed civilians outnumbered the original rebel military regulars. Radio Santo Domingo, now fully under rebel control, began to call for more violent actions and for killing of all the policemen.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "On April 28, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson, concerned that communists might take over the revolt and create a \"second Cuba\", sent 24,000 troops into Santo Domingo in Operation Powerpack. \"We don't propose to sit here in a rocking chair with our hands folded and let the Communist set up any government in the Western Hemisphere,\" Johnson said. The forces were soon joined by comparatively small contingents from the Organization of American States (OAS). Following U.S. intervention, psychological warfare became the primary weapon of the Constitutionalists, who numbered between 2,000 and 4,000. Dictator Trujillo had established an extensive and sophisticated telecommunications and radio broadcasting system that could reach every corner of the republic; Radio Santo Domingo, equipped with numerous alternative transmitter and antenna field sites, as well as relay stations, was nearly invulnerable. The Constitutionalist rebels adeptly utilized the radio to incite the population to revolt and communicate with their own forces. Despite the robust electronic warfare capabilities of U.S. forces in the region, designed for military targets, they had limited effect on commercial transmitting systems. Therefore, the rebels were able to use this propaganda weapon until the main Radio Santo Domingo facility was physically put out of operation by Loyalist forces, who used the U.S. presence to deploy its forces and attack Constitutionalists.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Loyalist forces destroyed most Constitutionalist bases and captured the rebel radio station, effectively ending the war. A ceasefire was declared on May 21. The U.S. began withdrawing some of its troops by May 26. However, Col. Francisco Caamaño's untrained civilians attacked American positions on June 15. Despite the coordinated attack involving mortars, rocket launchers, and several light tanks, the rebels lost a 56-square-block area to 82nd Airborne Division units which had received OAS permission to advance. During this pitched battle, the armed civilians sustained 232 casualties and the U.S. soldiers sustained 36 casualties.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Over 7,000 Dominicans were killed or wounded in the civil war, most of them prior to the U.S. intervention. A total of 48 Americans died and 189 were wounded in action. U.S. and OAS peacekeeping troops remained in the country for over a year and left after supervising elections in 1966 won by Joaquín Balaguer. He had been Trujillo's last puppet-president. Balaguer remained in power as president for 12 years. His tenure was a period of repression of human rights and civil liberties, ostensibly to keep pro-Castro or pro-communist parties out of power; 11,000 persons were killed, tortured or forcibly disappeared. His rule was criticized for a growing disparity between rich and poor. It was, however, praised for an ambitious infrastructure program, which included the construction of large housing projects, sports complexes, theaters, museums, aqueducts, roads, highways, and the massive Columbus Lighthouse, completed in 1992 during a later tenure. During Balaguer's administration, the Dominican military forced Haitians to cut sugarcane on Dominican sugar plantations.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "In February 1973, former Colonel Francisco Caamaño, along with his group of around 30 rebels, landed on the coast of the Dominican Republic. Balaguer declared a state of emergency and mobilized the army, which quickly defeated the insurgency, resulting in Caamaño being killed. Dominican Republic fighter-bombers strafed a Norwegian ship, mistaking it for a vessel carrying guerrillas. In September 1977, twelve Cuban-manned MiG-21s conducted strafing flights over Puerto Plata to warn Balaguer against intercepting Cuban merchant ships headed to or returning from Africa. Hurricane David hit the Dominican Republic in August 1979, which left upwards of 2,000 people dead and 200,000 homeless. The hurricane caused over $1 billion in damage.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "In 1978, Balaguer was succeeded in the presidency by opposition candidate Antonio Guzmán Fernández, of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). Another PRD win in 1982 followed, under Salvador Jorge Blanco. Balaguer regained the presidency in 1986 and was re-elected in 1990 and 1994, this last time just defeating PRD candidate José Francisco Peña Gómez, a former mayor of Santo Domingo. The 1994 elections were flawed, bringing on international pressure, to which Balaguer responded by scheduling another presidential contest in 1996. Balaguer was not a candidate. The PSRC candidate was his Vice President Jacinto Peynado Garrigosa.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "In 1996, with the support of Joaquín Balaguer and the Social Christian Reform Party in a coalition called the Patriotic Front, Leonel Fernández achieved the first-ever win for the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), which Bosch had founded in 1973 after leaving the PRD (which he also had founded). Fernández oversaw a fast-growing economy: growth averaged 7.7% per year, unemployment fell, and there were stable exchange and inflation rates. His administration supported the process of modernizing the judicial system, making transparent the creation of an independent Supreme Court of Justice. Efforts were also made to reform and modernize the other state bodies. In addition, relations with Cuba were reestablished and the Free Trade Agreement with Central America was signed, which was the genesis for the signing of DR-CAFTA.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "In 2000, the PRD's Hipólito Mejía won the election. This was a time of economic troubles. Under Mejía, the Dominican Republic participated in the US-led coalition, as part of the Multinational Plus Ultra Brigade, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, suffering no casualties. In 2004, the country withdrew its approximately 300 soldiers from Iraq. The Dominican Republic has also contributed troops to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "In 2008, Fernández was elected for a third term. Fernández and the PLD are credited with initiatives that have moved the country forward technologically, on the other hand, his administrations have been accused of corruption.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Danilo Medina of the PLD was elected president in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. On the other hand, a significant increase in crime, government corruption and a weak justice system threaten to overshadow their administrative period.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "He was succeeded by the opposition candidate Luis Abinader in the 2020 election (weeks after protests erupted in the country against Medina's government), marking the end to 16 years in power of the centre-left Dominican Liberation Party (PLD).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "The Dominican Republic comprises the eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola, the second-largest island in the Greater Antilles, with the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south. It shares the island roughly at a 2:1 ratio with Haiti, the north-to-south (though somewhat irregular) border between the two countries being 376 km (234 mi). To the north and north-west lie The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and to the east, across the Mona Passage, the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The country's area is reported variously as 48,442 km (18,704 sq mi) (by the embassy in the United States) and 48,670 km (18,792 sq mi), making it the second largest country in the Antilles, after Cuba. The Dominican Republic's capital and largest city Santo Domingo is on the southern coast.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "The Dominican Republic has four important mountain ranges. The most northerly is the Cordillera Septentrional (\"Northern Mountain Range\"), which extends from the northwestern coastal town of Monte Cristi, near the Haitian border, to the Samaná Peninsula in the east, running parallel to the Atlantic coast. The highest range in the Dominican Republic – indeed, in the whole of the West Indies – is the Cordillera Central (\"Central Mountain Range\"). It gradually bends southwards and finishes near the town of Azua, on the Caribbean coast. In the Cordillera Central are the four highest peaks in the Caribbean: Pico Duarte (3,098 metres or 10,164 feet above sea level), La Pelona (3,094 metres or 10,151 feet), La Rucilla (3,049 metres or 10,003 feet), and Pico Yaque (2,760 metres or 9,055 feet). In the southwest corner of the country, south of the Cordillera Central, there are two other ranges: the more northerly of the two is the Sierra de Neiba, while in the south the Sierra de Bahoruco is a continuation of the Massif de la Selle in Haiti. There are other, minor mountain ranges, such as the Cordillera Oriental (\"Eastern Mountain Range\"), Sierra Martín García, Sierra de Yamasá, and Sierra de Samaná.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "Between the Central and Northern mountain ranges lies the rich and fertile Cibao valley. This major valley is home to the cities of Santiago and La Vega and most of the farming areas of the nation. Rather less productive are the semi-arid San Juan Valley, south of the Central Cordillera, and the Neiba Valley, tucked between the Sierra de Neiba and the Sierra de Bahoruco. Much of the land around the Enriquillo Basin is below sea level, with a hot, arid, desert-like environment. There are other smaller valleys in the mountains, such as the Constanza, Jarabacoa, Villa Altagracia, and Bonao valleys.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "The Llano Costero del Caribe (\"Caribbean Coastal Plain\") is the largest of the plains in the Dominican Republic. Stretching north and east of Santo Domingo, it contains many sugar plantations in the savannahs that are common there. West of Santo Domingo its width is reduced to 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) as it hugs the coast, finishing at the mouth of the Ocoa River. Another large plain is the Plena de Azua (\"Azua Plain\"), a very arid region in Azua Province. A few other small coastal plains are on the northern coast and in the Pedernales Peninsula.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "Four major rivers drain the numerous mountains of the Dominican Republic. The Yaque del Norte is the longest and most important Dominican river. It carries excess water down from the Cibao Valley and empties into Monte Cristi Bay, in the northwest. Likewise, the Yuna River serves the Vega Real and empties into Samaná Bay, in the northeast. Drainage of the San Juan Valley is provided by the San Juan River, tributary of the Yaque del Sur, which empties into the Caribbean, in the south. The Artibonito is the longest river of Hispaniola and flows westward into Haiti.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "There are many lakes and coastal lagoons. The largest lake is Enriquillo, a salt lake at 45 metres (148 ft) below sea level, the lowest elevation in the Caribbean. Other important lakes are Laguna de Rincón or Cabral, with fresh water, and Laguna de Oviedo, a lagoon with brackish water.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "There are many small offshore islands and cays that form part of the Dominican territory. The two largest islands near shore are Saona, in the southeast, and Beata, in the southwest. Smaller islands include the Cayos Siete Hermanos, Isla Cabra, Cayo Jackson, Cayo Limón, Cayo Levantado, Cayo la Bocaina, Catalanita, Cayo Pisaje and Isla Alto Velo. To the north, at distances of 100–200 kilometres (62–124 mi), are three extensive, largely submerged banks, which geographically are a southeast continuation of the Bahamas: Navidad Bank, Silver Bank, and Mouchoir Bank. Navidad Bank and Silver Bank have been officially claimed by the Dominican Republic. Isla Cabritos lies within Lago Enriquillo.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "The Dominican Republic is located near fault action in the Caribbean. In 1946, it suffered a magnitude 8.1 earthquake off the northeast coast, triggering a tsunami that killed about 1,800, mostly in coastal communities. Caribbean countries and the United States have collaborated to create tsunami warning systems and are mapping high-risk low-lying areas.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "The country is home to five terrestrial ecoregions: Hispaniolan moist forests, Hispaniolan dry forests, Hispaniolan pine forests, Enriquillo wetlands, and Greater Antilles mangroves. It had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.18/10, ranking it 134th globally out of 172 countries.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "The Dominican Republic has a tropical rainforest climate in the coastal and lowland areas. Some areas, such as most of the Cibao region, have a tropical savanna climate. Due to its diverse topography, Dominican Republic's climate shows considerable variation over short distances and is the most varied of all the Antilles. The annual average temperature is 25 °C (77 °F). At higher elevations the temperature averages 18 °C (64.4 °F) while near sea level the average temperature is 28 °C (82.4 °F). Low temperatures of 0 °C (32 °F) are possible in the mountains while high temperatures of 40 °C (104 °F) are possible in protected valleys. January and February are the coolest months of the year while August is the hottest month. Snowfall can be seen on rare occasions on the summit of Pico Duarte.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "The wet season along the northern coast lasts from November through January. Elsewhere the wet season stretches from May through November, with May being the wettest month. Average annual rainfall is 1,500 millimetres (59.1 in) countrywide, with individual locations in the Valle de Neiba seeing averages as low as 350 millimetres (13.8 in) while the Cordillera Oriental averages 2,740 millimetres (107.9 in). The driest part of the country lies in the west.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "Tropical cyclones strike the Dominican Republic every couple of years, with 65% of the impacts along the southern coast. Hurricanes are most likely between June and October. The last major hurricane that struck the country was Hurricane Georges in 1998.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "Bats make up 90% of the native terrestrial mammal species residing in the Dominican Republic. Lake Enriquillo, located in the Dominican Republic's southwest, is home to the largest population of American crocodiles.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "The Dominican Republic is a representative democracy or democratic republic, with three branches of power: executive, legislative, and judicial. The president of the Dominican Republic heads the executive branch and executes laws passed by the congress, appoints the cabinet, and is commander in chief of the armed forces. The president and vice-president run for office on the same ticket and are elected by direct vote for four-year terms. The national legislature is bicameral, composed of a senate, which has 32 members, and the Chamber of Deputies, with 178 members.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "Judicial authority rests with the Supreme Court of Justice's 16 members. The court \"alone hears actions against the president, designated members of his Cabinet, and members of Congress when the legislature is in session.\" The court is appointed by a council known as the National Council of the Magistracy which is composed of the president, the leaders of both houses of Congress, the President of the Supreme Court, and an opposition or non–governing-party member.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "The Dominican Republic has a multi-party political system. Elections are held every two years, alternating between the presidential elections, which are held in years evenly divisible by four, and the congressional and municipal elections, which are held in even-numbered years not divisible by four. \"International observers have found that presidential and congressional elections since 1996 have been generally free and fair.\" The Central Elections Board (JCE) of nine members supervises elections, and its decisions are unappealable. Starting in 2016, elections are held jointly, after a constitutional reform.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "The three major parties are the conservative Social Christian Reformist Party (Spanish: Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC)), in power 1966–78 and 1986–96; and the social democratic Dominican Revolutionary Party (Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD)), in power in 1963, 1978–86, and 2000–04; and the Dominican Liberation Party (Spanish: Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD)), in power 1996–2000 and 2004–2020.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "The presidential elections of 2008 were held on May 16, 2008, with incumbent Leonel Fernández winning 53% of the vote. He defeated Miguel Vargas Maldonado, of the PRD, who achieved a 40.48% share of the vote. Amable Aristy, of the PRSC, achieved 4.59% of the vote. Other minority candidates, which included former Attorney General Guillermo Moreno from the Movement for Independence, Unity and Change (Spanish: Movimiento Independencia, Unidad y Cambio (MIUCA)), and PRSC former presidential candidate and defector Eduardo Estrella, obtained less than 1% of the vote.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "In the 2012 presidential elections, the incumbent president Leonel Fernández (PLD) declined his aspirations and instead the PLD elected Danilo Medina as its candidate. This time the PRD presented ex-president Hipólito Mejía as its choice. The contest was won by Medina with 51.21% of the vote, against 46.95% in favor of Mejía. Candidate Guillermo Moreno obtained 1.37% of the votes.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "In 2014, the Modern Revolutionary Party (Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Moderno) was created by a faction of leaders from the PRD, and has since become the predominant opposition party, polling in second place for the May 2016 general elections.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "In 2020, protests erupted against the PLD's rule. The presidential candidate for the opposition Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), Luis Abinader, won the election, defeating the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), which had governed since 2004.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "The Dominican Republic has a close relationship with the United States, and has close cultural ties with the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and other states and jurisdictions of the United States.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "The Dominican Republic's relationship with neighbouring Haiti is strained over mass Haitian migration to the Dominican Republic, with citizens of the Dominican Republic blaming the Haitians for increased crime and other social problems. The Dominican Republic is a regular member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "The Dominican Republic has a Free Trade Agreement with the United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua via the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement. And an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union and the Caribbean Community via the Caribbean Forum.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "The Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic are the military forces of the Dominican Republic. They consist of approximately 56,000 active duty personnel. The President of the Dominican Republic is the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic and the Ministry of Defense is the chief managing body of the armed forces.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "The Army, with 28,750 active duty personnel, consists of six infantry brigades, an air cavalry squadron and a combat service support brigade. The Air Force operates two main bases, one in the southern region near Santo Domingo and one in the northern region of the country, the air force operates approximately 75 aircraft including helicopters. The Navy operates two major naval bases, one in Santo Domingo and one in Las Calderas on the southwestern coast.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "The armed forces have organized a Specialized Airport Security Corps (CESA) and a Specialized Port Security Corps (CESEP) to meet international security needs in these areas. The secretary of the armed forces has also announced plans to form a specialized border corps (CESEF). The armed forces provide 75% of personnel to the National Investigations Directorate (DNI) and the Counter-Drug Directorate (DNCD).",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "In 2018, Dominican Republic signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "The Dominican Republic is divided into 31 provinces. Santo Domingo, the capital, is designated Distrito Nacional (National District). The provinces are divided into municipalities (municipios; singular municipio). They are the second-level political and administrative subdivisions of the country. The president appoints the governors of the 31 provinces. Mayors and municipal councils administer the 124 municipal districts and the National District (Santo Domingo). They are elected at the same time as congressional representatives.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "The provinces are the first–level administrative subdivisions of the country. The headquarters of the central government's regional offices are normally found in the capital cities of provinces. The president appoints an administrative governor (Gobernador Civil) for each province but not for the Distrito Nacional (Title IX of the constitution).",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "The Distrito Nacional was created in 1936. Prior to this, the Distrito National was the old Santo Domingo Province, in existence since the country's independence in 1844. It is not to be confused with the new Santo Domingo Province split off from it in 2001. While it is similar to a province in many ways, the Distrito Nacional differs in its lack of an administrative governor and consisting only of one municipality, Santo Domingo, the city council (ayuntamiento) and mayor (síndico) which are in charge of its administration.",
"title": "Government and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "During the last three decades, the Dominican economy, formerly dependent on the export of agricultural commodities (mainly sugar, cocoa and coffee), has transitioned to a diversified mix of services, manufacturing, agriculture, mining, and trade. The service sector accounts for almost 60% of GDP; manufacturing, for 22%; tourism, telecommunications and finance are the main components of the service sector; however, none of them accounts for more than 10% of the whole. The Dominican Republic has a stock market, Bolsa de Valores de la República Dominicana (BVRD). and advanced telecommunication system and transportation infrastructure. High unemployment and income inequality are long-term challenges. International migration affects the Dominican Republic greatly, as it receives and sends large flows of migrants. Mass illegal Haitian immigration and the integration of Dominicans of Haitian descent are major issues. A large Dominican diaspora exists, mostly in the United States, contributes to development, sending billions of dollars to Dominican families in remittances.",
"title": "Economy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "Remittances in Dominican Republic increased to US$4571.30 million in 2014 from US$3333 million in 2013 (according to data reported by the Inter-American Development Bank). Economic growth takes place in spite of a chronic energy shortage, which causes frequent blackouts and very high prices. Despite a widening merchandise trade deficit, tourism earnings and remittances have helped build foreign exchange reserves. Following economic turmoil in the late 1980s and 1990, during which the gross domestic product (GDP) fell by up to 5% and consumer price inflation reached an unprecedented 100%, the Dominican Republic entered a period of growth and declining inflation until 2002, after which the economy entered a recession.",
"title": "Economy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "This recession followed the collapse of the second-largest commercial bank in the country, Baninter, linked to a major incident of fraud valued at US$3.5 billion. The Baninter fraud had a devastating effect on the Dominican economy, with GDP dropping by 1% in 2003 as inflation ballooned by over 27%. All defendants, including the star of the trial, Ramón Báez Figueroa (the great-grandson of President Buenaventura Báez), were convicted.",
"title": "Economy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "According to the 2005 Annual Report of the United Nations Subcommittee on Human Development in the Dominican Republic, the country is ranked No. 71 in the world for resource availability, No. 79 for human development, and No. 14 in the world for resource mismanagement. These statistics emphasize national government corruption, foreign economic interference in the country, and the rift between the rich and poor.",
"title": "Economy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "The Dominican Republic has a noted problem of child labor in its coffee, rice, sugarcane, and tomato industries. The labor injustices in the sugarcane industry extend to forced labor according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Three large groups own 75% of the land: the State Sugar Council (Consejo Estatal del Azúcar, CEA), Grupo Vicini, and Central Romana Corporation.",
"title": "Economy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "According to the 2016 Global Slavery Index, an estimated 104,800 people are enslaved in the modern day Dominican Republic, or 1.00% of the population. Some slaves in the Dominican Republic are held on sugar plantations, guarded by men on horseback with rifles, and forced to work.",
"title": "Economy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "The Dominican peso (abbreviated $ or RD$; ISO 4217 code is \"DOP\") is the national currency, with the United States dollar, the Euro, the Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc also accepted at most tourist sites. The exchange rate to the U.S. dollar, liberalized by 1985, stood at 2.70 pesos per dollar in August 1986, 14.00 pesos in 1993, and 16.00 pesos in 2000. As of September 2018 the rate was 50.08 pesos per dollar.",
"title": "Economy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "Tourism is one of the fueling factors in the Dominican Republic's economic growth. The Dominican Republic is the most popular tourist destination in the Caribbean. With the construction of projects like Cap Cana, San Souci Port in Santo Domingo, Casa De Campo and the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (ancient Moon Palace Resort) in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic expects increased tourism activity in the upcoming years.",
"title": "Economy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "Ecotourism has also been a topic increasingly important in this nation, with towns like Jarabacoa and neighboring Constanza, and locations like the Pico Duarte, Bahía de las Águilas, and others becoming more significant in efforts to increase direct benefits from tourism. Most residents from other countries are required to get a tourist card, depending on the country they live in. In the last 10 years the Dominican Republic has become one of the world's notably progressive states in terms of recycling and waste disposal. A UN report cited there was a 221.3% efficiency increase in the previous 10 years due, in part, to the opening of the largest open air landfill site located in the north 10 km from the Haitian border.",
"title": "Economy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "The country has three national trunk highways, which connect every major town. These are DR-1, DR-2, and DR-3, which depart from Santo Domingo toward the northern (Cibao), southwestern (Sur), and eastern (El Este) parts of the country respectively. These highways have been consistently improved with the expansion and reconstruction of many sections. Two other national highways serve as spur (DR-5) or alternative routes (DR-4).",
"title": "Infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "In addition to the national highways, the government has embarked on an expansive reconstruction of spur secondary routes, which connect smaller towns to the trunk routes. In the last few years the government constructed a 106-kilometer toll road that connects Santo Domingo with the country's northeastern peninsula. Travelers may now arrive in the Samaná Peninsula in less than two hours. Other additions are the reconstruction of the DR-28 (Jarabacoa – Constanza) and DR-12 (Constanza – Bonao). Despite these efforts, many secondary routes still remain either unpaved or in need of maintenance. There is currently a nationwide program to pave these and other commonly used routes. Also, the Santiago light rail system is in planning stages but currently on hold.",
"title": "Infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "There are two main bus transportation services in the Dominican Republic: one controlled by the government, through the Oficina Técnica de Transito Terrestre (OTTT) and the Oficina Metropolitana de Servicios de Autobuses (OMSA), and the other controlled by private business, among them, Federación Nacional de Transporte La Nueva Opción (FENATRANO) and the Confederacion Nacional de Transporte (CONATRA). The government transportation system covers large routes in metropolitan areas such as Santo Domingo and Santiago.",
"title": "Infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "There are many privately owned bus companies, such as Metro Servicios Turísticos and Caribe Tours, that run daily routes.",
"title": "Infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "The Dominican Republic has a rapid transit system in Santo Domingo, the country's capital. It is the most extensive metro system in the insular Caribbean and Central American region by length and number of stations. The Santo Domingo Metro is part of a major \"National Master Plan\" to improve transportation in Santo Domingo as well as the rest of the nation. The first line was planned to relieve traffic congestion in the Máximo Gómez and Hermanas Mirabal Avenue. The second line, which opened in April 2013, is meant to relieve the congestion along the Duarte-Kennedy-Centenario Corridor in the city from west to east. The current length of the Metro, with the sections of the two lines open as of August 2013, is 27.35 kilometres (16.99 mi). Before the opening of the second line, 30,856,515 passengers rode the Santo Domingo Metro in 2012. With both lines opened, ridership increased to 61,270,054 passengers in 2014.",
"title": "Infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "The Dominican Republic has a well developed telecommunications infrastructure, with extensive mobile phone and landline services. Cable Internet and DSL are available in most parts of the country, and many Internet service providers offer 3G wireless internet service. The Dominican Republic became the second country in Latin America to have 4G LTE wireless service. The reported speeds are from 1 Mbit/s up to 100 Mbit/s for residential services.",
"title": "Infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 115,
"text": "For commercial service there are speeds from 256 kbit/s up to 154 Mbit/s. (Each set of numbers denotes downstream/upstream speed; that is, to the user/from the user.) Projects to extend Wi-Fi hot spots have been made in Santo Domingo. The country's commercial radio stations and television stations are in the process of transferring to the digital spectrum, via HD Radio and HDTV after officially adopting ATSC as the digital medium in the country with a switch-off of analog transmission by September 2015. The telecommunications regulator in the country is INDOTEL (Instituto Dominicano de Telecomunicaciones).",
"title": "Infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 116,
"text": "The largest telecommunications company is Claro – part of Carlos Slim's América Móvil – which provides wireless, landline, broadband, and IPTV services. In June 2009 there were more than 8 million phone line subscribers (land and cell users) in the D.R., representing 81% of the country's population and a fivefold increase since the year 2000, when there were 1.6 million. The communications sector generates about 3.0% of the GDP. There were 2,439,997 Internet users in March 2009.",
"title": "Infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 117,
"text": "In November 2009, the Dominican Republic became the first Latin American country to pledge to include a \"gender perspective\" in every information and communications technology (ICT) initiative and policy developed by the government. This is part of the regional eLAC2010 plan. The tool the Dominicans have chosen to design and evaluate all the public policies is the APC Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM).",
"title": "Infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 118,
"text": "Electric power service has been unreliable since the Trujillo era, and as much as 75% of the equipment is that old. The country's antiquated power grid causes transmission losses that account for a large share of billed electricity from generators. The privatization of the sector started under a previous administration of Leonel Fernández. The recent investment in a 345 kilovolt \"Santo Domingo–Santiago Electrical Highway\" with reduced transmission losses, is being heralded as a major capital improvement to the national grid since the mid-1960s.",
"title": "Infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 119,
"text": "During the Trujillo regime electrical service was introduced to many cities. Almost 95% of usage was not billed at all. Around half of the Dominican Republic's 2.1 million houses have no meters and most do not pay or pay a fixed monthly rate for their electric service.",
"title": "Infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 120,
"text": "Household and general electrical service is delivered at 110 volts alternating at 60 Hz. Electrically powered items from the United States work with no modifications. The majority of the Dominican Republic has access to electricity. Tourist areas tend to have more reliable power, as do business, travel, healthcare, and vital infrastructure. Concentrated efforts were announced to increase efficiency of delivery to places where the collection rate reached 70%. The electricity sector is highly politicized. Some generating companies are undercapitalized and at times unable to purchase adequate fuel supplies.",
"title": "Infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 121,
"text": "The Dominican Republic's population was 11,117,873 in 2021, compared to 2,380,000 in 1950. In 2010, 31.2% of the population was under 15 years of age, with 6% of the population over 65 years of age. There were an estimated 102.3 males for every 100 females in 2020. The annual population growth rate for 2006–2007 was 1.5%, with the projected population for the year 2015 being 10,121,000.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 122,
"text": "The population density in 2007 was 192 per km (498 per sq mi), and 63% of the population lived in urban areas. The southern coastal plains and the Cibao Valley are the most densely populated areas of the country. The capital city Santo Domingo had a population of 2,907,100 in 2010.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 123,
"text": "Other important cities are Santiago de los Caballeros (pop. 745,293), La Romana (pop. 214,109), San Pedro de Macorís (pop. 185,255), Higüey (153,174), San Francisco de Macorís (pop. 132,725), Puerto Plata (pop. 118,282), and La Vega (pop. 104,536). Per the United Nations, the urban population growth rate for 2000–2005 was 2.3%.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 124,
"text": "In a 2014 population survey, 70.4% self-identified as mixed (mestizo/indio 58%, mulatto 12.4%), 15.8% as black, 13.5% as white, and 0.3% as \"other\". According to recent genealogical DNA studies of the Dominican population, the genetic makeup is predominantly European and Sub-Saharan African, with a lesser degree of Native American ancestry. The average Dominican DNA of the founder population is estimated to be 73% European, 10% Native, and 17% African. After the Haitian and Afro-Caribbean migrations the overall percentage changed to 57% European, 8% Native and 35% African. Due to mixed race Dominicans (and most Dominicans in general) being a mix of mainly European and African, with lesser amounts of indigenous Taino, they can accurately be described as \"Mulatto\" or \"Tri-racial\". Dominican Republic have several informal terms to loosely describe a person's degree of racial admixture, Mestizo means any type of mixed ancestry unlike in other Latin American countries it describes specifically a European/native mix, Indio describes mixed race people whose skin color is between white and black.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 125,
"text": "The majority of the Dominican population is tri-racial, with nearly all mixed race individuals having Taíno Native American ancestry along with European (mainly Spanish) and African ancestry. European ancestry in the mixed population typically ranges between 50% and 60% on average, while African ancestry ranges between 30% and 40%, and the Native ancestry usually ranges between 5% and 10%. European and Native ancestry tends to be strongest in cities and towns of the north-central Cibao region, and generally in the mountainous interior of the country. African ancestry is strongest in coastal areas, the southeast plain, and the border regions. In Dominican Republic and some other Latin American countries, it can sometimes be difficult to determine the exact number of racial groups, because the lines between whites and lighter multiracials are very blurry, which is also true between blacks and darker multiracials. As race in Dominican Republic acts as a continuum of white—mulatto—black and not as clear cut as in places like the United States. And many times in the same family, there can be people of different colors and racial phenotypes who are blood related, this is due to the large amounts of interracial mixing for hundreds of years in Dominican Republic and the Spanish Caribbean in general, allowing for high amounts of genetic diversity.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 126,
"text": "Dominican Republic's citizenship is given by right of blood (Jus sanguinis), not right of soil, meaning being born in Dominican Republic does not guarantee citizenship if parents are illegal immigrants, one would either have to be born in Dominican Republic to parents who are legal citizens or apply for citizenship, citizenship is granted quite easily to people born abroad if they can prove Dominican ancestry. This means that being a Dominican citizen and being a ethnic Dominican is not always interchangeable, as the former implies citizenship that one can receive moving from any country in the world to Dominican Republic, while the latter implies a people tied by ancestry and culture. Ethnic Dominicans are people who are not only born in Dominican Republic (and have legal status) or born abroad with ancestral roots in the country, but more importantly have family roots in the country going back several generations and descend from a mix of varying degrees of Spanish, Taino, and African, the three principal foundational roots of Dominican Republic. Nearly all Dominicans are mixed race, with 75% being \"visibly\" and \"evenly\" mixed, and the remaining 25% being predominantly of African or European blood but still with notable admixture. According to a 2017 estimate from the Dominican government, Dominican Republic had a population of 10,189,895, of which 847,979 were immigrants or descendants of recent immigrants and 9,341,916 were ethnic Dominicans. Most Dominicans embrace all sides of their mixed race heritage, but often identify with their nationality first and foremost. Many Dominicans born in the United States now reside in the Dominican Republic, creating a kind of expatriate community, whom have growing influence and play a significant role in the economic growth in Dominican Republic.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 127,
"text": "Haitians make up the largest ethnic immigrant group in the country, a large majority of them are illegal, in a distant second place are the Venezuelans. Other groups in the country include the descendants of West Asians—mostly Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians. A smaller, yet significant presence of East Asians (primarily ethnic Chinese and Japanese) can also be found throughout the population. Dominicans are also composed of Sephardic Jews that were exiled from Spain and the Mediterranean area in 1492 and 1497, coupled with other migrations dating to the 1700s and during the Second World War contribute to Dominican ancestry.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 128,
"text": "The population of the Dominican Republic is mostly Spanish-speaking, with the only people who do not speak Spanish fluently being some immigrants. The local variant of Spanish is called Dominican Spanish, which closely resembles other Spanish vernaculars in the Caribbean and has similarities to Canarian Spanish. In addition, it has influences from African languages and borrowed words from indigenous Caribbean languages particular to the island of Hispaniola. Schools are based on a Spanish educational model; English and French are mandatory foreign languages in both private and public schools, although the quality of foreign languages teaching is poor. Some private educational institutes provide teaching in other languages, notably Italian, Japanese and Mandarin.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 129,
"text": "Haitian Creole is the largest minority language in the Dominican Republic and is spoken by Haitian immigrants and their descendants. There is a community of a few thousand people whose ancestors spoke Samaná English in the Samaná Peninsula. They are the descendants of formerly enslaved African Americans who arrived in the nineteenth century, but only a few elders speak the language today. Tourism, American pop culture, the influence of Dominican Americans, and the country's economic ties with the United States motivate other Dominicans to learn English. The Dominican Republic is ranked 2nd in Latin America and 23rd in the World on English proficiency as a second language.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 130,
"text": "95.0% Christians 2.6% No religion 2.2% Other religions",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 131,
"text": "As of 2014, 57% of the population (5.7 million) identified themselves as Roman Catholics and 23% (2.3 million) as Protestants (in Latin American countries, Protestants are often called Evangelicos because they emphasize personal and public evangelising and many are Evangelical Protestant or of a Pentecostal group). From 1896 to 1907 missionaries from the Episcopal, Free Methodist, Seventh-day Adventist and Moravians churches began work in the Dominican Republic. Three percent of the 10.63 million Dominican Republic population are Seventh-day Adventists. Recent immigration as well as proselytizing efforts have brought in other religious groups, with the following shares of the population: Spiritist: 2.2%, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 1.3%, Buddhist: 0.1%, Baháʼí: 0.1%, Chinese Folk Religion: 0.1%, Islam: 0.02%, Judaism: 0.01%.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 132,
"text": "The Catholic Church began to lose its strong dominance in the late 19th century. This was due to a lack of funding, priests, and support programs. During the same time, Protestant Evangelicalism began to gain wider support \"with their emphasis on personal responsibility and family rejuvenation, economic entrepreneurship, and biblical fundamentalism\". The Dominican Republic has two Catholic patroness saints: Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia (Our Lady Of High Grace) and Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes (Our Lady Of Mercy).",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 133,
"text": "The Dominican Republic has historically granted extensive religious freedom. According to the United States Department of State, \"The constitution specifies that there is no state church and provides for freedom of religion and belief. A concordat with the Vatican designates Catholicism as the official religion and extends special privileges to the Catholic Church not granted to other religious groups. These include the legal recognition of church law, use of public funds to underwrite some church expenses, and complete exoneration from customs duties.\" In the 1950s restrictions were placed upon churches by the government of Trujillo. Letters of protest were sent against the mass arrests of government adversaries. Trujillo began a campaign against the Catholic Church and planned to arrest priests and bishops who preached against the government. This campaign ended before it was put into place, with his assassination.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 134,
"text": "During World War II a group of Jews escaping Nazi Germany fled to the Dominican Republic and founded the city of Sosúa. It has remained the center of the Jewish population since.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 135,
"text": "In the 20th century, many Arabs (from Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine), Japanese, and, to a lesser degree, Koreans settled in the country as agricultural laborers and merchants. The Chinese companies found business in telecom, mining, and railroads. The Arab community is rising at an increasing rate and is estimated at 80,000.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 136,
"text": "Immigrant groups in the country include West Asians—mostly Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians; the current president, Luis Abinader, is of Lebanese descent. East Asians, Koreans, ethnic Chinese and Japanese, can also be found. Europeans are represented mostly by Spanish whites but also with smaller populations of Germans, Italians, French, British, Dutch, Swiss, Russians, and Hungarians.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 137,
"text": "In addition, there are descendants of immigrants who came from other Caribbean islands, including St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, St. Vincent, Montserrat, Tortola, St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Guadeloupe. They are known locally as Cocolos. They worked on sugarcane plantations and docks and settled mainly in the cities of San Pedro de Macorís and Puerto Plata. Puerto Rican, and to a lesser extent, Cuban immigrants fled to the Dominican Republic from the mid-1800s until about 1940 due to a poor economy and social unrest in their respective home countries. Many Puerto Rican immigrants settled in Higüey, among other cities, and quickly assimilated due to similar culture. Before and during World War II, 800 Jewish refugees moved to the Dominican Republic.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 138,
"text": "Numerous immigrants have come from other Caribbean countries, as the country has offered economic opportunities. There are many Haitians and Venezuelans living in the Dominican Republic, there are the largest immigrant groups in the country currently, and large numbers of both groups are present in the country illegally. There is an increasing number of well-off Puerto Rican immigrants, owning businesses and vacation homes in the country, many retiring there, they are believed to number around 10,000. Many Europeans and Americans (non-Puerto Rican) are also retiring in the country.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 139,
"text": "The 2010 Census registered 311,969 Haitians; 24,457 Americans; 6,691 Spaniards; 5,763 Puerto Ricans; and 5,132 Venezuelans. In 2012, the Dominican government made a survey of immigrants in the country and found that there were: 329,281 Haitian-born; 25,814 U. S.-born (excluding Puerto Rican-born); 7,062 Spanish-born; 6,083 Puerto Rican-born; 5,417 Venezuelan-born; 3,841 Cuban-born; 3,795 Italian-born; 3,606 Colombian-born; 2,043 French-born; 1,661 German-born; 1,484 Chinese-born; among others. In the second half of 2017, a second survey of foreign population was conducted in the Dominican Republic. The total population in the Dominican Republic was estimated at 10,189,895, of which 9,341,916 were Dominicans with no foreign background. According to the survey, the majority of the people with foreign background were of Haitian origin (751,080 out of 847,979, or 88.6%), breaking down as follows: 497,825 were Haitians born in Haiti, 171,859 Haitians born in the Dominican Republic and 81,590 Dominicans with a Haitian parent. Other main sources of foreign-born population were Venezuela (25,872), the United States (10,016), Spain (7,592), Italy (3,713), China (3,069), Colombia (2,642), Puerto Rico (2,356), and Cuba (2,024).",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 140,
"text": "Human Rights Watch estimated that 70,000 documented Haitian immigrants and 1,930,000 undocumented immigrants were living in Dominican Republic.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 141,
"text": "Haiti is the neighboring nation to the Dominican Republic and is considerably poorer, less developed and is additionally the least developed country in the western hemisphere. In 2003, 80% of all Haitians were poor (54% living in abject poverty) and 47.1% were illiterate. The country of nine million people also has a fast growing population, but over two-thirds of the labor force lack formal jobs. Haiti's per capita GDP (PPP) was $1,800 in 2017, or just over one-tenth of the Dominican figure.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 142,
"text": "As a result, hundreds of thousands of Haitians have migrated to the Dominican Republic, with some estimates of 800,000 Haitians in the country, while others put the Haitian-born population as high as one million. They usually work at low-paying and unskilled jobs in building construction and house cleaning and in sugar plantations. There have been accusations that some Haitian immigrants work in slavery-like conditions and are severely exploited.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 143,
"text": "Due to the lack of basic amenities and medical facilities in Haiti a large number of Haitian women, often arriving with several health problems, cross the border to Dominican soil. They deliberately come during their last weeks of pregnancy to obtain medical attention for childbirth, since Dominican public hospitals do not refuse medical services based on nationality or legal status. Statistics from a hospital in Santo Domingo report that over 22% of childbirths are by Haitian mothers.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 144,
"text": "Haiti also suffers from severe environmental degradation. Deforestation is rampant in Haiti; today less than 4 percent of Haiti's forests remain, and in many places the soil has eroded right down to the bedrock. Haitians burn wood charcoal for 60% of their domestic energy production. Because of Haiti running out of plant material to burn, some Haitian bootleggers have created an illegal market for charcoal on the Dominican side. Conservative estimates calculate the illegal movement of 115 tons of charcoal per week from the Dominican Republic to Haiti. Dominican officials estimate that at least 10 trucks per week are crossing the border loaded with charcoal.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 145,
"text": "In 2005, Dominican President Leonel Fernández criticized collective expulsions of Haitians as having taken place \"in an abusive and inhuman way\". After a UN delegation issued a preliminary report stating that it found a profound problem of racism and discrimination against people of Haitian origin, Dominican Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso issued a formal statement denouncing it, asserting that \"our border with Haiti has its problems[;] this is our reality and it must be understood. It is important not to confuse national sovereignty with indifference, and not to confuse security with xenophobia.\"",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 146,
"text": "Haitian nationals send half a billion dollars total yearly in remittance from the Dominican Republic to Haiti, according to the World Bank.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 147,
"text": "The government of the Dominican Republic invested a total of $16 billion pesos in health services offered to foreign patients in 2013–2016, according to official data, which includes medical expenses in blood transfusion, clinical analysis, surgeries and other care. According to official reports, the country spends more than five billion Dominican pesos annually in care for pregnant women who cross the border ready to deliver.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 148,
"text": "The children of Haitian immigrants are eligible for Haitian nationality, but they may be denied it by Haiti because of a lack of proper documents or witnesses.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 149,
"text": "The first of three late-20th century emigration waves began in 1961 after the assassination of dictator Trujillo, due to fear of retaliation by Trujillo's allies and political uncertainty in general. In 1965, the United States began a military occupation of the Dominican Republic to end a civil war. Upon this, the U.S. eased travel restrictions, making it easier for Dominicans to obtain U.S. visas. From 1966 to 1978, the exodus continued, fueled by high unemployment and political repression. Communities established by the first wave of immigrants to the U.S. created a network that assisted subsequent arrivals.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 150,
"text": "In the early 1980s, underemployment, inflation, and the rise in value of the dollar all contributed to a third wave of emigration from the Dominican Republic. Today, emigration from the Dominican Republic remains high. In 2012, there were approximately 1.7 million people of Dominican descent in the U.S., counting both native- and foreign-born. There was also a growing Dominican immigration to Puerto Rico, with nearly 70,000 Dominicans living there as of 2010. Although that number is slowly decreasing and immigration trends have reversed because of Puerto Rico's economic crisis as of 2016.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 151,
"text": "There is a significant Dominican population in Spain.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 152,
"text": "In 2020, the Dominican Republic had an estimated birth rate of 18.5 per 1000 and a death rate of 6.3 per 1000.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 153,
"text": "Primary education is regulated by the Ministry of Education, with education being a right of all citizens and youth in the Dominican Republic.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 154,
"text": "Preschool education is organized in different cycles and serves the 2–4 age group and the 4–6 age group. Preschool education is not mandatory except for the last year. Basic education is compulsory and serves the population of the 6–14 age group. Secondary education is not compulsory, although it is the duty of the state to offer it for free. It caters to the 14–18 age group and is organized in a common core of four years and three modes of two years of study that are offered in three different options: general or academic, vocational (industrial, agricultural, and services), and artistic.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 155,
"text": "The higher education system consists of institutes and universities. The institutes offer courses of a higher technical level. The universities offer technical careers, undergraduate and graduate; these are regulated by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology. The Dominican Republic was ranked 94th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023, down from 87th in 2019.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 156,
"text": "In 2012, the Dominican Republic had a murder rate of 22.1 per 100,000 population. There was a total of 2,268 murders in the Dominican Republic in 2012.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 157,
"text": "The Dominican Republic has become a trans-shipment point for Colombian drugs destined for Europe as well as the United States and Canada. Money-laundering via the Dominican Republic is favored by Colombian drug cartels for the ease of illicit financial transactions. In 2004, it was estimated that 8% of all cocaine smuggled into the United States had come through the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic responded with increased efforts to seize drug shipments, arrest and extradite those involved, and combat money-laundering.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 158,
"text": "The often-light treatment of violent criminals has been a continuous source of local controversy. In April 2010, five teenagers, aged 15 to 17, shot and killed two taxi drivers and killed another five by forcing them to drink drain-cleaning acid. On September 24, 2010, the teens were sentenced to prison terms of three to five years, despite the protests of the taxi drivers' families.",
"title": "Society"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 159,
"text": "Due to cultural syncretism, the culture and customs of the Dominican people have a European cultural basis, influenced by both African and native Taíno elements, although endogenous elements have emerged within Dominican culture; culturally the Dominican Republic is among the most-European countries in Spanish America, alongside Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. Spanish institutions in the colonial era were able to predominate in the Dominican culture's making-of as a relative success in the acculturation and cultural assimilation of African slaves slightly diminished African cultural influence in comparison to other Caribbean countries.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 160,
"text": "Dominican art is perhaps most commonly associated with the bright, vibrant colors and images that are sold in every tourist gift shop across the country. However, the country has a long history of fine art that goes back to the middle of the 1800s when the country became independent and the beginnings of a national art scene emerged.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 161,
"text": "Historically, the painting of this time were centered around images connected to national independence, historical scenes, portraits but also landscapes and images of still life. Styles of painting ranged between neoclassicism and romanticism. Between 1920 and 1940 the art scene was influenced by styles of realism and impressionism. Dominican artists were focused on breaking from previous, academic styles in order to develop more independent and individual styles.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 162,
"text": "The 20th century brought many prominent Dominican writers, and saw a general increase in the perception of Dominican literature. Writers such as Juan Bosch (one of the greatest storytellers in Latin America), Pedro Mir (national poet of the Dominican Republic), Aida Cartagena Portalatin (poet par excellence who spoke in the Era of Rafael Trujillo), Emilio Rodríguez Demorizi (the most important Dominican historian, with more than 1000 written works), Manuel del Cabral (main Dominican poet featured in black poetry), Hector Inchustegui Cabral (considered one of the most prominent voices of the Caribbean social poetry of the twentieth century), Miguel Alfonseca (poet belonging to Generation 60), Rene del Risco (acclaimed poet who was a participant in the June 14 Movement), Mateo Morrison (excellent poet and writer with numerous awards), among many more prolific authors, put the island in one of the most important in Literature in the twentieth century.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 163,
"text": "New 21st-century Dominican writers have not yet achieved the renown of their 20th-century counterparts. However, writers such as Frank Báez (won the 2006 Santo Domingo Book Fair First Prize) and Junot Díaz (2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao) lead Dominican literature in the 21st century.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 164,
"text": "The architecture in the Dominican Republic represents a complex blend of diverse cultures. The deep influence of the European colonists is the most evident throughout the country. Characterized by ornate designs and baroque structures, the style can best be seen in the capital city of Santo Domingo, which is home to the first cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress in all of the Americas, located in the city's Colonial Zone, an area declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The designs carry over into the villas and buildings throughout the country. It can also be observed on buildings that contain stucco exteriors, arched doors and windows, and red tiled roofs.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 165,
"text": "The indigenous peoples of the Dominican Republic have also had a significant influence on the architecture of the country. The Taíno people relied heavily on the mahogany and guano (dried palm tree leaf) to put together crafts, artwork, furniture, and houses. Utilizing mud, thatched roofs, and mahogany trees, they gave buildings and the furniture inside a natural look, seamlessly blending in with the island's surroundings.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 166,
"text": "Lately, with the rise in tourism and increasing popularity as a Caribbean vacation destination, architects in the Dominican Republic have now begun to incorporate cutting-edge designs that emphasize luxury. In many ways an architectural playground, villas and hotels implement new styles, while offering new takes on the old. This new style is characterized by simplified, angular corners and large windows that blend outdoor and indoor spaces. As with the culture as a whole, contemporary architects embrace the Dominican Republic's rich history and various cultures to create something new. Surveying modern villas, one can find any combination of the three major styles: a villa may contain angular, modernist building construction, Spanish Colonial-style arched windows, and a traditional Taíno hammock in the bedroom balcony.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 167,
"text": "Dominican cuisine is predominantly Spanish, Taíno, and African in origin. The typical cuisine is similar to what can be found in other Latin American countries. One breakfast dish consists of eggs and mangú (mashed, boiled plantain). Heartier versions of mangú are accompanied by deep-fried meat (Dominican salami, typically), cheese, or both. Lunch, generally the largest and most important meal of the day, usually consists of rice, meat, beans, and salad. \"La Bandera\" (literally \"The Flag\") is the most popular lunch dish; it consists of meat and red beans on white rice. Sancocho is a stew often made with seven varieties of meat.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 168,
"text": "Meals tend to favor meats and starches over dairy products and vegetables. Many dishes are made with sofrito, which is a mix of local herbs used as a wet rub for meats and sautéed to bring out all of a dish's flavors. Throughout the south-central coast, bulgur, or whole wheat, is a main ingredient in quipes or tipili (bulgur salad). Other favorite Dominican foods include chicharrón, yuca, casabe, pastelitos (empanadas), batata, ñame, pasteles en hoja, chimichurris, and tostones.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 169,
"text": "Some treats Dominicans enjoy are arroz con leche (or arroz con dulce), bizcocho dominicano (lit. \"Dominican cake\"), habichuelas con dulce, flan, frío frío (snow cones), dulce de leche, and caña (sugarcane). The beverages Dominicans enjoy are Morir Soñando, rum, beer, Mama Juana, batidas (smoothie), jugos naturales (freshly squeezed fruit juices), mabí, coffee, and chaca (also called maiz caqueao/casqueado, maiz con dulce and maiz con leche), the last item being found only in the southern provinces of the country such as San Juan.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 170,
"text": "Musically, the Dominican Republic is known for the world popular musical style and genre called merengue, a type of lively, fast-paced rhythm and dance music consisting of a tempo of about 120 to 160 beats per minute (though it varies) based on musical elements like drums, brass, chorded instruments, and accordion, as well as some elements unique to the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, such as the tambora and güira.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 171,
"text": "Its syncopated beats use Latin percussion, brass instruments, bass, and piano or keyboard. Between 1937 and 1950 merengue music was promoted internationally by Dominican groups like Billo's Caracas Boys, Chapuseaux and Damiron \"Los Reyes del Merengue\", Joseito Mateo, and others. Radio, television, and international media popularized it further. Some well known merengue performers are Wilfrido Vargas, Johnny Ventura, singer-songwriter Los Hermanos Rosario, Juan Luis Guerra, Fernando Villalona, Eddy Herrera, Sergio Vargas, Toño Rosario, Milly Quezada, and Chichí Peralta.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 172,
"text": "Merengue became popular in the United States, mostly on the East Coast, during the 1980s and 1990s, when many Dominican artists residing in the U.S. (particularly New York) started performing in the Latin club scene and gained radio airplay. They included Victor Roque y La Gran Manzana, Henry Hierro, Zacarias Ferreira, Aventura, and Milly Jocelyn Y Los Vecinos. The emergence of bachata, along with an increase in the number of Dominicans living among other Latino groups in New York, New Jersey, and Florida, has contributed to Dominican music's overall growth in popularity.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 173,
"text": "Bachata, a form of music and dance that originated in the countryside and rural marginal neighborhoods of the Dominican Republic, has become quite popular in recent years. Its subjects are often romantic; especially prevalent are tales of heartbreak and sadness. In fact, the original name for the genre was amargue (\"bitterness\", or \"bitter music\"), until the rather ambiguous (and mood-neutral) term bachata became popular. Bachata grew out of, and is still closely related to, the pan-Latin American romantic style called bolero. Over time, it has been influenced by merengue and by a variety of Latin American guitar styles.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 174,
"text": "Palo is an Afro-Dominican sacred music that can be found throughout the island. The drum and human voice are the principal instruments. Palo is played at religious ceremonies—usually coinciding with saints' religious feast days—as well as for secular parties and special occasions. Its roots are in the Congo region of central-west Africa, but it is mixed with European influences in the melodies.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 175,
"text": "Salsa music has had a great deal of popularity in the country. During the late 1960s Dominican musicians like Johnny Pacheco, creator of the Fania All Stars, played a significant role in the development and popularization of the genre.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 176,
"text": "Dominican rock and Reggaeton are also popular. Many, if not the majority, of its performers are based in Santo Domingo and Santiago.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 177,
"text": "The country boasts one of the ten most important design schools in the region, La Escuela de Diseño de Altos de Chavón, which is making the country a key player in the world of fashion and design. Noted fashion designer Oscar de la Renta was born in the Dominican Republic in 1932, and became a US citizen in 1971. He studied under the leading Spaniard designer Cristóbal Balenciaga and then worked with the house of Lanvin in Paris. By 1963, he had designs bearing his own label. After establishing himself in the US, de la Renta opened boutiques across the country. His work blends French and Spaniard fashion with American styles. Although he settled in New York, de la Renta also marketed his work in Latin America, where it became very popular, and remained active in his native Dominican Republic, where his charitable activities and personal achievements earned him the Juan Pablo Duarte Order of Merit and the Order of Cristóbal Colón. De la Renta died of complications from cancer on October 20, 2014.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 178,
"text": "Some of the Dominican Republic's important symbols are the flag, the coat of arms, and the national anthem, titled Himno Nacional. The flag has a large white cross that divides it into four quarters. Two quarters are red and two are blue. Red represents the blood shed by the liberators. Blue expresses God's protection over the nation. The white cross symbolizes the struggle of the liberators to bequeath future generations a free nation. An alternative interpretation is that blue represents the ideals of progress and liberty, whereas white symbolizes peace and unity among Dominicans.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 179,
"text": "In the center of the cross is the Dominican coat of arms, in the same colors as the national flag. The coat of arms pictures a red, white, and blue flag-draped shield with a Bible, a gold cross, and arrows; the shield is surrounded by an olive branch (on the left) and a palm branch (on the right). The Bible traditionally represents the truth and the light. The gold cross symbolizes the redemption from slavery, and the arrows symbolize the noble soldiers and their proud military. A blue ribbon above the shield reads, \"Dios, Patria, Libertad\" (meaning \"God, Fatherland, Liberty\"). A red ribbon under the shield reads, \"República Dominicana\" (meaning \"Dominican Republic\"). Out of all the flags in the world, the depiction of a Bible is unique to the Dominican flag.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 180,
"text": "The national flower is the endemic Bayahibe rose (Leuenbergeria quisqueyana) and the national tree is the West Indian mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni). The national bird is the cigua palmera or palmchat (Dulus dominicus), another endemic species.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 181,
"text": "The Dominican Republic celebrates Dia de la Altagracia on January 21 in honor of its patroness, Duarte's Day on January 26 in honor of one of its founding fathers, Independence Day on February 27, Restoration Day on August 16, Virgen de las Mercedes on September 24, and Constitution Day on November 6.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 182,
"text": "Baseball is by far the most popular sport in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Professional Baseball League consists of six teams. Its season usually begins in October and ends in January. After the United States, the Dominican Republic has the second highest number of Major League Baseball (MLB) players. Ozzie Virgil Sr. became the first Dominican-born player in MLB on September 23, 1956. Juan Marichal, Pedro Martínez, Vladimir Guerrero, and David Ortiz are the only Dominican-born players in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Other notable baseball players born in the Dominican Republic are José Bautista, Adrián Beltré, Juan Soto, Robinson Canó, Rico Carty, Bartolo Colón, Nelson Cruz, Edwin Encarnación, Cristian Javier, Ubaldo Jiménez, Francisco Liriano, Plácido Polanco, Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramírez, Manny Ramírez, José Reyes, Alfonso Soriano, Sammy Sosa, Fernando Tatís Jr., Miguel Tejada, and Framber Valdez. Felipe Alou has also enjoyed success as a manager and Omar Minaya as a general manager. In 2013, the Dominican team went undefeated en route to winning the World Baseball Classic.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 183,
"text": "In boxing, the country has produced scores of world-class fighters and several world champions, such as Carlos Cruz, his brother Leo, Juan Guzman, and Joan Guzman.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 184,
"text": "Basketball also enjoys a relatively high level of popularity. Tito Horford, his son Al, Felipe Lopez, and Francisco Garcia are among the Dominican-born players currently or formerly in the National Basketball Association (NBA).",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 185,
"text": "Olympic gold medalist and world champion hurdler Félix Sánchez hails from the Dominican Republic, as do former NFL defensive end Luis Castillo and 2020 World and European Cyclo-cross champion Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 186,
"text": "Other important sports are volleyball, introduced in 1916 by U.S. Marines and controlled by the Dominican Volleyball Federation, taekwondo, in which Gabriel Mercedes won an Olympic silver medal in 2008, and judo.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 187,
"text": "19°00′N 70°40′W / 19.000°N 70.667°W / 19.000; -70.667",
"title": "External links"
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] | The Dominican Republic is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with Haiti, making Hispaniola one of only two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that is shared by two sovereign states. It is the second-largest nation in the Antilles by area at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi), and third-largest by population, with approximately 10.7 million people in 2022, of whom approximately 3.3 million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city. The native Taíno people had inhabited Hispaniola before the arrival of Europeans, dividing it into five chiefdoms. Christopher Columbus explored and claimed the island for Castile, landing there on his first voyage in 1492. The colony of Santo Domingo became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas and the first seat of Spanish colonial rule in the New World. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which became the independent state of Haiti in 1804. The Dominican people declared independence from Spain in November 1821, but were forcefully annexed by Haiti in February 1822. Independence came 22 years later in 1844, after victory in the Dominican War of Independence. Over the next 72 years, the Dominican Republic experienced several civil wars, failed invasions by Haiti, and a brief return to Spanish colonial status, before permanently ousting the Spanish during the Dominican War of Restoration of 1863–1865. The U.S. occupied the Dominican Republic (1916–1924) due to threats of defaulting on foreign debts; a subsequent calm and prosperous six-year period under Horacio Vásquez followed. From 1930 the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo ruled until his assassination in 1961. Juan Bosch was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. A civil war in 1965, the country's last, was ended by U.S. military intervention and was followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer. Since 1978, the Dominican Republic has moved toward representative democracy. The Dominican Republic has the largest economy in the Caribbean and Central American region and is the seventh-largest economy in Latin America. Over the last 25 years, the Dominican Republic has had the fastest-growing economy in the Western Hemisphere – with an average real GDP growth rate of 5.3% between 1992 and 2018. GDP growth in 2014 and 2015 reached 7.3 and 7.0%, respectively, the highest in the Western Hemisphere. Recent growth has been driven by construction, manufacturing, tourism, and mining. The country is the site of the third largest gold mine in the world, the Pueblo Viejo mine. The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. The year-round golf courses and resorts are major attractions. A geographically diverse nation, the Dominican Republic is home to both the Caribbean's tallest mountain peak, Pico Duarte, and the Caribbean's largest lake and lowest point, Lake Enriquillo. The island has an average temperature of 26 °C (78.8 °F) and great climatic and biological diversity. The country is also the site of the first cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress built in the Americas, located in Santo Domingo's Colonial Zone, a World Heritage Site. The Dominican Republic is highly vulnerable to natural disasters. | 2001-09-05T14:22:23Z | 2023-12-24T22:45:57Z | [
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8,062 | Deutsches Institut für Normung | Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V. (DIN; in English, the German Institute for Standardisation Registered Association) is the German national organization for standardization and is the German ISO member body. DIN is a German Registered Association (e.V.) headquartered in Berlin. There are currently around thirty thousand DIN Standards, covering nearly every field of technology.
Founded in 1917 as the Normenausschuß der deutschen Industrie (NADI, "Standardisation Committee of German Industry"), the NADI was renamed Deutscher Normenausschuß (DNA, "German Standardisation Committee") in 1926 to reflect that the organization now dealt with standardization issues in many fields; viz., not just for industrial products. In 1975 it was renamed again to Deutsches Institut für Normung, or 'DIN' and is recognised by the German government as the official national-standards body, representing German interests at the international and European levels.
The acronym, 'DIN' is often incorrectly expanded as Deutsche Industrienorm ("German Industry Standard"). This is largely due to the historic origin of the DIN as "NADI". The NADI indeed published their standards as DI-Norm (Deutsche Industrienorm). For example, the first published standard was 'DI-Norm 1' (about tapered pins) in 1918. Many people still mistakenly associate DIN with the old DI-Norm naming convention.
One of the earliest, and probably the best known, is DIN 476 — the standard that introduced the A-series paper sizes in 1922 — adopted in 1975 as International Standard ISO 216. Common examples in modern technology include DIN and mini-DIN connectors for electronics, and the DIN rail.
DIN SPEC 3105, published in 2020, is "the first German standard to be published under an open license (CC-BY-SA 4.0) [...] to implement an open standardisation process".
The designation of a DIN standard shows its origin (# denotes a number): | [
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"text": "Founded in 1917 as the Normenausschuß der deutschen Industrie (NADI, \"Standardisation Committee of German Industry\"), the NADI was renamed Deutscher Normenausschuß (DNA, \"German Standardisation Committee\") in 1926 to reflect that the organization now dealt with standardization issues in many fields; viz., not just for industrial products. In 1975 it was renamed again to Deutsches Institut für Normung, or 'DIN' and is recognised by the German government as the official national-standards body, representing German interests at the international and European levels.",
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"text": "The acronym, 'DIN' is often incorrectly expanded as Deutsche Industrienorm (\"German Industry Standard\"). This is largely due to the historic origin of the DIN as \"NADI\". The NADI indeed published their standards as DI-Norm (Deutsche Industrienorm). For example, the first published standard was 'DI-Norm 1' (about tapered pins) in 1918. Many people still mistakenly associate DIN with the old DI-Norm naming convention.",
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8,063 | History of the Dominican Republic | The recorded history of the Dominican Republic began in 1492 when the Genoa-born navigator Christopher Columbus, working for the Crown of Castile, happened upon a large island in the region of the western Atlantic Ocean that later came to be known as the Caribbean. It was inhabited by the Taíno, an Arawakan people, who called the eastern part of the island Quisqueya (Kiskeya), meaning "mother of all lands." Columbus promptly claimed the island for the Spanish Crown, naming it La Isla Española ("the Spanish Island"), later Latinized to Hispaniola. After 25 years of Spanish occupation, the Taíno population in the Spanish-dominated parts of the island drastically decreased through genocide. With fewer than 50,000 remaining, the survivors intermixed with Spaniards, Africans, and others, forming the present-day tripartite Dominican population. What would become the Dominican Republic was the Spanish Captaincy General of Santo Domingo until 1821, except for a time as a French colony from 1795 to 1809. It was then part of a unified Hispaniola with Haiti from 1822 until 1844. In 1844, Dominican independence was proclaimed and the republic, which was often known as Santo Domingo until the early 20th century, maintained its independence except for a short Spanish occupation from 1861 to 1865 and occupation by the United States from 1916 to 1924.
During the 19th century, Dominicans were often at war, fighting the French, Haitians, Spanish, or amongst themselves, resulting in a society heavily influenced by caudillos, who ruled the country as if it were their personal kingdom. Between 1844 and 1914, the Dominican Republic experienced multiple transitions in leadership, with 53 presidents (only 3 completing their terms) and the adoption of 19 constitutions. Many leaders seized power through military force. Around 1930, the Dominican Republic found itself under the control of the dictator Rafael Trujillo, who ruled the country until his assassination in 1961. Juan Bosch was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. In 1965, the United States led an intervention in the midst of a civil war sparked by an uprising to restore Bosch. In 1966, the caudillo Joaquín Balaguer defeated Bosch in the presidential election. Balaguer maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when U.S. reaction to flawed elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then, regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates have won the presidency.
The Taíno people called the island Quisqueya (mother of all lands) and Ayiti (land of high mountains). At the time of Columbus' arrival in 1492, the island's territory consisted of five chiefdoms: Marién, Maguá, Maguana, Jaragua, and Higüey. These were ruled respectively by caciques Guacanagarix, Guarionex, Caonabo, Bohechío, and Cayacoa.
Christopher Columbus reached the island of Hispañola on his first voyage, in December 1492. Guacanagarí, the chief who hosted Columbus and his men, treated them kindly and provided them with everything they desired. However, the Taínos' egalitarian social system clashed with the Europeans' feudalist system, which had more rigid class structures. The Europeans believed the Taínos to be either weak or misleading, and they began to treat the tribes with violence. Columbus successfully tempered this trend, and he and his men departed from Ayiti, the Taínos' name for the island, on good terms.
After the sinking of the Santa María, Columbus established a small fort to support his claim to the island. The fort was called La Navidad because the shipwrecking and the founding of the fort occurred on Christmas Day. While Columbus was away, the garrison manning the fort was wracked by divisions that evolved into conflict. The more rapacious men began to terrorize the Taíno, the Ciguayo, and the Macorix peoples, which included attempts to take their women. Guacanagarix tried to reach an accommodation with the Spaniards; however, the Spaniards and some of his own people viewed him as weak. The Spaniards treated him with contempt, including the kidnapping of some of his wives. Fed up, the powerful Cacique Caonabo of the Maguana Chiefdom attacked the Europeans and destroyed La Navidad. Guacanagarix was dismayed by these events but did not try hard to aid the Europeans, probably hoping that the troublesome outsiders would never return.
In 1493, Columbus came back to the island on his second voyage and founded the first Spanish colony in the New World, the city of La Isabela. Isabela nearly failed because of hunger and disease. In 1496, Santo Domingo was built and became the new capital, and remains the oldest continuously inhabited European city in the Americas.
An estimated 400,000 Tainos living on the island were soon enslaved to work in gold mines. By 1508, their numbers had decreased to around 60,000 because of forced labor, hunger, disease, and mass killings. By 1535, only a few dozen were still alive.
During this period, the colony's Spanish leadership changed several times. When Columbus departed on another exploration, Francisco de Bobadilla became governor. Settlers' allegations of mismanagement by Columbus helped create a tumultuous political situation. In 1502, Nicolás de Ovando replaced de Bobadilla as governor, with an ambitious plan to expand Spanish influence in the region. It was he who dealt most brutally with the Taíno people. The Taino population declined by up to 95% in the century after the Spanish arrival, from a pre contact population of tens of thousands to 8,000,000. Many authors have described the treatment of the Taino in Hispaniola under the Spanish Empire as genocide.
The conquistador-turned-priest Bartolomé de las Casas wrote an eyewitness history of the Spanish incursion into the island of Hispaniola that reported the conquistadors' almost feral misconduct:
Into this land of meek outcasts there came some Spaniards who immediately behaved like ravening wild beasts, wolves, tigers or lions that had been starved for many days. And Spaniards have behaved in no other way during the past forty years, down to the present time, for they are still acting like ravening beasts, killing, terrorizing, afflicting, torturing, and destroying the native peoples, doing all this with the strangest and most varied new methods of cruelty.
One rebel, however, successfully fought back. Enriquillo led a group who fled to the mountains and attacked the Spanish repeatedly for fourteen years. The Spanish ultimately offered him a peace treaty and gave Enriquillo and his followers their own town in 1534. The town lasted only a few years. Rebellious slaves burned it to the ground and killed all who stayed behind.
In 1501, the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand I and Isabella, first granted permission to the colonists of the Caribbean to import African slaves, who began arriving to the island in 1503. In 1510, the first sizable shipment, consisting of 250 Black Ladinos, arrived in Hispaniola from Spain. Eight years later African-born slaves arrived in the West Indies. The Colony of Santo Domingo was organized as the Royal Audiencia of Santo Domingo in 1511. Sugar cane was introduced to Hispaniola from the Canary Islands, and the first sugar mill in the New World was established in 1516, on Hispaniola. The need for a labor force to meet the growing demands of sugar cane cultivation led to an exponential increase in the importation of slaves over the following two decades. The sugar mill owners soon formed a new colonial elite and convinced the Spanish king to allow them to elect the members of the Real Audiencia from their ranks. Poorer colonists subsisted by hunting the herds of wild cattle that roamed throughout the island and selling their hides.
The first major slave revolt in the Americas occurred in Santo Domingo on December 25, 1521, when enslaved Muslims of the Wolof nation led an uprising in the sugar plantation of admiral Don Diego Colon, son of Christopher Columbus. Many of these insurgents managed to escape to the mountains where they formed independent maroon communities, but the Admiral had a lot of the captured rebels hanged.
While sugar cane dramatically increased Spain's earnings on the island, large numbers of the newly imported slaves fled into the nearly impassable mountain ranges in the island's interior, joining the growing communities of cimarrónes—literally, 'wild animals'. By the 1530s, cimarrón bands had become so numerous that in rural areas the Spaniards could only safely travel outside their plantations in large armed groups. When Archdeacon Alonso de Castro toured Hispaniola in 1542, he estimated the maroon population at 2,000–3,000 persons, living mainly on the Cape of San Nicolas, in the Ciguayos, on the Samana peninsular, and on the Cape of Iguey. Latter that decade, there were also rebellions of enslaved people, led by Diego de Guzman, Diego de Campo, and Captain Lemba.
Beginning in the 1520s, the Caribbean Sea was raided by increasingly numerous French pirates. In 1541, Spain authorized the construction of Santo Domingo's fortified wall, and in 1560 decided to restrict sea travel to enormous, well-armed convoys. In another move, which would destroy Hispaniola's sugar industry, in 1561 Havana, more strategically located in relation to the Gulf Stream, was selected as the designated stopping point for the merchant flotas, which had a royal monopoly on commerce with the Americas. In 1564, the island's main inland cities Santiago de los Caballeros and Concepción de la Vega were destroyed by an earthquake. In the 1560s, English privateers joined the French in regularly raiding Spanish shipping in the Americas.
With the conquest of the American mainland, Hispaniola quickly declined. Most Spanish colonists left for the silver-mines of Mexico and Peru, while new immigrants from Spain bypassed the island. Agriculture dwindled, new imports of slaves ceased, and white colonists, free blacks, and slaves alike lived in poverty, weakening the racial hierarchy and aiding intermixing, resulting in a population of predominantly mixed Spaniard, African, and Taíno descent. Except for the city of Santo Domingo, which managed to maintain some legal exports, Dominican ports were forced to rely on contraband trade, which, along with livestock, became the sole source of livelihood for the island dwellers.
In 1586, the privateer Francis Drake of England captured the city of Santo Domingo, collecting a ransom for its return to Spanish rule. In 1592, Christopher Newport of England attacked the town of Azua on the bay of Ocoa, which was taken and plundered.
In 1595, the Spanish, frustrated by the twenty-year rebellion of their Dutch subjects, closed their home ports to rebel shipping from the Netherlands cutting them off from the critical salt supplies necessary for their herring industry. The Dutch responded by sourcing new salt supplies from Spanish America where colonists were more than happy to trade. So large numbers of Dutch traders and buccaneers joined their English and French counterparts on the Spanish Main.
In 1605, Spain was infuriated that Spanish settlements on the northern and western coasts of the island were carrying out large scale and illegal trade with the Dutch, who were at that time fighting a war of independence against Spain in Europe, and the English, a very recent enemy state, and so decided to forcibly resettle the colony's inhabitants closer to the city of Santo Domingo. This action, known as the Devastaciones de Osorio, proved disastrous; more than half of the resettled colonists died of starvation or disease, over 100,000 cattle were abandoned, and many slaves escaped. Five of the existing thirteen settlements on the island were brutally razed by Spanish troops – many of the inhabitants fought, escaped to the jungle, or fled to the safety of passing Dutch ships. The settlements of La Yaguana, and Bayaja, on the west and north coasts respectively of modern-day Haiti were burned, as were the settlements of Monte Cristi and Puerto Plata on the north coast and San Juan de la Maguana in the southwestern area of the modern-day Dominican Republic.
French and English buccaneers took advantage of Spain's retreat into a corner of Hispaniola to settle the island of Tortuga, off the northwest coast of Hispaniola, in 1629. France established direct control in 1640, reorganizing it into an official colony and expanding to the north coast of Hispaniola itself, whose western end Spain ceded to France in 1697 under the Treaty of Ryswick.
In 1655, Oliver Cromwell of England dispatched a fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir William Penn, to capture Santo Domingo. After meeting heavy resistance, the English retreated. Despite the fact that the English were defeated in their attempt to capture the island, they nevertheless captured the nearby Spanish colony of Jamaica, and other foreign strongholds subsequently began to be established throughout the West Indies. Madrid sought to contest such encroachments on its own imperial control by using Santo Domingo as a forward military base, but Spanish power was by now too depleted to recapture lost colonies. The city itself was furthermore subjected to a smallpox epidemic, cacao blight, and hurricane in 1666; another storm two years later; a second epidemic in 1669; a third hurricane in September 1672; plus an earthquake in May 1673 that killed twenty-four residents.
The House of Bourbon replaced the House of Habsburg in Spain in 1700 and introduced economic reforms that gradually began to revive trade in Santo Domingo. The crown progressively relaxed the rigid controls and restrictions on commerce between Spain and the colonies and among the colonies. The last flotas sailed in 1737; the monopoly port system was abolished shortly thereafter. By the middle of the century, the population was bolstered by emigration from the Canary Islands, resettling the northern part of the colony and planting tobacco in the Cibao Valley, and importation of slaves was renewed. The population of Santo Domingo grew from about 6,000 in 1737 to approximately 125,000 in 1790. Of this number, about 40,000 were white landowners, about 25,000 were mulatto freedmen, and some 60,000 were slaves. However, it remained poor and neglected, particularly in contrast with its western, French neighbor Saint-Domingue, which became the wealthiest colony in the New World and had half a million inhabitants.
When the War of Jenkins' Ear broke out in 1739, Spanish privateers, including those from Santo Domingo, began to patrol the Caribbean Sea, a development that lasted until the end of the eighteenth century. During this period, Spanish privateers from Santo Domingo sailed into enemy ports looking for ships to plunder, thus disrupting commerce between Spain's enemies in the Atlantic. As a result of these developments, Spanish privateers frequently sailed back into Santo Domingo with their holds filled with captured plunder which were sold in Hispaniola's ports, with profits accruing to individual sea raiders. The revenue acquired in these acts of piracy was invested in the economic expansion of the colony and led to repopulation from Europe.
Dominican privateers captured British, Dutch, French and Danish ships throughout the eighteenth century. Dominicans constituted one of the many diverse units which fought alongside Spanish forces under Bernardo de Gálvez during the conquest of British West Florida (1779–1781).
As restrictions on colonial trade were relaxed, the colonial elites of St. Domingue offered the principal market for Santo Domingo's exports of beef, hides, mahogany, and tobacco. With the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution in 1791, the rich urban families linked to the colonial bureaucracy fled the island, while most of the rural hateros (cattle ranchers) remained, even though they lost their principal market. Spain saw in the unrest an opportunity to seize all, or part, of the western third of the island in an alliance of convenience with the rebellious slaves. But after the slaves and French reconciled, the Spanish suffered a setback, and in 1795, France gained control of the whole island under the Treaty of Basel.
In 1801, Toussaint Louverture arrived in Santo Domingo, proclaiming the abolition of slavery on behalf of the French Republic. Shortly afterwards, Napoleon dispatched an army which subdued the whole island and ruled it for a few months. Mulattoes and blacks again rose up against these French in October 1802 and finally defeated them in November 1803. On 1 January 1804, the victors declared Saint-Domingue to be the independent republic of Haiti, the Taíno name for the entire island. Even after their defeat by the Haitians, a small French garrison remained in Santo Domingo. Slavery was reestablished and many of the émigré Spanish colonists returned. In 1805, after crowning himself Emperor, Jean-Jacques Dessalines invaded, reaching Santo Domingo before retreating in the face of a French naval squadron. In their retreat through the Cibao, the Haitians sacked the towns of Santiago and Moca, slaughtering most of their residents.
The French held on to the eastern part of the island until dealt a serious blow by the Dominican General Juan Sánchez Ramírez at the Battle of Palo Hincado on November 7, 1808. With help from the British Navy, Ramírez laid siege to the city of Santo Domingo. The French in the besieged city finally capitulated on July 9, 1809, initiating a twelve-year period of Spanish rule, known in Dominican history as "the Foolish Spain."
The population of the new Spanish colony stood at approximately 104,000. Of this number, about 30,000 were slaves, working predominantly on cattle ranches, and the rest a mixture of Spanish, taino and black. The European Spaniards were few, and consisted principally of Catalans and Canary Islanders.
During this period in time, the Spanish crown wielded little to no influence in the colony of Santo Domingo. Some wealthy cattle ranchers had become leaders, and sought to bring control and order in the southeast of the colony where the "law of machete" ruled the land. On December 1, 1821, the former Captain general in charge of the colony, José Núñez de Cáceres, influenced by all the Revolutions that were going on around him, finally decided to overthrow the Spanish government and proclaimed the independence of "Spanish Haiti".
The white and mulatto slave owners on the eastern part of the island—recognizing their vulnerability both to Spanish and to Haitian attack and also seeking to maintain their slaves as property—attempted to annex themselves to Gran Colombia. While this request was in transit, Jean-Pierre Boyer, the ruler of Haiti, invaded Santo Domingo on February 9, 1822, with a 10,000-strong army. Having no capacity to resist, Núñez de Cáceres surrendered the capital.
The twenty-two-year Haitian occupation that followed is recalled by Dominicans as a period of brutal military rule, though the reality is more complex. It led to large-scale land expropriations and failed efforts to force production of export crops, impose military services, restrict the use of the Spanish language, and eliminate traditional customs such as cockfighting. It reinforced Dominicans' perceptions of themselves as different from Haitians in "language, race, religion and domestic customs". Yet, this was also a period that definitively ended slavery as an institution in the eastern part of the island.
Haiti's constitution forbade whites from owning land, and the major landowning families were forcibly deprived of their properties. Most emigrated to the Spanish colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico, or to independent Gran Colombia, usually with the encouragement of Haitian officials, who acquired their lands. The Haitians, who associated the Catholic Church with the French slave-masters who had exploited them before independence, confiscated all church property, deported all foreign clergy, and severed the ties of the remaining clergy to the Vatican. Santo Domingo's university, the oldest in the Western Hemisphere, lacking students, teachers, and resources, closed down. In order to receive diplomatic recognition from France and end the threat of a French invasion, Haiti was forced to pay an indemnity of 150 million francs to the former French colonists, which was subsequently lowered to 60 million francs, and Haiti imposed heavy taxes on the eastern part of the island. Since Haiti was unable to adequately provision its army, the occupying forces largely survived by commandeering or confiscating food and supplies at gunpoint.
Attempts to redistribute land conflicted with the system of communal land tenure (terrenos comuneros), which had arisen with the ranching economy, and newly emancipated slaves resented being forced to grow cash crops under Boyer's Code Rural. In rural areas, the Haitian administration was usually too inefficient to enforce its own laws. It was in the city of Santo Domingo that the effects of the occupation were most acutely felt, and it was there that the movement for independence originated.
On July 16, 1838, Juan Pablo Duarte together with Pedro Alejandrino Pina, Juan Isidro Pérez, Felipe Alfau, Benito González, Félix María Ruiz, Juan Nepumoceno Ravelo and Jacinto de la Concha founded a secret society called La Trinitaria to win independence from Haiti. A short time later, they were joined by Ramón Matías Mella, and Francisco del Rosario Sánchez. In 1843, they allied with a Haitian movement in overthrowing Boyer. Because they had revealed themselves as revolutionaries working for Dominican independence, the new Haitian president, Charles Rivière-Hérard, exiled or imprisoned the leading Trinitarios (Trinitarians). At the same time, Buenaventura Báez, an Azua mahogany exporter and deputy in the Haitian National Assembly, was negotiating with the French Consul-General for the establishment of a French protectorate. In an uprising timed to preempt Báez, on February 27, 1844, the Trinitarios declared independence from Haiti, expelling all Haitians and confiscating their property. The Trinitarios were backed by Pedro Santana, a wealthy cattle-rancher from El Seibo who commanded a private army of peons who worked on his estates.
In March 1844, Rivière-Hérard sent three columns totaling 30,000 troops into the Dominican Republic to reestablish his authority, but the Dominicans put up stiff opposition, inflicting disproportionate casualties on the Haitians and forcing them to retreat back to Haiti within a month. In 1845 and 1849, the Dominicans repelled subsequent Haitian invasions. In November 1855, the Dominican Republic faced yet another invasion as a force of 30,000 Haitian troops crossed its borders. However, in another short war, the Dominicans decisively defeated the Haitians.
In July 1844, Pedro Santana seized power from the liberal president Francisco del Rosario Sánchez in a military coup after Rosario Sánchez ousted the conservative Tomás Bobadilla from power. Santana inaugurated a military dictatorship with Bobadilla as a member of his junta.
The Dominican Republic's first constitution was adopted on November 6, 1844. The state was commonly known as Santo Domingo in English until the early 20th century. It featured a presidential form of government with many liberal tendencies, but it was marred by Article 210, imposed by Santana on the constitutional assembly by force, giving him the privileges of a dictatorship until the war of independence was over. These privileges not only served him to win the war but also allowed him to persecute, execute and drive into exile his political opponents, among which Duarte was the most important. Santana imprisoned and ultimately exiled Duarte to Germany. Santana made the first martyr of the republic when he had María Trinidad Sánchez executed for refusing to name "conspirators" against him.
During the first decade of independence, Haiti and the Dominican Republic were periodically at war, each invading the other in response to previous invasions. Santana used the ever-present threat of Haitian invasion as a justification for consolidating dictatorial powers. For the Dominican elite—mostly landowners, merchants and priests—the threat of re-annexation by more populous Haiti was sufficient to seek protection from a foreign power. Offering the deepwater harbor of Samaná bay as bait, over the next two decades, negotiations were made with Britain, France, the United States and Spain to declare a protectorate over the country.
The population of the Dominican Republic in 1845 was approximately 174,000 people (5,000 whites; 34,000 blacks; and 135,000 mulattoes). Without adequate roads, the regions of the Dominican Republic developed in isolation from one another. In the south, the economy was dominated by cattle-ranching (particularly in the southeastern savannah) and cutting mahogany and other hardwoods for export. This region retained a semi-feudal character, with little commercial agriculture, the hacienda as the dominant social unit, and the majority of the population living at a subsistence level. In the Cibao Valley, the nation's richest farmland, peasants supplemented their subsistence crops by growing tobacco for export, mainly to Germany. Tobacco required less land than cattle ranching and was mainly grown by smallholders, who relied on itinerant traders to transport their crops to Puerto Plata and Monte Cristi. Santana antagonized the Cibao farmers, enriching himself and his supporters at their expense by resorting to multiple peso printings that allowed him to buy their crops for a fraction of their value.
In 1848, Santana was forced to resign and was succeeded by his vice-president, Manuel Jimenes. After returning to lead Dominican forces against a new Haitian invasion in 1849, Santana marched on Santo Domingo, deposing Jimenes. At his behest, Congress elected Buenaventura Báez as president. Báez immediately began an offensive campaign against Haiti; whole villages on the Haitian coast were plundered and burned, and the crews of captured ships were butchered without regard to age or gender.
In 1853, Santana was elected president for his second term, forcing Báez into exile. After repulsing the last Haitian invasion, Santana negotiated a treaty leasing a portion of Samaná Peninsula to a U.S. company; popular opposition forced him to abdicate, enabling Báez to return and seize power. With the treasury depleted, Báez printed eighteen million uninsured pesos, purchasing the 1857 tobacco crop with this currency and exporting it for hard cash at immense profit to himself and his followers. The Cibanian tobacco planters, who were ruined when inflation ensued, revolted, recalling Santana from exile to lead their rebellion. After a year of civil war, Santana seized Santo Domingo and installed himself as president.
Pedro Santana inherited a bankrupt government on the brink of collapse. Having failed in his initial bids to secure annexation by the U.S. or France, Santana initiated negotiations with Queen Isabella II of Spain and the Captain-General of Cuba to have the island reconverted into a Spanish overseas territory. The U.S. Civil War rendered the United States incapable of enforcing the Monroe Doctrine. In Spain, Prime Minister Don Leopoldo O'Donnell advocated renewed colonial expansion, waging a campaign in northern Morocco that conquered the city of Tétouan. In March 1861, Santana officially restored the Dominican Republic to Spain. This move was widely rejected and there were several failed uprisings against Spanish rule. On July 4, 1861, former President Francisco del Rosario Sánchez was captured and executed by Santana after leading a failed invasion of Santo Domingo from Haiti.
On August 16, 1863, a national war of restoration began in Monte Cristi Province, where the rebels defeated Spanish detachments. On September 4, Spanish reinforcements marched from Puerto Plata to relieve the besieged garrison of Santiago, defeating the rebels under the command of Gaspar Polanco and Gregorio Luperon. The rebels later burned the town and besieged the forts again. On September 14, the Spaniards abandoned Santiago and made their way to Puerto Plata harassed by guerrilla attacks that inflicted 1,300 casualties. The rebels established a provisional government in Santiago, headed by General Jose Antonio Salcedo. In December 1863, a Spanish expedition sent west along the southern seacoast was successful in expelling rebel bands (already demoralized by dissensions) from San Cristobal, Bani, Azua, Barohona, Neiba, and San Juan, and driving them into Haiti.
Santana, who had been given the title of Marquess of Las Carreras by Queen Isabella II, initially was named Capitan-General of the new Spanish province, but it soon became obvious that Spanish authorities planned to deprive him of his power, leading him to resign in 1862. Condemned to death by the provisional government, Santana died of rheumatic fever in 1864.
Restrictions on trade, discrimination against the mulatto majority, Rumors to reimpose slavery, and an unpopular campaign by the new Spanish Archbishop against extramarital unions, which were widespread after decades of abandonment by the Catholic Church, all fed resentment of Spanish rule.
Confined to the major towns, the Spanish Army was unable to defeat the guerillas or contain the insurrection, and suffered heavy losses due to yellow fever. In order to reinforce their position with an auxiliary force to keep public order in the cities, a militia named Volunteers was created in Santo Domingo City, following the example of the militia of the same name previously created in Cuba and Puerto Rico.
Spanish colonial authorities encouraged Queen Isabella II to abandon the island, seeing the occupation as a nonsensical waste of troops and money. However, the rebels were in a state of political disarray and proved unable to present a cohesive set of demands. The first president of the provisional government, Pepillo Salcedo (allied with Báez) was deposed by General Gaspar Polanco in September 1864, who, in turn, was deposed by General Antonio Pimentel three months later. The rebels formalized their provisional rule by holding a national convention in February 1865, which enacted a new constitution, but the new government exerted little authority over the various regional guerrilla caudillos, who were largely independent of one another. Unable to extract concessions from the disorganized rebels, when the American Civil War ended, in March 1865, Queen Isabella annulled the annexation and independence was restored, with the last Spanish troops departing by July.
By the time the Spanish departed, most of the main towns lay in ruins and the island was divided among several dozen caudillos. José María Cabral controlled most of Barahona and the southwest with the support of Báez's mahogany-exporting partners, while cattle rancher Cesáreo Guillermo assembled a coalition of former Santanista generals in the southeast, and Gregorio Luperón controlled the north coast.
From the Spanish withdrawal to 1879, there were twenty-one changes of government and at least fifty military uprisings. In the course of these conflicts, two parties emerged. The Partido Rojo (Literally "Red Party") represented the southern cattle ranching latifundia and mahogany-exporting interests, as well as the artisans and laborers of Santo Domingo, and was dominated by Báez, who continued to seek annexation by a foreign power. The Partido Azul (literally "Blue Party"), led by Luperón, represented the tobacco farmers and merchants of the Cibao and Puerto Plata and was nationalist and liberal in orientation.
During these wars, the small and corrupt national army was far outnumbered by militias organized and maintained by local caudillos who set themselves up as provincial governors. These militias were filled out by poor farmers or landless plantation workers impressed into service who usually took up banditry when not fighting in revolution.
Within a month of the nationalist victory, Cabral, whose troops were the first to enter Santo Domingo, ousted Pimentel, but a few weeks later General Guillermo led a rebellion in support of Báez, forcing Cabral to resign and allowing Báez to retake the presidency in October.
Báez was overthrown by the Cibao farmers under Luperón, leader of the Partido Azul, the following spring, but Luperón's allies turned on each other and Cabral reinstalled himself as president in a coup in 1867. After bringing several Azules ("Blues") into his cabinet the Rojos ("Reds") revolted, returning Báez to power.
In 1869, U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant ordered U.S. Marines to the island for the first time. Dominican pirates operating from Haiti had been raiding U.S. merchant shipping in the Caribbean, and Grant directed the Marines to stop them at their source.
Following the virtual takeover of the island, Báez negotiated a treaty of annexation with the United States. Supported by U.S. Secretary of State William Seward, who hoped to establish a Navy base at Samaná, in 1871 the treaty was defeated in the United States Senate through the efforts of abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner.
In 1874, the Rojo governor of Puerto Plata, Ignacio Maria González Santín, staged a coup in support of an Azul rebellion but was deposed by the Azules two years later. In February 1876, Ulises Espaillat, backed by Luperón, was named president, but ten months later troops loyal to Báez returned him to power. One year later, a new rebellion allowed González to seize power, only to be deposed by Cesáreo Guillermo in September 1878, who was in turn deposed by Luperón in December 1879.
Ruling the country from his hometown of Puerto Plata, enjoying an economic boom due to increased tobacco exports to Germany, Luperón enacted a new constitution setting a two-year presidential term limit and providing for direct elections, suspended the semi-formal system of bribes and initiated construction on the nation's first railroad, linking the town of La Vega with the port of Sánchez on Samaná Bay.
The Ten Years' War in Cuba brought Cuban sugar planters to the country in search of new lands and security from the insurrection that freed their slaves and destroyed their property. Most settled in the southeastern coastal plain, and, with assistance from Luperón's government, built the nation's first mechanized sugar mills. They were later joined by Italians, Germans, Puerto Ricans and Americans in forming the nucleus of the Dominican sugar bourgeoisie, marrying into prominent families to solidify their social position.
Disruptions in global production caused by the Ten Years' War, the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War allowed the Dominican Republic to become a major sugar exporter. Over the following two decades, sugar surpassed tobacco as the leading export, with the former fishing hamlets of San Pedro de Macorís and La Romana transformed into thriving ports. To meet their need for better transportation, over 300 miles of private rail-lines were built by and serving the sugar plantations by 1897.
An 1884 slump in prices led to a wage freeze, and a subsequent labor shortage was filled by migrant workers from the Leeward Islands—the Virgin Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, and Antigua (referred to by Dominicans as cocolos). These English-speaking blacks were often victims of racism, but many remained in the country, finding work as stevedores and in railroad construction and sugar refineries.
Allying with the emerging sugar interests, the dictatorship of General Ulises Heureaux, who was popularly known as Lilís, brought unprecedented stability to the island through an iron-fisted rule that lasted almost two decades. The son of a Haitian father and a mother from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, Lilís was distinguished by his blackness from most Dominican political leaders, with the exception of Luperón. He served as President 1882–1883, 1887, and 1889–1899, wielding power through a series of puppet presidents when not occupying the office. Incorporating both Rojos and Azules into his government, he developed an extensive network of spies and informants to crush potential opposition. His government undertook a number of major infrastructure projects, including the electrification of Santo Domingo, the beginning of telephone and telegraph service, the construction of a bridge over the Ozama River, and the completion of a single-track railroad linking Santiago and Puerto Plata, financed by the Amsterdam-based Westendorp Co.
Lilís's dictatorship was dependent upon heavy borrowing from European and American banks to enrich himself, stabilize the existing debt, strengthen the bribe system, pay for the army, finance infrastructural development and help set up sugar mills. However, sugar prices underwent a steep decline in the last two decades of the 19th century. When the Westendorp Co. went bankrupt in 1893, he was forced to mortgage the nation's customs fees, the main source of government revenues, to a New York financial firm called the San Domingo Improvement Co. (SDIC), which took over its railroad contracts and the claims of its European bondholders in exchange for two loans, one of $1.2 million and the other of £2 million.
As the growing public debt made it impossible to maintain his political machine, Heureaux relied on secret loans from the SDIC, sugar planters and local merchants. In 1897, with his government virtually bankrupt, Lilís printed five million uninsured pesos, known as papeletas de Lilís, ruining most Dominican merchants and inspiring a conspiracy that ended in his death. In 1899, when Lilís was assassinated by the Cibao tobacco merchants whom he had been begging for a loan, the national debt was over $35 million, fifteen times the annual budget.
The six years after Lilís's death witnessed four revolutions and five different presidents. The Cibao politicians who had conspired against Heureaux—Juan Isidro Jimenes, the nation's wealthiest tobacco planter, and General Horacio Vásquez—after being named president and Vice-President, quickly fell out over the division of spoils among their supporters, the Jimenistas and Horacistas.
Troops loyal to Vásquez overthrew Jimenes in 1903, but Vásquez was deposed by Jimenista General Alejandro Woss y Gil, who seized power for himself. The Jimenistas toppled his government, but their leader, Carlos Morales, refused to return power to Jimenes, allying with the Horacistas, and he soon faced a new revolt by his betrayed Jimenista allies. During the revolt, American warships bombarded insurgents in Santo Domingo for insulting the United States flag and damaging an American steamer.
With the nation on the brink of defaulting, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands sent warships to Santo Domingo to press the claims of their nationals. In order to preempt military intervention, United States president Theodore Roosevelt introduced the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, declaring that the United States would assume responsibility for ensuring that the nations of Latin America met their financial obligations.
In January 1905, under this corollary, the United States assumed administration of the Dominican Republic's customs. Under the terms of this agreement, a Receiver-General, appointed by the U.S. president, kept 55% of total revenues to pay off foreign claimants, while remitting 45% to the Dominican government. After two years, the nation's external debt was reduced from $40 million to $17 million. In 1907, this agreement was converted into a treaty, transferring control over customs receivership to the U.S. Bureau of Insular Affairs and providing a loan of $20 million from a New York bank as payment for outstanding claims, making the United States the Dominican Republic's only foreign creditor. In 1905, the Dominican Peso was replaced by the U.S. Dollar.
In 1906, Morales resigned, and Horacista vice-president Ramón Cáceres became president. After suppressing a rebellion in the northwest by Jimenista General Desiderio Arias, his government brought political stability and renewed economic growth, aided by new American investment in the sugar industry.
However, his assassination in 1911, for which Morales and Arias were at least indirectly responsible, once again plunged the republic into chaos. For two months, executive power was held by a civilian junta dominated by the chief of the army, General Alfredo Victoria. The surplus of more than 4 million pesos left by Cáceres was quickly spent to suppress a series of insurrections. He forced Congress to elect his uncle, Eladio Victoria, as president, but the latter was soon replaced by the neutral Archbishop Adolfo Nouel. After four months, Nouel resigned and was succeeded by Horacista Congressman José Bordas Valdez, who aligned with Arias and the Jimenistas to maintain power.
In 1913, Vásquez returned from exile in Puerto Rico to lead a new rebellion. In June 1914, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson issued an ultimatum for the two sides to end hostilities and agree on a new president, or have the United States impose one. After the provisional presidency of Ramón Báez, Jimenes was elected in October, and soon faced new demands, including the appointment of an American director of public works and financial advisor and the creation of a new military force commanded by U.S. officers. The Dominican Congress rejected these demands and began impeachment proceedings against Jimenes.
The United States occupied Haiti in July 1915, with the implicit threat that the Dominican Republic might be next. Jimenes's Minister of War Desiderio Arias staged a coup d'état in April 1916, providing a pretext for the United States to occupy the Dominican Republic.
United States Marines landed in Santo Domingo on May 5, 1916 and seized Fort San Gerónimo. Prior to their landing, Jimenes resigned, refusing to exercise an office "regained with foreign bullets". On June 1, following a bombardment, Marines occupied Monte Cristi and Puerto Plata. On June 26, a column of Marines under Colonel Joseph H. Pendleton marched toward Arias's stronghold of Santiago. Along the way, Dominicans tore up the railroad tracks, forcing Marines to walk; they also burned bridges, delaying the march. 24 miles (38 km) into the march, the Marines encountered Las Trencheras, two fortified ridges the Dominicans had long thought invulnerable: the Spanish had been defeated there in 1864. At 08:00 hours on June 27, Pendleton ordered his artillery to bombard the ridgeline. Machine guns offered covering fire. A bayonet attack cleared the first ridge. Rifle fire removed the rebels who were threatening from atop the second. A week later, the Marines encountered another entrenched rebel force at Guayacanas. The rebels kept up single-shot fire against the automatic weapons of the Marines before the Marines drove them off. With his supporters defeated, Arias surrendered on July 5 in exchange for being pardoned.
The Dominican Congress elected Dr. Francisco Henríquez y Carvajal as president, but in November, after he refused to meet the U.S. demands, Wilson announced the imposition of a U.S. military government, with Rear Admiral Harry Shepard Knapp as Military Governor.
At San Francisco de Macorís, Governor Juan Pérez, a supporter of Arias, refused to recognize the U.S. military government. Using some 300 released prisoners, he was preparing to defend the old Spanish colonial structure, the Fortazela. On November 29, U.S. Marine Lt. Ernest C. Williams, whose detachment was billeted in San Francisco, charged the closing gates of the fort at nightfall with twelve Marines. Eight were shot down; the others, including Williams, forced their way in and seized the old structure. Another Marine detachment seized the police station. Reinforcements from nearby detachments soon suppressed the uprising.
The American military government implemented many of the institutional reforms carried out in the United States during the Progressive Era, including reorganization of the tax system, accounting and administration, expansion of primary education, the creation of a nationwide police force to unify the country, and the construction of a national system of roads, including a highway linking Santiago to Santo Domingo.
The military government, unable to win the backing of any prominent Dominican political leaders, imposed strict censorship laws and imprisoned critics of the occupation. In 1920, U.S. authorities enacted a Land Registration Act, which broke up the terrenos comuneros and dispossessed thousands of peasants who lacked formal titles to the lands they occupied, while legalizing false titles held by the sugar companies. In the southeast, dispossessed peasants formed armed bands, called gavilleros, waging a guerrilla war that lasted six years, with most of the fighting in Hato Mayor and El Seibo. At any given time, the Marines faced eight to twelve such bands each composed of several hundred followers. The guerrillas benefited from a superior knowledge of the terrain and the support of the local population, and the Marines relied on superior firepower. However, rivalries between various gavilleros often led them to fight against one another, and even cooperate with occupation authorities. In addition, cultural schisms between the campesinos (i.e. rural people, or peasants) and city dwellers prevented the guerrillas from cooperating with the urban middle-class nationalist movement.
U.S. Marines and Dominican bandits led by Vicente Evangelista clashed in eastern Dominican Republic beginning on January 10, 1917. In March, Evangelista executed two American civilians, engineers from an American-owned plantation, who were lashed to trees, hacked with machetes, then left dangling for ravenous wild boars. Evangelista and 200 bandits surrendered to U.S. Marines in El Seibo on July 4. Two days later, U.S. Marines shot and killed Evangelista as he was "attempting to escape". To counter resistance, the United States established a local national guard known as the Guardia Nacional Dominicana. With 2,000 officers and men divided into numerous small patrols and aided by the auxiliary Guardia, the Marines pursued insurgents in 1918. On occasion, guerrilla leader Dios Olivario managed to defeat the small Marine patrols sent after him. One ambush almost led to the annihilation of a combined Marine-Guardia patrol. On multiple occasions in 1919, Olivario and other irregular leaders combined their forces and openly attacked the Marines. In May, one such group struck a Marine patrol but was repelled by superior firepower, including bombing and strafing by a Marine aviation squadron. The unrest in the eastern provinces lasted until 1922 when the guerrillas finally agreed to surrender in return for amnesty.
The United States effectively ended the small-unit combat in the Dominican Republic only after declaring the conclusion of its military government and systematically rounding up the majority of the population in the guerrilla-affected areas. The Marines' anti-bandit campaigns in the Dominican Republic were hot, often godlessly uncomfortable, and largely devoid of heroism and glory. Some 1,000 individuals, including 144 U.S. Marines, were killed during the conflict. (Forty U.S. sailors died separately when a hurricane wrecked their armored cruiser on Santo Domingo's rocky shore.)
In what was referred to as la danza de los millones, with the destruction of European sugar-beet farms during World War I, sugar prices rose to their highest level in history, from $5.50 in 1914 to $22.50 per pound in 1920. Dominican sugar exports increased from 122,642 tons in 1916 to 158,803 tons in 1920, earning a record $45.3 million. However, European beet sugar production quickly recovered, which, coupled with the growth of global sugar cane production, glutted the world market, causing prices to plummet to only $2.00 by the end of 1921. This crisis drove many of the local sugar planters into bankruptcy, allowing large U.S. conglomerates to dominate the sugar industry. By 1926, only twenty-one major estates remained, occupying an estimated 520,000 acres (2,100 km). Of these, twelve U.S.-owned companies owned more than 81% of this total area. While the foreign planters who had built the sugar industry integrated into Dominican society, these corporations expatriated their profits to the United States. As prices declined, sugar estates increasingly relied on Haitian laborers. This was facilitated by the military government's introduction of regulated contract labor, the growth of sugar production in the southwest, near the Haitian border, and a series of strikes by cocolo cane cutters organized by the Universal Negro Improvement Association.
In the 1920 United States presidential election Republican candidate Warren Harding criticized the occupation and promised eventual U.S. withdrawal. While Jimenes and Vásquez sought concessions from the United States, the collapse of sugar prices discredited the military government and gave rise to a new nationalist political organization, the Dominican National Union, led by Dr. Henríquez from exile in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, which demanded unconditional withdrawal. They formed alliances with frustrated nationalists in Puerto Rico and Cuba, as well as critics of the occupation in the United States itself, most notably The Nation and the Haiti-San Domingo Independence Society. In May 1922, a Dominican lawyer, Francisco Peynado, went to Washington, D.C. and negotiated what became known as the Hughes–Peynado Plan. It stipulated the immediate establishment of a provisional government pending elections, approval of all laws enacted by the U.S. military government, and the continuation of the 1907 treaty until all the Dominican Republic's foreign debts had been settled. On October 1, Juan Bautista Vicini, the son of a wealthy Italian immigrant sugar planter, was named provisional president, and the process of U.S. withdrawal began. U.S. forces withdrew on September 18, 1924. The principal legacy of the occupation was the creation of a National Police Force, used by the Marines to help fight against the various guerrillas, and later the main vehicle for the rise of Rafael Trujillo.
The occupation ended in 1924, with a democratically elected government under president Vásquez. The Vásquez administration brought great social and economic prosperity to the country and respected political and civil rights. Rising export commodity prices and government borrowing allowed the funding of public works projects and the expansion and modernization of Santo Domingo.
Though considered to be a relatively principled man, Vásquez had risen amid many years of political infighting. In a move directed against his chief opponent Federico Velasquez, in 1927 Vásquez agreed to have his term extended from four to six years. The change was approved by the Dominican Congress, but was of debatable legality; "its enactment effectively invalidated the constitution of 1924 that Vásquez had previously sworn to uphold." Vásquez also removed the prohibition against presidential reelection and postulated himself for another term in elections to be held in May 1930. However, his actions had by then led to doubts that the contest could be fair. Furthermore, these elections took place amid economic problems, as the Great Depression had dropped sugar prices to less than one dollar per pound.
In February, a revolution was proclaimed in Santiago by a lawyer named Rafael Estrella Ureña. When the commander of the Guardia Nacional Dominicana (the new designation of the armed force created under the Occupation), Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, ordered his troops to remain in their barracks, the sick and aging Vásquez was forced into exile and Estrella proclaimed provisional president. In May, Trujillo was elected with 95% of the vote, having used the army to harass and intimidate electoral personnel and potential opponents. After his inauguration in August, at his request, the Dominican Congress proclaimed the beginning of the 'Era of Trujillo'.
Trujillo established absolute political control while promoting economic development—from which mainly he and his supporters benefitted—and severe repression of domestic human rights. Trujillo treated his political party, El Partido Dominicano (The Dominican Party), as a rubber-stamp for his decisions. The true source of his power was the Guardia Nacional—larger, better armed, and more centrally controlled than any military force in the nation's history. By disbanding the regional militias, the Marines eliminated the main source of potential opposition, giving the Guard "a virtual monopoly on power". By 1940, Dominican military spending was 21% of the national budget. At the same time, he developed an elaborate system of espionage agencies. By the late 1950s, there were at least seven categories of intelligence agencies, spying on each other as well as the public. All citizens were required to carry identification cards and good-conduct passes from the secret police.
Obsessed with adulation, Trujillo promoted an extravagant cult of personality. When a hurricane struck Santo Domingo in 1930, killing over 3,000 people, he rebuilt the city and renamed it Ciudad Trujillo: "Trujillo City"; he also renamed the country's and the Caribbean's highest mountain, Pico Duarte (Duarte Peak), Pico Trujillo. Over 1,800 statues of Trujillo were built, and all public works projects were required to have a plaque with the inscription "Era of Trujillo, Benefactor of the Fatherland".
As sugar estates turned to Haiti for seasonal migrant labor, increasing numbers settled in the Dominican Republic permanently. The census of 1920, conducted by the U.S. occupation government, gave a total of 28,258 Haitians living in the country; by 1935 there were 52,657.
In September 1937, Trujillo welcomed a Nazi delegation and publicly accepted the gift of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. The following month, Trujillo ordered the massacre of an estimated 17,000 to 35,000 Haitian men, women, and children living in the border region of the Dominican Republic. Over the course of five days, Dominican troops killed Haitians with guns, machetes, clubs, and knives. Haitian women were stabbed and mutilated, babies bayoneted, and men tied up and thrown into the sea, where sharks finished what Trujillo had begun. This event later became known as the Parsley Massacre because of the story that Dominican soldiers identified Haitians by their inability to pronounce the Spanish word perejil. An American missionary, Father Barnes, wrote about the massacre in a letter to his sister. Trujillo's spies intercepted the letter, and as a result, Father Barnes was found brutally murdered on the floor of his home.
The massacre was the result of a new policy which Trujillo called the 'Dominicanisation of the frontier'. Place names along the border were changed from Creole and French to Spanish, the practice of Voodoo was outlawed, quotas were imposed on the percentage of foreign workers that companies could hire, and a law was passed preventing Haitian workers from remaining after the sugar harvest.
Although Trujillo sought to emulate Generalissimo Francisco Franco, he welcomed Spanish Republican refugees following the Spanish Civil War. During the Holocaust in the Second World War, the Dominican Republic took in many Jews fleeing Hitler who had been refused entry by other countries. The Jews settled in Sosua. These decisions arose from a policy of blanquismo, closely connected with anti-Haitian xenophobia, which sought to add more light-skinned individuals to the Dominican population by promoting immigration from Europe. As part of the Good Neighbor policy, in 1940, the U.S. State Department signed a treaty with Trujillo relinquishing control over the nation's customs.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor Trujillo followed the United States in declaring war on the Axis powers, although the Dominican Republic did not have any participation in the war. Nazi submarines operating in the Caribbean torpedoed and sank two Dominican merchant vessels that Trujillo had named after himself—the steamers San Rafael and Presidente Trujillo, killing twenty-six Dominican sailors. Nazi submarines also destroyed four Dominican schooners. After the war, Trujillo sought military aid from the United States but was denied. Trujillo decided to establish his own arms factory. This move allowed the Dominican Republic to become self-sufficient in producing small arms. In the 1950s, Trujillo's air force had 156 aircraft, including fighters, B-17 bombers, and B-26 Marauder bombers. His navy comprised two destroyers and eight frigates. During the Cold War, he maintained close ties to the United States, declaring himself the world's "Number One Anticommunist" and becoming the first Latin American President to sign a Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement with the United States.
Trujillo and his family established a near-monopoly over the national economy. By the time of his death, he had accumulated a fortune of around $800 million ($8.2 billion in today's money); he and his family owned 50–60% of the arable land, some 700,000 acres (2,800 km), and Trujillo-owned businesses accounted for 80% of the commercial activity in the capital. He exploited nationalist sentiment to purchase most of the nation's sugar plantations and refineries from U.S. corporations; operated monopolies on salt, rice, milk, cement, tobacco, coffee, and insurance; owned two large banks, several hotels, port facilities, an airline and shipping line; deducted 10% of all public employees' salaries (ostensibly for his party); and received a portion of prostitution revenues.
World War II brought increased demand for Dominican exports, and the 1940s and early 1950s witnessed economic growth and considerable expansion of the national infrastructure. During this period, the capital city was transformed from merely an administrative center to the national center of shipping and industry, although "it was hardly coincidental that new roads often led to Trujillo's plantations and factories, and new harbors benefited Trujillo's shipping and export enterprises." Mismanagement and corruption resulted in major economic problems. By the end of the 1950s, the economy was deteriorating because of a combination of overspending on a festival to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the regime, overspending to purchase privately owned sugar mills and electricity plants, and a decision to make a major investment in state sugar production that proved economically unsuccessful.
In 1956, Trujillo's agents in New York murdered Jesús María de Galíndez, a Basque exile who had worked for Trujillo but who later denounced the Trujillo regime and caused public opinion in the United States to turn against Trujillo. In 1957, Trujillo created the Military Intelligence Service, secret police, headed by Johnny Abbes García, who briefly operated in Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, New York, Costa Rica, and Venezuela.
On June 14, 1959, leftist Dominican exiles launched an invasion of the Dominican Republic from Cuba with the hope of overthrowing the Trujillo regime. Trujillo's forces quickly routed the invaders at Constanza. A week later, another group of invaders in two yachts were intercepted on the north coast and blasted by mortar fire and bazookas from the shore. Trujillo's planes, operating from San Isidro, zoomed low over the yachts and shot rockets, killing most of the invaders. A few survivors managed to swim to the shore and escape into the forest; the military used napalm to get them out. Of a count of 224 invaders, 217 were killed and seven captured. The leaders of the invasion were taken aboard a Dominican Air Force plane and then pushed out in mid-air, falling to their deaths.
In August 1960, the Organization of American States (OAS) imposed diplomatic sanctions against the Dominican Republic as a result of Trujillo's complicity in an attempt to assassinate Venezuelan president Rómulo Betancourt with a car bomb. Betancourt had been involved in the 1959 Cuba-based invasion of the Dominican Republic. The United States broke diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic on August 26, 1960, and in January 1961 suspended the export of trucks, parts, crude oil, gasoline and other petroleum products. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower also took advantage of OAS sanctions to cut drastically purchases of Dominican sugar. This action ultimately cost the Dominican Republic almost $22,000,000 in lost revenues at a time when its economy was in a rapid decline. Trujillo threatened to align with the Communist world in response to U.S. and Latin American rejection of his regime. La Voz Dominicana and Radio Caribe began attacking the U.S. in Marxian terms, and the Dominican Communist Party was legalized. The United States government turned to the Central Intelligence Agency to devise a plan to kill Trujillo.
A group of Dominican dissidents killed Trujillo in a car chase on the way to his country villa near San Cristóbal on May 30, 1961. The group was led by General Juan Tomás Díaz Quezada. The assassins riddled Trujillo's car with almost thirty bullets. Trujillo's chauffeur attempted to return fire with a machine gun. Badly wounded, Trujillo scrambled out of the car, looking for the assassins, and was shot down, dying on the spot. The sanctions remained in force after Trujillo's assassination. His son Ramfis took charge and rounded up the conspirators; they were summarily executed, some of them being fed to sharks. In November 1961, the military plot of the Rebellion of the Pilots forced the Trujillo family into exile, fleeing to France, and the heretofore puppet-president Joaquín Balaguer assumed effective power.
At the insistence of the United States, Balaguer was forced to share power with a seven-member Council of State, established on January 1, 1962, and including moderate members of the opposition. OAS sanctions were lifted January 4, and, after an attempted coup, Balaguer resigned and went into exile on January 16. The reorganized Council of State, under President Rafael Filiberto Bonnelly headed the Dominican government until elections could be held. These elections, in December 1962, were won by Juan Bosch, a scholar and poet who had founded the opposition Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (Dominican Revolutionary Party, or PRD) in exile, during the Trujillo years. His leftist policies, including land redistribution, nationalization of certain foreign holdings, and attempts to bring the military under civilian control, antagonized the military officer corps, the Catholic hierarchy, and the upper-class, who feared "another Cuba".
In September 1963, Bosch was overthrown by a right-wing military coup led by Colonel Elías Wessin and was replaced by a three-man military junta. Bosch went into exile to Puerto Rico. Afterwards, a supposedly civilian triumvirate established a de facto dictatorship.
On April 16, 1965, growing dissatisfaction generated another military rebellion on April 24, 1965 that demanded Bosch's restoration. The insurgents, reformist officers and civilian combatants loyal to Bosch commanded by Colonel Francisco Caamaño, and who called themselves the Constitutionalists, staged a coup, seizing the national palace. Immediately, conservative military forces, led by Wessin and calling themselves Loyalists, struck back with tank assaults and aerial bombings against Santo Domingo.
Strafing by the airplanes on the Duarte Bridge killed several civilians, and bombing shattered many of the buildings and structures to the west. Outwardly the damage west of the bridge seemed impressive with body parts scattered on the streets. On April 27, a sizeable Loyalist force of tanks, armored cars, artillery, and infantry began to rumble across Duarte Bridge under covering fire from 12.7 mm machine guns on the eastern bank. The Constitutionalists left two large truck trailers blocking the path, but as the Loyalist armor pushed its way through these obstacles, one of the two pre–World War I 75 mm cannon on the Constitutionalist side got off one shot and destroyed the first tank. Soon a hail of machine gun fire silenced the 75 mm cannons and the rest of the tanks proceeded into the city. When the armored column passed José Martí Street one block from Duarte Avenue, armed civilians attacked the Loyalist infantry and unleashed a hail of fire from machine guns and mortars; most of the troops either fled or were killed. Without infantry support, the unescorted tanks, already in the narrow streets of the neighborhood, were easy targets for the Molotov cocktails soon being tossed from the surrounding buildings. The Loyalists were routed and several tanks were abandoned and put into use by the rebels.
On April 28, the anti-Bosch army elements requested U.S. military intervention and U.S. forces landed, ostensibly to protect U.S. citizens and to evacuate U.S. and other foreign nationals. A rebel sniper killed a Marine near the U.S. embassy, and in the ensuing crossfire a hand grenade fatally wounded a Dominican girl. The evacuation was completed without further loss of life. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, convinced of the defeat of the Loyalist forces and fearing the creation of "a second Cuba" on America's doorstep, ordered U.S. forces to restore order. In what was initially known as Operation Power Pack, 27,677 U.S. troops were ultimately ordered to the Dominican Republic.
Denied a military victory, the Constitutionalist rebels quickly had a Constitutionalist congress elect Caamaño president of the country. U.S. officials countered by backing General Antonio Imbert. On May 7, Imbert was sworn in as president of the Government of National Reconstruction. The next step in the stabilization process, as envisioned by Washington and the OAS, was to arrange an agreement between President Caamaño and President Imbert to form a provisional government committed to early elections. However, Caamaño refused to meet with Imbert until several of the Loyalist officers, including Wessin y Wessin, were made to leave the country.
The American forces attempted to jam Radio Santo Domingo, which the Constitutionalist rebels were using to broadcast messages inciting nationwide rebellion. Despite jamming operations and attacks on relay sites, the rebel broadcasts persisted. On May 13, Imbert launched an eight-day offensive to eliminate rebel resistance in the northern sector. He also directed the Dominican Air Force to target Radio Santo Domingo and its primary transmitter sites near the Peynado Bridge, north of the city. On May 14, Dominican special forces attacked and destroyed the alternate studio and transmitter site north of the Duarte Bridge. These collective actions managed to weaken Radio Santo Domingo to the point that it could no longer broadcast beyond the capital. Alongside this, the Americans realized the significant challenge of effectively conducting jamming operations against a robust commercial broadcasting complex, especially using military jammers designed for military frequencies. Imbert's forces captured Radio Santo Domingo along with the northern part of the capital, destroying many buildings and killing many civilians. A cease-fire was negotiated by May 21, marking the beginning of neutrality for U.S. forces. At this time, 20 Americans had been killed in action and 102 wounded.
By May 14, the Americans had established a "safety corridor" connecting the San Isidro Air Base and the "Duarte" Bridge to the Embajador Hotel and United States Embassy in the center of Santo Domingo, essentially sealing off the Constitutionalist area of Santo Domingo. Roadblocks were established and patrols ran continuously. Some 6,500 people from many nations were evacuated to safety. In addition, the US forces airlifted in relief supplies for Dominican nationals.
By mid-May, a majority of the OAS voted for Operation "Push Ahead", the reduction of United States forces and their replacement by an Inter-American Peace Force (IAPF). The Inter-American Peace Force was formally established on May 23. The following troops were sent by each country: Brazil – 1,130, Honduras – 250, Paraguay – 184, Nicaragua – 160, Costa Rica – 21 military police, and El Salvador – 3 staff officers. The first contingent to arrive was a rifle company from Honduras which was soon backed by detachments from Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Brazil provided the largest unit, a reinforced infantry battalion. Brazilian General Hugo Panasco Alvim assumed command of the OAS ground forces, and on May 26 the U.S. forces began to withdraw.
On June 15, Camaaño hurled all his best remaining units and weapons against the American lines, and soon mortar rounds were hitting the 82nd Airborne Division. Although their heaviest weapons were recoilless cannons, the 82nd Airborne soundly defeated the rebels. The fighting cost the U.S. five killed and thirty-one wounded, three of whom later died. The Brazilians, who had orders to remain on the defensive, suffered five wounded. The Constitutionalists lost sixty-seven killed.
The mauling the Constitutionalists received on the 15th made them more amenable, but not yet committed, to a negotiated settlement. The fighting continued until August 31, 1965, when a truce was declared. However, a U.S. paratrooper in the corridor was killed by a rifle grenade fired from the rebel zone on the night of September 2. Most American troops left shortly afterwards as policing and peacekeeping operations were turned over to Brazilian troops, but some U.S. military presence remained until September 1966. On September 14, two members of a support unit attached to the 82nd were ambushed by civilians riding motorcycles. Both were shot in the back. One G.I. died instantly; the other died at a hospital.
American and OAS peacekeeping forces departed by September 21, 1966. A total of 48 American soldiers and marines died, 27 in action (nine marines and 18 soldiers); 189 were wounded in action, as were six Brazilians and five Paraguayans. Between 2,850 and 4,275 Dominicans, mostly civilians, were killed during the civil war.
In June 1966, Joaquín Balaguer, leader of the Reformist Party (which later became the Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC)), was elected and then re-elected to office in May 1970 and May 1974, both times after the major opposition parties withdrew late in the campaign because of the high degree of violence by pro-government groups. On November 28, 1966 a constitution was created, signed, and put into effect. The constitution stated that the president was elected to a four-year term. If there was a close election there would be a second round of voting to decide the winner. The voting age was eighteen, but married people under eighteen could also vote.
On one hand, Balaguer was considered to be a caudillo who led a regime of terror where 11,000 victims were either tortured or forcibly disappeared and killed. However, Balaguer was also considered to be a major reformer who was instrumental in the liberalization of the Dominican government. During his time as President of the Dominican Republic, the country saw major changes such as legalized political activities, surprise army promotions and demotions, promoting health and education improvements and the instituting of modest land reforms.
Balaguer led the Dominican Republic through a thorough economic restructuring, based on opening the country to foreign investment while protecting state-owned industries and certain private interests. This distorted, dependent development model produced uneven results. For most of Balaguer's first nine years in office the country experienced high growth rates (e.g., an average GDP growth rate of 9.4% between 1970 and 1975), to the extent that people talked about the "Dominican miracle". Foreign, mostly U.S. investment, as well as foreign aid, flowed into the country. Sugar, then the country's main export product, enjoyed good prices in the international market, and tourism grew tremendously. As part of Balaguer's land reform policies, land was dished out to peasants among the country's rural population.
However, this excellent macroeconomic performance was not accompanied by an equitable distribution of wealth in some other areas of the country. While a group of new millionaires flourished during Balaguer's administrations, some of the poor simply became poorer. Moreover, some of the poor were commonly the target of state repression, and their socioeconomic claims were labeled 'communist' and dealt with accordingly by the state security apparatus. In the May 1978 election, Balaguer was defeated in his bid for a fourth successive term by Antonio Guzmán Fernández of the PRD. Balaguer then ordered troops to storm the election centre and destroy ballot boxes, declaring himself the victor. U.S. President Jimmy Carter refused to recognize Balaguer's claim, and, faced with the loss of foreign aid, Balaguer stepped down.
Guzmán's inauguration on August 16 marked the country's first peaceful transfer of power from one freely elected president to another.
Hurricane David hit the Dominican Republic in August 1979, which caused over $1 billion in damage.
By the late 1970s, economic expansion slowed considerably as sugar prices declined and oil prices rose. Rising inflation and unemployment diminished support for the government and helped trigger a wave of mass emigration from the Dominican Republic to New York, coming on the heels of the similar migration of Puerto Ricans in the preceding decades.
Guzmán committed suicide on July 5, 1982 a month before he would have left office. He was confronted with evidence of his daughter Sonia Guzmán's husband's corruption using her father's position for monetary gain. Guzmán was known as a serious man who never stole money. After being confronted with this, he entered his bathroom and shot himself.
Elections were again held in 1982. Salvador Jorge Blanco of the Dominican Revolutionary Party defeated Bosch and a resurgent Balaguer.
Balaguer completed his return to power in 1986 when he won the Presidency again and remained in office for the next ten years. Elections in 1990 were marked by violence and suspected electoral fraud. The 1994 election too saw widespread pre-election violence, often aimed at intimidating members of the opposition. Balaguer won in 1994 but most observers felt the election had been stolen. Under pressure from the United States, Balaguer agreed to hold new elections in 1996. He himself would not run.
In 1996, U.S.-raised Leonel Fernández Reyna of Bosch's Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (Dominican Liberation Party) secured more than 51% of the vote, through an alliance with Balaguer. The first item on the president's agenda was the partial sale of some state-owned enterprises. Fernández was praised for ending decades of isolationism and improving ties with other Caribbean countries, but he was criticized for not fighting corruption or alleviating the poverty that affected 60% of the population.
In May 2000 the center-left Hipólito Mejía of the PRD was elected president amid popular discontent over power outages in the recently privatized electric industry. His presidency saw major inflation and instability of the peso in 2003 because of the bankruptcy of three major commercial banks in the country due to the bad policies of the principal managers. During his remaining time as president, he took action to save most savers of the closed banks, avoiding a major crisis. The relatively stable currency fell from about 16 Dominican pesos to 1 United States dollar to about 60 DOP to US$1 and was in the 40s to the dollar when he left office in August 2004. In the May 2004 presidential elections, he was defeated by former president Leonel Fernández.
Fernández instituted austerity measures to deflate the peso and rescue the country from its economic crisis, and in the first half of 2006, the economy grew 11.7%. The peso is currently (2019) at the exchange rate of c. 52 DOP to US$1.
Over the last three decades, remittances (remesas) from Dominicans living abroad, mainly in the United States, have become increasingly important to the economy. From 1990 to 2000, the Dominican population of the U.S. doubled in size, from 520,121 in 1990 to 1,041,910, two-thirds of whom were born in the Dominican Republic itself. More than half of all Dominican Americans live in New York City, with the largest concentration in the neighborhood of Washington Heights in northern Manhattan. Over the past decade, the Dominican Republic has become the largest source of immigration to New York City, and today the metropolitan area of New York has a larger Dominican population than any city except Santo Domingo. Dominican communities have also developed in New Jersey (particularly Paterson), Miami, Boston, Philadelphia, Providence, Rhode Island, and Lawrence, Massachusetts. In addition, tens of thousands of Dominicans and their descendants live in Puerto Rico. Many Dominicans arrive in Puerto Rico illegally by sea across the Mona Passage, some staying and some moving on to the mainland U.S. (See Dominican immigration to Puerto Rico.) Dominicans living abroad sent an estimated $3 billion in remittances to relatives at home, in 2006. In 1997, a new law took effect, allowing Dominicans living abroad to retain their citizenship and vote in presidential elections. President Fernández, who grew up in New York, was the principal beneficiary of this law.
The Dominican Republic was involved in the US-led coalition in Iraq, as part of the Spain-led Latin-American Plus Ultra Brigade. But in 2004, the nation pulled its 300 or so troops out of Iraq.
Danilo Medina began his tenure with a series of controversial tax reforms so as to deal with the government's troublesome fiscal situation encountered by the new administration. In 2012, he had won presidency as the candidate of ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD). In 2016, President Medina won re-election, defeating the main opposition candidate businessman Luis Abinader, with a wide margin.
In 2020 Luis Abinader, the presidential candidate for the opposition Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) won the election and he became the new president, ending the 16-year rule of PLD since 2004. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The recorded history of the Dominican Republic began in 1492 when the Genoa-born navigator Christopher Columbus, working for the Crown of Castile, happened upon a large island in the region of the western Atlantic Ocean that later came to be known as the Caribbean. It was inhabited by the Taíno, an Arawakan people, who called the eastern part of the island Quisqueya (Kiskeya), meaning \"mother of all lands.\" Columbus promptly claimed the island for the Spanish Crown, naming it La Isla Española (\"the Spanish Island\"), later Latinized to Hispaniola. After 25 years of Spanish occupation, the Taíno population in the Spanish-dominated parts of the island drastically decreased through genocide. With fewer than 50,000 remaining, the survivors intermixed with Spaniards, Africans, and others, forming the present-day tripartite Dominican population. What would become the Dominican Republic was the Spanish Captaincy General of Santo Domingo until 1821, except for a time as a French colony from 1795 to 1809. It was then part of a unified Hispaniola with Haiti from 1822 until 1844. In 1844, Dominican independence was proclaimed and the republic, which was often known as Santo Domingo until the early 20th century, maintained its independence except for a short Spanish occupation from 1861 to 1865 and occupation by the United States from 1916 to 1924.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "During the 19th century, Dominicans were often at war, fighting the French, Haitians, Spanish, or amongst themselves, resulting in a society heavily influenced by caudillos, who ruled the country as if it were their personal kingdom. Between 1844 and 1914, the Dominican Republic experienced multiple transitions in leadership, with 53 presidents (only 3 completing their terms) and the adoption of 19 constitutions. Many leaders seized power through military force. Around 1930, the Dominican Republic found itself under the control of the dictator Rafael Trujillo, who ruled the country until his assassination in 1961. Juan Bosch was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. In 1965, the United States led an intervention in the midst of a civil war sparked by an uprising to restore Bosch. In 1966, the caudillo Joaquín Balaguer defeated Bosch in the presidential election. Balaguer maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when U.S. reaction to flawed elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then, regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates have won the presidency.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The Taíno people called the island Quisqueya (mother of all lands) and Ayiti (land of high mountains). At the time of Columbus' arrival in 1492, the island's territory consisted of five chiefdoms: Marién, Maguá, Maguana, Jaragua, and Higüey. These were ruled respectively by caciques Guacanagarix, Guarionex, Caonabo, Bohechío, and Cayacoa.",
"title": "Pre-European history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Christopher Columbus reached the island of Hispañola on his first voyage, in December 1492. Guacanagarí, the chief who hosted Columbus and his men, treated them kindly and provided them with everything they desired. However, the Taínos' egalitarian social system clashed with the Europeans' feudalist system, which had more rigid class structures. The Europeans believed the Taínos to be either weak or misleading, and they began to treat the tribes with violence. Columbus successfully tempered this trend, and he and his men departed from Ayiti, the Taínos' name for the island, on good terms.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "After the sinking of the Santa María, Columbus established a small fort to support his claim to the island. The fort was called La Navidad because the shipwrecking and the founding of the fort occurred on Christmas Day. While Columbus was away, the garrison manning the fort was wracked by divisions that evolved into conflict. The more rapacious men began to terrorize the Taíno, the Ciguayo, and the Macorix peoples, which included attempts to take their women. Guacanagarix tried to reach an accommodation with the Spaniards; however, the Spaniards and some of his own people viewed him as weak. The Spaniards treated him with contempt, including the kidnapping of some of his wives. Fed up, the powerful Cacique Caonabo of the Maguana Chiefdom attacked the Europeans and destroyed La Navidad. Guacanagarix was dismayed by these events but did not try hard to aid the Europeans, probably hoping that the troublesome outsiders would never return.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In 1493, Columbus came back to the island on his second voyage and founded the first Spanish colony in the New World, the city of La Isabela. Isabela nearly failed because of hunger and disease. In 1496, Santo Domingo was built and became the new capital, and remains the oldest continuously inhabited European city in the Americas.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "An estimated 400,000 Tainos living on the island were soon enslaved to work in gold mines. By 1508, their numbers had decreased to around 60,000 because of forced labor, hunger, disease, and mass killings. By 1535, only a few dozen were still alive.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "During this period, the colony's Spanish leadership changed several times. When Columbus departed on another exploration, Francisco de Bobadilla became governor. Settlers' allegations of mismanagement by Columbus helped create a tumultuous political situation. In 1502, Nicolás de Ovando replaced de Bobadilla as governor, with an ambitious plan to expand Spanish influence in the region. It was he who dealt most brutally with the Taíno people. The Taino population declined by up to 95% in the century after the Spanish arrival, from a pre contact population of tens of thousands to 8,000,000. Many authors have described the treatment of the Taino in Hispaniola under the Spanish Empire as genocide.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The conquistador-turned-priest Bartolomé de las Casas wrote an eyewitness history of the Spanish incursion into the island of Hispaniola that reported the conquistadors' almost feral misconduct:",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Into this land of meek outcasts there came some Spaniards who immediately behaved like ravening wild beasts, wolves, tigers or lions that had been starved for many days. And Spaniards have behaved in no other way during the past forty years, down to the present time, for they are still acting like ravening beasts, killing, terrorizing, afflicting, torturing, and destroying the native peoples, doing all this with the strangest and most varied new methods of cruelty.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "One rebel, however, successfully fought back. Enriquillo led a group who fled to the mountains and attacked the Spanish repeatedly for fourteen years. The Spanish ultimately offered him a peace treaty and gave Enriquillo and his followers their own town in 1534. The town lasted only a few years. Rebellious slaves burned it to the ground and killed all who stayed behind.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In 1501, the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand I and Isabella, first granted permission to the colonists of the Caribbean to import African slaves, who began arriving to the island in 1503. In 1510, the first sizable shipment, consisting of 250 Black Ladinos, arrived in Hispaniola from Spain. Eight years later African-born slaves arrived in the West Indies. The Colony of Santo Domingo was organized as the Royal Audiencia of Santo Domingo in 1511. Sugar cane was introduced to Hispaniola from the Canary Islands, and the first sugar mill in the New World was established in 1516, on Hispaniola. The need for a labor force to meet the growing demands of sugar cane cultivation led to an exponential increase in the importation of slaves over the following two decades. The sugar mill owners soon formed a new colonial elite and convinced the Spanish king to allow them to elect the members of the Real Audiencia from their ranks. Poorer colonists subsisted by hunting the herds of wild cattle that roamed throughout the island and selling their hides.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The first major slave revolt in the Americas occurred in Santo Domingo on December 25, 1521, when enslaved Muslims of the Wolof nation led an uprising in the sugar plantation of admiral Don Diego Colon, son of Christopher Columbus. Many of these insurgents managed to escape to the mountains where they formed independent maroon communities, but the Admiral had a lot of the captured rebels hanged.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "While sugar cane dramatically increased Spain's earnings on the island, large numbers of the newly imported slaves fled into the nearly impassable mountain ranges in the island's interior, joining the growing communities of cimarrónes—literally, 'wild animals'. By the 1530s, cimarrón bands had become so numerous that in rural areas the Spaniards could only safely travel outside their plantations in large armed groups. When Archdeacon Alonso de Castro toured Hispaniola in 1542, he estimated the maroon population at 2,000–3,000 persons, living mainly on the Cape of San Nicolas, in the Ciguayos, on the Samana peninsular, and on the Cape of Iguey. Latter that decade, there were also rebellions of enslaved people, led by Diego de Guzman, Diego de Campo, and Captain Lemba.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Beginning in the 1520s, the Caribbean Sea was raided by increasingly numerous French pirates. In 1541, Spain authorized the construction of Santo Domingo's fortified wall, and in 1560 decided to restrict sea travel to enormous, well-armed convoys. In another move, which would destroy Hispaniola's sugar industry, in 1561 Havana, more strategically located in relation to the Gulf Stream, was selected as the designated stopping point for the merchant flotas, which had a royal monopoly on commerce with the Americas. In 1564, the island's main inland cities Santiago de los Caballeros and Concepción de la Vega were destroyed by an earthquake. In the 1560s, English privateers joined the French in regularly raiding Spanish shipping in the Americas.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "With the conquest of the American mainland, Hispaniola quickly declined. Most Spanish colonists left for the silver-mines of Mexico and Peru, while new immigrants from Spain bypassed the island. Agriculture dwindled, new imports of slaves ceased, and white colonists, free blacks, and slaves alike lived in poverty, weakening the racial hierarchy and aiding intermixing, resulting in a population of predominantly mixed Spaniard, African, and Taíno descent. Except for the city of Santo Domingo, which managed to maintain some legal exports, Dominican ports were forced to rely on contraband trade, which, along with livestock, became the sole source of livelihood for the island dwellers.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "In 1586, the privateer Francis Drake of England captured the city of Santo Domingo, collecting a ransom for its return to Spanish rule. In 1592, Christopher Newport of England attacked the town of Azua on the bay of Ocoa, which was taken and plundered.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In 1595, the Spanish, frustrated by the twenty-year rebellion of their Dutch subjects, closed their home ports to rebel shipping from the Netherlands cutting them off from the critical salt supplies necessary for their herring industry. The Dutch responded by sourcing new salt supplies from Spanish America where colonists were more than happy to trade. So large numbers of Dutch traders and buccaneers joined their English and French counterparts on the Spanish Main.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In 1605, Spain was infuriated that Spanish settlements on the northern and western coasts of the island were carrying out large scale and illegal trade with the Dutch, who were at that time fighting a war of independence against Spain in Europe, and the English, a very recent enemy state, and so decided to forcibly resettle the colony's inhabitants closer to the city of Santo Domingo. This action, known as the Devastaciones de Osorio, proved disastrous; more than half of the resettled colonists died of starvation or disease, over 100,000 cattle were abandoned, and many slaves escaped. Five of the existing thirteen settlements on the island were brutally razed by Spanish troops – many of the inhabitants fought, escaped to the jungle, or fled to the safety of passing Dutch ships. The settlements of La Yaguana, and Bayaja, on the west and north coasts respectively of modern-day Haiti were burned, as were the settlements of Monte Cristi and Puerto Plata on the north coast and San Juan de la Maguana in the southwestern area of the modern-day Dominican Republic.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "French and English buccaneers took advantage of Spain's retreat into a corner of Hispaniola to settle the island of Tortuga, off the northwest coast of Hispaniola, in 1629. France established direct control in 1640, reorganizing it into an official colony and expanding to the north coast of Hispaniola itself, whose western end Spain ceded to France in 1697 under the Treaty of Ryswick.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "In 1655, Oliver Cromwell of England dispatched a fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir William Penn, to capture Santo Domingo. After meeting heavy resistance, the English retreated. Despite the fact that the English were defeated in their attempt to capture the island, they nevertheless captured the nearby Spanish colony of Jamaica, and other foreign strongholds subsequently began to be established throughout the West Indies. Madrid sought to contest such encroachments on its own imperial control by using Santo Domingo as a forward military base, but Spanish power was by now too depleted to recapture lost colonies. The city itself was furthermore subjected to a smallpox epidemic, cacao blight, and hurricane in 1666; another storm two years later; a second epidemic in 1669; a third hurricane in September 1672; plus an earthquake in May 1673 that killed twenty-four residents.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The House of Bourbon replaced the House of Habsburg in Spain in 1700 and introduced economic reforms that gradually began to revive trade in Santo Domingo. The crown progressively relaxed the rigid controls and restrictions on commerce between Spain and the colonies and among the colonies. The last flotas sailed in 1737; the monopoly port system was abolished shortly thereafter. By the middle of the century, the population was bolstered by emigration from the Canary Islands, resettling the northern part of the colony and planting tobacco in the Cibao Valley, and importation of slaves was renewed. The population of Santo Domingo grew from about 6,000 in 1737 to approximately 125,000 in 1790. Of this number, about 40,000 were white landowners, about 25,000 were mulatto freedmen, and some 60,000 were slaves. However, it remained poor and neglected, particularly in contrast with its western, French neighbor Saint-Domingue, which became the wealthiest colony in the New World and had half a million inhabitants.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "When the War of Jenkins' Ear broke out in 1739, Spanish privateers, including those from Santo Domingo, began to patrol the Caribbean Sea, a development that lasted until the end of the eighteenth century. During this period, Spanish privateers from Santo Domingo sailed into enemy ports looking for ships to plunder, thus disrupting commerce between Spain's enemies in the Atlantic. As a result of these developments, Spanish privateers frequently sailed back into Santo Domingo with their holds filled with captured plunder which were sold in Hispaniola's ports, with profits accruing to individual sea raiders. The revenue acquired in these acts of piracy was invested in the economic expansion of the colony and led to repopulation from Europe.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Dominican privateers captured British, Dutch, French and Danish ships throughout the eighteenth century. Dominicans constituted one of the many diverse units which fought alongside Spanish forces under Bernardo de Gálvez during the conquest of British West Florida (1779–1781).",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "As restrictions on colonial trade were relaxed, the colonial elites of St. Domingue offered the principal market for Santo Domingo's exports of beef, hides, mahogany, and tobacco. With the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution in 1791, the rich urban families linked to the colonial bureaucracy fled the island, while most of the rural hateros (cattle ranchers) remained, even though they lost their principal market. Spain saw in the unrest an opportunity to seize all, or part, of the western third of the island in an alliance of convenience with the rebellious slaves. But after the slaves and French reconciled, the Spanish suffered a setback, and in 1795, France gained control of the whole island under the Treaty of Basel.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1492–1795"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "In 1801, Toussaint Louverture arrived in Santo Domingo, proclaiming the abolition of slavery on behalf of the French Republic. Shortly afterwards, Napoleon dispatched an army which subdued the whole island and ruled it for a few months. Mulattoes and blacks again rose up against these French in October 1802 and finally defeated them in November 1803. On 1 January 1804, the victors declared Saint-Domingue to be the independent republic of Haiti, the Taíno name for the entire island. Even after their defeat by the Haitians, a small French garrison remained in Santo Domingo. Slavery was reestablished and many of the émigré Spanish colonists returned. In 1805, after crowning himself Emperor, Jean-Jacques Dessalines invaded, reaching Santo Domingo before retreating in the face of a French naval squadron. In their retreat through the Cibao, the Haitians sacked the towns of Santiago and Moca, slaughtering most of their residents.",
"title": "French occupation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The French held on to the eastern part of the island until dealt a serious blow by the Dominican General Juan Sánchez Ramírez at the Battle of Palo Hincado on November 7, 1808. With help from the British Navy, Ramírez laid siege to the city of Santo Domingo. The French in the besieged city finally capitulated on July 9, 1809, initiating a twelve-year period of Spanish rule, known in Dominican history as \"the Foolish Spain.\"",
"title": "French occupation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "The population of the new Spanish colony stood at approximately 104,000. Of this number, about 30,000 were slaves, working predominantly on cattle ranches, and the rest a mixture of Spanish, taino and black. The European Spaniards were few, and consisted principally of Catalans and Canary Islanders.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1809–1821"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "During this period in time, the Spanish crown wielded little to no influence in the colony of Santo Domingo. Some wealthy cattle ranchers had become leaders, and sought to bring control and order in the southeast of the colony where the \"law of machete\" ruled the land. On December 1, 1821, the former Captain general in charge of the colony, José Núñez de Cáceres, influenced by all the Revolutions that were going on around him, finally decided to overthrow the Spanish government and proclaimed the independence of \"Spanish Haiti\".",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1809–1821"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "The white and mulatto slave owners on the eastern part of the island—recognizing their vulnerability both to Spanish and to Haitian attack and also seeking to maintain their slaves as property—attempted to annex themselves to Gran Colombia. While this request was in transit, Jean-Pierre Boyer, the ruler of Haiti, invaded Santo Domingo on February 9, 1822, with a 10,000-strong army. Having no capacity to resist, Núñez de Cáceres surrendered the capital.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1809–1821"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "The twenty-two-year Haitian occupation that followed is recalled by Dominicans as a period of brutal military rule, though the reality is more complex. It led to large-scale land expropriations and failed efforts to force production of export crops, impose military services, restrict the use of the Spanish language, and eliminate traditional customs such as cockfighting. It reinforced Dominicans' perceptions of themselves as different from Haitians in \"language, race, religion and domestic customs\". Yet, this was also a period that definitively ended slavery as an institution in the eastern part of the island.",
"title": "Haitian occupation 1822–1844"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Haiti's constitution forbade whites from owning land, and the major landowning families were forcibly deprived of their properties. Most emigrated to the Spanish colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico, or to independent Gran Colombia, usually with the encouragement of Haitian officials, who acquired their lands. The Haitians, who associated the Catholic Church with the French slave-masters who had exploited them before independence, confiscated all church property, deported all foreign clergy, and severed the ties of the remaining clergy to the Vatican. Santo Domingo's university, the oldest in the Western Hemisphere, lacking students, teachers, and resources, closed down. In order to receive diplomatic recognition from France and end the threat of a French invasion, Haiti was forced to pay an indemnity of 150 million francs to the former French colonists, which was subsequently lowered to 60 million francs, and Haiti imposed heavy taxes on the eastern part of the island. Since Haiti was unable to adequately provision its army, the occupying forces largely survived by commandeering or confiscating food and supplies at gunpoint.",
"title": "Haitian occupation 1822–1844"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Attempts to redistribute land conflicted with the system of communal land tenure (terrenos comuneros), which had arisen with the ranching economy, and newly emancipated slaves resented being forced to grow cash crops under Boyer's Code Rural. In rural areas, the Haitian administration was usually too inefficient to enforce its own laws. It was in the city of Santo Domingo that the effects of the occupation were most acutely felt, and it was there that the movement for independence originated.",
"title": "Haitian occupation 1822–1844"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "On July 16, 1838, Juan Pablo Duarte together with Pedro Alejandrino Pina, Juan Isidro Pérez, Felipe Alfau, Benito González, Félix María Ruiz, Juan Nepumoceno Ravelo and Jacinto de la Concha founded a secret society called La Trinitaria to win independence from Haiti. A short time later, they were joined by Ramón Matías Mella, and Francisco del Rosario Sánchez. In 1843, they allied with a Haitian movement in overthrowing Boyer. Because they had revealed themselves as revolutionaries working for Dominican independence, the new Haitian president, Charles Rivière-Hérard, exiled or imprisoned the leading Trinitarios (Trinitarians). At the same time, Buenaventura Báez, an Azua mahogany exporter and deputy in the Haitian National Assembly, was negotiating with the French Consul-General for the establishment of a French protectorate. In an uprising timed to preempt Báez, on February 27, 1844, the Trinitarios declared independence from Haiti, expelling all Haitians and confiscating their property. The Trinitarios were backed by Pedro Santana, a wealthy cattle-rancher from El Seibo who commanded a private army of peons who worked on his estates.",
"title": "Independence: First Republic 1844–1861"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "In March 1844, Rivière-Hérard sent three columns totaling 30,000 troops into the Dominican Republic to reestablish his authority, but the Dominicans put up stiff opposition, inflicting disproportionate casualties on the Haitians and forcing them to retreat back to Haiti within a month. In 1845 and 1849, the Dominicans repelled subsequent Haitian invasions. In November 1855, the Dominican Republic faced yet another invasion as a force of 30,000 Haitian troops crossed its borders. However, in another short war, the Dominicans decisively defeated the Haitians.",
"title": "Independence: First Republic 1844–1861"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "In July 1844, Pedro Santana seized power from the liberal president Francisco del Rosario Sánchez in a military coup after Rosario Sánchez ousted the conservative Tomás Bobadilla from power. Santana inaugurated a military dictatorship with Bobadilla as a member of his junta.",
"title": "Independence: First Republic 1844–1861"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The Dominican Republic's first constitution was adopted on November 6, 1844. The state was commonly known as Santo Domingo in English until the early 20th century. It featured a presidential form of government with many liberal tendencies, but it was marred by Article 210, imposed by Santana on the constitutional assembly by force, giving him the privileges of a dictatorship until the war of independence was over. These privileges not only served him to win the war but also allowed him to persecute, execute and drive into exile his political opponents, among which Duarte was the most important. Santana imprisoned and ultimately exiled Duarte to Germany. Santana made the first martyr of the republic when he had María Trinidad Sánchez executed for refusing to name \"conspirators\" against him.",
"title": "Independence: First Republic 1844–1861"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "During the first decade of independence, Haiti and the Dominican Republic were periodically at war, each invading the other in response to previous invasions. Santana used the ever-present threat of Haitian invasion as a justification for consolidating dictatorial powers. For the Dominican elite—mostly landowners, merchants and priests—the threat of re-annexation by more populous Haiti was sufficient to seek protection from a foreign power. Offering the deepwater harbor of Samaná bay as bait, over the next two decades, negotiations were made with Britain, France, the United States and Spain to declare a protectorate over the country.",
"title": "Independence: First Republic 1844–1861"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "The population of the Dominican Republic in 1845 was approximately 174,000 people (5,000 whites; 34,000 blacks; and 135,000 mulattoes). Without adequate roads, the regions of the Dominican Republic developed in isolation from one another. In the south, the economy was dominated by cattle-ranching (particularly in the southeastern savannah) and cutting mahogany and other hardwoods for export. This region retained a semi-feudal character, with little commercial agriculture, the hacienda as the dominant social unit, and the majority of the population living at a subsistence level. In the Cibao Valley, the nation's richest farmland, peasants supplemented their subsistence crops by growing tobacco for export, mainly to Germany. Tobacco required less land than cattle ranching and was mainly grown by smallholders, who relied on itinerant traders to transport their crops to Puerto Plata and Monte Cristi. Santana antagonized the Cibao farmers, enriching himself and his supporters at their expense by resorting to multiple peso printings that allowed him to buy their crops for a fraction of their value.",
"title": "Independence: First Republic 1844–1861"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "In 1848, Santana was forced to resign and was succeeded by his vice-president, Manuel Jimenes. After returning to lead Dominican forces against a new Haitian invasion in 1849, Santana marched on Santo Domingo, deposing Jimenes. At his behest, Congress elected Buenaventura Báez as president. Báez immediately began an offensive campaign against Haiti; whole villages on the Haitian coast were plundered and burned, and the crews of captured ships were butchered without regard to age or gender.",
"title": "Independence: First Republic 1844–1861"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "In 1853, Santana was elected president for his second term, forcing Báez into exile. After repulsing the last Haitian invasion, Santana negotiated a treaty leasing a portion of Samaná Peninsula to a U.S. company; popular opposition forced him to abdicate, enabling Báez to return and seize power. With the treasury depleted, Báez printed eighteen million uninsured pesos, purchasing the 1857 tobacco crop with this currency and exporting it for hard cash at immense profit to himself and his followers. The Cibanian tobacco planters, who were ruined when inflation ensued, revolted, recalling Santana from exile to lead their rebellion. After a year of civil war, Santana seized Santo Domingo and installed himself as president.",
"title": "Independence: First Republic 1844–1861"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Pedro Santana inherited a bankrupt government on the brink of collapse. Having failed in his initial bids to secure annexation by the U.S. or France, Santana initiated negotiations with Queen Isabella II of Spain and the Captain-General of Cuba to have the island reconverted into a Spanish overseas territory. The U.S. Civil War rendered the United States incapable of enforcing the Monroe Doctrine. In Spain, Prime Minister Don Leopoldo O'Donnell advocated renewed colonial expansion, waging a campaign in northern Morocco that conquered the city of Tétouan. In March 1861, Santana officially restored the Dominican Republic to Spain. This move was widely rejected and there were several failed uprisings against Spanish rule. On July 4, 1861, former President Francisco del Rosario Sánchez was captured and executed by Santana after leading a failed invasion of Santo Domingo from Haiti.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1861–1865"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "On August 16, 1863, a national war of restoration began in Monte Cristi Province, where the rebels defeated Spanish detachments. On September 4, Spanish reinforcements marched from Puerto Plata to relieve the besieged garrison of Santiago, defeating the rebels under the command of Gaspar Polanco and Gregorio Luperon. The rebels later burned the town and besieged the forts again. On September 14, the Spaniards abandoned Santiago and made their way to Puerto Plata harassed by guerrilla attacks that inflicted 1,300 casualties. The rebels established a provisional government in Santiago, headed by General Jose Antonio Salcedo. In December 1863, a Spanish expedition sent west along the southern seacoast was successful in expelling rebel bands (already demoralized by dissensions) from San Cristobal, Bani, Azua, Barohona, Neiba, and San Juan, and driving them into Haiti.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1861–1865"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Santana, who had been given the title of Marquess of Las Carreras by Queen Isabella II, initially was named Capitan-General of the new Spanish province, but it soon became obvious that Spanish authorities planned to deprive him of his power, leading him to resign in 1862. Condemned to death by the provisional government, Santana died of rheumatic fever in 1864.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1861–1865"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Restrictions on trade, discrimination against the mulatto majority, Rumors to reimpose slavery, and an unpopular campaign by the new Spanish Archbishop against extramarital unions, which were widespread after decades of abandonment by the Catholic Church, all fed resentment of Spanish rule.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1861–1865"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Confined to the major towns, the Spanish Army was unable to defeat the guerillas or contain the insurrection, and suffered heavy losses due to yellow fever. In order to reinforce their position with an auxiliary force to keep public order in the cities, a militia named Volunteers was created in Santo Domingo City, following the example of the militia of the same name previously created in Cuba and Puerto Rico.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1861–1865"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Spanish colonial authorities encouraged Queen Isabella II to abandon the island, seeing the occupation as a nonsensical waste of troops and money. However, the rebels were in a state of political disarray and proved unable to present a cohesive set of demands. The first president of the provisional government, Pepillo Salcedo (allied with Báez) was deposed by General Gaspar Polanco in September 1864, who, in turn, was deposed by General Antonio Pimentel three months later. The rebels formalized their provisional rule by holding a national convention in February 1865, which enacted a new constitution, but the new government exerted little authority over the various regional guerrilla caudillos, who were largely independent of one another. Unable to extract concessions from the disorganized rebels, when the American Civil War ended, in March 1865, Queen Isabella annulled the annexation and independence was restored, with the last Spanish troops departing by July.",
"title": "Spanish colony: 1861–1865"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "By the time the Spanish departed, most of the main towns lay in ruins and the island was divided among several dozen caudillos. José María Cabral controlled most of Barahona and the southwest with the support of Báez's mahogany-exporting partners, while cattle rancher Cesáreo Guillermo assembled a coalition of former Santanista generals in the southeast, and Gregorio Luperón controlled the north coast.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "From the Spanish withdrawal to 1879, there were twenty-one changes of government and at least fifty military uprisings. In the course of these conflicts, two parties emerged. The Partido Rojo (Literally \"Red Party\") represented the southern cattle ranching latifundia and mahogany-exporting interests, as well as the artisans and laborers of Santo Domingo, and was dominated by Báez, who continued to seek annexation by a foreign power. The Partido Azul (literally \"Blue Party\"), led by Luperón, represented the tobacco farmers and merchants of the Cibao and Puerto Plata and was nationalist and liberal in orientation.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "During these wars, the small and corrupt national army was far outnumbered by militias organized and maintained by local caudillos who set themselves up as provincial governors. These militias were filled out by poor farmers or landless plantation workers impressed into service who usually took up banditry when not fighting in revolution.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Within a month of the nationalist victory, Cabral, whose troops were the first to enter Santo Domingo, ousted Pimentel, but a few weeks later General Guillermo led a rebellion in support of Báez, forcing Cabral to resign and allowing Báez to retake the presidency in October.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Báez was overthrown by the Cibao farmers under Luperón, leader of the Partido Azul, the following spring, but Luperón's allies turned on each other and Cabral reinstalled himself as president in a coup in 1867. After bringing several Azules (\"Blues\") into his cabinet the Rojos (\"Reds\") revolted, returning Báez to power.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "In 1869, U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant ordered U.S. Marines to the island for the first time. Dominican pirates operating from Haiti had been raiding U.S. merchant shipping in the Caribbean, and Grant directed the Marines to stop them at their source.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Following the virtual takeover of the island, Báez negotiated a treaty of annexation with the United States. Supported by U.S. Secretary of State William Seward, who hoped to establish a Navy base at Samaná, in 1871 the treaty was defeated in the United States Senate through the efforts of abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "In 1874, the Rojo governor of Puerto Plata, Ignacio Maria González Santín, staged a coup in support of an Azul rebellion but was deposed by the Azules two years later. In February 1876, Ulises Espaillat, backed by Luperón, was named president, but ten months later troops loyal to Báez returned him to power. One year later, a new rebellion allowed González to seize power, only to be deposed by Cesáreo Guillermo in September 1878, who was in turn deposed by Luperón in December 1879.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Ruling the country from his hometown of Puerto Plata, enjoying an economic boom due to increased tobacco exports to Germany, Luperón enacted a new constitution setting a two-year presidential term limit and providing for direct elections, suspended the semi-formal system of bribes and initiated construction on the nation's first railroad, linking the town of La Vega with the port of Sánchez on Samaná Bay.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "The Ten Years' War in Cuba brought Cuban sugar planters to the country in search of new lands and security from the insurrection that freed their slaves and destroyed their property. Most settled in the southeastern coastal plain, and, with assistance from Luperón's government, built the nation's first mechanized sugar mills. They were later joined by Italians, Germans, Puerto Ricans and Americans in forming the nucleus of the Dominican sugar bourgeoisie, marrying into prominent families to solidify their social position.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Disruptions in global production caused by the Ten Years' War, the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War allowed the Dominican Republic to become a major sugar exporter. Over the following two decades, sugar surpassed tobacco as the leading export, with the former fishing hamlets of San Pedro de Macorís and La Romana transformed into thriving ports. To meet their need for better transportation, over 300 miles of private rail-lines were built by and serving the sugar plantations by 1897.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "An 1884 slump in prices led to a wage freeze, and a subsequent labor shortage was filled by migrant workers from the Leeward Islands—the Virgin Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, and Antigua (referred to by Dominicans as cocolos). These English-speaking blacks were often victims of racism, but many remained in the country, finding work as stevedores and in railroad construction and sugar refineries.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Allying with the emerging sugar interests, the dictatorship of General Ulises Heureaux, who was popularly known as Lilís, brought unprecedented stability to the island through an iron-fisted rule that lasted almost two decades. The son of a Haitian father and a mother from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, Lilís was distinguished by his blackness from most Dominican political leaders, with the exception of Luperón. He served as President 1882–1883, 1887, and 1889–1899, wielding power through a series of puppet presidents when not occupying the office. Incorporating both Rojos and Azules into his government, he developed an extensive network of spies and informants to crush potential opposition. His government undertook a number of major infrastructure projects, including the electrification of Santo Domingo, the beginning of telephone and telegraph service, the construction of a bridge over the Ozama River, and the completion of a single-track railroad linking Santiago and Puerto Plata, financed by the Amsterdam-based Westendorp Co.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Lilís's dictatorship was dependent upon heavy borrowing from European and American banks to enrich himself, stabilize the existing debt, strengthen the bribe system, pay for the army, finance infrastructural development and help set up sugar mills. However, sugar prices underwent a steep decline in the last two decades of the 19th century. When the Westendorp Co. went bankrupt in 1893, he was forced to mortgage the nation's customs fees, the main source of government revenues, to a New York financial firm called the San Domingo Improvement Co. (SDIC), which took over its railroad contracts and the claims of its European bondholders in exchange for two loans, one of $1.2 million and the other of £2 million.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "As the growing public debt made it impossible to maintain his political machine, Heureaux relied on secret loans from the SDIC, sugar planters and local merchants. In 1897, with his government virtually bankrupt, Lilís printed five million uninsured pesos, known as papeletas de Lilís, ruining most Dominican merchants and inspiring a conspiracy that ended in his death. In 1899, when Lilís was assassinated by the Cibao tobacco merchants whom he had been begging for a loan, the national debt was over $35 million, fifteen times the annual budget.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "The six years after Lilís's death witnessed four revolutions and five different presidents. The Cibao politicians who had conspired against Heureaux—Juan Isidro Jimenes, the nation's wealthiest tobacco planter, and General Horacio Vásquez—after being named president and Vice-President, quickly fell out over the division of spoils among their supporters, the Jimenistas and Horacistas.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Troops loyal to Vásquez overthrew Jimenes in 1903, but Vásquez was deposed by Jimenista General Alejandro Woss y Gil, who seized power for himself. The Jimenistas toppled his government, but their leader, Carlos Morales, refused to return power to Jimenes, allying with the Horacistas, and he soon faced a new revolt by his betrayed Jimenista allies. During the revolt, American warships bombarded insurgents in Santo Domingo for insulting the United States flag and damaging an American steamer.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "With the nation on the brink of defaulting, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands sent warships to Santo Domingo to press the claims of their nationals. In order to preempt military intervention, United States president Theodore Roosevelt introduced the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, declaring that the United States would assume responsibility for ensuring that the nations of Latin America met their financial obligations.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "In January 1905, under this corollary, the United States assumed administration of the Dominican Republic's customs. Under the terms of this agreement, a Receiver-General, appointed by the U.S. president, kept 55% of total revenues to pay off foreign claimants, while remitting 45% to the Dominican government. After two years, the nation's external debt was reduced from $40 million to $17 million. In 1907, this agreement was converted into a treaty, transferring control over customs receivership to the U.S. Bureau of Insular Affairs and providing a loan of $20 million from a New York bank as payment for outstanding claims, making the United States the Dominican Republic's only foreign creditor. In 1905, the Dominican Peso was replaced by the U.S. Dollar.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "In 1906, Morales resigned, and Horacista vice-president Ramón Cáceres became president. After suppressing a rebellion in the northwest by Jimenista General Desiderio Arias, his government brought political stability and renewed economic growth, aided by new American investment in the sugar industry.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "However, his assassination in 1911, for which Morales and Arias were at least indirectly responsible, once again plunged the republic into chaos. For two months, executive power was held by a civilian junta dominated by the chief of the army, General Alfredo Victoria. The surplus of more than 4 million pesos left by Cáceres was quickly spent to suppress a series of insurrections. He forced Congress to elect his uncle, Eladio Victoria, as president, but the latter was soon replaced by the neutral Archbishop Adolfo Nouel. After four months, Nouel resigned and was succeeded by Horacista Congressman José Bordas Valdez, who aligned with Arias and the Jimenistas to maintain power.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "In 1913, Vásquez returned from exile in Puerto Rico to lead a new rebellion. In June 1914, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson issued an ultimatum for the two sides to end hostilities and agree on a new president, or have the United States impose one. After the provisional presidency of Ramón Báez, Jimenes was elected in October, and soon faced new demands, including the appointment of an American director of public works and financial advisor and the creation of a new military force commanded by U.S. officers. The Dominican Congress rejected these demands and began impeachment proceedings against Jimenes.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "The United States occupied Haiti in July 1915, with the implicit threat that the Dominican Republic might be next. Jimenes's Minister of War Desiderio Arias staged a coup d'état in April 1916, providing a pretext for the United States to occupy the Dominican Republic.",
"title": "Restoration: Second Republic 1865–1916"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "United States Marines landed in Santo Domingo on May 5, 1916 and seized Fort San Gerónimo. Prior to their landing, Jimenes resigned, refusing to exercise an office \"regained with foreign bullets\". On June 1, following a bombardment, Marines occupied Monte Cristi and Puerto Plata. On June 26, a column of Marines under Colonel Joseph H. Pendleton marched toward Arias's stronghold of Santiago. Along the way, Dominicans tore up the railroad tracks, forcing Marines to walk; they also burned bridges, delaying the march. 24 miles (38 km) into the march, the Marines encountered Las Trencheras, two fortified ridges the Dominicans had long thought invulnerable: the Spanish had been defeated there in 1864. At 08:00 hours on June 27, Pendleton ordered his artillery to bombard the ridgeline. Machine guns offered covering fire. A bayonet attack cleared the first ridge. Rifle fire removed the rebels who were threatening from atop the second. A week later, the Marines encountered another entrenched rebel force at Guayacanas. The rebels kept up single-shot fire against the automatic weapons of the Marines before the Marines drove them off. With his supporters defeated, Arias surrendered on July 5 in exchange for being pardoned.",
"title": "United States occupation: 1916–1924"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "The Dominican Congress elected Dr. Francisco Henríquez y Carvajal as president, but in November, after he refused to meet the U.S. demands, Wilson announced the imposition of a U.S. military government, with Rear Admiral Harry Shepard Knapp as Military Governor.",
"title": "United States occupation: 1916–1924"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "At San Francisco de Macorís, Governor Juan Pérez, a supporter of Arias, refused to recognize the U.S. military government. Using some 300 released prisoners, he was preparing to defend the old Spanish colonial structure, the Fortazela. On November 29, U.S. Marine Lt. Ernest C. Williams, whose detachment was billeted in San Francisco, charged the closing gates of the fort at nightfall with twelve Marines. Eight were shot down; the others, including Williams, forced their way in and seized the old structure. Another Marine detachment seized the police station. Reinforcements from nearby detachments soon suppressed the uprising.",
"title": "United States occupation: 1916–1924"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "The American military government implemented many of the institutional reforms carried out in the United States during the Progressive Era, including reorganization of the tax system, accounting and administration, expansion of primary education, the creation of a nationwide police force to unify the country, and the construction of a national system of roads, including a highway linking Santiago to Santo Domingo.",
"title": "United States occupation: 1916–1924"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "The military government, unable to win the backing of any prominent Dominican political leaders, imposed strict censorship laws and imprisoned critics of the occupation. In 1920, U.S. authorities enacted a Land Registration Act, which broke up the terrenos comuneros and dispossessed thousands of peasants who lacked formal titles to the lands they occupied, while legalizing false titles held by the sugar companies. In the southeast, dispossessed peasants formed armed bands, called gavilleros, waging a guerrilla war that lasted six years, with most of the fighting in Hato Mayor and El Seibo. At any given time, the Marines faced eight to twelve such bands each composed of several hundred followers. The guerrillas benefited from a superior knowledge of the terrain and the support of the local population, and the Marines relied on superior firepower. However, rivalries between various gavilleros often led them to fight against one another, and even cooperate with occupation authorities. In addition, cultural schisms between the campesinos (i.e. rural people, or peasants) and city dwellers prevented the guerrillas from cooperating with the urban middle-class nationalist movement.",
"title": "United States occupation: 1916–1924"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "U.S. Marines and Dominican bandits led by Vicente Evangelista clashed in eastern Dominican Republic beginning on January 10, 1917. In March, Evangelista executed two American civilians, engineers from an American-owned plantation, who were lashed to trees, hacked with machetes, then left dangling for ravenous wild boars. Evangelista and 200 bandits surrendered to U.S. Marines in El Seibo on July 4. Two days later, U.S. Marines shot and killed Evangelista as he was \"attempting to escape\". To counter resistance, the United States established a local national guard known as the Guardia Nacional Dominicana. With 2,000 officers and men divided into numerous small patrols and aided by the auxiliary Guardia, the Marines pursued insurgents in 1918. On occasion, guerrilla leader Dios Olivario managed to defeat the small Marine patrols sent after him. One ambush almost led to the annihilation of a combined Marine-Guardia patrol. On multiple occasions in 1919, Olivario and other irregular leaders combined their forces and openly attacked the Marines. In May, one such group struck a Marine patrol but was repelled by superior firepower, including bombing and strafing by a Marine aviation squadron. The unrest in the eastern provinces lasted until 1922 when the guerrillas finally agreed to surrender in return for amnesty.",
"title": "United States occupation: 1916–1924"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "The United States effectively ended the small-unit combat in the Dominican Republic only after declaring the conclusion of its military government and systematically rounding up the majority of the population in the guerrilla-affected areas. The Marines' anti-bandit campaigns in the Dominican Republic were hot, often godlessly uncomfortable, and largely devoid of heroism and glory. Some 1,000 individuals, including 144 U.S. Marines, were killed during the conflict. (Forty U.S. sailors died separately when a hurricane wrecked their armored cruiser on Santo Domingo's rocky shore.)",
"title": "United States occupation: 1916–1924"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "In what was referred to as la danza de los millones, with the destruction of European sugar-beet farms during World War I, sugar prices rose to their highest level in history, from $5.50 in 1914 to $22.50 per pound in 1920. Dominican sugar exports increased from 122,642 tons in 1916 to 158,803 tons in 1920, earning a record $45.3 million. However, European beet sugar production quickly recovered, which, coupled with the growth of global sugar cane production, glutted the world market, causing prices to plummet to only $2.00 by the end of 1921. This crisis drove many of the local sugar planters into bankruptcy, allowing large U.S. conglomerates to dominate the sugar industry. By 1926, only twenty-one major estates remained, occupying an estimated 520,000 acres (2,100 km). Of these, twelve U.S.-owned companies owned more than 81% of this total area. While the foreign planters who had built the sugar industry integrated into Dominican society, these corporations expatriated their profits to the United States. As prices declined, sugar estates increasingly relied on Haitian laborers. This was facilitated by the military government's introduction of regulated contract labor, the growth of sugar production in the southwest, near the Haitian border, and a series of strikes by cocolo cane cutters organized by the Universal Negro Improvement Association.",
"title": "United States occupation: 1916–1924"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "In the 1920 United States presidential election Republican candidate Warren Harding criticized the occupation and promised eventual U.S. withdrawal. While Jimenes and Vásquez sought concessions from the United States, the collapse of sugar prices discredited the military government and gave rise to a new nationalist political organization, the Dominican National Union, led by Dr. Henríquez from exile in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, which demanded unconditional withdrawal. They formed alliances with frustrated nationalists in Puerto Rico and Cuba, as well as critics of the occupation in the United States itself, most notably The Nation and the Haiti-San Domingo Independence Society. In May 1922, a Dominican lawyer, Francisco Peynado, went to Washington, D.C. and negotiated what became known as the Hughes–Peynado Plan. It stipulated the immediate establishment of a provisional government pending elections, approval of all laws enacted by the U.S. military government, and the continuation of the 1907 treaty until all the Dominican Republic's foreign debts had been settled. On October 1, Juan Bautista Vicini, the son of a wealthy Italian immigrant sugar planter, was named provisional president, and the process of U.S. withdrawal began. U.S. forces withdrew on September 18, 1924. The principal legacy of the occupation was the creation of a National Police Force, used by the Marines to help fight against the various guerrillas, and later the main vehicle for the rise of Rafael Trujillo.",
"title": "United States occupation: 1916–1924"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "The occupation ended in 1924, with a democratically elected government under president Vásquez. The Vásquez administration brought great social and economic prosperity to the country and respected political and civil rights. Rising export commodity prices and government borrowing allowed the funding of public works projects and the expansion and modernization of Santo Domingo.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "Though considered to be a relatively principled man, Vásquez had risen amid many years of political infighting. In a move directed against his chief opponent Federico Velasquez, in 1927 Vásquez agreed to have his term extended from four to six years. The change was approved by the Dominican Congress, but was of debatable legality; \"its enactment effectively invalidated the constitution of 1924 that Vásquez had previously sworn to uphold.\" Vásquez also removed the prohibition against presidential reelection and postulated himself for another term in elections to be held in May 1930. However, his actions had by then led to doubts that the contest could be fair. Furthermore, these elections took place amid economic problems, as the Great Depression had dropped sugar prices to less than one dollar per pound.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "In February, a revolution was proclaimed in Santiago by a lawyer named Rafael Estrella Ureña. When the commander of the Guardia Nacional Dominicana (the new designation of the armed force created under the Occupation), Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, ordered his troops to remain in their barracks, the sick and aging Vásquez was forced into exile and Estrella proclaimed provisional president. In May, Trujillo was elected with 95% of the vote, having used the army to harass and intimidate electoral personnel and potential opponents. After his inauguration in August, at his request, the Dominican Congress proclaimed the beginning of the 'Era of Trujillo'.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "Trujillo established absolute political control while promoting economic development—from which mainly he and his supporters benefitted—and severe repression of domestic human rights. Trujillo treated his political party, El Partido Dominicano (The Dominican Party), as a rubber-stamp for his decisions. The true source of his power was the Guardia Nacional—larger, better armed, and more centrally controlled than any military force in the nation's history. By disbanding the regional militias, the Marines eliminated the main source of potential opposition, giving the Guard \"a virtual monopoly on power\". By 1940, Dominican military spending was 21% of the national budget. At the same time, he developed an elaborate system of espionage agencies. By the late 1950s, there were at least seven categories of intelligence agencies, spying on each other as well as the public. All citizens were required to carry identification cards and good-conduct passes from the secret police.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "Obsessed with adulation, Trujillo promoted an extravagant cult of personality. When a hurricane struck Santo Domingo in 1930, killing over 3,000 people, he rebuilt the city and renamed it Ciudad Trujillo: \"Trujillo City\"; he also renamed the country's and the Caribbean's highest mountain, Pico Duarte (Duarte Peak), Pico Trujillo. Over 1,800 statues of Trujillo were built, and all public works projects were required to have a plaque with the inscription \"Era of Trujillo, Benefactor of the Fatherland\".",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "As sugar estates turned to Haiti for seasonal migrant labor, increasing numbers settled in the Dominican Republic permanently. The census of 1920, conducted by the U.S. occupation government, gave a total of 28,258 Haitians living in the country; by 1935 there were 52,657.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "In September 1937, Trujillo welcomed a Nazi delegation and publicly accepted the gift of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. The following month, Trujillo ordered the massacre of an estimated 17,000 to 35,000 Haitian men, women, and children living in the border region of the Dominican Republic. Over the course of five days, Dominican troops killed Haitians with guns, machetes, clubs, and knives. Haitian women were stabbed and mutilated, babies bayoneted, and men tied up and thrown into the sea, where sharks finished what Trujillo had begun. This event later became known as the Parsley Massacre because of the story that Dominican soldiers identified Haitians by their inability to pronounce the Spanish word perejil. An American missionary, Father Barnes, wrote about the massacre in a letter to his sister. Trujillo's spies intercepted the letter, and as a result, Father Barnes was found brutally murdered on the floor of his home.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "The massacre was the result of a new policy which Trujillo called the 'Dominicanisation of the frontier'. Place names along the border were changed from Creole and French to Spanish, the practice of Voodoo was outlawed, quotas were imposed on the percentage of foreign workers that companies could hire, and a law was passed preventing Haitian workers from remaining after the sugar harvest.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "Although Trujillo sought to emulate Generalissimo Francisco Franco, he welcomed Spanish Republican refugees following the Spanish Civil War. During the Holocaust in the Second World War, the Dominican Republic took in many Jews fleeing Hitler who had been refused entry by other countries. The Jews settled in Sosua. These decisions arose from a policy of blanquismo, closely connected with anti-Haitian xenophobia, which sought to add more light-skinned individuals to the Dominican population by promoting immigration from Europe. As part of the Good Neighbor policy, in 1940, the U.S. State Department signed a treaty with Trujillo relinquishing control over the nation's customs.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor Trujillo followed the United States in declaring war on the Axis powers, although the Dominican Republic did not have any participation in the war. Nazi submarines operating in the Caribbean torpedoed and sank two Dominican merchant vessels that Trujillo had named after himself—the steamers San Rafael and Presidente Trujillo, killing twenty-six Dominican sailors. Nazi submarines also destroyed four Dominican schooners. After the war, Trujillo sought military aid from the United States but was denied. Trujillo decided to establish his own arms factory. This move allowed the Dominican Republic to become self-sufficient in producing small arms. In the 1950s, Trujillo's air force had 156 aircraft, including fighters, B-17 bombers, and B-26 Marauder bombers. His navy comprised two destroyers and eight frigates. During the Cold War, he maintained close ties to the United States, declaring himself the world's \"Number One Anticommunist\" and becoming the first Latin American President to sign a Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement with the United States.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "Trujillo and his family established a near-monopoly over the national economy. By the time of his death, he had accumulated a fortune of around $800 million ($8.2 billion in today's money); he and his family owned 50–60% of the arable land, some 700,000 acres (2,800 km), and Trujillo-owned businesses accounted for 80% of the commercial activity in the capital. He exploited nationalist sentiment to purchase most of the nation's sugar plantations and refineries from U.S. corporations; operated monopolies on salt, rice, milk, cement, tobacco, coffee, and insurance; owned two large banks, several hotels, port facilities, an airline and shipping line; deducted 10% of all public employees' salaries (ostensibly for his party); and received a portion of prostitution revenues.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "World War II brought increased demand for Dominican exports, and the 1940s and early 1950s witnessed economic growth and considerable expansion of the national infrastructure. During this period, the capital city was transformed from merely an administrative center to the national center of shipping and industry, although \"it was hardly coincidental that new roads often led to Trujillo's plantations and factories, and new harbors benefited Trujillo's shipping and export enterprises.\" Mismanagement and corruption resulted in major economic problems. By the end of the 1950s, the economy was deteriorating because of a combination of overspending on a festival to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the regime, overspending to purchase privately owned sugar mills and electricity plants, and a decision to make a major investment in state sugar production that proved economically unsuccessful.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "In 1956, Trujillo's agents in New York murdered Jesús María de Galíndez, a Basque exile who had worked for Trujillo but who later denounced the Trujillo regime and caused public opinion in the United States to turn against Trujillo. In 1957, Trujillo created the Military Intelligence Service, secret police, headed by Johnny Abbes García, who briefly operated in Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, New York, Costa Rica, and Venezuela.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "On June 14, 1959, leftist Dominican exiles launched an invasion of the Dominican Republic from Cuba with the hope of overthrowing the Trujillo regime. Trujillo's forces quickly routed the invaders at Constanza. A week later, another group of invaders in two yachts were intercepted on the north coast and blasted by mortar fire and bazookas from the shore. Trujillo's planes, operating from San Isidro, zoomed low over the yachts and shot rockets, killing most of the invaders. A few survivors managed to swim to the shore and escape into the forest; the military used napalm to get them out. Of a count of 224 invaders, 217 were killed and seven captured. The leaders of the invasion were taken aboard a Dominican Air Force plane and then pushed out in mid-air, falling to their deaths.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "In August 1960, the Organization of American States (OAS) imposed diplomatic sanctions against the Dominican Republic as a result of Trujillo's complicity in an attempt to assassinate Venezuelan president Rómulo Betancourt with a car bomb. Betancourt had been involved in the 1959 Cuba-based invasion of the Dominican Republic. The United States broke diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic on August 26, 1960, and in January 1961 suspended the export of trucks, parts, crude oil, gasoline and other petroleum products. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower also took advantage of OAS sanctions to cut drastically purchases of Dominican sugar. This action ultimately cost the Dominican Republic almost $22,000,000 in lost revenues at a time when its economy was in a rapid decline. Trujillo threatened to align with the Communist world in response to U.S. and Latin American rejection of his regime. La Voz Dominicana and Radio Caribe began attacking the U.S. in Marxian terms, and the Dominican Communist Party was legalized. The United States government turned to the Central Intelligence Agency to devise a plan to kill Trujillo.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "A group of Dominican dissidents killed Trujillo in a car chase on the way to his country villa near San Cristóbal on May 30, 1961. The group was led by General Juan Tomás Díaz Quezada. The assassins riddled Trujillo's car with almost thirty bullets. Trujillo's chauffeur attempted to return fire with a machine gun. Badly wounded, Trujillo scrambled out of the car, looking for the assassins, and was shot down, dying on the spot. The sanctions remained in force after Trujillo's assassination. His son Ramfis took charge and rounded up the conspirators; they were summarily executed, some of them being fed to sharks. In November 1961, the military plot of the Rebellion of the Pilots forced the Trujillo family into exile, fleeing to France, and the heretofore puppet-president Joaquín Balaguer assumed effective power.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "At the insistence of the United States, Balaguer was forced to share power with a seven-member Council of State, established on January 1, 1962, and including moderate members of the opposition. OAS sanctions were lifted January 4, and, after an attempted coup, Balaguer resigned and went into exile on January 16. The reorganized Council of State, under President Rafael Filiberto Bonnelly headed the Dominican government until elections could be held. These elections, in December 1962, were won by Juan Bosch, a scholar and poet who had founded the opposition Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (Dominican Revolutionary Party, or PRD) in exile, during the Trujillo years. His leftist policies, including land redistribution, nationalization of certain foreign holdings, and attempts to bring the military under civilian control, antagonized the military officer corps, the Catholic hierarchy, and the upper-class, who feared \"another Cuba\".",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "In September 1963, Bosch was overthrown by a right-wing military coup led by Colonel Elías Wessin and was replaced by a three-man military junta. Bosch went into exile to Puerto Rico. Afterwards, a supposedly civilian triumvirate established a de facto dictatorship.",
"title": "The rise and fall of Trujillo: Third Republic 1924–1965"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "On April 16, 1965, growing dissatisfaction generated another military rebellion on April 24, 1965 that demanded Bosch's restoration. The insurgents, reformist officers and civilian combatants loyal to Bosch commanded by Colonel Francisco Caamaño, and who called themselves the Constitutionalists, staged a coup, seizing the national palace. Immediately, conservative military forces, led by Wessin and calling themselves Loyalists, struck back with tank assaults and aerial bombings against Santo Domingo.",
"title": "Dominican Civil War and second United States occupation 1965–66"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "Strafing by the airplanes on the Duarte Bridge killed several civilians, and bombing shattered many of the buildings and structures to the west. Outwardly the damage west of the bridge seemed impressive with body parts scattered on the streets. On April 27, a sizeable Loyalist force of tanks, armored cars, artillery, and infantry began to rumble across Duarte Bridge under covering fire from 12.7 mm machine guns on the eastern bank. The Constitutionalists left two large truck trailers blocking the path, but as the Loyalist armor pushed its way through these obstacles, one of the two pre–World War I 75 mm cannon on the Constitutionalist side got off one shot and destroyed the first tank. Soon a hail of machine gun fire silenced the 75 mm cannons and the rest of the tanks proceeded into the city. When the armored column passed José Martí Street one block from Duarte Avenue, armed civilians attacked the Loyalist infantry and unleashed a hail of fire from machine guns and mortars; most of the troops either fled or were killed. Without infantry support, the unescorted tanks, already in the narrow streets of the neighborhood, were easy targets for the Molotov cocktails soon being tossed from the surrounding buildings. The Loyalists were routed and several tanks were abandoned and put into use by the rebels.",
"title": "Dominican Civil War and second United States occupation 1965–66"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "On April 28, the anti-Bosch army elements requested U.S. military intervention and U.S. forces landed, ostensibly to protect U.S. citizens and to evacuate U.S. and other foreign nationals. A rebel sniper killed a Marine near the U.S. embassy, and in the ensuing crossfire a hand grenade fatally wounded a Dominican girl. The evacuation was completed without further loss of life. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, convinced of the defeat of the Loyalist forces and fearing the creation of \"a second Cuba\" on America's doorstep, ordered U.S. forces to restore order. In what was initially known as Operation Power Pack, 27,677 U.S. troops were ultimately ordered to the Dominican Republic.",
"title": "Dominican Civil War and second United States occupation 1965–66"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "Denied a military victory, the Constitutionalist rebels quickly had a Constitutionalist congress elect Caamaño president of the country. U.S. officials countered by backing General Antonio Imbert. On May 7, Imbert was sworn in as president of the Government of National Reconstruction. The next step in the stabilization process, as envisioned by Washington and the OAS, was to arrange an agreement between President Caamaño and President Imbert to form a provisional government committed to early elections. However, Caamaño refused to meet with Imbert until several of the Loyalist officers, including Wessin y Wessin, were made to leave the country.",
"title": "Dominican Civil War and second United States occupation 1965–66"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "The American forces attempted to jam Radio Santo Domingo, which the Constitutionalist rebels were using to broadcast messages inciting nationwide rebellion. Despite jamming operations and attacks on relay sites, the rebel broadcasts persisted. On May 13, Imbert launched an eight-day offensive to eliminate rebel resistance in the northern sector. He also directed the Dominican Air Force to target Radio Santo Domingo and its primary transmitter sites near the Peynado Bridge, north of the city. On May 14, Dominican special forces attacked and destroyed the alternate studio and transmitter site north of the Duarte Bridge. These collective actions managed to weaken Radio Santo Domingo to the point that it could no longer broadcast beyond the capital. Alongside this, the Americans realized the significant challenge of effectively conducting jamming operations against a robust commercial broadcasting complex, especially using military jammers designed for military frequencies. Imbert's forces captured Radio Santo Domingo along with the northern part of the capital, destroying many buildings and killing many civilians. A cease-fire was negotiated by May 21, marking the beginning of neutrality for U.S. forces. At this time, 20 Americans had been killed in action and 102 wounded.",
"title": "Dominican Civil War and second United States occupation 1965–66"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "By May 14, the Americans had established a \"safety corridor\" connecting the San Isidro Air Base and the \"Duarte\" Bridge to the Embajador Hotel and United States Embassy in the center of Santo Domingo, essentially sealing off the Constitutionalist area of Santo Domingo. Roadblocks were established and patrols ran continuously. Some 6,500 people from many nations were evacuated to safety. In addition, the US forces airlifted in relief supplies for Dominican nationals.",
"title": "Dominican Civil War and second United States occupation 1965–66"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "By mid-May, a majority of the OAS voted for Operation \"Push Ahead\", the reduction of United States forces and their replacement by an Inter-American Peace Force (IAPF). The Inter-American Peace Force was formally established on May 23. The following troops were sent by each country: Brazil – 1,130, Honduras – 250, Paraguay – 184, Nicaragua – 160, Costa Rica – 21 military police, and El Salvador – 3 staff officers. The first contingent to arrive was a rifle company from Honduras which was soon backed by detachments from Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Brazil provided the largest unit, a reinforced infantry battalion. Brazilian General Hugo Panasco Alvim assumed command of the OAS ground forces, and on May 26 the U.S. forces began to withdraw.",
"title": "Dominican Civil War and second United States occupation 1965–66"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "On June 15, Camaaño hurled all his best remaining units and weapons against the American lines, and soon mortar rounds were hitting the 82nd Airborne Division. Although their heaviest weapons were recoilless cannons, the 82nd Airborne soundly defeated the rebels. The fighting cost the U.S. five killed and thirty-one wounded, three of whom later died. The Brazilians, who had orders to remain on the defensive, suffered five wounded. The Constitutionalists lost sixty-seven killed.",
"title": "Dominican Civil War and second United States occupation 1965–66"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "The mauling the Constitutionalists received on the 15th made them more amenable, but not yet committed, to a negotiated settlement. The fighting continued until August 31, 1965, when a truce was declared. However, a U.S. paratrooper in the corridor was killed by a rifle grenade fired from the rebel zone on the night of September 2. Most American troops left shortly afterwards as policing and peacekeeping operations were turned over to Brazilian troops, but some U.S. military presence remained until September 1966. On September 14, two members of a support unit attached to the 82nd were ambushed by civilians riding motorcycles. Both were shot in the back. One G.I. died instantly; the other died at a hospital.",
"title": "Dominican Civil War and second United States occupation 1965–66"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "American and OAS peacekeeping forces departed by September 21, 1966. A total of 48 American soldiers and marines died, 27 in action (nine marines and 18 soldiers); 189 were wounded in action, as were six Brazilians and five Paraguayans. Between 2,850 and 4,275 Dominicans, mostly civilians, were killed during the civil war.",
"title": "Dominican Civil War and second United States occupation 1965–66"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "In June 1966, Joaquín Balaguer, leader of the Reformist Party (which later became the Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC)), was elected and then re-elected to office in May 1970 and May 1974, both times after the major opposition parties withdrew late in the campaign because of the high degree of violence by pro-government groups. On November 28, 1966 a constitution was created, signed, and put into effect. The constitution stated that the president was elected to a four-year term. If there was a close election there would be a second round of voting to decide the winner. The voting age was eighteen, but married people under eighteen could also vote.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "On one hand, Balaguer was considered to be a caudillo who led a regime of terror where 11,000 victims were either tortured or forcibly disappeared and killed. However, Balaguer was also considered to be a major reformer who was instrumental in the liberalization of the Dominican government. During his time as President of the Dominican Republic, the country saw major changes such as legalized political activities, surprise army promotions and demotions, promoting health and education improvements and the instituting of modest land reforms.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "Balaguer led the Dominican Republic through a thorough economic restructuring, based on opening the country to foreign investment while protecting state-owned industries and certain private interests. This distorted, dependent development model produced uneven results. For most of Balaguer's first nine years in office the country experienced high growth rates (e.g., an average GDP growth rate of 9.4% between 1970 and 1975), to the extent that people talked about the \"Dominican miracle\". Foreign, mostly U.S. investment, as well as foreign aid, flowed into the country. Sugar, then the country's main export product, enjoyed good prices in the international market, and tourism grew tremendously. As part of Balaguer's land reform policies, land was dished out to peasants among the country's rural population.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "However, this excellent macroeconomic performance was not accompanied by an equitable distribution of wealth in some other areas of the country. While a group of new millionaires flourished during Balaguer's administrations, some of the poor simply became poorer. Moreover, some of the poor were commonly the target of state repression, and their socioeconomic claims were labeled 'communist' and dealt with accordingly by the state security apparatus. In the May 1978 election, Balaguer was defeated in his bid for a fourth successive term by Antonio Guzmán Fernández of the PRD. Balaguer then ordered troops to storm the election centre and destroy ballot boxes, declaring himself the victor. U.S. President Jimmy Carter refused to recognize Balaguer's claim, and, faced with the loss of foreign aid, Balaguer stepped down.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "Guzmán's inauguration on August 16 marked the country's first peaceful transfer of power from one freely elected president to another.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "Hurricane David hit the Dominican Republic in August 1979, which caused over $1 billion in damage.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "By the late 1970s, economic expansion slowed considerably as sugar prices declined and oil prices rose. Rising inflation and unemployment diminished support for the government and helped trigger a wave of mass emigration from the Dominican Republic to New York, coming on the heels of the similar migration of Puerto Ricans in the preceding decades.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "Guzmán committed suicide on July 5, 1982 a month before he would have left office. He was confronted with evidence of his daughter Sonia Guzmán's husband's corruption using her father's position for monetary gain. Guzmán was known as a serious man who never stole money. After being confronted with this, he entered his bathroom and shot himself.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 115,
"text": "Elections were again held in 1982. Salvador Jorge Blanco of the Dominican Revolutionary Party defeated Bosch and a resurgent Balaguer.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 116,
"text": "Balaguer completed his return to power in 1986 when he won the Presidency again and remained in office for the next ten years. Elections in 1990 were marked by violence and suspected electoral fraud. The 1994 election too saw widespread pre-election violence, often aimed at intimidating members of the opposition. Balaguer won in 1994 but most observers felt the election had been stolen. Under pressure from the United States, Balaguer agreed to hold new elections in 1996. He himself would not run.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 117,
"text": "In 1996, U.S.-raised Leonel Fernández Reyna of Bosch's Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (Dominican Liberation Party) secured more than 51% of the vote, through an alliance with Balaguer. The first item on the president's agenda was the partial sale of some state-owned enterprises. Fernández was praised for ending decades of isolationism and improving ties with other Caribbean countries, but he was criticized for not fighting corruption or alleviating the poverty that affected 60% of the population.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 118,
"text": "In May 2000 the center-left Hipólito Mejía of the PRD was elected president amid popular discontent over power outages in the recently privatized electric industry. His presidency saw major inflation and instability of the peso in 2003 because of the bankruptcy of three major commercial banks in the country due to the bad policies of the principal managers. During his remaining time as president, he took action to save most savers of the closed banks, avoiding a major crisis. The relatively stable currency fell from about 16 Dominican pesos to 1 United States dollar to about 60 DOP to US$1 and was in the 40s to the dollar when he left office in August 2004. In the May 2004 presidential elections, he was defeated by former president Leonel Fernández.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 119,
"text": "Fernández instituted austerity measures to deflate the peso and rescue the country from its economic crisis, and in the first half of 2006, the economy grew 11.7%. The peso is currently (2019) at the exchange rate of c. 52 DOP to US$1.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 120,
"text": "Over the last three decades, remittances (remesas) from Dominicans living abroad, mainly in the United States, have become increasingly important to the economy. From 1990 to 2000, the Dominican population of the U.S. doubled in size, from 520,121 in 1990 to 1,041,910, two-thirds of whom were born in the Dominican Republic itself. More than half of all Dominican Americans live in New York City, with the largest concentration in the neighborhood of Washington Heights in northern Manhattan. Over the past decade, the Dominican Republic has become the largest source of immigration to New York City, and today the metropolitan area of New York has a larger Dominican population than any city except Santo Domingo. Dominican communities have also developed in New Jersey (particularly Paterson), Miami, Boston, Philadelphia, Providence, Rhode Island, and Lawrence, Massachusetts. In addition, tens of thousands of Dominicans and their descendants live in Puerto Rico. Many Dominicans arrive in Puerto Rico illegally by sea across the Mona Passage, some staying and some moving on to the mainland U.S. (See Dominican immigration to Puerto Rico.) Dominicans living abroad sent an estimated $3 billion in remittances to relatives at home, in 2006. In 1997, a new law took effect, allowing Dominicans living abroad to retain their citizenship and vote in presidential elections. President Fernández, who grew up in New York, was the principal beneficiary of this law.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 121,
"text": "The Dominican Republic was involved in the US-led coalition in Iraq, as part of the Spain-led Latin-American Plus Ultra Brigade. But in 2004, the nation pulled its 300 or so troops out of Iraq.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 122,
"text": "Danilo Medina began his tenure with a series of controversial tax reforms so as to deal with the government's troublesome fiscal situation encountered by the new administration. In 2012, he had won presidency as the candidate of ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD). In 2016, President Medina won re-election, defeating the main opposition candidate businessman Luis Abinader, with a wide margin.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 123,
"text": "In 2020 Luis Abinader, the presidential candidate for the opposition Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) won the election and he became the new president, ending the 16-year rule of PLD since 2004.",
"title": "Fourth Republic 1966–present"
}
] | The recorded history of the Dominican Republic began in 1492 when the Genoa-born navigator Christopher Columbus, working for the Crown of Castile, happened upon a large island in the region of the western Atlantic Ocean that later came to be known as the Caribbean. It was inhabited by the Taíno, an Arawakan people, who called the eastern part of the island Quisqueya (Kiskeya), meaning "mother of all lands." Columbus promptly claimed the island for the Spanish Crown, naming it La Isla Española, later Latinized to Hispaniola. After 25 years of Spanish occupation, the Taíno population in the Spanish-dominated parts of the island drastically decreased through genocide. With fewer than 50,000 remaining, the survivors intermixed with Spaniards, Africans, and others, forming the present-day tripartite Dominican population. What would become the Dominican Republic was the Spanish Captaincy General of Santo Domingo until 1821, except for a time as a French colony from 1795 to 1809. It was then part of a unified Hispaniola with Haiti from 1822 until 1844. In 1844, Dominican independence was proclaimed and the republic, which was often known as Santo Domingo until the early 20th century, maintained its independence except for a short Spanish occupation from 1861 to 1865 and occupation by the United States from 1916 to 1924. During the 19th century, Dominicans were often at war, fighting the French, Haitians, Spanish, or amongst themselves, resulting in a society heavily influenced by caudillos, who ruled the country as if it were their personal kingdom. Between 1844 and 1914, the Dominican Republic experienced multiple transitions in leadership, with 53 presidents and the adoption of 19 constitutions. Many leaders seized power through military force. Around 1930, the Dominican Republic found itself under the control of the dictator Rafael Trujillo, who ruled the country until his assassination in 1961. Juan Bosch was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. In 1965, the United States led an intervention in the midst of a civil war sparked by an uprising to restore Bosch. In 1966, the caudillo Joaquín Balaguer defeated Bosch in the presidential election. Balaguer maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when U.S. reaction to flawed elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then, regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates have won the presidency. | 2001-09-05T14:21:59Z | 2023-12-11T22:01:40Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Dominican_Republic |
8,064 | Geography of the Dominican Republic | The Dominican Republic (Spanish: República Dominicana) is a country in the West Indies that occupies the eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola. It has an area of 48,670 km, including offshore islands. The land border shared with Haiti, which occupies the western three-eighths of the island, is 376 km long. The maximum length, east to west, is 390 km from Punta de Agua to Las Lajas, on the border with Haiti. The maximum width, north to south, is 265 km from Cape Isabela to Cape Beata. The capital, Santo Domingo, is located on the south coast.
The Dominican Republic's shores are washed by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south. The Mona Passage, a channel about 130 km wide, separates the country (and Hispaniola) from Puerto Rico.
The Dominican Republic is a country with many mountains, and the highest peaks of the West Indies are found here. The chains of mountains show a direction northwest–southeast, except in the Southern peninsula (in Haiti) where they have a direction west–east. The mountains are separated by valleys with the same general direction.
From north to south, the mountain ranges and valleys are:
The Dominican Republic is a tropical, maritime nation. Owing to its diverse mountainous topography, the country's climate shows considerable variation for its size, and has the most diverse climate zones of all the Caribbean islands, including subtropical highland climates (Cwb), oceanic climates (Cfb) and hot semi-arid climates (BSh) along the usual tropical savanna (Aw), monsoon (Am), and rainforest (Af) climates typical of a Caribbean nation. Conditions are ameliorated in many areas by elevation and by the northeast trade winds, which blow steadily from the Atlantic all year long. The annual mean temperature is 25 °C (77 °F); regional mean temperatures range from 18 °C (64.4 °F) in the heart of the Cordillera Central (Constanza) to as high as 27 °C (80.6 °F) in arid regions. Temperatures rarely rise above 32 °C (89.6 °F), and freezing temperatures only occur in winter in the highest mountains. The average temperature in Santo Domingo in January is 24 °C (75.2 °F), and 27 °C (80.6 °F) in July.
The rain season for the northern coast is from November to January. For the rest of the country, the rain season is from May to November. The average annual rainfall is 1,346 mm (53.0 in), with extremes of 2,500 mm (98.4 in) or more in the mountainous northeast (the windward side of the island) and 500 mm (19.7 in) in the southwestern valleys. The western valleys, along the Haitian border, remain relatively dry, with less than 760 mm (29.9 in) of annual precipitation, due to the rain shadow effect caused by the central and northern mountain ranges. The northwestern and southeastern extremes of the country are also arid.
The Dominican Republic is occasionally damaged by tropical storms and hurricanes, which originate in the mid-Atlantic and southeastern Caribbean from June until November (mainly from August to October) each year.
There are several smaller islands and cays that are part of Dominican territory. The largest islands are:
The 8 longest rivers of the Dominican Republic are:
The Artibonite River is the longest river of the island, but only 68 km flows through the Dominican Republic.
The largest lake of Hispaniola, and of the Caribbean, is Lake Enriquillo. It is located in the Hoya de Enriquillo with an area of 265 km. There are three small islands within the lake. It is around 40 meters below sea level, and is a hypersaline lake, with a higher concentration of salt than seawater.
Other lakes are Rincón (fresh water, area of 28.2 km), Oviedo (brackish water, area of 28 km), Redonda, and Limón. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Dominican Republic (Spanish: República Dominicana) is a country in the West Indies that occupies the eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola. It has an area of 48,670 km, including offshore islands. The land border shared with Haiti, which occupies the western three-eighths of the island, is 376 km long. The maximum length, east to west, is 390 km from Punta de Agua to Las Lajas, on the border with Haiti. The maximum width, north to south, is 265 km from Cape Isabela to Cape Beata. The capital, Santo Domingo, is located on the south coast.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The Dominican Republic's shores are washed by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south. The Mona Passage, a channel about 130 km wide, separates the country (and Hispaniola) from Puerto Rico.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The Dominican Republic is a country with many mountains, and the highest peaks of the West Indies are found here. The chains of mountains show a direction northwest–southeast, except in the Southern peninsula (in Haiti) where they have a direction west–east. The mountains are separated by valleys with the same general direction.",
"title": "Physical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "From north to south, the mountain ranges and valleys are:",
"title": "Physical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The Dominican Republic is a tropical, maritime nation. Owing to its diverse mountainous topography, the country's climate shows considerable variation for its size, and has the most diverse climate zones of all the Caribbean islands, including subtropical highland climates (Cwb), oceanic climates (Cfb) and hot semi-arid climates (BSh) along the usual tropical savanna (Aw), monsoon (Am), and rainforest (Af) climates typical of a Caribbean nation. Conditions are ameliorated in many areas by elevation and by the northeast trade winds, which blow steadily from the Atlantic all year long. The annual mean temperature is 25 °C (77 °F); regional mean temperatures range from 18 °C (64.4 °F) in the heart of the Cordillera Central (Constanza) to as high as 27 °C (80.6 °F) in arid regions. Temperatures rarely rise above 32 °C (89.6 °F), and freezing temperatures only occur in winter in the highest mountains. The average temperature in Santo Domingo in January is 24 °C (75.2 °F), and 27 °C (80.6 °F) in July.",
"title": "Climate"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The rain season for the northern coast is from November to January. For the rest of the country, the rain season is from May to November. The average annual rainfall is 1,346 mm (53.0 in), with extremes of 2,500 mm (98.4 in) or more in the mountainous northeast (the windward side of the island) and 500 mm (19.7 in) in the southwestern valleys. The western valleys, along the Haitian border, remain relatively dry, with less than 760 mm (29.9 in) of annual precipitation, due to the rain shadow effect caused by the central and northern mountain ranges. The northwestern and southeastern extremes of the country are also arid.",
"title": "Climate"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The Dominican Republic is occasionally damaged by tropical storms and hurricanes, which originate in the mid-Atlantic and southeastern Caribbean from June until November (mainly from August to October) each year.",
"title": "Climate"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "There are several smaller islands and cays that are part of Dominican territory. The largest islands are:",
"title": "Islands"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The 8 longest rivers of the Dominican Republic are:",
"title": "Rivers and lakes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The Artibonite River is the longest river of the island, but only 68 km flows through the Dominican Republic.",
"title": "Rivers and lakes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The largest lake of Hispaniola, and of the Caribbean, is Lake Enriquillo. It is located in the Hoya de Enriquillo with an area of 265 km. There are three small islands within the lake. It is around 40 meters below sea level, and is a hypersaline lake, with a higher concentration of salt than seawater.",
"title": "Rivers and lakes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Other lakes are Rincón (fresh water, area of 28.2 km), Oviedo (brackish water, area of 28 km), Redonda, and Limón.",
"title": "Rivers and lakes"
}
] | The Dominican Republic is a country in the West Indies that occupies the eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola. It has an area of 48,670 km2, including offshore islands. The land border shared with Haiti, which occupies the western three-eighths of the island, is 376 km long. The maximum length, east to west, is 390 km from Punta de Agua to Las Lajas, on the border with Haiti. The maximum width, north to south, is 265 km from Cape Isabela to Cape Beata. The capital, Santo Domingo, is located on the south coast. The Dominican Republic's shores are washed by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south. The Mona Passage, a channel about 130 km wide, separates the country from Puerto Rico. | 2023-02-24T14:37:15Z | [
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8,065 | Demographics of the Dominican Republic | This is a demography of the population of the Dominican Republic including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
The area was first included in world trade in 1492 where Christopher Columbus docked on the island of Hispaniola. When Spain occupied the country in 1496, the population consisted of Arawak (Taíno Indians). When Spain returned in 1496, they founded the current capital, Santo Domingo, as the first European city in America. The country came under Spanish rule. France took over the part of Hispaniola that is today Haiti. During the colony era, The Dominican Republic acted as a sugar supplier to Spain and France. Many whites moved to the country during this period. In 1496, Santo Domingo was built and became the new capital, and remains the oldest continuously inhabited European city in the Americas. Today, two other large groups have joined, while the indigenous population has mostly disappeared. 45% of Dominicans consider themselves Endemic, 18% are white, 16% are black and 9% are mulatto. During the many years that have passed since the great immigration, the races have been mixed and it can be difficult to distinguish. In terms of race, they are all similar to the other Caribbean islands. The Spaniards brought Christianity to the Dominican Republic, and today about 50% of the population reports as being Catholic. One clear remnant of the Spanish colonial era on the population is the official and widespread use of the Spanish language.
According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was 11,117,873 in 2021, compared to 2,380,000 in 1950. The proportion of the population aged below 15 in 2010 was 31.2%, 62.8% were aged between 15 and 65 years of age, while 6% were aged 65 years or older.
Registration of vital events is not universal in the Dominican Republic. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates:
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.
Demographic statistics according to the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
Roman Catholic 44.3%, Evangelical 13%, Protestant 7.9%, Adventist 1.4%, other 1.8%, atheist 0.2%, none 29.4%, unspecified 2% (2018 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2016 est.) | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "This is a demography of the population of the Dominican Republic including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The area was first included in world trade in 1492 where Christopher Columbus docked on the island of Hispaniola. When Spain occupied the country in 1496, the population consisted of Arawak (Taíno Indians). When Spain returned in 1496, they founded the current capital, Santo Domingo, as the first European city in America. The country came under Spanish rule. France took over the part of Hispaniola that is today Haiti. During the colony era, The Dominican Republic acted as a sugar supplier to Spain and France. Many whites moved to the country during this period. In 1496, Santo Domingo was built and became the new capital, and remains the oldest continuously inhabited European city in the Americas. Today, two other large groups have joined, while the indigenous population has mostly disappeared. 45% of Dominicans consider themselves Endemic, 18% are white, 16% are black and 9% are mulatto. During the many years that have passed since the great immigration, the races have been mixed and it can be difficult to distinguish. In terms of race, they are all similar to the other Caribbean islands. The Spaniards brought Christianity to the Dominican Republic, and today about 50% of the population reports as being Catholic. One clear remnant of the Spanish colonial era on the population is the official and widespread use of the Spanish language.",
"title": "Population"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was 11,117,873 in 2021, compared to 2,380,000 in 1950. The proportion of the population aged below 15 in 2010 was 31.2%, 62.8% were aged between 15 and 65 years of age, while 6% were aged 65 years or older.",
"title": "Population"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Registration of vital events is not universal in the Dominican Republic. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates:",
"title": "Vital statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "",
"title": "Vital statistics"
},
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"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):",
"title": "Vital statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.",
"title": "Other demographic statistics"
},
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"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Demographic statistics according to the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.",
"title": "Other demographic statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Roman Catholic 44.3%, Evangelical 13%, Protestant 7.9%, Adventist 1.4%, other 1.8%, atheist 0.2%, none 29.4%, unspecified 2% (2018 est.)",
"title": "Other demographic statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2016 est.)",
"title": "Other demographic statistics"
}
] | This is a demography of the population of the Dominican Republic including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. | 2001-04-27T00:01:02Z | 2023-12-25T17:34:47Z | [
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8,067 | Economy of the Dominican Republic | The economy of the Dominican Republic is the seventh largest in Latin America, and is the largest in the Caribbean and Central American region. The Dominican Republic is an upper-middle income developing country with important sectors including mining, tourism, manufacturing (medical devices, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals), energy, real estate, infrastructure, telecommunications and agriculture. The Dominican Republic is on track to achieve its goal of becoming a high-income country by 2030, and is expected to grow 79% in this decade. The country is the site of the single largest gold mine in Latin America, the Pueblo Viejo mine.Although the service sector is currently the leading employer of Dominicans (due principally to growth in tourism and free-trade zones), agriculture remains an important sector in terms of the domestic market and is in second place (behind mining) in terms of export earnings. Tourism accounts for more than $7.4 billion in annual earnings in 2019. Free-trade zone earnings and tourism are the fastest-growing export sectors. A leading growth engine in the Free-trade zone sector is the production of medical equipment for export having a value-added per employee of $20,000 USD, total revenue of $1.5 billion USD, and a growth rate of 7.7% in 2019. The medical instrument export sector represents one of the highest-value added sectors of the country's economy, a true growth engine for the country's emerging market. Remittances are an important sector of the economy, contributing $8.2 billion in 2020. Most of these funds are used to cover household expenses, such as housing, food, clothing, health care and education. Secondarily, remittances have financed businesses and productive activities. Thirdly, this combined effect has induced investment by the private sector and helps fund the public sector through its value-added tax. The combined import market including the free-trade-zones amounts to a market of $20 billion a year in 2019. The combined export sector had revenues totaling $11 billion in 2019. The consumer market is equivalent to $61 billion in 2019. An important indicator is the average commercial loan interest rate, which directs short-term investment and stimulates long-term investment in the economy. It is currently 8.30%, as of June 2021.
The Dominican Republic's most important trading partner is the United States (over 40% of total commercial exchange; over $12 billion in trade). Other major trade partners are China (over $3 billion in trade), Switzerland (over $1 billion), Puerto Rico (over $800 million), Mexico (over $700 million), Haiti (over $700 million), Spain (over $700 million), the Netherlands (over $700 million), Canada (over $600 million), Brazil (over $500 million), and Germany (over $500 million), in that quantitative order. The country exports free-trade-zone manufactured products (medical devices, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals), gold, nickel, agricultural products, liquor, cocoa beans, silver, and sauces and seasonings. It imports petroleum, industrial raw materials, capital goods, and foodstuffs. On 5 September 2005, the Congress of the Dominican Republic ratified a free trade agreement with the U.S. and five Central American countries, the Dominican Republic – Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). CAFTA-DR entered into force for the Dominican Republic on 1 March 2007. The total stock of U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) in Dominican Republic as of 2019 was U.S. $42 billion, much of it directed to the energy, tourism, real estate, manufacturing, infrastructure and the telecommunications sectors. In 2019 the foreign direct investment stock amounted to $42 billion a significant growth in the last decade and a half. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign direct investment flows in the Dominican Republic had remained strong at $2.5 billion added to the stock in that year. Having grown to an estimated $44.5 billion, and growing more than ten-fold since 2006 when the liberalization efforts began.
An important aspect of the Dominican economy is the Free Trade Zone industry (FTZ), which made up U.S. $6.2 billion in Dominican exports for 2019. Reports show, however, that the FTZs lost approximately 60,000 between 2005 and 2007 and suffered a 4% decrease in total exports in 2006. The textiles sector experienced an approximate 17% drop in exports in 2006 due in part to the appreciation of the Dominican peso against the dollar, Asian competition following expiration of the quotas of the Multi-Fiber Arrangement, and a government-mandated increase in salaries, which should have occurred in 2005 but was postponed to January 2006. Lost Dominican business was captured by firms in Central America and Asia. The tobacco, jewelry, medical, and pharmaceutical sectors in the FTZs all reported increases for 2006, which offset textile and garment losses. Industry experts from the FTZs expected that entry into force of the CAFTA-DR agreement would promote substantial growth in the FTZ sector in 2007. By the end of the last decade-and-a-half the free-trade-zone sector has rebounded and surpassed the former amounts of $4.5 billion in 2006 to grow to $6.2 billion by 2019.
In 2018, the Dominican Republic produced 644 thousand tons of avocado (it is the 2nd largest producer in the world), 1 million tons of papaya (it is the 4th largest producer in the world), 5.2 million tons of sugarcane, 2.1 million tons of banana, 85 thousand tons of cocoa, 442 thousand tons of palm oil, 407 thousand tons of pineapple, 403 thousand tons of coconut, 627 thousand tons of rice, 160 thousand tons of cassava, 136 thousand tons of orange, in addition to from smaller productions of other agricultural products such as potato, lemon, melon, onion and yam.
With almost 80% of the total land area suitable for crop production and about 17% of the labor force engaged in farming, agriculture remains the primary occupation, accounting for 11% of GDP in 2001. Value of agricultural output grew at an average annual rate of 7.1% during 1968–73, but since 1975 the sector has been hampered by droughts (1975, 1977, and 1979), hurricanes (in 1979 and 1980), and slumping world prices and quota allocations for sugar (since 1985). In 1999, agricultural production was 0.4% higher than during 1989–91. The fertile Cibao Valley is the main agricultural center. In 1998, arable land totaled 1,020,000 hectares (2,500,000 acres); with land under permanent crops at 480,000 hectares (1,200,000 acres).
After Cuba, the Dominican Republic is the second-largest Caribbean producer of sugarcane, the nation's most important crop. The State Sugar Council operates 12 sugar mills and accounts for about half of total production. Other large producers are the privately owned Vicini, with three mills, and Central Romana Corporation, whose mill is the largest in the country. Sugar is grown in the southeastern plains, around Barahona & on the North Coast Plain. In 1999, sugar production was 4.4 million tons, down from an average of 7.1 million tons during 1989–1991. Output of sugar has declined annually since 1982, and land is gradually being taken out of sugar production and switched to food crops. Production of raw sugar rose from 636,000 tons in 1990 to 813,000 tons in 1997 but fell to 374,000 tons in 1999.
Part of the crop was destroyed by hurricanes in 1979 and 1980, and 1979–80 production was only 670,000 bags (40,200 tons). Although production was usually about 57,000–59,000 tons annually in the 1980s, the acreage harvested declined from 157,000 hectares (390,000 acres) in the early 1980s to 139,000 hectares (340,000 acres) in 1999, indicating a greater yield per acre. Coffee production in 1999 was estimated at 35,000 tons; exports of coffee in 2001 generated $11 million. Cocoa and tobacco are also grown for export. Dominican Republic is one of the top 10 major producer and exporter of cocoa in the world. Cocoa is also grown in the Cibao Valley around San Francisco de Macoris. Tobacco is also grown in the Cibao Valley, but around Santiago. In 1999, production of cocoa beans was 26,000 tons and of tobacco, 35,000 tons. Rice is grown around Monte Cristi & San Francisco de Macoris. Banana production in 1999 was 432,000 tons. Production of other crops in 1999 (in thousands of tons) included rice, 563; coconuts, 184; cassava, 127; tomatoes, 281; pulses, 69; dry beans, 26; eggplants, 7; and peanuts, 2.
In 2001, Dominican livestock included 187,000 goats and 106,000 sheep. There were also about 2.1 million head of cattle, 60% for beef and 40% for dairy. The hog population was decimated by African swine fever in 1978, decreasing from 400,000 in 1978 to 20,000 in 1979; by 2001, however, it was 565,000. Poultry is the main meat source because it is cheaper than beef or pork. Poultry production relies on imports of feed grain from the United States. In 2001, 203,000 tons of poultry meat were produced, along with 71,000 tons of beef and 420,000 tons of milk.
In 2017 the total marine production was 18,000 metric tons. Marlin, barracuda, kingfish, mackerel, tuna, sailfish, and tarpon are found in the Monte Cristi Bank and Samaná Bay, which also supports bonito, snapper, and American grouper.
About 28.4% of the total land area consisted of forests and woodlands in 2000. Round wood production in 2000 totaled 562,000 cu m (19.8 million cu ft). Timber is cut for land clearing for the use of agriculture. There are important national parks protecting the natural resources and aquifers of the country.
In 2019, the country was the 9th largest world producer of nickel. The country had almost zero production of gold until 2011, where it grew exponentially. In 2016 the country produced almost 38 tons. The country had almost zero production of silver until 2008, where it grew exponentially. In 2017 the country produced 147 tons.
Ferronickel was the country's leading export commodity and third-leading industry. Nickel is mined at Bonao. In 2000, nickel production was 39,943 tons, ranking tenth in the world, a decrease from 49,152 in 1997. Currently the most important mineral export is gold.
Production of gold in the Pueblo Viejo mine is the largest gold producing mine in Latin America, and fourth most productive mine in the world producing a total of 30,100 kg of gold in 2018. The extraction by a foreign company of gold at one of the largest mines in the Western Hemisphere has startled and concerned a part of the country who believe that the natural resource should be extracted by local companies and not foreign. Some groups began to protest against Barrick Gold in 2009 and 2010. In 2019 gold is one of the largest exports of the country totaling $1.6 billion and has helped to balance the commodity current account balance.
Production of bauxite, traditionally the principal mining product, ceased in 1992. The Aluminum Co. of America (Alcoa) mined bauxite between 1959 and 1983, when it turned its concession over to the state. Production in 1991 dropped 92% from the previous year, as a presidential decree suspended mining operations at the largest mine, in response to increasing fears of deforestation, although reforestation of mined areas was in progress. Output averaged 1 million tons each year.
The country was one of the few sources of amber in the Western Hemisphere. Salt Mountain, a 16 km block of almost solid salt west of Barahona, was the world's largest known salt deposit. There were also large deposits of gypsum near Salt Mountain, making the Dominican Republic one of three sources of gypsum in the Caribbean. The country also produced hydraulic cement, limestone, marble, and sand and gravel. Substantial lignite deposits were found in the early 1980s. Deposits of copper and platinum are also found in the country.
The industrial sector contributed an estimated 33.8 percent to the country's GDP in 2017, led by mining and the manufacture of goods for export to the United States, Europe and Asia. To a lesser extent, there is the manufacture of food products, consumer non-durables, and building materials for the local market. The sector employed 20.8 percent of the workforce in 2014.
About 500 companies in the Dominican Republic manufacture goods primarily for the North American market. Situated in 50 industrial free zones around the country, these mostly foreign-owned corporations take advantage of generous tax and other financial inducements offered by the government to businesses that operate within the zones. Approximately 200,000 people, or about 8 percent of the workforce, are employed in this sector. They mostly produce clothing, electronic components, footwear, and leather goods, which are assembled. The raw materials or semi-manufactured goods are usually imported duty-free from other emerging markets (electronic parts are imported from industrialized Puerto Rico) and assembled in the free trade zones. Products include cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, textiles, perfumes & foodstuffs. The value of free-trade-zone exports amounted to US$6.2 billion in 2019, while their imports of intermediate products amounted to US$4 billion.
Other, more traditional manufacturing is based on sugar refining, cement, iron and steel production, and food processing. Rum is a significant export commodity, and beer and cigarettes are manufactured for local consumption. Most industry of this sort is located around the working-class perimeter of Santo Domingo and other large towns.
Services were estimated to contribute 61.4% of the GDP in 2017 and employs 64.7% of the population.
Since the mid-1980s the tourism sector has become one of the country's most important sources of foreign exchange, and more popular tourist destinations. The country is famous for its favorable location in the Caribbean, tropical climate, beaches, and the restored Spanish colonial architecture. Many foreign investors have and continue to be encouraged to invest here to build and expand resorts and airports around the coasts. During this same period, tourism displaced sugar as the main source of the country's earnings, and by 1997 it was generating more than half of the country's total foreign exchange. In 2019 it generated one-third of the total foreign exchange for the country.
Tourism is the single biggest revenue earner, growing from humble beginnings in 1980 to more than $7.4 billion by 2019. Successive governments have invested heavily in tourism development, creating upgraded airports and other infrastructure. The number of tourist amounted to 6.4 million tourists arriving in the country in 2019. Most come from Europe, with about 25 percent originating from the United States or Canada. The country now has almost 70,000 hotel rooms, more than any other Caribbean country. About 50,000 Dominicans are directly employed in this sector, mostly working in hotels, and another 110,000 are indirectly employed as taxi drivers, tour guides, or tourist-shop staff. Most tourists visit the Dominican Republic on account of its beaches, but there is an expanding eco-tourism and outdoor activity sector, focused on the country's mountains and wildlife.
Although tourism generates large revenues, some scholars and activists argue that the development of tourism also has high impacts on many socioeconomic aspects. For instance, they argue that it involves ecological deterioration, profit leakage, social displacement, disported cultural patterns, rising land values, drugs and prostitution.
Retail activity in the Dominican Republic takes many forms, from U.S.-style supermarkets and shopping malls in Santo Domingo to rural markets and tiny family-run corner stores in villages. A small but affluent middle class can afford to shop at the former, while the lower-income rural community resorts to buying small amounts of daily essentials from general stores (these small stores often double as pubs). In an attempt to regulate the retail sector, the government has recently reformed taxation laws, so that small shops pay taxes on a regular monthly basis. Many transactions, however, go unrecorded.
The electricity sector has had big investments in the last decade 2010 to 2020 diversifying the sector away from petroleum which decreased from 50% of energy generation to 7%. The largest generation sources as of 2021 are coal, natural gas and renewables representing together 93% of electricity generation. This has transformed a strategic sector of the economy into a stable and lower cost sector. The rate of electricity loss improved from 38% in 2005 to 30% in 2019 showing improvement in the infrastructure. Low collection rates, illegal connections, infrastructure problems and poor governance are the sources of the high level of electricity loss in the system. The government plans to continue providing subsidies. Congress passed a law in 2007 that criminalizes the act of illegal electric connections. The state subsidizes the cost of electricity, funding the cost via indirect taxation instead of direct price increases for lower-income households, therefore it is a redistributive policy and partly funded by the country as a whole instead of the direct consumers of electricity. The profit from renewables, natural gas, and coal is positive and considered the current and future of the system, given that petroleum derivatives are considered more volatile and expensive in running costs.
As of 2020 significant investments in the electricity sector have been realized with the construction of the Punta Catalina coal-fired plant. Significantly diversifying the electric sector's away from the traditional mix to one with lower cost. The growth of the renewables sector and the natural gas power sector has made significant strides in this respect in the last few years, and is expected to continue to grow with foreign and local investment in the sector.
The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2019 (with IMF staff stimtates in 2020–2025). Inflation below 5% is in green.
GDP: purchasing power parity – $172.4 billion (2017 est.)
GDP – real growth rate: 4.6% (2017 est.)
GDP – per capita: purchasing power parity – $16.900 (2017 est.)
GDP – composition by sector: agriculture: 5.5% industry: 33.8% services: 60.8% (2017 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.3% (2017 est.)
Labor force: 4.732 million (2017 est.)
Labor force – by occupation: agriculture: 14.4% industry: 20.8% services: 64.7% (2014 est.)
Unemployment rate: 5.5% (2017 est.)
Population below poverty line: 30.5% (2016)
Budget: revenues: $7.014 billion
expenditures: $6.985 billion (2007 est.)
Industries: tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco, electrical components, medical devices
Electricity – production: 15.53 billion kWh (2015)
Electricity – consumption: 13.25 billion kWh (2015)
Electricity – exports: 0 kWh (2005)
Electricity – imports: 0 kWh (2005)
Oil – production: 0 bbl/d (0 m/d) (2014)
Oil – consumption: 122,300 bbl/d (19,440 m/d) (2012 est.)
Oil – exports: 0 bbl/d (0 m/d) (2017)
Oil – imports: 116,700 bbl/d (18,550 m/d) (2017)
Oil – proved reserves: 0 bbl (0 m) (1 January 2006 est.)
Natural gas – production: 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas – consumption: 1.108 million cu m (2015 est).
Natural gas – exports: 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas – imports: 1.108 million cu m (2015)
Natural gas – proved reserves: 0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Agriculture – products: sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas; cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef, eggs
Exports: $10.33 billion f.o.b. (2017 est.)
Exports – commodities: ferro nickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, meats, consumer goods
Exports – partners: United States 50.4%, United Kingdom 3.2%, Belgium 2.4% (2017)
Imports: $19 billion f.o.b. (2017 est.)
Imports – commodities: foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals
Imports – partners: United States 41.4%, China 13.9%, Mexico 4.5%, Brazil 4.3% (2017)
Debt – external: $29.69 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
Economic aid – recipient: $76.99 million (2005)
Currency: Dominican peso (DOP)
Exchange rates: Dominican pesos per US dollar – 33.113 (2007), 33.406 (2006), 30.409 (2005), 42.12 (2004), 30.831 (2003)
Fiscal year: calendar year | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The economy of the Dominican Republic is the seventh largest in Latin America, and is the largest in the Caribbean and Central American region. The Dominican Republic is an upper-middle income developing country with important sectors including mining, tourism, manufacturing (medical devices, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals), energy, real estate, infrastructure, telecommunications and agriculture. The Dominican Republic is on track to achieve its goal of becoming a high-income country by 2030, and is expected to grow 79% in this decade. The country is the site of the single largest gold mine in Latin America, the Pueblo Viejo mine.Although the service sector is currently the leading employer of Dominicans (due principally to growth in tourism and free-trade zones), agriculture remains an important sector in terms of the domestic market and is in second place (behind mining) in terms of export earnings. Tourism accounts for more than $7.4 billion in annual earnings in 2019. Free-trade zone earnings and tourism are the fastest-growing export sectors. A leading growth engine in the Free-trade zone sector is the production of medical equipment for export having a value-added per employee of $20,000 USD, total revenue of $1.5 billion USD, and a growth rate of 7.7% in 2019. The medical instrument export sector represents one of the highest-value added sectors of the country's economy, a true growth engine for the country's emerging market. Remittances are an important sector of the economy, contributing $8.2 billion in 2020. Most of these funds are used to cover household expenses, such as housing, food, clothing, health care and education. Secondarily, remittances have financed businesses and productive activities. Thirdly, this combined effect has induced investment by the private sector and helps fund the public sector through its value-added tax. The combined import market including the free-trade-zones amounts to a market of $20 billion a year in 2019. The combined export sector had revenues totaling $11 billion in 2019. The consumer market is equivalent to $61 billion in 2019. An important indicator is the average commercial loan interest rate, which directs short-term investment and stimulates long-term investment in the economy. It is currently 8.30%, as of June 2021.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The Dominican Republic's most important trading partner is the United States (over 40% of total commercial exchange; over $12 billion in trade). Other major trade partners are China (over $3 billion in trade), Switzerland (over $1 billion), Puerto Rico (over $800 million), Mexico (over $700 million), Haiti (over $700 million), Spain (over $700 million), the Netherlands (over $700 million), Canada (over $600 million), Brazil (over $500 million), and Germany (over $500 million), in that quantitative order. The country exports free-trade-zone manufactured products (medical devices, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals), gold, nickel, agricultural products, liquor, cocoa beans, silver, and sauces and seasonings. It imports petroleum, industrial raw materials, capital goods, and foodstuffs. On 5 September 2005, the Congress of the Dominican Republic ratified a free trade agreement with the U.S. and five Central American countries, the Dominican Republic – Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). CAFTA-DR entered into force for the Dominican Republic on 1 March 2007. The total stock of U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) in Dominican Republic as of 2019 was U.S. $42 billion, much of it directed to the energy, tourism, real estate, manufacturing, infrastructure and the telecommunications sectors. In 2019 the foreign direct investment stock amounted to $42 billion a significant growth in the last decade and a half. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign direct investment flows in the Dominican Republic had remained strong at $2.5 billion added to the stock in that year. Having grown to an estimated $44.5 billion, and growing more than ten-fold since 2006 when the liberalization efforts began.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "An important aspect of the Dominican economy is the Free Trade Zone industry (FTZ), which made up U.S. $6.2 billion in Dominican exports for 2019. Reports show, however, that the FTZs lost approximately 60,000 between 2005 and 2007 and suffered a 4% decrease in total exports in 2006. The textiles sector experienced an approximate 17% drop in exports in 2006 due in part to the appreciation of the Dominican peso against the dollar, Asian competition following expiration of the quotas of the Multi-Fiber Arrangement, and a government-mandated increase in salaries, which should have occurred in 2005 but was postponed to January 2006. Lost Dominican business was captured by firms in Central America and Asia. The tobacco, jewelry, medical, and pharmaceutical sectors in the FTZs all reported increases for 2006, which offset textile and garment losses. Industry experts from the FTZs expected that entry into force of the CAFTA-DR agreement would promote substantial growth in the FTZ sector in 2007. By the end of the last decade-and-a-half the free-trade-zone sector has rebounded and surpassed the former amounts of $4.5 billion in 2006 to grow to $6.2 billion by 2019.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "In 2018, the Dominican Republic produced 644 thousand tons of avocado (it is the 2nd largest producer in the world), 1 million tons of papaya (it is the 4th largest producer in the world), 5.2 million tons of sugarcane, 2.1 million tons of banana, 85 thousand tons of cocoa, 442 thousand tons of palm oil, 407 thousand tons of pineapple, 403 thousand tons of coconut, 627 thousand tons of rice, 160 thousand tons of cassava, 136 thousand tons of orange, in addition to from smaller productions of other agricultural products such as potato, lemon, melon, onion and yam.",
"title": "Primary Industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "With almost 80% of the total land area suitable for crop production and about 17% of the labor force engaged in farming, agriculture remains the primary occupation, accounting for 11% of GDP in 2001. Value of agricultural output grew at an average annual rate of 7.1% during 1968–73, but since 1975 the sector has been hampered by droughts (1975, 1977, and 1979), hurricanes (in 1979 and 1980), and slumping world prices and quota allocations for sugar (since 1985). In 1999, agricultural production was 0.4% higher than during 1989–91. The fertile Cibao Valley is the main agricultural center. In 1998, arable land totaled 1,020,000 hectares (2,500,000 acres); with land under permanent crops at 480,000 hectares (1,200,000 acres).",
"title": "Primary Industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "After Cuba, the Dominican Republic is the second-largest Caribbean producer of sugarcane, the nation's most important crop. The State Sugar Council operates 12 sugar mills and accounts for about half of total production. Other large producers are the privately owned Vicini, with three mills, and Central Romana Corporation, whose mill is the largest in the country. Sugar is grown in the southeastern plains, around Barahona & on the North Coast Plain. In 1999, sugar production was 4.4 million tons, down from an average of 7.1 million tons during 1989–1991. Output of sugar has declined annually since 1982, and land is gradually being taken out of sugar production and switched to food crops. Production of raw sugar rose from 636,000 tons in 1990 to 813,000 tons in 1997 but fell to 374,000 tons in 1999.",
"title": "Primary Industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Part of the crop was destroyed by hurricanes in 1979 and 1980, and 1979–80 production was only 670,000 bags (40,200 tons). Although production was usually about 57,000–59,000 tons annually in the 1980s, the acreage harvested declined from 157,000 hectares (390,000 acres) in the early 1980s to 139,000 hectares (340,000 acres) in 1999, indicating a greater yield per acre. Coffee production in 1999 was estimated at 35,000 tons; exports of coffee in 2001 generated $11 million. Cocoa and tobacco are also grown for export. Dominican Republic is one of the top 10 major producer and exporter of cocoa in the world. Cocoa is also grown in the Cibao Valley around San Francisco de Macoris. Tobacco is also grown in the Cibao Valley, but around Santiago. In 1999, production of cocoa beans was 26,000 tons and of tobacco, 35,000 tons. Rice is grown around Monte Cristi & San Francisco de Macoris. Banana production in 1999 was 432,000 tons. Production of other crops in 1999 (in thousands of tons) included rice, 563; coconuts, 184; cassava, 127; tomatoes, 281; pulses, 69; dry beans, 26; eggplants, 7; and peanuts, 2.",
"title": "Primary Industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In 2001, Dominican livestock included 187,000 goats and 106,000 sheep. There were also about 2.1 million head of cattle, 60% for beef and 40% for dairy. The hog population was decimated by African swine fever in 1978, decreasing from 400,000 in 1978 to 20,000 in 1979; by 2001, however, it was 565,000. Poultry is the main meat source because it is cheaper than beef or pork. Poultry production relies on imports of feed grain from the United States. In 2001, 203,000 tons of poultry meat were produced, along with 71,000 tons of beef and 420,000 tons of milk.",
"title": "Primary Industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In 2017 the total marine production was 18,000 metric tons. Marlin, barracuda, kingfish, mackerel, tuna, sailfish, and tarpon are found in the Monte Cristi Bank and Samaná Bay, which also supports bonito, snapper, and American grouper.",
"title": "Primary Industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "About 28.4% of the total land area consisted of forests and woodlands in 2000. Round wood production in 2000 totaled 562,000 cu m (19.8 million cu ft). Timber is cut for land clearing for the use of agriculture. There are important national parks protecting the natural resources and aquifers of the country.",
"title": "Primary Industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In 2019, the country was the 9th largest world producer of nickel. The country had almost zero production of gold until 2011, where it grew exponentially. In 2016 the country produced almost 38 tons. The country had almost zero production of silver until 2008, where it grew exponentially. In 2017 the country produced 147 tons.",
"title": "Primary Industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Ferronickel was the country's leading export commodity and third-leading industry. Nickel is mined at Bonao. In 2000, nickel production was 39,943 tons, ranking tenth in the world, a decrease from 49,152 in 1997. Currently the most important mineral export is gold.",
"title": "Primary Industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Production of gold in the Pueblo Viejo mine is the largest gold producing mine in Latin America, and fourth most productive mine in the world producing a total of 30,100 kg of gold in 2018. The extraction by a foreign company of gold at one of the largest mines in the Western Hemisphere has startled and concerned a part of the country who believe that the natural resource should be extracted by local companies and not foreign. Some groups began to protest against Barrick Gold in 2009 and 2010. In 2019 gold is one of the largest exports of the country totaling $1.6 billion and has helped to balance the commodity current account balance.",
"title": "Primary Industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Production of bauxite, traditionally the principal mining product, ceased in 1992. The Aluminum Co. of America (Alcoa) mined bauxite between 1959 and 1983, when it turned its concession over to the state. Production in 1991 dropped 92% from the previous year, as a presidential decree suspended mining operations at the largest mine, in response to increasing fears of deforestation, although reforestation of mined areas was in progress. Output averaged 1 million tons each year.",
"title": "Primary Industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The country was one of the few sources of amber in the Western Hemisphere. Salt Mountain, a 16 km block of almost solid salt west of Barahona, was the world's largest known salt deposit. There were also large deposits of gypsum near Salt Mountain, making the Dominican Republic one of three sources of gypsum in the Caribbean. The country also produced hydraulic cement, limestone, marble, and sand and gravel. Substantial lignite deposits were found in the early 1980s. Deposits of copper and platinum are also found in the country.",
"title": "Primary Industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The industrial sector contributed an estimated 33.8 percent to the country's GDP in 2017, led by mining and the manufacture of goods for export to the United States, Europe and Asia. To a lesser extent, there is the manufacture of food products, consumer non-durables, and building materials for the local market. The sector employed 20.8 percent of the workforce in 2014.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "About 500 companies in the Dominican Republic manufacture goods primarily for the North American market. Situated in 50 industrial free zones around the country, these mostly foreign-owned corporations take advantage of generous tax and other financial inducements offered by the government to businesses that operate within the zones. Approximately 200,000 people, or about 8 percent of the workforce, are employed in this sector. They mostly produce clothing, electronic components, footwear, and leather goods, which are assembled. The raw materials or semi-manufactured goods are usually imported duty-free from other emerging markets (electronic parts are imported from industrialized Puerto Rico) and assembled in the free trade zones. Products include cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, textiles, perfumes & foodstuffs. The value of free-trade-zone exports amounted to US$6.2 billion in 2019, while their imports of intermediate products amounted to US$4 billion.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Other, more traditional manufacturing is based on sugar refining, cement, iron and steel production, and food processing. Rum is a significant export commodity, and beer and cigarettes are manufactured for local consumption. Most industry of this sort is located around the working-class perimeter of Santo Domingo and other large towns.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Services were estimated to contribute 61.4% of the GDP in 2017 and employs 64.7% of the population.",
"title": "Tertiary industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Since the mid-1980s the tourism sector has become one of the country's most important sources of foreign exchange, and more popular tourist destinations. The country is famous for its favorable location in the Caribbean, tropical climate, beaches, and the restored Spanish colonial architecture. Many foreign investors have and continue to be encouraged to invest here to build and expand resorts and airports around the coasts. During this same period, tourism displaced sugar as the main source of the country's earnings, and by 1997 it was generating more than half of the country's total foreign exchange. In 2019 it generated one-third of the total foreign exchange for the country.",
"title": "Tertiary industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Tourism is the single biggest revenue earner, growing from humble beginnings in 1980 to more than $7.4 billion by 2019. Successive governments have invested heavily in tourism development, creating upgraded airports and other infrastructure. The number of tourist amounted to 6.4 million tourists arriving in the country in 2019. Most come from Europe, with about 25 percent originating from the United States or Canada. The country now has almost 70,000 hotel rooms, more than any other Caribbean country. About 50,000 Dominicans are directly employed in this sector, mostly working in hotels, and another 110,000 are indirectly employed as taxi drivers, tour guides, or tourist-shop staff. Most tourists visit the Dominican Republic on account of its beaches, but there is an expanding eco-tourism and outdoor activity sector, focused on the country's mountains and wildlife.",
"title": "Tertiary industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Although tourism generates large revenues, some scholars and activists argue that the development of tourism also has high impacts on many socioeconomic aspects. For instance, they argue that it involves ecological deterioration, profit leakage, social displacement, disported cultural patterns, rising land values, drugs and prostitution.",
"title": "Tertiary industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "",
"title": "Tertiary industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Retail activity in the Dominican Republic takes many forms, from U.S.-style supermarkets and shopping malls in Santo Domingo to rural markets and tiny family-run corner stores in villages. A small but affluent middle class can afford to shop at the former, while the lower-income rural community resorts to buying small amounts of daily essentials from general stores (these small stores often double as pubs). In an attempt to regulate the retail sector, the government has recently reformed taxation laws, so that small shops pay taxes on a regular monthly basis. Many transactions, however, go unrecorded.",
"title": "Tertiary industries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The electricity sector has had big investments in the last decade 2010 to 2020 diversifying the sector away from petroleum which decreased from 50% of energy generation to 7%. The largest generation sources as of 2021 are coal, natural gas and renewables representing together 93% of electricity generation. This has transformed a strategic sector of the economy into a stable and lower cost sector. The rate of electricity loss improved from 38% in 2005 to 30% in 2019 showing improvement in the infrastructure. Low collection rates, illegal connections, infrastructure problems and poor governance are the sources of the high level of electricity loss in the system. The government plans to continue providing subsidies. Congress passed a law in 2007 that criminalizes the act of illegal electric connections. The state subsidizes the cost of electricity, funding the cost via indirect taxation instead of direct price increases for lower-income households, therefore it is a redistributive policy and partly funded by the country as a whole instead of the direct consumers of electricity. The profit from renewables, natural gas, and coal is positive and considered the current and future of the system, given that petroleum derivatives are considered more volatile and expensive in running costs.",
"title": "Energy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "As of 2020 significant investments in the electricity sector have been realized with the construction of the Punta Catalina coal-fired plant. Significantly diversifying the electric sector's away from the traditional mix to one with lower cost. The growth of the renewables sector and the natural gas power sector has made significant strides in this respect in the last few years, and is expected to continue to grow with foreign and local investment in the sector.",
"title": "Energy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2019 (with IMF staff stimtates in 2020–2025). Inflation below 5% is in green.",
"title": "Data"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "GDP: purchasing power parity – $172.4 billion (2017 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "GDP – real growth rate: 4.6% (2017 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "GDP – per capita: purchasing power parity – $16.900 (2017 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "GDP – composition by sector: agriculture: 5.5% industry: 33.8% services: 60.8% (2017 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.3% (2017 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Labor force: 4.732 million (2017 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Labor force – by occupation: agriculture: 14.4% industry: 20.8% services: 64.7% (2014 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Unemployment rate: 5.5% (2017 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Population below poverty line: 30.5% (2016)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Budget: revenues: $7.014 billion",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "expenditures: $6.985 billion (2007 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Industries: tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco, electrical components, medical devices",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Electricity – production: 15.53 billion kWh (2015)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Electricity – consumption: 13.25 billion kWh (2015)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Electricity – exports: 0 kWh (2005)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Electricity – imports: 0 kWh (2005)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Oil – production: 0 bbl/d (0 m/d) (2014)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Oil – consumption: 122,300 bbl/d (19,440 m/d) (2012 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Oil – exports: 0 bbl/d (0 m/d) (2017)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Oil – imports: 116,700 bbl/d (18,550 m/d) (2017)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Oil – proved reserves: 0 bbl (0 m) (1 January 2006 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Natural gas – production: 0 cu m (2005 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Natural gas – consumption: 1.108 million cu m (2015 est).",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Natural gas – exports: 0 cu m (2005 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Natural gas – imports: 1.108 million cu m (2015)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Natural gas – proved reserves: 0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Agriculture – products: sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas; cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef, eggs",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Exports: $10.33 billion f.o.b. (2017 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Exports – commodities: ferro nickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, meats, consumer goods",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Exports – partners: United States 50.4%, United Kingdom 3.2%, Belgium 2.4% (2017)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Imports: $19 billion f.o.b. (2017 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Imports – commodities: foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Imports – partners: United States 41.4%, China 13.9%, Mexico 4.5%, Brazil 4.3% (2017)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Debt – external: $29.69 billion (31 December 2017 est.)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Economic aid – recipient: $76.99 million (2005)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Currency: Dominican peso (DOP)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Exchange rates: Dominican pesos per US dollar – 33.113 (2007), 33.406 (2006), 30.409 (2005), 42.12 (2004), 30.831 (2003)",
"title": "Other statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Fiscal year: calendar year",
"title": "Other statistics"
}
] | The economy of the Dominican Republic is the seventh largest
in Latin America, and is the largest in the Caribbean and Central American region. The Dominican Republic is an upper-middle income developing country with important sectors including mining, tourism, manufacturing, energy, real estate, infrastructure, telecommunications and agriculture. The Dominican Republic is on track to achieve its goal of becoming a high-income country by 2030, and is expected to grow 79% in this decade. The country is the site of the single largest gold mine in Latin America, the Pueblo Viejo mine.Although the service sector is currently the leading employer of Dominicans, agriculture remains an important sector in terms of the domestic market and is in second place in terms of export earnings. Tourism accounts for more than $7.4 billion in annual earnings in 2019. Free-trade zone earnings and tourism are the fastest-growing export sectors. A leading growth engine in the Free-trade zone sector is the production of medical equipment for export having a value-added per employee of $20,000 USD, total revenue of $1.5 billion USD, and a growth rate of 7.7% in 2019. The medical instrument export sector represents one of the highest-value added sectors of the country's economy, a true growth engine for the country's emerging market. Remittances are an important sector of the economy, contributing $8.2 billion in 2020. Most of these funds are used to cover household expenses, such as housing, food, clothing, health care and education. Secondarily, remittances have financed businesses and productive activities. Thirdly, this combined effect has induced investment by the private sector and helps fund the public sector through its value-added tax. The combined import market including the free-trade-zones amounts to a market of $20 billion a year in 2019. The combined export sector had revenues totaling $11 billion in 2019. The consumer market is equivalent to $61 billion in 2019. An important indicator is the average commercial loan interest rate, which directs short-term investment and stimulates long-term investment in the economy. It is currently 8.30%, as of June 2021. The Dominican Republic's most important trading partner is the United States. Other major trade partners are China, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Haiti, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, Brazil, and Germany, in that quantitative order. The country exports free-trade-zone manufactured products, gold, nickel, agricultural products, liquor, cocoa beans, silver, and sauces and seasonings. It imports petroleum, industrial raw materials, capital goods, and foodstuffs. On 5 September 2005, the Congress of the Dominican Republic ratified a free trade agreement with the U.S. and five Central American countries, the Dominican Republic – Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). CAFTA-DR entered into force for the Dominican Republic on 1 March 2007. The total stock of U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) in Dominican Republic as of 2019 was U.S. $42 billion, much of it directed to the energy, tourism, real estate, manufacturing, infrastructure and the telecommunications sectors. In 2019 the foreign direct investment stock amounted to $42 billion a significant growth in the last decade and a half. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign direct investment flows in the Dominican Republic had remained strong at $2.5 billion added to the stock in that year. Having grown to an estimated $44.5 billion, and growing more than ten-fold since 2006 when the liberalization efforts began. An important aspect of the Dominican economy is the Free Trade Zone industry (FTZ), which made up U.S. $6.2 billion in Dominican exports for 2019. Reports show, however, that the FTZs lost approximately 60,000 between 2005 and 2007 and suffered a 4% decrease in total exports in 2006. The textiles sector experienced an approximate 17% drop in exports in 2006 due in part to the appreciation of the Dominican peso against the dollar, Asian competition following expiration of the quotas of the Multi-Fiber Arrangement, and a government-mandated increase in salaries, which should have occurred in 2005 but was postponed to January 2006. Lost Dominican business was captured by firms in Central America and Asia. The tobacco, jewelry, medical, and pharmaceutical sectors in the FTZs all reported increases for 2006, which offset textile and garment losses. Industry experts from the FTZs expected that entry into force of the CAFTA-DR agreement would promote substantial growth in the FTZ sector in 2007. By the end of the last decade-and-a-half the free-trade-zone sector has rebounded and surpassed the former amounts of $4.5 billion in 2006 to grow to $6.2 billion by 2019. | 2001-04-27T00:01:54Z | 2023-11-16T10:20:30Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_Dominican_Republic |
8,068 | Telecommunications in the Dominican Republic | Telecommunications in the Dominican Republic include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.
Numerous television channels are available. Tricom, S.A, WIND Telecom, S.A., Viva (network operator), and Claro Codetel provide television services digitally, with channels from Latin America and elsewhere in the world. There are extensive mobile phone and land-line services. Internet access is available as Cable Internet, ADSL, WiMAX, EDGE, EV-DO and UMTS/HSDPA in most parts of the country. Projects to extend Wi-Fi (wireless internet) hot spots have been undertaken in Santo Domingo. Since 2015 the country has been actively extending its fiber optics network, to provide faster and more reliable internet to business and private users.
The Instituto Dominicano De Telecomunicaciones (INDOTEL) regulates and supervises the development of the country's telecommunications market.
Cable television in the Dominican Republic is provided by a variety of companies. These companies offer both English and Spanish language television, plus a range of channels in other languages, high definition channels, pay-per-view movies and events, sports packages, premium movies channels and adult channels such as HBO, Playboy TV, Cinecanal, MLB Extra Innings, etc. The channels are not only from the Dominican Republic, but also the United States and Europe.
In the Dominican Republic there are 46 in VHF and UHF channels free-to-air channels. The programming on the free of charge channels consists mainly of locally produced entertainment shows, news, and comedy shows; and foreign sitcoms, soap operas, movies, cartoons, and sports programs.
The main service provider in the Dominican Republic is Tricom. Aster is concentrated in Santo Domingo, but is expanding its service throughout the Dominican Republic. There are new companies using new technologies that are expanding quickly such as Claro TV (IPTV and Satellite TV), Wind Telecom (MMDS) and SKY (Satellite TV).
On election day in May 2012 government broadcast regulators took two popular national television channels (11 and 33) off the air on the grounds that they violated an electoral law prohibiting distribution of exit poll or other unofficial information regarding the final results of the electoral process. Both channels were closed on the afternoon of 20 May and reopened the next morning.
The Dominican Republic is considered one of the countries with the most advanced telecommunications infrastructures in Latin America, with over 8.9 million cell phones connected (on just about 10 million populants, with 3.5 million of them on extreme poverty conditions) and large companies like Codetel and Orange (FR) on the telecommunications market. Broadband Internet access is growing, with over 622,931 Internet accounts globally and 3,851,278 Internet users as of December 2010 according to INDOTEL (DR Telecommunications Institute). Broadband DSL represents about 56% of the total Internet subscribers. There is access to regular ADSL, G.SHDSL, and services only on metropolitan areas, costs are high and service is decent. Cable Internet is offered by a couple of cable companies at lower costs than ADSL but the service is very deficient and unreliable. WiFi is becoming more common. It is available in some universities. Most hotels also offer wi-fi internet. The implementation of the WiMAX and HSPA technology by some of the Cellphone service providers are resulting in the rapid investment by other providers in the market to match the new and faster platform of services. Mobile broadband users have seen their percentage grow from 14% in 2007 all the way to 39% in 2010, and will continue to grow as more and more users are opting for this type of technology in a country where Home Broadband speeds are more expensive and slower. Also the ongoing installation of a Fiber-Optic network structure in the National District and the City of Santiago (second largest in the country) will force other competitors into upgrading theirs to be able to compete in the markets they now lead.
As of October 2018, not including taxes.
Key: DOP: Dominican peso, USD: United States dollar. Exchange rate ( $50 DOP : US$1 )
The following table shows the speeds/prices* available and designed for home usage.
*Note: The pricing and speeds are subject to change since Altice, Claro and Wind have multi plans (Two or Three services combined), those plans have a discount on all services. Up to 25% discount for combined services.
Currently the mobile internet market is governed by three aspects:
There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms without judicial oversight.
The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system ensure freedom of speech and press. The independent media are active and express a wide variety of views without restriction. Individuals and groups are generally able to criticize the government publicly and privately without reprisal, although there have been incidents in which authorities intimidated journalists or other news professionals. Local journalists engage in self-censorship, particularly when coverage could adversely affect the economic or political interests of media owners. The government denies using unauthorized wiretapping or other surreptitious methods to interfere with the private lives of individuals and families, however, human rights groups and opposition politicians allege that such interference does occur. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Telecommunications in the Dominican Republic include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Numerous television channels are available. Tricom, S.A, WIND Telecom, S.A., Viva (network operator), and Claro Codetel provide television services digitally, with channels from Latin America and elsewhere in the world. There are extensive mobile phone and land-line services. Internet access is available as Cable Internet, ADSL, WiMAX, EDGE, EV-DO and UMTS/HSDPA in most parts of the country. Projects to extend Wi-Fi (wireless internet) hot spots have been undertaken in Santo Domingo. Since 2015 the country has been actively extending its fiber optics network, to provide faster and more reliable internet to business and private users.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The Instituto Dominicano De Telecomunicaciones (INDOTEL) regulates and supervises the development of the country's telecommunications market.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Cable television in the Dominican Republic is provided by a variety of companies. These companies offer both English and Spanish language television, plus a range of channels in other languages, high definition channels, pay-per-view movies and events, sports packages, premium movies channels and adult channels such as HBO, Playboy TV, Cinecanal, MLB Extra Innings, etc. The channels are not only from the Dominican Republic, but also the United States and Europe.",
"title": "Radio and television"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In the Dominican Republic there are 46 in VHF and UHF channels free-to-air channels. The programming on the free of charge channels consists mainly of locally produced entertainment shows, news, and comedy shows; and foreign sitcoms, soap operas, movies, cartoons, and sports programs.",
"title": "Radio and television"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The main service provider in the Dominican Republic is Tricom. Aster is concentrated in Santo Domingo, but is expanding its service throughout the Dominican Republic. There are new companies using new technologies that are expanding quickly such as Claro TV (IPTV and Satellite TV), Wind Telecom (MMDS) and SKY (Satellite TV).",
"title": "Radio and television"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "On election day in May 2012 government broadcast regulators took two popular national television channels (11 and 33) off the air on the grounds that they violated an electoral law prohibiting distribution of exit poll or other unofficial information regarding the final results of the electoral process. Both channels were closed on the afternoon of 20 May and reopened the next morning.",
"title": "Radio and television"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The Dominican Republic is considered one of the countries with the most advanced telecommunications infrastructures in Latin America, with over 8.9 million cell phones connected (on just about 10 million populants, with 3.5 million of them on extreme poverty conditions) and large companies like Codetel and Orange (FR) on the telecommunications market. Broadband Internet access is growing, with over 622,931 Internet accounts globally and 3,851,278 Internet users as of December 2010 according to INDOTEL (DR Telecommunications Institute). Broadband DSL represents about 56% of the total Internet subscribers. There is access to regular ADSL, G.SHDSL, and services only on metropolitan areas, costs are high and service is decent. Cable Internet is offered by a couple of cable companies at lower costs than ADSL but the service is very deficient and unreliable. WiFi is becoming more common. It is available in some universities. Most hotels also offer wi-fi internet. The implementation of the WiMAX and HSPA technology by some of the Cellphone service providers are resulting in the rapid investment by other providers in the market to match the new and faster platform of services. Mobile broadband users have seen their percentage grow from 14% in 2007 all the way to 39% in 2010, and will continue to grow as more and more users are opting for this type of technology in a country where Home Broadband speeds are more expensive and slower. Also the ongoing installation of a Fiber-Optic network structure in the National District and the City of Santiago (second largest in the country) will force other competitors into upgrading theirs to be able to compete in the markets they now lead.",
"title": "Internet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "As of October 2018, not including taxes.",
"title": "Internet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Key: DOP: Dominican peso, USD: United States dollar. Exchange rate ( $50 DOP : US$1 )",
"title": "Internet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The following table shows the speeds/prices* available and designed for home usage.",
"title": "Internet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "*Note: The pricing and speeds are subject to change since Altice, Claro and Wind have multi plans (Two or Three services combined), those plans have a discount on all services. Up to 25% discount for combined services.",
"title": "Internet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Currently the mobile internet market is governed by three aspects:",
"title": "Internet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms without judicial oversight.",
"title": "Internet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system ensure freedom of speech and press. The independent media are active and express a wide variety of views without restriction. Individuals and groups are generally able to criticize the government publicly and privately without reprisal, although there have been incidents in which authorities intimidated journalists or other news professionals. Local journalists engage in self-censorship, particularly when coverage could adversely affect the economic or political interests of media owners. The government denies using unauthorized wiretapping or other surreptitious methods to interfere with the private lives of individuals and families, however, human rights groups and opposition politicians allege that such interference does occur.",
"title": "Internet"
}
] | Telecommunications in the Dominican Republic include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet. Numerous television channels are available. Tricom, S.A, WIND Telecom, S.A., Viva, and Claro Codetel provide television services digitally, with channels from Latin America and elsewhere in the world. There are extensive mobile phone and land-line services. Internet access is available as Cable Internet, ADSL, WiMAX, EDGE, EV-DO and UMTS/HSDPA in most parts of the country. Projects to extend Wi-Fi hot spots have been undertaken in Santo Domingo. Since 2015 the country has been actively extending its fiber optics network, to provide faster and more reliable internet to business and private users. The Instituto Dominicano De Telecomunicaciones (INDOTEL) regulates and supervises the development of the country's telecommunications market. | 2023-03-04T14:17:33Z | [
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|
8,069 | Transport in the Dominican Republic | Transport in the Dominican Republic utilizes a system of roads, airports, ports, harbours, and an urban railway.
Five main highways (DR-1, DR-2, DR-3, DR-4, DR-5) connect the Dominican Republic's biggest cities and tourist centers; they are in good condition. There are nearly 19,705 km (12,244 mi) of highways and roads, 9,872 being paved and 9,833 km (6,110 mi) (2002 est.) unpaved. Like any underdeveloped nation, the Dominican Republic suffers from a lack of good paved roads to connect smaller towns and less populated areas, though work on paving them proceeds; major town roads are kept in good condition.
The Santo Domingo Metro is the first mass transit system in the country, and the second among Caribbean & Central American nations. It is the most extensive metro system in the region by length and total number of stations. On February 27, 2008, the incumbent president Leonel Fernández test-rode the system for the first time, and thereafter free service was offered several times. Commercial service began on January 30, 2009. Several additional lines are currently planned.
Santiago Light Rail is a planned light rail system, still at the development stage, in the Dominican Republic's second-largest city Santiago de los Caballeros; its construction was once slated to begin in mid-2008 but is currently on hold, due to lack of approval and of central government funds.
The Dominican Republic has a bus system that is rather reliable, and most of these public transportation vehicles are fairly comfortable. The fare is generally inexpensive, and there are bus terminals and stops in most of the island's major cities.
The Public Cars (Carros Públicos–Conchos) are privately owned passenger cars that transit a specific route daily and passengers pay a certain fee with the convenience of stopping anywhere. This comprises one of the main ways of transportation inside the capital city of Santo Domingo, as well as other major cities. This system, though, is not very reliable and lacks discipline. The high number of public cars that travel the roads, and the fact that they do not lend themselves to regulation or central control, causes frequent transit problems among city roads. They may also be somewhat uncomfortable, since they try to fit as many people as possible inside them. As a standard, a four-person sedan (driver included) usually carries six passengers, twice the amount for which they were designed.
Rail operations are provided by one state-owned operator and several private operators (mainly for sugar mills):
Major ports and harbours in the Dominican Republic:
The following six local ports are a single pier with berth facility:
A local ferry service runs daily between the Samaná and Sabana del Mar ports.
Boaters and sailors who wish to dock in any of the Dominican Republic's ports must follow certain entry requirements:
In 2009, there were seven major and 31 minor airports in the Dominican Republic. The major ones were:
There are direct flights to and from the Dominican Republic from the United States, Cuba, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the Caribbean. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Transport in the Dominican Republic utilizes a system of roads, airports, ports, harbours, and an urban railway.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Five main highways (DR-1, DR-2, DR-3, DR-4, DR-5) connect the Dominican Republic's biggest cities and tourist centers; they are in good condition. There are nearly 19,705 km (12,244 mi) of highways and roads, 9,872 being paved and 9,833 km (6,110 mi) (2002 est.) unpaved. Like any underdeveloped nation, the Dominican Republic suffers from a lack of good paved roads to connect smaller towns and less populated areas, though work on paving them proceeds; major town roads are kept in good condition.",
"title": "Roadways"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The Santo Domingo Metro is the first mass transit system in the country, and the second among Caribbean & Central American nations. It is the most extensive metro system in the region by length and total number of stations. On February 27, 2008, the incumbent president Leonel Fernández test-rode the system for the first time, and thereafter free service was offered several times. Commercial service began on January 30, 2009. Several additional lines are currently planned.",
"title": "Public transportation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Santiago Light Rail is a planned light rail system, still at the development stage, in the Dominican Republic's second-largest city Santiago de los Caballeros; its construction was once slated to begin in mid-2008 but is currently on hold, due to lack of approval and of central government funds.",
"title": "Public transportation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The Dominican Republic has a bus system that is rather reliable, and most of these public transportation vehicles are fairly comfortable. The fare is generally inexpensive, and there are bus terminals and stops in most of the island's major cities.",
"title": "Public transportation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The Public Cars (Carros Públicos–Conchos) are privately owned passenger cars that transit a specific route daily and passengers pay a certain fee with the convenience of stopping anywhere. This comprises one of the main ways of transportation inside the capital city of Santo Domingo, as well as other major cities. This system, though, is not very reliable and lacks discipline. The high number of public cars that travel the roads, and the fact that they do not lend themselves to regulation or central control, causes frequent transit problems among city roads. They may also be somewhat uncomfortable, since they try to fit as many people as possible inside them. As a standard, a four-person sedan (driver included) usually carries six passengers, twice the amount for which they were designed.",
"title": "Public transportation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Rail operations are provided by one state-owned operator and several private operators (mainly for sugar mills):",
"title": "Railways"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Major ports and harbours in the Dominican Republic:",
"title": "Ports and harbors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The following six local ports are a single pier with berth facility:",
"title": "Ports and harbors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "A local ferry service runs daily between the Samaná and Sabana del Mar ports.",
"title": "Ports and harbors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Boaters and sailors who wish to dock in any of the Dominican Republic's ports must follow certain entry requirements:",
"title": "Ports and harbors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In 2009, there were seven major and 31 minor airports in the Dominican Republic. The major ones were:",
"title": "Airports"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "There are direct flights to and from the Dominican Republic from the United States, Cuba, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the Caribbean.",
"title": "Airports"
}
] | Transport in the Dominican Republic utilizes a system of roads, airports, ports, harbours, and an urban railway. | 2002-02-25T15:51:15Z | 2023-12-27T20:01:13Z | [
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8,070 | Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic | The Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic (Spanish: Fuerzas Armadas de la República Dominicana) are the military forces of the Dominican Republic. They consist of approximately 56,000 active duty personnel. The president is the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic and the Ministry of Defense (Spanish: Ministerio de Defensa de la República Dominicana) is the chief managing body of the armed forces. The primary missions of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic are to defend the nation and protect the territorial integrity of the country. The Armed Forces of Dominican Republic are the strongest army in the Caribbean after Cuba.
The Army, with 28,750 active duty personnel, consists of six infantry brigades, an air cavalry squadron and a combat service support brigade. The Air Force operates two main bases, one in southern region near Santo Domingo and one in the northern region of the country, the air force operates approximately 40 aircraft including helicopters. The Navy maintains three ageing vessels which were donated from the United States, around 25 patrol crafts and interceptor boats and two helicopters.
There is a counter-terrorist group formed by members of the three branches. This group is highly trained in counter-terrorism missions. The armed forces participate fully in counter-illegal drug trade efforts, for this task, there is a taskforce known as DEPROSER 24/7 (DEfender, PROteger y SERvir). They also are active in efforts to control contraband and illegal immigration from Haiti to the Dominican Republic and from the Dominican Republic to the United States (via illegal transportation of immigrants to Puerto Rico).
Haiti under their president Jean-Pierre Boyer had invaded and occupied Dominican Republic from 1822 to 1844. The military forces of the First Republic's army comprised about 4,000 soldiers organized into seven line infantry regiments, several loose battalions, 6 escudrones cavalry and 3 artillery brigades with 2/2 brigades; This army was supplemented with national civic guard militia composed of the provinces, the National Naval Armada, original name of the Navy today; It composed of 10 ships, seven owned and 3 taken in requición and armed by the government: the Cibao frigate with 20 cannons; the brigantine schooner San Jose, five guns; the schooner La Libertad, five guns; General schooner Santana 7 guns; the schooner La Merced, five guns; Separation schooner, 3 guns; the schooner February 27, five guns. The requisition taken: the schooner Maria Luisa, 3 guns; the schooner March 30, 3 guns; and the schooner Hope, 3 guns. 674 operated by a man. In addition to the aforementioned military corps expeditionary southern army recruited by Pedro and Ramon Santana in Hato Mayor and El Seibo, with a permit issued by the Central Governing Board with the rank of commander in chief of the army existed. These men were skilled in handling machete and spear. His deputy commander was Brigadier General Antonio Duvergé. The other expeditionary army was the Northern Borders created to defend these borders: its commander was Major General Francisco A. Salcedo.
The Dominican forces would reach levels of organization and efficiency of considerable notoriety. As an example of this, it would suffice to highlight the fact of the achievement and preservation of National Independence, with the Dominican victory over repeated Haitian military invasions in the 12-year period that followed the proclamation of Independence; In addition, 55 percent of the National Budget was allocated to it.
The events that led to the United States military intervention of 1916, brought about the disappearance of any vestige of military structure in the Dominican Republic, setting the intervening forces a military government headed by Captain William Knapp, who make an interim police force called "Constabulary "equivalent to an" armed police force as a military unit "and he had the task of maintaining internal order and enforce the implementing provisions of the US government. This body, purely police function disappears in 1917, leading to the creation of a National Guard. As a result of this historic event of our recent past, the country inherited a hierarchical and organizational akin to the US Marine Corps structure, which served as a platform to the transformations that later gave rise to the armed forces we know today, made up of three components, terrestrial one, one naval and one air.
This land component, now called the National Army, inherited by both its organizational structure of the National Guard organized by the US occupation forces, which operated from April 7, 1917, until June 1921, when it becomes Dominican National Police by Executive Order No. 631 of Rear Admiral Thomas Snowden, who was at that time the military governor of Santo Domingo. After the US military occupation in 1924, Horacio Vásquez wins the presidential elections of that same year. Among his first decisions, decrees the change of the Dominican National Police in National Brigade, a situation that continues until 17 May 1928, when new turn changes the name of the Army by Law No. 928, but basically inheriting a structure Police, who obeyed schemes imposition of public order demanded by the country at that time and not those of an army in their typical roles.
Due to its characteristics and missions, organizational structure that demanded presence throughout the country, which was realized with the creation of posts and detachments in different parts of the country and the establishment in some provinces of company size units, many of which still Army retains today. Over the years and already existing National Police created by decree No. 1523 of March 2, 1936, of President Trujillo, many of these units, posts and detachments became part of it, perfectly adapted to its structure, since These were essentially created to play a policing role. So great was the influence that had the National Guard in Dominican society and very particularly in the rural population, which even today are many Dominicans who often referred to the Armed Forces and unique way to the Army as " The Guard ".
Meanwhile, the Navy has remained since its inception attached to the principles that gave rise, assuming only two name changes since its inception, but gradually evolving the transformation of what was a body created for military purposes, capable of landing and ships with weapons to face possible naval invasions, to be a component mainly responsible for enforcing the provisions on navigation, trade and fishing, as well as international treaties
The Dominican Air Force, meanwhile, emerges as an independent component in 1948, under the chairmanship of Generalissimo Rafael L. Trujillo Molina, with characteristics of innovation and modernism, which gave mobility, versatility and depth to the Armed Forces and the complement in the following years would become: a military capacity to project military power in the Caribbean environment. The situation of this air component has changed significantly after reaching its climax in the 50s, when it was one of the best air force equipped in the region, which was due to the strategic guidelines of a long-lived military dictatorship It made efforts to stay in power and he saw in this component one of its mainstays against any invasion or subversion against the dictatorship.
The Dominican Army was founded in 1844. Its basic strength is concentrated in the infantry which in general can be said to be well equipped with combat rifles and combat equipment for soldiers. The vehicles (both transport and armored vehicles) and the artillery and anti-tank pieces that are in service. Currently, tanks and modern armor systems have been included.
The Dominican Navy was founded in 1844 also with the National Independence with 15,000 troops after Haiti had occupied the eastern part of the island for twenty five years. It keeps around 34 ships in operation, mostly coast guards, patrol boats and small speedboats. It also operates dredges, tugboats and patrol boats of height. The Navy has a small air body composed helicopter utilities Bell OH-58C Kiowa.
The Navy operates two main bases, one in the port of Santo Domingo in the Dominican capital called "Naval Base 27 de Febrero" and another in Bahía de las Calderas, in the province of Peravia, called Las Calderas Naval Base in the southern part from the country. It also has presence in the commercial ports of the country, comandancias of ports and is divided into three naval areas that in turn have posts and naval detachments.
The Dominican Air Force was founded in 1948 with 20,000 people. It has two main bases: the base area of San Isidro in the South-Central zone of the country near the capital city Santo Domingo; and the other operates jointly in the civil facilities belonging to the Gregorio Luperón International Airport, near the city of Puerto Plata in the North of the Republic. Until August 2009, the possibility of starting military operations from the María Montez airport, in the city of Barahona in the Southwest of the country and from the Punta Cana airport in the extreme east is under study.
It keeps the following fixed-wing aircraft in operation: 8 Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano, 3 CASA C-212-400 transport; 6 T35B Pilot training; as well as around 25 helicopters such as Bell 206, Bell UH-1 Iroquois, Bell OH-58 Kiowa, Eurocopter Dauphin, OH-6 Cayuse and Sikorsky S-300.
The Specialized Security Corps are military security agencies dependent on the Ministry of Defense and they are made up of military and civilian personnel specialized in their different areas of function. Overall their duty is to support state institutions, defend national interests in peace and war, and as force multiplers of the Armed Forces as well as the National Police. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic (Spanish: Fuerzas Armadas de la República Dominicana) are the military forces of the Dominican Republic. They consist of approximately 56,000 active duty personnel. The president is the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic and the Ministry of Defense (Spanish: Ministerio de Defensa de la República Dominicana) is the chief managing body of the armed forces. The primary missions of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic are to defend the nation and protect the territorial integrity of the country. The Armed Forces of Dominican Republic are the strongest army in the Caribbean after Cuba.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The Army, with 28,750 active duty personnel, consists of six infantry brigades, an air cavalry squadron and a combat service support brigade. The Air Force operates two main bases, one in southern region near Santo Domingo and one in the northern region of the country, the air force operates approximately 40 aircraft including helicopters. The Navy maintains three ageing vessels which were donated from the United States, around 25 patrol crafts and interceptor boats and two helicopters.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "There is a counter-terrorist group formed by members of the three branches. This group is highly trained in counter-terrorism missions. The armed forces participate fully in counter-illegal drug trade efforts, for this task, there is a taskforce known as DEPROSER 24/7 (DEfender, PROteger y SERvir). They also are active in efforts to control contraband and illegal immigration from Haiti to the Dominican Republic and from the Dominican Republic to the United States (via illegal transportation of immigrants to Puerto Rico).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Haiti under their president Jean-Pierre Boyer had invaded and occupied Dominican Republic from 1822 to 1844. The military forces of the First Republic's army comprised about 4,000 soldiers organized into seven line infantry regiments, several loose battalions, 6 escudrones cavalry and 3 artillery brigades with 2/2 brigades; This army was supplemented with national civic guard militia composed of the provinces, the National Naval Armada, original name of the Navy today; It composed of 10 ships, seven owned and 3 taken in requición and armed by the government: the Cibao frigate with 20 cannons; the brigantine schooner San Jose, five guns; the schooner La Libertad, five guns; General schooner Santana 7 guns; the schooner La Merced, five guns; Separation schooner, 3 guns; the schooner February 27, five guns. The requisition taken: the schooner Maria Luisa, 3 guns; the schooner March 30, 3 guns; and the schooner Hope, 3 guns. 674 operated by a man. In addition to the aforementioned military corps expeditionary southern army recruited by Pedro and Ramon Santana in Hato Mayor and El Seibo, with a permit issued by the Central Governing Board with the rank of commander in chief of the army existed. These men were skilled in handling machete and spear. His deputy commander was Brigadier General Antonio Duvergé. The other expeditionary army was the Northern Borders created to defend these borders: its commander was Major General Francisco A. Salcedo.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The Dominican forces would reach levels of organization and efficiency of considerable notoriety. As an example of this, it would suffice to highlight the fact of the achievement and preservation of National Independence, with the Dominican victory over repeated Haitian military invasions in the 12-year period that followed the proclamation of Independence; In addition, 55 percent of the National Budget was allocated to it.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The events that led to the United States military intervention of 1916, brought about the disappearance of any vestige of military structure in the Dominican Republic, setting the intervening forces a military government headed by Captain William Knapp, who make an interim police force called \"Constabulary \"equivalent to an\" armed police force as a military unit \"and he had the task of maintaining internal order and enforce the implementing provisions of the US government. This body, purely police function disappears in 1917, leading to the creation of a National Guard. As a result of this historic event of our recent past, the country inherited a hierarchical and organizational akin to the US Marine Corps structure, which served as a platform to the transformations that later gave rise to the armed forces we know today, made up of three components, terrestrial one, one naval and one air.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "This land component, now called the National Army, inherited by both its organizational structure of the National Guard organized by the US occupation forces, which operated from April 7, 1917, until June 1921, when it becomes Dominican National Police by Executive Order No. 631 of Rear Admiral Thomas Snowden, who was at that time the military governor of Santo Domingo. After the US military occupation in 1924, Horacio Vásquez wins the presidential elections of that same year. Among his first decisions, decrees the change of the Dominican National Police in National Brigade, a situation that continues until 17 May 1928, when new turn changes the name of the Army by Law No. 928, but basically inheriting a structure Police, who obeyed schemes imposition of public order demanded by the country at that time and not those of an army in their typical roles.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Due to its characteristics and missions, organizational structure that demanded presence throughout the country, which was realized with the creation of posts and detachments in different parts of the country and the establishment in some provinces of company size units, many of which still Army retains today. Over the years and already existing National Police created by decree No. 1523 of March 2, 1936, of President Trujillo, many of these units, posts and detachments became part of it, perfectly adapted to its structure, since These were essentially created to play a policing role. So great was the influence that had the National Guard in Dominican society and very particularly in the rural population, which even today are many Dominicans who often referred to the Armed Forces and unique way to the Army as \" The Guard \".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Meanwhile, the Navy has remained since its inception attached to the principles that gave rise, assuming only two name changes since its inception, but gradually evolving the transformation of what was a body created for military purposes, capable of landing and ships with weapons to face possible naval invasions, to be a component mainly responsible for enforcing the provisions on navigation, trade and fishing, as well as international treaties",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The Dominican Air Force, meanwhile, emerges as an independent component in 1948, under the chairmanship of Generalissimo Rafael L. Trujillo Molina, with characteristics of innovation and modernism, which gave mobility, versatility and depth to the Armed Forces and the complement in the following years would become: a military capacity to project military power in the Caribbean environment. The situation of this air component has changed significantly after reaching its climax in the 50s, when it was one of the best air force equipped in the region, which was due to the strategic guidelines of a long-lived military dictatorship It made efforts to stay in power and he saw in this component one of its mainstays against any invasion or subversion against the dictatorship.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The Dominican Army was founded in 1844. Its basic strength is concentrated in the infantry which in general can be said to be well equipped with combat rifles and combat equipment for soldiers. The vehicles (both transport and armored vehicles) and the artillery and anti-tank pieces that are in service. Currently, tanks and modern armor systems have been included.",
"title": "Structure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The Dominican Navy was founded in 1844 also with the National Independence with 15,000 troops after Haiti had occupied the eastern part of the island for twenty five years. It keeps around 34 ships in operation, mostly coast guards, patrol boats and small speedboats. It also operates dredges, tugboats and patrol boats of height. The Navy has a small air body composed helicopter utilities Bell OH-58C Kiowa.",
"title": "Structure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The Navy operates two main bases, one in the port of Santo Domingo in the Dominican capital called \"Naval Base 27 de Febrero\" and another in Bahía de las Calderas, in the province of Peravia, called Las Calderas Naval Base in the southern part from the country. It also has presence in the commercial ports of the country, comandancias of ports and is divided into three naval areas that in turn have posts and naval detachments.",
"title": "Structure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The Dominican Air Force was founded in 1948 with 20,000 people. It has two main bases: the base area of San Isidro in the South-Central zone of the country near the capital city Santo Domingo; and the other operates jointly in the civil facilities belonging to the Gregorio Luperón International Airport, near the city of Puerto Plata in the North of the Republic. Until August 2009, the possibility of starting military operations from the María Montez airport, in the city of Barahona in the Southwest of the country and from the Punta Cana airport in the extreme east is under study.",
"title": "Structure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "It keeps the following fixed-wing aircraft in operation: 8 Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano, 3 CASA C-212-400 transport; 6 T35B Pilot training; as well as around 25 helicopters such as Bell 206, Bell UH-1 Iroquois, Bell OH-58 Kiowa, Eurocopter Dauphin, OH-6 Cayuse and Sikorsky S-300.",
"title": "Structure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The Specialized Security Corps are military security agencies dependent on the Ministry of Defense and they are made up of military and civilian personnel specialized in their different areas of function. Overall their duty is to support state institutions, defend national interests in peace and war, and as force multiplers of the Armed Forces as well as the National Police.",
"title": "Specialized Security Corps"
}
] | The Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic are the military forces of the Dominican Republic. They consist of approximately 56,000 active duty personnel. The president is the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic and the Ministry of Defense is the chief managing body of the armed forces. The primary missions of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic are to defend the nation and protect the territorial integrity of the country. The Armed Forces of Dominican Republic are the strongest army in the Caribbean after Cuba. The Army, with 28,750 active duty personnel, consists of six infantry brigades, an air cavalry squadron and a combat service support brigade. The Air Force operates two main bases, one in southern region near Santo Domingo and one in the northern region of the country, the air force operates approximately 40 aircraft including helicopters. The Navy maintains three ageing vessels which were donated from the United States, around 25 patrol crafts and interceptor boats and two helicopters. There is a counter-terrorist group formed by members of the three branches. This group is highly trained in counter-terrorism missions. The armed forces participate fully in counter-illegal drug trade efforts, for this task, there is a taskforce known as DEPROSER 24/7. They also are active in efforts to control contraband and illegal immigration from Haiti to the Dominican Republic and from the Dominican Republic to the United States. | 2002-02-25T15:51:15Z | 2023-10-12T12:34:31Z | [
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8,071 | Foreign relations of the Dominican Republic | The foreign relations of the Dominican Republic are the Dominican Republic's relations with other governments.
The Dominican Republic has a close relationship with the United States and with the other states of the Inter-American system. It has accredited diplomatic missions in most Western Hemisphere countries and in principal European capitals.
The island nation of the Dominican Republic maintains very limited relations with most of the countries of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. It concentrated its diplomatic activities in four critical arenas: the circum-Caribbean, Latin America, the United States, and Western Europe (mainly West Germany, Spain, and France).
List of countries which the Dominican Republic has diplomatic relations with:
The Dominican Republic is a founding member of the United Nations and many of its specialized and related agencies, including the World Bank, International Labour Organization, International Atomic Energy Agency, and International Civil Aviation Organization. It also is a member of the OAS, World Trade Organization, World Health Organization, World Customs Organization the Inter-American Development Bank, Central American Integration System, and ACP Group. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The foreign relations of the Dominican Republic are the Dominican Republic's relations with other governments.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The Dominican Republic has a close relationship with the United States and with the other states of the Inter-American system. It has accredited diplomatic missions in most Western Hemisphere countries and in principal European capitals.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The island nation of the Dominican Republic maintains very limited relations with most of the countries of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. It concentrated its diplomatic activities in four critical arenas: the circum-Caribbean, Latin America, the United States, and Western Europe (mainly West Germany, Spain, and France).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "List of countries which the Dominican Republic has diplomatic relations with:",
"title": "Diplomatic relations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The Dominican Republic is a founding member of the United Nations and many of its specialized and related agencies, including the World Bank, International Labour Organization, International Atomic Energy Agency, and International Civil Aviation Organization. It also is a member of the OAS, World Trade Organization, World Health Organization, World Customs Organization the Inter-American Development Bank, Central American Integration System, and ACP Group.",
"title": "Bilateral relations"
}
] | The foreign relations of the Dominican Republic are the Dominican Republic's relations with other governments. The Dominican Republic has a close relationship with the United States and with the other states of the Inter-American system. It has accredited diplomatic missions in most Western Hemisphere countries and in principal European capitals. | 2001-04-27T00:03:29Z | 2023-12-09T13:17:22Z | [
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8,072 | Disease | A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that are associated with specific signs and symptoms. A disease may be caused by external factors such as pathogens or by internal dysfunctions. For example, internal dysfunctions of the immune system can produce a variety of different diseases, including various forms of immunodeficiency, hypersensitivity, allergies, and autoimmune disorders.
In humans, disease is often used more broadly to refer to any condition that causes pain, dysfunction, distress, social problems, or death to the person affected, or similar problems for those in contact with the person. In this broader sense, it sometimes includes injuries, disabilities, disorders, syndromes, infections, isolated symptoms, deviant behaviors, and atypical variations of structure and function, while in other contexts and for other purposes these may be considered distinguishable categories. Diseases can affect people not only physically but also mentally, as contracting and living with a disease can alter the affected person's perspective on life.
Death due to disease is called death by natural causes. There are four main types of disease: infectious diseases, deficiency diseases, hereditary diseases (including both genetic and non-genetic hereditary diseases), and physiological diseases. Diseases can also be classified in other ways, such as communicable versus non-communicable diseases. The deadliest diseases in humans are coronary artery disease (blood flow obstruction), followed by cerebrovascular disease and lower respiratory infections. In developed countries, the diseases that cause the most sickness overall are neuropsychiatric conditions, such as depression and anxiety.
The study of disease is called pathology, which includes the study of etiology, or cause.
In many cases, terms such as disease, disorder, morbidity, sickness and illness are used interchangeably; however, there are situations when specific terms are considered preferable.
In an infectious disease, the incubation period is the time between infection and the appearance of symptoms. The latency period is the time between infection and the ability of the disease to spread to another person, which may precede, follow, or be simultaneous with the appearance of symptoms. Some viruses also exhibit a dormant phase, called viral latency, in which the virus hides in the body in an inactive state. For example, varicella zoster virus causes chickenpox in the acute phase; after recovery from chickenpox, the virus may remain dormant in nerve cells for many years, and later cause herpes zoster (shingles).
Diseases may be classified by cause, pathogenesis (mechanism by which the disease is caused), or by symptoms. Alternatively, diseases may be classified according to the organ system involved, though this is often complicated since many diseases affect more than one organ.
A chief difficulty in nosology is that diseases often cannot be defined and classified clearly, especially when cause or pathogenesis are unknown. Thus diagnostic terms often only reflect a symptom or set of symptoms (syndrome).
Classical classification of human disease derives from the observational correlation between pathological analysis and clinical syndromes. Today it is preferred to classify them by their cause if it is known.
The most known and used classification of diseases is the World Health Organization's ICD. This is periodically updated. Currently, the last publication is the ICD-11.
Diseases can be caused by any number of factors and may be acquired or congenital. Microorganisms, genetics, the environment or a combination of these can contribute to a diseased state.
Only some diseases such as influenza are contagious and commonly believed infectious. The microorganisms that cause these diseases are known as pathogens and include varieties of bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi. Infectious diseases can be transmitted, e.g. by hand-to-mouth contact with infectious material on surfaces, by bites of insects or other carriers of the disease, and from contaminated water or food (often via fecal contamination), etc. Also, there are sexually transmitted diseases. In some cases, microorganisms that are not readily spread from person to person play a role, while other diseases can be prevented or ameliorated with appropriate nutrition or other lifestyle changes.
Some diseases, such as most (but not all) forms of cancer, heart disease, and mental disorders, are non-infectious diseases. Many non-infectious diseases have a partly or completely genetic basis (see genetic disorder) and may thus be transmitted from one generation to another.
Social determinants of health are the social conditions in which people live that determine their health. Illnesses are generally related to social, economic, political, and environmental circumstances. Social determinants of health have been recognized by several health organizations such as the Public Health Agency of Canada and the World Health Organization to greatly influence collective and personal well-being. The World Health Organization's Social Determinants Council also recognizes Social determinants of health in poverty.
When the cause of a disease is poorly understood, societies tend to mythologize the disease or use it as a metaphor or symbol of whatever that culture considers evil. For example, until the bacterial cause of tuberculosis was discovered in 1882, experts variously ascribed the disease to heredity, a sedentary lifestyle, depressed mood, and overindulgence in sex, rich food, or alcohol, all of which were social ills at the time.
When a disease is caused by a pathogenic organism (e.g., when malaria is caused by Plasmodium), one should not confuse the pathogen (the cause of the disease) with disease itself. For example, West Nile virus (the pathogen) causes West Nile fever (the disease). The misuse of basic definitions in epidemiology is frequent in scientific publications.
Many diseases and disorders can be prevented through a variety of means. These include sanitation, proper nutrition, adequate exercise, vaccinations and other self-care and public health measures, such as obligatory face mask mandates.
Medical therapies or treatments are efforts to cure or improve a disease or other health problems. In the medical field, therapy is synonymous with the word treatment. Among psychologists, the term may refer specifically to psychotherapy or "talk therapy". Common treatments include medications, surgery, medical devices, and self-care. Treatments may be provided by an organized health care system, or informally, by the patient or family members.
Preventive healthcare is a way to avoid an injury, sickness, or disease in the first place. A treatment or cure is applied after a medical problem has already started. A treatment attempts to improve or remove a problem, but treatments may not produce permanent cures, especially in chronic diseases. Cures are a subset of treatments that reverse diseases completely or end medical problems permanently. Many diseases that cannot be completely cured are still treatable. Pain management (also called pain medicine) is that branch of medicine employing an interdisciplinary approach to the relief of pain and improvement in the quality of life of those living with pain.
Treatment for medical emergencies must be provided promptly, often through an emergency department or, in less critical situations, through an urgent care facility.
Epidemiology is the study of the factors that cause or encourage diseases. Some diseases are more common in certain geographic areas, among people with certain genetic or socioeconomic characteristics, or at different times of the year.
Epidemiology is considered a cornerstone methodology of public health research and is highly regarded in evidence-based medicine for identifying risk factors for diseases. In the study of communicable and non-communicable diseases, the work of epidemiologists ranges from outbreak investigation to study design, data collection, and analysis including the development of statistical models to test hypotheses and the documentation of results for submission to peer-reviewed journals. Epidemiologists also study the interaction of diseases in a population, a condition known as a syndemic. Epidemiologists rely on a number of other scientific disciplines such as biology (to better understand disease processes), biostatistics (the current raw information available), Geographic Information Science (to store data and map disease patterns) and social science disciplines (to better understand proximate and distal risk factors). Epidemiology can help identify causes as well as guide prevention efforts.
In studying diseases, epidemiology faces the challenge of defining them. Especially for poorly understood diseases, different groups might use significantly different definitions. Without an agreed-on definition, different researchers may report different numbers of cases and characteristics of the disease.
Some morbidity databases are compiled with data supplied by states and territories health authorities, at national levels or larger scale (such as European Hospital Morbidity Database (HMDB)) which may contain hospital discharge data by detailed diagnosis, age and sex. The European HMDB data was submitted by European countries to the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe.
Disease burden is the impact of a health problem in an area measured by financial cost, mortality, morbidity, or other indicators.
There are several measures used to quantify the burden imposed by diseases on people. The years of potential life lost (YPLL) is a simple estimate of the number of years that a person's life was shortened due to a disease. For example, if a person dies at the age of 65 from a disease, and would probably have lived until age 80 without that disease, then that disease has caused a loss of 15 years of potential life. YPLL measurements do not account for how disabled a person is before dying, so the measurement treats a person who dies suddenly and a person who died at the same age after decades of illness as equivalent. In 2004, the World Health Organization calculated that 932 million years of potential life were lost to premature death.
The quality-adjusted life year (QALY) and disability-adjusted life year (DALY) metrics are similar but take into account whether the person was healthy after diagnosis. In addition to the number of years lost due to premature death, these measurements add part of the years lost to being sick. Unlike YPLL, these measurements show the burden imposed on people who are very sick, but who live a normal lifespan. A disease that has high morbidity, but low mortality, has a high DALY and a low YPLL. In 2004, the World Health Organization calculated that 1.5 billion disability-adjusted life years were lost to disease and injury. In the developed world, heart disease and stroke cause the most loss of life, but neuropsychiatric conditions like major depressive disorder cause the most years lost to being sick.
How a society responds to diseases is the subject of medical sociology.
A condition may be considered a disease in some cultures or eras but not in others. For example, obesity can represent wealth and abundance, and is a status symbol in famine-prone areas and some places hard-hit by HIV/AIDS. Epilepsy is considered a sign of spiritual gifts among the Hmong people.
Sickness confers the social legitimization of certain benefits, such as illness benefits, work avoidance, and being looked after by others. The person who is sick takes on a social role called the sick role. A person who responds to a dreaded disease, such as cancer, in a culturally acceptable fashion may be publicly and privately honored with higher social status. In return for these benefits, the sick person is obligated to seek treatment and work to become well once more. As a comparison, consider pregnancy, which is not interpreted as a disease or sickness, even if the mother and baby may both benefit from medical care.
Most religions grant exceptions from religious duties to people who are sick. For example, one whose life would be endangered by fasting on Yom Kippur or during Ramadan is exempted from the requirement, or even forbidden from participating. People who are sick are also exempted from social duties. For example, ill health is the only socially acceptable reason for an American to refuse an invitation to the White House.
The identification of a condition as a disease, rather than as simply a variation of human structure or function, can have significant social or economic implications. The controversial recognition of diseases such as repetitive stress injury (RSI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has had a number of positive and negative effects on the financial and other responsibilities of governments, corporations, and institutions towards individuals, as well as on the individuals themselves. The social implication of viewing aging as a disease could be profound, though this classification is not yet widespread.
Lepers were people who were historically shunned because they had an infectious disease, and the term "leper" still evokes social stigma. Fear of disease can still be a widespread social phenomenon, though not all diseases evoke extreme social stigma.
Social standing and economic status affect health. Diseases of poverty are diseases that are associated with poverty and low social status; diseases of affluence are diseases that are associated with high social and economic status. Which diseases are associated with which states vary according to time, place, and technology. Some diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, may be associated with both poverty (poor food choices) and affluence (long lifespans and sedentary lifestyles), through different mechanisms. The term lifestyle diseases describes diseases associated with longevity and that are more common among older people. For example, cancer is far more common in societies in which most members live until they reach the age of 80 than in societies in which most members die before they reach the age of 50.
An illness narrative is a way of organizing a medical experience into a coherent story that illustrates the sick individual's personal experience.
People use metaphors to make sense of their experiences with disease. The metaphors move disease from an objective thing that exists to an affective experience. The most popular metaphors draw on military concepts: Disease is an enemy that must be feared, fought, battled, and routed. The patient or the healthcare provider is a warrior, rather than a passive victim or bystander. The agents of communicable diseases are invaders; non-communicable diseases constitute internal insurrection or civil war. Because the threat is urgent, perhaps a matter of life and death, unthinkably radical, even oppressive, measures are society's and the patient's moral duty as they courageously mobilize to struggle against destruction. The War on Cancer is an example of this metaphorical use of language. This language is empowering to some patients, but leaves others feeling like they are failures.
Another class of metaphors describes the experience of illness as a journey: The person travels to or from a place of disease, and changes himself, discovers new information, or increases his experience along the way. He may travel "on the road to recovery" or make changes to "get on the right track" or choose "pathways". Some are explicitly immigration-themed: the patient has been exiled from the home territory of health to the land of the ill, changing identity and relationships in the process. This language is more common among British healthcare professionals than the language of physical aggression.
Some metaphors are disease-specific. Slavery is a common metaphor for addictions: The alcoholic is enslaved by drink, and the smoker is captive to nicotine. Some cancer patients treat the loss of their hair from chemotherapy as a metonymy or metaphor for all the losses caused by the disease.
Some diseases are used as metaphors for social ills: "Cancer" is a common description for anything that is endemic and destructive in society, such as poverty, injustice, or racism. AIDS was seen as a divine judgment for moral decadence, and only by purging itself from the "pollution" of the "invader" could society become healthy again. More recently, when AIDS seemed less threatening, this type of emotive language was applied to avian flu and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Authors in the 19th century commonly used tuberculosis as a symbol and a metaphor for transcendence. People with the disease were portrayed in literature as having risen above daily life to become ephemeral objects of spiritual or artistic achievement. In the 20th century, after its cause was better understood, the same disease became the emblem of poverty, squalor, and other social problems. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that are associated with specific signs and symptoms. A disease may be caused by external factors such as pathogens or by internal dysfunctions. For example, internal dysfunctions of the immune system can produce a variety of different diseases, including various forms of immunodeficiency, hypersensitivity, allergies, and autoimmune disorders.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "In humans, disease is often used more broadly to refer to any condition that causes pain, dysfunction, distress, social problems, or death to the person affected, or similar problems for those in contact with the person. In this broader sense, it sometimes includes injuries, disabilities, disorders, syndromes, infections, isolated symptoms, deviant behaviors, and atypical variations of structure and function, while in other contexts and for other purposes these may be considered distinguishable categories. Diseases can affect people not only physically but also mentally, as contracting and living with a disease can alter the affected person's perspective on life.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Death due to disease is called death by natural causes. There are four main types of disease: infectious diseases, deficiency diseases, hereditary diseases (including both genetic and non-genetic hereditary diseases), and physiological diseases. Diseases can also be classified in other ways, such as communicable versus non-communicable diseases. The deadliest diseases in humans are coronary artery disease (blood flow obstruction), followed by cerebrovascular disease and lower respiratory infections. In developed countries, the diseases that cause the most sickness overall are neuropsychiatric conditions, such as depression and anxiety.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The study of disease is called pathology, which includes the study of etiology, or cause.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In many cases, terms such as disease, disorder, morbidity, sickness and illness are used interchangeably; however, there are situations when specific terms are considered preferable.",
"title": "Terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In an infectious disease, the incubation period is the time between infection and the appearance of symptoms. The latency period is the time between infection and the ability of the disease to spread to another person, which may precede, follow, or be simultaneous with the appearance of symptoms. Some viruses also exhibit a dormant phase, called viral latency, in which the virus hides in the body in an inactive state. For example, varicella zoster virus causes chickenpox in the acute phase; after recovery from chickenpox, the virus may remain dormant in nerve cells for many years, and later cause herpes zoster (shingles).",
"title": "Terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Diseases may be classified by cause, pathogenesis (mechanism by which the disease is caused), or by symptoms. Alternatively, diseases may be classified according to the organ system involved, though this is often complicated since many diseases affect more than one organ.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "A chief difficulty in nosology is that diseases often cannot be defined and classified clearly, especially when cause or pathogenesis are unknown. Thus diagnostic terms often only reflect a symptom or set of symptoms (syndrome).",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Classical classification of human disease derives from the observational correlation between pathological analysis and clinical syndromes. Today it is preferred to classify them by their cause if it is known.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The most known and used classification of diseases is the World Health Organization's ICD. This is periodically updated. Currently, the last publication is the ICD-11.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Diseases can be caused by any number of factors and may be acquired or congenital. Microorganisms, genetics, the environment or a combination of these can contribute to a diseased state.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Only some diseases such as influenza are contagious and commonly believed infectious. The microorganisms that cause these diseases are known as pathogens and include varieties of bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi. Infectious diseases can be transmitted, e.g. by hand-to-mouth contact with infectious material on surfaces, by bites of insects or other carriers of the disease, and from contaminated water or food (often via fecal contamination), etc. Also, there are sexually transmitted diseases. In some cases, microorganisms that are not readily spread from person to person play a role, while other diseases can be prevented or ameliorated with appropriate nutrition or other lifestyle changes.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Some diseases, such as most (but not all) forms of cancer, heart disease, and mental disorders, are non-infectious diseases. Many non-infectious diseases have a partly or completely genetic basis (see genetic disorder) and may thus be transmitted from one generation to another.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Social determinants of health are the social conditions in which people live that determine their health. Illnesses are generally related to social, economic, political, and environmental circumstances. Social determinants of health have been recognized by several health organizations such as the Public Health Agency of Canada and the World Health Organization to greatly influence collective and personal well-being. The World Health Organization's Social Determinants Council also recognizes Social determinants of health in poverty.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "When the cause of a disease is poorly understood, societies tend to mythologize the disease or use it as a metaphor or symbol of whatever that culture considers evil. For example, until the bacterial cause of tuberculosis was discovered in 1882, experts variously ascribed the disease to heredity, a sedentary lifestyle, depressed mood, and overindulgence in sex, rich food, or alcohol, all of which were social ills at the time.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "When a disease is caused by a pathogenic organism (e.g., when malaria is caused by Plasmodium), one should not confuse the pathogen (the cause of the disease) with disease itself. For example, West Nile virus (the pathogen) causes West Nile fever (the disease). The misuse of basic definitions in epidemiology is frequent in scientific publications.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Many diseases and disorders can be prevented through a variety of means. These include sanitation, proper nutrition, adequate exercise, vaccinations and other self-care and public health measures, such as obligatory face mask mandates.",
"title": "Prevention"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Medical therapies or treatments are efforts to cure or improve a disease or other health problems. In the medical field, therapy is synonymous with the word treatment. Among psychologists, the term may refer specifically to psychotherapy or \"talk therapy\". Common treatments include medications, surgery, medical devices, and self-care. Treatments may be provided by an organized health care system, or informally, by the patient or family members.",
"title": "Treatments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Preventive healthcare is a way to avoid an injury, sickness, or disease in the first place. A treatment or cure is applied after a medical problem has already started. A treatment attempts to improve or remove a problem, but treatments may not produce permanent cures, especially in chronic diseases. Cures are a subset of treatments that reverse diseases completely or end medical problems permanently. Many diseases that cannot be completely cured are still treatable. Pain management (also called pain medicine) is that branch of medicine employing an interdisciplinary approach to the relief of pain and improvement in the quality of life of those living with pain.",
"title": "Treatments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Treatment for medical emergencies must be provided promptly, often through an emergency department or, in less critical situations, through an urgent care facility.",
"title": "Treatments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Epidemiology is the study of the factors that cause or encourage diseases. Some diseases are more common in certain geographic areas, among people with certain genetic or socioeconomic characteristics, or at different times of the year.",
"title": "Epidemiology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Epidemiology is considered a cornerstone methodology of public health research and is highly regarded in evidence-based medicine for identifying risk factors for diseases. In the study of communicable and non-communicable diseases, the work of epidemiologists ranges from outbreak investigation to study design, data collection, and analysis including the development of statistical models to test hypotheses and the documentation of results for submission to peer-reviewed journals. Epidemiologists also study the interaction of diseases in a population, a condition known as a syndemic. Epidemiologists rely on a number of other scientific disciplines such as biology (to better understand disease processes), biostatistics (the current raw information available), Geographic Information Science (to store data and map disease patterns) and social science disciplines (to better understand proximate and distal risk factors). Epidemiology can help identify causes as well as guide prevention efforts.",
"title": "Epidemiology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "In studying diseases, epidemiology faces the challenge of defining them. Especially for poorly understood diseases, different groups might use significantly different definitions. Without an agreed-on definition, different researchers may report different numbers of cases and characteristics of the disease.",
"title": "Epidemiology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Some morbidity databases are compiled with data supplied by states and territories health authorities, at national levels or larger scale (such as European Hospital Morbidity Database (HMDB)) which may contain hospital discharge data by detailed diagnosis, age and sex. The European HMDB data was submitted by European countries to the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe.",
"title": "Epidemiology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Disease burden is the impact of a health problem in an area measured by financial cost, mortality, morbidity, or other indicators.",
"title": "Epidemiology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "There are several measures used to quantify the burden imposed by diseases on people. The years of potential life lost (YPLL) is a simple estimate of the number of years that a person's life was shortened due to a disease. For example, if a person dies at the age of 65 from a disease, and would probably have lived until age 80 without that disease, then that disease has caused a loss of 15 years of potential life. YPLL measurements do not account for how disabled a person is before dying, so the measurement treats a person who dies suddenly and a person who died at the same age after decades of illness as equivalent. In 2004, the World Health Organization calculated that 932 million years of potential life were lost to premature death.",
"title": "Epidemiology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The quality-adjusted life year (QALY) and disability-adjusted life year (DALY) metrics are similar but take into account whether the person was healthy after diagnosis. In addition to the number of years lost due to premature death, these measurements add part of the years lost to being sick. Unlike YPLL, these measurements show the burden imposed on people who are very sick, but who live a normal lifespan. A disease that has high morbidity, but low mortality, has a high DALY and a low YPLL. In 2004, the World Health Organization calculated that 1.5 billion disability-adjusted life years were lost to disease and injury. In the developed world, heart disease and stroke cause the most loss of life, but neuropsychiatric conditions like major depressive disorder cause the most years lost to being sick.",
"title": "Epidemiology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "How a society responds to diseases is the subject of medical sociology.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "A condition may be considered a disease in some cultures or eras but not in others. For example, obesity can represent wealth and abundance, and is a status symbol in famine-prone areas and some places hard-hit by HIV/AIDS. Epilepsy is considered a sign of spiritual gifts among the Hmong people.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Sickness confers the social legitimization of certain benefits, such as illness benefits, work avoidance, and being looked after by others. The person who is sick takes on a social role called the sick role. A person who responds to a dreaded disease, such as cancer, in a culturally acceptable fashion may be publicly and privately honored with higher social status. In return for these benefits, the sick person is obligated to seek treatment and work to become well once more. As a comparison, consider pregnancy, which is not interpreted as a disease or sickness, even if the mother and baby may both benefit from medical care.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Most religions grant exceptions from religious duties to people who are sick. For example, one whose life would be endangered by fasting on Yom Kippur or during Ramadan is exempted from the requirement, or even forbidden from participating. People who are sick are also exempted from social duties. For example, ill health is the only socially acceptable reason for an American to refuse an invitation to the White House.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "The identification of a condition as a disease, rather than as simply a variation of human structure or function, can have significant social or economic implications. The controversial recognition of diseases such as repetitive stress injury (RSI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has had a number of positive and negative effects on the financial and other responsibilities of governments, corporations, and institutions towards individuals, as well as on the individuals themselves. The social implication of viewing aging as a disease could be profound, though this classification is not yet widespread.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Lepers were people who were historically shunned because they had an infectious disease, and the term \"leper\" still evokes social stigma. Fear of disease can still be a widespread social phenomenon, though not all diseases evoke extreme social stigma.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Social standing and economic status affect health. Diseases of poverty are diseases that are associated with poverty and low social status; diseases of affluence are diseases that are associated with high social and economic status. Which diseases are associated with which states vary according to time, place, and technology. Some diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, may be associated with both poverty (poor food choices) and affluence (long lifespans and sedentary lifestyles), through different mechanisms. The term lifestyle diseases describes diseases associated with longevity and that are more common among older people. For example, cancer is far more common in societies in which most members live until they reach the age of 80 than in societies in which most members die before they reach the age of 50.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "An illness narrative is a way of organizing a medical experience into a coherent story that illustrates the sick individual's personal experience.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "People use metaphors to make sense of their experiences with disease. The metaphors move disease from an objective thing that exists to an affective experience. The most popular metaphors draw on military concepts: Disease is an enemy that must be feared, fought, battled, and routed. The patient or the healthcare provider is a warrior, rather than a passive victim or bystander. The agents of communicable diseases are invaders; non-communicable diseases constitute internal insurrection or civil war. Because the threat is urgent, perhaps a matter of life and death, unthinkably radical, even oppressive, measures are society's and the patient's moral duty as they courageously mobilize to struggle against destruction. The War on Cancer is an example of this metaphorical use of language. This language is empowering to some patients, but leaves others feeling like they are failures.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Another class of metaphors describes the experience of illness as a journey: The person travels to or from a place of disease, and changes himself, discovers new information, or increases his experience along the way. He may travel \"on the road to recovery\" or make changes to \"get on the right track\" or choose \"pathways\". Some are explicitly immigration-themed: the patient has been exiled from the home territory of health to the land of the ill, changing identity and relationships in the process. This language is more common among British healthcare professionals than the language of physical aggression.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Some metaphors are disease-specific. Slavery is a common metaphor for addictions: The alcoholic is enslaved by drink, and the smoker is captive to nicotine. Some cancer patients treat the loss of their hair from chemotherapy as a metonymy or metaphor for all the losses caused by the disease.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Some diseases are used as metaphors for social ills: \"Cancer\" is a common description for anything that is endemic and destructive in society, such as poverty, injustice, or racism. AIDS was seen as a divine judgment for moral decadence, and only by purging itself from the \"pollution\" of the \"invader\" could society become healthy again. More recently, when AIDS seemed less threatening, this type of emotive language was applied to avian flu and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Authors in the 19th century commonly used tuberculosis as a symbol and a metaphor for transcendence. People with the disease were portrayed in literature as having risen above daily life to become ephemeral objects of spiritual or artistic achievement. In the 20th century, after its cause was better understood, the same disease became the emblem of poverty, squalor, and other social problems.",
"title": "Society and culture"
}
] | A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that are associated with specific signs and symptoms. A disease may be caused by external factors such as pathogens or by internal dysfunctions. For example, internal dysfunctions of the immune system can produce a variety of different diseases, including various forms of immunodeficiency, hypersensitivity, allergies, and autoimmune disorders. In humans, disease is often used more broadly to refer to any condition that causes pain, dysfunction, distress, social problems, or death to the person affected, or similar problems for those in contact with the person. In this broader sense, it sometimes includes injuries, disabilities, disorders, syndromes, infections, isolated symptoms, deviant behaviors, and atypical variations of structure and function, while in other contexts and for other purposes these may be considered distinguishable categories. Diseases can affect people not only physically but also mentally, as contracting and living with a disease can alter the affected person's perspective on life. Death due to disease is called death by natural causes. There are four main types of disease: infectious diseases, deficiency diseases, hereditary diseases, and physiological diseases. Diseases can also be classified in other ways, such as communicable versus non-communicable diseases. The deadliest diseases in humans are coronary artery disease, followed by cerebrovascular disease and lower respiratory infections. In developed countries, the diseases that cause the most sickness overall are neuropsychiatric conditions, such as depression and anxiety. The study of disease is called pathology, which includes the study of etiology, or cause. | 2001-09-19T10:10:16Z | 2023-12-27T11:15:11Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease |
8,073 | Dardanelles | The Dardanelles (/ˌdɑːrdəˈnɛlz/ DAR-də-NELZ; Turkish: Çanakkale Boğazı, lit. 'Strait of Çanakkale'; Greek: Δαρδανέλλια, romanized: Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (/ˈhɛlɪspɒnt/ HEL-isp-ont; Classical Greek: Ἑλλήσποντος, romanized: Hellḗspontos, lit. 'Sea of Helle'), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey that forms part of the continental boundary between Asia and Europe and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey. Together with the Bosporus, the Dardanelles forms the Turkish Straits.
One of the world's narrowest straits used for international navigation, the Dardanelles connects the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean and Mediterranean seas while also allowing passage to the Black Sea by extension via the Bosporus. The Dardanelles is 61 kilometres (38 mi) long and 1.2 to 6 kilometres (0.75 to 3.73 mi) wide. It has an average depth of 55 metres (180 ft) with a maximum depth of 103 metres (338 ft) at its narrowest point abreast the city of Çanakkale. The first fixed crossing across the Dardanelles opened in 2022 with the completion of the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge.
Most of the northern shores of the strait along the Gallipoli peninsula (Turkish: Gelibolu) are sparsely settled, while the southern shores along the Troad peninsula (Turkish: Biga) are inhabited by the city of Çanakkale's urban population of 110,000.
The contemporary Turkish name Çanakkale Boğazı, meaning 'Çanakkale Strait', is derived from the eponymous midsize city that adjoins the strait, itself meaning 'pottery fort'—from چاناق (çanak, 'pottery') + قلعه (kale, 'fortress')—in reference to the area's famous pottery and ceramic wares, and the landmark Ottoman fortress of Sultaniye.
The English name Dardanelles is an abbreviation of Strait of the Dardanelles. During Ottoman times there was a castle on each side of the strait. These castles together were called the Dardanelles, probably named after Dardanus, an ancient city on the Asian shore of the strait which in turn was said to take its name from Dardanus, the mythical son of Zeus and Electra. The name comes from the Dardani in the Balkans, according to Papazoglu.
The ancient Greek name Ἑλλήσποντος (Hellēspontos) means "Sea of Helle", and was the ancient name of the narrow strait. It was variously named in classical literature Hellespontium Pelagus, Rectum Hellesponticum, and Fretum Hellesponticum. It was so called from Helle, the daughter of Athamas, who was drowned here in the mythology of the Golden Fleece.
As a maritime waterway, the Dardanelles connects various seas along the Eastern Mediterranean, the Balkans, the Near East, and Western Eurasia, and specifically connects the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. The Marmara further connects to the Black Sea via the Bosporus, while the Aegean further links to the Mediterranean. Thus, the Dardanelles allows maritime connections from the Black Sea all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean via Gibraltar, and the Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal, making it a crucial international waterway, in particular for the passage of goods coming in from Russia.
The strait is located at approximately 40°13′N 26°26′E / 40.217°N 26.433°E / 40.217; 26.433.
The strait is 61 kilometres (38 mi) long, and 1.2 to 6 kilometres (0.7 to 3.7 mi) wide, averaging 55 metres (180 ft) deep with a maximum depth of 103 metres (338 ft) at its narrowest point at Nara Burnu, abreast Çanakkale. There are two major currents through the strait: a surface current flows from the Black Sea towards the Aegean Sea, and a more saline undercurrent flows in the opposite direction.
The Dardanelles is unique in many respects. The very narrow and winding shape of the strait is more akin to that of a river. It is considered one of the most hazardous, crowded, difficult and potentially dangerous waterways in the world. The currents produced by the tidal action in the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara are such that ships under sail must wait at anchorage for the right conditions before entering the Dardanelles.
As part of the only passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the Dardanelles has always been of great importance from a commercial and military point of view, and remains strategically important today. It is a major sea access route for numerous countries, including Russia and Ukraine. Control over it has been an objective of a number of hostilities in modern history, notably the attack of the Allied Powers on the Dardanelles during the 1915 Battle of Gallipoli in the course of World War I.
The ancient city of Troy was located near the western entrance of the strait, and the strait's Asiatic shore was the focus of the Trojan War. Troy was able to control the marine traffic entering this vital waterway. The Persian army of Xerxes I of Persia and later the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great crossed the Dardanelles in opposite directions to invade each other's lands, in 480 BC and 334 BC respectively.
Herodotus says that, circa 482 BC, Xerxes I (the son of Darius) had two pontoon bridges built across the width of the Hellespont at Abydos, in order that his huge army could cross from Persia into Greece. This crossing was named by Aeschylus in his tragedy The Persians as the cause of divine intervention against Xerxes.
According to Herodotus (vv.34), both bridges were destroyed by a storm and Xerxes had those responsible for building the bridges beheaded and the strait itself whipped. The Histories of Herodotus vii.33–37 and vii.54–58 give details of building and crossing of Xerxes' Pontoon Bridges. Xerxes is then said to have thrown fetters into the strait, given it three hundred lashes and branded it with red-hot irons as the soldiers shouted at the water.
Herodotus commented that this was a "highly presumptuous way to address the Hellespont" but in no way atypical of Xerxes. (vii.35)
Harpalus the engineer is said to have eventually helped the invading armies to cross by lashing the ships together with their bows facing the current and adding two additional anchors to each ship.
From the perspective of ancient Greek mythology Helle, the daughter of Athamas, supposedly was drowned at the Dardanelles in the legend of the Golden Fleece. Likewise, the strait was the scene of the legend of Hero and Leander, wherein the lovesick Leander swam the strait nightly in order to tryst with his beloved, the priestess Hero, but was ultimately drowned in a storm.
The Dardanelles were vital to the defence of Constantinople during the Byzantine period.
Also, the Dardanelles was an important source of income for the ruler of the region. At the Istanbul Archaeological Museum a marble plate contains a law by the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I (491–518 AD), that regulated fees for passage through the customs office of the Dardanelles. Translation:
... Whoever dares to violate these regulations shall no longer be regarded as a friend, and he shall be punished. Besides, the administrator of the Dardanelles must have the right to receive 50 golden Litrons, so that these rules, which we make out of piety, shall never ever be violated... ... The distinguished governor and major of the capital, who already has both hands full of things to do, has turned to our lofty piety in order to reorganize the entry and exit of all ships through the Dardanelles... ... Starting from our day and also in the future, anybody who wants to pass through the Dardanelles must pay the following:
– All wine merchants who bring wine to the capital (Constantinopolis), except Cilicians, have to pay the Dardanelles officials 6 follis and 2 sextarius of wine. – In the same manner, all merchants of olive-oil, vegetables and lard must pay the Dardanelles officials 6 follis. Cilician sea-merchants have to pay 3 follis and in addition to that, 1 keration (12 follis) to enter, and 2 keration to exit.
– All wheat merchants have to pay the officials 3 follis per modius, and a further sum of 3 follis when leaving.
Since the 14th century the Dardanelles have almost continuously been controlled by the Turks.
The Dardanelles continued to constitute an important waterway during the period of the Ottoman Empire, which conquered Gallipoli in 1354.
Ottoman control of the strait continued largely without interruption or challenges until the 19th century, when the Empire started its decline.
Gaining control of, or guaranteed access to, the strait became a key foreign-policy goal of the Russian Empire during the 19th century. During the Napoleonic Wars, Russia—supported by Great Britain in the Dardanelles Operation—blockaded the straits in 1807.
In 1833, following the Ottoman Empire's defeat in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829, Russia pressured the Ottomans to sign the Treaty of Hunkiar Iskelesi—which required the closing of the straits to warships of non-Black Sea powers at Russia's request. That would have effectively given Russia a free hand in the Black Sea.
This treaty alarmed the Ottoman Empire, who were concerned that the consequences of potential Russian expansionism in the Black Sea and Mediterranean regions could conflict with their own possessions and economic interest in the region. At the London Straits Convention in July 1841, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, and Prussia pressured Russia to agree that only Turkish warships could traverse the Dardanelles in peacetime. The United Kingdom and France subsequently sent their fleets through the straits to defend the Danube front and to attack the Crimean Peninsula during the Crimean War of 1853–1856 – but they did so as allies of the Ottoman Empire. Following the defeat of Russia in the Crimean War, the Congress of Paris in 1856 formally reaffirmed the London Straits Convention. It remained technically in force into the 20th and 21st centuries.
In 1915 the Allies sent a substantial invasion force of British, Indian, Australian, New Zealand, French and Newfoundland troops to attempt to open up the straits. In the Gallipoli campaign, Turkish troops trapped the Allies on the coasts of the Gallipoli peninsula. The campaign damaged the career of Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty (in office 1911–1915), who had eagerly promoted the (unsuccessful) use of Royal Navy sea power to force open the straits. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, subsequent founder of the Republic of Turkey, served as an Ottoman commander during the land campaign.
The Turks mined the straits to prevent Allied ships from penetrating them but, in minor actions two submarines, one British and one Australian, did succeed in penetrating the minefields. The British submarine sank an obsolete Turkish pre-dreadnought battleship off the Golden Horn of Istanbul. Sir Ian Hamilton's Mediterranean Expeditionary Force failed in its attempt to capture the Gallipoli peninsula, and the British cabinet ordered its withdrawal in December 1915, after eight months' fighting. Total Allied deaths included 43,000 British, 15,000 French, 8,700 Australians, 2,700 New Zealanders, 1,370 Indians and 49 Newfoundlanders. Total Turkish deaths were around 60,000.
Following the war, the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres demilitarized the strait and made it an international territory under the control of the League of Nations. The Ottoman Empire's non-ethnically Turkish territories were broken up and partitioned among the Allied Powers, and Turkish jurisdiction over the straits curbed.
After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire following a lengthy campaign by Turks as part of the Turkish War of Independence against both the Allied Powers and the Ottoman court, the Republic of Turkey was created in 1923 by the Treaty of Lausanne, which established most of the modern sovereign territory of Turkey and restored the straits to Turkish territory, with the condition that Turkey keep them demilitarized and allow all foreign warships and commercial shipping to traverse the straits freely.
As part of its national security strategy, Turkey eventually rejected the terms of the treaty, and subsequently remilitarized the straits area over the following decade. Following extensive diplomatic negotiations, the reversion was formalized under the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits on 20 July 1936. That convention, which is still in force today, treats the straits as an international shipping lane while allowing Turkey to retain the right to restrict the naval traffic of non-Black Sea states.
During World War II, through February 1945, when Turkey was neutral for most of the length of the conflict, the Dardanelles were closed to the ships of the belligerent nations. Turkey declared war on Germany in February 1945, but it did not employ any offensive forces during the war.
In July 1946, the Soviet Union sent a note to Turkey proposing a new régime for the Dardanelles that would have excluded all nations except the Black Sea powers. The second proposal was that the straits should be put under joint Turkish-Soviet defence. This meant that Turkey, the Soviet Union, Bulgaria and Romania would be the only states having access to the Black Sea through the Dardanelles. The Turkish government however, under pressure from the United States, rejected these proposals.
Turkey joined NATO in 1952, thus affording its straits even more strategic importance as a commercial and military waterway.
In more recent years, the Turkish Straits have become particularly important for the oil industry. Russian oil, from ports such as Novorossyisk, is exported by tankers primarily to western Europe and the U.S. via the Bosporus and the Dardanelles straits.
The Dardanelles were closed in late February 2022 to all foreign warships at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in accordance with the Montreux Convention.
The waters of the Dardanelles are traversed by numerous passenger and vehicular ferries daily, as well as recreational and fishing boats ranging from dinghies to yachts owned by both public and private entities.
The strait also experiences significant amounts of commercial shipping traffic.
The Çanakkale 1915 Bridge joins Lapseki, a district of Çanakkale, on the Asian side and Sütlüce, a village of the Gelibolu district, on the European side. It is part of planned expansions to the Turkish National Highway Network. Work on the bridge began in March 2017, and it was opened on March 18, 2022.
2 submarine cable systems transmitting electric power at 400 kV bridge the Dardanelles to feed west and east of Istanbul. They have their own landing stations in Lapseki and Sütlüce. The first, situated in the northeast quarter portion of the strait, was energised in April 2015 and provides 2 GW via 6 phases 400 kV AC 3.9 km far through the sea. The second, somewhat in the middle of the strait, was still under construction in June 2016 and will provide similar capabilities to the first line.
Both subsea power lines cross 4 optical fibre data lines laid earlier along the strait. A published map shows communication lines leading from Istanbul into the Mediterranean, named MedNautilus and landing at Athens, Sicily and elsewhere. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Dardanelles (/ˌdɑːrdəˈnɛlz/ DAR-də-NELZ; Turkish: Çanakkale Boğazı, lit. 'Strait of Çanakkale'; Greek: Δαρδανέλλια, romanized: Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (/ˈhɛlɪspɒnt/ HEL-isp-ont; Classical Greek: Ἑλλήσποντος, romanized: Hellḗspontos, lit. 'Sea of Helle'), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey that forms part of the continental boundary between Asia and Europe and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey. Together with the Bosporus, the Dardanelles forms the Turkish Straits.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "One of the world's narrowest straits used for international navigation, the Dardanelles connects the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean and Mediterranean seas while also allowing passage to the Black Sea by extension via the Bosporus. The Dardanelles is 61 kilometres (38 mi) long and 1.2 to 6 kilometres (0.75 to 3.73 mi) wide. It has an average depth of 55 metres (180 ft) with a maximum depth of 103 metres (338 ft) at its narrowest point abreast the city of Çanakkale. The first fixed crossing across the Dardanelles opened in 2022 with the completion of the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Most of the northern shores of the strait along the Gallipoli peninsula (Turkish: Gelibolu) are sparsely settled, while the southern shores along the Troad peninsula (Turkish: Biga) are inhabited by the city of Çanakkale's urban population of 110,000.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The contemporary Turkish name Çanakkale Boğazı, meaning 'Çanakkale Strait', is derived from the eponymous midsize city that adjoins the strait, itself meaning 'pottery fort'—from چاناق (çanak, 'pottery') + قلعه (kale, 'fortress')—in reference to the area's famous pottery and ceramic wares, and the landmark Ottoman fortress of Sultaniye.",
"title": "Names"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The English name Dardanelles is an abbreviation of Strait of the Dardanelles. During Ottoman times there was a castle on each side of the strait. These castles together were called the Dardanelles, probably named after Dardanus, an ancient city on the Asian shore of the strait which in turn was said to take its name from Dardanus, the mythical son of Zeus and Electra. The name comes from the Dardani in the Balkans, according to Papazoglu.",
"title": "Names"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The ancient Greek name Ἑλλήσποντος (Hellēspontos) means \"Sea of Helle\", and was the ancient name of the narrow strait. It was variously named in classical literature Hellespontium Pelagus, Rectum Hellesponticum, and Fretum Hellesponticum. It was so called from Helle, the daughter of Athamas, who was drowned here in the mythology of the Golden Fleece.",
"title": "Names"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "As a maritime waterway, the Dardanelles connects various seas along the Eastern Mediterranean, the Balkans, the Near East, and Western Eurasia, and specifically connects the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. The Marmara further connects to the Black Sea via the Bosporus, while the Aegean further links to the Mediterranean. Thus, the Dardanelles allows maritime connections from the Black Sea all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean via Gibraltar, and the Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal, making it a crucial international waterway, in particular for the passage of goods coming in from Russia.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The strait is located at approximately 40°13′N 26°26′E / 40.217°N 26.433°E / 40.217; 26.433.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The strait is 61 kilometres (38 mi) long, and 1.2 to 6 kilometres (0.7 to 3.7 mi) wide, averaging 55 metres (180 ft) deep with a maximum depth of 103 metres (338 ft) at its narrowest point at Nara Burnu, abreast Çanakkale. There are two major currents through the strait: a surface current flows from the Black Sea towards the Aegean Sea, and a more saline undercurrent flows in the opposite direction.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The Dardanelles is unique in many respects. The very narrow and winding shape of the strait is more akin to that of a river. It is considered one of the most hazardous, crowded, difficult and potentially dangerous waterways in the world. The currents produced by the tidal action in the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara are such that ships under sail must wait at anchorage for the right conditions before entering the Dardanelles.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "As part of the only passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the Dardanelles has always been of great importance from a commercial and military point of view, and remains strategically important today. It is a major sea access route for numerous countries, including Russia and Ukraine. Control over it has been an objective of a number of hostilities in modern history, notably the attack of the Allied Powers on the Dardanelles during the 1915 Battle of Gallipoli in the course of World War I.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The ancient city of Troy was located near the western entrance of the strait, and the strait's Asiatic shore was the focus of the Trojan War. Troy was able to control the marine traffic entering this vital waterway. The Persian army of Xerxes I of Persia and later the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great crossed the Dardanelles in opposite directions to invade each other's lands, in 480 BC and 334 BC respectively.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Herodotus says that, circa 482 BC, Xerxes I (the son of Darius) had two pontoon bridges built across the width of the Hellespont at Abydos, in order that his huge army could cross from Persia into Greece. This crossing was named by Aeschylus in his tragedy The Persians as the cause of divine intervention against Xerxes.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "According to Herodotus (vv.34), both bridges were destroyed by a storm and Xerxes had those responsible for building the bridges beheaded and the strait itself whipped. The Histories of Herodotus vii.33–37 and vii.54–58 give details of building and crossing of Xerxes' Pontoon Bridges. Xerxes is then said to have thrown fetters into the strait, given it three hundred lashes and branded it with red-hot irons as the soldiers shouted at the water.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Herodotus commented that this was a \"highly presumptuous way to address the Hellespont\" but in no way atypical of Xerxes. (vii.35)",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Harpalus the engineer is said to have eventually helped the invading armies to cross by lashing the ships together with their bows facing the current and adding two additional anchors to each ship.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "From the perspective of ancient Greek mythology Helle, the daughter of Athamas, supposedly was drowned at the Dardanelles in the legend of the Golden Fleece. Likewise, the strait was the scene of the legend of Hero and Leander, wherein the lovesick Leander swam the strait nightly in order to tryst with his beloved, the priestess Hero, but was ultimately drowned in a storm.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The Dardanelles were vital to the defence of Constantinople during the Byzantine period.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Also, the Dardanelles was an important source of income for the ruler of the region. At the Istanbul Archaeological Museum a marble plate contains a law by the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I (491–518 AD), that regulated fees for passage through the customs office of the Dardanelles. Translation:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "... Whoever dares to violate these regulations shall no longer be regarded as a friend, and he shall be punished. Besides, the administrator of the Dardanelles must have the right to receive 50 golden Litrons, so that these rules, which we make out of piety, shall never ever be violated... ... The distinguished governor and major of the capital, who already has both hands full of things to do, has turned to our lofty piety in order to reorganize the entry and exit of all ships through the Dardanelles... ... Starting from our day and also in the future, anybody who wants to pass through the Dardanelles must pay the following:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "– All wine merchants who bring wine to the capital (Constantinopolis), except Cilicians, have to pay the Dardanelles officials 6 follis and 2 sextarius of wine. – In the same manner, all merchants of olive-oil, vegetables and lard must pay the Dardanelles officials 6 follis. Cilician sea-merchants have to pay 3 follis and in addition to that, 1 keration (12 follis) to enter, and 2 keration to exit.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "– All wheat merchants have to pay the officials 3 follis per modius, and a further sum of 3 follis when leaving.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Since the 14th century the Dardanelles have almost continuously been controlled by the Turks.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The Dardanelles continued to constitute an important waterway during the period of the Ottoman Empire, which conquered Gallipoli in 1354.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Ottoman control of the strait continued largely without interruption or challenges until the 19th century, when the Empire started its decline.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Gaining control of, or guaranteed access to, the strait became a key foreign-policy goal of the Russian Empire during the 19th century. During the Napoleonic Wars, Russia—supported by Great Britain in the Dardanelles Operation—blockaded the straits in 1807.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "In 1833, following the Ottoman Empire's defeat in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829, Russia pressured the Ottomans to sign the Treaty of Hunkiar Iskelesi—which required the closing of the straits to warships of non-Black Sea powers at Russia's request. That would have effectively given Russia a free hand in the Black Sea.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "This treaty alarmed the Ottoman Empire, who were concerned that the consequences of potential Russian expansionism in the Black Sea and Mediterranean regions could conflict with their own possessions and economic interest in the region. At the London Straits Convention in July 1841, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, and Prussia pressured Russia to agree that only Turkish warships could traverse the Dardanelles in peacetime. The United Kingdom and France subsequently sent their fleets through the straits to defend the Danube front and to attack the Crimean Peninsula during the Crimean War of 1853–1856 – but they did so as allies of the Ottoman Empire. Following the defeat of Russia in the Crimean War, the Congress of Paris in 1856 formally reaffirmed the London Straits Convention. It remained technically in force into the 20th and 21st centuries.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In 1915 the Allies sent a substantial invasion force of British, Indian, Australian, New Zealand, French and Newfoundland troops to attempt to open up the straits. In the Gallipoli campaign, Turkish troops trapped the Allies on the coasts of the Gallipoli peninsula. The campaign damaged the career of Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty (in office 1911–1915), who had eagerly promoted the (unsuccessful) use of Royal Navy sea power to force open the straits. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, subsequent founder of the Republic of Turkey, served as an Ottoman commander during the land campaign.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "The Turks mined the straits to prevent Allied ships from penetrating them but, in minor actions two submarines, one British and one Australian, did succeed in penetrating the minefields. The British submarine sank an obsolete Turkish pre-dreadnought battleship off the Golden Horn of Istanbul. Sir Ian Hamilton's Mediterranean Expeditionary Force failed in its attempt to capture the Gallipoli peninsula, and the British cabinet ordered its withdrawal in December 1915, after eight months' fighting. Total Allied deaths included 43,000 British, 15,000 French, 8,700 Australians, 2,700 New Zealanders, 1,370 Indians and 49 Newfoundlanders. Total Turkish deaths were around 60,000.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Following the war, the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres demilitarized the strait and made it an international territory under the control of the League of Nations. The Ottoman Empire's non-ethnically Turkish territories were broken up and partitioned among the Allied Powers, and Turkish jurisdiction over the straits curbed.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire following a lengthy campaign by Turks as part of the Turkish War of Independence against both the Allied Powers and the Ottoman court, the Republic of Turkey was created in 1923 by the Treaty of Lausanne, which established most of the modern sovereign territory of Turkey and restored the straits to Turkish territory, with the condition that Turkey keep them demilitarized and allow all foreign warships and commercial shipping to traverse the straits freely.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "As part of its national security strategy, Turkey eventually rejected the terms of the treaty, and subsequently remilitarized the straits area over the following decade. Following extensive diplomatic negotiations, the reversion was formalized under the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits on 20 July 1936. That convention, which is still in force today, treats the straits as an international shipping lane while allowing Turkey to retain the right to restrict the naval traffic of non-Black Sea states.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "During World War II, through February 1945, when Turkey was neutral for most of the length of the conflict, the Dardanelles were closed to the ships of the belligerent nations. Turkey declared war on Germany in February 1945, but it did not employ any offensive forces during the war.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "In July 1946, the Soviet Union sent a note to Turkey proposing a new régime for the Dardanelles that would have excluded all nations except the Black Sea powers. The second proposal was that the straits should be put under joint Turkish-Soviet defence. This meant that Turkey, the Soviet Union, Bulgaria and Romania would be the only states having access to the Black Sea through the Dardanelles. The Turkish government however, under pressure from the United States, rejected these proposals.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Turkey joined NATO in 1952, thus affording its straits even more strategic importance as a commercial and military waterway.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "In more recent years, the Turkish Straits have become particularly important for the oil industry. Russian oil, from ports such as Novorossyisk, is exported by tankers primarily to western Europe and the U.S. via the Bosporus and the Dardanelles straits.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "The Dardanelles were closed in late February 2022 to all foreign warships at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in accordance with the Montreux Convention.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "The waters of the Dardanelles are traversed by numerous passenger and vehicular ferries daily, as well as recreational and fishing boats ranging from dinghies to yachts owned by both public and private entities.",
"title": "Crossings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "The strait also experiences significant amounts of commercial shipping traffic.",
"title": "Crossings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "The Çanakkale 1915 Bridge joins Lapseki, a district of Çanakkale, on the Asian side and Sütlüce, a village of the Gelibolu district, on the European side. It is part of planned expansions to the Turkish National Highway Network. Work on the bridge began in March 2017, and it was opened on March 18, 2022.",
"title": "Crossings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "2 submarine cable systems transmitting electric power at 400 kV bridge the Dardanelles to feed west and east of Istanbul. They have their own landing stations in Lapseki and Sütlüce. The first, situated in the northeast quarter portion of the strait, was energised in April 2015 and provides 2 GW via 6 phases 400 kV AC 3.9 km far through the sea. The second, somewhat in the middle of the strait, was still under construction in June 2016 and will provide similar capabilities to the first line.",
"title": "Crossings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Both subsea power lines cross 4 optical fibre data lines laid earlier along the strait. A published map shows communication lines leading from Istanbul into the Mediterranean, named MedNautilus and landing at Athens, Sicily and elsewhere.",
"title": "Crossings"
}
] | The Dardanelles, also known as the Strait of Gallipoli and in Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont, is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey that forms part of the continental boundary between Asia and Europe and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey. Together with the Bosporus, the Dardanelles forms the Turkish Straits. One of the world's narrowest straits used for international navigation, the Dardanelles connects the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean and Mediterranean seas while also allowing passage to the Black Sea by extension via the Bosporus. The Dardanelles is 61 kilometres (38 mi) long and 1.2 to 6 kilometres wide. It has an average depth of 55 metres (180 ft) with a maximum depth of 103 metres (338 ft) at its narrowest point abreast the city of Çanakkale. The first fixed crossing across the Dardanelles opened in 2022 with the completion of the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge. Most of the northern shores of the strait along the Gallipoli peninsula are sparsely settled, while the southern shores along the Troad peninsula are inhabited by the city of Çanakkale's urban population of 110,000. | 2001-04-30T16:29:52Z | 2023-12-29T16:30:53Z | [
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8,074 | Daugava | The Daugava (Latgalian: Daugova; German: Düna) or Western Dvina (Russian: Западная Двина, romanized: Zapadnaya Dvina; Belarusian: Заходняя Дзвіна; Estonian: Väina; Finnish: Väinäjoki) is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russia that flows through Belarus and Latvia into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea. It rises close to the source of the Volga. It is 1,020 km (630 mi) in length, of which 352 km (219 mi) are in Latvia and 325 km (202 mi) are in Russia. It is a westward-flowing river, tracing out a great south-bending curve as it passes through northern Belarus.
Latvia's capital, Riga, bridges the river's estuary four times. Built on both riverbanks, the city centre is 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the river's mouth and is a significant port.
According to Max Vasmer's Etymological Dictionary, the toponym Dvina cannot stem from a Uralic language; instead, it possibly comes from an Indo-European word which used to mean river or stream. The name Dvina resembles strongly Danuvius which itself derived from the Proto-Indo-European *dānu, meaning "large river".
The Finno-Ugric names Vēna (Livonian), Väinajogi (Estonian), and Väinäjoki (Finnish) all stem from Proto-Finnic *väin, meaning "a large, peacefully rolling river".
The total catchment area of the river is 87,900 km (33,900 sq mi), of which 33,150 km (12,800 sq mi) are within Belarus.
The following rivers are tributaries to the river Daugava (from source to mouth):
Humans have settled at the mouth of the Daugava and along the shores of the Gulf of Riga for millennia, initially participating in a hunter-gatherer economy and utilizing the waters of the Daugava estuary for fishing and gathering. Beginning around the sixth century CE, Viking explorers crossed the Baltic Sea and entered the Daugava River, navigating upriver into the Baltic interior.
In medieval times, the Daugava was part of the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, an important route for the transport of furs from the north and of Byzantine silver from the south. The Riga area, inhabited by the Finnic-speaking Livs, became a key location of settlement and defence of the mouth of the Daugava at least as early as the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the now destroyed fort at Torņakalns on the west bank of the Daugava in present-day Riga. Since the Late Middle Ages, the western part of the Daugava basin has come under the rule of various peoples and states; for example, the Latvian town of Daugavpils variously came under papal, Slavonic, Polish, German, and Russian rule until the restoration of the Latvian independence in 1990 at the end of the Cold War.
The following are select cities and towns built along the Daugava:
The river began experiencing environmental deterioration in the Soviet era due to collective agriculture (producing considerable adverse water pollution runoff) and hydroelectric power projects. This is the river that the Vula river flows into.
Upstream of the Latvian town of Jekabpils, the river's pH has a characteristic value of about 7.8 (slight alkaline). In this area, the concentration of ionic calcium is around 43 milligrams per liter, nitrate is about 0.82 milligrams per liter, ionic phosphate is 0.038 milligrams per liter, and oxygen saturation is 80%. The high nitrate and phosphate load of the Daugava has contributed to the extensive buildup of phytoplankton biomass in the Baltic Sea; the Oder and Vistula rivers also contribute to the high nutrient loading of the Baltic.
In Belarus, water pollution of the Daugava is considered moderately severe, with the chief sources being treated wastewater, fish-farming, and agricultural chemical runoff (such as herbicides, pesticides, nitrates, and phosphates). | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Daugava (Latgalian: Daugova; German: Düna) or Western Dvina (Russian: Западная Двина, romanized: Zapadnaya Dvina; Belarusian: Заходняя Дзвіна; Estonian: Väina; Finnish: Väinäjoki) is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russia that flows through Belarus and Latvia into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea. It rises close to the source of the Volga. It is 1,020 km (630 mi) in length, of which 352 km (219 mi) are in Latvia and 325 km (202 mi) are in Russia. It is a westward-flowing river, tracing out a great south-bending curve as it passes through northern Belarus.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Latvia's capital, Riga, bridges the river's estuary four times. Built on both riverbanks, the city centre is 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the river's mouth and is a significant port.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "According to Max Vasmer's Etymological Dictionary, the toponym Dvina cannot stem from a Uralic language; instead, it possibly comes from an Indo-European word which used to mean river or stream. The name Dvina resembles strongly Danuvius which itself derived from the Proto-Indo-European *dānu, meaning \"large river\".",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The Finno-Ugric names Vēna (Livonian), Väinajogi (Estonian), and Väinäjoki (Finnish) all stem from Proto-Finnic *väin, meaning \"a large, peacefully rolling river\".",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The total catchment area of the river is 87,900 km (33,900 sq mi), of which 33,150 km (12,800 sq mi) are within Belarus.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The following rivers are tributaries to the river Daugava (from source to mouth):",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Humans have settled at the mouth of the Daugava and along the shores of the Gulf of Riga for millennia, initially participating in a hunter-gatherer economy and utilizing the waters of the Daugava estuary for fishing and gathering. Beginning around the sixth century CE, Viking explorers crossed the Baltic Sea and entered the Daugava River, navigating upriver into the Baltic interior.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In medieval times, the Daugava was part of the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, an important route for the transport of furs from the north and of Byzantine silver from the south. The Riga area, inhabited by the Finnic-speaking Livs, became a key location of settlement and defence of the mouth of the Daugava at least as early as the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the now destroyed fort at Torņakalns on the west bank of the Daugava in present-day Riga. Since the Late Middle Ages, the western part of the Daugava basin has come under the rule of various peoples and states; for example, the Latvian town of Daugavpils variously came under papal, Slavonic, Polish, German, and Russian rule until the restoration of the Latvian independence in 1990 at the end of the Cold War.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The following are select cities and towns built along the Daugava:",
"title": "Settlements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The river began experiencing environmental deterioration in the Soviet era due to collective agriculture (producing considerable adverse water pollution runoff) and hydroelectric power projects. This is the river that the Vula river flows into.",
"title": "Environment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Upstream of the Latvian town of Jekabpils, the river's pH has a characteristic value of about 7.8 (slight alkaline). In this area, the concentration of ionic calcium is around 43 milligrams per liter, nitrate is about 0.82 milligrams per liter, ionic phosphate is 0.038 milligrams per liter, and oxygen saturation is 80%. The high nitrate and phosphate load of the Daugava has contributed to the extensive buildup of phytoplankton biomass in the Baltic Sea; the Oder and Vistula rivers also contribute to the high nutrient loading of the Baltic.",
"title": "Environment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In Belarus, water pollution of the Daugava is considered moderately severe, with the chief sources being treated wastewater, fish-farming, and agricultural chemical runoff (such as herbicides, pesticides, nitrates, and phosphates).",
"title": "Environment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "",
"title": "External links"
}
] | The Daugava or Western Dvina is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russia that flows through Belarus and Latvia into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea. It rises close to the source of the Volga. It is 1,020 km (630 mi) in length, of which 352 km (219 mi) are in Latvia and 325 km (202 mi) are in Russia. It is a westward-flowing river, tracing out a great south-bending curve as it passes through northern Belarus. Latvia's capital, Riga, bridges the river's estuary four times. Built on both riverbanks, the city centre is 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the river's mouth and is a significant port. | 2002-02-25T15:43:11Z | 2023-12-20T11:03:24Z | [
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8,075 | Datsun | Datsun (UK: /ˈdætsən/, US: /ˈdɑːtsən/) was a Japanese automobile manufacturer brand owned by Nissan. Datsun's original production run began in 1931. From 1958 to 1986, only vehicles exported by Nissan were identified as Datsun. Nissan phased out the Datsun brand in March 1986, but relaunched it in June 2013 as the brand for low-cost vehicles manufactured for emerging markets. Nissan considered phasing out the Datsun brand for a second time in 2019 and 2020, eventually discontinuing the struggling brand in April 2022.
In 1931, DAT Motorcar Co. chose to name its new small car "Datson", a name which indicated the new car's smaller size when compared to the DAT's larger vehicle already in production. When Nissan took control of DAT in 1934, the name "Datson" was changed to "Datsun", because "son" also means "loss" (損 son) in Japanese and also to honour the sun depicted in the national flag – thus the name Datsun: Dattosan (ダットサン, Dattosan). The Datsun name is internationally well known for the 510, Fairlady roadsters, and the Z and ZX coupés.
Before the Datsun brand name came into being, an automobile named the DAT car was built in 1914, by the Kaishinsha Motorcar Works (快進自動車工場, Kaishin Jidōsha Kōjō), in the Azabu-Hiroo District in Tokyo. The new car's name was an acronym of the initials of the company partners:
Incidentally, datto (how a native Japanese speaker would pronounce "dat") means to "dash off like a startled rabbit" (脱兎), which was considered a good name for the little car. The firm was renamed Kaishinsha Motorcar Co. in 1918, seven years after their establishment and again, in 1925, to DAT Motorcar Co. DAT Motors constructed trucks in addition to the DAT passenger cars. In fact, their output focused on trucks since there was almost no consumer market for passenger cars at the time. Beginning in 1918, the first DAT trucks were assembled for the military market. The low demand from the military market during the 1920s forced DAT to consider merging with other automotive industries. In 1926 the Tokyo-based DAT Motors merged with the Osaka-based Jitsuyo Jidosha Co., Ltd. (実用自動車製造株式会社, Jitsuyō Jidōsha Seizō Kabushiki-Gaisha) also known as Jitsuyo Motors (established 1919, as a Kubota subsidiary) to become DAT Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (ダット自動車製造株式会社, Datto Jidōsha Seizō Kabushiki-Gaisha) in Osaka until 1932. (Jitsuyo Jidosha began producing a three-wheeled vehicle with an enclosed cab called the Gorham in 1920, and the following year produced a four-wheeled version. From 1923 to 1925, the company produced light cars and trucks under the name of Lila.)
The DAT corporation had been selling full size cars to Japanese consumers under the DAT name since 1914. In 1930, the Japanese government created a ministerial ordinance that allowed cars with engines up to 500 cc to be driven without a license. DAT Automobile Manufacturing began development of a line of 495 cc cars to sell in this new market segment, calling the new small cars "Datson" – meaning "Son of DAT". The name was changed to "Datsun" two years later in 1933.
The first prototype Datson was completed in the summer of 1931. The production vehicle was called the Datson Type 10, and "approximately ten" of these cars were sold in 1931. They sold around 150 cars in 1932, now calling the model the Datsun Type 11. In 1933, government rules were revised to permit 750 cc (46 cu in) engines, and Datsun increased the displacement of their microcar engine to the maximum allowed. These larger displacement cars were called Type 12s.
By 1935, the company had established a true production line, following the example of Ford, and were producing a car closely resembling the Austin 7. There is evidence that six of these early Datsuns were exported to New Zealand in 1936, a market they then re-entered in May 1962. In 1937, Datsun's biggest pre-war year, 8593 were built, with some exported to Australia in knock-down form.
After Japan went to war with China in 1937, passenger car production was restricted, so by 1938, Datsun's Yokohama plant concentrated on building trucks for the Imperial Japanese Army.
When the Pacific War ended, Datsun would turn to provide trucks for the Occupation forces. This lasted until car production resumed in 1947. As before the war, Datsun closely patterned their cars on contemporary Austin products: postwar, the Devon and Somerset were selected. For Datsun's smaller cars (and trucks), such as the DB and DS series, they depended on designs based on the pre-war Austin Seven. The heavier trucks, meanwhile, were based on Chevrolet's 1937 design with an engine of Graham-Paige design. Nissan also built the 4W60 Patrol, based on the Willys Jeep, and the 4W70 Carrier, based on the Dodge M37. Not until January 1955 did Datsun offer a fully indigenous design.
That year, the Occupation returned production facilities to Japanese control, and Datsun introduced the 110 saloon and the 110-based 120 pickup.
The use of the Datsun name in the American market derives from the name Nissan used for its production cars. In fact, the cars produced by Nissan already used the Datsun brand name, a successful brand in Japan since 1932, long before World War II. Before the entry into the American market in 1958, Nissan did not produce cars under the Nissan brand name, but only trucks. Their in-house-designed cars were always branded as Datsuns. Hence, for Nissan executives it would be only natural to use such a successful name when exporting models to the United States. Only in the 1960s did Datsun begin to brand some automobile models as Nissans, like the Patrol and a small test batch of about 100 Cedric luxury sedans, and then not again until the 1980s. The Japanese market Z-car (sold as the Fairlady Z) also had Nissan badging. In the United States, the Nissan branch was named "Nissan Motor Corporation in U.S.A.", and chartered on September 28, 1960, in California, but the small cars the firm exported to America were still named Datsun.
Corporate choice favored Datsun, so as to distance the parent factory Nissan's association by Americans with Japanese military manufacture. In fact Nissan's involvement in Japan's military industries was substantial. The company's car production at the Yokohama plant shifted towards military needs just a few years after the first passenger cars rolled off the assembly line, on April 11, 1935. By 1939 Nissan's operations had moved to Manchuria, then under Japanese occupation, where its founder and President, Yoshisuke Ayukawa, established the Manchurian Motor Company to manufacture military trucks.
Ayukawa, a well-connected and aggressive risk taker, also made himself a principal partner of the Japanese Colonial Government of Manchukuo. Ultimately, Nissan Heavy Industries emerged near the end of the war as an important player in Japan's war machinery. After the war ended, Soviet Union seized all of Nissan's Manchuria assets, while the Occupation Forces made use of over half of the Yokohama plant. General MacArthur had Ayukawa imprisoned for 21 months as a war criminal. After release he was forbidden from returning to any corporate or public office until 1951. He was never allowed back into Nissan, which returned to passenger car manufacture in 1947 and to its original name of Nissan Motor Company Ltd. in 1949.
American service personnel in their teens or early twenties during the Second World War would be in prime car-buying age by 1960, if only to find an economical small second car for their growing family needs. Yutaka Katayama (Mr. "K"), former president of Nissan's American operations, would have had his personal wartime experiences in mind supporting the name Datsun. Katayama's visit to Nissan's Manchuria truck factory in 1939 made him realise the appalling conditions prevalent on the assembly lines, leading him to abandon the firm. In 1945, near the end of the war, Katayama was ordered to return to the Manchurian plant, however he rebuffed these calls and refused to return.
Katayama desired to build and sell passenger cars to people, not to the military; for him, the name "Datsun" had survived the war with its purity intact, not "Nissan". This obviously led Katayama to have problems with the corporate management. The discouragement felt by Katayama as regards his prospects at Nissan, led to his going on the verge of resigning, when Datsun's 1958 Australian Mobilgas victories vaulted him, as leader of the winning Datsun teams, to national prominence in a Japan bent on regaining international status.
The company's first product to be exported around the world was the 113, with a proprietary 25 hp (19 kW; 25 PS) 850 cc (52 cu in) four-cylinder engine.
Datsun entered the American market in 1958, with sales in California. By 1959, the company had dealers across the U.S. and began selling the 310 (known as Bluebird domestically). From 1962 to 1969 the Nissan Patrol utility vehicle was sold in the United States (as a competitor to the Toyota Land Cruiser J40 series), making it the only Nissan-badged product sold in the US prior to that name's introduction worldwide decades later.
From 1960 on, exports and production continued to grow. A new plant was built at Oppama, south of Yokohama; it opened in 1962. The next year, Bluebird sales first topped 200,000, and exports touched 100,000. By 1964, Bluebird was being built at 10,000 cars a month.
For 1966, Datsun debuted the Sunny/1000, allowing kei car owners to move up to something bigger. That same year, Datsun won the East African Safari Rally and merged with Prince Motors, giving the company the Skyline model range, as well as a test track at Murayama.
The company introduced the Bluebird 510 in 1967. This was followed in 1968 with the iconic 240Z, which proved affordable sports cars could be built and sold profitably: it was soon the world's #1-selling sports car. It relied on an engine based on the Bluebird and used Bluebird suspension components. It would go on to two outright wins in the East African Rally.
Katayama was made Vice President of the Nissan North American subsidiary in 1960, and as long as he was involved in decision making, both as North American Vice President from 1960 to 1965, and then President of Nissan Motor Company U.S.A. from 1965 to 1975, the cars were sold as Datsuns. "What we need to do is improve our car's efficiency gradually and creep up slowly before others notice. Then, before Detroit realizes it, we will have become an excellent car maker, and the customers will think so too. If we work hard to sell our own cars, we won't be bothered by whatever the other manufacturers do. If all we do is worry about the other cars in the race, we will definitely lose."
In 1935, the very first Datsun-badged vehicle was shipped to Britain by car magnate Sir Herbert Austin. The vehicle, a Type 14, was never meant for the road or production, but was a part of a patent dispute as Austin saw a number of similarities to the car with the Austin 7 Ruby. Nissan began exporting Datsun-badged cars to the United Kingdom in 1968, at which time foreign cars were a rarity, with only a small percentage of cars being imported – some of the most popular examples at the time including the Renault 16 from France and Volkswagen Beetle from West Germany. The first European market that Nissan had entered was Finland, where sales began in 1962. Within a few years, it was importing cars to most of Western Europe.
Datsun was particularly successful on the British market. It sold just over 6,000 cars there as late as 1971, but its sales surged to more than 30,000 the following year and continued to climb over the next few years, with well-priced products including the Cherry 100A and Sunny 120Y proving particularly popular, at a time when the British motor industry was plagued by strikes and British Leyland in particular was gaining a reputation for building cars which had major issues with build quality and reliability. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Nissan frequently enjoyed the largest market share in Britain of any foreign carmaker.
By the early 1980s, the Nissan badge was gradually appearing on Datsun-badged cars, and eventually the Datsun branding was phased out, the final new car with a Datsun badge being the Micra supermini, launched in Britain from June 1983. By the end of 1984, the Datsun branding had completely disappeared in Britain, although it lingered elsewhere until 1986.
In Japan, there appears to have been what probably constituted a long-held 'official' company bias against use of the name "Datsun". At the time, Kawamata was a veteran of Nissan, in the last year of his presidency, a powerful figure whose experience in the firm exceeded two decades. His rise to its leadership position occurred in 1957 in part because of his handling of the critical Nissan workers' strike that began May 25, 1953, and ran for 100 days. During his tenure as president, Kawamata stated that he "regretted that his company did not imprint its corporate name on cars, the way Toyota does. 'Looking back, we wish we had started using Nissan on all of our cars,' he says. 'But Datsun was a pet name for the cars when we started exporting.'"
Ultimately, the decision was made to stop using the brand name Datsun worldwide, in order to strengthen the company name Nissan.
"The decision to change the name Datsun to Nissan in the U.S. was announced in the autumn (September/October) of 1981. The rationale was that the name change would help the pursuit of a global strategy. A single name worldwide would increase the possibility that advertising campaigns, brochures, and promotional materials could be used across countries and simplify product design and manufacturing. Further, potential buyers would be exposed to the name and product when traveling to other countries. Industry observers, however, speculated that the most important motivation was that a name change would help Nissan market stocks and bonds in the U.S. They also presumed substantial ego involvement, since the absence of the Nissan name in the U.S. surely rankled Nissan executives who had seen Toyota and Honda become household words."
Ultimately, the name change campaign lasted for a three-year period from 1982 to 1984 – Datsun badged vehicles had been progressively fitted with small "Nissan" and "Datsun by Nissan" badges from the late 1970s onward until the Nissan name was given prominence in 1983 – although in some export markets, vehicles continued to wear both the Datsun and Nissan badges until 1986. In the United Kingdom for example, the Nissan name initially was used as a prefix to the model name, with Datsun still being used as the manufacturer's name (e.g. Datsun-Nissan Micra) from 1982 until 1984. In the United States, the Nissan name was used for some new vehicles for 1982 such as the Nissan Stanza and the Nissan Sentra while the Datsun name was used on existing vehicles through 1983 including – confusingly enough – the Datsun Maxima, which like the Stanza and Sentra was also a new model for 1982, albeit as a renamed Datsun 810. The Maxima and Z continue in production in North America as of 2021, as Nissan's last direct link to its Datsun years.
The name change had cost Nissan a figure in the region of US$500 million. Operational costs included the changing of signs at 1,100 Datsun dealerships, and amounted to US$30 million. Another US$200 million were spent during the 1982 to 1986 advertising campaigns, where the "Datsun, We Are Driven!" campaign (which was adopted in late 1977 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis and subsequent 1979 energy crisis) yielded to "The Name is Nissan" campaign (the latter campaign was used for some years beyond 1985). Another US$50 million was spent on Datsun advertisements that were paid for but stopped or never used. Five years after the name change program was over, Datsun still remained more familiar than Nissan.
In 2001, Nissan marketed its D22 pick-up model in Japan with the name Datsun. This time however, the use of the brand name was wholly restricted to this one specific model name. Production of this model was between May 2001 and October 2002.
On 20 March 2012, it was announced that Nissan would revive the Datsun marque as a low-cost car brand for use in Indonesia, Nepal, South Africa, India, and Russia, and on 15 July 2013, nearly three decades after it was phased out, the name was formally resurrected. Nissan said the brand's reputation for value and reliability would help it gain market share in emerging markets.
The Datsun brand was relaunched in New Delhi, India, with the Datsun Go, which went on sale in India in early 2014. Datsun models are sold in Indonesia, Russia, India, Nepal and South Africa since 2014. The brand entered Kazakhstan in 2015, and Belarus and Lebanon in 2016.
The Datsun Go was being built at the Renault-Nissan plant in Chennai, India. It was also produced in Indonesia. The Go is based on the same Nissan V platform as the Nissan Micra. The Go+, a 5+2 seater station wagon, was added to the range in September 2013.
In February 2014, the redi-Go concept car was presented. The redi-Go crossover became available in India mid-2015.
In April 2014, the first model for the Russian market, the Datsun on-Do based on Lada Granta, was launched.
In November 2019, it was announced that Datsun would stop its production in Indonesia and Russia in 2020.
In April 2022, Nissan announced that it is shutting down the production of Datsun cars in India. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Datsun (UK: /ˈdætsən/, US: /ˈdɑːtsən/) was a Japanese automobile manufacturer brand owned by Nissan. Datsun's original production run began in 1931. From 1958 to 1986, only vehicles exported by Nissan were identified as Datsun. Nissan phased out the Datsun brand in March 1986, but relaunched it in June 2013 as the brand for low-cost vehicles manufactured for emerging markets. Nissan considered phasing out the Datsun brand for a second time in 2019 and 2020, eventually discontinuing the struggling brand in April 2022.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "In 1931, DAT Motorcar Co. chose to name its new small car \"Datson\", a name which indicated the new car's smaller size when compared to the DAT's larger vehicle already in production. When Nissan took control of DAT in 1934, the name \"Datson\" was changed to \"Datsun\", because \"son\" also means \"loss\" (損 son) in Japanese and also to honour the sun depicted in the national flag – thus the name Datsun: Dattosan (ダットサン, Dattosan). The Datsun name is internationally well known for the 510, Fairlady roadsters, and the Z and ZX coupés.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Before the Datsun brand name came into being, an automobile named the DAT car was built in 1914, by the Kaishinsha Motorcar Works (快進自動車工場, Kaishin Jidōsha Kōjō), in the Azabu-Hiroo District in Tokyo. The new car's name was an acronym of the initials of the company partners:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Incidentally, datto (how a native Japanese speaker would pronounce \"dat\") means to \"dash off like a startled rabbit\" (脱兎), which was considered a good name for the little car. The firm was renamed Kaishinsha Motorcar Co. in 1918, seven years after their establishment and again, in 1925, to DAT Motorcar Co. DAT Motors constructed trucks in addition to the DAT passenger cars. In fact, their output focused on trucks since there was almost no consumer market for passenger cars at the time. Beginning in 1918, the first DAT trucks were assembled for the military market. The low demand from the military market during the 1920s forced DAT to consider merging with other automotive industries. In 1926 the Tokyo-based DAT Motors merged with the Osaka-based Jitsuyo Jidosha Co., Ltd. (実用自動車製造株式会社, Jitsuyō Jidōsha Seizō Kabushiki-Gaisha) also known as Jitsuyo Motors (established 1919, as a Kubota subsidiary) to become DAT Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (ダット自動車製造株式会社, Datto Jidōsha Seizō Kabushiki-Gaisha) in Osaka until 1932. (Jitsuyo Jidosha began producing a three-wheeled vehicle with an enclosed cab called the Gorham in 1920, and the following year produced a four-wheeled version. From 1923 to 1925, the company produced light cars and trucks under the name of Lila.)",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The DAT corporation had been selling full size cars to Japanese consumers under the DAT name since 1914. In 1930, the Japanese government created a ministerial ordinance that allowed cars with engines up to 500 cc to be driven without a license. DAT Automobile Manufacturing began development of a line of 495 cc cars to sell in this new market segment, calling the new small cars \"Datson\" – meaning \"Son of DAT\". The name was changed to \"Datsun\" two years later in 1933.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The first prototype Datson was completed in the summer of 1931. The production vehicle was called the Datson Type 10, and \"approximately ten\" of these cars were sold in 1931. They sold around 150 cars in 1932, now calling the model the Datsun Type 11. In 1933, government rules were revised to permit 750 cc (46 cu in) engines, and Datsun increased the displacement of their microcar engine to the maximum allowed. These larger displacement cars were called Type 12s.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "By 1935, the company had established a true production line, following the example of Ford, and were producing a car closely resembling the Austin 7. There is evidence that six of these early Datsuns were exported to New Zealand in 1936, a market they then re-entered in May 1962. In 1937, Datsun's biggest pre-war year, 8593 were built, with some exported to Australia in knock-down form.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "After Japan went to war with China in 1937, passenger car production was restricted, so by 1938, Datsun's Yokohama plant concentrated on building trucks for the Imperial Japanese Army.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "When the Pacific War ended, Datsun would turn to provide trucks for the Occupation forces. This lasted until car production resumed in 1947. As before the war, Datsun closely patterned their cars on contemporary Austin products: postwar, the Devon and Somerset were selected. For Datsun's smaller cars (and trucks), such as the DB and DS series, they depended on designs based on the pre-war Austin Seven. The heavier trucks, meanwhile, were based on Chevrolet's 1937 design with an engine of Graham-Paige design. Nissan also built the 4W60 Patrol, based on the Willys Jeep, and the 4W70 Carrier, based on the Dodge M37. Not until January 1955 did Datsun offer a fully indigenous design.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "That year, the Occupation returned production facilities to Japanese control, and Datsun introduced the 110 saloon and the 110-based 120 pickup.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The use of the Datsun name in the American market derives from the name Nissan used for its production cars. In fact, the cars produced by Nissan already used the Datsun brand name, a successful brand in Japan since 1932, long before World War II. Before the entry into the American market in 1958, Nissan did not produce cars under the Nissan brand name, but only trucks. Their in-house-designed cars were always branded as Datsuns. Hence, for Nissan executives it would be only natural to use such a successful name when exporting models to the United States. Only in the 1960s did Datsun begin to brand some automobile models as Nissans, like the Patrol and a small test batch of about 100 Cedric luxury sedans, and then not again until the 1980s. The Japanese market Z-car (sold as the Fairlady Z) also had Nissan badging. In the United States, the Nissan branch was named \"Nissan Motor Corporation in U.S.A.\", and chartered on September 28, 1960, in California, but the small cars the firm exported to America were still named Datsun.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Corporate choice favored Datsun, so as to distance the parent factory Nissan's association by Americans with Japanese military manufacture. In fact Nissan's involvement in Japan's military industries was substantial. The company's car production at the Yokohama plant shifted towards military needs just a few years after the first passenger cars rolled off the assembly line, on April 11, 1935. By 1939 Nissan's operations had moved to Manchuria, then under Japanese occupation, where its founder and President, Yoshisuke Ayukawa, established the Manchurian Motor Company to manufacture military trucks.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Ayukawa, a well-connected and aggressive risk taker, also made himself a principal partner of the Japanese Colonial Government of Manchukuo. Ultimately, Nissan Heavy Industries emerged near the end of the war as an important player in Japan's war machinery. After the war ended, Soviet Union seized all of Nissan's Manchuria assets, while the Occupation Forces made use of over half of the Yokohama plant. General MacArthur had Ayukawa imprisoned for 21 months as a war criminal. After release he was forbidden from returning to any corporate or public office until 1951. He was never allowed back into Nissan, which returned to passenger car manufacture in 1947 and to its original name of Nissan Motor Company Ltd. in 1949.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "American service personnel in their teens or early twenties during the Second World War would be in prime car-buying age by 1960, if only to find an economical small second car for their growing family needs. Yutaka Katayama (Mr. \"K\"), former president of Nissan's American operations, would have had his personal wartime experiences in mind supporting the name Datsun. Katayama's visit to Nissan's Manchuria truck factory in 1939 made him realise the appalling conditions prevalent on the assembly lines, leading him to abandon the firm. In 1945, near the end of the war, Katayama was ordered to return to the Manchurian plant, however he rebuffed these calls and refused to return.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Katayama desired to build and sell passenger cars to people, not to the military; for him, the name \"Datsun\" had survived the war with its purity intact, not \"Nissan\". This obviously led Katayama to have problems with the corporate management. The discouragement felt by Katayama as regards his prospects at Nissan, led to his going on the verge of resigning, when Datsun's 1958 Australian Mobilgas victories vaulted him, as leader of the winning Datsun teams, to national prominence in a Japan bent on regaining international status.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The company's first product to be exported around the world was the 113, with a proprietary 25 hp (19 kW; 25 PS) 850 cc (52 cu in) four-cylinder engine.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Datsun entered the American market in 1958, with sales in California. By 1959, the company had dealers across the U.S. and began selling the 310 (known as Bluebird domestically). From 1962 to 1969 the Nissan Patrol utility vehicle was sold in the United States (as a competitor to the Toyota Land Cruiser J40 series), making it the only Nissan-badged product sold in the US prior to that name's introduction worldwide decades later.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "From 1960 on, exports and production continued to grow. A new plant was built at Oppama, south of Yokohama; it opened in 1962. The next year, Bluebird sales first topped 200,000, and exports touched 100,000. By 1964, Bluebird was being built at 10,000 cars a month.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "For 1966, Datsun debuted the Sunny/1000, allowing kei car owners to move up to something bigger. That same year, Datsun won the East African Safari Rally and merged with Prince Motors, giving the company the Skyline model range, as well as a test track at Murayama.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The company introduced the Bluebird 510 in 1967. This was followed in 1968 with the iconic 240Z, which proved affordable sports cars could be built and sold profitably: it was soon the world's #1-selling sports car. It relied on an engine based on the Bluebird and used Bluebird suspension components. It would go on to two outright wins in the East African Rally.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Katayama was made Vice President of the Nissan North American subsidiary in 1960, and as long as he was involved in decision making, both as North American Vice President from 1960 to 1965, and then President of Nissan Motor Company U.S.A. from 1965 to 1975, the cars were sold as Datsuns. \"What we need to do is improve our car's efficiency gradually and creep up slowly before others notice. Then, before Detroit realizes it, we will have become an excellent car maker, and the customers will think so too. If we work hard to sell our own cars, we won't be bothered by whatever the other manufacturers do. If all we do is worry about the other cars in the race, we will definitely lose.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "In 1935, the very first Datsun-badged vehicle was shipped to Britain by car magnate Sir Herbert Austin. The vehicle, a Type 14, was never meant for the road or production, but was a part of a patent dispute as Austin saw a number of similarities to the car with the Austin 7 Ruby. Nissan began exporting Datsun-badged cars to the United Kingdom in 1968, at which time foreign cars were a rarity, with only a small percentage of cars being imported – some of the most popular examples at the time including the Renault 16 from France and Volkswagen Beetle from West Germany. The first European market that Nissan had entered was Finland, where sales began in 1962. Within a few years, it was importing cars to most of Western Europe.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Datsun was particularly successful on the British market. It sold just over 6,000 cars there as late as 1971, but its sales surged to more than 30,000 the following year and continued to climb over the next few years, with well-priced products including the Cherry 100A and Sunny 120Y proving particularly popular, at a time when the British motor industry was plagued by strikes and British Leyland in particular was gaining a reputation for building cars which had major issues with build quality and reliability. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Nissan frequently enjoyed the largest market share in Britain of any foreign carmaker.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "By the early 1980s, the Nissan badge was gradually appearing on Datsun-badged cars, and eventually the Datsun branding was phased out, the final new car with a Datsun badge being the Micra supermini, launched in Britain from June 1983. By the end of 1984, the Datsun branding had completely disappeared in Britain, although it lingered elsewhere until 1986.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In Japan, there appears to have been what probably constituted a long-held 'official' company bias against use of the name \"Datsun\". At the time, Kawamata was a veteran of Nissan, in the last year of his presidency, a powerful figure whose experience in the firm exceeded two decades. His rise to its leadership position occurred in 1957 in part because of his handling of the critical Nissan workers' strike that began May 25, 1953, and ran for 100 days. During his tenure as president, Kawamata stated that he \"regretted that his company did not imprint its corporate name on cars, the way Toyota does. 'Looking back, we wish we had started using Nissan on all of our cars,' he says. 'But Datsun was a pet name for the cars when we started exporting.'\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Ultimately, the decision was made to stop using the brand name Datsun worldwide, in order to strengthen the company name Nissan.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "\"The decision to change the name Datsun to Nissan in the U.S. was announced in the autumn (September/October) of 1981. The rationale was that the name change would help the pursuit of a global strategy. A single name worldwide would increase the possibility that advertising campaigns, brochures, and promotional materials could be used across countries and simplify product design and manufacturing. Further, potential buyers would be exposed to the name and product when traveling to other countries. Industry observers, however, speculated that the most important motivation was that a name change would help Nissan market stocks and bonds in the U.S. They also presumed substantial ego involvement, since the absence of the Nissan name in the U.S. surely rankled Nissan executives who had seen Toyota and Honda become household words.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Ultimately, the name change campaign lasted for a three-year period from 1982 to 1984 – Datsun badged vehicles had been progressively fitted with small \"Nissan\" and \"Datsun by Nissan\" badges from the late 1970s onward until the Nissan name was given prominence in 1983 – although in some export markets, vehicles continued to wear both the Datsun and Nissan badges until 1986. In the United Kingdom for example, the Nissan name initially was used as a prefix to the model name, with Datsun still being used as the manufacturer's name (e.g. Datsun-Nissan Micra) from 1982 until 1984. In the United States, the Nissan name was used for some new vehicles for 1982 such as the Nissan Stanza and the Nissan Sentra while the Datsun name was used on existing vehicles through 1983 including – confusingly enough – the Datsun Maxima, which like the Stanza and Sentra was also a new model for 1982, albeit as a renamed Datsun 810. The Maxima and Z continue in production in North America as of 2021, as Nissan's last direct link to its Datsun years.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "The name change had cost Nissan a figure in the region of US$500 million. Operational costs included the changing of signs at 1,100 Datsun dealerships, and amounted to US$30 million. Another US$200 million were spent during the 1982 to 1986 advertising campaigns, where the \"Datsun, We Are Driven!\" campaign (which was adopted in late 1977 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis and subsequent 1979 energy crisis) yielded to \"The Name is Nissan\" campaign (the latter campaign was used for some years beyond 1985). Another US$50 million was spent on Datsun advertisements that were paid for but stopped or never used. Five years after the name change program was over, Datsun still remained more familiar than Nissan.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "In 2001, Nissan marketed its D22 pick-up model in Japan with the name Datsun. This time however, the use of the brand name was wholly restricted to this one specific model name. Production of this model was between May 2001 and October 2002.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "On 20 March 2012, it was announced that Nissan would revive the Datsun marque as a low-cost car brand for use in Indonesia, Nepal, South Africa, India, and Russia, and on 15 July 2013, nearly three decades after it was phased out, the name was formally resurrected. Nissan said the brand's reputation for value and reliability would help it gain market share in emerging markets.",
"title": "Relaunch"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "The Datsun brand was relaunched in New Delhi, India, with the Datsun Go, which went on sale in India in early 2014. Datsun models are sold in Indonesia, Russia, India, Nepal and South Africa since 2014. The brand entered Kazakhstan in 2015, and Belarus and Lebanon in 2016.",
"title": "Relaunch"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The Datsun Go was being built at the Renault-Nissan plant in Chennai, India. It was also produced in Indonesia. The Go is based on the same Nissan V platform as the Nissan Micra. The Go+, a 5+2 seater station wagon, was added to the range in September 2013.",
"title": "Relaunch"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "In February 2014, the redi-Go concept car was presented. The redi-Go crossover became available in India mid-2015.",
"title": "Relaunch"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "In April 2014, the first model for the Russian market, the Datsun on-Do based on Lada Granta, was launched.",
"title": "Relaunch"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "In November 2019, it was announced that Datsun would stop its production in Indonesia and Russia in 2020.",
"title": "Relaunch"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "In April 2022, Nissan announced that it is shutting down the production of Datsun cars in India.",
"title": "Relaunch"
}
] | Datsun was a Japanese automobile manufacturer brand owned by Nissan. Datsun's original production run began in 1931. From 1958 to 1986, only vehicles exported by Nissan were identified as Datsun. Nissan phased out the Datsun brand in March 1986, but relaunched it in June 2013 as the brand for low-cost vehicles manufactured for emerging markets. Nissan considered phasing out the Datsun brand for a second time in 2019 and 2020, eventually discontinuing the struggling brand in April 2022. In 1931, DAT Motorcar Co. chose to name its new small car "Datson", a name which indicated the new car's smaller size when compared to the DAT's larger vehicle already in production. When Nissan took control of DAT in 1934, the name "Datson" was changed to "Datsun", because "son" also means "loss" in Japanese and also to honour the sun depicted in the national flag – thus the name Datsun: Dattosan. The Datsun name is internationally well known for the 510, Fairlady roadsters, and the Z and ZX coupés. | 2001-05-03T22:29:21Z | 2023-12-30T10:24:26Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datsun |
8,078 | Dynamite | Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germany, and was patented in 1867. It rapidly gained wide-scale use as a more robust alternative to the traditional black powder explosives. It allows the use of nitroglycerine's favorable explosive properties while greatly reducing its risk of accidental detonation.
Dynamite was invented by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel in 1866 and was the first safely manageable explosive stronger than black powder.
Alfred Nobel's father, Immanuel Nobel, was an industrialist, engineer, and inventor. He built bridges and buildings in Stockholm and founded Sweden's first rubber factory. His construction work inspired him to research new methods of blasting rock that were more effective than black powder. After some bad business deals in Sweden, in 1838 Immanuel moved his family to Saint Petersburg, where Alfred and his brothers were educated privately under Swedish and Russian tutors. At the age of 17, Alfred Nobel was sent abroad for two years; in the United States he met Swedish engineer John Ericsson and in France studied under famed chemist Théophile-Jules Pelouze and his pupil Ascanio Sobrero, who had first synthesized nitroglycerin in 1847. Pelouze cautioned Nobel against using nitroglycerine as a commercial explosive because of its great sensitivity to shock.
In 1857, Nobel filed the first of several hundred patents, mostly concerning air pressure, gas and fluid gauges, but remained fascinated with nitroglycerin's potential as an explosive. Nobel, along with his father and brother Emil, experimented with various combinations of nitroglycerin and black powder. Nobel came up with a way to safely detonate nitroglycerin by inventing the detonator, or blasting cap, that allowed a controlled explosion set off from a distance using a fuse. In 1863 Nobel performed his first successful detonation of pure nitroglycerin, using a blasting cap made of a copper percussion cap and mercury fulminate. In 1864, Alfred Nobel filed patents for both the blasting cap and his method of synthesizing nitroglycerin, using sulfuric acid, nitric acid and glycerin. On 3 September 1864, while experimenting with nitroglycerin, Emil and several others were killed in an explosion at the factory at Immanuel Nobel's estate at Heleneborg. After this, Alfred founded the company Nitroglycerin Aktiebolaget in Vinterviken to continue work in a more isolated area and the following year moved to Germany, where he founded another company, Dynamit Nobel.
Despite the invention of the blasting cap, the instability of nitroglycerin rendered it useless as a commercial explosive. To solve this problem, Nobel sought to combine it with another substance that would make it safe for transport and handling but would not reduce its effectiveness as an explosive. He tried combinations of cement, coal, and sawdust, but was unsuccessful. Finally, he tried diatomaceous earth, which is fossilized algae, that he brought from the Elbe River near his factory in Hamburg, which successfully stabilized the nitroglycerin into a portable explosive.
Nobel obtained patents for his inventions in England on 7 May 1867 and in Sweden on 19 October 1867. After its introduction, dynamite rapidly gained wide-scale use as a safe alternative to black powder and nitroglycerin. Nobel tightly controlled the patents, and unlicensed duplicating companies were quickly shut down. A few American businessmen got around the patent by using absorbents other than diatomaceous earth, such as resin.
Nobel originally sold dynamite as "Nobel's Blasting Powder" and later changed the name to dynamite, from the Ancient Greek word dýnamis (δύναμις), meaning "power".
Dynamite is usually sold in the form of cardboard cylinders about 200 mm (8 in) long and about 32 mm (1+1⁄4 in) in diameter, with a mass of about 190 grams (1⁄2 troy pound). A stick of dynamite thus produced contains roughly 1 MJ (megajoule) of energy. Other sizes also exist, rated by either portion (Quarter-Stick or Half-Stick) or by weight.
Dynamite is usually rated by "weight strength" (the amount of nitroglycerin it contains), usually from 20% to 60%. For example, 40% dynamite is composed of 40% nitroglycerin and 60% "dope" (the absorbent storage medium mixed with the stabilizer and any additives).
The maximum shelf life of nitroglycerin-based dynamite is recommended as one year from the date of manufacture under good storage conditions.
Over time, regardless of the sorbent used, sticks of dynamite will "weep" or "sweat" nitroglycerin, which can then pool in the bottom of the box or storage area. For that reason, explosive manuals recommend the regular up-ending of boxes of dynamite in storage. Crystals will form on the outside of the sticks, causing them to be even more sensitive to shock, friction, and temperature. Therefore, while the risk of an explosion without the use of a blasting cap is minimal for fresh dynamite, old dynamite is dangerous. Modern packaging helps eliminate this by placing the dynamite into sealed plastic bags and using wax-coated cardboard.
Dynamite is moderately sensitive to shock. Shock resistance tests are usually carried out with a drop-hammer: about 100 mg of explosive is placed on an anvil, upon which a weight of between 0.5 and 10 kg (1 and 22 lb) is dropped from different heights until detonation is achieved. With a hammer of 2 kg, mercury fulminate detonates with a drop distance of 1 to 2 cm, nitroglycerin with 4 to 5 cm, dynamite with 15 to 30 cm, and ammoniacal explosives with 40 to 50 cm.
For several decades beginning in the 1940s, the largest producer of dynamite in the world was the Union of South Africa. There the De Beers company established a factory in 1902 at Somerset West. The explosives factory was later operated by AECI (African Explosives and Chemical Industries). The demand for the product came mainly from the country's vast gold mines, centered on the Witwatersrand. The factory at Somerset West was in operation in 1903 and by 1907 it was already producing 340,000 cases, 23 kilograms (50 lb) each, annually. A rival factory at Modderfontein was producing another 200,000 cases per year.
There were two large explosions at the Somerset West plant during the 1960s. Some workers died, but the loss of life was limited by the modular design of the factory and its earth works, and the planting of trees that directed the blasts upward. There were several other explosions at the Modderfontein factory. After 1985, pressure from trade unions forced AECI to phase out the production of dynamite. The factory then went on to produce ammonium nitrate emulsion-based explosives that are safer to manufacture and handle.
Dynamite was first manufactured in the US by the Giant Powder Company of San Francisco, California, whose founder had obtained the exclusive rights from Nobel in 1867. Giant was eventually acquired by DuPont, which produced dynamite under the Giant name until Giant was dissolved by DuPont in 1905. Thereafter, DuPont produced dynamite under its own name until 1911–12, when its explosives monopoly was broken up by the U.S. Circuit Court in the "Powder Case". Two new companies were formed upon the breakup, the Hercules Powder Company and the Atlas Powder Company, which took up the manufacture of dynamite (in different formulations).
Currently, only Dyno Nobel manufactures dynamite in the US. The only facility producing it is located in Carthage, Missouri, but the material is purchased from Dyno Nobel by other manufacturers who put their labels on the dynamite and boxes.
Other explosives are often referred to or confused with dynamite:
Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is often assumed to be the same as (or confused for) dynamite largely because of the ubiquity of both explosives during the 20th century. This incorrect connection between TNT and dynamite was enhanced by cartoons such as Bugs Bunny, where animators labeled any kind of bomb (ranging from sticks of dynamite to kegs of black powder) as TNT, because the acronym was shorter and more memorable and did not require literacy to recognize that TNT meant "bomb".
Aside from both being high explosives, TNT and dynamite have little in common. TNT is a second generation castable explosive adopted by the military, while dynamite, in contrast, has never been popular in warfare because it degenerates quickly under severe conditions and can be detonated by either fire or a wayward bullet. The German armed forces adopted TNT as a filling for artillery shells in 1902, some 40 years after the invention of dynamite, which is a first generation phlegmatized explosive primarily intended for civilian earthmoving. TNT has never been popular or widespread in civilian earthmoving, as it is considerably more expensive and less powerful by weight than dynamite, as well as being slower to mix and pack into boreholes. TNT's primary asset is its remarkable insensitivity and stability: it is waterproof and incapable of detonating without the extreme shock and heat provided by a blasting cap (or a sympathetic detonation); this stability also allows it to be melted at 81 °C (178 °F), poured into high explosive shells and allowed to re-solidify, with no extra danger or change in the TNT's characteristics. Accordingly, more than 90% of the TNT produced in America was always for the military market, with most TNT used for filling shells, hand grenades and aerial bombs, and the remainder being packaged in brown "bricks" (not red cylinders) for use as demolition charges by combat engineers.
In the United States, in 1885, the chemist Russell S. Penniman invented "ammonium dynamite", a form of explosive that used ammonium nitrate as a substitute for the more costly nitroglycerin. Ammonium nitrate has only 85% of the chemical energy of nitroglycerin.
It is rated by either "weight strength" (the amount of ammonium nitrate in the medium) or "cartridge strength" (the potential explosive strength generated by an amount of explosive of a certain density and grain size used in comparison to the explosive strength generated by an equivalent density and grain size of a standard explosive). For example, high-explosive 65% Extra dynamite has a weight strength of 65% ammonium nitrate and 35% "dope" (the absorbent medium mixed with the stabilizers and additives). Its "cartridge strength" would be its weight in pounds times its strength in relation to an equal amount of ANFO (the civilian baseline standard) or TNT (the military baseline standard). For example, 65% ammonium dynamite with a 20% cartridge strength would mean the stick was equal to an equivalent weight strength of 20% ANFO.
"Military dynamite" is a dynamite substitute, formulated without nitroglycerin. It contains 75% RDX, 15% TNT, 5% SAE 10 motor oil, and 5% cornstarch, but is much safer to store and handle for long periods than Nobel's dynamite. Military dynamite substitutes much more stable chemicals for nitroglycerin.
Various countries around the world have enacted explosives laws and require licenses to manufacture, distribute, store, use, and possess explosives or ingredients. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germany, and was patented in 1867. It rapidly gained wide-scale use as a more robust alternative to the traditional black powder explosives. It allows the use of nitroglycerine's favorable explosive properties while greatly reducing its risk of accidental detonation.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Dynamite was invented by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel in 1866 and was the first safely manageable explosive stronger than black powder.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Alfred Nobel's father, Immanuel Nobel, was an industrialist, engineer, and inventor. He built bridges and buildings in Stockholm and founded Sweden's first rubber factory. His construction work inspired him to research new methods of blasting rock that were more effective than black powder. After some bad business deals in Sweden, in 1838 Immanuel moved his family to Saint Petersburg, where Alfred and his brothers were educated privately under Swedish and Russian tutors. At the age of 17, Alfred Nobel was sent abroad for two years; in the United States he met Swedish engineer John Ericsson and in France studied under famed chemist Théophile-Jules Pelouze and his pupil Ascanio Sobrero, who had first synthesized nitroglycerin in 1847. Pelouze cautioned Nobel against using nitroglycerine as a commercial explosive because of its great sensitivity to shock.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "In 1857, Nobel filed the first of several hundred patents, mostly concerning air pressure, gas and fluid gauges, but remained fascinated with nitroglycerin's potential as an explosive. Nobel, along with his father and brother Emil, experimented with various combinations of nitroglycerin and black powder. Nobel came up with a way to safely detonate nitroglycerin by inventing the detonator, or blasting cap, that allowed a controlled explosion set off from a distance using a fuse. In 1863 Nobel performed his first successful detonation of pure nitroglycerin, using a blasting cap made of a copper percussion cap and mercury fulminate. In 1864, Alfred Nobel filed patents for both the blasting cap and his method of synthesizing nitroglycerin, using sulfuric acid, nitric acid and glycerin. On 3 September 1864, while experimenting with nitroglycerin, Emil and several others were killed in an explosion at the factory at Immanuel Nobel's estate at Heleneborg. After this, Alfred founded the company Nitroglycerin Aktiebolaget in Vinterviken to continue work in a more isolated area and the following year moved to Germany, where he founded another company, Dynamit Nobel.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Despite the invention of the blasting cap, the instability of nitroglycerin rendered it useless as a commercial explosive. To solve this problem, Nobel sought to combine it with another substance that would make it safe for transport and handling but would not reduce its effectiveness as an explosive. He tried combinations of cement, coal, and sawdust, but was unsuccessful. Finally, he tried diatomaceous earth, which is fossilized algae, that he brought from the Elbe River near his factory in Hamburg, which successfully stabilized the nitroglycerin into a portable explosive.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Nobel obtained patents for his inventions in England on 7 May 1867 and in Sweden on 19 October 1867. After its introduction, dynamite rapidly gained wide-scale use as a safe alternative to black powder and nitroglycerin. Nobel tightly controlled the patents, and unlicensed duplicating companies were quickly shut down. A few American businessmen got around the patent by using absorbents other than diatomaceous earth, such as resin.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Nobel originally sold dynamite as \"Nobel's Blasting Powder\" and later changed the name to dynamite, from the Ancient Greek word dýnamis (δύναμις), meaning \"power\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Dynamite is usually sold in the form of cardboard cylinders about 200 mm (8 in) long and about 32 mm (1+1⁄4 in) in diameter, with a mass of about 190 grams (1⁄2 troy pound). A stick of dynamite thus produced contains roughly 1 MJ (megajoule) of energy. Other sizes also exist, rated by either portion (Quarter-Stick or Half-Stick) or by weight.",
"title": "Manufacture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Dynamite is usually rated by \"weight strength\" (the amount of nitroglycerin it contains), usually from 20% to 60%. For example, 40% dynamite is composed of 40% nitroglycerin and 60% \"dope\" (the absorbent storage medium mixed with the stabilizer and any additives).",
"title": "Manufacture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The maximum shelf life of nitroglycerin-based dynamite is recommended as one year from the date of manufacture under good storage conditions.",
"title": "Manufacture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Over time, regardless of the sorbent used, sticks of dynamite will \"weep\" or \"sweat\" nitroglycerin, which can then pool in the bottom of the box or storage area. For that reason, explosive manuals recommend the regular up-ending of boxes of dynamite in storage. Crystals will form on the outside of the sticks, causing them to be even more sensitive to shock, friction, and temperature. Therefore, while the risk of an explosion without the use of a blasting cap is minimal for fresh dynamite, old dynamite is dangerous. Modern packaging helps eliminate this by placing the dynamite into sealed plastic bags and using wax-coated cardboard.",
"title": "Manufacture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Dynamite is moderately sensitive to shock. Shock resistance tests are usually carried out with a drop-hammer: about 100 mg of explosive is placed on an anvil, upon which a weight of between 0.5 and 10 kg (1 and 22 lb) is dropped from different heights until detonation is achieved. With a hammer of 2 kg, mercury fulminate detonates with a drop distance of 1 to 2 cm, nitroglycerin with 4 to 5 cm, dynamite with 15 to 30 cm, and ammoniacal explosives with 40 to 50 cm.",
"title": "Manufacture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "For several decades beginning in the 1940s, the largest producer of dynamite in the world was the Union of South Africa. There the De Beers company established a factory in 1902 at Somerset West. The explosives factory was later operated by AECI (African Explosives and Chemical Industries). The demand for the product came mainly from the country's vast gold mines, centered on the Witwatersrand. The factory at Somerset West was in operation in 1903 and by 1907 it was already producing 340,000 cases, 23 kilograms (50 lb) each, annually. A rival factory at Modderfontein was producing another 200,000 cases per year.",
"title": "Manufacture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "There were two large explosions at the Somerset West plant during the 1960s. Some workers died, but the loss of life was limited by the modular design of the factory and its earth works, and the planting of trees that directed the blasts upward. There were several other explosions at the Modderfontein factory. After 1985, pressure from trade unions forced AECI to phase out the production of dynamite. The factory then went on to produce ammonium nitrate emulsion-based explosives that are safer to manufacture and handle.",
"title": "Manufacture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Dynamite was first manufactured in the US by the Giant Powder Company of San Francisco, California, whose founder had obtained the exclusive rights from Nobel in 1867. Giant was eventually acquired by DuPont, which produced dynamite under the Giant name until Giant was dissolved by DuPont in 1905. Thereafter, DuPont produced dynamite under its own name until 1911–12, when its explosives monopoly was broken up by the U.S. Circuit Court in the \"Powder Case\". Two new companies were formed upon the breakup, the Hercules Powder Company and the Atlas Powder Company, which took up the manufacture of dynamite (in different formulations).",
"title": "Manufacture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Currently, only Dyno Nobel manufactures dynamite in the US. The only facility producing it is located in Carthage, Missouri, but the material is purchased from Dyno Nobel by other manufacturers who put their labels on the dynamite and boxes.",
"title": "Manufacture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Other explosives are often referred to or confused with dynamite:",
"title": "Non-dynamite explosives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is often assumed to be the same as (or confused for) dynamite largely because of the ubiquity of both explosives during the 20th century. This incorrect connection between TNT and dynamite was enhanced by cartoons such as Bugs Bunny, where animators labeled any kind of bomb (ranging from sticks of dynamite to kegs of black powder) as TNT, because the acronym was shorter and more memorable and did not require literacy to recognize that TNT meant \"bomb\".",
"title": "Non-dynamite explosives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Aside from both being high explosives, TNT and dynamite have little in common. TNT is a second generation castable explosive adopted by the military, while dynamite, in contrast, has never been popular in warfare because it degenerates quickly under severe conditions and can be detonated by either fire or a wayward bullet. The German armed forces adopted TNT as a filling for artillery shells in 1902, some 40 years after the invention of dynamite, which is a first generation phlegmatized explosive primarily intended for civilian earthmoving. TNT has never been popular or widespread in civilian earthmoving, as it is considerably more expensive and less powerful by weight than dynamite, as well as being slower to mix and pack into boreholes. TNT's primary asset is its remarkable insensitivity and stability: it is waterproof and incapable of detonating without the extreme shock and heat provided by a blasting cap (or a sympathetic detonation); this stability also allows it to be melted at 81 °C (178 °F), poured into high explosive shells and allowed to re-solidify, with no extra danger or change in the TNT's characteristics. Accordingly, more than 90% of the TNT produced in America was always for the military market, with most TNT used for filling shells, hand grenades and aerial bombs, and the remainder being packaged in brown \"bricks\" (not red cylinders) for use as demolition charges by combat engineers.",
"title": "Non-dynamite explosives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "In the United States, in 1885, the chemist Russell S. Penniman invented \"ammonium dynamite\", a form of explosive that used ammonium nitrate as a substitute for the more costly nitroglycerin. Ammonium nitrate has only 85% of the chemical energy of nitroglycerin.",
"title": "Non-dynamite explosives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "It is rated by either \"weight strength\" (the amount of ammonium nitrate in the medium) or \"cartridge strength\" (the potential explosive strength generated by an amount of explosive of a certain density and grain size used in comparison to the explosive strength generated by an equivalent density and grain size of a standard explosive). For example, high-explosive 65% Extra dynamite has a weight strength of 65% ammonium nitrate and 35% \"dope\" (the absorbent medium mixed with the stabilizers and additives). Its \"cartridge strength\" would be its weight in pounds times its strength in relation to an equal amount of ANFO (the civilian baseline standard) or TNT (the military baseline standard). For example, 65% ammonium dynamite with a 20% cartridge strength would mean the stick was equal to an equivalent weight strength of 20% ANFO.",
"title": "Non-dynamite explosives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "\"Military dynamite\" is a dynamite substitute, formulated without nitroglycerin. It contains 75% RDX, 15% TNT, 5% SAE 10 motor oil, and 5% cornstarch, but is much safer to store and handle for long periods than Nobel's dynamite. Military dynamite substitutes much more stable chemicals for nitroglycerin.",
"title": "Non-dynamite explosives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Various countries around the world have enacted explosives laws and require licenses to manufacture, distribute, store, use, and possess explosives or ingredients.",
"title": "Regulation"
}
] | Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents, and stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germany, and was patented in 1867. It rapidly gained wide-scale use as a more robust alternative to the traditional black powder explosives. It allows the use of nitroglycerine's favorable explosive properties while greatly reducing its risk of accidental detonation. | 2001-07-11T07:32:17Z | 2023-12-15T14:59:00Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite |
8,079 | David Fincher | David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, most of which are psychological thrillers, have collectively grossed over $2.1 billion worldwide and have received 40 Academy Award nominations; this includes three Best Director nominations for him. He has also received four Primetime Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award.
Fincher co-founded the production company Propaganda Films in 1986. He directed numerous music videos for the company, including Madonna's "Express Yourself" in 1989 and "Vogue" in 1990, both of which won him the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction. He received two Grammy Awards for Best Music Video for "Love Is Strong" (1994) by the Rolling Stones and "Suit & Tie" (2013) by Justin Timberlake featuring Jay-Z.
He made his feature film debut with Alien 3 (1992) and gained his breakthrough with Seven (1995). He has since directed The Game (1997), Fight Club (1999), Panic Room (2002), Zodiac (2007), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Gone Girl (2014), and The Killer (2023). He received Academy Award for Best Director nominations for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), The Social Network (2010), and Mank (2020).
In television, Fincher has served as an executive producer and director for the Netflix series House of Cards (2013–2018) and Mindhunter (2017–2019), winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the pilot episode of the former. He also executive produced and co-created the Netflix animated series Love, Death & Robots (2019–present) which received three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program.
David Andrew Leo Fincher was born in Denver on August 28, 1962. His mother, Claire Mae (née Boettcher), was a mental health nurse from South Dakota who worked in drug addiction programs. His father, Howard Kelly "Jack" Fincher (1930–2003), was an author from Oklahoma who worked as a reporter and bureau chief for Life magazine. When Fincher was two years old, the family moved to San Anselmo, California, where he counted filmmaker George Lucas among his neighbors. He became fascinated with filmmaking at the age of eight and began making films on an 8mm camera. In a 2012 interview, he said:
I was eight years old and I saw a documentary on the making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It had never occurred to me that movies didn't take place in real time. I knew that they were fake, I knew that the people were acting, but it had never occurred to me that it could take [...] four months to make a movie! It showed the entire company with all these rental horses and moving trailers to shoot a scene on top of a train. They would hire somebody who looked like Robert Redford to jump onto the train. It never occurred to me that there were hours between each of these shots. The actual circus of it was invisible, as it should be, but in seeing that I became obsessed with the idea of "How?" It was the ultimate magic trick. The notion that 24 still photographs are shown in such quick succession that movement is imparted from it—wow! And I thought that there would never be anything that would be as interesting as that to do with the rest of my life.
As a teenager, Fincher moved to Ashland, Oregon, where he attended Ashland High School. He directed plays and designed sets and lighting after school, was a non-union projectionist at Varsity Theatre, and worked as a production assistant at the KOBI news station in Medford. He supported himself by working as a busboy, dishwasher, and fry cook.
While establishing himself in the film industry, Fincher was employed at John Korty's studio as a production head. Gaining further experience, he became a visual effects producer, working on the animated Twice Upon a Time (1983) with George Lucas. He was hired by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) in 1983 as an assistant cameraman and matte photographer and worked on Return of the Jedi (1983) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). In 1984, he left ILM to direct a television commercial for the American Cancer Society that depicted a fetus smoking a cigarette.
This quickly brought Fincher to the attention of producers in Los Angeles, and he was soon given the opportunity to direct Rick Springfield's 1985 documentary, The Beat of the Live Drum. Set on a directing career, Fincher co-founded production company Propaganda Films and started directing commercials and music videos. Other directors such as Michael Bay, Antoine Fuqua, Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Alex Proyas, Paul Rachman, Mark Romanek, Zack Snyder and Gore Verbinski also honed their skills at Propaganda Films before moving on to feature films.
Fincher directed TV commercials for many companies including Levi's, Converse, Nike, Pepsi, Revlon, Sony, Coca-Cola and Chanel, although he loathed doing them. Starting in 1984, Fincher began his foray into music videos. He directed videos for various artists including singer-songwriters Rick Springfield, Don Henley, Martha Davis, Paula Abdul, rock band the Outfield, and R&B singer Jermaine Stewart. Fincher's 1990 music video for "Freedom! '90" was one of the most successful for George Michael.
He directed Michael Jackson's "Who Is It", Aerosmith's "Janie's Got A Gun" and Billy Idol's "Cradle of Love". For Madonna, he directed the videos for "Express Yourself", "Oh Father", "Bad Girl" and "Vogue". The black-and-white video for "Vogue" took inspiration from the films of the 1920s and 1930s and has been frequently cited as one of the best videos of all time. Between 1984 and 1993, Fincher was credited as a director for 53 music videos. He referred to the production of music videos as his own "film school", in which he learned how to work efficiently within a small budget and time frame.
In 1990, 20th Century Fox hired Fincher to replace Vincent Ward as the director for the science-fiction horror Alien 3 (1992), his film directorial debut. It was the third installment in the Alien franchise starring Sigourney Weaver. The film was released in May 1992 to a mixed reception from critics and was considered weaker than the preceding films. From the beginning, Alien 3 was hampered by studio intervention and several abandoned scripts. Peter Travers of the Rolling Stone called the film "bold and haunting", despite the "struggle of nine writers" and "studio interference".
The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. Years later, Fincher publicly expressed his dismay and subsequently disowned the film. In the book Director's Cut: Picturing Hollywood in the 21st Century, Fincher blames the producers for their lack of trust in him. In an interview with The Guardian in 2009, he stated, "No one hated it more than me; to this day, no one hates it more than me."
After this critical disappointment, Fincher eschewed reading film scripts or directing another project. He briefly retreated to directing commercials and music videos, including the video for the song "Love Is Strong" by the Rolling Stones in 1994, which won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video. Shortly, Fincher decided to make a foray back into film. He read Andrew Kevin Walker's original screenplay for Seven (1995), which had been revised by Jeremiah Chechik, the director attached to the project at one point. Fincher expressed no interest in directing the revised version, so New Line Cinema agreed to keep the original ending. Starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey, and Kevin Spacey, it tells the story of two detectives who attempt to identify a serial killer who bases his murders on the Christian seven deadly sins. Seven was positively received by film critics and was one of the highest-earning films of 1995, grossing more than $320 million worldwide. Writing for Sight and Sound, John Wrathall said it "stands as the most complex and disturbing entry in the serial killer genre since Manhunter" and Roger Ebert opined that Seven is "one of the darkest and most merciless films ever made in the Hollywood mainstream."
Following Seven, Fincher directed a music video for "6th Avenue Heartache" by the Wallflowers and went on to direct his third feature film, the mystery thriller The Game (1997), written by the duo John Brancato and Michael Ferris. Fincher also hired Seven screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker to contribute and polish the script. Filmed on location in San Francisco, the story follows an investment banker, played by Michael Douglas, who receives an unusual gift from his younger brother (Sean Penn), where he becomes involved in a "game" that integrates with his everyday life, making him unable to differentiate between game and reality. Almar Haflidason of the BBC was critical of the ending, but praised the visuals—"Fincher does a marvelous job of turning ordinary city locations into frightening backdrops, where every corner turned is another step into the unknown". Upon The Game's release in September 1997, the film received generally favorable reviews but performed moderately at the box office. The Game was later included in the Criterion Collection.
In August 1997, Fincher agreed to direct Fight Club, based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. It was his second film with 20th Century Fox after the troubled production of Alien 3. Starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter, the film is about a nameless office worker suffering from insomnia, who meets a salesman, and together form an underground fighting club as a form of therapy. Fox struggled with the marketing of the film, and were concerned that it would have a limited audience. Fight Club premiered on October 15, 1999, in the United States to a polarized response and modest box office success; the film grossed $100.9 million against a budget of $63 million. Initially, many critics thought the film was "a violent and dangerous express train of masochism and aggression." However, in following years, Fight Club became a cult favorite and gained acknowledgement for its multilayered themes; the film has been the source of critical analysis from academics and film critics.
In 1999, Fincher was shortlisted by Columbia Pictures, as one of the potential directors to helm Spider-Man (2002), a live-action adaptation of the fictional comic-book character of the same name. Fincher's pitch featured an older, experienced version of the titular character in his adult years and the post-adolescent portion of his life as a photographer and his crime-fighting double life as a vigilante, with a more grounded, character-driven and drama-oriented tone and direction. Fincher later said of his pitch, "I went in and told them what I might be interested in doing, and they hated it". Sam Raimi was chosen as director instead.
In 2001, Fincher served as an executive producer for the first season of The Hire, a series of short films to promote BMW automobiles. The films were released on the internet in 2001. Next in 2002, Fincher returned to another feature film, a thriller titled Panic Room. The story follows a single mother and her daughter who hide in a safe room of their new home, during a home invasion by a trio. Starring Jodie Foster (who replaced Nicole Kidman), Forest Whitaker, Kristen Stewart, Dwight Yoakam, and Jared Leto, it was theatrically released on March 29, 2002, after a month delay, to critical acclaim and commercial success.
In North America, the film earned $96.4 million. In other countries, it grossed $100 million for a worldwide $196.4 million. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle praised the filmmakers for their "fair degree of ingenuity... for 88 minutes of excitement" and the convincing performance given by Foster. Fincher acknowledged Panic Room for being more mainstream, describing the film, "It's supposed to be a popcorn movie—there are no great, overriding implications. It's just about survival."
Five years after Panic Room, Fincher returned on March 2, 2007, with Zodiac, a thriller based on Robert Graysmith's books about the search for the Zodiac, a real life serial murderer who terrorized communities between the late 1960s and early 1970s. Fincher first learned of the project after being approached by producer Brad Fischer; he was intrigued by the story due to his childhood personal experience. "The highway patrol had been following our school buses", he recalled. His father told him, "There's a serial killer who has killed four or five people... who's threatened to... shoot the children as they come off the bus."
After extensive research on the case with fellow producers, Fincher formed a principal cast of Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards and Brian Cox. It was the first of Fincher's films to be shot in digital, with a Thomson Viper FilmStream HD camera. However, high-speed film cameras were used for particular murder scenes. Zodiac was well received, appearing in more than two hundred top ten lists (only No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood appeared in more). However, the film struggled at the United States box office, earning $33 million, but did better overseas with a gross of $51.7 million. Worldwide, Zodiac was a moderate success. Despite a campaign by Paramount Pictures, the film did not receive any Academy Award or Golden Globe nominations.
In 2008, Fincher was attached to a film adaptation of the science-fiction novel, Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke, however, Fincher said the film is unlikely to go ahead due to problems with the script. His next project was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's eponymous 1923 short story, about a man who is born as a seventy-year-old baby and ages in reverse. The romantic-drama marked Fincher's third collaboration with Brad Pitt, who stars opposite Cate Blanchett. The budget for the film was estimated to be $167 million, with very expensive visual effects utilized for Pitt's character.
Filming started in November 2006 in New Orleans, taking advantage of Louisiana's film incentive. The film was theatrically released on December 25, 2008, in the United States to a commercial success and warm reception. Writing for the USA Today, Claudia Puig praises the "graceful and poignant" tale despite it being "overlong and not as emotionally involving as it could be". The film received thirteen Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Fincher, Best Actor for Pitt, and Best Supporting Actress for Taraji P. Henson, and won three, for Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, and Best Visual Effects.
Fincher directed the 2010 film The Social Network, a biographical drama about Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg and his legal battles. The screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin, who adapted it from the book The Accidental Billionaires. It stars Jesse Eisenberg as Zuckerberg, with a supporting cast of Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer and Max Minghella. Principal photography started in October 2009 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the film was released one year later. The Social Network was also a commercial success, earning $224.9 million worldwide. At the 83rd Academy Awards, the film received eight nominations and won three awards; soundtrack composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won for Best Original Score, and the other two awards were for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing. The film received awards for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score at the 68th Golden Globe Awards. Critics including Roger Ebert, complimented the writing, describing the film as having "spellbinding dialogue. It makes an untellable story clear and fascinating".
In 2011, Fincher followed the success of The Social Network with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a psychological thriller based on the novel by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. Screenwriter Steven Zaillian spent three months analyzing the novel, writing notes and deleting elements to achieve a suitable running time. Featuring Daniel Craig as journalist Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander, it follows Blomkvist's investigation to solve what happened to a woman from a wealthy family who disappeared four decades ago. To maintain the novel's setting, the film was primarily shot in Sweden.
The soundtrack, composed by collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, was described by A. O. Scott of The New York Times as, "unnerving and powerful". Upon the film's release in December, reviews were generally favorable, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Scott adds, "Mr. Fincher creates a persuasive ambience of political menace and moral despair". Philip French of The Guardian praises the "authentic, quirky detail" and faithful adaptation. The film received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Actress for Mara, and won the award for Best Film Editing. In 2012, Fincher signed a first look deal with Regency Enterprises.
In 2013, Fincher served as an executive producer for the Netflix television series House of Cards, a political thriller about a Congressman's quest for revenge, of which he also directed the first two episodes. The series received positive reviews, earning nine Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series. Fincher won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the first episode. He also directed a music video for the first time since 2005, "Suit & Tie" by Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z, which won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video.
Following the publication of Dave Cullen's book, Columbine, which was adapted into a play in 2014, Fincher considered making it into a film, however, the idea was dropped due to its sensitive nature. That same year, Fincher signed a deal with HBO for three television series - Utopia (an adaptation of the British series, to be written by Gillian Flynn), Shakedown, and Videosyncrazy. In August 2015, budget disputes between him and the network halted production. Three years later, in 2018, Utopia was picked up by Amazon Studios, with Gillian Flynn as creator.
Fincher directed Gone Girl (2014), an adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel of the same name, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. He even met with Flynn to discuss his interest in the project before a director was selected. Set in Missouri, the story begins as a mystery that follows the events surrounding Nick Dunne (Affleck), who becomes the prime suspect in the sudden disappearance of his wife Amy (Pike). A critical and commercial success, the film earned $369 million worldwide against a $61 million budget, making it Fincher's highest-grossing work to date. Writing for Salon magazine, Andrew O'Hehir praises the "tremendous ensemble cast who mesh marvelously", adding, "All the technical command of image, sound and production design for which Fincher is justly famous is here as well." Gone Girl garnered awards and nominations in a various categories; Pike earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and Fincher received his third Golden Globe nomination for Best Director.
Between 2016 and 2019, Fincher directed, produced and served as showrunner for another series, Mindhunter, starring Holt McCallany and Jonathan Groff. The series, based on the book Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit, debuted on Netflix worldwide on October 13, 2017. He has expressed interest in eventually making a third season of Mindhunter, which was put on indefinite hold in 2020. In 2023, Fincher confirmed that Netflix will not be making a third season of Mindhunter, saying "I'm very proud of the first two seasons. But it's a very expensive show and, in the eyes of Netflix, we didn't attract enough of an audience to justify such an investment [for Season 3]."
In June 2017, Jim Gianopulos of Paramount Pictures announced that a sequel to World War Z was "in advanced development" with Fincher and Brad Pitt. Producers Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner said that Fincher would begin directing it in June 2019. However, in February 2019, Paramount cancelled the project. As of 2019, Fincher serves as an executive producer for Love, Death & Robots, an animated science-fiction web series for Netflix.
In July 2019, Fincher signed on to direct Mank, a biopic about Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. Mank received a limited theatrical release on November 13, 2020, and was made available on Netflix on December 4. Gary Oldman portrayed Mankiewicz, and the film received ten Academy Award nominations, winning two for Best Cinematography and Best Production Design.
Fincher served as an executive producer on a series titled Voir (2021) for Netflix. In 2022, Fincher made his first foray in animation directing an episode for the third season of Love, Death & Robots. The episode is titled "Bad Travelling" and was written by Seven screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker. In February 2021, it was reported that Fincher would direct an adaptation of the graphic novel The Killer for Netflix, with Andrew Kevin Walker writing the screenplay and Michael Fassbender attached to star. It premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival. It began a limited theatrical release in October 2023 and was subsequently released on Netflix on 10 November.
Fincher did not attend film school. He has listed filmmakers George Roy Hill, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Alan J. Pakula, Ridley Scott, and Martin Scorsese as his major influences. His personal favorite films include Rear Window (1954), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Graduate (1967), Paper Moon (1973), American Graffiti (1973), Jaws (1975), All the President's Men (1976), Taxi Driver (1976), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and Zelig (1983). He suggested that his film Panic Room is a combination of Rear Window and Straw Dogs (1971).
For Seven, Fincher and cinematographer Darius Khondji were inspired by films The French Connection (1971) and Klute (1971), as well as the work of photographer Robert Frank. He has cited graphic designer Saul Bass as an inspiration for his films' title sequences; Bass designed many such sequences for prominent directors, including Hitchcock and Kubrick.
Those are the moments where moviemaking is not like writing, and it's not like the theater, and it's not like performance art, and it's not like sculpting. It's truly its own discipline. There's nothing else like it in those moments where you go, wow, here's an intent that was probably never even thought of by the guy who wrote the book. And yet this person who may or may not have even read the source material has found this thing. That, for me, after the previsualization, is the most exciting part of the whole.
—Fincher on serendipity during filmmaking.
Fincher's filmmaking process always begins with extensive research and preparation, although he has said the process is different every time: "I enjoy reading a script that you can see in your head, and then I enjoy the casting and I enjoy the rehearsal, and I enjoy all the meetings about what it should be, what it could be, what it might be." He has admitted to having autocratic tendencies and prefers to micromanage every aspect of a film's production. Icelandic film producer Sigurjón Sighvatsson, with whom Fincher has collaborated for decades, has said that "[Fincher] was always a rebel... always challenging the status quo".
Known for his perfectionism and meticulous eye for detail, Fincher performs thorough research when casting actors to ensure their suitability for the part. His colleague Max Daly said, "He's really good at finding the one detail that was missed. He knows more than anybody." Producer Laura Ziskin said of him, "He's just scary smart, sort of smarter than everyone else in the room." He approaches editing like "intricate mathematical problems". Long-time collaborator Angus Wall said that editing Zodiac was like "putting together a Swiss watch... all the pieces are so beautifully machined". He elaborated, "[Fincher] is incredibly specific. He never settles. And there's a purity that shows in his work."
When working with actors, Fincher is known to demand a grueling series of takes to capture a scene perfectly. For instance, the Zodiac cast members were required to do upwards of 70 takes for certain scenes, much to the displeasure of Jake Gyllenhaal. Rooney Mara had to endure 99 takes for a scene in The Social Network and said that Fincher enjoys challenging people. Gone Girl averaged 50 takes per scene. In one of the episodes for Mindhunter, it was reported that a nine-minute scene took 11 hours to shoot. When asked about this method, Fincher said, "I hate earnestness in performance... usually by take 17 the earnestness is gone." He added that he wants a scene to be as natural and authentic as possible. Some actors appreciate this approach, arguing that the subtle adjustments have a big difference in the way a scene is carried. Others have been critical, with R. Lee Ermey stating, "[Fincher] wants puppets. He doesn't want actors that are creative."
Fincher prefers shooting with Red digital cameras, under natural or pre-existing light conditions rather than using elaborate lighting setups. Fincher is known to use computer-generated imagery, which is mostly unnoticeable to the viewer. He does not normally use hand-held cameras during filming, instead preferring cameras on a tripod. He said, "Handheld has a powerful psychological stranglehold. It means something specific and I don't want to cloud what's going on with too much meaning." He has experimented with the disembodied camera movement, notably in Panic Room, where the camera glides around the house to give the impression of surveillance by an unseen observer.
One element of Fincher's visual style is the specific way in which he uses tilt, pan, and track in the camera movements. When a character is in motion or expressing emotions, the camera moves at the exact same speed and direction as their body. The movements are choreographed precisely between the actors and camera operators. The resulting effect helps the audience connect with the character to understand their feelings. Similarly, in his music videos, Fincher appreciated that the visuals should enhance the listening experience. He would cut around the vocals, and let the choreography finish before cutting the shot. Camera movements are synchronized to the beat of the music.
Some regard Fincher as an auteur filmmaker, although he dislikes being associated with that term. Much of his work is influenced by classical film noir and neo noir genres. Fincher's visual style also includes using monochromatic and desaturated colors of blue, green, and yellow, representing the world that the characters are in. In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Fincher uses heavy desaturation for certain scenes, and increases or decreases the effect based on the story or characters' emotions. Erik Messerschmidt, cinematographer for Mindhunter, explained the color palette: "The show has a desaturated green-yellow look... [it] helps give the show its period feel." He states the effect is achieved through production design, costumes, and filming locations—not necessarily through lighting used on set. Fincher also favors detailed and pronounced shadows, as well as using minimal light. When asked about his use of dim lighting, he said bright lights make the color of skin appear unnatural, and that the lights and colors in his films represent "the way the world looks to [him]".
Fincher has explored themes of martyrdom, alienation, and dehumanization of modern culture. In addition to the wider themes of good and evil, his characters are usually troubled, discontented, and flawed; they are often unable to socialize and suffer from loneliness. In Seven, Zodiac, and The Social Network, themes of pressure and obsession are explored, leading to the character's downfall. Quoting historian Frank Krutnik, the writer Piers McCarthy argues that "the protagonists of these films are not totally in control of their actions but are subject to darker, inner impulses".
In a 2017 interview, Fincher explained his fascination of sinister themes: "There was always a house in any neighborhood that I ever lived in that all the kids on the street wondered, 'What are those people up to?' We sort of attach the sinister to the mundane in order to make things interesting... I think it's also because in order for something to be evil, it almost has to cloak itself as something else." Fincher once stated, "I think people are perverts. I've maintained that. That's the foundation of my career."
Over the course of his career, Fincher has shown loyalty to many members of his cast and crew. As a music video director, he collaborated with Paula Abdul five times, as well as Madonna and Rick Springfield four times each. Once he made the transition to feature films, he cast Brad Pitt in three of them. He said of Pitt, "On-screen and off-screen, Brad's the ultimate guy... he has such a great ease with who he is." Bob Stephenson, Michael Massee, Christopher John Fields, John Getz, Elias Koteas, Zach Grenier, Charles Dance, Rooney Mara, Jared Leto, and Richmond Arquette have also appeared in at least two of his films.
Fight Club was scored by the Dust Brothers, who at that point had never scored a film. Describing their working relationship with Fincher, they said he "was not hanging over our shoulders telling us what to do" and that the only direction he gave was to make the music sound as great as the score from The Graduate (1967). Nine Inch Nails members Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed the music for The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, Mank, and The Killer. The musicians describe their working relationship as "collaborative, respectful, and inspiring" although quipped that it "hasn't gotten any easier". Many years before the duo worked with Fincher, he arranged for a remix of the Nine Inch Nails song "Closer" to play over the opening credits of Seven. Howard Shore composed the scores for Seven, The Game, and Panic Room.
Darius Khondji and Jeff Cronenweth have served as cinematographers for Fincher's films. Khondji said, "Fincher deserves a lot of credit. It was his influence that pushed me to experiment and got me as far as I did." Fincher has hired sound designer Ren Klyce in all his films since 1995 and trusts him "implicitly". He has worked with film editor Angus Wall since 1988. Wall has worked on seven of his films, five of which as editor.
Donald Graham Burt has served as a production designer for six films and Bob Wagner has served as an assistant director for six. Casting director Laray Mayfield has worked with Fincher for over 20 years. In a 2010 interview, Fincher said, "You don't have to love all of your co-collaborators, but you do have to respect them. And when you do, when you realize that people bring stuff to the table that's not necessarily your experience, but if you allow yourself to relate to it, it can enrich the buffet that you're going to bring with you into the editing room."
Fincher married model Donya Fiorentino (sister of actress Linda Fiorentino). They had one daughter together, Phelix Imogen (born 1994), before divorcing in 1995. Fincher married producer Ceán Chaffin in 2013.
Tim Walker of The Independent praised Fincher's work, stating "His portrayals of the modern psyche have a power and precision that few film-makers can match." In 2003, Fincher was ranked 39th in The Guardian's 40 best directors. In 2012, The Guardian listed him again in their ranking of 23 best film directors in the world, applauding "his ability to sustain tone and tension". In 2016, Zodiac and The Social Network appeared in the BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century list. In addition to films, Fincher has often been admired for producing some of the most creative music videos.
Fincher received three Academy Award for Best Director nominations for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), The Social Network (2010), and Mank (2020). He won both the BAFTA Award for Best Direction and the Golden Globe Award for Best Director for The Social Network. He also received two Grammy Awards for "Love Is Strong" (1995) by The Rolling Stones and "Suit & Tie" (2013) by Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z as well as four Primetime Emmy Awards for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for House of Cards (2013) and three Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program for Love, Death & Robots. | [
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"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, most of which are psychological thrillers, have collectively grossed over $2.1 billion worldwide and have received 40 Academy Award nominations; this includes three Best Director nominations for him. He has also received four Primetime Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award.",
"title": ""
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"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Fincher co-founded the production company Propaganda Films in 1986. He directed numerous music videos for the company, including Madonna's \"Express Yourself\" in 1989 and \"Vogue\" in 1990, both of which won him the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction. He received two Grammy Awards for Best Music Video for \"Love Is Strong\" (1994) by the Rolling Stones and \"Suit & Tie\" (2013) by Justin Timberlake featuring Jay-Z.",
"title": ""
},
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"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "He made his feature film debut with Alien 3 (1992) and gained his breakthrough with Seven (1995). He has since directed The Game (1997), Fight Club (1999), Panic Room (2002), Zodiac (2007), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Gone Girl (2014), and The Killer (2023). He received Academy Award for Best Director nominations for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), The Social Network (2010), and Mank (2020).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "In television, Fincher has served as an executive producer and director for the Netflix series House of Cards (2013–2018) and Mindhunter (2017–2019), winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the pilot episode of the former. He also executive produced and co-created the Netflix animated series Love, Death & Robots (2019–present) which received three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program.",
"title": ""
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"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "David Andrew Leo Fincher was born in Denver on August 28, 1962. His mother, Claire Mae (née Boettcher), was a mental health nurse from South Dakota who worked in drug addiction programs. His father, Howard Kelly \"Jack\" Fincher (1930–2003), was an author from Oklahoma who worked as a reporter and bureau chief for Life magazine. When Fincher was two years old, the family moved to San Anselmo, California, where he counted filmmaker George Lucas among his neighbors. He became fascinated with filmmaking at the age of eight and began making films on an 8mm camera. In a 2012 interview, he said:",
"title": "Early life"
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{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "I was eight years old and I saw a documentary on the making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It had never occurred to me that movies didn't take place in real time. I knew that they were fake, I knew that the people were acting, but it had never occurred to me that it could take [...] four months to make a movie! It showed the entire company with all these rental horses and moving trailers to shoot a scene on top of a train. They would hire somebody who looked like Robert Redford to jump onto the train. It never occurred to me that there were hours between each of these shots. The actual circus of it was invisible, as it should be, but in seeing that I became obsessed with the idea of \"How?\" It was the ultimate magic trick. The notion that 24 still photographs are shown in such quick succession that movement is imparted from it—wow! And I thought that there would never be anything that would be as interesting as that to do with the rest of my life.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "As a teenager, Fincher moved to Ashland, Oregon, where he attended Ashland High School. He directed plays and designed sets and lighting after school, was a non-union projectionist at Varsity Theatre, and worked as a production assistant at the KOBI news station in Medford. He supported himself by working as a busboy, dishwasher, and fry cook.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "While establishing himself in the film industry, Fincher was employed at John Korty's studio as a production head. Gaining further experience, he became a visual effects producer, working on the animated Twice Upon a Time (1983) with George Lucas. He was hired by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) in 1983 as an assistant cameraman and matte photographer and worked on Return of the Jedi (1983) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). In 1984, he left ILM to direct a television commercial for the American Cancer Society that depicted a fetus smoking a cigarette.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "This quickly brought Fincher to the attention of producers in Los Angeles, and he was soon given the opportunity to direct Rick Springfield's 1985 documentary, The Beat of the Live Drum. Set on a directing career, Fincher co-founded production company Propaganda Films and started directing commercials and music videos. Other directors such as Michael Bay, Antoine Fuqua, Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Alex Proyas, Paul Rachman, Mark Romanek, Zack Snyder and Gore Verbinski also honed their skills at Propaganda Films before moving on to feature films.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Fincher directed TV commercials for many companies including Levi's, Converse, Nike, Pepsi, Revlon, Sony, Coca-Cola and Chanel, although he loathed doing them. Starting in 1984, Fincher began his foray into music videos. He directed videos for various artists including singer-songwriters Rick Springfield, Don Henley, Martha Davis, Paula Abdul, rock band the Outfield, and R&B singer Jermaine Stewart. Fincher's 1990 music video for \"Freedom! '90\" was one of the most successful for George Michael.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "He directed Michael Jackson's \"Who Is It\", Aerosmith's \"Janie's Got A Gun\" and Billy Idol's \"Cradle of Love\". For Madonna, he directed the videos for \"Express Yourself\", \"Oh Father\", \"Bad Girl\" and \"Vogue\". The black-and-white video for \"Vogue\" took inspiration from the films of the 1920s and 1930s and has been frequently cited as one of the best videos of all time. Between 1984 and 1993, Fincher was credited as a director for 53 music videos. He referred to the production of music videos as his own \"film school\", in which he learned how to work efficiently within a small budget and time frame.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In 1990, 20th Century Fox hired Fincher to replace Vincent Ward as the director for the science-fiction horror Alien 3 (1992), his film directorial debut. It was the third installment in the Alien franchise starring Sigourney Weaver. The film was released in May 1992 to a mixed reception from critics and was considered weaker than the preceding films. From the beginning, Alien 3 was hampered by studio intervention and several abandoned scripts. Peter Travers of the Rolling Stone called the film \"bold and haunting\", despite the \"struggle of nine writers\" and \"studio interference\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. Years later, Fincher publicly expressed his dismay and subsequently disowned the film. In the book Director's Cut: Picturing Hollywood in the 21st Century, Fincher blames the producers for their lack of trust in him. In an interview with The Guardian in 2009, he stated, \"No one hated it more than me; to this day, no one hates it more than me.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "After this critical disappointment, Fincher eschewed reading film scripts or directing another project. He briefly retreated to directing commercials and music videos, including the video for the song \"Love Is Strong\" by the Rolling Stones in 1994, which won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video. Shortly, Fincher decided to make a foray back into film. He read Andrew Kevin Walker's original screenplay for Seven (1995), which had been revised by Jeremiah Chechik, the director attached to the project at one point. Fincher expressed no interest in directing the revised version, so New Line Cinema agreed to keep the original ending. Starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey, and Kevin Spacey, it tells the story of two detectives who attempt to identify a serial killer who bases his murders on the Christian seven deadly sins. Seven was positively received by film critics and was one of the highest-earning films of 1995, grossing more than $320 million worldwide. Writing for Sight and Sound, John Wrathall said it \"stands as the most complex and disturbing entry in the serial killer genre since Manhunter\" and Roger Ebert opined that Seven is \"one of the darkest and most merciless films ever made in the Hollywood mainstream.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Following Seven, Fincher directed a music video for \"6th Avenue Heartache\" by the Wallflowers and went on to direct his third feature film, the mystery thriller The Game (1997), written by the duo John Brancato and Michael Ferris. Fincher also hired Seven screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker to contribute and polish the script. Filmed on location in San Francisco, the story follows an investment banker, played by Michael Douglas, who receives an unusual gift from his younger brother (Sean Penn), where he becomes involved in a \"game\" that integrates with his everyday life, making him unable to differentiate between game and reality. Almar Haflidason of the BBC was critical of the ending, but praised the visuals—\"Fincher does a marvelous job of turning ordinary city locations into frightening backdrops, where every corner turned is another step into the unknown\". Upon The Game's release in September 1997, the film received generally favorable reviews but performed moderately at the box office. The Game was later included in the Criterion Collection.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In August 1997, Fincher agreed to direct Fight Club, based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. It was his second film with 20th Century Fox after the troubled production of Alien 3. Starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter, the film is about a nameless office worker suffering from insomnia, who meets a salesman, and together form an underground fighting club as a form of therapy. Fox struggled with the marketing of the film, and were concerned that it would have a limited audience. Fight Club premiered on October 15, 1999, in the United States to a polarized response and modest box office success; the film grossed $100.9 million against a budget of $63 million. Initially, many critics thought the film was \"a violent and dangerous express train of masochism and aggression.\" However, in following years, Fight Club became a cult favorite and gained acknowledgement for its multilayered themes; the film has been the source of critical analysis from academics and film critics.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "In 1999, Fincher was shortlisted by Columbia Pictures, as one of the potential directors to helm Spider-Man (2002), a live-action adaptation of the fictional comic-book character of the same name. Fincher's pitch featured an older, experienced version of the titular character in his adult years and the post-adolescent portion of his life as a photographer and his crime-fighting double life as a vigilante, with a more grounded, character-driven and drama-oriented tone and direction. Fincher later said of his pitch, \"I went in and told them what I might be interested in doing, and they hated it\". Sam Raimi was chosen as director instead.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In 2001, Fincher served as an executive producer for the first season of The Hire, a series of short films to promote BMW automobiles. The films were released on the internet in 2001. Next in 2002, Fincher returned to another feature film, a thriller titled Panic Room. The story follows a single mother and her daughter who hide in a safe room of their new home, during a home invasion by a trio. Starring Jodie Foster (who replaced Nicole Kidman), Forest Whitaker, Kristen Stewart, Dwight Yoakam, and Jared Leto, it was theatrically released on March 29, 2002, after a month delay, to critical acclaim and commercial success.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In North America, the film earned $96.4 million. In other countries, it grossed $100 million for a worldwide $196.4 million. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle praised the filmmakers for their \"fair degree of ingenuity... for 88 minutes of excitement\" and the convincing performance given by Foster. Fincher acknowledged Panic Room for being more mainstream, describing the film, \"It's supposed to be a popcorn movie—there are no great, overriding implications. It's just about survival.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Five years after Panic Room, Fincher returned on March 2, 2007, with Zodiac, a thriller based on Robert Graysmith's books about the search for the Zodiac, a real life serial murderer who terrorized communities between the late 1960s and early 1970s. Fincher first learned of the project after being approached by producer Brad Fischer; he was intrigued by the story due to his childhood personal experience. \"The highway patrol had been following our school buses\", he recalled. His father told him, \"There's a serial killer who has killed four or five people... who's threatened to... shoot the children as they come off the bus.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "After extensive research on the case with fellow producers, Fincher formed a principal cast of Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards and Brian Cox. It was the first of Fincher's films to be shot in digital, with a Thomson Viper FilmStream HD camera. However, high-speed film cameras were used for particular murder scenes. Zodiac was well received, appearing in more than two hundred top ten lists (only No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood appeared in more). However, the film struggled at the United States box office, earning $33 million, but did better overseas with a gross of $51.7 million. Worldwide, Zodiac was a moderate success. Despite a campaign by Paramount Pictures, the film did not receive any Academy Award or Golden Globe nominations.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "In 2008, Fincher was attached to a film adaptation of the science-fiction novel, Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke, however, Fincher said the film is unlikely to go ahead due to problems with the script. His next project was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's eponymous 1923 short story, about a man who is born as a seventy-year-old baby and ages in reverse. The romantic-drama marked Fincher's third collaboration with Brad Pitt, who stars opposite Cate Blanchett. The budget for the film was estimated to be $167 million, with very expensive visual effects utilized for Pitt's character.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Filming started in November 2006 in New Orleans, taking advantage of Louisiana's film incentive. The film was theatrically released on December 25, 2008, in the United States to a commercial success and warm reception. Writing for the USA Today, Claudia Puig praises the \"graceful and poignant\" tale despite it being \"overlong and not as emotionally involving as it could be\". The film received thirteen Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Fincher, Best Actor for Pitt, and Best Supporting Actress for Taraji P. Henson, and won three, for Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, and Best Visual Effects.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Fincher directed the 2010 film The Social Network, a biographical drama about Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg and his legal battles. The screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin, who adapted it from the book The Accidental Billionaires. It stars Jesse Eisenberg as Zuckerberg, with a supporting cast of Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer and Max Minghella. Principal photography started in October 2009 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the film was released one year later. The Social Network was also a commercial success, earning $224.9 million worldwide. At the 83rd Academy Awards, the film received eight nominations and won three awards; soundtrack composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won for Best Original Score, and the other two awards were for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing. The film received awards for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score at the 68th Golden Globe Awards. Critics including Roger Ebert, complimented the writing, describing the film as having \"spellbinding dialogue. It makes an untellable story clear and fascinating\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In 2011, Fincher followed the success of The Social Network with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a psychological thriller based on the novel by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. Screenwriter Steven Zaillian spent three months analyzing the novel, writing notes and deleting elements to achieve a suitable running time. Featuring Daniel Craig as journalist Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander, it follows Blomkvist's investigation to solve what happened to a woman from a wealthy family who disappeared four decades ago. To maintain the novel's setting, the film was primarily shot in Sweden.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The soundtrack, composed by collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, was described by A. O. Scott of The New York Times as, \"unnerving and powerful\". Upon the film's release in December, reviews were generally favorable, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Scott adds, \"Mr. Fincher creates a persuasive ambience of political menace and moral despair\". Philip French of The Guardian praises the \"authentic, quirky detail\" and faithful adaptation. The film received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Actress for Mara, and won the award for Best Film Editing. In 2012, Fincher signed a first look deal with Regency Enterprises.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "In 2013, Fincher served as an executive producer for the Netflix television series House of Cards, a political thriller about a Congressman's quest for revenge, of which he also directed the first two episodes. The series received positive reviews, earning nine Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series. Fincher won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the first episode. He also directed a music video for the first time since 2005, \"Suit & Tie\" by Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z, which won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Following the publication of Dave Cullen's book, Columbine, which was adapted into a play in 2014, Fincher considered making it into a film, however, the idea was dropped due to its sensitive nature. That same year, Fincher signed a deal with HBO for three television series - Utopia (an adaptation of the British series, to be written by Gillian Flynn), Shakedown, and Videosyncrazy. In August 2015, budget disputes between him and the network halted production. Three years later, in 2018, Utopia was picked up by Amazon Studios, with Gillian Flynn as creator.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Fincher directed Gone Girl (2014), an adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel of the same name, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. He even met with Flynn to discuss his interest in the project before a director was selected. Set in Missouri, the story begins as a mystery that follows the events surrounding Nick Dunne (Affleck), who becomes the prime suspect in the sudden disappearance of his wife Amy (Pike). A critical and commercial success, the film earned $369 million worldwide against a $61 million budget, making it Fincher's highest-grossing work to date. Writing for Salon magazine, Andrew O'Hehir praises the \"tremendous ensemble cast who mesh marvelously\", adding, \"All the technical command of image, sound and production design for which Fincher is justly famous is here as well.\" Gone Girl garnered awards and nominations in a various categories; Pike earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and Fincher received his third Golden Globe nomination for Best Director.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Between 2016 and 2019, Fincher directed, produced and served as showrunner for another series, Mindhunter, starring Holt McCallany and Jonathan Groff. The series, based on the book Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit, debuted on Netflix worldwide on October 13, 2017. He has expressed interest in eventually making a third season of Mindhunter, which was put on indefinite hold in 2020. In 2023, Fincher confirmed that Netflix will not be making a third season of Mindhunter, saying \"I'm very proud of the first two seasons. But it's a very expensive show and, in the eyes of Netflix, we didn't attract enough of an audience to justify such an investment [for Season 3].\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "In June 2017, Jim Gianopulos of Paramount Pictures announced that a sequel to World War Z was \"in advanced development\" with Fincher and Brad Pitt. Producers Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner said that Fincher would begin directing it in June 2019. However, in February 2019, Paramount cancelled the project. As of 2019, Fincher serves as an executive producer for Love, Death & Robots, an animated science-fiction web series for Netflix.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "In July 2019, Fincher signed on to direct Mank, a biopic about Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. Mank received a limited theatrical release on November 13, 2020, and was made available on Netflix on December 4. Gary Oldman portrayed Mankiewicz, and the film received ten Academy Award nominations, winning two for Best Cinematography and Best Production Design.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Fincher served as an executive producer on a series titled Voir (2021) for Netflix. In 2022, Fincher made his first foray in animation directing an episode for the third season of Love, Death & Robots. The episode is titled \"Bad Travelling\" and was written by Seven screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker. In February 2021, it was reported that Fincher would direct an adaptation of the graphic novel The Killer for Netflix, with Andrew Kevin Walker writing the screenplay and Michael Fassbender attached to star. It premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival. It began a limited theatrical release in October 2023 and was subsequently released on Netflix on 10 November.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Fincher did not attend film school. He has listed filmmakers George Roy Hill, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Alan J. Pakula, Ridley Scott, and Martin Scorsese as his major influences. His personal favorite films include Rear Window (1954), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Graduate (1967), Paper Moon (1973), American Graffiti (1973), Jaws (1975), All the President's Men (1976), Taxi Driver (1976), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and Zelig (1983). He suggested that his film Panic Room is a combination of Rear Window and Straw Dogs (1971).",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "For Seven, Fincher and cinematographer Darius Khondji were inspired by films The French Connection (1971) and Klute (1971), as well as the work of photographer Robert Frank. He has cited graphic designer Saul Bass as an inspiration for his films' title sequences; Bass designed many such sequences for prominent directors, including Hitchcock and Kubrick.",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Those are the moments where moviemaking is not like writing, and it's not like the theater, and it's not like performance art, and it's not like sculpting. It's truly its own discipline. There's nothing else like it in those moments where you go, wow, here's an intent that was probably never even thought of by the guy who wrote the book. And yet this person who may or may not have even read the source material has found this thing. That, for me, after the previsualization, is the most exciting part of the whole.",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "—Fincher on serendipity during filmmaking.",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Fincher's filmmaking process always begins with extensive research and preparation, although he has said the process is different every time: \"I enjoy reading a script that you can see in your head, and then I enjoy the casting and I enjoy the rehearsal, and I enjoy all the meetings about what it should be, what it could be, what it might be.\" He has admitted to having autocratic tendencies and prefers to micromanage every aspect of a film's production. Icelandic film producer Sigurjón Sighvatsson, with whom Fincher has collaborated for decades, has said that \"[Fincher] was always a rebel... always challenging the status quo\".",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Known for his perfectionism and meticulous eye for detail, Fincher performs thorough research when casting actors to ensure their suitability for the part. His colleague Max Daly said, \"He's really good at finding the one detail that was missed. He knows more than anybody.\" Producer Laura Ziskin said of him, \"He's just scary smart, sort of smarter than everyone else in the room.\" He approaches editing like \"intricate mathematical problems\". Long-time collaborator Angus Wall said that editing Zodiac was like \"putting together a Swiss watch... all the pieces are so beautifully machined\". He elaborated, \"[Fincher] is incredibly specific. He never settles. And there's a purity that shows in his work.\"",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "When working with actors, Fincher is known to demand a grueling series of takes to capture a scene perfectly. For instance, the Zodiac cast members were required to do upwards of 70 takes for certain scenes, much to the displeasure of Jake Gyllenhaal. Rooney Mara had to endure 99 takes for a scene in The Social Network and said that Fincher enjoys challenging people. Gone Girl averaged 50 takes per scene. In one of the episodes for Mindhunter, it was reported that a nine-minute scene took 11 hours to shoot. When asked about this method, Fincher said, \"I hate earnestness in performance... usually by take 17 the earnestness is gone.\" He added that he wants a scene to be as natural and authentic as possible. Some actors appreciate this approach, arguing that the subtle adjustments have a big difference in the way a scene is carried. Others have been critical, with R. Lee Ermey stating, \"[Fincher] wants puppets. He doesn't want actors that are creative.\"",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Fincher prefers shooting with Red digital cameras, under natural or pre-existing light conditions rather than using elaborate lighting setups. Fincher is known to use computer-generated imagery, which is mostly unnoticeable to the viewer. He does not normally use hand-held cameras during filming, instead preferring cameras on a tripod. He said, \"Handheld has a powerful psychological stranglehold. It means something specific and I don't want to cloud what's going on with too much meaning.\" He has experimented with the disembodied camera movement, notably in Panic Room, where the camera glides around the house to give the impression of surveillance by an unseen observer.",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "One element of Fincher's visual style is the specific way in which he uses tilt, pan, and track in the camera movements. When a character is in motion or expressing emotions, the camera moves at the exact same speed and direction as their body. The movements are choreographed precisely between the actors and camera operators. The resulting effect helps the audience connect with the character to understand their feelings. Similarly, in his music videos, Fincher appreciated that the visuals should enhance the listening experience. He would cut around the vocals, and let the choreography finish before cutting the shot. Camera movements are synchronized to the beat of the music.",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Some regard Fincher as an auteur filmmaker, although he dislikes being associated with that term. Much of his work is influenced by classical film noir and neo noir genres. Fincher's visual style also includes using monochromatic and desaturated colors of blue, green, and yellow, representing the world that the characters are in. In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Fincher uses heavy desaturation for certain scenes, and increases or decreases the effect based on the story or characters' emotions. Erik Messerschmidt, cinematographer for Mindhunter, explained the color palette: \"The show has a desaturated green-yellow look... [it] helps give the show its period feel.\" He states the effect is achieved through production design, costumes, and filming locations—not necessarily through lighting used on set. Fincher also favors detailed and pronounced shadows, as well as using minimal light. When asked about his use of dim lighting, he said bright lights make the color of skin appear unnatural, and that the lights and colors in his films represent \"the way the world looks to [him]\".",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Fincher has explored themes of martyrdom, alienation, and dehumanization of modern culture. In addition to the wider themes of good and evil, his characters are usually troubled, discontented, and flawed; they are often unable to socialize and suffer from loneliness. In Seven, Zodiac, and The Social Network, themes of pressure and obsession are explored, leading to the character's downfall. Quoting historian Frank Krutnik, the writer Piers McCarthy argues that \"the protagonists of these films are not totally in control of their actions but are subject to darker, inner impulses\".",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "In a 2017 interview, Fincher explained his fascination of sinister themes: \"There was always a house in any neighborhood that I ever lived in that all the kids on the street wondered, 'What are those people up to?' We sort of attach the sinister to the mundane in order to make things interesting... I think it's also because in order for something to be evil, it almost has to cloak itself as something else.\" Fincher once stated, \"I think people are perverts. I've maintained that. That's the foundation of my career.\"",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Over the course of his career, Fincher has shown loyalty to many members of his cast and crew. As a music video director, he collaborated with Paula Abdul five times, as well as Madonna and Rick Springfield four times each. Once he made the transition to feature films, he cast Brad Pitt in three of them. He said of Pitt, \"On-screen and off-screen, Brad's the ultimate guy... he has such a great ease with who he is.\" Bob Stephenson, Michael Massee, Christopher John Fields, John Getz, Elias Koteas, Zach Grenier, Charles Dance, Rooney Mara, Jared Leto, and Richmond Arquette have also appeared in at least two of his films.",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Fight Club was scored by the Dust Brothers, who at that point had never scored a film. Describing their working relationship with Fincher, they said he \"was not hanging over our shoulders telling us what to do\" and that the only direction he gave was to make the music sound as great as the score from The Graduate (1967). Nine Inch Nails members Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed the music for The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, Mank, and The Killer. The musicians describe their working relationship as \"collaborative, respectful, and inspiring\" although quipped that it \"hasn't gotten any easier\". Many years before the duo worked with Fincher, he arranged for a remix of the Nine Inch Nails song \"Closer\" to play over the opening credits of Seven. Howard Shore composed the scores for Seven, The Game, and Panic Room.",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Darius Khondji and Jeff Cronenweth have served as cinematographers for Fincher's films. Khondji said, \"Fincher deserves a lot of credit. It was his influence that pushed me to experiment and got me as far as I did.\" Fincher has hired sound designer Ren Klyce in all his films since 1995 and trusts him \"implicitly\". He has worked with film editor Angus Wall since 1988. Wall has worked on seven of his films, five of which as editor.",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Donald Graham Burt has served as a production designer for six films and Bob Wagner has served as an assistant director for six. Casting director Laray Mayfield has worked with Fincher for over 20 years. In a 2010 interview, Fincher said, \"You don't have to love all of your co-collaborators, but you do have to respect them. And when you do, when you realize that people bring stuff to the table that's not necessarily your experience, but if you allow yourself to relate to it, it can enrich the buffet that you're going to bring with you into the editing room.\"",
"title": "Filmmaking style and techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Fincher married model Donya Fiorentino (sister of actress Linda Fiorentino). They had one daughter together, Phelix Imogen (born 1994), before divorcing in 1995. Fincher married producer Ceán Chaffin in 2013.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Tim Walker of The Independent praised Fincher's work, stating \"His portrayals of the modern psyche have a power and precision that few film-makers can match.\" In 2003, Fincher was ranked 39th in The Guardian's 40 best directors. In 2012, The Guardian listed him again in their ranking of 23 best film directors in the world, applauding \"his ability to sustain tone and tension\". In 2016, Zodiac and The Social Network appeared in the BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century list. In addition to films, Fincher has often been admired for producing some of the most creative music videos.",
"title": "Works and accolades"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Fincher received three Academy Award for Best Director nominations for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), The Social Network (2010), and Mank (2020). He won both the BAFTA Award for Best Direction and the Golden Globe Award for Best Director for The Social Network. He also received two Grammy Awards for \"Love Is Strong\" (1995) by The Rolling Stones and \"Suit & Tie\" (2013) by Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z as well as four Primetime Emmy Awards for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for House of Cards (2013) and three Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program for Love, Death & Robots.",
"title": "Works and accolades"
}
] | David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film director. His films, most of which are psychological thrillers, have collectively grossed over $2.1 billion worldwide and have received 40 Academy Award nominations; this includes three Best Director nominations for him. He has also received four Primetime Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award. Fincher co-founded the production company Propaganda Films in 1986. He directed numerous music videos for the company, including Madonna's "Express Yourself" in 1989 and "Vogue" in 1990, both of which won him the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction. He received two Grammy Awards for Best Music Video for "Love Is Strong" (1994) by the Rolling Stones and "Suit & Tie" (2013) by Justin Timberlake featuring Jay-Z. He made his feature film debut with Alien 3 (1992) and gained his breakthrough with Seven (1995). He has since directed The Game (1997), Fight Club (1999), Panic Room (2002), Zodiac (2007), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Gone Girl (2014), and The Killer (2023). He received Academy Award for Best Director nominations for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), The Social Network (2010), and Mank (2020). In television, Fincher has served as an executive producer and director for the Netflix series House of Cards (2013–2018) and Mindhunter (2017–2019), winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the pilot episode of the former. He also executive produced and co-created the Netflix animated series Love, Death & Robots (2019–present) which received three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program. | 2001-07-25T13:04:43Z | 2023-12-28T06:45:28Z | [
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8,080 | List of decades, centuries, and millennia | The list below includes links to articles with further details for each decade, century, and millennium from 13,000 BC to AD 3000. | [
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] | The list below includes links to articles with further details for each decade, century, and millennium from 13,000 BC to AD 3000. | 2001-05-20T19:57:07Z | 2023-12-10T22:15:04Z | [
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8,081 | Douglas Engelbart | Douglas Carl Engelbart (January 30, 1925 – July 2, 2013) was an American engineer and inventor, and an early computer and Internet pioneer. He is best known for his work on founding the field of human–computer interaction, particularly while at his Augmentation Research Center Lab in SRI International, which resulted in creation of the computer mouse, and the development of hypertext, networked computers, and precursors to graphical user interfaces. These were demonstrated at The Mother of All Demos in 1968. Engelbart's law, the observation that the intrinsic rate of human performance is exponential, is named after him.
NLS, the "oN-Line System", developed by the Augmentation Research Center under Engelbart's guidance with funding primarily from ARPA (as DARPA was then known), demonstrated numerous technologies, most of which are now in widespread use; it included the computer mouse, bitmapped screens, hypertext; all of which were displayed at "The Mother of All Demos" in 1968. The lab was transferred from SRI to Tymshare in the late 1970s, which was acquired by McDonnell Douglas in 1984, and NLS was renamed Augment (now the Doug Engelbart Institute). At both Tymshare and McDonnell Douglas, Engelbart was limited by a lack of interest in his ideas and funding to pursue them and retired in 1986.
In 1988, Engelbart and his daughter Christina launched the Bootstrap Institute – later known as The Doug Engelbart Institute – to promote his vision, especially at Stanford University; this effort did result in some DARPA funding to modernize the user interface of Augment. In December 2000, United States President Bill Clinton awarded Engelbart the National Medal of Technology, the U.S.'s highest technology award. In December 2008, Engelbart was honored by SRI at the 40th anniversary of the "Mother of All Demos".
Engelbart was born in Portland, Oregon, on January 30, 1925, to Carl Louis Engelbart and Gladys Charlotte Amelia Munson Engelbart. His ancestors were of German, Swedish and Norwegian descent.
He was the middle of three children, with a sister Dorianne (three years older), and a brother David (14 months younger). The family lived in Portland, Oregon, in his early years, and moved to the surrounding countryside along Johnson Creek when he was 8. His father died one year later. He graduated from Portland's Franklin High School in 1942.
Midway through his undergraduate years at Oregon State University, he served two years in the United States Navy as a radio and radar technician in the Philippines. It was there, on the remote island of Leyte in a small traditional hut on stilts, that he read Vannevar Bush's article "As We May Think", which would have a large influence on his thinking and work. He returned to Oregon State and completed his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1948. While at Oregon State, he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon social fraternity. He was hired by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics at the Ames Research Center, where he worked in wind tunnel maintenance. In his off hours he enjoyed hiking, camping, and folk dancing. It was there he met Ballard Fish (August 18, 1928 – June 18, 1997), who was just completing her training to become an occupational therapist. They were married in Portola State Park on May 5, 1951. Soon after, Engelbart left Ames to pursue graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley, he studied electrical engineering with a specialty in computers, earning his MS in 1953 and his PhD in 1955.
Engelbart's career was inspired in December 1950 when he was engaged to be married and realized he had no career goals other than "a steady job, getting married and living happily ever after". Over several months he reasoned that:
In 1945, Engelbart had read with interest Vannevar Bush's article "As We May Think", a call to action for making knowledge widely available as a national peacetime grand challenge. He had also read something about the recent phenomenon of computers, and from his experience as a radar technician, he knew that information could be analyzed and displayed on a screen. He envisioned intellectual workers sitting at display "working stations", flying through information space, harnessing their collective intellectual capacity to solve important problems together in much more powerful ways. Harnessing collective intellect, facilitated by interactive computers, became his life's mission at a time when computers were viewed as number crunching tools.
As a graduate student at Berkeley, he assisted in the construction of CALDIC. His graduate work led to eight patents. After completing his doctorate, Engelbart stayed on at Berkeley as an assistant professor for a year before departing when it became clear that he could not pursue his vision there. Engelbart then formed a startup company, Digital Techniques, to commercialize some of his doctoral research on storage devices, but after a year decided instead to pursue the research he had been dreaming of since 1951.
Engelbart took a position at SRI International (known then as Stanford Research Institute) in Menlo Park, California in 1957. He worked for Hewitt Crane on magnetic devices and miniaturization of electronics; Engelbart and Crane became close friends. At SRI, Engelbart soon obtained a dozen patents, and by 1962 produced a report about his vision and proposed research agenda titled Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework. Among other highlights, this paper introduced "Building Information Modelling", which architectural and engineering practice eventually adopted (first as "parametric design") in the 1990s and after.
This led to funding from ARPA to launch his work. Engelbart recruited a research team in his new Augmentation Research Center (ARC, the lab he founded at SRI). Engelbart embedded a set of organizing principles in his lab, which he termed "bootstrapping strategy". He designed the strategy to accelerate the rate of innovation of his lab.
The ARC became the driving force behind the design and development of the oN-Line System (NLS). He and his team developed computer interface elements such as bitmapped screens, the mouse, hypertext, collaborative tools, and precursors to the graphical user interface. He conceived and developed many of his user interface ideas in the mid-1960s, long before the personal computer revolution, at a time when most computers were inaccessible to individuals who could only use computers through intermediaries (see batch processing), and when software tended to be written for vertical applications in proprietary systems.
Engelbart applied for a patent in 1967 and received it in 1970, for the wooden shell with two metal wheels (computer mouse – U.S. Patent 3,541,541), which he had developed with Bill English, his lead engineer, sometime before 1965. In the patent application it is described as an "X-Y position indicator for a display system". Engelbart later revealed that it was nicknamed the "mouse" because the tail came out the end. His group also called the on-screen Cursor a "bug", but this term was not widely adopted. Engelbart's original cursor was displayed as an arrow pointing upward, but was slanted to the left upon its deployment in the XEROX PARC machine to better distinguish between on-screen text and the cursor in the machine's low-resolution interface. The now-familiar cursor arrow is characterized by a vertical left side and a 45-degree angle on the right.
He never received any royalties for the invention of the mouse. During an interview, he said, "SRI patented the mouse, but they really had no idea of its value. Some years later it was learned that they had licensed it to Apple Computer for something like $40,000." Engelbart showcased the chorded keyboard and many more of his and ARC's inventions in 1968 at The Mother of All Demos.
Engelbart slipped into relative obscurity by the mid-1970s. As early as 1970, several of his researchers became alienated from him and left his organization for Xerox PARC, in part due to frustration, and in part due to differing views of the future of computing. Engelbart saw the future in collaborative, networked, timeshare (client-server) computers, which younger programmers rejected in favor of the personal computer. The conflict was both technical and ideological: the younger programmers came from an era where centralized power was highly suspect, and personal computing was just barely on the horizon.
Beginning in 1972, several key ARC personnel were involved in Erhard Seminars Training (EST), with Engelbart ultimately serving on the corporation's board of directors for many years. Although EST had been recommended by other researchers, the controversial nature of EST and other social experiments reduced the morale and social cohesion of the ARC community. The 1969 Mansfield Amendment, which ended military funding of non-military research, the end of the Vietnam War, and the end of the Apollo program gradually reduced ARC's funding from ARPA and NASA throughout the early 1970s.
SRI's management, which disapproved of Engelbart's approach to running the center, placed the remains of ARC under the control of artificial intelligence researcher Bertram Raphael, who negotiated the transfer of the laboratory to Tymshare in 1976. Engelbart's house in Atherton, California burned down during this period, causing him and his family further problems. Tymshare took over NLS and the lab that Engelbart had founded, hired most of the lab's staff (including its creator as a Senior Scientist), renamed the software Augment, and offered it as a commercial service via its new Office Automation Division. Tymshare was already somewhat familiar with NLS; when ARC was still operational, it had experimented with its own local copy of the NLS software on a minicomputer called OFFICE-1, as part of a joint project with ARC.
At Tymshare, Engelbart soon found himself further marginalized. Operational concerns at Tymshare overrode Engelbart's desire to conduct ongoing research. Various executives, first at Tymshare and later at McDonnell Douglas, which acquired Tymshare in 1984, expressed interest in his ideas, but never committed the funds or the people to further develop them. His interest inside of McDonnell Douglas was focused on the enormous knowledge management and IT requirements involved in the life cycle of an aerospace program, which served to strengthen Engelbart's resolve to motivate the information technology arena toward global interoperability and an open hyperdocument system. Engelbart retired from McDonnell Douglas in 1986, determined to pursue his work free from commercial pressure.
Teaming with his daughter, Christina Engelbart, he founded the Bootstrap Institute in 1988 to coalesce his ideas into a series of three-day and half-day management seminars offered at Stanford University from 1989 to 2000. By the early 1990s there was sufficient interest among his seminar graduates to launch a collaborative implementation of his work, and the Bootstrap Alliance was formed as a non-profit home base for this effort. Although the invasion of Iraq and subsequent recession spawned a rash of belt-tightening reorganizations which drastically redirected the efforts of their alliance partners, they continued with the management seminars, consulting, and small-scale collaborations. In the mid-1990s they were awarded some DARPA funding to develop a modern user interface to Augment, called Visual AugTerm (VAT), while participating in a larger program addressing the IT requirements of the Joint Task Force.
Engelbart was Founder Emeritus of the Doug Engelbart Institute, which he founded in 1988 with his daughter Christina Engelbart, who is Executive Director. The Institute promotes Engelbart's philosophy for boosting Collective IQ—the concept of dramatically improving how we can solve important problems together—using a strategic bootstrapping approach for accelerating our progress toward that goal. In 2005, Engelbart received a National Science Foundation grant to fund the open source HyperScope project. The Hyperscope team built a browser component using Ajax and Dynamic HTML designed to replicate Augment's multiple viewing and jumping capabilities (linking within and across various documents).
Engelbart attended the Program for the Future 2010 Conference where hundreds of people convened at The Tech Museum in San Jose and online to engage in dialog about how to pursue his vision to augment collective intelligence.
The most complete coverage of Engelbart's bootstrapping ideas can be found in Boosting Our Collective IQ, by Douglas C. Engelbart, 1995. This includes three of Engelbart's key papers, edited into book form by Yuri Rubinsky and Christina Engelbart to commemorate the presentation of the 1995 SoftQuad Web Award to Doug Engelbart at the World Wide Web conference in Boston in December 1995. Only 2,000 softcover copies were printed, and 100 hardcover, numbered and signed by Engelbart and Tim Berners-Lee. Engelbart's book is now being republished by the Doug Engelbart Institute.
Two comprehensive histories of Engelbart's laboratory and work are in What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry by John Markoff and A Heritage of Innovation: SRI's First Half Century by Donald Neilson. Other books on Engelbart and his laboratory include Bootstrapping: Douglas Engelbart, Coevolution, and the Origins of Personal Computing by Thierry Bardini and The Engelbart Hypothesis: Dialogs with Douglas Engelbart, by Valerie Landau and Eileen Clegg in conversation with Douglas Engelbart. All four of these books are based on interviews with Engelbart as well as other contributors in his laboratory.
Engelbart served on the Advisory Boards of the University of Santa Clara Center for Science, Technology, and Society, Foresight Institute, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, The Technology Center of Silicon Valley, and The Liquid Information Company.
Engelbart had four children, Gerda, Diana, Christina and Norman with his first wife Ballard, who died in 1997 after 47 years of marriage. He remarried on January 26, 2008, to writer and producer Karen O'Leary Engelbart. An 85th birthday celebration was held at the Tech Museum of Innovation. Engelbart died at his home in Atherton, California, on July 2, 2013, due to kidney failure. A close friend and fellow internet pioneer, Ted Nelson, gave a speech paying tribute to Engelbart. According to the Doug Engelbart Institute, his death came after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, which he was diagnosed with in 2007. Engelbart was 88 and was survived by his second wife, the four children from his first marriage, and nine grandchildren.
Historian of science Thierry Bardini argues that Engelbart's complex personal philosophy (which drove all his research) foreshadowed the modern application of the concept of coevolution to the philosophy and use of technology. Bardini points out that Engelbart was strongly influenced by the principle of linguistic relativity developed by Benjamin Lee Whorf. Where Whorf reasoned that the sophistication of a language controls the sophistication of the thoughts that can be expressed by a speaker of that language, Engelbart reasoned that the state of our current technology controls our ability to manipulate information, and that fact in turn will control our ability to develop new, improved technologies. He thus set himself to the revolutionary task of developing computer-based technologies for manipulating information directly, and also to improve individual and group processes for knowledge-work.
Since the late 1980s, prominent individuals and organizations have recognized the seminal importance of Engelbart's contributions. In December 1995, at the Fourth WWW Conference in Boston, he was the first recipient of what would later become the Yuri Rubinsky Memorial Award. In 1997, he was awarded the Lemelson-MIT Prize of $500,000, the world's largest single prize for invention and innovation, and the ACM Turing Award. To mark the 30th anniversary of Engelbart's 1968 demo, in 1998 the Stanford Silicon Valley Archives and the Institute for the Future hosted Engelbart's Unfinished Revolution, a symposium at Stanford University's Memorial Auditorium, to honor Engelbart and his ideas. He was inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1998.
Engelbart was awarded the Stibitz-Wilson Award from the American Computer & Robotics Museum in 1998.
Also in 1998, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) SIGCHI awarded Engelbart the CHI Lifetime Achievement Award. ACM SIGCHI later inducted Engelbart into the CHI Academy in 2002. Engelbart was awarded The Franklin Institute's Certificate of Merit in 1996 and the Benjamin Franklin Medal in 1999 in Computer and Cognitive Science. In early 2000 Engelbart produced, with volunteers and sponsors, what was called The Unfinished Revolution – II, also known as the Engelbart Colloquium at Stanford University, to document and publicize his work and ideas to a larger audience (live, and online).
In December 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton awarded Engelbart the National Medal of Technology, the country's highest technology award. In 2001 he was awarded the British Computer Society's Lovelace Medal. In 2005, he was made a Fellow of the Computer History Museum "for advancing the study of human–computer interaction, developing the mouse input device, and for the application of computers to improving organizational efficiency." He was honored with the Norbert Wiener Award, which is given annually by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. Robert X. Cringely did an hour-long interview with Engelbart on December 9, 2005, in his NerdTV video podcast series.
On December 9, 2008, Engelbart was honored at the 40th Anniversary celebration of the 1968 "Mother of All Demos". This event, produced by SRI International, was held at Memorial Auditorium at Stanford University. Speakers included several members of Engelbart's original Augmentation Research Center (ARC) team including Don Andrews, Bill Paxton, Bill English, and Jeff Rulifson, Engelbart's chief government sponsor Bob Taylor, and other pioneers of interactive computing, including Andy van Dam and Alan Kay. In addition, Christina Engelbart spoke about her father's early influences and the ongoing work of the Doug Engelbart Institute.
In June 2009, the New Media Consortium recognized Engelbart as an NMC Fellow for his lifetime of achievements. In 2011, Engelbart was inducted into IEEE Intelligent Systems' AI's Hall of Fame. Engelbart received the first honorary Doctor of Engineering and Technology degree from Yale University in May 2011.
Quotations related to Douglas Engelbart at Wikiquote | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Douglas Carl Engelbart (January 30, 1925 – July 2, 2013) was an American engineer and inventor, and an early computer and Internet pioneer. He is best known for his work on founding the field of human–computer interaction, particularly while at his Augmentation Research Center Lab in SRI International, which resulted in creation of the computer mouse, and the development of hypertext, networked computers, and precursors to graphical user interfaces. These were demonstrated at The Mother of All Demos in 1968. Engelbart's law, the observation that the intrinsic rate of human performance is exponential, is named after him.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "NLS, the \"oN-Line System\", developed by the Augmentation Research Center under Engelbart's guidance with funding primarily from ARPA (as DARPA was then known), demonstrated numerous technologies, most of which are now in widespread use; it included the computer mouse, bitmapped screens, hypertext; all of which were displayed at \"The Mother of All Demos\" in 1968. The lab was transferred from SRI to Tymshare in the late 1970s, which was acquired by McDonnell Douglas in 1984, and NLS was renamed Augment (now the Doug Engelbart Institute). At both Tymshare and McDonnell Douglas, Engelbart was limited by a lack of interest in his ideas and funding to pursue them and retired in 1986.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In 1988, Engelbart and his daughter Christina launched the Bootstrap Institute – later known as The Doug Engelbart Institute – to promote his vision, especially at Stanford University; this effort did result in some DARPA funding to modernize the user interface of Augment. In December 2000, United States President Bill Clinton awarded Engelbart the National Medal of Technology, the U.S.'s highest technology award. In December 2008, Engelbart was honored by SRI at the 40th anniversary of the \"Mother of All Demos\".",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Engelbart was born in Portland, Oregon, on January 30, 1925, to Carl Louis Engelbart and Gladys Charlotte Amelia Munson Engelbart. His ancestors were of German, Swedish and Norwegian descent.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "He was the middle of three children, with a sister Dorianne (three years older), and a brother David (14 months younger). The family lived in Portland, Oregon, in his early years, and moved to the surrounding countryside along Johnson Creek when he was 8. His father died one year later. He graduated from Portland's Franklin High School in 1942.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Midway through his undergraduate years at Oregon State University, he served two years in the United States Navy as a radio and radar technician in the Philippines. It was there, on the remote island of Leyte in a small traditional hut on stilts, that he read Vannevar Bush's article \"As We May Think\", which would have a large influence on his thinking and work. He returned to Oregon State and completed his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1948. While at Oregon State, he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon social fraternity. He was hired by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics at the Ames Research Center, where he worked in wind tunnel maintenance. In his off hours he enjoyed hiking, camping, and folk dancing. It was there he met Ballard Fish (August 18, 1928 – June 18, 1997), who was just completing her training to become an occupational therapist. They were married in Portola State Park on May 5, 1951. Soon after, Engelbart left Ames to pursue graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley, he studied electrical engineering with a specialty in computers, earning his MS in 1953 and his PhD in 1955.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Engelbart's career was inspired in December 1950 when he was engaged to be married and realized he had no career goals other than \"a steady job, getting married and living happily ever after\". Over several months he reasoned that:",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In 1945, Engelbart had read with interest Vannevar Bush's article \"As We May Think\", a call to action for making knowledge widely available as a national peacetime grand challenge. He had also read something about the recent phenomenon of computers, and from his experience as a radar technician, he knew that information could be analyzed and displayed on a screen. He envisioned intellectual workers sitting at display \"working stations\", flying through information space, harnessing their collective intellectual capacity to solve important problems together in much more powerful ways. Harnessing collective intellect, facilitated by interactive computers, became his life's mission at a time when computers were viewed as number crunching tools.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "As a graduate student at Berkeley, he assisted in the construction of CALDIC. His graduate work led to eight patents. After completing his doctorate, Engelbart stayed on at Berkeley as an assistant professor for a year before departing when it became clear that he could not pursue his vision there. Engelbart then formed a startup company, Digital Techniques, to commercialize some of his doctoral research on storage devices, but after a year decided instead to pursue the research he had been dreaming of since 1951.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Engelbart took a position at SRI International (known then as Stanford Research Institute) in Menlo Park, California in 1957. He worked for Hewitt Crane on magnetic devices and miniaturization of electronics; Engelbart and Crane became close friends. At SRI, Engelbart soon obtained a dozen patents, and by 1962 produced a report about his vision and proposed research agenda titled Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework. Among other highlights, this paper introduced \"Building Information Modelling\", which architectural and engineering practice eventually adopted (first as \"parametric design\") in the 1990s and after.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "This led to funding from ARPA to launch his work. Engelbart recruited a research team in his new Augmentation Research Center (ARC, the lab he founded at SRI). Engelbart embedded a set of organizing principles in his lab, which he termed \"bootstrapping strategy\". He designed the strategy to accelerate the rate of innovation of his lab.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The ARC became the driving force behind the design and development of the oN-Line System (NLS). He and his team developed computer interface elements such as bitmapped screens, the mouse, hypertext, collaborative tools, and precursors to the graphical user interface. He conceived and developed many of his user interface ideas in the mid-1960s, long before the personal computer revolution, at a time when most computers were inaccessible to individuals who could only use computers through intermediaries (see batch processing), and when software tended to be written for vertical applications in proprietary systems.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Engelbart applied for a patent in 1967 and received it in 1970, for the wooden shell with two metal wheels (computer mouse – U.S. Patent 3,541,541), which he had developed with Bill English, his lead engineer, sometime before 1965. In the patent application it is described as an \"X-Y position indicator for a display system\". Engelbart later revealed that it was nicknamed the \"mouse\" because the tail came out the end. His group also called the on-screen Cursor a \"bug\", but this term was not widely adopted. Engelbart's original cursor was displayed as an arrow pointing upward, but was slanted to the left upon its deployment in the XEROX PARC machine to better distinguish between on-screen text and the cursor in the machine's low-resolution interface. The now-familiar cursor arrow is characterized by a vertical left side and a 45-degree angle on the right.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "He never received any royalties for the invention of the mouse. During an interview, he said, \"SRI patented the mouse, but they really had no idea of its value. Some years later it was learned that they had licensed it to Apple Computer for something like $40,000.\" Engelbart showcased the chorded keyboard and many more of his and ARC's inventions in 1968 at The Mother of All Demos.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Engelbart slipped into relative obscurity by the mid-1970s. As early as 1970, several of his researchers became alienated from him and left his organization for Xerox PARC, in part due to frustration, and in part due to differing views of the future of computing. Engelbart saw the future in collaborative, networked, timeshare (client-server) computers, which younger programmers rejected in favor of the personal computer. The conflict was both technical and ideological: the younger programmers came from an era where centralized power was highly suspect, and personal computing was just barely on the horizon.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Beginning in 1972, several key ARC personnel were involved in Erhard Seminars Training (EST), with Engelbart ultimately serving on the corporation's board of directors for many years. Although EST had been recommended by other researchers, the controversial nature of EST and other social experiments reduced the morale and social cohesion of the ARC community. The 1969 Mansfield Amendment, which ended military funding of non-military research, the end of the Vietnam War, and the end of the Apollo program gradually reduced ARC's funding from ARPA and NASA throughout the early 1970s.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "SRI's management, which disapproved of Engelbart's approach to running the center, placed the remains of ARC under the control of artificial intelligence researcher Bertram Raphael, who negotiated the transfer of the laboratory to Tymshare in 1976. Engelbart's house in Atherton, California burned down during this period, causing him and his family further problems. Tymshare took over NLS and the lab that Engelbart had founded, hired most of the lab's staff (including its creator as a Senior Scientist), renamed the software Augment, and offered it as a commercial service via its new Office Automation Division. Tymshare was already somewhat familiar with NLS; when ARC was still operational, it had experimented with its own local copy of the NLS software on a minicomputer called OFFICE-1, as part of a joint project with ARC.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "At Tymshare, Engelbart soon found himself further marginalized. Operational concerns at Tymshare overrode Engelbart's desire to conduct ongoing research. Various executives, first at Tymshare and later at McDonnell Douglas, which acquired Tymshare in 1984, expressed interest in his ideas, but never committed the funds or the people to further develop them. His interest inside of McDonnell Douglas was focused on the enormous knowledge management and IT requirements involved in the life cycle of an aerospace program, which served to strengthen Engelbart's resolve to motivate the information technology arena toward global interoperability and an open hyperdocument system. Engelbart retired from McDonnell Douglas in 1986, determined to pursue his work free from commercial pressure.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Teaming with his daughter, Christina Engelbart, he founded the Bootstrap Institute in 1988 to coalesce his ideas into a series of three-day and half-day management seminars offered at Stanford University from 1989 to 2000. By the early 1990s there was sufficient interest among his seminar graduates to launch a collaborative implementation of his work, and the Bootstrap Alliance was formed as a non-profit home base for this effort. Although the invasion of Iraq and subsequent recession spawned a rash of belt-tightening reorganizations which drastically redirected the efforts of their alliance partners, they continued with the management seminars, consulting, and small-scale collaborations. In the mid-1990s they were awarded some DARPA funding to develop a modern user interface to Augment, called Visual AugTerm (VAT), while participating in a larger program addressing the IT requirements of the Joint Task Force.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Engelbart was Founder Emeritus of the Doug Engelbart Institute, which he founded in 1988 with his daughter Christina Engelbart, who is Executive Director. The Institute promotes Engelbart's philosophy for boosting Collective IQ—the concept of dramatically improving how we can solve important problems together—using a strategic bootstrapping approach for accelerating our progress toward that goal. In 2005, Engelbart received a National Science Foundation grant to fund the open source HyperScope project. The Hyperscope team built a browser component using Ajax and Dynamic HTML designed to replicate Augment's multiple viewing and jumping capabilities (linking within and across various documents).",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Engelbart attended the Program for the Future 2010 Conference where hundreds of people convened at The Tech Museum in San Jose and online to engage in dialog about how to pursue his vision to augment collective intelligence.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The most complete coverage of Engelbart's bootstrapping ideas can be found in Boosting Our Collective IQ, by Douglas C. Engelbart, 1995. This includes three of Engelbart's key papers, edited into book form by Yuri Rubinsky and Christina Engelbart to commemorate the presentation of the 1995 SoftQuad Web Award to Doug Engelbart at the World Wide Web conference in Boston in December 1995. Only 2,000 softcover copies were printed, and 100 hardcover, numbered and signed by Engelbart and Tim Berners-Lee. Engelbart's book is now being republished by the Doug Engelbart Institute.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Two comprehensive histories of Engelbart's laboratory and work are in What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry by John Markoff and A Heritage of Innovation: SRI's First Half Century by Donald Neilson. Other books on Engelbart and his laboratory include Bootstrapping: Douglas Engelbart, Coevolution, and the Origins of Personal Computing by Thierry Bardini and The Engelbart Hypothesis: Dialogs with Douglas Engelbart, by Valerie Landau and Eileen Clegg in conversation with Douglas Engelbart. All four of these books are based on interviews with Engelbart as well as other contributors in his laboratory.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Engelbart served on the Advisory Boards of the University of Santa Clara Center for Science, Technology, and Society, Foresight Institute, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, The Technology Center of Silicon Valley, and The Liquid Information Company.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Engelbart had four children, Gerda, Diana, Christina and Norman with his first wife Ballard, who died in 1997 after 47 years of marriage. He remarried on January 26, 2008, to writer and producer Karen O'Leary Engelbart. An 85th birthday celebration was held at the Tech Museum of Innovation. Engelbart died at his home in Atherton, California, on July 2, 2013, due to kidney failure. A close friend and fellow internet pioneer, Ted Nelson, gave a speech paying tribute to Engelbart. According to the Doug Engelbart Institute, his death came after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, which he was diagnosed with in 2007. Engelbart was 88 and was survived by his second wife, the four children from his first marriage, and nine grandchildren.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Historian of science Thierry Bardini argues that Engelbart's complex personal philosophy (which drove all his research) foreshadowed the modern application of the concept of coevolution to the philosophy and use of technology. Bardini points out that Engelbart was strongly influenced by the principle of linguistic relativity developed by Benjamin Lee Whorf. Where Whorf reasoned that the sophistication of a language controls the sophistication of the thoughts that can be expressed by a speaker of that language, Engelbart reasoned that the state of our current technology controls our ability to manipulate information, and that fact in turn will control our ability to develop new, improved technologies. He thus set himself to the revolutionary task of developing computer-based technologies for manipulating information directly, and also to improve individual and group processes for knowledge-work.",
"title": "Career and accomplishments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Since the late 1980s, prominent individuals and organizations have recognized the seminal importance of Engelbart's contributions. In December 1995, at the Fourth WWW Conference in Boston, he was the first recipient of what would later become the Yuri Rubinsky Memorial Award. In 1997, he was awarded the Lemelson-MIT Prize of $500,000, the world's largest single prize for invention and innovation, and the ACM Turing Award. To mark the 30th anniversary of Engelbart's 1968 demo, in 1998 the Stanford Silicon Valley Archives and the Institute for the Future hosted Engelbart's Unfinished Revolution, a symposium at Stanford University's Memorial Auditorium, to honor Engelbart and his ideas. He was inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1998.",
"title": "Awards and honors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Engelbart was awarded the Stibitz-Wilson Award from the American Computer & Robotics Museum in 1998.",
"title": "Awards and honors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Also in 1998, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) SIGCHI awarded Engelbart the CHI Lifetime Achievement Award. ACM SIGCHI later inducted Engelbart into the CHI Academy in 2002. Engelbart was awarded The Franklin Institute's Certificate of Merit in 1996 and the Benjamin Franklin Medal in 1999 in Computer and Cognitive Science. In early 2000 Engelbart produced, with volunteers and sponsors, what was called The Unfinished Revolution – II, also known as the Engelbart Colloquium at Stanford University, to document and publicize his work and ideas to a larger audience (live, and online).",
"title": "Awards and honors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "In December 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton awarded Engelbart the National Medal of Technology, the country's highest technology award. In 2001 he was awarded the British Computer Society's Lovelace Medal. In 2005, he was made a Fellow of the Computer History Museum \"for advancing the study of human–computer interaction, developing the mouse input device, and for the application of computers to improving organizational efficiency.\" He was honored with the Norbert Wiener Award, which is given annually by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. Robert X. Cringely did an hour-long interview with Engelbart on December 9, 2005, in his NerdTV video podcast series.",
"title": "Awards and honors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "On December 9, 2008, Engelbart was honored at the 40th Anniversary celebration of the 1968 \"Mother of All Demos\". This event, produced by SRI International, was held at Memorial Auditorium at Stanford University. Speakers included several members of Engelbart's original Augmentation Research Center (ARC) team including Don Andrews, Bill Paxton, Bill English, and Jeff Rulifson, Engelbart's chief government sponsor Bob Taylor, and other pioneers of interactive computing, including Andy van Dam and Alan Kay. In addition, Christina Engelbart spoke about her father's early influences and the ongoing work of the Doug Engelbart Institute.",
"title": "Awards and honors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "In June 2009, the New Media Consortium recognized Engelbart as an NMC Fellow for his lifetime of achievements. In 2011, Engelbart was inducted into IEEE Intelligent Systems' AI's Hall of Fame. Engelbart received the first honorary Doctor of Engineering and Technology degree from Yale University in May 2011.",
"title": "Awards and honors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Quotations related to Douglas Engelbart at Wikiquote",
"title": "External links"
}
] | Douglas Carl Engelbart was an American engineer and inventor, and an early computer and Internet pioneer. He is best known for his work on founding the field of human–computer interaction, particularly while at his Augmentation Research Center Lab in SRI International, which resulted in creation of the computer mouse, and the development of hypertext, networked computers, and precursors to graphical user interfaces. These were demonstrated at The Mother of All Demos in 1968. Engelbart's law, the observation that the intrinsic rate of human performance is exponential, is named after him. NLS, the "oN-Line System", developed by the Augmentation Research Center under Engelbart's guidance with funding primarily from ARPA, demonstrated numerous technologies, most of which are now in widespread use; it included the computer mouse, bitmapped screens, hypertext; all of which were displayed at "The Mother of All Demos" in 1968. The lab was transferred from SRI to Tymshare in the late 1970s, which was acquired by McDonnell Douglas in 1984, and NLS was renamed Augment. At both Tymshare and McDonnell Douglas, Engelbart was limited by a lack of interest in his ideas and funding to pursue them and retired in 1986. In 1988, Engelbart and his daughter Christina launched the Bootstrap Institute – later known as The Doug Engelbart Institute – to promote his vision, especially at Stanford University; this effort did result in some DARPA funding to modernize the user interface of Augment. In December 2000, United States President Bill Clinton awarded Engelbart the National Medal of Technology, the U.S.'s highest technology award. In December 2008, Engelbart was honored by SRI at the 40th anniversary of the "Mother of All Demos". | 2001-10-07T18:01:23Z | 2023-12-12T06:12:37Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Engelbart |
8,082 | Diamond | Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, but diamond is metastable and converts to it at a negligible rate under those conditions. Diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any natural material, properties that are used in major industrial applications such as cutting and polishing tools. They are also the reason that diamond anvil cells can subject materials to pressures found deep in the Earth.
Because the arrangement of atoms in diamond is extremely rigid, few types of impurity can contaminate it (two exceptions are boron and nitrogen). Small numbers of defects or impurities (about one per million of lattice atoms) color diamond blue (boron), yellow (nitrogen), brown (defects), green (radiation exposure), purple, pink, orange, or red. Diamond also has a very high refractive index and a relatively high optical dispersion.
Most natural diamonds have ages between 1 billion and 3.5 billion years. Most were formed at depths between 150 and 250 kilometres (93 and 155 mi) in the Earth's mantle, although a few have come from as deep as 800 kilometres (500 mi). Under high pressure and temperature, carbon-containing fluids dissolved various minerals and replaced them with diamonds. Much more recently (hundreds to tens of million years ago), they were carried to the surface in volcanic eruptions and deposited in igneous rocks known as kimberlites and lamproites.
Synthetic diamonds can be grown from high-purity carbon under high pressures and temperatures or from hydrocarbon gases by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Imitation diamonds can also be made out of materials such as cubic zirconia and silicon carbide. Natural, synthetic, and imitation diamonds are most commonly distinguished using optical techniques or thermal conductivity measurements.
Diamond is a solid form of pure carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal. Solid carbon comes in different forms known as allotropes depending on the type of chemical bond. The two most common allotropes of pure carbon are diamond and graphite. In graphite the bonds are sp orbital hybrids and the atoms form in planes, with each bound to three nearest neighbors 120 degrees apart. In diamond they are sp and the atoms form tetrahedra with each bound to four nearest neighbors. Tetrahedra are rigid, the bonds are strong, and of all known substances diamond has the greatest number of atoms per unit volume, which is why it is both the hardest and the least compressible. It also has a high density, ranging from 3150 to 3530 kilograms per cubic metre (over three times the density of water) in natural diamonds and 3520 kg/m in pure diamond. In graphite, the bonds between nearest neighbors are even stronger, but the bonds between parallel adjacent planes are weak, so the planes easily slip past each other. Thus, graphite is much softer than diamond. However, the stronger bonds make graphite less flammable.
Diamonds have been adopted for many uses because of the material's exceptional physical characteristics. It has the highest thermal conductivity and the highest sound velocity. It has low adhesion and friction, and its coefficient of thermal expansion is extremely low. Its optical transparency extends from the far infrared to the deep ultraviolet and it has high optical dispersion. It also has high electrical resistance. It is chemically inert, not reacting with most corrosive substances, and has excellent biological compatibility.
The equilibrium pressure and temperature conditions for a transition between graphite and diamond are well established theoretically and experimentally. The equilibrium pressure varies linearly with temperature, between 1.7 GPa at 0 K and 12 GPa at 5000 K (the diamond/graphite/liquid triple point). However, the phases have a wide region about this line where they can coexist. At normal temperature and pressure, 20 °C (293 K) and 1 standard atmosphere (0.10 MPa), the stable phase of carbon is graphite, but diamond is metastable and its rate of conversion to graphite is negligible. However, at temperatures above about 4500 K, diamond rapidly converts to graphite. Rapid conversion of graphite to diamond requires pressures well above the equilibrium line: at 2000 K, a pressure of 35 GPa is needed.
Above the graphite–diamond–liquid carbon triple point, the melting point of diamond increases slowly with increasing pressure; but at pressures of hundreds of GPa, it decreases. At high pressures, silicon and germanium have a BC8 body-centered cubic crystal structure, and a similar structure is predicted for carbon at high pressures. At 0 K, the transition is predicted to occur at 1100 GPa.
Research results published in an article in the scientific journal Nature Physics in 2010 suggest that at ultrahigh pressures and temperatures (about 10 million atmospheres or 1 TPa and 50,000 °C) diamond melts into a metallic fluid. The extreme conditions required for this to occur are present in the ice giants Neptune and Uranus. Both planets are made up of approximately 10 percent carbon and could hypothetically contain oceans of liquid carbon. Since large quantities of metallic fluid can affect the magnetic field, this could serve as an explanation as to why the geographic and magnetic poles of the two planets are unaligned.
The most common crystal structure of diamond is called diamond cubic. It is formed of unit cells (see the figure) stacked together. Although there are 18 atoms in the figure, each corner atom is shared by eight unit cells and each atom in the center of a face is shared by two, so there are a total of eight atoms per unit cell. The length of each side of the unit cell is denoted by a and is 3.567 angstroms.
The nearest neighbour distance in the diamond lattice is 1.732a/4 where a is the lattice constant, usually given in Angstrøms as a = 3.567 Å, which is 0.3567 nm.
A diamond cubic lattice can be thought of as two interpenetrating face-centered cubic lattices with one displaced by 1⁄4 of the diagonal along a cubic cell, or as one lattice with two atoms associated with each lattice point. Viewed from a <1 1 1> crystallographic direction, it is formed of layers stacked in a repeating ABCABC ... pattern. Diamonds can also form an ABAB ... structure, which is known as hexagonal diamond or lonsdaleite, but this is far less common and is formed under different conditions from cubic carbon.
Diamonds occur most often as euhedral or rounded octahedra and twinned octahedra known as macles. As diamond's crystal structure has a cubic arrangement of the atoms, they have many facets that belong to a cube, octahedron, rhombicosidodecahedron, tetrakis hexahedron, or disdyakis dodecahedron. The crystals can have rounded-off and unexpressive edges and can be elongated. Diamonds (especially those with rounded crystal faces) are commonly found coated in nyf, an opaque gum-like skin.
Some diamonds contain opaque fibers. They are referred to as opaque if the fibers grow from a clear substrate or fibrous if they occupy the entire crystal. Their colors range from yellow to green or gray, sometimes with cloud-like white to gray impurities. Their most common shape is cuboidal, but they can also form octahedra, dodecahedra, macles, or combined shapes. The structure is the result of numerous impurities with sizes between 1 and 5 microns. These diamonds probably formed in kimberlite magma and sampled the volatiles.
Diamonds can also form polycrystalline aggregates. There have been attempts to classify them into groups with names such as boart, ballas, stewartite, and framesite, but there is no widely accepted set of criteria. Carbonado, a type in which the diamond grains were sintered (fused without melting by the application of heat and pressure), is black in color and tougher than single crystal diamond. It has never been observed in a volcanic rock. There are many theories for its origin, including formation in a star, but no consensus.
Diamond is the hardest known natural material on both the Vickers scale and the Mohs scale. Diamond's great hardness relative to other materials has been known since antiquity, and is the source of its name. This does not mean that it is infinitely hard, indestructible, or unscratchable. Indeed, diamonds can be scratched by other diamonds and worn down over time even by softer materials, such as vinyl phonograph records.
Diamond hardness depends on its purity, crystalline perfection, and orientation: hardness is higher for flawless, pure crystals oriented to the <111> direction (along the longest diagonal of the cubic diamond lattice). Therefore, whereas it might be possible to scratch some diamonds with other materials, such as boron nitride, the hardest diamonds can only be scratched by other diamonds and nanocrystalline diamond aggregates.
The hardness of diamond contributes to its suitability as a gemstone. Because it can only be scratched by other diamonds, it maintains its polish extremely well. Unlike many other gems, it is well-suited to daily wear because of its resistance to scratching—perhaps contributing to its popularity as the preferred gem in engagement or wedding rings, which are often worn every day.
The hardest natural diamonds mostly originate from the Copeton and Bingara fields located in the New England area in New South Wales, Australia. These diamonds are generally small, perfect to semiperfect octahedra, and are used to polish other diamonds. Their hardness is associated with the crystal growth form, which is single-stage crystal growth. Most other diamonds show more evidence of multiple growth stages, which produce inclusions, flaws, and defect planes in the crystal lattice, all of which affect their hardness. It is possible to treat regular diamonds under a combination of high pressure and high temperature to produce diamonds that are harder than the diamonds used in hardness gauges.
Diamonds cut glass, but this does not positively identify a diamond because other materials, such as quartz, also lie above glass on the Mohs scale and can also cut it. Diamonds can scratch other diamonds, but this can result in damage to one or both stones. Hardness tests are infrequently used in practical gemology because of their potentially destructive nature. The extreme hardness and high value of diamond means that gems are typically polished slowly, using painstaking traditional techniques and greater attention to detail than is the case with most other gemstones; these tend to result in extremely flat, highly polished facets with exceptionally sharp facet edges. Diamonds also possess an extremely high refractive index and fairly high dispersion. Taken together, these factors affect the overall appearance of a polished diamond and most diamantaires still rely upon skilled use of a loupe (magnifying glass) to identify diamonds "by eye".
Somewhat related to hardness is another mechanical property toughness, which is a material's ability to resist breakage from forceful impact. The toughness of natural diamond has been measured as 50–65 MPa·m. This value is good compared to other ceramic materials, but poor compared to most engineering materials such as engineering alloys, which typically exhibit toughness over 80 MPa·m. As with any material, the macroscopic geometry of a diamond contributes to its resistance to breakage. Diamond has a cleavage plane and is therefore more fragile in some orientations than others. Diamond cutters use this attribute to cleave some stones, prior to faceting. "Impact toughness" is one of the main indexes to measure the quality of synthetic industrial diamonds.
Diamond has compressive yield strength of 130–140 GPa. This exceptionally high value, along with the hardness and transparency of diamond, are the reasons that diamond anvil cells are the main tool for high pressure experiments. These anvils have reached pressures of 600 GPa. Much higher pressures may be possible with nanocrystalline diamonds.
Usually, attempting to deform bulk diamond crystal by tension or bending results in brittle fracture. However, when single crystalline diamond is in the form of micro/nanoscale wires or needles (~100–300 nanometers in diameter, micrometers long), they can be elastically stretched by as much as 9–10 percent tensile strain without failure, with a maximum local tensile stress of ~89 to 98 GPa, very close to the theoretical limit for this material.
Other specialized applications also exist or are being developed, including use as semiconductors: some blue diamonds are natural semiconductors, in contrast to most diamonds, which are excellent electrical insulators. The conductivity and blue color originate from boron impurity. Boron substitutes for carbon atoms in the diamond lattice, donating a hole into the valence band.
Substantial conductivity is commonly observed in nominally undoped diamond grown by chemical vapor deposition. This conductivity is associated with hydrogen-related species adsorbed at the surface, and it can be removed by annealing or other surface treatments.
Thin needles of diamond can be made to vary their electronic band gap from the normal 5.6 eV to near zero by selective mechanical deformation.
High-purity diamond wafers 5 cm in diameter exhibit perfect resistance in one direction and perfect conductance in the other, creating the possibility of using them for quantum data storage. The material contains only 3 parts per million of nitrogen. The diamond was grown on a stepped substrate, which eliminated cracking.
Diamonds are naturally lipophilic and hydrophobic, which means the diamonds' surface cannot be wet by water, but can be easily wet and stuck by oil. This property can be utilized to extract diamonds using oil when making synthetic diamonds. However, when diamond surfaces are chemically modified with certain ions, they are expected to become so hydrophilic that they can stabilize multiple layers of water ice at human body temperature.
The surface of diamonds is partially oxidized. The oxidized surface can be reduced by heat treatment under hydrogen flow. That is to say, this heat treatment partially removes oxygen-containing functional groups. But diamonds (spC) are unstable against high temperature (above about 400 °C (752 °F)) under atmospheric pressure. The structure gradually changes into spC above this temperature. Thus, diamonds should be reduced below this temperature.
At room temperature, diamonds do not react with any chemical reagents including strong acids and bases.
In an atmosphere of pure oxygen, diamond has an ignition point that ranges from 690 °C (1,274 °F) to 840 °C (1,540 °F); smaller crystals tend to burn more easily. It increases in temperature from red to white heat and burns with a pale blue flame, and continues to burn after the source of heat is removed. By contrast, in air the combustion will cease as soon as the heat is removed because the oxygen is diluted with nitrogen. A clear, flawless, transparent diamond is completely converted to carbon dioxide; any impurities will be left as ash. Heat generated from cutting a diamond will not ignite the diamond, and neither will a cigarette lighter, but house fires and blow torches are hot enough. Jewelers must be careful when molding the metal in a diamond ring.
Diamond powder of an appropriate grain size (around 50 microns) burns with a shower of sparks after ignition from a flame. Consequently, pyrotechnic compositions based on synthetic diamond powder can be prepared. The resulting sparks are of the usual red-orange color, comparable to charcoal, but show a very linear trajectory which is explained by their high density. Diamond also reacts with fluorine gas above about 700 °C (1,292 °F).
Diamond has a wide band gap of 5.5 eV corresponding to the deep ultraviolet wavelength of 225 nanometers. This means that pure diamond should transmit visible light and appear as a clear colorless crystal. Colors in diamond originate from lattice defects and impurities. The diamond crystal lattice is exceptionally strong, and only atoms of nitrogen, boron, and hydrogen can be introduced into diamond during the growth at significant concentrations (up to atomic percents). Transition metals nickel and cobalt, which are commonly used for growth of synthetic diamond by high-pressure high-temperature techniques, have been detected in diamond as individual atoms; the maximum concentration is 0.01% for nickel and even less for cobalt. Virtually any element can be introduced to diamond by ion implantation.
Nitrogen is by far the most common impurity found in gem diamonds and is responsible for the yellow and brown color in diamonds. Boron is responsible for the blue color. Color in diamond has two additional sources: irradiation (usually by alpha particles), that causes the color in green diamonds, and plastic deformation of the diamond crystal lattice. Plastic deformation is the cause of color in some brown and perhaps pink and red diamonds. In order of increasing rarity, yellow diamond is followed by brown, colorless, then by blue, green, black, pink, orange, purple, and red. "Black", or carbonado, diamonds are not truly black, but rather contain numerous dark inclusions that give the gems their dark appearance. Colored diamonds contain impurities or structural defects that cause the coloration, while pure or nearly pure diamonds are transparent and colorless. Most diamond impurities replace a carbon atom in the crystal lattice, known as a carbon flaw. The most common impurity, nitrogen, causes a slight to intense yellow coloration depending upon the type and concentration of nitrogen present. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) classifies low saturation yellow and brown diamonds as diamonds in the normal color range, and applies a grading scale from "D" (colorless) to "Z" (light yellow). Yellow diamonds of high color saturation or a different color, such as pink or blue, are called fancy colored diamonds and fall under a different grading scale.
In 2008, the Wittelsbach Diamond, a 35.56-carat (7.112 g) blue diamond once belonging to the King of Spain, fetched over US$24 million at a Christie's auction. In May 2009, a 7.03-carat (1.406 g) blue diamond fetched the highest price per carat ever paid for a diamond when it was sold at auction for 10.5 million Swiss francs (6.97 million euros, or US$9.5 million at the time). That record was, however, beaten the same year: a 5-carat (1.0 g) vivid pink diamond was sold for $10.8 million in Hong Kong on December 1, 2009.
Clarity is one of the 4C's (color, clarity, cut and carat weight) that helps in identifying the quality of diamonds. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) developed 11 clarity scales to decide the quality of a diamond for its sale value. The GIA clarity scale spans from Flawless (FL) to included (I) having internally flawless (IF), very, very slightly included (VVS), very slightly included (VS) and slightly included (SI) in between. Impurities in natural diamonds are due to the presence of natural minerals and oxides. The clarity scale grades the diamond based on the color, size, location of impurity and quantity of clarity visible under 10x magnification. Inclusions in diamond can be extracted by optical methods. The process is to take pre-enhancement images, identifying the inclusion removal part and finally removing the diamond facets and noises.
Between 25% and 35% of natural diamonds exhibit some degree of fluorescence when examined under invisible long-wave ultraviolet light or higher energy radiation sources such as X-rays and lasers. Incandescent lighting will not cause a diamond to fluoresce. Diamonds can fluoresce in a variety of colours including blue (most common), orange, yellow, white, green and very rarely red and purple. Although the causes are not well understood, variations in the atomic structure, such as the number of nitrogen atoms present are thought to contribute to the phenomenon.
Diamonds can be identified by their high thermal conductivity (900–2320 W·m·K). Their high refractive index is also indicative, but other materials have similar refractivity.
Diamonds are extremely rare, with concentrations of at most parts per billion in source rock. Before the 20th century, most diamonds were found in alluvial deposits. Loose diamonds are also found along existing and ancient shorelines, where they tend to accumulate because of their size and density. Rarely, they have been found in glacial till (notably in Wisconsin and Indiana), but these deposits are not of commercial quality. These types of deposit were derived from localized igneous intrusions through weathering and transport by wind or water.
Most diamonds come from the Earth's mantle, and most of this section discusses those diamonds. However, there are other sources. Some blocks of the crust, or terranes, have been buried deep enough as the crust thickened so they experienced ultra-high-pressure metamorphism. These have evenly distributed microdiamonds that show no sign of transport by magma. In addition, when meteorites strike the ground, the shock wave can produce high enough temperatures and pressures for microdiamonds and nanodiamonds to form. Impact-type microdiamonds can be used as an indicator of ancient impact craters. Popigai impact structure in Russia may have the world's largest diamond deposit, estimated at trillions of carats, and formed by an asteroid impact.
A common misconception is that diamonds form from highly compressed coal. Coal is formed from buried prehistoric plants, and most diamonds that have been dated are far older than the first land plants. It is possible that diamonds can form from coal in subduction zones, but diamonds formed in this way are rare, and the carbon source is more likely carbonate rocks and organic carbon in sediments, rather than coal.
Diamonds are far from evenly distributed over the Earth. A rule of thumb known as Clifford's rule states that they are almost always found in kimberlites on the oldest part of cratons, the stable cores of continents with typical ages of 2.5 billion years or more. However, there are exceptions. The Argyle diamond mine in Australia, the largest producer of diamonds by weight in the world, is located in a mobile belt, also known as an orogenic belt, a weaker zone surrounding the central craton that has undergone compressional tectonics. Instead of kimberlite, the host rock is lamproite. Lamproites with diamonds that are not economically viable are also found in the United States, India, and Australia. In addition, diamonds in the Wawa belt of the Superior province in Canada and microdiamonds in the island arc of Japan are found in a type of rock called lamprophyre.
Kimberlites can be found in narrow (1 to 4 meters) dikes and sills, and in pipes with diameters that range from about 75 m to 1.5 km. Fresh rock is dark bluish green to greenish gray, but after exposure rapidly turns brown and crumbles. It is hybrid rock with a chaotic mixture of small minerals and rock fragments (clasts) up to the size of watermelons. They are a mixture of xenocrysts and xenoliths (minerals and rocks carried up from the lower crust and mantle), pieces of surface rock, altered minerals such as serpentine, and new minerals that crystallized during the eruption. The texture varies with depth. The composition forms a continuum with carbonatites, but the latter have too much oxygen for carbon to exist in a pure form. Instead, it is locked up in the mineral calcite (CaCO3).
All three of the diamond-bearing rocks (kimberlite, lamproite and lamprophyre) lack certain minerals (melilite and kalsilite) that are incompatible with diamond formation. In kimberlite, olivine is large and conspicuous, while lamproite has Ti-phlogopite and lamprophyre has biotite and amphibole. They are all derived from magma types that erupt rapidly from small amounts of melt, are rich in volatiles and magnesium oxide, and are less oxidizing than more common mantle melts such as basalt. These characteristics allow the melts to carry diamonds to the surface before they dissolve.
Kimberlite pipes can be difficult to find. They weather quickly (within a few years after exposure) and tend to have lower topographic relief than surrounding rock. If they are visible in outcrops, the diamonds are never visible because they are so rare. In any case, kimberlites are often covered with vegetation, sediments, soils, or lakes. In modern searches, geophysical methods such as aeromagnetic surveys, electrical resistivity, and gravimetry, help identify promising regions to explore. This is aided by isotopic dating and modeling of the geological history. Then surveyors must go to the area and collect samples, looking for kimberlite fragments or indicator minerals. The latter have compositions that reflect the conditions where diamonds form, such as extreme melt depletion or high pressures in eclogites. However, indicator minerals can be misleading; a better approach is geothermobarometry, where the compositions of minerals are analyzed as if they were in equilibrium with mantle minerals.
Finding kimberlites requires persistence, and only a small fraction contain diamonds that are commercially viable. The only major discoveries since about 1980 have been in Canada. Since existing mines have lifetimes of as little as 25 years, there could be a shortage of new diamonds in the future.
Diamonds are dated by analyzing inclusions using the decay of radioactive isotopes. Depending on the elemental abundances, one can look at the decay of rubidium to strontium, samarium to neodymium, uranium to lead, argon-40 to argon-39, or rhenium to osmium. Those found in kimberlites have ages ranging from 1 to 3.5 billion years, and there can be multiple ages in the same kimberlite, indicating multiple episodes of diamond formation. The kimberlites themselves are much younger. Most of them have ages between tens of millions and 300 million years old, although there are some older exceptions (Argyle, Premier and Wawa). Thus, the kimberlites formed independently of the diamonds and served only to transport them to the surface. Kimberlites are also much younger than the cratons they have erupted through. The reason for the lack of older kimberlites is unknown, but it suggests there was some change in mantle chemistry or tectonics. No kimberlite has erupted in human history.
Most gem-quality diamonds come from depths of 150–250 km in the lithosphere. Such depths occur below cratons in mantle keels, the thickest part of the lithosphere. These regions have high enough pressure and temperature to allow diamonds to form and they are not convecting, so diamonds can be stored for billions of years until a kimberlite eruption samples them.
Host rocks in a mantle keel include harzburgite and lherzolite, two type of peridotite. The most dominant rock type in the upper mantle, peridotite is an igneous rock consisting mostly of the minerals olivine and pyroxene; it is low in silica and high in magnesium. However, diamonds in peridotite rarely survive the trip to the surface. Another common source that does keep diamonds intact is eclogite, a metamorphic rock that typically forms from basalt as an oceanic plate plunges into the mantle at a subduction zone.
A smaller fraction of diamonds (about 150 have been studied) come from depths of 330–660 km, a region that includes the transition zone. They formed in eclogite but are distinguished from diamonds of shallower origin by inclusions of majorite (a form of garnet with excess silicon). A similar proportion of diamonds comes from the lower mantle at depths between 660 and 800 km.
Diamond is thermodynamically stable at high pressures and temperatures, with the phase transition from graphite occurring at greater temperatures as the pressure increases. Thus, underneath continents it becomes stable at temperatures of 950 degrees Celsius and pressures of 4.5 gigapascals, corresponding to depths of 150 kilometers or greater. In subduction zones, which are colder, it becomes stable at temperatures of 800 °C and pressures of 3.5 gigapascals. At depths greater than 240 km, iron–nickel metal phases are present and carbon is likely to be either dissolved in them or in the form of carbides. Thus, the deeper origin of some diamonds may reflect unusual growth environments.
In 2018 the first known natural samples of a phase of ice called Ice VII were found as inclusions in diamond samples. The inclusions formed at depths between 400 and 800 km, straddling the upper and lower mantle, and provide evidence for water-rich fluid at these depths.
The mantle has roughly one billion gigatonnes of carbon (for comparison, the atmosphere-ocean system has about 44,000 gigatonnes). Carbon has two stable isotopes, C and C, in a ratio of approximately 99:1 by mass. This ratio has a wide range in meteorites, which implies that it also varied a lot in the early Earth. It can also be altered by surface processes like photosynthesis. The fraction is generally compared to a standard sample using a ratio δC expressed in parts per thousand. Common rocks from the mantle such as basalts, carbonatites, and kimberlites have ratios between −8 and −2. On the surface, organic sediments have an average of −25 while carbonates have an average of 0.
Populations of diamonds from different sources have distributions of δC that vary markedly. Peridotitic diamonds are mostly within the typical mantle range; eclogitic diamonds have values from −40 to +3, although the peak of the distribution is in the mantle range. This variability implies that they are not formed from carbon that is primordial (having resided in the mantle since the Earth formed). Instead, they are the result of tectonic processes, although (given the ages of diamonds) not necessarily the same tectonic processes that act in the present.
Diamonds in the mantle form through a metasomatic process where a C–O–H–N–S fluid or melt dissolves minerals in a rock and replaces them with new minerals. (The vague term C–O–H–N–S is commonly used because the exact composition is not known.) Diamonds form from this fluid either by reduction of oxidized carbon (e.g., CO2 or CO3) or oxidation of a reduced phase such as methane.
Using probes such as polarized light, photoluminescence, and cathodoluminescence, a series of growth zones can be identified in diamonds. The characteristic pattern in diamonds from the lithosphere involves a nearly concentric series of zones with very thin oscillations in luminescence and alternating episodes where the carbon is resorbed by the fluid and then grown again. Diamonds from below the lithosphere have a more irregular, almost polycrystalline texture, reflecting the higher temperatures and pressures as well as the transport of the diamonds by convection.
Geological evidence supports a model in which kimberlite magma rises at 4–20 meters per second, creating an upward path by hydraulic fracturing of the rock. As the pressure decreases, a vapor phase exsolves from the magma, and this helps to keep the magma fluid. At the surface, the initial eruption explodes out through fissures at high speeds (over 200 m/s (450 mph)). Then, at lower pressures, the rock is eroded, forming a pipe and producing fragmented rock (breccia). As the eruption wanes, there is pyroclastic phase and then metamorphism and hydration produces serpentinites.
In rare cases, diamonds have been found that contain a cavity within which is a second diamond. The first double diamond, the Matryoshka, was found by Alrosa in Yakutia, Russia, in 2019. Another one was found in the Ellendale Diamond Field in Western Australia in 2021.
Although diamonds on Earth are rare, they are very common in space. In meteorites, about three percent of the carbon is in the form of nanodiamonds, having diameters of a few nanometers. Sufficiently small diamonds can form in the cold of space because their lower surface energy makes them more stable than graphite. The isotopic signatures of some nanodiamonds indicate they were formed outside the Solar System in stars.
High pressure experiments predict that large quantities of diamonds condense from methane into a "diamond rain" on the ice giant planets Uranus and Neptune. Some extrasolar planets may be almost entirely composed of diamond.
Diamonds may exist in carbon-rich stars, particularly white dwarfs. One theory for the origin of carbonado, the toughest form of diamond, is that it originated in a white dwarf or supernova. Diamonds formed in stars may have been the first minerals.
The most familiar uses of diamonds today are as gemstones used for adornment, and as industrial abrasives for cutting hard materials. The markets for gem-grade and industrial-grade diamonds value diamonds differently.
The dispersion of white light into spectral colors is the primary gemological characteristic of gem diamonds. In the 20th century, experts in gemology developed methods of grading diamonds and other gemstones based on the characteristics most important to their value as a gem. Four characteristics, known informally as the four Cs, are now commonly used as the basic descriptors of diamonds: these are its mass in carats (a carat being equal to 0.2 grams), cut (quality of the cut is graded according to proportions, symmetry and polish), color (how close to white or colorless; for fancy diamonds how intense is its hue), and clarity (how free is it from inclusions). A large, flawless diamond is known as a paragon.
A large trade in gem-grade diamonds exists. Although most gem-grade diamonds are sold newly polished, there is a well-established market for resale of polished diamonds (e.g. pawnbroking, auctions, second-hand jewelry stores, diamantaires, bourses, etc.). One hallmark of the trade in gem-quality diamonds is its remarkable concentration: wholesale trade and diamond cutting is limited to just a few locations; in 2003, 92% of the world's diamonds were cut and polished in Surat, India. Other important centers of diamond cutting and trading are the Antwerp diamond district in Belgium, where the International Gemological Institute is based, London, the Diamond District in New York City, the Diamond Exchange District in Tel Aviv and Amsterdam. One contributory factor is the geological nature of diamond deposits: several large primary kimberlite-pipe mines each account for significant portions of market share (such as the Jwaneng mine in Botswana, which is a single large-pit mine that can produce between 12,500,000 and 15,000,000 carats (2,500 and 3,000 kg) of diamonds per year). Secondary alluvial diamond deposits, on the other hand, tend to be fragmented amongst many different operators because they can be dispersed over many hundreds of square kilometers (e.g., alluvial deposits in Brazil).
The production and distribution of diamonds is largely consolidated in the hands of a few key players, and concentrated in traditional diamond trading centers, the most important being Antwerp, where 80% of all rough diamonds, 50% of all cut diamonds and more than 50% of all rough, cut and industrial diamonds combined are handled. This makes Antwerp a de facto "world diamond capital". The city of Antwerp also hosts the Antwerpsche Diamantkring, created in 1929 to become the first and biggest diamond bourse dedicated to rough diamonds. Another important diamond center is New York City, where almost 80% of the world's diamonds are sold, including auction sales.
The De Beers company, as the world's largest diamond mining company, holds a dominant position in the industry, and has done so since soon after its founding in 1888 by the British businessman Cecil Rhodes. De Beers is currently the world's largest operator of diamond production facilities (mines) and distribution channels for gem-quality diamonds. The Diamond Trading Company (DTC) is a subsidiary of De Beers and markets rough diamonds from De Beers-operated mines. De Beers and its subsidiaries own mines that produce some 40% of annual world diamond production. For most of the 20th century over 80% of the world's rough diamonds passed through De Beers, but by 2001–2009 the figure had decreased to around 45%, and by 2013 the company's market share had further decreased to around 38% in value terms and even less by volume. De Beers sold off the vast majority of its diamond stockpile in the late 1990s – early 2000s and the remainder largely represents working stock (diamonds that are being sorted before sale). This was well documented in the press but remains little known to the general public.
As a part of reducing its influence, De Beers withdrew from purchasing diamonds on the open market in 1999 and ceased, at the end of 2008, purchasing Russian diamonds mined by the largest Russian diamond company Alrosa. As of January 2011, De Beers states that it only sells diamonds from the following four countries: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Canada. Alrosa had to suspend their sales in October 2008 due to the global energy crisis, but the company reported that it had resumed selling rough diamonds on the open market by October 2009. Apart from Alrosa, other important diamond mining companies include BHP, which is the world's largest mining company; Rio Tinto, the owner of the Argyle (100%), Diavik (60%), and Murowa (78%) diamond mines; and Petra Diamonds, the owner of several major diamond mines in Africa.
Further down the supply chain, members of The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) act as a medium for wholesale diamond exchange, trading both polished and rough diamonds. The WFDB consists of independent diamond bourses in major cutting centers such as Tel Aviv, Antwerp, Johannesburg and other cities across the US, Europe and Asia. In 2000, the WFDB and The International Diamond Manufacturers Association established the World Diamond Council to prevent the trading of diamonds used to fund war and inhumane acts. WFDB's additional activities include sponsoring the World Diamond Congress every two years, as well as the establishment of the International Diamond Council (IDC) to oversee diamond grading.
Once purchased by Sightholders (which is a trademark term referring to the companies that have a three-year supply contract with DTC), diamonds are cut and polished in preparation for sale as gemstones ('industrial' stones are regarded as a by-product of the gemstone market; they are used for abrasives). The cutting and polishing of rough diamonds is a specialized skill that is concentrated in a limited number of locations worldwide. Traditional diamond cutting centers are Antwerp, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, New York City, and Tel Aviv. Recently, diamond cutting centers have been established in China, India, Thailand, Namibia and Botswana. Cutting centers with lower cost of labor, notably Surat in Gujarat, India, handle a larger number of smaller carat diamonds, while smaller quantities of larger or more valuable diamonds are more likely to be handled in Europe or North America. The recent expansion of this industry in India, employing low cost labor, has allowed smaller diamonds to be prepared as gems in greater quantities than was previously economically feasible.
Diamonds prepared as gemstones are sold on diamond exchanges called bourses. There are 28 registered diamond bourses in the world. Bourses are the final tightly controlled step in the diamond supply chain; wholesalers and even retailers are able to buy relatively small lots of diamonds at the bourses, after which they are prepared for final sale to the consumer. Diamonds can be sold already set in jewelry, or sold unset ("loose"). According to the Rio Tinto, in 2002 the diamonds produced and released to the market were valued at US$9 billion as rough diamonds, US$14 billion after being cut and polished, US$28 billion in wholesale diamond jewelry, and US$57 billion in retail sales.
Mined rough diamonds are converted into gems through a multi-step process called "cutting". Diamonds are extremely hard, but also brittle and can be split up by a single blow. Therefore, diamond cutting is traditionally considered as a delicate procedure requiring skills, scientific knowledge, tools and experience. Its final goal is to produce a faceted jewel where the specific angles between the facets would optimize the diamond luster, that is dispersion of white light, whereas the number and area of facets would determine the weight of the final product. The weight reduction upon cutting is significant and can be of the order of 50%. Several possible shapes are considered, but the final decision is often determined not only by scientific, but also practical considerations. For example, the diamond might be intended for display or for wear, in a ring or a necklace, singled or surrounded by other gems of certain color and shape. Some of them may be considered as classical, such as round, pear, marquise, oval, hearts and arrows diamonds, etc. Some of them are special, produced by certain companies, for example, Phoenix, Cushion, Sole Mio diamonds, etc.
The most time-consuming part of the cutting is the preliminary analysis of the rough stone. It needs to address a large number of issues, bears much responsibility, and therefore can last years in case of unique diamonds. The following issues are considered:
After initial cutting, the diamond is shaped in numerous stages of polishing. Unlike cutting, which is a responsible but quick operation, polishing removes material by gradual erosion and is extremely time-consuming. The associated technique is well developed; it is considered as a routine and can be performed by technicians. After polishing, the diamond is reexamined for possible flaws, either remaining or induced by the process. Those flaws are concealed through various diamond enhancement techniques, such as repolishing, crack filling, or clever arrangement of the stone in the jewelry. Remaining non-diamond inclusions are removed through laser drilling and filling of the voids produced.
Marketing has significantly affected the image of diamond as a valuable commodity.
N. W. Ayer & Son, the advertising firm retained by De Beers in the mid-20th century, succeeded in reviving the American diamond market and the firm created new markets in countries where no diamond tradition had existed before. N. W. Ayer's marketing included product placement, advertising focused on the diamond product itself rather than the De Beers brand, and associations with celebrities and royalty. Without advertising the De Beers brand, De Beers was advertising its competitors' diamond products as well, but this was not a concern as De Beers dominated the diamond market throughout the 20th century. De Beers' market share dipped temporarily to second place in the global market below Alrosa in the aftermath of the global economic crisis of 2008, down to less than 29% in terms of carats mined, rather than sold. The campaign lasted for decades but was effectively discontinued by early 2011. De Beers still advertises diamonds, but the advertising now mostly promotes its own brands, or licensed product lines, rather than completely "generic" diamond products. The campaign was perhaps best captured by the slogan "a diamond is forever". This slogan is now being used by De Beers Diamond Jewelers, a jewelry firm which is a 50/50% joint venture between the De Beers mining company and LVMH, the luxury goods conglomerate.
Brown-colored diamonds constituted a significant part of the diamond production, and were predominantly used for industrial purposes. They were seen as worthless for jewelry (not even being assessed on the diamond color scale). After the development of Argyle diamond mine in Australia in 1986, and marketing, brown diamonds have become acceptable gems. The change was mostly due to the numbers: the Argyle mine, with its 35,000,000 carats (7,000 kg) of diamonds per year, makes about one-third of global production of natural diamonds; 80% of Argyle diamonds are brown.
Industrial diamonds are valued mostly for their hardness and thermal conductivity, making many of the gemological characteristics of diamonds, such as the 4 Cs, irrelevant for most applications. Eighty percent of mined diamonds (equal to about 135,000,000 carats (27,000 kg) annually) are unsuitable for use as gemstones and are used industrially. In addition to mined diamonds, synthetic diamonds found industrial applications almost immediately after their invention in the 1950s; in 2014, 4,500,000,000 carats (900,000 kg) of synthetic diamonds were produced, 90% of which were produced in China. Approximately 90% of diamond grinding grit is currently of synthetic origin.
The boundary between gem-quality diamonds and industrial diamonds is poorly defined and partly depends on market conditions (for example, if demand for polished diamonds is high, some lower-grade stones will be polished into low-quality or small gemstones rather than being sold for industrial use). Within the category of industrial diamonds, there is a sub-category comprising the lowest-quality, mostly opaque stones, which are known as bort.
Industrial use of diamonds has historically been associated with their hardness, which makes diamond the ideal material for cutting and grinding tools. As the hardest known naturally occurring material, diamond can be used to polish, cut, or wear away any material, including other diamonds. Common industrial applications of this property include diamond-tipped drill bits and saws, and the use of diamond powder as an abrasive. Less expensive industrial-grade diamonds (bort) with more flaws and poorer color than gems, are used for such purposes. Diamond is not suitable for machining ferrous alloys at high speeds, as carbon is soluble in iron at the high temperatures created by high-speed machining, leading to greatly increased wear on diamond tools compared to alternatives.
Specialized applications include use in laboratories as containment for high-pressure experiments (see diamond anvil cell), high-performance bearings, and limited use in specialized windows. With the continuing advances being made in the production of synthetic diamonds, future applications are becoming feasible. The high thermal conductivity of diamond makes it suitable as a heat sink for integrated circuits in electronics.
Approximately 130,000,000 carats (26,000 kg) of diamonds are mined annually, with a total value of nearly US$9 billion, and about 100,000 kg (220,000 lb) are synthesized annually.
Roughly 49% of diamonds originate from Central and Southern Africa, although significant sources of the mineral have been discovered in Canada, India, Russia, Brazil, and Australia. They are mined from kimberlite and lamproite volcanic pipes, which can bring diamond crystals, originating from deep within the Earth where high pressures and temperatures enable them to form, to the surface. The mining and distribution of natural diamonds are subjects of frequent controversy such as concerns over the sale of blood diamonds or conflict diamonds by African paramilitary groups. The diamond supply chain is controlled by a limited number of powerful businesses, and is also highly concentrated in a small number of locations around the world.
Only a very small fraction of the diamond ore consists of actual diamonds. The ore is crushed, during which care is required not to destroy larger diamonds, and then sorted by density. Today, diamonds are located in the diamond-rich density fraction with the help of X-ray fluorescence, after which the final sorting steps are done by hand. Before the use of X-rays became commonplace, the separation was done with grease belts; diamonds have a stronger tendency to stick to grease than the other minerals in the ore.
Historically, diamonds were found only in alluvial deposits in Guntur and Krishna district of the Krishna River delta in Southern India. India led the world in diamond production from the time of their discovery in approximately the 9th century BC to the mid-18th century AD, but the commercial potential of these sources had been exhausted by the late 18th century and at that time India was eclipsed by Brazil where the first non-Indian diamonds were found in 1725. Currently, one of the most prominent Indian mines is located at Panna.
Diamond extraction from primary deposits (kimberlites and lamproites) started in the 1870s after the discovery of the Diamond Fields in South Africa. Production has increased over time and now an accumulated total of 4,500,000,000 carats (900,000 kg) have been mined since that date. Twenty percent of that amount has been mined in the last five years, and during the last 10 years, nine new mines have started production; four more are waiting to be opened soon. Most of these mines are located in Canada, Zimbabwe, Angola, and one in Russia.
In the U.S., diamonds have been found in Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Montana. In 2004, the discovery of a microscopic diamond in the U.S. led to the January 2008 bulk-sampling of kimberlite pipes in a remote part of Montana. The Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas is open to the public, and is the only mine in the world where members of the public can dig for diamonds.
Today, most commercially viable diamond deposits are in Russia (mostly in Sakha Republic, for example Mir pipe and Udachnaya pipe), Botswana, Australia (Northern and Western Australia) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2005, Russia produced almost one-fifth of the global diamond output, according to the British Geological Survey. Australia boasts the richest diamantiferous pipe, with production from the Argyle diamond mine reaching peak levels of 42 metric tons per year in the 1990s. There are also commercial deposits being actively mined in the Northwest Territories of Canada and Brazil. Diamond prospectors continue to search the globe for diamond-bearing kimberlite and lamproite pipes.
In some of the more politically unstable central African and west African countries, revolutionary groups have taken control of diamond mines, using proceeds from diamond sales to finance their operations. Diamonds sold through this process are known as conflict diamonds or blood diamonds.
In response to public concerns that their diamond purchases were contributing to war and human rights abuses in central and western Africa, the United Nations, the diamond industry and diamond-trading nations introduced the Kimberley Process in 2002. The Kimberley Process aims to ensure that conflict diamonds do not become intermixed with the diamonds not controlled by such rebel groups. This is done by requiring diamond-producing countries to provide proof that the money they make from selling the diamonds is not used to fund criminal or revolutionary activities. Although the Kimberley Process has been moderately successful in limiting the number of conflict diamonds entering the market, some still find their way in. According to the International Diamond Manufacturers Association, conflict diamonds constitute 2–3% of all diamonds traded. Two major flaws still hinder the effectiveness of the Kimberley Process: (1) the relative ease of smuggling diamonds across African borders, and (2) the violent nature of diamond mining in nations that are not in a technical state of war and whose diamonds are therefore considered "clean".
The Canadian Government has set up a body known as the Canadian Diamond Code of Conduct to help authenticate Canadian diamonds. This is a stringent tracking system of diamonds and helps protect the "conflict free" label of Canadian diamonds.
Mineral resource exploitation in general causes irreversible environmental damage, which must be weighed against the socio-economic benefits to a country.
Synthetic diamonds are diamonds manufactured in a laboratory, as opposed to diamonds mined from the Earth. The gemological and industrial uses of diamond have created a large demand for rough stones. This demand has been satisfied in large part by synthetic diamonds, which have been manufactured by various processes for more than half a century. However, in recent years it has become possible to produce gem-quality synthetic diamonds of significant size. It is possible to make colorless synthetic gemstones that, on a molecular level, are identical to natural stones and so visually similar that only a gemologist with special equipment can tell the difference.
The majority of commercially available synthetic diamonds are yellow and are produced by so-called high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) processes. The yellow color is caused by nitrogen impurities. Other colors may also be reproduced such as blue, green or pink, which are a result of the addition of boron or from irradiation after synthesis.
Another popular method of growing synthetic diamond is chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The growth occurs under low pressure (below atmospheric pressure). It involves feeding a mixture of gases (typically 1 to 99 methane to hydrogen) into a chamber and splitting them into chemically active radicals in a plasma ignited by microwaves, hot filament, arc discharge, welding torch, or laser. This method is mostly used for coatings, but can also produce single crystals several millimeters in size (see picture).
As of 2010, nearly all 5,000 million carats (1,000 tonnes) of synthetic diamonds produced per year are for industrial use. Around 50% of the 133 million carats of natural diamonds mined per year end up in industrial use. Mining companies' expenses average 40 to 60 US dollars per carat for natural colorless diamonds, while synthetic manufacturers' expenses average $2,500 per carat for synthetic, gem-quality colorless diamonds. However, a purchaser is more likely to encounter a synthetic when looking for a fancy-colored diamond because only 0.01% of natural diamonds are fancy-colored, while most synthetic diamonds are colored in some way.
A diamond simulant is a non-diamond material that is used to simulate the appearance of a diamond, and may be referred to as diamante. Cubic zirconia is the most common. The gemstone moissanite (silicon carbide) can be treated as a diamond simulant, though more costly to produce than cubic zirconia. Both are produced synthetically.
Diamond enhancements are specific treatments performed on natural or synthetic diamonds (usually those already cut and polished into a gem), which are designed to better the gemological characteristics of the stone in one or more ways. These include laser drilling to remove inclusions, application of sealants to fill cracks, treatments to improve a white diamond's color grade, and treatments to give fancy color to a white diamond.
Coatings are increasingly used to give a diamond simulant such as cubic zirconia a more "diamond-like" appearance. One such substance is diamond-like carbon—an amorphous carbonaceous material that has some physical properties similar to those of the diamond. Advertising suggests that such a coating would transfer some of these diamond-like properties to the coated stone, hence enhancing the diamond simulant. Techniques such as Raman spectroscopy should easily identify such a treatment.
Early diamond identification tests included a scratch test relying on the superior hardness of diamond. This test is destructive, as a diamond can scratch another diamond, and is rarely used nowadays. Instead, diamond identification relies on its superior thermal conductivity. Electronic thermal probes are widely used in the gemological centers to separate diamonds from their imitations. These probes consist of a pair of battery-powered thermistors mounted in a fine copper tip. One thermistor functions as a heating device while the other measures the temperature of the copper tip: if the stone being tested is a diamond, it will conduct the tip's thermal energy rapidly enough to produce a measurable temperature drop. This test takes about two to three seconds.
Whereas the thermal probe can separate diamonds from most of their simulants, distinguishing between various types of diamond, for example synthetic or natural, irradiated or non-irradiated, etc., requires more advanced, optical techniques. Those techniques are also used for some diamonds simulants, such as silicon carbide, which pass the thermal conductivity test. Optical techniques can distinguish between natural diamonds and synthetic diamonds. They can also identify the vast majority of treated natural diamonds. "Perfect" crystals (at the atomic lattice level) have never been found, so both natural and synthetic diamonds always possess characteristic imperfections, arising from the circumstances of their crystal growth, that allow them to be distinguished from each other.
Laboratories use techniques such as spectroscopy, microscopy, and luminescence under shortwave ultraviolet light to determine a diamond's origin. They also use specially made instruments to aid them in the identification process. Two screening instruments are the DiamondSure and the DiamondView, both produced by the DTC and marketed by the GIA.
Several methods for identifying synthetic diamonds can be performed, depending on the method of production and the color of the diamond. CVD diamonds can usually be identified by an orange fluorescence. D–J colored diamonds can be screened through the Swiss Gemmological Institute's Diamond Spotter. Stones in the D–Z color range can be examined through the DiamondSure UV/visible spectrometer, a tool developed by De Beers. Similarly, natural diamonds usually have minor imperfections and flaws, such as inclusions of foreign material, that are not seen in synthetic diamonds.
Screening devices based on diamond type detection can be used to make a distinction between diamonds that are certainly natural and diamonds that are potentially synthetic. Those potentially synthetic diamonds require more investigation in a specialized lab. Examples of commercial screening devices are D-Screen (WTOCD / HRD Antwerp), Alpha Diamond Analyzer (Bruker / HRD Antwerp), and D-Secure (DRC Techno).
The name diamond is derived from Ancient Greek: ἀδάμας (adámas), 'proper, unalterable, unbreakable, untamed', from ἀ- (a-), 'not' + Ancient Greek: δαμάω (damáō), 'to overpower, tame'. Diamonds are thought to have been first recognized and mined in India, where significant alluvial deposits of the stone could be found many centuries ago along the rivers Penner, Krishna, and Godavari. Diamonds have been known in India for at least 3,000 years but most likely 6,000 years.
Diamonds have been treasured as gemstones since their use as religious icons in ancient India. Their usage in engraving tools also dates to early human history. The popularity of diamonds has risen since the 19th century because of increased supply, improved cutting and polishing techniques, growth in the world economy, and innovative and successful advertising campaigns.
In 1772, the French scientist Antoine Lavoisier used a lens to concentrate the rays of the sun on a diamond in an atmosphere of oxygen, and showed that the only product of the combustion was carbon dioxide, proving that diamond is composed of carbon. Later in 1797, the English chemist Smithson Tennant repeated and expanded that experiment. By demonstrating that burning diamond and graphite releases the same amount of gas, he established the chemical equivalence of these substances. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, but diamond is metastable and converts to it at a negligible rate under those conditions. Diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any natural material, properties that are used in major industrial applications such as cutting and polishing tools. They are also the reason that diamond anvil cells can subject materials to pressures found deep in the Earth.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Because the arrangement of atoms in diamond is extremely rigid, few types of impurity can contaminate it (two exceptions are boron and nitrogen). Small numbers of defects or impurities (about one per million of lattice atoms) color diamond blue (boron), yellow (nitrogen), brown (defects), green (radiation exposure), purple, pink, orange, or red. Diamond also has a very high refractive index and a relatively high optical dispersion.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Most natural diamonds have ages between 1 billion and 3.5 billion years. Most were formed at depths between 150 and 250 kilometres (93 and 155 mi) in the Earth's mantle, although a few have come from as deep as 800 kilometres (500 mi). Under high pressure and temperature, carbon-containing fluids dissolved various minerals and replaced them with diamonds. Much more recently (hundreds to tens of million years ago), they were carried to the surface in volcanic eruptions and deposited in igneous rocks known as kimberlites and lamproites.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Synthetic diamonds can be grown from high-purity carbon under high pressures and temperatures or from hydrocarbon gases by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Imitation diamonds can also be made out of materials such as cubic zirconia and silicon carbide. Natural, synthetic, and imitation diamonds are most commonly distinguished using optical techniques or thermal conductivity measurements.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Diamond is a solid form of pure carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal. Solid carbon comes in different forms known as allotropes depending on the type of chemical bond. The two most common allotropes of pure carbon are diamond and graphite. In graphite the bonds are sp orbital hybrids and the atoms form in planes, with each bound to three nearest neighbors 120 degrees apart. In diamond they are sp and the atoms form tetrahedra with each bound to four nearest neighbors. Tetrahedra are rigid, the bonds are strong, and of all known substances diamond has the greatest number of atoms per unit volume, which is why it is both the hardest and the least compressible. It also has a high density, ranging from 3150 to 3530 kilograms per cubic metre (over three times the density of water) in natural diamonds and 3520 kg/m in pure diamond. In graphite, the bonds between nearest neighbors are even stronger, but the bonds between parallel adjacent planes are weak, so the planes easily slip past each other. Thus, graphite is much softer than diamond. However, the stronger bonds make graphite less flammable.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Diamonds have been adopted for many uses because of the material's exceptional physical characteristics. It has the highest thermal conductivity and the highest sound velocity. It has low adhesion and friction, and its coefficient of thermal expansion is extremely low. Its optical transparency extends from the far infrared to the deep ultraviolet and it has high optical dispersion. It also has high electrical resistance. It is chemically inert, not reacting with most corrosive substances, and has excellent biological compatibility.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The equilibrium pressure and temperature conditions for a transition between graphite and diamond are well established theoretically and experimentally. The equilibrium pressure varies linearly with temperature, between 1.7 GPa at 0 K and 12 GPa at 5000 K (the diamond/graphite/liquid triple point). However, the phases have a wide region about this line where they can coexist. At normal temperature and pressure, 20 °C (293 K) and 1 standard atmosphere (0.10 MPa), the stable phase of carbon is graphite, but diamond is metastable and its rate of conversion to graphite is negligible. However, at temperatures above about 4500 K, diamond rapidly converts to graphite. Rapid conversion of graphite to diamond requires pressures well above the equilibrium line: at 2000 K, a pressure of 35 GPa is needed.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Above the graphite–diamond–liquid carbon triple point, the melting point of diamond increases slowly with increasing pressure; but at pressures of hundreds of GPa, it decreases. At high pressures, silicon and germanium have a BC8 body-centered cubic crystal structure, and a similar structure is predicted for carbon at high pressures. At 0 K, the transition is predicted to occur at 1100 GPa.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Research results published in an article in the scientific journal Nature Physics in 2010 suggest that at ultrahigh pressures and temperatures (about 10 million atmospheres or 1 TPa and 50,000 °C) diamond melts into a metallic fluid. The extreme conditions required for this to occur are present in the ice giants Neptune and Uranus. Both planets are made up of approximately 10 percent carbon and could hypothetically contain oceans of liquid carbon. Since large quantities of metallic fluid can affect the magnetic field, this could serve as an explanation as to why the geographic and magnetic poles of the two planets are unaligned.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The most common crystal structure of diamond is called diamond cubic. It is formed of unit cells (see the figure) stacked together. Although there are 18 atoms in the figure, each corner atom is shared by eight unit cells and each atom in the center of a face is shared by two, so there are a total of eight atoms per unit cell. The length of each side of the unit cell is denoted by a and is 3.567 angstroms.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The nearest neighbour distance in the diamond lattice is 1.732a/4 where a is the lattice constant, usually given in Angstrøms as a = 3.567 Å, which is 0.3567 nm.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "A diamond cubic lattice can be thought of as two interpenetrating face-centered cubic lattices with one displaced by 1⁄4 of the diagonal along a cubic cell, or as one lattice with two atoms associated with each lattice point. Viewed from a <1 1 1> crystallographic direction, it is formed of layers stacked in a repeating ABCABC ... pattern. Diamonds can also form an ABAB ... structure, which is known as hexagonal diamond or lonsdaleite, but this is far less common and is formed under different conditions from cubic carbon.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Diamonds occur most often as euhedral or rounded octahedra and twinned octahedra known as macles. As diamond's crystal structure has a cubic arrangement of the atoms, they have many facets that belong to a cube, octahedron, rhombicosidodecahedron, tetrakis hexahedron, or disdyakis dodecahedron. The crystals can have rounded-off and unexpressive edges and can be elongated. Diamonds (especially those with rounded crystal faces) are commonly found coated in nyf, an opaque gum-like skin.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Some diamonds contain opaque fibers. They are referred to as opaque if the fibers grow from a clear substrate or fibrous if they occupy the entire crystal. Their colors range from yellow to green or gray, sometimes with cloud-like white to gray impurities. Their most common shape is cuboidal, but they can also form octahedra, dodecahedra, macles, or combined shapes. The structure is the result of numerous impurities with sizes between 1 and 5 microns. These diamonds probably formed in kimberlite magma and sampled the volatiles.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Diamonds can also form polycrystalline aggregates. There have been attempts to classify them into groups with names such as boart, ballas, stewartite, and framesite, but there is no widely accepted set of criteria. Carbonado, a type in which the diamond grains were sintered (fused without melting by the application of heat and pressure), is black in color and tougher than single crystal diamond. It has never been observed in a volcanic rock. There are many theories for its origin, including formation in a star, but no consensus.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Diamond is the hardest known natural material on both the Vickers scale and the Mohs scale. Diamond's great hardness relative to other materials has been known since antiquity, and is the source of its name. This does not mean that it is infinitely hard, indestructible, or unscratchable. Indeed, diamonds can be scratched by other diamonds and worn down over time even by softer materials, such as vinyl phonograph records.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Diamond hardness depends on its purity, crystalline perfection, and orientation: hardness is higher for flawless, pure crystals oriented to the <111> direction (along the longest diagonal of the cubic diamond lattice). Therefore, whereas it might be possible to scratch some diamonds with other materials, such as boron nitride, the hardest diamonds can only be scratched by other diamonds and nanocrystalline diamond aggregates.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The hardness of diamond contributes to its suitability as a gemstone. Because it can only be scratched by other diamonds, it maintains its polish extremely well. Unlike many other gems, it is well-suited to daily wear because of its resistance to scratching—perhaps contributing to its popularity as the preferred gem in engagement or wedding rings, which are often worn every day.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The hardest natural diamonds mostly originate from the Copeton and Bingara fields located in the New England area in New South Wales, Australia. These diamonds are generally small, perfect to semiperfect octahedra, and are used to polish other diamonds. Their hardness is associated with the crystal growth form, which is single-stage crystal growth. Most other diamonds show more evidence of multiple growth stages, which produce inclusions, flaws, and defect planes in the crystal lattice, all of which affect their hardness. It is possible to treat regular diamonds under a combination of high pressure and high temperature to produce diamonds that are harder than the diamonds used in hardness gauges.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Diamonds cut glass, but this does not positively identify a diamond because other materials, such as quartz, also lie above glass on the Mohs scale and can also cut it. Diamonds can scratch other diamonds, but this can result in damage to one or both stones. Hardness tests are infrequently used in practical gemology because of their potentially destructive nature. The extreme hardness and high value of diamond means that gems are typically polished slowly, using painstaking traditional techniques and greater attention to detail than is the case with most other gemstones; these tend to result in extremely flat, highly polished facets with exceptionally sharp facet edges. Diamonds also possess an extremely high refractive index and fairly high dispersion. Taken together, these factors affect the overall appearance of a polished diamond and most diamantaires still rely upon skilled use of a loupe (magnifying glass) to identify diamonds \"by eye\".",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Somewhat related to hardness is another mechanical property toughness, which is a material's ability to resist breakage from forceful impact. The toughness of natural diamond has been measured as 50–65 MPa·m. This value is good compared to other ceramic materials, but poor compared to most engineering materials such as engineering alloys, which typically exhibit toughness over 80 MPa·m. As with any material, the macroscopic geometry of a diamond contributes to its resistance to breakage. Diamond has a cleavage plane and is therefore more fragile in some orientations than others. Diamond cutters use this attribute to cleave some stones, prior to faceting. \"Impact toughness\" is one of the main indexes to measure the quality of synthetic industrial diamonds.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Diamond has compressive yield strength of 130–140 GPa. This exceptionally high value, along with the hardness and transparency of diamond, are the reasons that diamond anvil cells are the main tool for high pressure experiments. These anvils have reached pressures of 600 GPa. Much higher pressures may be possible with nanocrystalline diamonds.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Usually, attempting to deform bulk diamond crystal by tension or bending results in brittle fracture. However, when single crystalline diamond is in the form of micro/nanoscale wires or needles (~100–300 nanometers in diameter, micrometers long), they can be elastically stretched by as much as 9–10 percent tensile strain without failure, with a maximum local tensile stress of ~89 to 98 GPa, very close to the theoretical limit for this material.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Other specialized applications also exist or are being developed, including use as semiconductors: some blue diamonds are natural semiconductors, in contrast to most diamonds, which are excellent electrical insulators. The conductivity and blue color originate from boron impurity. Boron substitutes for carbon atoms in the diamond lattice, donating a hole into the valence band.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Substantial conductivity is commonly observed in nominally undoped diamond grown by chemical vapor deposition. This conductivity is associated with hydrogen-related species adsorbed at the surface, and it can be removed by annealing or other surface treatments.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Thin needles of diamond can be made to vary their electronic band gap from the normal 5.6 eV to near zero by selective mechanical deformation.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "High-purity diamond wafers 5 cm in diameter exhibit perfect resistance in one direction and perfect conductance in the other, creating the possibility of using them for quantum data storage. The material contains only 3 parts per million of nitrogen. The diamond was grown on a stepped substrate, which eliminated cracking.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Diamonds are naturally lipophilic and hydrophobic, which means the diamonds' surface cannot be wet by water, but can be easily wet and stuck by oil. This property can be utilized to extract diamonds using oil when making synthetic diamonds. However, when diamond surfaces are chemically modified with certain ions, they are expected to become so hydrophilic that they can stabilize multiple layers of water ice at human body temperature.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "The surface of diamonds is partially oxidized. The oxidized surface can be reduced by heat treatment under hydrogen flow. That is to say, this heat treatment partially removes oxygen-containing functional groups. But diamonds (spC) are unstable against high temperature (above about 400 °C (752 °F)) under atmospheric pressure. The structure gradually changes into spC above this temperature. Thus, diamonds should be reduced below this temperature.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "At room temperature, diamonds do not react with any chemical reagents including strong acids and bases.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "In an atmosphere of pure oxygen, diamond has an ignition point that ranges from 690 °C (1,274 °F) to 840 °C (1,540 °F); smaller crystals tend to burn more easily. It increases in temperature from red to white heat and burns with a pale blue flame, and continues to burn after the source of heat is removed. By contrast, in air the combustion will cease as soon as the heat is removed because the oxygen is diluted with nitrogen. A clear, flawless, transparent diamond is completely converted to carbon dioxide; any impurities will be left as ash. Heat generated from cutting a diamond will not ignite the diamond, and neither will a cigarette lighter, but house fires and blow torches are hot enough. Jewelers must be careful when molding the metal in a diamond ring.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Diamond powder of an appropriate grain size (around 50 microns) burns with a shower of sparks after ignition from a flame. Consequently, pyrotechnic compositions based on synthetic diamond powder can be prepared. The resulting sparks are of the usual red-orange color, comparable to charcoal, but show a very linear trajectory which is explained by their high density. Diamond also reacts with fluorine gas above about 700 °C (1,292 °F).",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Diamond has a wide band gap of 5.5 eV corresponding to the deep ultraviolet wavelength of 225 nanometers. This means that pure diamond should transmit visible light and appear as a clear colorless crystal. Colors in diamond originate from lattice defects and impurities. The diamond crystal lattice is exceptionally strong, and only atoms of nitrogen, boron, and hydrogen can be introduced into diamond during the growth at significant concentrations (up to atomic percents). Transition metals nickel and cobalt, which are commonly used for growth of synthetic diamond by high-pressure high-temperature techniques, have been detected in diamond as individual atoms; the maximum concentration is 0.01% for nickel and even less for cobalt. Virtually any element can be introduced to diamond by ion implantation.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Nitrogen is by far the most common impurity found in gem diamonds and is responsible for the yellow and brown color in diamonds. Boron is responsible for the blue color. Color in diamond has two additional sources: irradiation (usually by alpha particles), that causes the color in green diamonds, and plastic deformation of the diamond crystal lattice. Plastic deformation is the cause of color in some brown and perhaps pink and red diamonds. In order of increasing rarity, yellow diamond is followed by brown, colorless, then by blue, green, black, pink, orange, purple, and red. \"Black\", or carbonado, diamonds are not truly black, but rather contain numerous dark inclusions that give the gems their dark appearance. Colored diamonds contain impurities or structural defects that cause the coloration, while pure or nearly pure diamonds are transparent and colorless. Most diamond impurities replace a carbon atom in the crystal lattice, known as a carbon flaw. The most common impurity, nitrogen, causes a slight to intense yellow coloration depending upon the type and concentration of nitrogen present. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) classifies low saturation yellow and brown diamonds as diamonds in the normal color range, and applies a grading scale from \"D\" (colorless) to \"Z\" (light yellow). Yellow diamonds of high color saturation or a different color, such as pink or blue, are called fancy colored diamonds and fall under a different grading scale.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "In 2008, the Wittelsbach Diamond, a 35.56-carat (7.112 g) blue diamond once belonging to the King of Spain, fetched over US$24 million at a Christie's auction. In May 2009, a 7.03-carat (1.406 g) blue diamond fetched the highest price per carat ever paid for a diamond when it was sold at auction for 10.5 million Swiss francs (6.97 million euros, or US$9.5 million at the time). That record was, however, beaten the same year: a 5-carat (1.0 g) vivid pink diamond was sold for $10.8 million in Hong Kong on December 1, 2009.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Clarity is one of the 4C's (color, clarity, cut and carat weight) that helps in identifying the quality of diamonds. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) developed 11 clarity scales to decide the quality of a diamond for its sale value. The GIA clarity scale spans from Flawless (FL) to included (I) having internally flawless (IF), very, very slightly included (VVS), very slightly included (VS) and slightly included (SI) in between. Impurities in natural diamonds are due to the presence of natural minerals and oxides. The clarity scale grades the diamond based on the color, size, location of impurity and quantity of clarity visible under 10x magnification. Inclusions in diamond can be extracted by optical methods. The process is to take pre-enhancement images, identifying the inclusion removal part and finally removing the diamond facets and noises.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Between 25% and 35% of natural diamonds exhibit some degree of fluorescence when examined under invisible long-wave ultraviolet light or higher energy radiation sources such as X-rays and lasers. Incandescent lighting will not cause a diamond to fluoresce. Diamonds can fluoresce in a variety of colours including blue (most common), orange, yellow, white, green and very rarely red and purple. Although the causes are not well understood, variations in the atomic structure, such as the number of nitrogen atoms present are thought to contribute to the phenomenon.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Diamonds can be identified by their high thermal conductivity (900–2320 W·m·K). Their high refractive index is also indicative, but other materials have similar refractivity.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Diamonds are extremely rare, with concentrations of at most parts per billion in source rock. Before the 20th century, most diamonds were found in alluvial deposits. Loose diamonds are also found along existing and ancient shorelines, where they tend to accumulate because of their size and density. Rarely, they have been found in glacial till (notably in Wisconsin and Indiana), but these deposits are not of commercial quality. These types of deposit were derived from localized igneous intrusions through weathering and transport by wind or water.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Most diamonds come from the Earth's mantle, and most of this section discusses those diamonds. However, there are other sources. Some blocks of the crust, or terranes, have been buried deep enough as the crust thickened so they experienced ultra-high-pressure metamorphism. These have evenly distributed microdiamonds that show no sign of transport by magma. In addition, when meteorites strike the ground, the shock wave can produce high enough temperatures and pressures for microdiamonds and nanodiamonds to form. Impact-type microdiamonds can be used as an indicator of ancient impact craters. Popigai impact structure in Russia may have the world's largest diamond deposit, estimated at trillions of carats, and formed by an asteroid impact.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "A common misconception is that diamonds form from highly compressed coal. Coal is formed from buried prehistoric plants, and most diamonds that have been dated are far older than the first land plants. It is possible that diamonds can form from coal in subduction zones, but diamonds formed in this way are rare, and the carbon source is more likely carbonate rocks and organic carbon in sediments, rather than coal.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Diamonds are far from evenly distributed over the Earth. A rule of thumb known as Clifford's rule states that they are almost always found in kimberlites on the oldest part of cratons, the stable cores of continents with typical ages of 2.5 billion years or more. However, there are exceptions. The Argyle diamond mine in Australia, the largest producer of diamonds by weight in the world, is located in a mobile belt, also known as an orogenic belt, a weaker zone surrounding the central craton that has undergone compressional tectonics. Instead of kimberlite, the host rock is lamproite. Lamproites with diamonds that are not economically viable are also found in the United States, India, and Australia. In addition, diamonds in the Wawa belt of the Superior province in Canada and microdiamonds in the island arc of Japan are found in a type of rock called lamprophyre.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Kimberlites can be found in narrow (1 to 4 meters) dikes and sills, and in pipes with diameters that range from about 75 m to 1.5 km. Fresh rock is dark bluish green to greenish gray, but after exposure rapidly turns brown and crumbles. It is hybrid rock with a chaotic mixture of small minerals and rock fragments (clasts) up to the size of watermelons. They are a mixture of xenocrysts and xenoliths (minerals and rocks carried up from the lower crust and mantle), pieces of surface rock, altered minerals such as serpentine, and new minerals that crystallized during the eruption. The texture varies with depth. The composition forms a continuum with carbonatites, but the latter have too much oxygen for carbon to exist in a pure form. Instead, it is locked up in the mineral calcite (CaCO3).",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "All three of the diamond-bearing rocks (kimberlite, lamproite and lamprophyre) lack certain minerals (melilite and kalsilite) that are incompatible with diamond formation. In kimberlite, olivine is large and conspicuous, while lamproite has Ti-phlogopite and lamprophyre has biotite and amphibole. They are all derived from magma types that erupt rapidly from small amounts of melt, are rich in volatiles and magnesium oxide, and are less oxidizing than more common mantle melts such as basalt. These characteristics allow the melts to carry diamonds to the surface before they dissolve.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Kimberlite pipes can be difficult to find. They weather quickly (within a few years after exposure) and tend to have lower topographic relief than surrounding rock. If they are visible in outcrops, the diamonds are never visible because they are so rare. In any case, kimberlites are often covered with vegetation, sediments, soils, or lakes. In modern searches, geophysical methods such as aeromagnetic surveys, electrical resistivity, and gravimetry, help identify promising regions to explore. This is aided by isotopic dating and modeling of the geological history. Then surveyors must go to the area and collect samples, looking for kimberlite fragments or indicator minerals. The latter have compositions that reflect the conditions where diamonds form, such as extreme melt depletion or high pressures in eclogites. However, indicator minerals can be misleading; a better approach is geothermobarometry, where the compositions of minerals are analyzed as if they were in equilibrium with mantle minerals.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Finding kimberlites requires persistence, and only a small fraction contain diamonds that are commercially viable. The only major discoveries since about 1980 have been in Canada. Since existing mines have lifetimes of as little as 25 years, there could be a shortage of new diamonds in the future.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Diamonds are dated by analyzing inclusions using the decay of radioactive isotopes. Depending on the elemental abundances, one can look at the decay of rubidium to strontium, samarium to neodymium, uranium to lead, argon-40 to argon-39, or rhenium to osmium. Those found in kimberlites have ages ranging from 1 to 3.5 billion years, and there can be multiple ages in the same kimberlite, indicating multiple episodes of diamond formation. The kimberlites themselves are much younger. Most of them have ages between tens of millions and 300 million years old, although there are some older exceptions (Argyle, Premier and Wawa). Thus, the kimberlites formed independently of the diamonds and served only to transport them to the surface. Kimberlites are also much younger than the cratons they have erupted through. The reason for the lack of older kimberlites is unknown, but it suggests there was some change in mantle chemistry or tectonics. No kimberlite has erupted in human history.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Most gem-quality diamonds come from depths of 150–250 km in the lithosphere. Such depths occur below cratons in mantle keels, the thickest part of the lithosphere. These regions have high enough pressure and temperature to allow diamonds to form and they are not convecting, so diamonds can be stored for billions of years until a kimberlite eruption samples them.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Host rocks in a mantle keel include harzburgite and lherzolite, two type of peridotite. The most dominant rock type in the upper mantle, peridotite is an igneous rock consisting mostly of the minerals olivine and pyroxene; it is low in silica and high in magnesium. However, diamonds in peridotite rarely survive the trip to the surface. Another common source that does keep diamonds intact is eclogite, a metamorphic rock that typically forms from basalt as an oceanic plate plunges into the mantle at a subduction zone.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "A smaller fraction of diamonds (about 150 have been studied) come from depths of 330–660 km, a region that includes the transition zone. They formed in eclogite but are distinguished from diamonds of shallower origin by inclusions of majorite (a form of garnet with excess silicon). A similar proportion of diamonds comes from the lower mantle at depths between 660 and 800 km.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Diamond is thermodynamically stable at high pressures and temperatures, with the phase transition from graphite occurring at greater temperatures as the pressure increases. Thus, underneath continents it becomes stable at temperatures of 950 degrees Celsius and pressures of 4.5 gigapascals, corresponding to depths of 150 kilometers or greater. In subduction zones, which are colder, it becomes stable at temperatures of 800 °C and pressures of 3.5 gigapascals. At depths greater than 240 km, iron–nickel metal phases are present and carbon is likely to be either dissolved in them or in the form of carbides. Thus, the deeper origin of some diamonds may reflect unusual growth environments.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "In 2018 the first known natural samples of a phase of ice called Ice VII were found as inclusions in diamond samples. The inclusions formed at depths between 400 and 800 km, straddling the upper and lower mantle, and provide evidence for water-rich fluid at these depths.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "The mantle has roughly one billion gigatonnes of carbon (for comparison, the atmosphere-ocean system has about 44,000 gigatonnes). Carbon has two stable isotopes, C and C, in a ratio of approximately 99:1 by mass. This ratio has a wide range in meteorites, which implies that it also varied a lot in the early Earth. It can also be altered by surface processes like photosynthesis. The fraction is generally compared to a standard sample using a ratio δC expressed in parts per thousand. Common rocks from the mantle such as basalts, carbonatites, and kimberlites have ratios between −8 and −2. On the surface, organic sediments have an average of −25 while carbonates have an average of 0.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Populations of diamonds from different sources have distributions of δC that vary markedly. Peridotitic diamonds are mostly within the typical mantle range; eclogitic diamonds have values from −40 to +3, although the peak of the distribution is in the mantle range. This variability implies that they are not formed from carbon that is primordial (having resided in the mantle since the Earth formed). Instead, they are the result of tectonic processes, although (given the ages of diamonds) not necessarily the same tectonic processes that act in the present.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Diamonds in the mantle form through a metasomatic process where a C–O–H–N–S fluid or melt dissolves minerals in a rock and replaces them with new minerals. (The vague term C–O–H–N–S is commonly used because the exact composition is not known.) Diamonds form from this fluid either by reduction of oxidized carbon (e.g., CO2 or CO3) or oxidation of a reduced phase such as methane.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Using probes such as polarized light, photoluminescence, and cathodoluminescence, a series of growth zones can be identified in diamonds. The characteristic pattern in diamonds from the lithosphere involves a nearly concentric series of zones with very thin oscillations in luminescence and alternating episodes where the carbon is resorbed by the fluid and then grown again. Diamonds from below the lithosphere have a more irregular, almost polycrystalline texture, reflecting the higher temperatures and pressures as well as the transport of the diamonds by convection.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Geological evidence supports a model in which kimberlite magma rises at 4–20 meters per second, creating an upward path by hydraulic fracturing of the rock. As the pressure decreases, a vapor phase exsolves from the magma, and this helps to keep the magma fluid. At the surface, the initial eruption explodes out through fissures at high speeds (over 200 m/s (450 mph)). Then, at lower pressures, the rock is eroded, forming a pipe and producing fragmented rock (breccia). As the eruption wanes, there is pyroclastic phase and then metamorphism and hydration produces serpentinites.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "In rare cases, diamonds have been found that contain a cavity within which is a second diamond. The first double diamond, the Matryoshka, was found by Alrosa in Yakutia, Russia, in 2019. Another one was found in the Ellendale Diamond Field in Western Australia in 2021.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Although diamonds on Earth are rare, they are very common in space. In meteorites, about three percent of the carbon is in the form of nanodiamonds, having diameters of a few nanometers. Sufficiently small diamonds can form in the cold of space because their lower surface energy makes them more stable than graphite. The isotopic signatures of some nanodiamonds indicate they were formed outside the Solar System in stars.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "High pressure experiments predict that large quantities of diamonds condense from methane into a \"diamond rain\" on the ice giant planets Uranus and Neptune. Some extrasolar planets may be almost entirely composed of diamond.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Diamonds may exist in carbon-rich stars, particularly white dwarfs. One theory for the origin of carbonado, the toughest form of diamond, is that it originated in a white dwarf or supernova. Diamonds formed in stars may have been the first minerals.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "The most familiar uses of diamonds today are as gemstones used for adornment, and as industrial abrasives for cutting hard materials. The markets for gem-grade and industrial-grade diamonds value diamonds differently.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "The dispersion of white light into spectral colors is the primary gemological characteristic of gem diamonds. In the 20th century, experts in gemology developed methods of grading diamonds and other gemstones based on the characteristics most important to their value as a gem. Four characteristics, known informally as the four Cs, are now commonly used as the basic descriptors of diamonds: these are its mass in carats (a carat being equal to 0.2 grams), cut (quality of the cut is graded according to proportions, symmetry and polish), color (how close to white or colorless; for fancy diamonds how intense is its hue), and clarity (how free is it from inclusions). A large, flawless diamond is known as a paragon.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "A large trade in gem-grade diamonds exists. Although most gem-grade diamonds are sold newly polished, there is a well-established market for resale of polished diamonds (e.g. pawnbroking, auctions, second-hand jewelry stores, diamantaires, bourses, etc.). One hallmark of the trade in gem-quality diamonds is its remarkable concentration: wholesale trade and diamond cutting is limited to just a few locations; in 2003, 92% of the world's diamonds were cut and polished in Surat, India. Other important centers of diamond cutting and trading are the Antwerp diamond district in Belgium, where the International Gemological Institute is based, London, the Diamond District in New York City, the Diamond Exchange District in Tel Aviv and Amsterdam. One contributory factor is the geological nature of diamond deposits: several large primary kimberlite-pipe mines each account for significant portions of market share (such as the Jwaneng mine in Botswana, which is a single large-pit mine that can produce between 12,500,000 and 15,000,000 carats (2,500 and 3,000 kg) of diamonds per year). Secondary alluvial diamond deposits, on the other hand, tend to be fragmented amongst many different operators because they can be dispersed over many hundreds of square kilometers (e.g., alluvial deposits in Brazil).",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "The production and distribution of diamonds is largely consolidated in the hands of a few key players, and concentrated in traditional diamond trading centers, the most important being Antwerp, where 80% of all rough diamonds, 50% of all cut diamonds and more than 50% of all rough, cut and industrial diamonds combined are handled. This makes Antwerp a de facto \"world diamond capital\". The city of Antwerp also hosts the Antwerpsche Diamantkring, created in 1929 to become the first and biggest diamond bourse dedicated to rough diamonds. Another important diamond center is New York City, where almost 80% of the world's diamonds are sold, including auction sales.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "The De Beers company, as the world's largest diamond mining company, holds a dominant position in the industry, and has done so since soon after its founding in 1888 by the British businessman Cecil Rhodes. De Beers is currently the world's largest operator of diamond production facilities (mines) and distribution channels for gem-quality diamonds. The Diamond Trading Company (DTC) is a subsidiary of De Beers and markets rough diamonds from De Beers-operated mines. De Beers and its subsidiaries own mines that produce some 40% of annual world diamond production. For most of the 20th century over 80% of the world's rough diamonds passed through De Beers, but by 2001–2009 the figure had decreased to around 45%, and by 2013 the company's market share had further decreased to around 38% in value terms and even less by volume. De Beers sold off the vast majority of its diamond stockpile in the late 1990s – early 2000s and the remainder largely represents working stock (diamonds that are being sorted before sale). This was well documented in the press but remains little known to the general public.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "As a part of reducing its influence, De Beers withdrew from purchasing diamonds on the open market in 1999 and ceased, at the end of 2008, purchasing Russian diamonds mined by the largest Russian diamond company Alrosa. As of January 2011, De Beers states that it only sells diamonds from the following four countries: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Canada. Alrosa had to suspend their sales in October 2008 due to the global energy crisis, but the company reported that it had resumed selling rough diamonds on the open market by October 2009. Apart from Alrosa, other important diamond mining companies include BHP, which is the world's largest mining company; Rio Tinto, the owner of the Argyle (100%), Diavik (60%), and Murowa (78%) diamond mines; and Petra Diamonds, the owner of several major diamond mines in Africa.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Further down the supply chain, members of The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) act as a medium for wholesale diamond exchange, trading both polished and rough diamonds. The WFDB consists of independent diamond bourses in major cutting centers such as Tel Aviv, Antwerp, Johannesburg and other cities across the US, Europe and Asia. In 2000, the WFDB and The International Diamond Manufacturers Association established the World Diamond Council to prevent the trading of diamonds used to fund war and inhumane acts. WFDB's additional activities include sponsoring the World Diamond Congress every two years, as well as the establishment of the International Diamond Council (IDC) to oversee diamond grading.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Once purchased by Sightholders (which is a trademark term referring to the companies that have a three-year supply contract with DTC), diamonds are cut and polished in preparation for sale as gemstones ('industrial' stones are regarded as a by-product of the gemstone market; they are used for abrasives). The cutting and polishing of rough diamonds is a specialized skill that is concentrated in a limited number of locations worldwide. Traditional diamond cutting centers are Antwerp, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, New York City, and Tel Aviv. Recently, diamond cutting centers have been established in China, India, Thailand, Namibia and Botswana. Cutting centers with lower cost of labor, notably Surat in Gujarat, India, handle a larger number of smaller carat diamonds, while smaller quantities of larger or more valuable diamonds are more likely to be handled in Europe or North America. The recent expansion of this industry in India, employing low cost labor, has allowed smaller diamonds to be prepared as gems in greater quantities than was previously economically feasible.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "Diamonds prepared as gemstones are sold on diamond exchanges called bourses. There are 28 registered diamond bourses in the world. Bourses are the final tightly controlled step in the diamond supply chain; wholesalers and even retailers are able to buy relatively small lots of diamonds at the bourses, after which they are prepared for final sale to the consumer. Diamonds can be sold already set in jewelry, or sold unset (\"loose\"). According to the Rio Tinto, in 2002 the diamonds produced and released to the market were valued at US$9 billion as rough diamonds, US$14 billion after being cut and polished, US$28 billion in wholesale diamond jewelry, and US$57 billion in retail sales.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "Mined rough diamonds are converted into gems through a multi-step process called \"cutting\". Diamonds are extremely hard, but also brittle and can be split up by a single blow. Therefore, diamond cutting is traditionally considered as a delicate procedure requiring skills, scientific knowledge, tools and experience. Its final goal is to produce a faceted jewel where the specific angles between the facets would optimize the diamond luster, that is dispersion of white light, whereas the number and area of facets would determine the weight of the final product. The weight reduction upon cutting is significant and can be of the order of 50%. Several possible shapes are considered, but the final decision is often determined not only by scientific, but also practical considerations. For example, the diamond might be intended for display or for wear, in a ring or a necklace, singled or surrounded by other gems of certain color and shape. Some of them may be considered as classical, such as round, pear, marquise, oval, hearts and arrows diamonds, etc. Some of them are special, produced by certain companies, for example, Phoenix, Cushion, Sole Mio diamonds, etc.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "The most time-consuming part of the cutting is the preliminary analysis of the rough stone. It needs to address a large number of issues, bears much responsibility, and therefore can last years in case of unique diamonds. The following issues are considered:",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "After initial cutting, the diamond is shaped in numerous stages of polishing. Unlike cutting, which is a responsible but quick operation, polishing removes material by gradual erosion and is extremely time-consuming. The associated technique is well developed; it is considered as a routine and can be performed by technicians. After polishing, the diamond is reexamined for possible flaws, either remaining or induced by the process. Those flaws are concealed through various diamond enhancement techniques, such as repolishing, crack filling, or clever arrangement of the stone in the jewelry. Remaining non-diamond inclusions are removed through laser drilling and filling of the voids produced.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "Marketing has significantly affected the image of diamond as a valuable commodity.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "N. W. Ayer & Son, the advertising firm retained by De Beers in the mid-20th century, succeeded in reviving the American diamond market and the firm created new markets in countries where no diamond tradition had existed before. N. W. Ayer's marketing included product placement, advertising focused on the diamond product itself rather than the De Beers brand, and associations with celebrities and royalty. Without advertising the De Beers brand, De Beers was advertising its competitors' diamond products as well, but this was not a concern as De Beers dominated the diamond market throughout the 20th century. De Beers' market share dipped temporarily to second place in the global market below Alrosa in the aftermath of the global economic crisis of 2008, down to less than 29% in terms of carats mined, rather than sold. The campaign lasted for decades but was effectively discontinued by early 2011. De Beers still advertises diamonds, but the advertising now mostly promotes its own brands, or licensed product lines, rather than completely \"generic\" diamond products. The campaign was perhaps best captured by the slogan \"a diamond is forever\". This slogan is now being used by De Beers Diamond Jewelers, a jewelry firm which is a 50/50% joint venture between the De Beers mining company and LVMH, the luxury goods conglomerate.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "Brown-colored diamonds constituted a significant part of the diamond production, and were predominantly used for industrial purposes. They were seen as worthless for jewelry (not even being assessed on the diamond color scale). After the development of Argyle diamond mine in Australia in 1986, and marketing, brown diamonds have become acceptable gems. The change was mostly due to the numbers: the Argyle mine, with its 35,000,000 carats (7,000 kg) of diamonds per year, makes about one-third of global production of natural diamonds; 80% of Argyle diamonds are brown.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Industrial diamonds are valued mostly for their hardness and thermal conductivity, making many of the gemological characteristics of diamonds, such as the 4 Cs, irrelevant for most applications. Eighty percent of mined diamonds (equal to about 135,000,000 carats (27,000 kg) annually) are unsuitable for use as gemstones and are used industrially. In addition to mined diamonds, synthetic diamonds found industrial applications almost immediately after their invention in the 1950s; in 2014, 4,500,000,000 carats (900,000 kg) of synthetic diamonds were produced, 90% of which were produced in China. Approximately 90% of diamond grinding grit is currently of synthetic origin.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "The boundary between gem-quality diamonds and industrial diamonds is poorly defined and partly depends on market conditions (for example, if demand for polished diamonds is high, some lower-grade stones will be polished into low-quality or small gemstones rather than being sold for industrial use). Within the category of industrial diamonds, there is a sub-category comprising the lowest-quality, mostly opaque stones, which are known as bort.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "Industrial use of diamonds has historically been associated with their hardness, which makes diamond the ideal material for cutting and grinding tools. As the hardest known naturally occurring material, diamond can be used to polish, cut, or wear away any material, including other diamonds. Common industrial applications of this property include diamond-tipped drill bits and saws, and the use of diamond powder as an abrasive. Less expensive industrial-grade diamonds (bort) with more flaws and poorer color than gems, are used for such purposes. Diamond is not suitable for machining ferrous alloys at high speeds, as carbon is soluble in iron at the high temperatures created by high-speed machining, leading to greatly increased wear on diamond tools compared to alternatives.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "Specialized applications include use in laboratories as containment for high-pressure experiments (see diamond anvil cell), high-performance bearings, and limited use in specialized windows. With the continuing advances being made in the production of synthetic diamonds, future applications are becoming feasible. The high thermal conductivity of diamond makes it suitable as a heat sink for integrated circuits in electronics.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "Approximately 130,000,000 carats (26,000 kg) of diamonds are mined annually, with a total value of nearly US$9 billion, and about 100,000 kg (220,000 lb) are synthesized annually.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "Roughly 49% of diamonds originate from Central and Southern Africa, although significant sources of the mineral have been discovered in Canada, India, Russia, Brazil, and Australia. They are mined from kimberlite and lamproite volcanic pipes, which can bring diamond crystals, originating from deep within the Earth where high pressures and temperatures enable them to form, to the surface. The mining and distribution of natural diamonds are subjects of frequent controversy such as concerns over the sale of blood diamonds or conflict diamonds by African paramilitary groups. The diamond supply chain is controlled by a limited number of powerful businesses, and is also highly concentrated in a small number of locations around the world.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "Only a very small fraction of the diamond ore consists of actual diamonds. The ore is crushed, during which care is required not to destroy larger diamonds, and then sorted by density. Today, diamonds are located in the diamond-rich density fraction with the help of X-ray fluorescence, after which the final sorting steps are done by hand. Before the use of X-rays became commonplace, the separation was done with grease belts; diamonds have a stronger tendency to stick to grease than the other minerals in the ore.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "Historically, diamonds were found only in alluvial deposits in Guntur and Krishna district of the Krishna River delta in Southern India. India led the world in diamond production from the time of their discovery in approximately the 9th century BC to the mid-18th century AD, but the commercial potential of these sources had been exhausted by the late 18th century and at that time India was eclipsed by Brazil where the first non-Indian diamonds were found in 1725. Currently, one of the most prominent Indian mines is located at Panna.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "Diamond extraction from primary deposits (kimberlites and lamproites) started in the 1870s after the discovery of the Diamond Fields in South Africa. Production has increased over time and now an accumulated total of 4,500,000,000 carats (900,000 kg) have been mined since that date. Twenty percent of that amount has been mined in the last five years, and during the last 10 years, nine new mines have started production; four more are waiting to be opened soon. Most of these mines are located in Canada, Zimbabwe, Angola, and one in Russia.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "In the U.S., diamonds have been found in Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Montana. In 2004, the discovery of a microscopic diamond in the U.S. led to the January 2008 bulk-sampling of kimberlite pipes in a remote part of Montana. The Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas is open to the public, and is the only mine in the world where members of the public can dig for diamonds.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "Today, most commercially viable diamond deposits are in Russia (mostly in Sakha Republic, for example Mir pipe and Udachnaya pipe), Botswana, Australia (Northern and Western Australia) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2005, Russia produced almost one-fifth of the global diamond output, according to the British Geological Survey. Australia boasts the richest diamantiferous pipe, with production from the Argyle diamond mine reaching peak levels of 42 metric tons per year in the 1990s. There are also commercial deposits being actively mined in the Northwest Territories of Canada and Brazil. Diamond prospectors continue to search the globe for diamond-bearing kimberlite and lamproite pipes.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "In some of the more politically unstable central African and west African countries, revolutionary groups have taken control of diamond mines, using proceeds from diamond sales to finance their operations. Diamonds sold through this process are known as conflict diamonds or blood diamonds.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "In response to public concerns that their diamond purchases were contributing to war and human rights abuses in central and western Africa, the United Nations, the diamond industry and diamond-trading nations introduced the Kimberley Process in 2002. The Kimberley Process aims to ensure that conflict diamonds do not become intermixed with the diamonds not controlled by such rebel groups. This is done by requiring diamond-producing countries to provide proof that the money they make from selling the diamonds is not used to fund criminal or revolutionary activities. Although the Kimberley Process has been moderately successful in limiting the number of conflict diamonds entering the market, some still find their way in. According to the International Diamond Manufacturers Association, conflict diamonds constitute 2–3% of all diamonds traded. Two major flaws still hinder the effectiveness of the Kimberley Process: (1) the relative ease of smuggling diamonds across African borders, and (2) the violent nature of diamond mining in nations that are not in a technical state of war and whose diamonds are therefore considered \"clean\".",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "The Canadian Government has set up a body known as the Canadian Diamond Code of Conduct to help authenticate Canadian diamonds. This is a stringent tracking system of diamonds and helps protect the \"conflict free\" label of Canadian diamonds.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "Mineral resource exploitation in general causes irreversible environmental damage, which must be weighed against the socio-economic benefits to a country.",
"title": "Industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "Synthetic diamonds are diamonds manufactured in a laboratory, as opposed to diamonds mined from the Earth. The gemological and industrial uses of diamond have created a large demand for rough stones. This demand has been satisfied in large part by synthetic diamonds, which have been manufactured by various processes for more than half a century. However, in recent years it has become possible to produce gem-quality synthetic diamonds of significant size. It is possible to make colorless synthetic gemstones that, on a molecular level, are identical to natural stones and so visually similar that only a gemologist with special equipment can tell the difference.",
"title": "Synthetics, simulants, and enhancements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "The majority of commercially available synthetic diamonds are yellow and are produced by so-called high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) processes. The yellow color is caused by nitrogen impurities. Other colors may also be reproduced such as blue, green or pink, which are a result of the addition of boron or from irradiation after synthesis.",
"title": "Synthetics, simulants, and enhancements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "Another popular method of growing synthetic diamond is chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The growth occurs under low pressure (below atmospheric pressure). It involves feeding a mixture of gases (typically 1 to 99 methane to hydrogen) into a chamber and splitting them into chemically active radicals in a plasma ignited by microwaves, hot filament, arc discharge, welding torch, or laser. This method is mostly used for coatings, but can also produce single crystals several millimeters in size (see picture).",
"title": "Synthetics, simulants, and enhancements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "As of 2010, nearly all 5,000 million carats (1,000 tonnes) of synthetic diamonds produced per year are for industrial use. Around 50% of the 133 million carats of natural diamonds mined per year end up in industrial use. Mining companies' expenses average 40 to 60 US dollars per carat for natural colorless diamonds, while synthetic manufacturers' expenses average $2,500 per carat for synthetic, gem-quality colorless diamonds. However, a purchaser is more likely to encounter a synthetic when looking for a fancy-colored diamond because only 0.01% of natural diamonds are fancy-colored, while most synthetic diamonds are colored in some way.",
"title": "Synthetics, simulants, and enhancements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "A diamond simulant is a non-diamond material that is used to simulate the appearance of a diamond, and may be referred to as diamante. Cubic zirconia is the most common. The gemstone moissanite (silicon carbide) can be treated as a diamond simulant, though more costly to produce than cubic zirconia. Both are produced synthetically.",
"title": "Synthetics, simulants, and enhancements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "Diamond enhancements are specific treatments performed on natural or synthetic diamonds (usually those already cut and polished into a gem), which are designed to better the gemological characteristics of the stone in one or more ways. These include laser drilling to remove inclusions, application of sealants to fill cracks, treatments to improve a white diamond's color grade, and treatments to give fancy color to a white diamond.",
"title": "Synthetics, simulants, and enhancements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "Coatings are increasingly used to give a diamond simulant such as cubic zirconia a more \"diamond-like\" appearance. One such substance is diamond-like carbon—an amorphous carbonaceous material that has some physical properties similar to those of the diamond. Advertising suggests that such a coating would transfer some of these diamond-like properties to the coated stone, hence enhancing the diamond simulant. Techniques such as Raman spectroscopy should easily identify such a treatment.",
"title": "Synthetics, simulants, and enhancements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "Early diamond identification tests included a scratch test relying on the superior hardness of diamond. This test is destructive, as a diamond can scratch another diamond, and is rarely used nowadays. Instead, diamond identification relies on its superior thermal conductivity. Electronic thermal probes are widely used in the gemological centers to separate diamonds from their imitations. These probes consist of a pair of battery-powered thermistors mounted in a fine copper tip. One thermistor functions as a heating device while the other measures the temperature of the copper tip: if the stone being tested is a diamond, it will conduct the tip's thermal energy rapidly enough to produce a measurable temperature drop. This test takes about two to three seconds.",
"title": "Synthetics, simulants, and enhancements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "Whereas the thermal probe can separate diamonds from most of their simulants, distinguishing between various types of diamond, for example synthetic or natural, irradiated or non-irradiated, etc., requires more advanced, optical techniques. Those techniques are also used for some diamonds simulants, such as silicon carbide, which pass the thermal conductivity test. Optical techniques can distinguish between natural diamonds and synthetic diamonds. They can also identify the vast majority of treated natural diamonds. \"Perfect\" crystals (at the atomic lattice level) have never been found, so both natural and synthetic diamonds always possess characteristic imperfections, arising from the circumstances of their crystal growth, that allow them to be distinguished from each other.",
"title": "Synthetics, simulants, and enhancements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "Laboratories use techniques such as spectroscopy, microscopy, and luminescence under shortwave ultraviolet light to determine a diamond's origin. They also use specially made instruments to aid them in the identification process. Two screening instruments are the DiamondSure and the DiamondView, both produced by the DTC and marketed by the GIA.",
"title": "Synthetics, simulants, and enhancements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "Several methods for identifying synthetic diamonds can be performed, depending on the method of production and the color of the diamond. CVD diamonds can usually be identified by an orange fluorescence. D–J colored diamonds can be screened through the Swiss Gemmological Institute's Diamond Spotter. Stones in the D–Z color range can be examined through the DiamondSure UV/visible spectrometer, a tool developed by De Beers. Similarly, natural diamonds usually have minor imperfections and flaws, such as inclusions of foreign material, that are not seen in synthetic diamonds.",
"title": "Synthetics, simulants, and enhancements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "Screening devices based on diamond type detection can be used to make a distinction between diamonds that are certainly natural and diamonds that are potentially synthetic. Those potentially synthetic diamonds require more investigation in a specialized lab. Examples of commercial screening devices are D-Screen (WTOCD / HRD Antwerp), Alpha Diamond Analyzer (Bruker / HRD Antwerp), and D-Secure (DRC Techno).",
"title": "Synthetics, simulants, and enhancements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "The name diamond is derived from Ancient Greek: ἀδάμας (adámas), 'proper, unalterable, unbreakable, untamed', from ἀ- (a-), 'not' + Ancient Greek: δαμάω (damáō), 'to overpower, tame'. Diamonds are thought to have been first recognized and mined in India, where significant alluvial deposits of the stone could be found many centuries ago along the rivers Penner, Krishna, and Godavari. Diamonds have been known in India for at least 3,000 years but most likely 6,000 years.",
"title": "Etymology, earliest use and composition discovery"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "Diamonds have been treasured as gemstones since their use as religious icons in ancient India. Their usage in engraving tools also dates to early human history. The popularity of diamonds has risen since the 19th century because of increased supply, improved cutting and polishing techniques, growth in the world economy, and innovative and successful advertising campaigns.",
"title": "Etymology, earliest use and composition discovery"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "In 1772, the French scientist Antoine Lavoisier used a lens to concentrate the rays of the sun on a diamond in an atmosphere of oxygen, and showed that the only product of the combustion was carbon dioxide, proving that diamond is composed of carbon. Later in 1797, the English chemist Smithson Tennant repeated and expanded that experiment. By demonstrating that burning diamond and graphite releases the same amount of gas, he established the chemical equivalence of these substances.",
"title": "Etymology, earliest use and composition discovery"
}
] | Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, but diamond is metastable and converts to it at a negligible rate under those conditions. Diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any natural material, properties that are used in major industrial applications such as cutting and polishing tools. They are also the reason that diamond anvil cells can subject materials to pressures found deep in the Earth. Because the arrangement of atoms in diamond is extremely rigid, few types of impurity can contaminate it. Small numbers of defects or impurities color diamond blue (boron), yellow (nitrogen), brown (defects), green, purple, pink, orange, or red. Diamond also has a very high refractive index and a relatively high optical dispersion. Most natural diamonds have ages between 1 billion and 3.5 billion years. Most were formed at depths between 150 and 250 kilometres in the Earth's mantle, although a few have come from as deep as 800 kilometres (500 mi). Under high pressure and temperature, carbon-containing fluids dissolved various minerals and replaced them with diamonds. Much more recently, they were carried to the surface in volcanic eruptions and deposited in igneous rocks known as kimberlites and lamproites. Synthetic diamonds can be grown from high-purity carbon under high pressures and temperatures or from hydrocarbon gases by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Imitation diamonds can also be made out of materials such as cubic zirconia and silicon carbide. Natural, synthetic, and imitation diamonds are most commonly distinguished using optical techniques or thermal conductivity measurements. | 2001-11-12T16:25:24Z | 2023-12-30T05:39:17Z | [
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8,083 | Dr. Dre | Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American record producer and rapper. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and was the president of Death Row Records. Young began his career as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru in 1985 and later found fame with the gangsta rap group N.W.A. The group popularized explicit lyrics in hip hop to detail the violence of street life. During the early 1990s, Young was credited as a key figure in the crafting and popularization of West Coast G-funk, a subgenre of hip hop characterized by a synthesizer foundation and slow, heavy beats. He is considered as one of the greatest music producers of all time.
Young's solo debut studio album The Chronic (1992), released under Death Row Records, made him one of the best-selling American music artists of 1993. It earned him a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for the single "Let Me Ride", as well as several accolades for the single "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang". That year, he produced Death Row labelmate Snoop Doggy Dogg's debut album Doggystyle and mentored producers such as his stepbrother Warren G (leading to the multi-platinum debut Regulate...G Funk Era in 1994) and Snoop Dogg's cousin Daz Dillinger (leading to the double-platinum debut Dogg Food by Tha Dogg Pound in 1995), and would later mentor other producers including Mel-Man and Scott Storch. In 1996, Young left Death Row Records to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment. He produced a compilation album, Dr. Dre Presents: The Aftermath, in 1996, and released his second solo album, 2001, in 1999.
During the 2000s, Young focused on producing other artists, occasionally contributing vocals. He signed Eminem in 1998 and 50 Cent in 2002, and heavily produced their output while they were signed to Aftermath. He has produced albums for and overseen the careers of many other rappers, including the D.O.C., Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Knoc-turn'al, the Game, Kendrick Lamar, and Anderson .Paak. He has won seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. Rolling Stone ranked him number 56 on the list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Outside of music, Young has acted in films such as Set It Off, The Wash, and Training Day. He is considered the greatest hip hop producer of all time.
Accusations of Young's violence against women have been widely publicized. Following his assault of television host Dee Barnes, he was fined $2,500, given two years' probation, ordered to perform 240 hours of community service, and given a spot on an anti-violence public service announcement. A civil suit was settled out of court. In 2015, Michel'le, the mother of one of his children, accused him of domestic violence during their time together as a couple. Their abusive relationship is portrayed in her 2016 biopic Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le. Lisa Johnson, the mother of three of Young's children, stated that he beat her many times, including while she was pregnant. She was granted a restraining order against him. Former labelmate Tairrie B claimed that Young assaulted her at a party in 1990, in response to her track "Ruthless Bitch". Two weeks following the release of his third album, Compton in August 2015, he issued an apology to the women "I've hurt".
Andre Romell Young was born in Compton, California, on February 18, 1965, the son of Theodore and Verna Young. His middle name is derived from the Romells, his father's amateur R&B group. His parents married in 1964, separated in 1968, and divorced in 1972. His mother later remarried to Curtis Crayon and had three children: sons Jerome and Tyree (both deceased) and daughter Shameka.
In 1976, Dre began attending Vanguard Junior High School in Compton, but due to gang violence, he transferred to the safer suburban Roosevelt Junior High School. The family moved often and lived in apartments and houses in Compton, Carson, Long Beach, and the Watts and South Central neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Dre has said that he was mostly raised by his grandmother in the New Wilmington Arms housing project in Compton. His mother later married Warren Griffin, which added three step-sisters and one step-brother to the family; the latter would eventually begin rapping under the name Warren G. Dre is also the cousin of producer Sir Jinx. Dre attended Centennial High School in Compton during his freshman year in 1979, but transferred to Fremont High School in South Central Los Angeles due to poor grades. He attempted to enroll in an apprenticeship program at Northrop Aviation Company, but poor grades at school made him ineligible. Thereafter, he focused on his social life and entertainment for the remainder of his high school years.
Dre's frequent absences from school jeopardized his position as a diver on his school's swim team. After high school, he attended Chester Adult School in Compton following his mother's demands for him to get a job or continue his education. After brief attendance at a radio broadcasting school, he relocated to the residence of his father and residence of his grandparents before returning to his mother's house.
Inspired by the Grandmaster Flash song "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", Dr. Dre often attended a club called Eve's After Dark to watch many DJs and rappers performing live. He subsequently became a DJ in the club, initially under the name "Dr. J", based on the nickname of Julius Erving, his favorite basketball player. At the club, he met aspiring rapper Antoine Carraby, later to become member DJ Yella of N.W.A. Soon afterwards he adopted the moniker Dr. Dre, a mix of previous alias Dr. J and his first name, referring to himself as the "Master of Mixology".
Eve After Dark had a back room with a small four-track studio. In this studio, Dre and Yella recorded several demos. In their first recording session, they recorded a song entitled "Surgery". Dr. Dre's earliest recordings were released in 1994 on a compilation titled Concrete Roots. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described the compiled music, released "several years before Dre developed a distinctive style", as "surprisingly generic and unengaging" and "for dedicated fans only".
Dre later joined the musical group World Class Wreckin' Cru, which released its debut album under the Kru-Cut label in 1985. The group would become stars of the electro-hop scene that dominated early-mid 1980s West Coast hip hop. "Surgery", which was officially released after being recorded prior to the group's official formation, would prominently feature Dr. Dre on the turntable. The record would become the group's first hit, selling 50,000 copies within the Compton area. Dr. Dre and DJ Yella also performed mixes for local radio station KDAY, boosting ratings for its afternoon rush-hour show The Traffic Jam.
In 1986, Dr. Dre met rapper O'Shea Jackson—known as Ice Cube—who collaborated with him to record songs for Ruthless Records, a hip hop record label run by local rapper Eazy-E. N.W.A and fellow West Coast rapper Ice-T are widely credited as seminal artists of the gangsta rap genre, a profanity-heavy subgenre of hip hop, replete with gritty depictions of urban crime and gang lifestyle. Not feeling constricted to racially charged political issues pioneered by rap artists such as Public Enemy or Boogie Down Productions, N.W.A favored themes and uncompromising lyrics, offering stark descriptions of violent, inner-city streets. Propelled by the hit "Fuck tha Police", the group's first full album Straight Outta Compton became a major success, despite an almost complete absence of radio airplay or major concert tours. The Federal Bureau of Investigation sent Ruthless Records a warning letter in response to the song's content.
After Ice Cube left N.W.A in 1989 over financial disputes, Dr. Dre produced and performed for much of the group's second album Efil4zaggin. He also produced tracks for a number of other acts on Ruthless Records, including Eazy-E's 1988 solo debut Eazy-Duz-It, Above the Law's 1990 debut Livin' Like Hustlers, Michel'le's 1989 self-titled debut, the D.O.C.'s 1989 debut No One Can Do It Better, J.J. Fad's 1988 debut Supersonic and funk rock musician Jimmy Z's 1991 album Muzical Madness.
After a dispute with Eazy-E, Dre left the group at the peak of its popularity in 1991 under the advice of friend, and N.W.A lyricist, the D.O.C. and his bodyguard at the time, Suge Knight. Knight, a notorious strongman and intimidator, was able to have Eazy-E release Young from his contract and, using Dr. Dre as his flagship artist, founded Death Row Records. In 1992, Young released his first single, the title track to the film Deep Cover, a collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg, whom he met through Warren G. Dr. Dre's debut solo album was The Chronic, released under Death Row Records with Suge Knight as executive producer. Young ushered in a new style of rap, both in terms of musical style and lyrical content, including introducing a number of artists to the industry including Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, RBX, the Lady of Rage, Nate Dogg and Jewell.
On the strength of singles such as "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang", "Let Me Ride", and "Fuck wit Dre Day (and Everybody's Celebratin')" (known as "Dre Day" for radio and television play), all of which featured Snoop Dogg as guest vocalist, The Chronic became a cultural phenomenon, its G-funk sound dominating much of hip hop music for the early 1990s. In 1993, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album triple platinum, and Dr. Dre also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for his performance on "Let Me Ride". For that year, Billboard magazine also ranked Dr. Dre as the eighth best-selling musical artist, The Chronic as the sixth best-selling album, and "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" as the 11th best-selling single.
Besides working on his own material, Dr. Dre produced Snoop Dogg's debut album Doggystyle, which became the first debut album for an artist to enter the Billboard 200 album charts at number one. In 1994 Dr. Dre produced some songs on the soundtracks to the films Above the Rim and Murder Was the Case. He collaborated with fellow N.W.A member Ice Cube for the song "Natural Born Killaz" in 1995. For the film Friday, Dre recorded "Keep Their Heads Ringin'", which reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Hot Rap Singles (now Hot Rap Tracks) charts.
In 1995, Death Row Records signed rapper 2Pac, and began to position him as their major star: he collaborated with Dr. Dre on the commercially successful single "California Love", which became both artists' first song to top the Billboard Hot 100. However, in March 1996 Young left the label amidst a contract dispute and growing concerns that label boss Suge Knight was corrupt, financially dishonest and out of control. Later that year, he formed his own label, Aftermath Entertainment, under the distribution label for Death Row Records, Interscope Records. Subsequently, Death Row Records suffered poor sales by 1997, especially following the death of 2Pac and the racketeering charges brought against Knight.
Dr. Dre also appeared on the single "No Diggity" by R&B group Blackstreet in 1996: it too was a sales success, topping the Hot 100 for four consecutive weeks, and later won the award for Best R&B Vocal by a Duo or Group at the 1997 Grammy Awards. After hearing it for the first time, several of Dr. Dre's former Death Row colleagues, including 2Pac, recorded and attempted to release a song titled "Toss It Up", containing numerous insults aimed at Dr. Dre and using a deliberately similar instrumental to "No Diggity", but were forced to replace the production after Blackstreet issued the label with a cease and desist order stopping them from distributing the song.
The Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath album, released on November 26, 1996, featured songs by Dr. Dre himself, as well as by newly signed Aftermath Entertainment artists, and a solo track "Been There, Done That", intended as a symbolic farewell to gangsta rap. Despite being classified platinum by the RIAA, the album was not very popular among music fans. In October 1996, Dre performed "Been There, Done That" on Saturday Night Live. In 1997, Dr. Dre produced several tracks on the Firm's The Album; it was met with largely negative reviews from critics. Rumors began to abound that Aftermath was facing financial difficulties. Aftermath Entertainment also faced a trademark infringement lawsuit by the underground thrash metal band Aftermath.
First Round Knock Out, a compilation of various tracks produced and performed by Dr. Dre, was also released in 1996, with material ranging from World Class Wreckin' Cru to N.W.A to Death Row recordings. Dr. Dre chose to take no part in the ongoing East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry of the time, instead producing for, and appearing on, several New York artists' releases, such as Nas' "Nas Is Coming", LL Cool J's "Zoom" and Jay-Z's "Watch Me".
The turning point for Aftermath came in 1998, when Dre's close friend, Jimmy Iovine, the co-founder of Interscope Records (parent label for Aftermath), suggested that Dr. Dre sign Eminem, a white rapper from Detroit. Dre produced three songs and provided vocals for two on Eminem's successful and controversial debut album The Slim Shady LP, released in 1999. The Dr. Dre-produced lead single from that album, "My Name Is", brought Eminem to public attention for the first time, and the success of The Slim Shady LP – it reached number two on the Billboard 200 and received general acclaim from critics – revived the label's commercial ambitions and viability.
Dr. Dre's second solo album, 2001, released on November 16, 1999, was considered an ostentatious return to his gangsta rap roots. It was initially titled The Chronic 2000 to imply being a sequel to his debut solo effort The Chronic but was re-titled 2001 after Death Row Records released an unrelated compilation album with the title Suge Knight Represents: Chronic 2000 in May 1999. Other tentative titles included The Chronic 2001 and Dr. Dre.
The album featured numerous collaborators, including Devin the Dude, Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Xzibit, Nate Dogg, Eminem, Knoc-turn'al, King T, Defari, Kokane, Mary J. Blige and new protégé Hittman, as well as co-production between Dre and new Aftermath producer Mel-Man. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the website AllMusic described the sound of the album as "adding ominous strings, soulful vocals, and reggae" to Dr. Dre's style. The album was highly successful, charting at number two on the Billboard 200 charts and has since been certified six times platinum, validating a recurring theme on the album: Dr. Dre was still a force to be reckoned with, despite the lack of major releases in the previous few years. The album included popular hit singles "Still D.R.E." and "Forgot About Dre", both of which Dr. Dre performed on NBC's Saturday Night Live on October 23, 1999. Dr. Dre won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2000, and joined the Up in Smoke Tour with fellow rappers Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube that year as well.
Following the success of 2001, Dr. Dre focused on producing songs and albums for other artists. He co-produced six tracks on Eminem's landmark Marshall Mathers LP, including the Grammy-winning lead single, "The Real Slim Shady". The album itself earned a Grammy and proved to be the fastest-selling rap album of all time, moving 1.76 million units in its first week alone. He produced the single "Family Affair" by R&B singer Mary J. Blige for her album No More Drama in 2001. He also produced "Let Me Blow Ya Mind", a duet by rapper Eve and No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani and signed R&B singer Truth Hurts to Aftermath in 2001.
Dr. Dre produced and rapped on singer and Interscope labelmate Bilal's 2001 single "Fast Lane", which barely missed the Top 40 of the R&B charts. He later assisted in the production of Bilal's second album, Love for Sale, which Interscope controversially shelved because of its creative direction. Dr. Dre was the executive producer of Eminem's 2002 release, The Eminem Show. He produced three songs on the album, one of which was released as a single, and he appeared in the award-winning video for "Without Me". He also produced the D.O.C.'s 2003 album Deuce, where he made a guest appearance on the tracks "Psychic Pymp Hotline", "Gorilla Pympin'" and "Judgment Day".
In 2002, Dr. Dre signed rapper 50 Cent to Aftermath in a joint venture between Interscope and Eminem's Shady Records. Dr. Dre served as executive producer for 50 Cent's commercially successful February 2003 debut studio album Get Rich or Die Tryin'. Dr. Dre produced or co-produced four tracks on the album, including the hit single "In da Club". Eminem's fourth album since joining Aftermath, Encore, again saw Dre taking on the role of executive producer, and this time he was more actively involved in the music, producing or co-producing a total of eight tracks, including three singles.
Dr. Dre also produced "How We Do", a 2005 hit single from rapper the Game from his album The Documentary, as well as tracks on 50 Cent's successful second album The Massacre. For an issue of Rolling Stone magazine in April 2005, Dr. Dre was ranked 54th out of 100 artists for Rolling Stone magazine's list "The Immortals: The Greatest Artists of All Time". Kanye West wrote the summary for Dr. Dre, where he stated Dr. Dre's song "Xxplosive" as where he "got (his) whole sound from".
In November 2006, Dr. Dre began working with Raekwon on his album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II. He also produced tracks for the rap albums Buck the World by Young Buck, Curtis by 50 Cent, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment by Snoop Dogg, and Kingdom Come by Jay-Z. Dre also appeared on Timbaland's track "Bounce", from his 2007 solo album, Timbaland Presents Shock Value alongside, Missy Elliott, and Justin Timberlake. During this period, the D.O.C. stated that Dre had been working with him on his fourth album Voices through Hot Vessels, which he planned to release after Detox arrived.
Planned but unreleased albums during Dr. Dre's tenure at Aftermath have included a full-length reunion with Snoop Dogg titled Breakup to Makeup, an album with fellow former N.W.A member Ice Cube which was to be titled Heltah Skeltah, an N.W.A reunion album, and a joint album with fellow producer Timbaland titled Chairmen of the Board.
In 2007, Dr. Dre's third studio album, formerly known as Detox, was slated to be his final studio album. Work for the upcoming album dates back to 2001, where its first version was called "the most advanced rap album ever", by producer Scott Storch. Later that same year, he decided to stop working on the album to focus on producing for other artists, but then changed his mind; the album had initially been set for a fall 2005 release. Producers confirmed to work on the album include DJ Khalil, Nottz, Bernard "Focus" Edwards Jr., Hi-Tek, J.R. Rotem, RZA, and Jay-Z. Snoop Dogg claimed that Detox was finished, according to a June 2008 report by Rolling Stone magazine.
After another delay based on producing other artists' work, Detox was then scheduled for a 2010 release, coming after 50 Cent's Before I Self Destruct and Eminem's Relapse, an album for which Dr. Dre handled the bulk of production duties. In a Dr Pepper commercial that debuted on May 28, 2009, he premiered the first official snippet of Detox. 50 Cent and Eminem asserted in a 2009 interview on BET's 106 & Park that Dr. Dre had around a dozen songs finished for Detox.
On December 15, 2008, Dre appeared in the remix of the song "Set It Off" by Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall (also with Pusha T); the remix debuted on DJ Skee's radio show. At the beginning of 2009, Dre produced, and made a guest vocal performance on, the single "Crack a Bottle" by Eminem and the single sold a record 418,000 downloads in its first week and reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week of February 12, 2009. Along with this single, in 2009 Dr. Dre produced or co-produced 19 of 20 tracks on Eminem's album Relapse. These included other hit singles "We Made You", "Old Time's Sake", and "3 a.m." (The only track Dre did not produce was the Eminem-produced single "Beautiful".).
On April 20, 2010, "Under Pressure", featuring Jay-Z and co-produced with Scott Storch, was confirmed by Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre during an interview at Fenway Park as the album's first single. The song leaked prior to its intended release in an unmixed, unmastered form without a chorus on June 16, 2010; however, critical reaction to the song was lukewarm, and Dr. Dre later announced in an interview that the song, along with any other previously leaked tracks from Detox's recording process, would not appear on the final version of the album.
Two genuine singles – "Kush", a collaboration with Snoop Dogg and fellow rapper Akon, and "I Need a Doctor" with Eminem and singer Skylar Grey – were released in the United States during November 2010 and February 2011 respectively: the latter achieved international chart success, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and later being certified double platinum by the RIAA and the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). On June 25, 2010, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honored Dr. Dre with its Founders Award for inspiring other musicians.
In an August 2010 interview, Dr. Dre stated that an instrumental album, The Planets, was in its first stages of production; each song being named after a planet in the Solar System. On September 3, Dr. Dre showed support to longtime protégé Eminem, and appeared on his and Jay-Z's Home & Home Tour, performing hit songs such as "Still D.R.E.", "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang", and "Crack a Bottle", alongside Eminem and another protégé, 50 Cent. Sporting an "R.I.P. Proof" shirt, Dre was honored by Eminem telling Detroit's Comerica Park to do the same. They did so, by chanting "DEEE-TOX", to which he replied, "I'm coming!"
On November 14, 2011, Dre announced that he would be taking a break from music after he finished producing for artists Slim the Mobster and Kendrick Lamar. In this break, he stated that he would "work on bringing his Beats By Dre to a standard as high as Apple" and would also spend time with his family. On January 9, 2012, Dre headlined the final nights of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2012.
In June 2014, Marsha Ambrosius stated that she had been working on Detox, but added that the album would be known under another title . In September 2014, Aftermath in-house producer Dawaun Parker confirmed the title change and stated that over 300 beats had been created for the album over the years, but few of them have had vocals recorded over them.
The length of time that Detox had been recorded for, as well as the limited amount of material that had been officially released or leaked from the recording sessions, had given it considerable notoriety within the music industry. Numerous release dates (including the ones mentioned above) had been given for the album over the years since it was first announced, although none of them transpired to be genuine. Several musicians closely affiliated with Dr. Dre, including Snoop Dogg, fellow rappers 50 Cent, the Game and producer DJ Quik, had speculated in interviews that the album will never be released, due to Dr. Dre's business and entrepreneurial ventures having interfered with recording work, as well as causing him to lose motivation to record new material.
On August 1, 2015, Dre announced that he would release what would be his final album, titled Compton. It is inspired by the N.W.A biopic, Straight Outta Compton, and is a compilation-style album, featuring a number of frequent collaborators, including Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Xzibit and the Game, among others. It was initially released on Apple Music on August 7, with a retail version releasing on August 21. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he revealed that he had about 20 to 40 tracks for Detox but he did not release it because it did not meet his standards. Dre also revealed that he suffers from social anxiety and due to this, remains secluded and out of attention.
On February 12, 2016, it was revealed that Apple would create its first original scripted television series for its then-upcoming Apple TV+ streaming service. Titled Vital Signs, it was set to reflect Dre's life. He was also an executive producer on the show before the show's cancellation sometime in September 2018, due to an overly graphic concept of drugs, gun violence and sex. In October 2016, Sean Combs brought out Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and others on his Bad Boy reunion tour.
In 2018, he produced four songs on Oxnard by Anderson .Paak. He was the executive producer on the album, as so its follow-up, 2019's Ventura.
Dr. Dre was the executive producer of Eminem's 2020 release, Music to Be Murdered By. He produced four songs on the album. He also produced two songs on the deluxe edition of the album, Side B, and appeared on the song, "Gunz Blazing". On September 30, 2021, it was revealed that Dre would perform at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show alongside Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar. In December 2021, an update for the video game, Grand Theft Auto Online, predominantly featured Dre and added some of his previously unreleased tracks which was released as an EP, The Contract, on February 3, 2022. Around this time, Dre announced he was collaborating with Marsha Ambrosius on Casablanco, and with Mary J. Blige on an upcoming album. Later that year, Snoop Dogg announced that he and Dr. Dre are in the process of recording their new album, Missionary. Snoop said the album will be released via Death Row and Aftermath.
On February 13, 2022, Dr. Dre performed at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show alongside Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige, with surprise appearances from 50 Cent and Anderson. Paak. The performance was met with critical acclaim and is the first Super Bowl halftime show to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live). The show also won the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special and Outstanding Music Direction. The same year, he produced numerous songs including "The King and I", a collaboration between Eminem and CeeLo Green for the 2022 biopic, Elvis, and a remix of Kanye West's song "Use This Gospel" for DJ Khaled's album God Did.
In September 2022, it was reported that Dr. Dre will compose the original score for the upcoming animated series, Death for Hire: The Origin of Tehk City. The show is created by Ice-T and Arabian Prince; based on the graphic novel of the same title, it features the voice talent of Ice-T, his wife Coco Austin, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, and Treach among others.
In February 2023, Dre and Marsha Ambrosius held a listening party for the Casablanco album in Los Angeles.
Dr. Dre made his first on screen appearance as a weapons dealer in the 1996 bank robbery movie Set It Off. In 2001, Dr. Dre also appeared in the movies The Wash and Training Day. A song of his, "Bad Intentions" (featuring Knoc-Turn'Al and produced by Mahogany), was featured on The Wash soundtrack. Dr. Dre also appeared on two other songs "On the Blvd." and "The Wash" along with his co-star Snoop Dogg.
In February 2007, it was announced that Dr. Dre would produce dark comedies and horror films for New Line Cinema-owned company Crucial Films, along with longtime video director Phillip Atwell. Dr. Dre announced "This is a natural switch for me, since I've directed a lot of music videos, and I eventually want to get into directing." Along with fellow member Ice Cube, Dr. Dre produced Straight Outta Compton (2015), a biographical film about N.W.A.
In 2006, Dre co-founded Beats Electronics with his partner, Jimmy Iovine. Its first brand of headphones were launched in July 2008. The line consisted of Beats Studio, a circumaural headphone; Beats Tour, an in-ear headphone; Beats Solo & Solo HD, a supra-aural headphone; Beats Spin; Heartbeats by Lady Gaga, also an in-ear headphone; and Diddy Beats. In late 2009, Hewlett-Packard participated in a deal to bundle Beats By Dr. Dre with some HP laptops and headsets. HP and Dr. Dre announced the deal on October 9, 2009, at a press event. An exclusive laptop, known as the HP ENVY 15 Beats limited edition, was released for sale October 22. In January 2014, Beats Music was introduced and launched as a streaming service. Then, in May, technology giant Apple purchased the Beats brand for $3.4 billion. The deal made Dr. Dre the "richest man in hip hop". Dr. Dre became an Apple employee in an executive role, and worked with Apple for years. As of 2022, it was found that Apple had subtracted $200 million from the deal after entertainer Tyrese Gibson revealed the news of the acquisition on social media a month before it was completed without the company's permission.
During May 2013, Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine donated a $70 million endowment to the University of Southern California to create the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation. The goal of the academy has been stated as "to shape the future by nurturing the talents, passions, leadership and risk-taking of uniquely qualified students who are motivated to explore and create new art forms, technologies, and business models." The first class of the academy began in September 2014.
In June 2017, it was announced that Dr. Dre has committed $10 million to the construction of a performing arts center for the new Compton High School. The center will encompass creative resources and a 1,200-seat theater, and is expected to break ground in 2020. The project is a partnership between Dr. Dre and the Compton Unified School District.
In 2002 and 2003, Dr. Dre appeared in TV commercials for Coors Light beer.
Beginning in 2009, Dr. Dre appeared in TV commercials that also featured his Beats Electronics product line. A 2009 commercial for the Dr Pepper soft drink had Dr. Dre DJing with Beats headphones and playing a brief snippet off the never-released Detox album. In 2010, Dr. Dre had a cameo in a commercial for HP laptops that featured a plug for Beats Audio. Then in 2011, the Chrysler 300S "Imported from Detroit" ad campaign had a commercial narrated by Dr. Dre and including a plug for Beats Audio.
An urban legend surfaced in 2011 when a Tumblr blog titled Dr. Dre Started Burning Man began promulgating the notion that the producer, rapper and entrepreneur had discovered Burning Man in 1995 during a music video shoot and offered to cover the cost of the event's permit from the Nevada Bureau of Land Management under an agreement with the festival's organizers that he could institute an entrance fee system, which had not existed before his participation. This claim was supported by an alleged letter from Dre to Nicole Threatt Young that indicated that Dre had shared his experience witnessing the Burning Man festival with her.
Business Insider mentions the portion of the letter where Dr. Dre purportedly states "someone should get behind this ... and make some money off these fools" and compares Dr. Dre's potential entrepreneurial engagement with Burning Man as a parallel to Steve Jobs's efforts to centralize and profit from the otherwise unorganized online music industry. According to Salon, Dr. Dre's ethos seems to be aligned with seven of the ten principles of the Burning Man community: "radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation and immediacy."
The space, about the size of a college dorm room, is splattered with papers, ideas scribbled down in black ink. Nuthin' but G thangs waiting to happen. Those that don't happen end up in a round, purple L.A. Lakers trash can. A kitchen, red and stainless steel like a '50s diner, adjoins the control room
Dre is noted for his evolving production style, while always keeping in touch with his early musical sound and re-shaping elements from previous work. At the beginning of his career as a producer for the World Class Wreckin Cru with DJ Alonzo Williams in the mid-1980s, his music was in the electro-hop style pioneered by the Unknown DJ, and that of early hip-hop groups like the Beastie Boys and Whodini.
In 1987, Dr. Dre sampled the Ohio Players' ARP synth riffs from their 1973 funk hit "Funky Worm" in the N.W.A song "Dopeman". Being the first hip-hop producer to sample the song, Dre both paved the way for the future popularization of the G-funk style within hip-hop, and established heavy synthesizer solos as an integral part of his production style. Dr. Dre was also one of the very first producers to interpolate the then little-known drum break from The Winstons' "Amen, Brother" in the N.W.A song "Straight Outta Compton". This break has since becοme a staple in not only hip-hop, but all popular music, having been used in over 1700 songs.
From Straight Outta Compton on, Dre uses live musicians to replay old melodies rather than sampling them. With Ruthless Records, collaborators included guitarist Mike "Crazy Neck" Sims, multi-instrumentalist Colin Wolfe, DJ Yella and sound engineer Donovan "The Dirt Biker" Sound. Dre is receptive of new ideas from other producers, one example being his fruitful collaboration with Above the Law's producer Cold 187um while at Ruthless. Cold 187 um was at the time experimenting with 1970s P-Funk samples (Parliament, Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton etc.), that Dre also used. Dre has since been accused of "stealing" the concept of G-funk from Cold 187 um.
Upon leaving Ruthless and forming Death Row Records in 1991, Dre called on veteran West Coast DJ Chris "the Glove" Taylor and sound engineer Greg "Gregski" Royal, along with Colin Wolfe, to help him on future projects. His 1992 album The Chronic is thought to be one of the most well-produced hip-hop albums of all time. Musical themes included hard-hitting synthesizer solos played by Wolfe, bass-heavy compositions, background female vocals and Dre fully embracing 1970s funk samples. Dre used a minimoog synth to replay the melody from Leon Haywood's 1972 song "I Wanna Do Somethin' Freaky to You" for the Chronic's first single "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" which became a global hit. For his new protégé Snoop Doggy Dogg's album Doggystyle, Dre collaborated with then 19-year-old producer Daz Dillinger, who received co-production credits on songs "Serial Killa" and "For all My Niggaz & Bitches", The Dramatics bass player Tony "T. Money" Green, guitarist Ricky Rouse, keyboardists Emanuel "Porkchop" Dean and Sean "Barney Rubble" Thomas and engineer Tommy Daugherty, as well as Warren G and Sam Sneed, who are credited with bringing several samples to the studio.
The influence of The Chronic and Doggystyle on the popular music of the 1990s went not only far beyond the West Coast, but beyond hip-hop as a genre. Artists as diverse as Master P ("Bout It, Bout It"), George Michael ("Fastlove"), Mariah Carey ("Fantasy"), Adina Howard ("Freak Like Me"), Luis Miguel ("Dame"), and The Spice Girls ("Say You'll Be There") used G-funk instrumentation in their songs. Bad Boy Records producer Chucky Thompson stated in the April 2004 issue of XXL magazine that the sound of Doggystyle and The Chronic was the basis for the Notorious B.I.G.'s 1995 hit single "Big Poppa":
At that time, we were listening to Snoop's album. We knew what was going on in the West through Dr. Dre. Big just knew the culture, he knew what was going on with hip-hop. It was more than just New York, it was all over.
In 1994, starting with the Murder was the Case soundtrack, Dre attempted to push the boundaries of G-funk further into a darker sound. In songs such as "Murder was the Case" and "Natural Born Killaz", the synthesizer pitch is higher and the drum tempo is slowed down to 91 BPM (87 BPM in the remix) to create a dark and gritty atmosphere. Percussion instruments, particularly sleigh bells, are also present. Dre's frequent collaborators from this period included Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania natives Stuart "Stu-B-Doo" Bullard, a multi-instrumentalist from the Ozanam Strings Orchestra, Sam Sneed, Stephen "Bud'da" Anderson, and percussionist Carl "Butch" Small. This style of production has been influential far beyond the West Coast. The beat for the Houston-based group Geto Boys 1996 song "Still" follows the same drum pattern as "Natural Born Killaz" and Eazy E's "Wut Would U Do" (a diss to Dre) is similar to the original "Murder was the Case" instrumental. This style of production is usually accompanied by horror and occult-themed lyrics and imagery, being crucial to the creation of horrorcore.
By 1996, Dre was again looking to innovate his sound. He recruited keyboardist Camara Kambon to play the keys on "Been There, Done That", and through Bud'da and Sam Sneed he was introduced to fellow Pittsburgh native Melvin "Mel-Man" Bradford. At this time, he also switched from using the E-mu SP-1200 to the Akai MPC3000 drum kit and sampler, which he still uses today. Beginning with his 1996 compilation Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath, Dre's production has taken a less sample-based approach, with loud, layered snare drums dominating the mix, while synthesizers are still omnipresent. In his critically acclaimed second album, 2001, live instrumentation takes the place of sampling, a famous example being "The Next Episode", in which keyboardist Camara Kambon re-played live the main melody from David McCallum's 1967 jazz-funk work "The Edge". For every song on 2001, Dre had a keyboardist, guitarist and bassist create the basic parts of the beat, while he himself programmed the drums, did the sequencing and overdubbing and added sound effects, and later mixed the songs. During this period, Dre's signature "west coast whistle" riffs are still present albeit in a lower pitch, as in "Light Speed", "Housewife", "Some L.A. Niggaz" and Eminem's "Guilty Conscience" hook. The sound of "2001" had tremendous influence on hip-hop production, redefining the West Coast's sound and expanding the G-funk of the early 1990s. To produce the album, Dre and Mel-Man relied on the talents of Scott Storch and Camara Kambon on the keys, Mike Elizondo and Colin Wolfe on bass guitar, Sean Cruse on lead guitar and sound engineers Richard "Segal" Huredia and Mauricio "Veto" Iragorri.
From the mid-2000s, Dr. Dre has taken on a more soulful production style, using more of a classical piano instead of a keyboard, and having claps replace snares, as evidenced in songs such as Snoop Dogg's "Imagine" and "Boss' Life", Busta Rhymes' "Get You Some" and "Been Through the Storm", Stat Quo's "Get Low" and "The Way It Be", Jay-Z's "Lost One", Nas' "Hustlers", and several beats on Eminem's Relapse album. Soul and R&B pianist Mark Batson, having previously worked with The Dave Matthews Band, Seal and Maroon 5 has been credited as the architect of this sound. Besides Batson, Aftermath producer and understudy of Dre's, Dawaun Parker, who has named Q-Tip and J Dilla as his primary influences, is thought to be responsible for giving Dre's newest beats an East Coast feel.
Despite an occasional hint of trap about the beats and an intriguingly warped use of autotune in his Compton song, "Darkside/Gone", his production seems to stand slightly apart from current trends in hip-hop like Eminem's song "Little Engine" with an ominous horrorcore beat — reminiscent of some of his works on Eminem's album Relapse – or the West Coast joint Lock It Up.
Dr. Dre has said that his primary instrument in the studio is the Akai MPC3000, a drum machine and sampler, and that he often uses as many as four or five to produce a single recording. He cites 1970s funk musicians such as George Clinton, Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield as his primary musical influences. Unlike most rap producers, he tries to avoid samples as much as possible, preferring to have studio musicians re-play pieces of music he wants to use, because it allows him more flexibility to change the pieces in rhythm and tempo. In 2001 he told Time magazine, "I may hear something I like on an old record that may inspire me, but I'd rather use musicians to re-create the sound or elaborate on it. I can control it better."
Other equipment he uses includes the E-mu SP-1200 drum machine and other keyboards from such manufacturers as Korg, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Moog, and Roland. Dr. Dre also stresses the importance of equalizing drums properly, telling Scratch in 2004 that he "used the same drum sounds on a couple of different songs on one album before but you'd never be able to tell the difference because of the EQ". Dr. Dre also uses the digital audio workstation Pro Tools and uses the software to combine hardware drum machines and vintage analog keyboards and synthesizers.
After founding Aftermath Entertainment in 1996, Dr. Dre took on producer Mel-Man as a co-producer, and his music took on a more synthesizer-based sound, using fewer vocal samples (as he had used on "Lil' Ghetto Boy" and "Let Me Ride" on The Chronic, for example). Mel-Man has not shared co-production credits with Dr. Dre since approximately 2002, but fellow Aftermath producer Focus has credited Mel-Man as a key architect of the signature Aftermath sound.
In 1999, Dr. Dre started working with Mike Elizondo, a bassist, guitarist, and keyboardist who has also produced, written and played on records for female singers such as Poe, Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette, In the past few years Elizondo has since worked for many of Dr. Dre's productions. Dr. Dre also told Scratch magazine in a 2004 interview that he has been studying piano and music theory formally, and that a major goal is to accumulate enough musical theory to score movies. In the same interview he stated that he has collaborated with famed 1960s songwriter Burt Bacharach by sending him hip hop beats to play over, and hopes to have an in-person collaboration with him in the future.
Dr. Dre has stated that he is a perfectionist and is known to pressure the artists with whom he records to give flawless performances. In 2006, Snoop Dogg told the website Dubcnn.com that Dr. Dre had made new artist Bishop Lamont re-record a single bar of vocals 107 times. Dr. Dre has also stated that Eminem is a fellow perfectionist, and attributes his success on Aftermath to his similar work ethic. He gives a lot of input into the delivery of the vocals and will stop an MC during a take if it is not to his liking. However, he gives MCs that he works with room to write lyrics without too much instruction unless it is a specifically conceptual record, as noted by Bishop Lamont in the book How to Rap.
A consequence of his perfectionism is that some artists who initially sign deals with Dr. Dre's Aftermath label never release albums. In 2001, Aftermath released the soundtrack to the movie The Wash, featuring a number of Aftermath acts such as Shaunta, Daks, Joe Beast and Toi. To date, none have released full-length albums on Aftermath and have apparently ended their relationships with the label and Dr. Dre. Other noteworthy acts to leave Aftermath without releasing albums include King Tee, 2001 vocalist Hittman, Joell Ortiz, Raekwon and Rakim.
Over the years, word of other collaborators who have contributed to Dr. Dre's work has surfaced. During his tenure at Death Row Records, it was alleged that Dr. Dre's stepbrother Warren G and Tha Dogg Pound member Daz made many uncredited contributions to songs on his solo album The Chronic and Snoop Doggy Dogg's album Doggystyle (Daz received production credits on Snoop's similar-sounding, albeit less successful album Tha Doggfather after Young left Death Row Records).
It is known that Scott Storch, who has since gone on to become a successful producer in his own right, contributed to Dr. Dre's second album 2001; Storch is credited as a songwriter on several songs and played keyboards on several tracks. In 2006 he told Rolling Stone:
"At the time, I saw Dr. Dre desperately needed something," Storch says. "He needed a fuel injection, and Dr. Dre utilized me as the nitrous oxide. He threw me into the mix, and I sort of tapped on a new flavor with my whole piano sound and the strings and orchestration. So I'd be on the keyboards, and Mike [Elizondo] was on the bass guitar, and Dr. Dre was on the drum machine".
Current collaborator Mike Elizondo, when speaking about his work with Young, describes their recording process as a collaborative effort involving several musicians. In 2004 he claimed to Songwriter Universe magazine that he had written the foundations of the hit Eminem song "The Real Slim Shady", stating, "I initially played a bass line on the song, and Dr. Dre, Tommy Coster Jr. and I built the track from there. Eminem then heard the track, and he wrote the rap to it." This account is essentially confirmed by Eminem in his book Angry Blonde, stating that the tune for the song was composed by a studio bassist and keyboardist while Dr. Dre was out of the studio but Young later programmed the song's beat after returning.
A group of disgruntled former associates of Dr. Dre complained that they had not received their full due for work on the label in the September 2003 issue of The Source. A producer named Neff-U claimed to have produced the songs "Say What You Say" and "My Dad's Gone Crazy" on The Eminem Show, the songs "If I Can't" and "Back Down" on 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin', and the beat featured on Dr. Dre's commercial for Coors beer.
Although Young studies piano and music theory, he serves as more of a conductor than a musician himself, as Josh Tyrangiel of Time magazine has noted:
Every Dre track begins the same way, with Dre behind a drum machine in a room full of trusted musicians. (They carry beepers. When he wants to work, they work.) He'll program a beat, then ask the musicians to play along; when Dre hears something he likes, he isolates the player and tells him how to refine the sound. "My greatest talent," Dre says, "is knowing exactly what I want to hear."
Although Snoop Dogg retains working relationships with Warren G and Daz, who are alleged to be uncredited contributors on the hit albums The Chronic and Doggystyle, he states that Dr. Dre is capable of making beats without the help of collaborators, and that he is responsible for the success of his numerous albums. Dr. Dre's prominent studio collaborators, including Scott Storch, Elizondo, Mark Batson and Dawaun Parker, have shared co-writing, instrumental, and more recently co-production credits on the songs where he is credited as the producer.
Anderson .Paak also praised Dr. Dre in a 2016 interview with Music Times, telling the publication that it was a dream come true to work with Dre.
It is acknowledged that most of Dr. Dre's raps are written for him by others, though he retains ultimate control over his lyrics and the themes of his songs. As Aftermath producer Mahogany told Scratch: "It's like a class room in [the booth]. He'll have three writers in there. They'll bring in something, he'll recite it, then he'll say, 'Change this line, change this word,' like he's grading papers." As seen in the credits for tracks Young has appeared on, there are often multiple people who contribute to his songs (although often in hip hop many people are officially credited as a writer for a song, even the producer).
In the book How to Rap, RBX explains that writing The Chronic was a "team effort" and details how he ghostwrote "Let Me Ride" for Dre. In regard to ghostwriting lyrics he says, "Dre doesn't profess to be no super-duper rap dude – Dre is a super-duper producer". As a member of N.W.A, the D.O.C. wrote lyrics for him while he stuck with producing. Jay-Z ghostwrote lyrics for the single "Still D.R.E." from Dr. Dre's album 2001.
On December 15, 1981, when Dre was 16 years old and his then-girlfriend Cassandra Joy Greene was 15 years old, the two had a son named Curtis, who was brought up by Greene and first met Dre 20 years later. Curtis performed as a rapper under the name Hood Surgeon.
In 1983, Dre and Lisa Johnson had a daughter named La Tanya Danielle Young. Dre and Johnson have three daughters together.
In 1988, Dre and Jenita Porter had a son named Andre Young Jr. In 1990, Porter sued Dre, seeking $5,000 of child support per month. On August 23, 2008, Andre died at the age of 20 from an overdose of heroin and morphine at his mother's Woodland Hills home.
From 1987 to 1996, Dre dated singer Michel'le, who frequently contributed vocals to Ruthless Records and Death Row Records albums. In 1991, they had a son named Marcel.
In April 1992, after a verbal dispute with his engineer, Dre was consequently shot four times in his leg.
In 1996, Dre married Nicole (née Plotzker) Threatt, who was previously married to basketball player Sedale Threatt. They have two children together: a son named Truice (born 1997) and a daughter named Truly (born 2001).
In 2001, Dre earned a total of about US$52 million from selling part of his share of Aftermath Entertainment to Interscope Records and his production of such hit songs that year as "Family Affair" by Mary J. Blige. Rolling Stone magazine thus named him the second highest-paid artist of the year. Dr. Dre was ranked 44th in 2004 from earnings of $11.4 million, primarily from production royalties from such projects as albums from G-Unit and D12 and the single "Rich Girl" by singer Gwen Stefani and rapper Eve. Forbes estimated his net worth at US$270 million in 2012. The same publication later reported that he acquired US$110 million via his various endeavors in 2012, making him the highest–paid artist of the year. Income from the 2014 sale of Beats to Apple, contributing to what Forbes termed "the biggest single-year payday of any musician in history", made Dr. Dre the world's richest musical performer of 2015.
In 2014, Dre purchased a $40 million home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles from its previous owners, NFL player Tom Brady and supermodel Gisele Bündchen.
It was reported that Dre suffered a brain aneurysm on January 5, 2021, and that he was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's ICU in Los Angeles, California. Hours after his admission to the hospital, Dre's home was targeted for an attempted burglary. He eventually received support from LeBron James, Martin Lawrence, LL Cool J, Missy Elliott, Snoop Dogg,Eminem,Ice Cube, 50 Cent, Ellen DeGeneres, Ciara, her husband Russell Wilson, T.I., Quincy Jones and others. In February, he was released with a following message on Instagram: "Thanks to my family, friends and fans for their interest and well wishes. I'm doing great and getting excellent care from my medical team. I will be out of the hospital and back home soon. Shout out to all the great medical professionals at Cedars. One Love!!"
In December 2021, Dre finalized his divorce from Nicole Threat for a reported sum of $100 million of his estate.
Dre is a notable fan of both the Los Angeles Rams, and Los Angeles Lakers.
Dre has been accused of multiple incidents of violence against women.
On January 27, 1991, at a music industry party at the Po Na Na Souk club in Hollywood, Dr. Dre assaulted television host Dee Barnes of the Fox television program Pump it Up!, following an episode of the show. Barnes had interviewed NWA, which was followed by an interview with Ice Cube in which Cube mocked NWA. Barnes filed a $22.7 million lawsuit in response to the incident. Subsequently, Dr. Dre was fined $2,500, given two years' probation, ordered to undergo 240 hours of community service, and given a spot on an anti-violence public service announcement on television. The civil suit was settled out of court. Barnes stated that he "began slamming her face and the right side of her body repeatedly against a wall near the stairway". Dr. Dre later commented: "People talk all this shit, but you know, somebody fucks with me, I'm gonna fuck with them. I just did it, you know. Ain't nothing you can do now by talking about it. Besides, it ain't no big thing – I just threw her through a door."
In March 2015, Michel'le, the mother of one of Dre's children, accused him of subjecting her to domestic violence during their time together as a couple, but did not initiate legal action. Their abusive relationship is portrayed in her 2016 biopic Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le. Dre threatened a lawsuit against Lifetime, Sony Pictures and filmmakers of Surviving Compton in a cease and desist, but never ultimately took action.
Interviewed by Ben Westhoff for the book Original Gangstas: the Untold Story of Dr Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap, Lisa Johnson stated that Dre beat her many times, including while she was pregnant. She was granted a restraining order against him.
Former labelmate Tairrie B claimed that Dre assaulted her at a post-Grammy party in 1990, in response to her track "Ruthless Bitch".
During press for the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton, questions about the portrayal and behavior of Dre and other prominent figures in the rap community about violence against women – and the question about its absence in the film – were raised. The discussion about the film led to Dre addressing his past behavior in the press. In August 2015, in an interview with Rolling Stone, Dre lamented his abusive past, saying, "I made some fucking horrible mistakes in my life. I was young, fucking stupid. I would say all the allegations aren't true—some of them are. Those are some of the things that I would like to take back. It was really fucked up. But I paid for those mistakes, and there's no way in hell that I will ever make another mistake like that again."
In a statement to The New York Times on August 21, 2015, exactly two weeks after his album, Compton, was released, Dre again addressed his abusive past, stating, "25 years ago I was a young man drinking too much and in over my head with no real structure in my life. However, none of this is an excuse for what I did. I've been married for 19 years and every day I'm working to be a better man for my family, seeking guidance along the way. I'm doing everything I can so I never resemble that man again. ... I apologize to the women I've hurt. I deeply regret what I did and know that it has forever impacted all of our lives."
In the 2017 film The Defiant Ones, Dr. Dre explained about the Dee Barnes incident again, "This was a very low point in my life. I've done a lot of stupid shit in my life. A lot of things I wish I could go and take back. I've experienced abuse. I've watched my mother get abused. So there's absolutely no excuse for it. No woman should ever be treated that way. Any man that puts his hands on a female is a fucking idiot. He's out of his fucking mind, and I was out of my fucking mind at the time. I fucked up, I paid for it, I'm sorry for it, and I apologize for it. I have this dark cloud that follows me, and it's going to be attached to me forever. It's a major blemish on who I am as a man."
Dre's wife, Nicole Plotzker-Young, filed for divorce in June 2020, citing irreconcilable differences. In November 2020, she filed legal claims that Dre engaged in verbal violence and infidelity during their marriage. She also stated that he tore up their prenuptial agreement that he wanted her to sign out of anger. Dre's representative responded, calling her claims of infidelity and violence in their marriage "false".
Before being released from the Cedar-Sinai Medical Center, he was ordered to pay Plotzker-Young $2 million in temporary spousal support. Between the spring and summer of the year, Dre was ordered by the Los Angeles County judge to pay his ex-wife over $300,000 a month in spousal support. The $2 million extension request was also dismissed, due to insufficient claims.
In July 2021, Dr. Dre was ordered by the Los Angeles Superior Court Judge to pay an additional $293,306 a month to estranged wife in spousal support starting August 1 until she decides to remarry or "further order of the Court". Then, in August, the judge denied his wife's request for a protective order, due to her being afraid of Dre after a snippet leaked on Instagram of him rapping about the divorce proceedings and his possible brain aneurysm earlier that February; in this snippet, he called his wife a "greedy bitch".
In mid-October, Dr. Dre was served more divorce papers, during his grandmother's funeral. That same month, Dre was officially deemed "single" by the judge. The financial owings in this case included expenses of Dre's Malibu, Palisades and Hollywood Hills homes, but not his stock in past ownership of Beats Electronics, prior to its sale to Apple in 2014. As of December 2021, the divorce proceedings have entered its final stages.
On December 28, the divorce was settled with Dre keeping most of his assets and income due to the prenuptial agreement, although he would have to pay a 9-figure settlement within one year.
During the course of 2001's popularity, Dr. Dre was involved in several lawsuits. Lucasfilm Ltd., the film company behind the Star Wars film franchise, sued him over the use of the THX-trademarked "Deep Note". The Fatback Band also sued Dr. Dre over alleged infringement regarding its song "Backstrokin'" in his song "Let's Get High" from the 2001 album; Dr. Dre was ordered to pay $1.5 million to the band in 2003. French jazz musician Jacques Loussier sued Aftermath for $10 million in March 2002, claiming that the Dr. Dre-produced Eminem track "Kill You" plagiarized his composition "Pulsion". The online music file-sharing company Napster also settled a lawsuit with him and metal band Metallica in mid-2001, agreeing to block access to certain files that artists do not want to have shared on the network.
Another copyright-related lawsuit hit Dr. Dre in the fall of 2002, when Sa Re Ga Ma, a film and music company based in Calcutta, India, sued Aftermath Entertainment over an uncredited sample of the Lata Mangeshkar song "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" on the Aftermath-produced song "Addictive" by singer Truth Hurts. In February 2003, a judge ruled that Aftermath would have to halt sales of Truth Hurts' album Truthfully Speaking if the company would not credit Mangeshkar.
On June 28, 1992, hours before midnight, a barbecue grill and an overfill of charcoal caused Dre's Calabasas mansion to set on fire. Two firefighters who exhausted the fire were treated in the hospital for minor injuries. The fire caused over $125,000 in home damages.
Dre pleaded guilty in October 1992 in a case of battery of a police officer and was convicted on two additional battery counts stemming from a brawl in the lobby of the New Orleans hotel in May 1991.
In 1993, he was convicted of battery after an altercation with a man who stood outside the front porch of his Woodland Hills home in front of the musician's girlfriend. He claimed that Dre broke his jaw as a result.
On January 10, 1994, Dre was arrested after leading police on a 90 mph pursuit through Beverly Hills in his 1987 Ferrari. It was revealed that Dr. Dre had a blood alcohol of 0.16, twice the state of California's legal limit. The conviction violated the conditions of parole following Dre's battery conviction in 1993; he pleaded no contest and was sentenced to eight months in prison in September 1994. He was ordered to pay a $1,053 fine and attend an alcohol education program.
In November 2004, at the Vibe magazine awards show in Los Angeles, Dr. Dre was attacked by a fan named Jimmy James Johnson, who was supposedly asking for an autograph. In the resulting scuffle, then-G-Unit rapper Young Buck stabbed the man. Johnson claimed that Suge Knight, president of Death Row Records, paid him $5,000 to assault Dre in order to humiliate him before he received his Lifetime Achievement Award. Knight immediately went on CBS's The Late Late Show to deny involvement and insisted that he supported Dr. Dre and wanted Johnson charged. In September 2005, Johnson was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to stay away from Dr. Dre until 2008.
On October 30, 2015, Ruthless co-founder Jerry Heller filed suit against Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E's widow, Tomica Woods-Wright, director F. Gary Gray and Universal Pictures for defamation of character and copyright infringement over the biopic, Straight Outta Compton. The lawsuit states that depictions of Heller in the film, portrayed by Paul Giamatti, were wrongfully taken from an autobiography he wrote about his involvement with Ruthless and N.W.A. The case was taken to court in June 2016 where a judge criticized the filing, saying that the film was "approved to portray these facts in "colorful and hyperbolic" terms". On September 2, 2016, Jerry Heller died of a car accident, preceded by a heart attack. However, his lawsuit kept on through his legal team and members of his estate. In October 2018, the lawsuit was dropped, costing Heller's estate $35 million for punitive and $75 million for compensatory damages.
On April 4, 2016, TMZ and the New York Daily News reported that Suge Knight had accused Dre and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department of a kill-for-hire plot in the 2014 shooting of Knight in club 1 OAK. Three months later, in July, Dre was reportedly detained by police after confronting a next-door neighbor in Malibu about a test drive. It was also alleged that he brandished a handgun on the neighbor, but no evidence would be linked and Dre was soon released.
On May 8, 2018, Dre lost a name trademark filing to a Pennsylvania gynecologist named Draion Burch, who previously filed a trademark petition in 2015 to use his nickname, Dr. Drai, which has the similar pronunciation. Then, on June 26, Dre and Jimmy Iovine were ordered to pay $25 million to former partner and creative designer Steven Lamar, who sued the two co-founders for $100 million in unpaid royalties for designing the early Beats headphone models. The lawsuit was filed in 2015 after news broke out of Apple's acquisition of the headphone brand a year prior.
In August 2021, Dr. Dre's oldest daughter LaTanya Young spoke out about being homeless and unable to support her four children. She is currently working for UberEats and DoorDash, and she also works at warehouse jobs. She is living in debt in her SUV while her children are living with friends. Dr. Dre has allegedly stopped supporting LaTanya financially since January 2020 because she has "spoken about him in the press".
with World Class Wreckin' Cru
with N.W.A.
with Marsha Ambrosius
with Snoop Dogg
Dr. Dre has won seven Grammy Awards. Four of them are for his production work. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American record producer and rapper. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and was the president of Death Row Records. Young began his career as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru in 1985 and later found fame with the gangsta rap group N.W.A. The group popularized explicit lyrics in hip hop to detail the violence of street life. During the early 1990s, Young was credited as a key figure in the crafting and popularization of West Coast G-funk, a subgenre of hip hop characterized by a synthesizer foundation and slow, heavy beats. He is considered as one of the greatest music producers of all time.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Young's solo debut studio album The Chronic (1992), released under Death Row Records, made him one of the best-selling American music artists of 1993. It earned him a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for the single \"Let Me Ride\", as well as several accolades for the single \"Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang\". That year, he produced Death Row labelmate Snoop Doggy Dogg's debut album Doggystyle and mentored producers such as his stepbrother Warren G (leading to the multi-platinum debut Regulate...G Funk Era in 1994) and Snoop Dogg's cousin Daz Dillinger (leading to the double-platinum debut Dogg Food by Tha Dogg Pound in 1995), and would later mentor other producers including Mel-Man and Scott Storch. In 1996, Young left Death Row Records to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment. He produced a compilation album, Dr. Dre Presents: The Aftermath, in 1996, and released his second solo album, 2001, in 1999.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "During the 2000s, Young focused on producing other artists, occasionally contributing vocals. He signed Eminem in 1998 and 50 Cent in 2002, and heavily produced their output while they were signed to Aftermath. He has produced albums for and overseen the careers of many other rappers, including the D.O.C., Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Knoc-turn'al, the Game, Kendrick Lamar, and Anderson .Paak. He has won seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. Rolling Stone ranked him number 56 on the list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Outside of music, Young has acted in films such as Set It Off, The Wash, and Training Day. He is considered the greatest hip hop producer of all time.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Accusations of Young's violence against women have been widely publicized. Following his assault of television host Dee Barnes, he was fined $2,500, given two years' probation, ordered to perform 240 hours of community service, and given a spot on an anti-violence public service announcement. A civil suit was settled out of court. In 2015, Michel'le, the mother of one of his children, accused him of domestic violence during their time together as a couple. Their abusive relationship is portrayed in her 2016 biopic Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le. Lisa Johnson, the mother of three of Young's children, stated that he beat her many times, including while she was pregnant. She was granted a restraining order against him. Former labelmate Tairrie B claimed that Young assaulted her at a party in 1990, in response to her track \"Ruthless Bitch\". Two weeks following the release of his third album, Compton in August 2015, he issued an apology to the women \"I've hurt\".",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Andre Romell Young was born in Compton, California, on February 18, 1965, the son of Theodore and Verna Young. His middle name is derived from the Romells, his father's amateur R&B group. His parents married in 1964, separated in 1968, and divorced in 1972. His mother later remarried to Curtis Crayon and had three children: sons Jerome and Tyree (both deceased) and daughter Shameka.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In 1976, Dre began attending Vanguard Junior High School in Compton, but due to gang violence, he transferred to the safer suburban Roosevelt Junior High School. The family moved often and lived in apartments and houses in Compton, Carson, Long Beach, and the Watts and South Central neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Dre has said that he was mostly raised by his grandmother in the New Wilmington Arms housing project in Compton. His mother later married Warren Griffin, which added three step-sisters and one step-brother to the family; the latter would eventually begin rapping under the name Warren G. Dre is also the cousin of producer Sir Jinx. Dre attended Centennial High School in Compton during his freshman year in 1979, but transferred to Fremont High School in South Central Los Angeles due to poor grades. He attempted to enroll in an apprenticeship program at Northrop Aviation Company, but poor grades at school made him ineligible. Thereafter, he focused on his social life and entertainment for the remainder of his high school years.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Dre's frequent absences from school jeopardized his position as a diver on his school's swim team. After high school, he attended Chester Adult School in Compton following his mother's demands for him to get a job or continue his education. After brief attendance at a radio broadcasting school, he relocated to the residence of his father and residence of his grandparents before returning to his mother's house.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Inspired by the Grandmaster Flash song \"The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel\", Dr. Dre often attended a club called Eve's After Dark to watch many DJs and rappers performing live. He subsequently became a DJ in the club, initially under the name \"Dr. J\", based on the nickname of Julius Erving, his favorite basketball player. At the club, he met aspiring rapper Antoine Carraby, later to become member DJ Yella of N.W.A. Soon afterwards he adopted the moniker Dr. Dre, a mix of previous alias Dr. J and his first name, referring to himself as the \"Master of Mixology\".",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Eve After Dark had a back room with a small four-track studio. In this studio, Dre and Yella recorded several demos. In their first recording session, they recorded a song entitled \"Surgery\". Dr. Dre's earliest recordings were released in 1994 on a compilation titled Concrete Roots. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described the compiled music, released \"several years before Dre developed a distinctive style\", as \"surprisingly generic and unengaging\" and \"for dedicated fans only\".",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Dre later joined the musical group World Class Wreckin' Cru, which released its debut album under the Kru-Cut label in 1985. The group would become stars of the electro-hop scene that dominated early-mid 1980s West Coast hip hop. \"Surgery\", which was officially released after being recorded prior to the group's official formation, would prominently feature Dr. Dre on the turntable. The record would become the group's first hit, selling 50,000 copies within the Compton area. Dr. Dre and DJ Yella also performed mixes for local radio station KDAY, boosting ratings for its afternoon rush-hour show The Traffic Jam.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In 1986, Dr. Dre met rapper O'Shea Jackson—known as Ice Cube—who collaborated with him to record songs for Ruthless Records, a hip hop record label run by local rapper Eazy-E. N.W.A and fellow West Coast rapper Ice-T are widely credited as seminal artists of the gangsta rap genre, a profanity-heavy subgenre of hip hop, replete with gritty depictions of urban crime and gang lifestyle. Not feeling constricted to racially charged political issues pioneered by rap artists such as Public Enemy or Boogie Down Productions, N.W.A favored themes and uncompromising lyrics, offering stark descriptions of violent, inner-city streets. Propelled by the hit \"Fuck tha Police\", the group's first full album Straight Outta Compton became a major success, despite an almost complete absence of radio airplay or major concert tours. The Federal Bureau of Investigation sent Ruthless Records a warning letter in response to the song's content.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "After Ice Cube left N.W.A in 1989 over financial disputes, Dr. Dre produced and performed for much of the group's second album Efil4zaggin. He also produced tracks for a number of other acts on Ruthless Records, including Eazy-E's 1988 solo debut Eazy-Duz-It, Above the Law's 1990 debut Livin' Like Hustlers, Michel'le's 1989 self-titled debut, the D.O.C.'s 1989 debut No One Can Do It Better, J.J. Fad's 1988 debut Supersonic and funk rock musician Jimmy Z's 1991 album Muzical Madness.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "After a dispute with Eazy-E, Dre left the group at the peak of its popularity in 1991 under the advice of friend, and N.W.A lyricist, the D.O.C. and his bodyguard at the time, Suge Knight. Knight, a notorious strongman and intimidator, was able to have Eazy-E release Young from his contract and, using Dr. Dre as his flagship artist, founded Death Row Records. In 1992, Young released his first single, the title track to the film Deep Cover, a collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg, whom he met through Warren G. Dr. Dre's debut solo album was The Chronic, released under Death Row Records with Suge Knight as executive producer. Young ushered in a new style of rap, both in terms of musical style and lyrical content, including introducing a number of artists to the industry including Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, RBX, the Lady of Rage, Nate Dogg and Jewell.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "On the strength of singles such as \"Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang\", \"Let Me Ride\", and \"Fuck wit Dre Day (and Everybody's Celebratin')\" (known as \"Dre Day\" for radio and television play), all of which featured Snoop Dogg as guest vocalist, The Chronic became a cultural phenomenon, its G-funk sound dominating much of hip hop music for the early 1990s. In 1993, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album triple platinum, and Dr. Dre also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for his performance on \"Let Me Ride\". For that year, Billboard magazine also ranked Dr. Dre as the eighth best-selling musical artist, The Chronic as the sixth best-selling album, and \"Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang\" as the 11th best-selling single.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Besides working on his own material, Dr. Dre produced Snoop Dogg's debut album Doggystyle, which became the first debut album for an artist to enter the Billboard 200 album charts at number one. In 1994 Dr. Dre produced some songs on the soundtracks to the films Above the Rim and Murder Was the Case. He collaborated with fellow N.W.A member Ice Cube for the song \"Natural Born Killaz\" in 1995. For the film Friday, Dre recorded \"Keep Their Heads Ringin'\", which reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Hot Rap Singles (now Hot Rap Tracks) charts.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In 1995, Death Row Records signed rapper 2Pac, and began to position him as their major star: he collaborated with Dr. Dre on the commercially successful single \"California Love\", which became both artists' first song to top the Billboard Hot 100. However, in March 1996 Young left the label amidst a contract dispute and growing concerns that label boss Suge Knight was corrupt, financially dishonest and out of control. Later that year, he formed his own label, Aftermath Entertainment, under the distribution label for Death Row Records, Interscope Records. Subsequently, Death Row Records suffered poor sales by 1997, especially following the death of 2Pac and the racketeering charges brought against Knight.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Dr. Dre also appeared on the single \"No Diggity\" by R&B group Blackstreet in 1996: it too was a sales success, topping the Hot 100 for four consecutive weeks, and later won the award for Best R&B Vocal by a Duo or Group at the 1997 Grammy Awards. After hearing it for the first time, several of Dr. Dre's former Death Row colleagues, including 2Pac, recorded and attempted to release a song titled \"Toss It Up\", containing numerous insults aimed at Dr. Dre and using a deliberately similar instrumental to \"No Diggity\", but were forced to replace the production after Blackstreet issued the label with a cease and desist order stopping them from distributing the song.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath album, released on November 26, 1996, featured songs by Dr. Dre himself, as well as by newly signed Aftermath Entertainment artists, and a solo track \"Been There, Done That\", intended as a symbolic farewell to gangsta rap. Despite being classified platinum by the RIAA, the album was not very popular among music fans. In October 1996, Dre performed \"Been There, Done That\" on Saturday Night Live. In 1997, Dr. Dre produced several tracks on the Firm's The Album; it was met with largely negative reviews from critics. Rumors began to abound that Aftermath was facing financial difficulties. Aftermath Entertainment also faced a trademark infringement lawsuit by the underground thrash metal band Aftermath.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "First Round Knock Out, a compilation of various tracks produced and performed by Dr. Dre, was also released in 1996, with material ranging from World Class Wreckin' Cru to N.W.A to Death Row recordings. Dr. Dre chose to take no part in the ongoing East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry of the time, instead producing for, and appearing on, several New York artists' releases, such as Nas' \"Nas Is Coming\", LL Cool J's \"Zoom\" and Jay-Z's \"Watch Me\".",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The turning point for Aftermath came in 1998, when Dre's close friend, Jimmy Iovine, the co-founder of Interscope Records (parent label for Aftermath), suggested that Dr. Dre sign Eminem, a white rapper from Detroit. Dre produced three songs and provided vocals for two on Eminem's successful and controversial debut album The Slim Shady LP, released in 1999. The Dr. Dre-produced lead single from that album, \"My Name Is\", brought Eminem to public attention for the first time, and the success of The Slim Shady LP – it reached number two on the Billboard 200 and received general acclaim from critics – revived the label's commercial ambitions and viability.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Dr. Dre's second solo album, 2001, released on November 16, 1999, was considered an ostentatious return to his gangsta rap roots. It was initially titled The Chronic 2000 to imply being a sequel to his debut solo effort The Chronic but was re-titled 2001 after Death Row Records released an unrelated compilation album with the title Suge Knight Represents: Chronic 2000 in May 1999. Other tentative titles included The Chronic 2001 and Dr. Dre.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The album featured numerous collaborators, including Devin the Dude, Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Xzibit, Nate Dogg, Eminem, Knoc-turn'al, King T, Defari, Kokane, Mary J. Blige and new protégé Hittman, as well as co-production between Dre and new Aftermath producer Mel-Man. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the website AllMusic described the sound of the album as \"adding ominous strings, soulful vocals, and reggae\" to Dr. Dre's style. The album was highly successful, charting at number two on the Billboard 200 charts and has since been certified six times platinum, validating a recurring theme on the album: Dr. Dre was still a force to be reckoned with, despite the lack of major releases in the previous few years. The album included popular hit singles \"Still D.R.E.\" and \"Forgot About Dre\", both of which Dr. Dre performed on NBC's Saturday Night Live on October 23, 1999. Dr. Dre won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2000, and joined the Up in Smoke Tour with fellow rappers Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube that year as well.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Following the success of 2001, Dr. Dre focused on producing songs and albums for other artists. He co-produced six tracks on Eminem's landmark Marshall Mathers LP, including the Grammy-winning lead single, \"The Real Slim Shady\". The album itself earned a Grammy and proved to be the fastest-selling rap album of all time, moving 1.76 million units in its first week alone. He produced the single \"Family Affair\" by R&B singer Mary J. Blige for her album No More Drama in 2001. He also produced \"Let Me Blow Ya Mind\", a duet by rapper Eve and No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani and signed R&B singer Truth Hurts to Aftermath in 2001.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Dr. Dre produced and rapped on singer and Interscope labelmate Bilal's 2001 single \"Fast Lane\", which barely missed the Top 40 of the R&B charts. He later assisted in the production of Bilal's second album, Love for Sale, which Interscope controversially shelved because of its creative direction. Dr. Dre was the executive producer of Eminem's 2002 release, The Eminem Show. He produced three songs on the album, one of which was released as a single, and he appeared in the award-winning video for \"Without Me\". He also produced the D.O.C.'s 2003 album Deuce, where he made a guest appearance on the tracks \"Psychic Pymp Hotline\", \"Gorilla Pympin'\" and \"Judgment Day\".",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In 2002, Dr. Dre signed rapper 50 Cent to Aftermath in a joint venture between Interscope and Eminem's Shady Records. Dr. Dre served as executive producer for 50 Cent's commercially successful February 2003 debut studio album Get Rich or Die Tryin'. Dr. Dre produced or co-produced four tracks on the album, including the hit single \"In da Club\". Eminem's fourth album since joining Aftermath, Encore, again saw Dre taking on the role of executive producer, and this time he was more actively involved in the music, producing or co-producing a total of eight tracks, including three singles.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Dr. Dre also produced \"How We Do\", a 2005 hit single from rapper the Game from his album The Documentary, as well as tracks on 50 Cent's successful second album The Massacre. For an issue of Rolling Stone magazine in April 2005, Dr. Dre was ranked 54th out of 100 artists for Rolling Stone magazine's list \"The Immortals: The Greatest Artists of All Time\". Kanye West wrote the summary for Dr. Dre, where he stated Dr. Dre's song \"Xxplosive\" as where he \"got (his) whole sound from\".",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "In November 2006, Dr. Dre began working with Raekwon on his album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II. He also produced tracks for the rap albums Buck the World by Young Buck, Curtis by 50 Cent, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment by Snoop Dogg, and Kingdom Come by Jay-Z. Dre also appeared on Timbaland's track \"Bounce\", from his 2007 solo album, Timbaland Presents Shock Value alongside, Missy Elliott, and Justin Timberlake. During this period, the D.O.C. stated that Dre had been working with him on his fourth album Voices through Hot Vessels, which he planned to release after Detox arrived.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Planned but unreleased albums during Dr. Dre's tenure at Aftermath have included a full-length reunion with Snoop Dogg titled Breakup to Makeup, an album with fellow former N.W.A member Ice Cube which was to be titled Heltah Skeltah, an N.W.A reunion album, and a joint album with fellow producer Timbaland titled Chairmen of the Board.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In 2007, Dr. Dre's third studio album, formerly known as Detox, was slated to be his final studio album. Work for the upcoming album dates back to 2001, where its first version was called \"the most advanced rap album ever\", by producer Scott Storch. Later that same year, he decided to stop working on the album to focus on producing for other artists, but then changed his mind; the album had initially been set for a fall 2005 release. Producers confirmed to work on the album include DJ Khalil, Nottz, Bernard \"Focus\" Edwards Jr., Hi-Tek, J.R. Rotem, RZA, and Jay-Z. Snoop Dogg claimed that Detox was finished, according to a June 2008 report by Rolling Stone magazine.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "After another delay based on producing other artists' work, Detox was then scheduled for a 2010 release, coming after 50 Cent's Before I Self Destruct and Eminem's Relapse, an album for which Dr. Dre handled the bulk of production duties. In a Dr Pepper commercial that debuted on May 28, 2009, he premiered the first official snippet of Detox. 50 Cent and Eminem asserted in a 2009 interview on BET's 106 & Park that Dr. Dre had around a dozen songs finished for Detox.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "On December 15, 2008, Dre appeared in the remix of the song \"Set It Off\" by Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall (also with Pusha T); the remix debuted on DJ Skee's radio show. At the beginning of 2009, Dre produced, and made a guest vocal performance on, the single \"Crack a Bottle\" by Eminem and the single sold a record 418,000 downloads in its first week and reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week of February 12, 2009. Along with this single, in 2009 Dr. Dre produced or co-produced 19 of 20 tracks on Eminem's album Relapse. These included other hit singles \"We Made You\", \"Old Time's Sake\", and \"3 a.m.\" (The only track Dre did not produce was the Eminem-produced single \"Beautiful\".).",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "On April 20, 2010, \"Under Pressure\", featuring Jay-Z and co-produced with Scott Storch, was confirmed by Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre during an interview at Fenway Park as the album's first single. The song leaked prior to its intended release in an unmixed, unmastered form without a chorus on June 16, 2010; however, critical reaction to the song was lukewarm, and Dr. Dre later announced in an interview that the song, along with any other previously leaked tracks from Detox's recording process, would not appear on the final version of the album.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Two genuine singles – \"Kush\", a collaboration with Snoop Dogg and fellow rapper Akon, and \"I Need a Doctor\" with Eminem and singer Skylar Grey – were released in the United States during November 2010 and February 2011 respectively: the latter achieved international chart success, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and later being certified double platinum by the RIAA and the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). On June 25, 2010, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honored Dr. Dre with its Founders Award for inspiring other musicians.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "In an August 2010 interview, Dr. Dre stated that an instrumental album, The Planets, was in its first stages of production; each song being named after a planet in the Solar System. On September 3, Dr. Dre showed support to longtime protégé Eminem, and appeared on his and Jay-Z's Home & Home Tour, performing hit songs such as \"Still D.R.E.\", \"Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang\", and \"Crack a Bottle\", alongside Eminem and another protégé, 50 Cent. Sporting an \"R.I.P. Proof\" shirt, Dre was honored by Eminem telling Detroit's Comerica Park to do the same. They did so, by chanting \"DEEE-TOX\", to which he replied, \"I'm coming!\"",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "On November 14, 2011, Dre announced that he would be taking a break from music after he finished producing for artists Slim the Mobster and Kendrick Lamar. In this break, he stated that he would \"work on bringing his Beats By Dre to a standard as high as Apple\" and would also spend time with his family. On January 9, 2012, Dre headlined the final nights of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2012.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "In June 2014, Marsha Ambrosius stated that she had been working on Detox, but added that the album would be known under another title . In September 2014, Aftermath in-house producer Dawaun Parker confirmed the title change and stated that over 300 beats had been created for the album over the years, but few of them have had vocals recorded over them.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The length of time that Detox had been recorded for, as well as the limited amount of material that had been officially released or leaked from the recording sessions, had given it considerable notoriety within the music industry. Numerous release dates (including the ones mentioned above) had been given for the album over the years since it was first announced, although none of them transpired to be genuine. Several musicians closely affiliated with Dr. Dre, including Snoop Dogg, fellow rappers 50 Cent, the Game and producer DJ Quik, had speculated in interviews that the album will never be released, due to Dr. Dre's business and entrepreneurial ventures having interfered with recording work, as well as causing him to lose motivation to record new material.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "On August 1, 2015, Dre announced that he would release what would be his final album, titled Compton. It is inspired by the N.W.A biopic, Straight Outta Compton, and is a compilation-style album, featuring a number of frequent collaborators, including Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Xzibit and the Game, among others. It was initially released on Apple Music on August 7, with a retail version releasing on August 21. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he revealed that he had about 20 to 40 tracks for Detox but he did not release it because it did not meet his standards. Dre also revealed that he suffers from social anxiety and due to this, remains secluded and out of attention.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "On February 12, 2016, it was revealed that Apple would create its first original scripted television series for its then-upcoming Apple TV+ streaming service. Titled Vital Signs, it was set to reflect Dre's life. He was also an executive producer on the show before the show's cancellation sometime in September 2018, due to an overly graphic concept of drugs, gun violence and sex. In October 2016, Sean Combs brought out Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and others on his Bad Boy reunion tour.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "In 2018, he produced four songs on Oxnard by Anderson .Paak. He was the executive producer on the album, as so its follow-up, 2019's Ventura.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Dr. Dre was the executive producer of Eminem's 2020 release, Music to Be Murdered By. He produced four songs on the album. He also produced two songs on the deluxe edition of the album, Side B, and appeared on the song, \"Gunz Blazing\". On September 30, 2021, it was revealed that Dre would perform at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show alongside Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar. In December 2021, an update for the video game, Grand Theft Auto Online, predominantly featured Dre and added some of his previously unreleased tracks which was released as an EP, The Contract, on February 3, 2022. Around this time, Dre announced he was collaborating with Marsha Ambrosius on Casablanco, and with Mary J. Blige on an upcoming album. Later that year, Snoop Dogg announced that he and Dr. Dre are in the process of recording their new album, Missionary. Snoop said the album will be released via Death Row and Aftermath.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "On February 13, 2022, Dr. Dre performed at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show alongside Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige, with surprise appearances from 50 Cent and Anderson. Paak. The performance was met with critical acclaim and is the first Super Bowl halftime show to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live). The show also won the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special and Outstanding Music Direction. The same year, he produced numerous songs including \"The King and I\", a collaboration between Eminem and CeeLo Green for the 2022 biopic, Elvis, and a remix of Kanye West's song \"Use This Gospel\" for DJ Khaled's album God Did.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "In September 2022, it was reported that Dr. Dre will compose the original score for the upcoming animated series, Death for Hire: The Origin of Tehk City. The show is created by Ice-T and Arabian Prince; based on the graphic novel of the same title, it features the voice talent of Ice-T, his wife Coco Austin, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, and Treach among others.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "In February 2023, Dre and Marsha Ambrosius held a listening party for the Casablanco album in Los Angeles.",
"title": "Musical career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Dr. Dre made his first on screen appearance as a weapons dealer in the 1996 bank robbery movie Set It Off. In 2001, Dr. Dre also appeared in the movies The Wash and Training Day. A song of his, \"Bad Intentions\" (featuring Knoc-Turn'Al and produced by Mahogany), was featured on The Wash soundtrack. Dr. Dre also appeared on two other songs \"On the Blvd.\" and \"The Wash\" along with his co-star Snoop Dogg.",
"title": "Other ventures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "In February 2007, it was announced that Dr. Dre would produce dark comedies and horror films for New Line Cinema-owned company Crucial Films, along with longtime video director Phillip Atwell. Dr. Dre announced \"This is a natural switch for me, since I've directed a lot of music videos, and I eventually want to get into directing.\" Along with fellow member Ice Cube, Dr. Dre produced Straight Outta Compton (2015), a biographical film about N.W.A.",
"title": "Other ventures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "In 2006, Dre co-founded Beats Electronics with his partner, Jimmy Iovine. Its first brand of headphones were launched in July 2008. The line consisted of Beats Studio, a circumaural headphone; Beats Tour, an in-ear headphone; Beats Solo & Solo HD, a supra-aural headphone; Beats Spin; Heartbeats by Lady Gaga, also an in-ear headphone; and Diddy Beats. In late 2009, Hewlett-Packard participated in a deal to bundle Beats By Dr. Dre with some HP laptops and headsets. HP and Dr. Dre announced the deal on October 9, 2009, at a press event. An exclusive laptop, known as the HP ENVY 15 Beats limited edition, was released for sale October 22. In January 2014, Beats Music was introduced and launched as a streaming service. Then, in May, technology giant Apple purchased the Beats brand for $3.4 billion. The deal made Dr. Dre the \"richest man in hip hop\". Dr. Dre became an Apple employee in an executive role, and worked with Apple for years. As of 2022, it was found that Apple had subtracted $200 million from the deal after entertainer Tyrese Gibson revealed the news of the acquisition on social media a month before it was completed without the company's permission.",
"title": "Other ventures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "During May 2013, Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine donated a $70 million endowment to the University of Southern California to create the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation. The goal of the academy has been stated as \"to shape the future by nurturing the talents, passions, leadership and risk-taking of uniquely qualified students who are motivated to explore and create new art forms, technologies, and business models.\" The first class of the academy began in September 2014.",
"title": "Other ventures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "In June 2017, it was announced that Dr. Dre has committed $10 million to the construction of a performing arts center for the new Compton High School. The center will encompass creative resources and a 1,200-seat theater, and is expected to break ground in 2020. The project is a partnership between Dr. Dre and the Compton Unified School District.",
"title": "Other ventures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "In 2002 and 2003, Dr. Dre appeared in TV commercials for Coors Light beer.",
"title": "Other ventures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Beginning in 2009, Dr. Dre appeared in TV commercials that also featured his Beats Electronics product line. A 2009 commercial for the Dr Pepper soft drink had Dr. Dre DJing with Beats headphones and playing a brief snippet off the never-released Detox album. In 2010, Dr. Dre had a cameo in a commercial for HP laptops that featured a plug for Beats Audio. Then in 2011, the Chrysler 300S \"Imported from Detroit\" ad campaign had a commercial narrated by Dr. Dre and including a plug for Beats Audio.",
"title": "Other ventures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "An urban legend surfaced in 2011 when a Tumblr blog titled Dr. Dre Started Burning Man began promulgating the notion that the producer, rapper and entrepreneur had discovered Burning Man in 1995 during a music video shoot and offered to cover the cost of the event's permit from the Nevada Bureau of Land Management under an agreement with the festival's organizers that he could institute an entrance fee system, which had not existed before his participation. This claim was supported by an alleged letter from Dre to Nicole Threatt Young that indicated that Dre had shared his experience witnessing the Burning Man festival with her.",
"title": "Other ventures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Business Insider mentions the portion of the letter where Dr. Dre purportedly states \"someone should get behind this ... and make some money off these fools\" and compares Dr. Dre's potential entrepreneurial engagement with Burning Man as a parallel to Steve Jobs's efforts to centralize and profit from the otherwise unorganized online music industry. According to Salon, Dr. Dre's ethos seems to be aligned with seven of the ten principles of the Burning Man community: \"radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation and immediacy.\"",
"title": "Other ventures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "The space, about the size of a college dorm room, is splattered with papers, ideas scribbled down in black ink. Nuthin' but G thangs waiting to happen. Those that don't happen end up in a round, purple L.A. Lakers trash can. A kitchen, red and stainless steel like a '50s diner, adjoins the control room",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Dre is noted for his evolving production style, while always keeping in touch with his early musical sound and re-shaping elements from previous work. At the beginning of his career as a producer for the World Class Wreckin Cru with DJ Alonzo Williams in the mid-1980s, his music was in the electro-hop style pioneered by the Unknown DJ, and that of early hip-hop groups like the Beastie Boys and Whodini.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "In 1987, Dr. Dre sampled the Ohio Players' ARP synth riffs from their 1973 funk hit \"Funky Worm\" in the N.W.A song \"Dopeman\". Being the first hip-hop producer to sample the song, Dre both paved the way for the future popularization of the G-funk style within hip-hop, and established heavy synthesizer solos as an integral part of his production style. Dr. Dre was also one of the very first producers to interpolate the then little-known drum break from The Winstons' \"Amen, Brother\" in the N.W.A song \"Straight Outta Compton\". This break has since becοme a staple in not only hip-hop, but all popular music, having been used in over 1700 songs.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "From Straight Outta Compton on, Dre uses live musicians to replay old melodies rather than sampling them. With Ruthless Records, collaborators included guitarist Mike \"Crazy Neck\" Sims, multi-instrumentalist Colin Wolfe, DJ Yella and sound engineer Donovan \"The Dirt Biker\" Sound. Dre is receptive of new ideas from other producers, one example being his fruitful collaboration with Above the Law's producer Cold 187um while at Ruthless. Cold 187 um was at the time experimenting with 1970s P-Funk samples (Parliament, Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton etc.), that Dre also used. Dre has since been accused of \"stealing\" the concept of G-funk from Cold 187 um.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Upon leaving Ruthless and forming Death Row Records in 1991, Dre called on veteran West Coast DJ Chris \"the Glove\" Taylor and sound engineer Greg \"Gregski\" Royal, along with Colin Wolfe, to help him on future projects. His 1992 album The Chronic is thought to be one of the most well-produced hip-hop albums of all time. Musical themes included hard-hitting synthesizer solos played by Wolfe, bass-heavy compositions, background female vocals and Dre fully embracing 1970s funk samples. Dre used a minimoog synth to replay the melody from Leon Haywood's 1972 song \"I Wanna Do Somethin' Freaky to You\" for the Chronic's first single \"Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang\" which became a global hit. For his new protégé Snoop Doggy Dogg's album Doggystyle, Dre collaborated with then 19-year-old producer Daz Dillinger, who received co-production credits on songs \"Serial Killa\" and \"For all My Niggaz & Bitches\", The Dramatics bass player Tony \"T. Money\" Green, guitarist Ricky Rouse, keyboardists Emanuel \"Porkchop\" Dean and Sean \"Barney Rubble\" Thomas and engineer Tommy Daugherty, as well as Warren G and Sam Sneed, who are credited with bringing several samples to the studio.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "The influence of The Chronic and Doggystyle on the popular music of the 1990s went not only far beyond the West Coast, but beyond hip-hop as a genre. Artists as diverse as Master P (\"Bout It, Bout It\"), George Michael (\"Fastlove\"), Mariah Carey (\"Fantasy\"), Adina Howard (\"Freak Like Me\"), Luis Miguel (\"Dame\"), and The Spice Girls (\"Say You'll Be There\") used G-funk instrumentation in their songs. Bad Boy Records producer Chucky Thompson stated in the April 2004 issue of XXL magazine that the sound of Doggystyle and The Chronic was the basis for the Notorious B.I.G.'s 1995 hit single \"Big Poppa\":",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "At that time, we were listening to Snoop's album. We knew what was going on in the West through Dr. Dre. Big just knew the culture, he knew what was going on with hip-hop. It was more than just New York, it was all over.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "In 1994, starting with the Murder was the Case soundtrack, Dre attempted to push the boundaries of G-funk further into a darker sound. In songs such as \"Murder was the Case\" and \"Natural Born Killaz\", the synthesizer pitch is higher and the drum tempo is slowed down to 91 BPM (87 BPM in the remix) to create a dark and gritty atmosphere. Percussion instruments, particularly sleigh bells, are also present. Dre's frequent collaborators from this period included Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania natives Stuart \"Stu-B-Doo\" Bullard, a multi-instrumentalist from the Ozanam Strings Orchestra, Sam Sneed, Stephen \"Bud'da\" Anderson, and percussionist Carl \"Butch\" Small. This style of production has been influential far beyond the West Coast. The beat for the Houston-based group Geto Boys 1996 song \"Still\" follows the same drum pattern as \"Natural Born Killaz\" and Eazy E's \"Wut Would U Do\" (a diss to Dre) is similar to the original \"Murder was the Case\" instrumental. This style of production is usually accompanied by horror and occult-themed lyrics and imagery, being crucial to the creation of horrorcore.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "By 1996, Dre was again looking to innovate his sound. He recruited keyboardist Camara Kambon to play the keys on \"Been There, Done That\", and through Bud'da and Sam Sneed he was introduced to fellow Pittsburgh native Melvin \"Mel-Man\" Bradford. At this time, he also switched from using the E-mu SP-1200 to the Akai MPC3000 drum kit and sampler, which he still uses today. Beginning with his 1996 compilation Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath, Dre's production has taken a less sample-based approach, with loud, layered snare drums dominating the mix, while synthesizers are still omnipresent. In his critically acclaimed second album, 2001, live instrumentation takes the place of sampling, a famous example being \"The Next Episode\", in which keyboardist Camara Kambon re-played live the main melody from David McCallum's 1967 jazz-funk work \"The Edge\". For every song on 2001, Dre had a keyboardist, guitarist and bassist create the basic parts of the beat, while he himself programmed the drums, did the sequencing and overdubbing and added sound effects, and later mixed the songs. During this period, Dre's signature \"west coast whistle\" riffs are still present albeit in a lower pitch, as in \"Light Speed\", \"Housewife\", \"Some L.A. Niggaz\" and Eminem's \"Guilty Conscience\" hook. The sound of \"2001\" had tremendous influence on hip-hop production, redefining the West Coast's sound and expanding the G-funk of the early 1990s. To produce the album, Dre and Mel-Man relied on the talents of Scott Storch and Camara Kambon on the keys, Mike Elizondo and Colin Wolfe on bass guitar, Sean Cruse on lead guitar and sound engineers Richard \"Segal\" Huredia and Mauricio \"Veto\" Iragorri.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "From the mid-2000s, Dr. Dre has taken on a more soulful production style, using more of a classical piano instead of a keyboard, and having claps replace snares, as evidenced in songs such as Snoop Dogg's \"Imagine\" and \"Boss' Life\", Busta Rhymes' \"Get You Some\" and \"Been Through the Storm\", Stat Quo's \"Get Low\" and \"The Way It Be\", Jay-Z's \"Lost One\", Nas' \"Hustlers\", and several beats on Eminem's Relapse album. Soul and R&B pianist Mark Batson, having previously worked with The Dave Matthews Band, Seal and Maroon 5 has been credited as the architect of this sound. Besides Batson, Aftermath producer and understudy of Dre's, Dawaun Parker, who has named Q-Tip and J Dilla as his primary influences, is thought to be responsible for giving Dre's newest beats an East Coast feel.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Despite an occasional hint of trap about the beats and an intriguingly warped use of autotune in his Compton song, \"Darkside/Gone\", his production seems to stand slightly apart from current trends in hip-hop like Eminem's song \"Little Engine\" with an ominous horrorcore beat — reminiscent of some of his works on Eminem's album Relapse – or the West Coast joint Lock It Up.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Dr. Dre has said that his primary instrument in the studio is the Akai MPC3000, a drum machine and sampler, and that he often uses as many as four or five to produce a single recording. He cites 1970s funk musicians such as George Clinton, Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield as his primary musical influences. Unlike most rap producers, he tries to avoid samples as much as possible, preferring to have studio musicians re-play pieces of music he wants to use, because it allows him more flexibility to change the pieces in rhythm and tempo. In 2001 he told Time magazine, \"I may hear something I like on an old record that may inspire me, but I'd rather use musicians to re-create the sound or elaborate on it. I can control it better.\"",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "Other equipment he uses includes the E-mu SP-1200 drum machine and other keyboards from such manufacturers as Korg, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Moog, and Roland. Dr. Dre also stresses the importance of equalizing drums properly, telling Scratch in 2004 that he \"used the same drum sounds on a couple of different songs on one album before but you'd never be able to tell the difference because of the EQ\". Dr. Dre also uses the digital audio workstation Pro Tools and uses the software to combine hardware drum machines and vintage analog keyboards and synthesizers.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "After founding Aftermath Entertainment in 1996, Dr. Dre took on producer Mel-Man as a co-producer, and his music took on a more synthesizer-based sound, using fewer vocal samples (as he had used on \"Lil' Ghetto Boy\" and \"Let Me Ride\" on The Chronic, for example). Mel-Man has not shared co-production credits with Dr. Dre since approximately 2002, but fellow Aftermath producer Focus has credited Mel-Man as a key architect of the signature Aftermath sound.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "In 1999, Dr. Dre started working with Mike Elizondo, a bassist, guitarist, and keyboardist who has also produced, written and played on records for female singers such as Poe, Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette, In the past few years Elizondo has since worked for many of Dr. Dre's productions. Dr. Dre also told Scratch magazine in a 2004 interview that he has been studying piano and music theory formally, and that a major goal is to accumulate enough musical theory to score movies. In the same interview he stated that he has collaborated with famed 1960s songwriter Burt Bacharach by sending him hip hop beats to play over, and hopes to have an in-person collaboration with him in the future.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Dr. Dre has stated that he is a perfectionist and is known to pressure the artists with whom he records to give flawless performances. In 2006, Snoop Dogg told the website Dubcnn.com that Dr. Dre had made new artist Bishop Lamont re-record a single bar of vocals 107 times. Dr. Dre has also stated that Eminem is a fellow perfectionist, and attributes his success on Aftermath to his similar work ethic. He gives a lot of input into the delivery of the vocals and will stop an MC during a take if it is not to his liking. However, he gives MCs that he works with room to write lyrics without too much instruction unless it is a specifically conceptual record, as noted by Bishop Lamont in the book How to Rap.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "A consequence of his perfectionism is that some artists who initially sign deals with Dr. Dre's Aftermath label never release albums. In 2001, Aftermath released the soundtrack to the movie The Wash, featuring a number of Aftermath acts such as Shaunta, Daks, Joe Beast and Toi. To date, none have released full-length albums on Aftermath and have apparently ended their relationships with the label and Dr. Dre. Other noteworthy acts to leave Aftermath without releasing albums include King Tee, 2001 vocalist Hittman, Joell Ortiz, Raekwon and Rakim.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "Over the years, word of other collaborators who have contributed to Dr. Dre's work has surfaced. During his tenure at Death Row Records, it was alleged that Dr. Dre's stepbrother Warren G and Tha Dogg Pound member Daz made many uncredited contributions to songs on his solo album The Chronic and Snoop Doggy Dogg's album Doggystyle (Daz received production credits on Snoop's similar-sounding, albeit less successful album Tha Doggfather after Young left Death Row Records).",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "It is known that Scott Storch, who has since gone on to become a successful producer in his own right, contributed to Dr. Dre's second album 2001; Storch is credited as a songwriter on several songs and played keyboards on several tracks. In 2006 he told Rolling Stone:",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "\"At the time, I saw Dr. Dre desperately needed something,\" Storch says. \"He needed a fuel injection, and Dr. Dre utilized me as the nitrous oxide. He threw me into the mix, and I sort of tapped on a new flavor with my whole piano sound and the strings and orchestration. So I'd be on the keyboards, and Mike [Elizondo] was on the bass guitar, and Dr. Dre was on the drum machine\".",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "Current collaborator Mike Elizondo, when speaking about his work with Young, describes their recording process as a collaborative effort involving several musicians. In 2004 he claimed to Songwriter Universe magazine that he had written the foundations of the hit Eminem song \"The Real Slim Shady\", stating, \"I initially played a bass line on the song, and Dr. Dre, Tommy Coster Jr. and I built the track from there. Eminem then heard the track, and he wrote the rap to it.\" This account is essentially confirmed by Eminem in his book Angry Blonde, stating that the tune for the song was composed by a studio bassist and keyboardist while Dr. Dre was out of the studio but Young later programmed the song's beat after returning.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "A group of disgruntled former associates of Dr. Dre complained that they had not received their full due for work on the label in the September 2003 issue of The Source. A producer named Neff-U claimed to have produced the songs \"Say What You Say\" and \"My Dad's Gone Crazy\" on The Eminem Show, the songs \"If I Can't\" and \"Back Down\" on 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin', and the beat featured on Dr. Dre's commercial for Coors beer.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "Although Young studies piano and music theory, he serves as more of a conductor than a musician himself, as Josh Tyrangiel of Time magazine has noted:",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Every Dre track begins the same way, with Dre behind a drum machine in a room full of trusted musicians. (They carry beepers. When he wants to work, they work.) He'll program a beat, then ask the musicians to play along; when Dre hears something he likes, he isolates the player and tells him how to refine the sound. \"My greatest talent,\" Dre says, \"is knowing exactly what I want to hear.\"",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "Although Snoop Dogg retains working relationships with Warren G and Daz, who are alleged to be uncredited contributors on the hit albums The Chronic and Doggystyle, he states that Dr. Dre is capable of making beats without the help of collaborators, and that he is responsible for the success of his numerous albums. Dr. Dre's prominent studio collaborators, including Scott Storch, Elizondo, Mark Batson and Dawaun Parker, have shared co-writing, instrumental, and more recently co-production credits on the songs where he is credited as the producer.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "Anderson .Paak also praised Dr. Dre in a 2016 interview with Music Times, telling the publication that it was a dream come true to work with Dre.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "It is acknowledged that most of Dr. Dre's raps are written for him by others, though he retains ultimate control over his lyrics and the themes of his songs. As Aftermath producer Mahogany told Scratch: \"It's like a class room in [the booth]. He'll have three writers in there. They'll bring in something, he'll recite it, then he'll say, 'Change this line, change this word,' like he's grading papers.\" As seen in the credits for tracks Young has appeared on, there are often multiple people who contribute to his songs (although often in hip hop many people are officially credited as a writer for a song, even the producer).",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "In the book How to Rap, RBX explains that writing The Chronic was a \"team effort\" and details how he ghostwrote \"Let Me Ride\" for Dre. In regard to ghostwriting lyrics he says, \"Dre doesn't profess to be no super-duper rap dude – Dre is a super-duper producer\". As a member of N.W.A, the D.O.C. wrote lyrics for him while he stuck with producing. Jay-Z ghostwrote lyrics for the single \"Still D.R.E.\" from Dr. Dre's album 2001.",
"title": "Musical influences and style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "On December 15, 1981, when Dre was 16 years old and his then-girlfriend Cassandra Joy Greene was 15 years old, the two had a son named Curtis, who was brought up by Greene and first met Dre 20 years later. Curtis performed as a rapper under the name Hood Surgeon.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "In 1983, Dre and Lisa Johnson had a daughter named La Tanya Danielle Young. Dre and Johnson have three daughters together.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "In 1988, Dre and Jenita Porter had a son named Andre Young Jr. In 1990, Porter sued Dre, seeking $5,000 of child support per month. On August 23, 2008, Andre died at the age of 20 from an overdose of heroin and morphine at his mother's Woodland Hills home.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "From 1987 to 1996, Dre dated singer Michel'le, who frequently contributed vocals to Ruthless Records and Death Row Records albums. In 1991, they had a son named Marcel.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "In April 1992, after a verbal dispute with his engineer, Dre was consequently shot four times in his leg.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "In 1996, Dre married Nicole (née Plotzker) Threatt, who was previously married to basketball player Sedale Threatt. They have two children together: a son named Truice (born 1997) and a daughter named Truly (born 2001).",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "In 2001, Dre earned a total of about US$52 million from selling part of his share of Aftermath Entertainment to Interscope Records and his production of such hit songs that year as \"Family Affair\" by Mary J. Blige. Rolling Stone magazine thus named him the second highest-paid artist of the year. Dr. Dre was ranked 44th in 2004 from earnings of $11.4 million, primarily from production royalties from such projects as albums from G-Unit and D12 and the single \"Rich Girl\" by singer Gwen Stefani and rapper Eve. Forbes estimated his net worth at US$270 million in 2012. The same publication later reported that he acquired US$110 million via his various endeavors in 2012, making him the highest–paid artist of the year. Income from the 2014 sale of Beats to Apple, contributing to what Forbes termed \"the biggest single-year payday of any musician in history\", made Dr. Dre the world's richest musical performer of 2015.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "In 2014, Dre purchased a $40 million home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles from its previous owners, NFL player Tom Brady and supermodel Gisele Bündchen.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "It was reported that Dre suffered a brain aneurysm on January 5, 2021, and that he was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's ICU in Los Angeles, California. Hours after his admission to the hospital, Dre's home was targeted for an attempted burglary. He eventually received support from LeBron James, Martin Lawrence, LL Cool J, Missy Elliott, Snoop Dogg,Eminem,Ice Cube, 50 Cent, Ellen DeGeneres, Ciara, her husband Russell Wilson, T.I., Quincy Jones and others. In February, he was released with a following message on Instagram: \"Thanks to my family, friends and fans for their interest and well wishes. I'm doing great and getting excellent care from my medical team. I will be out of the hospital and back home soon. Shout out to all the great medical professionals at Cedars. One Love!!\"",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "In December 2021, Dre finalized his divorce from Nicole Threat for a reported sum of $100 million of his estate.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "Dre is a notable fan of both the Los Angeles Rams, and Los Angeles Lakers.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "Dre has been accused of multiple incidents of violence against women.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "On January 27, 1991, at a music industry party at the Po Na Na Souk club in Hollywood, Dr. Dre assaulted television host Dee Barnes of the Fox television program Pump it Up!, following an episode of the show. Barnes had interviewed NWA, which was followed by an interview with Ice Cube in which Cube mocked NWA. Barnes filed a $22.7 million lawsuit in response to the incident. Subsequently, Dr. Dre was fined $2,500, given two years' probation, ordered to undergo 240 hours of community service, and given a spot on an anti-violence public service announcement on television. The civil suit was settled out of court. Barnes stated that he \"began slamming her face and the right side of her body repeatedly against a wall near the stairway\". Dr. Dre later commented: \"People talk all this shit, but you know, somebody fucks with me, I'm gonna fuck with them. I just did it, you know. Ain't nothing you can do now by talking about it. Besides, it ain't no big thing – I just threw her through a door.\"",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "In March 2015, Michel'le, the mother of one of Dre's children, accused him of subjecting her to domestic violence during their time together as a couple, but did not initiate legal action. Their abusive relationship is portrayed in her 2016 biopic Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le. Dre threatened a lawsuit against Lifetime, Sony Pictures and filmmakers of Surviving Compton in a cease and desist, but never ultimately took action.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "Interviewed by Ben Westhoff for the book Original Gangstas: the Untold Story of Dr Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap, Lisa Johnson stated that Dre beat her many times, including while she was pregnant. She was granted a restraining order against him.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "Former labelmate Tairrie B claimed that Dre assaulted her at a post-Grammy party in 1990, in response to her track \"Ruthless Bitch\".",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "During press for the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton, questions about the portrayal and behavior of Dre and other prominent figures in the rap community about violence against women – and the question about its absence in the film – were raised. The discussion about the film led to Dre addressing his past behavior in the press. In August 2015, in an interview with Rolling Stone, Dre lamented his abusive past, saying, \"I made some fucking horrible mistakes in my life. I was young, fucking stupid. I would say all the allegations aren't true—some of them are. Those are some of the things that I would like to take back. It was really fucked up. But I paid for those mistakes, and there's no way in hell that I will ever make another mistake like that again.\"",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "In a statement to The New York Times on August 21, 2015, exactly two weeks after his album, Compton, was released, Dre again addressed his abusive past, stating, \"25 years ago I was a young man drinking too much and in over my head with no real structure in my life. However, none of this is an excuse for what I did. I've been married for 19 years and every day I'm working to be a better man for my family, seeking guidance along the way. I'm doing everything I can so I never resemble that man again. ... I apologize to the women I've hurt. I deeply regret what I did and know that it has forever impacted all of our lives.\"",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "In the 2017 film The Defiant Ones, Dr. Dre explained about the Dee Barnes incident again, \"This was a very low point in my life. I've done a lot of stupid shit in my life. A lot of things I wish I could go and take back. I've experienced abuse. I've watched my mother get abused. So there's absolutely no excuse for it. No woman should ever be treated that way. Any man that puts his hands on a female is a fucking idiot. He's out of his fucking mind, and I was out of my fucking mind at the time. I fucked up, I paid for it, I'm sorry for it, and I apologize for it. I have this dark cloud that follows me, and it's going to be attached to me forever. It's a major blemish on who I am as a man.\"",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "Dre's wife, Nicole Plotzker-Young, filed for divorce in June 2020, citing irreconcilable differences. In November 2020, she filed legal claims that Dre engaged in verbal violence and infidelity during their marriage. She also stated that he tore up their prenuptial agreement that he wanted her to sign out of anger. Dre's representative responded, calling her claims of infidelity and violence in their marriage \"false\".",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "Before being released from the Cedar-Sinai Medical Center, he was ordered to pay Plotzker-Young $2 million in temporary spousal support. Between the spring and summer of the year, Dre was ordered by the Los Angeles County judge to pay his ex-wife over $300,000 a month in spousal support. The $2 million extension request was also dismissed, due to insufficient claims.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "In July 2021, Dr. Dre was ordered by the Los Angeles Superior Court Judge to pay an additional $293,306 a month to estranged wife in spousal support starting August 1 until she decides to remarry or \"further order of the Court\". Then, in August, the judge denied his wife's request for a protective order, due to her being afraid of Dre after a snippet leaked on Instagram of him rapping about the divorce proceedings and his possible brain aneurysm earlier that February; in this snippet, he called his wife a \"greedy bitch\".",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "In mid-October, Dr. Dre was served more divorce papers, during his grandmother's funeral. That same month, Dre was officially deemed \"single\" by the judge. The financial owings in this case included expenses of Dre's Malibu, Palisades and Hollywood Hills homes, but not his stock in past ownership of Beats Electronics, prior to its sale to Apple in 2014. As of December 2021, the divorce proceedings have entered its final stages.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "On December 28, the divorce was settled with Dre keeping most of his assets and income due to the prenuptial agreement, although he would have to pay a 9-figure settlement within one year.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "During the course of 2001's popularity, Dr. Dre was involved in several lawsuits. Lucasfilm Ltd., the film company behind the Star Wars film franchise, sued him over the use of the THX-trademarked \"Deep Note\". The Fatback Band also sued Dr. Dre over alleged infringement regarding its song \"Backstrokin'\" in his song \"Let's Get High\" from the 2001 album; Dr. Dre was ordered to pay $1.5 million to the band in 2003. French jazz musician Jacques Loussier sued Aftermath for $10 million in March 2002, claiming that the Dr. Dre-produced Eminem track \"Kill You\" plagiarized his composition \"Pulsion\". The online music file-sharing company Napster also settled a lawsuit with him and metal band Metallica in mid-2001, agreeing to block access to certain files that artists do not want to have shared on the network.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "Another copyright-related lawsuit hit Dr. Dre in the fall of 2002, when Sa Re Ga Ma, a film and music company based in Calcutta, India, sued Aftermath Entertainment over an uncredited sample of the Lata Mangeshkar song \"Thoda Resham Lagta Hai\" on the Aftermath-produced song \"Addictive\" by singer Truth Hurts. In February 2003, a judge ruled that Aftermath would have to halt sales of Truth Hurts' album Truthfully Speaking if the company would not credit Mangeshkar.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "On June 28, 1992, hours before midnight, a barbecue grill and an overfill of charcoal caused Dre's Calabasas mansion to set on fire. Two firefighters who exhausted the fire were treated in the hospital for minor injuries. The fire caused over $125,000 in home damages.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "Dre pleaded guilty in October 1992 in a case of battery of a police officer and was convicted on two additional battery counts stemming from a brawl in the lobby of the New Orleans hotel in May 1991.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "In 1993, he was convicted of battery after an altercation with a man who stood outside the front porch of his Woodland Hills home in front of the musician's girlfriend. He claimed that Dre broke his jaw as a result.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "On January 10, 1994, Dre was arrested after leading police on a 90 mph pursuit through Beverly Hills in his 1987 Ferrari. It was revealed that Dr. Dre had a blood alcohol of 0.16, twice the state of California's legal limit. The conviction violated the conditions of parole following Dre's battery conviction in 1993; he pleaded no contest and was sentenced to eight months in prison in September 1994. He was ordered to pay a $1,053 fine and attend an alcohol education program.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "In November 2004, at the Vibe magazine awards show in Los Angeles, Dr. Dre was attacked by a fan named Jimmy James Johnson, who was supposedly asking for an autograph. In the resulting scuffle, then-G-Unit rapper Young Buck stabbed the man. Johnson claimed that Suge Knight, president of Death Row Records, paid him $5,000 to assault Dre in order to humiliate him before he received his Lifetime Achievement Award. Knight immediately went on CBS's The Late Late Show to deny involvement and insisted that he supported Dr. Dre and wanted Johnson charged. In September 2005, Johnson was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to stay away from Dr. Dre until 2008.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "On October 30, 2015, Ruthless co-founder Jerry Heller filed suit against Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E's widow, Tomica Woods-Wright, director F. Gary Gray and Universal Pictures for defamation of character and copyright infringement over the biopic, Straight Outta Compton. The lawsuit states that depictions of Heller in the film, portrayed by Paul Giamatti, were wrongfully taken from an autobiography he wrote about his involvement with Ruthless and N.W.A. The case was taken to court in June 2016 where a judge criticized the filing, saying that the film was \"approved to portray these facts in \"colorful and hyperbolic\" terms\". On September 2, 2016, Jerry Heller died of a car accident, preceded by a heart attack. However, his lawsuit kept on through his legal team and members of his estate. In October 2018, the lawsuit was dropped, costing Heller's estate $35 million for punitive and $75 million for compensatory damages.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "On April 4, 2016, TMZ and the New York Daily News reported that Suge Knight had accused Dre and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department of a kill-for-hire plot in the 2014 shooting of Knight in club 1 OAK. Three months later, in July, Dre was reportedly detained by police after confronting a next-door neighbor in Malibu about a test drive. It was also alleged that he brandished a handgun on the neighbor, but no evidence would be linked and Dre was soon released.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "On May 8, 2018, Dre lost a name trademark filing to a Pennsylvania gynecologist named Draion Burch, who previously filed a trademark petition in 2015 to use his nickname, Dr. Drai, which has the similar pronunciation. Then, on June 26, Dre and Jimmy Iovine were ordered to pay $25 million to former partner and creative designer Steven Lamar, who sued the two co-founders for $100 million in unpaid royalties for designing the early Beats headphone models. The lawsuit was filed in 2015 after news broke out of Apple's acquisition of the headphone brand a year prior.",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 115,
"text": "In August 2021, Dr. Dre's oldest daughter LaTanya Young spoke out about being homeless and unable to support her four children. She is currently working for UberEats and DoorDash, and she also works at warehouse jobs. She is living in debt in her SUV while her children are living with friends. Dr. Dre has allegedly stopped supporting LaTanya financially since January 2020 because she has \"spoken about him in the press\".",
"title": "Controversies and legal issues"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 116,
"text": "with World Class Wreckin' Cru",
"title": "Discography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 117,
"text": "with N.W.A.",
"title": "Discography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 118,
"text": "with Marsha Ambrosius",
"title": "Discography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 119,
"text": "with Snoop Dogg",
"title": "Discography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 120,
"text": "",
"title": "Awards and nominations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 121,
"text": "Dr. Dre has won seven Grammy Awards. Four of them are for his production work.",
"title": "Awards and nominations"
}
] | Andre Romell Young, known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American record producer and rapper. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and was the president of Death Row Records. Young began his career as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru in 1985 and later found fame with the gangsta rap group N.W.A. The group popularized explicit lyrics in hip hop to detail the violence of street life. During the early 1990s, Young was credited as a key figure in the crafting and popularization of West Coast G-funk, a subgenre of hip hop characterized by a synthesizer foundation and slow, heavy beats. He is considered as one of the greatest music producers of all time. Young's solo debut studio album The Chronic (1992), released under Death Row Records, made him one of the best-selling American music artists of 1993. It earned him a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for the single "Let Me Ride", as well as several accolades for the single "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang". That year, he produced Death Row labelmate Snoop Doggy Dogg's debut album Doggystyle and mentored producers such as his stepbrother Warren G and Snoop Dogg's cousin Daz Dillinger, and would later mentor other producers including Mel-Man and Scott Storch. In 1996, Young left Death Row Records to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment. He produced a compilation album, Dr. Dre Presents: The Aftermath, in 1996, and released his second solo album, 2001, in 1999. During the 2000s, Young focused on producing other artists, occasionally contributing vocals. He signed Eminem in 1998 and 50 Cent in 2002, and heavily produced their output while they were signed to Aftermath. He has produced albums for and overseen the careers of many other rappers, including the D.O.C., Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Knoc-turn'al, the Game, Kendrick Lamar, and Anderson .Paak. He has won seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. Rolling Stone ranked him number 56 on the list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Outside of music, Young has acted in films such as Set It Off, The Wash, and Training Day. He is considered the greatest hip hop producer of all time. Accusations of Young's violence against women have been widely publicized. Following his assault of television host Dee Barnes, he was fined $2,500, given two years' probation, ordered to perform 240 hours of community service, and given a spot on an anti-violence public service announcement. A civil suit was settled out of court. In 2015, Michel'le, the mother of one of his children, accused him of domestic violence during their time together as a couple. Their abusive relationship is portrayed in her 2016 biopic Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le. Lisa Johnson, the mother of three of Young's children, stated that he beat her many times, including while she was pregnant. She was granted a restraining order against him. Former labelmate Tairrie B claimed that Young assaulted her at a party in 1990, in response to her track "Ruthless Bitch". Two weeks following the release of his third album, Compton in August 2015, he issued an apology to the women "I've hurt". | 2001-05-11T10:51:59Z | 2023-12-29T00:12:11Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Dre |
8,085 | Delicate Arch | Delicate Arch is a 52-foot-tall (16 m) freestanding natural arch located in Arches National Park, near Moab in Grand County, Utah, United States. The arch is the most widely recognized landmark in Arches National Park and is depicted on Utah license plates and a postage stamp commemorating Utah's centennial anniversary of admission to the Union in 1886. The Olympic torch relay for the 2002 Winter Olympics passed through the arch.
Because of its distinctive shape, the arch was known as "the Chaps" and "the Schoolmarm's Bloomers" by local cowboys. Many other names have been applied to this arch including "Bloomers Arch", "Marys Bloomers", "Old Maids Bloomers", "Pants Crotch", "Salt Wash Arch", and "School Marms Pants". The arch was given its current name by Frank Beckwith, leader of the Arches National Monument Scientific Expedition, who explored the area in the winter of 1933–1934. Although there is a rumor that the names of Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch were inadvertently exchanged due to a signage mixup by the National Park Service (NPS), this is false.
This arch played no part in the original designation of the area as a national monument (Arches National Monument) in 1929 and was not included within the original boundaries; it was added when the monument was enlarged in 1938.
In the 1950s, the NPS investigated the possibility of applying a clear plastic coating to the arch to protect it from further erosion and eventual destruction. The idea was ultimately abandoned as impractical and contrary to NPS principles.
Nature photographer Michael Fatali started a fire under the arch in September 2000 to demonstrate nighttime photography techniques to a group of amateur photographers. The fire discolored portions of the sandstone near the arch. Fatali was placed on probation and fined $10,900 in restitution to the NPS for the cost of cleanup efforts.
In 2017, the United Utah Party was founded, and chose Delicate Arch as its official party logo.
Delicate Arch is formed of Entrada Sandstone. The original sandstone fin was gradually worn away by weathering and erosion, leaving the arch. Other arches in the park were formed the same way but, due to placement and less dramatic shape, are not as famous.
During the summer, white-throated swifts (Aeronautes saxatalis) nest in the top of the arch.
In May 2006, climber Dean Potter performed as many as six free solo ascents of the arch. Climbing Delicate Arch was not explicitly forbidden under the rules in force at the time, which only stated that routes "may be closed" on any named arch; however, most climbers accepted that the named arch formations should not be climbed. The NPS has since closed the loophole by disallowing climbs on any named arch within the park year-round. Slacklining and the placement of new fixed anchors on new climbs are also prohibited.
Controversy ensued when photographs taken after Potter's climb appeared to show damage caused by a climbing technique called top roping. Potter stated on several occasions that he never damaged the arch, and no photos exist of Potter using a top rope setup on the arch. Previous climbers may have top-roped the arch, leaving the existing rope scars. Potter did admit to using a counterweighted rope over the top of the arch, within a natural groove, as well as four cams in a horizontal crack of harder rock at the summit. He used the rope and cams for protection while rehearsing his free solo route and to rappel back down after the free solos. Two fellow climbers also ascended via fixed ropes, one of whom recorded video of Potter from the top.
Delicate Arch is one of the main tourist draws in Arches National Park. The parking lot at the Delicate Arch Trailhead, although large, fills up quickly on most days. The trail to Delicate Arch is 3 miles (4.8 kilometer) round trip with an elevation change of 480 feet (146 meters). The trail is well defined for the first 1/2 mile, then does a steep incline over open rock. There is a narrow ledge for the last 200 yards (183 meter) before reaching the arch.
Utah portal | [
{
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"text": "Delicate Arch is a 52-foot-tall (16 m) freestanding natural arch located in Arches National Park, near Moab in Grand County, Utah, United States. The arch is the most widely recognized landmark in Arches National Park and is depicted on Utah license plates and a postage stamp commemorating Utah's centennial anniversary of admission to the Union in 1886. The Olympic torch relay for the 2002 Winter Olympics passed through the arch.",
"title": ""
},
{
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"text": "Because of its distinctive shape, the arch was known as \"the Chaps\" and \"the Schoolmarm's Bloomers\" by local cowboys. Many other names have been applied to this arch including \"Bloomers Arch\", \"Marys Bloomers\", \"Old Maids Bloomers\", \"Pants Crotch\", \"Salt Wash Arch\", and \"School Marms Pants\". The arch was given its current name by Frank Beckwith, leader of the Arches National Monument Scientific Expedition, who explored the area in the winter of 1933–1934. Although there is a rumor that the names of Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch were inadvertently exchanged due to a signage mixup by the National Park Service (NPS), this is false.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "This arch played no part in the original designation of the area as a national monument (Arches National Monument) in 1929 and was not included within the original boundaries; it was added when the monument was enlarged in 1938.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "In the 1950s, the NPS investigated the possibility of applying a clear plastic coating to the arch to protect it from further erosion and eventual destruction. The idea was ultimately abandoned as impractical and contrary to NPS principles.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Nature photographer Michael Fatali started a fire under the arch in September 2000 to demonstrate nighttime photography techniques to a group of amateur photographers. The fire discolored portions of the sandstone near the arch. Fatali was placed on probation and fined $10,900 in restitution to the NPS for the cost of cleanup efforts.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In 2017, the United Utah Party was founded, and chose Delicate Arch as its official party logo.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Delicate Arch is formed of Entrada Sandstone. The original sandstone fin was gradually worn away by weathering and erosion, leaving the arch. Other arches in the park were formed the same way but, due to placement and less dramatic shape, are not as famous.",
"title": "Geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "During the summer, white-throated swifts (Aeronautes saxatalis) nest in the top of the arch.",
"title": "Ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In May 2006, climber Dean Potter performed as many as six free solo ascents of the arch. Climbing Delicate Arch was not explicitly forbidden under the rules in force at the time, which only stated that routes \"may be closed\" on any named arch; however, most climbers accepted that the named arch formations should not be climbed. The NPS has since closed the loophole by disallowing climbs on any named arch within the park year-round. Slacklining and the placement of new fixed anchors on new climbs are also prohibited.",
"title": "Climbing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Controversy ensued when photographs taken after Potter's climb appeared to show damage caused by a climbing technique called top roping. Potter stated on several occasions that he never damaged the arch, and no photos exist of Potter using a top rope setup on the arch. Previous climbers may have top-roped the arch, leaving the existing rope scars. Potter did admit to using a counterweighted rope over the top of the arch, within a natural groove, as well as four cams in a horizontal crack of harder rock at the summit. He used the rope and cams for protection while rehearsing his free solo route and to rappel back down after the free solos. Two fellow climbers also ascended via fixed ropes, one of whom recorded video of Potter from the top.",
"title": "Climbing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Delicate Arch is one of the main tourist draws in Arches National Park. The parking lot at the Delicate Arch Trailhead, although large, fills up quickly on most days. The trail to Delicate Arch is 3 miles (4.8 kilometer) round trip with an elevation change of 480 feet (146 meters). The trail is well defined for the first 1/2 mile, then does a steep incline over open rock. There is a narrow ledge for the last 200 yards (183 meter) before reaching the arch.",
"title": "Tourism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Utah portal",
"title": "See also"
}
] | Delicate Arch is a 52-foot-tall (16 m) freestanding natural arch located in Arches National Park, near Moab in Grand County, Utah, United States. The arch is the most widely recognized landmark in Arches National Park and is depicted on Utah license plates and a postage stamp commemorating Utah's centennial anniversary of admission to the Union in 1886. The Olympic torch relay for the 2002 Winter Olympics passed through the arch. | 2001-06-08T20:47:50Z | 2023-12-03T22:18:00Z | [
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8,086 | Deed poll | A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract because it binds only one party.
The term "deed", also known in this context as a "specialty", is common to signed written undertakings not supported by consideration: the seal (even if not a literal wax seal but only a notional one referred to by the execution formula, "signed, sealed and delivered", or even merely "executed as a deed") is deemed to be the consideration necessary to support the obligation. "Poll" is an archaic legal term referring to documents with straight edges; these distinguished a deed binding only one person from one affecting more than a single person (an "indenture", so named during the time when such agreements would be written out repeatedly on a single sheet, then the copies separated by being irregularly torn or cut, i.e. "indented", so that each party had a document with corresponding tears, to discourage forgery).
The most common use is a name change through a deed of change of name (often referred to simply as a deed poll). Deeds poll are used for this purpose in countries and regions including in the United Kingdom (except in Scotland), Ireland, Hong Kong, and Singapore. In the UK, a deed poll can also be used to change a child's name, as long as everyone with parental responsibility for the child consents to it and the child does not object to it. The child's parents execute the deed poll on the child's behalf. In some other jurisdictions, a person may simply start using a new name without any formal legal process. The usual requirements are that the new name must be used exclusively and that the change must not be made with the intent to defraud. In English law, a person must notify every creditor of a change of name by deed poll.
In Australia, prior to 1 November 2000, name change was accomplished by deed poll but now is done by completing a Change of Name form.
Another common use is to partition land. This form of deed poll is commonly used in Hong Kong.
A deed poll may also be used (in England and Wales) for clergy of the Church of England to relinquish their holy orders.
Bonds and powers of attorney are examples of deeds poll. A will is not a deed poll, not being made under seal, and being subject to separate statutory requirements. | [
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"text": "A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract because it binds only one party.",
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"text": "The term \"deed\", also known in this context as a \"specialty\", is common to signed written undertakings not supported by consideration: the seal (even if not a literal wax seal but only a notional one referred to by the execution formula, \"signed, sealed and delivered\", or even merely \"executed as a deed\") is deemed to be the consideration necessary to support the obligation. \"Poll\" is an archaic legal term referring to documents with straight edges; these distinguished a deed binding only one person from one affecting more than a single person (an \"indenture\", so named during the time when such agreements would be written out repeatedly on a single sheet, then the copies separated by being irregularly torn or cut, i.e. \"indented\", so that each party had a document with corresponding tears, to discourage forgery).",
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"text": "The most common use is a name change through a deed of change of name (often referred to simply as a deed poll). Deeds poll are used for this purpose in countries and regions including in the United Kingdom (except in Scotland), Ireland, Hong Kong, and Singapore. In the UK, a deed poll can also be used to change a child's name, as long as everyone with parental responsibility for the child consents to it and the child does not object to it. The child's parents execute the deed poll on the child's behalf. In some other jurisdictions, a person may simply start using a new name without any formal legal process. The usual requirements are that the new name must be used exclusively and that the change must not be made with the intent to defraud. In English law, a person must notify every creditor of a change of name by deed poll.",
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"text": "Another common use is to partition land. This form of deed poll is commonly used in Hong Kong.",
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"text": "Bonds and powers of attorney are examples of deeds poll. A will is not a deed poll, not being made under seal, and being subject to separate statutory requirements.",
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] | A deed poll is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract because it binds only one party. | 2001-11-01T12:14:22Z | 2023-12-23T08:35:55Z | [
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8,088 | Documentary film | A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in terms of "a filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception [that remains] a practice without clear boundaries".
Early documentary films, originally called "actuality films", lasted one minute or less. Over time, documentaries have evolved to become longer in length and to include more categories. Some examples are educational, observational and docufiction. Documentaries are very informative, and are often used within schools as a resource to teach various principles. Documentary filmmakers have a responsibility to be truthful to their vision of the world without intentionally misrepresenting a topic.
Social media platforms (such as YouTube) have provided an avenue for the growth of the documentary-film genre. These platforms have increased the distribution area and ease-of-accessibility.
Polish writer and filmmaker Bolesław Matuszewski was among those who identified the mode of documentary film. He wrote two of the earliest texts on cinema, Une nouvelle source de l'histoire ("A New Source of History") and La photographie animée ("Animated photography"). Both were published in 1898 in French and were among the earliest written works to consider the historical and documentary value of the film. Matuszewski is also among the first filmmakers to propose the creation of a Film Archive to collect and keep safe visual materials.
The word "documentary" was coined by Scottish documentary filmmaker John Grierson in his review of Robert Flaherty's film Moana (1926), published in the New York Sun on 8 February 1926, written by "The Moviegoer" (a pen name for Grierson).
Grierson's principles of documentary were that cinema's potential for observing life could be exploited in a new art form; that the "original" actor and "original" scene are better guides than their fiction counterparts for interpreting the modern world; and that materials "thus taken from the raw" can be more real than the acted article. In this regard, Grierson's definition of documentary as "creative treatment of actuality" has gained some acceptance; however, this position is at variance with Soviet film-maker Dziga Vertov's credos of provocation to present "life as it is" (that is, life filmed surreptitiously), and "life caught unawares" (life provoked or surprised by the camera).
The American film critic Pare Lorentz defines a documentary film as "a factual film which is dramatic." Others further state that a documentary stands out from the other types of non-fiction films for providing an opinion, and a specific message, along with the facts it presents. Scholar Betsy McLane asserted that documentaries are for filmmakers to convey their views about historical events, people, and places which they find significant. Therefore, the advantage of documentaries lies in introducing new perspectives which may not be prevalent in traditional media such as written publications and school curricula.
Documentary practice is the complex process of creating documentary projects. It refers to what people do with media devices, content, form, and production strategies to address the creative, ethical, and conceptual problems and choices that arise as they make documentaries.
Documentary filmmaking can be used as a form of journalism, advocacy, or personal expression.
Early film (pre-1900) was dominated by the novelty of showing an event. Single-shot moments were captured on film, such as a train entering a station, a boat docking, or factory workers leaving work. These short films were called "actuality" films; the term "documentary" was not coined until 1926. Many of the first films, such as those made by Auguste and Louis Lumière, were a minute or less in length, due to technological limitations. Examples can be viewed on YouTube.
Films showing many people (for example, leaving a factory) were often made for commercial reasons: the people being filmed were eager to see, for payment, the film showing them. One notable film clocked in at over an hour and a half, The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight. Using pioneering film-looping technology, Enoch J. Rector presented the entirety of a famous 1897 prize-fight on cinema screens across the United States.
In May 1896, Bolesław Matuszewski recorded on film a few surgical operations in Warsaw and Saint Petersburg hospitals. In 1898, French surgeon Eugène-Louis Doyen invited Matuszewski and Clément Maurice to record his surgical operations. They started in Paris a series of surgical films sometime before July 1898. Until 1906, the year of his last film, Doyen recorded more than 60 operations. Doyen said that his first films taught him how to correct professional errors he had been unaware of. For scientific purposes, after 1906, Doyen combined 15 of his films into three compilations, two of which survive, the six-film series Extirpation des tumeurs encapsulées (1906), and the four-film Les Opérations sur la cavité crânienne (1911). These and five other of Doyen's films survive.
Between July 1898 and 1901, the Romanian professor Gheorghe Marinescu made several science films in his neurology clinic in Bucharest: Walking Troubles of Organic Hemiplegy (1898), The Walking Troubles of Organic Paraplegies (1899), A Case of Hysteric Hemiplegy Healed Through Hypnosis (1899), The Walking Troubles of Progressive Locomotion Ataxy (1900), and Illnesses of the Muscles (1901). All these short films have been preserved. The professor called his works "studies with the help of the cinematograph," and published the results, along with several consecutive frames, in issues of La Semaine Médicale magazine from Paris, between 1899 and 1902. In 1924, Auguste Lumière recognized the merits of Marinescu's science films: "I've seen your scientific reports about the usage of the cinematograph in studies of nervous illnesses, when I was still receiving La Semaine Médicale, but back then I had other concerns, which left me no spare time to begin biological studies. I must say I forgot those works and I am thankful to you that you reminded them to me. Unfortunately, not many scientists have followed your way."
Travelogue films were very popular in the early part of the 20th century. They were often referred to by distributors as "scenics". Scenics were among the most popular sort of films at the time. An important early film which moved beyond the concept of the scenic was In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914), which embraced primitivism and exoticism in a staged story presented as truthful re-enactments of the life of Native Americans.
Contemplation is a separate area. Pathé is the best-known global manufacturer of such films in the early 20th century. A vivid example is Moscow Clad in Snow (1909).
Biographical documentaries appeared during this time, such as the feature Eminescu-Veronica-Creangă (1914) on the relationship between the writers Mihai Eminescu, Veronica Micle and Ion Creangă (all deceased at the time of the production), released by the Bucharest chapter of Pathé.
Early color motion picture processes such as Kinemacolor (known for the feature With Our King and Queen Through India (1912)) and Prizma Color (known for Everywhere With Prizma (1919) and the five-reel feature Bali the Unknown (1921)) used travelogues to promote the new color processes. In contrast, Technicolor concentrated primarily on getting their process adopted by Hollywood studios for fiction feature films.
Also during this period, Frank Hurley's feature documentary film, South (1919) about the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was released. The film documented the failed Antarctic expedition led by Ernest Shackleton in 1914.
With Robert J. Flaherty's Nanook of the North in 1922, documentary film embraced romanticism. Flaherty filmed a number of heavily staged romantic documentary films during this time period, often showing how his subjects would have lived 100 years earlier and not how they lived right then. For instance, in Nanook of the North, Flaherty did not allow his subjects to shoot a walrus with a nearby shotgun, but had them use a harpoon instead. Some of Flaherty's staging, such as building a roofless igloo for interior shots, was done to accommodate the filming technology of the time.
Paramount Pictures tried to repeat the success of Flaherty's Nanook and Moana with two romanticized documentaries, Grass (1925) and Chang (1927), both directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack.
The city-symphony sub film genre consisted of avant-garde films during the 1920s and 1930s. These films were particularly influenced by modern art, namely Cubism, Constructivism, and Impressionism. According to art historian and author Scott Macdonald, city-symphony films can be described as, "An intersection between documentary and avant-garde film: an avant-doc"; however, A.L. Rees suggests regarding them as avant-garde films.
Early titles produced within this genre include: Manhatta (New York; dir. Paul Strand, 1921); Rien que les heures/Nothing But The Hours (France; dir. Alberto Cavalcanti, 1926); Twenty Four Dollar Island (dir. Robert J. Flaherty, 1927); Moscow (dir. Mikhail Kaufman, 1927); Études sur Paris (dir. André Sauvage, 1928); The Bridge (1928) and Rain (1929), both by Joris Ivens; São Paulo, Sinfonia da Metrópole (dir. Adalberto Kemeny, 1929), Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (dir. Walter Ruttmann, 1927); Man with a Movie Camera (dir. Dziga Vertov, 1929); Douro, Faina Fluvial (dir. Manoel de Oliveira, 1931); and Rhapsody in Two Languages (dir. Gordon Sparling, 1934).
A city-symphony film, as the name suggests, is most often based around a major metropolitan city area and seeks to capture the life, events and activities of the city. It can use abstract cinematography (Walter Ruttman's Berlin) or may use Soviet montage theory (Dziga Vertov's, Man with a Movie Camera). Most importantly, a city-symphony film is a form of cinepoetry, shot and edited in the style of a "symphony".
The European continental tradition (See: Realism) focused on humans within human-made environments, and included the so-called "city-symphony" films such as Walter Ruttmann's, Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (of which Grierson noted in an article that Berlin, represented what a documentary should not be); Alberto Cavalcanti's, Rien que les heures; and Dziga Vertov's Man with a Movie Camera. These films tend to feature people as products of their environment, and lean towards the avant-garde.
Dziga Vertov was central to the Soviet Kino-Pravda (literally, "cinematic truth") newsreel series of the 1920s. Vertov believed the camera – with its varied lenses, shot-counter shot editing, time-lapse, ability to slow motion, stop motion and fast-motion – could render reality more accurately than the human eye, and created a film philosophy from it.
The newsreel tradition is important in documentary film. Newsreels at this time were sometimes staged but were usually re-enactments of events that had already happened, not attempts to steer events as they were in the process of happening. For instance, much of the battle footage from the early 20th century was staged; the cameramen would usually arrive on site after a major battle and re-enact scenes to film them.
The propagandist tradition consists of films made with the explicit purpose of persuading an audience of a point. One of the most celebrated and controversial propaganda films is Leni Riefenstahl's film Triumph of the Will (1935), which chronicled the 1934 Nazi Party Congress and was commissioned by Adolf Hitler. Leftist filmmakers Joris Ivens and Henri Storck directed Borinage (1931) about the Belgian coal mining region. Luis Buñuel directed a "surrealist" documentary Las Hurdes (1933).
Pare Lorentz's The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936) and The River (1938) and Willard Van Dyke's The City (1939) are notable New Deal productions, each presenting complex combinations of social and ecological awareness, government propaganda, and leftist viewpoints. Frank Capra's Why We Fight (1942–1944) series was a newsreel series in the United States, commissioned by the government to convince the U.S. public that it was time to go to war. Constance Bennett and her husband Henri de la Falaise produced two feature-length documentaries, Legong: Dance of the Virgins (1935) filmed in Bali, and Kilou the Killer Tiger (1936) filmed in Indochina.
In Canada, the Film Board, set up by John Grierson, was set up for the same propaganda reasons. It also created newsreels that were seen by their national governments as legitimate counter-propaganda to the psychological warfare of Nazi Germany orchestrated by Joseph Goebbels.
In Britain, a number of different filmmakers came together under John Grierson. They became known as the Documentary Film Movement. Grierson, Alberto Cavalcanti, Harry Watt, Basil Wright, and Humphrey Jennings amongst others succeeded in blending propaganda, information, and education with a more poetic aesthetic approach to documentary. Examples of their work include Drifters (John Grierson), Song of Ceylon (Basil Wright), Fires Were Started, and A Diary for Timothy (Humphrey Jennings). Their work involved poets such as W. H. Auden, composers such as Benjamin Britten, and writers such as J. B. Priestley. Among the best known films of the movement are Night Mail and Coal Face.
Calling Mr. Smith (1943) is an anti-Nazi color film created by Stefan Themerson which is both a documentary and an avant-garde film against war. It was one of the first anti-Nazi films in history.
Cinéma vérité (or the closely related direct cinema) was dependent on some technical advances to exist: light, quiet and reliable cameras, and portable sync sound.
Cinéma vérité and similar documentary traditions can thus be seen, in a broader perspective, as a reaction against studio-based film production constraints. Shooting on location, with smaller crews, would also happen in the French New Wave, the filmmakers taking advantage of advances in technology allowing smaller, handheld cameras and synchronized sound to film events on location as they unfolded.
Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there are important differences between cinéma vérité (Jean Rouch) and the North American "direct cinema" (or more accurately "cinéma direct"), pioneered by, among others, Canadians Allan King, Michel Brault, and Pierre Perrault, and Americans Robert Drew, Richard Leacock, Frederick Wiseman and Albert and David Maysles.
The directors of the movement take different viewpoints on their degree of involvement with their subjects. Kopple and Pennebaker, for instance, choose non-involvement (or at least no overt involvement), and Perrault, Rouch, Koenig, and Kroitor favor direct involvement or even provocation when they deem it necessary.
The films Chronicle of a Summer (Jean Rouch), Dont Look Back (D. A. Pennebaker), Grey Gardens (Albert and David Maysles), Titicut Follies (Frederick Wiseman), Primary and Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (both produced by Robert Drew), Harlan County, USA (directed by Barbara Kopple), Lonely Boy (Wolf Koenig and Roman Kroitor) are all frequently deemed cinéma vérité films.
The fundamentals of the style include following a person during a crisis with a moving, often handheld, camera to capture more personal reactions. There are no sit-down interviews, and the shooting ratio (the amount of film shot to the finished product) is very high, often reaching 80 to one. From there, editors find and sculpt the work into a film. The editors of the movement – such as Werner Nold, Charlotte Zwerin, Muffie Meyer, Susan Froemke, and Ellen Hovde – are often overlooked, but their input to the films was so vital that they were often given co-director credits.
Famous cinéma vérité/direct cinema films include Les Raquetteurs, Showman, Salesman, Near Death, and The Children Were Watching.
In the 1960s and 1970s, documentary film was often regarded as a political weapon against neocolonialism and capitalism in general, especially in Latin America, but also in a changing society. La Hora de los hornos (The Hour of the Furnaces, from 1968), directed by Octavio Getino and Arnold Vincent Kudales Sr., influenced a whole generation of filmmakers. Among the many political documentaries produced in the early 1970s was "Chile: A Special Report", public television's first in-depth expository look at the September 1973 overthrow of the Salvador Allende government in Chile by military leaders under Augusto Pinochet, produced by documentarians Ari Martinez and José Garcia.
A June 2020 article in The New York Times reviewed the political documentary And She Could Be Next, directed by Grace Lee and Marjan Safinia. The Times described the documentary not only as focusing on women in politics, but more specifically on women of color, their communities, and the significant changes they have wrought upon America.
Box office analysts have noted that the documentary film genre has become increasingly successful in theatrical release with films such as Fahrenheit 9/11, Super Size Me, Food, Inc., Earth, March of the Penguins, and An Inconvenient Truth among the most prominent examples. Compared to dramatic narrative films, documentaries typically have far lower budgets which makes them attractive to film companies because even a limited theatrical release can be highly profitable.
The nature of documentary films has expanded in the past 30 years from the cinéma vérité style introduced in the 1960s in which the use of portable camera and sound equipment allowed an intimate relationship between filmmaker and subject. The line blurs between documentary and narrative and some works are very personal, such as Marlon Riggs's Tongues Untied (1989) and Black Is...Black Ain't (1995), which mix expressive, poetic, and rhetorical elements and stresses subjectivities rather than historical materials.
Historical documentaries, such as the landmark 14-hour Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years (1986 – Part 1 and 1989 – Part 2) by Henry Hampton, 4 Little Girls (1997) by Spike Lee, The Civil War by Ken Burns, and UNESCO-awarded independent film on slavery 500 Years Later, express not only a distinctive voice but also a perspective and point of views. Some films such as The Thin Blue Line by Errol Morris incorporate stylized re-enactments, and Michael Moore's Roger & Me place far more interpretive control with the director. The commercial success of these documentaries may derive from this narrative shift in the documentary form, leading some critics to question whether such films can truly be called documentaries; critics sometimes refer to these works as "mondo films" or "docu-ganda." However, directorial manipulation of documentary subjects has been noted since the work of Flaherty, and may be endemic to the form due to problematic ontological foundations.
Documentary filmmakers are increasingly using social impact campaigns with their films. Social impact campaigns seek to leverage media projects by converting public awareness of social issues and causes into engagement and action, largely by offering the audience a way to get involved. Examples of such documentaries include Kony 2012, Salam Neighbor, Gasland, Living on One Dollar, and Girl Rising.
Although documentaries are financially more viable with the increasing popularity of the genre and the advent of the DVD, funding for documentary film production remains elusive. Within the past decade, the largest exhibition opportunities have emerged from within the broadcast market, making filmmakers beholden to the tastes and influences of the broadcasters who have become their largest funding source.
Modern documentaries have some overlap with television forms, with the development of "reality television" that occasionally verges on the documentary but more often veers to the fictional or staged. The "making-of" documentary shows how a movie or a computer game was produced. Usually made for promotional purposes, it is closer to an advertisement than a classic documentary.
Modern lightweight digital video cameras and computer-based editing have greatly aided documentary makers, as has the dramatic drop in equipment prices. The first film to take full advantage of this change was Martin Kunert and Eric Manes' Voices of Iraq, where 150 DV cameras were sent to Iraq during the war and passed out to Iraqis to record themselves.
Films in the documentary form without words have been made. Listen to Britain, directed by Humphrey Jennings and Stuart McAllister in 1942, is a wordless meditation on wartime Britain. From 1982, the Qatsi trilogy and the similar Baraka could be described as visual tone poems, with music related to the images, but no spoken content. Koyaanisqatsi (part of the Qatsi trilogy) consists primarily of slow motion and time-lapse photography of cities and many natural landscapes across the United States. Baraka tries to capture the great pulse of humanity as it flocks and swarms in daily activity and religious ceremonies.
Bodysong was made in 2003 and won a British Independent Film Award for "Best British Documentary."
The 2004 film Genesis shows animal and plant life in states of expansion, decay, sex, and death, with some, but little, narration.
The traditional style for narration is to have a dedicated narrator read a script which is dubbed onto the audio track. The narrator never appears on camera and may not necessarily have knowledge of the subject matter or involvement in the writing of the script.
This style of narration uses title screens to visually narrate the documentary. The screens are held for about 5–10 seconds to allow adequate time for the viewer to read them. They are similar to the ones shown at the end of movies based on true stories, but they are shown throughout, typically between scenes.
In this style, there is a host who appears on camera, conducts interviews, and who also does voice-overs.
The release of The Act of Killing (2012) directed by Joshua Oppenheimer has introduced possibilities for emerging forms of the hybrid documentary. Traditional documentary filmmaking typically removes signs of fictionalization to distinguish itself from fictional film genres. Audiences have recently become more distrustful of the media's traditional fact production, making them more receptive to experimental ways of telling facts. The hybrid documentary implements truth games to challenge traditional fact production. Although it is fact-based, the hybrid documentary is not explicit about what should be understood, creating an open dialogue between subject and audience. Clio Barnard's The Arbor (2010), Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing (2012), Mads Brügger's The Ambassador, and Alma Har'el's Bombay Beach (2011) are a few notable examples.
Docufiction is a hybrid genre from two basic ones, fiction film and documentary, practiced since the first documentary films were made.
Fake-fiction is a genre which deliberately presents real, unscripted events in the form of a fiction film, making them appear as staged. The concept was introduced by Pierre Bismuth to describe his 2016 film Where is Rocky II?
A DVD documentary is a documentary film of indeterminate length that has been produced with the sole intent of releasing it for direct sale to the public on DVD, which is different from a documentary being made and released first on television or on a cinema screen (a.k.a. theatrical release) and subsequently on DVD for public consumption.
This form of documentary release is becoming more popular and accepted as costs and difficulty with finding TV or theatrical release slots increases. It is also commonly used for more "specialist" documentaries, which might not have general interest to a wider TV audience. Examples are military, cultural arts, transport, sports, etc.
Compilation films were pioneered in 1927 by Esfir Schub with The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty. More recent examples include Point of Order! (1964), directed by Emile de Antonio about the McCarthy hearings. Similarly, The Last Cigarette combines the testimony of various tobacco company executives before the U.S. Congress with archival propaganda extolling the virtues of smoking.
Poetic documentaries, which first appeared in the 1920s, were a sort of reaction against both the content and the rapidly crystallizing grammar of the early fiction film. The poetic mode moved away from continuity editing and instead organized images of the material world by means of associations and patterns, both in terms of time and space. Well-rounded characters – "lifelike people" – were absent; instead, people appeared in these films as entities, just like any other, that are found in the material world. The films were fragmentary, impressionistic, lyrical. Their disruption of the coherence of time and space – a coherence favored by the fiction films of the day – can also be seen as an element of the modernist counter-model of cinematic narrative. The "real world" – Nichols calls it the "historical world" – was broken up into fragments and aesthetically reconstituted using film form. Examples of this style include Joris Ivens' Rain (1928), which records a passing summer shower over Amsterdam; László Moholy-Nagy's Play of Light: Black, White, Grey (1930), in which he films one of his own kinetic sculptures, emphasizing not the sculpture itself but the play of light around it; Oskar Fischinger's abstract animated films; Francis Thompson's N.Y., N.Y. (1957), a city symphony film; and Chris Marker's Sans Soleil (1982).
Expository documentaries speak directly to the viewer, often in the form of an authoritative commentary employing voiceover or titles, proposing a strong argument and point of view. These films are rhetorical, and try to persuade the viewer. (They may use a rich and sonorous male voice.) The (voice-of-God) commentary often sounds "objective" and omniscient. Images are often not paramount; they exist to advance the argument. The rhetoric insistently presses upon us to read the images in a certain fashion. Historical documentaries in this mode deliver an unproblematic and "objective" account and interpretation of past events.
Examples: TV shows and films like Biography, America's Most Wanted, many science and nature documentaries, Ken Burns' The Civil War (1990), Robert Hughes' The Shock of the New (1980), John Berger's Ways Of Seeing (1974), Frank Capra's wartime Why We Fight series, and Pare Lorentz's The Plow That Broke The Plains (1936).
Observational documentaries attempt to spontaneously observe their subjects with minimal intervention. Filmmakers who worked in this subgenre often saw the poetic mode as too abstract and the expository mode as too didactic. The first observational docs date back to the 1960s; the technological developments which made them possible include mobile lightweight cameras and portable sound recording equipment for synchronized sound. Often, this mode of film eschewed voice-over commentary, post-synchronized dialogue and music, or re-enactments. The films aimed for immediacy, intimacy, and revelation of individual human character in ordinary life situations.
Participatory documentaries believe that it is impossible for the act of filmmaking to not influence or alter the events being filmed. What these films do is emulate the approach of the anthropologist: participant-observation. Not only is the filmmaker part of the film, we also get a sense of how situations in the film are affected or altered by their presence. Nichols: "The filmmaker steps out from behind the cloak of voice-over commentary, steps away from poetic meditation, steps down from a fly-on-the-wall perch, and becomes a social actor (almost) like any other. (Almost like any other because the filmmaker retains the camera, and with it, a certain degree of potential power and control over events.)" The encounter between filmmaker and subject becomes a critical element of the film. Rouch and Morin named the approach cinéma vérité, translating Dziga Vertov's kinopravda into French; the "truth" refers to the truth of the encounter rather than some absolute truth.
Reflexive documentaries do not see themselves as a transparent window on the world; instead, they draw attention to their own constructedness, and the fact that they are representations. How does the world get represented by documentary films? This question is central to this subgenre of films. They prompt us to "question the authenticity of documentary in general." It is the most self-conscious of all the modes, and is highly skeptical of "realism". It may use Brechtian alienation strategies to jar us, in order to "defamiliarize" what we are seeing and how we are seeing it.
Performative documentaries stress subjective experience and emotional response to the world. They are strongly personal, unconventional, perhaps poetic and/or experimental, and might include hypothetical enactments of events designed to make us experience what it might be like for us to possess a certain specific perspective on the world that is not our own, e.g. that of black, gay men in Marlon Riggs's Tongues Untied (1989) or Jenny Livingston's Paris Is Burning (1991). This subgenre might also lend itself to certain groups (e.g. women, ethnic minorities, gays and lesbians, etc.) to "speak about themselves". Often, a battery of techniques, many borrowed from fiction or avant-garde films, are used. Performative docs often link up personal accounts or experiences with larger political or historical realities.
Documentaries are shown in schools around the world in order to educate students. Used to introduce various topics to children, they are often used with a school lesson or shown many times to reinforce an idea.
There are several challenges associated with translation of documentaries. The main two are working conditions and problems with terminology.
Documentary translators very often have to meet tight deadlines. Normally, the translator has between five and seven days to hand over the translation of a 90-minute programme. Dubbing studios typically give translators a week to translate a documentary, but in order to earn a good salary, translators have to deliver their translations in a much shorter period, usually when the studio decides to deliver the final programme to the client sooner or when the broadcasting channel sets a tight deadline, e.g. on documentaries discussing the latest news.
Another problem is the lack of postproduction script or the poor quality of the transcription. A correct transcription is essential for a translator to do their work properly, however many times the script is not even given to the translator, which is a major impediment since documentaries are characterised by "the abundance of terminological units and very specific proper names". When the script is given to the translator, it is usually poorly transcribed or outright incorrect making the translation unnecessarily difficult and demanding because all of the proper names and specific terminology have to be correct in a documentary programme in order for it to be a reliable source of information, hence the translator has to check every term on their own. Such mistakes in proper names are for instance: "Jungle Reinhard instead of Django Reinhart, Jorn Asten instead of Jane Austen, and Magnus Axle instead of Aldous Huxley".
The process of translation of a documentary programme requires working with very specific, often scientific terminology. Documentary translators are not usually specialists in a given field. Therefore, they are compelled to undertake extensive research whenever asked to make a translation of a specific documentary programme in order to understand it correctly and deliver the final product free of mistakes and inaccuracies. Generally, documentaries contain a large number of specific terms, with which translators have to familiarise themselves on their own, for example:
The documentary Beetles, Record Breakers makes use of 15 different terms to refer to beetles in less than 30 minutes (longhorn beetle, cellar beetle, stag beetle, burying beetle or gravediggers, sexton beetle, tiger beetle, bloody nose beetle, tortoise beetle, diving beetle, devil's coach horse, weevil, click beetle, malachite beetle, oil beetle, cockchafer), apart from mentioning other animals such as horseshoe bats or meadow brown butterflies.
This poses a real challenge for the translators because they have to render the meaning, i.e. find an equivalent, of a very specific, scientific term in the target language and frequently the narrator uses a more general name instead of a specific term and the translator has to rely on the image presented in the programme to understand which term is being discussed in order to transpose it in the target language accordingly. Additionally, translators of minorised languages often have to face another problem: some terms may not even exist in the target language. In such cases, they have to create new terminology or consult specialists to find proper solutions. Also, sometimes the official nomenclature differs from the terminology used by actual specialists, which leaves the translator to decide between using the official vocabulary that can be found in the dictionary, or rather opting for spontaneous expressions used by real experts in real life situations. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion picture intended to \"document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record\". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in terms of \"a filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception [that remains] a practice without clear boundaries\".",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Early documentary films, originally called \"actuality films\", lasted one minute or less. Over time, documentaries have evolved to become longer in length and to include more categories. Some examples are educational, observational and docufiction. Documentaries are very informative, and are often used within schools as a resource to teach various principles. Documentary filmmakers have a responsibility to be truthful to their vision of the world without intentionally misrepresenting a topic.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Social media platforms (such as YouTube) have provided an avenue for the growth of the documentary-film genre. These platforms have increased the distribution area and ease-of-accessibility.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Polish writer and filmmaker Bolesław Matuszewski was among those who identified the mode of documentary film. He wrote two of the earliest texts on cinema, Une nouvelle source de l'histoire (\"A New Source of History\") and La photographie animée (\"Animated photography\"). Both were published in 1898 in French and were among the earliest written works to consider the historical and documentary value of the film. Matuszewski is also among the first filmmakers to propose the creation of a Film Archive to collect and keep safe visual materials.",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The word \"documentary\" was coined by Scottish documentary filmmaker John Grierson in his review of Robert Flaherty's film Moana (1926), published in the New York Sun on 8 February 1926, written by \"The Moviegoer\" (a pen name for Grierson).",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Grierson's principles of documentary were that cinema's potential for observing life could be exploited in a new art form; that the \"original\" actor and \"original\" scene are better guides than their fiction counterparts for interpreting the modern world; and that materials \"thus taken from the raw\" can be more real than the acted article. In this regard, Grierson's definition of documentary as \"creative treatment of actuality\" has gained some acceptance; however, this position is at variance with Soviet film-maker Dziga Vertov's credos of provocation to present \"life as it is\" (that is, life filmed surreptitiously), and \"life caught unawares\" (life provoked or surprised by the camera).",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The American film critic Pare Lorentz defines a documentary film as \"a factual film which is dramatic.\" Others further state that a documentary stands out from the other types of non-fiction films for providing an opinion, and a specific message, along with the facts it presents. Scholar Betsy McLane asserted that documentaries are for filmmakers to convey their views about historical events, people, and places which they find significant. Therefore, the advantage of documentaries lies in introducing new perspectives which may not be prevalent in traditional media such as written publications and school curricula.",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Documentary practice is the complex process of creating documentary projects. It refers to what people do with media devices, content, form, and production strategies to address the creative, ethical, and conceptual problems and choices that arise as they make documentaries.",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Documentary filmmaking can be used as a form of journalism, advocacy, or personal expression.",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Early film (pre-1900) was dominated by the novelty of showing an event. Single-shot moments were captured on film, such as a train entering a station, a boat docking, or factory workers leaving work. These short films were called \"actuality\" films; the term \"documentary\" was not coined until 1926. Many of the first films, such as those made by Auguste and Louis Lumière, were a minute or less in length, due to technological limitations. Examples can be viewed on YouTube.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Films showing many people (for example, leaving a factory) were often made for commercial reasons: the people being filmed were eager to see, for payment, the film showing them. One notable film clocked in at over an hour and a half, The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight. Using pioneering film-looping technology, Enoch J. Rector presented the entirety of a famous 1897 prize-fight on cinema screens across the United States.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In May 1896, Bolesław Matuszewski recorded on film a few surgical operations in Warsaw and Saint Petersburg hospitals. In 1898, French surgeon Eugène-Louis Doyen invited Matuszewski and Clément Maurice to record his surgical operations. They started in Paris a series of surgical films sometime before July 1898. Until 1906, the year of his last film, Doyen recorded more than 60 operations. Doyen said that his first films taught him how to correct professional errors he had been unaware of. For scientific purposes, after 1906, Doyen combined 15 of his films into three compilations, two of which survive, the six-film series Extirpation des tumeurs encapsulées (1906), and the four-film Les Opérations sur la cavité crânienne (1911). These and five other of Doyen's films survive.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Between July 1898 and 1901, the Romanian professor Gheorghe Marinescu made several science films in his neurology clinic in Bucharest: Walking Troubles of Organic Hemiplegy (1898), The Walking Troubles of Organic Paraplegies (1899), A Case of Hysteric Hemiplegy Healed Through Hypnosis (1899), The Walking Troubles of Progressive Locomotion Ataxy (1900), and Illnesses of the Muscles (1901). All these short films have been preserved. The professor called his works \"studies with the help of the cinematograph,\" and published the results, along with several consecutive frames, in issues of La Semaine Médicale magazine from Paris, between 1899 and 1902. In 1924, Auguste Lumière recognized the merits of Marinescu's science films: \"I've seen your scientific reports about the usage of the cinematograph in studies of nervous illnesses, when I was still receiving La Semaine Médicale, but back then I had other concerns, which left me no spare time to begin biological studies. I must say I forgot those works and I am thankful to you that you reminded them to me. Unfortunately, not many scientists have followed your way.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Travelogue films were very popular in the early part of the 20th century. They were often referred to by distributors as \"scenics\". Scenics were among the most popular sort of films at the time. An important early film which moved beyond the concept of the scenic was In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914), which embraced primitivism and exoticism in a staged story presented as truthful re-enactments of the life of Native Americans.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Contemplation is a separate area. Pathé is the best-known global manufacturer of such films in the early 20th century. A vivid example is Moscow Clad in Snow (1909).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Biographical documentaries appeared during this time, such as the feature Eminescu-Veronica-Creangă (1914) on the relationship between the writers Mihai Eminescu, Veronica Micle and Ion Creangă (all deceased at the time of the production), released by the Bucharest chapter of Pathé.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Early color motion picture processes such as Kinemacolor (known for the feature With Our King and Queen Through India (1912)) and Prizma Color (known for Everywhere With Prizma (1919) and the five-reel feature Bali the Unknown (1921)) used travelogues to promote the new color processes. In contrast, Technicolor concentrated primarily on getting their process adopted by Hollywood studios for fiction feature films.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Also during this period, Frank Hurley's feature documentary film, South (1919) about the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was released. The film documented the failed Antarctic expedition led by Ernest Shackleton in 1914.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "With Robert J. Flaherty's Nanook of the North in 1922, documentary film embraced romanticism. Flaherty filmed a number of heavily staged romantic documentary films during this time period, often showing how his subjects would have lived 100 years earlier and not how they lived right then. For instance, in Nanook of the North, Flaherty did not allow his subjects to shoot a walrus with a nearby shotgun, but had them use a harpoon instead. Some of Flaherty's staging, such as building a roofless igloo for interior shots, was done to accommodate the filming technology of the time.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Paramount Pictures tried to repeat the success of Flaherty's Nanook and Moana with two romanticized documentaries, Grass (1925) and Chang (1927), both directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The city-symphony sub film genre consisted of avant-garde films during the 1920s and 1930s. These films were particularly influenced by modern art, namely Cubism, Constructivism, and Impressionism. According to art historian and author Scott Macdonald, city-symphony films can be described as, \"An intersection between documentary and avant-garde film: an avant-doc\"; however, A.L. Rees suggests regarding them as avant-garde films.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Early titles produced within this genre include: Manhatta (New York; dir. Paul Strand, 1921); Rien que les heures/Nothing But The Hours (France; dir. Alberto Cavalcanti, 1926); Twenty Four Dollar Island (dir. Robert J. Flaherty, 1927); Moscow (dir. Mikhail Kaufman, 1927); Études sur Paris (dir. André Sauvage, 1928); The Bridge (1928) and Rain (1929), both by Joris Ivens; São Paulo, Sinfonia da Metrópole (dir. Adalberto Kemeny, 1929), Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (dir. Walter Ruttmann, 1927); Man with a Movie Camera (dir. Dziga Vertov, 1929); Douro, Faina Fluvial (dir. Manoel de Oliveira, 1931); and Rhapsody in Two Languages (dir. Gordon Sparling, 1934).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "A city-symphony film, as the name suggests, is most often based around a major metropolitan city area and seeks to capture the life, events and activities of the city. It can use abstract cinematography (Walter Ruttman's Berlin) or may use Soviet montage theory (Dziga Vertov's, Man with a Movie Camera). Most importantly, a city-symphony film is a form of cinepoetry, shot and edited in the style of a \"symphony\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The European continental tradition (See: Realism) focused on humans within human-made environments, and included the so-called \"city-symphony\" films such as Walter Ruttmann's, Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (of which Grierson noted in an article that Berlin, represented what a documentary should not be); Alberto Cavalcanti's, Rien que les heures; and Dziga Vertov's Man with a Movie Camera. These films tend to feature people as products of their environment, and lean towards the avant-garde.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Dziga Vertov was central to the Soviet Kino-Pravda (literally, \"cinematic truth\") newsreel series of the 1920s. Vertov believed the camera – with its varied lenses, shot-counter shot editing, time-lapse, ability to slow motion, stop motion and fast-motion – could render reality more accurately than the human eye, and created a film philosophy from it.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The newsreel tradition is important in documentary film. Newsreels at this time were sometimes staged but were usually re-enactments of events that had already happened, not attempts to steer events as they were in the process of happening. For instance, much of the battle footage from the early 20th century was staged; the cameramen would usually arrive on site after a major battle and re-enact scenes to film them.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The propagandist tradition consists of films made with the explicit purpose of persuading an audience of a point. One of the most celebrated and controversial propaganda films is Leni Riefenstahl's film Triumph of the Will (1935), which chronicled the 1934 Nazi Party Congress and was commissioned by Adolf Hitler. Leftist filmmakers Joris Ivens and Henri Storck directed Borinage (1931) about the Belgian coal mining region. Luis Buñuel directed a \"surrealist\" documentary Las Hurdes (1933).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Pare Lorentz's The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936) and The River (1938) and Willard Van Dyke's The City (1939) are notable New Deal productions, each presenting complex combinations of social and ecological awareness, government propaganda, and leftist viewpoints. Frank Capra's Why We Fight (1942–1944) series was a newsreel series in the United States, commissioned by the government to convince the U.S. public that it was time to go to war. Constance Bennett and her husband Henri de la Falaise produced two feature-length documentaries, Legong: Dance of the Virgins (1935) filmed in Bali, and Kilou the Killer Tiger (1936) filmed in Indochina.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In Canada, the Film Board, set up by John Grierson, was set up for the same propaganda reasons. It also created newsreels that were seen by their national governments as legitimate counter-propaganda to the psychological warfare of Nazi Germany orchestrated by Joseph Goebbels.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "In Britain, a number of different filmmakers came together under John Grierson. They became known as the Documentary Film Movement. Grierson, Alberto Cavalcanti, Harry Watt, Basil Wright, and Humphrey Jennings amongst others succeeded in blending propaganda, information, and education with a more poetic aesthetic approach to documentary. Examples of their work include Drifters (John Grierson), Song of Ceylon (Basil Wright), Fires Were Started, and A Diary for Timothy (Humphrey Jennings). Their work involved poets such as W. H. Auden, composers such as Benjamin Britten, and writers such as J. B. Priestley. Among the best known films of the movement are Night Mail and Coal Face.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Calling Mr. Smith (1943) is an anti-Nazi color film created by Stefan Themerson which is both a documentary and an avant-garde film against war. It was one of the first anti-Nazi films in history.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Cinéma vérité (or the closely related direct cinema) was dependent on some technical advances to exist: light, quiet and reliable cameras, and portable sync sound.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Cinéma vérité and similar documentary traditions can thus be seen, in a broader perspective, as a reaction against studio-based film production constraints. Shooting on location, with smaller crews, would also happen in the French New Wave, the filmmakers taking advantage of advances in technology allowing smaller, handheld cameras and synchronized sound to film events on location as they unfolded.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there are important differences between cinéma vérité (Jean Rouch) and the North American \"direct cinema\" (or more accurately \"cinéma direct\"), pioneered by, among others, Canadians Allan King, Michel Brault, and Pierre Perrault, and Americans Robert Drew, Richard Leacock, Frederick Wiseman and Albert and David Maysles.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "The directors of the movement take different viewpoints on their degree of involvement with their subjects. Kopple and Pennebaker, for instance, choose non-involvement (or at least no overt involvement), and Perrault, Rouch, Koenig, and Kroitor favor direct involvement or even provocation when they deem it necessary.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "The films Chronicle of a Summer (Jean Rouch), Dont Look Back (D. A. Pennebaker), Grey Gardens (Albert and David Maysles), Titicut Follies (Frederick Wiseman), Primary and Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (both produced by Robert Drew), Harlan County, USA (directed by Barbara Kopple), Lonely Boy (Wolf Koenig and Roman Kroitor) are all frequently deemed cinéma vérité films.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The fundamentals of the style include following a person during a crisis with a moving, often handheld, camera to capture more personal reactions. There are no sit-down interviews, and the shooting ratio (the amount of film shot to the finished product) is very high, often reaching 80 to one. From there, editors find and sculpt the work into a film. The editors of the movement – such as Werner Nold, Charlotte Zwerin, Muffie Meyer, Susan Froemke, and Ellen Hovde – are often overlooked, but their input to the films was so vital that they were often given co-director credits.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Famous cinéma vérité/direct cinema films include Les Raquetteurs, Showman, Salesman, Near Death, and The Children Were Watching.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "In the 1960s and 1970s, documentary film was often regarded as a political weapon against neocolonialism and capitalism in general, especially in Latin America, but also in a changing society. La Hora de los hornos (The Hour of the Furnaces, from 1968), directed by Octavio Getino and Arnold Vincent Kudales Sr., influenced a whole generation of filmmakers. Among the many political documentaries produced in the early 1970s was \"Chile: A Special Report\", public television's first in-depth expository look at the September 1973 overthrow of the Salvador Allende government in Chile by military leaders under Augusto Pinochet, produced by documentarians Ari Martinez and José Garcia.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "A June 2020 article in The New York Times reviewed the political documentary And She Could Be Next, directed by Grace Lee and Marjan Safinia. The Times described the documentary not only as focusing on women in politics, but more specifically on women of color, their communities, and the significant changes they have wrought upon America.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Box office analysts have noted that the documentary film genre has become increasingly successful in theatrical release with films such as Fahrenheit 9/11, Super Size Me, Food, Inc., Earth, March of the Penguins, and An Inconvenient Truth among the most prominent examples. Compared to dramatic narrative films, documentaries typically have far lower budgets which makes them attractive to film companies because even a limited theatrical release can be highly profitable.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "The nature of documentary films has expanded in the past 30 years from the cinéma vérité style introduced in the 1960s in which the use of portable camera and sound equipment allowed an intimate relationship between filmmaker and subject. The line blurs between documentary and narrative and some works are very personal, such as Marlon Riggs's Tongues Untied (1989) and Black Is...Black Ain't (1995), which mix expressive, poetic, and rhetorical elements and stresses subjectivities rather than historical materials.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Historical documentaries, such as the landmark 14-hour Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years (1986 – Part 1 and 1989 – Part 2) by Henry Hampton, 4 Little Girls (1997) by Spike Lee, The Civil War by Ken Burns, and UNESCO-awarded independent film on slavery 500 Years Later, express not only a distinctive voice but also a perspective and point of views. Some films such as The Thin Blue Line by Errol Morris incorporate stylized re-enactments, and Michael Moore's Roger & Me place far more interpretive control with the director. The commercial success of these documentaries may derive from this narrative shift in the documentary form, leading some critics to question whether such films can truly be called documentaries; critics sometimes refer to these works as \"mondo films\" or \"docu-ganda.\" However, directorial manipulation of documentary subjects has been noted since the work of Flaherty, and may be endemic to the form due to problematic ontological foundations.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Documentary filmmakers are increasingly using social impact campaigns with their films. Social impact campaigns seek to leverage media projects by converting public awareness of social issues and causes into engagement and action, largely by offering the audience a way to get involved. Examples of such documentaries include Kony 2012, Salam Neighbor, Gasland, Living on One Dollar, and Girl Rising.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Although documentaries are financially more viable with the increasing popularity of the genre and the advent of the DVD, funding for documentary film production remains elusive. Within the past decade, the largest exhibition opportunities have emerged from within the broadcast market, making filmmakers beholden to the tastes and influences of the broadcasters who have become their largest funding source.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Modern documentaries have some overlap with television forms, with the development of \"reality television\" that occasionally verges on the documentary but more often veers to the fictional or staged. The \"making-of\" documentary shows how a movie or a computer game was produced. Usually made for promotional purposes, it is closer to an advertisement than a classic documentary.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Modern lightweight digital video cameras and computer-based editing have greatly aided documentary makers, as has the dramatic drop in equipment prices. The first film to take full advantage of this change was Martin Kunert and Eric Manes' Voices of Iraq, where 150 DV cameras were sent to Iraq during the war and passed out to Iraqis to record themselves.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Films in the documentary form without words have been made. Listen to Britain, directed by Humphrey Jennings and Stuart McAllister in 1942, is a wordless meditation on wartime Britain. From 1982, the Qatsi trilogy and the similar Baraka could be described as visual tone poems, with music related to the images, but no spoken content. Koyaanisqatsi (part of the Qatsi trilogy) consists primarily of slow motion and time-lapse photography of cities and many natural landscapes across the United States. Baraka tries to capture the great pulse of humanity as it flocks and swarms in daily activity and religious ceremonies.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Bodysong was made in 2003 and won a British Independent Film Award for \"Best British Documentary.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "The 2004 film Genesis shows animal and plant life in states of expansion, decay, sex, and death, with some, but little, narration.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "The traditional style for narration is to have a dedicated narrator read a script which is dubbed onto the audio track. The narrator never appears on camera and may not necessarily have knowledge of the subject matter or involvement in the writing of the script.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "This style of narration uses title screens to visually narrate the documentary. The screens are held for about 5–10 seconds to allow adequate time for the viewer to read them. They are similar to the ones shown at the end of movies based on true stories, but they are shown throughout, typically between scenes.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "In this style, there is a host who appears on camera, conducts interviews, and who also does voice-overs.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "The release of The Act of Killing (2012) directed by Joshua Oppenheimer has introduced possibilities for emerging forms of the hybrid documentary. Traditional documentary filmmaking typically removes signs of fictionalization to distinguish itself from fictional film genres. Audiences have recently become more distrustful of the media's traditional fact production, making them more receptive to experimental ways of telling facts. The hybrid documentary implements truth games to challenge traditional fact production. Although it is fact-based, the hybrid documentary is not explicit about what should be understood, creating an open dialogue between subject and audience. Clio Barnard's The Arbor (2010), Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing (2012), Mads Brügger's The Ambassador, and Alma Har'el's Bombay Beach (2011) are a few notable examples.",
"title": "Other forms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Docufiction is a hybrid genre from two basic ones, fiction film and documentary, practiced since the first documentary films were made.",
"title": "Other forms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Fake-fiction is a genre which deliberately presents real, unscripted events in the form of a fiction film, making them appear as staged. The concept was introduced by Pierre Bismuth to describe his 2016 film Where is Rocky II?",
"title": "Other forms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "A DVD documentary is a documentary film of indeterminate length that has been produced with the sole intent of releasing it for direct sale to the public on DVD, which is different from a documentary being made and released first on television or on a cinema screen (a.k.a. theatrical release) and subsequently on DVD for public consumption.",
"title": "Other forms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "This form of documentary release is becoming more popular and accepted as costs and difficulty with finding TV or theatrical release slots increases. It is also commonly used for more \"specialist\" documentaries, which might not have general interest to a wider TV audience. Examples are military, cultural arts, transport, sports, etc.",
"title": "Other forms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Compilation films were pioneered in 1927 by Esfir Schub with The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty. More recent examples include Point of Order! (1964), directed by Emile de Antonio about the McCarthy hearings. Similarly, The Last Cigarette combines the testimony of various tobacco company executives before the U.S. Congress with archival propaganda extolling the virtues of smoking.",
"title": "Other forms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Poetic documentaries, which first appeared in the 1920s, were a sort of reaction against both the content and the rapidly crystallizing grammar of the early fiction film. The poetic mode moved away from continuity editing and instead organized images of the material world by means of associations and patterns, both in terms of time and space. Well-rounded characters – \"lifelike people\" – were absent; instead, people appeared in these films as entities, just like any other, that are found in the material world. The films were fragmentary, impressionistic, lyrical. Their disruption of the coherence of time and space – a coherence favored by the fiction films of the day – can also be seen as an element of the modernist counter-model of cinematic narrative. The \"real world\" – Nichols calls it the \"historical world\" – was broken up into fragments and aesthetically reconstituted using film form. Examples of this style include Joris Ivens' Rain (1928), which records a passing summer shower over Amsterdam; László Moholy-Nagy's Play of Light: Black, White, Grey (1930), in which he films one of his own kinetic sculptures, emphasizing not the sculpture itself but the play of light around it; Oskar Fischinger's abstract animated films; Francis Thompson's N.Y., N.Y. (1957), a city symphony film; and Chris Marker's Sans Soleil (1982).",
"title": "Other forms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Expository documentaries speak directly to the viewer, often in the form of an authoritative commentary employing voiceover or titles, proposing a strong argument and point of view. These films are rhetorical, and try to persuade the viewer. (They may use a rich and sonorous male voice.) The (voice-of-God) commentary often sounds \"objective\" and omniscient. Images are often not paramount; they exist to advance the argument. The rhetoric insistently presses upon us to read the images in a certain fashion. Historical documentaries in this mode deliver an unproblematic and \"objective\" account and interpretation of past events.",
"title": "Other forms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Examples: TV shows and films like Biography, America's Most Wanted, many science and nature documentaries, Ken Burns' The Civil War (1990), Robert Hughes' The Shock of the New (1980), John Berger's Ways Of Seeing (1974), Frank Capra's wartime Why We Fight series, and Pare Lorentz's The Plow That Broke The Plains (1936).",
"title": "Other forms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Observational documentaries attempt to spontaneously observe their subjects with minimal intervention. Filmmakers who worked in this subgenre often saw the poetic mode as too abstract and the expository mode as too didactic. The first observational docs date back to the 1960s; the technological developments which made them possible include mobile lightweight cameras and portable sound recording equipment for synchronized sound. Often, this mode of film eschewed voice-over commentary, post-synchronized dialogue and music, or re-enactments. The films aimed for immediacy, intimacy, and revelation of individual human character in ordinary life situations.",
"title": "Other forms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Participatory documentaries believe that it is impossible for the act of filmmaking to not influence or alter the events being filmed. What these films do is emulate the approach of the anthropologist: participant-observation. Not only is the filmmaker part of the film, we also get a sense of how situations in the film are affected or altered by their presence. Nichols: \"The filmmaker steps out from behind the cloak of voice-over commentary, steps away from poetic meditation, steps down from a fly-on-the-wall perch, and becomes a social actor (almost) like any other. (Almost like any other because the filmmaker retains the camera, and with it, a certain degree of potential power and control over events.)\" The encounter between filmmaker and subject becomes a critical element of the film. Rouch and Morin named the approach cinéma vérité, translating Dziga Vertov's kinopravda into French; the \"truth\" refers to the truth of the encounter rather than some absolute truth.",
"title": "Other forms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Reflexive documentaries do not see themselves as a transparent window on the world; instead, they draw attention to their own constructedness, and the fact that they are representations. How does the world get represented by documentary films? This question is central to this subgenre of films. They prompt us to \"question the authenticity of documentary in general.\" It is the most self-conscious of all the modes, and is highly skeptical of \"realism\". It may use Brechtian alienation strategies to jar us, in order to \"defamiliarize\" what we are seeing and how we are seeing it.",
"title": "Other forms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "Performative documentaries stress subjective experience and emotional response to the world. They are strongly personal, unconventional, perhaps poetic and/or experimental, and might include hypothetical enactments of events designed to make us experience what it might be like for us to possess a certain specific perspective on the world that is not our own, e.g. that of black, gay men in Marlon Riggs's Tongues Untied (1989) or Jenny Livingston's Paris Is Burning (1991). This subgenre might also lend itself to certain groups (e.g. women, ethnic minorities, gays and lesbians, etc.) to \"speak about themselves\". Often, a battery of techniques, many borrowed from fiction or avant-garde films, are used. Performative docs often link up personal accounts or experiences with larger political or historical realities.",
"title": "Other forms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "Documentaries are shown in schools around the world in order to educate students. Used to introduce various topics to children, they are often used with a school lesson or shown many times to reinforce an idea.",
"title": "Other forms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "There are several challenges associated with translation of documentaries. The main two are working conditions and problems with terminology.",
"title": "Translation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Documentary translators very often have to meet tight deadlines. Normally, the translator has between five and seven days to hand over the translation of a 90-minute programme. Dubbing studios typically give translators a week to translate a documentary, but in order to earn a good salary, translators have to deliver their translations in a much shorter period, usually when the studio decides to deliver the final programme to the client sooner or when the broadcasting channel sets a tight deadline, e.g. on documentaries discussing the latest news.",
"title": "Translation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "Another problem is the lack of postproduction script or the poor quality of the transcription. A correct transcription is essential for a translator to do their work properly, however many times the script is not even given to the translator, which is a major impediment since documentaries are characterised by \"the abundance of terminological units and very specific proper names\". When the script is given to the translator, it is usually poorly transcribed or outright incorrect making the translation unnecessarily difficult and demanding because all of the proper names and specific terminology have to be correct in a documentary programme in order for it to be a reliable source of information, hence the translator has to check every term on their own. Such mistakes in proper names are for instance: \"Jungle Reinhard instead of Django Reinhart, Jorn Asten instead of Jane Austen, and Magnus Axle instead of Aldous Huxley\".",
"title": "Translation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "The process of translation of a documentary programme requires working with very specific, often scientific terminology. Documentary translators are not usually specialists in a given field. Therefore, they are compelled to undertake extensive research whenever asked to make a translation of a specific documentary programme in order to understand it correctly and deliver the final product free of mistakes and inaccuracies. Generally, documentaries contain a large number of specific terms, with which translators have to familiarise themselves on their own, for example:",
"title": "Translation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "The documentary Beetles, Record Breakers makes use of 15 different terms to refer to beetles in less than 30 minutes (longhorn beetle, cellar beetle, stag beetle, burying beetle or gravediggers, sexton beetle, tiger beetle, bloody nose beetle, tortoise beetle, diving beetle, devil's coach horse, weevil, click beetle, malachite beetle, oil beetle, cockchafer), apart from mentioning other animals such as horseshoe bats or meadow brown butterflies.",
"title": "Translation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "This poses a real challenge for the translators because they have to render the meaning, i.e. find an equivalent, of a very specific, scientific term in the target language and frequently the narrator uses a more general name instead of a specific term and the translator has to rely on the image presented in the programme to understand which term is being discussed in order to transpose it in the target language accordingly. Additionally, translators of minorised languages often have to face another problem: some terms may not even exist in the target language. In such cases, they have to create new terminology or consult specialists to find proper solutions. Also, sometimes the official nomenclature differs from the terminology used by actual specialists, which leaves the translator to decide between using the official vocabulary that can be found in the dictionary, or rather opting for spontaneous expressions used by real experts in real life situations.",
"title": "Translation"
}
] | A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in terms of "a filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception [that remains] a practice without clear boundaries". Early documentary films, originally called "actuality films", lasted one minute or less. Over time, documentaries have evolved to become longer in length and to include more categories. Some examples are educational, observational and docufiction. Documentaries are very informative, and are often used within schools as a resource to teach various principles. Documentary filmmakers have a responsibility to be truthful to their vision of the world without intentionally misrepresenting a topic. Social media platforms have provided an avenue for the growth of the documentary-film genre. These platforms have increased the distribution area and ease-of-accessibility. | 2001-10-21T20:46:43Z | 2023-12-27T22:12:19Z | [
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8,090 | Day of the Tentacle | Day of the Tentacle, also known as Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle, is a 1993 graphic adventure game developed and published by LucasArts. It is the sequel to the 1987 game Maniac Mansion. The plot follows Bernard Bernoulli and his friends Hoagie and Laverne as they attempt to stop the evil Purple Tentacle - a sentient, disembodied tentacle - from taking over the world. The player takes control of the trio and solves puzzles while using time travel to explore different periods of history.
Dave Grossman and Tim Schafer co-led the game's development, their first time in such a role. The pair carried over a limited number of elements from Maniac Mansion and forwent the character selection aspect to simplify development. Inspirations included Chuck Jones cartoons and the history of the United States. Day of the Tentacle was the eighth LucasArts game to use the SCUMM engine.
The game was released simultaneously on floppy disk and CD-ROM to critical acclaim and commercial success. Critics focused on its cartoon-style visuals and comedic elements. Day of the Tentacle has featured regularly in lists of "top" games published more than two decades after its release, and has been referenced in popular culture. A remastered version of Day of the Tentacle was developed by Schafer's current studio, Double Fine Productions, and released in March 2016, for OS X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Windows, with an iOS and Linux port released in July the same year, and then later for Xbox One in October 2020.
Day of the Tentacle follows the point-and-click two-dimensional adventure game formula, first established by the original Maniac Mansion. Players direct the controllable characters around the game world by clicking with the computer mouse. To interact with the game world, players choose from a set of nine commands arrayed on the screen (such as "pick up", "use", or "talk to") and then on an object in the world. This was the last SCUMM game to use the original interface of having the bottom of the screen being taken up by a verb selection and inventory; starting with the next game to use the SCUMM engine, Sam & Max Hit the Road, the engine was modified to scroll through a more concise list of verbs with the right mouse button and having the inventory on a separate screen.
Day of the Tentacle uses time travel extensively; early in the game, the three main protagonists are separated across time by the effects of a faulty time machine. The player, after completing certain puzzles, can then freely switch between these characters, interacting with the game's world in separate time periods. Certain small inventory items can be shared by placing the item into the "Chron-o-Johns", modified portable toilets that instantly transport objects to one of the other time periods, while other items are shared by simply leaving the item in a past time period to be picked up by a character in a future period. Changes made to a past time period will affect a future one, and many of the game's puzzles are based on the effect of time travel, the aging of certain items, and alterations of the time stream. For example, one puzzle requires the player, while in the future era where Purple Tentacle has succeeded, to send a medical chart of a Tentacle back to the past, having it used as the design of the American flag, then collecting one such flag in the future to be used as a Tentacle disguise to allow that character to roam freely.
The whole original Maniac Mansion game can be played on a computer resembling a Commodore 64 inside the Day of the Tentacle game; this practice has since been repeated by other game developers, but at the time of Day of the Tentacle's release, it was unprecedented.
Five years after the events of Maniac Mansion, Purple Tentacle—a mutant monster and lab assistant created by mad scientist Dr. Fred Edison—drinks toxic sludge from a river behind Dr. Fred's laboratory. The sludge causes him to grow a pair of flipper-like arms, develop vastly increased intelligence, and have a thirst for global domination. Dr. Fred plans to resolve the issue by killing Purple Tentacle and his harmless, friendly brother Green Tentacle, but Green Tentacle sends a plea of help to his old friend, the nerd Bernard Bernoulli. Bernard travels to the Edison family motel with his two housemates, deranged medical student Laverne and roadie Hoagie, and frees the tentacles. Purple Tentacle escapes to resume his quest to take over the world.
Since Purple Tentacle's plans are flawless and unstoppable, Dr. Fred decides to use his Chron-o-John time machines to send Bernard, Laverne, and Hoagie to the day before to turn off his Sludge-o-Matic machine, thereby preventing Purple Tentacle's exposure to the sludge. However, because Dr. Fred used an imitation diamond rather than a real diamond as a power source for the time machine, the Chron-o-Johns break down in operation. Laverne is sent 200 years in the future, where humanity has been enslaved and Purple Tentacle rules the world from the Edison mansion, while Hoagie is dropped 200 years in the past, where the motel is being used by the Founding Fathers as a retreat to write the United States Constitution. Bernard is returned to the present. To salvage Dr. Fred's plan, Bernard must acquire a replacement diamond for the time machine, while both Hoagie and Laverne must restore power to their respective Chron-o-John pods by plugging them in. To overcome the lack of electricity in the past, Hoagie recruits the help of Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Fred's ancestor, Red Edison, to build a superbattery to power his pod, while Laverne evades capture by the tentacles long enough to run an extension cord to her unit. The three send small objects back and forth in time through the Chron-o-Johns and make changes to history to help the others complete their tasks.
Eventually, Bernard uses Dr. Fred's family fortune of royalties from the use of their likeness in Maniac Mansion to purchase a real diamond, while his friends manage to power their Chron-o-Johns. Soon, the three are reunited in the present. Purple Tentacle arrives, hijacks a Chron-o-John, and takes it to the previous day to prevent them from turning off the sludge machine; he is pursued by Green Tentacle in another pod. With only one Chron-o-John pod left, Bernard, Hoagie, and Laverne use it to pursue the tentacles to the previous day, while Dr. Fred uselessly tries to warn them of using the pod together, referencing the film The Fly. Upon arriving, the trio exit the pod only to discover that they have been turned into a three-headed monster, their bodies merging into one during the transfer. Meanwhile, Purple Tentacle has used the time machine to bring countless versions of himself from different moments in time to the same day to prevent the Sludge-o-Matic from being deactivated. Bernard and his friends defeat the Purple Tentacles guarding the Sludge-o-Matic, turn off the machine, and prevent the whole series of events from ever happening. Returning to the present, Dr. Fred discovers that the three have not been turned into a monster at all but have just gotten stuck in the same set of clothes; they are then ordered by Dr. Fred to get out of his house. The game ends with the credits rolling over a tentacle-shaped American flag, one of the more significant results of their tampering in history.
Following a string of successful adventure games, LucasArts assigned Dave Grossman and Tim Schafer to lead development of a new game. The two had previously assisted Ron Gilbert with the creation of The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, and the studio felt that Grossman and Schafer were ready to manage a project. The company believed that the pair's humor matched well with that of Maniac Mansion and suggested working on a sequel. The two developers agreed and commenced production. Gilbert and Gary Winnick, the creators of Maniac Mansion, collaborated with Grossman and Schafer on the initial planning and writing. The total budget for the game was about $600,000, according to Schafer.
In planning the plot, the four designers considered a number of concepts, eventually choosing an idea of Gilbert's about time travel that they believed was the most interesting. The four discussed what time periods to focus on, settling on the Revolutionary War and the future. The Revolutionary War offered opportunities to craft many puzzles around that period, such as changing the Constitution to affect the future. Grossman noted the appeal of the need to make wide-sweeping changes such as the Constitution just to achieve a small personal goal, believing this captured the essence of adventure games. The future period allowed them to explore the nature of cause and effect without any historical bounds. Grossman and Schafer decided to carry over previous characters that they felt were the most entertaining. The two considered the Edison family "essential" and chose Bernard because of his "unqualified nerdiness". Bernard was considered "everyone's favorite character" from Maniac Mansion, and was the clear first choice for the protagonists. The game's other protagonists, Laverne and Hoagie, were based on a Mexican ex-girlfriend of Grossman's and a Megadeth roadie named Tony that Schafer had met, respectively. Schafer and Grossman planned to use a character selection system similar to the first game but felt that it would have complicated the design process and increased production costs. Believing that it added little to the gameplay, they removed it early in the process and reduced the number of player characters from six to three. The dropped characters included Razor, a female musician from the previous game; Moonglow, a short character in baggy clothes; and Chester, a black beat poet. Ideas for Chester, however, morphed into new twin characters in the Edison family. The smaller number of characters reduced the strain on the game's engine in terms of scripting and animation.
The staff collaboratively designed the characters. They first discussed the character personalities, which Larry Ahern used to create concept art. Ahern wanted to make sure that the art style was consistent and the character designs were established early, in contrast to what had happened with Monkey Island 2, in which various artists came in later to help fill in necessary art assets as necessary, creating a disjointed style. Looney Tunes animation shorts, particularly the Chuck Jones-directed Rabbit of Seville, What's Opera, Doc?, and Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century inspired the artistic design. The cartoonish style also lent itself to providing larger visible faces to enable more expressive characters. Peter Chan designed backgrounds, spending around two days to progress from concept sketch to final art for each background. Chan too used Looney Tunes as influence for the backgrounds, trying to emulate the style of Jones and Maurice Noble. Ahern and Chan went back and forth with character and background art to make sure both styles worked together without too much distraction. They further had Jones visit their studio during development to provide input into their developing art. The choice of art style inspired further ideas from the designers. Grossman cited cartoons featuring Pepé Le Pew, and commented that the gag involving a painted white stripe on Penelope Pussycat inspired a puzzle in the game. The artists spent a year creating the in-game animations.
The script was written in the evening when fewer people were in the office. Grossman considered it the easiest aspect of production, but encountered difficulties when writing with others around.
With a time travel story, I leave a bottle of wine somewhere, and it causes a bottle of vinegar to appear in the same place four hundred years later. Same basic idea: I do X over here, and it causes Y over there. Whether ‘over there’ means in the next room or 400 years in the future is irrelevant. I will say that it was really fun to think about the effects of large amounts of time on things like wine bottles and sweaters in dryers, and to imagine how altering fundamentals of history like the Constitution and the flag could be used to accomplish petty, selfish goals like the acquisition of a vacuum and a tentacle costume. We definitely enjoyed ourselves designing that game.
Dave Grossman on designing the game's puzzles
Grossman and Schafer brainstormed regularly to devise the time travel puzzles and collaborated with members of the development team as well as other LucasArts employees. They would identify puzzle problems and work towards a solution similar to how the game plays. Most issues were addressed prior to programming, but some details were left unfinished to work on later. The staff conceived puzzles involving the U.S.'s early history based on their memory of their compulsory education, and using the more legendary aspects of history, such as George Washington cutting down a cherry tree to appeal to international audiences. To complete the elements, Grossman researched the period to maintain historical accuracy, visiting libraries and contacting reference librarians. The studio, however, took creative license towards facts to fit them into the game's design.
Day of the Tentacle features a four-minute-long animated opening credit sequence, the first LucasArts game to have such. Ahern noted that their previous games would run the credits over primarily still shots which would only last for a few minutes, but with Tentacle, the team had grown so large that they worried this approach would be boring to players. They assigned Kyle Balda, an intern at CalArts, to create the animated sequence, with Chan helping to create minimalist backgrounds to aid in the animation. Originally this sequence was around seven minutes long, and included the three characters arriving at the mansion and releasing Purple Tentacle. Another LucasArts designer, Hal Barwood, suggested they cut it in half, leading to the shortened version as in the released game, and having the player take over when they arrive at the mansion.
Day of the Tentacle uses the SCUMM engine developed for Maniac Mansion. LucasArts had gradually modified the engine since its creation. For example, the number of input verbs was reduced and items in the character's inventory are represented by icons rather than text. While implementing an animation, the designers encountered a problem later discovered to be a limitation of the engine. Upon learning of the limitation, Gilbert reminisced about the file size of the first game. The staff then resolved to include it in the sequel.
Day of the Tentacle was the first LucasArts adventure game to feature voice work on release. The game was not originally planned to include voice work, as at the time, the install base for CD-ROM was too low. As they neared the end of 1992, CD-ROM sales grew significantly. The general manager of LucasArts, Kelly Flock, recognizing that the game would not be done in time by the end of the year to make the holiday release, suggested that the team include voice work for the game, giving them more time.
Voice director Tamlynn Barra managed that aspect of the game. Schafer and Grossman described how they imagined the characters' voices and Barra sought audition tapes of voice actors to meet the criteria. She presented the best auditions to the pair. Schafer's sister Ginny was among the auditions, and she was chosen for Nurse Edna. Schafer opted out of the decision for her selection to avoid nepotism. Grossman and Schafer encountered difficulty selecting a voice for Bernard. To aid the process, Grossman commented that the character should sound like Les Nessman from the television show WKRP in Cincinnati. Barra responded that she knew the agent of the character's actor, Richard Sanders, and brought Sanders on the project. Denny Delk and Nick Jameson were among those hired, and provided voice work for around five characters each. Recording for the 4,500 lines of dialog occurred at Studio 222 in Hollywood. Barra directed the voice actors separately from a sound production booth. She provided context for each line and described aspects of the game to aid the actors. The voice work in Day of the Tentacle was widely praised for its quality and professionalism in comparison to Sierra's talkie games of the period which suffered from poor audio quality and limited voice acting (some of which consisted of Sierra employees rather than professional talent).
The game's music was composed by Peter McConnell, Michael Land, and Clint Bajakian. The three had worked together to share the duties equally of composing the music for Monkey Island 2 and Fate of Atlantis, and continued this approach for Day of the Tentacle. According to McConnell, he had composed most of the music taking place in the game's present, Land for the future, and Bajakian for the past, outside of Dr. Fred's theme for the past which McConnell had done. The music was composed around the cartoonish nature of the gameplay, further drawing on Looney Tunes' use of parodying classical works of music, and playing on set themes for all of the major characters in the game. Many of these themes had to be composed to take into account different processing speeds of computers at the time, managed by the iMUSE music interface; such themes would include shorter repeating patterns that would play while the game's screen scrolled across, and then once the screen was at the proper place, the music would continue on to a more dramatic phrase.
Day of the Tentacle was one of the first games concurrently released on CD-ROM and floppy disk. A floppy disk version was created to accommodate consumers that had yet to purchase CD-ROM drives. The CD-ROM format afforded the addition of audible dialog. The capacity difference between the two formats necessitated alterations to the floppy disk version. Grossman spent several weeks reducing files sizes and removing files such as the audio dialog to fit the game onto six diskettes.
Day of the Tentacle was a moderate commercial success; according to Edge, it sold roughly 80,000 copies by 2009. Tim Schafer saw this as an improvement over his earlier projects, the Monkey Island games, which had been commercial flops. The game was critically acclaimed. Charles Ardai of Computer Gaming World wrote in September 1993: "Calling Day of the Tentacle a sequel to Maniac Mansion ... is a little like calling the space shuttle a sequel to the slingshot". He enjoyed the game's humor and interface, and praised the designers for removing "dead end" scenarios and player character death. Ardai lauded the voice acting, writing that it "would have done the late Mel Blanc proud", and compared the game's humor, animation, and camera angles to "Looney Toons [sic] gems from the 40s and 50s". He concluded: "I expect that this game will keep entertaining people for quite some time to come". In April 1994 the magazine said of the CD version that Sanders's Bernard was among "many other inspired performances", concluding that "Chuck Jones would be proud". In May 1994 the magazine said of one multimedia kit bundling the CD version that "it packs more value into the kit than the entire software packages of some of its competitors". Sandy Petersen of Dragon stated that its graphics "are in a stupendous cartoony style", while praising its humor and describing its sound and music as "excellent". Although the reviewer considered it "one of the best" graphic adventure games, he noted that, like LucasArts' earlier Loom, it was extremely short; he wrote that he "felt cheated somehow when I finished the game". He ended the review, "Go, Lucasfilm! Do this again, but do make the next game longer!".
Phil LaRose of The Advocate called it "light-years ahead of the original", and believed that its "improved controls, sound and graphics are an evolutionary leap to a more enjoyable gaming experience". He praised the interface, and summarized the game as "another of the excellent LucasArts programs that place a higher premium on the quality of entertainment and less on the technical knowledge needed to make it run". The Boston Herald's Geoff Smith noted that "the animation of the cartoonlike characters is of TV quality", and praised the removal of dead ends and character death. He ended: "It's full of lunacy, but for anyone who likes light-hearted adventure games, it's well worth trying". Vox Day of The Blade called its visuals "well done" and compared them to those of The Ren & Stimpy Show. The writer praised the game's humor, and said that "both the music and sound effects are hilarious"; he cited the voice performance of Richard Sanders as a high point. He summarized the game as "both a good adventure and a funny cartoon".
Lim Choon Wee of the New Straits Times highly praised the game's humor, which he called "brilliantly funny". The writer commented that the game's puzzles relied on "trial and error" with "no underlying logic", but opined that the game "remains fun" despite this issue, and concluded that Day of the Tentacle was "definitely the comedy game of the year". Daniel Baum of The Jerusalem Post called it "one of the funniest, most entertaining and best-programmed computer games I have ever seen", and lauded its animation. He wrote that the game provided "a more polished impression" than either The Secret of Monkey Island or Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. The writer claimed that its high system requirements were its only drawback, and believed that a Sound Blaster card was required to fully appreciate the game. In a retrospective review, Adventure Gamers' Chris Remo wrote: "If someone were to ask for a few examples of games that exemplify the best of the graphic adventure genre, Day of the Tentacle would certainly be near the top".
Day of the Tentacle has been featured regularly in lists of "top" games. In 1994, PC Gamer US named Day of the Tentacle the 46th best computer game ever. In June 1994 it and Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers won Computer Gaming World's Adventure Game of the Year award. The editors wrote that "Day of the Tentacle's fluid animation sequences underscore a strong script and solid game play ... story won out over technological innovation in this genre". In 1996, the magazine ranked it as the 34th best game of all time, writing: "DOTT completely blew away its ancestor, Maniac Mansion, with its smooth animated sequences, nifty plot and great voiceovers". Adventure Gamers included the game as the top entry on its 20 Greatest Adventure Games of All Time List in 2004, and placed it sixth on its Top 100 All-Time Adventure Games in 2011. The game has appeared on several IGN lists. The website rated it number 60 and 84 on its top 100 games list in 2005 and 2007, respectively. IGN named Day of the Tentacle as part of their top 10 LucasArts adventure games in 2009, and ranked the Purple Tentacle 82nd in a list of top 100 videogame villains in 2010. ComputerAndVideoGames.com ranked it at number 30 in 2008, and GameSpot also listed Day of the Tentacle as one of the greatest games of all time.
Fans of Day of the Tentacle created a webcomic, The Day After the Day of the Tentacle, using the game's graphics. The 1993 LucasArts game Zombies Ate My Neighbors features a stage dedicated to Day of the Tentacle. The artists for Day of the Tentacle shared office space with the Zombies Ate My Neighbors development team. The team included the homage after frequently seeing artwork for Day of the Tentacle during the two games' productions. In describing what he considered "the most rewarding moment" of his career, Grossman stated that the game's writing and use of spoken and subtitled dialog assisted a learning-disabled child in learning how to read. Telltale Games CEO Dan Connors commented in 2009 that an episodic game based on Day of the Tentacle was "feasible", but depended on the sales of the Monkey Island games released that year.
In 2018, a fan-made sequel, Return of the Tentacle, was released free by a team from Germany. The game imitates the art style of the Remastered edition and features full voice acting.
According to Kotaku, a remastered version of Day of the Tentacle was in the works at LucasArts Singapore before the sale of LucasArts to Disney in 2012. Though never officially approved, the game used a pseudo-3D art style and was nearly 80% complete, according to one person close to the project, but was shelved in the days before the closure of LucasArts.
A remastered version of Day of the Tentacle was developed by Schafer and his studio, Double Fine Productions. The remaster was released on March 22, 2016, for OS X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Windows, with a Linux version released at July 11 together with a mobile port for iOS. The Playstation 4 and Playstation Vita versions are cross-buy and also feature cross-save. An Xbox One port came in October 2020. The remastered game was released as a free PlayStation Plus title for the month of January 2017.
Schafer credited both LucasArts and Disney for help in creating the remaster, which follows from a similar remastering of Grim Fandango, as well by Double Fine, in January 2015. Schafer said when they originally were about to secure the rights to Grim Fandango from LucasArts to make the remaster, they did not originally have plans to redo the other LucasArts adventure games, but with the passionate response, they got on the news of the Grim Fandango remaster, they decided to continue these efforts. Schafer described getting the rights to Day of the Tentacle a "miracle" though aided by the fact that many of the executives in the legal rights chain had fond memories of playing these games and helped to secure the rights. 2 Player Productions, which has worked before with Double Fine to document their game development process, also created a mini-documentary for Day of the Tentacle Remastered, which included a visit to the Skywalker Ranch, where LucasArts games were originally developed, where much of the original concept art and digital files for the game and other LucasArts adventure games were archived.
Day of the Tentacle Remastered retains its two-dimensional cartoon-style art, redrawn at a higher resolution for modern computers. The high resolution character art was updated by a team led by Yujin Keim with the consultation of Ahern and Chan. Keim's team used many of the original sketches of characters and assets from the two and emulated their style with improvements for modern graphics systems. Matt Hansen worked on recreating the background assets in high resolution. As with the Grim Fandango remaster, the player can switch back and forth between the original graphics and the high-resolution version. The game includes a more streamlined interaction menu, a command wheel akin to the approach used in Broken Age, but the player can opt to switch back to the original interface. The game's soundtrack has been redone within MIDI adapted to work with the iMUSE system. There is an option to listen to commentary from the original creators, including Schafer, Grossman, Chan, McConnell, Ahern, and Bajakian. The remaster contains the fully playable version of the original Maniac Mansion, though no enhancements have been made to that game-within-a-game.
Day of the Tentacle Remastered has received positive reviews, with the PC version having an aggregate review score of 87/100 tallied by Metacritic. Reviewers generally praised the game as having not lost its charm since its initial release, but found some aspects of the remastering to be lackluster. Richard Corbett for Eurogamer found the game "every bit as well crafted now as it was in 1993", but found the processes used to provide high-definition graphics from the original 16-bit graphics to making some of the required shortcuts taken in 1993 for graphics, such as background dithering and low animation framerates, more obvious on modern hardware. IGN's Jared Petty also found the remastered to still be enjoyable, and found the improvement on the graphics to be "glorious", but worried that the lack of a hint system, as was added in The Secret of Monkey Island remastered version, would put off new players to the game. Bob Mackey for USgamer found that while past remastered adventure games have highlighted how much has changed in gamers' expectations since the heyday of adventure games in the 1990s, Day of the Tentacle Remastered "rises above these issues to become absolutely timeless". | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Day of the Tentacle, also known as Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle, is a 1993 graphic adventure game developed and published by LucasArts. It is the sequel to the 1987 game Maniac Mansion. The plot follows Bernard Bernoulli and his friends Hoagie and Laverne as they attempt to stop the evil Purple Tentacle - a sentient, disembodied tentacle - from taking over the world. The player takes control of the trio and solves puzzles while using time travel to explore different periods of history.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Dave Grossman and Tim Schafer co-led the game's development, their first time in such a role. The pair carried over a limited number of elements from Maniac Mansion and forwent the character selection aspect to simplify development. Inspirations included Chuck Jones cartoons and the history of the United States. Day of the Tentacle was the eighth LucasArts game to use the SCUMM engine.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The game was released simultaneously on floppy disk and CD-ROM to critical acclaim and commercial success. Critics focused on its cartoon-style visuals and comedic elements. Day of the Tentacle has featured regularly in lists of \"top\" games published more than two decades after its release, and has been referenced in popular culture. A remastered version of Day of the Tentacle was developed by Schafer's current studio, Double Fine Productions, and released in March 2016, for OS X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Windows, with an iOS and Linux port released in July the same year, and then later for Xbox One in October 2020.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Day of the Tentacle follows the point-and-click two-dimensional adventure game formula, first established by the original Maniac Mansion. Players direct the controllable characters around the game world by clicking with the computer mouse. To interact with the game world, players choose from a set of nine commands arrayed on the screen (such as \"pick up\", \"use\", or \"talk to\") and then on an object in the world. This was the last SCUMM game to use the original interface of having the bottom of the screen being taken up by a verb selection and inventory; starting with the next game to use the SCUMM engine, Sam & Max Hit the Road, the engine was modified to scroll through a more concise list of verbs with the right mouse button and having the inventory on a separate screen.",
"title": "Gameplay"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Day of the Tentacle uses time travel extensively; early in the game, the three main protagonists are separated across time by the effects of a faulty time machine. The player, after completing certain puzzles, can then freely switch between these characters, interacting with the game's world in separate time periods. Certain small inventory items can be shared by placing the item into the \"Chron-o-Johns\", modified portable toilets that instantly transport objects to one of the other time periods, while other items are shared by simply leaving the item in a past time period to be picked up by a character in a future period. Changes made to a past time period will affect a future one, and many of the game's puzzles are based on the effect of time travel, the aging of certain items, and alterations of the time stream. For example, one puzzle requires the player, while in the future era where Purple Tentacle has succeeded, to send a medical chart of a Tentacle back to the past, having it used as the design of the American flag, then collecting one such flag in the future to be used as a Tentacle disguise to allow that character to roam freely.",
"title": "Gameplay"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The whole original Maniac Mansion game can be played on a computer resembling a Commodore 64 inside the Day of the Tentacle game; this practice has since been repeated by other game developers, but at the time of Day of the Tentacle's release, it was unprecedented.",
"title": "Gameplay"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Five years after the events of Maniac Mansion, Purple Tentacle—a mutant monster and lab assistant created by mad scientist Dr. Fred Edison—drinks toxic sludge from a river behind Dr. Fred's laboratory. The sludge causes him to grow a pair of flipper-like arms, develop vastly increased intelligence, and have a thirst for global domination. Dr. Fred plans to resolve the issue by killing Purple Tentacle and his harmless, friendly brother Green Tentacle, but Green Tentacle sends a plea of help to his old friend, the nerd Bernard Bernoulli. Bernard travels to the Edison family motel with his two housemates, deranged medical student Laverne and roadie Hoagie, and frees the tentacles. Purple Tentacle escapes to resume his quest to take over the world.",
"title": "Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Since Purple Tentacle's plans are flawless and unstoppable, Dr. Fred decides to use his Chron-o-John time machines to send Bernard, Laverne, and Hoagie to the day before to turn off his Sludge-o-Matic machine, thereby preventing Purple Tentacle's exposure to the sludge. However, because Dr. Fred used an imitation diamond rather than a real diamond as a power source for the time machine, the Chron-o-Johns break down in operation. Laverne is sent 200 years in the future, where humanity has been enslaved and Purple Tentacle rules the world from the Edison mansion, while Hoagie is dropped 200 years in the past, where the motel is being used by the Founding Fathers as a retreat to write the United States Constitution. Bernard is returned to the present. To salvage Dr. Fred's plan, Bernard must acquire a replacement diamond for the time machine, while both Hoagie and Laverne must restore power to their respective Chron-o-John pods by plugging them in. To overcome the lack of electricity in the past, Hoagie recruits the help of Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Fred's ancestor, Red Edison, to build a superbattery to power his pod, while Laverne evades capture by the tentacles long enough to run an extension cord to her unit. The three send small objects back and forth in time through the Chron-o-Johns and make changes to history to help the others complete their tasks.",
"title": "Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Eventually, Bernard uses Dr. Fred's family fortune of royalties from the use of their likeness in Maniac Mansion to purchase a real diamond, while his friends manage to power their Chron-o-Johns. Soon, the three are reunited in the present. Purple Tentacle arrives, hijacks a Chron-o-John, and takes it to the previous day to prevent them from turning off the sludge machine; he is pursued by Green Tentacle in another pod. With only one Chron-o-John pod left, Bernard, Hoagie, and Laverne use it to pursue the tentacles to the previous day, while Dr. Fred uselessly tries to warn them of using the pod together, referencing the film The Fly. Upon arriving, the trio exit the pod only to discover that they have been turned into a three-headed monster, their bodies merging into one during the transfer. Meanwhile, Purple Tentacle has used the time machine to bring countless versions of himself from different moments in time to the same day to prevent the Sludge-o-Matic from being deactivated. Bernard and his friends defeat the Purple Tentacles guarding the Sludge-o-Matic, turn off the machine, and prevent the whole series of events from ever happening. Returning to the present, Dr. Fred discovers that the three have not been turned into a monster at all but have just gotten stuck in the same set of clothes; they are then ordered by Dr. Fred to get out of his house. The game ends with the credits rolling over a tentacle-shaped American flag, one of the more significant results of their tampering in history.",
"title": "Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Following a string of successful adventure games, LucasArts assigned Dave Grossman and Tim Schafer to lead development of a new game. The two had previously assisted Ron Gilbert with the creation of The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, and the studio felt that Grossman and Schafer were ready to manage a project. The company believed that the pair's humor matched well with that of Maniac Mansion and suggested working on a sequel. The two developers agreed and commenced production. Gilbert and Gary Winnick, the creators of Maniac Mansion, collaborated with Grossman and Schafer on the initial planning and writing. The total budget for the game was about $600,000, according to Schafer.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In planning the plot, the four designers considered a number of concepts, eventually choosing an idea of Gilbert's about time travel that they believed was the most interesting. The four discussed what time periods to focus on, settling on the Revolutionary War and the future. The Revolutionary War offered opportunities to craft many puzzles around that period, such as changing the Constitution to affect the future. Grossman noted the appeal of the need to make wide-sweeping changes such as the Constitution just to achieve a small personal goal, believing this captured the essence of adventure games. The future period allowed them to explore the nature of cause and effect without any historical bounds. Grossman and Schafer decided to carry over previous characters that they felt were the most entertaining. The two considered the Edison family \"essential\" and chose Bernard because of his \"unqualified nerdiness\". Bernard was considered \"everyone's favorite character\" from Maniac Mansion, and was the clear first choice for the protagonists. The game's other protagonists, Laverne and Hoagie, were based on a Mexican ex-girlfriend of Grossman's and a Megadeth roadie named Tony that Schafer had met, respectively. Schafer and Grossman planned to use a character selection system similar to the first game but felt that it would have complicated the design process and increased production costs. Believing that it added little to the gameplay, they removed it early in the process and reduced the number of player characters from six to three. The dropped characters included Razor, a female musician from the previous game; Moonglow, a short character in baggy clothes; and Chester, a black beat poet. Ideas for Chester, however, morphed into new twin characters in the Edison family. The smaller number of characters reduced the strain on the game's engine in terms of scripting and animation.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The staff collaboratively designed the characters. They first discussed the character personalities, which Larry Ahern used to create concept art. Ahern wanted to make sure that the art style was consistent and the character designs were established early, in contrast to what had happened with Monkey Island 2, in which various artists came in later to help fill in necessary art assets as necessary, creating a disjointed style. Looney Tunes animation shorts, particularly the Chuck Jones-directed Rabbit of Seville, What's Opera, Doc?, and Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century inspired the artistic design. The cartoonish style also lent itself to providing larger visible faces to enable more expressive characters. Peter Chan designed backgrounds, spending around two days to progress from concept sketch to final art for each background. Chan too used Looney Tunes as influence for the backgrounds, trying to emulate the style of Jones and Maurice Noble. Ahern and Chan went back and forth with character and background art to make sure both styles worked together without too much distraction. They further had Jones visit their studio during development to provide input into their developing art. The choice of art style inspired further ideas from the designers. Grossman cited cartoons featuring Pepé Le Pew, and commented that the gag involving a painted white stripe on Penelope Pussycat inspired a puzzle in the game. The artists spent a year creating the in-game animations.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The script was written in the evening when fewer people were in the office. Grossman considered it the easiest aspect of production, but encountered difficulties when writing with others around.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "With a time travel story, I leave a bottle of wine somewhere, and it causes a bottle of vinegar to appear in the same place four hundred years later. Same basic idea: I do X over here, and it causes Y over there. Whether ‘over there’ means in the next room or 400 years in the future is irrelevant. I will say that it was really fun to think about the effects of large amounts of time on things like wine bottles and sweaters in dryers, and to imagine how altering fundamentals of history like the Constitution and the flag could be used to accomplish petty, selfish goals like the acquisition of a vacuum and a tentacle costume. We definitely enjoyed ourselves designing that game.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Dave Grossman on designing the game's puzzles",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Grossman and Schafer brainstormed regularly to devise the time travel puzzles and collaborated with members of the development team as well as other LucasArts employees. They would identify puzzle problems and work towards a solution similar to how the game plays. Most issues were addressed prior to programming, but some details were left unfinished to work on later. The staff conceived puzzles involving the U.S.'s early history based on their memory of their compulsory education, and using the more legendary aspects of history, such as George Washington cutting down a cherry tree to appeal to international audiences. To complete the elements, Grossman researched the period to maintain historical accuracy, visiting libraries and contacting reference librarians. The studio, however, took creative license towards facts to fit them into the game's design.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Day of the Tentacle features a four-minute-long animated opening credit sequence, the first LucasArts game to have such. Ahern noted that their previous games would run the credits over primarily still shots which would only last for a few minutes, but with Tentacle, the team had grown so large that they worried this approach would be boring to players. They assigned Kyle Balda, an intern at CalArts, to create the animated sequence, with Chan helping to create minimalist backgrounds to aid in the animation. Originally this sequence was around seven minutes long, and included the three characters arriving at the mansion and releasing Purple Tentacle. Another LucasArts designer, Hal Barwood, suggested they cut it in half, leading to the shortened version as in the released game, and having the player take over when they arrive at the mansion.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Day of the Tentacle uses the SCUMM engine developed for Maniac Mansion. LucasArts had gradually modified the engine since its creation. For example, the number of input verbs was reduced and items in the character's inventory are represented by icons rather than text. While implementing an animation, the designers encountered a problem later discovered to be a limitation of the engine. Upon learning of the limitation, Gilbert reminisced about the file size of the first game. The staff then resolved to include it in the sequel.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Day of the Tentacle was the first LucasArts adventure game to feature voice work on release. The game was not originally planned to include voice work, as at the time, the install base for CD-ROM was too low. As they neared the end of 1992, CD-ROM sales grew significantly. The general manager of LucasArts, Kelly Flock, recognizing that the game would not be done in time by the end of the year to make the holiday release, suggested that the team include voice work for the game, giving them more time.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Voice director Tamlynn Barra managed that aspect of the game. Schafer and Grossman described how they imagined the characters' voices and Barra sought audition tapes of voice actors to meet the criteria. She presented the best auditions to the pair. Schafer's sister Ginny was among the auditions, and she was chosen for Nurse Edna. Schafer opted out of the decision for her selection to avoid nepotism. Grossman and Schafer encountered difficulty selecting a voice for Bernard. To aid the process, Grossman commented that the character should sound like Les Nessman from the television show WKRP in Cincinnati. Barra responded that she knew the agent of the character's actor, Richard Sanders, and brought Sanders on the project. Denny Delk and Nick Jameson were among those hired, and provided voice work for around five characters each. Recording for the 4,500 lines of dialog occurred at Studio 222 in Hollywood. Barra directed the voice actors separately from a sound production booth. She provided context for each line and described aspects of the game to aid the actors. The voice work in Day of the Tentacle was widely praised for its quality and professionalism in comparison to Sierra's talkie games of the period which suffered from poor audio quality and limited voice acting (some of which consisted of Sierra employees rather than professional talent).",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The game's music was composed by Peter McConnell, Michael Land, and Clint Bajakian. The three had worked together to share the duties equally of composing the music for Monkey Island 2 and Fate of Atlantis, and continued this approach for Day of the Tentacle. According to McConnell, he had composed most of the music taking place in the game's present, Land for the future, and Bajakian for the past, outside of Dr. Fred's theme for the past which McConnell had done. The music was composed around the cartoonish nature of the gameplay, further drawing on Looney Tunes' use of parodying classical works of music, and playing on set themes for all of the major characters in the game. Many of these themes had to be composed to take into account different processing speeds of computers at the time, managed by the iMUSE music interface; such themes would include shorter repeating patterns that would play while the game's screen scrolled across, and then once the screen was at the proper place, the music would continue on to a more dramatic phrase.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Day of the Tentacle was one of the first games concurrently released on CD-ROM and floppy disk. A floppy disk version was created to accommodate consumers that had yet to purchase CD-ROM drives. The CD-ROM format afforded the addition of audible dialog. The capacity difference between the two formats necessitated alterations to the floppy disk version. Grossman spent several weeks reducing files sizes and removing files such as the audio dialog to fit the game onto six diskettes.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Day of the Tentacle was a moderate commercial success; according to Edge, it sold roughly 80,000 copies by 2009. Tim Schafer saw this as an improvement over his earlier projects, the Monkey Island games, which had been commercial flops. The game was critically acclaimed. Charles Ardai of Computer Gaming World wrote in September 1993: \"Calling Day of the Tentacle a sequel to Maniac Mansion ... is a little like calling the space shuttle a sequel to the slingshot\". He enjoyed the game's humor and interface, and praised the designers for removing \"dead end\" scenarios and player character death. Ardai lauded the voice acting, writing that it \"would have done the late Mel Blanc proud\", and compared the game's humor, animation, and camera angles to \"Looney Toons [sic] gems from the 40s and 50s\". He concluded: \"I expect that this game will keep entertaining people for quite some time to come\". In April 1994 the magazine said of the CD version that Sanders's Bernard was among \"many other inspired performances\", concluding that \"Chuck Jones would be proud\". In May 1994 the magazine said of one multimedia kit bundling the CD version that \"it packs more value into the kit than the entire software packages of some of its competitors\". Sandy Petersen of Dragon stated that its graphics \"are in a stupendous cartoony style\", while praising its humor and describing its sound and music as \"excellent\". Although the reviewer considered it \"one of the best\" graphic adventure games, he noted that, like LucasArts' earlier Loom, it was extremely short; he wrote that he \"felt cheated somehow when I finished the game\". He ended the review, \"Go, Lucasfilm! Do this again, but do make the next game longer!\".",
"title": "Reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Phil LaRose of The Advocate called it \"light-years ahead of the original\", and believed that its \"improved controls, sound and graphics are an evolutionary leap to a more enjoyable gaming experience\". He praised the interface, and summarized the game as \"another of the excellent LucasArts programs that place a higher premium on the quality of entertainment and less on the technical knowledge needed to make it run\". The Boston Herald's Geoff Smith noted that \"the animation of the cartoonlike characters is of TV quality\", and praised the removal of dead ends and character death. He ended: \"It's full of lunacy, but for anyone who likes light-hearted adventure games, it's well worth trying\". Vox Day of The Blade called its visuals \"well done\" and compared them to those of The Ren & Stimpy Show. The writer praised the game's humor, and said that \"both the music and sound effects are hilarious\"; he cited the voice performance of Richard Sanders as a high point. He summarized the game as \"both a good adventure and a funny cartoon\".",
"title": "Reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Lim Choon Wee of the New Straits Times highly praised the game's humor, which he called \"brilliantly funny\". The writer commented that the game's puzzles relied on \"trial and error\" with \"no underlying logic\", but opined that the game \"remains fun\" despite this issue, and concluded that Day of the Tentacle was \"definitely the comedy game of the year\". Daniel Baum of The Jerusalem Post called it \"one of the funniest, most entertaining and best-programmed computer games I have ever seen\", and lauded its animation. He wrote that the game provided \"a more polished impression\" than either The Secret of Monkey Island or Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. The writer claimed that its high system requirements were its only drawback, and believed that a Sound Blaster card was required to fully appreciate the game. In a retrospective review, Adventure Gamers' Chris Remo wrote: \"If someone were to ask for a few examples of games that exemplify the best of the graphic adventure genre, Day of the Tentacle would certainly be near the top\".",
"title": "Reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Day of the Tentacle has been featured regularly in lists of \"top\" games. In 1994, PC Gamer US named Day of the Tentacle the 46th best computer game ever. In June 1994 it and Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers won Computer Gaming World's Adventure Game of the Year award. The editors wrote that \"Day of the Tentacle's fluid animation sequences underscore a strong script and solid game play ... story won out over technological innovation in this genre\". In 1996, the magazine ranked it as the 34th best game of all time, writing: \"DOTT completely blew away its ancestor, Maniac Mansion, with its smooth animated sequences, nifty plot and great voiceovers\". Adventure Gamers included the game as the top entry on its 20 Greatest Adventure Games of All Time List in 2004, and placed it sixth on its Top 100 All-Time Adventure Games in 2011. The game has appeared on several IGN lists. The website rated it number 60 and 84 on its top 100 games list in 2005 and 2007, respectively. IGN named Day of the Tentacle as part of their top 10 LucasArts adventure games in 2009, and ranked the Purple Tentacle 82nd in a list of top 100 videogame villains in 2010. ComputerAndVideoGames.com ranked it at number 30 in 2008, and GameSpot also listed Day of the Tentacle as one of the greatest games of all time.",
"title": "Reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Fans of Day of the Tentacle created a webcomic, The Day After the Day of the Tentacle, using the game's graphics. The 1993 LucasArts game Zombies Ate My Neighbors features a stage dedicated to Day of the Tentacle. The artists for Day of the Tentacle shared office space with the Zombies Ate My Neighbors development team. The team included the homage after frequently seeing artwork for Day of the Tentacle during the two games' productions. In describing what he considered \"the most rewarding moment\" of his career, Grossman stated that the game's writing and use of spoken and subtitled dialog assisted a learning-disabled child in learning how to read. Telltale Games CEO Dan Connors commented in 2009 that an episodic game based on Day of the Tentacle was \"feasible\", but depended on the sales of the Monkey Island games released that year.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "In 2018, a fan-made sequel, Return of the Tentacle, was released free by a team from Germany. The game imitates the art style of the Remastered edition and features full voice acting.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "According to Kotaku, a remastered version of Day of the Tentacle was in the works at LucasArts Singapore before the sale of LucasArts to Disney in 2012. Though never officially approved, the game used a pseudo-3D art style and was nearly 80% complete, according to one person close to the project, but was shelved in the days before the closure of LucasArts.",
"title": "Remasters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "A remastered version of Day of the Tentacle was developed by Schafer and his studio, Double Fine Productions. The remaster was released on March 22, 2016, for OS X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Windows, with a Linux version released at July 11 together with a mobile port for iOS. The Playstation 4 and Playstation Vita versions are cross-buy and also feature cross-save. An Xbox One port came in October 2020. The remastered game was released as a free PlayStation Plus title for the month of January 2017.",
"title": "Remasters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Schafer credited both LucasArts and Disney for help in creating the remaster, which follows from a similar remastering of Grim Fandango, as well by Double Fine, in January 2015. Schafer said when they originally were about to secure the rights to Grim Fandango from LucasArts to make the remaster, they did not originally have plans to redo the other LucasArts adventure games, but with the passionate response, they got on the news of the Grim Fandango remaster, they decided to continue these efforts. Schafer described getting the rights to Day of the Tentacle a \"miracle\" though aided by the fact that many of the executives in the legal rights chain had fond memories of playing these games and helped to secure the rights. 2 Player Productions, which has worked before with Double Fine to document their game development process, also created a mini-documentary for Day of the Tentacle Remastered, which included a visit to the Skywalker Ranch, where LucasArts games were originally developed, where much of the original concept art and digital files for the game and other LucasArts adventure games were archived.",
"title": "Remasters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Day of the Tentacle Remastered retains its two-dimensional cartoon-style art, redrawn at a higher resolution for modern computers. The high resolution character art was updated by a team led by Yujin Keim with the consultation of Ahern and Chan. Keim's team used many of the original sketches of characters and assets from the two and emulated their style with improvements for modern graphics systems. Matt Hansen worked on recreating the background assets in high resolution. As with the Grim Fandango remaster, the player can switch back and forth between the original graphics and the high-resolution version. The game includes a more streamlined interaction menu, a command wheel akin to the approach used in Broken Age, but the player can opt to switch back to the original interface. The game's soundtrack has been redone within MIDI adapted to work with the iMUSE system. There is an option to listen to commentary from the original creators, including Schafer, Grossman, Chan, McConnell, Ahern, and Bajakian. The remaster contains the fully playable version of the original Maniac Mansion, though no enhancements have been made to that game-within-a-game.",
"title": "Remasters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Day of the Tentacle Remastered has received positive reviews, with the PC version having an aggregate review score of 87/100 tallied by Metacritic. Reviewers generally praised the game as having not lost its charm since its initial release, but found some aspects of the remastering to be lackluster. Richard Corbett for Eurogamer found the game \"every bit as well crafted now as it was in 1993\", but found the processes used to provide high-definition graphics from the original 16-bit graphics to making some of the required shortcuts taken in 1993 for graphics, such as background dithering and low animation framerates, more obvious on modern hardware. IGN's Jared Petty also found the remastered to still be enjoyable, and found the improvement on the graphics to be \"glorious\", but worried that the lack of a hint system, as was added in The Secret of Monkey Island remastered version, would put off new players to the game. Bob Mackey for USgamer found that while past remastered adventure games have highlighted how much has changed in gamers' expectations since the heyday of adventure games in the 1990s, Day of the Tentacle Remastered \"rises above these issues to become absolutely timeless\".",
"title": "Remasters"
}
] | Day of the Tentacle, also known as Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle, is a 1993 graphic adventure game developed and published by LucasArts. It is the sequel to the 1987 game Maniac Mansion. The plot follows Bernard Bernoulli and his friends Hoagie and Laverne as they attempt to stop the evil Purple Tentacle - a sentient, disembodied tentacle - from taking over the world. The player takes control of the trio and solves puzzles while using time travel to explore different periods of history. Dave Grossman and Tim Schafer co-led the game's development, their first time in such a role. The pair carried over a limited number of elements from Maniac Mansion and forwent the character selection aspect to simplify development. Inspirations included Chuck Jones cartoons and the history of the United States. Day of the Tentacle was the eighth LucasArts game to use the SCUMM engine. The game was released simultaneously on floppy disk and CD-ROM to critical acclaim and commercial success. Critics focused on its cartoon-style visuals and comedic elements. Day of the Tentacle has featured regularly in lists of "top" games published more than two decades after its release, and has been referenced in popular culture. A remastered version of Day of the Tentacle was developed by Schafer's current studio, Double Fine Productions, and released in March 2016, for OS X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Windows, with an iOS and Linux port released in July the same year, and then later for Xbox One in October 2020. | 2001-06-22T21:57:40Z | 2023-10-31T23:40:41Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Tentacle |
8,091 | Douglas Adams | Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (HHGTTG). Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy developed into a "trilogy" of five books that sold more than 15 million copies in his lifetime. It was further developed into a television series, several stage plays, comics, a video game, and a 2005 feature film. Adams's contribution to UK radio is commemorated in The Radio Academy's Hall of Fame.
Adams also wrote Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (1987) and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (1988), and co-wrote The Meaning of Liff (1983), The Deeper Meaning of Liff (1990) and Last Chance to See (1990). He wrote two stories for the television series Doctor Who, co-wrote City of Death (1979), and served as script editor for its seventeenth season. He co-wrote the sketch "Patient Abuse" for the final episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. A posthumous collection of his selected works, including the first publication of his final (unfinished) novel, was published as The Salmon of Doubt in 2002.
Adams was a self-proclaimed "radical atheist", an advocate for environmentalism and conservation, and a lover of fast cars, technological innovation and the Apple Macintosh.
Adams was born in Cambridge on 11 March 1952 to Christopher Douglas Adams (1927–1985), a management consultant and computer salesman, former probation officer and lecturer on probationary group therapy techniques, and nurse Janet (1927–2016), née Donovan. The family moved a few months after his birth to the East End of London, where his sister, Susan, was born three years later. His parents divorced in 1957; Douglas, Susan and their mother moved then to an RSPCA animal shelter in Brentwood, Essex, run by his maternal grandparents. Each remarried, giving Adams four half-siblings. A great-grandfather was the playwright Benjamin Franklin Wedekind.
Adams attended Primrose Hill Primary School in Brentwood. At the age of nine, he passed the entrance exam for Brentwood School. He attended the prep school from 1959 to 1964, then the main school until December 1970. Adams was 6 feet (1.8 m) tall by age 12, and stopped growing at 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m). His form master, Frank Halford, said that Adams's height had made him stand out and that he had been self-conscious about it. His ability to write stories made him well known in the school. Adams became the only student ever to be awarded a ten out of ten by Halford for creative writing – something he remembered for the rest of his life, particularly when facing writer's block.
Some of his earliest writing was published at the school, such as a report on its photography club in The Brentwoodian in 1962, or spoof reviews in the school magazine Broadsheet, edited by Paul Neil Milne Johnstone, who later became a character in The Hitchhiker's Guide. He also designed the cover of one issue of the Broadsheet, and had a letter and short story published in The Eagle, the boys' comic, in 1965. A poem entitled "A Dissertation on the task of writing a poem on a candle and an account of some of the difficulties thereto pertaining" written by Adams in January 1970 at the age of 17, was discovered in a cupboard at the school in early 2014.
On the strength of an essay on religious poetry that discussed the Beatles and William Blake, he was awarded an Exhibition in English at St John's College, Cambridge (where his father had also been a student), going up in 1971. He wanted to join the Footlights, an invitation-only student comedy club that has acted as a hothouse for comic talent. He was not elected immediately as he had hoped, and started to write and perform in revues with Will Adams (no relation) and Martin Smith; they formed a group called "Adams-Smith-Adams". He became a member of the Footlights by 1973. Despite doing very little work – he recalled having completed three essays in three years – he graduated in 1974 with a 2:2 in English literature.
After leaving university Adams moved back to London, determined to break into TV and radio as a writer. An edited version of the Footlights Revue appeared on BBC2 television in 1974. A version of the Revue performed live in London's West End led to Adams being discovered by Monty Python's Graham Chapman. The two formed a brief writing partnership, earning Adams a writing credit in episode 45 of Monty Python for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". The pair also co-wrote the "Marilyn Monroe" sketch which appeared on the soundtrack album of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Adams is one of only two people other than the original Python members to get a writing credit (the other being Neil Innes).
Adams had two brief appearances in the fourth series of Monty Python's Flying Circus. At the beginning of episode 42, "The Light Entertainment War", Adams is in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Michael Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another but never gets started. At the beginning of episode 44, "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a pepper-pot outfit and loads a missile onto a cart driven by Terry Jones, who is calling for scrap metal ("Any old iron..."). The two episodes were broadcast in November 1974. Adams and Chapman also attempted non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees.
At this point Adams's career stalled; his writing style was unsuited to the then-current style of radio and TV comedy. To make ends meet he took a series of odd jobs, including as a hospital porter, barn builder, and chicken shed cleaner. He was employed as a bodyguard by a Qatari family, who had made their fortune in oil.
During this time Adams continued to write and submit sketches, though few were accepted. In 1976 his career had a brief improvement when he wrote and performed Unpleasantness at Brodie's Close at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. By Christmas, work had dried up again, and a depressed Adams moved to live with his mother. The lack of writing work hit him hard and low confidence became a feature of Adams's life; "I have terrible periods of lack of confidence [...] I briefly did therapy, but after a while I realised it was like a farmer complaining about the weather. You can't fix the weather – you just have to get on with it".
Some of Adams's early radio work included sketches for The Burkiss Way in 1977 and The News Huddlines. He also wrote, again with Chapman, the 20 February 1977 episode of Doctor on the Go, a sequel to the Doctor in the House television comedy series. After the first radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide became successful, Adams was made a BBC radio producer, working on Week Ending and a pantomime called Black Cinderella Two Goes East. He left after six months to become the script editor for Doctor Who.
In 1979, Adams and John Lloyd wrote scripts for two half-hour episodes of Doctor Snuggles: "The Remarkable Fidgety River" and "The Great Disappearing Mystery" (episodes eight and twelve). John Lloyd was also co-author of two episodes from the original Hitchhiker radio series ("Fit the Fifth" and "Fit the Sixth", also known as "Episode Five" and "Episode Six"), as well as The Meaning of Liff and The Deeper Meaning of Liff.
Adams sent the script for the HHGG pilot radio programme to the Doctor Who production office in 1978, and was commissioned to write The Pirate Planet. He had also previously attempted to submit a potential film script, called Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen, which later became his novel Life, the Universe and Everything (which in turn became the third Hitchhiker's Guide radio series). Adams then went on to serve as script editor on the show for its seventeenth season in 1979. Altogether, he wrote three Doctor Who serials starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor:
The episodes authored by Adams are some of the few that were not originally novelised, as Adams would not allow anyone else to write them and asked for a higher price than the publishers were willing to pay. Shada was later adapted as a novel by Gareth Roberts in 2012 and City of Death and The Pirate Planet by James Goss in 2015 and 2017 respectively.
Elements of Shada and City of Death were reused in Adams's later novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, in particular, the character of Professor Chronotis. Big Finish Productions eventually remade Shada as an audio play starring Paul McGann as the Doctor. Accompanied by partially animated illustrations, it was webcast on the BBC website in 2003, and subsequently released as a two-CD set later that year. An omnibus edition of this version was broadcast on the digital radio station BBC7 on 10 December 2005.
In the Doctor Who 2012 Christmas episode "The Snowmen", writer Steven Moffat was inspired by a storyline that Adams pitched called The Doctor Retires.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a concept for a science-fiction comedy radio series pitched by Adams and radio producer Simon Brett to BBC Radio 4 in 1977. Adams came up with an outline for a pilot episode, as well as a few other stories (reprinted in Neil Gaiman's book Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion) that could be used in the series.
According to Adams, the idea for the title occurred to him while he lay drunk in a field in Innsbruck, Austria, gazing at the stars. He was carrying a copy of the Hitch-hiker's Guide to Europe, and it occurred to him that "somebody ought to write a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".
Despite the original outline, Adams was said to make up the stories as he wrote. He turned to John Lloyd for help with the final two episodes of the first series. Lloyd contributed bits from an unpublished science fiction book of his own, called GiGax. Very little of Lloyd's material survived in later adaptations of Hitchhiker's, such as the novels and the TV series. The TV series was based on the first six radio episodes, and sections contributed by Lloyd were largely re-written.
BBC Radio 4 broadcast the first radio series weekly in the UK starting 8 March 1978, lasting until April. The series was distributed in the United States by National Public Radio. Following the success of the first series, another episode was recorded and broadcast, which was commonly known as the Christmas Episode. A second series of five episodes was broadcast one per night, during the week of 21–25 January 1980.
While working on the radio series (and with simultaneous projects such as The Pirate Planet) Adams developed problems keeping to writing deadlines that got worse as he published novels. Adams was never a prolific writer and usually had to be forced by others to do any writing. This included being locked in a hotel suite with his editor for three weeks to ensure that So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish was completed. He was quoted as saying, "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by." Despite the difficulty with deadlines, Adams wrote five novels in the series, published in 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, and 1992.
The books formed the basis for other adaptations, such as three-part comic book adaptations for each of the first three books, an interactive text-adventure computer game, and a photo-illustrated edition, published in 1994. This latter edition featured a 42 Puzzle designed by Adams, which was later incorporated into paperback covers of the first four Hitchhiker's novels (the paperback for the fifth re-used the artwork from the hardback edition).
In 1980, Adams began attempts to turn the first Hitchhiker's novel into a film, making several trips to Los Angeles, and working with Hollywood studios and potential producers. The next year, the radio series became the basis for a BBC television mini-series broadcast in six parts. When he died in 2001 in California, he had been trying again to get the film project started with Disney, which had bought the rights in 1998. The screenplay got a posthumous re-write by Karey Kirkpatrick, and the resulting film was released in 2005.
Radio producer Dirk Maggs had consulted with Adams, first in 1993, and later in 1997 and 2000 about creating a third radio series, based on the third novel in the Hitchhiker's series. They also discussed the possibilities of radio adaptations of the final two novels in the five-book "trilogy". As with the film, this project was realised only after Adams's death. The third series, The Tertiary Phase, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2004 and was subsequently released on audio CD. With the aid of a recording of his reading of Life, the Universe and Everything and editing, Adams can be heard playing the part of Agrajag posthumously. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish and Mostly Harmless made up the fourth and fifth radio series, respectively (on radio they were titled The Quandary Phase and The Quintessential Phase) and these were broadcast in May and June 2005, and also subsequently released on Audio CD. The last episode in the last series (with a new, "more upbeat" ending) concluded with, "The very final episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is affectionately dedicated to its author."
Between Adams's first trip to Madagascar with Mark Carwardine in 1985, and their series of travels that formed the basis for the radio series and non-fiction book Last Chance to See, Adams wrote two other novels with a new cast of characters. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was published in 1987, and was described by its author as "a kind of ghost-horror-detective-time-travel-romantic-comedy-epic, mainly concerned with mud, music and quantum mechanics".
A sequel, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, was published a year later. This was an entirely original work, Adams's first since So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish. After the book tour, Adams set off on his round-the-world excursion which supplied him with the material for Last Chance to See.
The Salmon of Doubt was incomplete when published posthumously.
Adams played the guitar left-handed and had a collection of twenty-four left-handed guitars when he died (having received his first guitar in 1964). He also studied piano in the 1960s. Pink Floyd and Procol Harum had important influence on Adams's work.
Adams's official biography shares its name with the song "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd. The opening section of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" was featured in a section of the third episode of the original 1978 Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series (broadcast only, cut from commercial releases). Adams was friends with Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour and, on Adams's 42nd birthday, he was invited to make a guest appearance at Pink Floyd's concert of 28 October 1994 at Earls Court in London, playing guitar on the songs "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse". Adams chose the name for Pink Floyd's 1994 album, The Division Bell, by picking the words from the lyrics to one of its tracks, "High Hopes". Pink Floyd and the song "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" in particular, inspired Adams to create the rock band Disaster Area who appear in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, who planned to crash a space ship into a nearby star as a stunt during a concert. Gilmour also performed at Adams's memorial service in 2001, and what would have been Adams's 60th birthday party in 2012.
Douglas Adams created an interactive fiction version of HHGG with Steve Meretzky from Infocom in 1984. In 1986 he participated in a week-long brainstorming session with the Lucasfilm Games team for the game Labyrinth. Later he was also involved in creating Bureaucracy as a parody of events in his own life.
Adams was a founder-director and Chief Fantasist of The Digital Village, a digital media and Internet company with which he created Starship Titanic, a Codie award-winning and BAFTA-nominated adventure game, which was published in 1998 by Simon & Schuster. Terry Jones wrote the accompanying book, entitled Douglas Adams' Starship Titanic, since Adams was too busy with the computer game to do both. In April 1999, Adams initiated the h2g2 collaborative writing project, an experimental attempt at making The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a reality, and at harnessing the collective brainpower of the internet community. It was hosted by BBC Online from 2001 to 2011.
In 1990, Adams wrote and presented a television documentary programme Hyperland which featured Tom Baker as a "software agent" (similar to the assistant pictured in Apple's Knowledge Navigator video of future concepts from 1987), and interviews with Ted Nelson, the co-inventor of hypertext and the person who coined the term. Adams was an early adopter and advocate of hypertext.
Adams described himself as a "radical atheist", adding "radical" for emphasis so he would not be asked if he meant agnostic. He told American Atheists that this conveyed the fact that he really meant it. He imagined a sentient puddle who wakes up one morning and thinks, "This is an interesting world I find myself in – an interesting hole I find myself in – fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!" to express his disbelief in the fine-tuned universe argument for God.
He remained fascinated by religion because of its effect on human affairs. "I love to keep poking and prodding at it. I've thought about it so much over the years that that fascination is bound to spill over into my writing."
The evolutionary biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins invited Adams to participate in his 1991 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, where Dawkins calls Adams from the audience to read a passage from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe which satirizes the absurdity of the thought that any one species would exist on Earth merely to serve as a meal to another species, such as humans. Dawkins also uses Adams's influence to exemplify arguments for non-belief in his 2006 book The God Delusion. Dawkins dedicated the book to Adams, whom he jokingly called "possibly [my] only convert" to atheism and wrote on his death that "Science has lost a friend, literature has lost a luminary, the mountain gorilla and the black rhino have lost a gallant defender."
Adams was also an environmental activist who campaigned on behalf of endangered species. This activism included the production of the non-fiction radio series Last Chance to See, in which he and naturalist Mark Carwardine visited rare species such as the kākāpō and baiji, and the publication of a tie-in book of the same name. In 1992, this was made into a CD-ROM combination of audiobook, e-book and picture slide show.
Adams and Mark Carwardine contributed the 'Meeting a Gorilla' passage from Last Chance to See to the book The Great Ape Project. This book, edited by Paola Cavalieri and Peter Singer, launched a wider-scale project in 1993, which calls for the extension of moral equality to include all great apes, human and non-human.
In 1994, he participated in a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro while wearing a rhino suit for the British charity organisation Save the Rhino International. Puppeteer William Todd-Jones, who had originally worn the suit in the London Marathon to raise money and bring awareness to the group, also participated in the climb wearing a rhino suit; Adams wore the suit while travelling to the mountain before the climb began. About £100,000 was raised through that event, benefiting schools in Kenya and a black rhinoceros preservation programme in Tanzania. Adams was also an active supporter of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
Since 2003, Save the Rhino has held an annual Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture around the time of his birthday to raise money for environmental campaigns.
Adams bought his first word processor in 1982, having considered one as early as 1979. His first purchase was a Nexu. In 1983, when he and Jane Belson went to Los Angeles, he bought a DEC Rainbow. Upon their return to England, Adams bought an Apricot, then a BBC Micro and a Tandy 1000. In Last Chance to See, Adams mentions his Cambridge Z88, which he had taken to Zaire on a quest to find the northern white rhinoceros.
Adams's posthumously published work, The Salmon of Doubt, features several articles by him on the subject of technology, including reprints of articles that originally ran in MacUser, and in The Independent on Sunday. In these, Adams claims that one of the first computers he ever saw was a Commodore PET, and that he had "adored" his Apple Macintosh ("or rather my family of however many Macintoshes it is that I've recklessly accumulated over the years") since he first saw one at Infocom's offices in Boston in 1984.
Adams was a Macintosh user from the time they first came out in 1984 until his death in 2001. He was the first person to buy a Mac in Europe, the second being Stephen Fry. Adams was also an "Apple Master", celebrities whom Apple made into spokespeople for its products (others included John Cleese and Gregory Hines). Adams's contributions included a rock video that he created using the first version of iMovie with footage featuring his daughter Polly. The video was available on Adams's .Mac homepage. Adams installed and started using the first release of Mac OS X in the weeks leading up to his death. His last post to his own forum was in praise of Mac OS X and the possibilities of its Cocoa programming framework. He said it was "awesome...", which was also the last word he wrote on his site.
Adams used email to correspond with Steve Meretzky in the early 1980s, during their collaboration on Infocom's version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. While living in New Mexico in 1993 he set up another e-mail address and began posting to his own USENET newsgroup, alt.fan.douglas-adams, and occasionally, when his computer was acting up, to the comp.sys.mac hierarchy. Challenges to the authenticity of his messages later led Adams to set up a message forum on his own website to avoid the issue. In 1996, Adams was a keynote speaker at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) where he described the personal computer as being a modelling device. The video of his keynote speech is archived on Channel 9. Adams was also a keynote speaker for the April 2001 Embedded Systems Conference in San Francisco, one of the major technical conferences on embedded system engineering.
Adams moved to Upper Street, Islington, in 1981 and to Duncan Terrace, a few minutes' walk away, in the late 1980s.
In the early 1980s, Adams had an affair with novelist Sally Emerson, who was separated from her husband at that time. Adams later dedicated his book Life, the Universe and Everything to Emerson. In 1981, Emerson returned to her husband, Peter Stothard, a contemporary of Adams at Brentwood School, and later editor of The Times. Adams was soon introduced by friends to Jane Belson, with whom he later became romantically involved. Belson was the "lady barrister" mentioned in the jacket-flap biography printed in his books during the mid-1980s ("He [Adams] lives in Islington with a lady barrister and an Apple Macintosh"). The two lived in Los Angeles together during 1983, while Adams worked on an early screenplay adaptation of Hitchhiker's. When the deal fell through, they moved back to London, and after several separations ("He is currently not certain where he lives, or with whom") and a broken engagement, they married on 25 November 1991.
Adams and Belson had one daughter together, Polly Jane Rocket Adams, born on 22 June 1994, shortly after Adams turned 42. In 1999, the family moved from London to Santa Barbara, California, where they lived until his death. Following the funeral, Jane Belson and Polly Adams returned to London. Belson died on 7 September 2011 of cancer, aged 59.
Adams died of a heart attack due to undiagnosed coronary artery disease on 11 May 2001, aged 49, after resting from his regular workout at a private gym in Montecito, California. His funeral was held on 16 May in Santa Barbara. His ashes were placed in Highgate Cemetery in north London in June 2002. A memorial service was held on 17 September 2001 at St Martin-in-the-Fields church, Trafalgar Square, London. This became the first church service broadcast live on the web by the BBC.
Two days before Adams died, the Minor Planet Center announced the naming of asteroid 18610 Arthurdent. In 2005, the asteroid 25924 Douglasadams was named in his memory.
In May 2002, The Salmon of Doubt was published, containing many short stories, essays, and letters, as well as eulogies from Richard Dawkins, Stephen Fry (in the UK edition), Christopher Cerf (in the US edition), and Terry Jones (in the US paperback edition). It also includes eleven chapters of his unfinished novel, The Salmon of Doubt, which was originally intended to become a new Dirk Gently novel, but might have later become the sixth Hitchhiker novel.
Other events after Adams's death included a webcast production of Shada, allowing the complete story to be told, radio dramatisations of the final three books in the Hitchhiker's series, and the completion of the film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The film, released in 2005, posthumously credits Adams as a producer, and several design elements – including a head-shaped planet seen near the end of the film – incorporated Adams's features.
A 12-part radio series based on the Dirk Gently novels was announced in 2007.
BBC Radio 4 also commissioned a third Dirk Gently radio series based on the incomplete chapters of The Salmon of Doubt, and written by Kim Fuller; but this was dropped in favour of a BBC TV series based on the two completed novels. A sixth Hitchhiker novel, And Another Thing..., by Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer, was released on 12 October 2009 (the 30th anniversary of the first book), published with the support of Adams's estate. A BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime adaptation and an audio book soon followed.
On 25 May 2001, two weeks after Adams's death, his fans organised a tribute known as Towel Day, which has been observed every year since then.
An Apple Macintosh SE/30 once owned by Adams can be seen on display at The Centre for Computing History in Cambridge.
In 2018, John Lloyd presented an hour-long episode of the BBC Radio Four documentary Archive on 4, discussing Adams' private papers, which are held at St John's College, Cambridge. The episode is available online.
Travessa Douglas Adams, a street at 27°35′21.8″S 48°39′44.0″W / 27.589389°S 48.662222°W / -27.589389; -48.662222 (Travessa Douglas Adams) in São José, Santa Catarina, Brazil is named in Adams's honour.
In March 2021, Unbound announced a crowdfunder for 42: the wildly improbable ideas of Douglas Adams, on the 20th anniversary of his death, a book based on Adams's papers, edited by Kevin Jon Davies.
The annual Douglas Adams Memorial Lectures began in 2003 and continued to 2016. | [
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"text": "Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (HHGTTG). Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy developed into a \"trilogy\" of five books that sold more than 15 million copies in his lifetime. It was further developed into a television series, several stage plays, comics, a video game, and a 2005 feature film. Adams's contribution to UK radio is commemorated in The Radio Academy's Hall of Fame.",
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"text": "Adams also wrote Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (1987) and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (1988), and co-wrote The Meaning of Liff (1983), The Deeper Meaning of Liff (1990) and Last Chance to See (1990). He wrote two stories for the television series Doctor Who, co-wrote City of Death (1979), and served as script editor for its seventeenth season. He co-wrote the sketch \"Patient Abuse\" for the final episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. A posthumous collection of his selected works, including the first publication of his final (unfinished) novel, was published as The Salmon of Doubt in 2002.",
"title": ""
},
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"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Adams was a self-proclaimed \"radical atheist\", an advocate for environmentalism and conservation, and a lover of fast cars, technological innovation and the Apple Macintosh.",
"title": ""
},
{
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"text": "Adams was born in Cambridge on 11 March 1952 to Christopher Douglas Adams (1927–1985), a management consultant and computer salesman, former probation officer and lecturer on probationary group therapy techniques, and nurse Janet (1927–2016), née Donovan. The family moved a few months after his birth to the East End of London, where his sister, Susan, was born three years later. His parents divorced in 1957; Douglas, Susan and their mother moved then to an RSPCA animal shelter in Brentwood, Essex, run by his maternal grandparents. Each remarried, giving Adams four half-siblings. A great-grandfather was the playwright Benjamin Franklin Wedekind.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Adams attended Primrose Hill Primary School in Brentwood. At the age of nine, he passed the entrance exam for Brentwood School. He attended the prep school from 1959 to 1964, then the main school until December 1970. Adams was 6 feet (1.8 m) tall by age 12, and stopped growing at 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m). His form master, Frank Halford, said that Adams's height had made him stand out and that he had been self-conscious about it. His ability to write stories made him well known in the school. Adams became the only student ever to be awarded a ten out of ten by Halford for creative writing – something he remembered for the rest of his life, particularly when facing writer's block.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Some of his earliest writing was published at the school, such as a report on its photography club in The Brentwoodian in 1962, or spoof reviews in the school magazine Broadsheet, edited by Paul Neil Milne Johnstone, who later became a character in The Hitchhiker's Guide. He also designed the cover of one issue of the Broadsheet, and had a letter and short story published in The Eagle, the boys' comic, in 1965. A poem entitled \"A Dissertation on the task of writing a poem on a candle and an account of some of the difficulties thereto pertaining\" written by Adams in January 1970 at the age of 17, was discovered in a cupboard at the school in early 2014.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "On the strength of an essay on religious poetry that discussed the Beatles and William Blake, he was awarded an Exhibition in English at St John's College, Cambridge (where his father had also been a student), going up in 1971. He wanted to join the Footlights, an invitation-only student comedy club that has acted as a hothouse for comic talent. He was not elected immediately as he had hoped, and started to write and perform in revues with Will Adams (no relation) and Martin Smith; they formed a group called \"Adams-Smith-Adams\". He became a member of the Footlights by 1973. Despite doing very little work – he recalled having completed three essays in three years – he graduated in 1974 with a 2:2 in English literature.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "After leaving university Adams moved back to London, determined to break into TV and radio as a writer. An edited version of the Footlights Revue appeared on BBC2 television in 1974. A version of the Revue performed live in London's West End led to Adams being discovered by Monty Python's Graham Chapman. The two formed a brief writing partnership, earning Adams a writing credit in episode 45 of Monty Python for a sketch called \"Patient Abuse\". The pair also co-wrote the \"Marilyn Monroe\" sketch which appeared on the soundtrack album of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Adams is one of only two people other than the original Python members to get a writing credit (the other being Neil Innes).",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Adams had two brief appearances in the fourth series of Monty Python's Flying Circus. At the beginning of episode 42, \"The Light Entertainment War\", Adams is in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Michael Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another but never gets started. At the beginning of episode 44, \"Mr. Neutron\", Adams is dressed in a pepper-pot outfit and loads a missile onto a cart driven by Terry Jones, who is calling for scrap metal (\"Any old iron...\"). The two episodes were broadcast in November 1974. Adams and Chapman also attempted non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "At this point Adams's career stalled; his writing style was unsuited to the then-current style of radio and TV comedy. To make ends meet he took a series of odd jobs, including as a hospital porter, barn builder, and chicken shed cleaner. He was employed as a bodyguard by a Qatari family, who had made their fortune in oil.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "During this time Adams continued to write and submit sketches, though few were accepted. In 1976 his career had a brief improvement when he wrote and performed Unpleasantness at Brodie's Close at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. By Christmas, work had dried up again, and a depressed Adams moved to live with his mother. The lack of writing work hit him hard and low confidence became a feature of Adams's life; \"I have terrible periods of lack of confidence [...] I briefly did therapy, but after a while I realised it was like a farmer complaining about the weather. You can't fix the weather – you just have to get on with it\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Some of Adams's early radio work included sketches for The Burkiss Way in 1977 and The News Huddlines. He also wrote, again with Chapman, the 20 February 1977 episode of Doctor on the Go, a sequel to the Doctor in the House television comedy series. After the first radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide became successful, Adams was made a BBC radio producer, working on Week Ending and a pantomime called Black Cinderella Two Goes East. He left after six months to become the script editor for Doctor Who.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "In 1979, Adams and John Lloyd wrote scripts for two half-hour episodes of Doctor Snuggles: \"The Remarkable Fidgety River\" and \"The Great Disappearing Mystery\" (episodes eight and twelve). John Lloyd was also co-author of two episodes from the original Hitchhiker radio series (\"Fit the Fifth\" and \"Fit the Sixth\", also known as \"Episode Five\" and \"Episode Six\"), as well as The Meaning of Liff and The Deeper Meaning of Liff.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Adams sent the script for the HHGG pilot radio programme to the Doctor Who production office in 1978, and was commissioned to write The Pirate Planet. He had also previously attempted to submit a potential film script, called Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen, which later became his novel Life, the Universe and Everything (which in turn became the third Hitchhiker's Guide radio series). Adams then went on to serve as script editor on the show for its seventeenth season in 1979. Altogether, he wrote three Doctor Who serials starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor:",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The episodes authored by Adams are some of the few that were not originally novelised, as Adams would not allow anyone else to write them and asked for a higher price than the publishers were willing to pay. Shada was later adapted as a novel by Gareth Roberts in 2012 and City of Death and The Pirate Planet by James Goss in 2015 and 2017 respectively.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Elements of Shada and City of Death were reused in Adams's later novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, in particular, the character of Professor Chronotis. Big Finish Productions eventually remade Shada as an audio play starring Paul McGann as the Doctor. Accompanied by partially animated illustrations, it was webcast on the BBC website in 2003, and subsequently released as a two-CD set later that year. An omnibus edition of this version was broadcast on the digital radio station BBC7 on 10 December 2005.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "In the Doctor Who 2012 Christmas episode \"The Snowmen\", writer Steven Moffat was inspired by a storyline that Adams pitched called The Doctor Retires.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a concept for a science-fiction comedy radio series pitched by Adams and radio producer Simon Brett to BBC Radio 4 in 1977. Adams came up with an outline for a pilot episode, as well as a few other stories (reprinted in Neil Gaiman's book Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion) that could be used in the series.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "According to Adams, the idea for the title occurred to him while he lay drunk in a field in Innsbruck, Austria, gazing at the stars. He was carrying a copy of the Hitch-hiker's Guide to Europe, and it occurred to him that \"somebody ought to write a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Despite the original outline, Adams was said to make up the stories as he wrote. He turned to John Lloyd for help with the final two episodes of the first series. Lloyd contributed bits from an unpublished science fiction book of his own, called GiGax. Very little of Lloyd's material survived in later adaptations of Hitchhiker's, such as the novels and the TV series. The TV series was based on the first six radio episodes, and sections contributed by Lloyd were largely re-written.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "BBC Radio 4 broadcast the first radio series weekly in the UK starting 8 March 1978, lasting until April. The series was distributed in the United States by National Public Radio. Following the success of the first series, another episode was recorded and broadcast, which was commonly known as the Christmas Episode. A second series of five episodes was broadcast one per night, during the week of 21–25 January 1980.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "While working on the radio series (and with simultaneous projects such as The Pirate Planet) Adams developed problems keeping to writing deadlines that got worse as he published novels. Adams was never a prolific writer and usually had to be forced by others to do any writing. This included being locked in a hotel suite with his editor for three weeks to ensure that So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish was completed. He was quoted as saying, \"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.\" Despite the difficulty with deadlines, Adams wrote five novels in the series, published in 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, and 1992.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The books formed the basis for other adaptations, such as three-part comic book adaptations for each of the first three books, an interactive text-adventure computer game, and a photo-illustrated edition, published in 1994. This latter edition featured a 42 Puzzle designed by Adams, which was later incorporated into paperback covers of the first four Hitchhiker's novels (the paperback for the fifth re-used the artwork from the hardback edition).",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "In 1980, Adams began attempts to turn the first Hitchhiker's novel into a film, making several trips to Los Angeles, and working with Hollywood studios and potential producers. The next year, the radio series became the basis for a BBC television mini-series broadcast in six parts. When he died in 2001 in California, he had been trying again to get the film project started with Disney, which had bought the rights in 1998. The screenplay got a posthumous re-write by Karey Kirkpatrick, and the resulting film was released in 2005.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Radio producer Dirk Maggs had consulted with Adams, first in 1993, and later in 1997 and 2000 about creating a third radio series, based on the third novel in the Hitchhiker's series. They also discussed the possibilities of radio adaptations of the final two novels in the five-book \"trilogy\". As with the film, this project was realised only after Adams's death. The third series, The Tertiary Phase, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2004 and was subsequently released on audio CD. With the aid of a recording of his reading of Life, the Universe and Everything and editing, Adams can be heard playing the part of Agrajag posthumously. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish and Mostly Harmless made up the fourth and fifth radio series, respectively (on radio they were titled The Quandary Phase and The Quintessential Phase) and these were broadcast in May and June 2005, and also subsequently released on Audio CD. The last episode in the last series (with a new, \"more upbeat\" ending) concluded with, \"The very final episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is affectionately dedicated to its author.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Between Adams's first trip to Madagascar with Mark Carwardine in 1985, and their series of travels that formed the basis for the radio series and non-fiction book Last Chance to See, Adams wrote two other novels with a new cast of characters. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was published in 1987, and was described by its author as \"a kind of ghost-horror-detective-time-travel-romantic-comedy-epic, mainly concerned with mud, music and quantum mechanics\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "A sequel, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, was published a year later. This was an entirely original work, Adams's first since So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish. After the book tour, Adams set off on his round-the-world excursion which supplied him with the material for Last Chance to See.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "The Salmon of Doubt was incomplete when published posthumously.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Adams played the guitar left-handed and had a collection of twenty-four left-handed guitars when he died (having received his first guitar in 1964). He also studied piano in the 1960s. Pink Floyd and Procol Harum had important influence on Adams's work.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Adams's official biography shares its name with the song \"Wish You Were Here\" by Pink Floyd. The opening section of \"Shine On You Crazy Diamond\" was featured in a section of the third episode of the original 1978 Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series (broadcast only, cut from commercial releases). Adams was friends with Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour and, on Adams's 42nd birthday, he was invited to make a guest appearance at Pink Floyd's concert of 28 October 1994 at Earls Court in London, playing guitar on the songs \"Brain Damage\" and \"Eclipse\". Adams chose the name for Pink Floyd's 1994 album, The Division Bell, by picking the words from the lyrics to one of its tracks, \"High Hopes\". Pink Floyd and the song \"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun\" in particular, inspired Adams to create the rock band Disaster Area who appear in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, who planned to crash a space ship into a nearby star as a stunt during a concert. Gilmour also performed at Adams's memorial service in 2001, and what would have been Adams's 60th birthday party in 2012.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Douglas Adams created an interactive fiction version of HHGG with Steve Meretzky from Infocom in 1984. In 1986 he participated in a week-long brainstorming session with the Lucasfilm Games team for the game Labyrinth. Later he was also involved in creating Bureaucracy as a parody of events in his own life.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Adams was a founder-director and Chief Fantasist of The Digital Village, a digital media and Internet company with which he created Starship Titanic, a Codie award-winning and BAFTA-nominated adventure game, which was published in 1998 by Simon & Schuster. Terry Jones wrote the accompanying book, entitled Douglas Adams' Starship Titanic, since Adams was too busy with the computer game to do both. In April 1999, Adams initiated the h2g2 collaborative writing project, an experimental attempt at making The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a reality, and at harnessing the collective brainpower of the internet community. It was hosted by BBC Online from 2001 to 2011.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "In 1990, Adams wrote and presented a television documentary programme Hyperland which featured Tom Baker as a \"software agent\" (similar to the assistant pictured in Apple's Knowledge Navigator video of future concepts from 1987), and interviews with Ted Nelson, the co-inventor of hypertext and the person who coined the term. Adams was an early adopter and advocate of hypertext.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Adams described himself as a \"radical atheist\", adding \"radical\" for emphasis so he would not be asked if he meant agnostic. He told American Atheists that this conveyed the fact that he really meant it. He imagined a sentient puddle who wakes up one morning and thinks, \"This is an interesting world I find myself in – an interesting hole I find myself in – fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!\" to express his disbelief in the fine-tuned universe argument for God.",
"title": "Personal beliefs and activism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "He remained fascinated by religion because of its effect on human affairs. \"I love to keep poking and prodding at it. I've thought about it so much over the years that that fascination is bound to spill over into my writing.\"",
"title": "Personal beliefs and activism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "The evolutionary biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins invited Adams to participate in his 1991 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, where Dawkins calls Adams from the audience to read a passage from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe which satirizes the absurdity of the thought that any one species would exist on Earth merely to serve as a meal to another species, such as humans. Dawkins also uses Adams's influence to exemplify arguments for non-belief in his 2006 book The God Delusion. Dawkins dedicated the book to Adams, whom he jokingly called \"possibly [my] only convert\" to atheism and wrote on his death that \"Science has lost a friend, literature has lost a luminary, the mountain gorilla and the black rhino have lost a gallant defender.\"",
"title": "Personal beliefs and activism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Adams was also an environmental activist who campaigned on behalf of endangered species. This activism included the production of the non-fiction radio series Last Chance to See, in which he and naturalist Mark Carwardine visited rare species such as the kākāpō and baiji, and the publication of a tie-in book of the same name. In 1992, this was made into a CD-ROM combination of audiobook, e-book and picture slide show.",
"title": "Personal beliefs and activism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Adams and Mark Carwardine contributed the 'Meeting a Gorilla' passage from Last Chance to See to the book The Great Ape Project. This book, edited by Paola Cavalieri and Peter Singer, launched a wider-scale project in 1993, which calls for the extension of moral equality to include all great apes, human and non-human.",
"title": "Personal beliefs and activism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "In 1994, he participated in a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro while wearing a rhino suit for the British charity organisation Save the Rhino International. Puppeteer William Todd-Jones, who had originally worn the suit in the London Marathon to raise money and bring awareness to the group, also participated in the climb wearing a rhino suit; Adams wore the suit while travelling to the mountain before the climb began. About £100,000 was raised through that event, benefiting schools in Kenya and a black rhinoceros preservation programme in Tanzania. Adams was also an active supporter of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.",
"title": "Personal beliefs and activism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Since 2003, Save the Rhino has held an annual Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture around the time of his birthday to raise money for environmental campaigns.",
"title": "Personal beliefs and activism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Adams bought his first word processor in 1982, having considered one as early as 1979. His first purchase was a Nexu. In 1983, when he and Jane Belson went to Los Angeles, he bought a DEC Rainbow. Upon their return to England, Adams bought an Apricot, then a BBC Micro and a Tandy 1000. In Last Chance to See, Adams mentions his Cambridge Z88, which he had taken to Zaire on a quest to find the northern white rhinoceros.",
"title": "Personal beliefs and activism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Adams's posthumously published work, The Salmon of Doubt, features several articles by him on the subject of technology, including reprints of articles that originally ran in MacUser, and in The Independent on Sunday. In these, Adams claims that one of the first computers he ever saw was a Commodore PET, and that he had \"adored\" his Apple Macintosh (\"or rather my family of however many Macintoshes it is that I've recklessly accumulated over the years\") since he first saw one at Infocom's offices in Boston in 1984.",
"title": "Personal beliefs and activism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Adams was a Macintosh user from the time they first came out in 1984 until his death in 2001. He was the first person to buy a Mac in Europe, the second being Stephen Fry. Adams was also an \"Apple Master\", celebrities whom Apple made into spokespeople for its products (others included John Cleese and Gregory Hines). Adams's contributions included a rock video that he created using the first version of iMovie with footage featuring his daughter Polly. The video was available on Adams's .Mac homepage. Adams installed and started using the first release of Mac OS X in the weeks leading up to his death. His last post to his own forum was in praise of Mac OS X and the possibilities of its Cocoa programming framework. He said it was \"awesome...\", which was also the last word he wrote on his site.",
"title": "Personal beliefs and activism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Adams used email to correspond with Steve Meretzky in the early 1980s, during their collaboration on Infocom's version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. While living in New Mexico in 1993 he set up another e-mail address and began posting to his own USENET newsgroup, alt.fan.douglas-adams, and occasionally, when his computer was acting up, to the comp.sys.mac hierarchy. Challenges to the authenticity of his messages later led Adams to set up a message forum on his own website to avoid the issue. In 1996, Adams was a keynote speaker at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) where he described the personal computer as being a modelling device. The video of his keynote speech is archived on Channel 9. Adams was also a keynote speaker for the April 2001 Embedded Systems Conference in San Francisco, one of the major technical conferences on embedded system engineering.",
"title": "Personal beliefs and activism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Adams moved to Upper Street, Islington, in 1981 and to Duncan Terrace, a few minutes' walk away, in the late 1980s.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "In the early 1980s, Adams had an affair with novelist Sally Emerson, who was separated from her husband at that time. Adams later dedicated his book Life, the Universe and Everything to Emerson. In 1981, Emerson returned to her husband, Peter Stothard, a contemporary of Adams at Brentwood School, and later editor of The Times. Adams was soon introduced by friends to Jane Belson, with whom he later became romantically involved. Belson was the \"lady barrister\" mentioned in the jacket-flap biography printed in his books during the mid-1980s (\"He [Adams] lives in Islington with a lady barrister and an Apple Macintosh\"). The two lived in Los Angeles together during 1983, while Adams worked on an early screenplay adaptation of Hitchhiker's. When the deal fell through, they moved back to London, and after several separations (\"He is currently not certain where he lives, or with whom\") and a broken engagement, they married on 25 November 1991.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Adams and Belson had one daughter together, Polly Jane Rocket Adams, born on 22 June 1994, shortly after Adams turned 42. In 1999, the family moved from London to Santa Barbara, California, where they lived until his death. Following the funeral, Jane Belson and Polly Adams returned to London. Belson died on 7 September 2011 of cancer, aged 59.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Adams died of a heart attack due to undiagnosed coronary artery disease on 11 May 2001, aged 49, after resting from his regular workout at a private gym in Montecito, California. His funeral was held on 16 May in Santa Barbara. His ashes were placed in Highgate Cemetery in north London in June 2002. A memorial service was held on 17 September 2001 at St Martin-in-the-Fields church, Trafalgar Square, London. This became the first church service broadcast live on the web by the BBC.",
"title": "Death and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Two days before Adams died, the Minor Planet Center announced the naming of asteroid 18610 Arthurdent. In 2005, the asteroid 25924 Douglasadams was named in his memory.",
"title": "Death and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "In May 2002, The Salmon of Doubt was published, containing many short stories, essays, and letters, as well as eulogies from Richard Dawkins, Stephen Fry (in the UK edition), Christopher Cerf (in the US edition), and Terry Jones (in the US paperback edition). It also includes eleven chapters of his unfinished novel, The Salmon of Doubt, which was originally intended to become a new Dirk Gently novel, but might have later become the sixth Hitchhiker novel.",
"title": "Death and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Other events after Adams's death included a webcast production of Shada, allowing the complete story to be told, radio dramatisations of the final three books in the Hitchhiker's series, and the completion of the film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The film, released in 2005, posthumously credits Adams as a producer, and several design elements – including a head-shaped planet seen near the end of the film – incorporated Adams's features.",
"title": "Death and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "A 12-part radio series based on the Dirk Gently novels was announced in 2007.",
"title": "Death and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "BBC Radio 4 also commissioned a third Dirk Gently radio series based on the incomplete chapters of The Salmon of Doubt, and written by Kim Fuller; but this was dropped in favour of a BBC TV series based on the two completed novels. A sixth Hitchhiker novel, And Another Thing..., by Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer, was released on 12 October 2009 (the 30th anniversary of the first book), published with the support of Adams's estate. A BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime adaptation and an audio book soon followed.",
"title": "Death and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "On 25 May 2001, two weeks after Adams's death, his fans organised a tribute known as Towel Day, which has been observed every year since then.",
"title": "Death and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "An Apple Macintosh SE/30 once owned by Adams can be seen on display at The Centre for Computing History in Cambridge.",
"title": "Death and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "In 2018, John Lloyd presented an hour-long episode of the BBC Radio Four documentary Archive on 4, discussing Adams' private papers, which are held at St John's College, Cambridge. The episode is available online.",
"title": "Death and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Travessa Douglas Adams, a street at 27°35′21.8″S 48°39′44.0″W / 27.589389°S 48.662222°W / -27.589389; -48.662222 (Travessa Douglas Adams) in São José, Santa Catarina, Brazil is named in Adams's honour.",
"title": "Death and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "In March 2021, Unbound announced a crowdfunder for 42: the wildly improbable ideas of Douglas Adams, on the 20th anniversary of his death, a book based on Adams's papers, edited by Kevin Jon Davies.",
"title": "Death and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "The annual Douglas Adams Memorial Lectures began in 2003 and continued to 2016.",
"title": "Death and legacy"
}
] | Douglas Noël Adams was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (HHGTTG). Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy developed into a "trilogy" of five books that sold more than 15 million copies in his lifetime. It was further developed into a television series, several stage plays, comics, a video game, and a 2005 feature film. Adams's contribution to UK radio is commemorated in The Radio Academy's Hall of Fame. Adams also wrote Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (1987) and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (1988), and co-wrote The Meaning of Liff (1983), The Deeper Meaning of Liff (1990) and Last Chance to See (1990). He wrote two stories for the television series Doctor Who, co-wrote City of Death (1979), and served as script editor for its seventeenth season. He co-wrote the sketch "Patient Abuse" for the final episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. A posthumous collection of his selected works, including the first publication of his final (unfinished) novel, was published as The Salmon of Doubt in 2002. Adams was a self-proclaimed "radical atheist", an advocate for environmentalism and conservation, and a lover of fast cars, technological innovation and the Apple Macintosh. | 2001-11-09T23:50:08Z | 2023-12-27T22:27:03Z | [
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8,092 | Drum and bass | Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre grew out of the UK's jungle scene in the 1990s.
The popularity of drum and bass at its commercial peak ran parallel to several other UK dance styles. A major influence was the original Jamaican dub and reggae sound that influenced jungle's bass-heavy sound. Another feature of the style is the complex syncopation of the drum tracks' breakbeat. Drum and bass subgenres include breakcore, ragga jungle, hardstep, darkstep, techstep, neurofunk, ambient drum and bass, liquid funk (also known as liquid drum and bass), jump up, drumfunk, sambass, and drill 'n' bass. Drum and bass has influenced many other genres like hip hop, big beat, dubstep, house, trip hop, ambient music, techno, jazz, rock and pop.
Drum and bass is dominated by a relatively small group of record labels. Major international music labels had shown very little interest in the drum and bass scene until BMG Rights Management acquired RAM in February 2016. Since then, the genre has seen a significant growth in exposure. Whilst the origin of drum and bass music is in the UK, the genre has evolved considerably with many other prominent fanbases located all over the world.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a growing nightclub and overnight outdoor event culture gave birth to new genres in the rave scene including breakbeat hardcore, darkcore, and hardcore jungle, which combined sampled syncopated beats, or breakbeats, and other samples from a wide range of different musical genres and, occasionally, samples of music, dialogue and effects from films and television programmes. From as early as 1991, tracks were beginning to strip away some of the heavier sampling and "hardcore noises" and create more bassline and breakbeat led tracks. Some tracks increasingly took their influence from reggae and this style would become known as hardcore jungle (later to become simply jungle), whilst darkcore (with producers such as Goldie, Doc Scott, 4hero, and 2 Bad Mice) were experimenting with sounds and creating a blueprint for drum and bass, especially noticeable by late 1993.
By 1994, jungle had begun to gain mainstream popularity, and fans of the music (often referred to as junglists) became a more recognisable part of youth subculture. The genre further developed, incorporating and fusing elements from a wide range of existing musical genres, including the raggamuffin sound, dancehall, MC chants, dub basslines, and increasingly complex, heavily edited breakbeat percussion. Despite the affiliation with the ecstasy-fuelled rave scene, jungle also inherited associations with violence and criminal activity, both from the gang culture that had affected the UK's hip-hop scene and as a consequence of jungle's often aggressive or menacing sound and themes of violence (usually reflected in the choice of samples). However, this developed in tandem with the often positive reputation of the music as part of the wider rave scene and dancehall-based Jamaican music culture prevalent in London. By 1995, whether as a reaction to, or independently of this cultural schism, some jungle producers began to move away from the ragga-influenced style and create what would become collectively labelled, for convenience, as drum and bass.
As the genre became generally more polished and sophisticated technically, it began to expand its reach from pirate radio to commercial stations and gain widespread acceptance (circa 1995–1997). It also began to split into recognisable subgenres such as hardstep, jump up, ragga, techstep, and what was known at the time as intelligent. As more melodic and often jazz-influenced subgenres of drum and bass called atmospheric or intelligent (Blame and Blu Mar Ten) and jazzstep (4Hero, Roni Size) gained mainstream appeal, additional subgenres emerged including techstep in 1996, drawing influence from techno.
The emergence of related styles such as liquid funk brought a wave of new artists incorporating new ideas and techniques, supporting continual evolution of the genre. To this day, drum and bass makes frequent appearances in mainstream media and popular culture including in television, as well as being a major reference point for subsequent genres such as grime and dubstep, and producing successful artists including Chase & Status, Netsky, Metrik, and Pendulum.
Pitchfork noted a "rising zoomer affinity" for the genre in the 2020s.
Drum and bass incorporates a number of scenes and styles, from the highly electronic, industrial sounds of techstep to the use of conventional, acoustic instrumentation that characterise the more jazz-influenced end of the spectrum. The sounds of drum and bass are extremely varied due to the range of influences behind the music. Drum and bass could at one time be defined as a strictly electronic musical genre, with the only "live" element being the DJ's selection and mixing of records during a set. "Live" drum and bass using electric, electronic and acoustic instruments played by musicians on stage emerged over the ensuing years of the genre's development.
A very obvious and strong influence on jungle and drum and bass, thanks to the British African-Caribbean sound system scene, is the original Jamaican dub and reggae sound, with pioneers like King Tubby, Peter Tosh, Sly & Robbie, Bill Laswell, Lee Perry, Mad Professor, Roots Radics, Bob Marley and Buju Banton heavily influencing the music. This influence has lessened with time, but is still evident, with many tracks containing ragga vocals.
As a musical style built around funk or syncopated rock and roll breaks, James Brown, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Ella Fitzgerald, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, the Supremes, the Commodores, Jerry Lee Lewis, and even Michael Jackson acted as funk influences on the music. Jazz pioneer Miles Davis has been named as a possible influence. Blues artists such as Lead Belly, Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, Muddy Waters and B.B King have also been cited by producers as inspirations. Even modern avant-garde composers such as Henryk Gorecki have received mention. One of the most influential tracks in drum and bass history was "Amen Brother" by The Winstons, which contains a drum solo that has since become known as the "Amen break", which, after being extensively used in early hip hop music, went on to become the basis for the rhythms used in drum and bass.
Kevin Saunderson released a series of bass-heavy, minimal techno cuts as Reese/The Reese Project in the late '80s, which were hugely influential in drum and bass. One of his more famous basslines (Reese – "Just Want Another Chance", Incognito Records, 1988) was indeed sampled on Renegade's Terrorist and countless others since, being known simply as the 'Reese' bassline. He followed these up with equally influential (and bassline-heavy) tracks in the UK hardcore style as Tronik House in 1991–1992. Another Detroit artist who was important to the scene was Carl Craig. The sampled-up jazz break on Craig's Bug in the Bassbin was also influential on the newly emerging sound. DJs at the Heaven nightclub on "Rage" nights used to play it as fast as their Technics record decks would go, pitching it up in the process.
By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the tradition of breakbeat use in hip hop production had influenced the sound of breakbeat hardcore, which in turn led to the emergence of jungle, drum and bass, and other genres that shared the same use of broken beats. Drum and bass shares many musical characteristics with hip-hop, though it is nowadays mostly stripped of lyrics. Grandmaster Flash, Roger Troutman, Afrika Bambaata, Run DMC, Mac Dre, Public Enemy, Schooly D, N.W.A, Kid Frost, Wu-Tang Clan, Dr. Dre, Mos Def, Beastie Boys and the Pharcyde are very often directly sampled, regardless of their general influence.
Clearly, drum and bass has been influenced by other music genres, though influences from sources external to the electronic dance music scene perhaps lessened following the shifts from jungle to drum and bass, and through to so-called "intelligent drum and bass" and techstep. It still remains a fusion music style.
Some tracks are illegally remixed and released on white label (technically bootleg), often to acclaim. For example, DJ Zinc's remix of The Fugees' "Ready or Not", also known as "Fugee Or Not", was eventually released with the Fugees' permission after talk of legal action, though ironically, the Fugees' version infringed Enya's copyright to an earlier song. White labels, along with dubplates, played an important part in drum and bass musical culture.
The Amen break was synonymous with early drum and bass productions but other samples have had a significant impact, including the Apache, Funky Drummer, "Soul Pride", "Scorpio" and "Think (About It)" breaks. Early pioneers often used Akai samplers and sequencers on the Atari ST to create their tracks.
Of equal importance is the TR-808 kick drum, an artificially down-pitched or elongated bass drum sound sampled from Roland's classic TR-808 drum machine, and a sound which has been subject to an enormous amount of experimentation over the years.
Many drum and bass tracks have featured more than one sampled breakbeat in them and a technique of switching between two breaks after each bar developed. A more recent commonly used break is the "Tramen", which combines the Amen break, a James Brown funk breakbeat ("Tighten Up" or "Samurai" break) and an Alex Reece drum and bass breakbeat.
The relatively fast drum beat forms a canvas on which a producer can create tracks to appeal to almost any taste and often will form only a background to the other elements of the music. Syncopated breakbeats remain the most distinctive element as without these a high-tempo 4/4 dance track could be classified as techno or gabber.
The complex syncopation of the drum tracks' breakbeat is another facet of production on which producers can spend a very large amount of time. The Amen break is generally acknowledged to have been the most-used (and often considered the most powerful) break in drum and bass.
The genre places great importance on the bassline, in this case a deep sub-bass musical pattern which can be felt physically through powerful sound systems due to the low-range frequencies favoured. There has been considerable exploration of different timbres in the bass line region, particularly within techstep. The bass lines most notably originate from sampled sources or synthesizers. Bass lines performed with a bass instrument, whether it is electric, acoustic or a double bass, are less common.
Atmospheric pads and samples may be added over the fundamental drum and bass to provide different feels. These have included "light" elements such as ambient pads as found in ambient electronica and samples of jazz and world musics, or "dark" elements such as dissonant pads and sci-fi samples to induce anxiety in the dancer.
Old-school DnB usually included an MC providing vocals. Some styles (such as jazz-influenced DnB) also include melodic instruments soloing over the music.
Drum and bass is usually between 160 and 180 BPM, in contrast to other breakbeat-based dance styles such as nu skool breaks, which maintain a slower pace at around 130–140 BPM. A general upward trend in tempo has been observed during the evolution of drum and bass. The earliest forms of drum and bass clocked in at around 130 bpm in 1990/1991, speeding up to around 155–165 BPM by 1993. Since around 1996, drum and bass tempos have predominantly stayed in the 170–180 range. Recently, some producers have started to once again produce tracks with slower tempos (that is, in the 150-170 bpm range), but the mid-170s tempo is still a hallmark of the drum and bass sound.
A track combining the same elements (broken beat, bass, production techniques) as a drum and bass track, but with a slower tempo (say 140 BPM), might not be drum and bass, but instead may qualify as a drum and bass-influenced breakbeat track.
Many mixing points begin or end with a "drop". The drop is the point in a track where a switch of rhythm or bassline occurs and usually follows a recognisable build section and breakdown. Sometimes, the drop is used to switch between tracks, layering components of different tracks, as the two records may be simply ambient breakdowns at this point. Some DJs prefer to combine breakbeats, a more difficult exercise. Some drops are so popular that the DJ will "rewind" or "reload" or "lift up" the record by spinning it back and restarting it at the build. The drop is often a key point from the point of view of the dance floor, since the drum breaks often fade out to leave an ambient intro playing. When the beats re-commence they are often more complex and accompanied by a heavier bassline, encouraging the crowd to begin dancing.
Drum and bass exhibits a full frequency response which can sometimes only be fully appreciated on sound systems which can handle very low frequencies, including sub-bass frequencies that are often felt more than heard. As befits its name, the bass element of the music is particularly pronounced, with the comparatively sparse arrangements of drum and bass tracks allowing room for basslines that are deeper than most other forms of dance music. Drum and bass tracks are meticulously designed to create a hard-hitting emotional impact, with the drums complementing the bass to deliver a pulsating, powerful experience. Consequently, drum and bass parties are often advertised as featuring uncommonly loud and bass-heavy sound systems.
There are however many albums specifically designed for personal listening. The DJ mix is a particularly popular form of release, with a popular DJ or producer mixing live, or on a computer, a variety of tracks for personal listening. Additionally, there are many albums containing unmixed tracks, suited for home or car listening.
Although this practice has declined in popularity, DJs are often accompanied by one or more MCs, drawing on the genre's roots in hip hop and reggae/ragga.
MCs do not generally receive the same level of recognition as producer/DJs, and some events are specifically marketed as being MC-free. There are relatively few well-known drum and bass MCs, mainly based in London and Bristol, including Stevie Hyper D (deceased), the Ragga Twins, Dynamite MC, Skibadee(deceased) and MC Tali.
Many musicians have adapted drum and bass to live performances, which feature instruments such as drums (acoustic or electronic), samplers, synthesizers, turntables, bass (either upright or electric) and guitars (acoustic or electric). Samplers have also been used live by assigning samples to a specific drum pad or key on drum pads or synthesizers. MCs are frequently featured in live performances.
Smaller scenes within the drum and bass community have developed and the scene as a whole has become much more fractured into specific subgenres, which have been grouped into "light" (influenced by ambient, jazz, and world music) and "heavy" (influenced by industrial music, sci-fi, and anxiety) styles, including:
Born around the same time as jungle, breakcore and digital hardcore share many of the elements of drum and bass and to the uninitiated, tracks from the extreme end of drum and bass may sound identical to breakcore thanks to speed, complexity, impact and maximum sonic density combined with musical experimentation. German drum and bass DJ The Panacea is also one of the leading digital hardcore artists. Raggacore resembles a faster version of the ragga-influenced jungle music of the 1990s, similar to breakcore but with more friendly dancehall beats (dancehall itself being a very important influence on drum and bass). Darkcore, a direct influence on drum and bass, was combined with influences of drum and bass itself leading to the creation of darkstep. There is considerable crossover from the extreme edges of drum and bass, breakcore, darkcore, digital hardcore and raggacore with fluid boundaries.
Intelligent dance music (IDM) is a form of art music based on DnB and other electronic dance musics, exploring their boundaries using ideas from science, technology, contemporary classical music and progressive rock, often creating un-danceable, art gallery style music.
Recently created in the United States is a genre called ghettotech which contains synth and basslines similar to drum and bass.
Drum and bass is dominated by a small group of record labels. These are mainly run by DJ-producers, such as London Elektricity's Hospital Records, Andy C and Scott Bourne's RAM, Goldie's Metalheadz, Fabio and Sarah Sandy's Creative Source Records, Kasra's Critical Music, DJ Friction's Shogun Audio, DJ Fresh's Breakbeat Kaos, Ed Rush & Optical's Virus Recordings, Futurebound's Viper Recordings and DJ Hype, Pascal, NoCopyrightSounds and formerly DJ Zinc's True Playaz (known as Real Playaz as of 2006).
Prior to 2016, the major international music labels such as Sony Music and Universal had shown very little interest in the drum and bass scene, with the exception of some notable signings, including Pendulum's In Silico LP to Warner. Roni Size's label played a big, if not the biggest, part in the creation of drum and bass with their dark, baseline sounds. V Recordings also played a large part of the development of drum and bass.
BMG Rights Management acquired Ram Records in February 2016, making a strategic investment to help RAM Records (a London-based drum and bass record company co-owned by Andy C and his business partner Scott Bourne). RAM Records has been pushing the boundaries of drum and bass further into the mainstream with artists such as Chase and Status and Sub Focus.
Now defunct labels, include Rob Playford's Moving Shadow, running from 1990 until 2007, which played a pivotal role in the nineties drum and bass scene, releasing records by artists such as Omni Trio.
Originally drum and bass was mostly sold in 12-inch vinyl single format. With the emergence of drum and bass into mainstream music markets, more albums, compilations and DJ mixes started to be sold on CDs. As digital music became more popular, websites focused on electronic music, such as Beatport, began to sell drum and bass in digital format.
The bulk of drum and bass vinyl records and CDs are distributed globally and regionally by a relatively small number of companies such as SRD (Southern Record Distributors), ST Holdings, & Nu Urban Music Limited.
As of 11 September 2012, Nu Urban ceased trading and RSM Tenon were instructed to assist in convening statutory meetings of members and creditors to appoint a liquidator. This left many labels short on sales, as Nu Urban were one of the main distributors for the vinyl market in the drum and bass scene.
Despite its roots in the UK, which is still treated as the "home" of drum and bass, the style has firmly established itself around the world. There are strong scenes in other English-speaking countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States.
Today, drum and bass is widely promoted using different methods such as video sharing services like YouTube and Dailymotion, blogs, radio, and television, the latter being the most uncommon method. More recently, music networking websites such as SoundCloud and Mixcloud have become powerful tools for artist recognition, providing a vast platform that enables quick responses to new tracks. Record labels have adopted the use of podcasts. Prior to the rise of the internet, drum and bass was commonly broadcast over pirate radio.
The three highest-profile radio stations playing drum and bass shows are BBC Radio 1 with The Drum and Bass Show - formerly with Friction, who was replaced with René LaVice in 2017, simulcast in the US and Canada on Sirius XM, and DJ Hype on Kiss 100 in London. Fabio and Grooverider previously held a long-standing drum and bass show on Radio 1. Radio 1 also had the One in the Jungle show.
The BBC's Black music station BBC Radio 1Xtra used to feature the genre heavily, with DJ Bailey (show axed as of 29 August 2012) and Crissy Criss (show axed as of August 2014) as its advocates. The network also organises a week-long tour of the UK each year called Xtra Bass. London pirate radio stations have been instrumental in the development of drum and bass, with stations such as Kool FM (which continues to broadcast today having done so since 1991), Origin FM, Don FM (the only drum and bass pirate to have gained a temporary legal licence), Renegade Radio 107.2FM, Rude FM, Wax FM and Eruption among the most influential.
As of 2014, despite higher profile stations such as 1Xtra scaling back their drum and bass specialist coverage, the genre has made its way into UK top 10 charts with drum and bass inspired tracks from artists such as Rudimental and Sigma. Earlier in August 2014, before Crissy Criss' show was axed, the BBC held a whole prime time evening event dedicated to showcasing drum and bass by allowing four major labels to participate.
As of November 2014, six drum & bass songs had reached the no.1 spot on the UK's top 40 chart, since the genre was first being played on the radio, around 1993. The first of these was in 2012. The fact that all six of these songs reached number 1 in only two years shows the increase in popularity and commercialisation of the genre in recent years. The artists who produced these songs are Sigma, Rudimental and DJ Fresh (all had two No.1 hits).
Internet radio stations, acting in the same light as pirate stations, have also been an instrumental part in promoting drum and bass music; the majority of them funded by listener and artist donations.
Drum and bass was supported by Ministry of Sound radio from the early 2000s until 2014 and later featuring Tuesday shows from labels such as Metalheadz, Fabio & Grooverider, DJ Marky, Viper Recordings, Shogun Audio and Hospital Records. From September 2014, Ministry abruptly dropped all non-mainstream genres to focus on mainstream EDM, causing disappointment amongst the fans of the D&B community.
In Toronto since 1994, The Prophecy on 89.5 CIUT-FM with Marcus Visionary, DJ Prime and Mr. Brown, is North America's longest running jungle radio show.
Album 88.5 (Atlanta) and C89.5fm (Seattle) have shows showcasing drum and bass.
Seattle also has a long-standing electronica show known as Expansions on 90.3 FM KEXP. The rotating DJs include Kid Hops, whose shows are made up mostly of drum and bass. In Columbus, Ohio WCBE 90.5 has a two-hour electronic only showcase, All Mixed Up, Saturday nights at 10 pm. At the same time, WUFM 88.7 plays its Electronic Playground.
Tulsa, Oklahoma's rock station, 104.5 The Edge, has a two-hour show starting at 10 pm Saturday nights called Edge Essential Mix, mixed by DJ Demko, showcasing electronic and drum and bass style. While the aforementioned shows in Ohio rarely play drum and bass, the latter plays the genre with some frequency.
In Tucson, Arizona, 91.3 FM KXCI has a two-hour electronic show known as Digital Empire, Friday nights at 10 pm (MST). Resident DJ Trinidad showcases various styles of electronica, with the main focus being drum and bass, jungle and dubstep.
In Augusta, Georgia, Zarbizarre of the Cereal Killaz hosts a show called FreQuency on WHHD on Friday nights from 11 pm until 1 am, showcasing drum and bass during the second hour of the show.
The best-known drum and bass publication was Kmag magazine (formerly called Knowledge Magazine) before it went completely online in August 2009. Although it is still live, after 20 years Kmag ceased updating their site at the end of 2014. Kmag has announced a book to celebrate their 25th anniversary to be published in December 2019. Kmag's publishing arm, Vision, published Brian Belle-Fortune's All Crews Journeys Through Jungle Drum & Bass Culture in 2004.
Other publications include the longest-running drum and bass magazine worldwide, ATM Magazine, and Austrian-based Resident. London-based DJ magazine has also been running a widely respected drum and bass reviews page since 1994, written by Alex Constantinides, which many followers refer to when seeking out new releases to investigate. In 2012 he stopped writing the reviews, and they are now contributed by Whisky Kicks.
The earliest mainstream drum and bass releases include Goldie's album Timeless from 1995. Other early examples include the Mercury Music Prize-winning album New Forms (1997) from Reprazent; 4hero's Mercury-nominated Two Pages from 1998; and then, in the 2000s, Pendulum's Hold Your Colour in 2005 (the best-selling drum and bass album).
In 2012, drum and bass achieved its first UK No. 1 single, "Hot Right Now", by DJ Fresh, which was one of the fastest-selling singles of 2012 at the time of release, launching the career of Rita Ora in the process.
Numerous video games (such as Hudson Soft's Bomberman Hero, Hi-Rez Studios' Tribes: Ascend, Electronic Arts' Need for Speed: Undercover, Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series, and Sony's Wipeout series from Pure onward) have contained drum and bass tracks. Microsoft Studios' Forza Horizon 2, 3, 4 and 5 feature a Hospital Records radio channel.
The genre has some popularity in soundtracks; for instance, "Ultrasonic Sound" was used in The Matrix's soundtrack, and the E-Z Rollers' song "Walk This Land" appeared in the film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Ganja Kru's "Super Sharp Shooter" can be heard in the 2006 film Johnny Was.
The Channel 4 show Skins uses the genre in some episodes, notably in the first series' third episode, "Jal", where Shy FX and UK Apache's "Original Nuttah" was played in Fazer's club. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre grew out of the UK's jungle scene in the 1990s.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The popularity of drum and bass at its commercial peak ran parallel to several other UK dance styles. A major influence was the original Jamaican dub and reggae sound that influenced jungle's bass-heavy sound. Another feature of the style is the complex syncopation of the drum tracks' breakbeat. Drum and bass subgenres include breakcore, ragga jungle, hardstep, darkstep, techstep, neurofunk, ambient drum and bass, liquid funk (also known as liquid drum and bass), jump up, drumfunk, sambass, and drill 'n' bass. Drum and bass has influenced many other genres like hip hop, big beat, dubstep, house, trip hop, ambient music, techno, jazz, rock and pop.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Drum and bass is dominated by a relatively small group of record labels. Major international music labels had shown very little interest in the drum and bass scene until BMG Rights Management acquired RAM in February 2016. Since then, the genre has seen a significant growth in exposure. Whilst the origin of drum and bass music is in the UK, the genre has evolved considerably with many other prominent fanbases located all over the world.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a growing nightclub and overnight outdoor event culture gave birth to new genres in the rave scene including breakbeat hardcore, darkcore, and hardcore jungle, which combined sampled syncopated beats, or breakbeats, and other samples from a wide range of different musical genres and, occasionally, samples of music, dialogue and effects from films and television programmes. From as early as 1991, tracks were beginning to strip away some of the heavier sampling and \"hardcore noises\" and create more bassline and breakbeat led tracks. Some tracks increasingly took their influence from reggae and this style would become known as hardcore jungle (later to become simply jungle), whilst darkcore (with producers such as Goldie, Doc Scott, 4hero, and 2 Bad Mice) were experimenting with sounds and creating a blueprint for drum and bass, especially noticeable by late 1993.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "By 1994, jungle had begun to gain mainstream popularity, and fans of the music (often referred to as junglists) became a more recognisable part of youth subculture. The genre further developed, incorporating and fusing elements from a wide range of existing musical genres, including the raggamuffin sound, dancehall, MC chants, dub basslines, and increasingly complex, heavily edited breakbeat percussion. Despite the affiliation with the ecstasy-fuelled rave scene, jungle also inherited associations with violence and criminal activity, both from the gang culture that had affected the UK's hip-hop scene and as a consequence of jungle's often aggressive or menacing sound and themes of violence (usually reflected in the choice of samples). However, this developed in tandem with the often positive reputation of the music as part of the wider rave scene and dancehall-based Jamaican music culture prevalent in London. By 1995, whether as a reaction to, or independently of this cultural schism, some jungle producers began to move away from the ragga-influenced style and create what would become collectively labelled, for convenience, as drum and bass.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "As the genre became generally more polished and sophisticated technically, it began to expand its reach from pirate radio to commercial stations and gain widespread acceptance (circa 1995–1997). It also began to split into recognisable subgenres such as hardstep, jump up, ragga, techstep, and what was known at the time as intelligent. As more melodic and often jazz-influenced subgenres of drum and bass called atmospheric or intelligent (Blame and Blu Mar Ten) and jazzstep (4Hero, Roni Size) gained mainstream appeal, additional subgenres emerged including techstep in 1996, drawing influence from techno.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The emergence of related styles such as liquid funk brought a wave of new artists incorporating new ideas and techniques, supporting continual evolution of the genre. To this day, drum and bass makes frequent appearances in mainstream media and popular culture including in television, as well as being a major reference point for subsequent genres such as grime and dubstep, and producing successful artists including Chase & Status, Netsky, Metrik, and Pendulum.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Pitchfork noted a \"rising zoomer affinity\" for the genre in the 2020s.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Drum and bass incorporates a number of scenes and styles, from the highly electronic, industrial sounds of techstep to the use of conventional, acoustic instrumentation that characterise the more jazz-influenced end of the spectrum. The sounds of drum and bass are extremely varied due to the range of influences behind the music. Drum and bass could at one time be defined as a strictly electronic musical genre, with the only \"live\" element being the DJ's selection and mixing of records during a set. \"Live\" drum and bass using electric, electronic and acoustic instruments played by musicians on stage emerged over the ensuing years of the genre's development.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "A very obvious and strong influence on jungle and drum and bass, thanks to the British African-Caribbean sound system scene, is the original Jamaican dub and reggae sound, with pioneers like King Tubby, Peter Tosh, Sly & Robbie, Bill Laswell, Lee Perry, Mad Professor, Roots Radics, Bob Marley and Buju Banton heavily influencing the music. This influence has lessened with time, but is still evident, with many tracks containing ragga vocals.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "As a musical style built around funk or syncopated rock and roll breaks, James Brown, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Ella Fitzgerald, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, the Supremes, the Commodores, Jerry Lee Lewis, and even Michael Jackson acted as funk influences on the music. Jazz pioneer Miles Davis has been named as a possible influence. Blues artists such as Lead Belly, Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, Muddy Waters and B.B King have also been cited by producers as inspirations. Even modern avant-garde composers such as Henryk Gorecki have received mention. One of the most influential tracks in drum and bass history was \"Amen Brother\" by The Winstons, which contains a drum solo that has since become known as the \"Amen break\", which, after being extensively used in early hip hop music, went on to become the basis for the rhythms used in drum and bass.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Kevin Saunderson released a series of bass-heavy, minimal techno cuts as Reese/The Reese Project in the late '80s, which were hugely influential in drum and bass. One of his more famous basslines (Reese – \"Just Want Another Chance\", Incognito Records, 1988) was indeed sampled on Renegade's Terrorist and countless others since, being known simply as the 'Reese' bassline. He followed these up with equally influential (and bassline-heavy) tracks in the UK hardcore style as Tronik House in 1991–1992. Another Detroit artist who was important to the scene was Carl Craig. The sampled-up jazz break on Craig's Bug in the Bassbin was also influential on the newly emerging sound. DJs at the Heaven nightclub on \"Rage\" nights used to play it as fast as their Technics record decks would go, pitching it up in the process.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the tradition of breakbeat use in hip hop production had influenced the sound of breakbeat hardcore, which in turn led to the emergence of jungle, drum and bass, and other genres that shared the same use of broken beats. Drum and bass shares many musical characteristics with hip-hop, though it is nowadays mostly stripped of lyrics. Grandmaster Flash, Roger Troutman, Afrika Bambaata, Run DMC, Mac Dre, Public Enemy, Schooly D, N.W.A, Kid Frost, Wu-Tang Clan, Dr. Dre, Mos Def, Beastie Boys and the Pharcyde are very often directly sampled, regardless of their general influence.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Clearly, drum and bass has been influenced by other music genres, though influences from sources external to the electronic dance music scene perhaps lessened following the shifts from jungle to drum and bass, and through to so-called \"intelligent drum and bass\" and techstep. It still remains a fusion music style.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Some tracks are illegally remixed and released on white label (technically bootleg), often to acclaim. For example, DJ Zinc's remix of The Fugees' \"Ready or Not\", also known as \"Fugee Or Not\", was eventually released with the Fugees' permission after talk of legal action, though ironically, the Fugees' version infringed Enya's copyright to an earlier song. White labels, along with dubplates, played an important part in drum and bass musical culture.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The Amen break was synonymous with early drum and bass productions but other samples have had a significant impact, including the Apache, Funky Drummer, \"Soul Pride\", \"Scorpio\" and \"Think (About It)\" breaks. Early pioneers often used Akai samplers and sequencers on the Atari ST to create their tracks.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Of equal importance is the TR-808 kick drum, an artificially down-pitched or elongated bass drum sound sampled from Roland's classic TR-808 drum machine, and a sound which has been subject to an enormous amount of experimentation over the years.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Many drum and bass tracks have featured more than one sampled breakbeat in them and a technique of switching between two breaks after each bar developed. A more recent commonly used break is the \"Tramen\", which combines the Amen break, a James Brown funk breakbeat (\"Tighten Up\" or \"Samurai\" break) and an Alex Reece drum and bass breakbeat.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The relatively fast drum beat forms a canvas on which a producer can create tracks to appeal to almost any taste and often will form only a background to the other elements of the music. Syncopated breakbeats remain the most distinctive element as without these a high-tempo 4/4 dance track could be classified as techno or gabber.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The complex syncopation of the drum tracks' breakbeat is another facet of production on which producers can spend a very large amount of time. The Amen break is generally acknowledged to have been the most-used (and often considered the most powerful) break in drum and bass.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The genre places great importance on the bassline, in this case a deep sub-bass musical pattern which can be felt physically through powerful sound systems due to the low-range frequencies favoured. There has been considerable exploration of different timbres in the bass line region, particularly within techstep. The bass lines most notably originate from sampled sources or synthesizers. Bass lines performed with a bass instrument, whether it is electric, acoustic or a double bass, are less common.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Atmospheric pads and samples may be added over the fundamental drum and bass to provide different feels. These have included \"light\" elements such as ambient pads as found in ambient electronica and samples of jazz and world musics, or \"dark\" elements such as dissonant pads and sci-fi samples to induce anxiety in the dancer.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Old-school DnB usually included an MC providing vocals. Some styles (such as jazz-influenced DnB) also include melodic instruments soloing over the music.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Drum and bass is usually between 160 and 180 BPM, in contrast to other breakbeat-based dance styles such as nu skool breaks, which maintain a slower pace at around 130–140 BPM. A general upward trend in tempo has been observed during the evolution of drum and bass. The earliest forms of drum and bass clocked in at around 130 bpm in 1990/1991, speeding up to around 155–165 BPM by 1993. Since around 1996, drum and bass tempos have predominantly stayed in the 170–180 range. Recently, some producers have started to once again produce tracks with slower tempos (that is, in the 150-170 bpm range), but the mid-170s tempo is still a hallmark of the drum and bass sound.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "A track combining the same elements (broken beat, bass, production techniques) as a drum and bass track, but with a slower tempo (say 140 BPM), might not be drum and bass, but instead may qualify as a drum and bass-influenced breakbeat track.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Many mixing points begin or end with a \"drop\". The drop is the point in a track where a switch of rhythm or bassline occurs and usually follows a recognisable build section and breakdown. Sometimes, the drop is used to switch between tracks, layering components of different tracks, as the two records may be simply ambient breakdowns at this point. Some DJs prefer to combine breakbeats, a more difficult exercise. Some drops are so popular that the DJ will \"rewind\" or \"reload\" or \"lift up\" the record by spinning it back and restarting it at the build. The drop is often a key point from the point of view of the dance floor, since the drum breaks often fade out to leave an ambient intro playing. When the beats re-commence they are often more complex and accompanied by a heavier bassline, encouraging the crowd to begin dancing.",
"title": "Musical features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Drum and bass exhibits a full frequency response which can sometimes only be fully appreciated on sound systems which can handle very low frequencies, including sub-bass frequencies that are often felt more than heard. As befits its name, the bass element of the music is particularly pronounced, with the comparatively sparse arrangements of drum and bass tracks allowing room for basslines that are deeper than most other forms of dance music. Drum and bass tracks are meticulously designed to create a hard-hitting emotional impact, with the drums complementing the bass to deliver a pulsating, powerful experience. Consequently, drum and bass parties are often advertised as featuring uncommonly loud and bass-heavy sound systems.",
"title": "Live performance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "There are however many albums specifically designed for personal listening. The DJ mix is a particularly popular form of release, with a popular DJ or producer mixing live, or on a computer, a variety of tracks for personal listening. Additionally, there are many albums containing unmixed tracks, suited for home or car listening.",
"title": "Live performance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Although this practice has declined in popularity, DJs are often accompanied by one or more MCs, drawing on the genre's roots in hip hop and reggae/ragga.",
"title": "Live performance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "MCs do not generally receive the same level of recognition as producer/DJs, and some events are specifically marketed as being MC-free. There are relatively few well-known drum and bass MCs, mainly based in London and Bristol, including Stevie Hyper D (deceased), the Ragga Twins, Dynamite MC, Skibadee(deceased) and MC Tali.",
"title": "Live performance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Many musicians have adapted drum and bass to live performances, which feature instruments such as drums (acoustic or electronic), samplers, synthesizers, turntables, bass (either upright or electric) and guitars (acoustic or electric). Samplers have also been used live by assigning samples to a specific drum pad or key on drum pads or synthesizers. MCs are frequently featured in live performances.",
"title": "Live performance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Smaller scenes within the drum and bass community have developed and the scene as a whole has become much more fractured into specific subgenres, which have been grouped into \"light\" (influenced by ambient, jazz, and world music) and \"heavy\" (influenced by industrial music, sci-fi, and anxiety) styles, including:",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Born around the same time as jungle, breakcore and digital hardcore share many of the elements of drum and bass and to the uninitiated, tracks from the extreme end of drum and bass may sound identical to breakcore thanks to speed, complexity, impact and maximum sonic density combined with musical experimentation. German drum and bass DJ The Panacea is also one of the leading digital hardcore artists. Raggacore resembles a faster version of the ragga-influenced jungle music of the 1990s, similar to breakcore but with more friendly dancehall beats (dancehall itself being a very important influence on drum and bass). Darkcore, a direct influence on drum and bass, was combined with influences of drum and bass itself leading to the creation of darkstep. There is considerable crossover from the extreme edges of drum and bass, breakcore, darkcore, digital hardcore and raggacore with fluid boundaries.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Intelligent dance music (IDM) is a form of art music based on DnB and other electronic dance musics, exploring their boundaries using ideas from science, technology, contemporary classical music and progressive rock, often creating un-danceable, art gallery style music.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Recently created in the United States is a genre called ghettotech which contains synth and basslines similar to drum and bass.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Drum and bass is dominated by a small group of record labels. These are mainly run by DJ-producers, such as London Elektricity's Hospital Records, Andy C and Scott Bourne's RAM, Goldie's Metalheadz, Fabio and Sarah Sandy's Creative Source Records, Kasra's Critical Music, DJ Friction's Shogun Audio, DJ Fresh's Breakbeat Kaos, Ed Rush & Optical's Virus Recordings, Futurebound's Viper Recordings and DJ Hype, Pascal, NoCopyrightSounds and formerly DJ Zinc's True Playaz (known as Real Playaz as of 2006).",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Prior to 2016, the major international music labels such as Sony Music and Universal had shown very little interest in the drum and bass scene, with the exception of some notable signings, including Pendulum's In Silico LP to Warner. Roni Size's label played a big, if not the biggest, part in the creation of drum and bass with their dark, baseline sounds. V Recordings also played a large part of the development of drum and bass.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "BMG Rights Management acquired Ram Records in February 2016, making a strategic investment to help RAM Records (a London-based drum and bass record company co-owned by Andy C and his business partner Scott Bourne). RAM Records has been pushing the boundaries of drum and bass further into the mainstream with artists such as Chase and Status and Sub Focus.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Now defunct labels, include Rob Playford's Moving Shadow, running from 1990 until 2007, which played a pivotal role in the nineties drum and bass scene, releasing records by artists such as Omni Trio.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Originally drum and bass was mostly sold in 12-inch vinyl single format. With the emergence of drum and bass into mainstream music markets, more albums, compilations and DJ mixes started to be sold on CDs. As digital music became more popular, websites focused on electronic music, such as Beatport, began to sell drum and bass in digital format.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "The bulk of drum and bass vinyl records and CDs are distributed globally and regionally by a relatively small number of companies such as SRD (Southern Record Distributors), ST Holdings, & Nu Urban Music Limited.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "As of 11 September 2012, Nu Urban ceased trading and RSM Tenon were instructed to assist in convening statutory meetings of members and creditors to appoint a liquidator. This left many labels short on sales, as Nu Urban were one of the main distributors for the vinyl market in the drum and bass scene.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Despite its roots in the UK, which is still treated as the \"home\" of drum and bass, the style has firmly established itself around the world. There are strong scenes in other English-speaking countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Today, drum and bass is widely promoted using different methods such as video sharing services like YouTube and Dailymotion, blogs, radio, and television, the latter being the most uncommon method. More recently, music networking websites such as SoundCloud and Mixcloud have become powerful tools for artist recognition, providing a vast platform that enables quick responses to new tracks. Record labels have adopted the use of podcasts. Prior to the rise of the internet, drum and bass was commonly broadcast over pirate radio.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "The three highest-profile radio stations playing drum and bass shows are BBC Radio 1 with The Drum and Bass Show - formerly with Friction, who was replaced with René LaVice in 2017, simulcast in the US and Canada on Sirius XM, and DJ Hype on Kiss 100 in London. Fabio and Grooverider previously held a long-standing drum and bass show on Radio 1. Radio 1 also had the One in the Jungle show.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "The BBC's Black music station BBC Radio 1Xtra used to feature the genre heavily, with DJ Bailey (show axed as of 29 August 2012) and Crissy Criss (show axed as of August 2014) as its advocates. The network also organises a week-long tour of the UK each year called Xtra Bass. London pirate radio stations have been instrumental in the development of drum and bass, with stations such as Kool FM (which continues to broadcast today having done so since 1991), Origin FM, Don FM (the only drum and bass pirate to have gained a temporary legal licence), Renegade Radio 107.2FM, Rude FM, Wax FM and Eruption among the most influential.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "As of 2014, despite higher profile stations such as 1Xtra scaling back their drum and bass specialist coverage, the genre has made its way into UK top 10 charts with drum and bass inspired tracks from artists such as Rudimental and Sigma. Earlier in August 2014, before Crissy Criss' show was axed, the BBC held a whole prime time evening event dedicated to showcasing drum and bass by allowing four major labels to participate.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "As of November 2014, six drum & bass songs had reached the no.1 spot on the UK's top 40 chart, since the genre was first being played on the radio, around 1993. The first of these was in 2012. The fact that all six of these songs reached number 1 in only two years shows the increase in popularity and commercialisation of the genre in recent years. The artists who produced these songs are Sigma, Rudimental and DJ Fresh (all had two No.1 hits).",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Internet radio stations, acting in the same light as pirate stations, have also been an instrumental part in promoting drum and bass music; the majority of them funded by listener and artist donations.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Drum and bass was supported by Ministry of Sound radio from the early 2000s until 2014 and later featuring Tuesday shows from labels such as Metalheadz, Fabio & Grooverider, DJ Marky, Viper Recordings, Shogun Audio and Hospital Records. From September 2014, Ministry abruptly dropped all non-mainstream genres to focus on mainstream EDM, causing disappointment amongst the fans of the D&B community.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "In Toronto since 1994, The Prophecy on 89.5 CIUT-FM with Marcus Visionary, DJ Prime and Mr. Brown, is North America's longest running jungle radio show.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Album 88.5 (Atlanta) and C89.5fm (Seattle) have shows showcasing drum and bass.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Seattle also has a long-standing electronica show known as Expansions on 90.3 FM KEXP. The rotating DJs include Kid Hops, whose shows are made up mostly of drum and bass. In Columbus, Ohio WCBE 90.5 has a two-hour electronic only showcase, All Mixed Up, Saturday nights at 10 pm. At the same time, WUFM 88.7 plays its Electronic Playground.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Tulsa, Oklahoma's rock station, 104.5 The Edge, has a two-hour show starting at 10 pm Saturday nights called Edge Essential Mix, mixed by DJ Demko, showcasing electronic and drum and bass style. While the aforementioned shows in Ohio rarely play drum and bass, the latter plays the genre with some frequency.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "In Tucson, Arizona, 91.3 FM KXCI has a two-hour electronic show known as Digital Empire, Friday nights at 10 pm (MST). Resident DJ Trinidad showcases various styles of electronica, with the main focus being drum and bass, jungle and dubstep.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "In Augusta, Georgia, Zarbizarre of the Cereal Killaz hosts a show called FreQuency on WHHD on Friday nights from 11 pm until 1 am, showcasing drum and bass during the second hour of the show.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "The best-known drum and bass publication was Kmag magazine (formerly called Knowledge Magazine) before it went completely online in August 2009. Although it is still live, after 20 years Kmag ceased updating their site at the end of 2014. Kmag has announced a book to celebrate their 25th anniversary to be published in December 2019. Kmag's publishing arm, Vision, published Brian Belle-Fortune's All Crews Journeys Through Jungle Drum & Bass Culture in 2004.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Other publications include the longest-running drum and bass magazine worldwide, ATM Magazine, and Austrian-based Resident. London-based DJ magazine has also been running a widely respected drum and bass reviews page since 1994, written by Alex Constantinides, which many followers refer to when seeking out new releases to investigate. In 2012 he stopped writing the reviews, and they are now contributed by Whisky Kicks.",
"title": "Ecosystem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "The earliest mainstream drum and bass releases include Goldie's album Timeless from 1995. Other early examples include the Mercury Music Prize-winning album New Forms (1997) from Reprazent; 4hero's Mercury-nominated Two Pages from 1998; and then, in the 2000s, Pendulum's Hold Your Colour in 2005 (the best-selling drum and bass album).",
"title": "Mainstream acceptance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "In 2012, drum and bass achieved its first UK No. 1 single, \"Hot Right Now\", by DJ Fresh, which was one of the fastest-selling singles of 2012 at the time of release, launching the career of Rita Ora in the process.",
"title": "Mainstream acceptance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Numerous video games (such as Hudson Soft's Bomberman Hero, Hi-Rez Studios' Tribes: Ascend, Electronic Arts' Need for Speed: Undercover, Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series, and Sony's Wipeout series from Pure onward) have contained drum and bass tracks. Microsoft Studios' Forza Horizon 2, 3, 4 and 5 feature a Hospital Records radio channel.",
"title": "Mainstream acceptance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "The genre has some popularity in soundtracks; for instance, \"Ultrasonic Sound\" was used in The Matrix's soundtrack, and the E-Z Rollers' song \"Walk This Land\" appeared in the film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Ganja Kru's \"Super Sharp Shooter\" can be heard in the 2006 film Johnny Was.",
"title": "Mainstream acceptance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "The Channel 4 show Skins uses the genre in some episodes, notably in the first series' third episode, \"Jal\", where Shy FX and UK Apache's \"Original Nuttah\" was played in Fazer's club.",
"title": "Mainstream acceptance"
}
] | Drum and bass is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre grew out of the UK's jungle scene in the 1990s. The popularity of drum and bass at its commercial peak ran parallel to several other UK dance styles. A major influence was the original Jamaican dub and reggae sound that influenced jungle's bass-heavy sound. Another feature of the style is the complex syncopation of the drum tracks' breakbeat. Drum and bass subgenres include breakcore, ragga jungle, hardstep, darkstep, techstep, neurofunk, ambient drum and bass, liquid funk, jump up, drumfunk, sambass, and drill 'n' bass. Drum and bass has influenced many other genres like hip hop, big beat, dubstep, house, trip hop, ambient music, techno, jazz, rock and pop. Drum and bass is dominated by a relatively small group of record labels. Major international music labels had shown very little interest in the drum and bass scene until BMG Rights Management acquired RAM in February 2016. Since then, the genre has seen a significant growth in exposure. Whilst the origin of drum and bass music is in the UK, the genre has evolved considerably with many other prominent fanbases located all over the world. | 2001-09-26T02:00:11Z | 2023-12-24T14:01:20Z | [
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8,095 | Donald Knuth | Donald Ervin Knuth (/kəˈnuːθ/ kə-NOOTH; born January 10, 1938) is an American computer scientist and mathematician. He is a professor emeritus at Stanford University. He is the 1974 recipient of the ACM Turing Award, informally considered the Nobel Prize of computer science. Knuth has been called the "father of the analysis of algorithms".
Knuth is the author of the multi-volume work The Art of Computer Programming. He contributed to the development of the rigorous analysis of the computational complexity of algorithms and systematized formal mathematical techniques for it. In the process, he also popularized the asymptotic notation. In addition to fundamental contributions in several branches of theoretical computer science, Knuth is the creator of the TeX computer typesetting system, the related METAFONT font definition language and rendering system, and the Computer Modern family of typefaces.
As a writer and scholar, Knuth created the WEB and CWEB computer programming systems designed to encourage and facilitate literate programming, and designed the MIX/MMIX instruction set architectures. He strongly opposes the granting of software patents, and has expressed his opinion to the United States Patent and Trademark Office and European Patent Organisation.
Donald Knuth was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Ervin Henry Knuth and Louise Marie Bohning. He describes his heritage as "Midwestern Lutheran German". His father owned a small printing business and taught bookkeeping. While a student at Milwaukee Lutheran High School, Knuth thought of ingenious ways to solve problems. For example, in eighth grade, he entered a contest to find the number of words that the letters in "Ziegler's Giant Bar" could be rearranged to create; the judges had identified 2,500 such words. With time gained away from school due to a fake stomachache, and working the problem the other way, Knuth used an unabridged dictionary and determined whether each dictionary entry could be formed using the letters in the phrase. Using this algorithm, he identified over 4,500 words, winning the contest. As prizes, the school received a new television and enough candy bars for all of his schoolmates to eat.
Knuth received a scholarship in physics to the Case Institute of Technology (now part of Case Western Reserve University) in Cleveland, Ohio, enrolling in 1956. He also joined the Beta Nu Chapter of the Theta Chi fraternity. While studying physics at Case, Knuth was introduced to the IBM 650, an early commercial computer. After reading the computer's manual, Knuth decided to rewrite the assembly and compiler code for the machine used in his school because he believed he could do it better.
In 1958, Knuth created a program to help his school's basketball team win its games. He assigned "values" to players in order to gauge their probability of scoring points, a novel approach that Newsweek and CBS Evening News later reported on.
Knuth was one of the founding editors of the Case Institute's Engineering and Science Review, which won a national award as best technical magazine in 1959. He then switched from physics to mathematics, and received two degrees from Case in 1960: his Bachelor of Science, and simultaneously a master of science by a special award of the faculty, who considered his work exceptionally outstanding.
In 1963, with mathematician Marshall Hall as his adviser, he earned a PhD in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology, with a thesis titled Finite Semifields and Projective Planes.
In 1963, after receiving his PhD, Knuth joined Caltech's faculty as an assistant professor.
Knuth accepted a commission to write a book on computer programming language compilers. While working on this project, he decided that he could not adequately treat the topic without first developing a fundamental theory of computer programming, which became The Art of Computer Programming. He originally planned to publish this as a single book, but as he developed his outline for the book, he concluded that he required six volumes, and then seven, to thoroughly cover the subject. He published the first volume in 1968.
Just before publishing the first volume of The Art of Computer Programming, Knuth left Caltech to accept employment with the Institute for Defense Analyses' Communications Research Division, then situated on the Princeton campus, which was performing mathematical research in cryptography to support the National Security Agency.
In 1967, Knuth attended a Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics conference and someone asked what he did. At the time, computer science was partitioned into numerical analysis, artificial intelligence, and programming languages. Based on his study and The Art of Computer Programming book, Knuth decided the next time someone asked he would say, "Analysis of algorithms".
In 1969, Knuth left his position at Princeton to join the Stanford University faculty, where he became Fletcher Jones Professor of Computer Science, emeritus.
Knuth is a writer, as well as a computer scientist.
"The best way to communicate from one human being to another is through story."
In the 1970s, Knuth called computer science "a totally new field with no real identity. And the standard of available publications was not that high. A lot of the papers coming out were quite simply wrong. ... So one of my motivations was to put straight a story that had been very badly told."
From 1972 to 1973, Knuth spent a year at the University of Oslo among people such as Ole-Johan Dahl. This is where he had originally intended to write the seventh volume in his book series, which was to deal with programming languages. But Knuth had finished only the first two volumes when he came to Oslo, and thus spent the year on the third volume, next to teaching. The third volume came out just after Knuth returned to Stanford in 1973.
By 2011, Volume 4A had been published. Concrete Mathematics: A Foundation for Computer Science 2nd ed., which originated with an expansion of the mathematical preliminaries section of Volume 1 of TAoCP, was published in 1994. In April 2020, Knuth said he anticipated that Volume 4 will have at least parts A through F. Volume 4B was published in October 2022.
Knuth is also the author of Surreal Numbers, a mathematical novelette on John Conway's set theory construction of an alternate system of numbers. Instead of simply explaining the subject, the book seeks to show the development of the mathematics. Knuth wanted the book to prepare students for doing original, creative research.
In 1995, Knuth wrote the foreword to the book A=B by Marko Petkovšek, Herbert Wilf and Doron Zeilberger. He also occasionally contributes language puzzles to Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics.
Knuth has delved into recreational mathematics. He contributed articles to the Journal of Recreational Mathematics beginning in the 1960s, and was acknowledged as a major contributor in Joseph Madachy's Mathematics on Vacation.
Knuth also appears in a number of Numberphile and Computerphile videos on YouTube, where he discusses topics from writing Surreal Numbers to why he does not use email.
In addition to his writings on computer science, Knuth, a Lutheran, is also the author of 3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated, in which he examines the Bible by a process of systematic sampling, namely an analysis of chapter 3, verse 16 of each book. Each verse is accompanied by a rendering in calligraphic art, contributed by a group of calligraphers led by Hermann Zapf. Knuth was invited to give a set of lectures at MIT on the views on religion and computer science behind his 3:16 project, resulting in another book, Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About, where he published the lectures God and Computer Science.
Knuth strongly opposes granting software patents to trivial solutions that should be obvious, but has expressed more nuanced views for nontrivial solutions such as the interior-point method of linear programming. He has expressed his disagreement directly to both the United States Patent and Trademark Office and European Patent Organisation.
In the 1970s the publishers of TAOCP abandoned Monotype in favor of phototypesetting. Knuth became so frustrated with the inability of the latter system to approach the quality of the previous volumes, which were typeset using the older system, that he took time out to work on digital typesetting and created TeX and Metafont.
While developing TeX, Knuth created a new methodology of programming, which he called literate programming, because he believed that programmers should think of programs as works of literature:
Instead of imagining that our main task is to instruct a computer what to do, let us concentrate rather on explaining to human beings what we want a computer to do.
Knuth embodied the idea of literate programming in the WEB system. The same WEB source is used to weave a TeX file, and to tangle a Pascal source file. These in their turn produce a readable description of the program and an executable binary respectively. A later iteration of the system, CWEB, replaces Pascal with C, C++, and Java.
Knuth used WEB to program TeX and METAFONT, and published both programs as books, both originally published the same year: TeX: The Program (1986); and METAFONT: The Program (1986). Around the same time, LaTeX, the now-widely adopted macro package based on TeX, was first developed by Leslie Lamport, who later published its first user manual in 1986.
Donald Knuth married Nancy Jill Carter on 24 June 1961, while he was a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology. They have two children: John Martin Knuth and Jennifer Sierra Knuth.
Knuth gives informal lectures a few times a year at Stanford University, which he calls "Computer Musings". He was a visiting professor at the Oxford University Department of Computer Science in the United Kingdom until 2017 and an Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College.
Knuth is an organist and a composer. He and his father served as organists for Lutheran congregations. Knuth and his wife have a 16-rank organ in their home. In 2016 he completed a piece for organ, Fantasia Apocalyptica, which he calls a "translation of the Greek text of the Revelation of Saint John the Divine into music". It was premièred in Sweden on January 10, 2018.
Knuth's Chinese name is Gao Dena (simplified Chinese: 高德纳; traditional Chinese: 高德納; pinyin: Gāo Dénà). He was given this name in 1977 by Frances Yao shortly before making a three-week trip to China. In the 1980 Chinese translation of Volume 1 of The Art of Computer Programming (simplified Chinese: 计算机程序设计艺术; traditional Chinese: 計算機程式設計藝術; pinyin: Jìsuànjī chéngxù shèjì yìshù), Knuth explains that he embraced his Chinese name because he wanted to be known by the growing numbers of computer programmers in China at the time. In 1989, his Chinese name was placed atop the Journal of Computer Science and Technology's header, which Knuth says "makes me feel close to all Chinese people although I cannot speak your language".
In 2006, Knuth was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He underwent surgery in December that year and said, "a little bit of radiation therapy ... as a precaution but the prognosis looks pretty good" in his video autobiography.
Knuth used to pay a finder's fee of $2.56 for any typographical errors or mistakes discovered in his books, because "256 pennies is one hexadecimal dollar", and $0.32 for "valuable suggestions". According to an article in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Technology Review, these Knuth reward checks are "among computerdom's most prized trophies". Knuth had to stop sending real checks in 2008 due to bank fraud, and now gives each error finder a "certificate of deposit" from a publicly listed balance in his fictitious "Bank of San Serriffe".
He once warned a correspondent, "Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it."
Knuth published his first "scientific" article in a school magazine in 1957 under the title "The Potrzebie System of Weights and Measures". In it, he defined the fundamental unit of length as the thickness of Mad No. 26, and named the fundamental unit of force "whatmeworry". Mad published the article in issue No. 33 (June 1957).
To demonstrate the concept of recursion, Knuth intentionally referred "Circular definition" and "Definition, circular" to each other in the index of The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 1.
The preface of Concrete Mathematics has the following paragraph:
When DEK taught Concrete Mathematics at Stanford for the first time, he explained the somewhat strange title by saying that it was his attempt to teach a math course that was hard instead of soft. He announced that, contrary to the expectations of his colleagues, he was not going to teach the Theory of Aggregates, nor Stone's Embedding Theorem, nor even the Stone–Čech compactification. (Several students from the civil engineering department got up and quietly left the room.)
At the TUG 2010 Conference, Knuth announced a satirical XML-based successor to TeX, titled "iTeX" (pronounced [iː˨˩˦tɛks˧˥], performed with a bell ringing), which would support features such as arbitrarily scaled irrational units, 3D printing, input from seismographs and heart monitors, animation, and stereophonic sound.
In 1971, Knuth received the first ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award. He has received various other awards, including the Turing Award, the National Medal of Science, the John von Neumann Medal, and the Kyoto Prize.
Knuth was elected a Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society (DFBCS) in 1980 in recognition of his contributions to the field of computer science.
In 1990 he was awarded the one-of-a-kind academic title Professor of The Art of Computer Programming, which has since been revised to Professor Emeritus of The Art of Computer Programming.
Knuth was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1975. He was also elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1981 for organizing vast subject areas of computer science so that they are accessible to all segments of the computing community. In 1992, he became an associate of the French Academy of Sciences. Also that year, he retired from regular research and teaching at Stanford University in order to finish The Art of Computer Programming. He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 2003.
Knuth was elected as a Fellow (first class of Fellows) of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics in 2009 for his outstanding contributions to mathematics. He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. In 2012, he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society and a member of the American Philosophical Society. Other awards and honors include:
A short list of his publications include:
The Art of Computer Programming:
Computers and Typesetting (all books are hardcover unless otherwise noted):
Books of collected papers:
Other books: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Donald Ervin Knuth (/kəˈnuːθ/ kə-NOOTH; born January 10, 1938) is an American computer scientist and mathematician. He is a professor emeritus at Stanford University. He is the 1974 recipient of the ACM Turing Award, informally considered the Nobel Prize of computer science. Knuth has been called the \"father of the analysis of algorithms\".",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Knuth is the author of the multi-volume work The Art of Computer Programming. He contributed to the development of the rigorous analysis of the computational complexity of algorithms and systematized formal mathematical techniques for it. In the process, he also popularized the asymptotic notation. In addition to fundamental contributions in several branches of theoretical computer science, Knuth is the creator of the TeX computer typesetting system, the related METAFONT font definition language and rendering system, and the Computer Modern family of typefaces.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "As a writer and scholar, Knuth created the WEB and CWEB computer programming systems designed to encourage and facilitate literate programming, and designed the MIX/MMIX instruction set architectures. He strongly opposes the granting of software patents, and has expressed his opinion to the United States Patent and Trademark Office and European Patent Organisation.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Donald Knuth was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Ervin Henry Knuth and Louise Marie Bohning. He describes his heritage as \"Midwestern Lutheran German\". His father owned a small printing business and taught bookkeeping. While a student at Milwaukee Lutheran High School, Knuth thought of ingenious ways to solve problems. For example, in eighth grade, he entered a contest to find the number of words that the letters in \"Ziegler's Giant Bar\" could be rearranged to create; the judges had identified 2,500 such words. With time gained away from school due to a fake stomachache, and working the problem the other way, Knuth used an unabridged dictionary and determined whether each dictionary entry could be formed using the letters in the phrase. Using this algorithm, he identified over 4,500 words, winning the contest. As prizes, the school received a new television and enough candy bars for all of his schoolmates to eat.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Knuth received a scholarship in physics to the Case Institute of Technology (now part of Case Western Reserve University) in Cleveland, Ohio, enrolling in 1956. He also joined the Beta Nu Chapter of the Theta Chi fraternity. While studying physics at Case, Knuth was introduced to the IBM 650, an early commercial computer. After reading the computer's manual, Knuth decided to rewrite the assembly and compiler code for the machine used in his school because he believed he could do it better.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In 1958, Knuth created a program to help his school's basketball team win its games. He assigned \"values\" to players in order to gauge their probability of scoring points, a novel approach that Newsweek and CBS Evening News later reported on.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Knuth was one of the founding editors of the Case Institute's Engineering and Science Review, which won a national award as best technical magazine in 1959. He then switched from physics to mathematics, and received two degrees from Case in 1960: his Bachelor of Science, and simultaneously a master of science by a special award of the faculty, who considered his work exceptionally outstanding.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In 1963, with mathematician Marshall Hall as his adviser, he earned a PhD in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology, with a thesis titled Finite Semifields and Projective Planes.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In 1963, after receiving his PhD, Knuth joined Caltech's faculty as an assistant professor.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Knuth accepted a commission to write a book on computer programming language compilers. While working on this project, he decided that he could not adequately treat the topic without first developing a fundamental theory of computer programming, which became The Art of Computer Programming. He originally planned to publish this as a single book, but as he developed his outline for the book, he concluded that he required six volumes, and then seven, to thoroughly cover the subject. He published the first volume in 1968.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Just before publishing the first volume of The Art of Computer Programming, Knuth left Caltech to accept employment with the Institute for Defense Analyses' Communications Research Division, then situated on the Princeton campus, which was performing mathematical research in cryptography to support the National Security Agency.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In 1967, Knuth attended a Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics conference and someone asked what he did. At the time, computer science was partitioned into numerical analysis, artificial intelligence, and programming languages. Based on his study and The Art of Computer Programming book, Knuth decided the next time someone asked he would say, \"Analysis of algorithms\".",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "In 1969, Knuth left his position at Princeton to join the Stanford University faculty, where he became Fletcher Jones Professor of Computer Science, emeritus.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Knuth is a writer, as well as a computer scientist.",
"title": "Writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "\"The best way to communicate from one human being to another is through story.\"",
"title": "Writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In the 1970s, Knuth called computer science \"a totally new field with no real identity. And the standard of available publications was not that high. A lot of the papers coming out were quite simply wrong. ... So one of my motivations was to put straight a story that had been very badly told.\"",
"title": "Writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "From 1972 to 1973, Knuth spent a year at the University of Oslo among people such as Ole-Johan Dahl. This is where he had originally intended to write the seventh volume in his book series, which was to deal with programming languages. But Knuth had finished only the first two volumes when he came to Oslo, and thus spent the year on the third volume, next to teaching. The third volume came out just after Knuth returned to Stanford in 1973.",
"title": "Writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "By 2011, Volume 4A had been published. Concrete Mathematics: A Foundation for Computer Science 2nd ed., which originated with an expansion of the mathematical preliminaries section of Volume 1 of TAoCP, was published in 1994. In April 2020, Knuth said he anticipated that Volume 4 will have at least parts A through F. Volume 4B was published in October 2022.",
"title": "Writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Knuth is also the author of Surreal Numbers, a mathematical novelette on John Conway's set theory construction of an alternate system of numbers. Instead of simply explaining the subject, the book seeks to show the development of the mathematics. Knuth wanted the book to prepare students for doing original, creative research.",
"title": "Writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "In 1995, Knuth wrote the foreword to the book A=B by Marko Petkovšek, Herbert Wilf and Doron Zeilberger. He also occasionally contributes language puzzles to Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics.",
"title": "Writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Knuth has delved into recreational mathematics. He contributed articles to the Journal of Recreational Mathematics beginning in the 1960s, and was acknowledged as a major contributor in Joseph Madachy's Mathematics on Vacation.",
"title": "Writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Knuth also appears in a number of Numberphile and Computerphile videos on YouTube, where he discusses topics from writing Surreal Numbers to why he does not use email.",
"title": "Writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "In addition to his writings on computer science, Knuth, a Lutheran, is also the author of 3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated, in which he examines the Bible by a process of systematic sampling, namely an analysis of chapter 3, verse 16 of each book. Each verse is accompanied by a rendering in calligraphic art, contributed by a group of calligraphers led by Hermann Zapf. Knuth was invited to give a set of lectures at MIT on the views on religion and computer science behind his 3:16 project, resulting in another book, Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About, where he published the lectures God and Computer Science.",
"title": "Writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Knuth strongly opposes granting software patents to trivial solutions that should be obvious, but has expressed more nuanced views for nontrivial solutions such as the interior-point method of linear programming. He has expressed his disagreement directly to both the United States Patent and Trademark Office and European Patent Organisation.",
"title": "Writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In the 1970s the publishers of TAOCP abandoned Monotype in favor of phototypesetting. Knuth became so frustrated with the inability of the latter system to approach the quality of the previous volumes, which were typeset using the older system, that he took time out to work on digital typesetting and created TeX and Metafont.",
"title": "Programming"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "While developing TeX, Knuth created a new methodology of programming, which he called literate programming, because he believed that programmers should think of programs as works of literature:",
"title": "Programming"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Instead of imagining that our main task is to instruct a computer what to do, let us concentrate rather on explaining to human beings what we want a computer to do.",
"title": "Programming"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Knuth embodied the idea of literate programming in the WEB system. The same WEB source is used to weave a TeX file, and to tangle a Pascal source file. These in their turn produce a readable description of the program and an executable binary respectively. A later iteration of the system, CWEB, replaces Pascal with C, C++, and Java.",
"title": "Programming"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Knuth used WEB to program TeX and METAFONT, and published both programs as books, both originally published the same year: TeX: The Program (1986); and METAFONT: The Program (1986). Around the same time, LaTeX, the now-widely adopted macro package based on TeX, was first developed by Leslie Lamport, who later published its first user manual in 1986.",
"title": "Programming"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Donald Knuth married Nancy Jill Carter on 24 June 1961, while he was a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology. They have two children: John Martin Knuth and Jennifer Sierra Knuth.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Knuth gives informal lectures a few times a year at Stanford University, which he calls \"Computer Musings\". He was a visiting professor at the Oxford University Department of Computer Science in the United Kingdom until 2017 and an Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Knuth is an organist and a composer. He and his father served as organists for Lutheran congregations. Knuth and his wife have a 16-rank organ in their home. In 2016 he completed a piece for organ, Fantasia Apocalyptica, which he calls a \"translation of the Greek text of the Revelation of Saint John the Divine into music\". It was premièred in Sweden on January 10, 2018.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Knuth's Chinese name is Gao Dena (simplified Chinese: 高德纳; traditional Chinese: 高德納; pinyin: Gāo Dénà). He was given this name in 1977 by Frances Yao shortly before making a three-week trip to China. In the 1980 Chinese translation of Volume 1 of The Art of Computer Programming (simplified Chinese: 计算机程序设计艺术; traditional Chinese: 計算機程式設計藝術; pinyin: Jìsuànjī chéngxù shèjì yìshù), Knuth explains that he embraced his Chinese name because he wanted to be known by the growing numbers of computer programmers in China at the time. In 1989, his Chinese name was placed atop the Journal of Computer Science and Technology's header, which Knuth says \"makes me feel close to all Chinese people although I cannot speak your language\".",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "In 2006, Knuth was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He underwent surgery in December that year and said, \"a little bit of radiation therapy ... as a precaution but the prognosis looks pretty good\" in his video autobiography.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Knuth used to pay a finder's fee of $2.56 for any typographical errors or mistakes discovered in his books, because \"256 pennies is one hexadecimal dollar\", and $0.32 for \"valuable suggestions\". According to an article in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Technology Review, these Knuth reward checks are \"among computerdom's most prized trophies\". Knuth had to stop sending real checks in 2008 due to bank fraud, and now gives each error finder a \"certificate of deposit\" from a publicly listed balance in his fictitious \"Bank of San Serriffe\".",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "He once warned a correspondent, \"Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it.\"",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Knuth published his first \"scientific\" article in a school magazine in 1957 under the title \"The Potrzebie System of Weights and Measures\". In it, he defined the fundamental unit of length as the thickness of Mad No. 26, and named the fundamental unit of force \"whatmeworry\". Mad published the article in issue No. 33 (June 1957).",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "To demonstrate the concept of recursion, Knuth intentionally referred \"Circular definition\" and \"Definition, circular\" to each other in the index of The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 1.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "The preface of Concrete Mathematics has the following paragraph:",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "When DEK taught Concrete Mathematics at Stanford for the first time, he explained the somewhat strange title by saying that it was his attempt to teach a math course that was hard instead of soft. He announced that, contrary to the expectations of his colleagues, he was not going to teach the Theory of Aggregates, nor Stone's Embedding Theorem, nor even the Stone–Čech compactification. (Several students from the civil engineering department got up and quietly left the room.)",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "At the TUG 2010 Conference, Knuth announced a satirical XML-based successor to TeX, titled \"iTeX\" (pronounced [iː˨˩˦tɛks˧˥], performed with a bell ringing), which would support features such as arbitrarily scaled irrational units, 3D printing, input from seismographs and heart monitors, animation, and stereophonic sound.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "In 1971, Knuth received the first ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award. He has received various other awards, including the Turing Award, the National Medal of Science, the John von Neumann Medal, and the Kyoto Prize.",
"title": "Awards and honors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Knuth was elected a Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society (DFBCS) in 1980 in recognition of his contributions to the field of computer science.",
"title": "Awards and honors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "In 1990 he was awarded the one-of-a-kind academic title Professor of The Art of Computer Programming, which has since been revised to Professor Emeritus of The Art of Computer Programming.",
"title": "Awards and honors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Knuth was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1975. He was also elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1981 for organizing vast subject areas of computer science so that they are accessible to all segments of the computing community. In 1992, he became an associate of the French Academy of Sciences. Also that year, he retired from regular research and teaching at Stanford University in order to finish The Art of Computer Programming. He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 2003.",
"title": "Awards and honors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Knuth was elected as a Fellow (first class of Fellows) of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics in 2009 for his outstanding contributions to mathematics. He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. In 2012, he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society and a member of the American Philosophical Society. Other awards and honors include:",
"title": "Awards and honors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "A short list of his publications include:",
"title": "Publications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "The Art of Computer Programming:",
"title": "Publications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Computers and Typesetting (all books are hardcover unless otherwise noted):",
"title": "Publications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Books of collected papers:",
"title": "Publications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Other books:",
"title": "Publications"
}
] | Donald Ervin Knuth is an American computer scientist and mathematician. He is a professor emeritus at Stanford University. He is the 1974 recipient of the ACM Turing Award, informally considered the Nobel Prize of computer science. Knuth has been called the "father of the analysis of algorithms". Knuth is the author of the multi-volume work The Art of Computer Programming. He contributed to the development of the rigorous analysis of the computational complexity of algorithms and systematized formal mathematical techniques for it. In the process, he also popularized the asymptotic notation. In addition to fundamental contributions in several branches of theoretical computer science, Knuth is the creator of the TeX computer typesetting system, the related METAFONT font definition language and rendering system, and the Computer Modern family of typefaces. As a writer and scholar, Knuth created the WEB and CWEB computer programming systems designed to encourage and facilitate literate programming, and designed the MIX/MMIX instruction set architectures. He strongly opposes the granting of software patents, and has expressed his opinion to the United States Patent and Trademark Office and European Patent Organisation. | 2001-11-07T16:17:40Z | 2023-12-29T22:33:06Z | [
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8,097 | Dairy product | Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food items in the Western world such as yogurt, cheese, milk and butter. A facility that produces dairy products is known as a dairy. Dairy products are consumed worldwide to varying degrees (see consumption patterns worldwide). Some people avoid some or all dairy products either because of lactose intolerance, veganism, or other health reasons or beliefs.
Milk is produced after optional homogenization or pasteurization, in several grades after standardization of the fat level, and possible addition of the bacteria Streptococcus lactis and Leuconostoc citrovorum. Milk can be broken down into several different categories based on type of product produced, including cream, butter, cheese, infant formula, and yogurt.
Milk varies in fat content. Skim milk is milk with zero fat, while whole milk products contain fat.
Milk is an ingredient in many confectioneries. Milk can be added to chocolate to produce milk chocolate.
Butter, mostly milk fat, produced by churning cream
Fermented milk products include:
Yogurt, milk fermented by thermophilic bacteria, mainly Streptococcus salivarius ssp. thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus sometimes with additional bacteria, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus
Cheese, produced by coagulating milk, separating curds from whey, and letting it ripen, generally with bacteria, and sometimes also with certain molds.
Rates of dairy consumption vary widely worldwide. High-consumption countries consume more than 150 kilograms (330 lb) per capita per year. These countries are: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Costa Rica, most European countries, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, North America and Pakistan. Medium-consumption countries consume 30 kilograms (66 lb) to 150 kg per capita per year. These countries are: India, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, North and Southern Africa, most of the Middle East, and most of Latin America and the Caribbean. Low-consumption countries consume under 30 kg per capita per year. These countries are: Senegal, most of Central Africa, and most of East and Southeast Asia.
For those with some degree of lactose intolerance, considering the amount of lactose in dairy products can be important to health.
Dairy products may upset the digestive system in individuals with lactose intolerance or a milk allergy. People who experience lactose intolerance usually avoid milk and other lactose-containing dairy products, which may cause mild side effects, such as abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, gas, and nausea. Such individuals may use non-dairy milk substitutes.
The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), World Cancer Research Fund International (WCRF), Cancer Council Australia (CCA) and Cancer Research UK have stated that there is strong evidence that consumption of dairy products decreases risk of colorectal cancer. The AICR, WCRF, CCA and Prostate Cancer UK have stated that there is limited but suggestive evidence that dairy products increase risk of prostate cancer. The American Cancer Society (ACS) have stated that because dairy products "may lower the risk of some cancers and possibly increase the risk of others, the ACS does not make specific recommendations on dairy food consumption for cancer prevention."
It has been suggested that consumption of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in dairy products could increase cancer risk, particularly prostate cancer. However, a 2018 review by the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COC) concluded that there is "insufficient evidence to draw any firm conclusions as to whether exposure to dietary IGF-1 is associated with an increased incidence of cancer in consumers". The COC also stated it is unlikely that there would be absorption of intact IGF-1 from food by most consumers.
A 2019 review concluded that higher-quality research was needed to characterise valid associations between dairy consumption and risk of and/or cancer-related mortality. A 2021 umbrella review found strong evidence that consumption of dairy products decreases risk of colorectal cancer. Fermented dairy is associated with significantly decreased bladder cancer and colorectal cancer risk.
A 2023 review found no association between consumption of dairy products and breast cancer.
The American Medical Association (AMA) recommends that people replace full-fat dairy products with nonfat and low-fat dairy products. In 2017, the AMA stated that there is no high-quality clinical evidence that cheese consumption lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease. In 2021, they stated that "taken together, replacing full-fat dairy products with nonfat and low-fat dairy products and other sources of unsaturated fat shifts the composition of dietary patterns toward higher unsaturated to saturated fat ratios that are associated with better cardiovascular health".
In 2017, the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand published an umbrella review which found an "overall neutral effect of dairy on cardiovascular risk for the general population". Their position paper stated that "the evidence overall suggests dairy products can be included in a heart-healthy eating pattern and choosing reduced-fat dairy over full-fat dairy reduces risk for some, but not all, cardiovascular risk factors".
In 2019 the National Heart Foundation of Australia published a position statement on full fat dairy products, "Based on current evidence, there is not enough evidence to recommend full fat over reduced fat products or reduced fat over full fat products for the general population. For people with elevated cholesterol and those with existing coronary heart disease, reduced fat products are recommended." The position statement also noted that the "evidence for milk, yoghurt and cheese does not extend to butter, cream, ice-cream and dairy-based desserts; these products should be avoided in a heart healthy eating pattern".
Recent reviews of randomized controlled trials have found that dairy intake from cheese, milk and yogurt does not have detrimental effects on markers of cardiometabolic health.
Consumption of dairy products such as low-fat and whole milk have been associated with an increased acne risk, however, as of 2022 there is no conclusive evidence. Fermented and low-fat dairy products are associated with a decreased risk of diabetes. Consumption of dairy products are also associated with a decreased risk of gout.
A 2023 review found that higher intake of dairy products is significantly associated with a lower risk of inflammatory bowel disease.
Some groups avoid dairy products for non-health-related reasons. Some religions restrict or do not allow the consumption of dairy products. For example, some scholars of Jainism advocate not consuming any dairy products because dairy is perceived to involve violence against cows. Orthodox Judaism requires that meat and dairy products not be served at the same meal, served or cooked in the same utensils, or stored together, as prescribed in Deuteronomy 14:21.
Veganism is the avoidance of all animal products, including dairy products, most often due to the ethics regarding how dairy products are produced. The ethical reasons for avoiding meat and dairy products include how dairy is produced, how the animals are handled, and the environmental effect of dairy production. According to a report of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization in 2010 the dairy sector accounted for 4 percent of global human-made greenhouse gas emissions. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food items in the Western world such as yogurt, cheese, milk and butter. A facility that produces dairy products is known as a dairy. Dairy products are consumed worldwide to varying degrees (see consumption patterns worldwide). Some people avoid some or all dairy products either because of lactose intolerance, veganism, or other health reasons or beliefs.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Milk is produced after optional homogenization or pasteurization, in several grades after standardization of the fat level, and possible addition of the bacteria Streptococcus lactis and Leuconostoc citrovorum. Milk can be broken down into several different categories based on type of product produced, including cream, butter, cheese, infant formula, and yogurt.",
"title": "Types of dairy product"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Milk varies in fat content. Skim milk is milk with zero fat, while whole milk products contain fat.",
"title": "Types of dairy product"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Milk is an ingredient in many confectioneries. Milk can be added to chocolate to produce milk chocolate.",
"title": "Types of dairy product"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Butter, mostly milk fat, produced by churning cream",
"title": "Types of dairy product"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Fermented milk products include:",
"title": "Types of dairy product"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Yogurt, milk fermented by thermophilic bacteria, mainly Streptococcus salivarius ssp. thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus sometimes with additional bacteria, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus",
"title": "Types of dairy product"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Cheese, produced by coagulating milk, separating curds from whey, and letting it ripen, generally with bacteria, and sometimes also with certain molds.",
"title": "Types of dairy product"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Rates of dairy consumption vary widely worldwide. High-consumption countries consume more than 150 kilograms (330 lb) per capita per year. These countries are: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Costa Rica, most European countries, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, North America and Pakistan. Medium-consumption countries consume 30 kilograms (66 lb) to 150 kg per capita per year. These countries are: India, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, North and Southern Africa, most of the Middle East, and most of Latin America and the Caribbean. Low-consumption countries consume under 30 kg per capita per year. These countries are: Senegal, most of Central Africa, and most of East and Southeast Asia.",
"title": "Consumption patterns worldwide"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "For those with some degree of lactose intolerance, considering the amount of lactose in dairy products can be important to health.",
"title": "Lactose levels"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Dairy products may upset the digestive system in individuals with lactose intolerance or a milk allergy. People who experience lactose intolerance usually avoid milk and other lactose-containing dairy products, which may cause mild side effects, such as abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, gas, and nausea. Such individuals may use non-dairy milk substitutes.",
"title": "Intolerance and health research"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), World Cancer Research Fund International (WCRF), Cancer Council Australia (CCA) and Cancer Research UK have stated that there is strong evidence that consumption of dairy products decreases risk of colorectal cancer. The AICR, WCRF, CCA and Prostate Cancer UK have stated that there is limited but suggestive evidence that dairy products increase risk of prostate cancer. The American Cancer Society (ACS) have stated that because dairy products \"may lower the risk of some cancers and possibly increase the risk of others, the ACS does not make specific recommendations on dairy food consumption for cancer prevention.\"",
"title": "Intolerance and health research"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "It has been suggested that consumption of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in dairy products could increase cancer risk, particularly prostate cancer. However, a 2018 review by the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COC) concluded that there is \"insufficient evidence to draw any firm conclusions as to whether exposure to dietary IGF-1 is associated with an increased incidence of cancer in consumers\". The COC also stated it is unlikely that there would be absorption of intact IGF-1 from food by most consumers.",
"title": "Intolerance and health research"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "A 2019 review concluded that higher-quality research was needed to characterise valid associations between dairy consumption and risk of and/or cancer-related mortality. A 2021 umbrella review found strong evidence that consumption of dairy products decreases risk of colorectal cancer. Fermented dairy is associated with significantly decreased bladder cancer and colorectal cancer risk.",
"title": "Intolerance and health research"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "A 2023 review found no association between consumption of dairy products and breast cancer.",
"title": "Intolerance and health research"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The American Medical Association (AMA) recommends that people replace full-fat dairy products with nonfat and low-fat dairy products. In 2017, the AMA stated that there is no high-quality clinical evidence that cheese consumption lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease. In 2021, they stated that \"taken together, replacing full-fat dairy products with nonfat and low-fat dairy products and other sources of unsaturated fat shifts the composition of dietary patterns toward higher unsaturated to saturated fat ratios that are associated with better cardiovascular health\".",
"title": "Intolerance and health research"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "In 2017, the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand published an umbrella review which found an \"overall neutral effect of dairy on cardiovascular risk for the general population\". Their position paper stated that \"the evidence overall suggests dairy products can be included in a heart-healthy eating pattern and choosing reduced-fat dairy over full-fat dairy reduces risk for some, but not all, cardiovascular risk factors\".",
"title": "Intolerance and health research"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In 2019 the National Heart Foundation of Australia published a position statement on full fat dairy products, \"Based on current evidence, there is not enough evidence to recommend full fat over reduced fat products or reduced fat over full fat products for the general population. For people with elevated cholesterol and those with existing coronary heart disease, reduced fat products are recommended.\" The position statement also noted that the \"evidence for milk, yoghurt and cheese does not extend to butter, cream, ice-cream and dairy-based desserts; these products should be avoided in a heart healthy eating pattern\".",
"title": "Intolerance and health research"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Recent reviews of randomized controlled trials have found that dairy intake from cheese, milk and yogurt does not have detrimental effects on markers of cardiometabolic health.",
"title": "Intolerance and health research"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Consumption of dairy products such as low-fat and whole milk have been associated with an increased acne risk, however, as of 2022 there is no conclusive evidence. Fermented and low-fat dairy products are associated with a decreased risk of diabetes. Consumption of dairy products are also associated with a decreased risk of gout.",
"title": "Intolerance and health research"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "A 2023 review found that higher intake of dairy products is significantly associated with a lower risk of inflammatory bowel disease.",
"title": "Intolerance and health research"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Some groups avoid dairy products for non-health-related reasons. Some religions restrict or do not allow the consumption of dairy products. For example, some scholars of Jainism advocate not consuming any dairy products because dairy is perceived to involve violence against cows. Orthodox Judaism requires that meat and dairy products not be served at the same meal, served or cooked in the same utensils, or stored together, as prescribed in Deuteronomy 14:21.",
"title": "Avoidance on principle"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Veganism is the avoidance of all animal products, including dairy products, most often due to the ethics regarding how dairy products are produced. The ethical reasons for avoiding meat and dairy products include how dairy is produced, how the animals are handled, and the environmental effect of dairy production. According to a report of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization in 2010 the dairy sector accounted for 4 percent of global human-made greenhouse gas emissions.",
"title": "Avoidance on principle"
}
] | Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are food products made from milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food items in the Western world such as yogurt, cheese, milk and butter. A facility that produces dairy products is known as a dairy. Dairy products are consumed worldwide to varying degrees. Some people avoid some or all dairy products either because of lactose intolerance, veganism, or other health reasons or beliefs. | 2001-08-15T18:40:16Z | 2023-12-25T13:29:35Z | [
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8,099 | Dave Grohl | David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, for which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of the influential grunge band Nirvana from 1990 to 1994.
At 17, Grohl joined the punk rock band Scream after the departure of their drummer Kent Stax. Grohl became the drummer for Nirvana after Scream broke up in 1990. Nirvana's second album, Nevermind (1991), was the first to feature Grohl on drums and became a worldwide success. After Nirvana disbanded following the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994, Grohl formed Foo Fighters as a one-man project. The first Foo Fighters album was released in 1995, and a full band was assembled to tour and record under the Foo Fighters name; they have released 11 studio albums.
Grohl is the drummer and co-founder of the rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, and has recorded and toured with Queens of the Stone Age. He has also participated in the side projects Late! and Probot. Grohl began directing Foo Fighters music videos in 1997 and released his debut documentary, Sound City, in 2013. It was followed by the documentary miniseries Sonic Highways (2014) and the documentary film What Drives Us (2021). In 2021, Grohl released an autobiography, The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music. In 2022, he and the Foo Fighters starred as themselves in the comedy horror film Studio 666.
In 2010, Grohl was described by the Classic Rock Drummers co-author Ken Micallef as one of the most influential rock musicians of the previous 20 years. Grohl was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Nirvana in 2014 and as a member of Foo Fighters in 2021.
David Eric Grohl was born in Warren, Ohio, on January 14, 1969, the son of teacher Virginia Jean (née Hanlon) and newswriter James Harper Grohl. He is of German, Slovak (on father's side), Irish and English (on mother's side) descent. In addition to being an award-winning journalist, James had also served as the special assistant to Senator Robert Taft Jr. and was described as "a talented political observer who possessed the ability to call every major election with uncanny accuracy". When he was a child, Grohl's family moved to Springfield, Virginia. When he was seven, his parents divorced, and he was subsequently raised by his mother. At the age of 12, he began learning to play guitar. He grew tired of lessons and instead taught himself, eventually playing in bands with friends. He said, "I was going in the direction of faster, louder, darker while my sister, Lisa, three years older, was getting seriously into new wave territory. We'd meet in the middle sometimes with Bowie and Siouxsie and the Banshees."
At 13, Grohl and his sister spent the summer at their cousin Tracey's house in Evanston, Illinois. Tracey introduced them to punk rock by taking the pair to shows by a variety of punk bands. His first concert was Naked Raygun at The Cubby Bear in Chicago in 1982. Grohl recalled, "From then on we were totally punk. We went home and bought Maximumrocknroll and tried to figure it all out." In Virginia, he attended Thomas Jefferson High School as a freshman and was elected class vice-president. In that capacity, he managed to play pieces of songs by punk bands like Circle Jerks and Bad Brains over the school intercom before his morning announcements. His mother decided he should transfer to Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria because his cannabis use was lowering his grades. He stayed there for two years, beginning with a repeat of his first year. After his second year, he transferred yet again to Annandale High School. While in high school, he played in several local bands, including a stint as guitarist in a band called Freak Baby. During this period, he taught himself to play drums. When Freak Baby fired its bass player and reshuffled its lineup, Grohl switched to drums. The reconstituted band renamed itself Mission Impossible.
Grohl said he did not take formal drumming lessons and instead learned by listening to Rush and punk rock. Rush drummer Neil Peart was an early influence: "When I got 2112 when I was eight years old, it fucking changed the direction of my life. I heard the drums. It made me want to become a drummer." During his developing years as a drummer, Grohl cited John Bonham as his greatest influence, and eventually had Bonham's three-rings symbol tattooed on his right shoulder. Mission Impossible rebranded themselves Fast before breaking up, after which Grohl joined the hardcore punk band Dain Bramage in December 1985. Dain Bramage ended in March 1987 when Grohl quit without warning to join Scream, having produced the I Scream Not Coming Down LP. Many of Grohl's early influences were at the 9:30 Club, a music venue in Washington, D.C. He said, "I went to the 9:30 Club hundreds of times. I was always so excited to get there, and I was always bummed when it closed. I spent my teenage years at the club and saw some shows that changed my life."
As a teenager in DC, Grohl briefly contemplated joining shock-rockers Gwar, who were looking for a drummer. At age 17, Grohl auditioned with local Washington, D.C., favorites Scream to fill the vacancy left by the departure of drummer Kent Stax. In order to be considered for the position, Grohl lied about his age, claiming he was older. To Grohl's surprise, the band asked him to join, so he dropped out of high school in his junior year. He has been quoted as saying, "I was 17 and extremely anxious to see the world, so I did it."
Over the next four years, Grohl toured extensively with Scream, recording a live album (their show of May 4, 1990, in Alzey, Germany, being released by Tobby Holzinger as Your Choice Live Series Vol.10) and two studio albums, No More Censorship and Fumble, on which Grohl penned and sang vocals on the song "Gods Look Down". During a Toronto stop on their 1987 tour, Grohl played drums for Iggy Pop at a CD release party held at famed club the El Mocambo. In 1990, Scream unexpectedly disbanded midtour following the departure of bassist Skeeter Thompson.
While playing in Scream, Grohl became a fan of the Melvins and eventually befriended them. During a 1990 tour stop on the West Coast, Melvins guitarist Buzz Osborne took his friends Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, of the band Nirvana, to see Scream. Following the breakup of Scream, Grohl called Osborne for advice. Osborne informed him that Nirvana was looking for a drummer and gave Grohl the phone numbers of Cobain and Novoselic, who invited Grohl to Seattle to audition. Grohl passed the audition and soon joined the band. Novoselic later said, "We knew in two minutes that he was the right drummer." Grohl told Q: "I remember being in the same room with them and thinking, 'What? That's Nirvana? Are you kidding?' Because on their record cover they looked like psycho lumberjacks... I was like, 'What, that little dude and that big motherfucker? You're kidding me'."
When Grohl joined Nirvana, the band had already recorded several demos for the follow-up to their debut album Bleach, having spent time recording with producer Butch Vig in Wisconsin. Initially, the plan was to release the album on Sub Pop, but the band received a great deal of interest based on the demos. Grohl spent the initial months with Nirvana traveling to various labels as the band shopped for a deal, eventually signing with DGC Records. In the spring of 1991, the band entered Sound City Studios in Los Angeles to record Nevermind (as seen in Grohl's 2013 documentary Sound City).
Nevermind (1991) exceeded all expectations and became a worldwide commercial success. At the same time, Grohl was compiling and recording his own material, which he released on a cassette called Pocketwatch in 1992 on indie label Simple Machines. Rather than using his own name, Grohl released the cassette under the pseudonym "Late!"
In the later years of Nirvana, Grohl's songwriting contributions increased. In Grohl's initial months in Olympia, Cobain overheard him working on a song called "Color Pictures of a Marigold", and the two subsequently worked on it together. Grohl would later record the song for the Pocketwatch cassette. Grohl stated in a 2014 episode of Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways that Cobain reacted by kissing him upon first hearing a demo of "Alone + Easy Target" that Grohl had recently recorded.
During the sessions for In Utero, Nirvana decided to re-record "Color Pictures of a Marigold" and released this version as a B-side on the "Heart-Shaped Box" single, titled simply "Marigold". Grohl also contributed the main guitar riff for "Scentless Apprentice". Cobain admitted in a late 1993 MTV interview that he initially thought the riff was "kind of boneheaded", but was gratified at how the song developed (a process captured in part in a demo on the Nirvana box set With the Lights Out). Cobain said that he was excited at the possibility of having Novoselic and Grohl contribute more to the band's songwriting.
Prior to their 1994 European tour, the band scheduled session time at Robert Lang Studios in Seattle to work on demos. For most of the three-day session, Cobain was absent, so Novoselic and Grohl worked on demos of their own songs. They completed several of Grohl's songs, including future Foo Fighters songs "Exhausted", "Big Me", "February Stars", and "Butterflies". Cobain arrived on the third day and the band recorded a demo of "You Know You're Right". It was Nirvana's final studio recording; on April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead of a self-inflicted shotgun wound at his home. Two decades later, on April 10, 2014, Grohl was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Nirvana.
Following Cobain's suicide in April 1994, Grohl went into isolation and retreated for several months, unsure what to do next. He ended up leaving Seattle entirely, winding up in County Kerry, Ireland. In a 2022 interview with The Pit, Grohl noted:
I was still in Seattle, and I just felt, ‘I gotta get out.’ I [had to] go somewhere where I could just disappear and sort through my life, and try to figure out what to do next... I was winding around these country roads – so beautiful – and I was finding peace… and I come upon this hitchhiker, and I was considering picking him up, and I saw that he had a Kurt Cobain T-shirt. And to me that meant: ‘You can’t outrun this thing, so it’s time … to push through and find some sort of continuation.’ So I flew home and I immediately started recording those Foo Fighter songs.
In October 1994, he scheduled studio time at Robert Lang Studios and quickly recorded a fifteen-track demo. With the exception of a single guitar part on "X-Static" played by Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs, Grohl performed all of the instruments himself.
Grohl wondered if his future might be in drumming for other bands. In November, Grohl took a brief turn with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, including a performance on Saturday Night Live. He declined an invitation to become Petty's permanent drummer. Grohl was also rumored as a possible replacement for Pearl Jam drummer Dave Abbruzzese and performed with the band for a song or two at three shows during Pearl Jam's March 1995 Australian tour. However, by then, Pearl Jam had already settled on ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons, and Grohl had other solo plans.
Grohl's demo received interest from major labels. Nirvana's A&R rep Gary Gersh was now president of Capitol Records and lured Grohl to sign with the label. Grohl did not want the effort to be considered the start of a solo career, so he recruited other band members: former Germs and touring Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear and two members of the recently disbanded Sunny Day Real Estate, William Goldsmith (drums) and Nate Mendel (bass). He and Novoselic decided against Novoselic joining; Grohl said it would have felt "really natural" for them to work together again, but would have been uncomfortable for the other band members and placed more pressure on Grohl. Rather than re-record the album, Grohl's demo was mixed by Rob Schnapf and Tom Rothrock and was released in July 1995 as Foo Fighters' self-titled debut album. During a break between tours, the band entered the studio and recorded a cover of Gary Numan's "Down in the Park". In February 1996, Grohl and his then-wife Jennifer Youngblood made a brief cameo appearance on The X-Files third-season episode "Pusher".
After touring for the self-titled album for more than a year, Grohl returned home and began work on the soundtrack to the 1997 movie Touch. Grohl performed all of the instruments and vocals himself, save for vocals from Veruca Salt singer Louise Post on the title track, keyboards by Barrett Jones (who also co-produced the record) on one track, and vocals and guitar by X's John Doe on "This Loving Thing (Lynn's Song)". Grohl completed the recording in two weeks, and immediately joined Foo Fighters to work on their follow-up.
During the initial sessions for Foo Fighters' second album, tension emerged between Grohl and drummer William Goldsmith. According to Goldsmith, "Dave had me do 96 takes of one song, and I had to do thirteen hours' worth of takes on another one ... It just seemed that everything I did wasn't good enough for him, or anyone else". Goldsmith also believed that Capitol and producer Gil Norton wanted Grohl to drum on the album. With the album seemingly complete, Grohl headed home to Virginia with a copy of the rough mixes and found himself unhappy with the results. He wrote and recorded a few new songs, "Walking After You" and the hit single "Everlong”, alone at a studio in Washington, D.C. Inspired by the session, Grohl opted to move the band, without Goldsmith's knowledge, to Los Angeles to re-record most of the album with Grohl on drums. After the sessions were complete, Goldsmith announced his departure from the band. Grohl later expressed regret, and said that "there were a lot of reasons it didn't work out, but there was also a part of me that was like, you know, I don't know if I'm finished playing the drums yet".
The second Foo Fighters album, The Colour and the Shape, was released in May 1997 and cemented Foo Fighters as a staple of rock radio. It produced several hit singles, including "Everlong", "My Hero", and "Monkey Wrench". Prior to the album's release, former Alanis Morissette drummer Taylor Hawkins joined on drums. The following September, Smear left the band, citing a need to settle down following a lifetime of touring. Smear was replaced by Grohl's former Scream bandmate Franz Stahl. Stahl departed prior to the recording of Foo Fighters' third album and was replaced by touring guitarist Chris Shiflett, who later became a full-fledged member during the recording of One by One.
Grohl's life of non-stop touring and travel continued with Foo Fighters' popularity. During his infrequent pauses he lived in Seattle and Los Angeles before returning to Alexandria, Virginia. It was there that he turned his basement into a recording studio where the 1999 album There Is Nothing Left to Lose was recorded. It was recorded following the departure from Capitol and their former president Gary Gersh. Grohl described the recording experience as "intoxicating at times" because the band members were left completely to their own devices. He added, "One of the advantages of finishing the record before we had a new label was that it was purely our creation. It was complete and not open to outside tampering."
In 2000, the band recruited Queen guitarist Brian May to add some guitar flourish to a cover of Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar", a song which Foo Fighters previously recorded as a B-side. The friendship between the two bands resulted in Grohl and Taylor Hawkins being asked to induct Queen into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Grohl and Hawkins joined May and Queen drummer Roger Taylor to perform "Tie Your Mother Down", with Grohl standing in on vocals for Freddie Mercury. May later contributed guitar work for the song "Tired of You" on the ensuing Foo Fighters album, as well as on an unreleased Foo Fighters song called "Knucklehead".
Near the end of 2001, Foo Fighters returned to the studio to work on their fourth album. After four months in the studio, with the sessions finished, Grohl accepted an invitation to join Queens of the Stone Age and helped them to record their 2002 album Songs for the Deaf. (Grohl can be seen drumming for the band in the video for the song "No One Knows".) After a brief tour through North America, Britain and Japan with the band and feeling rejuvenated by the effort, Grohl recalled the other band members to completely re-record their album at his studio in Virginia. The effort became their fourth album, One by One. While initially pleased with the results, in another 2005 Rolling Stone interview, Grohl admitted to not liking the record: "Four of the songs were good, and the other seven I never played again in my life. We rushed into it, and we rushed out of it."
On November 23, 2002, Grohl achieved a historical milestone by replacing himself on the top of the Billboard modern rock chart, when "You Know You're Right" by Nirvana was replaced by "All My Life" by Foo Fighters. When "All My Life" ended its run, after a one-week respite, "No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age took the number one spot. Between October 26, 2002, and March 1, 2003, Grohl was in the number one spot on the Modern rock charts for 17 of 18 successive weeks, as a member of three different groups.
Grohl and Foo Fighters released their fifth album In Your Honor on June 14, 2005. Prior to starting work on the album, the band spent almost a year relocating Grohl's home-based Virginia studio to a brand new facility, dubbed Studio 606, located in a warehouse near Los Angeles. Featuring collaborations with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Norah Jones, the album was a departure from previous efforts, and included one rock and one acoustic disc.
Foo Fighters' sixth studio album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was released on September 25, 2007. It was recorded during a three-month period between March 2007 and June 2007, and its release was preceded by the first single "The Pretender" on September 17. The second single, "Long Road to Ruin", was released on December 3, 2007, followed by the third single, "Let It Die", on June 24, 2008.
On November 3, 2009, Foo Fighters released their first Greatest Hits collection, consisting of 16 tracks including a previously unreleased acoustic version of "Everlong" and two new tracks "Wheels" and "Word Forward" which were produced by Nevermind's producer Butch Vig. Grohl said he felt the Greatest Hits was too early and "can look like an obituary". He did not feel they had written their best hits yet.
Foo Fighters' seventh studio album, Wasting Light, was released on April 12, 2011. It became the band's first album to reach No. 1 in the United States. Despite rumors of a hiatus, Grohl confirmed in January 2013 that the band had completed writing material for their follow-up to Wasting Light.
Grohl and members of Foo Fighters sometimes perform as a cover band "Chevy Metal", as they did in May 2015 at "Conejo Valley Days", a county fair in Thousand Oaks, California.
On November 10, 2014, Foo Fighters released their eighth studio album, Sonic Highways, which reached number two in the United States. The album features eight songs, each inspired by a different U.S. city's musical history and culture researched by Grohl himself.
On June 12, 2015, while playing a show in Gothenburg, Sweden, Grohl fell off the stage, breaking his leg. He left temporarily and returned with a cast to finish the concert. Afterward, the band cancelled the remainder of its European tour. To avoid having to cancel the band's upcoming North American tour, Grohl designed a large "elevated throne" which would allow him to perform on stage with a broken leg. The throne was unveiled at a concert in Washington, D.C., on July 4, where Grohl used the stage's video screens to show the crowd video of him falling from the stage in Gothenburg as well as X-rays of his broken leg. Beginning with the show on July 4, Foo Fighters began selling new tour merchandise rebranding the band's North American tour as the Broken Leg Tour. In 2016, Grohl lent his throne to Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses after Rose broke his foot. He lent it again in 2021 to Darin Wall, of the Seattle metal band Greyhawk, after Wall was shot in the leg.
On July 31, 2015, Grohl posted a personal reply to Fabio Zaffagnini, Marco Sabiu, and the 1,000 participants of the "Rockin' 1000" project in Cesena, Italy, thanking them for their combined performance of the Foo Fighters' song "Learn to Fly" from their 1999 album There Is Nothing Left to Lose, indicating (in broken Italian), "... I promise [Foo Fighters will] see you soon". On November 3, Foo Fighters performed in Cesena, where Grohl invited some "Rockin' 1000" members onto the stage to perform with the band.
On September 15, 2017, Foo Fighters released their ninth studio album Concrete and Gold, which became the band's second album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. After the Concrete and Gold Tour, Grohl announced that the band would be taking a break. The tenth Foo Fighters studio album, Medicine at Midnight, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was released on February 5, 2021, and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200. The Medicine at Midnight tour was cancelled following the death of Hawkins on March 25, 2022. The eleventh Foo Fighters studio album But Here We Are was released on June 2, 2023. The album is dedicated to Hawkins and Grohl's mother, Virginia, both of whom died in 2022.
Apart from his main bands, Grohl has been involved in other music projects. In 1992, he played drums on Buzz Osborne's Kiss-styled solo-EP King Buzzo, where he was credited as Dale Nixon, a pseudonym that Greg Ginn adopted to play bass on Black Flag's My War. He also released the music cassette Pocketwatch under the pseudonym Late! on the now-defunct indie label Simple Machines.
In 1993, Grohl was recruited to help recreate the music of The Beatles' early years for the movie Backbeat; he played drums in an "all-star" lineup that included Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs, indie producer Don Fleming, Mike Mills of R.E.M., Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum. A music video was filmed for the song "Money" while Grohl was with Nirvana on their 1994 European tour, footage of Grohl was filmed later and included.
Later in 1994, Grohl played drums on two tracks for Mike Watt's Ball-Hog or Tugboat?. In early 1995, Grohl and Foo Fighters played their first US tour, the Ring Spiel Tour both opening for Watt and playing with Eddie Vedder as Watt's supporting band.
In 1997, Grohl played a few songs with David Bowie for Bowie's 50th birthday concert, which was recorded and shown on pay-per-view later that year.
During the early 2000s, Grohl spent time in his basement studio writing and recording a number of songs for a metal project. Over the span of several years, he recruited his favorite metal vocalists from the 1980s, including Lemmy of Motörhead, Conrad "Cronos" Lant from Venom, King Diamond, Scott Weinrich, Snake of Voivod and Max Cavalera of Sepultura, to perform the vocals for the songs. The project was released in 2004 under the nickname Probot.
Also in 2003, Grohl stepped behind the kit to perform on Killing Joke's second self-titled album. The move surprised some Nirvana fans, given that Nirvana had been accused of plagiarizing the opening riff of "Come as You Are" from Killing Joke's 1984 song "Eighties". However, the controversy failed to create a lasting rift between the bands. Foo Fighters covered Killing Joke's "Requiem" during the late 1990s, and were even joined by Killing Joke singer Jaz Coleman for a performance of the song at a show in New Zealand in 2003. Also in 2003, at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards, Grohl performed in an ad hoc supergroup with Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, and Steven Van Zandt for a performance in tribute of then-recently deceased singer/guitarist Joe Strummer.
Grohl lent his drumming skills to other artists during the early 2000s. In 2000, he played drums and sang on a track, "Goodbye Lament", from Tony Iommi's album Iommi. In 2001, Grohl performed on Tenacious D's debut album, and appeared in the video for lead single "Tribute" as a demon. He later appeared in the duo's 2006 movie Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny as the devil in the song "The Pick of Destiny", and performed on its soundtrack. He also performed drums for their 2012 album Rize of the Fenix. In 2002, Grohl helped Chan Marshall of Cat Power on the album You Are Free and played with Queens of the Stone Age on their album Songs for the Deaf. Grohl also toured with the band in support of the album, delaying work on the Foo Fighters' album One by One. In 2004, Grohl drummed on six tracks for Nine Inch Nails' 2005 album With Teeth and played percussion on one more, later returning to play drums on 'The Idea of You' from their 2016 EP Not the Actual Events. He also drummed on the song "Bad Boyfriend" on Garbage's 2005 album Bleed Like Me. Most recently, he recorded all the drums on Juliette and the Licks's 2006 album Four on the Floor and the song "For Us" from Pete Yorn's 2006 album Nightcrawler. Beyond drumming, Grohl contributed guitar to a cover of Neil Young's "I've Been Waiting For You" on David Bowie's 2002 album Heathen.
In June 2008, Grohl was Paul McCartney's special guest for a concert at the Anfield football stadium in Liverpool, in one of the central events of the English city's year as European Capital of Culture. Grohl joined McCartney's band singing backup vocals and playing guitar on "Band on the Run" and drums on "Back in the U.S.S.R." and "I Saw Her Standing There". Grohl also performed with McCartney at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, again playing drums on "I Saw Her Standing There". Grohl also helped pay tribute to McCartney at the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors along with No Doubt, Norah Jones, Steven Tyler, James Taylor, and Mavis Staples. He sang a duet version of "Maybe I'm Amazed" with Norah Jones on December 5, 2010.
Grohl played drums on the tracks "Run with the Wolves" and "Stand Up" on The Prodigy's 2009 album Invaders Must Die.
In July 2009, it was revealed that Grohl was recording with Josh Homme and John Paul Jones as Them Crooked Vultures. The trio performed their first show together on August 9, 2009, at Metro in Chicago. The band played their first UK gig on August 26, 2009, with a surprise appearance at Brixton Academy in London, supporting the Arctic Monkeys. The band released their debut album Them Crooked Vultures on November 16, 2009, in the UK and November 17, 2009, in the US.
On October 23, 2010, Grohl performed with Tenacious D at BlizzCon. He appeared as the drummer for the entire concert, and a year later he returned with Foo Fighters and played another set there, this time as guitarist and vocalist.
Also in 2010, Grohl helped write and performed on drums for "Watch This" with guitarist Slash and Duff McKagan on Slash's self-titled album that also included many other famous artists.
In October 2011, Grohl temporarily joined Cage the Elephant as a replacement on tour after drummer Jared Champion's appendix burst.
Grohl directed a documentary entitled Sound City which is about the Van Nuys studio of the same name where Nevermind was recorded that shut down its music operations in 2011.
In 2012, following the departure of Joey Castillo from Queens of the Stone Age, Grohl performed on some tracks as drummer on their 2013 album ...Like Clockwork.
At the 12-12-12 Sandy benefit concert, Paul McCartney joined Grohl and the surviving members of Nirvana (Krist Novoselic and touring guitarist Pat Smear) to perform "Cut Me Some Slack", a song later recorded for the Sound City soundtrack. In what was regarded as a Nirvana reunion with McCartney as a stand-in for Kurt Cobain, this was the first time in eighteen years that the three had played alongside each other.
Grohl delivered a keynote speech at the 2013 South by Southwest conference in Austin Texas, U.S. on the morning of March 14. Lasting just under an hour, the speech covered Grohl's musical life from his youth through to his role with the Foo Fighters and emphasized the importance of each individual's voice, regardless of who the individual is: "There is no right or wrong—there is only your voice ... What matters most is that it's your voice. Cherish it. Respect it. Nurture it. Challenge it. Respect it." Grohl said during the speech that Psy's "Gangnam Style" was one of his favorite songs of the past decade. He also referenced Edgar Winter's instrumental "Frankenstein" as the song that made him want to become a musician.
On November 6, 2013, Grohl played drums at the 2013 CMA Awards replacing drummer Chris Fryar for Country Music band Zac Brown Band. The band debuted their new song "Day for the Dead". Grohl also produced Zac Brown Band's EP The Grohl Sessions, Vol. 1.
Grohl also featured on drums for new indie hip-hop band RDGLDGRN. He worked with them closely on their EP. The group asked fellow Northern Virginia native Grohl, who was filming his Sound City documentary, to drum on "I Love Lamp". Grohl agreed and played drums for the entire record, with the exception of "Million Fans", which features a sampled breakbeat.
Grohl, a fan of theatrical Swedish metal band Ghost, produced their EP If You Have Ghost. He was also featured in a number of songs on the EP. Grohl played rhythm guitar for the song "If You Have Ghosts" (a cover of a Roky Erickson song), and drums on "I'm a Marionette" (an ABBA cover) as well as "Waiting for the Night" (a Depeche Mode cover). According to a member of Ghost, Grohl has appeared live in concert with the band wearing the same identity concealing outfit that the rest of the band usually wears.
In September, the all-star covers album by the Alice Cooper-led Hollywood Vampires supergroup was released and features Grohl playing drums on the medley "One/Jump Into the Fire".
On August 10, 2018, Grohl released "Play", a solo recording lasting over 22 minutes. A mini documentary accompanied it.
Between August and November 2020, Grohl performed in an online drum battle with ten-year-old drummer and YouTube celebrity Nandi Bushell, who had challenged Grohl after previously covering songs from Nirvana and Foo Fighters. Grohl had previously been impressed by her talent and energy. After going back and forth with Bushell a few times, he jokingly conceded victory to her, and later wrote and performed a song in her honor. Later, after speaking to Bushell over a video chat, Grohl offered to have Bushell perform with the Foo Fighters on stage, an offer he made good on when she appeared with the band during their August 26, 2021 show at the L.A. Forum, where she performed drums on "Everlong" as the show's finale. The videos of the drum battle received tens of millions of views. This was not the first child Grohl have invited on stage: in 2018, he invited ten year Collier Cash Rule on stage at a Foo Fighters concert in Kansas City, Missouri and gifted his guitar to him. Rule played several Metallica songs and Grohl sung one verse and the chorus to Enter Sandman.
During Hanukkah of 2020, Grohl collaborated with Greg Kurstin to release previously recorded covers of songs by Jewish artists, one per night. This continued in 2021 and 2022.
On October 5, 2021, Grohl's memoir The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music was published by Dey Street Books. Grohl developed a thrash metal record for a fictional band named Dream Widow (who self-destructed 25 years ago), as developed for a horror-comedy movie titled Studio 666. Grohl worked to create the Dream Widow album and aimed to release it at the same time as the film, on February 25, 2022. On March 25, 2022, the self-titled Dream Widow EP was released to digital streaming services featuring eight tracks ranging from thrash, death and extreme metal. The EP also featured Rami Jaffee, Jim Rota and Oliver Roman.
On 25 June 2022 Grohl duetted with Paul McCartney when he headlined the Glastonbury Festival. It was his first performance since the death of Taylor Hawkins earlier in the year.
Since his first appearance in 1992, Grohl has been a musical guest on Saturday Night Live 14 times—more than any other musician. He has appeared with Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures, Mick Jagger, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Grohl has also appeared in several sketches on SNL. On October 13, 2007, he performed in the SNL Digital Short "People Getting Punched Just Before Eating". On February 6, 2010, he appeared as a middle-aged punk rock drummer reuniting the group "Crisis of Conformity" (fronted by Fred Armisen) after 25 years in a skit later on in the episode. On March 9, 2011, he appeared in the SNL Digital Short "Helen Mirren's Magical Bosom" and the sketch "Bongo's Clown Room".
In August 2000, Grohl voiced Daniel Dotson, an egotistical art instructor, in Is It Fall Yet?, the first of two film-length installments for MTV's animated series Daria.
In mid-2010, Grohl added his name to the list of contributing rock star voice cameos for Cartoon Network's heavy metal parody/tribute show, Metalocalypse. He voiced the controversial Syrian dictator, Abdule Malik in the season 3 finale, Doublebookedklok.
In February 2013, Grohl filled in as host of Chelsea Lately for a week. Guests included Elton John, who disclosed on the E! show that he would appear with Grohl on the next Queens of the Stone Age album. Grohl had previously hosted the show during the first week of December 2012 as part of "Celebrity Guest Host Week".
On May 20, 2015, David Letterman selected Grohl and the Foo Fighters to play "Everlong" as the last musical guest on the final episode of Late Show with David Letterman. Letterman stated that he considered "Everlong" to be his favorite song and that he and the band were "joined at the hip" ever since the band canceled tour dates to play his first show back from heart bypass surgery at his request.
On December 1, 2015, Grohl appeared on an episode of The Muppets where he competed in a "drum off" with Animal.
Grohl appeared in the 50th anniversary season of Sesame Street in February 2019.
On January 28, 2021, it was announced that the first authorized Dave Grohl documentary will be released via The Coda Collection. The documentary was released April 30, 2021, as What Drives Us.
On October 8, 2021, Grohl was the guest storyteller on CBeebies Bedtime Story, reading a story based on The Beatles song, Octopus's Garden.
Grohl directed the Foo Fighters music videos for "Monkey Wrench" (1997), "My Hero" (1998), "All My Life" (2002), "White Limo" (2011), and "Rope" (2011), as well as all the music videos from the Sonic Highways and Concrete and Gold era. Outside of Foo Fighters, he also filmed the music video for Soundgarden's "By Crooked Steps" (2014).
In 2013, Grohl produced and directed the documentary Sound City, about the history of the famed Sound City Studios recording studios in Van Nuys. The film, Grohl's feature-length directorial debut, premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
Accompanying the release of Sonic Highways, Grohl directed an eight-part documentary miniseries of the same name that chronicles the album's development and recording across eight different American cities. It premiered on HBO on October 17, 2014.
In 2021, Grohl directed What Drives Us, a feature-length documentary on van touring. It was released on April 30, 2021, on the Coda Collection via Amazon Prime.
Inspired by California Jam, to celebrate the release of Foo Fighters' ninth studio album Concrete and Gold and begin their North American tour, Cal Jam 17, a music festival curated by Grohl and Foo Fighters, was held from October 6–7, 2017 at Glen Helen Amphitheater, with 27,800 attendees, 3,100 campers, and nine arrests.
Cal Jam 18 was held October 5–6, 2018 in San Bernardino, California which featured the Foo Fighters and a Nirvana reunion.
Grohl is a self-taught musician and cannot read music, and instead plays only by ear. Grohl's two primary guitars are based on the Gibson ES-335. His primary recording guitar is an original cherry red Gibson Trini Lopez Standard that he bought in the early 1990s because he liked the look of the diamond-shaped sound holes. He also has an original Pelham blue Trini Lopez from 1965 which he bought from a doctor in the UK.
Grohl's primary stage guitar is his signature model Pelham Blue Gibson DG-335, which was designed by Gibson based on the Trini Lopez Standard specs, but in a different color and with a stop tailpiece instead of the Trini Lopez's trapeze tailpiece. He also has another signature guitar called the "Memphis Dave Grohl ES-335" in silver finish that is otherwise similar to the DG-335. For the Foo Fighters' return in 2023, Grohl also began playing a DG-335 in a white finish, matching the aesthetics of But Here We Are. Grohl uses D'Addario 0.11-0.49 gauge strings, but his playing style is so aggressive that he uses a 0.42 gauge for the A string and a 0.60 gauge for the low E string. His primary acoustic guitar is a black Elvis Presley model Gibson Dove.
Grohl's drum kit, as designed by Drum Workshop, features five different sized toms ranging from 5x8 inches to 16x18 inches, a 19-inch crash cymbal, two 20-inch crash cymbals, an 18-inch China cymbal, a 24-inch ride cymbal, and a standard kick drum, snare drum, and hi-hat.
In May 2006, Grohl sent a note of support to the two trapped miners in the Beaconsfield mine collapse in Tasmania, Australia, who had survived the initial rockfall. In the initial days following the collapse, one of the men requested an iPod with the Foo Fighters album In Your Honor to be sent to them. Grohl's note read, in part, "Though I'm halfway around the world right now, my heart is with you both, and I want you to know that when you come home, there's two tickets to any Foos show, anywhere, and two cold beers waiting for yous [sic]. Deal?" In October 2006, one of the miners took up his offer, joining Grohl for a drink after a Foo Fighters acoustic concert at the Sydney Opera House. Grohl wrote an instrumental piece for the meeting, which he pledged to include on the band's next album. The song, "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners", appears on Foo Fighters' 2007 release Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and features Kaki King.
He has worn a White Knot ribbon, a symbol of support for same-sex marriage, to various events; when questioned about the knot, he responded, "I believe in love and I believe in equality and I believe in marriage equality." Grohl's gay rights activism dates back to the early 1990s, when Nirvana performed at a benefit to raise money to fight Oregon Ballot Measure 9, which forbade governments in Oregon from promoting or facilitating homosexuality. Grohl has also participated in two counter-protests against the Westboro Baptist Church for their anti-gay stance, once by performing "Keep It Clean" on the back of a flatbed truck and most recently by Rickrolling them.
Grohl is an advocate for gun control. Shortly after the 2002 D.C. sniper attacks ended, he stated in an interview that the attacks were "an indication of the direction the country's heading in if we don't get tougher with gun laws". He further stated, "People need to realize that our country has to get tougher on gun laws, it just does, and I grew up in suburban Virginia going hunting in season. I grew up with a firearm myself. But I'd be willing to give it up, if everyone else would."
In a 2008 interview, Grohl said he had never taken cocaine, heroin, or speed, and that he had stopped smoking cannabis and taking LSD at the age of 20. He said, "I've seen people die. It ain't easy being young, but that stuff doesn't make it any easier." He contributed to a 2009 anti-drug video for the BBC. He has described himself as a coffee addict who drinks an average of six cups of coffee every morning; in 2009, he was admitted to a hospital with chest pains caused by a caffeine overdose.
Grohl supported Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign and performed "My Hero" at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Foo Fighters supported Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign and played at the "Celebrating America" concert on the day of Biden's inauguration in 2021.
In 1994, Grohl married Jennifer Leigh Youngblood, a photographer from Grosse Pointe, Michigan. They separated in December 1996 and divorced in 1997. On August 2, 2003, he married Jordyn Blum. They reside in Los Angeles and have three daughters, born in 2006, 2009 and 2014.
With a fortune of $260 million at the time, Grohl was estimated by a 2012 Stereogum article to be the third-wealthiest drummer in the world, behind Ringo Starr and Phil Collins.
In a June 2011 interview, Grohl revealed that he was going deaf in his left ear due to decades of performing on stage. During his appearance on The Howard Stern Show in February 2022, he stated that he suffers from hearing loss and that this has an impact on both his daily life and life as a musician; his tinnitus has forced him to read lips for about 20 years, a situation which became more difficult when people began wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. As for producing music, he refuses to use in-ear monitors despite their ability to protect his ears because it "removes [him] from the natural atmosphere sound so [he] cannot hear [his] bandmates". He said that his ears are "still tuned in to certain frequencies, meaning [he's] still able to pick up on minute sonic details—even down to the slightest differences between cymbal crashes".
In August 2009, Grohl was given the key to the city of Warren, Ohio, his birthplace, and performed the songs "Everlong", "Times Like These", and "My Hero". A roadway in downtown Warren named "David Grohl Alley" has been dedicated to him with murals by local artists.
Grohl's hometown of Warren unveiled gigantic 902 lb (409 kg) drumsticks in 2012 to honor him. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the massive pair broke the Guinness World Record. The record-breaking drumsticks were shown to the public for the first time on July 7 during a concert at the Warren Amphitheater.
Grohl's first solo Rolling Stone cover story was published on December 4, 2014. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, for which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of the influential grunge band Nirvana from 1990 to 1994.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "At 17, Grohl joined the punk rock band Scream after the departure of their drummer Kent Stax. Grohl became the drummer for Nirvana after Scream broke up in 1990. Nirvana's second album, Nevermind (1991), was the first to feature Grohl on drums and became a worldwide success. After Nirvana disbanded following the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994, Grohl formed Foo Fighters as a one-man project. The first Foo Fighters album was released in 1995, and a full band was assembled to tour and record under the Foo Fighters name; they have released 11 studio albums.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Grohl is the drummer and co-founder of the rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, and has recorded and toured with Queens of the Stone Age. He has also participated in the side projects Late! and Probot. Grohl began directing Foo Fighters music videos in 1997 and released his debut documentary, Sound City, in 2013. It was followed by the documentary miniseries Sonic Highways (2014) and the documentary film What Drives Us (2021). In 2021, Grohl released an autobiography, The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music. In 2022, he and the Foo Fighters starred as themselves in the comedy horror film Studio 666.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "In 2010, Grohl was described by the Classic Rock Drummers co-author Ken Micallef as one of the most influential rock musicians of the previous 20 years. Grohl was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Nirvana in 2014 and as a member of Foo Fighters in 2021.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "David Eric Grohl was born in Warren, Ohio, on January 14, 1969, the son of teacher Virginia Jean (née Hanlon) and newswriter James Harper Grohl. He is of German, Slovak (on father's side), Irish and English (on mother's side) descent. In addition to being an award-winning journalist, James had also served as the special assistant to Senator Robert Taft Jr. and was described as \"a talented political observer who possessed the ability to call every major election with uncanny accuracy\". When he was a child, Grohl's family moved to Springfield, Virginia. When he was seven, his parents divorced, and he was subsequently raised by his mother. At the age of 12, he began learning to play guitar. He grew tired of lessons and instead taught himself, eventually playing in bands with friends. He said, \"I was going in the direction of faster, louder, darker while my sister, Lisa, three years older, was getting seriously into new wave territory. We'd meet in the middle sometimes with Bowie and Siouxsie and the Banshees.\"",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "At 13, Grohl and his sister spent the summer at their cousin Tracey's house in Evanston, Illinois. Tracey introduced them to punk rock by taking the pair to shows by a variety of punk bands. His first concert was Naked Raygun at The Cubby Bear in Chicago in 1982. Grohl recalled, \"From then on we were totally punk. We went home and bought Maximumrocknroll and tried to figure it all out.\" In Virginia, he attended Thomas Jefferson High School as a freshman and was elected class vice-president. In that capacity, he managed to play pieces of songs by punk bands like Circle Jerks and Bad Brains over the school intercom before his morning announcements. His mother decided he should transfer to Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria because his cannabis use was lowering his grades. He stayed there for two years, beginning with a repeat of his first year. After his second year, he transferred yet again to Annandale High School. While in high school, he played in several local bands, including a stint as guitarist in a band called Freak Baby. During this period, he taught himself to play drums. When Freak Baby fired its bass player and reshuffled its lineup, Grohl switched to drums. The reconstituted band renamed itself Mission Impossible.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Grohl said he did not take formal drumming lessons and instead learned by listening to Rush and punk rock. Rush drummer Neil Peart was an early influence: \"When I got 2112 when I was eight years old, it fucking changed the direction of my life. I heard the drums. It made me want to become a drummer.\" During his developing years as a drummer, Grohl cited John Bonham as his greatest influence, and eventually had Bonham's three-rings symbol tattooed on his right shoulder. Mission Impossible rebranded themselves Fast before breaking up, after which Grohl joined the hardcore punk band Dain Bramage in December 1985. Dain Bramage ended in March 1987 when Grohl quit without warning to join Scream, having produced the I Scream Not Coming Down LP. Many of Grohl's early influences were at the 9:30 Club, a music venue in Washington, D.C. He said, \"I went to the 9:30 Club hundreds of times. I was always so excited to get there, and I was always bummed when it closed. I spent my teenage years at the club and saw some shows that changed my life.\"",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "As a teenager in DC, Grohl briefly contemplated joining shock-rockers Gwar, who were looking for a drummer. At age 17, Grohl auditioned with local Washington, D.C., favorites Scream to fill the vacancy left by the departure of drummer Kent Stax. In order to be considered for the position, Grohl lied about his age, claiming he was older. To Grohl's surprise, the band asked him to join, so he dropped out of high school in his junior year. He has been quoted as saying, \"I was 17 and extremely anxious to see the world, so I did it.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Over the next four years, Grohl toured extensively with Scream, recording a live album (their show of May 4, 1990, in Alzey, Germany, being released by Tobby Holzinger as Your Choice Live Series Vol.10) and two studio albums, No More Censorship and Fumble, on which Grohl penned and sang vocals on the song \"Gods Look Down\". During a Toronto stop on their 1987 tour, Grohl played drums for Iggy Pop at a CD release party held at famed club the El Mocambo. In 1990, Scream unexpectedly disbanded midtour following the departure of bassist Skeeter Thompson.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "While playing in Scream, Grohl became a fan of the Melvins and eventually befriended them. During a 1990 tour stop on the West Coast, Melvins guitarist Buzz Osborne took his friends Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, of the band Nirvana, to see Scream. Following the breakup of Scream, Grohl called Osborne for advice. Osborne informed him that Nirvana was looking for a drummer and gave Grohl the phone numbers of Cobain and Novoselic, who invited Grohl to Seattle to audition. Grohl passed the audition and soon joined the band. Novoselic later said, \"We knew in two minutes that he was the right drummer.\" Grohl told Q: \"I remember being in the same room with them and thinking, 'What? That's Nirvana? Are you kidding?' Because on their record cover they looked like psycho lumberjacks... I was like, 'What, that little dude and that big motherfucker? You're kidding me'.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "When Grohl joined Nirvana, the band had already recorded several demos for the follow-up to their debut album Bleach, having spent time recording with producer Butch Vig in Wisconsin. Initially, the plan was to release the album on Sub Pop, but the band received a great deal of interest based on the demos. Grohl spent the initial months with Nirvana traveling to various labels as the band shopped for a deal, eventually signing with DGC Records. In the spring of 1991, the band entered Sound City Studios in Los Angeles to record Nevermind (as seen in Grohl's 2013 documentary Sound City).",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Nevermind (1991) exceeded all expectations and became a worldwide commercial success. At the same time, Grohl was compiling and recording his own material, which he released on a cassette called Pocketwatch in 1992 on indie label Simple Machines. Rather than using his own name, Grohl released the cassette under the pseudonym \"Late!\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "In the later years of Nirvana, Grohl's songwriting contributions increased. In Grohl's initial months in Olympia, Cobain overheard him working on a song called \"Color Pictures of a Marigold\", and the two subsequently worked on it together. Grohl would later record the song for the Pocketwatch cassette. Grohl stated in a 2014 episode of Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways that Cobain reacted by kissing him upon first hearing a demo of \"Alone + Easy Target\" that Grohl had recently recorded.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "During the sessions for In Utero, Nirvana decided to re-record \"Color Pictures of a Marigold\" and released this version as a B-side on the \"Heart-Shaped Box\" single, titled simply \"Marigold\". Grohl also contributed the main guitar riff for \"Scentless Apprentice\". Cobain admitted in a late 1993 MTV interview that he initially thought the riff was \"kind of boneheaded\", but was gratified at how the song developed (a process captured in part in a demo on the Nirvana box set With the Lights Out). Cobain said that he was excited at the possibility of having Novoselic and Grohl contribute more to the band's songwriting.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Prior to their 1994 European tour, the band scheduled session time at Robert Lang Studios in Seattle to work on demos. For most of the three-day session, Cobain was absent, so Novoselic and Grohl worked on demos of their own songs. They completed several of Grohl's songs, including future Foo Fighters songs \"Exhausted\", \"Big Me\", \"February Stars\", and \"Butterflies\". Cobain arrived on the third day and the band recorded a demo of \"You Know You're Right\". It was Nirvana's final studio recording; on April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead of a self-inflicted shotgun wound at his home. Two decades later, on April 10, 2014, Grohl was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Nirvana.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Following Cobain's suicide in April 1994, Grohl went into isolation and retreated for several months, unsure what to do next. He ended up leaving Seattle entirely, winding up in County Kerry, Ireland. In a 2022 interview with The Pit, Grohl noted:",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "I was still in Seattle, and I just felt, ‘I gotta get out.’ I [had to] go somewhere where I could just disappear and sort through my life, and try to figure out what to do next... I was winding around these country roads – so beautiful – and I was finding peace… and I come upon this hitchhiker, and I was considering picking him up, and I saw that he had a Kurt Cobain T-shirt. And to me that meant: ‘You can’t outrun this thing, so it’s time … to push through and find some sort of continuation.’ So I flew home and I immediately started recording those Foo Fighter songs.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In October 1994, he scheduled studio time at Robert Lang Studios and quickly recorded a fifteen-track demo. With the exception of a single guitar part on \"X-Static\" played by Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs, Grohl performed all of the instruments himself.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Grohl wondered if his future might be in drumming for other bands. In November, Grohl took a brief turn with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, including a performance on Saturday Night Live. He declined an invitation to become Petty's permanent drummer. Grohl was also rumored as a possible replacement for Pearl Jam drummer Dave Abbruzzese and performed with the band for a song or two at three shows during Pearl Jam's March 1995 Australian tour. However, by then, Pearl Jam had already settled on ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons, and Grohl had other solo plans.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Grohl's demo received interest from major labels. Nirvana's A&R rep Gary Gersh was now president of Capitol Records and lured Grohl to sign with the label. Grohl did not want the effort to be considered the start of a solo career, so he recruited other band members: former Germs and touring Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear and two members of the recently disbanded Sunny Day Real Estate, William Goldsmith (drums) and Nate Mendel (bass). He and Novoselic decided against Novoselic joining; Grohl said it would have felt \"really natural\" for them to work together again, but would have been uncomfortable for the other band members and placed more pressure on Grohl. Rather than re-record the album, Grohl's demo was mixed by Rob Schnapf and Tom Rothrock and was released in July 1995 as Foo Fighters' self-titled debut album. During a break between tours, the band entered the studio and recorded a cover of Gary Numan's \"Down in the Park\". In February 1996, Grohl and his then-wife Jennifer Youngblood made a brief cameo appearance on The X-Files third-season episode \"Pusher\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "After touring for the self-titled album for more than a year, Grohl returned home and began work on the soundtrack to the 1997 movie Touch. Grohl performed all of the instruments and vocals himself, save for vocals from Veruca Salt singer Louise Post on the title track, keyboards by Barrett Jones (who also co-produced the record) on one track, and vocals and guitar by X's John Doe on \"This Loving Thing (Lynn's Song)\". Grohl completed the recording in two weeks, and immediately joined Foo Fighters to work on their follow-up.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "During the initial sessions for Foo Fighters' second album, tension emerged between Grohl and drummer William Goldsmith. According to Goldsmith, \"Dave had me do 96 takes of one song, and I had to do thirteen hours' worth of takes on another one ... It just seemed that everything I did wasn't good enough for him, or anyone else\". Goldsmith also believed that Capitol and producer Gil Norton wanted Grohl to drum on the album. With the album seemingly complete, Grohl headed home to Virginia with a copy of the rough mixes and found himself unhappy with the results. He wrote and recorded a few new songs, \"Walking After You\" and the hit single \"Everlong”, alone at a studio in Washington, D.C. Inspired by the session, Grohl opted to move the band, without Goldsmith's knowledge, to Los Angeles to re-record most of the album with Grohl on drums. After the sessions were complete, Goldsmith announced his departure from the band. Grohl later expressed regret, and said that \"there were a lot of reasons it didn't work out, but there was also a part of me that was like, you know, I don't know if I'm finished playing the drums yet\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The second Foo Fighters album, The Colour and the Shape, was released in May 1997 and cemented Foo Fighters as a staple of rock radio. It produced several hit singles, including \"Everlong\", \"My Hero\", and \"Monkey Wrench\". Prior to the album's release, former Alanis Morissette drummer Taylor Hawkins joined on drums. The following September, Smear left the band, citing a need to settle down following a lifetime of touring. Smear was replaced by Grohl's former Scream bandmate Franz Stahl. Stahl departed prior to the recording of Foo Fighters' third album and was replaced by touring guitarist Chris Shiflett, who later became a full-fledged member during the recording of One by One.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Grohl's life of non-stop touring and travel continued with Foo Fighters' popularity. During his infrequent pauses he lived in Seattle and Los Angeles before returning to Alexandria, Virginia. It was there that he turned his basement into a recording studio where the 1999 album There Is Nothing Left to Lose was recorded. It was recorded following the departure from Capitol and their former president Gary Gersh. Grohl described the recording experience as \"intoxicating at times\" because the band members were left completely to their own devices. He added, \"One of the advantages of finishing the record before we had a new label was that it was purely our creation. It was complete and not open to outside tampering.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In 2000, the band recruited Queen guitarist Brian May to add some guitar flourish to a cover of Pink Floyd's \"Have a Cigar\", a song which Foo Fighters previously recorded as a B-side. The friendship between the two bands resulted in Grohl and Taylor Hawkins being asked to induct Queen into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Grohl and Hawkins joined May and Queen drummer Roger Taylor to perform \"Tie Your Mother Down\", with Grohl standing in on vocals for Freddie Mercury. May later contributed guitar work for the song \"Tired of You\" on the ensuing Foo Fighters album, as well as on an unreleased Foo Fighters song called \"Knucklehead\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Near the end of 2001, Foo Fighters returned to the studio to work on their fourth album. After four months in the studio, with the sessions finished, Grohl accepted an invitation to join Queens of the Stone Age and helped them to record their 2002 album Songs for the Deaf. (Grohl can be seen drumming for the band in the video for the song \"No One Knows\".) After a brief tour through North America, Britain and Japan with the band and feeling rejuvenated by the effort, Grohl recalled the other band members to completely re-record their album at his studio in Virginia. The effort became their fourth album, One by One. While initially pleased with the results, in another 2005 Rolling Stone interview, Grohl admitted to not liking the record: \"Four of the songs were good, and the other seven I never played again in my life. We rushed into it, and we rushed out of it.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "On November 23, 2002, Grohl achieved a historical milestone by replacing himself on the top of the Billboard modern rock chart, when \"You Know You're Right\" by Nirvana was replaced by \"All My Life\" by Foo Fighters. When \"All My Life\" ended its run, after a one-week respite, \"No One Knows\" by Queens of the Stone Age took the number one spot. Between October 26, 2002, and March 1, 2003, Grohl was in the number one spot on the Modern rock charts for 17 of 18 successive weeks, as a member of three different groups.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Grohl and Foo Fighters released their fifth album In Your Honor on June 14, 2005. Prior to starting work on the album, the band spent almost a year relocating Grohl's home-based Virginia studio to a brand new facility, dubbed Studio 606, located in a warehouse near Los Angeles. Featuring collaborations with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Norah Jones, the album was a departure from previous efforts, and included one rock and one acoustic disc.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Foo Fighters' sixth studio album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was released on September 25, 2007. It was recorded during a three-month period between March 2007 and June 2007, and its release was preceded by the first single \"The Pretender\" on September 17. The second single, \"Long Road to Ruin\", was released on December 3, 2007, followed by the third single, \"Let It Die\", on June 24, 2008.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "On November 3, 2009, Foo Fighters released their first Greatest Hits collection, consisting of 16 tracks including a previously unreleased acoustic version of \"Everlong\" and two new tracks \"Wheels\" and \"Word Forward\" which were produced by Nevermind's producer Butch Vig. Grohl said he felt the Greatest Hits was too early and \"can look like an obituary\". He did not feel they had written their best hits yet.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Foo Fighters' seventh studio album, Wasting Light, was released on April 12, 2011. It became the band's first album to reach No. 1 in the United States. Despite rumors of a hiatus, Grohl confirmed in January 2013 that the band had completed writing material for their follow-up to Wasting Light.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Grohl and members of Foo Fighters sometimes perform as a cover band \"Chevy Metal\", as they did in May 2015 at \"Conejo Valley Days\", a county fair in Thousand Oaks, California.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "On November 10, 2014, Foo Fighters released their eighth studio album, Sonic Highways, which reached number two in the United States. The album features eight songs, each inspired by a different U.S. city's musical history and culture researched by Grohl himself.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "On June 12, 2015, while playing a show in Gothenburg, Sweden, Grohl fell off the stage, breaking his leg. He left temporarily and returned with a cast to finish the concert. Afterward, the band cancelled the remainder of its European tour. To avoid having to cancel the band's upcoming North American tour, Grohl designed a large \"elevated throne\" which would allow him to perform on stage with a broken leg. The throne was unveiled at a concert in Washington, D.C., on July 4, where Grohl used the stage's video screens to show the crowd video of him falling from the stage in Gothenburg as well as X-rays of his broken leg. Beginning with the show on July 4, Foo Fighters began selling new tour merchandise rebranding the band's North American tour as the Broken Leg Tour. In 2016, Grohl lent his throne to Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses after Rose broke his foot. He lent it again in 2021 to Darin Wall, of the Seattle metal band Greyhawk, after Wall was shot in the leg.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "On July 31, 2015, Grohl posted a personal reply to Fabio Zaffagnini, Marco Sabiu, and the 1,000 participants of the \"Rockin' 1000\" project in Cesena, Italy, thanking them for their combined performance of the Foo Fighters' song \"Learn to Fly\" from their 1999 album There Is Nothing Left to Lose, indicating (in broken Italian), \"... I promise [Foo Fighters will] see you soon\". On November 3, Foo Fighters performed in Cesena, where Grohl invited some \"Rockin' 1000\" members onto the stage to perform with the band.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "On September 15, 2017, Foo Fighters released their ninth studio album Concrete and Gold, which became the band's second album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. After the Concrete and Gold Tour, Grohl announced that the band would be taking a break. The tenth Foo Fighters studio album, Medicine at Midnight, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was released on February 5, 2021, and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200. The Medicine at Midnight tour was cancelled following the death of Hawkins on March 25, 2022. The eleventh Foo Fighters studio album But Here We Are was released on June 2, 2023. The album is dedicated to Hawkins and Grohl's mother, Virginia, both of whom died in 2022.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Apart from his main bands, Grohl has been involved in other music projects. In 1992, he played drums on Buzz Osborne's Kiss-styled solo-EP King Buzzo, where he was credited as Dale Nixon, a pseudonym that Greg Ginn adopted to play bass on Black Flag's My War. He also released the music cassette Pocketwatch under the pseudonym Late! on the now-defunct indie label Simple Machines.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "In 1993, Grohl was recruited to help recreate the music of The Beatles' early years for the movie Backbeat; he played drums in an \"all-star\" lineup that included Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs, indie producer Don Fleming, Mike Mills of R.E.M., Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum. A music video was filmed for the song \"Money\" while Grohl was with Nirvana on their 1994 European tour, footage of Grohl was filmed later and included.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Later in 1994, Grohl played drums on two tracks for Mike Watt's Ball-Hog or Tugboat?. In early 1995, Grohl and Foo Fighters played their first US tour, the Ring Spiel Tour both opening for Watt and playing with Eddie Vedder as Watt's supporting band.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "In 1997, Grohl played a few songs with David Bowie for Bowie's 50th birthday concert, which was recorded and shown on pay-per-view later that year.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "During the early 2000s, Grohl spent time in his basement studio writing and recording a number of songs for a metal project. Over the span of several years, he recruited his favorite metal vocalists from the 1980s, including Lemmy of Motörhead, Conrad \"Cronos\" Lant from Venom, King Diamond, Scott Weinrich, Snake of Voivod and Max Cavalera of Sepultura, to perform the vocals for the songs. The project was released in 2004 under the nickname Probot.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Also in 2003, Grohl stepped behind the kit to perform on Killing Joke's second self-titled album. The move surprised some Nirvana fans, given that Nirvana had been accused of plagiarizing the opening riff of \"Come as You Are\" from Killing Joke's 1984 song \"Eighties\". However, the controversy failed to create a lasting rift between the bands. Foo Fighters covered Killing Joke's \"Requiem\" during the late 1990s, and were even joined by Killing Joke singer Jaz Coleman for a performance of the song at a show in New Zealand in 2003. Also in 2003, at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards, Grohl performed in an ad hoc supergroup with Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, and Steven Van Zandt for a performance in tribute of then-recently deceased singer/guitarist Joe Strummer.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Grohl lent his drumming skills to other artists during the early 2000s. In 2000, he played drums and sang on a track, \"Goodbye Lament\", from Tony Iommi's album Iommi. In 2001, Grohl performed on Tenacious D's debut album, and appeared in the video for lead single \"Tribute\" as a demon. He later appeared in the duo's 2006 movie Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny as the devil in the song \"The Pick of Destiny\", and performed on its soundtrack. He also performed drums for their 2012 album Rize of the Fenix. In 2002, Grohl helped Chan Marshall of Cat Power on the album You Are Free and played with Queens of the Stone Age on their album Songs for the Deaf. Grohl also toured with the band in support of the album, delaying work on the Foo Fighters' album One by One. In 2004, Grohl drummed on six tracks for Nine Inch Nails' 2005 album With Teeth and played percussion on one more, later returning to play drums on 'The Idea of You' from their 2016 EP Not the Actual Events. He also drummed on the song \"Bad Boyfriend\" on Garbage's 2005 album Bleed Like Me. Most recently, he recorded all the drums on Juliette and the Licks's 2006 album Four on the Floor and the song \"For Us\" from Pete Yorn's 2006 album Nightcrawler. Beyond drumming, Grohl contributed guitar to a cover of Neil Young's \"I've Been Waiting For You\" on David Bowie's 2002 album Heathen.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "In June 2008, Grohl was Paul McCartney's special guest for a concert at the Anfield football stadium in Liverpool, in one of the central events of the English city's year as European Capital of Culture. Grohl joined McCartney's band singing backup vocals and playing guitar on \"Band on the Run\" and drums on \"Back in the U.S.S.R.\" and \"I Saw Her Standing There\". Grohl also performed with McCartney at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, again playing drums on \"I Saw Her Standing There\". Grohl also helped pay tribute to McCartney at the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors along with No Doubt, Norah Jones, Steven Tyler, James Taylor, and Mavis Staples. He sang a duet version of \"Maybe I'm Amazed\" with Norah Jones on December 5, 2010.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Grohl played drums on the tracks \"Run with the Wolves\" and \"Stand Up\" on The Prodigy's 2009 album Invaders Must Die.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "In July 2009, it was revealed that Grohl was recording with Josh Homme and John Paul Jones as Them Crooked Vultures. The trio performed their first show together on August 9, 2009, at Metro in Chicago. The band played their first UK gig on August 26, 2009, with a surprise appearance at Brixton Academy in London, supporting the Arctic Monkeys. The band released their debut album Them Crooked Vultures on November 16, 2009, in the UK and November 17, 2009, in the US.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "On October 23, 2010, Grohl performed with Tenacious D at BlizzCon. He appeared as the drummer for the entire concert, and a year later he returned with Foo Fighters and played another set there, this time as guitarist and vocalist.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Also in 2010, Grohl helped write and performed on drums for \"Watch This\" with guitarist Slash and Duff McKagan on Slash's self-titled album that also included many other famous artists.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "In October 2011, Grohl temporarily joined Cage the Elephant as a replacement on tour after drummer Jared Champion's appendix burst.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Grohl directed a documentary entitled Sound City which is about the Van Nuys studio of the same name where Nevermind was recorded that shut down its music operations in 2011.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "In 2012, following the departure of Joey Castillo from Queens of the Stone Age, Grohl performed on some tracks as drummer on their 2013 album ...Like Clockwork.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "At the 12-12-12 Sandy benefit concert, Paul McCartney joined Grohl and the surviving members of Nirvana (Krist Novoselic and touring guitarist Pat Smear) to perform \"Cut Me Some Slack\", a song later recorded for the Sound City soundtrack. In what was regarded as a Nirvana reunion with McCartney as a stand-in for Kurt Cobain, this was the first time in eighteen years that the three had played alongside each other.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Grohl delivered a keynote speech at the 2013 South by Southwest conference in Austin Texas, U.S. on the morning of March 14. Lasting just under an hour, the speech covered Grohl's musical life from his youth through to his role with the Foo Fighters and emphasized the importance of each individual's voice, regardless of who the individual is: \"There is no right or wrong—there is only your voice ... What matters most is that it's your voice. Cherish it. Respect it. Nurture it. Challenge it. Respect it.\" Grohl said during the speech that Psy's \"Gangnam Style\" was one of his favorite songs of the past decade. He also referenced Edgar Winter's instrumental \"Frankenstein\" as the song that made him want to become a musician.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "On November 6, 2013, Grohl played drums at the 2013 CMA Awards replacing drummer Chris Fryar for Country Music band Zac Brown Band. The band debuted their new song \"Day for the Dead\". Grohl also produced Zac Brown Band's EP The Grohl Sessions, Vol. 1.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Grohl also featured on drums for new indie hip-hop band RDGLDGRN. He worked with them closely on their EP. The group asked fellow Northern Virginia native Grohl, who was filming his Sound City documentary, to drum on \"I Love Lamp\". Grohl agreed and played drums for the entire record, with the exception of \"Million Fans\", which features a sampled breakbeat.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Grohl, a fan of theatrical Swedish metal band Ghost, produced their EP If You Have Ghost. He was also featured in a number of songs on the EP. Grohl played rhythm guitar for the song \"If You Have Ghosts\" (a cover of a Roky Erickson song), and drums on \"I'm a Marionette\" (an ABBA cover) as well as \"Waiting for the Night\" (a Depeche Mode cover). According to a member of Ghost, Grohl has appeared live in concert with the band wearing the same identity concealing outfit that the rest of the band usually wears.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "In September, the all-star covers album by the Alice Cooper-led Hollywood Vampires supergroup was released and features Grohl playing drums on the medley \"One/Jump Into the Fire\".",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "On August 10, 2018, Grohl released \"Play\", a solo recording lasting over 22 minutes. A mini documentary accompanied it.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Between August and November 2020, Grohl performed in an online drum battle with ten-year-old drummer and YouTube celebrity Nandi Bushell, who had challenged Grohl after previously covering songs from Nirvana and Foo Fighters. Grohl had previously been impressed by her talent and energy. After going back and forth with Bushell a few times, he jokingly conceded victory to her, and later wrote and performed a song in her honor. Later, after speaking to Bushell over a video chat, Grohl offered to have Bushell perform with the Foo Fighters on stage, an offer he made good on when she appeared with the band during their August 26, 2021 show at the L.A. Forum, where she performed drums on \"Everlong\" as the show's finale. The videos of the drum battle received tens of millions of views. This was not the first child Grohl have invited on stage: in 2018, he invited ten year Collier Cash Rule on stage at a Foo Fighters concert in Kansas City, Missouri and gifted his guitar to him. Rule played several Metallica songs and Grohl sung one verse and the chorus to Enter Sandman.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "During Hanukkah of 2020, Grohl collaborated with Greg Kurstin to release previously recorded covers of songs by Jewish artists, one per night. This continued in 2021 and 2022.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "On October 5, 2021, Grohl's memoir The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music was published by Dey Street Books. Grohl developed a thrash metal record for a fictional band named Dream Widow (who self-destructed 25 years ago), as developed for a horror-comedy movie titled Studio 666. Grohl worked to create the Dream Widow album and aimed to release it at the same time as the film, on February 25, 2022. On March 25, 2022, the self-titled Dream Widow EP was released to digital streaming services featuring eight tracks ranging from thrash, death and extreme metal. The EP also featured Rami Jaffee, Jim Rota and Oliver Roman.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "On 25 June 2022 Grohl duetted with Paul McCartney when he headlined the Glastonbury Festival. It was his first performance since the death of Taylor Hawkins earlier in the year.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Since his first appearance in 1992, Grohl has been a musical guest on Saturday Night Live 14 times—more than any other musician. He has appeared with Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures, Mick Jagger, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Grohl has also appeared in several sketches on SNL. On October 13, 2007, he performed in the SNL Digital Short \"People Getting Punched Just Before Eating\". On February 6, 2010, he appeared as a middle-aged punk rock drummer reuniting the group \"Crisis of Conformity\" (fronted by Fred Armisen) after 25 years in a skit later on in the episode. On March 9, 2011, he appeared in the SNL Digital Short \"Helen Mirren's Magical Bosom\" and the sketch \"Bongo's Clown Room\".",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "In August 2000, Grohl voiced Daniel Dotson, an egotistical art instructor, in Is It Fall Yet?, the first of two film-length installments for MTV's animated series Daria.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "In mid-2010, Grohl added his name to the list of contributing rock star voice cameos for Cartoon Network's heavy metal parody/tribute show, Metalocalypse. He voiced the controversial Syrian dictator, Abdule Malik in the season 3 finale, Doublebookedklok.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "In February 2013, Grohl filled in as host of Chelsea Lately for a week. Guests included Elton John, who disclosed on the E! show that he would appear with Grohl on the next Queens of the Stone Age album. Grohl had previously hosted the show during the first week of December 2012 as part of \"Celebrity Guest Host Week\".",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "On May 20, 2015, David Letterman selected Grohl and the Foo Fighters to play \"Everlong\" as the last musical guest on the final episode of Late Show with David Letterman. Letterman stated that he considered \"Everlong\" to be his favorite song and that he and the band were \"joined at the hip\" ever since the band canceled tour dates to play his first show back from heart bypass surgery at his request.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "On December 1, 2015, Grohl appeared on an episode of The Muppets where he competed in a \"drum off\" with Animal.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "Grohl appeared in the 50th anniversary season of Sesame Street in February 2019.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "On January 28, 2021, it was announced that the first authorized Dave Grohl documentary will be released via The Coda Collection. The documentary was released April 30, 2021, as What Drives Us.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "On October 8, 2021, Grohl was the guest storyteller on CBeebies Bedtime Story, reading a story based on The Beatles song, Octopus's Garden.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "Grohl directed the Foo Fighters music videos for \"Monkey Wrench\" (1997), \"My Hero\" (1998), \"All My Life\" (2002), \"White Limo\" (2011), and \"Rope\" (2011), as well as all the music videos from the Sonic Highways and Concrete and Gold era. Outside of Foo Fighters, he also filmed the music video for Soundgarden's \"By Crooked Steps\" (2014).",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "In 2013, Grohl produced and directed the documentary Sound City, about the history of the famed Sound City Studios recording studios in Van Nuys. The film, Grohl's feature-length directorial debut, premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "Accompanying the release of Sonic Highways, Grohl directed an eight-part documentary miniseries of the same name that chronicles the album's development and recording across eight different American cities. It premiered on HBO on October 17, 2014.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "In 2021, Grohl directed What Drives Us, a feature-length documentary on van touring. It was released on April 30, 2021, on the Coda Collection via Amazon Prime.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Inspired by California Jam, to celebrate the release of Foo Fighters' ninth studio album Concrete and Gold and begin their North American tour, Cal Jam 17, a music festival curated by Grohl and Foo Fighters, was held from October 6–7, 2017 at Glen Helen Amphitheater, with 27,800 attendees, 3,100 campers, and nine arrests.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "Cal Jam 18 was held October 5–6, 2018 in San Bernardino, California which featured the Foo Fighters and a Nirvana reunion.",
"title": "Other work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "Grohl is a self-taught musician and cannot read music, and instead plays only by ear. Grohl's two primary guitars are based on the Gibson ES-335. His primary recording guitar is an original cherry red Gibson Trini Lopez Standard that he bought in the early 1990s because he liked the look of the diamond-shaped sound holes. He also has an original Pelham blue Trini Lopez from 1965 which he bought from a doctor in the UK.",
"title": "Musicianship and equipment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "Grohl's primary stage guitar is his signature model Pelham Blue Gibson DG-335, which was designed by Gibson based on the Trini Lopez Standard specs, but in a different color and with a stop tailpiece instead of the Trini Lopez's trapeze tailpiece. He also has another signature guitar called the \"Memphis Dave Grohl ES-335\" in silver finish that is otherwise similar to the DG-335. For the Foo Fighters' return in 2023, Grohl also began playing a DG-335 in a white finish, matching the aesthetics of But Here We Are. Grohl uses D'Addario 0.11-0.49 gauge strings, but his playing style is so aggressive that he uses a 0.42 gauge for the A string and a 0.60 gauge for the low E string. His primary acoustic guitar is a black Elvis Presley model Gibson Dove.",
"title": "Musicianship and equipment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "Grohl's drum kit, as designed by Drum Workshop, features five different sized toms ranging from 5x8 inches to 16x18 inches, a 19-inch crash cymbal, two 20-inch crash cymbals, an 18-inch China cymbal, a 24-inch ride cymbal, and a standard kick drum, snare drum, and hi-hat.",
"title": "Musicianship and equipment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "In May 2006, Grohl sent a note of support to the two trapped miners in the Beaconsfield mine collapse in Tasmania, Australia, who had survived the initial rockfall. In the initial days following the collapse, one of the men requested an iPod with the Foo Fighters album In Your Honor to be sent to them. Grohl's note read, in part, \"Though I'm halfway around the world right now, my heart is with you both, and I want you to know that when you come home, there's two tickets to any Foos show, anywhere, and two cold beers waiting for yous [sic]. Deal?\" In October 2006, one of the miners took up his offer, joining Grohl for a drink after a Foo Fighters acoustic concert at the Sydney Opera House. Grohl wrote an instrumental piece for the meeting, which he pledged to include on the band's next album. The song, \"Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners\", appears on Foo Fighters' 2007 release Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and features Kaki King.",
"title": "Advocacy, philanthropy and views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "He has worn a White Knot ribbon, a symbol of support for same-sex marriage, to various events; when questioned about the knot, he responded, \"I believe in love and I believe in equality and I believe in marriage equality.\" Grohl's gay rights activism dates back to the early 1990s, when Nirvana performed at a benefit to raise money to fight Oregon Ballot Measure 9, which forbade governments in Oregon from promoting or facilitating homosexuality. Grohl has also participated in two counter-protests against the Westboro Baptist Church for their anti-gay stance, once by performing \"Keep It Clean\" on the back of a flatbed truck and most recently by Rickrolling them.",
"title": "Advocacy, philanthropy and views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "Grohl is an advocate for gun control. Shortly after the 2002 D.C. sniper attacks ended, he stated in an interview that the attacks were \"an indication of the direction the country's heading in if we don't get tougher with gun laws\". He further stated, \"People need to realize that our country has to get tougher on gun laws, it just does, and I grew up in suburban Virginia going hunting in season. I grew up with a firearm myself. But I'd be willing to give it up, if everyone else would.\"",
"title": "Advocacy, philanthropy and views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "In a 2008 interview, Grohl said he had never taken cocaine, heroin, or speed, and that he had stopped smoking cannabis and taking LSD at the age of 20. He said, \"I've seen people die. It ain't easy being young, but that stuff doesn't make it any easier.\" He contributed to a 2009 anti-drug video for the BBC. He has described himself as a coffee addict who drinks an average of six cups of coffee every morning; in 2009, he was admitted to a hospital with chest pains caused by a caffeine overdose.",
"title": "Advocacy, philanthropy and views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "Grohl supported Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign and performed \"My Hero\" at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Foo Fighters supported Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign and played at the \"Celebrating America\" concert on the day of Biden's inauguration in 2021.",
"title": "Advocacy, philanthropy and views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "In 1994, Grohl married Jennifer Leigh Youngblood, a photographer from Grosse Pointe, Michigan. They separated in December 1996 and divorced in 1997. On August 2, 2003, he married Jordyn Blum. They reside in Los Angeles and have three daughters, born in 2006, 2009 and 2014.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "With a fortune of $260 million at the time, Grohl was estimated by a 2012 Stereogum article to be the third-wealthiest drummer in the world, behind Ringo Starr and Phil Collins.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "In a June 2011 interview, Grohl revealed that he was going deaf in his left ear due to decades of performing on stage. During his appearance on The Howard Stern Show in February 2022, he stated that he suffers from hearing loss and that this has an impact on both his daily life and life as a musician; his tinnitus has forced him to read lips for about 20 years, a situation which became more difficult when people began wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. As for producing music, he refuses to use in-ear monitors despite their ability to protect his ears because it \"removes [him] from the natural atmosphere sound so [he] cannot hear [his] bandmates\". He said that his ears are \"still tuned in to certain frequencies, meaning [he's] still able to pick up on minute sonic details—even down to the slightest differences between cymbal crashes\".",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "In August 2009, Grohl was given the key to the city of Warren, Ohio, his birthplace, and performed the songs \"Everlong\", \"Times Like These\", and \"My Hero\". A roadway in downtown Warren named \"David Grohl Alley\" has been dedicated to him with murals by local artists.",
"title": "Honors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "Grohl's hometown of Warren unveiled gigantic 902 lb (409 kg) drumsticks in 2012 to honor him. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the massive pair broke the Guinness World Record. The record-breaking drumsticks were shown to the public for the first time on July 7 during a concert at the Warren Amphitheater.",
"title": "Honors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "Grohl's first solo Rolling Stone cover story was published on December 4, 2014.",
"title": "Honors"
}
] | David Eric Grohl is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, for which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of the influential grunge band Nirvana from 1990 to 1994. At 17, Grohl joined the punk rock band Scream after the departure of their drummer Kent Stax. Grohl became the drummer for Nirvana after Scream broke up in 1990. Nirvana's second album, Nevermind (1991), was the first to feature Grohl on drums and became a worldwide success. After Nirvana disbanded following the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994, Grohl formed Foo Fighters as a one-man project. The first Foo Fighters album was released in 1995, and a full band was assembled to tour and record under the Foo Fighters name; they have released 11 studio albums. Grohl is the drummer and co-founder of the rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, and has recorded and toured with Queens of the Stone Age. He has also participated in the side projects Late! and Probot. Grohl began directing Foo Fighters music videos in 1997 and released his debut documentary, Sound City, in 2013. It was followed by the documentary miniseries Sonic Highways (2014) and the documentary film What Drives Us (2021). In 2021, Grohl released an autobiography, The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music. In 2022, he and the Foo Fighters starred as themselves in the comedy horror film Studio 666. In 2010, Grohl was described by the Classic Rock Drummers co-author Ken Micallef as one of the most influential rock musicians of the previous 20 years. Grohl was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Nirvana in 2014 and as a member of Foo Fighters in 2021. | 2001-03-07T20:20:28Z | 2023-12-31T22:14:59Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Grohl |
8,100 | Dollar | Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Eastern Caribbean dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, Trinidad and Tobago Dollar and several others. The symbol for most of those currencies is the dollar sign $ in the same way as many countries using peso currencies. The name "dollar" originates from Bohemia and a 29 g silver-coin called the Joachimsthaler.
On 15 January 1520, the Kingdom of Bohemia began minting coins from silver mined locally in Joachimsthal and marked on reverse with the Bohemian lion. The coins would be named Joachimsthaler after the town, becoming shortened in common usage to thaler or taler. The town itself derived its name from Saint Joachim, coupled with the German word Thal (Tal in modern spelling) means 'valley' (cf. the English term dale).
This name found its way into other languages, for example:
In contrast to other languages which adopted the second part of word joachimsthaler, the first part found its way into Russian language and became efimok [ru], yefimok (ефимок).
The predecessor of the Joachimsthaler was the Guldengroschen or Guldiner which was a large silver coin originally minted in Tirol in 1486, but which was introduced into the Duchy of Saxony in 1500. The King of Bohemia wanted a similar silver coin which then became the Joachimsthaler.
The Joachimsthaler of the 16th century was succeeded by the longer-lived Reichsthaler of the Holy Roman Empire, used from the 16th to 19th centuries. The Netherlands also introduced its own dollars in the 16th century: the Burgundian Cross Thaler (Bourgondrische Kruisdaalder), the German-inspired Rijksdaalder, and the Dutch liondollar (leeuwendaalder). The latter coin was used for Dutch trade in the Middle East, in the Dutch East Indies and West Indies, and in the Thirteen Colonies of North America.
For the English North American colonists, however, the Spanish peso or "piece of eight" has always held first place, and this coin was also called the "dollar" as early as 1581. Spanish dollars or "pieces of eight" were distributed widely in the Spanish colonies in the New World and in the Philippines.
The sign is first attested in business correspondence in the 1770s as a scribal abbreviation "p", referring to the Spanish American peso, that is, the "Spanish dollar" as it was known in British North America. These late 18th- and early 19th-century manuscripts show that the s gradually came to be written over the p developing a close equivalent to the "$" mark, and this new symbol was retained to refer to the American dollar as well, once this currency was adopted in 1785 by the United States.
By the time of the American Revolution, the Spanish dólar gained significance because they backed paper money authorized by the individual colonies and the Continental Congress. Because Britain deliberately withheld hard currency from the American colonies, virtually all the non-token coinage in circulation was Spanish (and to a much lesser extent French and Dutch) silver, obtained via illegal but widespread commerce with the West Indies. Common in the Thirteen Colonies, Spanish dólar were even legal tender in one colony, Virginia.
On 2 April 1792, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton reported to Congress the precise amount of silver found in Spanish dollar coins in common use in the states. As a result, the United States dollar was defined as a unit of pure silver weighing 371 4/16th grains (24.057 grams), or 416 grains of standard silver (standard silver being defined as 371.25/416 in silver, and balance in alloy). It was specified that the "money of account" of the United States should be expressed in those same "dollars" or parts thereof. Additionally, all lesser-denomination coins were defined as percentages of the dollar coin, such that a half-dollar was to contain half as much silver as a dollar, quarter-dollars would contain one-fourth as much, and so on.
In an act passed in January 1837, the dollar's weight was reduced to 412.5 grains and alloy at 90% silver, resulting in the same fine silver content of 371.25 grains. On 21 February 1853, the quantity of silver in the lesser coins was reduced, with the effect that their denominations no longer represented their silver content relative to dollar coins.
Various acts have subsequently been passed affecting the amount and type of metal in U.S. coins, so that today there is no legal definition of the term "dollar" to be found in U.S. statute. Currently the closest thing to a definition is found in United States Code Title 31, Section 5116, paragraph b, subsection 2: "The Secretary [of the Treasury] shall sell silver under conditions the Secretary considers appropriate for at least $1.292929292 a fine troy ounce."
Silver was mostly removed from U.S. coinage by 1965 and the dollar became a free-floating fiat money without a commodity backing defined in terms of real gold or silver. The US Mint continues to make silver $1-denomination coins, but these are not intended for general circulation.
The quantity of silver chosen in 1792 to correspond to one dollar, namely, 371.25 grains of pure silver, is very close to the geometric mean of one troy pound and one pennyweight. In what follows, "dollar" will be used as a unit of mass. A troy pound being 5760 grains and a pennyweight being 240 times smaller, or 24 grains, the geometric mean is, to the nearest hundredth, 371.81 grains. This means that the ratio of a pound to a dollar (15.52) roughly equals the ratio of a dollar to a pennyweight (15.47). These ratios are also very close to the ratio of a gram to a grain: 15.43. Finally, in the United States, the ratio of the value of gold to the value of silver in the period from 1792 to 1873 averaged to about 15.5, being 15 from 1792 to 1834 and around 16 from 1834 to 1873. This is also nearly the value of the gold to silver ratio determined by Isaac Newton in 1717.
That these three ratios are all approximately equal has some interesting consequences. Let the gold to silver ratio be exactly 15.5. Then a pennyweight of gold, that is 24 grains of gold, is nearly equal in value to a dollar of silver (1 dwt of gold = $1.002 of silver). Second, a dollar of gold is nearly equal in value to a pound of silver ($1 of gold = 5754 3/8 grains of silver = 0.999 Lb of silver). Third, the number of grains in a dollar (371.25) roughly equals the number of grams in a troy pound (373.24).
There are two quotes in the plays of William Shakespeare referring to dollars as money. Coins known as "thistle dollars" were in use in Scotland during the 16th and 17th centuries, and use of the English word, and perhaps even the use of the coin, may have begun at the University of St Andrews This might be supported by a reference to the sum of "ten thousand dollars" in Macbeth (act I, scene II) (an anachronism because the real Macbeth, upon whom the play was based, lived in the 11th century). In the Sherlock Holmes story "The Man with the Twisted Lip" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, published in 1891, an Englishman posing as a London beggar describes the shillings and pounds he collected as dollars.
In 1804, a British five-shilling piece, or crown, was sometimes called "dollar". It was an overstruck Spanish eight real coin (the famous "piece of eight"), the original of which was known as a Spanish dollar. Large numbers of these eight-real coins were captured during the Napoleonic Wars, hence their re-use by the Bank of England. They remained in use until 1811. During World War II, when the U.S. dollar was (approximately) valued at five shillings, the half crown (2s 6d) acquired the nickname "half dollar" or "half a dollar" in the UK.
Chinese demand for silver in the 19th and early 20th centuries led several countries, notably the United Kingdom, United States and Japan, to mint trade dollars, which were often of slightly different weights from comparable domestic coinage. Silver dollars reaching China (whether Spanish, trade, or other) were often stamped with Chinese characters known as "chop marks", which indicated that that particular coin had been assayed by a well-known merchant and deemed genuine.
Prior to 1873, the silver dollar circulated in many parts of the world, with a value in relation to the British gold sovereign of roughly $1 = 4s 2d (21p approx). As a result of the decision of the German Empire to stop minting silver thaler coins in 1871, in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War, the worldwide price of silver began to fall. This resulted in the U.S. Coinage Act (1873) which put the United States onto a 'de facto' gold standard. Canada and Newfoundland were already on the gold standard, and the result was that the value of the dollar in North America increased in relation to silver dollars being used elsewhere, particularly Latin America and the Far East. By 1900, value of silver dollars had fallen to 50 percent of gold dollars. Following the abandonment of the gold standard by Canada in 1931, the Canadian dollar began to drift away from parity with the U.S. dollar. It returned to parity a few times, but since the end of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates that was agreed to in 1944, the Canadian dollar has been floating against the U.S. dollar. The silver dollars of Latin America and South East Asia began to diverge from each other as well during the course of the 20th century. The Straits dollar adopted a gold exchange standard in 1906 after it had been forced to rise in value against other silver dollars in the region. Hence, by 1935, when China and Hong Kong came off the silver standard, the Straits dollar was worth 2s 4d (11.5p approx) sterling, whereas the Hong Kong dollar was worth only 1s 3d sterling (6p approx).
The term "dollar" has also been adopted by other countries for currencies which do not share a common history with other dollars. Many of these currencies adopted the name after moving from a £sd-based to a decimalized monetary system. Examples include the Australian dollar, the New Zealand dollar, the Jamaican dollar, the Cayman Islands dollar, the Fiji dollar, the Namibian dollar, the Rhodesian dollar, the Zimbabwe dollar, and the Solomon Islands dollar. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Eastern Caribbean dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, Trinidad and Tobago Dollar and several others. The symbol for most of those currencies is the dollar sign $ in the same way as many countries using peso currencies. The name \"dollar\" originates from Bohemia and a 29 g silver-coin called the Joachimsthaler.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "On 15 January 1520, the Kingdom of Bohemia began minting coins from silver mined locally in Joachimsthal and marked on reverse with the Bohemian lion. The coins would be named Joachimsthaler after the town, becoming shortened in common usage to thaler or taler. The town itself derived its name from Saint Joachim, coupled with the German word Thal (Tal in modern spelling) means 'valley' (cf. the English term dale).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "This name found its way into other languages, for example:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "In contrast to other languages which adopted the second part of word joachimsthaler, the first part found its way into Russian language and became efimok [ru], yefimok (ефимок).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The predecessor of the Joachimsthaler was the Guldengroschen or Guldiner which was a large silver coin originally minted in Tirol in 1486, but which was introduced into the Duchy of Saxony in 1500. The King of Bohemia wanted a similar silver coin which then became the Joachimsthaler.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The Joachimsthaler of the 16th century was succeeded by the longer-lived Reichsthaler of the Holy Roman Empire, used from the 16th to 19th centuries. The Netherlands also introduced its own dollars in the 16th century: the Burgundian Cross Thaler (Bourgondrische Kruisdaalder), the German-inspired Rijksdaalder, and the Dutch liondollar (leeuwendaalder). The latter coin was used for Dutch trade in the Middle East, in the Dutch East Indies and West Indies, and in the Thirteen Colonies of North America.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "For the English North American colonists, however, the Spanish peso or \"piece of eight\" has always held first place, and this coin was also called the \"dollar\" as early as 1581. Spanish dollars or \"pieces of eight\" were distributed widely in the Spanish colonies in the New World and in the Philippines.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The sign is first attested in business correspondence in the 1770s as a scribal abbreviation \"p\", referring to the Spanish American peso, that is, the \"Spanish dollar\" as it was known in British North America. These late 18th- and early 19th-century manuscripts show that the s gradually came to be written over the p developing a close equivalent to the \"$\" mark, and this new symbol was retained to refer to the American dollar as well, once this currency was adopted in 1785 by the United States.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "By the time of the American Revolution, the Spanish dólar gained significance because they backed paper money authorized by the individual colonies and the Continental Congress. Because Britain deliberately withheld hard currency from the American colonies, virtually all the non-token coinage in circulation was Spanish (and to a much lesser extent French and Dutch) silver, obtained via illegal but widespread commerce with the West Indies. Common in the Thirteen Colonies, Spanish dólar were even legal tender in one colony, Virginia.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "On 2 April 1792, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton reported to Congress the precise amount of silver found in Spanish dollar coins in common use in the states. As a result, the United States dollar was defined as a unit of pure silver weighing 371 4/16th grains (24.057 grams), or 416 grains of standard silver (standard silver being defined as 371.25/416 in silver, and balance in alloy). It was specified that the \"money of account\" of the United States should be expressed in those same \"dollars\" or parts thereof. Additionally, all lesser-denomination coins were defined as percentages of the dollar coin, such that a half-dollar was to contain half as much silver as a dollar, quarter-dollars would contain one-fourth as much, and so on.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In an act passed in January 1837, the dollar's weight was reduced to 412.5 grains and alloy at 90% silver, resulting in the same fine silver content of 371.25 grains. On 21 February 1853, the quantity of silver in the lesser coins was reduced, with the effect that their denominations no longer represented their silver content relative to dollar coins.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Various acts have subsequently been passed affecting the amount and type of metal in U.S. coins, so that today there is no legal definition of the term \"dollar\" to be found in U.S. statute. Currently the closest thing to a definition is found in United States Code Title 31, Section 5116, paragraph b, subsection 2: \"The Secretary [of the Treasury] shall sell silver under conditions the Secretary considers appropriate for at least $1.292929292 a fine troy ounce.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Silver was mostly removed from U.S. coinage by 1965 and the dollar became a free-floating fiat money without a commodity backing defined in terms of real gold or silver. The US Mint continues to make silver $1-denomination coins, but these are not intended for general circulation.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The quantity of silver chosen in 1792 to correspond to one dollar, namely, 371.25 grains of pure silver, is very close to the geometric mean of one troy pound and one pennyweight. In what follows, \"dollar\" will be used as a unit of mass. A troy pound being 5760 grains and a pennyweight being 240 times smaller, or 24 grains, the geometric mean is, to the nearest hundredth, 371.81 grains. This means that the ratio of a pound to a dollar (15.52) roughly equals the ratio of a dollar to a pennyweight (15.47). These ratios are also very close to the ratio of a gram to a grain: 15.43. Finally, in the United States, the ratio of the value of gold to the value of silver in the period from 1792 to 1873 averaged to about 15.5, being 15 from 1792 to 1834 and around 16 from 1834 to 1873. This is also nearly the value of the gold to silver ratio determined by Isaac Newton in 1717.",
"title": "Relationship to the troy pound"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "That these three ratios are all approximately equal has some interesting consequences. Let the gold to silver ratio be exactly 15.5. Then a pennyweight of gold, that is 24 grains of gold, is nearly equal in value to a dollar of silver (1 dwt of gold = $1.002 of silver). Second, a dollar of gold is nearly equal in value to a pound of silver ($1 of gold = 5754 3/8 grains of silver = 0.999 Lb of silver). Third, the number of grains in a dollar (371.25) roughly equals the number of grams in a troy pound (373.24).",
"title": "Relationship to the troy pound"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "There are two quotes in the plays of William Shakespeare referring to dollars as money. Coins known as \"thistle dollars\" were in use in Scotland during the 16th and 17th centuries, and use of the English word, and perhaps even the use of the coin, may have begun at the University of St Andrews This might be supported by a reference to the sum of \"ten thousand dollars\" in Macbeth (act I, scene II) (an anachronism because the real Macbeth, upon whom the play was based, lived in the 11th century). In the Sherlock Holmes story \"The Man with the Twisted Lip\" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, published in 1891, an Englishman posing as a London beggar describes the shillings and pounds he collected as dollars.",
"title": "Usage in the United Kingdom"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "In 1804, a British five-shilling piece, or crown, was sometimes called \"dollar\". It was an overstruck Spanish eight real coin (the famous \"piece of eight\"), the original of which was known as a Spanish dollar. Large numbers of these eight-real coins were captured during the Napoleonic Wars, hence their re-use by the Bank of England. They remained in use until 1811. During World War II, when the U.S. dollar was (approximately) valued at five shillings, the half crown (2s 6d) acquired the nickname \"half dollar\" or \"half a dollar\" in the UK.",
"title": "Usage in the United Kingdom"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Chinese demand for silver in the 19th and early 20th centuries led several countries, notably the United Kingdom, United States and Japan, to mint trade dollars, which were often of slightly different weights from comparable domestic coinage. Silver dollars reaching China (whether Spanish, trade, or other) were often stamped with Chinese characters known as \"chop marks\", which indicated that that particular coin had been assayed by a well-known merchant and deemed genuine.",
"title": "Usage elsewhere"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Prior to 1873, the silver dollar circulated in many parts of the world, with a value in relation to the British gold sovereign of roughly $1 = 4s 2d (21p approx). As a result of the decision of the German Empire to stop minting silver thaler coins in 1871, in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War, the worldwide price of silver began to fall. This resulted in the U.S. Coinage Act (1873) which put the United States onto a 'de facto' gold standard. Canada and Newfoundland were already on the gold standard, and the result was that the value of the dollar in North America increased in relation to silver dollars being used elsewhere, particularly Latin America and the Far East. By 1900, value of silver dollars had fallen to 50 percent of gold dollars. Following the abandonment of the gold standard by Canada in 1931, the Canadian dollar began to drift away from parity with the U.S. dollar. It returned to parity a few times, but since the end of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates that was agreed to in 1944, the Canadian dollar has been floating against the U.S. dollar. The silver dollars of Latin America and South East Asia began to diverge from each other as well during the course of the 20th century. The Straits dollar adopted a gold exchange standard in 1906 after it had been forced to rise in value against other silver dollars in the region. Hence, by 1935, when China and Hong Kong came off the silver standard, the Straits dollar was worth 2s 4d (11.5p approx) sterling, whereas the Hong Kong dollar was worth only 1s 3d sterling (6p approx).",
"title": "Usage elsewhere"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The term \"dollar\" has also been adopted by other countries for currencies which do not share a common history with other dollars. Many of these currencies adopted the name after moving from a £sd-based to a decimalized monetary system. Examples include the Australian dollar, the New Zealand dollar, the Jamaican dollar, the Cayman Islands dollar, the Fiji dollar, the Namibian dollar, the Rhodesian dollar, the Zimbabwe dollar, and the Solomon Islands dollar.",
"title": "Usage elsewhere"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "",
"title": "External links"
}
] | Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Eastern Caribbean dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, Trinidad and Tobago Dollar and several others. The symbol for most of those currencies is the dollar sign $ in the same way as many countries using peso currencies. The name "dollar" originates from Bohemia and a 29 g silver-coin called the Joachimsthaler. | 2001-05-16T23:17:49Z | 2023-12-29T13:38:48Z | [
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8,101 | Dutch | Dutch commonly refers to:
Dutch may also refer to: | [
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] | Dutch commonly refers to: Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
Dutch people (Nederlanders)
Dutch language (Nederlands)
In specific terms, it reflects the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Dutch Caribbean
Dutch Antilles Dutch may also refer to: | 2001-05-17T10:59:20Z | 2023-12-28T18:05:39Z | [
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8,102 | Dysprosium | Dysprosium is a chemical element; it has symbol Dy and atomic number 66. It is a rare-earth element in the lanthanide series with a metallic silver luster. Dysprosium is never found in nature as a free element, though, like other lanthanides, it is found in various minerals, such as xenotime. Naturally occurring dysprosium is composed of seven isotopes, the most abundant of which is Dy.
Dysprosium was first identified in 1886 by Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, but it was not isolated in pure form until the development of ion-exchange techniques in the 1950s. Dysprosium has relatively few applications where it cannot be replaced by other chemical elements. It is used for its high thermal neutron absorption cross-section in making control rods in nuclear reactors, for its high magnetic susceptibility (χv ≈ 5.44×10) in data-storage applications, and as a component of Terfenol-D (a magnetostrictive material). Soluble dysprosium salts are mildly toxic, while the insoluble salts are considered non-toxic.
Dysprosium is a rare-earth element and has a metallic, bright silver luster. It is quite soft and can be machined without sparking if overheating is avoided. Dysprosium's physical characteristics can be greatly affected by even small amounts of impurities.
Dysprosium and holmium have the highest magnetic strengths of the elements, especially at low temperatures. Dysprosium has a simple ferromagnetic ordering at temperatures below 85 K (−188.2 °C). Above 85 K (−188.2 °C), it turns into a helical antiferromagnetic state in which all of the atomic moments in a particular basal plane layer are parallel and oriented at a fixed angle to the moments of adjacent layers. This unusual antiferromagnetism transforms into a disordered (paramagnetic) state at 179 K (−94 °C).
Dysprosium metal retains its luster in dry air, however it will tarnish slowly in moist air and burns readily to form dysprosium(III) oxide:
Dysprosium is quite electropositive and reacts slowly with cold water (and quite quickly with hot water) to form dysprosium hydroxide:
Dysprosium hydroxide decomposes to form DyO(OH) at elevated temperatures, which then decomposes again to dysprosium(III) oxide.
Dysprosium metal vigorously reacts with all the halogens at above 200 °C:
Dysprosium dissolves readily in dilute sulfuric acid to form solutions containing the yellow Dy(III) ions, which exist as a [Dy(OH2)9] complex:
The resulting compound, dysprosium(III) sulfate, is noticeably paramagnetic.
Dysprosium halides, such as DyF3 and DyBr3, tend to take on a yellow color. Dysprosium oxide, also known as dysprosia, is a white powder that is highly magnetic, more so than iron oxide.
Dysprosium combines with various non-metals at high temperatures to form binary compounds with varying composition and oxidation states +3 and sometimes +2, such as DyN, DyP, DyH2 and DyH3; DyS, DyS2, Dy2S3 and Dy5S7; DyB2, DyB4, DyB6 and DyB12, as well as Dy3C and Dy2C3.
Dysprosium carbonate, Dy2(CO3)3, and dysprosium sulfate, Dy2(SO4)3, result from similar reactions. Most dysprosium compounds are soluble in water, though dysprosium carbonate tetrahydrate (Dy2(CO3)3·4H2O) and dysprosium oxalate decahydrate (Dy2(C2O4)3·10H2O) are both insoluble in water. Two of the most abundant dysprosium carbonates, Dy2(CO3)3·2–3H2O (similar to the mineral tengerite-(Y)), and DyCO3(OH) (similar to minerals kozoite-(La) and kozoite-(Nd), are known to form via a poorly ordered (amorphous) precursor phase with a formula of Dy2(CO3)3·4H2O. This amorphous precursor consists of highly hydrated spherical nanoparticles of 10–20 nm diameter that are exceptionally stable under dry treatment at ambient and high temperatures.
Naturally occurring dysprosium is composed of seven isotopes: Dy, Dy, Dy, Dy, Dy, Dy, and Dy. These are all considered stable, although Dy can theoretically undergo alpha decay with a half-life of over 1×10 years. Of the naturally occurring isotopes, Dy is the most abundant at 28%, followed by Dy at 26%. The least abundant is Dy at 0.06%.
Twenty-nine radioisotopes have also been synthesized, ranging in atomic mass from 138 to 173. The most stable of these is Dy, with a half-life of approximately 3×10 years, followed by Dy with a half-life of 144.4 days. The least stable is Dy, with a half-life of 200 ms. As a general rule, isotopes that are lighter than the stable isotopes tend to decay primarily by β decay, while those that are heavier tend to decay by β decay. However, Dy decays primarily by alpha decay, and Dy and Dy decay primarily by electron capture. Dysprosium also has at least 11 metastable isomers, ranging in atomic mass from 140 to 165. The most stable of these is Dy, which has a half-life of 1.257 minutes. Dy has two metastable isomers, the second of which, Dy, has a half-life of 28 ns.
In 1878, erbium ores were found to contain the oxides of holmium and thulium. French chemist Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, while working with holmium oxide, separated dysprosium oxide from it in Paris in 1886. His procedure for isolating the dysprosium involved dissolving dysprosium oxide in acid, then adding ammonia to precipitate the hydroxide. He was only able to isolate dysprosium from its oxide after more than 30 attempts at his procedure. On succeeding, he named the element dysprosium from the Greek dysprositos (δυσπρόσιτος), meaning "hard to get". The element was not isolated in relatively pure form until after the development of ion exchange techniques by Frank Spedding at Iowa State University in the early 1950s.
Due to its role in permanent magnets used for wind turbines, it has been argued that dysprosium will be one of the main objects of geopolitical competition in a world running on renewable energy. But this perspective has been criticised for failing to recognise that most wind turbines do not use permanent magnets and for underestimating the power of economic incentives for expanded production.
In 2021, Dy was turned into a 2-dimensional supersolid quantum gas.
While dysprosium is never encountered as a free element, it is found in many minerals, including xenotime, fergusonite, gadolinite, euxenite, polycrase, blomstrandine, monazite and bastnäsite, often with erbium and holmium or other rare earth elements. No dysprosium-dominant mineral (that is, with dysprosium prevailing over other rare earths in the composition) has yet been found.
In the high-yttrium version of these, dysprosium happens to be the most abundant of the heavy lanthanides, comprising up to 7–8% of the concentrate (as compared to about 65% for yttrium). The concentration of Dy in the Earth's crust is about 5.2 mg/kg and in sea water 0.9 ng/L.
Dysprosium is obtained primarily from monazite sand, a mixture of various phosphates. The metal is obtained as a by-product in the commercial extraction of yttrium. In isolating dysprosium, most of the unwanted metals can be removed magnetically or by a flotation process. Dysprosium can then be separated from other rare earth metals by an ion exchange displacement process. The resulting dysprosium ions can then react with either fluorine or chlorine to form dysprosium fluoride, DyF3, or dysprosium chloride, DyCl3. These compounds can be reduced using either calcium or lithium metals in the following reactions:
The components are placed in a tantalum crucible and fired in a helium atmosphere. As the reaction progresses, the resulting halide compounds and molten dysprosium separate due to differences in density. When the mixture cools, the dysprosium can be cut away from the impurities.
About 100 tonnes of dysprosium are produced worldwide each year, with 99% of that total produced in China. Dysprosium prices have climbed nearly twentyfold, from $7 per pound in 2003, to $130 a pound in late 2010. The price increased to $1,400/kg in 2011 but fell to $240 in 2015, largely due to illegal production in China which circumvented government restrictions.
Currently, most dysprosium is being obtained from the ion-adsorption clay ores of southern China. As of November 2018 the Browns Range Project pilot plant, 160 km south east of Halls Creek, Western Australia, is producing 50 tonnes (49 long tons) per annum.
According to the United States Department of Energy, the wide range of its current and projected uses, together with the lack of any immediately suitable replacement, makes dysprosium the single most critical element for emerging clean energy technologies; even their most conservative projections predicted a shortfall of dysprosium before 2015. As of late 2015, there is a nascent rare earth (including dysprosium) extraction industry in Australia.
Dysprosium is used, in conjunction with vanadium and other elements, in making laser materials and commercial lighting. Because of dysprosium's high thermal-neutron absorption cross-section, dysprosium-oxide–nickel cermets are used in neutron-absorbing control rods in nuclear reactors. Dysprosium–cadmium chalcogenides are sources of infrared radiation, which is useful for studying chemical reactions. Because dysprosium and its compounds are highly susceptible to magnetization, they are employed in various data-storage applications, such as in hard disks. Dysprosium is increasingly in demand for the permanent magnets used in electric-car motors and wind-turbine generators.
Neodymium–iron–boron magnets can have up to 6% of the neodymium substituted by dysprosium to raise the coercivity for demanding applications, such as drive motors for electric vehicles and generators for wind turbines. This substitution would require up to 100 grams of dysprosium per electric car produced. Based on Toyota's projected 2 million units per year, the use of dysprosium in applications such as this would quickly exhaust its available supply. The dysprosium substitution may also be useful in other applications because it improves the corrosion resistance of the magnets.
Dysprosium is one of the components of Terfenol-D, along with iron and terbium. Terfenol-D has the highest room-temperature magnetostriction of any known material, which is employed in transducers, wide-band mechanical resonators, and high-precision liquid-fuel injectors.
Dysprosium is used in dosimeters for measuring ionizing radiation. Crystals of calcium sulfate or calcium fluoride are doped with dysprosium. When these crystals are exposed to radiation, the dysprosium atoms become excited and luminescent. The luminescence can be measured to determine the degree of exposure to which the dosimeter has been subjected.
Nanofibers of dysprosium compounds have high strength and a large surface area. Therefore, they can be used to reinforce other materials and act as a catalyst. Fibers of dysprosium oxide fluoride can be produced by heating an aqueous solution of DyBr3 and NaF to 450 °C at 450 bars for 17 hours. This material is remarkably robust, surviving over 100 hours in various aqueous solutions at temperatures exceeding 400 °C without redissolving or aggregating. Additionally, dysprosium has been used to create a two dimensional supersolid in a laboratory environment. Supersolids are expected to exhibit unusual properties, including superfluidity.
Dysprosium iodide and dysprosium bromide are used in high-intensity metal-halide lamps. These compounds dissociate near the hot center of the lamp, releasing isolated dysprosium atoms. The latter re-emit light in the green and red part of the spectrum, thereby effectively producing bright light.
Several paramagnetic crystal salts of dysprosium (dysprosium gallium garnet, DGG; dysprosium aluminium garnet, DAG; dysprosium iron garnet, DyIG) are used in adiabatic demagnetization refrigerators.
The trivalent dysprosium ion (Dy) has been studied due to its downshifting luminescence properties. Dy-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Dy:YAG) excited in the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum results in the emission of photons of longer wavelength in the visible region. This idea is the basis for a new generation of UV-pumped white light-emitting diodes.
The stable isotopes of dysprosium have been laser cooled and confined in magneto-optical traps for quantum physics experiments. The first Bose and Fermi quantum degenerate gases of an open shell lanthanide were created with dysprosium. Because dysprosium is highly magnetic---indeed it is the most magnetic fermionic element and nearly tied with terbium for most magnetic bosonic atom---such gases serve as the basis for quantum simulation with strongly dipolar atoms.
Like many powders, dysprosium powder may present an explosion hazard when mixed with air and when an ignition source is present. Thin foils of the substance can also be ignited by sparks or by static electricity. Dysprosium fires cannot be extinguished with water. It can react with water to produce flammable hydrogen gas. Dysprosium chloride fires can be extinguished with water. Dysprosium fluoride and dysprosium oxide are non-flammable. Dysprosium nitrate, Dy(NO3)3, is a strong oxidizing agent and readily ignites on contact with organic substances.
Soluble dysprosium salts, such as dysprosium chloride and dysprosium nitrate are mildly toxic when ingested. Based on the toxicity of dysprosium chloride to mice, it is estimated that the ingestion of 500 grams or more could be fatal to a human (c.f. lethal dose of 300 grams of common table salt for a 100 kilogram human). The insoluble salts are non-toxic. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Dysprosium is a chemical element; it has symbol Dy and atomic number 66. It is a rare-earth element in the lanthanide series with a metallic silver luster. Dysprosium is never found in nature as a free element, though, like other lanthanides, it is found in various minerals, such as xenotime. Naturally occurring dysprosium is composed of seven isotopes, the most abundant of which is Dy.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Dysprosium was first identified in 1886 by Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, but it was not isolated in pure form until the development of ion-exchange techniques in the 1950s. Dysprosium has relatively few applications where it cannot be replaced by other chemical elements. It is used for its high thermal neutron absorption cross-section in making control rods in nuclear reactors, for its high magnetic susceptibility (χv ≈ 5.44×10) in data-storage applications, and as a component of Terfenol-D (a magnetostrictive material). Soluble dysprosium salts are mildly toxic, while the insoluble salts are considered non-toxic.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Dysprosium is a rare-earth element and has a metallic, bright silver luster. It is quite soft and can be machined without sparking if overheating is avoided. Dysprosium's physical characteristics can be greatly affected by even small amounts of impurities.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Dysprosium and holmium have the highest magnetic strengths of the elements, especially at low temperatures. Dysprosium has a simple ferromagnetic ordering at temperatures below 85 K (−188.2 °C). Above 85 K (−188.2 °C), it turns into a helical antiferromagnetic state in which all of the atomic moments in a particular basal plane layer are parallel and oriented at a fixed angle to the moments of adjacent layers. This unusual antiferromagnetism transforms into a disordered (paramagnetic) state at 179 K (−94 °C).",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Dysprosium metal retains its luster in dry air, however it will tarnish slowly in moist air and burns readily to form dysprosium(III) oxide:",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Dysprosium is quite electropositive and reacts slowly with cold water (and quite quickly with hot water) to form dysprosium hydroxide:",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Dysprosium hydroxide decomposes to form DyO(OH) at elevated temperatures, which then decomposes again to dysprosium(III) oxide.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Dysprosium metal vigorously reacts with all the halogens at above 200 °C:",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Dysprosium dissolves readily in dilute sulfuric acid to form solutions containing the yellow Dy(III) ions, which exist as a [Dy(OH2)9] complex:",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The resulting compound, dysprosium(III) sulfate, is noticeably paramagnetic.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Dysprosium halides, such as DyF3 and DyBr3, tend to take on a yellow color. Dysprosium oxide, also known as dysprosia, is a white powder that is highly magnetic, more so than iron oxide.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Dysprosium combines with various non-metals at high temperatures to form binary compounds with varying composition and oxidation states +3 and sometimes +2, such as DyN, DyP, DyH2 and DyH3; DyS, DyS2, Dy2S3 and Dy5S7; DyB2, DyB4, DyB6 and DyB12, as well as Dy3C and Dy2C3.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Dysprosium carbonate, Dy2(CO3)3, and dysprosium sulfate, Dy2(SO4)3, result from similar reactions. Most dysprosium compounds are soluble in water, though dysprosium carbonate tetrahydrate (Dy2(CO3)3·4H2O) and dysprosium oxalate decahydrate (Dy2(C2O4)3·10H2O) are both insoluble in water. Two of the most abundant dysprosium carbonates, Dy2(CO3)3·2–3H2O (similar to the mineral tengerite-(Y)), and DyCO3(OH) (similar to minerals kozoite-(La) and kozoite-(Nd), are known to form via a poorly ordered (amorphous) precursor phase with a formula of Dy2(CO3)3·4H2O. This amorphous precursor consists of highly hydrated spherical nanoparticles of 10–20 nm diameter that are exceptionally stable under dry treatment at ambient and high temperatures.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Naturally occurring dysprosium is composed of seven isotopes: Dy, Dy, Dy, Dy, Dy, Dy, and Dy. These are all considered stable, although Dy can theoretically undergo alpha decay with a half-life of over 1×10 years. Of the naturally occurring isotopes, Dy is the most abundant at 28%, followed by Dy at 26%. The least abundant is Dy at 0.06%.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Twenty-nine radioisotopes have also been synthesized, ranging in atomic mass from 138 to 173. The most stable of these is Dy, with a half-life of approximately 3×10 years, followed by Dy with a half-life of 144.4 days. The least stable is Dy, with a half-life of 200 ms. As a general rule, isotopes that are lighter than the stable isotopes tend to decay primarily by β decay, while those that are heavier tend to decay by β decay. However, Dy decays primarily by alpha decay, and Dy and Dy decay primarily by electron capture. Dysprosium also has at least 11 metastable isomers, ranging in atomic mass from 140 to 165. The most stable of these is Dy, which has a half-life of 1.257 minutes. Dy has two metastable isomers, the second of which, Dy, has a half-life of 28 ns.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In 1878, erbium ores were found to contain the oxides of holmium and thulium. French chemist Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, while working with holmium oxide, separated dysprosium oxide from it in Paris in 1886. His procedure for isolating the dysprosium involved dissolving dysprosium oxide in acid, then adding ammonia to precipitate the hydroxide. He was only able to isolate dysprosium from its oxide after more than 30 attempts at his procedure. On succeeding, he named the element dysprosium from the Greek dysprositos (δυσπρόσιτος), meaning \"hard to get\". The element was not isolated in relatively pure form until after the development of ion exchange techniques by Frank Spedding at Iowa State University in the early 1950s.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Due to its role in permanent magnets used for wind turbines, it has been argued that dysprosium will be one of the main objects of geopolitical competition in a world running on renewable energy. But this perspective has been criticised for failing to recognise that most wind turbines do not use permanent magnets and for underestimating the power of economic incentives for expanded production.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In 2021, Dy was turned into a 2-dimensional supersolid quantum gas.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "While dysprosium is never encountered as a free element, it is found in many minerals, including xenotime, fergusonite, gadolinite, euxenite, polycrase, blomstrandine, monazite and bastnäsite, often with erbium and holmium or other rare earth elements. No dysprosium-dominant mineral (that is, with dysprosium prevailing over other rare earths in the composition) has yet been found.",
"title": "Occurrence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "In the high-yttrium version of these, dysprosium happens to be the most abundant of the heavy lanthanides, comprising up to 7–8% of the concentrate (as compared to about 65% for yttrium). The concentration of Dy in the Earth's crust is about 5.2 mg/kg and in sea water 0.9 ng/L.",
"title": "Occurrence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Dysprosium is obtained primarily from monazite sand, a mixture of various phosphates. The metal is obtained as a by-product in the commercial extraction of yttrium. In isolating dysprosium, most of the unwanted metals can be removed magnetically or by a flotation process. Dysprosium can then be separated from other rare earth metals by an ion exchange displacement process. The resulting dysprosium ions can then react with either fluorine or chlorine to form dysprosium fluoride, DyF3, or dysprosium chloride, DyCl3. These compounds can be reduced using either calcium or lithium metals in the following reactions:",
"title": "Production"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The components are placed in a tantalum crucible and fired in a helium atmosphere. As the reaction progresses, the resulting halide compounds and molten dysprosium separate due to differences in density. When the mixture cools, the dysprosium can be cut away from the impurities.",
"title": "Production"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "About 100 tonnes of dysprosium are produced worldwide each year, with 99% of that total produced in China. Dysprosium prices have climbed nearly twentyfold, from $7 per pound in 2003, to $130 a pound in late 2010. The price increased to $1,400/kg in 2011 but fell to $240 in 2015, largely due to illegal production in China which circumvented government restrictions.",
"title": "Production"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Currently, most dysprosium is being obtained from the ion-adsorption clay ores of southern China. As of November 2018 the Browns Range Project pilot plant, 160 km south east of Halls Creek, Western Australia, is producing 50 tonnes (49 long tons) per annum.",
"title": "Production"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "According to the United States Department of Energy, the wide range of its current and projected uses, together with the lack of any immediately suitable replacement, makes dysprosium the single most critical element for emerging clean energy technologies; even their most conservative projections predicted a shortfall of dysprosium before 2015. As of late 2015, there is a nascent rare earth (including dysprosium) extraction industry in Australia.",
"title": "Production"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Dysprosium is used, in conjunction with vanadium and other elements, in making laser materials and commercial lighting. Because of dysprosium's high thermal-neutron absorption cross-section, dysprosium-oxide–nickel cermets are used in neutron-absorbing control rods in nuclear reactors. Dysprosium–cadmium chalcogenides are sources of infrared radiation, which is useful for studying chemical reactions. Because dysprosium and its compounds are highly susceptible to magnetization, they are employed in various data-storage applications, such as in hard disks. Dysprosium is increasingly in demand for the permanent magnets used in electric-car motors and wind-turbine generators.",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Neodymium–iron–boron magnets can have up to 6% of the neodymium substituted by dysprosium to raise the coercivity for demanding applications, such as drive motors for electric vehicles and generators for wind turbines. This substitution would require up to 100 grams of dysprosium per electric car produced. Based on Toyota's projected 2 million units per year, the use of dysprosium in applications such as this would quickly exhaust its available supply. The dysprosium substitution may also be useful in other applications because it improves the corrosion resistance of the magnets.",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Dysprosium is one of the components of Terfenol-D, along with iron and terbium. Terfenol-D has the highest room-temperature magnetostriction of any known material, which is employed in transducers, wide-band mechanical resonators, and high-precision liquid-fuel injectors.",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Dysprosium is used in dosimeters for measuring ionizing radiation. Crystals of calcium sulfate or calcium fluoride are doped with dysprosium. When these crystals are exposed to radiation, the dysprosium atoms become excited and luminescent. The luminescence can be measured to determine the degree of exposure to which the dosimeter has been subjected.",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Nanofibers of dysprosium compounds have high strength and a large surface area. Therefore, they can be used to reinforce other materials and act as a catalyst. Fibers of dysprosium oxide fluoride can be produced by heating an aqueous solution of DyBr3 and NaF to 450 °C at 450 bars for 17 hours. This material is remarkably robust, surviving over 100 hours in various aqueous solutions at temperatures exceeding 400 °C without redissolving or aggregating. Additionally, dysprosium has been used to create a two dimensional supersolid in a laboratory environment. Supersolids are expected to exhibit unusual properties, including superfluidity.",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Dysprosium iodide and dysprosium bromide are used in high-intensity metal-halide lamps. These compounds dissociate near the hot center of the lamp, releasing isolated dysprosium atoms. The latter re-emit light in the green and red part of the spectrum, thereby effectively producing bright light.",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Several paramagnetic crystal salts of dysprosium (dysprosium gallium garnet, DGG; dysprosium aluminium garnet, DAG; dysprosium iron garnet, DyIG) are used in adiabatic demagnetization refrigerators.",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The trivalent dysprosium ion (Dy) has been studied due to its downshifting luminescence properties. Dy-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Dy:YAG) excited in the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum results in the emission of photons of longer wavelength in the visible region. This idea is the basis for a new generation of UV-pumped white light-emitting diodes.",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "The stable isotopes of dysprosium have been laser cooled and confined in magneto-optical traps for quantum physics experiments. The first Bose and Fermi quantum degenerate gases of an open shell lanthanide were created with dysprosium. Because dysprosium is highly magnetic---indeed it is the most magnetic fermionic element and nearly tied with terbium for most magnetic bosonic atom---such gases serve as the basis for quantum simulation with strongly dipolar atoms.",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Like many powders, dysprosium powder may present an explosion hazard when mixed with air and when an ignition source is present. Thin foils of the substance can also be ignited by sparks or by static electricity. Dysprosium fires cannot be extinguished with water. It can react with water to produce flammable hydrogen gas. Dysprosium chloride fires can be extinguished with water. Dysprosium fluoride and dysprosium oxide are non-flammable. Dysprosium nitrate, Dy(NO3)3, is a strong oxidizing agent and readily ignites on contact with organic substances.",
"title": "Precautions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Soluble dysprosium salts, such as dysprosium chloride and dysprosium nitrate are mildly toxic when ingested. Based on the toxicity of dysprosium chloride to mice, it is estimated that the ingestion of 500 grams or more could be fatal to a human (c.f. lethal dose of 300 grams of common table salt for a 100 kilogram human). The insoluble salts are non-toxic.",
"title": "Precautions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "",
"title": "External links"
}
] | Dysprosium is a chemical element; it has symbol Dy and atomic number 66. It is a rare-earth element in the lanthanide series with a metallic silver luster. Dysprosium is never found in nature as a free element, though, like other lanthanides, it is found in various minerals, such as xenotime. Naturally occurring dysprosium is composed of seven isotopes, the most abundant of which is 164Dy. Dysprosium was first identified in 1886 by Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, but it was not isolated in pure form until the development of ion-exchange techniques in the 1950s. Dysprosium has relatively few applications where it cannot be replaced by other chemical elements. It is used for its high thermal neutron absorption cross-section in making control rods in nuclear reactors, for its high magnetic susceptibility in data-storage applications, and as a component of Terfenol-D. Soluble dysprosium salts are mildly toxic, while the insoluble salts are considered non-toxic. | 2001-05-17T14:31:53Z | 2023-12-28T17:47:05Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysprosium |
8,103 | Deforestation | Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated deforestation occurs in tropical rainforests. About 31% of Earth's land surface is covered by forests at present. This is one-third less than the forest cover before the expansion of agriculture, with half of that loss occurring in the last century. Between 15 million to 18 million hectares of forest, an area the size of Bangladesh, are destroyed every year. On average 2,400 trees are cut down each minute.
The overwhelming direct cause of deforestation is agriculture. More than 80% of deforestation was attributed to agriculture in 2018. Forests are being converted to plantations for coffee, tea, palm oil, rice, rubber, and various other popular products. Livestock ranching is another agricultural activity that drives deforestation. Further drivers are the wood industry (logging), economic development in general (for example urbanization), mining. The effects of climate change are another cause via the increased risk of wildfires.
Deforestation has resulted in habitat damage, biodiversity loss, and aridity. Deforestation also causes extinction, changes to climatic conditions, desertification, and displacement of populations, as observed by current conditions and in the past through the fossil record. Deforestation also reduces biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, increasing negative feedback cycles contributing to global warming. Global warming also puts increased pressure on communities who seek food security by clearing forests for agricultural use and reducing arable land more generally. Deforested regions typically incur significant other environmental effects such as adverse soil erosion and degradation into wasteland.
The resilience of human food systems and their capacity to adapt to future change is linked to biodiversity – including dryland-adapted shrub and tree species that help combat desertification, forest-dwelling insects, bats and bird species that pollinate crops, trees with extensive root systems in mountain ecosystems that prevent soil erosion, and mangrove species that provide resilience against flooding in coastal areas. With climate change exacerbating the risks to food systems, the role of forests in capturing and storing carbon and mitigating climate change is important for the agricultural sector.
Deforestation is defined as the conversion of forest to other land uses (regardless of whether it is human-induced).
Deforestation and forest area net change are not the same: the latter is the sum of all forest losses (deforestation) and all forest gains (forest expansion) in a given period. Net change, therefore, can be positive or negative, depending on whether gains exceed losses, or vice versa.
The FAO estimates that the global forest carbon stock has decreased 0.9%, and tree cover 4.2% between 1990 and 2020.
As of 2019 there is still disagreement about whether the global forest is shrinking or not: "While above-ground biomass carbon stocks are estimated to be declining in the tropics, they are increasing globally due to increasing stocks in temperate and boreal forest.
Deforestation in many countries—both naturally occurring and human-induced—is an ongoing issue. Between 2000 and 2012, 2.3 million square kilometres (890,000 sq mi) of forests around the world were cut down. Deforestation and forest degradation continue to take place at alarming rates, which contributes significantly to the ongoing loss of biodiversity.
Deforestation is more extreme in tropical and subtropical forests in emerging economies. More than half of all plant and land animal species in the world live in tropical forests. As a result of deforestation, only 6.2 million square kilometres (2.4 million square miles) remain of the original 16 million square kilometres (6 million square miles) of tropical rainforest that formerly covered the Earth. An area the size of a football pitch is cleared from the Amazon rainforest every minute, with 136 million acres (55 million hectares) of rainforest cleared for animal agriculture overall. More than 3.6 million hectares of virgin tropical forest was lost in 2018.
The global annual net loss of trees is estimated to be approximately 10 billion. According to the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 the global average annual deforested land in the 2015–2020 demi-decade was 10 million hectares and the average annual forest area net loss in the 2000–2010 decade was 4.7 million hectares. The world has lost 178 million ha of forest since 1990, which is an area about the size of Libya.
An analysis of global deforestation patterns in 2021 showed that patterns of trade, production, and consumption drive deforestation rates in complex ways. While the location of deforestation can be mapped, it does not always match where the commodity is consumed. For example, consumption patterns in G7 countries are estimated to cause an average loss of 3.9 trees per person per year. In other words, deforestation can be directly related to imports—for example, coffee.
Global deforestation sharply accelerated around 1852. As of 1947, the planet had 15 million to 16 million km (5.8 million to 6.2 million sq mi) of mature tropical forests, but by 2015, it was estimated that about half of these had been destroyed. Total land coverage by tropical rainforests decreased from 14% to 6%. Much of this loss happened between 1960 and 1990, when 20% of all tropical rainforests were destroyed. At this rate, extinction of such forests is projected to occur by the mid-21st century.
In the early 2000s, some scientists predicted that unless significant measures (such as seeking out and protecting old growth forests that have not been disturbed) are taken on a worldwide basis, by 2030 there will only be 10% remaining, with another 10% in a degraded condition. 80% will have been lost, and with them hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable species.
Estimates vary widely as to the extent of deforestation in the tropics. In 2019, the world lost nearly 12 million hectares of tree cover. Nearly a third of that loss, 3.8 million hectares, occurred within humid tropical primary forests, areas of mature rainforest that are especially important for biodiversity and carbon storage. This is equivalent to losing an area of primary forest the size of a football pitch every six seconds.
A 2002 analysis of satellite imagery suggested that the rate of deforestation in the humid tropics (approximately 5.8 million hectares per year) was roughly 23% lower than the most commonly quoted rates. A 2005 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that although the Earth's total forest area continued to decrease at about 13 million hectares per year, the global rate of deforestation had been slowing. On the other hand, a 2005 analysis of satellite images reveals that deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is twice as fast as scientists previously estimated.
From 2010 to 2015, worldwide forest area decreased by 3.3 million ha per year, according to FAO. During this five-year period, the biggest forest area loss occurred in the tropics, particularly in South America and Africa. Per capita forest area decline was also greatest in the tropics and subtropics but is occurring in every climatic domain (except in the temperate) as populations increase.
An estimated 420 million ha of forest has been lost worldwide through deforestation since 1990, but the rate of forest loss has declined substantially. In the most recent five-year period (2015–2020), the annual rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million ha, down from 12 million ha in 2010–2015.
Africa had the largest annual rate of net forest loss in 2010–2020, at 3.9 million ha, followed by South America, at 2.6 million ha. The rate of net forest loss has increased in Africa in each of the three decades since 1990. It has declined substantially in South America, however, to about half the rate in 2010–2020 compared with 2000–2010. Asia had the highest net gain of forest area in 2010–2020, followed by Oceania and Europe. Nevertheless, both Europe and Asia recorded substantially lower rates of net gain in 2010–2020 than in 2000–2010. Oceania experienced net losses of forest area in the decades 1990–2000 and 2000–2010.
Some claim that rainforests are being destroyed at an ever-quickening pace. The London-based Rainforest Foundation notes that "the UN figure is based on a definition of forest as being an area with as little as 10% actual tree cover, which would therefore include areas that are actually savanna-like ecosystems and badly damaged forests". Other critics of the FAO data point out that they do not distinguish between forest types, and that they are based largely on reporting from forestry departments of individual countries, which do not take into account unofficial activities like illegal logging. Despite these uncertainties, there is agreement that destruction of rainforests remains a significant environmental problem.
The rate of net forest loss declined from 7.8 million ha per year in the decade 1990–2000 to 5.2 million ha per year in 2000–2010 and 4.7 million ha per year in 2010–2020. The rate of decline of net forest loss slowed in the most recent decade due to a reduction in the rate of forest expansion.
In many parts of the world, especially in East Asian countries, reforestation and afforestation are increasing the area of forested lands. The amount of forest has increased in 22 of the world's 50 most forested nations. Asia as a whole gained 1 million hectares of forest between 2000 and 2005. Tropical forest in El Salvador expanded more than 20% between 1992 and 2001. Based on these trends, one study projects that global forestation will increase by 10%—an area the size of India—by 2050. 36% of globally planted forest area is in East Asia - around 950,000 square kilometers. From those 87% are in China.
Rates of deforestation vary around the world. Up to 90% of West Africa's coastal rainforests have disappeared since 1900. Madagascar has lost 90% of its eastern rainforests. In South Asia, about 88% of the rainforests have been lost.
Mexico, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka, Laos, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Guinea, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, have lost large areas of their rainforest.
Much of what remains of the world's rainforests is in the Amazon basin, where the Amazon Rainforest covers approximately 4 million square kilometres. Some 80% of the deforestation of the Amazon can be attributed to cattle ranching, as Brazil is the largest exporter of beef in the world. The Amazon region has become one of the largest cattle ranching territories in the world. The regions with the highest tropical deforestation rate between 2000 and 2005 were Central America—which lost 1.3% of its forests each year—and tropical Asia. In Central America, two-thirds of lowland tropical forests have been turned into pasture since 1950 and 40% of all the rainforests have been lost in the last 40 years. Brazil has lost 90–95% of its Mata Atlântica forest. Deforestation in Brazil increased by 88% for the month of June 2019, as compared with the previous year. However, Brazil still destroyed 1.3 million hectares in 2019. Brazil is one of several countries that have declared their deforestation a national emergency. Paraguay was losing its natural semi-humid forests in the country's western regions at a rate of 15,000 hectares at a randomly studied 2-month period in 2010. In 2009, Paraguay's parliament refused to pass a law that would have stopped cutting of natural forests altogether.
As of 2007, less than 50% of Haiti's forests remained.
From 2015 to 2019, the rate of deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo doubled. In 2021, deforestation of the Congolese rainforest increased by 5%.
The World Wildlife Fund's ecoregion project catalogues habitat types throughout the world, including habitat loss such as deforestation, showing for example that even in the rich forests of parts of Canada such as the Mid-Continental Canadian forests of the prairie provinces half of the forest cover has been lost or altered.
In 2011, Conservation International listed the top 10 most endangered forests, characterized by having all lost 90% or more of their original habitat, and each harboring at least 1500 endemic plant species (species found nowhere else in the world).
As of 2015, it is estimated that 70% of the world's forests are within one kilometer of a forest edge, where they are most prone to human interference and destruction.
Deforestation in particular countries:
Agricultural expansion continues to be the main driver of deforestation and forest fragmentation and the associated loss of forest biodiversity. Large-scale commercial agriculture (primarily cattle ranching and cultivation of soya bean and oil palm) accounted for 40 percent of tropical deforestation between 2000 and 2010, and local subsistence agriculture for another 33 percent. Trees are cut down for use as building material, timber or sold as fuel (sometimes in the form of charcoal or timber), while cleared land is used as pasture for livestock and agricultural crops.
The vast majority of agricultural activity resulting in deforestation is subsidized by government tax revenue. Disregard of ascribed value, lax forest management, and deficient environmental laws are some of the factors that lead to large-scale deforestation.
The types of drivers vary greatly depending on the region in which they take place. The regions with the greatest amount of deforestation for livestock and row crop agriculture are Central and South America, while commodity crop deforestation was found mainly in Southeast Asia. The region with the greatest forest loss due to shifting agriculture was sub-Saharan Africa.
The overwhelming direct cause of deforestation is agriculture. Subsistence farming is responsible for 48% of deforestation; commercial agriculture is responsible for 32%; logging is responsible for 14%, and fuel wood removals make up 5%.
More than 80% of deforestation was attributed to agriculture in 2018. Forests are being converted to plantations for coffee, tea, palm oil, rice, rubber, and various other popular products. The rising demand for certain products and global trade arrangements causes forest conversions, which ultimately leads to soil erosion. The top soil oftentimes erodes after forests are cleared which leads to sediment increase in rivers and streams.
Most deforestation also occurs in tropical regions. The estimated amount of total land mass used by agriculture is around 38%.
Since 1960, roughly 15% of the Amazon has been removed with the intention of replacing the land with agricultural practices. It is no coincidence that Brazil has recently become the world's largest beef exporter at the same time that the Amazon rainforest is being clear cut.
Another prevalent method of agricultural deforestation is slash-and-burn agriculture, which was primarily used by subsistence farmers in tropical regions but has now become increasingly less sustainable. The method does not leave land for continuous agricultural production but instead cuts and burns small plots of forest land which are then converted into agricultural zones. The farmers then exploit the nutrients in the ashes of the burned plants. As well as, intentionally set fires can possibly lead to devastating measures when unintentionally spreading fire to more land, which can result in the destruction of the protective canopy.
The repeated cycle of low yields and shortened fallow periods eventually results in less vegetation being able to grow on once burned lands and a decrease in average soil biomass. In small local plots sustainability is not an issue because of longer fallow periods and lesser overall deforestation. The relatively small size of the plots allowed for no net input of CO2 to be released.
Consumption and production of beef is the primary driver of deforestation in the Amazon, with around 80% of all converted land being used to rear cattle. 91% of Amazon land deforested since 1970 has been converted to cattle ranching.
Livestock ranching requires large portions of land to raise herds of animals and livestock crops for consumer needs. According to the World Wildlife Fund, "Extensive cattle ranching is the number one culprit of deforestation in virtually every Amazon country, and it accounts for 80% of current deforestation."
The cattle industry is responsible for a significant amount of methane emissions since 60% of all mammals on earth are livestock cows. Replacing forest land with pastures creates a loss of forest stock, which leads to the implication of increased greenhouse gas emissions by burning agriculture methodologies and land-use change.
A large contributing factor to deforestation is the lumber industry. A total of almost 4 million hectares (9.9×10^ acres) of timber, or about 1.3% of all forest land, is harvested each year. In addition, the increasing demand for low-cost timber products only supports the lumber company to continue logging.
Experts do not agree on whether industrial logging is an important contributor to global deforestation. Some argue that poor people are more likely to clear forest because they have no alternatives, others that the poor lack the ability to pay for the materials and labour needed to clear forest.
Other causes of contemporary deforestation may include corruption of government institutions, the inequitable distribution of wealth and power, population growth and overpopulation, and urbanization. The impact of population growth on deforestation has been contested. One study found that population increases due to high fertility rates were a primary driver of tropical deforestation in only 8% of cases. In 2000 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that "the role of population dynamics in a local setting may vary from decisive to negligible", and that deforestation can result from "a combination of population pressure and stagnating economic, social and technological conditions".
Globalization is often viewed as another root cause of deforestation, though there are cases in which the impacts of globalization (new flows of labor, capital, commodities, and ideas) have promoted localized forest recovery.
The degradation of forest ecosystems has also been traced to economic incentives that make forest conversion appear more profitable than forest conservation. Many important forest functions have no markets, and hence, no economic value that is readily apparent to the forests' owners or the communities that rely on forests for their well-being. From the perspective of the developing world, the benefits of forest as carbon sinks or biodiversity reserves go primarily to richer developed nations and there is insufficient compensation for these services. Developing countries feel that some countries in the developed world, such as the United States of America, cut down their forests centuries ago and benefited economically from this deforestation, and that it is hypocritical to deny developing countries the same opportunities, i.e. that the poor should not have to bear the cost of preservation when the rich created the problem.
Some commentators have noted a shift in the drivers of deforestation over the past 30 years. Whereas deforestation was primarily driven by subsistence activities and government-sponsored development projects like transmigration in countries like Indonesia and colonization in Latin America, India, Java, and so on, during the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, by the 1990s the majority of deforestation was caused by industrial factors, including extractive industries, large-scale cattle ranching, and extensive agriculture. Since 2001, commodity-driven deforestation, which is more likely to be permanent, has accounted for about a quarter of all forest disturbance, and this loss has been concentrated in South America and Southeast Asia.
As the human population grows, new homes, communities, and expansions of cities will occur, leading to an increase in roads to connect these communities. Rural roads promote economic development but also facilitate deforestation. About 90% of the deforestation has occurred within 100 km of roads in most parts of the Amazon.
The European Union is one of the largest importer of products made from illegal deforestation.
Some have argued that deforestation trends may follow a Kuznets curve, which if true would nonetheless fail to eliminate the risk of irreversible loss of non-economic forest values (for example, the extinction of species).
The importance of mining as a cause of deforestation increased quickly in the beginning the 21st century, among other because of increased demand for minerals. The direct impact of mining is relatively small, but the indirect impacts are much more significant. More than a third of the earth's forests are possibly impacted, at some level and in the years 2001-2021, "755,861 km... ...had been deforested by causes indirectly related to mining activities alongside other deforestation drivers (based on data from WWF)"
Another cause of deforestation is due to the effects of climate change: More wildfires, insect outbreaks, invasive species, and more frequent extreme weather events (such as storms) are factors that increase deforestation.
A study suggests that "tropical, arid and temperate forests are experiencing a significant decline in resilience, probably related to increased water limitations and climate variability" which may shift ecosystems towards critical transitions and ecosystem collapses. By contrast, "boreal forests show divergent local patterns with an average increasing trend in resilience, probably benefiting from warming and CO2 fertilization, which may outweigh the adverse effects of climate change". It has been proposed that a loss of resilience in forests "can be detected from the increased temporal autocorrelation (TAC) in the state of the system, reflecting a decline in recovery rates due to the critical slowing down (CSD) of system processes that occur at thresholds".
23% of tree cover losses result from wildfires and climate change increase their frequency and power. The rising temperatures cause massive wildfires especially in the Boreal forests. One possible effect is the change of the forest composition. Deforestation can also cause forests to become more fire prone through mechanisms such as logging.
Operations in war can also cause deforestation. For example, in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa, bombardment and other combat operations reduced a lush tropical landscape into "a vast field of mud, lead, decay and maggots".
Deforestation can also result from the intentional tactics of military forces. Clearing forests became an element in the Russian Empire's successful conquest of the Caucasus in the mid-19th century. The British (during the Malayan Emergency) and the United States (in the Korean War and in the Vietnam War) used defoliants (like Agent Orange or others). The destruction of forests in Vietnam War is one of the most commonly used examples of ecocide, including by Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, lawyers, historians and other academics.
Deforestation is a contributor to climate change. It is often cited as one of the major causes of the enhanced greenhouse effect. Recent calculations suggest that CO2 emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (excluding peatland emissions) contribute about 12% of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions, with a range from 6% to 17%. A 2022 study shows annual carbon emissions from tropical deforestation have doubled during the last two decades and continue to increase: by 0.97 ± 0.16 PgC (petagrams of carbon, i.e. billions of tons) per year in 2001–2005 to 1.99 ± 0.13 PgC per year in 2015–2019.
According to a review, north of 50°N, large scale deforestation leads to an overall net global cooling; but deforestation in the tropics leads to substantial warming: not just due to CO2 impacts, but also due to other biophysical mechanisms (making carbon-centric metrics inadequate). Moreover, it suggests that standing tropical forests help cool the average global temperature by more than 1 °C.
The incineration and burning of forest plants to clear land releases large amounts of CO2, which contributes to global warming. Scientists also state that tropical deforestation releases 1.5 billion tons of carbon each year into the atmosphere.
A study suggests logged and structurally degraded tropical forests are carbon sources for at least a decade – even when recovering – due to larger carbon losses from soil organic matter and deadwood, indicating that the tropical forest carbon sink (at least in South Asia) "may be much smaller than previously estimated", contradicting that "recovering logged and degraded tropical forests are net carbon sinks".
Forests are generally carbon dioxide sinks when they are high in diversity, density or area. However, they can also be carbon sources if diversity, density or area decreases due to deforestation, selective logging, climate change, wildfires or diseases. One study in 2020 found that 32 tracked Brazilian non-Amazon seasonal tropical forests declined from a carbon sink to a carbon source in 2013 and concludes that "policies are needed to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases and to restore and protect tropical seasonal forests". In 2019 forests took up a third less carbon than they did in the 1990s, due to higher temperatures, droughts and deforestation. The typical tropical forest may become a carbon source by the 2060s.
FAO reported that: "The total carbon stock in forests decreased from 668 gigatonnes in 1990 to 662 gigatonnes in 2020". However, another study finds that the leaf area index has increased globally since 1981, which was responsible for 12.4% of the accumulated terrestrial carbon sink from 1981 to 2016. The CO2 fertilization effect, on the other hand, was responsible for 47% of the sink, while climate change reduced the sink by 28.6%. In Canada's boreal forests as much as 80% of the total carbon is stored in the soils as dead organic matter.
Carbon offset programs are planting millions of fast-growing trees per year to reforest tropical lands, for as little as $0.10 per tree; over their typical 40-year lifetime, one million of these trees will fix 1 a million tons of carbon dioxide.
According to a 2020 study, if deforestation continues at current rates it can trigger a total or almost total extinction of humanity in the next 20 to 40 years. They conclude that "from a statistical point of view . . . the probability that our civilisation survives itself is less than 10% in the most optimistic scenario." To avoid this collapse, humanity should pass from a civilization dominated by the economy to "cultural society" that "privileges the interest of the ecosystem above the individual interest of its components, but eventually in accordance with the overall communal interest."
The water cycle is also affected by deforestation. Trees extract groundwater through their roots and release it into the atmosphere. When part of a forest is removed, the trees no longer transpire this water, resulting in a much drier climate. Deforestation reduces the content of water in the soil and groundwater as well as atmospheric moisture. The dry soil leads to lower water intake for the trees to extract. Deforestation reduces soil cohesion, so that erosion, flooding and landslides ensue.
Shrinking forest cover lessens the landscape's capacity to intercept, retain and transpire precipitation. Instead of trapping precipitation, which then percolates to groundwater systems, deforested areas become sources of surface water runoff, which moves much faster than subsurface flows. Forests return most of the water that falls as precipitation to the atmosphere by transpiration. In contrast, when an area is deforested, almost all precipitation is lost as run-off. That quicker transport of surface water can translate into flash flooding and more localized floods than would occur with the forest cover. Deforestation also contributes to decreased evapotranspiration, which lessens atmospheric moisture which in some cases affects precipitation levels downwind from the deforested area, as water is not recycled to downwind forests, but is lost in runoff and returns directly to the oceans. According to one study, in deforested north and northwest China, the average annual precipitation decreased by one third between the 1950s and the 1980s.
Trees, and plants in general, affect the water cycle significantly:
As a result, the presence or absence of trees can change the quantity of water on the surface, in the soil or groundwater, or in the atmosphere. This in turn changes erosion rates and the availability of water for either ecosystem functions or human services. Deforestation on lowland plains moves cloud formation and rainfall to higher elevations.
The forest may have little impact on flooding in the case of large rainfall events, which overwhelm the storage capacity of forest soil if the soils are at or close to saturation.
Tropical rainforests produce about 30% of our planet's fresh water.
Deforestation disrupts normal weather patterns creating hotter and drier weather thus increasing drought, desertification, crop failures, melting of the polar ice caps, coastal flooding and displacement of major vegetation regimes.
Due to surface plant litter, forests that are undisturbed have a minimal rate of erosion. The rate of erosion occurs from deforestation, because it decreases the amount of litter cover, which provides protection from surface runoff. The rate of erosion is around 2 metric tons per square kilometre. This can be an advantage in excessively leached tropical rain forest soils. Forestry operations themselves also increase erosion through the development of (forest) roads and the use of mechanized equipment.
Deforestation in China's Loess Plateau many years ago has led to soil erosion; this erosion has led to valleys opening up. The increase of soil in the runoff causes the Yellow River to flood and makes it yellow-colored.
Greater erosion is not always a consequence of deforestation, as observed in the southwestern regions of the US. In these areas, the loss of grass due to the presence of trees and other shrubbery leads to more erosion than when trees are removed.
Soils are reinforced by the presence of trees, which secure the soil by binding their roots to soil bedrock. Due to deforestation, the removal of trees causes sloped lands to be more susceptible to landslides.
Clearing forests changes the environment of the microbial communities within the soil, and causes a loss of biodiversity in regards to the microbes since biodiversity is actually highly dependent on soil texture. Although the effect of deforestation has much more profound consequences on sandier soils compared to clay-like soils, the disruptions caused by deforestation ultimately reduces properties of soil such as hydraulic conductivity and water storage, thus reducing the efficiency of water and heat absorption. In a simulation of the deforestation process in the Amazon, researchers found that surface and soil temperatures increased by 1 to 3 degrees Celsius demonstrating the loss of the soil's ability to absorb radiation and moisture. Furthermore, soils that are rich in organic decay matter are more susceptible to fire, especially during long droughts.
Changes in soil properties could turn the soil itself into a carbon source rather than a carbon sink.
Deforestation on a human scale results in decline in biodiversity, and on a natural global scale is known to cause the extinction of many species. The removal or destruction of areas of forest cover has resulted in a degraded environment with reduced biodiversity. Forests support biodiversity, providing habitat for wildlife; moreover, forests foster medicinal conservation. With forest biotopes being irreplaceable source of new drugs (such as taxol), deforestation can destroy genetic variations (such as crop resistance) irretrievably.
Since the tropical rainforests are the most diverse ecosystems on Earth and about 80% of the world's known biodiversity can be found in tropical rainforests, removal or destruction of significant areas of forest cover has resulted in a degraded environment with reduced biodiversity. Road construction and development of adjacent land, which greatly reduces the area of intact wilderness and causes soil erosion, is a major contributing factor to the loss of biodiversity in tropical regions. A study in Rondônia, Brazil, has shown that deforestation also removes the microbial community which is involved in the recycling of nutrients, the production of clean water and the removal of pollutants.
It has been estimated that 137 plant, animal and insect species go extinct every day due to rainforest deforestation, which equates to 50,000 species a year. Others state that tropical rainforest deforestation is contributing to the ongoing Holocene mass extinction. The known extinction rates from deforestation rates are very low, approximately one species per year from mammals and birds, which extrapolates to approximately 23,000 species per year for all species. Predictions have been made that more than 40% of the animal and plant species in Southeast Asia could be wiped out in the 21st century. Such predictions were called into question by 1995 data that show that within regions of Southeast Asia much of the original forest has been converted to monospecific plantations, but that potentially endangered species are few and tree flora remains widespread and stable.
Scientific understanding of the process of extinction is insufficient to accurately make predictions about the impact of deforestation on biodiversity. Most predictions of forestry related biodiversity loss are based on species-area models, with an underlying assumption that as the forest declines species diversity will decline similarly. However, many such models have been proven to be wrong and loss of habitat does not necessarily lead to large scale loss of species. Species-area models are known to overpredict the number of species known to be threatened in areas where actual deforestation is ongoing, and greatly overpredict the number of threatened species that are widespread.
In 2012, a study of the Brazilian Amazon predicts that despite a lack of extinctions thus far, up to 90 percent of predicted extinctions will finally occur in the next 40 years.
Rainforests are widely believed by lay persons to contribute a significant amount of the world's oxygen, although it is now accepted by scientists that rainforests contribute little net oxygen to the atmosphere and deforestation has only a minor effect on atmospheric oxygen levels. In fact about 50 percent of oxygen on earth is produced by algae.
The degradation and loss of forests disrupts nature's balance. Indeed, deforestation eliminates a great number of species of plants and animals which also often results in an increase in disease, and exposure of people to zoonotic diseases. Deforestation can also create a path for non-native species to flourish such as certain types of snails, which have been correlated with an increase in schistosomiasis cases.
Forest-associated diseases include malaria, Chagas disease (also known as American trypanosomiasis), African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), leishmaniasis, Lyme disease, HIV and Ebola. The majority of new infectious diseases affecting humans, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, are zoonotic and their emergence may be linked to habitat loss due to forest area change and the expansion of human populations into forest areas, which both increase human exposure to wildlife.
Deforestation is occurring all over the world and has been coupled with an increase in the occurrence of disease outbreaks. In Malaysia, thousands of acres of forest have been cleared for pig farms. This has resulted in an increase in the spread of the Nipah virus. In Kenya, deforestation has led to an increase in malaria cases which is now the leading cause of morbidity and mortality the country. A 2017 study in the American Economic Review found that deforestation substantially increased the incidence of malaria in Nigeria.
Another pathway through which deforestation affects disease is the relocation and dispersion of disease-carrying hosts. This disease emergence pathway can be called "range expansion", whereby the host's range (and thereby the range of pathogens) expands to new geographic areas. Through deforestation, hosts and reservoir species are forced into neighboring habitats. Accompanying the reservoir species are pathogens that have the ability to find new hosts in previously unexposed regions. As these pathogens and species come into closer contact with humans, they are infected both directly and indirectly. Another example of range expansion due to deforestation and other anthropogenic habitat impacts includes the Capybara rodent in Paraguay.
Deforestation reduces safe working hours for millions of people in the tropics, especially for those performing heavy labour outdoors. Continued global heating and forest loss is expected to amplify these impacts, reducing work hours for vulnerable groups even more. A study conducted from 2002 to 2018 also determined that the increase in temperature as a result of climate change, and the lack of shade due to deforestation, has increased the mortality rate of workers in Indonesia.
A link between deforestation and infant mortality was found in Indonesia as well. The study shows documentation of deforestation and pregnancy order, as children born from first pregnancies face higher mortality risks due to in-utero exposure. The study's results suggest that women during their first pregnancy could have been affected by deforestation-induced malaria. It has been affirmed that in preserved regions, likely reasons including commercial activity, perinatal health care, alongside air pollution are not identifiable triggers of the weighty impression left by deforestation on newborn fatality.
According to the World Economic Forum, 31% of emerging diseases are linked to deforestation. A publication by the United Nations Environment Programme in 2016 found that deforestation, climate change, and livestock agriculture are among the main causes that increase the risk of zoonotic diseases, that is diseases that pass from animals to humans.
Scientists have linked the Coronavirus pandemic to the destruction of nature, especially to deforestation, habitat loss in general and wildlife trade. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) the Coronavirus disease 2019 is zoonotic, e.g., the virus passed from animals to humans. UNEP concludes that: "The most fundamental way to protect ourselves from zoonotic diseases is to prevent destruction of nature. Where ecosystems are healthy and biodiverse, they are resilient, adaptable and help to regulate diseases.
Economic losses due to deforestation in Brazil could reach around 317 billion dollars per year, approximately 7 times higher in comparison to the cost of all commodities produced through deforestation.
The forest products industry is a large part of the economy in both developed and developing countries. Short-term economic gains made by conversion of forest to agriculture, or over-exploitation of wood products, typically leads to a loss of long-term income and long-term biological productivity. West Africa, Madagascar, Southeast Asia and many other regions have experienced lower revenue because of declining timber harvests. Illegal logging causes billions of dollars of losses to national economies annually.
There are multiple methods that are appropriate and reliable for reducing and monitoring deforestation. One method is the "visual interpretation of aerial photos or satellite imagery that is labor-intensive but does not require high-level training in computer image processing or extensive computational resources". Another method includes hot-spot analysis (that is, locations of rapid change) using expert opinion or coarse resolution satellite data to identify locations for detailed digital analysis with high resolution satellite images. Deforestation is typically assessed by quantifying the amount of area deforested, measured at the present time. From an environmental point of view, quantifying the damage and its possible consequences is a more important task, while conservation efforts are more focused on forested land protection and development of land-use alternatives to avoid continued deforestation. Deforestation rate and total area deforested have been widely used for monitoring deforestation in many regions, including the Brazilian Amazon deforestation monitoring by INPE. A global satellite view is available, an example of land change science monitoring of land cover over time.
Satellite imaging has become crucial in obtaining data on levels of deforestation and reforestation. Landsat satellite data, for example, has been used to map tropical deforestation as part of NASA's Landsat Pathfinder Humid Tropical Deforestation Project. The project yielded deforestation maps for the Amazon Basin, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia for three periods in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
Greenpeace has mapped out the forests that are still intact and published this information on the internet. World Resources Institute in turn has made a simpler thematic map showing the amount of forests present just before the age of man (8000 years ago) and the current (reduced) levels of forest.
Policies for forest protection include information and education programs, economic measures to increase revenue returns from authorized activities and measures to increase effectiveness of "forest technicians and forest managers". Poverty and agricultural rent were found to be principal factors leading to deforestation. Contemporary domestic and foreign political decision-makers could possibly create and implement policies whose outcomes ensure that economic activities in critical forests are consistent with their scientifically ascribed value for ecosystem services, climate change mitigation and other purposes.
Such policies may use and organize the development of complementary technical and economic means – including for lower levels of beef production, sales and consumption (which would also have major benefits for climate change mitigation), higher levels of specified other economic activities in such areas (such as reforestation, forest protection, sustainable agriculture for specific classes of food products and quaternary work in general), product information requirements, practice- and product-certifications and eco-tariffs, along with the required monitoring and traceability. Inducing the creation and enforcement of such policies could, for instance, achieve a global phase-out of deforestation-associated beef. With complex polycentric governance measures, goals like sufficient climate change mitigation as decided with e.g. the Paris Agreement and a stoppage of deforestation by 2030 as decided at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference could be achieved. A study has suggested higher income nations need to reduce imports of tropical forest-related products and help with theoretically forest-related socioeconomic development. Proactive government policies and international forest policies "revisit[ing] and redesign[ing] global forest trade" are needed as well.
In 2022 the European parliament approved a bill aiming to stop the import linked with deforestation. The bill may cause to Brazil, for example, to stop deforestation for agricultural production and begun to "increase productivity on existing agricultural land". The legislation was adopted with some changes by the European Council in May 2023 and is expected to enter into force several weeks after. The bill requires companies who want to import certain types of products to the European Union to prove the production of those commodities is not linked to areas deforested after 31 of December 2020. It prohibits also import of products linked with Human rights abuse. The list of products includes: palm oil, cattle, wood, coffee, cocoa, rubber and soy. Some derivatives of those products are also included: chocolate, furniture, printed paper and several palm oil based derivates.
In 2014, about 40 countries signed the New York Declaration on Forests, a voluntary pledge to halve deforestation by 2020 and end it by 2030. The agreement was not legally binding, however, and some key countries, such as Brazil, China, and Russia, did not sign onto it. As a result, the effort failed, and deforestation increased from 2014 to 2020.
In November 2021, 141 countries (with around 85% of the world's primary tropical forests and 90% of global tree cover) agreed at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow to the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use, a pledge to end and reverse deforestation by 2030. The agreement was accompanied by about $19.2 billion in associated funding commitments.
The 2021 Glasgow agreement improved on the New York Declaration by now including Brazil and many other countries that did not sign the 2014 agreement. Some key nations with high rates of deforestation (including Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Paraguay, and Myanmar) have not signed the Glasgow Declaration. Like the earlier agreement, the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration was entered into outside the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and is thus not legally binding.
In November 2021, the EU executive outlined a draft law requiring companies to prove that the agricultural commodities beef, wood, palm oil, soy, coffee and cocoa destined for the EU's 450 million consumers were not linked to deforestation. In September 2022, the EU Parliament supported and strengthened the plan from the EU’s executive with 453 votes to 57.
In 2018 the biggest palm oil trader, Wilmar, decided to control its suppliers to avoid deforestation
In 2021, over 100 world leaders, representing countries containing more than 85% of the world's forests, committed to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030.
Indigenous communities have long been the frontline of resistance against deforestation. Transferring rights over land from public domain to its indigenous inhabitants is argued to be a cost-effective strategy to conserve forests. This includes the protection of such rights entitled in existing laws, such as India's Forest Rights Act. The transferring of such rights in China, perhaps the largest land reform in modern times, has been argued to have increased forest cover. In Brazil, forested areas given tenure to indigenous groups have even lower rates of clearing than national parks.
Community concessions in the Congolian rainforests have significantly less deforestation as communities are incentivized to manage the land sustainably, even reducing poverty.
Efforts to stop or slow deforestation have been attempted for many centuries because it has long been known that deforestation can cause environmental damage sufficient in some cases to cause societies to collapse. In Tonga, paramount rulers developed policies designed to prevent conflicts between short-term gains from converting forest to farmland and long-term problems forest loss would cause, while during the 17th and 18th centuries in Tokugawa, Japan, the shōguns developed a highly sophisticated system of long-term planning to stop and even reverse deforestation of the preceding centuries through substituting timber by other products and more efficient use of land that had been farmed for many centuries. In 16th-century Germany, landowners also developed silviculture to deal with the problem of deforestation. However, these policies tend to be limited to environments with good rainfall, no dry season and very young soils (through volcanism or glaciation). This is because on older and less fertile soils trees grow too slowly for silviculture to be economic, whilst in areas with a strong dry season there is always a risk of forest fires destroying a tree crop before it matures.
In the areas where "slash-and-burn" is practiced, switching to "slash-and-char" would prevent the rapid deforestation and subsequent degradation of soils. The biochar thus created, given back to the soil, is not only a durable carbon sequestration method, but it also is an extremely beneficial amendment to the soil. Mixed with biomass it brings the creation of terra preta, one of the richest soils on the planet and the only one known to regenerate itself.
Certification, as provided by global certification systems such as Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification and Forest Stewardship Council, contributes to tackling deforestation by creating market demand for timber from sustainably managed forests. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), "A major condition for the adoption of sustainable forest management is a demand for products that are produced sustainably and consumer willingness to pay for the higher costs entailed. [...] By promoting the positive attributes of forest products from sustainably managed forests, certification focuses on the demand side of environmental conservation."
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) in developing countries has emerged as a new potential to complement ongoing climate policies. The idea consists in providing financial compensations for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation and forest degradation". REDD can be seen as an alternative to the emissions trading system as in the latter, polluters must pay for permits for the right to emit certain pollutants (i.e. CO2).
Main international organizations including the United Nations and the World Bank, have begun to develop programs aimed at curbing deforestation. The blanket term Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) describes these sorts of programs, which use direct monetary or other incentives to encourage developing countries to limit and/or roll back deforestation. Funding has been an issue, but at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties-15 (COP-15) in Copenhagen in December 2009, an accord was reached with a collective commitment by developed countries for new and additional resources, including forestry and investments through international institutions, that will approach US$30 billion for the period 2010–2012.
Significant work is underway on tools for use in monitoring developing countries' adherence to their agreed REDD targets. These tools, which rely on remote forest monitoring using satellite imagery and other data sources, include the Center for Global Development's FORMA (Forest Monitoring for Action) initiative and the Group on Earth Observations' Forest Carbon Tracking Portal. Methodological guidance for forest monitoring was also emphasized at COP-15. The environmental organization Avoided Deforestation Partners leads the campaign for development of REDD through funding from the U.S. government.
The Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse was an event that occurred 300 million years ago. Climate change devastated tropical rainforests causing the extinction of many plant and animal species. The change was abrupt, specifically, at this time climate became cooler and drier, conditions that are not favorable to the growth of rainforests and much of the biodiversity within them. Rainforests were fragmented forming shrinking 'islands' further and further apart. Populations such as the sub class Lissamphibia were devastated, whereas Reptilia survived the collapse. The surviving organisms were better adapted to the drier environment left behind and served as legacies in succession after the collapse.
Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Small scale deforestation was practiced by some societies for tens of thousands of years before the beginnings of civilization. The first evidence of deforestation appears in the Mesolithic period. It was probably used to convert closed forests into more open ecosystems favourable to game animals. With the advent of agriculture, larger areas began to be deforested, and fire became the prime tool to clear land for crops. In Europe there is little solid evidence before 7000 BC. Mesolithic foragers used fire to create openings for red deer and wild boar. In Great Britain, shade-tolerant species such as oak and ash are replaced in the pollen record by hazels, brambles, grasses and nettles. Removal of the forests led to decreased transpiration, resulting in the formation of upland peat bogs. Widespread decrease in elm pollen across Europe between 8400 and 8300 BC and 7200–7000 BC, starting in southern Europe and gradually moving north to Great Britain, may represent land clearing by fire at the onset of Neolithic agriculture.
The Neolithic period saw extensive deforestation for farming land. Stone axes were being made from about 3000 BC not just from flint, but from a wide variety of hard rocks from across Britain and North America as well. They include the noted Langdale axe industry in the English Lake District, quarries developed at Penmaenmawr in North Wales and numerous other locations. Rough-outs were made locally near the quarries, and some were polished locally to give a fine finish. This step not only increased the mechanical strength of the axe, but also made penetration of wood easier. Flint was still used from sources such as Grimes Graves but from many other mines across Europe.
Evidence of deforestation has been found in Minoan Crete; for example the environs of the Palace of Knossos were severely deforested in the Bronze Age.
Just as archaeologists have shown that prehistoric farming societies had to cut or burn forests before planting, documents and artifacts from early civilizations often reveal histories of deforestation. Some of the most dramatic are eighth century BCE Assyrian reliefs depicting logs being floated downstream from conquered areas to the less forested capital region as spoils of war. Ancient Chinese texts make clear that some areas of the Yellow River valley had already destroyed many of their forests over 2000 years ago and had to plant trees as crops or import them from long distances. In South China much of the land came to be privately owned and used for the commercial growing of timber.
Three regional studies of historic erosion and alluviation in ancient Greece found that, wherever adequate evidence exists, a major phase of erosion follows the introduction of farming in the various regions of Greece by about 500–1,000 years, ranging from the later Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. The thousand years following the mid-first millennium BC saw serious, intermittent pulses of soil erosion in numerous places. The historic silting of ports along the southern coasts of Asia Minor (e.g. Clarus, and the examples of Ephesus, Priene and Miletus, where harbors had to be abandoned because of the silt deposited by the Meander) and in coastal Syria during the last centuries BC.
Easter Island has suffered from heavy soil erosion in recent centuries, aggravated by agriculture and deforestation. The disappearance of the island's trees seems to coincide with a decline of its civilization around the 17th and 18th century. Scholars have attributed the collapse to deforestation and over-exploitation of all resources.
The famous silting up of the harbor for Bruges, which moved port commerce to Antwerp, also followed a period of increased settlement growth (and apparently of deforestation) in the upper river basins. In early medieval Riez in upper Provence, alluvial silt from two small rivers raised the riverbeds and widened the floodplain, which slowly buried the Roman settlement in alluvium and gradually moved new construction to higher ground; concurrently the headwater valleys above Riez were being opened to pasturage.
A typical progress trap was that cities were often built in a forested area, which would provide wood for some industry (for example, construction, shipbuilding, pottery). When deforestation occurs without proper replanting, however; local wood supplies become difficult to obtain near enough to remain competitive, leading to the city's abandonment, as happened repeatedly in Ancient Asia Minor. Because of fuel needs, mining and metallurgy often led to deforestation and city abandonment.
With most of the population remaining active in (or indirectly dependent on) the agricultural sector, the main pressure in most areas remained land clearing for crop and cattle farming. Enough wild green was usually left standing (and partially used, for example, to collect firewood, timber and fruits, or to graze pigs) for wildlife to remain viable. The elite's (nobility and higher clergy) protection of their own hunting privileges and game often protected significant woodland.
Major parts in the spread (and thus more durable growth) of the population were played by monastical 'pioneering' (especially by the Benedictine and Commercial orders) and some feudal lords' recruiting farmers to settle (and become tax payers) by offering relatively good legal and fiscal conditions. Even when speculators sought to encourage towns, settlers needed an agricultural belt around or sometimes within defensive walls. When populations were quickly decreased by causes such as the Black Death, the colonization of the Americas, or devastating warfare (for example, Genghis Khan's Mongol hordes in eastern and central Europe, Thirty Years' War in Germany), this could lead to settlements being abandoned. The land was reclaimed by nature, but the secondary forests usually lacked the original biodiversity. The Mongol invasions and conquests alone resulted in the reduction of 700 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere by enabling the re-growth of carbon-absorbing forests on depopulated lands over a significant period of time.
From 1100 to 1500 AD, significant deforestation took place in Western Europe as a result of the expanding human population. The large-scale building of wooden sailing ships by European (coastal) naval owners since the 15th century for exploration, colonisation, slave trade, and other trade on the high seas, consumed many forest resources and became responsible for the introduction of numerous bubonic plague outbreaks in the 14th century. Piracy also contributed to the over harvesting of forests, as in Spain. This led to a weakening of the domestic economy after Columbus' discovery of America, as the economy became dependent on colonial activities (plundering, mining, cattle, plantations, trade, etc.)
The massive use of charcoal on an industrial scale in Early Modern Europe was a new type of consumption of western forests. Each of Nelson's Royal Navy war ships at Trafalgar (1805) required 6,000 mature oaks for its construction. In France, Colbert planted oak forests to supply the French navy in the future. When the oak plantations matured in the mid-19th century, the masts were no longer required because shipping had changed.
In the 19th century, introduction of steamboats in the United States was the cause of deforestation of banks of major rivers, such as the Mississippi River, with increased and more severe flooding one of the environmental results. The steamboat crews cut wood every day from the riverbanks to fuel the steam engines. Between St. Louis and the confluence with the Ohio River to the south, the Mississippi became more wide and shallow, and changed its channel laterally. Attempts to improve navigation by the use of snag pullers often resulted in crews' clearing large trees 100 to 200 feet (61 m) back from the banks. Several French colonial towns of the Illinois Country, such as Kaskaskia, Cahokia and St. Philippe, Illinois, were flooded and abandoned in the late 19th century, with a loss to the cultural record of their archeology.
Different cultures of different places in the world have different interpretations of the actions of the cutting down of trees. For example, in Meitei mythology and Meitei folklore of Manipur (India), deforestation is mentioned as one of the reasons to make mother nature weep and mourn for the death of her precious children.
This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Key findings, FAO, FAO.
This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (license statement/permission). Text taken from The State of the World’s Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity and people – In brief, FAO & UNEP, FAO & UNEP. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated deforestation occurs in tropical rainforests. About 31% of Earth's land surface is covered by forests at present. This is one-third less than the forest cover before the expansion of agriculture, with half of that loss occurring in the last century. Between 15 million to 18 million hectares of forest, an area the size of Bangladesh, are destroyed every year. On average 2,400 trees are cut down each minute.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The overwhelming direct cause of deforestation is agriculture. More than 80% of deforestation was attributed to agriculture in 2018. Forests are being converted to plantations for coffee, tea, palm oil, rice, rubber, and various other popular products. Livestock ranching is another agricultural activity that drives deforestation. Further drivers are the wood industry (logging), economic development in general (for example urbanization), mining. The effects of climate change are another cause via the increased risk of wildfires.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Deforestation has resulted in habitat damage, biodiversity loss, and aridity. Deforestation also causes extinction, changes to climatic conditions, desertification, and displacement of populations, as observed by current conditions and in the past through the fossil record. Deforestation also reduces biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, increasing negative feedback cycles contributing to global warming. Global warming also puts increased pressure on communities who seek food security by clearing forests for agricultural use and reducing arable land more generally. Deforested regions typically incur significant other environmental effects such as adverse soil erosion and degradation into wasteland.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The resilience of human food systems and their capacity to adapt to future change is linked to biodiversity – including dryland-adapted shrub and tree species that help combat desertification, forest-dwelling insects, bats and bird species that pollinate crops, trees with extensive root systems in mountain ecosystems that prevent soil erosion, and mangrove species that provide resilience against flooding in coastal areas. With climate change exacerbating the risks to food systems, the role of forests in capturing and storing carbon and mitigating climate change is important for the agricultural sector.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Deforestation is defined as the conversion of forest to other land uses (regardless of whether it is human-induced).",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Deforestation and forest area net change are not the same: the latter is the sum of all forest losses (deforestation) and all forest gains (forest expansion) in a given period. Net change, therefore, can be positive or negative, depending on whether gains exceed losses, or vice versa.",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The FAO estimates that the global forest carbon stock has decreased 0.9%, and tree cover 4.2% between 1990 and 2020.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "As of 2019 there is still disagreement about whether the global forest is shrinking or not: \"While above-ground biomass carbon stocks are estimated to be declining in the tropics, they are increasing globally due to increasing stocks in temperate and boreal forest.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Deforestation in many countries—both naturally occurring and human-induced—is an ongoing issue. Between 2000 and 2012, 2.3 million square kilometres (890,000 sq mi) of forests around the world were cut down. Deforestation and forest degradation continue to take place at alarming rates, which contributes significantly to the ongoing loss of biodiversity.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Deforestation is more extreme in tropical and subtropical forests in emerging economies. More than half of all plant and land animal species in the world live in tropical forests. As a result of deforestation, only 6.2 million square kilometres (2.4 million square miles) remain of the original 16 million square kilometres (6 million square miles) of tropical rainforest that formerly covered the Earth. An area the size of a football pitch is cleared from the Amazon rainforest every minute, with 136 million acres (55 million hectares) of rainforest cleared for animal agriculture overall. More than 3.6 million hectares of virgin tropical forest was lost in 2018.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The global annual net loss of trees is estimated to be approximately 10 billion. According to the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 the global average annual deforested land in the 2015–2020 demi-decade was 10 million hectares and the average annual forest area net loss in the 2000–2010 decade was 4.7 million hectares. The world has lost 178 million ha of forest since 1990, which is an area about the size of Libya.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "An analysis of global deforestation patterns in 2021 showed that patterns of trade, production, and consumption drive deforestation rates in complex ways. While the location of deforestation can be mapped, it does not always match where the commodity is consumed. For example, consumption patterns in G7 countries are estimated to cause an average loss of 3.9 trees per person per year. In other words, deforestation can be directly related to imports—for example, coffee.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Global deforestation sharply accelerated around 1852. As of 1947, the planet had 15 million to 16 million km (5.8 million to 6.2 million sq mi) of mature tropical forests, but by 2015, it was estimated that about half of these had been destroyed. Total land coverage by tropical rainforests decreased from 14% to 6%. Much of this loss happened between 1960 and 1990, when 20% of all tropical rainforests were destroyed. At this rate, extinction of such forests is projected to occur by the mid-21st century.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "In the early 2000s, some scientists predicted that unless significant measures (such as seeking out and protecting old growth forests that have not been disturbed) are taken on a worldwide basis, by 2030 there will only be 10% remaining, with another 10% in a degraded condition. 80% will have been lost, and with them hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable species.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Estimates vary widely as to the extent of deforestation in the tropics. In 2019, the world lost nearly 12 million hectares of tree cover. Nearly a third of that loss, 3.8 million hectares, occurred within humid tropical primary forests, areas of mature rainforest that are especially important for biodiversity and carbon storage. This is equivalent to losing an area of primary forest the size of a football pitch every six seconds.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "A 2002 analysis of satellite imagery suggested that the rate of deforestation in the humid tropics (approximately 5.8 million hectares per year) was roughly 23% lower than the most commonly quoted rates. A 2005 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that although the Earth's total forest area continued to decrease at about 13 million hectares per year, the global rate of deforestation had been slowing. On the other hand, a 2005 analysis of satellite images reveals that deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is twice as fast as scientists previously estimated.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "From 2010 to 2015, worldwide forest area decreased by 3.3 million ha per year, according to FAO. During this five-year period, the biggest forest area loss occurred in the tropics, particularly in South America and Africa. Per capita forest area decline was also greatest in the tropics and subtropics but is occurring in every climatic domain (except in the temperate) as populations increase.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "An estimated 420 million ha of forest has been lost worldwide through deforestation since 1990, but the rate of forest loss has declined substantially. In the most recent five-year period (2015–2020), the annual rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million ha, down from 12 million ha in 2010–2015.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Africa had the largest annual rate of net forest loss in 2010–2020, at 3.9 million ha, followed by South America, at 2.6 million ha. The rate of net forest loss has increased in Africa in each of the three decades since 1990. It has declined substantially in South America, however, to about half the rate in 2010–2020 compared with 2000–2010. Asia had the highest net gain of forest area in 2010–2020, followed by Oceania and Europe. Nevertheless, both Europe and Asia recorded substantially lower rates of net gain in 2010–2020 than in 2000–2010. Oceania experienced net losses of forest area in the decades 1990–2000 and 2000–2010.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Some claim that rainforests are being destroyed at an ever-quickening pace. The London-based Rainforest Foundation notes that \"the UN figure is based on a definition of forest as being an area with as little as 10% actual tree cover, which would therefore include areas that are actually savanna-like ecosystems and badly damaged forests\". Other critics of the FAO data point out that they do not distinguish between forest types, and that they are based largely on reporting from forestry departments of individual countries, which do not take into account unofficial activities like illegal logging. Despite these uncertainties, there is agreement that destruction of rainforests remains a significant environmental problem.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The rate of net forest loss declined from 7.8 million ha per year in the decade 1990–2000 to 5.2 million ha per year in 2000–2010 and 4.7 million ha per year in 2010–2020. The rate of decline of net forest loss slowed in the most recent decade due to a reduction in the rate of forest expansion.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "In many parts of the world, especially in East Asian countries, reforestation and afforestation are increasing the area of forested lands. The amount of forest has increased in 22 of the world's 50 most forested nations. Asia as a whole gained 1 million hectares of forest between 2000 and 2005. Tropical forest in El Salvador expanded more than 20% between 1992 and 2001. Based on these trends, one study projects that global forestation will increase by 10%—an area the size of India—by 2050. 36% of globally planted forest area is in East Asia - around 950,000 square kilometers. From those 87% are in China.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Rates of deforestation vary around the world. Up to 90% of West Africa's coastal rainforests have disappeared since 1900. Madagascar has lost 90% of its eastern rainforests. In South Asia, about 88% of the rainforests have been lost.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Mexico, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka, Laos, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Guinea, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, have lost large areas of their rainforest.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Much of what remains of the world's rainforests is in the Amazon basin, where the Amazon Rainforest covers approximately 4 million square kilometres. Some 80% of the deforestation of the Amazon can be attributed to cattle ranching, as Brazil is the largest exporter of beef in the world. The Amazon region has become one of the largest cattle ranching territories in the world. The regions with the highest tropical deforestation rate between 2000 and 2005 were Central America—which lost 1.3% of its forests each year—and tropical Asia. In Central America, two-thirds of lowland tropical forests have been turned into pasture since 1950 and 40% of all the rainforests have been lost in the last 40 years. Brazil has lost 90–95% of its Mata Atlântica forest. Deforestation in Brazil increased by 88% for the month of June 2019, as compared with the previous year. However, Brazil still destroyed 1.3 million hectares in 2019. Brazil is one of several countries that have declared their deforestation a national emergency. Paraguay was losing its natural semi-humid forests in the country's western regions at a rate of 15,000 hectares at a randomly studied 2-month period in 2010. In 2009, Paraguay's parliament refused to pass a law that would have stopped cutting of natural forests altogether.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "As of 2007, less than 50% of Haiti's forests remained.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "From 2015 to 2019, the rate of deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo doubled. In 2021, deforestation of the Congolese rainforest increased by 5%.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "The World Wildlife Fund's ecoregion project catalogues habitat types throughout the world, including habitat loss such as deforestation, showing for example that even in the rich forests of parts of Canada such as the Mid-Continental Canadian forests of the prairie provinces half of the forest cover has been lost or altered.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In 2011, Conservation International listed the top 10 most endangered forests, characterized by having all lost 90% or more of their original habitat, and each harboring at least 1500 endemic plant species (species found nowhere else in the world).",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "As of 2015, it is estimated that 70% of the world's forests are within one kilometer of a forest edge, where they are most prone to human interference and destruction.",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Deforestation in particular countries:",
"title": "Current status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Agricultural expansion continues to be the main driver of deforestation and forest fragmentation and the associated loss of forest biodiversity. Large-scale commercial agriculture (primarily cattle ranching and cultivation of soya bean and oil palm) accounted for 40 percent of tropical deforestation between 2000 and 2010, and local subsistence agriculture for another 33 percent. Trees are cut down for use as building material, timber or sold as fuel (sometimes in the form of charcoal or timber), while cleared land is used as pasture for livestock and agricultural crops.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The vast majority of agricultural activity resulting in deforestation is subsidized by government tax revenue. Disregard of ascribed value, lax forest management, and deficient environmental laws are some of the factors that lead to large-scale deforestation.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "The types of drivers vary greatly depending on the region in which they take place. The regions with the greatest amount of deforestation for livestock and row crop agriculture are Central and South America, while commodity crop deforestation was found mainly in Southeast Asia. The region with the greatest forest loss due to shifting agriculture was sub-Saharan Africa.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "The overwhelming direct cause of deforestation is agriculture. Subsistence farming is responsible for 48% of deforestation; commercial agriculture is responsible for 32%; logging is responsible for 14%, and fuel wood removals make up 5%.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "More than 80% of deforestation was attributed to agriculture in 2018. Forests are being converted to plantations for coffee, tea, palm oil, rice, rubber, and various other popular products. The rising demand for certain products and global trade arrangements causes forest conversions, which ultimately leads to soil erosion. The top soil oftentimes erodes after forests are cleared which leads to sediment increase in rivers and streams.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Most deforestation also occurs in tropical regions. The estimated amount of total land mass used by agriculture is around 38%.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Since 1960, roughly 15% of the Amazon has been removed with the intention of replacing the land with agricultural practices. It is no coincidence that Brazil has recently become the world's largest beef exporter at the same time that the Amazon rainforest is being clear cut.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Another prevalent method of agricultural deforestation is slash-and-burn agriculture, which was primarily used by subsistence farmers in tropical regions but has now become increasingly less sustainable. The method does not leave land for continuous agricultural production but instead cuts and burns small plots of forest land which are then converted into agricultural zones. The farmers then exploit the nutrients in the ashes of the burned plants. As well as, intentionally set fires can possibly lead to devastating measures when unintentionally spreading fire to more land, which can result in the destruction of the protective canopy.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "The repeated cycle of low yields and shortened fallow periods eventually results in less vegetation being able to grow on once burned lands and a decrease in average soil biomass. In small local plots sustainability is not an issue because of longer fallow periods and lesser overall deforestation. The relatively small size of the plots allowed for no net input of CO2 to be released.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Consumption and production of beef is the primary driver of deforestation in the Amazon, with around 80% of all converted land being used to rear cattle. 91% of Amazon land deforested since 1970 has been converted to cattle ranching.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Livestock ranching requires large portions of land to raise herds of animals and livestock crops for consumer needs. According to the World Wildlife Fund, \"Extensive cattle ranching is the number one culprit of deforestation in virtually every Amazon country, and it accounts for 80% of current deforestation.\"",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "The cattle industry is responsible for a significant amount of methane emissions since 60% of all mammals on earth are livestock cows. Replacing forest land with pastures creates a loss of forest stock, which leads to the implication of increased greenhouse gas emissions by burning agriculture methodologies and land-use change.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "A large contributing factor to deforestation is the lumber industry. A total of almost 4 million hectares (9.9×10^ acres) of timber, or about 1.3% of all forest land, is harvested each year. In addition, the increasing demand for low-cost timber products only supports the lumber company to continue logging.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Experts do not agree on whether industrial logging is an important contributor to global deforestation. Some argue that poor people are more likely to clear forest because they have no alternatives, others that the poor lack the ability to pay for the materials and labour needed to clear forest.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Other causes of contemporary deforestation may include corruption of government institutions, the inequitable distribution of wealth and power, population growth and overpopulation, and urbanization. The impact of population growth on deforestation has been contested. One study found that population increases due to high fertility rates were a primary driver of tropical deforestation in only 8% of cases. In 2000 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that \"the role of population dynamics in a local setting may vary from decisive to negligible\", and that deforestation can result from \"a combination of population pressure and stagnating economic, social and technological conditions\".",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Globalization is often viewed as another root cause of deforestation, though there are cases in which the impacts of globalization (new flows of labor, capital, commodities, and ideas) have promoted localized forest recovery.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "The degradation of forest ecosystems has also been traced to economic incentives that make forest conversion appear more profitable than forest conservation. Many important forest functions have no markets, and hence, no economic value that is readily apparent to the forests' owners or the communities that rely on forests for their well-being. From the perspective of the developing world, the benefits of forest as carbon sinks or biodiversity reserves go primarily to richer developed nations and there is insufficient compensation for these services. Developing countries feel that some countries in the developed world, such as the United States of America, cut down their forests centuries ago and benefited economically from this deforestation, and that it is hypocritical to deny developing countries the same opportunities, i.e. that the poor should not have to bear the cost of preservation when the rich created the problem.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Some commentators have noted a shift in the drivers of deforestation over the past 30 years. Whereas deforestation was primarily driven by subsistence activities and government-sponsored development projects like transmigration in countries like Indonesia and colonization in Latin America, India, Java, and so on, during the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, by the 1990s the majority of deforestation was caused by industrial factors, including extractive industries, large-scale cattle ranching, and extensive agriculture. Since 2001, commodity-driven deforestation, which is more likely to be permanent, has accounted for about a quarter of all forest disturbance, and this loss has been concentrated in South America and Southeast Asia.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "As the human population grows, new homes, communities, and expansions of cities will occur, leading to an increase in roads to connect these communities. Rural roads promote economic development but also facilitate deforestation. About 90% of the deforestation has occurred within 100 km of roads in most parts of the Amazon.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "The European Union is one of the largest importer of products made from illegal deforestation.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Some have argued that deforestation trends may follow a Kuznets curve, which if true would nonetheless fail to eliminate the risk of irreversible loss of non-economic forest values (for example, the extinction of species).",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "The importance of mining as a cause of deforestation increased quickly in the beginning the 21st century, among other because of increased demand for minerals. The direct impact of mining is relatively small, but the indirect impacts are much more significant. More than a third of the earth's forests are possibly impacted, at some level and in the years 2001-2021, \"755,861 km... ...had been deforested by causes indirectly related to mining activities alongside other deforestation drivers (based on data from WWF)\"",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Another cause of deforestation is due to the effects of climate change: More wildfires, insect outbreaks, invasive species, and more frequent extreme weather events (such as storms) are factors that increase deforestation.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "A study suggests that \"tropical, arid and temperate forests are experiencing a significant decline in resilience, probably related to increased water limitations and climate variability\" which may shift ecosystems towards critical transitions and ecosystem collapses. By contrast, \"boreal forests show divergent local patterns with an average increasing trend in resilience, probably benefiting from warming and CO2 fertilization, which may outweigh the adverse effects of climate change\". It has been proposed that a loss of resilience in forests \"can be detected from the increased temporal autocorrelation (TAC) in the state of the system, reflecting a decline in recovery rates due to the critical slowing down (CSD) of system processes that occur at thresholds\".",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "23% of tree cover losses result from wildfires and climate change increase their frequency and power. The rising temperatures cause massive wildfires especially in the Boreal forests. One possible effect is the change of the forest composition. Deforestation can also cause forests to become more fire prone through mechanisms such as logging.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Operations in war can also cause deforestation. For example, in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa, bombardment and other combat operations reduced a lush tropical landscape into \"a vast field of mud, lead, decay and maggots\".",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Deforestation can also result from the intentional tactics of military forces. Clearing forests became an element in the Russian Empire's successful conquest of the Caucasus in the mid-19th century. The British (during the Malayan Emergency) and the United States (in the Korean War and in the Vietnam War) used defoliants (like Agent Orange or others). The destruction of forests in Vietnam War is one of the most commonly used examples of ecocide, including by Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, lawyers, historians and other academics.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Deforestation is a contributor to climate change. It is often cited as one of the major causes of the enhanced greenhouse effect. Recent calculations suggest that CO2 emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (excluding peatland emissions) contribute about 12% of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions, with a range from 6% to 17%. A 2022 study shows annual carbon emissions from tropical deforestation have doubled during the last two decades and continue to increase: by 0.97 ± 0.16 PgC (petagrams of carbon, i.e. billions of tons) per year in 2001–2005 to 1.99 ± 0.13 PgC per year in 2015–2019.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "According to a review, north of 50°N, large scale deforestation leads to an overall net global cooling; but deforestation in the tropics leads to substantial warming: not just due to CO2 impacts, but also due to other biophysical mechanisms (making carbon-centric metrics inadequate). Moreover, it suggests that standing tropical forests help cool the average global temperature by more than 1 °C.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "The incineration and burning of forest plants to clear land releases large amounts of CO2, which contributes to global warming. Scientists also state that tropical deforestation releases 1.5 billion tons of carbon each year into the atmosphere.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "A study suggests logged and structurally degraded tropical forests are carbon sources for at least a decade – even when recovering – due to larger carbon losses from soil organic matter and deadwood, indicating that the tropical forest carbon sink (at least in South Asia) \"may be much smaller than previously estimated\", contradicting that \"recovering logged and degraded tropical forests are net carbon sinks\".",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Forests are generally carbon dioxide sinks when they are high in diversity, density or area. However, they can also be carbon sources if diversity, density or area decreases due to deforestation, selective logging, climate change, wildfires or diseases. One study in 2020 found that 32 tracked Brazilian non-Amazon seasonal tropical forests declined from a carbon sink to a carbon source in 2013 and concludes that \"policies are needed to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases and to restore and protect tropical seasonal forests\". In 2019 forests took up a third less carbon than they did in the 1990s, due to higher temperatures, droughts and deforestation. The typical tropical forest may become a carbon source by the 2060s.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "FAO reported that: \"The total carbon stock in forests decreased from 668 gigatonnes in 1990 to 662 gigatonnes in 2020\". However, another study finds that the leaf area index has increased globally since 1981, which was responsible for 12.4% of the accumulated terrestrial carbon sink from 1981 to 2016. The CO2 fertilization effect, on the other hand, was responsible for 47% of the sink, while climate change reduced the sink by 28.6%. In Canada's boreal forests as much as 80% of the total carbon is stored in the soils as dead organic matter.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Carbon offset programs are planting millions of fast-growing trees per year to reforest tropical lands, for as little as $0.10 per tree; over their typical 40-year lifetime, one million of these trees will fix 1 a million tons of carbon dioxide.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "According to a 2020 study, if deforestation continues at current rates it can trigger a total or almost total extinction of humanity in the next 20 to 40 years. They conclude that \"from a statistical point of view . . . the probability that our civilisation survives itself is less than 10% in the most optimistic scenario.\" To avoid this collapse, humanity should pass from a civilization dominated by the economy to \"cultural society\" that \"privileges the interest of the ecosystem above the individual interest of its components, but eventually in accordance with the overall communal interest.\"",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "The water cycle is also affected by deforestation. Trees extract groundwater through their roots and release it into the atmosphere. When part of a forest is removed, the trees no longer transpire this water, resulting in a much drier climate. Deforestation reduces the content of water in the soil and groundwater as well as atmospheric moisture. The dry soil leads to lower water intake for the trees to extract. Deforestation reduces soil cohesion, so that erosion, flooding and landslides ensue.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Shrinking forest cover lessens the landscape's capacity to intercept, retain and transpire precipitation. Instead of trapping precipitation, which then percolates to groundwater systems, deforested areas become sources of surface water runoff, which moves much faster than subsurface flows. Forests return most of the water that falls as precipitation to the atmosphere by transpiration. In contrast, when an area is deforested, almost all precipitation is lost as run-off. That quicker transport of surface water can translate into flash flooding and more localized floods than would occur with the forest cover. Deforestation also contributes to decreased evapotranspiration, which lessens atmospheric moisture which in some cases affects precipitation levels downwind from the deforested area, as water is not recycled to downwind forests, but is lost in runoff and returns directly to the oceans. According to one study, in deforested north and northwest China, the average annual precipitation decreased by one third between the 1950s and the 1980s.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Trees, and plants in general, affect the water cycle significantly:",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "As a result, the presence or absence of trees can change the quantity of water on the surface, in the soil or groundwater, or in the atmosphere. This in turn changes erosion rates and the availability of water for either ecosystem functions or human services. Deforestation on lowland plains moves cloud formation and rainfall to higher elevations.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "The forest may have little impact on flooding in the case of large rainfall events, which overwhelm the storage capacity of forest soil if the soils are at or close to saturation.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "Tropical rainforests produce about 30% of our planet's fresh water.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "Deforestation disrupts normal weather patterns creating hotter and drier weather thus increasing drought, desertification, crop failures, melting of the polar ice caps, coastal flooding and displacement of major vegetation regimes.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "Due to surface plant litter, forests that are undisturbed have a minimal rate of erosion. The rate of erosion occurs from deforestation, because it decreases the amount of litter cover, which provides protection from surface runoff. The rate of erosion is around 2 metric tons per square kilometre. This can be an advantage in excessively leached tropical rain forest soils. Forestry operations themselves also increase erosion through the development of (forest) roads and the use of mechanized equipment.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "Deforestation in China's Loess Plateau many years ago has led to soil erosion; this erosion has led to valleys opening up. The increase of soil in the runoff causes the Yellow River to flood and makes it yellow-colored.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "Greater erosion is not always a consequence of deforestation, as observed in the southwestern regions of the US. In these areas, the loss of grass due to the presence of trees and other shrubbery leads to more erosion than when trees are removed.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Soils are reinforced by the presence of trees, which secure the soil by binding their roots to soil bedrock. Due to deforestation, the removal of trees causes sloped lands to be more susceptible to landslides.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "Clearing forests changes the environment of the microbial communities within the soil, and causes a loss of biodiversity in regards to the microbes since biodiversity is actually highly dependent on soil texture. Although the effect of deforestation has much more profound consequences on sandier soils compared to clay-like soils, the disruptions caused by deforestation ultimately reduces properties of soil such as hydraulic conductivity and water storage, thus reducing the efficiency of water and heat absorption. In a simulation of the deforestation process in the Amazon, researchers found that surface and soil temperatures increased by 1 to 3 degrees Celsius demonstrating the loss of the soil's ability to absorb radiation and moisture. Furthermore, soils that are rich in organic decay matter are more susceptible to fire, especially during long droughts.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "Changes in soil properties could turn the soil itself into a carbon source rather than a carbon sink.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "Deforestation on a human scale results in decline in biodiversity, and on a natural global scale is known to cause the extinction of many species. The removal or destruction of areas of forest cover has resulted in a degraded environment with reduced biodiversity. Forests support biodiversity, providing habitat for wildlife; moreover, forests foster medicinal conservation. With forest biotopes being irreplaceable source of new drugs (such as taxol), deforestation can destroy genetic variations (such as crop resistance) irretrievably.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "Since the tropical rainforests are the most diverse ecosystems on Earth and about 80% of the world's known biodiversity can be found in tropical rainforests, removal or destruction of significant areas of forest cover has resulted in a degraded environment with reduced biodiversity. Road construction and development of adjacent land, which greatly reduces the area of intact wilderness and causes soil erosion, is a major contributing factor to the loss of biodiversity in tropical regions. A study in Rondônia, Brazil, has shown that deforestation also removes the microbial community which is involved in the recycling of nutrients, the production of clean water and the removal of pollutants.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "It has been estimated that 137 plant, animal and insect species go extinct every day due to rainforest deforestation, which equates to 50,000 species a year. Others state that tropical rainforest deforestation is contributing to the ongoing Holocene mass extinction. The known extinction rates from deforestation rates are very low, approximately one species per year from mammals and birds, which extrapolates to approximately 23,000 species per year for all species. Predictions have been made that more than 40% of the animal and plant species in Southeast Asia could be wiped out in the 21st century. Such predictions were called into question by 1995 data that show that within regions of Southeast Asia much of the original forest has been converted to monospecific plantations, but that potentially endangered species are few and tree flora remains widespread and stable.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "Scientific understanding of the process of extinction is insufficient to accurately make predictions about the impact of deforestation on biodiversity. Most predictions of forestry related biodiversity loss are based on species-area models, with an underlying assumption that as the forest declines species diversity will decline similarly. However, many such models have been proven to be wrong and loss of habitat does not necessarily lead to large scale loss of species. Species-area models are known to overpredict the number of species known to be threatened in areas where actual deforestation is ongoing, and greatly overpredict the number of threatened species that are widespread.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "In 2012, a study of the Brazilian Amazon predicts that despite a lack of extinctions thus far, up to 90 percent of predicted extinctions will finally occur in the next 40 years.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "Rainforests are widely believed by lay persons to contribute a significant amount of the world's oxygen, although it is now accepted by scientists that rainforests contribute little net oxygen to the atmosphere and deforestation has only a minor effect on atmospheric oxygen levels. In fact about 50 percent of oxygen on earth is produced by algae.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "The degradation and loss of forests disrupts nature's balance. Indeed, deforestation eliminates a great number of species of plants and animals which also often results in an increase in disease, and exposure of people to zoonotic diseases. Deforestation can also create a path for non-native species to flourish such as certain types of snails, which have been correlated with an increase in schistosomiasis cases.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "Forest-associated diseases include malaria, Chagas disease (also known as American trypanosomiasis), African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), leishmaniasis, Lyme disease, HIV and Ebola. The majority of new infectious diseases affecting humans, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, are zoonotic and their emergence may be linked to habitat loss due to forest area change and the expansion of human populations into forest areas, which both increase human exposure to wildlife.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "Deforestation is occurring all over the world and has been coupled with an increase in the occurrence of disease outbreaks. In Malaysia, thousands of acres of forest have been cleared for pig farms. This has resulted in an increase in the spread of the Nipah virus. In Kenya, deforestation has led to an increase in malaria cases which is now the leading cause of morbidity and mortality the country. A 2017 study in the American Economic Review found that deforestation substantially increased the incidence of malaria in Nigeria.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "Another pathway through which deforestation affects disease is the relocation and dispersion of disease-carrying hosts. This disease emergence pathway can be called \"range expansion\", whereby the host's range (and thereby the range of pathogens) expands to new geographic areas. Through deforestation, hosts and reservoir species are forced into neighboring habitats. Accompanying the reservoir species are pathogens that have the ability to find new hosts in previously unexposed regions. As these pathogens and species come into closer contact with humans, they are infected both directly and indirectly. Another example of range expansion due to deforestation and other anthropogenic habitat impacts includes the Capybara rodent in Paraguay.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "Deforestation reduces safe working hours for millions of people in the tropics, especially for those performing heavy labour outdoors. Continued global heating and forest loss is expected to amplify these impacts, reducing work hours for vulnerable groups even more. A study conducted from 2002 to 2018 also determined that the increase in temperature as a result of climate change, and the lack of shade due to deforestation, has increased the mortality rate of workers in Indonesia.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "A link between deforestation and infant mortality was found in Indonesia as well. The study shows documentation of deforestation and pregnancy order, as children born from first pregnancies face higher mortality risks due to in-utero exposure. The study's results suggest that women during their first pregnancy could have been affected by deforestation-induced malaria. It has been affirmed that in preserved regions, likely reasons including commercial activity, perinatal health care, alongside air pollution are not identifiable triggers of the weighty impression left by deforestation on newborn fatality.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "According to the World Economic Forum, 31% of emerging diseases are linked to deforestation. A publication by the United Nations Environment Programme in 2016 found that deforestation, climate change, and livestock agriculture are among the main causes that increase the risk of zoonotic diseases, that is diseases that pass from animals to humans.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "Scientists have linked the Coronavirus pandemic to the destruction of nature, especially to deforestation, habitat loss in general and wildlife trade. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) the Coronavirus disease 2019 is zoonotic, e.g., the virus passed from animals to humans. UNEP concludes that: \"The most fundamental way to protect ourselves from zoonotic diseases is to prevent destruction of nature. Where ecosystems are healthy and biodiverse, they are resilient, adaptable and help to regulate diseases.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "Economic losses due to deforestation in Brazil could reach around 317 billion dollars per year, approximately 7 times higher in comparison to the cost of all commodities produced through deforestation.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "The forest products industry is a large part of the economy in both developed and developing countries. Short-term economic gains made by conversion of forest to agriculture, or over-exploitation of wood products, typically leads to a loss of long-term income and long-term biological productivity. West Africa, Madagascar, Southeast Asia and many other regions have experienced lower revenue because of declining timber harvests. Illegal logging causes billions of dollars of losses to national economies annually.",
"title": "Impacts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "There are multiple methods that are appropriate and reliable for reducing and monitoring deforestation. One method is the \"visual interpretation of aerial photos or satellite imagery that is labor-intensive but does not require high-level training in computer image processing or extensive computational resources\". Another method includes hot-spot analysis (that is, locations of rapid change) using expert opinion or coarse resolution satellite data to identify locations for detailed digital analysis with high resolution satellite images. Deforestation is typically assessed by quantifying the amount of area deforested, measured at the present time. From an environmental point of view, quantifying the damage and its possible consequences is a more important task, while conservation efforts are more focused on forested land protection and development of land-use alternatives to avoid continued deforestation. Deforestation rate and total area deforested have been widely used for monitoring deforestation in many regions, including the Brazilian Amazon deforestation monitoring by INPE. A global satellite view is available, an example of land change science monitoring of land cover over time.",
"title": "Monitoring"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "Satellite imaging has become crucial in obtaining data on levels of deforestation and reforestation. Landsat satellite data, for example, has been used to map tropical deforestation as part of NASA's Landsat Pathfinder Humid Tropical Deforestation Project. The project yielded deforestation maps for the Amazon Basin, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia for three periods in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.",
"title": "Monitoring"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "Greenpeace has mapped out the forests that are still intact and published this information on the internet. World Resources Institute in turn has made a simpler thematic map showing the amount of forests present just before the age of man (8000 years ago) and the current (reduced) levels of forest.",
"title": "Monitoring"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "Policies for forest protection include information and education programs, economic measures to increase revenue returns from authorized activities and measures to increase effectiveness of \"forest technicians and forest managers\". Poverty and agricultural rent were found to be principal factors leading to deforestation. Contemporary domestic and foreign political decision-makers could possibly create and implement policies whose outcomes ensure that economic activities in critical forests are consistent with their scientifically ascribed value for ecosystem services, climate change mitigation and other purposes.",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "Such policies may use and organize the development of complementary technical and economic means – including for lower levels of beef production, sales and consumption (which would also have major benefits for climate change mitigation), higher levels of specified other economic activities in such areas (such as reforestation, forest protection, sustainable agriculture for specific classes of food products and quaternary work in general), product information requirements, practice- and product-certifications and eco-tariffs, along with the required monitoring and traceability. Inducing the creation and enforcement of such policies could, for instance, achieve a global phase-out of deforestation-associated beef. With complex polycentric governance measures, goals like sufficient climate change mitigation as decided with e.g. the Paris Agreement and a stoppage of deforestation by 2030 as decided at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference could be achieved. A study has suggested higher income nations need to reduce imports of tropical forest-related products and help with theoretically forest-related socioeconomic development. Proactive government policies and international forest policies \"revisit[ing] and redesign[ing] global forest trade\" are needed as well.",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "In 2022 the European parliament approved a bill aiming to stop the import linked with deforestation. The bill may cause to Brazil, for example, to stop deforestation for agricultural production and begun to \"increase productivity on existing agricultural land\". The legislation was adopted with some changes by the European Council in May 2023 and is expected to enter into force several weeks after. The bill requires companies who want to import certain types of products to the European Union to prove the production of those commodities is not linked to areas deforested after 31 of December 2020. It prohibits also import of products linked with Human rights abuse. The list of products includes: palm oil, cattle, wood, coffee, cocoa, rubber and soy. Some derivatives of those products are also included: chocolate, furniture, printed paper and several palm oil based derivates.",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "In 2014, about 40 countries signed the New York Declaration on Forests, a voluntary pledge to halve deforestation by 2020 and end it by 2030. The agreement was not legally binding, however, and some key countries, such as Brazil, China, and Russia, did not sign onto it. As a result, the effort failed, and deforestation increased from 2014 to 2020.",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "In November 2021, 141 countries (with around 85% of the world's primary tropical forests and 90% of global tree cover) agreed at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow to the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use, a pledge to end and reverse deforestation by 2030. The agreement was accompanied by about $19.2 billion in associated funding commitments.",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "The 2021 Glasgow agreement improved on the New York Declaration by now including Brazil and many other countries that did not sign the 2014 agreement. Some key nations with high rates of deforestation (including Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Paraguay, and Myanmar) have not signed the Glasgow Declaration. Like the earlier agreement, the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration was entered into outside the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and is thus not legally binding.",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "In November 2021, the EU executive outlined a draft law requiring companies to prove that the agricultural commodities beef, wood, palm oil, soy, coffee and cocoa destined for the EU's 450 million consumers were not linked to deforestation. In September 2022, the EU Parliament supported and strengthened the plan from the EU’s executive with 453 votes to 57.",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "In 2018 the biggest palm oil trader, Wilmar, decided to control its suppliers to avoid deforestation",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "In 2021, over 100 world leaders, representing countries containing more than 85% of the world's forests, committed to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030.",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "Indigenous communities have long been the frontline of resistance against deforestation. Transferring rights over land from public domain to its indigenous inhabitants is argued to be a cost-effective strategy to conserve forests. This includes the protection of such rights entitled in existing laws, such as India's Forest Rights Act. The transferring of such rights in China, perhaps the largest land reform in modern times, has been argued to have increased forest cover. In Brazil, forested areas given tenure to indigenous groups have even lower rates of clearing than national parks.",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "Community concessions in the Congolian rainforests have significantly less deforestation as communities are incentivized to manage the land sustainably, even reducing poverty.",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "Efforts to stop or slow deforestation have been attempted for many centuries because it has long been known that deforestation can cause environmental damage sufficient in some cases to cause societies to collapse. In Tonga, paramount rulers developed policies designed to prevent conflicts between short-term gains from converting forest to farmland and long-term problems forest loss would cause, while during the 17th and 18th centuries in Tokugawa, Japan, the shōguns developed a highly sophisticated system of long-term planning to stop and even reverse deforestation of the preceding centuries through substituting timber by other products and more efficient use of land that had been farmed for many centuries. In 16th-century Germany, landowners also developed silviculture to deal with the problem of deforestation. However, these policies tend to be limited to environments with good rainfall, no dry season and very young soils (through volcanism or glaciation). This is because on older and less fertile soils trees grow too slowly for silviculture to be economic, whilst in areas with a strong dry season there is always a risk of forest fires destroying a tree crop before it matures.",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "In the areas where \"slash-and-burn\" is practiced, switching to \"slash-and-char\" would prevent the rapid deforestation and subsequent degradation of soils. The biochar thus created, given back to the soil, is not only a durable carbon sequestration method, but it also is an extremely beneficial amendment to the soil. Mixed with biomass it brings the creation of terra preta, one of the richest soils on the planet and the only one known to regenerate itself.",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "Certification, as provided by global certification systems such as Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification and Forest Stewardship Council, contributes to tackling deforestation by creating market demand for timber from sustainably managed forests. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), \"A major condition for the adoption of sustainable forest management is a demand for products that are produced sustainably and consumer willingness to pay for the higher costs entailed. [...] By promoting the positive attributes of forest products from sustainably managed forests, certification focuses on the demand side of environmental conservation.\"",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) in developing countries has emerged as a new potential to complement ongoing climate policies. The idea consists in providing financial compensations for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation and forest degradation\". REDD can be seen as an alternative to the emissions trading system as in the latter, polluters must pay for permits for the right to emit certain pollutants (i.e. CO2).",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "Main international organizations including the United Nations and the World Bank, have begun to develop programs aimed at curbing deforestation. The blanket term Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) describes these sorts of programs, which use direct monetary or other incentives to encourage developing countries to limit and/or roll back deforestation. Funding has been an issue, but at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties-15 (COP-15) in Copenhagen in December 2009, an accord was reached with a collective commitment by developed countries for new and additional resources, including forestry and investments through international institutions, that will approach US$30 billion for the period 2010–2012.",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "Significant work is underway on tools for use in monitoring developing countries' adherence to their agreed REDD targets. These tools, which rely on remote forest monitoring using satellite imagery and other data sources, include the Center for Global Development's FORMA (Forest Monitoring for Action) initiative and the Group on Earth Observations' Forest Carbon Tracking Portal. Methodological guidance for forest monitoring was also emphasized at COP-15. The environmental organization Avoided Deforestation Partners leads the campaign for development of REDD through funding from the U.S. government.",
"title": "Control"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 115,
"text": "The Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse was an event that occurred 300 million years ago. Climate change devastated tropical rainforests causing the extinction of many plant and animal species. The change was abrupt, specifically, at this time climate became cooler and drier, conditions that are not favorable to the growth of rainforests and much of the biodiversity within them. Rainforests were fragmented forming shrinking 'islands' further and further apart. Populations such as the sub class Lissamphibia were devastated, whereas Reptilia survived the collapse. The surviving organisms were better adapted to the drier environment left behind and served as legacies in succession after the collapse.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 116,
"text": "Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Small scale deforestation was practiced by some societies for tens of thousands of years before the beginnings of civilization. The first evidence of deforestation appears in the Mesolithic period. It was probably used to convert closed forests into more open ecosystems favourable to game animals. With the advent of agriculture, larger areas began to be deforested, and fire became the prime tool to clear land for crops. In Europe there is little solid evidence before 7000 BC. Mesolithic foragers used fire to create openings for red deer and wild boar. In Great Britain, shade-tolerant species such as oak and ash are replaced in the pollen record by hazels, brambles, grasses and nettles. Removal of the forests led to decreased transpiration, resulting in the formation of upland peat bogs. Widespread decrease in elm pollen across Europe between 8400 and 8300 BC and 7200–7000 BC, starting in southern Europe and gradually moving north to Great Britain, may represent land clearing by fire at the onset of Neolithic agriculture.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 117,
"text": "The Neolithic period saw extensive deforestation for farming land. Stone axes were being made from about 3000 BC not just from flint, but from a wide variety of hard rocks from across Britain and North America as well. They include the noted Langdale axe industry in the English Lake District, quarries developed at Penmaenmawr in North Wales and numerous other locations. Rough-outs were made locally near the quarries, and some were polished locally to give a fine finish. This step not only increased the mechanical strength of the axe, but also made penetration of wood easier. Flint was still used from sources such as Grimes Graves but from many other mines across Europe.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 118,
"text": "Evidence of deforestation has been found in Minoan Crete; for example the environs of the Palace of Knossos were severely deforested in the Bronze Age.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 119,
"text": "Just as archaeologists have shown that prehistoric farming societies had to cut or burn forests before planting, documents and artifacts from early civilizations often reveal histories of deforestation. Some of the most dramatic are eighth century BCE Assyrian reliefs depicting logs being floated downstream from conquered areas to the less forested capital region as spoils of war. Ancient Chinese texts make clear that some areas of the Yellow River valley had already destroyed many of their forests over 2000 years ago and had to plant trees as crops or import them from long distances. In South China much of the land came to be privately owned and used for the commercial growing of timber.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 120,
"text": "Three regional studies of historic erosion and alluviation in ancient Greece found that, wherever adequate evidence exists, a major phase of erosion follows the introduction of farming in the various regions of Greece by about 500–1,000 years, ranging from the later Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. The thousand years following the mid-first millennium BC saw serious, intermittent pulses of soil erosion in numerous places. The historic silting of ports along the southern coasts of Asia Minor (e.g. Clarus, and the examples of Ephesus, Priene and Miletus, where harbors had to be abandoned because of the silt deposited by the Meander) and in coastal Syria during the last centuries BC.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 121,
"text": "Easter Island has suffered from heavy soil erosion in recent centuries, aggravated by agriculture and deforestation. The disappearance of the island's trees seems to coincide with a decline of its civilization around the 17th and 18th century. Scholars have attributed the collapse to deforestation and over-exploitation of all resources.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 122,
"text": "The famous silting up of the harbor for Bruges, which moved port commerce to Antwerp, also followed a period of increased settlement growth (and apparently of deforestation) in the upper river basins. In early medieval Riez in upper Provence, alluvial silt from two small rivers raised the riverbeds and widened the floodplain, which slowly buried the Roman settlement in alluvium and gradually moved new construction to higher ground; concurrently the headwater valleys above Riez were being opened to pasturage.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 123,
"text": "A typical progress trap was that cities were often built in a forested area, which would provide wood for some industry (for example, construction, shipbuilding, pottery). When deforestation occurs without proper replanting, however; local wood supplies become difficult to obtain near enough to remain competitive, leading to the city's abandonment, as happened repeatedly in Ancient Asia Minor. Because of fuel needs, mining and metallurgy often led to deforestation and city abandonment.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 124,
"text": "With most of the population remaining active in (or indirectly dependent on) the agricultural sector, the main pressure in most areas remained land clearing for crop and cattle farming. Enough wild green was usually left standing (and partially used, for example, to collect firewood, timber and fruits, or to graze pigs) for wildlife to remain viable. The elite's (nobility and higher clergy) protection of their own hunting privileges and game often protected significant woodland.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 125,
"text": "Major parts in the spread (and thus more durable growth) of the population were played by monastical 'pioneering' (especially by the Benedictine and Commercial orders) and some feudal lords' recruiting farmers to settle (and become tax payers) by offering relatively good legal and fiscal conditions. Even when speculators sought to encourage towns, settlers needed an agricultural belt around or sometimes within defensive walls. When populations were quickly decreased by causes such as the Black Death, the colonization of the Americas, or devastating warfare (for example, Genghis Khan's Mongol hordes in eastern and central Europe, Thirty Years' War in Germany), this could lead to settlements being abandoned. The land was reclaimed by nature, but the secondary forests usually lacked the original biodiversity. The Mongol invasions and conquests alone resulted in the reduction of 700 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere by enabling the re-growth of carbon-absorbing forests on depopulated lands over a significant period of time.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 126,
"text": "From 1100 to 1500 AD, significant deforestation took place in Western Europe as a result of the expanding human population. The large-scale building of wooden sailing ships by European (coastal) naval owners since the 15th century for exploration, colonisation, slave trade, and other trade on the high seas, consumed many forest resources and became responsible for the introduction of numerous bubonic plague outbreaks in the 14th century. Piracy also contributed to the over harvesting of forests, as in Spain. This led to a weakening of the domestic economy after Columbus' discovery of America, as the economy became dependent on colonial activities (plundering, mining, cattle, plantations, trade, etc.)",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 127,
"text": "The massive use of charcoal on an industrial scale in Early Modern Europe was a new type of consumption of western forests. Each of Nelson's Royal Navy war ships at Trafalgar (1805) required 6,000 mature oaks for its construction. In France, Colbert planted oak forests to supply the French navy in the future. When the oak plantations matured in the mid-19th century, the masts were no longer required because shipping had changed.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 128,
"text": "In the 19th century, introduction of steamboats in the United States was the cause of deforestation of banks of major rivers, such as the Mississippi River, with increased and more severe flooding one of the environmental results. The steamboat crews cut wood every day from the riverbanks to fuel the steam engines. Between St. Louis and the confluence with the Ohio River to the south, the Mississippi became more wide and shallow, and changed its channel laterally. Attempts to improve navigation by the use of snag pullers often resulted in crews' clearing large trees 100 to 200 feet (61 m) back from the banks. Several French colonial towns of the Illinois Country, such as Kaskaskia, Cahokia and St. Philippe, Illinois, were flooded and abandoned in the late 19th century, with a loss to the cultural record of their archeology.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 129,
"text": "Different cultures of different places in the world have different interpretations of the actions of the cutting down of trees. For example, in Meitei mythology and Meitei folklore of Manipur (India), deforestation is mentioned as one of the reasons to make mother nature weep and mourn for the death of her precious children.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 130,
"text": "This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Key findings, FAO, FAO.",
"title": "References"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 131,
"text": "This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (license statement/permission). Text taken from The State of the World’s Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity and people – In brief, FAO & UNEP, FAO & UNEP.",
"title": "References"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 132,
"text": "",
"title": "External links"
}
] | Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated deforestation occurs in tropical rainforests. About 31% of Earth's land surface is covered by forests at present. This is one-third less than the forest cover before the expansion of agriculture, with half of that loss occurring in the last century. Between 15 million to 18 million hectares of forest, an area the size of Bangladesh, are destroyed every year. On average 2,400 trees are cut down each minute. The overwhelming direct cause of deforestation is agriculture. More than 80% of deforestation was attributed to agriculture in 2018. Forests are being converted to plantations for coffee, tea, palm oil, rice, rubber, and various other popular products. Livestock ranching is another agricultural activity that drives deforestation. Further drivers are the wood industry (logging), economic development in general, mining. The effects of climate change are another cause via the increased risk of wildfires. Deforestation has resulted in habitat damage, biodiversity loss, and aridity. Deforestation also causes extinction, changes to climatic conditions, desertification, and displacement of populations, as observed by current conditions and in the past through the fossil record. Deforestation also reduces biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, increasing negative feedback cycles contributing to global warming. Global warming also puts increased pressure on communities who seek food security by clearing forests for agricultural use and reducing arable land more generally. Deforested regions typically incur significant other environmental effects such as adverse soil erosion and degradation into wasteland. The resilience of human food systems and their capacity to adapt to future change is linked to biodiversity – including dryland-adapted shrub and tree species that help combat desertification, forest-dwelling insects, bats and bird species that pollinate crops, trees with extensive root systems in mountain ecosystems that prevent soil erosion, and mangrove species that provide resilience against flooding in coastal areas. With climate change exacerbating the risks to food systems, the role of forests in capturing and storing carbon and mitigating climate change is important for the agricultural sector. | 2001-05-17T15:30:12Z | 2023-12-21T22:39:26Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation |
8,104 | Desertification | Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by a variety of factors, such as overexploitation of soil as a result of human activity and the effects of climate change. Geographic areas most affected include the Sahel region in Africa, the Gobi Desert and Mongolia in Asia as well as parts of South America. Drylands occupy approximately 40–41% of Earth's land area and are home to more than 2 billion people.
Effects of desertification include sand and dust storms, food insecurity, vegetation patterning and increasing poverty. There are many possible countermeasures such as reforestation, soil restoration, desert reclamation and managed grazing.
Throughout geological history, the development of deserts has occurred naturally. In recent times, the influences of human activity, improper land management, deforestation and climate change on desertification is the subject of many scientific investigations.
As recently as 2005, considerable controversy existed over the proper definition of the term "desertification." Helmut Geist (2005) identified more than 100 formal definitions. The most widely accepted of these was that of the Princeton University Dictionary which defined it as "the process of fertile land transforming into desert typically as a result of deforestation, drought or improper/inappropriate agriculture". This definition clearly demonstrated the interconnectedness of desertification and human activities, in particular land use and land management practices. It also highlighted the economic, social and environmental implications of desertification.However, this original understanding that desertification involved the physical expansion of deserts has been rejected as the concept has further evolved since then. Desertification has been defined in the text of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as "land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities according to Hulme and Kelly, (1993)."
There exists also controversy around the sub-grouping of types of desertification, including, for example, the validity and usefulness of such terms as "man-made desert" and "non-pattern desert".
Drylands occupy approximately 40–41% of Earth's land area and are home to more than 2 billion people. It has been estimated that some 10–20% of drylands are already degraded, the total area affected by desertification being between 6 and 12 million square kilometers, that about 1–6% of the inhabitants of drylands live in desertified areas, and that a billion people are under threat from further desertification.
The impact of climate change and human activities on desertification are exemplified in the Sahel region of Africa. The region is characterized by a dry hot climate, high temperatures and low rainfall (100–600 mm per year). So, droughts are the rule in the Sahel region. The Sahel has lost approximately 650,000 km of its productive agricultural land over the past 50 years; the propagation of desertification in this area is considerable.
The climate of the Sahara has undergone enormous variations over the last few hundred thousand years, oscillating between wet (grassland) and dry (desert) every 20,000 years (a phenomenon believed to be caused by long-term changes in the North African climate cycle that alters the path of the North African Monsoon, caused by an approximately 40000-year cycle in which the axial tilt of the earth changes between 22° and 24.5°). Some statistics have shown that, since 1900, the Sahara has expanded by 250 km to the south over a stretch of land from west to east 6,000 km long.
Lake Chad, located in the Sahel region, has undergone desiccation due to water withdrawal for irrigation and decrease in rainfall. The lake has shrunk by over 90% since 1987, displacing millions of inhabitants. Recent efforts have managed to make some progress toward its restoration, but it is still considered to be at risk of disappearing entirely.
To limit desertification the Great Green Wall (Africa) initiative was started in 2007 involving the planting of vegetation along a stretch of 7,775 kms, 15 kms wide, involving 22 countries to 2030. The purpose of this mammoth planting initiative is to enhance retention of water in the ground following the seasonal rainfall, thus promoting land rehabilitation and future agriculture. Senegal has already contributed to the project by planting 50,000 acres of trees. It is said to have improved land quality and caused an increase in economic opportunity in the region.
Another major area that is being impacted by desertification is the Gobi Desert located in Northern China and Southern Mongolia. The Gobi Desert is the fastest expanding desert on Earth, as it transforms over 3,600 square kilometres (1,400 square miles) of grassland into wasteland annually. Although the Gobi Desert itself is still a distance away from Beijing, reports from field studies state there are large sand dunes forming only 70 km (43.5 mi) outside the city.
In Mongolia, around 90% of grassland is considered vulnerable to desertification by the UN. An estimated 13% of desertification in Mongolia is caused by natural factors; the rest is due to human influence particularly overgrazing and increased erosion of soils in cultivated areas. During the period 1940 to 2015, the mean air temperature increased by 2.24 °C. The warmest ten-year period was during the latest decade to 2021. Precipitation has decreased by 7% over this period resulting in increased arid conditions throughout Mongolia. The Gobi desert continues to expand northward, with over 70% of Mongolia’s land degraded through overgrazing, deforestation, and climate change. In addition, the Mongolia government has listed forest fires, blights, unsustainable forestry and mining activities as leading causes of desertification in the country. The transition from sheep to goat farming in order to meet export demands for cashmere wool has caused degradation of grazing lands. Compared to sheep, goats do more damage to grazing lands by eating roots and flowers.
The Gobi Desert is expanding through desertification, most rapidly on the southern edge into China, which is seeing 3,600 km (1,390 sq mi) of grassland overtaken every year. Dust storms increased in frequency between 1996 and 2016, causing further damage to China's agriculture economy. However, in some areas desertification has been slowed or reversed.
The northern and eastern boundaries between desert and grassland are constantly changing. This is mostly due to the climate conditions before the growing season, which influence the rate of evapotranspiration and subsequent plant growth.
The expansion of the Gobi is attributed mostly to human activities, locally driven by deforestation, overgrazing, and depletion of water resources, as well as to climate change.
South America is another area vulnerable by desertification, as 25% of the land is classified as drylands and over 68% of the land area has undergone soil erosion as a result of deforestation and overgrazing. 27 to 43% of the land areas in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru are at risk due to desertification. In Argentina, Mexico and Paraguay greater than half the land area is degraded by desertification and cannot be used for agriculture. In Central America drought has caused increased unemployment and decreased food security - also causing migration of people. Similar impacts have been seen in rural parts of Mexico where about 1000 square kms of land have been lost yearly due to desertification. In Argentina desertification has the potential to disrupt the nation's food supply.
The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This is driven by a number of factors, alone or in combination, such as drought, climatic shifts, tillage for agriculture, overgrazing and deforestation for fuel or construction materials. Though vegetation plays a major role in determining the biological composition of the soil, studies have shown that, in many environments, the rate of erosion and runoff decreases exponentially with increased vegetation cover. Unprotected, dry soil surfaces blow away with the wind or are washed away by flash floods, leaving infertile lower soil layers that bake in the sun and become an unproductive hardpan.
Early studies argued one of the most common causes of desertification was overgrazing, over consumption of vegetation by cattle or other livestock. However, the role of local overexploitation in driving desertification in the recent past is controversial. Drought in the Sahel region is now thought to be principally the result of seasonal variability in rainfall caused by large-scale sea surface temperature variations, largely driven by natural variability and anthropogenic emissions of aerosols (reflective sulphate particles) and greenhouse gases. As a result, changing ocean temperature and reductions in sulfate emissions have caused a re-greening of the region. This has led some scholars to argue that agriculture-induced vegetation loss is a minor factor in desertification.
Human population dynamics have a considerable impact on overgrazing, over-farming and deforestation, as previously acceptable techniques have become unsustainable.
There are multiple reasons farmers use intensive farming as opposed to extensive farming but the main reason is to maximize yields. By increasing productivity, they require a lot more fertilizer, pesticides, and labor to upkeep machinery. This continuous use of the land rapidly depletes the nutrients of the soil causing desertification to spread.
Scientists agree that the existence of a desert in the place where the Sahara desert is now located is due to natural variations in solar insolation due to orbital precession of the Earth. Such variations influence the strength of the West African Monsoon, inducing feedback in vegetation and dust emission that amplify the cycle of wet and dry Sahara climate. There is also a suggestion the transition of the Sahara from savanna to desert during the mid-Holocene was partially due to overgrazing by the cattle of the local population.
There has been a 25% increase in global annual dust emissions between the late nineteenth century to present day. The increase of desertification has also increased the amount of loose sand and dust that the wind can pick up ultimately resulting in a storm. For example, dust storms in the Middle East “are becoming more frequent and intense in recent years” because “long-term reductions in rainfall [cause] lower soil moisture and vegetative cover”.
Dust storms can contribute to certain respiratory disorders such as pneumonia, skin irritations, asthma and many more. They can pollute open water, reduce the effectiveness of clean energy efforts, and halt most forms of transportation.
Dust and sand storms can have a negative effect on the climate which can make desertification worse. Dust particles in the air scatter incoming radiation from the sun (Hassan, 2012). The dust can provide momentary coverage for the ground temperature but the atmospheric temperature will increase. This can disform and shorten the life time of clouds which can result in less rainfall.
Global food security is being threatened by desertification. The more that population grows, the more food that has to be grown. The agricultural business is being displaced from one country to another. For example, Europe on average imports over 50% of its food. Meanwhile, 44% of agricultural land is located in dry lands and it supplies 60% of the world's food production. Desertification is decreasing the amount of sustainable land for agricultural uses but demands are continuously growing. In the near future, the demands will overcome the supply. The violent herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria, Sudan, Mali and other countries in the Sahel region have been exacerbated by climate change, land degradation and population growth.
As the desertification takes place, the landscape may progress through different stages and continuously transform in appearance. On gradually sloped terrain, desertification can create increasingly larger empty spaces over a large strip of land, a phenomenon known as "brousse tigrée". A mathematical model of this phenomenon proposed by C. Klausmeier attributes this patterning to dynamics in plant-water interaction. One outcome of this observation suggests an optimal planting strategy for agriculture in arid environments.
At least 90% of the inhabitants of drylands live in developing countries, where they also suffer from poor economic and social conditions. This situation is exacerbated by land degradation because of the reduction in productivity, the precariousness of living conditions and the difficulty of access to resources and opportunities.
Many underdeveloped countries are affected by overgrazing, land exhaustion and overdrafting of groundwater due to pressures to exploit marginal drylands for farming. Decision-makers are understandably averse to invest in arid zones with low potential. This absence of investment contributes to the marginalization of these zones. When unfavorable agri-climatic conditions are combined with an absence of infrastructure and access to markets, as well as poorly adapted production techniques and an underfed and undereducated population, most such zones are excluded from development.
Desertification often causes rural lands to become unable to support the same sized populations that previously lived there. This results in mass migrations out of rural areas and into urban areas particularly in Africa creating unemployment and slums. The number of these environmental refugees grows every year, with projections for sub-Saharan Africa showing a probable increase from 14 million in 2010 to nearly 200 million by 2050. This presents a future crisis for the region, as neighboring nations do not always have the ability to support large populations of refugees.
In Mongolia the land is 90% fragile dry land, which causes many herders to migrate to the city for work. With very limited resources the herders that stay on the dry land graze very carefully in order to preserve the land. With the increasing population of Mongolia it is very difficult to stay a herder for long.
Agriculture is a main source of income for many desert communities. The increase in desertification in these regions has degraded the land to such an extent where people can no longer productively farm and make a profit. This has negatively impacted the economy and increased poverty rates.
There is, however, increased global advocacy e.g. the UN SDG 15 to combat desertification and restore affected lands.
In regions affected by desertification, conducting productive agricultural activities becomes nearly impossible without access to advanced technology, a resource that is often lacking in many developing countries. Desert areas are unsuitable for agriculture due to their inability to retain water for sustaining crop growth, and the soil in such regions typically lacks the necessary nutrients to support the entire growth cycle of crops, from flowering to fruiting and maturation. A decline in agricultural productivity results in food shortages, leading to a surge in the prices of available food items, a phenomenon commonly referred to as food inflation.
The transformation of an area into a desert prompts people and their livestock to seek alternative regions with more favorable conditions for survival and adequate pastures. This mass migration has given rise to conflicts between those forced to relocate due to desertification and the existing populations in the areas they are moving into. For example, the ongoing conflicts between farmers and herdsmen in various regions of Nigeria are often linked to the consequences of desertification.
This is among the most devastating outcomes of desertification. When desertification takes hold, many native plant species in the affected areas face extinction. As for wildlife, some perish due to the scarcity of pasture and water, while others that manage to escape to regions where their survival is not at risk—either from environmental challenges or human activities—swiftly relocate. Consequently, certain animal species have become endangered due to habitat destruction, which can stem from either climate-induced or human-induced desertification.
In regions where desertification leads to the loss of vegetative cover, heat waves become a frequent occurrence. In areas with dense vegetation, trees play a crucial role in absorbing some of the heat. However, in environments that have been severely affected by desertification, the absence of trees eliminates this heat-absorbing function. Heat waves can have detrimental effects on human health, and the prevalence of conditions like meningitis, especially common in northern Nigeria, can be attributed to these heat waves.
In desert regions, accessing clean drinking water is extremely challenging due to a chronic water shortage. People in these areas often have to use any water source they can find, regardless of its hygiene. Sometimes, there is competition between humans and animals for the limited available water, which can lead to contamination of water sources by these animals and, consequently, outbreaks of waterborne diseases.
Techniques and countermeasures exist for mitigating or reversing the effects of desertification, and some possess varying levels of difficulty. For some, there are numerous barriers to their implementation. Yet for others, the solution simply requires the exercise of human reason.
One proposed barrier is that the costs of adopting sustainable agricultural practices sometimes exceed the benefits for individual farmers, even while they are socially and environmentally beneficial. Another issue is a lack of political will, and lack of funding to support land reclamation and anti-desertification programs.
Desertification is recognized as a major threat to biodiversity. Some countries have developed biodiversity action plans to counter its effects, particularly in relation to the protection of endangered flora and fauna.
Reforestation gets at one of the root causes of desertification and is not just a treatment of the symptoms. Environmental organizations work in places where deforestation and desertification are contributing to extreme poverty. There they focus primarily on educating the local population about the dangers of deforestation and sometimes employ them to grow seedlings, which they transfer to severely deforested areas during the rainy season. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations launched the FAO Drylands Restoration Initiative in 2012 to draw together knowledge and experience on dryland restoration. In 2015, FAO published global guidelines for the restoration of degraded forests and landscapes in drylands, in collaboration with the Turkish Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency.
The "Green Wall of China" is a high-profile example of one method that has been finding success in this battle with desertification. This wall is a much larger-scale version of what American farmers did in the 1930s to stop the great Midwest dust bowl. This plan was proposed in the late 1970s, and has become a major ecological engineering project that is not predicted to end until the year 2055. According to Chinese reports, there have been nearly 66 billion trees planted in China's great green wall. The green wall of China has decreased desert land in China by an annual average of 1,980 square km. The frequency of sandstorms nationwide have fallen 20% due to the green wall. Due to the success that China has been finding in stopping the spread of desertification, plans are currently being made in Africa to start a "wall" along the borders of the Sahara desert as well to be financed by the United Nations Global Environment Facility trust.
In 2007 the African Union started the Great Green Wall of Africa project in order to combat desertification in 20 countries. The wall is 8,000 km wide, stretching across the entire width of the continent and has 8 billion dollars in support of the project. The project has restored 36 million hectares of land, and by 2030 the initiative plans to restore a total of 100 million hectares. The Great Green Wall has created many job opportunities for the participating countries, with over 20,000 jobs created in Nigeria alone.
Techniques focus on two aspects: provisioning of water, and fixation and hyper-fertilizing soil. Fixating the soil is often done through the use of shelter belts, woodlots and windbreaks. Windbreaks are made from trees and bushes and are used to reduce soil erosion and evapotranspiration. They were widely encouraged by development agencies from the middle of the 1980s in the Sahel area of Africa.
Some soils (for example, clay), due to lack of water can become consolidated rather than porous (as in the case of sandy soils). Some techniques as zaï or tillage are then used to still allow the planting of crops.
Another technique that is useful is contour trenching. This involves the digging of 150 m long, 1 m deep trenches in the soil. The trenches are made parallel to the height lines of the landscape, preventing the water from flowing within the trenches and causing erosion. Stone walls are placed around the trenches to prevent the trenches from closing up again. This method was invented by Peter Westerveld.
Enriching of the soil and restoration of its fertility is often achieved by plants. Of these, leguminous plants which extract nitrogen from the air and fix it in the soil, succulents (such as Opuntia), and food crops/trees as grains, barley, beans and dates are the most important. Sand fences can also be used to control drifting of soil and sand erosion.
Another way to restore soil fertility is through the use of nitrogen-rich fertilizer. Due to the higher cost of this fertilizer, many smallholder farmers are reluctant to use it, especially in areas where subsistence farming is common. Several nations, including India, Zambia, and Malawi have responded to this by implementing subsidies to help encourage adoption of this technique.
Some research centres (such as Bel-Air Research Center IRD/ISRA/UCAD) are also experimenting with the inoculation of tree species with mycorrhiza in arid zones. The mycorrhiza are basically fungi attaching themselves to the roots of the plants. They hereby create a symbiotic relation with the trees, increasing the surface area of the tree's roots greatly (allowing the tree to gather much more nutrient from the soil).
The bioengineering of soil microbes, particularly photosynthesizers, has also been suggested and theoretically modeled as a method to protect drylands. The aim would be to enhance the existing cooperative loops between soil microbes and vegetation.
As there are many different types of deserts, there are also different types of desert reclamation methodologies. An example for this is the salt flats in the Rub' al Khali desert in Saudi Arabia. These salt flats are one of the most promising desert areas for seawater agriculture and could be revitalized without the use of freshwater or much energy.
Farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) is another technique that has produced successful results for desert reclamation. Since 1980, this method to reforest degraded landscape has been applied with some success in Niger. This simple and low-cost method has enabled farmers to regenerate some 30,000 square kilometers in Niger. The process involves enabling native sprouting tree growth through selective pruning of shrub shoots. The residue from pruned trees can be used to provide mulching for fields thus increasing soil water retention and reducing evaporation. Additionally, properly spaced and pruned trees can increase crop yields. The Humbo Assisted Regeneration Project which uses FMNR techniques in Ethiopia has received money from The World Bank's BioCarbon Fund, which supports projects that sequester or conserve carbon in forests or agricultural ecosystems.
Restored grasslands store CO2 from the atmosphere as organic plant material. Grazing livestock, usually not left to wander, consume the grass and minimize its growth. A method proposed to restore grasslands uses fences with many small paddocks, moving herds from one paddock to another after a day or two in order to mimic natural grazers and allowing the grass to grow optimally. Proponents of managed grazing methods estimate that increasing this method could increase carbon content of the soils in the world's 3.5 billion hectares of agricultural grassland and offset nearly 12 years of CO2 emissions.
The world's most noted deserts have been formed by natural processes interacting over long intervals of time. During most of these times, deserts have grown and shrunk independently of human activities. Paleodeserts are large sand seas now inactive because they are stabilized by vegetation, some extending beyond the present margins of core deserts, such as the Sahara, the largest hot desert.
Historical evidence shows that the serious and extensive land deterioration occurring several centuries ago in arid regions had three centers: the Mediterranean, the Mesopotamian Valley, and the Loess Plateau of China, where population was dense.
The earliest known discussion of the topic arose soon after the French colonization of West Africa, when the Comité d'Etudes commissioned a study on desséchement progressif to explore the prehistoric expansion of the Sahara Desert. The modern study of desertification emerged from the study of the 1980s drought in the Sahel.
Other related portals: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by a variety of factors, such as overexploitation of soil as a result of human activity and the effects of climate change. Geographic areas most affected include the Sahel region in Africa, the Gobi Desert and Mongolia in Asia as well as parts of South America. Drylands occupy approximately 40–41% of Earth's land area and are home to more than 2 billion people.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Effects of desertification include sand and dust storms, food insecurity, vegetation patterning and increasing poverty. There are many possible countermeasures such as reforestation, soil restoration, desert reclamation and managed grazing.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Throughout geological history, the development of deserts has occurred naturally. In recent times, the influences of human activity, improper land management, deforestation and climate change on desertification is the subject of many scientific investigations.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "As recently as 2005, considerable controversy existed over the proper definition of the term \"desertification.\" Helmut Geist (2005) identified more than 100 formal definitions. The most widely accepted of these was that of the Princeton University Dictionary which defined it as \"the process of fertile land transforming into desert typically as a result of deforestation, drought or improper/inappropriate agriculture\". This definition clearly demonstrated the interconnectedness of desertification and human activities, in particular land use and land management practices. It also highlighted the economic, social and environmental implications of desertification.However, this original understanding that desertification involved the physical expansion of deserts has been rejected as the concept has further evolved since then. Desertification has been defined in the text of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as \"land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities according to Hulme and Kelly, (1993).\"",
"title": "Definitions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "There exists also controversy around the sub-grouping of types of desertification, including, for example, the validity and usefulness of such terms as \"man-made desert\" and \"non-pattern desert\".",
"title": "Definitions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Drylands occupy approximately 40–41% of Earth's land area and are home to more than 2 billion people. It has been estimated that some 10–20% of drylands are already degraded, the total area affected by desertification being between 6 and 12 million square kilometers, that about 1–6% of the inhabitants of drylands live in desertified areas, and that a billion people are under threat from further desertification.",
"title": "Geographic areas affected"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The impact of climate change and human activities on desertification are exemplified in the Sahel region of Africa. The region is characterized by a dry hot climate, high temperatures and low rainfall (100–600 mm per year). So, droughts are the rule in the Sahel region. The Sahel has lost approximately 650,000 km of its productive agricultural land over the past 50 years; the propagation of desertification in this area is considerable.",
"title": "Geographic areas affected"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The climate of the Sahara has undergone enormous variations over the last few hundred thousand years, oscillating between wet (grassland) and dry (desert) every 20,000 years (a phenomenon believed to be caused by long-term changes in the North African climate cycle that alters the path of the North African Monsoon, caused by an approximately 40000-year cycle in which the axial tilt of the earth changes between 22° and 24.5°). Some statistics have shown that, since 1900, the Sahara has expanded by 250 km to the south over a stretch of land from west to east 6,000 km long.",
"title": "Geographic areas affected"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Lake Chad, located in the Sahel region, has undergone desiccation due to water withdrawal for irrigation and decrease in rainfall. The lake has shrunk by over 90% since 1987, displacing millions of inhabitants. Recent efforts have managed to make some progress toward its restoration, but it is still considered to be at risk of disappearing entirely.",
"title": "Geographic areas affected"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "To limit desertification the Great Green Wall (Africa) initiative was started in 2007 involving the planting of vegetation along a stretch of 7,775 kms, 15 kms wide, involving 22 countries to 2030. The purpose of this mammoth planting initiative is to enhance retention of water in the ground following the seasonal rainfall, thus promoting land rehabilitation and future agriculture. Senegal has already contributed to the project by planting 50,000 acres of trees. It is said to have improved land quality and caused an increase in economic opportunity in the region.",
"title": "Geographic areas affected"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Another major area that is being impacted by desertification is the Gobi Desert located in Northern China and Southern Mongolia. The Gobi Desert is the fastest expanding desert on Earth, as it transforms over 3,600 square kilometres (1,400 square miles) of grassland into wasteland annually. Although the Gobi Desert itself is still a distance away from Beijing, reports from field studies state there are large sand dunes forming only 70 km (43.5 mi) outside the city.",
"title": "Geographic areas affected"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In Mongolia, around 90% of grassland is considered vulnerable to desertification by the UN. An estimated 13% of desertification in Mongolia is caused by natural factors; the rest is due to human influence particularly overgrazing and increased erosion of soils in cultivated areas. During the period 1940 to 2015, the mean air temperature increased by 2.24 °C. The warmest ten-year period was during the latest decade to 2021. Precipitation has decreased by 7% over this period resulting in increased arid conditions throughout Mongolia. The Gobi desert continues to expand northward, with over 70% of Mongolia’s land degraded through overgrazing, deforestation, and climate change. In addition, the Mongolia government has listed forest fires, blights, unsustainable forestry and mining activities as leading causes of desertification in the country. The transition from sheep to goat farming in order to meet export demands for cashmere wool has caused degradation of grazing lands. Compared to sheep, goats do more damage to grazing lands by eating roots and flowers.",
"title": "Geographic areas affected"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The Gobi Desert is expanding through desertification, most rapidly on the southern edge into China, which is seeing 3,600 km (1,390 sq mi) of grassland overtaken every year. Dust storms increased in frequency between 1996 and 2016, causing further damage to China's agriculture economy. However, in some areas desertification has been slowed or reversed.",
"title": "Geographic areas affected"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The northern and eastern boundaries between desert and grassland are constantly changing. This is mostly due to the climate conditions before the growing season, which influence the rate of evapotranspiration and subsequent plant growth.",
"title": "Geographic areas affected"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The expansion of the Gobi is attributed mostly to human activities, locally driven by deforestation, overgrazing, and depletion of water resources, as well as to climate change.",
"title": "Geographic areas affected"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "South America is another area vulnerable by desertification, as 25% of the land is classified as drylands and over 68% of the land area has undergone soil erosion as a result of deforestation and overgrazing. 27 to 43% of the land areas in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru are at risk due to desertification. In Argentina, Mexico and Paraguay greater than half the land area is degraded by desertification and cannot be used for agriculture. In Central America drought has caused increased unemployment and decreased food security - also causing migration of people. Similar impacts have been seen in rural parts of Mexico where about 1000 square kms of land have been lost yearly due to desertification. In Argentina desertification has the potential to disrupt the nation's food supply.",
"title": "Geographic areas affected"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This is driven by a number of factors, alone or in combination, such as drought, climatic shifts, tillage for agriculture, overgrazing and deforestation for fuel or construction materials. Though vegetation plays a major role in determining the biological composition of the soil, studies have shown that, in many environments, the rate of erosion and runoff decreases exponentially with increased vegetation cover. Unprotected, dry soil surfaces blow away with the wind or are washed away by flash floods, leaving infertile lower soil layers that bake in the sun and become an unproductive hardpan.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Early studies argued one of the most common causes of desertification was overgrazing, over consumption of vegetation by cattle or other livestock. However, the role of local overexploitation in driving desertification in the recent past is controversial. Drought in the Sahel region is now thought to be principally the result of seasonal variability in rainfall caused by large-scale sea surface temperature variations, largely driven by natural variability and anthropogenic emissions of aerosols (reflective sulphate particles) and greenhouse gases. As a result, changing ocean temperature and reductions in sulfate emissions have caused a re-greening of the region. This has led some scholars to argue that agriculture-induced vegetation loss is a minor factor in desertification.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Human population dynamics have a considerable impact on overgrazing, over-farming and deforestation, as previously acceptable techniques have become unsustainable.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "There are multiple reasons farmers use intensive farming as opposed to extensive farming but the main reason is to maximize yields. By increasing productivity, they require a lot more fertilizer, pesticides, and labor to upkeep machinery. This continuous use of the land rapidly depletes the nutrients of the soil causing desertification to spread.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Scientists agree that the existence of a desert in the place where the Sahara desert is now located is due to natural variations in solar insolation due to orbital precession of the Earth. Such variations influence the strength of the West African Monsoon, inducing feedback in vegetation and dust emission that amplify the cycle of wet and dry Sahara climate. There is also a suggestion the transition of the Sahara from savanna to desert during the mid-Holocene was partially due to overgrazing by the cattle of the local population.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "There has been a 25% increase in global annual dust emissions between the late nineteenth century to present day. The increase of desertification has also increased the amount of loose sand and dust that the wind can pick up ultimately resulting in a storm. For example, dust storms in the Middle East “are becoming more frequent and intense in recent years” because “long-term reductions in rainfall [cause] lower soil moisture and vegetative cover”.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Dust storms can contribute to certain respiratory disorders such as pneumonia, skin irritations, asthma and many more. They can pollute open water, reduce the effectiveness of clean energy efforts, and halt most forms of transportation.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Dust and sand storms can have a negative effect on the climate which can make desertification worse. Dust particles in the air scatter incoming radiation from the sun (Hassan, 2012). The dust can provide momentary coverage for the ground temperature but the atmospheric temperature will increase. This can disform and shorten the life time of clouds which can result in less rainfall.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Global food security is being threatened by desertification. The more that population grows, the more food that has to be grown. The agricultural business is being displaced from one country to another. For example, Europe on average imports over 50% of its food. Meanwhile, 44% of agricultural land is located in dry lands and it supplies 60% of the world's food production. Desertification is decreasing the amount of sustainable land for agricultural uses but demands are continuously growing. In the near future, the demands will overcome the supply. The violent herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria, Sudan, Mali and other countries in the Sahel region have been exacerbated by climate change, land degradation and population growth.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "As the desertification takes place, the landscape may progress through different stages and continuously transform in appearance. On gradually sloped terrain, desertification can create increasingly larger empty spaces over a large strip of land, a phenomenon known as \"brousse tigrée\". A mathematical model of this phenomenon proposed by C. Klausmeier attributes this patterning to dynamics in plant-water interaction. One outcome of this observation suggests an optimal planting strategy for agriculture in arid environments.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "At least 90% of the inhabitants of drylands live in developing countries, where they also suffer from poor economic and social conditions. This situation is exacerbated by land degradation because of the reduction in productivity, the precariousness of living conditions and the difficulty of access to resources and opportunities.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Many underdeveloped countries are affected by overgrazing, land exhaustion and overdrafting of groundwater due to pressures to exploit marginal drylands for farming. Decision-makers are understandably averse to invest in arid zones with low potential. This absence of investment contributes to the marginalization of these zones. When unfavorable agri-climatic conditions are combined with an absence of infrastructure and access to markets, as well as poorly adapted production techniques and an underfed and undereducated population, most such zones are excluded from development.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Desertification often causes rural lands to become unable to support the same sized populations that previously lived there. This results in mass migrations out of rural areas and into urban areas particularly in Africa creating unemployment and slums. The number of these environmental refugees grows every year, with projections for sub-Saharan Africa showing a probable increase from 14 million in 2010 to nearly 200 million by 2050. This presents a future crisis for the region, as neighboring nations do not always have the ability to support large populations of refugees.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "In Mongolia the land is 90% fragile dry land, which causes many herders to migrate to the city for work. With very limited resources the herders that stay on the dry land graze very carefully in order to preserve the land. With the increasing population of Mongolia it is very difficult to stay a herder for long.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Agriculture is a main source of income for many desert communities. The increase in desertification in these regions has degraded the land to such an extent where people can no longer productively farm and make a profit. This has negatively impacted the economy and increased poverty rates.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "There is, however, increased global advocacy e.g. the UN SDG 15 to combat desertification and restore affected lands.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "In regions affected by desertification, conducting productive agricultural activities becomes nearly impossible without access to advanced technology, a resource that is often lacking in many developing countries. Desert areas are unsuitable for agriculture due to their inability to retain water for sustaining crop growth, and the soil in such regions typically lacks the necessary nutrients to support the entire growth cycle of crops, from flowering to fruiting and maturation. A decline in agricultural productivity results in food shortages, leading to a surge in the prices of available food items, a phenomenon commonly referred to as food inflation.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "The transformation of an area into a desert prompts people and their livestock to seek alternative regions with more favorable conditions for survival and adequate pastures. This mass migration has given rise to conflicts between those forced to relocate due to desertification and the existing populations in the areas they are moving into. For example, the ongoing conflicts between farmers and herdsmen in various regions of Nigeria are often linked to the consequences of desertification.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "This is among the most devastating outcomes of desertification. When desertification takes hold, many native plant species in the affected areas face extinction. As for wildlife, some perish due to the scarcity of pasture and water, while others that manage to escape to regions where their survival is not at risk—either from environmental challenges or human activities—swiftly relocate. Consequently, certain animal species have become endangered due to habitat destruction, which can stem from either climate-induced or human-induced desertification.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "In regions where desertification leads to the loss of vegetative cover, heat waves become a frequent occurrence. In areas with dense vegetation, trees play a crucial role in absorbing some of the heat. However, in environments that have been severely affected by desertification, the absence of trees eliminates this heat-absorbing function. Heat waves can have detrimental effects on human health, and the prevalence of conditions like meningitis, especially common in northern Nigeria, can be attributed to these heat waves.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "In desert regions, accessing clean drinking water is extremely challenging due to a chronic water shortage. People in these areas often have to use any water source they can find, regardless of its hygiene. Sometimes, there is competition between humans and animals for the limited available water, which can lead to contamination of water sources by these animals and, consequently, outbreaks of waterborne diseases.",
"title": "Effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Techniques and countermeasures exist for mitigating or reversing the effects of desertification, and some possess varying levels of difficulty. For some, there are numerous barriers to their implementation. Yet for others, the solution simply requires the exercise of human reason.",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "One proposed barrier is that the costs of adopting sustainable agricultural practices sometimes exceed the benefits for individual farmers, even while they are socially and environmentally beneficial. Another issue is a lack of political will, and lack of funding to support land reclamation and anti-desertification programs.",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Desertification is recognized as a major threat to biodiversity. Some countries have developed biodiversity action plans to counter its effects, particularly in relation to the protection of endangered flora and fauna.",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Reforestation gets at one of the root causes of desertification and is not just a treatment of the symptoms. Environmental organizations work in places where deforestation and desertification are contributing to extreme poverty. There they focus primarily on educating the local population about the dangers of deforestation and sometimes employ them to grow seedlings, which they transfer to severely deforested areas during the rainy season. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations launched the FAO Drylands Restoration Initiative in 2012 to draw together knowledge and experience on dryland restoration. In 2015, FAO published global guidelines for the restoration of degraded forests and landscapes in drylands, in collaboration with the Turkish Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency.",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "The \"Green Wall of China\" is a high-profile example of one method that has been finding success in this battle with desertification. This wall is a much larger-scale version of what American farmers did in the 1930s to stop the great Midwest dust bowl. This plan was proposed in the late 1970s, and has become a major ecological engineering project that is not predicted to end until the year 2055. According to Chinese reports, there have been nearly 66 billion trees planted in China's great green wall. The green wall of China has decreased desert land in China by an annual average of 1,980 square km. The frequency of sandstorms nationwide have fallen 20% due to the green wall. Due to the success that China has been finding in stopping the spread of desertification, plans are currently being made in Africa to start a \"wall\" along the borders of the Sahara desert as well to be financed by the United Nations Global Environment Facility trust.",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "In 2007 the African Union started the Great Green Wall of Africa project in order to combat desertification in 20 countries. The wall is 8,000 km wide, stretching across the entire width of the continent and has 8 billion dollars in support of the project. The project has restored 36 million hectares of land, and by 2030 the initiative plans to restore a total of 100 million hectares. The Great Green Wall has created many job opportunities for the participating countries, with over 20,000 jobs created in Nigeria alone.",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Techniques focus on two aspects: provisioning of water, and fixation and hyper-fertilizing soil. Fixating the soil is often done through the use of shelter belts, woodlots and windbreaks. Windbreaks are made from trees and bushes and are used to reduce soil erosion and evapotranspiration. They were widely encouraged by development agencies from the middle of the 1980s in the Sahel area of Africa.",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Some soils (for example, clay), due to lack of water can become consolidated rather than porous (as in the case of sandy soils). Some techniques as zaï or tillage are then used to still allow the planting of crops.",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Another technique that is useful is contour trenching. This involves the digging of 150 m long, 1 m deep trenches in the soil. The trenches are made parallel to the height lines of the landscape, preventing the water from flowing within the trenches and causing erosion. Stone walls are placed around the trenches to prevent the trenches from closing up again. This method was invented by Peter Westerveld.",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Enriching of the soil and restoration of its fertility is often achieved by plants. Of these, leguminous plants which extract nitrogen from the air and fix it in the soil, succulents (such as Opuntia), and food crops/trees as grains, barley, beans and dates are the most important. Sand fences can also be used to control drifting of soil and sand erosion.",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Another way to restore soil fertility is through the use of nitrogen-rich fertilizer. Due to the higher cost of this fertilizer, many smallholder farmers are reluctant to use it, especially in areas where subsistence farming is common. Several nations, including India, Zambia, and Malawi have responded to this by implementing subsidies to help encourage adoption of this technique.",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Some research centres (such as Bel-Air Research Center IRD/ISRA/UCAD) are also experimenting with the inoculation of tree species with mycorrhiza in arid zones. The mycorrhiza are basically fungi attaching themselves to the roots of the plants. They hereby create a symbiotic relation with the trees, increasing the surface area of the tree's roots greatly (allowing the tree to gather much more nutrient from the soil).",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "The bioengineering of soil microbes, particularly photosynthesizers, has also been suggested and theoretically modeled as a method to protect drylands. The aim would be to enhance the existing cooperative loops between soil microbes and vegetation.",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "As there are many different types of deserts, there are also different types of desert reclamation methodologies. An example for this is the salt flats in the Rub' al Khali desert in Saudi Arabia. These salt flats are one of the most promising desert areas for seawater agriculture and could be revitalized without the use of freshwater or much energy.",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) is another technique that has produced successful results for desert reclamation. Since 1980, this method to reforest degraded landscape has been applied with some success in Niger. This simple and low-cost method has enabled farmers to regenerate some 30,000 square kilometers in Niger. The process involves enabling native sprouting tree growth through selective pruning of shrub shoots. The residue from pruned trees can be used to provide mulching for fields thus increasing soil water retention and reducing evaporation. Additionally, properly spaced and pruned trees can increase crop yields. The Humbo Assisted Regeneration Project which uses FMNR techniques in Ethiopia has received money from The World Bank's BioCarbon Fund, which supports projects that sequester or conserve carbon in forests or agricultural ecosystems.",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Restored grasslands store CO2 from the atmosphere as organic plant material. Grazing livestock, usually not left to wander, consume the grass and minimize its growth. A method proposed to restore grasslands uses fences with many small paddocks, moving herds from one paddock to another after a day or two in order to mimic natural grazers and allowing the grass to grow optimally. Proponents of managed grazing methods estimate that increasing this method could increase carbon content of the soils in the world's 3.5 billion hectares of agricultural grassland and offset nearly 12 years of CO2 emissions.",
"title": "Countermeasures"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "The world's most noted deserts have been formed by natural processes interacting over long intervals of time. During most of these times, deserts have grown and shrunk independently of human activities. Paleodeserts are large sand seas now inactive because they are stabilized by vegetation, some extending beyond the present margins of core deserts, such as the Sahara, the largest hot desert.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Historical evidence shows that the serious and extensive land deterioration occurring several centuries ago in arid regions had three centers: the Mediterranean, the Mesopotamian Valley, and the Loess Plateau of China, where population was dense.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "The earliest known discussion of the topic arose soon after the French colonization of West Africa, when the Comité d'Etudes commissioned a study on desséchement progressif to explore the prehistoric expansion of the Sahara Desert. The modern study of desertification emerged from the study of the 1980s drought in the Sahel.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Other related portals:",
"title": "See also"
}
] | Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by a variety of factors, such as overexploitation of soil as a result of human activity and the effects of climate change. Geographic areas most affected include the Sahel region in Africa, the Gobi Desert and Mongolia in Asia as well as parts of South America. Drylands occupy approximately 40–41% of Earth's land area and are home to more than 2 billion people. Effects of desertification include sand and dust storms, food insecurity, vegetation patterning and increasing poverty. There are many possible countermeasures such as reforestation, soil restoration, desert reclamation and managed grazing. Throughout geological history, the development of deserts has occurred naturally. In recent times, the influences of human activity, improper land management, deforestation and climate change on desertification is the subject of many scientific investigations. | 2002-02-25T15:43:11Z | 2023-11-29T13:54:40Z | [
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8,117 | Dumbarton Bridge (California) | The Dumbarton Bridge is the southernmost of the highway bridges across San Francisco Bay in California. Carrying over 70,000 vehicles and about 118 pedestrian and bicycle crossings daily (384 on weekends), it is the shortest bridge across San Francisco Bay at 1.63 miles (8,600 ft; 2,620 m). Its eastern end is in Fremont, near Newark in the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and its western end is in Menlo Park. Bridging State Route 84 across the bay, it has three lanes each way and a separated bike/pedestrian lane along its south side. Like the San Mateo Bridge to the north, power lines parallel the bridge.
The bridge has never been officially named, but its commonly used name comes from Dumbarton Point, named in 1876 after Dumbarton, Scotland. Built originally to provide a shortcut for traffic originating in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, the bridge served industrial and residential areas on both sides. The earlier bridge opened on January 17, 1927, and was the first vehicular bridge to cross San Francisco Bay. A portion of this old drawbridge remains as a fishing pier on the east side of the Bay. The original bridge was built with private capital and then purchased by the state for $2.5 million in 1951.
Its age, and the two-lane undivided roadway and lift-span, led to a replacement bridge being built to the north. This bridge opened in October 1982 as a four-lane, high-level structure. The structure was re-striped to accommodate six lanes on October 18, 1989, in response to the temporary closing of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge due to the Loma Prieta earthquake, and the permanent widening of the approaches was completed by July 2003. The cost of the complete replacement project was $200 million. The current bridge includes a two-way bicycle and separate pedestrian path on the south-facing side. A 340 ft (104 m) center span provides 85 ft (26 m) of vertical clearance for shipping. The approach spans on both sides of the Bay are of pre-stressed lightweight concrete girders supporting a lightweight concrete deck. The center spans are twin steel trapezoidal girders which also support a lightweight concrete deck.
The center span of the original bridge was demolished in a controlled explosion in September 1984.
The bridge is part of State Route 84, and is directly connected to Interstate 880 by a freeway segment north of the Fremont end. There is no freeway connection between U.S. 101 and the southwest end of the Dumbarton Bridge. Motorists must traverse one of three at-grade routes to connect from the Bayshore Freeway to the bridge. These are (from northwest to southeast):
The Willow Road and University Avenue junctions with Bayfront Expressway are at-grade intersections controlled by traffic lights; there are two additional controlled intersections at Chilco Road and Marsh Road, and the Marsh Road interchange on U.S. 101 is a parclo. The result is that Bayfront Expressway is frequently congested, and when not congested is often the site of high-speed car crashes. In 2007, prominent author David Halberstam was killed in one such crash at the Willow Road intersection.
Access to I-280 is available via State Route 84 to Woodside Road (as signed) or other arterial routes. There are no cross-Peninsula freeway connections between State Routes 92 and 84. In addition, there are no direct cross-Peninsula arterial routes between State Route 84 and Page Mill Road, a five-mile gap.
Although the present situation has resulted in severe traffic problems on the bridge itself and in Menlo Park and East Palo Alto, Caltrans has been unable to upgrade the relevant portion of Highway 84 to freeway standards for several decades, due to opposition from the cities of Menlo Park, Atherton and Palo Alto. Freeway opponents fear that upgrading Highway 84 will encourage more people to live in southern Alameda County (where housing is more affordable) and commute to jobs in the mid-Peninsula area (where businesses wish to be located in order to be close to Silicon Valley), thus increasing traffic in their neighborhoods to the south and west of U.S. 101 and even along State Routes 85 and 237.
Bus service across the bridge is provided by the Dumbarton Express, run by a consortium of local transit agencies (SamTrans, AC Transit, VTA and others) which connects to BART at Union City and Caltrain at Palo Alto and California Avenue. AC Transit also runs Transbay buses U (Fremont BART and Amtrak to Stanford) and DA (Ardenwood to Oracle and Facebook headquarters) across the bridge. The free Stanford Marguerite Shuttle also runs buses AE-F and EB across the bridge.
When the current bridge was planned in the 1970s, Caltrans conducted extensive environmental research on the aquatic and terrestrial environment. Principal concerns of the public were air pollution and noise pollution impacts, particularly in some residential areas of Menlo Park and East Palo Alto. Studies were conducted to produce contour maps of projected sound levels and carbon monoxide concentrations throughout the western approaches, for each alternative connection scheme.
The area around the bridge is an important ecological area, hosting many species of birds, fish and mammals. The endangered species California clapper rail is known to be present in the western bridge terminus area.
Near the bridge on the Peninsula are Menlo Park's Bayfront Park, East Palo Alto's Ravenswood Open Space Preserve, and the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve. An accessible portion of the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge lies immediately north of the western bridge terminus, where the Ravenswood trail runs.
On both sides of the east end of the bridge are large salt ponds and levee trails belonging to the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The headquarters and visitor center for the refuge is on a hill south of the bridge approach. North of the east end of the bridge is Coyote Hills Regional Park, with its network of trails running over tall hills. North of that is the Alameda Creek Regional Trail from the Bay to Niles Canyon. East of Coyote Hills is Ardenwood Historic Farm, a restored working farm that preserves and displays turn-of-the-century farming methods
Tolls are only collected from westbound traffic at the toll plaza on the east side of the bay. All-electronic tolling has been in effect since 2020, and drivers may either pay using the FasTrak electronic toll collection device, using the license plate tolling program, or via a one time payment online. Effective January 1, 2022 – December 31, 2024 (2022-01-01 – 2024-12-31), the toll rate for passenger cars is $7. During peak traffic hours, carpool vehicles carrying three or more people, clean air vehicles, or motorcycles may pay a discounted toll of $3.50 if they have FasTrak and use the designated carpool lane. Drivers must pay within 48 hours after crossing the bridge or they will be sent a toll violation invoice. No additional fees will be added to the toll violation if it is paid within 21 days.
Prior to 1969, tolls on the Dumbarton Bridge were collected in both directions. When it opened, the original 1927 span had a toll of $0.40 per car plus $0.05 per passenger. In 1959, tolls were set to $0.35 per car. It was raised to $0.70 in 1969, then $0.75 in 1976. The toll per car remained at $0.75 when the replacement bridge opened in the 1980s.
The basic toll (for automobiles) on the seven state-owned bridges, including the Dumbarton Bridge, was raised to $1 by Regional Measure 1, approved by Bay Area voters in 1988. A $1 seismic retrofit surcharge was added in 1998 by the state legislature, originally for eight years, but since then extended to December 2037 (AB1171, October 2001). On March 2, 2004, voters approved Regional Measure 2, raising the toll by another dollar to a total of $3. An additional dollar was added to the toll starting January 1, 2007, to cover cost overruns concerning the replacement of the eastern span.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, a regional transportation agency, in its capacity as the Bay Area Toll Authority, administers RM1 and RM2 funds, a significant portion of which are allocated to public transit capital improvements and operating subsidies in the transportation corridors served by the bridges. Caltrans administers the "second dollar" seismic surcharge, and receives some of the MTC-administered funds to perform other maintenance work on the bridges. The Bay Area Toll Authority is made up of appointed officials put in place by various city and county governments, and is not subject to direct voter oversight.
Due to further funding shortages for seismic retrofit projects, the Bay Area Toll Authority again raised tolls on all seven of the state-owned bridges in July 2010. The toll rate for autos on the Dumbarton Bridge was thus increased to $5.
In June 2018, Bay Area voters approved Regional Measure 3 to further raise the tolls on all seven of the state-owned bridges to fund $4.5 billion worth of transportation improvements in the area. Under the passed measure, the toll rate for autos on the Dumbarton Bridge was increased to $6 on January 1, 2019 and to $7 on January 1, 2022, and the toll rate will increase again to $8 on January 1, 2025.
In September 2019, the MTC approved a $4 million plan to eliminate toll takers and convert all seven of the state-owned bridges to all-electronic tolling, citing that 80 percent of drivers are now using Fastrak and the change would improve traffic flow. On March 20, 2020, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, all-electronic tolling was placed in effect for all seven state-owned toll bridges. The MTC then installed new systems at all seven bridges to make them permanently cashless by the start of 2021. In April 2022, the Bay Area Toll Authority announced plans to remove all remaining unused toll booths and create an open-road tolling system which functions at highway speeds.
Just to the south of the car bridge lies the Dumbarton Rail Bridge. Built in 1910, the rail bridge has been unused since 1982 and its western approach collapsed in a fire in 1998. When the bridge was in use, boaters would signal the operator, who would start a diesel engine and rotate the bridge to the open position on a large gear. The bridge is now left in the open position as shown. There are plans for a new rail bridge and rehabilitation of the rail line to serve a commuter rail service to connect Union City, Fremont, and Newark to various Peninsula destinations. A successful March 2004 regional transportation ballot measure included funding to rehabilitate the rail bridge for the commuter rail service, but in October 2008 the Metropolitan Transportation Commission transferred $91 million from this project to the BART Warm Springs extension in Fremont.
Between the Dumbarton Bridge and the Dumbarton Rail Bridge is the Bay crossing of the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct. The aqueduct rises above ground in Newark at the east side of the Bay, falls below the water's surface at a pump station in Fremont, re-emerges in the middle of the Bay and then continues above water until it reaches the west side of the Bay at Menlo Park.
A scene of the 1971 movie Harold and Maude was filmed at the original toll plaza and showed Maude speeding and disobeying a police officer. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Dumbarton Bridge is the southernmost of the highway bridges across San Francisco Bay in California. Carrying over 70,000 vehicles and about 118 pedestrian and bicycle crossings daily (384 on weekends), it is the shortest bridge across San Francisco Bay at 1.63 miles (8,600 ft; 2,620 m). Its eastern end is in Fremont, near Newark in the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and its western end is in Menlo Park. Bridging State Route 84 across the bay, it has three lanes each way and a separated bike/pedestrian lane along its south side. Like the San Mateo Bridge to the north, power lines parallel the bridge.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The bridge has never been officially named, but its commonly used name comes from Dumbarton Point, named in 1876 after Dumbarton, Scotland. Built originally to provide a shortcut for traffic originating in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, the bridge served industrial and residential areas on both sides. The earlier bridge opened on January 17, 1927, and was the first vehicular bridge to cross San Francisco Bay. A portion of this old drawbridge remains as a fishing pier on the east side of the Bay. The original bridge was built with private capital and then purchased by the state for $2.5 million in 1951.",
"title": "History and engineering features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Its age, and the two-lane undivided roadway and lift-span, led to a replacement bridge being built to the north. This bridge opened in October 1982 as a four-lane, high-level structure. The structure was re-striped to accommodate six lanes on October 18, 1989, in response to the temporary closing of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge due to the Loma Prieta earthquake, and the permanent widening of the approaches was completed by July 2003. The cost of the complete replacement project was $200 million. The current bridge includes a two-way bicycle and separate pedestrian path on the south-facing side. A 340 ft (104 m) center span provides 85 ft (26 m) of vertical clearance for shipping. The approach spans on both sides of the Bay are of pre-stressed lightweight concrete girders supporting a lightweight concrete deck. The center spans are twin steel trapezoidal girders which also support a lightweight concrete deck.",
"title": "History and engineering features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The center span of the original bridge was demolished in a controlled explosion in September 1984.",
"title": "History and engineering features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The bridge is part of State Route 84, and is directly connected to Interstate 880 by a freeway segment north of the Fremont end. There is no freeway connection between U.S. 101 and the southwest end of the Dumbarton Bridge. Motorists must traverse one of three at-grade routes to connect from the Bayshore Freeway to the bridge. These are (from northwest to southeast):",
"title": "Roadway connections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The Willow Road and University Avenue junctions with Bayfront Expressway are at-grade intersections controlled by traffic lights; there are two additional controlled intersections at Chilco Road and Marsh Road, and the Marsh Road interchange on U.S. 101 is a parclo. The result is that Bayfront Expressway is frequently congested, and when not congested is often the site of high-speed car crashes. In 2007, prominent author David Halberstam was killed in one such crash at the Willow Road intersection.",
"title": "Roadway connections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Access to I-280 is available via State Route 84 to Woodside Road (as signed) or other arterial routes. There are no cross-Peninsula freeway connections between State Routes 92 and 84. In addition, there are no direct cross-Peninsula arterial routes between State Route 84 and Page Mill Road, a five-mile gap.",
"title": "Roadway connections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Although the present situation has resulted in severe traffic problems on the bridge itself and in Menlo Park and East Palo Alto, Caltrans has been unable to upgrade the relevant portion of Highway 84 to freeway standards for several decades, due to opposition from the cities of Menlo Park, Atherton and Palo Alto. Freeway opponents fear that upgrading Highway 84 will encourage more people to live in southern Alameda County (where housing is more affordable) and commute to jobs in the mid-Peninsula area (where businesses wish to be located in order to be close to Silicon Valley), thus increasing traffic in their neighborhoods to the south and west of U.S. 101 and even along State Routes 85 and 237.",
"title": "Roadway connections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Bus service across the bridge is provided by the Dumbarton Express, run by a consortium of local transit agencies (SamTrans, AC Transit, VTA and others) which connects to BART at Union City and Caltrain at Palo Alto and California Avenue. AC Transit also runs Transbay buses U (Fremont BART and Amtrak to Stanford) and DA (Ardenwood to Oracle and Facebook headquarters) across the bridge. The free Stanford Marguerite Shuttle also runs buses AE-F and EB across the bridge.",
"title": "Roadway connections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "When the current bridge was planned in the 1970s, Caltrans conducted extensive environmental research on the aquatic and terrestrial environment. Principal concerns of the public were air pollution and noise pollution impacts, particularly in some residential areas of Menlo Park and East Palo Alto. Studies were conducted to produce contour maps of projected sound levels and carbon monoxide concentrations throughout the western approaches, for each alternative connection scheme.",
"title": "Environmental factors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The area around the bridge is an important ecological area, hosting many species of birds, fish and mammals. The endangered species California clapper rail is known to be present in the western bridge terminus area.",
"title": "Environmental factors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Near the bridge on the Peninsula are Menlo Park's Bayfront Park, East Palo Alto's Ravenswood Open Space Preserve, and the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve. An accessible portion of the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge lies immediately north of the western bridge terminus, where the Ravenswood trail runs.",
"title": "Environmental factors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "On both sides of the east end of the bridge are large salt ponds and levee trails belonging to the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The headquarters and visitor center for the refuge is on a hill south of the bridge approach. North of the east end of the bridge is Coyote Hills Regional Park, with its network of trails running over tall hills. North of that is the Alameda Creek Regional Trail from the Bay to Niles Canyon. East of Coyote Hills is Ardenwood Historic Farm, a restored working farm that preserves and displays turn-of-the-century farming methods",
"title": "Environmental factors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Tolls are only collected from westbound traffic at the toll plaza on the east side of the bay. All-electronic tolling has been in effect since 2020, and drivers may either pay using the FasTrak electronic toll collection device, using the license plate tolling program, or via a one time payment online. Effective January 1, 2022 – December 31, 2024 (2022-01-01 – 2024-12-31), the toll rate for passenger cars is $7. During peak traffic hours, carpool vehicles carrying three or more people, clean air vehicles, or motorcycles may pay a discounted toll of $3.50 if they have FasTrak and use the designated carpool lane. Drivers must pay within 48 hours after crossing the bridge or they will be sent a toll violation invoice. No additional fees will be added to the toll violation if it is paid within 21 days.",
"title": "Tolls"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Prior to 1969, tolls on the Dumbarton Bridge were collected in both directions. When it opened, the original 1927 span had a toll of $0.40 per car plus $0.05 per passenger. In 1959, tolls were set to $0.35 per car. It was raised to $0.70 in 1969, then $0.75 in 1976. The toll per car remained at $0.75 when the replacement bridge opened in the 1980s.",
"title": "Tolls"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The basic toll (for automobiles) on the seven state-owned bridges, including the Dumbarton Bridge, was raised to $1 by Regional Measure 1, approved by Bay Area voters in 1988. A $1 seismic retrofit surcharge was added in 1998 by the state legislature, originally for eight years, but since then extended to December 2037 (AB1171, October 2001). On March 2, 2004, voters approved Regional Measure 2, raising the toll by another dollar to a total of $3. An additional dollar was added to the toll starting January 1, 2007, to cover cost overruns concerning the replacement of the eastern span.",
"title": "Tolls"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, a regional transportation agency, in its capacity as the Bay Area Toll Authority, administers RM1 and RM2 funds, a significant portion of which are allocated to public transit capital improvements and operating subsidies in the transportation corridors served by the bridges. Caltrans administers the \"second dollar\" seismic surcharge, and receives some of the MTC-administered funds to perform other maintenance work on the bridges. The Bay Area Toll Authority is made up of appointed officials put in place by various city and county governments, and is not subject to direct voter oversight.",
"title": "Tolls"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Due to further funding shortages for seismic retrofit projects, the Bay Area Toll Authority again raised tolls on all seven of the state-owned bridges in July 2010. The toll rate for autos on the Dumbarton Bridge was thus increased to $5.",
"title": "Tolls"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In June 2018, Bay Area voters approved Regional Measure 3 to further raise the tolls on all seven of the state-owned bridges to fund $4.5 billion worth of transportation improvements in the area. Under the passed measure, the toll rate for autos on the Dumbarton Bridge was increased to $6 on January 1, 2019 and to $7 on January 1, 2022, and the toll rate will increase again to $8 on January 1, 2025.",
"title": "Tolls"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "In September 2019, the MTC approved a $4 million plan to eliminate toll takers and convert all seven of the state-owned bridges to all-electronic tolling, citing that 80 percent of drivers are now using Fastrak and the change would improve traffic flow. On March 20, 2020, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, all-electronic tolling was placed in effect for all seven state-owned toll bridges. The MTC then installed new systems at all seven bridges to make them permanently cashless by the start of 2021. In April 2022, the Bay Area Toll Authority announced plans to remove all remaining unused toll booths and create an open-road tolling system which functions at highway speeds.",
"title": "Tolls"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Just to the south of the car bridge lies the Dumbarton Rail Bridge. Built in 1910, the rail bridge has been unused since 1982 and its western approach collapsed in a fire in 1998. When the bridge was in use, boaters would signal the operator, who would start a diesel engine and rotate the bridge to the open position on a large gear. The bridge is now left in the open position as shown. There are plans for a new rail bridge and rehabilitation of the rail line to serve a commuter rail service to connect Union City, Fremont, and Newark to various Peninsula destinations. A successful March 2004 regional transportation ballot measure included funding to rehabilitate the rail bridge for the commuter rail service, but in October 2008 the Metropolitan Transportation Commission transferred $91 million from this project to the BART Warm Springs extension in Fremont.",
"title": "Dumbarton Rail Bridge"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Between the Dumbarton Bridge and the Dumbarton Rail Bridge is the Bay crossing of the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct. The aqueduct rises above ground in Newark at the east side of the Bay, falls below the water's surface at a pump station in Fremont, re-emerges in the middle of the Bay and then continues above water until it reaches the west side of the Bay at Menlo Park.",
"title": "Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "A scene of the 1971 movie Harold and Maude was filmed at the original toll plaza and showed Maude speeding and disobeying a police officer.",
"title": "In popular culture"
}
] | The Dumbarton Bridge is the southernmost of the highway bridges across San Francisco Bay in California. Carrying over 70,000 vehicles and about 118 pedestrian and bicycle crossings daily, it is the shortest bridge across San Francisco Bay at 1.63 miles. Its eastern end is in Fremont, near Newark in the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and its western end is in Menlo Park. Bridging State Route 84 across the bay, it has three lanes each way and a separated bike/pedestrian lane along its south side. Like the San Mateo Bridge to the north, power lines parallel the bridge. | 2001-05-19T15:22:31Z | 2023-12-03T03:44:22Z | [
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8,118 | Dock (disambiguation) | A dock is infrastructure used for berthing watercraft.
Dock or DOCK may also refer to: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A dock is infrastructure used for berthing watercraft.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Dock or DOCK may also refer to:",
"title": ""
}
] | A dock is infrastructure used for berthing watercraft. Dock or DOCK may also refer to: | 2022-03-31T22:53:55Z | [
"Template:Wiktionary",
"Template:TOC right",
"Template:Disambiguation"
] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dock_(disambiguation) |
|
8,121 | Dallas Cowboys | The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team is headquartered in Frisco, Texas, and has played its home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, since its opening in 2009. The stadium took its current name prior to the 2013 season. In January 2020, Mike McCarthy was hired as head coach of the Cowboys. He is the ninth in the team's history. McCarthy follows Jason Garrett, who coached the team from 2010 to 2019.
The Cowboys joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1960. The team's national following might best be represented by its NFL record of consecutive sell-outs. The Cowboys' streak of 190 consecutive sold-out regular and post-season games (home and away) began in 2002. The franchise has made it to the Super Bowl eight times, tying it with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos for second-most Super Bowl appearances in history behind the New England Patriots' record 11 appearances. The Cowboys have won eight NFC championships, the most in the conference's history. The Cowboys are the only NFL team to record 20 straight winning seasons (from 1966 to 1985) during which they missed the playoffs only twice (1974 and 1984).
In 2015, the Dallas Cowboys became the first sports team to be valued at $4 billion, making it the most valuable sports team in the world, according to Forbes. The Cowboys also generated $620 million in revenue in 2014, a record for a U.S. sports team. In 2018, they also became the first NFL franchise to be valued at $5 billion and making Forbes' list as the most valued NFL team for the 12th straight year.
Prior to the formation of the Dallas Cowboys, there had not been an NFL team south of Washington, D.C. since the Dallas Texans folded in 1952 after only one season. Two businessmen had tried and failed to get Dallas a team in the NFL: Lamar Hunt responded by forming the American Football League with a group of owners, which would spur the NFL to expand beyond twelve teams. Oilman Clint Murchison Jr. persisted with his intent to bring a team to Dallas, but George Preston Marshall, owner of the Washington Redskins, had a monopoly in the South (after the addition of Dallas, the South would see three further teams - NFL teams in Atlanta and New Orleans, and an AFL team in Miami - added in the next six years).
Murchison had tried to purchase the Washington Redskins (now Commanders) from Marshall in 1958 with the intent of moving them to Dallas. An agreement was struck, but as the deal was about to be finalized, Marshall called for a change in terms, which infuriated Murchison, and he called off the deal. Marshall then opposed any franchise for Murchison in Dallas. Since NFL expansion needed unanimous approval from team owners at that time, Marshall's position would prevent Murchison from joining the league.
Marshall had a falling out with the Redskins band leader Barnee Breeskin, who had written the music to the Redskins fight song "Hail to the Redskins", and Marshall's wife had penned the lyrics. Breeskin owned the rights to the song and was aware of Murchison's plight to get an NFL franchise. Angry with Marshall, Breeskin approached Murchison's attorney to sell him the rights to the song before the expansion vote in 1959: Murchison subsequently purchased "Hail to the Redskins" for $2,500.
Before the vote to award franchises in 1959, Murchison revealed to Marshall that he now owned the song, and barred Marshall from playing it during games. After Marshall launched an expletive-laced tirade, Murchison sold the rights to "Hail to the Redskins" back to Marshall in exchange for his vote, the lone one against Murchison getting a franchise at that time, and a rivalry was born. Murchison hired CBS Sports executive and former Los Angeles Rams general manager Tex Schramm as team president and general manager, San Francisco 49ers scout Gil Brandt as head of player personnel, and New York Giants defensive coordinator Tom Landry as head coach, thus forming a triumvirate that would lead the Cowboys' football operations for three decades.
Like most expansion teams, the Cowboys struggled at first. They failed to win a game in their inaugural season. However, Landry slowly brought the team to respectability. In 1965, they finally got to .500. They broke all the way through a year later, winning consecutive Eastern Conference titles in 1966 and 1967. However, they lost the NFL Championship Game each time to the Green Bay Packers with the second loss coming in the 1967 Ice Bowl. They would win consecutive division titles in 1968 and 1969 when the NFL adopted a divisional format, but were defeated in the playoffs both years by the Cleveland Browns.
From 1970 through 1979, the Cowboys won 105 regular season games, more than any other NFL franchise during that time span. In addition, they appeared in five Super Bowls, winning two (1971 and 1977).
Led by quarterback Craig Morton, the Cowboys had a 10–4 season in 1970. They defeated Detroit 5–0 in the lowest-scoring playoff game in NFL history and then defeated San Francisco 17–10 in the first-ever NFC Championship Game to qualify for their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, a mistake-filled Super Bowl V, where they lost 16–13 to the Baltimore Colts courtesy of a field goal by Colts' kicker Jim O'Brien with five seconds remaining in the contest. Despite the loss, linebacker Chuck Howley was named the Super Bowl MVP, the first and only time in Super Bowl history that the game's MVP did not come from the winning team.
The Cowboys moved from the Cotton Bowl to Texas Stadium in week six of the 1971 season. Landry named Staubach as the permanent starting quarterback to start the second half of the season, and Dallas was off and running. The Cowboys won their last seven regular season games (finishing 11–3) before dispatching the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs to return to the Super Bowl. In Super Bowl VI, behind an MVP performance from Staubach and a then Super Bowl record 252 yards rushing, the Cowboys crushed the upstart Miami Dolphins, 24–3, to finally bury the "Next Year's Champions" stigma.
After missing the playoffs in 1974, the team drafted well the following year, adding defensive lineman Randy White (a future Hall of Fame member) and linebacker Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson. The fresh influx of talent helped the Cowboys back to the playoffs in 1975 as a wild card, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 21–17, in Super Bowl X.
Dallas began the 1977 season 8–0, finishing 12–2. In the postseason, the Cowboys routed the Chicago Bears 37–7 and Minnesota Vikings 23–6 before defeating the Denver Broncos 27–10 in Super Bowl XII in New Orleans. As a testament to Doomsday's dominance in the hard-hitting game, defensive linemen Randy White and Harvey Martin were named co-Super Bowl MVPs, the first and only time multiple players have received the award. Dallas returned to the Super Bowl, following the 1978 season, losing to Pittsburgh 35–31. Bob Ryan, an NFL Films editor, dubbed the Cowboys "America's Team" following the Super Bowl loss, a nickname that has earned derision from non-Cowboys fans but has stuck through both good times and bad. Danny White became the Cowboys' starting quarterback in 1980 after quarterback Roger Staubach retired. Despite going 12–4 in 1980, the Cowboys came into the playoffs as a Wild Card team. In the opening round of the 1980–81 NFL playoffs they avenged their elimination from the prior year's playoffs by defeating the Rams. In the Divisional Round they squeaked by the Atlanta Falcons 30–27. For the NFC Championship they were pitted against division rival Philadelphia Eagles, the team that won the division during the regular season. The Eagles captured their first conference championship and Super Bowl berth by winning 20–7.
1981 brought another division championship for the Cowboys. They entered the 1981–82 NFL playoffs as the number 2 seed. Their first postseason saw them blow out Tampa Bay in a 38–0 shutout. The Cowboys then advanced to the NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers, the number 1 seed. Despite having a late 4th quarter 27–21 lead, they would lose to the 49ers 28–27. 49ers quarterback Joe Montana led his team on an 89-yard game-winning touchdown drive, connecting with Dwight Clark in a play known as The Catch.
The 1982 season was shortened after a player strike. With a 6–3 record Dallas made it to the playoffs for the 8th consecutive season. As the number 2 seed for the 1982–83 NFL playoffs they eliminated the Buccaneers 30–17 in the Wild Card round and dispatched the Packers 37–26 in the Divisional round to advance to their 3rd consecutive Conference championship game. However, the third time was not the charm for the Cowboys as they fell 31–17 to their division rival and eventual Super Bowl XVII champions, the Washington Redskins.
Although it was not apparent at the time, the loss in the 1982 NFC title game marked the end of an era. For the 1983 season the Cowboys went 12–4 and made it once again to the playoffs but were upset at home in the Wild Card by the Rams 24–17. However, 1983 was a missed opportunity as prior to their playoff defeat, the Cowboys had a chance to clinch the NFC East and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs against Washington in the penultimate week of the regular season, but were defeated soundly 31–10 at home, and conceded control of the division to the Redskins in which they would not relinquish a week later. Prior to the 1984 season, Murchison sold the Cowboys to another Texas oil magnate, H.R. "Bum" Bright and his ten partners. Dallas posted a 9–7 record that season but missed the playoffs for the first time in 10 seasons and only the second time in 18 years. After going 10–6 in 1985 and winning a division title, the Cowboys were shut out 20–0 by the Rams in the Divisional round in Los Angeles.
Hard times came for the organization as they went 7–9 in 1986, 7–8 in 1987, and 3–13 in 1988. During this time period, Bright became disenchanted with the team. During an embarrassing home loss to Atlanta in 1987, Bright told the media that he was "horrified" at Landry's play calling. During the savings and loan crisis, Bright's savings and loan was taken over by the FSLIC. With most of the rest of his money tied up in the Cowboys, Bright was forced to sell the team to Jerry Jones on February 25, 1989, for $150 million.
Jones immediately fired Tom Landry, the only head coach in franchise history, replacing him with University of Miami head coach Jimmy Johnson, who was also Jones' teammate at the University of Arkansas as a fellow defensive lineman. The hiring of Johnson also reunited Johnson with second-year wide receiver Michael Irvin, who had played collegiately at Miami. With the first pick in the draft, the Cowboys selected UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman. Later that same year, they would trade veteran running back Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for five veteran players and eight draft choices. Although the Cowboys finished the 1989 season with a 1–15 record, their worst in almost 30 years, "The Trade" later allowed Dallas to draft a number of impact players to rebuild the team.
Johnson quickly returned the Cowboys to the NFL's elite. Skillful drafts added fullback Daryl Johnston and center Mark Stepnoski in 1989, running back Emmitt Smith in 1990, defensive tackle Russell Maryland and offensive tackle Erik Williams in 1991, and safety Darren Woodson in 1992. The young talent joined holdovers from the Landry era such as wide receiver Michael Irvin, guard Nate Newton, linebacker Ken Norton Jr., and offensive lineman Mark Tuinei, defensive lineman Jim Jeffcoat, and veteran pickups such as tight end Jay Novacek and defensive end Charles Haley.
Things started to look up for the franchise in 1990. On Week 1 Dallas won their first home game since September 1988 when they defeated the San Diego Chargers 17–14. They went 2–7 in their next 9 games but won 4 of their last 6 games to finish the season with a 4th place 7–9 record.
Coming into 1991 the Cowboys replaced offensive coordinator Dave Shula with Norv Turner; the Cowboys raced to a 6–5 start, then defeated the previously unbeaten Redskins despite injury to Troy Aikman. Backup Steve Beuerlein took over and the Cowboys finished 11–5. In the Wild Card round they defeated the Bears 17–13 for the Cowboys' first playoff win since 1982. In the Divisional round their season ended in a 38–6 playoff rout by the Lions.
In 1992 Dallas set a team record for regular-season wins with a 13–3 mark. They started off the season by defeating the defending Super Bowl champion Redskins 23–10. Going into the playoffs as the number 2 seed they had a first-round bye before facing division rival the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys won that game 34–10 to advance to the NFC Conference Championship game for the first time in 10 years. They were pitted against the San Francisco 49ers, the top seed. On January 17, 1993, the Cowboys went to Candlestick Park and defeated the 49ers 30–20 to clinch their first Super Bowl berth since 1978. Dallas defeated the Buffalo Bills 52–17 in Super Bowl XXVII, during which they forced a record nine turnovers. Johnson became the first coach to claim a national championship in college football and a Super Bowl victory in professional football.
Despite starting the 1993 season 0–2, they again defeated the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVIII, 30–13 (becoming the first team in NFL history to win a Super Bowl after starting 0–2). Dallas finished the regular season 12–4 as the number 1 seed of the NFC. They defeated the Green Bay Packers 27–17 in the divisional round. In the NFC Conference Championship, Dallas beat the 49ers in Dallas, 38–21. Dallas sent a then-NFL record 11 players to the Pro Bowl in 1993: Aikman, safety Thomas Everett, Irvin, Johnston, Maryland, Newton, Norton, Novacek, Smith, Stepnoski, and Williams.
Only weeks after Super Bowl XXVIII, however, friction between Johnson and Jones culminated in Johnson stunning the football world by announcing his resignation. Jones then hired former University of Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer to replace Johnson. The Cowboys finished 12–4 in 1994. They once again clinched a first-round bye and defeated Green Bay 35–9 in the Divisional Round. They missed the Super Bowl, however, after losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, 38–28.
Prior to the start of 1995 season Jerry Jones lured All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders away from San Francisco. Dallas started the season 4–0 including shutting out their division rival New York Giants 35–0 at Giants Stadium to open their season. Emmitt Smith set an NFL record with 25 rushing touchdowns that season. They ended the season 12–4 and went into the playoffs as the number 1 seed. In the Divisional round, they dispatched their division rival Eagles 30–11 to advance to their 4th consecutive NFC Conference Championship Game, in which they defeated Green Bay, 38–27. In Super Bowl XXX the Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27–17 at Sun Devil Stadium for their fifth Super Bowl championship. Switzer joined Johnson as the only coaches to win a college football national championship and a Super Bowl.
The glory days of the Cowboys were again beginning to dim as free agency, age, and injuries began taking their toll. Star receiver Michael Irvin was suspended by the league for the first five games of 1996 following a drug-related arrest; he came back after the Cowboys started the season 2–3. They finished the regular season with a 10–6 record, won the NFC East title, and entered the playoffs as the number 3 seed in the NFC. They defeated Minnesota 40–15 in the Wild Card round but were eliminated in the Divisional Round of the playoffs 26–17 by the Carolina Panthers.
The Cowboys went 6–10 in 1997, losing the last six consecutive games of the season, with discipline and off-field problems becoming major distractions. As a result, Switzer resigned as head coach in January 1998 and former Steelers offensive coordinator Chan Gailey was hired to take his place.
Gailey led the team to two playoff appearances with a 10–6 record in 1998 and an NFC East championship, the Cowboys' sixth in seven years, but the Cowboys were upset at home in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs by the Arizona Cardinals 20–7.
In 1999 Dallas went 8–8 in a season that featured Irvin suffering a career-ending cervical spine injury in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at Veterans Stadium. The season ended in a 27-10 Wild Card playoff loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Gailey was fired and became the first Cowboys coach who did not take the team to a Super Bowl.
Defensive coordinator Dave Campo was promoted to head coach for the 2000 season. Prior to the season starting cornerback Deion Sanders was released after 5 seasons with the team. He later signed with division rival Washington. In Week 1, they were blown out 41–14 by Philadelphia. That game was very costly when veteran quarterback Troy Aikman suffered a serious concussion which ultimately ended his career. Longtime NFL QB Randall Cunningham filled in for Aikman for the rest of the season at QB. The Cowboys finished the season in 4th place with a 5–11 record. The only highlights of 2000 were Emmitt Smith having his 10th consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season and a season sweep over the Redskins.
2001 was another hard year in Dallas. Prior to the season starting Aikman was released from the team and he retired due to the concussions he had received. Jerry Jones signed Tony Banks as a QB. Banks had been a starter for half of the season the previous year for the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens before being benched. Jones also drafted QB Quincy Carter in the second round of that year's draft, and Banks was released during the preseason. Ryan Leaf, Anthony Wright, and Clint Stoerner all competed for the quarterback position that season. Dallas again finished at 5–11, last place in the NFC East, but they swept the Redskins for the 4th consecutive season.
Prior to the 2002 season Dallas drafted safety Roy Williams with the 8th overall pick. The season started out low as the Cowboys lost to the expansion Houston Texans 19–10 in Week 1. By far the highlight of 2002 was on October 28, when during a home game against the Seattle Seahawks, Emmitt Smith broke the all-time NFL rushing record previously held by Walter Payton. Their Thanksgiving Day win over the Redskins was their 10th consecutive win against the Washington Redskins. However, that was their final 2002 win as the team lost their next four games to finish with another last-place 5–11 record. The losing streak was punctuated with a Week 17 20–14 loss against the Redskins. That game was Smith's last game as a Cowboys player; he was released during the offseason. Campo was immediately fired as head coach at the conclusion of the season.
Jones then lured Bill Parcells out of retirement to coach the Cowboys. The Cowboys became the surprise team of the 2003 season getting off to a hot 7–2 start, but went 3–4 for the rest of the season. They were able to grab the second NFC wild-card spot with a 10–6 record but lost in the Wild Card round to eventual conference champion Carolina Panthers, 29–10.
In 2004 Dallas was unable to replicate their 2003 success and ended 6–10. Quincy Carter was released during the preseason and was replaced at QB by Vinny Testaverde.
Dallas got off to a great 7–3 start for the 2005 season but ended up only in 3rd place with a 9–7 record. Prior to the beginning of that season, they signed veteran Drew Bledsoe as starting quarterback.
2006 was an interesting year for the Cowboys. Prior to the season, they signed free agent wide receiver Terrell Owens who was talented yet controversial. The Cowboys started the season 3–2. During a week 7 matchup against the Giants, Bledsoe, who had been struggling since the start of the season, was pulled from the game and was replaced by backup Tony Romo Romo was unable to salvage that game and Dallas lost 38–22. However, Romo was named the starter for the team and went 5–1 in his first 6 games. Dallas ended the season with a 9–7 2nd-place finish. They were able to clinch the number 5 playoff seed. They traveled to play Seattle where the Seahawks won 21–20. After the season Parcells retired and was replaced by Wade Phillips.
Dallas started the 2007 season with a bang, winning their first five games. They won 12 of their first 13 games, with their only loss during that span being to New England, who went undefeated that season. Despite dropping two of their last three regular-season games, the Cowboys clinched their first number 1 NFC seed in 12 years, which also granted them a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. They lost in the divisional round 21–17 to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants.
In the tumultuous 2008 season, the Cowboys started off strong, going 3–0 for the second straight year, en route to a 4–1 start. However, things soon went downhill from there, after quarterback Tony Romo suffered a broken pinkie in an overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals. With Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger playing as backups, Dallas went 1–2 during a three-game stretch. Romo's return showed promise, as Dallas went 3–0. However, injuries mounted during the season, with the team losing several starters for the year, such as Kyle Kosier, Felix Jones, safety Roy Williams, punter Mat McBriar, and several other starters playing with injuries. Entering December, the 8–4 Cowboys underperformed, finishing 1–3. They failed to make the playoffs after losing at Philadelphia in the final regular-season game which saw the Eagles reach the playoffs instead.
On May 2, 2009, the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility collapsed during a wind storm. The collapse left twelve Cowboys players and coaches injured. The most serious injuries were special teams coach Joe DeCamillis, who suffered fractured cervical vertebrae and had surgery to stabilize fractured vertebrae in his neck, and Rich Behm, the team's 33-year-old scouting assistant, who was permanently paralyzed from the waist down after his spine was severed.
The 2009 season started positively with a road win against Tampa Bay, but fortunes quickly changed as Dallas fell to a 2–2 start. In week five, with starting wide receiver Roy Williams sidelined by injury, receiver Miles Austin got his first start of the season and had a record-setting day (250 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns) to help lead Dallas to an overtime win over Kansas City. Following their bye week, they went on a three-game winning streak including wins over Atlanta and NFC East division rival Philadelphia. Despite entering December with a record of 8–3, they lost their slim grip on 1st place in the division with losses to the New York Giants and San Diego. Talks of past December collapses resurfaced, and another collapse in 2009 seemed validated. However, the team surged in the final three weeks of the season with a 24–17 victory at the Superdome, ending New Orleans' previously unbeaten season in week 15. For the first time in franchise history, they posted back-to-back shutouts when they beat division rivals Washington (17–0) and Philadelphia (24–0) to end the season. In the process, the Cowboys clinched their second NFC East title in three years as well as the third seed in the NFC Playoffs. Six days later, in the wild-card round of the playoffs, Dallas played the Eagles in a rematch of week 17. The Cowboys defeated the Eagles for the first Cowboys post-season win since the 1996 season, ending a streak of six consecutive NFL post-season losses. However, their playoff run ended after being routed 34–3 in the Divisional Round against the Minnesota Vikings.
After beginning the 2010 season at 1–7, Phillips was fired as head coach and was replaced by offensive coordinator Jason Garrett as the interim head coach. The Cowboys finished the season 6–10. To start the 2011 season the Cowboys played the Jets on a Sunday night primetime game in New York, on September 11. The Cowboys held the lead through most of the game, until a fumble, blocked punt, and interception led to the Jets coming back to win the game. In week 2 the Cowboys traveled to San Francisco to play the 49ers. In the middle of the 2nd quarter, while the Cowboys trailed 10–7, Tony Romo suffered a rib injury and was replaced by Jon Kitna. Kitna threw 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions until Romo returned in the 3rd quarter as Dallas trailed 17–7. Romo then threw 3 touchdown passes to Miles Austin as the Cowboys rallied to send the game into overtime. On their opening possession after a 49ers punt, Romo found wide receiver Jesse Holley on a 78-yard pass, which set up the game-winning field goal by rookie kicker Dan Bailey.
The Cowboys ended the season 8–8. They were in a position to win the NFC East but lost to the Giants in a Week 17 primetime Sunday Night game on NBC which allowed the Giants to win the division. The Giants would go on to win Super Bowl XLVI. The Cowboys started off the 2012 season on a high note by defeating the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants 24–17 on the opening night of the season. They would hover around the .500 mark for the majority of the season. They lost a close Week 6 game to eventual Super Bowl XLVII champion Baltimore Ravens 31–29 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Going into Week 17 they found themselves once again one win away from winning the division. Standing in their way were the Washington Redskins, who had beaten them on Thanksgiving at AT&T Stadium and who were one win away from their first division title since 1999. Led by Robert Griffin III the Redskins defeated the Cowboys at home 28–18. Dallas once again finished the season 8–8.
In the 2013 season the Cowboys started off by defeating the New York Giants for the second straight year; this time 36–31. It was the first time since AT&T Stadium had opened back in 2009 that the Cowboys were able to defeat the Giants at home. The win was punctuated by Brandon Carr intercepting an Eli Manning pass for a touchdown late in the 4th quarter. For the third straight year, Dallas once again found itself stuck in the .500 area. In Week 5, they lost a shootout to the eventual AFC Champion Denver Broncos 51–48. They battled it out with the Philadelphia Eagles for control of the division throughout the season. In December however they lost 2 crucial back-to-back games to Chicago and Green Bay. They were very successful in division games having a 5–0 division record heading into another Week 17 showdown for the NFC East crown against the Eagles. That included beating Washington 24–23 on Week 16 thanks to the late-game heroics of Tony Romo. However, Romo received a severe back injury in that game which prematurely ended his season. The Cowboys called upon backup quarterback Kyle Orton to lead them into battle on the final week of the season. Orton was unsuccessful who threw a game-ending interception to the Eagles which allowed the Eagles to win 24–22. Dallas ended the year at 8–8 for the third year in a row. The two differences from this 8–8 ending compared to the others was that Dallas ended the season in second place compared to the 2 previous 3rd-place finishes, along with their season-ending defeat taking place at home instead of on the road.
To start off the 2014 season Dallas began by losing to San Francisco 28–17. After that, they went on a 6-game winning streak. The highlight of this streak was defeating the Seahawks at CenturyLink Field 30–23. In Week 8, the Redskins won in overtime 20–17, and Romo injured his back again. He missed next week, a home loss to the Arizona Cardinals 28–17 with backup QB Brandon Weeden. Romo returned in Week 9 to lead a 31–17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, which was played at Wembley Stadium in London, England as part of the NFL International Series.
Dallas played their traditional Thanksgiving home game against division rival Philadelphia. Both teams were vying for first place in the division with identical 8–3 records. The Eagles got off to a fast start and the Cowboys were unable to catch up, losing 33–10. They would rebound the next week when they defeated Chicago 41–28. Week 15 was a rematch against 1st place Philadelphia. This time it was the Cowboys who got off to a fast start going up 21–0. Then the Eagles put up 24 points but Dallas came back to win 38–27 to go into first place for the first time in the season and improve to 10–4. Going into their Week 16 matchup at home against Indianapolis, Dallas was in a position to clinch their first division title since 2009 by defeating the Colts 42-7 and the Eagles losing that week to the Redskins. They became the 2014 NFC East Champions, eliminating the Eagles from the playoffs. Dallas ended the regular season with a 12–4 record and an 8–0 away record when they won on the road against Washington 44–17.
On January 4, 2015, the Cowboys, as the number 3 seed, hosted the number 6 seed Detroit Lions in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs. In the game, the Lions got off to a hot start, going up 14–0 in the first quarter. Dallas initially struggled on both sides of the ball. However, towards the end of the second quarter, Romo threw a 76-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Williams. Matt Prater of the Lions would kick a field goal before halftime to go up 17–7. Dallas came out swinging to start the second half by picking off Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford on the first play of the third quarter. However, the Cowboys failed to capitalize on the turnover, as Dan Bailey missed a field goal during Dallas's ensuing drive. Detroit then kicked another field goal to make the score 20–7. A DeMarco Murray touchdown later in that quarter closed the gap to 20–14. A 51-yard Bailey field goal almost 3 minutes into the fourth quarter trimmed the Cowboys' deficit to 3. The Lions got the ball back and started driving down the field. On 3rd down-and-1 of that Lions drive, Stafford threw a 17-yard pass intended for Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew, but the ball hit Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens in the back a fraction of a second before he ran into Pettigrew. The play was initially flagged as defensive pass interference against Hitchens. However, the penalty was then nullified by the officiating crew. The Cowboys got the ball back on their 41-yard line and had a successful 59-yard drive which was capped off by an 8-yard touchdown pass from Romo to Williams to give the Cowboys their first lead of the game at 24–20. The Lions got the ball back with less than 2:30 to play in regulation. Stafford fumbled the ball at the 2-minute mark. The fumble was recovered by Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, who then fumbled the ball which was recovered by the Lions. Lawrence would redeem himself by sacking Stafford on a 4th down-and-3 play. The sack led to Stafford fumbling the ball again, which Lawrence recovered to seal the game for the Cowboys, who won 24–20. This was the first time in franchise playoff history that Dallas had been down by 10 or more points at halftime and rallied to win the game.
The following week, the Cowboys traveled to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin to play the Packers in the divisional round. Despite having a 14–7 halftime lead, the Cowboys fell to the Packers 26–21, thus ending their season. The season ended on an overturned call of a completed catch by Dez Bryant. The catch was challenged by the Packers, and the referees overturned the call because of the "Calvin Johnson rule."
During the 2015 offseason the Cowboys allowed running back DeMarco Murray to become a free agent. Murray signed with the division rival Philadelphia Eagles. On July 15 wide receiver Dez Bryant signed a 5-year, $70 million contract.
At home against the New York Giants, Dallas won 27–26. Dez Bryant left the game early with a fractured bone in his foot. On the road against the Philadelphia Eagles, Romo suffered a broken left collarbone, the same one he injured in 2010, and Brandon Weeden replaced him. Dallas won 20–10 to begin the season 2–0, but then went on a seven-game losing streak. They finished the season 4–12 and last in their division.
After a preseason injury to Tony Romo, rookie quarterback Dak Prescott was slated as the starting quarterback, as Romo was expected to be out 6–8 weeks. In game 1 against the New York Giants, Dallas lost 20–19. After this loss, Dallas would go on an eleven-game winning streak. After much speculation leading to a potential quarterback controversy, Romo made an announcement that Prescott had earned the right to take over as the Cowboys starting quarterback.
In game 10, Romo suited up for the first time in the season and was the backup quarterback. Dallas defeated the Baltimore Ravens to win their 9th straight game, breaking a franchise record of 8 straight games set in 1977. It also marked rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott breaking Tony Dorsett's single-season rushing record for a Cowboys rookie. Prescott also tied an NFL rookie record held by Russell Wilson and Dan Marino by throwing multiple touchdowns in 5 straight games. Dallas finished 13–3, tying their best 16-game regular-season record. While Dallas defeated Green Bay at Lambeau Field in week 6, the Packers would win at AT&T Stadium in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs on a last-second field goal, ending the Cowboys’ season.
Dak Prescott was named NFL Rookie of the Year in the NFL honors on February 4, 2017, and Ezekiel Elliott led the league in rushing yards. Both Prescott and Elliott made the 2017 Pro Bowl. This is the first time the Cowboys sent two rookies to the Pro Bowl.
2017 was the first season since 2002 without quarterback Tony Romo, who retired on April 4 after 14 seasons with the Cowboys. The season also featured second-year running back Ezekiel Elliott being suspended for 6 games after violating the league's conduct policy. The suspension was to begin at the start of the year but was pushed back to November. The Cowboys finished the year at 9-7 without making the playoffs. Following the season, Dez Bryant was released after eight seasons in Dallas and tight end Jason Witten, who holds several franchise receiving records, retired after 15 seasons, ending an era.
The Dallas Cowboys' 2017 season was the subject of the third season of Amazon's sports documentary series All or Nothing. The series is produced by NFL Films.
Following the end of the 2019 season, where the Cowboys missed the playoffs for the 7th time in the last 10 seasons, it was announced that the team had parted ways with longtime head coach Jason Garrett. Both Marvin Lewis (former Bengals coach) and Mike McCarthy (former Packers coach who led Green Bay to a Super Bowl win) were interviewed for the head coaching position.
McCarthy and the Cowboys picked up the first win against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2. On October 11, the Cowboys’ 2020 season was all but lost when quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a grievous ankle injury that ended his season. Despite the loss of Prescott, McCarthy's first year Cowboys still remained in the running for a playoff appearance throughout most of the regular season. They would go on to finish the season with a 6–10 record, which ranked the team third in the NFC East Division. Throughout the 2020 season, the Cowboys’ defense struggled massively. Following the season, defensive coordinator Mike Nolan and defensive line coach Jim Tomsula were dismissed.
On February 16, 2022, a settlement of $2.4 million was paid after four cheerleaders accused Rich Dalrymple, the now-retired senior vice president of public relations and communications, of voyeurism in their locker room as they undressed during a 2015 event at AT&T Stadium.
After the NFL allowed teams to seek blockchain sponsorships, the Cowboys became the first team to do so, signing a multi-year contract with the platform Blockchain.com on April 13, 2022.
In their seventh season in 1966, the Cowboys agreed to host a second NFL Thanksgiving game; the tradition of a team hosting on Thanksgiving had been popularized by the Detroit Lions (who had hosted a game on the day mostly un-interrupted since moving to Detroit in 1934). General manager Tex Schramm wanted to find a way to boost publicity on a national level for his team, which had struggled for most of the 1960s. In fact, the NFL guaranteed a cut of the gate revenue in the belief that the game would not be a hit because of said struggle. With a kickoff just after 5 p.m. CST, over eighty thousand fans (and millions viewing on CBS) saw the Cowboys beat the Cleveland Browns 26–14 at the Cotton Bowl.
In 1975 and 1977, at the behest of Commissioner Pete Rozelle, the St. Louis Cardinals replaced Dallas as a host team. Dallas then hosted St. Louis in 1976 in an effort by the NFL to give St. Louis national exposure. Although the Cardinals, at the time known as the "Cardiac Cards" due to their propensity for winning very close games, were a modest success at the time, the games did not prove as successful. Owing to factors that ranged from ugly contests to opposition from the Kirkwood–Webster Groves Turkey Day Game (a local high school football contest) led to Dallas resuming regular hosting duties in 1978. It was then, after Rozelle asked Dallas to resume hosting Thanksgiving games, that the Cowboys requested (and received) an agreement guaranteeing the Cowboys a spot on Thanksgiving Day for good; as such, the Cowboys play in the late afternoon.
The Dallas Cowboys' blue star logo, which represents Texas as "The Lone Star State," is one of the most well-known team logos in professional sports. The blue star originally was a solid shape until a white line and blue border were added in 1964. The logo has remained the same since. Today, the blue star has been extended to not only the Dallas Cowboys, but owner Jerry Jones' AFL team, the Dallas Desperados that have a similar logo based on that of the Cowboys. The blue star also is used on other entries like an imaging facility and storage facility.
The Dallas Cowboys' white home jersey has royal blue (PMS 287 C) solid socks, numbers, lettering, and two stripes on the sleeves outlined in black. The home pants are a common metallic silver-green color (PMS 8280 C) that helps bring out the blue in the uniform. The navy (PMS 289 C) road jerseys (nicknamed the "Stars and Stripes" jersey) have white lettering and numbers with navy pinstripes. A white/gray/white stripe is on each sleeve as well as the collared V-neck, and a Cowboys star logo is placed upon the stripes. A "Cowboys" chest crest is directly under the NFL shield. The away pants are a pearlish metallic-silver color (PMS 8180 C) and like the home pants, enhance the navy in the uniforms. The team uses a serifed font for the lettered player surnames on the jersey nameplates.
The team's helmets are also a unique silver with a tint of blue known as "Metallic Silver Blue" (PMS 8240 C) and have a blue/white/blue vertical stripe placed upon the center of the crown. The Cowboys also include a unique, if subtle, feature on the back of the helmet: a blue strip of Dymo tape with the player's name embossed, placed on the white portion of the stripe at the back of the helmet.
When the Dallas Cowboys franchise debuted in 1960, the team's uniform included a white helmet adorned with a simple blue star and a blue-white-blue stripe down the center crown. The team donned blue jerseys with white sleeves and a small blue star on each shoulder for home games and the negative opposite for away games. Their socks also had two horizontal white stripes overlapping the blue.
In 1964 the Cowboys opted for a simpler look (adopting essentially the team's current uniform) by changing their jersey/socks to one solid color with three horizontal stripes on the sleeves; the white jersey featured royal blue stripes with a narrow black border, the royal blue jersey white stripes with the same black outline. The star-shouldered jerseys were eliminated; "TV" numbers appeared just above the jersey stripes. The new helmet was silver-blue, with a blue-white-blue tri-stripe down the center (the middle white stripe was thicker). The blue "lone star" logo was retained, but with a white border setting it off from the silver/blue. The new pants were silver/blue, with a blue-white-blue tri-stripe. In 1964 the NFL allowed teams to wear white jerseys at home; several teams did so, and the Cowboys have worn white at home ever since, except on certain "throwback" days.
In 1966, the team modified the jerseys, which now featured only two sleeve stripes, slightly wider; the socks followed the same pattern. In 1967 the "lone star" helmet decal added a blue outline to the white-bordered star, giving the logo a bigger, bolder look. The logo and this version of the uniform have seen little change to the present day.
The only notable changes from 1970 to the present were:
During the 1976 season, the blue-white-blue stripe on the crown of the helmets was temporarily changed to red-white-blue to commemorate the United States' bicentennial anniversary.
In 1994, the NFL celebrated their 75th Anniversary, and the Dallas Cowboys celebrated their back-to-back Super Bowl titles by unveiling a white "Double-Star" jersey on Thanksgiving Day. This jersey was used for special occasions and was worn throughout the 1994–95 playoffs. During the same season, the Cowboys also wore their 1960–63 road jersey with a silver helmet for one game as part of a league-wide "throwback" policy.
During the 1995 season, the team wore the navy "Double-Star" jersey for games at Washington and Philadelphia and permanently switched to solid color socks (royal blue for the white uniform, and navy blue for the dark uniform). The navy "Double-Star" jersey was not seen again until the NFL's Classic Throwback Weekend on Thanksgiving Day 2001–2003.
In 2004, the Cowboys resurrected their original 1960–1963 uniform on Thanksgiving Day. This uniform became the team's alternate or "third jersey" and was usually worn at least once a year, primarily Thanksgiving Day. Two exceptions were when the Cowboys wore their normal white uniforms on Thanksgiving in 2007 and 2008. While the team didn't wear the throwback uniform exactly on Thanksgiving Day in those two years, Dallas wore them on a date around Thanksgiving for those two years. In 2007 Dallas wore the throwback uniform on November 29, 2007, against the Green Bay Packers. In 2008 Dallas wore the throwback uniform on November 23, 2008, against the San Francisco 49ers. The team went back to wearing this uniform at home on Thanksgiving Day in 2009 while their opponent was the Oakland Raiders who wore their AFL Legacy Weekend throwbacks. Dallas wore this alternate uniform on October 11, 2009, as part of one of the NFL's AFL Legacy Weekends when they traveled to Kansas City to play the Chiefs who were sporting their AFL Dallas Texans' uniforms. This created a rare game in which neither team wore a white jersey and the first time the Cowboys wore the alternative uniform as a visiting team. The 1960–1963 uniform may also be used on other special occasions. Other instances include the 2005 Monday Night game against the Washington Redskins when the team inducted Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irving into the Cowboys Ring of Honor, and the 2006 Christmas Day game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
In 2013, the NFL issued a new helmet rule stating that players would no longer be allowed to use alternate helmets due to the league's enhanced concussion awareness. This caused the Cowboys' white 1960s throwback helmets to become non-compliant. However, this rule became moot in 2022 when the NFL once again allowed teams to use an alternate helmet again, and the Cowboys reintroduced the 1960s white helmet.
During the "one-shell era", in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017, the team wore their normal blue jerseys at home for Thanksgiving; the only exceptions were in 2015 and 2020 when the Cowboys wore the "Color Rush" uniforms (see below), and in 2018, 2019 and 2021 when they wore their regular white uniforms. In 2017, the team initially announced that they will wear blue jerseys at home on a more regular basis, only to rescind soon after.
In 2015, the Cowboys released their Color Rush uniform, featuring a variation of the 1990s "Double Star" alternates with white pants and socks. The uniform was first used in a Thanksgiving game against the Carolina Panthers and in subsequent Thursday Night Football games since 2016. In 2022, the "Color Rush" uniforms would be worn with a white helmet; this design would emulate their current silver helmets but without any silver elements.
The Cowboys also unveiled a navy uniform-white pants combination which was first used on December 10, 2017, against the Giants.
In 1964, Tex Schramm started the tradition of the Cowboys wearing their white jersey at home, contrary to an unofficial rule that teams should wear colored jerseys at home. Schramm did this because he wanted fans to see a variety of opponents' colors at home games. According to current Cowboys' Equipment Director, Mike McCord, another reason why the team chose to wear white uniforms at home was because of the intense Texas heat during the early part of the season at Texas Stadium.
Throughout the years, the Cowboys' blue jersey has been popularly viewed to be "jinxed" because the team often seemed to lose when they wore them. This purported curse drew attention after the team lost Super Bowl V with the blue jerseys. However, the roots of the curse likely date back earlier to the 1968 divisional playoffs, when the blue-shirted Cowboys were upset by the Cleveland Browns in what turned out to be Don Meredith's final game with the Cowboys. Another example was a 1976 regular season road game against the St. Louis Cardinals, in which the Cardinals elected to wear white as the home team and promptly defeated the then-undefeated Cowboys 21–17 for their first loss in six games.
Since the white home uniform tradition began in 1964, the only season Dallas never wore blue uniforms in a regular season game was in the 1972 season, even though they wore them thrice in the preseason. The only other times Dallas wore blue in one regular season game came in 1968, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1998, 2010, and 2020. Conversely, the 2019 season saw Dallas wear their blue uniforms eight times, the most of any season.
Since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, league rules were changed to allow the Super Bowl home team to pick their choice of jersey. Most of the time, Dallas will wear their blue jerseys when they visit Washington, Philadelphia (sometimes), Miami, or one of the handful of other teams that traditionally wear their white jerseys at home during the first half of the season due to the hot climates in their respective cities or other means. Occasionally opposing teams will wear their white jerseys at home to try to invoke the curse, such as when the Philadelphia Eagles hosted the Cowboys in the 1980 NFC Championship Game, as well as their November 4, 2007 meeting. Various other teams followed suit in the 1980s.
Although Dallas has made several tweaks to their blue jerseys over the years, Schramm said he did not believe in the curse. Since the league began allowing teams to use an alternate jersey, the Cowboys' alternates have been primarily blue versions of past jerseys and the Cowboys have generally had success when wearing these blue alternates. With the implementation of the 2013 NFL helmet rule for alternate jerseys, the team decided instead to wear their regular blue jerseys for their Thanksgiving game, something they have not done at home since Schramm started the white-jersey-at-home tradition.
As of the 2022 season, the Cowboys have a cumulative 93–100–3 regular season record in their blue uniforms. They are also 12–11 at home while wearing the blue uniforms since 2001. The Cowboys also sport a 6–2 record when wearing the primary blue uniform/white pants combination since its 2017 debut.
The Cowboys are 2–6 in playoff games while wearing the blue uniforms. The only victories with the blue uniforms came in the 1978 NFC Championship Game against the Los Angeles Rams, and the 2022 NFC Wild Card Round against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
With the Dallas Cowboys traditionally hosting Thanksgiving Day games, the team donned new uniforms when they unveiled their white "Double-Star" jersey for the first time on November 24, 1994. This game later became synonymous with future Cowboys Head Coach (2010-2019); then 3rd string Quarterback Jason Garrett as he led a come-from-behind victory against the Green Bay Packers.
In the 2004 season, the team went further into Cowboys history by choosing to don blue jerseys worn in their first 4 years of existence, which included white helmets and pants. However, keeping consistent with modern marketing, navy blue was used for this version as opposed to the original 1960-1963 royal color jersey. Aside from the 2007 and 2008 seasons, the Cowboys continued to use this "throwback" uniform through Thanksgiving Day 2012.
Before the start of the 2013 season, the NFL announced a "One-helmet" rule to help prevent potential player concussions. This regulation also prevented the Cowboys from pairing the white helmets with the throwback uniforms, as the team will often use the traditional silver-blue as their primary helmets throughout the season.
In the 2015 season, the Cowboys chose to wear a variation of the 1994 "Double-Star" jersey as their Color Rush on Thanksgiving Day against the Carolina Panthers on November 26, 2015. Since then, the Color Rush was only used again on Thanksgiving against the Washington Football Team on November 26, 2020. In all other seasons, the team opted to wear their standard white or blue uniforms.
In 2022, the NFL restored the use of alternate helmets and the Cowboys reinstated the white helmet and navy 'throwback" uniforms on November 24, 2022, against the New York Giants.
The Cotton Bowl is a stadium which opened in 1932 and became known as "The House That Doak Built" due to the immense crowds that former SMU running back Doak Walker drew to the stadium during his college career in the late 1940s. Originally known as the Fair Park Bowl, it is located in Fair Park, site of the State Fair of Texas. Concerts or other events using a stage allow the playing field to be used for additional spectators. The Cotton Bowl was the longtime home of the annual Cotton Bowl Classic college football bowl game, for which the stadium is named. (Beginning with the January 2010 game, the Cotton Bowl Classic has been played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.) The Dallas Cowboys called the Cotton Bowl home for 11 years, from the team's formation in 1960 until 1971, when the Cowboys moved to Texas Stadium. It is the only Cowboys stadium within the Dallas city limits. The Cowboys hosted the Green Bay Packers for the 1966 NFL Championship at the Cotton Bowl.
For the majority of the franchise's history the Cowboys played their home games at Texas Stadium. Just outside the city of Dallas, the stadium was located in Irving. The stadium opened on October 24, 1971, at a cost of $35 million and with a seating capacity of 65,675. The stadium was famous for its hole-in-the-roof dome. The roof's worn paint had become so unsightly in the early 2000s that it was repainted in the summer of 2006 by the City of Irving. It was the first time the famed roof was repainted since Texas Stadium opened. The roof was structurally independent from the stadium it covered. The Cowboys lost their final game at Texas Stadium to the Baltimore Ravens, 33–24, on December 20, 2008. After Cowboys Stadium was opened in 2009, the Cowboys turned over the facility to the City of Irving.
In 2009, it was replaced as home of the Cowboys by Cowboys Stadium, which officially opened on May 27, 2009, in Arlington. Texas Stadium was demolished by implosion on April 11, 2010.
AT&T Stadium, previously named Cowboys Stadium, is a domed stadium with a retractable roof in Arlington. After failed negotiations to build a new stadium on the site of the Cotton Bowl, Jerry Jones, along with the city of Arlington, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth, funded the stadium at a cost of $1.3 billion. The stadium is located in Tarrant County, the first time the Cowboys has called a stadium home outside of Dallas County. It was completed on May 29, 2009, and seats 80,000, but is expandable to seat up to 100,000. AT&T Stadium is among the largest domed stadiums in the world.
A highlight of AT&T Stadium is its gigantic, center-hung high-definition television screen, at one point the largest in the world. The 160 by 72 feet (49 by 22 m), 11,520-square-foot (1,070 m) scoreboard surpassed the 8,736 sq ft (812 m) screen that opened in 2009 at the renovated Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City as the world's largest. In 2011, Charlotte Motor Speedway unveiled its plans for a new HDTV screen larger than the one in AT&T Stadium; that larger screen has since been completed.
At the debut pre-season game of Cowboys Stadium, a punt by Tennessee Titans kicker, A. J. Trapasso, hit the 2,100 in. screen above the field. The punt deflected and was ruled in-play until Titans coach Jeff Fisher informed the officials that the punt struck the scoreboard. (Many believe Trapasso was trying to hit the suspended scoreboard, based on replays and the angle of the kick.) The scoreboard is, however, within the regulation of the NFL guidelines – hanging approximately five feet above the minimum height. No punts hit the scoreboard during the entire 2009 regular season during an actual game. Also, on August 22, 2009, the day after AJ Trapasso hit the screen, many fans touring the facility noted that half of the field was removed with large cranes re-positioning the screen. According to some fans, a tour guide explained that Jerry Jones invited a few professional soccer players to drop kick soccer balls to try to hit the screen. Once he observed them hitting it consistently he had the screen moved up another 10 feet.
The first regular season home game of the 2009 season was against the New York Giants. A league record-setting 105,121 fans showed up to fill Cowboys Stadium for the game before which the traditional "blue star" at the 50-yard line was unveiled for the first time; however, the Cowboys lost in the final seconds, 33–31.
The Cowboys got their first regular-season home win on September 28, 2009. They beat the Carolina Panthers 21–7 with 90,588 in attendance. The game was televised on ESPN's Monday Night Football and marked a record 42nd win for the Cowboys on Monday Night Football.
On July 25, 2013, the Cowboys announced that AT&T would be taking over the rights to the name of the stadium.
Dallas Cowboys training camp locations:
Ever since the team joined the NFL in 1960, the franchise have garnered strong fan support in both the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and the state of Texas, the Cowboys are often referred to as "America's Team".
Despite the success of the franchise and a large Cowboys' fanbase, many fans of other NFL teams have come to dislike the Cowboys. Over the past couple of years, the Cowboys' fanbase had been labeled as the most annoying in all of sports. ESPN host and commentator Stephen A. Smith has validated this claim.
The NFC East, composed of the Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, the Washington Commanders and New York Giants, is one of the least-changed divisions of the original six formed in the wake of the NFL-AFL merger (its only major changes being the relocation of the Cardinals franchise from St. Louis to Arizona and its subsequent move to the NFC West in the league's 2002 realignment). Three of the four teams have been division rivals since the Cowboys' entry into the NFL. As such, the Cowboys have some of the longest and fiercest rivalries in the sport.
The Washington Commanders and the Dallas Cowboys enjoy what has been called by Sports Illustrated the top NFL rivalry of all time and "one of the greatest in sports." Some sources trace the enmity to before the Cowboys were even formed, due to a longstanding disagreement between Washington owner George Preston Marshall and Cowboys founder Clint Murchison, Jr. over the creation of a new football team in the South, due to Marshall's TV monopoly in that region. The two teams' storied on-field rivalry goes back to 1960 when the two clubs first played each other, resulting in a 26–14 Washington victory. Since that time, the two teams have met in 116 regular-season contests and two NFC Championships. Dallas leads the regular season all-time series 75–47–2, and Washington leads the all-time playoff series 2–0. The Cowboys currently have a 14–7 advantage over Washington at FedEx Field. Some notable moments in the rivalry include Washington's victory over Dallas in the 1982 NFC Championship and the latter's 1989 win over Washington for their only victory that season. The last Cowboys game with Tom Landry as coach was a win over Washington on December 11, 1988. In the 2010s, Washington has struggled to consistently compete for the Division title, but still play the Cowboys particularly tough, posting an impressive upset victory against Dallas in 2014, despite being outclassed by the Cowboys in the overall standings. The 2010s also included an important game in week 17 of 2012 which saw Washington defeat Dallas 28–18 to win the NFC East.
The competition between the Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles has been particularly intense since the late 1970s, when the long-moribund Eagles returned to contention. In January 1981, the two teams faced off in the NFC Championship, with Philadelphia winning 20–7. A series of other factors heightened tensions during the 1980s and 1990s, including several provocative actions by Philadelphia fans and Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan. Among these were the 1989 Bounty Bowls in which Ryan allegedly placed a bounty on Dallas kicker Luis Zendejas and Veterans Stadium fans pelted the Cowboys with snowballs and other debris.
A 1999 game in Philadelphia saw Eagles fans cheering as Michael Irvin lay motionless on the field at Veterans Stadium. In 2008, the rivalry became more intense when in the last game of the year in which both teams could clinch a playoff spot with a victory, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Cowboys 44–6. The following season, the Cowboys avenged that defeat by beating the Eagles three times: twice during the regular season to claim the title as NFC East champions and once more in a wild-card playoff game by a combined score of 78–30, including a 24–0 shutout in week 17. That three-game sweep was Dallas' first over any opponent and the longest winning streak against the Eagles since 1992–1995 when Dallas won seven straight matches against Philadelphia.
During the 2013 season, Dallas won the first meeting 17–3 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The two teams met again in Week 17 at AT&T Stadium with the winner clinching the 2013 NFC East title. The Cowboys came into the game at a disadvantage with starting quarterback Tony Romo out with a season-ending back injury, which put backup Kyle Orton as the starter. It was a tight game with the Eagles up 24–22 with less than 2 minutes to go in regulation. Orton got the ball and started driving down the field when he was intercepted by the Eagles defense, which ended the game and the Cowboys season. In 2014, the Cowboys and Eagles both won against each other on the road with Philadelphia posting a dominant 33–10 win on Thanksgiving Day in Dallas, and Dallas returning the favor two weeks later by defeating the Eagles 38–27 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The second game between these rivals clinched a playoff spot for Dallas and led to formerly first-place Philadelphia missing out on the post-season. Dallas leads the regular season all-time series 72–50.
The first game ever played between the New York Giants and Cowboys was a 31–31 tie on December 4, 1960. Dallas logged its first win in the series on October 29, 1961, and New York's first was on November 11, 1962. Among the more notable moments in the rivalry was the Giants' defeat of Dallas in the 2007 playoffs en route to their victory in Super Bowl XLII and winning the first regular-season game played at Cowboys Stadium in 2009. Dallas currently leads the all-time series 71–47–2.
The two teams met in the first regular-season game the Cowboys ever played in 1960 (a 35–28 loss to the Steelers), the first-ever regular-season victory for the expansion Cowboys in 1961, and would later meet in three Super Bowls, all of them closely contested events. The Steelers-Cowboys is to date the Super Bowl matchup with the most contests. The Steelers won Super Bowl X and Super Bowl XIII; both games were decided in the final seconds, first on a last-second throw by Roger Staubach, then as a fourth-quarter rally by Dallas fell short on an onside kick. The Cowboys won Super Bowl XXX in January 1996. It is said that the rivalry was fueled in the 1970s due to the stark contrast of the teams: the Cowboys, being more of a "flashy" team with Roger Staubach's aerial attack and the "flex" Doomsday Defense; while the Steelers were more of a "blue-collar" team with a strong running game and the 1970s-esque Steel Curtain defense, a contrast that still exists today. In addition, both teams have national fan bases rivaled by few NFL teams, and both come from areas with a strong following for football at all levels. Dallas leads the all-time series 16–13 including the playoffs.
The bitter rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers has been going on since the 1970s. The NFL Top 10 ranked this rivalry to be the tenth best in the history of the NFL. San Francisco has played Dallas in seven postseason games. The Cowboys defeated the 49ers in the 1970 and 1971 NFC Championship games, and again in the 1972 Divisional Playoff Game. The 1981 NFC Championship Game in San Francisco, which saw the 49ers' Joe Montana complete a game-winning pass to Dwight Clark in the final minute (now known as The Catch) is one of the most famous games in NFL history. The rivalry became even more intense during the 1992–1994 seasons. San Francisco and Dallas faced each other in the NFC Championship Game three separate times. Dallas won the first two match-ups, and San Francisco won the third. In each of these pivotal match-ups, the game's victor went on to win the Super Bowl. Both the Cowboys and the 49ers are tied for third all-time in Super Bowl victories to the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots, with five each. The 49ers-Cowboys rivalry is also part of the larger cultural rivalry between California and Texas. The Cowboys lead the all-time series with a record of 18–17–1.
Between the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings., the Cowboys lead the all-time series 18–15. The teams have met seven times in the post-season, the Cowboys third most played playoff opponent. The rivalry is home to many key memories, including the famous 1975 Hail Mary pass against the Vikings, the Herschel Walker trade, the Randy Moss Thanksgiving game, and Brett Favre torching the Cowboys in what would be his last playoff win of his career in 2009.
The rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers is one of the best known intra-conference rivalries in the NFL. The two teams do not play every year; instead, they play once every three years due to the NFL's rotating division schedules, or if the two teams finish in the same place in their respective divisions, they would play the ensuing season. The rivalry has also resulted in notable playoff games.
The all-time regular seasons series record is 20–17 in favor of the Packers, and the postseason series is tied 4–4.
The Cowboys also had a fierce rivalry with the Los Angeles Rams, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s. The two teams played eight postseason games during this period, including two NFC championship games. Between 1975 and 1980, the Cowboys faced the Rams in the playoffs five times in a six-year period. In both 1975 and 1978, the Cowboys won the NFC championship on the road in blowout fashion, only to be followed by close defeats at home in next year's divisional round. The 1980 Wild Card Round saw Dallas follow up last year's playoff defeat with another blowout victory. As of 2022, the Cowboys and Rams tied the all-time regular season series 18–18, but the Rams lead the all-time playoff series 5–4, having recently defeated the Cowboys in the 2018 Divisional Round.
The Cowboys have an intrastate interconference rivalry with the Houston Texans for which they compete in either a preseason or regular season game for bragging rights in Texas, a tradition started between the teams prior to the Oilers relocating to Nashville, Tennessee to become the Tennessee Titans. The Texans defeated the Cowboys in the team's inaugural season in 2002. The Cowboys lead the all-time series 4–2.
Unlike many NFL teams, the Cowboys do not retire jersey numbers of past standouts as a matter of policy. Instead, the team has a "Ring of Honor", which is on permanent display encircling the field. Originally at Texas Stadium, the ring is now on display at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The first inductee was Bob Lilly in 1975 and by 2005, the ring contained 17 names, all former Dallas players except for one head coach and one general manager/president.
The Ring of Honor has been a source of controversy over the years. Tex Schramm was believed to be a "one-man committee" in choosing inductees and many former Cowboys players and fans felt that Schramm deliberately excluded linebacker Lee Roy Jordan because of a bitter contract dispute the two had during Jordan's playing days. When Jerry Jones bought the team he inherited Schramm's Ring of Honor "power" and immediately inducted Jordan.
Jones also has sparked controversy regarding his decisions in handling the "Ring of Honor". For four years he was unsuccessful in convincing Tom Landry to accept induction. Meanwhile, he refused to induct Tex Schramm (even after Schramm's induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame). In 1993, thanks in part to the efforts of Roger Staubach as an intermediary, Landry accepted induction and had a ceremony on the day of that year's Cowboys-Giants game (Landry had played and coached for the Giants). In 2003, Jones finally chose to induct Tex Schramm. Schramm and Jones held a joint press conference at Texas Stadium announcing the induction. Unfortunately, Schramm did not live to see his ceremonial induction at the Cowboys-Eagles game that fall.
Some of the more recent inductees were Troy Aikman, all-time NFL leading rusher Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin, known as "The Triplets". The Cowboys waited until Smith had retired as a player before inducting Aikman and Irvin, so all three could be inducted together, which occurred during halftime at a Monday Night Football home game against the arch-rival Washington Redskins on September 19, 2005.
Defensive end Charles Haley, offensive lineman Larry Allen, and wide receiver Drew Pearson were inducted into the Ring of Honor during halftime of the Cowboys' game vs. the Seattle Seahawks on November 6, 2011.
Safety Darren Woodson was inducted on November 1, 2015. Executive Gil Brandt was inducted on November 29, 2018.
The most recent inductee is DeMarcus Ware, who was inducted on October 29, 2023.
The Dallas Cowboys do not officially retire jersey numbers. However, some are kept "unofficially inactive". As of 2022, six numbers have been kept out of circulation: Troy Aikman's No. 8, Roger Staubach's No. 12, Bob Hayes' and Emmitt Smith's No. 22, Bob Lilly's No. 74, and Jason Witten's No. 82. These numbers aren't even used in off-season workouts or training camp. Rich Dalrymple the public relations director of the Dallas Cowboys states that the Cowboys are one of the few - if only - NFL teams that have never officially retired jersey numbers.
As of 2010, the Cowboys' flagship radio station is KRLD-FM. Brad Sham is the team's longtime play-by-play voice. Working alongside him is former Cowboy quarterback Babe Laufenberg, who returned in 2007 after a one-year absence to replace former safety Charlie Waters. The Cowboys, who retain rights to all announcers, chose not to renew Laufenberg's contract in 2006 and brought in Waters. However, Laufenberg did work as the analyst on the "Blue Star Network", which televises Cowboys preseason games not shown on national networks. The anchor station is KTVT, the CBS owned and operated station in Dallas. Previous stations which aired Cowboys games included KVIL-FM, KRLD, and KLUV-FM. Kristi Scales is the sideline reporter on the radio broadcasts.
During his tenure as Cowboys coach, Tom Landry co-hosted his own coach's show with late veteran sportscaster Frank Glieber and later with Brad Sham. Landry's show was famous for his analysis of raw game footage and for him and his co-host making their NFL "predictions" at the end of each show. Glieber is one of the original voices of the Cowboys Radio Network, along with Bill Mercer, famous for calling the Ice Bowl of 1967 and both Super Bowl V and VI. Mercer is perhaps best known as the ringside commentator of WCCW in the 1980s. Upon Mercer's departure, Verne Lundquist joined the network, and became their play-by-play announcer by 1977, serving eight years in that capacity before handing those chores permanently over to Brad Sham, who joined the network in 1977 as the color analyst and occasional fill-in for Lundquist.
Longtime WFAA-TV sports anchor Dale Hansen was the Cowboys color analyst with Brad Sham as the play-by-play announcer from 1985 to 1996.
Dave Garrett served as the Cowboys' play-by-play announcer from 1995 to 1997, when Brad Sham left the team and joined the Texas Rangers' radio network team as well as broadcast Sunday Night Football on Westwood One.
Seeking to expand its radio broadcasting scope nationally, the Cowboys began a five-year partnership with Compass Media Networks on February 2, 2011. The result was the America's Team Radio Network, a supplement to the franchise's regional one. Beginning with the 2011 season, Kevin Burkhardt and Danny White handled the broadcasts, with Jerry Recco as the studio host.
The Dallas Cowboys fight song, "Cowboys Stampede March" by Tom Merriman Big Band was the official fight song of the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys used at Texas Stadium 1961 until about the early-mid '90s.
"This little platter came from the personal collection of Tex Schramm, and it seems to be from the dawn of the Dallas Cowboys when he was casting about for a song to associate with the team. Eventually, the song "Cowboy Stampede March" would become THE song associated with the team thru their broadcasts in the '60s thru the '80s." George Gimarc
The Cowboys now play We Dem Boyz by Wiz Khalifa for starting defensive line, because of the saying "How Bout Dem Cowboys." For every touchdown scored by the Cowboys at a home game the song "Cowboys and Cut Cigars" by The Burning of Rome is played after a train horn. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team is headquartered in Frisco, Texas, and has played its home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, since its opening in 2009. The stadium took its current name prior to the 2013 season. In January 2020, Mike McCarthy was hired as head coach of the Cowboys. He is the ninth in the team's history. McCarthy follows Jason Garrett, who coached the team from 2010 to 2019.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The Cowboys joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1960. The team's national following might best be represented by its NFL record of consecutive sell-outs. The Cowboys' streak of 190 consecutive sold-out regular and post-season games (home and away) began in 2002. The franchise has made it to the Super Bowl eight times, tying it with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos for second-most Super Bowl appearances in history behind the New England Patriots' record 11 appearances. The Cowboys have won eight NFC championships, the most in the conference's history. The Cowboys are the only NFL team to record 20 straight winning seasons (from 1966 to 1985) during which they missed the playoffs only twice (1974 and 1984).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In 2015, the Dallas Cowboys became the first sports team to be valued at $4 billion, making it the most valuable sports team in the world, according to Forbes. The Cowboys also generated $620 million in revenue in 2014, a record for a U.S. sports team. In 2018, they also became the first NFL franchise to be valued at $5 billion and making Forbes' list as the most valued NFL team for the 12th straight year.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Prior to the formation of the Dallas Cowboys, there had not been an NFL team south of Washington, D.C. since the Dallas Texans folded in 1952 after only one season. Two businessmen had tried and failed to get Dallas a team in the NFL: Lamar Hunt responded by forming the American Football League with a group of owners, which would spur the NFL to expand beyond twelve teams. Oilman Clint Murchison Jr. persisted with his intent to bring a team to Dallas, but George Preston Marshall, owner of the Washington Redskins, had a monopoly in the South (after the addition of Dallas, the South would see three further teams - NFL teams in Atlanta and New Orleans, and an AFL team in Miami - added in the next six years).",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Murchison had tried to purchase the Washington Redskins (now Commanders) from Marshall in 1958 with the intent of moving them to Dallas. An agreement was struck, but as the deal was about to be finalized, Marshall called for a change in terms, which infuriated Murchison, and he called off the deal. Marshall then opposed any franchise for Murchison in Dallas. Since NFL expansion needed unanimous approval from team owners at that time, Marshall's position would prevent Murchison from joining the league.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Marshall had a falling out with the Redskins band leader Barnee Breeskin, who had written the music to the Redskins fight song \"Hail to the Redskins\", and Marshall's wife had penned the lyrics. Breeskin owned the rights to the song and was aware of Murchison's plight to get an NFL franchise. Angry with Marshall, Breeskin approached Murchison's attorney to sell him the rights to the song before the expansion vote in 1959: Murchison subsequently purchased \"Hail to the Redskins\" for $2,500.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Before the vote to award franchises in 1959, Murchison revealed to Marshall that he now owned the song, and barred Marshall from playing it during games. After Marshall launched an expletive-laced tirade, Murchison sold the rights to \"Hail to the Redskins\" back to Marshall in exchange for his vote, the lone one against Murchison getting a franchise at that time, and a rivalry was born. Murchison hired CBS Sports executive and former Los Angeles Rams general manager Tex Schramm as team president and general manager, San Francisco 49ers scout Gil Brandt as head of player personnel, and New York Giants defensive coordinator Tom Landry as head coach, thus forming a triumvirate that would lead the Cowboys' football operations for three decades.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Like most expansion teams, the Cowboys struggled at first. They failed to win a game in their inaugural season. However, Landry slowly brought the team to respectability. In 1965, they finally got to .500. They broke all the way through a year later, winning consecutive Eastern Conference titles in 1966 and 1967. However, they lost the NFL Championship Game each time to the Green Bay Packers with the second loss coming in the 1967 Ice Bowl. They would win consecutive division titles in 1968 and 1969 when the NFL adopted a divisional format, but were defeated in the playoffs both years by the Cleveland Browns.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "From 1970 through 1979, the Cowboys won 105 regular season games, more than any other NFL franchise during that time span. In addition, they appeared in five Super Bowls, winning two (1971 and 1977).",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Led by quarterback Craig Morton, the Cowboys had a 10–4 season in 1970. They defeated Detroit 5–0 in the lowest-scoring playoff game in NFL history and then defeated San Francisco 17–10 in the first-ever NFC Championship Game to qualify for their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, a mistake-filled Super Bowl V, where they lost 16–13 to the Baltimore Colts courtesy of a field goal by Colts' kicker Jim O'Brien with five seconds remaining in the contest. Despite the loss, linebacker Chuck Howley was named the Super Bowl MVP, the first and only time in Super Bowl history that the game's MVP did not come from the winning team.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The Cowboys moved from the Cotton Bowl to Texas Stadium in week six of the 1971 season. Landry named Staubach as the permanent starting quarterback to start the second half of the season, and Dallas was off and running. The Cowboys won their last seven regular season games (finishing 11–3) before dispatching the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs to return to the Super Bowl. In Super Bowl VI, behind an MVP performance from Staubach and a then Super Bowl record 252 yards rushing, the Cowboys crushed the upstart Miami Dolphins, 24–3, to finally bury the \"Next Year's Champions\" stigma.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "After missing the playoffs in 1974, the team drafted well the following year, adding defensive lineman Randy White (a future Hall of Fame member) and linebacker Thomas \"Hollywood\" Henderson. The fresh influx of talent helped the Cowboys back to the playoffs in 1975 as a wild card, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 21–17, in Super Bowl X.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Dallas began the 1977 season 8–0, finishing 12–2. In the postseason, the Cowboys routed the Chicago Bears 37–7 and Minnesota Vikings 23–6 before defeating the Denver Broncos 27–10 in Super Bowl XII in New Orleans. As a testament to Doomsday's dominance in the hard-hitting game, defensive linemen Randy White and Harvey Martin were named co-Super Bowl MVPs, the first and only time multiple players have received the award. Dallas returned to the Super Bowl, following the 1978 season, losing to Pittsburgh 35–31. Bob Ryan, an NFL Films editor, dubbed the Cowboys \"America's Team\" following the Super Bowl loss, a nickname that has earned derision from non-Cowboys fans but has stuck through both good times and bad. Danny White became the Cowboys' starting quarterback in 1980 after quarterback Roger Staubach retired. Despite going 12–4 in 1980, the Cowboys came into the playoffs as a Wild Card team. In the opening round of the 1980–81 NFL playoffs they avenged their elimination from the prior year's playoffs by defeating the Rams. In the Divisional Round they squeaked by the Atlanta Falcons 30–27. For the NFC Championship they were pitted against division rival Philadelphia Eagles, the team that won the division during the regular season. The Eagles captured their first conference championship and Super Bowl berth by winning 20–7.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "1981 brought another division championship for the Cowboys. They entered the 1981–82 NFL playoffs as the number 2 seed. Their first postseason saw them blow out Tampa Bay in a 38–0 shutout. The Cowboys then advanced to the NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers, the number 1 seed. Despite having a late 4th quarter 27–21 lead, they would lose to the 49ers 28–27. 49ers quarterback Joe Montana led his team on an 89-yard game-winning touchdown drive, connecting with Dwight Clark in a play known as The Catch.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The 1982 season was shortened after a player strike. With a 6–3 record Dallas made it to the playoffs for the 8th consecutive season. As the number 2 seed for the 1982–83 NFL playoffs they eliminated the Buccaneers 30–17 in the Wild Card round and dispatched the Packers 37–26 in the Divisional round to advance to their 3rd consecutive Conference championship game. However, the third time was not the charm for the Cowboys as they fell 31–17 to their division rival and eventual Super Bowl XVII champions, the Washington Redskins.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Although it was not apparent at the time, the loss in the 1982 NFC title game marked the end of an era. For the 1983 season the Cowboys went 12–4 and made it once again to the playoffs but were upset at home in the Wild Card by the Rams 24–17. However, 1983 was a missed opportunity as prior to their playoff defeat, the Cowboys had a chance to clinch the NFC East and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs against Washington in the penultimate week of the regular season, but were defeated soundly 31–10 at home, and conceded control of the division to the Redskins in which they would not relinquish a week later. Prior to the 1984 season, Murchison sold the Cowboys to another Texas oil magnate, H.R. \"Bum\" Bright and his ten partners. Dallas posted a 9–7 record that season but missed the playoffs for the first time in 10 seasons and only the second time in 18 years. After going 10–6 in 1985 and winning a division title, the Cowboys were shut out 20–0 by the Rams in the Divisional round in Los Angeles.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Hard times came for the organization as they went 7–9 in 1986, 7–8 in 1987, and 3–13 in 1988. During this time period, Bright became disenchanted with the team. During an embarrassing home loss to Atlanta in 1987, Bright told the media that he was \"horrified\" at Landry's play calling. During the savings and loan crisis, Bright's savings and loan was taken over by the FSLIC. With most of the rest of his money tied up in the Cowboys, Bright was forced to sell the team to Jerry Jones on February 25, 1989, for $150 million.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Jones immediately fired Tom Landry, the only head coach in franchise history, replacing him with University of Miami head coach Jimmy Johnson, who was also Jones' teammate at the University of Arkansas as a fellow defensive lineman. The hiring of Johnson also reunited Johnson with second-year wide receiver Michael Irvin, who had played collegiately at Miami. With the first pick in the draft, the Cowboys selected UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman. Later that same year, they would trade veteran running back Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for five veteran players and eight draft choices. Although the Cowboys finished the 1989 season with a 1–15 record, their worst in almost 30 years, \"The Trade\" later allowed Dallas to draft a number of impact players to rebuild the team.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Johnson quickly returned the Cowboys to the NFL's elite. Skillful drafts added fullback Daryl Johnston and center Mark Stepnoski in 1989, running back Emmitt Smith in 1990, defensive tackle Russell Maryland and offensive tackle Erik Williams in 1991, and safety Darren Woodson in 1992. The young talent joined holdovers from the Landry era such as wide receiver Michael Irvin, guard Nate Newton, linebacker Ken Norton Jr., and offensive lineman Mark Tuinei, defensive lineman Jim Jeffcoat, and veteran pickups such as tight end Jay Novacek and defensive end Charles Haley.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Things started to look up for the franchise in 1990. On Week 1 Dallas won their first home game since September 1988 when they defeated the San Diego Chargers 17–14. They went 2–7 in their next 9 games but won 4 of their last 6 games to finish the season with a 4th place 7–9 record.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Coming into 1991 the Cowboys replaced offensive coordinator Dave Shula with Norv Turner; the Cowboys raced to a 6–5 start, then defeated the previously unbeaten Redskins despite injury to Troy Aikman. Backup Steve Beuerlein took over and the Cowboys finished 11–5. In the Wild Card round they defeated the Bears 17–13 for the Cowboys' first playoff win since 1982. In the Divisional round their season ended in a 38–6 playoff rout by the Lions.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "In 1992 Dallas set a team record for regular-season wins with a 13–3 mark. They started off the season by defeating the defending Super Bowl champion Redskins 23–10. Going into the playoffs as the number 2 seed they had a first-round bye before facing division rival the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys won that game 34–10 to advance to the NFC Conference Championship game for the first time in 10 years. They were pitted against the San Francisco 49ers, the top seed. On January 17, 1993, the Cowboys went to Candlestick Park and defeated the 49ers 30–20 to clinch their first Super Bowl berth since 1978. Dallas defeated the Buffalo Bills 52–17 in Super Bowl XXVII, during which they forced a record nine turnovers. Johnson became the first coach to claim a national championship in college football and a Super Bowl victory in professional football.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Despite starting the 1993 season 0–2, they again defeated the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVIII, 30–13 (becoming the first team in NFL history to win a Super Bowl after starting 0–2). Dallas finished the regular season 12–4 as the number 1 seed of the NFC. They defeated the Green Bay Packers 27–17 in the divisional round. In the NFC Conference Championship, Dallas beat the 49ers in Dallas, 38–21. Dallas sent a then-NFL record 11 players to the Pro Bowl in 1993: Aikman, safety Thomas Everett, Irvin, Johnston, Maryland, Newton, Norton, Novacek, Smith, Stepnoski, and Williams.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Only weeks after Super Bowl XXVIII, however, friction between Johnson and Jones culminated in Johnson stunning the football world by announcing his resignation. Jones then hired former University of Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer to replace Johnson. The Cowboys finished 12–4 in 1994. They once again clinched a first-round bye and defeated Green Bay 35–9 in the Divisional Round. They missed the Super Bowl, however, after losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, 38–28.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Prior to the start of 1995 season Jerry Jones lured All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders away from San Francisco. Dallas started the season 4–0 including shutting out their division rival New York Giants 35–0 at Giants Stadium to open their season. Emmitt Smith set an NFL record with 25 rushing touchdowns that season. They ended the season 12–4 and went into the playoffs as the number 1 seed. In the Divisional round, they dispatched their division rival Eagles 30–11 to advance to their 4th consecutive NFC Conference Championship Game, in which they defeated Green Bay, 38–27. In Super Bowl XXX the Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27–17 at Sun Devil Stadium for their fifth Super Bowl championship. Switzer joined Johnson as the only coaches to win a college football national championship and a Super Bowl.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The glory days of the Cowboys were again beginning to dim as free agency, age, and injuries began taking their toll. Star receiver Michael Irvin was suspended by the league for the first five games of 1996 following a drug-related arrest; he came back after the Cowboys started the season 2–3. They finished the regular season with a 10–6 record, won the NFC East title, and entered the playoffs as the number 3 seed in the NFC. They defeated Minnesota 40–15 in the Wild Card round but were eliminated in the Divisional Round of the playoffs 26–17 by the Carolina Panthers.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The Cowboys went 6–10 in 1997, losing the last six consecutive games of the season, with discipline and off-field problems becoming major distractions. As a result, Switzer resigned as head coach in January 1998 and former Steelers offensive coordinator Chan Gailey was hired to take his place.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Gailey led the team to two playoff appearances with a 10–6 record in 1998 and an NFC East championship, the Cowboys' sixth in seven years, but the Cowboys were upset at home in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs by the Arizona Cardinals 20–7.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In 1999 Dallas went 8–8 in a season that featured Irvin suffering a career-ending cervical spine injury in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at Veterans Stadium. The season ended in a 27-10 Wild Card playoff loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Gailey was fired and became the first Cowboys coach who did not take the team to a Super Bowl.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Defensive coordinator Dave Campo was promoted to head coach for the 2000 season. Prior to the season starting cornerback Deion Sanders was released after 5 seasons with the team. He later signed with division rival Washington. In Week 1, they were blown out 41–14 by Philadelphia. That game was very costly when veteran quarterback Troy Aikman suffered a serious concussion which ultimately ended his career. Longtime NFL QB Randall Cunningham filled in for Aikman for the rest of the season at QB. The Cowboys finished the season in 4th place with a 5–11 record. The only highlights of 2000 were Emmitt Smith having his 10th consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season and a season sweep over the Redskins.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "2001 was another hard year in Dallas. Prior to the season starting Aikman was released from the team and he retired due to the concussions he had received. Jerry Jones signed Tony Banks as a QB. Banks had been a starter for half of the season the previous year for the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens before being benched. Jones also drafted QB Quincy Carter in the second round of that year's draft, and Banks was released during the preseason. Ryan Leaf, Anthony Wright, and Clint Stoerner all competed for the quarterback position that season. Dallas again finished at 5–11, last place in the NFC East, but they swept the Redskins for the 4th consecutive season.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Prior to the 2002 season Dallas drafted safety Roy Williams with the 8th overall pick. The season started out low as the Cowboys lost to the expansion Houston Texans 19–10 in Week 1. By far the highlight of 2002 was on October 28, when during a home game against the Seattle Seahawks, Emmitt Smith broke the all-time NFL rushing record previously held by Walter Payton. Their Thanksgiving Day win over the Redskins was their 10th consecutive win against the Washington Redskins. However, that was their final 2002 win as the team lost their next four games to finish with another last-place 5–11 record. The losing streak was punctuated with a Week 17 20–14 loss against the Redskins. That game was Smith's last game as a Cowboys player; he was released during the offseason. Campo was immediately fired as head coach at the conclusion of the season.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Jones then lured Bill Parcells out of retirement to coach the Cowboys. The Cowboys became the surprise team of the 2003 season getting off to a hot 7–2 start, but went 3–4 for the rest of the season. They were able to grab the second NFC wild-card spot with a 10–6 record but lost in the Wild Card round to eventual conference champion Carolina Panthers, 29–10.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "In 2004 Dallas was unable to replicate their 2003 success and ended 6–10. Quincy Carter was released during the preseason and was replaced at QB by Vinny Testaverde.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Dallas got off to a great 7–3 start for the 2005 season but ended up only in 3rd place with a 9–7 record. Prior to the beginning of that season, they signed veteran Drew Bledsoe as starting quarterback.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "2006 was an interesting year for the Cowboys. Prior to the season, they signed free agent wide receiver Terrell Owens who was talented yet controversial. The Cowboys started the season 3–2. During a week 7 matchup against the Giants, Bledsoe, who had been struggling since the start of the season, was pulled from the game and was replaced by backup Tony Romo Romo was unable to salvage that game and Dallas lost 38–22. However, Romo was named the starter for the team and went 5–1 in his first 6 games. Dallas ended the season with a 9–7 2nd-place finish. They were able to clinch the number 5 playoff seed. They traveled to play Seattle where the Seahawks won 21–20. After the season Parcells retired and was replaced by Wade Phillips.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Dallas started the 2007 season with a bang, winning their first five games. They won 12 of their first 13 games, with their only loss during that span being to New England, who went undefeated that season. Despite dropping two of their last three regular-season games, the Cowboys clinched their first number 1 NFC seed in 12 years, which also granted them a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. They lost in the divisional round 21–17 to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "In the tumultuous 2008 season, the Cowboys started off strong, going 3–0 for the second straight year, en route to a 4–1 start. However, things soon went downhill from there, after quarterback Tony Romo suffered a broken pinkie in an overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals. With Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger playing as backups, Dallas went 1–2 during a three-game stretch. Romo's return showed promise, as Dallas went 3–0. However, injuries mounted during the season, with the team losing several starters for the year, such as Kyle Kosier, Felix Jones, safety Roy Williams, punter Mat McBriar, and several other starters playing with injuries. Entering December, the 8–4 Cowboys underperformed, finishing 1–3. They failed to make the playoffs after losing at Philadelphia in the final regular-season game which saw the Eagles reach the playoffs instead.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "On May 2, 2009, the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility collapsed during a wind storm. The collapse left twelve Cowboys players and coaches injured. The most serious injuries were special teams coach Joe DeCamillis, who suffered fractured cervical vertebrae and had surgery to stabilize fractured vertebrae in his neck, and Rich Behm, the team's 33-year-old scouting assistant, who was permanently paralyzed from the waist down after his spine was severed.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "The 2009 season started positively with a road win against Tampa Bay, but fortunes quickly changed as Dallas fell to a 2–2 start. In week five, with starting wide receiver Roy Williams sidelined by injury, receiver Miles Austin got his first start of the season and had a record-setting day (250 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns) to help lead Dallas to an overtime win over Kansas City. Following their bye week, they went on a three-game winning streak including wins over Atlanta and NFC East division rival Philadelphia. Despite entering December with a record of 8–3, they lost their slim grip on 1st place in the division with losses to the New York Giants and San Diego. Talks of past December collapses resurfaced, and another collapse in 2009 seemed validated. However, the team surged in the final three weeks of the season with a 24–17 victory at the Superdome, ending New Orleans' previously unbeaten season in week 15. For the first time in franchise history, they posted back-to-back shutouts when they beat division rivals Washington (17–0) and Philadelphia (24–0) to end the season. In the process, the Cowboys clinched their second NFC East title in three years as well as the third seed in the NFC Playoffs. Six days later, in the wild-card round of the playoffs, Dallas played the Eagles in a rematch of week 17. The Cowboys defeated the Eagles for the first Cowboys post-season win since the 1996 season, ending a streak of six consecutive NFL post-season losses. However, their playoff run ended after being routed 34–3 in the Divisional Round against the Minnesota Vikings.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "After beginning the 2010 season at 1–7, Phillips was fired as head coach and was replaced by offensive coordinator Jason Garrett as the interim head coach. The Cowboys finished the season 6–10. To start the 2011 season the Cowboys played the Jets on a Sunday night primetime game in New York, on September 11. The Cowboys held the lead through most of the game, until a fumble, blocked punt, and interception led to the Jets coming back to win the game. In week 2 the Cowboys traveled to San Francisco to play the 49ers. In the middle of the 2nd quarter, while the Cowboys trailed 10–7, Tony Romo suffered a rib injury and was replaced by Jon Kitna. Kitna threw 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions until Romo returned in the 3rd quarter as Dallas trailed 17–7. Romo then threw 3 touchdown passes to Miles Austin as the Cowboys rallied to send the game into overtime. On their opening possession after a 49ers punt, Romo found wide receiver Jesse Holley on a 78-yard pass, which set up the game-winning field goal by rookie kicker Dan Bailey.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "The Cowboys ended the season 8–8. They were in a position to win the NFC East but lost to the Giants in a Week 17 primetime Sunday Night game on NBC which allowed the Giants to win the division. The Giants would go on to win Super Bowl XLVI. The Cowboys started off the 2012 season on a high note by defeating the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants 24–17 on the opening night of the season. They would hover around the .500 mark for the majority of the season. They lost a close Week 6 game to eventual Super Bowl XLVII champion Baltimore Ravens 31–29 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Going into Week 17 they found themselves once again one win away from winning the division. Standing in their way were the Washington Redskins, who had beaten them on Thanksgiving at AT&T Stadium and who were one win away from their first division title since 1999. Led by Robert Griffin III the Redskins defeated the Cowboys at home 28–18. Dallas once again finished the season 8–8.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "In the 2013 season the Cowboys started off by defeating the New York Giants for the second straight year; this time 36–31. It was the first time since AT&T Stadium had opened back in 2009 that the Cowboys were able to defeat the Giants at home. The win was punctuated by Brandon Carr intercepting an Eli Manning pass for a touchdown late in the 4th quarter. For the third straight year, Dallas once again found itself stuck in the .500 area. In Week 5, they lost a shootout to the eventual AFC Champion Denver Broncos 51–48. They battled it out with the Philadelphia Eagles for control of the division throughout the season. In December however they lost 2 crucial back-to-back games to Chicago and Green Bay. They were very successful in division games having a 5–0 division record heading into another Week 17 showdown for the NFC East crown against the Eagles. That included beating Washington 24–23 on Week 16 thanks to the late-game heroics of Tony Romo. However, Romo received a severe back injury in that game which prematurely ended his season. The Cowboys called upon backup quarterback Kyle Orton to lead them into battle on the final week of the season. Orton was unsuccessful who threw a game-ending interception to the Eagles which allowed the Eagles to win 24–22. Dallas ended the year at 8–8 for the third year in a row. The two differences from this 8–8 ending compared to the others was that Dallas ended the season in second place compared to the 2 previous 3rd-place finishes, along with their season-ending defeat taking place at home instead of on the road.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "To start off the 2014 season Dallas began by losing to San Francisco 28–17. After that, they went on a 6-game winning streak. The highlight of this streak was defeating the Seahawks at CenturyLink Field 30–23. In Week 8, the Redskins won in overtime 20–17, and Romo injured his back again. He missed next week, a home loss to the Arizona Cardinals 28–17 with backup QB Brandon Weeden. Romo returned in Week 9 to lead a 31–17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, which was played at Wembley Stadium in London, England as part of the NFL International Series.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Dallas played their traditional Thanksgiving home game against division rival Philadelphia. Both teams were vying for first place in the division with identical 8–3 records. The Eagles got off to a fast start and the Cowboys were unable to catch up, losing 33–10. They would rebound the next week when they defeated Chicago 41–28. Week 15 was a rematch against 1st place Philadelphia. This time it was the Cowboys who got off to a fast start going up 21–0. Then the Eagles put up 24 points but Dallas came back to win 38–27 to go into first place for the first time in the season and improve to 10–4. Going into their Week 16 matchup at home against Indianapolis, Dallas was in a position to clinch their first division title since 2009 by defeating the Colts 42-7 and the Eagles losing that week to the Redskins. They became the 2014 NFC East Champions, eliminating the Eagles from the playoffs. Dallas ended the regular season with a 12–4 record and an 8–0 away record when they won on the road against Washington 44–17.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "On January 4, 2015, the Cowboys, as the number 3 seed, hosted the number 6 seed Detroit Lions in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs. In the game, the Lions got off to a hot start, going up 14–0 in the first quarter. Dallas initially struggled on both sides of the ball. However, towards the end of the second quarter, Romo threw a 76-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Williams. Matt Prater of the Lions would kick a field goal before halftime to go up 17–7. Dallas came out swinging to start the second half by picking off Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford on the first play of the third quarter. However, the Cowboys failed to capitalize on the turnover, as Dan Bailey missed a field goal during Dallas's ensuing drive. Detroit then kicked another field goal to make the score 20–7. A DeMarco Murray touchdown later in that quarter closed the gap to 20–14. A 51-yard Bailey field goal almost 3 minutes into the fourth quarter trimmed the Cowboys' deficit to 3. The Lions got the ball back and started driving down the field. On 3rd down-and-1 of that Lions drive, Stafford threw a 17-yard pass intended for Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew, but the ball hit Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens in the back a fraction of a second before he ran into Pettigrew. The play was initially flagged as defensive pass interference against Hitchens. However, the penalty was then nullified by the officiating crew. The Cowboys got the ball back on their 41-yard line and had a successful 59-yard drive which was capped off by an 8-yard touchdown pass from Romo to Williams to give the Cowboys their first lead of the game at 24–20. The Lions got the ball back with less than 2:30 to play in regulation. Stafford fumbled the ball at the 2-minute mark. The fumble was recovered by Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, who then fumbled the ball which was recovered by the Lions. Lawrence would redeem himself by sacking Stafford on a 4th down-and-3 play. The sack led to Stafford fumbling the ball again, which Lawrence recovered to seal the game for the Cowboys, who won 24–20. This was the first time in franchise playoff history that Dallas had been down by 10 or more points at halftime and rallied to win the game.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "The following week, the Cowboys traveled to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin to play the Packers in the divisional round. Despite having a 14–7 halftime lead, the Cowboys fell to the Packers 26–21, thus ending their season. The season ended on an overturned call of a completed catch by Dez Bryant. The catch was challenged by the Packers, and the referees overturned the call because of the \"Calvin Johnson rule.\"",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "During the 2015 offseason the Cowboys allowed running back DeMarco Murray to become a free agent. Murray signed with the division rival Philadelphia Eagles. On July 15 wide receiver Dez Bryant signed a 5-year, $70 million contract.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "At home against the New York Giants, Dallas won 27–26. Dez Bryant left the game early with a fractured bone in his foot. On the road against the Philadelphia Eagles, Romo suffered a broken left collarbone, the same one he injured in 2010, and Brandon Weeden replaced him. Dallas won 20–10 to begin the season 2–0, but then went on a seven-game losing streak. They finished the season 4–12 and last in their division.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "After a preseason injury to Tony Romo, rookie quarterback Dak Prescott was slated as the starting quarterback, as Romo was expected to be out 6–8 weeks. In game 1 against the New York Giants, Dallas lost 20–19. After this loss, Dallas would go on an eleven-game winning streak. After much speculation leading to a potential quarterback controversy, Romo made an announcement that Prescott had earned the right to take over as the Cowboys starting quarterback.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "In game 10, Romo suited up for the first time in the season and was the backup quarterback. Dallas defeated the Baltimore Ravens to win their 9th straight game, breaking a franchise record of 8 straight games set in 1977. It also marked rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott breaking Tony Dorsett's single-season rushing record for a Cowboys rookie. Prescott also tied an NFL rookie record held by Russell Wilson and Dan Marino by throwing multiple touchdowns in 5 straight games. Dallas finished 13–3, tying their best 16-game regular-season record. While Dallas defeated Green Bay at Lambeau Field in week 6, the Packers would win at AT&T Stadium in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs on a last-second field goal, ending the Cowboys’ season.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Dak Prescott was named NFL Rookie of the Year in the NFL honors on February 4, 2017, and Ezekiel Elliott led the league in rushing yards. Both Prescott and Elliott made the 2017 Pro Bowl. This is the first time the Cowboys sent two rookies to the Pro Bowl.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "2017 was the first season since 2002 without quarterback Tony Romo, who retired on April 4 after 14 seasons with the Cowboys. The season also featured second-year running back Ezekiel Elliott being suspended for 6 games after violating the league's conduct policy. The suspension was to begin at the start of the year but was pushed back to November. The Cowboys finished the year at 9-7 without making the playoffs. Following the season, Dez Bryant was released after eight seasons in Dallas and tight end Jason Witten, who holds several franchise receiving records, retired after 15 seasons, ending an era.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "The Dallas Cowboys' 2017 season was the subject of the third season of Amazon's sports documentary series All or Nothing. The series is produced by NFL Films.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Following the end of the 2019 season, where the Cowboys missed the playoffs for the 7th time in the last 10 seasons, it was announced that the team had parted ways with longtime head coach Jason Garrett. Both Marvin Lewis (former Bengals coach) and Mike McCarthy (former Packers coach who led Green Bay to a Super Bowl win) were interviewed for the head coaching position.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "McCarthy and the Cowboys picked up the first win against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2. On October 11, the Cowboys’ 2020 season was all but lost when quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a grievous ankle injury that ended his season. Despite the loss of Prescott, McCarthy's first year Cowboys still remained in the running for a playoff appearance throughout most of the regular season. They would go on to finish the season with a 6–10 record, which ranked the team third in the NFC East Division. Throughout the 2020 season, the Cowboys’ defense struggled massively. Following the season, defensive coordinator Mike Nolan and defensive line coach Jim Tomsula were dismissed.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "On February 16, 2022, a settlement of $2.4 million was paid after four cheerleaders accused Rich Dalrymple, the now-retired senior vice president of public relations and communications, of voyeurism in their locker room as they undressed during a 2015 event at AT&T Stadium.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "After the NFL allowed teams to seek blockchain sponsorships, the Cowboys became the first team to do so, signing a multi-year contract with the platform Blockchain.com on April 13, 2022.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "In their seventh season in 1966, the Cowboys agreed to host a second NFL Thanksgiving game; the tradition of a team hosting on Thanksgiving had been popularized by the Detroit Lions (who had hosted a game on the day mostly un-interrupted since moving to Detroit in 1934). General manager Tex Schramm wanted to find a way to boost publicity on a national level for his team, which had struggled for most of the 1960s. In fact, the NFL guaranteed a cut of the gate revenue in the belief that the game would not be a hit because of said struggle. With a kickoff just after 5 p.m. CST, over eighty thousand fans (and millions viewing on CBS) saw the Cowboys beat the Cleveland Browns 26–14 at the Cotton Bowl.",
"title": "Thanksgiving Day games"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "In 1975 and 1977, at the behest of Commissioner Pete Rozelle, the St. Louis Cardinals replaced Dallas as a host team. Dallas then hosted St. Louis in 1976 in an effort by the NFL to give St. Louis national exposure. Although the Cardinals, at the time known as the \"Cardiac Cards\" due to their propensity for winning very close games, were a modest success at the time, the games did not prove as successful. Owing to factors that ranged from ugly contests to opposition from the Kirkwood–Webster Groves Turkey Day Game (a local high school football contest) led to Dallas resuming regular hosting duties in 1978. It was then, after Rozelle asked Dallas to resume hosting Thanksgiving games, that the Cowboys requested (and received) an agreement guaranteeing the Cowboys a spot on Thanksgiving Day for good; as such, the Cowboys play in the late afternoon.",
"title": "Thanksgiving Day games"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "The Dallas Cowboys' blue star logo, which represents Texas as \"The Lone Star State,\" is one of the most well-known team logos in professional sports. The blue star originally was a solid shape until a white line and blue border were added in 1964. The logo has remained the same since. Today, the blue star has been extended to not only the Dallas Cowboys, but owner Jerry Jones' AFL team, the Dallas Desperados that have a similar logo based on that of the Cowboys. The blue star also is used on other entries like an imaging facility and storage facility.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "The Dallas Cowboys' white home jersey has royal blue (PMS 287 C) solid socks, numbers, lettering, and two stripes on the sleeves outlined in black. The home pants are a common metallic silver-green color (PMS 8280 C) that helps bring out the blue in the uniform. The navy (PMS 289 C) road jerseys (nicknamed the \"Stars and Stripes\" jersey) have white lettering and numbers with navy pinstripes. A white/gray/white stripe is on each sleeve as well as the collared V-neck, and a Cowboys star logo is placed upon the stripes. A \"Cowboys\" chest crest is directly under the NFL shield. The away pants are a pearlish metallic-silver color (PMS 8180 C) and like the home pants, enhance the navy in the uniforms. The team uses a serifed font for the lettered player surnames on the jersey nameplates.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "The team's helmets are also a unique silver with a tint of blue known as \"Metallic Silver Blue\" (PMS 8240 C) and have a blue/white/blue vertical stripe placed upon the center of the crown. The Cowboys also include a unique, if subtle, feature on the back of the helmet: a blue strip of Dymo tape with the player's name embossed, placed on the white portion of the stripe at the back of the helmet.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "When the Dallas Cowboys franchise debuted in 1960, the team's uniform included a white helmet adorned with a simple blue star and a blue-white-blue stripe down the center crown. The team donned blue jerseys with white sleeves and a small blue star on each shoulder for home games and the negative opposite for away games. Their socks also had two horizontal white stripes overlapping the blue.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "In 1964 the Cowboys opted for a simpler look (adopting essentially the team's current uniform) by changing their jersey/socks to one solid color with three horizontal stripes on the sleeves; the white jersey featured royal blue stripes with a narrow black border, the royal blue jersey white stripes with the same black outline. The star-shouldered jerseys were eliminated; \"TV\" numbers appeared just above the jersey stripes. The new helmet was silver-blue, with a blue-white-blue tri-stripe down the center (the middle white stripe was thicker). The blue \"lone star\" logo was retained, but with a white border setting it off from the silver/blue. The new pants were silver/blue, with a blue-white-blue tri-stripe. In 1964 the NFL allowed teams to wear white jerseys at home; several teams did so, and the Cowboys have worn white at home ever since, except on certain \"throwback\" days.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "In 1966, the team modified the jerseys, which now featured only two sleeve stripes, slightly wider; the socks followed the same pattern. In 1967 the \"lone star\" helmet decal added a blue outline to the white-bordered star, giving the logo a bigger, bolder look. The logo and this version of the uniform have seen little change to the present day.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "The only notable changes from 1970 to the present were:",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "During the 1976 season, the blue-white-blue stripe on the crown of the helmets was temporarily changed to red-white-blue to commemorate the United States' bicentennial anniversary.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "In 1994, the NFL celebrated their 75th Anniversary, and the Dallas Cowboys celebrated their back-to-back Super Bowl titles by unveiling a white \"Double-Star\" jersey on Thanksgiving Day. This jersey was used for special occasions and was worn throughout the 1994–95 playoffs. During the same season, the Cowboys also wore their 1960–63 road jersey with a silver helmet for one game as part of a league-wide \"throwback\" policy.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "During the 1995 season, the team wore the navy \"Double-Star\" jersey for games at Washington and Philadelphia and permanently switched to solid color socks (royal blue for the white uniform, and navy blue for the dark uniform). The navy \"Double-Star\" jersey was not seen again until the NFL's Classic Throwback Weekend on Thanksgiving Day 2001–2003.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "In 2004, the Cowboys resurrected their original 1960–1963 uniform on Thanksgiving Day. This uniform became the team's alternate or \"third jersey\" and was usually worn at least once a year, primarily Thanksgiving Day. Two exceptions were when the Cowboys wore their normal white uniforms on Thanksgiving in 2007 and 2008. While the team didn't wear the throwback uniform exactly on Thanksgiving Day in those two years, Dallas wore them on a date around Thanksgiving for those two years. In 2007 Dallas wore the throwback uniform on November 29, 2007, against the Green Bay Packers. In 2008 Dallas wore the throwback uniform on November 23, 2008, against the San Francisco 49ers. The team went back to wearing this uniform at home on Thanksgiving Day in 2009 while their opponent was the Oakland Raiders who wore their AFL Legacy Weekend throwbacks. Dallas wore this alternate uniform on October 11, 2009, as part of one of the NFL's AFL Legacy Weekends when they traveled to Kansas City to play the Chiefs who were sporting their AFL Dallas Texans' uniforms. This created a rare game in which neither team wore a white jersey and the first time the Cowboys wore the alternative uniform as a visiting team. The 1960–1963 uniform may also be used on other special occasions. Other instances include the 2005 Monday Night game against the Washington Redskins when the team inducted Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irving into the Cowboys Ring of Honor, and the 2006 Christmas Day game against the Philadelphia Eagles.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "In 2013, the NFL issued a new helmet rule stating that players would no longer be allowed to use alternate helmets due to the league's enhanced concussion awareness. This caused the Cowboys' white 1960s throwback helmets to become non-compliant. However, this rule became moot in 2022 when the NFL once again allowed teams to use an alternate helmet again, and the Cowboys reintroduced the 1960s white helmet.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "During the \"one-shell era\", in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017, the team wore their normal blue jerseys at home for Thanksgiving; the only exceptions were in 2015 and 2020 when the Cowboys wore the \"Color Rush\" uniforms (see below), and in 2018, 2019 and 2021 when they wore their regular white uniforms. In 2017, the team initially announced that they will wear blue jerseys at home on a more regular basis, only to rescind soon after.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "In 2015, the Cowboys released their Color Rush uniform, featuring a variation of the 1990s \"Double Star\" alternates with white pants and socks. The uniform was first used in a Thanksgiving game against the Carolina Panthers and in subsequent Thursday Night Football games since 2016. In 2022, the \"Color Rush\" uniforms would be worn with a white helmet; this design would emulate their current silver helmets but without any silver elements.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "The Cowboys also unveiled a navy uniform-white pants combination which was first used on December 10, 2017, against the Giants.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "In 1964, Tex Schramm started the tradition of the Cowboys wearing their white jersey at home, contrary to an unofficial rule that teams should wear colored jerseys at home. Schramm did this because he wanted fans to see a variety of opponents' colors at home games. According to current Cowboys' Equipment Director, Mike McCord, another reason why the team chose to wear white uniforms at home was because of the intense Texas heat during the early part of the season at Texas Stadium.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Throughout the years, the Cowboys' blue jersey has been popularly viewed to be \"jinxed\" because the team often seemed to lose when they wore them. This purported curse drew attention after the team lost Super Bowl V with the blue jerseys. However, the roots of the curse likely date back earlier to the 1968 divisional playoffs, when the blue-shirted Cowboys were upset by the Cleveland Browns in what turned out to be Don Meredith's final game with the Cowboys. Another example was a 1976 regular season road game against the St. Louis Cardinals, in which the Cardinals elected to wear white as the home team and promptly defeated the then-undefeated Cowboys 21–17 for their first loss in six games.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "Since the white home uniform tradition began in 1964, the only season Dallas never wore blue uniforms in a regular season game was in the 1972 season, even though they wore them thrice in the preseason. The only other times Dallas wore blue in one regular season game came in 1968, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1998, 2010, and 2020. Conversely, the 2019 season saw Dallas wear their blue uniforms eight times, the most of any season.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "Since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, league rules were changed to allow the Super Bowl home team to pick their choice of jersey. Most of the time, Dallas will wear their blue jerseys when they visit Washington, Philadelphia (sometimes), Miami, or one of the handful of other teams that traditionally wear their white jerseys at home during the first half of the season due to the hot climates in their respective cities or other means. Occasionally opposing teams will wear their white jerseys at home to try to invoke the curse, such as when the Philadelphia Eagles hosted the Cowboys in the 1980 NFC Championship Game, as well as their November 4, 2007 meeting. Various other teams followed suit in the 1980s.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "Although Dallas has made several tweaks to their blue jerseys over the years, Schramm said he did not believe in the curse. Since the league began allowing teams to use an alternate jersey, the Cowboys' alternates have been primarily blue versions of past jerseys and the Cowboys have generally had success when wearing these blue alternates. With the implementation of the 2013 NFL helmet rule for alternate jerseys, the team decided instead to wear their regular blue jerseys for their Thanksgiving game, something they have not done at home since Schramm started the white-jersey-at-home tradition.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "As of the 2022 season, the Cowboys have a cumulative 93–100–3 regular season record in their blue uniforms. They are also 12–11 at home while wearing the blue uniforms since 2001. The Cowboys also sport a 6–2 record when wearing the primary blue uniform/white pants combination since its 2017 debut.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "The Cowboys are 2–6 in playoff games while wearing the blue uniforms. The only victories with the blue uniforms came in the 1978 NFC Championship Game against the Los Angeles Rams, and the 2022 NFC Wild Card Round against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "With the Dallas Cowboys traditionally hosting Thanksgiving Day games, the team donned new uniforms when they unveiled their white \"Double-Star\" jersey for the first time on November 24, 1994. This game later became synonymous with future Cowboys Head Coach (2010-2019); then 3rd string Quarterback Jason Garrett as he led a come-from-behind victory against the Green Bay Packers.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "In the 2004 season, the team went further into Cowboys history by choosing to don blue jerseys worn in their first 4 years of existence, which included white helmets and pants. However, keeping consistent with modern marketing, navy blue was used for this version as opposed to the original 1960-1963 royal color jersey. Aside from the 2007 and 2008 seasons, the Cowboys continued to use this \"throwback\" uniform through Thanksgiving Day 2012.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "Before the start of the 2013 season, the NFL announced a \"One-helmet\" rule to help prevent potential player concussions. This regulation also prevented the Cowboys from pairing the white helmets with the throwback uniforms, as the team will often use the traditional silver-blue as their primary helmets throughout the season.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "In the 2015 season, the Cowboys chose to wear a variation of the 1994 \"Double-Star\" jersey as their Color Rush on Thanksgiving Day against the Carolina Panthers on November 26, 2015. Since then, the Color Rush was only used again on Thanksgiving against the Washington Football Team on November 26, 2020. In all other seasons, the team opted to wear their standard white or blue uniforms.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "In 2022, the NFL restored the use of alternate helmets and the Cowboys reinstated the white helmet and navy 'throwback\" uniforms on November 24, 2022, against the New York Giants.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "The Cotton Bowl is a stadium which opened in 1932 and became known as \"The House That Doak Built\" due to the immense crowds that former SMU running back Doak Walker drew to the stadium during his college career in the late 1940s. Originally known as the Fair Park Bowl, it is located in Fair Park, site of the State Fair of Texas. Concerts or other events using a stage allow the playing field to be used for additional spectators. The Cotton Bowl was the longtime home of the annual Cotton Bowl Classic college football bowl game, for which the stadium is named. (Beginning with the January 2010 game, the Cotton Bowl Classic has been played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.) The Dallas Cowboys called the Cotton Bowl home for 11 years, from the team's formation in 1960 until 1971, when the Cowboys moved to Texas Stadium. It is the only Cowboys stadium within the Dallas city limits. The Cowboys hosted the Green Bay Packers for the 1966 NFL Championship at the Cotton Bowl.",
"title": "Stadiums"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "For the majority of the franchise's history the Cowboys played their home games at Texas Stadium. Just outside the city of Dallas, the stadium was located in Irving. The stadium opened on October 24, 1971, at a cost of $35 million and with a seating capacity of 65,675. The stadium was famous for its hole-in-the-roof dome. The roof's worn paint had become so unsightly in the early 2000s that it was repainted in the summer of 2006 by the City of Irving. It was the first time the famed roof was repainted since Texas Stadium opened. The roof was structurally independent from the stadium it covered. The Cowboys lost their final game at Texas Stadium to the Baltimore Ravens, 33–24, on December 20, 2008. After Cowboys Stadium was opened in 2009, the Cowboys turned over the facility to the City of Irving.",
"title": "Stadiums"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "In 2009, it was replaced as home of the Cowboys by Cowboys Stadium, which officially opened on May 27, 2009, in Arlington. Texas Stadium was demolished by implosion on April 11, 2010.",
"title": "Stadiums"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "AT&T Stadium, previously named Cowboys Stadium, is a domed stadium with a retractable roof in Arlington. After failed negotiations to build a new stadium on the site of the Cotton Bowl, Jerry Jones, along with the city of Arlington, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth, funded the stadium at a cost of $1.3 billion. The stadium is located in Tarrant County, the first time the Cowboys has called a stadium home outside of Dallas County. It was completed on May 29, 2009, and seats 80,000, but is expandable to seat up to 100,000. AT&T Stadium is among the largest domed stadiums in the world.",
"title": "Stadiums"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "A highlight of AT&T Stadium is its gigantic, center-hung high-definition television screen, at one point the largest in the world. The 160 by 72 feet (49 by 22 m), 11,520-square-foot (1,070 m) scoreboard surpassed the 8,736 sq ft (812 m) screen that opened in 2009 at the renovated Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City as the world's largest. In 2011, Charlotte Motor Speedway unveiled its plans for a new HDTV screen larger than the one in AT&T Stadium; that larger screen has since been completed.",
"title": "Stadiums"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "At the debut pre-season game of Cowboys Stadium, a punt by Tennessee Titans kicker, A. J. Trapasso, hit the 2,100 in. screen above the field. The punt deflected and was ruled in-play until Titans coach Jeff Fisher informed the officials that the punt struck the scoreboard. (Many believe Trapasso was trying to hit the suspended scoreboard, based on replays and the angle of the kick.) The scoreboard is, however, within the regulation of the NFL guidelines – hanging approximately five feet above the minimum height. No punts hit the scoreboard during the entire 2009 regular season during an actual game. Also, on August 22, 2009, the day after AJ Trapasso hit the screen, many fans touring the facility noted that half of the field was removed with large cranes re-positioning the screen. According to some fans, a tour guide explained that Jerry Jones invited a few professional soccer players to drop kick soccer balls to try to hit the screen. Once he observed them hitting it consistently he had the screen moved up another 10 feet.",
"title": "Stadiums"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "The first regular season home game of the 2009 season was against the New York Giants. A league record-setting 105,121 fans showed up to fill Cowboys Stadium for the game before which the traditional \"blue star\" at the 50-yard line was unveiled for the first time; however, the Cowboys lost in the final seconds, 33–31.",
"title": "Stadiums"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "The Cowboys got their first regular-season home win on September 28, 2009. They beat the Carolina Panthers 21–7 with 90,588 in attendance. The game was televised on ESPN's Monday Night Football and marked a record 42nd win for the Cowboys on Monday Night Football.",
"title": "Stadiums"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "On July 25, 2013, the Cowboys announced that AT&T would be taking over the rights to the name of the stadium.",
"title": "Stadiums"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "Dallas Cowboys training camp locations:",
"title": "Training camp sites"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "Ever since the team joined the NFL in 1960, the franchise have garnered strong fan support in both the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and the state of Texas, the Cowboys are often referred to as \"America's Team\".",
"title": "Nationwide fanbase"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "Despite the success of the franchise and a large Cowboys' fanbase, many fans of other NFL teams have come to dislike the Cowboys. Over the past couple of years, the Cowboys' fanbase had been labeled as the most annoying in all of sports. ESPN host and commentator Stephen A. Smith has validated this claim.",
"title": "Nationwide fanbase"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "The NFC East, composed of the Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, the Washington Commanders and New York Giants, is one of the least-changed divisions of the original six formed in the wake of the NFL-AFL merger (its only major changes being the relocation of the Cardinals franchise from St. Louis to Arizona and its subsequent move to the NFC West in the league's 2002 realignment). Three of the four teams have been division rivals since the Cowboys' entry into the NFL. As such, the Cowboys have some of the longest and fiercest rivalries in the sport.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "The Washington Commanders and the Dallas Cowboys enjoy what has been called by Sports Illustrated the top NFL rivalry of all time and \"one of the greatest in sports.\" Some sources trace the enmity to before the Cowboys were even formed, due to a longstanding disagreement between Washington owner George Preston Marshall and Cowboys founder Clint Murchison, Jr. over the creation of a new football team in the South, due to Marshall's TV monopoly in that region. The two teams' storied on-field rivalry goes back to 1960 when the two clubs first played each other, resulting in a 26–14 Washington victory. Since that time, the two teams have met in 116 regular-season contests and two NFC Championships. Dallas leads the regular season all-time series 75–47–2, and Washington leads the all-time playoff series 2–0. The Cowboys currently have a 14–7 advantage over Washington at FedEx Field. Some notable moments in the rivalry include Washington's victory over Dallas in the 1982 NFC Championship and the latter's 1989 win over Washington for their only victory that season. The last Cowboys game with Tom Landry as coach was a win over Washington on December 11, 1988. In the 2010s, Washington has struggled to consistently compete for the Division title, but still play the Cowboys particularly tough, posting an impressive upset victory against Dallas in 2014, despite being outclassed by the Cowboys in the overall standings. The 2010s also included an important game in week 17 of 2012 which saw Washington defeat Dallas 28–18 to win the NFC East.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "The competition between the Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles has been particularly intense since the late 1970s, when the long-moribund Eagles returned to contention. In January 1981, the two teams faced off in the NFC Championship, with Philadelphia winning 20–7. A series of other factors heightened tensions during the 1980s and 1990s, including several provocative actions by Philadelphia fans and Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan. Among these were the 1989 Bounty Bowls in which Ryan allegedly placed a bounty on Dallas kicker Luis Zendejas and Veterans Stadium fans pelted the Cowboys with snowballs and other debris.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "A 1999 game in Philadelphia saw Eagles fans cheering as Michael Irvin lay motionless on the field at Veterans Stadium. In 2008, the rivalry became more intense when in the last game of the year in which both teams could clinch a playoff spot with a victory, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Cowboys 44–6. The following season, the Cowboys avenged that defeat by beating the Eagles three times: twice during the regular season to claim the title as NFC East champions and once more in a wild-card playoff game by a combined score of 78–30, including a 24–0 shutout in week 17. That three-game sweep was Dallas' first over any opponent and the longest winning streak against the Eagles since 1992–1995 when Dallas won seven straight matches against Philadelphia.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "During the 2013 season, Dallas won the first meeting 17–3 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The two teams met again in Week 17 at AT&T Stadium with the winner clinching the 2013 NFC East title. The Cowboys came into the game at a disadvantage with starting quarterback Tony Romo out with a season-ending back injury, which put backup Kyle Orton as the starter. It was a tight game with the Eagles up 24–22 with less than 2 minutes to go in regulation. Orton got the ball and started driving down the field when he was intercepted by the Eagles defense, which ended the game and the Cowboys season. In 2014, the Cowboys and Eagles both won against each other on the road with Philadelphia posting a dominant 33–10 win on Thanksgiving Day in Dallas, and Dallas returning the favor two weeks later by defeating the Eagles 38–27 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The second game between these rivals clinched a playoff spot for Dallas and led to formerly first-place Philadelphia missing out on the post-season. Dallas leads the regular season all-time series 72–50.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "The first game ever played between the New York Giants and Cowboys was a 31–31 tie on December 4, 1960. Dallas logged its first win in the series on October 29, 1961, and New York's first was on November 11, 1962. Among the more notable moments in the rivalry was the Giants' defeat of Dallas in the 2007 playoffs en route to their victory in Super Bowl XLII and winning the first regular-season game played at Cowboys Stadium in 2009. Dallas currently leads the all-time series 71–47–2.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "The two teams met in the first regular-season game the Cowboys ever played in 1960 (a 35–28 loss to the Steelers), the first-ever regular-season victory for the expansion Cowboys in 1961, and would later meet in three Super Bowls, all of them closely contested events. The Steelers-Cowboys is to date the Super Bowl matchup with the most contests. The Steelers won Super Bowl X and Super Bowl XIII; both games were decided in the final seconds, first on a last-second throw by Roger Staubach, then as a fourth-quarter rally by Dallas fell short on an onside kick. The Cowboys won Super Bowl XXX in January 1996. It is said that the rivalry was fueled in the 1970s due to the stark contrast of the teams: the Cowboys, being more of a \"flashy\" team with Roger Staubach's aerial attack and the \"flex\" Doomsday Defense; while the Steelers were more of a \"blue-collar\" team with a strong running game and the 1970s-esque Steel Curtain defense, a contrast that still exists today. In addition, both teams have national fan bases rivaled by few NFL teams, and both come from areas with a strong following for football at all levels. Dallas leads the all-time series 16–13 including the playoffs.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "The bitter rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers has been going on since the 1970s. The NFL Top 10 ranked this rivalry to be the tenth best in the history of the NFL. San Francisco has played Dallas in seven postseason games. The Cowboys defeated the 49ers in the 1970 and 1971 NFC Championship games, and again in the 1972 Divisional Playoff Game. The 1981 NFC Championship Game in San Francisco, which saw the 49ers' Joe Montana complete a game-winning pass to Dwight Clark in the final minute (now known as The Catch) is one of the most famous games in NFL history. The rivalry became even more intense during the 1992–1994 seasons. San Francisco and Dallas faced each other in the NFC Championship Game three separate times. Dallas won the first two match-ups, and San Francisco won the third. In each of these pivotal match-ups, the game's victor went on to win the Super Bowl. Both the Cowboys and the 49ers are tied for third all-time in Super Bowl victories to the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots, with five each. The 49ers-Cowboys rivalry is also part of the larger cultural rivalry between California and Texas. The Cowboys lead the all-time series with a record of 18–17–1.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "Between the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings., the Cowboys lead the all-time series 18–15. The teams have met seven times in the post-season, the Cowboys third most played playoff opponent. The rivalry is home to many key memories, including the famous 1975 Hail Mary pass against the Vikings, the Herschel Walker trade, the Randy Moss Thanksgiving game, and Brett Favre torching the Cowboys in what would be his last playoff win of his career in 2009.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "The rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers is one of the best known intra-conference rivalries in the NFL. The two teams do not play every year; instead, they play once every three years due to the NFL's rotating division schedules, or if the two teams finish in the same place in their respective divisions, they would play the ensuing season. The rivalry has also resulted in notable playoff games.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "The all-time regular seasons series record is 20–17 in favor of the Packers, and the postseason series is tied 4–4.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "The Cowboys also had a fierce rivalry with the Los Angeles Rams, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s. The two teams played eight postseason games during this period, including two NFC championship games. Between 1975 and 1980, the Cowboys faced the Rams in the playoffs five times in a six-year period. In both 1975 and 1978, the Cowboys won the NFC championship on the road in blowout fashion, only to be followed by close defeats at home in next year's divisional round. The 1980 Wild Card Round saw Dallas follow up last year's playoff defeat with another blowout victory. As of 2022, the Cowboys and Rams tied the all-time regular season series 18–18, but the Rams lead the all-time playoff series 5–4, having recently defeated the Cowboys in the 2018 Divisional Round.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "The Cowboys have an intrastate interconference rivalry with the Houston Texans for which they compete in either a preseason or regular season game for bragging rights in Texas, a tradition started between the teams prior to the Oilers relocating to Nashville, Tennessee to become the Tennessee Titans. The Texans defeated the Cowboys in the team's inaugural season in 2002. The Cowboys lead the all-time series 4–2.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "",
"title": "Players of note"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "Unlike many NFL teams, the Cowboys do not retire jersey numbers of past standouts as a matter of policy. Instead, the team has a \"Ring of Honor\", which is on permanent display encircling the field. Originally at Texas Stadium, the ring is now on display at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The first inductee was Bob Lilly in 1975 and by 2005, the ring contained 17 names, all former Dallas players except for one head coach and one general manager/president.",
"title": "Players of note"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "The Ring of Honor has been a source of controversy over the years. Tex Schramm was believed to be a \"one-man committee\" in choosing inductees and many former Cowboys players and fans felt that Schramm deliberately excluded linebacker Lee Roy Jordan because of a bitter contract dispute the two had during Jordan's playing days. When Jerry Jones bought the team he inherited Schramm's Ring of Honor \"power\" and immediately inducted Jordan.",
"title": "Players of note"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 115,
"text": "Jones also has sparked controversy regarding his decisions in handling the \"Ring of Honor\". For four years he was unsuccessful in convincing Tom Landry to accept induction. Meanwhile, he refused to induct Tex Schramm (even after Schramm's induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame). In 1993, thanks in part to the efforts of Roger Staubach as an intermediary, Landry accepted induction and had a ceremony on the day of that year's Cowboys-Giants game (Landry had played and coached for the Giants). In 2003, Jones finally chose to induct Tex Schramm. Schramm and Jones held a joint press conference at Texas Stadium announcing the induction. Unfortunately, Schramm did not live to see his ceremonial induction at the Cowboys-Eagles game that fall.",
"title": "Players of note"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 116,
"text": "Some of the more recent inductees were Troy Aikman, all-time NFL leading rusher Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin, known as \"The Triplets\". The Cowboys waited until Smith had retired as a player before inducting Aikman and Irvin, so all three could be inducted together, which occurred during halftime at a Monday Night Football home game against the arch-rival Washington Redskins on September 19, 2005.",
"title": "Players of note"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 117,
"text": "Defensive end Charles Haley, offensive lineman Larry Allen, and wide receiver Drew Pearson were inducted into the Ring of Honor during halftime of the Cowboys' game vs. the Seattle Seahawks on November 6, 2011.",
"title": "Players of note"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 118,
"text": "Safety Darren Woodson was inducted on November 1, 2015. Executive Gil Brandt was inducted on November 29, 2018.",
"title": "Players of note"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 119,
"text": "The most recent inductee is DeMarcus Ware, who was inducted on October 29, 2023.",
"title": "Players of note"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 120,
"text": "The Dallas Cowboys do not officially retire jersey numbers. However, some are kept \"unofficially inactive\". As of 2022, six numbers have been kept out of circulation: Troy Aikman's No. 8, Roger Staubach's No. 12, Bob Hayes' and Emmitt Smith's No. 22, Bob Lilly's No. 74, and Jason Witten's No. 82. These numbers aren't even used in off-season workouts or training camp. Rich Dalrymple the public relations director of the Dallas Cowboys states that the Cowboys are one of the few - if only - NFL teams that have never officially retired jersey numbers.",
"title": "Players of note"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 121,
"text": "As of 2010, the Cowboys' flagship radio station is KRLD-FM. Brad Sham is the team's longtime play-by-play voice. Working alongside him is former Cowboy quarterback Babe Laufenberg, who returned in 2007 after a one-year absence to replace former safety Charlie Waters. The Cowboys, who retain rights to all announcers, chose not to renew Laufenberg's contract in 2006 and brought in Waters. However, Laufenberg did work as the analyst on the \"Blue Star Network\", which televises Cowboys preseason games not shown on national networks. The anchor station is KTVT, the CBS owned and operated station in Dallas. Previous stations which aired Cowboys games included KVIL-FM, KRLD, and KLUV-FM. Kristi Scales is the sideline reporter on the radio broadcasts.",
"title": "Radio and television"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 122,
"text": "During his tenure as Cowboys coach, Tom Landry co-hosted his own coach's show with late veteran sportscaster Frank Glieber and later with Brad Sham. Landry's show was famous for his analysis of raw game footage and for him and his co-host making their NFL \"predictions\" at the end of each show. Glieber is one of the original voices of the Cowboys Radio Network, along with Bill Mercer, famous for calling the Ice Bowl of 1967 and both Super Bowl V and VI. Mercer is perhaps best known as the ringside commentator of WCCW in the 1980s. Upon Mercer's departure, Verne Lundquist joined the network, and became their play-by-play announcer by 1977, serving eight years in that capacity before handing those chores permanently over to Brad Sham, who joined the network in 1977 as the color analyst and occasional fill-in for Lundquist.",
"title": "Radio and television"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 123,
"text": "Longtime WFAA-TV sports anchor Dale Hansen was the Cowboys color analyst with Brad Sham as the play-by-play announcer from 1985 to 1996.",
"title": "Radio and television"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 124,
"text": "Dave Garrett served as the Cowboys' play-by-play announcer from 1995 to 1997, when Brad Sham left the team and joined the Texas Rangers' radio network team as well as broadcast Sunday Night Football on Westwood One.",
"title": "Radio and television"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 125,
"text": "Seeking to expand its radio broadcasting scope nationally, the Cowboys began a five-year partnership with Compass Media Networks on February 2, 2011. The result was the America's Team Radio Network, a supplement to the franchise's regional one. Beginning with the 2011 season, Kevin Burkhardt and Danny White handled the broadcasts, with Jerry Recco as the studio host.",
"title": "Radio and television"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 126,
"text": "The Dallas Cowboys fight song, \"Cowboys Stampede March\" by Tom Merriman Big Band was the official fight song of the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys used at Texas Stadium 1961 until about the early-mid '90s.",
"title": "Fight song"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 127,
"text": "\"This little platter came from the personal collection of Tex Schramm, and it seems to be from the dawn of the Dallas Cowboys when he was casting about for a song to associate with the team. Eventually, the song \"Cowboy Stampede March\" would become THE song associated with the team thru their broadcasts in the '60s thru the '80s.\" George Gimarc",
"title": "Fight song"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 128,
"text": "The Cowboys now play We Dem Boyz by Wiz Khalifa for starting defensive line, because of the saying \"How Bout Dem Cowboys.\" For every touchdown scored by the Cowboys at a home game the song \"Cowboys and Cut Cigars\" by The Burning of Rome is played after a train horn.",
"title": "Fight song"
}
] | The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team is headquartered in Frisco, Texas, and has played its home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, since its opening in 2009. The stadium took its current name prior to the 2013 season. In January 2020, Mike McCarthy was hired as head coach of the Cowboys. He is the ninth in the team's history. McCarthy follows Jason Garrett, who coached the team from 2010 to 2019. The Cowboys joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1960. The team's national following might best be represented by its NFL record of consecutive sell-outs. The Cowboys' streak of 190 consecutive sold-out regular and post-season games began in 2002. The franchise has made it to the Super Bowl eight times, tying it with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos for second-most Super Bowl appearances in history behind the New England Patriots' record 11 appearances. The Cowboys have won eight NFC championships, the most in the conference's history. The Cowboys are the only NFL team to record 20 straight winning seasons during which they missed the playoffs only twice. In 2015, the Dallas Cowboys became the first sports team to be valued at $4 billion, making it the most valuable sports team in the world, according to Forbes. The Cowboys also generated $620 million in revenue in 2014, a record for a U.S. sports team. In 2018, they also became the first NFL franchise to be valued at $5 billion and making Forbes' list as the most valued NFL team for the 12th straight year. | 2001-10-08T21:48:28Z | 2023-12-26T19:10:13Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Cowboys |
8,122 | Denver Broncos | The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquartered in Dove Valley, Colorado.
The team began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) and joined the NFL as part of the merger in 1970. The Broncos are currently owned by the Walton-Penner group, and play their home games at Empower Field at Mile High; Denver previously played its home games at Mile High Stadium from its inception in 1960 through the 2000 season.
The Broncos were barely competitive during their 10-year run in the AFL and their first seven years in the NFL. They did not have a winning season until 1973 and qualified for their first playoffs in 1977, eventually advancing to Super Bowl XII that season. Since 1975, the Broncos have become one of the NFL's most successful teams, having suffered only eleven losing seasons. They have won eight AFC Championships (1977, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1997, 1998, 2013, 2015), and three Super Bowl championships (1997 (XXXII), 1998 (XXXIII), 2015 (50), and share the NFL record for most Super Bowl losses (5 – tied with the New England Patriots). The Broncos have eight primary members enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: John Elway, Floyd Little, Shannon Sharpe, Gary Zimmerman, Terrell Davis, Champ Bailey, and Steve Atwater, along with late club owner Pat Bowlen.
According to Forbes, the Broncos are valued at $4.65 billion in July 2022 making them the twelfth most-valuable team in the NFL.
The Denver Broncos were founded on August 14, 1959, when minor league baseball owner Bob Howsam was awarded an American Football League (AFL) charter franchise. The Broncos won the first-ever AFL game over the Boston Patriots 13–10, on September 9, 1960. Seven years later on August 5, 1967, they became the first-ever AFL team to defeat an NFL team, with a 13–7 win over the Detroit Lions in a preseason game. However, the Broncos were not successful in the 1960s, winning more than five games only once (7–7, 1962), compiling a 39–97–4 (.293) record during the ten seasons of the AFL.
Denver came close to losing its franchise in 1965, until a local ownership group took control, and rebuilt the team. The team's first superstar, "Franchise" Floyd Little, was instrumental in keeping the team in Denver, due to his signing in 1967 as well as his Pro Bowl efforts on and off the field. The Broncos were the only original AFL team that never played in the title game, as well as the only original AFL team never to have a winning season while a member of the AFL during the upstart league's 10-year history.
In 1972, the Broncos hired former Stanford University coach John Ralston as their head coach. In 1973, he was the UPI's AFC Coach of the Year, after Denver achieved its first winning season at 7–5–2. In five seasons with the Broncos, Ralston guided the team to three winning seasons. Though Ralston finished the 1976 season with a 9–5 record, the team, as was the case in Ralston's previous winning seasons, still missed the playoffs. Following the season, several prominent players publicly voiced their discontent with Ralston, which soon led to his resignation.
Red Miller, a long-time assistant coach, was hired and along with the Orange Crush Defense (a nickname originated in 1977, also the brand of the popular orange-flavored soft drink) and aging quarterback Craig Morton, took the Broncos to what was then a record-setting 12–2 regular-season record and their first playoff appearance in 1977, and ultimately made their first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XII, in which they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys (Morton's former team), 27–10.
In 1981, Broncos' owner Gerald Phipps, who had purchased the team in May 1961 from the original owner Bob Howsam, sold the team to Canadian financier Edgar Kaiser Jr., grandson of shipbuilding industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. In 1984, the team was purchased by another Canadian, Pat Bowlen, who placed team ownership into a family trust sometime before 2004 and remained in day-to-day control until his battle with Alzheimer's disease forced him to cede the team to Joe Ellis in 2014.
Dan Reeves became the youngest head coach in the NFL when he joined the Broncos in 1981 as vice president and head coach. Quarterback John Elway, who played college football at Stanford, arrived in 1983 via a trade. Originally drafted by the Baltimore Colts as the first pick of the draft, Elway proclaimed that he would shun football in favor of baseball (he was drafted by the New York Yankees to play center field and was also a pitching prospect), unless he was traded to a selected list of other teams, which included the Broncos. Prior to Elway, the Broncos had over 24 different starting quarterbacks in its 23 seasons to that point.
Reeves and Elway guided the Broncos to six post-season appearances, five AFC West divisional titles, three AFC championships and three Super Bowl appearances (Super Bowl XXI, XXII and XXIV) during their 12-year span together. The Broncos lost Super Bowl XXI to the New York Giants, 39–20; Super Bowl XXII to the Washington Redskins, 42–10; and Super Bowl XXIV to the San Francisco 49ers, 55–10; the latter score remains the most lopsided scoring differential in Super Bowl history. The last year of the Reeves-Elway era were marked by feuding, due to Reeves taking on play-calling duties after ousting Elway's favorite offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan after the 1991 season, as well as Reeves drafting quarterback Tommy Maddox out of UCLA instead of going with a wide receiver to help Elway. Reeves was fired after the 1992 season and replaced by his protégé and friend Wade Phillips, who had been serving as the Broncos' defensive coordinator. Phillips was fired after a mediocre 1994 season, in which management felt he lost control of the team.
In 1995, Mike Shanahan, who had formerly served under Reeves as the Broncos' offensive coordinator, returned as head coach. Shanahan drafted rookie running back Terrell Davis. In 1996, the Broncos were the top seed in the AFC with a 13–3 record, dominating most of the teams that year. The fifth-seeded Jacksonville Jaguars, however, upset the Broncos 30–27 in the divisional round of the playoffs, ending the Broncos' 1996 run.
During the 1997 season, Elway and Davis helped guide the Broncos to their first Super Bowl victory, a 31–24 win over the defending champion Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII. Though Elway completed only 13 of 22 passes, throwing one interception and no touchdowns (he did, however, have a rushing touchdown), Davis rushed for 157 yards and a Super Bowl-record three touchdowns to earn the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award—this while overcoming a severe migraine headache that caused him blurred vision.
The Broncos repeated as Super Bowl champions the following season, defeating the Atlanta Falcons (led by Elway's longtime head coach Dan Reeves) in Super Bowl XXXIII, 34–19. Elway was named Super Bowl MVP, completing 18 of 29 passes for 336 yards, with an 80-yard touchdown to wide receiver Rod Smith and one interception.
John Elway retired following the 1998 season, and Brian Griese started at quarterback for the next four seasons. After a 6–10 record in 1999, mostly due to a season-ending injury to Terrell Davis, the Broncos recovered in 2000, earning a Wild Card playoff berth, but losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens. After missing the playoffs the following two seasons, former Arizona Cardinals' quarterback Jake Plummer replaced Griese in 2003, and led the Broncos to two straight 10–6 seasons, earning Wild Card playoff berths both years. However, the Broncos went on the road to face the Indianapolis Colts in back-to-back seasons and were blown out by more than 20 points in each game, allowing a combined 90 points.
In the years following the back-to-back championships, a league investigation revealed that the team had cheated the salary cap in both seasons and the 1996 season by deferring additional money to Elway and Davis outside of the salary cap. In addition, they purposefully avoided waiving certain players before a certain date. Denver claimed the moves did not give them additional competitive advantage. Between two separate punishments, they were stripped of their third-round picks in both the 2002 and 2005 drafts and fined nearly $2 million combined.
Plummer led the Broncos to a 13–3 record in 2005 and their first AFC West division title since 1998. After a first-round bye, the Broncos defeated the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, 27–13, denying New England from becoming the first NFL team ever to win three consecutive Super Bowl championships. They were the first team to beat the Patriots in the playoffs during the Tom Brady era. The Broncos' playoff run came to an end the next week, after losing at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game, 34–17. The Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL.
The Broncos' defense began the first five games of the 2006 season allowing only one touchdown — an NFL record that still stands. ESPN commentator and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Theismann gave the 2006 defense the name "Bad Blue" on Monday Night Football as they played the Ravens. However, the team struggled down the season stretch. Plummer led the team to a 7–2 record, but struggled individually with inconsistent performance and more interceptions than touchdown passes. As a result, he would be replaced by rookie quarterback Jay Cutler. Cutler went 2–3 as a starter, and the Broncos finished with a 9–7 record, losing the tiebreaker to the Kansas City Chiefs for the final playoff spot. Cutler's first full season as a starter in 2007 became the Broncos' first losing season since 1999, with a 7–9 record.
The 2008 season ended in a 52–21 loss at the San Diego Chargers, giving the Broncos an 8–8 record and their third straight season out of the playoffs. Mike Shanahan, the longest-tenured and most successful head coach in Broncos' franchise history, was fired after 14 seasons.
On January 11, 2009, two weeks after Shanahan was fired, the Broncos hired former New England Patriots' offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as the team's new head coach. Three months later, the team acquired quarterback Kyle Orton as part of a trade that sent Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears.
Under McDaniels and Orton, the Broncos jumped out to a surprising 6–0 start in 2009. However, the team lost eight of their next ten games, finishing 8–8 for a second consecutive season and missing the playoffs. The next season (2010), the Broncos set a new franchise record for losses in a single season, with a 4–12 record. McDaniels was fired before the end of the 2010 season following a combination of the team's poor record and the fallout from a highly publicized videotaping scandal. Running backs coach Eric Studesville was named interim coach for the final four games of the 2010 season. He chose to start rookie first-round draft choice Tim Tebow at quarterback for the final three games.
Following the 2010 season, Joe Ellis was promoted from chief operating officer to team president, while John Elway returned to the organization as the team's executive vice president of football operations. In addition, the Broncos hired John Fox as the team's 14th head coach. Fox previously served as the Carolina Panthers' head coach from 2002 to 2010.
Following a 1–4 start to the 2011 season, Tim Tebow replaced Kyle Orton as the Broncos' starting quarterback, and "Tebow Time" was born. Tebow led the Broncos with toughness, determination and miraculous come-from-behind victories which gave the Broncos hope and were the catalyst for better things to come. Tebow led the Broncos to an 8–8 record and garnered the team's first playoff berth and division title since 2005. The Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round on a memorable 80-yard touchdown pass from Tebow to wide receiver Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime, setting a record for the fastest overtime in NFL history. However, the Broncos lost to the New England Patriots in the Divisional round.
In March 2012, the Broncos reached an agreement on a five-year, $96 million contract with former longtime Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning, who had recently missed the entire 2011 season following multiple neck surgeries. This resulted in the Broncos subsequently trading incumbent quarterback Tim Tebow to the New York Jets. The Broncos finished with a 13–3 record and the AFC's No. 1 seed in the 2012 playoffs, but were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional round.
Like in 2012, the 2013 Broncos finished with a 13–3 record and the AFC's No. 1 seed. The Broncos broke all offensive records and QB Peyton Manning shattered many quarterback records that season as well. In the 2013 playoffs, they defeated the San Diego Chargers in the Divisional round and the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship. However, the Broncos lost to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII by a score of 43–8, the Broncos' first Super Bowl berth since winning back-to-back Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998.
Prior to the start of the 2014 season, the Broncos announced that Pat Bowlen, the team's owner since 1984, relinquished control of the team due to his battle with Alzheimer's disease, resulting in team president Joe Ellis and general manager John Elway assuming control of the team. The Broncos finished the 2014 season with a 12–4 record and the AFC's No. 2 seed. However, the Broncos were defeated by the Indianapolis Colts in the Divisional round of the 2014 playoffs, marking the third time in four seasons that the Broncos lost in the Divisional round of the playoffs. Quarterback Peyton Manning had been playing with strained quadriceps for the final month of the 2014 season.
On January 12, 2015, one day after the divisional playoff loss to the Colts, the Broncos and head coach John Fox mutually agreed to part ways. Fox left the Broncos with a .719 winning percentage in his four seasons as the Broncos' head coach—the highest in franchise history. One week later, the Broncos hired Gary Kubiak as the team's 15th head coach. Kubiak served as a backup quarterback to executive vice president/general manager John Elway from 1983 to 1991, as well as the Broncos' offensive coordinator from 1995 to 2005.
Shortly after Kubiak became head coach, the Broncos underwent numerous changes to their coaching staff and players, including the hiring of defensive coordinator, defensive mastermind Wade Phillips, under whom the Broncos' defense went from middle of the road to being ranked No. 1 in the NFL. By the 2015 season, it would go on to be considered one of the greatest NFL defenses of all time — along with the 1985 Bears, 2000 Ravens and 2002 Buccaneers. The Broncos finished with a 12–4 record and the AFC's No. 1 seed, despite Peyton Manning having his worst statistical season since his rookie year with the Indianapolis Colts in 1998. Backup quarterback Brock Osweiler started the last six games of the regular season due to Manning suffering from a foot injury. Manning led the Broncos throughout the playoffs. The Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 23–16 in the Divisional Round and the New England Patriots 20–18 in the AFC Championship. They were victorious against the Carolina Panthers 24–10 in Super Bowl 50 for their third Super Bowl title.
On March 7, 2016, quarterback Peyton Manning retired after 18 NFL seasons during a press conference at the team's Dove Valley headquarters.
Following Manning's retirement, the Broncos scrambled to find the team's next starting quarterback after backup quarterback Brock Osweiler departed on a four-year contract to the Houston Texans. The Broncos acquired Mark Sanchez from the Philadelphia Eagles and selected Paxton Lynch during the 2016 draft. Sanchez, Lynch and second-year quarterback Trevor Siemian competed for the starting quarterback spot during the off-season and preseason. Prior to the regular season, Sanchez was released and Siemian was named the starter. The Broncos finished the season 9–7 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
On January 2, 2017, coach Gary Kubiak announced his retirement, citing health as the main reason for retiring. The Broncos hired Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph as head coach on January 11, 2017. The Broncos finished 5–11 in 2017 as a result of an unimpressive offense led by a quarterback committee of Trevor Siemian, Brock Osweiler, and Paxton Lynch.
In an effort to address poor production from the offense, the Broncos signed quarterback Case Keenum on March 14, 2018, and traded away Trevor Siemian to the Minnesota Vikings on March 19, 2018.
On May 1, 2018, the Broncos signed local undrafted free agent running back Phillip Lindsay, who became a fan favorite due to his underdog mentality, explosive play style and local roots. Lindsay became the first undrafted player in NFL history with 100+ scrimmage yards in each of their first two games and on December 18, 2018, Lindsay was voted to the 2019 Pro Bowl, making him the first undrafted offensive rookie in NFL history to be voted to a Pro Bowl.
After getting off to a strong start, their 2018 season was up and down, eventually finishing with a 6–10 record and placing third in the AFC West. Coupled with the 5–11 season in 2017, the Broncos had back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1971–1972. Shortly after the conclusion of the regular season, head coach Vance Joseph was fired after recording a poor 11–21 record in two seasons.
On January 10, 2019, the Broncos hired Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to become the 17th head coach in franchise history. Fangio was chosen over Mike Munchak, the Broncos' offensive line coach. Fangio received a four-year contract with a team option for an additional season.
On February 13, 2019, Joe Flacco was announced as the new starting quarterback. On October 6, 2019, the Broncos defeated the Los Angeles Chargers for their 500th win, bringing their win–loss record to 500–432.
On December 1, 2019, the Broncos started Mizzou rookie quarterback Drew Lock for the first time. He led the Broncos to a 4–1 record to end the 2019 season. The Broncos finished 2nd place in the AFC West Division at 7–9, missing the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year. In five games, Lock finished with 1,020 passing yards, seven touchdowns, and three interceptions.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 NFL season did not have a preseason or full training camps, which likely contributed to an abnormally large amount of injuries that plagued the Broncos and other NFL teams. Star linebacker Von Miller suffered a season-ending ankle tendon injury before the regular season started, and starting wide receiver Courtland Sutton suffered a season-ending torn ACL during a week two game.
On November 29, 2020, after all three of the Broncos' quarterbacks were placed in COVID-19 protocol, the Broncos were forced to turn to undrafted wide receiver and former college quarterback Kendall Hinton as the emergency quarterback. Hinton completed only one pass for 13 yards in 9 attempts—the fewest pass completions in a single game in franchise history—and was intercepted twice. The Broncos' only scoring play was a 58-yard field goal by placekicker Brandon McManus in a 31–3 loss to the New Orleans Saints. In July 2021, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced that Hinton's quarterback wristband would be added to the Hall of Fame as part of a display.
The Broncos finished the 2020 season with a record of 5–11, last in the AFC West, and missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.
Following another season of uninspiring quarterback performances, the Broncos were the subject of multiple quarterback trade rumors during the 2021 offseason. Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson were two names rumored to be of interest for the Broncos, but ultimately the Broncos traded for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater on April 28, 2021. Bridgewater won the subsequent quarterback competition between himself and Drew Lock during the preseason, and he was named the Broncos' starting quarterback on August 25, 2021.
The Broncos also made notable improvements in the defensive secondary, signing former All-Pro cornerback Kyle Fuller and cornerback Ronald Darby, as well as drafting Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II with the ninth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Running back Phillip Lindsay was replaced by UNC rookie running back Javonte Williams, who was drafted in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Broncos.
On October 31, 2021, Peyton Manning (who won two AFC Championships, Super Bowl 50, and an NFL MVP during his four seasons as a Bronco) was inducted to the Broncos' Ring of Fame during a game against Washington.
On November 1, 2021, the Broncos traded franchise legend Von Miller to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for a 2nd and 3rd round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. At the time of the trade, Miller was the longest-tenured Bronco on the team, and the only remaining non-special teams player from Denver's Super Bowl 50 roster.
After another mediocre performance in the 2021 season with the Broncos going 7–10, head coach Vic Fangio was dismissed on January 8, 2022, after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Broncos announced the hiring of Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as head coach on January 27, 2022.
The Broncos then announced on February 1, 2022, that they were now up for sale and that they would be parting ways with the Bowlen family, the former owners of the franchise.
Hackett's first hire as head coach was Justin Outten as offensive coordinator. He was hired on February 2, 2022.
On March 16, 2022, the Broncos traded Drew Lock, Noah Fant, Shelby Harris, Denver's 2022 first-round pick (No. 9), its 2022 second-round pick (No. 40), its 2023 first- and second-round picks, and its 2022 fifth-round round pick for Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks' 2022 fourth-round pick.
On June 7, 2022, the Broncos announced that the Walton-Penner family, led by Rob Walton, had entered in an agreement to acquire the Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion. The NFL approved the bid on August 10, 2022, with the Broncos introducing Carrie Walton Penner, Greg Penner, Mellody Hobson, Condoleezza Rice, and Lewis Hamilton to the ownership group.
On December 26, with the Broncos sitting at 4–11 following a 51–14 Christmas Day loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Hackett was fired and replaced by interim head coach Jerry Rosburg. Hackett became the fifth head coach to not finish his first season after Lou Holtz in 1976, Pete McCulley in 1978, Bobby Petrino in 2007, and Urban Meyer in 2021. Sean Payton was hired as head coach for the 2023 season.
The Denver Broncos have three AFC West rivals—the Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers. All teams, along with the Broncos, were charter members of the American Football League (AFL), with each team placed in the AFL Western Division. The Broncos were barely competitive during the AFL years (1960–69), going a combined 10–49–1 against the Chiefs, Chargers and Raiders.
The Broncos have had several memorable matchups with the Chiefs, particularly during the years in which John Elway was the Broncos' starting quarterback (1983–98). The Broncos defeated the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in the divisional round of the 1997 NFL playoffs, en route to their first Super Bowl victory. The Chiefs currently hold a 69–55 series lead over the Broncos, including the aforementioned 1997 divisional playoff game.
The rivalry with the Raiders was ignited in 1977, when the Broncos advanced to their first Super Bowl by defeating the defending champion Raiders in the 1977 AFC Championship. The rivalry intensified in the mid-1990s, when Mike Shanahan was hired as the Broncos' head coach in 1995. Shanahan coached the Raiders in 1988 before being fired four games into the 1989 season. The Raiders currently hold a 70–54–2 series lead over the Broncos, including 1–1 in the playoffs.
Unlike their records against the Chiefs and Raiders, the Broncos currently have a winning record against the Chargers, with a 70–54–1 series lead, including 1–0 in the playoffs. The Broncos pulled off one of the largest comebacks in Monday Night Football history, when Peyton Manning led the Broncos from a 24–0 halftime deficit to a 35–24 win at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium during the 2012 season. The two teams met in the playoffs for the first time on January 12, 2014, at Denver's Sports Authority Field at Mile High, with the Broncos winning 24–17.
Aside from the aforementioned AFC West teams, the Broncos have had intra-conference rivalries over the years with the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots. The Broncos and Seattle Seahawks were also former AFC West rivals from 1977 to 2001, after which Seattle was realigned to the NFC West.
The Broncos had a brief rivalry with the Browns that arose from three AFC championship matches in 1986, 1987 and 1989. In the 1986 AFC Championship, quarterback John Elway led The Drive to secure a tie in the waning moments at Cleveland Municipal Stadium; the Broncos went on to win in 23–20 in overtime. One year later, the two teams met again in the 1987 AFC Championship at Mile High Stadium. Denver took a 21–3 lead, but Browns' quarterback Bernie Kosar threw four touchdown passes to tie the game at 31–31 halfway through the 4th quarter. After a long drive, John Elway threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to running back Sammy Winder to give Denver a 38–31 lead. Cleveland advanced to Denver's 8-yard line with 1:12 left, but Broncos' safety Jeremiah Castille stripped Browns' running back Earnest Byner of the football at the 2-yard line—a play that has been called The Fumble by Browns' fans. The Broncos recovered it, gave Cleveland an intentional safety, and went on to win 38–33. The two teams met yet again in the 1989 AFC Championship at Mile High Stadium, which the Broncos easily won by a score of 37–21. The Broncos did not win the Super Bowl after any of the championship games where they defeated the Browns, losing by an aggregate of 136–40.
As of the end of the 2015 season, the Broncos and Steelers have met in postseason play eight times, tied with five other pairings for the second–most frequent playoff matchups in NFL playoff history. The Broncos currently own a 5–3 playoff record vs. the Steelers. Perhaps the most memorable postseason matchup occurred in the 1997 AFC Championship, in which the Broncos defeated the Steelers 24–21 at Three Rivers Stadium, en route to their first Super Bowl victory. Eight years later, the Steelers returned the favor at INVESCO Field at Mile High, defeating the Broncos 34–17 in the 2005 AFC Championship, and subsequently won Super Bowl XL. In the Wild Card round of the 2011 playoffs, in a game dubbed The 3:16 game, the Broncos stunned the Steelers 29–23 on the first play of overtime, when quarterback Tim Tebow connected with wide receiver Demaryius Thomas on an 80-yard game-winning touchdown pass. The teams met again in the Divisional round of the 2015 playoffs at Denver, where the Broncos defeated the Steelers 23–16 on their way to a victory in Super Bowl 50.
The Broncos and Patriots met twice annually during the American Football League (AFL) years from 1960 to 1969, and played in the first-ever AFL game on September 9, 1960. Since 1995, the two teams have met frequently during the regular season, including nine consecutive seasons from 1995 to 2003. As of the end of the 2015 season, the two teams have met in the playoffs five times, with the Broncos owning a 4–1 record. The teams' first playoff match on January 4, 1987, was John Elway's first career playoff win, while the teams' second playoff match on January 14, 2006, game was the Broncos' first playoff win since Elway's retirement after the 1998 season. The game was also notable for Champ Bailey's 100-yard interception that resulted in a touchdown-saving tackle by Benjamin Watson at the 1-yard line. On October 11, 2009, the two teams met with former Patriots' offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels as the Broncos' head coach. Both teams wore their AFL 50th anniversary jerseys. The game featured a 98-yard drive in the fourth quarter, with a game-tying touchdown pass from Kyle Orton to Brandon Marshall, followed by an overtime drive led by Orton that resulted in a 41-yard game-winning field goal by Matt Prater. The two teams met in the Divisional round of the 2011 playoffs, with the Patriots blowing out Tim Tebow and the Broncos by a score of 45–10. The Broncos' rivalry with the Patriots later intensified when longtime Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning became the Broncos' starting quarterback from 2012 to 2015. Manning and Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady maintained a legendary rivalry from 2001 until Manning's retirement after the 2015 season. Though Brady dominated Manning in regular season play, winning nine of twelve meetings, Manning won three of five playoff meetings, including the Broncos' 26–16 win in the 2013 AFC Championship and the Broncos' 20–18 win in the 2015 AFC Championship.
The Broncos had an old rivalry with the Seattle Seahawks, who were members of the AFC West from 1977 to 2001, prior to the Seahawks' move to the NFC West as part of the NFL's 2002 re-alignment. During the 25 years in which the Seahawks resided in the AFC West, the Broncos went 32–18 against the Seahawks, including a loss at Seattle in the 1983 NFL playoffs. Since 2002, the Broncos have won three of five interconference meetings, and the two teams met in Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014, with the Seahawks winning by a score of 43–8.
For most of their history, the Denver Broncos played in Mile High Stadium. The AFL Broncos played at the University of Denver's Hilltop Stadium from time to time, including the first victory of an AFL team over an NFL team: The Broncos beat the Detroit Lions on August 5, 1967, in a preseason game. The team has sold out every home game (including post-season games) since the AFL–NFL merger in 1970, with the exception of two replacement games during the 1987 strike (but both were sold out before the strike).
During home games, the attendance is announced to the crowd, along with the number of no-shows (the fans subsequently boo the no-shows). The fans are also known to chant "IN-COM-PLETE!" every time the visiting team throws an incomplete pass. The stadium's legendary home-field advantage is regarded as one of the best in the NFL, especially during the playoffs. The Broncos had the best home record in pro football over a 32-year span from 1974 to 2006 (191–65–1). Mile High Stadium was one of the NFL's loudest stadiums, with steel flooring instead of concrete, which may have given the Broncos an advantage over opponents, plus the advantage of altitude conditioning for the Broncos. In 2001, the team moved into then-named Invesco Field at Mile High, built next to the former site of the since-demolished Mile High Stadium. Sportswriter Woody Paige, along with many of Denver's fans, however, often refused to call the stadium by its full name, preferring to use "Mile High Stadium" because of its storied history and sentimental import. Additionally, The Denver Post had an official policy of referring to the stadium as simply "Mile High Stadium" in protest, but dropped this policy in 2004.
Prior to the 2011 season, Englewood-based sporting goods retailer Sports Authority claimed the naming rights of Invesco Field, which became known as Sports Authority Field at Mile High. However, in the summer of 2016, Sports Authority went bankrupt, the stadium was renamed Broncos Stadium at Mile High, and the Broncos sought out a naming rights sponsor until September 2019 when they agreed to rename the stadium Empower Field at Mile High.
The altitude has also been attributed as part of the team's home success. The stadium displays multiple references to the stadium's location of 5,280 feet (1.000 mi) above sea level, including a prominent mural just outside the visiting team's locker room. The team training facility, the UCHealth Training Center (formerly known as the Paul D. Bowlen Memorial Broncos Centre), is a state-of-the-art facility located in Dove Valley. With 13.5 acres (5.5 ha) of property, the facility hosts three full-size fields, a complete weight and training facility, and a cafeteria.
In their more than half-century of existence, the Broncos have never been shut out at home, a streak of over 400 games as of the 2016 season.
In late 2012, the Broncos announced that the stadium would receive $30 million upgrades including a new video board in the south end zone three times larger than the previous display. The renovations were finished before kickoff of the 2013 season.
When the Broncos debuted in 1960, their original uniforms drew were said to have drawn as much attention as their play on the field. They featured white and mustard yellow jerseys, contrasting brown helmets, brown pants, and vertically striped socks. Two years later, the team unveiled a new logo featuring a bucking horse and changed their team colors to orange, royal blue and white. The 1962 uniform consisted of white pants, orange helmets, and either orange or white jerseys.
In 1968, the Broncos debuted a design that became known as "Orange Crush". Their logo was redesigned so that the horse was coming out of a "D". Additionally, the helmets were changed to royal blue, and the sleeves had thin stripes with other minor modifications added. From 1969 to 1971, and again from 1978 to 1979, the team wore orange pants with their white jerseys. In 1975, the face masks were changed to white from grey.
The Broncos wore their white jerseys at home throughout the 1971 season, as well as for 1980 home games against the San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys, the latter in hopes to bring out the "blue jersey jinx" which has followed the Cowboys for decades. (The Broncos won 41–20.) The Broncos wore their white jerseys for 1983 home games against the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals, but did not wear white at home again for two decades — see next section.
In 1994, in honor of the 75th anniversary season of the NFL, the Broncos wore their 1965 throwback uniforms for two games—a Week 3 home game against the Raiders and a road game at the Buffalo Bills the following week.
The Broncos radically changed their logo and uniforms in 1997, a design that the team continues to use to this day. The new logos and uniforms were unveiled on February 4, 1997. Navy blue replaced royal blue on the team's color scheme. The current logo is a profile of a horse's head, with an orange mane and navy blue outlines. The Broncos' popular live animal mascot Thunder was the inspiration to incorporate a horse-head profile as part of the logo on the team's helmets. During a February 4, 1997, press conference introducing the new logo, the team president and the art director for Nike, who were the creators of the new design, described it as "a powerful horse with a fiery eye and mane."
The Broncos began wearing navy blue jerseys, replacing their longtime orange jerseys that had been the team's predominant home jersey color since 1962. This new uniform design features a new word mark, numbering font and a streak that runs up and down the sides of both the jerseys and the pants. On the navy blue jerseys, the streak is orange, with an orange collar and white numerals trimmed in orange, while on the road white jerseys, the streak is navy blue, with a thin orange accent strip on both sides, a navy collar and navy numerals trimmed in orange; the helmet facemasks became navy blue. When they debuted, these uniforms were vilified by the press and fans, until the Broncos won their first-ever Super Bowl in the new design that same season. The navy blue jerseys served as the team's primary home jersey until the end of the 2011 season — see next section.
In 2002, the Broncos introduced an alternate orange jersey that is a mirror image of the aforementioned navy blue jerseys, but with orange and navy trading places. Like the road white jerseys, the white pants with the navy blue streaks running down the sides are worn with this uniform. This jersey was used only once in the 2002 and 2004 seasons, and were used twice per season from 2008 to 2011. Mike Shanahan, the team's head coach from 1995 to 2008, was not a big fan of the alternate orange jerseys. The Broncos previously wore orange jerseys as a throwback uniform in a Thanksgiving Day game at the Dallas Cowboys in 2001.
The team also introduced navy blue pants in 2003, with orange side streaks to match with the navy blue jerseys. Though they were part of the uniform change in 1997 (in fact, they were worn for a couple of 1997 preseason games) and most players wanted to wear them, the only player who vetoed wearing them was John Elway, thereby delaying their eventual introduction. From 2003 to 2011, these pants were primarily used for select prime-time and late-season home games (excluding the 2008 season), and since 2012, are used exclusively with the now-alternate navy blue jerseys — see next section.
On November 16, 2003, the Broncos wore their white jerseys at home for the first time since 1983, in a game vs. the San Diego Chargers. This was compensation for a uniform mix-up, after the teams' first meeting at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium in Week 2 earlier that season, when the Chargers were the team that was supposed to declare their uniform color. The Chargers were planning to wear their white jerseys, but the visiting Broncos came to the stadium in white, and were fined $25,000 by the NFL as a result. When the two teams met at INVESCO Field at Mile High later that season (Week 11), the NFL allowed the visiting Chargers to choose their uniform color in advance, and they chose navy blue, forcing the Broncos to wear their white jerseys at home.
In 2009, in honor of their 50th anniversary season as one of the eight original American Football League teams, the Broncos wore their 1960 throwback uniforms (brown helmets, mustard yellow and brown jerseys) for games against two fellow AFL rivals—a Week 5 home game vs. the New England Patriots, as well as the following week at the San Diego Chargers.
Beginning in 2012, the orange jerseys that served as the alternate colored jerseys from 2002 to 2011 became the primary home jersey, while the navy blue jerseys that served as the primary home jersey from 1997 to 2011 switched to alternate designation. The change was made due to overwhelming popularity with the fans, who pressured the Broncos to return to orange as the team's primary home jersey color. Since the 2012 uniform change, the team has worn the alternate navy blue jerseys for at least one home game per season, with the exception of 2013, in which the Broncos wore their alternate navy blue uniforms for an October 6, 2013, road game at the Dallas Cowboys, which the Broncos won in a shootout, 51–48. The team will either wear the navy blue or the white pants – with the orange side stripes – to match with the alternate navy blue jerseys. The team initially did not wear the white pants with the orange side stripes, until a November 1, 2015, game vs. the Green Bay Packers, in which the Broncos wore said design to match the uniform ensemble that was used during the team's Super Bowl XXXII win over the Packers. On October 30, 2022, the Broncos debuted a new combination of white jerseys and alternate navy blue pants in an NFL London Game at the Jacksonville Jaguars, with mismatched side stripes of navy blue (white jersey) and orange (navy blue pants).
As the designated home team in Super Bowl 50, the Broncos – who have a 0–4 Super Bowl record when using their standard orange jerseys – chose to wear their white jerseys as the designated "home" team.
In 2016, the Broncos' unveiled a new Color Rush uniform, which the team wore for a Thursday Night game at the San Diego Chargers on October 13, 2016. The uniform kit contained the following features: orange pants, which the team wore for the first time since 1979, orange socks and shoes, along with block-style numerals trimmed in navy blue that mirrored the team's 1968–1996 uniform style. Due to the NFL's one-helmet rule implemented in 2013, the helmets remained the same, with the team temporarily replacing the modern primary logo with the throwback "D-horse" logo. The same uniform was used for a Thursday night game against the Indianapolis Colts during the 2017 season and again during a 2018 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Starting in 2023, the Color Rush uniforms were paired with a white alternate helmet, again using the modernized "D-horse" logo.
The Denver Broncos announced the club's 50th anniversary team on September 15, 2009. The anniversary team was voted on by users at DenverBroncos.com from June 6 – September 4, 2009.
† Note: No. 18 was re-issued for Peyton Manning after Tripucka gave his approval; it was used by Manning from the 2012 season until his retirement after the 2015 season. Manning's name was added to the retired number's banner as an honorable mention.
The Broncos have a Ring of Fame on the Level 5 facade of Empower Field at Mile High, which honors the following:
The current head coach is Sean Payton, who was hired for the 2023 season. His predecessor was Nathaniel Hackett. On December 26, 2022, ownership announced that Hackett had been fired after he led the team to a disappointing 4–11 record despite entering the season with high expectations.
The Broncos' flagship radio station is currently KOA, 850AM, a 50,000-watt station owned by iHeartMedia. Dave Logan is the play-by-play announcer, with former Broncos' wide receiver Ed McCaffrey serving as the color commentator beginning in 2012, replacing Brian Griese. Ed McCaffrey was replaced by Rick Lewis. Until 2010, preseason games not selected for airing on national television were shown on KCNC, channel 4, which is a CBS owned-and-operated station, as well as other CBS affiliates around the Rocky Mountain region. On May 26, 2011, the Broncos announced that KUSA channel 9, an NBC affiliate also known as 9NEWS in the Rocky Mountain region, will be the team's new television partner for preseason games.
In 2011, the Broncos began a partnership with KJMN, 92.1 FM, a leading Spanish language radio station owned by Entravision Communications (EVC). The partnership also includes broadcasting rights for a half-hour weekly TV show on KCEC, the local Univision affiliate operated by Entravision Communications.
Notes
Further reading | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquartered in Dove Valley, Colorado.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The team began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) and joined the NFL as part of the merger in 1970. The Broncos are currently owned by the Walton-Penner group, and play their home games at Empower Field at Mile High; Denver previously played its home games at Mile High Stadium from its inception in 1960 through the 2000 season.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The Broncos were barely competitive during their 10-year run in the AFL and their first seven years in the NFL. They did not have a winning season until 1973 and qualified for their first playoffs in 1977, eventually advancing to Super Bowl XII that season. Since 1975, the Broncos have become one of the NFL's most successful teams, having suffered only eleven losing seasons. They have won eight AFC Championships (1977, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1997, 1998, 2013, 2015), and three Super Bowl championships (1997 (XXXII), 1998 (XXXIII), 2015 (50), and share the NFL record for most Super Bowl losses (5 – tied with the New England Patriots). The Broncos have eight primary members enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: John Elway, Floyd Little, Shannon Sharpe, Gary Zimmerman, Terrell Davis, Champ Bailey, and Steve Atwater, along with late club owner Pat Bowlen.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "According to Forbes, the Broncos are valued at $4.65 billion in July 2022 making them the twelfth most-valuable team in the NFL.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The Denver Broncos were founded on August 14, 1959, when minor league baseball owner Bob Howsam was awarded an American Football League (AFL) charter franchise. The Broncos won the first-ever AFL game over the Boston Patriots 13–10, on September 9, 1960. Seven years later on August 5, 1967, they became the first-ever AFL team to defeat an NFL team, with a 13–7 win over the Detroit Lions in a preseason game. However, the Broncos were not successful in the 1960s, winning more than five games only once (7–7, 1962), compiling a 39–97–4 (.293) record during the ten seasons of the AFL.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Denver came close to losing its franchise in 1965, until a local ownership group took control, and rebuilt the team. The team's first superstar, \"Franchise\" Floyd Little, was instrumental in keeping the team in Denver, due to his signing in 1967 as well as his Pro Bowl efforts on and off the field. The Broncos were the only original AFL team that never played in the title game, as well as the only original AFL team never to have a winning season while a member of the AFL during the upstart league's 10-year history.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "In 1972, the Broncos hired former Stanford University coach John Ralston as their head coach. In 1973, he was the UPI's AFC Coach of the Year, after Denver achieved its first winning season at 7–5–2. In five seasons with the Broncos, Ralston guided the team to three winning seasons. Though Ralston finished the 1976 season with a 9–5 record, the team, as was the case in Ralston's previous winning seasons, still missed the playoffs. Following the season, several prominent players publicly voiced their discontent with Ralston, which soon led to his resignation.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Red Miller, a long-time assistant coach, was hired and along with the Orange Crush Defense (a nickname originated in 1977, also the brand of the popular orange-flavored soft drink) and aging quarterback Craig Morton, took the Broncos to what was then a record-setting 12–2 regular-season record and their first playoff appearance in 1977, and ultimately made their first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XII, in which they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys (Morton's former team), 27–10.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In 1981, Broncos' owner Gerald Phipps, who had purchased the team in May 1961 from the original owner Bob Howsam, sold the team to Canadian financier Edgar Kaiser Jr., grandson of shipbuilding industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. In 1984, the team was purchased by another Canadian, Pat Bowlen, who placed team ownership into a family trust sometime before 2004 and remained in day-to-day control until his battle with Alzheimer's disease forced him to cede the team to Joe Ellis in 2014.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Dan Reeves became the youngest head coach in the NFL when he joined the Broncos in 1981 as vice president and head coach. Quarterback John Elway, who played college football at Stanford, arrived in 1983 via a trade. Originally drafted by the Baltimore Colts as the first pick of the draft, Elway proclaimed that he would shun football in favor of baseball (he was drafted by the New York Yankees to play center field and was also a pitching prospect), unless he was traded to a selected list of other teams, which included the Broncos. Prior to Elway, the Broncos had over 24 different starting quarterbacks in its 23 seasons to that point.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Reeves and Elway guided the Broncos to six post-season appearances, five AFC West divisional titles, three AFC championships and three Super Bowl appearances (Super Bowl XXI, XXII and XXIV) during their 12-year span together. The Broncos lost Super Bowl XXI to the New York Giants, 39–20; Super Bowl XXII to the Washington Redskins, 42–10; and Super Bowl XXIV to the San Francisco 49ers, 55–10; the latter score remains the most lopsided scoring differential in Super Bowl history. The last year of the Reeves-Elway era were marked by feuding, due to Reeves taking on play-calling duties after ousting Elway's favorite offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan after the 1991 season, as well as Reeves drafting quarterback Tommy Maddox out of UCLA instead of going with a wide receiver to help Elway. Reeves was fired after the 1992 season and replaced by his protégé and friend Wade Phillips, who had been serving as the Broncos' defensive coordinator. Phillips was fired after a mediocre 1994 season, in which management felt he lost control of the team.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In 1995, Mike Shanahan, who had formerly served under Reeves as the Broncos' offensive coordinator, returned as head coach. Shanahan drafted rookie running back Terrell Davis. In 1996, the Broncos were the top seed in the AFC with a 13–3 record, dominating most of the teams that year. The fifth-seeded Jacksonville Jaguars, however, upset the Broncos 30–27 in the divisional round of the playoffs, ending the Broncos' 1996 run.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "During the 1997 season, Elway and Davis helped guide the Broncos to their first Super Bowl victory, a 31–24 win over the defending champion Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII. Though Elway completed only 13 of 22 passes, throwing one interception and no touchdowns (he did, however, have a rushing touchdown), Davis rushed for 157 yards and a Super Bowl-record three touchdowns to earn the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award—this while overcoming a severe migraine headache that caused him blurred vision.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The Broncos repeated as Super Bowl champions the following season, defeating the Atlanta Falcons (led by Elway's longtime head coach Dan Reeves) in Super Bowl XXXIII, 34–19. Elway was named Super Bowl MVP, completing 18 of 29 passes for 336 yards, with an 80-yard touchdown to wide receiver Rod Smith and one interception.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "John Elway retired following the 1998 season, and Brian Griese started at quarterback for the next four seasons. After a 6–10 record in 1999, mostly due to a season-ending injury to Terrell Davis, the Broncos recovered in 2000, earning a Wild Card playoff berth, but losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens. After missing the playoffs the following two seasons, former Arizona Cardinals' quarterback Jake Plummer replaced Griese in 2003, and led the Broncos to two straight 10–6 seasons, earning Wild Card playoff berths both years. However, the Broncos went on the road to face the Indianapolis Colts in back-to-back seasons and were blown out by more than 20 points in each game, allowing a combined 90 points.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In the years following the back-to-back championships, a league investigation revealed that the team had cheated the salary cap in both seasons and the 1996 season by deferring additional money to Elway and Davis outside of the salary cap. In addition, they purposefully avoided waiving certain players before a certain date. Denver claimed the moves did not give them additional competitive advantage. Between two separate punishments, they were stripped of their third-round picks in both the 2002 and 2005 drafts and fined nearly $2 million combined.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Plummer led the Broncos to a 13–3 record in 2005 and their first AFC West division title since 1998. After a first-round bye, the Broncos defeated the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, 27–13, denying New England from becoming the first NFL team ever to win three consecutive Super Bowl championships. They were the first team to beat the Patriots in the playoffs during the Tom Brady era. The Broncos' playoff run came to an end the next week, after losing at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game, 34–17. The Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The Broncos' defense began the first five games of the 2006 season allowing only one touchdown — an NFL record that still stands. ESPN commentator and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Theismann gave the 2006 defense the name \"Bad Blue\" on Monday Night Football as they played the Ravens. However, the team struggled down the season stretch. Plummer led the team to a 7–2 record, but struggled individually with inconsistent performance and more interceptions than touchdown passes. As a result, he would be replaced by rookie quarterback Jay Cutler. Cutler went 2–3 as a starter, and the Broncos finished with a 9–7 record, losing the tiebreaker to the Kansas City Chiefs for the final playoff spot. Cutler's first full season as a starter in 2007 became the Broncos' first losing season since 1999, with a 7–9 record.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The 2008 season ended in a 52–21 loss at the San Diego Chargers, giving the Broncos an 8–8 record and their third straight season out of the playoffs. Mike Shanahan, the longest-tenured and most successful head coach in Broncos' franchise history, was fired after 14 seasons.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "On January 11, 2009, two weeks after Shanahan was fired, the Broncos hired former New England Patriots' offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as the team's new head coach. Three months later, the team acquired quarterback Kyle Orton as part of a trade that sent Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Under McDaniels and Orton, the Broncos jumped out to a surprising 6–0 start in 2009. However, the team lost eight of their next ten games, finishing 8–8 for a second consecutive season and missing the playoffs. The next season (2010), the Broncos set a new franchise record for losses in a single season, with a 4–12 record. McDaniels was fired before the end of the 2010 season following a combination of the team's poor record and the fallout from a highly publicized videotaping scandal. Running backs coach Eric Studesville was named interim coach for the final four games of the 2010 season. He chose to start rookie first-round draft choice Tim Tebow at quarterback for the final three games.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Following the 2010 season, Joe Ellis was promoted from chief operating officer to team president, while John Elway returned to the organization as the team's executive vice president of football operations. In addition, the Broncos hired John Fox as the team's 14th head coach. Fox previously served as the Carolina Panthers' head coach from 2002 to 2010.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Following a 1–4 start to the 2011 season, Tim Tebow replaced Kyle Orton as the Broncos' starting quarterback, and \"Tebow Time\" was born. Tebow led the Broncos with toughness, determination and miraculous come-from-behind victories which gave the Broncos hope and were the catalyst for better things to come. Tebow led the Broncos to an 8–8 record and garnered the team's first playoff berth and division title since 2005. The Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round on a memorable 80-yard touchdown pass from Tebow to wide receiver Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime, setting a record for the fastest overtime in NFL history. However, the Broncos lost to the New England Patriots in the Divisional round.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "In March 2012, the Broncos reached an agreement on a five-year, $96 million contract with former longtime Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning, who had recently missed the entire 2011 season following multiple neck surgeries. This resulted in the Broncos subsequently trading incumbent quarterback Tim Tebow to the New York Jets. The Broncos finished with a 13–3 record and the AFC's No. 1 seed in the 2012 playoffs, but were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional round.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Like in 2012, the 2013 Broncos finished with a 13–3 record and the AFC's No. 1 seed. The Broncos broke all offensive records and QB Peyton Manning shattered many quarterback records that season as well. In the 2013 playoffs, they defeated the San Diego Chargers in the Divisional round and the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship. However, the Broncos lost to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII by a score of 43–8, the Broncos' first Super Bowl berth since winning back-to-back Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Prior to the start of the 2014 season, the Broncos announced that Pat Bowlen, the team's owner since 1984, relinquished control of the team due to his battle with Alzheimer's disease, resulting in team president Joe Ellis and general manager John Elway assuming control of the team. The Broncos finished the 2014 season with a 12–4 record and the AFC's No. 2 seed. However, the Broncos were defeated by the Indianapolis Colts in the Divisional round of the 2014 playoffs, marking the third time in four seasons that the Broncos lost in the Divisional round of the playoffs. Quarterback Peyton Manning had been playing with strained quadriceps for the final month of the 2014 season.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "On January 12, 2015, one day after the divisional playoff loss to the Colts, the Broncos and head coach John Fox mutually agreed to part ways. Fox left the Broncos with a .719 winning percentage in his four seasons as the Broncos' head coach—the highest in franchise history. One week later, the Broncos hired Gary Kubiak as the team's 15th head coach. Kubiak served as a backup quarterback to executive vice president/general manager John Elway from 1983 to 1991, as well as the Broncos' offensive coordinator from 1995 to 2005.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Shortly after Kubiak became head coach, the Broncos underwent numerous changes to their coaching staff and players, including the hiring of defensive coordinator, defensive mastermind Wade Phillips, under whom the Broncos' defense went from middle of the road to being ranked No. 1 in the NFL. By the 2015 season, it would go on to be considered one of the greatest NFL defenses of all time — along with the 1985 Bears, 2000 Ravens and 2002 Buccaneers. The Broncos finished with a 12–4 record and the AFC's No. 1 seed, despite Peyton Manning having his worst statistical season since his rookie year with the Indianapolis Colts in 1998. Backup quarterback Brock Osweiler started the last six games of the regular season due to Manning suffering from a foot injury. Manning led the Broncos throughout the playoffs. The Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 23–16 in the Divisional Round and the New England Patriots 20–18 in the AFC Championship. They were victorious against the Carolina Panthers 24–10 in Super Bowl 50 for their third Super Bowl title.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "On March 7, 2016, quarterback Peyton Manning retired after 18 NFL seasons during a press conference at the team's Dove Valley headquarters.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Following Manning's retirement, the Broncos scrambled to find the team's next starting quarterback after backup quarterback Brock Osweiler departed on a four-year contract to the Houston Texans. The Broncos acquired Mark Sanchez from the Philadelphia Eagles and selected Paxton Lynch during the 2016 draft. Sanchez, Lynch and second-year quarterback Trevor Siemian competed for the starting quarterback spot during the off-season and preseason. Prior to the regular season, Sanchez was released and Siemian was named the starter. The Broncos finished the season 9–7 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "On January 2, 2017, coach Gary Kubiak announced his retirement, citing health as the main reason for retiring. The Broncos hired Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph as head coach on January 11, 2017. The Broncos finished 5–11 in 2017 as a result of an unimpressive offense led by a quarterback committee of Trevor Siemian, Brock Osweiler, and Paxton Lynch.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "In an effort to address poor production from the offense, the Broncos signed quarterback Case Keenum on March 14, 2018, and traded away Trevor Siemian to the Minnesota Vikings on March 19, 2018.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "On May 1, 2018, the Broncos signed local undrafted free agent running back Phillip Lindsay, who became a fan favorite due to his underdog mentality, explosive play style and local roots. Lindsay became the first undrafted player in NFL history with 100+ scrimmage yards in each of their first two games and on December 18, 2018, Lindsay was voted to the 2019 Pro Bowl, making him the first undrafted offensive rookie in NFL history to be voted to a Pro Bowl.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "After getting off to a strong start, their 2018 season was up and down, eventually finishing with a 6–10 record and placing third in the AFC West. Coupled with the 5–11 season in 2017, the Broncos had back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1971–1972. Shortly after the conclusion of the regular season, head coach Vance Joseph was fired after recording a poor 11–21 record in two seasons.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "On January 10, 2019, the Broncos hired Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to become the 17th head coach in franchise history. Fangio was chosen over Mike Munchak, the Broncos' offensive line coach. Fangio received a four-year contract with a team option for an additional season.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "On February 13, 2019, Joe Flacco was announced as the new starting quarterback. On October 6, 2019, the Broncos defeated the Los Angeles Chargers for their 500th win, bringing their win–loss record to 500–432.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "On December 1, 2019, the Broncos started Mizzou rookie quarterback Drew Lock for the first time. He led the Broncos to a 4–1 record to end the 2019 season. The Broncos finished 2nd place in the AFC West Division at 7–9, missing the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year. In five games, Lock finished with 1,020 passing yards, seven touchdowns, and three interceptions.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 NFL season did not have a preseason or full training camps, which likely contributed to an abnormally large amount of injuries that plagued the Broncos and other NFL teams. Star linebacker Von Miller suffered a season-ending ankle tendon injury before the regular season started, and starting wide receiver Courtland Sutton suffered a season-ending torn ACL during a week two game.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "On November 29, 2020, after all three of the Broncos' quarterbacks were placed in COVID-19 protocol, the Broncos were forced to turn to undrafted wide receiver and former college quarterback Kendall Hinton as the emergency quarterback. Hinton completed only one pass for 13 yards in 9 attempts—the fewest pass completions in a single game in franchise history—and was intercepted twice. The Broncos' only scoring play was a 58-yard field goal by placekicker Brandon McManus in a 31–3 loss to the New Orleans Saints. In July 2021, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced that Hinton's quarterback wristband would be added to the Hall of Fame as part of a display.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "The Broncos finished the 2020 season with a record of 5–11, last in the AFC West, and missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Following another season of uninspiring quarterback performances, the Broncos were the subject of multiple quarterback trade rumors during the 2021 offseason. Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson were two names rumored to be of interest for the Broncos, but ultimately the Broncos traded for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater on April 28, 2021. Bridgewater won the subsequent quarterback competition between himself and Drew Lock during the preseason, and he was named the Broncos' starting quarterback on August 25, 2021.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "The Broncos also made notable improvements in the defensive secondary, signing former All-Pro cornerback Kyle Fuller and cornerback Ronald Darby, as well as drafting Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II with the ninth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Running back Phillip Lindsay was replaced by UNC rookie running back Javonte Williams, who was drafted in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Broncos.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "On October 31, 2021, Peyton Manning (who won two AFC Championships, Super Bowl 50, and an NFL MVP during his four seasons as a Bronco) was inducted to the Broncos' Ring of Fame during a game against Washington.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "On November 1, 2021, the Broncos traded franchise legend Von Miller to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for a 2nd and 3rd round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. At the time of the trade, Miller was the longest-tenured Bronco on the team, and the only remaining non-special teams player from Denver's Super Bowl 50 roster.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "After another mediocre performance in the 2021 season with the Broncos going 7–10, head coach Vic Fangio was dismissed on January 8, 2022, after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Broncos announced the hiring of Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as head coach on January 27, 2022.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "The Broncos then announced on February 1, 2022, that they were now up for sale and that they would be parting ways with the Bowlen family, the former owners of the franchise.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Hackett's first hire as head coach was Justin Outten as offensive coordinator. He was hired on February 2, 2022.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "On March 16, 2022, the Broncos traded Drew Lock, Noah Fant, Shelby Harris, Denver's 2022 first-round pick (No. 9), its 2022 second-round pick (No. 40), its 2023 first- and second-round picks, and its 2022 fifth-round round pick for Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks' 2022 fourth-round pick.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "On June 7, 2022, the Broncos announced that the Walton-Penner family, led by Rob Walton, had entered in an agreement to acquire the Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion. The NFL approved the bid on August 10, 2022, with the Broncos introducing Carrie Walton Penner, Greg Penner, Mellody Hobson, Condoleezza Rice, and Lewis Hamilton to the ownership group.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "On December 26, with the Broncos sitting at 4–11 following a 51–14 Christmas Day loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Hackett was fired and replaced by interim head coach Jerry Rosburg. Hackett became the fifth head coach to not finish his first season after Lou Holtz in 1976, Pete McCulley in 1978, Bobby Petrino in 2007, and Urban Meyer in 2021. Sean Payton was hired as head coach for the 2023 season.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "The Denver Broncos have three AFC West rivals—the Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers. All teams, along with the Broncos, were charter members of the American Football League (AFL), with each team placed in the AFL Western Division. The Broncos were barely competitive during the AFL years (1960–69), going a combined 10–49–1 against the Chiefs, Chargers and Raiders.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "The Broncos have had several memorable matchups with the Chiefs, particularly during the years in which John Elway was the Broncos' starting quarterback (1983–98). The Broncos defeated the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in the divisional round of the 1997 NFL playoffs, en route to their first Super Bowl victory. The Chiefs currently hold a 69–55 series lead over the Broncos, including the aforementioned 1997 divisional playoff game.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "The rivalry with the Raiders was ignited in 1977, when the Broncos advanced to their first Super Bowl by defeating the defending champion Raiders in the 1977 AFC Championship. The rivalry intensified in the mid-1990s, when Mike Shanahan was hired as the Broncos' head coach in 1995. Shanahan coached the Raiders in 1988 before being fired four games into the 1989 season. The Raiders currently hold a 70–54–2 series lead over the Broncos, including 1–1 in the playoffs.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Unlike their records against the Chiefs and Raiders, the Broncos currently have a winning record against the Chargers, with a 70–54–1 series lead, including 1–0 in the playoffs. The Broncos pulled off one of the largest comebacks in Monday Night Football history, when Peyton Manning led the Broncos from a 24–0 halftime deficit to a 35–24 win at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium during the 2012 season. The two teams met in the playoffs for the first time on January 12, 2014, at Denver's Sports Authority Field at Mile High, with the Broncos winning 24–17.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Aside from the aforementioned AFC West teams, the Broncos have had intra-conference rivalries over the years with the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots. The Broncos and Seattle Seahawks were also former AFC West rivals from 1977 to 2001, after which Seattle was realigned to the NFC West.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "The Broncos had a brief rivalry with the Browns that arose from three AFC championship matches in 1986, 1987 and 1989. In the 1986 AFC Championship, quarterback John Elway led The Drive to secure a tie in the waning moments at Cleveland Municipal Stadium; the Broncos went on to win in 23–20 in overtime. One year later, the two teams met again in the 1987 AFC Championship at Mile High Stadium. Denver took a 21–3 lead, but Browns' quarterback Bernie Kosar threw four touchdown passes to tie the game at 31–31 halfway through the 4th quarter. After a long drive, John Elway threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to running back Sammy Winder to give Denver a 38–31 lead. Cleveland advanced to Denver's 8-yard line with 1:12 left, but Broncos' safety Jeremiah Castille stripped Browns' running back Earnest Byner of the football at the 2-yard line—a play that has been called The Fumble by Browns' fans. The Broncos recovered it, gave Cleveland an intentional safety, and went on to win 38–33. The two teams met yet again in the 1989 AFC Championship at Mile High Stadium, which the Broncos easily won by a score of 37–21. The Broncos did not win the Super Bowl after any of the championship games where they defeated the Browns, losing by an aggregate of 136–40.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "As of the end of the 2015 season, the Broncos and Steelers have met in postseason play eight times, tied with five other pairings for the second–most frequent playoff matchups in NFL playoff history. The Broncos currently own a 5–3 playoff record vs. the Steelers. Perhaps the most memorable postseason matchup occurred in the 1997 AFC Championship, in which the Broncos defeated the Steelers 24–21 at Three Rivers Stadium, en route to their first Super Bowl victory. Eight years later, the Steelers returned the favor at INVESCO Field at Mile High, defeating the Broncos 34–17 in the 2005 AFC Championship, and subsequently won Super Bowl XL. In the Wild Card round of the 2011 playoffs, in a game dubbed The 3:16 game, the Broncos stunned the Steelers 29–23 on the first play of overtime, when quarterback Tim Tebow connected with wide receiver Demaryius Thomas on an 80-yard game-winning touchdown pass. The teams met again in the Divisional round of the 2015 playoffs at Denver, where the Broncos defeated the Steelers 23–16 on their way to a victory in Super Bowl 50.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "The Broncos and Patriots met twice annually during the American Football League (AFL) years from 1960 to 1969, and played in the first-ever AFL game on September 9, 1960. Since 1995, the two teams have met frequently during the regular season, including nine consecutive seasons from 1995 to 2003. As of the end of the 2015 season, the two teams have met in the playoffs five times, with the Broncos owning a 4–1 record. The teams' first playoff match on January 4, 1987, was John Elway's first career playoff win, while the teams' second playoff match on January 14, 2006, game was the Broncos' first playoff win since Elway's retirement after the 1998 season. The game was also notable for Champ Bailey's 100-yard interception that resulted in a touchdown-saving tackle by Benjamin Watson at the 1-yard line. On October 11, 2009, the two teams met with former Patriots' offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels as the Broncos' head coach. Both teams wore their AFL 50th anniversary jerseys. The game featured a 98-yard drive in the fourth quarter, with a game-tying touchdown pass from Kyle Orton to Brandon Marshall, followed by an overtime drive led by Orton that resulted in a 41-yard game-winning field goal by Matt Prater. The two teams met in the Divisional round of the 2011 playoffs, with the Patriots blowing out Tim Tebow and the Broncos by a score of 45–10. The Broncos' rivalry with the Patriots later intensified when longtime Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning became the Broncos' starting quarterback from 2012 to 2015. Manning and Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady maintained a legendary rivalry from 2001 until Manning's retirement after the 2015 season. Though Brady dominated Manning in regular season play, winning nine of twelve meetings, Manning won three of five playoff meetings, including the Broncos' 26–16 win in the 2013 AFC Championship and the Broncos' 20–18 win in the 2015 AFC Championship.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "The Broncos had an old rivalry with the Seattle Seahawks, who were members of the AFC West from 1977 to 2001, prior to the Seahawks' move to the NFC West as part of the NFL's 2002 re-alignment. During the 25 years in which the Seahawks resided in the AFC West, the Broncos went 32–18 against the Seahawks, including a loss at Seattle in the 1983 NFL playoffs. Since 2002, the Broncos have won three of five interconference meetings, and the two teams met in Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014, with the Seahawks winning by a score of 43–8.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "For most of their history, the Denver Broncos played in Mile High Stadium. The AFL Broncos played at the University of Denver's Hilltop Stadium from time to time, including the first victory of an AFL team over an NFL team: The Broncos beat the Detroit Lions on August 5, 1967, in a preseason game. The team has sold out every home game (including post-season games) since the AFL–NFL merger in 1970, with the exception of two replacement games during the 1987 strike (but both were sold out before the strike).",
"title": "Facilities"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "During home games, the attendance is announced to the crowd, along with the number of no-shows (the fans subsequently boo the no-shows). The fans are also known to chant \"IN-COM-PLETE!\" every time the visiting team throws an incomplete pass. The stadium's legendary home-field advantage is regarded as one of the best in the NFL, especially during the playoffs. The Broncos had the best home record in pro football over a 32-year span from 1974 to 2006 (191–65–1). Mile High Stadium was one of the NFL's loudest stadiums, with steel flooring instead of concrete, which may have given the Broncos an advantage over opponents, plus the advantage of altitude conditioning for the Broncos. In 2001, the team moved into then-named Invesco Field at Mile High, built next to the former site of the since-demolished Mile High Stadium. Sportswriter Woody Paige, along with many of Denver's fans, however, often refused to call the stadium by its full name, preferring to use \"Mile High Stadium\" because of its storied history and sentimental import. Additionally, The Denver Post had an official policy of referring to the stadium as simply \"Mile High Stadium\" in protest, but dropped this policy in 2004.",
"title": "Facilities"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Prior to the 2011 season, Englewood-based sporting goods retailer Sports Authority claimed the naming rights of Invesco Field, which became known as Sports Authority Field at Mile High. However, in the summer of 2016, Sports Authority went bankrupt, the stadium was renamed Broncos Stadium at Mile High, and the Broncos sought out a naming rights sponsor until September 2019 when they agreed to rename the stadium Empower Field at Mile High.",
"title": "Facilities"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "The altitude has also been attributed as part of the team's home success. The stadium displays multiple references to the stadium's location of 5,280 feet (1.000 mi) above sea level, including a prominent mural just outside the visiting team's locker room. The team training facility, the UCHealth Training Center (formerly known as the Paul D. Bowlen Memorial Broncos Centre), is a state-of-the-art facility located in Dove Valley. With 13.5 acres (5.5 ha) of property, the facility hosts three full-size fields, a complete weight and training facility, and a cafeteria.",
"title": "Facilities"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "In their more than half-century of existence, the Broncos have never been shut out at home, a streak of over 400 games as of the 2016 season.",
"title": "Facilities"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "In late 2012, the Broncos announced that the stadium would receive $30 million upgrades including a new video board in the south end zone three times larger than the previous display. The renovations were finished before kickoff of the 2013 season.",
"title": "Facilities"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "When the Broncos debuted in 1960, their original uniforms drew were said to have drawn as much attention as their play on the field. They featured white and mustard yellow jerseys, contrasting brown helmets, brown pants, and vertically striped socks. Two years later, the team unveiled a new logo featuring a bucking horse and changed their team colors to orange, royal blue and white. The 1962 uniform consisted of white pants, orange helmets, and either orange or white jerseys.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "In 1968, the Broncos debuted a design that became known as \"Orange Crush\". Their logo was redesigned so that the horse was coming out of a \"D\". Additionally, the helmets were changed to royal blue, and the sleeves had thin stripes with other minor modifications added. From 1969 to 1971, and again from 1978 to 1979, the team wore orange pants with their white jerseys. In 1975, the face masks were changed to white from grey.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "The Broncos wore their white jerseys at home throughout the 1971 season, as well as for 1980 home games against the San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys, the latter in hopes to bring out the \"blue jersey jinx\" which has followed the Cowboys for decades. (The Broncos won 41–20.) The Broncos wore their white jerseys for 1983 home games against the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals, but did not wear white at home again for two decades — see next section.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "In 1994, in honor of the 75th anniversary season of the NFL, the Broncos wore their 1965 throwback uniforms for two games—a Week 3 home game against the Raiders and a road game at the Buffalo Bills the following week.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "The Broncos radically changed their logo and uniforms in 1997, a design that the team continues to use to this day. The new logos and uniforms were unveiled on February 4, 1997. Navy blue replaced royal blue on the team's color scheme. The current logo is a profile of a horse's head, with an orange mane and navy blue outlines. The Broncos' popular live animal mascot Thunder was the inspiration to incorporate a horse-head profile as part of the logo on the team's helmets. During a February 4, 1997, press conference introducing the new logo, the team president and the art director for Nike, who were the creators of the new design, described it as \"a powerful horse with a fiery eye and mane.\"",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "The Broncos began wearing navy blue jerseys, replacing their longtime orange jerseys that had been the team's predominant home jersey color since 1962. This new uniform design features a new word mark, numbering font and a streak that runs up and down the sides of both the jerseys and the pants. On the navy blue jerseys, the streak is orange, with an orange collar and white numerals trimmed in orange, while on the road white jerseys, the streak is navy blue, with a thin orange accent strip on both sides, a navy collar and navy numerals trimmed in orange; the helmet facemasks became navy blue. When they debuted, these uniforms were vilified by the press and fans, until the Broncos won their first-ever Super Bowl in the new design that same season. The navy blue jerseys served as the team's primary home jersey until the end of the 2011 season — see next section.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "In 2002, the Broncos introduced an alternate orange jersey that is a mirror image of the aforementioned navy blue jerseys, but with orange and navy trading places. Like the road white jerseys, the white pants with the navy blue streaks running down the sides are worn with this uniform. This jersey was used only once in the 2002 and 2004 seasons, and were used twice per season from 2008 to 2011. Mike Shanahan, the team's head coach from 1995 to 2008, was not a big fan of the alternate orange jerseys. The Broncos previously wore orange jerseys as a throwback uniform in a Thanksgiving Day game at the Dallas Cowboys in 2001.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "The team also introduced navy blue pants in 2003, with orange side streaks to match with the navy blue jerseys. Though they were part of the uniform change in 1997 (in fact, they were worn for a couple of 1997 preseason games) and most players wanted to wear them, the only player who vetoed wearing them was John Elway, thereby delaying their eventual introduction. From 2003 to 2011, these pants were primarily used for select prime-time and late-season home games (excluding the 2008 season), and since 2012, are used exclusively with the now-alternate navy blue jerseys — see next section.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "On November 16, 2003, the Broncos wore their white jerseys at home for the first time since 1983, in a game vs. the San Diego Chargers. This was compensation for a uniform mix-up, after the teams' first meeting at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium in Week 2 earlier that season, when the Chargers were the team that was supposed to declare their uniform color. The Chargers were planning to wear their white jerseys, but the visiting Broncos came to the stadium in white, and were fined $25,000 by the NFL as a result. When the two teams met at INVESCO Field at Mile High later that season (Week 11), the NFL allowed the visiting Chargers to choose their uniform color in advance, and they chose navy blue, forcing the Broncos to wear their white jerseys at home.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "In 2009, in honor of their 50th anniversary season as one of the eight original American Football League teams, the Broncos wore their 1960 throwback uniforms (brown helmets, mustard yellow and brown jerseys) for games against two fellow AFL rivals—a Week 5 home game vs. the New England Patriots, as well as the following week at the San Diego Chargers.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "Beginning in 2012, the orange jerseys that served as the alternate colored jerseys from 2002 to 2011 became the primary home jersey, while the navy blue jerseys that served as the primary home jersey from 1997 to 2011 switched to alternate designation. The change was made due to overwhelming popularity with the fans, who pressured the Broncos to return to orange as the team's primary home jersey color. Since the 2012 uniform change, the team has worn the alternate navy blue jerseys for at least one home game per season, with the exception of 2013, in which the Broncos wore their alternate navy blue uniforms for an October 6, 2013, road game at the Dallas Cowboys, which the Broncos won in a shootout, 51–48. The team will either wear the navy blue or the white pants – with the orange side stripes – to match with the alternate navy blue jerseys. The team initially did not wear the white pants with the orange side stripes, until a November 1, 2015, game vs. the Green Bay Packers, in which the Broncos wore said design to match the uniform ensemble that was used during the team's Super Bowl XXXII win over the Packers. On October 30, 2022, the Broncos debuted a new combination of white jerseys and alternate navy blue pants in an NFL London Game at the Jacksonville Jaguars, with mismatched side stripes of navy blue (white jersey) and orange (navy blue pants).",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "As the designated home team in Super Bowl 50, the Broncos – who have a 0–4 Super Bowl record when using their standard orange jerseys – chose to wear their white jerseys as the designated \"home\" team.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "In 2016, the Broncos' unveiled a new Color Rush uniform, which the team wore for a Thursday Night game at the San Diego Chargers on October 13, 2016. The uniform kit contained the following features: orange pants, which the team wore for the first time since 1979, orange socks and shoes, along with block-style numerals trimmed in navy blue that mirrored the team's 1968–1996 uniform style. Due to the NFL's one-helmet rule implemented in 2013, the helmets remained the same, with the team temporarily replacing the modern primary logo with the throwback \"D-horse\" logo. The same uniform was used for a Thursday night game against the Indianapolis Colts during the 2017 season and again during a 2018 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Starting in 2023, the Color Rush uniforms were paired with a white alternate helmet, again using the modernized \"D-horse\" logo.",
"title": "Logos and uniforms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "The Denver Broncos announced the club's 50th anniversary team on September 15, 2009. The anniversary team was voted on by users at DenverBroncos.com from June 6 – September 4, 2009.",
"title": "Players of note"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "† Note: No. 18 was re-issued for Peyton Manning after Tripucka gave his approval; it was used by Manning from the 2012 season until his retirement after the 2015 season. Manning's name was added to the retired number's banner as an honorable mention.",
"title": "Players of note"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "The Broncos have a Ring of Fame on the Level 5 facade of Empower Field at Mile High, which honors the following:",
"title": "Players of note"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "The current head coach is Sean Payton, who was hired for the 2023 season. His predecessor was Nathaniel Hackett. On December 26, 2022, ownership announced that Hackett had been fired after he led the team to a disappointing 4–11 record despite entering the season with high expectations.",
"title": "Staff and head coaches"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "The Broncos' flagship radio station is currently KOA, 850AM, a 50,000-watt station owned by iHeartMedia. Dave Logan is the play-by-play announcer, with former Broncos' wide receiver Ed McCaffrey serving as the color commentator beginning in 2012, replacing Brian Griese. Ed McCaffrey was replaced by Rick Lewis. Until 2010, preseason games not selected for airing on national television were shown on KCNC, channel 4, which is a CBS owned-and-operated station, as well as other CBS affiliates around the Rocky Mountain region. On May 26, 2011, the Broncos announced that KUSA channel 9, an NBC affiliate also known as 9NEWS in the Rocky Mountain region, will be the team's new television partner for preseason games.",
"title": "Radio and television"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "In 2011, the Broncos began a partnership with KJMN, 92.1 FM, a leading Spanish language radio station owned by Entravision Communications (EVC). The partnership also includes broadcasting rights for a half-hour weekly TV show on KCEC, the local Univision affiliate operated by Entravision Communications.",
"title": "Radio and television"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "Notes",
"title": "References"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "Further reading",
"title": "References"
}
] | The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquartered in Dove Valley, Colorado. The team began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) and joined the NFL as part of the merger in 1970. The Broncos are currently owned by the Walton-Penner group, and play their home games at Empower Field at Mile High; Denver previously played its home games at Mile High Stadium from its inception in 1960 through the 2000 season. The Broncos were barely competitive during their 10-year run in the AFL and their first seven years in the NFL. They did not have a winning season until 1973 and qualified for their first playoffs in 1977, eventually advancing to Super Bowl XII that season. Since 1975, the Broncos have become one of the NFL's most successful teams, having suffered only eleven losing seasons. They have won eight AFC Championships, and three Super Bowl championships (1997, 1998, 2015, and share the NFL record for most Super Bowl losses. The Broncos have eight primary members enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: John Elway, Floyd Little, Shannon Sharpe, Gary Zimmerman, Terrell Davis, Champ Bailey, and Steve Atwater, along with late club owner Pat Bowlen. According to Forbes, the Broncos are valued at $4.65 billion in July 2022 making them the twelfth most-valuable team in the NFL. | 2001-10-01T17:36:44Z | 2023-12-29T04:01:46Z | [
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8,123 | D | D, or d, is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is dee (pronounced /ˈdiː/), plural dees.
The Semitic letter Dāleth may have developed from the logogram for a fish or a door. There are many different Egyptian hieroglyphs that might have inspired this. In Semitic, Ancient Greek and Latin, the letter represented /d/; in the Etruscan alphabet the letter was archaic, but still retained (see letter B). The equivalent Greek letter is Delta, Δ.
The minuscule (lower-case) form of 'd' consists of a lower-story left bowl and a stem ascender. It most likely developed by gradual variations on the majuscule (capital) form 'D', and today now composed as a stem with a full lobe to the right. In handwriting, it was common to start the arc to the left of the vertical stroke, resulting in a serif at the top of the arc. This serif was extended while the rest of the letter was reduced, resulting in an angled stroke and loop. The angled stroke slowly developed into a vertical stroke.
In most languages that use the Latin alphabet, and in the International Phonetic Alphabet, ⟨d⟩ generally represents the voiced alveolar or voiced dental plosive /d/. However, in the Vietnamese alphabet, it represents the sound /z/ in northern dialects or /j/ in southern dialects. (See D with stroke and Dz (digraph).) In Fijian it represents a prenasalized stop /nd/. In some languages where voiceless unaspirated stops contrast with voiceless aspirated stops, ⟨d⟩ represents an unaspirated /t/, while ⟨t⟩ represents an aspirated /tʰ/. Examples of such languages include Icelandic, Scottish Gaelic, Navajo and the Pinyin transliteration of Mandarin. D is the tenth most frequently used letter in the English language.
These are the code points for the forms of the letter in various systems
In British Sign Language (BSL), the letter 'd' is indicated by signing with the right hand held with the index and thumb extended and slightly curved, and the tip of the thumb and finger held against the extended index of the left hand.
In the hexadecimal (base 16) numbering system, D is a number that corresponds to the number 13 in decimal (base 10) counting. In the binary (base 2) numbering system, D is denoted by 1101. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "D, or d, is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is dee (pronounced /ˈdiː/), plural dees.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The Semitic letter Dāleth may have developed from the logogram for a fish or a door. There are many different Egyptian hieroglyphs that might have inspired this. In Semitic, Ancient Greek and Latin, the letter represented /d/; in the Etruscan alphabet the letter was archaic, but still retained (see letter B). The equivalent Greek letter is Delta, Δ.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The minuscule (lower-case) form of 'd' consists of a lower-story left bowl and a stem ascender. It most likely developed by gradual variations on the majuscule (capital) form 'D', and today now composed as a stem with a full lobe to the right. In handwriting, it was common to start the arc to the left of the vertical stroke, resulting in a serif at the top of the arc. This serif was extended while the rest of the letter was reduced, resulting in an angled stroke and loop. The angled stroke slowly developed into a vertical stroke.",
"title": "Architecture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "In most languages that use the Latin alphabet, and in the International Phonetic Alphabet, ⟨d⟩ generally represents the voiced alveolar or voiced dental plosive /d/. However, in the Vietnamese alphabet, it represents the sound /z/ in northern dialects or /j/ in southern dialects. (See D with stroke and Dz (digraph).) In Fijian it represents a prenasalized stop /nd/. In some languages where voiceless unaspirated stops contrast with voiceless aspirated stops, ⟨d⟩ represents an unaspirated /t/, while ⟨t⟩ represents an aspirated /tʰ/. Examples of such languages include Icelandic, Scottish Gaelic, Navajo and the Pinyin transliteration of Mandarin. D is the tenth most frequently used letter in the English language.",
"title": "Use in writing systems"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "These are the code points for the forms of the letter in various systems",
"title": "Code points "
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In British Sign Language (BSL), the letter 'd' is indicated by signing with the right hand held with the index and thumb extended and slightly curved, and the tip of the thumb and finger held against the extended index of the left hand.",
"title": "Other representations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "In the hexadecimal (base 16) numbering system, D is a number that corresponds to the number 13 in decimal (base 10) counting. In the binary (base 2) numbering system, D is denoted by 1101.",
"title": "Use as a number"
}
] | D, or d, is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is dee, plural dees. | 2001-05-21T01:11:06Z | 2023-12-31T06:39:27Z | [
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8,124 | Delta (letter) | Delta (/ˈdɛltə/; uppercase Δ, lowercase δ; Greek: δέλτα, délta, [ˈðelta]) is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 4. It was derived from the Phoenician letter dalet 𐤃. Letters that come from delta include Latin D and Cyrillic Д.
A river delta (originally, the delta of the Nile River) is so named because its shape approximates the triangular uppercase letter delta. Contrary to a popular legend, this use of the word delta was not coined by Herodotus.
In Ancient Greek, delta represented a voiced dental plosive IPA: [d]. In Modern Greek, it represents a voiced dental fricative IPA: [ð], like the "th" in "that" or "this" (while IPA: [d] in foreign words is instead commonly transcribed as ντ). Delta is romanized as d or dh.
The uppercase letter Δ is used to denote:
The lowercase letter δ (or 𝛿) can be used to denote:
These characters are used only as mathematical symbols. Stylized Greek text should be encoded using the normal Greek letters, with markup and formatting to indicate text style. | [
{
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"text": "Delta (/ˈdɛltə/; uppercase Δ, lowercase δ; Greek: δέλτα, délta, [ˈðelta]) is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 4. It was derived from the Phoenician letter dalet 𐤃. Letters that come from delta include Latin D and Cyrillic Д.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "A river delta (originally, the delta of the Nile River) is so named because its shape approximates the triangular uppercase letter delta. Contrary to a popular legend, this use of the word delta was not coined by Herodotus.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In Ancient Greek, delta represented a voiced dental plosive IPA: [d]. In Modern Greek, it represents a voiced dental fricative IPA: [ð], like the \"th\" in \"that\" or \"this\" (while IPA: [d] in foreign words is instead commonly transcribed as ντ). Delta is romanized as d or dh.",
"title": "Pronunciation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The uppercase letter Δ is used to denote:",
"title": "Uppercase"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The lowercase letter δ (or 𝛿) can be used to denote:",
"title": "Lowercase"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "These characters are used only as mathematical symbols. Stylized Greek text should be encoded using the normal Greek letters, with markup and formatting to indicate text style.",
"title": "Computer encodings"
}
] | Delta is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 4. It was derived from the Phoenician letter dalet 𐤃. Letters that come from delta include Latin D and Cyrillic Д. A river delta is so named because its shape approximates the triangular uppercase letter delta. Contrary to a popular legend, this use of the word delta was not coined by Herodotus. | 2001-08-27T10:05:25Z | 2023-10-14T21:28:44Z | [
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8,125 | Digamma | Digamma or wau (uppercase: Ϝ, lowercase: ϝ, numeral: ϛ) is an archaic letter of the Greek alphabet. It originally stood for the sound /w/ but it has remained in use principally as a Greek numeral for 6. Whereas it was originally called waw or wau, its most common appellation in classical Greek is digamma; as a numeral, it was called episēmon during the Byzantine era and is now known as stigma after the Byzantine ligature combining σ-τ as ϛ.
Digamma or wau was part of the original archaic Greek alphabet as initially adopted from Phoenician. Like its model, Phoenician waw, it represented the voiced labial-velar approximant /w/ and stood in the 6th position in the alphabet between epsilon and zeta. It is the consonantal doublet of the vowel letter upsilon (/u/), which was also derived from waw but was placed near the end of the Greek alphabet. Digamma or wau is in turn the ancestor of the Latin letter F. As an alphabetic letter, it is attested in archaic and dialectal ancient Greek inscriptions until the classical period.
The shape of the letter went through a development from through , , , to or , which at that point was conflated with the σ-τ ligature . In modern print, a distinction is made between the letter in its original alphabetic role as a consonant sign, which is rendered as "Ϝ" or its modern lowercase variant "ϝ", and the numeric symbol, which is represented by "ϛ". In modern Greek, this is often replaced by the digraph στ.
The sound /w/ existed in Mycenean Greek, as attested in Linear B and archaic Greek inscriptions using digamma. It is also confirmed by the Hittite name of Troy, Wilusa, corresponding to the Greek name *Wilion, classical Ilion (Ilium).
The /w/ sound was lost at various times in various dialects, mostly before the classical period.
In Ionic, /w/ had probably disappeared before Homer's epics were written down (7th century BC), but its former presence can be detected in many cases because its omission left the meter defective. For example, the word ἄναξ ("(tribal) king, lord, (military) leader"), found in the Iliad, would have originally been ϝάναξ /wánaks/ (and is attested in this form in Mycenaean Greek), and the word οἶνος ("wine"), are sometimes used in the meter where a word starting with a consonant would be expected. Further evidence coupled with cognate-analysis shows that οἶνος was earlier ϝοῖνος /wóînos/ (compare Cretan Doric ibêna and Latin vīnum, which is the origin of English wine). There have been editions of the Homeric epics where the wau was re-added, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but these have largely fallen out of favour.
Aeolian was the dialect that kept the sound /w/ longest. In discussions by ancient Greek grammarians of the Hellenistic era, the letter is therefore often described as a characteristic Aeolian feature.
Loanwords that entered Greek before the loss of /w-/ lost that sound when Greek did. For instance, Oscan Viteliu ('land of the male calves', compare Latin: vitulus 'yearling, male calf') gave rise to the Greek word Italia. The Adriatic tribe of the Veneti was called in Ancient Greek: Ἐνετοί, romanized: Enetoi. In loanwords that entered the Greek language after the drop of /w/, the phoneme was once again registered, compare for example the spelling of Οὐάτεις for vates.
In some local (epichoric) alphabets, a variant glyph of the letter digamma existed that resembled modern Cyrillic И. In one local alphabet, that of Pamphylia, this variant form existed side by side with standard digamma as two distinct letters. It has been surmised that in this dialect the sound /w/ may have changed to labiodental /v/ in some environments. The F-shaped letter may have stood for the new /v/ sound, while the special И-shaped form signified those positions where the old /w/ sound was preserved.
Digamma/wau remained in use in the system of Greek numerals attributed to Miletus, where it stood for the number 6, reflecting its original place in the sequence of the alphabet. It was one of three letters that were kept in this way in addition to the 24 letters of the classical alphabet, the other two being koppa (ϙ) for 90, and sampi (ϡ) for 900. During their history in handwriting in late antiquity and the Byzantine era, all three of these symbols underwent several changes in shape, with digamma ultimately taking the form of "ϛ".
It has remained in use as a numeral in Greek to the present day, in contexts comparable to those where Latin numerals would be used in English, for instance in regnal numbers of monarchs or in enumerating chapters in a book, although in practice the letter sequence ΣΤ΄ is much more common.
Digamma was derived from Phoenician waw, which was shaped roughly like a Y (). Of the two Greek reflexes of waw, digamma retained the alphabetic position, but had its shape modified to , while the upsilon retained the original shape but was placed in a new alphabetic position. Early Crete had an archaic form of digamma somewhat closer to the original Phoenician, , or a variant with the stem bent sidewards (). The shape , during the archaic period, underwent a development parallel to that of epsilon (which changed from to "E", with the arms becoming orthogonal and the lower end of the stem being shed off). For digamma, this led to the two main variants of classical "F" and square .
The latter of these two shapes became dominant when used as a numeral, with "F" only very rarely employed in this function. However, in Athens, both of these were avoided in favour of a number of alternative numeral shapes (, , , , , ).
In cursive handwriting, the square-C form developed further into a rounded form resembling a "C" (found in papyrus manuscripts as , on coins sometimes as ). It then developed a downward tail at the end (, ) and finally adopted a shape like a Latin "s" () These cursive forms are also found in stone inscriptions in late antiquity.
In the ninth and tenth centuries, the cursive shape digamma was visually conflated with a ligature of sigma (in its historical "lunate" form) and tau ( + = , ). The στ-ligature had become common in minuscule handwriting from the 9th century onwards. Both closed () and open () forms were subsequently used without distinction both for the ligature and for the numeral. The ligature took on the name of "stigma" or "sti", and the name stigma is today applied to it both in its textual and in the numeral function. The association between its two functions as a numeral and as a sign for "st" became so strong that in modern typographic practice in Greece, whenever the ϛʹ sign itself is not available, the letter sequences στʹ or ΣΤʹ are used instead for the number 6.
In western typesetting during the modern era, the numeral symbol was routinely represented by the same character as the stigma ligature (ϛ). In normal text, this ligature together with numerous others continued to be used widely until the early nineteenth century, following the style of earlier minuscule handwriting, but ligatures then gradually dropped out of use. The stigma ligature was among those that survived longest, but it too became obsolete in print after the mid-19th century. Today it is used only to represent the numeric digamma, and never to represent the sequence στ in text.
Along with the other special numeric symbols koppa and sampi, numeric digamma/stigma normally has no distinction between uppercase and lowercase forms, (while other alphabetic letters can be used as numerals in both cases). Distinct uppercase versions were occasionally used in the 19th century. Several different shapes of uppercase stigma can be found, with the lower end either styled as a small curved S-like hook (), or as a straight stem, the latter either with a serif () or without one (). An alternative uppercase stylization in some twentieth-century fonts is , visually a ligature of Roman-style uppercase C and T.
The characters used for numeric digamma/stigma are distinguished in modern print from the character used to represent the ancient alphabetic digamma, the letter for the [w] sound. This is rendered in print by a Latin "F", or sometimes a variant of it specially designed to fit in typographically with Greek (Ϝ). It has a modern lowercase form (ϝ) that typically differs from Latin "f" by having two parallel horizontal strokes like the uppercase character, with the vertical stem often being somewhat slanted to the right or curved, and usually descending below the baseline. This character is used in Greek epigraphy to transcribe the text of ancient inscriptions that contain "Ϝ", and in linguistics and historical grammar when describing reconstructed proto-forms of Greek words that contained the sound /w/.
Throughout much of its history, the shape of digamma/stigma has often been very similar to that of other symbols, with which it can easily be confused. In ancient papyri, the cursive C-shaped form of numeric digamma is often indistinguishable from the C-shaped ("lunate") form that was then the common form of sigma. The similarity is still found today, since both the modern stigma (ϛ) and modern final sigma (ς) look identical or almost identical in most fonts; both are historically continuations of their ancient C-shaped forms with the addition of the same downward flourish. If the two characters are distinguished in print, the top loop of stigma tends to be somewhat larger and to extend farther to the right than that of final sigma. The two characters are, however, always distinguishable from the context in modern usage, both in numeric notation and in text: the final form of sigma never occurs in numerals (the number 200 being always written with the medial sigma, σ), and in normal Greek text the sequence "στ" can never occur word-finally.
The medieval s-like shape of digamma () has the same shape as a contemporary abbreviation for καὶ ("and").
Yet another case of glyph confusion exists in the printed uppercase forms, this time between stigma and the other numeral, koppa (90). In ancient and medieval handwriting, koppa developed from through , , to . The uppercase forms and can represent either koppa or stigma. Frequent confusion between these two values in contemporary printing was already noted by some commentators in the eighteenth century. The ambiguity continues in modern fonts, many of which continue to have glyph similar to for either koppa or stigma.
The symbol has been called by a variety of different names, referring either to its alphabetic or its numeral function or both.
Wau (variously rendered as vau, waw or similarly in English) is the original name of the alphabetic letter for /w/ in ancient Greek. It is often cited in its reconstructed acrophonic spelling "ϝαῦ". This form itself is not historically attested in Greek inscriptions, but the existence of the name can be inferred from descriptions by contemporary Latin grammarians, who render it as vau. In later Greek, where both the letter and the sound it represented had become inaccessible, the name is rendered as βαῦ or οὐαῦ. In the 19th century, vau in English was a common name for the symbol ϛ in its numerical function, used by authors who distinguished it both from the alphabetic "digamma" and from ϛ as a στ ligature.
The name digamma was used in ancient Greek and is the most common name for the letter in its alphabetic function today. It literally means "double gamma" and is descriptive of the original letter's shape, which looked like a Γ (gamma) placed on top of another.
The name episēmon was used for the numeral symbol during the Byzantine era and is still sometimes used today, either as a name specifically for digamma/stigma, or as a generic term for the whole group of extra-alphabetic numeral signs (digamma, koppa and sampi). The Greek word "ἐπίσημον", from ἐπί- (epi-, "on") and σήμα (sēma, "sign"), literally means "a distinguishing mark", "a badge", but is also the neuter form of the related adjective "ἐπίσημος" ("distinguished", "remarkable"). This word was connected to the number "six" through early Christian mystical numerology. According to an account of the teachings of the heretic Marcus given by the church father Irenaeus, the number six was regarded as a symbol of Christ, and was hence called "ὁ ἐπίσημος ἀριθμός" ("the outstanding number"); likewise, the name Ἰησοῦς (Jesus), having six letters, was "τὸ ἐπίσημον ὄνομα" ("the outstanding name"), and so on. The sixth-century treatise About the Mystery of the Letters, which also links the six to Christ, calls the number sign to Episēmon throughout. The same name is still found in a fifteenth-century arithmetical manual by the Greek mathematician Nikolaos Rabdas. It is also found in a number of western European accounts of the Greek alphabet written in Latin during the early Middle Ages. One of them is the work De loquela per gestum digitorum, a didactic text about arithmetics attributed to the Venerable Bede, where the three Greek numerals for 6, 90 and 900 are called "episimon", "cophe" and "enneacosis" respectively. From Beda, the term was adopted by the seventeenth century humanist Joseph Justus Scaliger. However, misinterpreting Beda's reference, Scaliger applied the term episēmon not as a name proper for digamma/6 alone, but as a cover term for all three numeral letters. From Scaliger, the term found its way into modern academic usage in this new meaning, of referring to complementary numeral symbols standing outside the alphabetic sequence proper, in Greek and other similar scripts.
In one remark in the context of a biblical commentary, the 4th century scholar Ammonius of Alexandria is reported to have mentioned that the numeral symbol for 6 was called gabex by his contemporaries. The same reference in Ammonius has alternatively been read as gam(m)ex by some modern authors. Ammonius as well as later theologians discuss the symbol in the context of explaining the apparent contradiction and variant readings between the gospels in assigning the death of Jesus either to the "third hour" or "sixth hour", arguing that the one numeral symbol could easily have been substituted for the other through a scribal error.
The name "stigma" (στίγμα) was originally a common Greek noun meaning "a mark, dot, puncture" or generally "a sign", from the verb στίζω ("to puncture"). It had an earlier writing-related special meaning, being the name for a dot as a punctuation mark, used for instance to mark shortness of a syllable in the notation of rhythm. It was then co-opted as a name specifically for the στ ligature, evidently because of the acrophonic value of its initial st- as well as the analogy with the name of sigma. Other names coined according to the same analogical principle are sti or stau. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Digamma or wau (uppercase: Ϝ, lowercase: ϝ, numeral: ϛ) is an archaic letter of the Greek alphabet. It originally stood for the sound /w/ but it has remained in use principally as a Greek numeral for 6. Whereas it was originally called waw or wau, its most common appellation in classical Greek is digamma; as a numeral, it was called episēmon during the Byzantine era and is now known as stigma after the Byzantine ligature combining σ-τ as ϛ.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Digamma or wau was part of the original archaic Greek alphabet as initially adopted from Phoenician. Like its model, Phoenician waw, it represented the voiced labial-velar approximant /w/ and stood in the 6th position in the alphabet between epsilon and zeta. It is the consonantal doublet of the vowel letter upsilon (/u/), which was also derived from waw but was placed near the end of the Greek alphabet. Digamma or wau is in turn the ancestor of the Latin letter F. As an alphabetic letter, it is attested in archaic and dialectal ancient Greek inscriptions until the classical period.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The shape of the letter went through a development from through , , , to or , which at that point was conflated with the σ-τ ligature . In modern print, a distinction is made between the letter in its original alphabetic role as a consonant sign, which is rendered as \"Ϝ\" or its modern lowercase variant \"ϝ\", and the numeric symbol, which is represented by \"ϛ\". In modern Greek, this is often replaced by the digraph στ.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The sound /w/ existed in Mycenean Greek, as attested in Linear B and archaic Greek inscriptions using digamma. It is also confirmed by the Hittite name of Troy, Wilusa, corresponding to the Greek name *Wilion, classical Ilion (Ilium).",
"title": "Greek w"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The /w/ sound was lost at various times in various dialects, mostly before the classical period.",
"title": "Greek w"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In Ionic, /w/ had probably disappeared before Homer's epics were written down (7th century BC), but its former presence can be detected in many cases because its omission left the meter defective. For example, the word ἄναξ (\"(tribal) king, lord, (military) leader\"), found in the Iliad, would have originally been ϝάναξ /wánaks/ (and is attested in this form in Mycenaean Greek), and the word οἶνος (\"wine\"), are sometimes used in the meter where a word starting with a consonant would be expected. Further evidence coupled with cognate-analysis shows that οἶνος was earlier ϝοῖνος /wóînos/ (compare Cretan Doric ibêna and Latin vīnum, which is the origin of English wine). There have been editions of the Homeric epics where the wau was re-added, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but these have largely fallen out of favour.",
"title": "Greek w"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Aeolian was the dialect that kept the sound /w/ longest. In discussions by ancient Greek grammarians of the Hellenistic era, the letter is therefore often described as a characteristic Aeolian feature.",
"title": "Greek w"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Loanwords that entered Greek before the loss of /w-/ lost that sound when Greek did. For instance, Oscan Viteliu ('land of the male calves', compare Latin: vitulus 'yearling, male calf') gave rise to the Greek word Italia. The Adriatic tribe of the Veneti was called in Ancient Greek: Ἐνετοί, romanized: Enetoi. In loanwords that entered the Greek language after the drop of /w/, the phoneme was once again registered, compare for example the spelling of Οὐάτεις for vates.",
"title": "Greek w"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In some local (epichoric) alphabets, a variant glyph of the letter digamma existed that resembled modern Cyrillic И. In one local alphabet, that of Pamphylia, this variant form existed side by side with standard digamma as two distinct letters. It has been surmised that in this dialect the sound /w/ may have changed to labiodental /v/ in some environments. The F-shaped letter may have stood for the new /v/ sound, while the special И-shaped form signified those positions where the old /w/ sound was preserved.",
"title": "Greek w"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Digamma/wau remained in use in the system of Greek numerals attributed to Miletus, where it stood for the number 6, reflecting its original place in the sequence of the alphabet. It was one of three letters that were kept in this way in addition to the 24 letters of the classical alphabet, the other two being koppa (ϙ) for 90, and sampi (ϡ) for 900. During their history in handwriting in late antiquity and the Byzantine era, all three of these symbols underwent several changes in shape, with digamma ultimately taking the form of \"ϛ\".",
"title": "Numeral"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "It has remained in use as a numeral in Greek to the present day, in contexts comparable to those where Latin numerals would be used in English, for instance in regnal numbers of monarchs or in enumerating chapters in a book, although in practice the letter sequence ΣΤ΄ is much more common.",
"title": "Numeral"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Digamma was derived from Phoenician waw, which was shaped roughly like a Y (). Of the two Greek reflexes of waw, digamma retained the alphabetic position, but had its shape modified to , while the upsilon retained the original shape but was placed in a new alphabetic position. Early Crete had an archaic form of digamma somewhat closer to the original Phoenician, , or a variant with the stem bent sidewards (). The shape , during the archaic period, underwent a development parallel to that of epsilon (which changed from to \"E\", with the arms becoming orthogonal and the lower end of the stem being shed off). For digamma, this led to the two main variants of classical \"F\" and square .",
"title": "Glyph development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The latter of these two shapes became dominant when used as a numeral, with \"F\" only very rarely employed in this function. However, in Athens, both of these were avoided in favour of a number of alternative numeral shapes (, , , , , ).",
"title": "Glyph development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "In cursive handwriting, the square-C form developed further into a rounded form resembling a \"C\" (found in papyrus manuscripts as , on coins sometimes as ). It then developed a downward tail at the end (, ) and finally adopted a shape like a Latin \"s\" () These cursive forms are also found in stone inscriptions in late antiquity.",
"title": "Glyph development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "In the ninth and tenth centuries, the cursive shape digamma was visually conflated with a ligature of sigma (in its historical \"lunate\" form) and tau ( + = , ). The στ-ligature had become common in minuscule handwriting from the 9th century onwards. Both closed () and open () forms were subsequently used without distinction both for the ligature and for the numeral. The ligature took on the name of \"stigma\" or \"sti\", and the name stigma is today applied to it both in its textual and in the numeral function. The association between its two functions as a numeral and as a sign for \"st\" became so strong that in modern typographic practice in Greece, whenever the ϛʹ sign itself is not available, the letter sequences στʹ or ΣΤʹ are used instead for the number 6.",
"title": "Glyph development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In western typesetting during the modern era, the numeral symbol was routinely represented by the same character as the stigma ligature (ϛ). In normal text, this ligature together with numerous others continued to be used widely until the early nineteenth century, following the style of earlier minuscule handwriting, but ligatures then gradually dropped out of use. The stigma ligature was among those that survived longest, but it too became obsolete in print after the mid-19th century. Today it is used only to represent the numeric digamma, and never to represent the sequence στ in text.",
"title": "Glyph development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Along with the other special numeric symbols koppa and sampi, numeric digamma/stigma normally has no distinction between uppercase and lowercase forms, (while other alphabetic letters can be used as numerals in both cases). Distinct uppercase versions were occasionally used in the 19th century. Several different shapes of uppercase stigma can be found, with the lower end either styled as a small curved S-like hook (), or as a straight stem, the latter either with a serif () or without one (). An alternative uppercase stylization in some twentieth-century fonts is , visually a ligature of Roman-style uppercase C and T.",
"title": "Glyph development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The characters used for numeric digamma/stigma are distinguished in modern print from the character used to represent the ancient alphabetic digamma, the letter for the [w] sound. This is rendered in print by a Latin \"F\", or sometimes a variant of it specially designed to fit in typographically with Greek (Ϝ). It has a modern lowercase form (ϝ) that typically differs from Latin \"f\" by having two parallel horizontal strokes like the uppercase character, with the vertical stem often being somewhat slanted to the right or curved, and usually descending below the baseline. This character is used in Greek epigraphy to transcribe the text of ancient inscriptions that contain \"Ϝ\", and in linguistics and historical grammar when describing reconstructed proto-forms of Greek words that contained the sound /w/.",
"title": "Glyph development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Throughout much of its history, the shape of digamma/stigma has often been very similar to that of other symbols, with which it can easily be confused. In ancient papyri, the cursive C-shaped form of numeric digamma is often indistinguishable from the C-shaped (\"lunate\") form that was then the common form of sigma. The similarity is still found today, since both the modern stigma (ϛ) and modern final sigma (ς) look identical or almost identical in most fonts; both are historically continuations of their ancient C-shaped forms with the addition of the same downward flourish. If the two characters are distinguished in print, the top loop of stigma tends to be somewhat larger and to extend farther to the right than that of final sigma. The two characters are, however, always distinguishable from the context in modern usage, both in numeric notation and in text: the final form of sigma never occurs in numerals (the number 200 being always written with the medial sigma, σ), and in normal Greek text the sequence \"στ\" can never occur word-finally.",
"title": "Glyph confusion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The medieval s-like shape of digamma () has the same shape as a contemporary abbreviation for καὶ (\"and\").",
"title": "Glyph confusion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Yet another case of glyph confusion exists in the printed uppercase forms, this time between stigma and the other numeral, koppa (90). In ancient and medieval handwriting, koppa developed from through , , to . The uppercase forms and can represent either koppa or stigma. Frequent confusion between these two values in contemporary printing was already noted by some commentators in the eighteenth century. The ambiguity continues in modern fonts, many of which continue to have glyph similar to for either koppa or stigma.",
"title": "Glyph confusion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The symbol has been called by a variety of different names, referring either to its alphabetic or its numeral function or both.",
"title": "Names"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Wau (variously rendered as vau, waw or similarly in English) is the original name of the alphabetic letter for /w/ in ancient Greek. It is often cited in its reconstructed acrophonic spelling \"ϝαῦ\". This form itself is not historically attested in Greek inscriptions, but the existence of the name can be inferred from descriptions by contemporary Latin grammarians, who render it as vau. In later Greek, where both the letter and the sound it represented had become inaccessible, the name is rendered as βαῦ or οὐαῦ. In the 19th century, vau in English was a common name for the symbol ϛ in its numerical function, used by authors who distinguished it both from the alphabetic \"digamma\" and from ϛ as a στ ligature.",
"title": "Names"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The name digamma was used in ancient Greek and is the most common name for the letter in its alphabetic function today. It literally means \"double gamma\" and is descriptive of the original letter's shape, which looked like a Γ (gamma) placed on top of another.",
"title": "Names"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The name episēmon was used for the numeral symbol during the Byzantine era and is still sometimes used today, either as a name specifically for digamma/stigma, or as a generic term for the whole group of extra-alphabetic numeral signs (digamma, koppa and sampi). The Greek word \"ἐπίσημον\", from ἐπί- (epi-, \"on\") and σήμα (sēma, \"sign\"), literally means \"a distinguishing mark\", \"a badge\", but is also the neuter form of the related adjective \"ἐπίσημος\" (\"distinguished\", \"remarkable\"). This word was connected to the number \"six\" through early Christian mystical numerology. According to an account of the teachings of the heretic Marcus given by the church father Irenaeus, the number six was regarded as a symbol of Christ, and was hence called \"ὁ ἐπίσημος ἀριθμός\" (\"the outstanding number\"); likewise, the name Ἰησοῦς (Jesus), having six letters, was \"τὸ ἐπίσημον ὄνομα\" (\"the outstanding name\"), and so on. The sixth-century treatise About the Mystery of the Letters, which also links the six to Christ, calls the number sign to Episēmon throughout. The same name is still found in a fifteenth-century arithmetical manual by the Greek mathematician Nikolaos Rabdas. It is also found in a number of western European accounts of the Greek alphabet written in Latin during the early Middle Ages. One of them is the work De loquela per gestum digitorum, a didactic text about arithmetics attributed to the Venerable Bede, where the three Greek numerals for 6, 90 and 900 are called \"episimon\", \"cophe\" and \"enneacosis\" respectively. From Beda, the term was adopted by the seventeenth century humanist Joseph Justus Scaliger. However, misinterpreting Beda's reference, Scaliger applied the term episēmon not as a name proper for digamma/6 alone, but as a cover term for all three numeral letters. From Scaliger, the term found its way into modern academic usage in this new meaning, of referring to complementary numeral symbols standing outside the alphabetic sequence proper, in Greek and other similar scripts.",
"title": "Names"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "In one remark in the context of a biblical commentary, the 4th century scholar Ammonius of Alexandria is reported to have mentioned that the numeral symbol for 6 was called gabex by his contemporaries. The same reference in Ammonius has alternatively been read as gam(m)ex by some modern authors. Ammonius as well as later theologians discuss the symbol in the context of explaining the apparent contradiction and variant readings between the gospels in assigning the death of Jesus either to the \"third hour\" or \"sixth hour\", arguing that the one numeral symbol could easily have been substituted for the other through a scribal error.",
"title": "Names"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The name \"stigma\" (στίγμα) was originally a common Greek noun meaning \"a mark, dot, puncture\" or generally \"a sign\", from the verb στίζω (\"to puncture\"). It had an earlier writing-related special meaning, being the name for a dot as a punctuation mark, used for instance to mark shortness of a syllable in the notation of rhythm. It was then co-opted as a name specifically for the στ ligature, evidently because of the acrophonic value of its initial st- as well as the analogy with the name of sigma. Other names coined according to the same analogical principle are sti or stau.",
"title": "Names"
}
] | Digamma or wau is an archaic letter of the Greek alphabet. It originally stood for the sound but it has remained in use principally as a Greek numeral for 6. Whereas it was originally called waw or wau, its most common appellation in classical Greek is digamma; as a numeral, it was called episēmon during the Byzantine era and is now known as stigma after the Byzantine ligature combining σ-τ as ϛ. Digamma or wau was part of the original archaic Greek alphabet as initially adopted from Phoenician. Like its model, Phoenician waw, it represented the voiced labial-velar approximant and stood in the 6th position in the alphabet between epsilon and zeta. It is the consonantal doublet of the vowel letter upsilon, which was also derived from waw but was placed near the end of the Greek alphabet. Digamma or wau is in turn the ancestor of the Latin letter F. As an alphabetic letter, it is attested in archaic and dialectal ancient Greek inscriptions until the classical period. The shape of the letter went through a development from through, ,, to or, which at that point was conflated with the σ-τ ligature. In modern print, a distinction is made between the letter in its original alphabetic role as a consonant sign, which is rendered as "Ϝ" or its modern lowercase variant "ϝ", and the numeric symbol, which is represented by "ϛ". In modern Greek, this is often replaced by the digraph στ. | 2002-02-25T15:43:11Z | 2023-12-26T09:57:31Z | [
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8,126 | Dose | Dose or Dosage may refer to: | [
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|
8,127 | Dilbert | Dilbert is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. It is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office with engineer Dilbert as the title character. It has led to dozens of books, an animated television series, a video game, and hundreds of themed merchandise items. Dilbert Future and The Joy of Work are among the best-selling books in the series. In 1997, Adams received the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award and the Newspaper Comic Strip Award for his work. Dilbert appears online and as of 2013 was published daily in 2,000 newspapers in 65 countries and 25 languages.
In 2023, Dilbert was dropped by numerous independent newspapers as well as its distributor, Andrews McMeel Syndication (which owns GoComics, from where the comic was also removed), after Adams published a video that called Black Americans a "hate group" and saying white Americans should "get the hell away from Black people". The video was widely described by sources such as The Economist and Reuters as containing "racist comments" and being a "racist rant." The following month, Adams relaunched the strip as a webcomic on Locals under the name Daily Dilbert Reborn.
Dilbert began syndication by United Feature Syndicate (a division of United Media) in April 1989.
On June 3, 2010, United Media sold its licensing arm, along with the rights to Dilbert, to Iconix Brand Group. This led to Dilbert leaving United Media. In late December 2010, it was announced that Dilbert would move to Universal Uclick (a division of Andrews McMeel Universal, known as Andrews McMeel Syndication) beginning in June 2011, where it remained until 2023.
In September 2022, Lee Enterprises ceased running the strip in what Scott Adams reported as 77 newspapers as the publisher declined to include the strip in a new comics page that was instituted throughout the company. He said that he had received complaints about Dilbert mocking the environmental, social, and corporate governance movement, but that he was not sure if that was the reason for the cancellation. The San Francisco Chronicle, owned by Hearst Media dropped Dilbert in October 2022 saying the move came after strips joked that reparations for slavery could be claimed by underperforming office workers.
In February 2023, hundreds of newspapers owned by media conglomerates including Andrews McMeel Syndication dropped the comic in response to a YouTube video published by Adams on February 22, 2023, during which he advised white people to "get the hell away from black people" following publication of a Rasmussen Reports poll which Adams said showed that African-American people collectively form a "hate group". The poll found that 53% of African-Americans agree with the statement "It's okay to be White", while 26% disagreed, and 21% responded they were "not sure". Gannett, including its USA Today network (including the Detroit Free Press, The Indianapolis Star, The Cincinnati Enquirer, and The Arizona Republic) also dropped the strip following Adams's comments. Such major newspapers as The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Seattle Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Plain Dealer all ceased to syndicate Dilbert and published editorials denouncing Adams. The Los Angeles Times also stated it had removed four Dilbert cartoons from its pages in the preceding nine months when they did not meet the newspaper's standards. In response, Adams announced that on March 16, 2023, he would launch Dilbert Reborn on the subscription website Locals, describing it as "spicier than the original".
The comic strip originally revolved around the character Dilbert and his "pet" dog Dogbert in their home. Many early plots revolved around Dilbert's engineer nature, bizarre inventions, and megalomaniacal ambitions. Later, the setting of most of the strips was changed to Dilbert's workplace and the strip began to satirize technology, workplace, and company issues. The strip's popular success is attributable to its workplace setting and themes, which are familiar to a large and appreciative audience. Adams said that switching the setting from Dilbert's home to his office was "when the strip really started to take off". The workplace location is Silicon Valley.
Dilbert portrays corporate culture as a Kafkaesque world of bureaucracy for its own sake, where office politics preclude productivity, employees' skills and efforts are not rewarded, and busy work is praised. Much of the humor involves characters making ridiculous decisions in reaction to mismanagement.
The strip's central character, Dilbert is depicted as a technically-minded engineer. Until October 2014, he was usually depicted wearing a white dress shirt, black trousers and a red-and-black striped tie that inexplicably curved upward. After October 13, 2014, his standard apparel changed to a red polo shirt with a name badge on a lanyard around his neck. He is a skilled engineer but has poor social and romantic lives.
Dilbert's boss, known only as the Pointy-Haired Boss, is the unnamed, oblivious manager of the engineering division of Dilbert's company. Adams states that he never named him so that people can imagine him to be their boss. In earlier strips he was depicted as a stereotypical late-middle-aged balding middle manager with jowls; it was not until later that he developed his signature pointy hair and the jowls disappeared. He is hopelessly incompetent at management, and he often tries to compensate for his lack of skills with countless group therapy sessions and business strategies that rarely bear fruit. He does not understand technical issues but always tries to disguise this ineptitude, usually by using buzzwords he also does not understand. The Boss treats his employees alternately with enthusiasm or neglect; he often uses them to his own ends regardless of the consequences to them. Adams himself wrote that "he's not sadistic, just uncaring". His level of intelligence varies from near-vegetative to perceptive and clever, depending on the strip's comic needs. His utter lack of consistent business ethics, however, is perfectly consistent. His brother is a demon named "Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light", and according to Adams, the pointy hair is intended to remind one of devil horns.
One of the longest-serving engineers, Wally was originally a worker trying to get fired to obtain a large severance package. He hates work and avoids it whenever he can. He often carries a cup of coffee, calmly sipping from it even in the midst of chaos or office-shaking revelations. Wally is extremely cynical. He is even more socially inept than Dilbert (though far less self-aware of the fact), and references to his lack of personal hygiene are not uncommon. Like the Pointy-Haired Boss, Wally is utterly lacking in ethics and will take advantage of any situation to maximize his personal gain while doing the least possible amount of honest work. Until the change to "business dorky" wear of a polo shirt, Wally was invariably portrayed wearing a short sleeved dress shirt and tie. Adams has stated that Wally was based on a Pacific Bell coworker of his who was interested in a generous employee buy-out program—for the company's worst employees. This had the effect of causing this man—whom Adams describes as "one of the more brilliant people I've met"—to work hard at being incompetent, rude, and generally poor at his job to qualify for the buy-out program. Adams has said that this inspired the basic laziness and amorality of Wally's character. Despite these personality traits, Wally is accepted as part of Dilbert, Ted, Alice, and Asok's clique. Although his relationship with Alice is often antagonistic and Dilbert occasionally denies being his friend, their actions show at least a certain acceptance of him. For Asok, Wally serves as something of a guru of counterintuitive "wisdom". Wally exasperates Dilbert at times but is also sometimes the only other co-worker who understands Dilbert's frustrations with company idiocy and bureaucracy. While Dilbert rages at the dysfunction of the policies of the company, Wally has learned to use the dysfunction to cloak, even justify, his laziness.
One of the more competent and highest paid engineers. She is often frustrated at work because she does not get proper recognition, which she believes is because she is female. She has a quick, often violent temper, sometimes putting her "Fist of Death" to use, even with the Pointy-haired Boss. Alice is based on a woman that Adams worked with named Anita, who is described as sharing Alice's "pink suit, fluffy hair, technical proficiency, coffee obsession, and take-no-crap attitude."
Dilbert's anthropomorphic pet dog is the smartest dog on Earth. Dogbert is a megalomaniac intellectual dog, planning to one day conquer the world. He once succeeded, but became bored with the ensuing peace, and quit. Often seen in high-ranking consultant or technical support jobs, he constantly abuses his power and fools the management of Dilbert's company, though considering the intelligence of the company's management in general and Dilbert's boss in particular, this is not very hard to do. He also enjoys pulling scams on unsuspecting and usually dull customers to steal their money. However, despite Dogbert's cynical exterior, he has been known to pull his master out of some tight jams. Dogbert's nature as a pet was more emphasized during the earlier years of the strip; as the strip progressed, references to his acting like a dog became less common, although he still wags his tail when he perpetrates his scams. When an older Dilbert arrives while time-traveling from the future, he refers to Dogbert as "majesty", indicating that Dogbert will one day indeed rule the world again, and make worshipping him retroactive so he could boss around time travelers.
Catbert is the "evil director of human resources" in the Dilbert comic strip. He was supposed to be a one-time character but resonated with readers so well that Adams brought him back as the HR director. Catbert's origins with the company are that he was hired by Dogbert. Dogbert hired him because he wanted an H.R. Director that appeared cute while secretly downsizing employees.
A young intern, Asok works very hard but does not always get proper recognition. He is intensely intelligent but naive about corporate life; the shattering of his optimistic illusions becomes frequent comic fodder. He is Indian and graduated from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). The other workers, especially the Boss, often unwittingly trample on his cultural beliefs. On the occasions when Asok mentions this, he is normally ignored. His test scores (a perfect 1600 on the old SAT) and his IQ of 240 show that he is the smartest member of the engineering team. Nonetheless, he is often called upon by the Boss to do odd jobs, and in meetings his ideas are usually left hanging. He is also seen regularly at the lunch table with Wally and Dilbert, experiencing jarring realizations of the nature of corporate life. There are a few jokes about his psychic powers, which he learned at the IIT. Yet despite his intelligence, ethics, and mystical powers, Asok sometimes takes advice from Wally in the arts of laziness, and from Dilbert in surviving the office. As of February 7, 2014, Asok is officially gay, which never affects any storylines but merely commemorates a decision by the Indian Supreme Court to uphold a British-era anti-gay law, a decision which was overturned on September 6, 2018.
The CEO of the company is bald and has an extremely tall, somewhat pointed cranium. He is only slightly less clueless than the Pointy-Haired Boss.
An engineer who is often seen hanging out with Wally. He is referenced by name more often in older comics, but he is still seen occasionally. He has been accepted into Dilbert's clique. He has been fired and killed numerous times (for example, being pushed down a flight of stairs and becoming possessed), in which case a new Ted is apparently hired. In addition to this, he is often promoted and given benefits over the other employees. Ted has a wife and children who are referenced multiple times and seen on at least one occasion. Adams refers to him as Ted the Generic Guy, because whenever he needs to fire or kill someone he uses Ted, but slowly over time Ted has become his own character.
Also known as Tina the Tech Writer. She has a less forceful personality than Alice and often seems to get taken advantage of by the other employees. Her job of writing technical directions for her company's software cannot be an easy one as none of their products work as designed.
Carol is the long-suffering secretary (she prefers the title Executive Assistant) to the Pointy-haired Boss. Her hair style is a much smaller triangle than that of Alice. She hates her job, but once told Dilbert that spending time with her family of a husband and two children is like fighting porcupines in a salt mine, although when the job gets to be too much she is glad to get back to them.
Introduced in 2022, Dave is the strip's first black character, although he identifies as white, messing up the company's ESG and diversity scores, possibly deliberately, as it is not clear whether he is serious or not. Dave has proved controversial, with at least one newspaper chain deciding not to run the strips featuring him.
Elbonia is a fictional non-specific under-developed country used when Adams wants "to involve a foreign country without hurting overseas sales". He says "People think I have some specific country in mind when I write about Elbonia, but I don't. It represents the view that Americans have of any country that doesn't have cable television—we think they all wear fur hats and wallow around waist-deep in mud". The entire country wears the same clothing and hats, and all men and women have full beards. They are occasionally bitter towards their wealthier western neighbors, but are quite happy to trade with them. The whole country is covered in mud, and has limited technology.
Elbonia is located somewhere in the former Soviet bloc: A strip dated April 2, 1990, refers to the "Tiny East European country of Elbonia." It is an extremely poor, fourth-world country that "has abandoned Communism". The national bird of Elbonia is the Frisbee.
The Pointy-Haired Boss's brother Phil. His full title is Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light & Supreme Ruler of Heck. His job, one step down from Satan, is to punish those who commit minor sins. His 'Pitch-Spoon' is feared by those who do. He is known to 'Darn to Heck' people who do things like using cell phones in the bathroom, steal office supplies, or those who simply do something annoying. In one strip, it was mentioned that being in Heck is not as bad as being in a cubicle.
Ratbert is an escaped lab rat who lives in Dilbert's house. Ratbert was not originally intended to be a regular, instead being part of a series of strips featuring a lab scientist's cruel experiments. The character is often seen in strips set in Dilbert's home and is frequently a foil / co-conspirator in Dogbert's machinations.
The popularity of the comic strip within the corporate sector led to the Dilbert character being used in many business magazines and publications, including several appearances on the cover of Fortune Magazine. Many newspapers ran the comic in their business section rather than in the regular comics section—similar to the way that Doonesbury is often featured in the editorial section, due to its pointed commentary.
Media analyst Norman Solomon and cartoonist Tom Tomorrow claim that Adams's caricatures of corporate culture seem to project empathy for white-collar workers, but the satire ultimately plays into the hands of upper corporate management itself. Solomon describes the characters of Dilbert as dysfunctional time-wasters, none of whom occupies a position higher than middle management, and whose inefficiencies detract from corporate values such as productivity and growth. Dilbert and his coworkers often find themselves baffled or victimized by the whims of managerial behavior, but they never seem to question it openly. Solomon cites the Xerox corporation's use of Dilbert strips and characters in internally distributed pamphlets:
Xerox management had recognized what more gullible Dilbert readers did not: Dilbert is an offbeat sugary substance that helps the corporate medicine go down. The Dilbert phenomenon accepts—and perversely eggs on—many negative aspects of corporate existence as unchangeable facets of human nature... As Xerox managers grasped, Dilbert speaks to some very real work experiences while simultaneously eroding inclinations to fight for better working conditions.
Adams responded in the February 2, 1998, strip and in his book The Joy of Work with a sarcastic reiteration.
In 1997, Tom Vanderbilt wrote in a similar vein in The Baffler magazine:
Labor unions haven't adopted Dilbert characters as insignia. But corporations in droves have rushed to link themselves with Dilbert. Why? Dilbert mirrors the mass media's crocodile tears for working people—and echoes the ambient noises from Wall Street.
In 1998, Bill Griffith, creator of Zippy the Pinhead, chided Dilbert for crude drawings and simplistic humor. He wrote,
Long since psychically kidnapped by the gaudy, mindlessly hyperactive world of television, (readers) no longer demand or expect comic strips to be compelling, challenging, or even interesting. Enter Cathy. And Dilbert. Sure, comics are still funny. It's just that the humor has almost no "nutritional" value. In the tiny space allotted to them, daily strips have all too successfully adapted to their new environment. In this Darwinian set-up, what thrives are simply drawn panels, minimal dialogue, and a lot of head-and-shoulder shots. Anything more complicated is deemed "too hard to read". A full, rich drawing style is a drawback. Simplicity, even crudity, rules.
Adams responded by creating two comic strips called Pippy the Ziphead, in which Dogbert creates a comic by "cramming as much artwork in [it] as possible so no one will notice there's only one joke", and it's "on the reader". Dilbert says that the strip is "nothing but a clown with a small head who says random things", and Dogbert responds that he is "maintaining [his] artistic integrity by creating a comic that no one will enjoy." In September of the same year, Griffith mocked Adams's Pippy the Ziphead with a strip of the same name drawn in a simplistic, stiff, Dilbert-like style set in an office setting and featuring the characters Zippy and Griffy retorting, "I sense a joke was delivered." "Yes. It was. My one joke. Ha."
In the late 1990s, amateur cartoonist Karl Hörnell began submitting a comic strip to Savage Dragon creator Erik Larsen that parodied both Dilbert and the Image Comics series The Savage Dragon. This became a regular feature in the Savage Dragon comic book, titled The Savage Dragonbert and Hitler's Brainbert—"Hitler's Brainbert" being a loose parody of both Dogbert and the Savage Dragon villain identified as Adolf Hitler's disembodied, superpowered brain. The strip began as a specific parody of the comic book itself, set loosely within the office structure of Dilbert, with Hörnell doing an emulation of Adams's cartooning style.
Adams has invited readers to invent words that have become popular among fans in describing their own office environments, such as induhvidual. This term is based on the American English slang expression "duh!" The conscious misspelling of individual as induhvidual is a pejorative term for people who are not in Dogbert's New Ruling Class (DNRC). Its coining is explained in Dilbert Newsletter #6. The strip has also popularized the usage of the terms cow-orker and PHB.
In 1997, Adams masqueraded as a management consultant to Logitech executives (as Ray Mebert), with the cooperation of the company's vice-chairman. He acted in much the way that he portrays management consultants in the comic strip, with an arrogant manner and bizarre suggestions, such as comparing mission statements to broccoli soup. He convinced the executives to change their existing mission statement for their New Ventures Group from "provide Logitech with profitable growth and related new business areas" to "scout profitable growth opportunities in relationships, both internally and externally, in emerging, mission-inclusive markets, and explore new paradigms and then filter and communicate and evangelize the findings".
To demonstrate what can be achieved with the most mundane objects if planned correctly and imaginatively, Adams has worked with companies to develop "dream" products for Dilbert and company. In 2001, he collaborated with design company IDEO to come up with the "perfect cubicle", a fitting creation since many of the Dilbert strips make fun of the standard cubicle desk and the environment that it creates. The result was both whimsical and practical.
This project was followed in 2004 with designs for Dilbert's Ultimate House (abbreviated as DUH). An energy-efficient building was the result, designed to prevent many of the little problems that seem to creep into a normal building. For instance, to save time spent buying and decorating a Christmas tree every year, the house has a large (yet unapparent) closet adjacent to the living room where the tree can be stored from year to year.
In 1995, Dilbert was the first syndicated comic strip to be published for free on the Internet. Putting his email address in each Dilbert strip, Adams created a "direct channel to [his] customers", allowing him to modify the strip based on their feedback. Joe Zabel stated that Dilbert had a large influence on many of the webcomics that followed it, establishing the "nerdcore" genre as it found its audience.
In April 2008, United Media instituted an interactive feature on Dilbert.com, allowing fans to write speech bubbles. Adams has spoken positively about the change, saying, "This makes cartooning a competitive sport."
Adams was named best international comic strip artist of 1995 in the Adamson Awards given by the Swedish Academy of Comic Art.
Dilbert won the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award in 1997, and was also named the best syndicated strip of 1997 in the Harvey Awards. In 1998, Dilbert won the Max & Moritz Prize as best international comic strip.
Dilbert was adapted into a UPN animated television series starring Daniel Stern as Dilbert, Chris Elliott as Dogbert, and Kathy Griffin as Alice. The series ran for two seasons from January 25, 1999, to July 25, 2000. The first season centered around the creation of a new product called the "Gruntmaster 6000". It was critically acclaimed and won an Emmy Award, leading to its renewal for a second season. The second season did away with the serial format and was composed entirely of standalone episodes, many of which shifted focus away from the workplace and involved absurdist plots such as Wally being mistaken for a religious leader ("The Shroud of Wally") and Dilbert being accused of mass murder ("The Trial"). The second season's two-episode finale included Dilbert getting pregnant with the child of a cow, a hillbilly, robot DNA, "several dozen engineers", an elderly billionaire, and an alien, eventually ending up in a custody battle with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the Judge.
When UPN declined to renew the series for its third season, Adams stated, "I lost my TV show for being white when UPN decided it would focus on an African-American audience." Adams wrote on Twitter in 2020. "That was the third job I lost for being white. The other two in corporate America." The four-disc DVD called "Dilbert: The Complete Series" was released and contains thirty episodes. The first disc contains episodes 1–7, the second disc contains episodes 8–13, the third disc contains episodes 14–21, and the fourth disc contains episodes 22–30.
On April 7, 2008, dilbert.com presented its first Dilbert animation. The new Dilbert animations are animated versions of original comic strips produced by RingTales and animated by Powerhouse Animation Studios. The animation videos run for around 30 seconds each and are added every weekday. The comic shorts have a different voice cast than the television series, with Washington-based radio personality Dan Roberts providing the voice of the title character. On December 10, 2009, the RingTales produced animations were made available as a calendar application for mobile devices.
As early as 2006, Adams and United Media had been struggling to get a film adaptation of the comic strip off the ground. Adams envisioned the idea as a live-action film, with Dogbert and Catbert as computer-animated characters. Film director Chris Columbus was in talks to direct the film in 2007, with Tariq Jalil on board as producer.
In May 2010, it was announced that a live-action Dilbert film was in development. Ken Kwapis was announced as director, fresh off the heels of He's Just Not That Into You and directing several episodes for NBC's The Office. Jahil remained as producer, with Phoenix Entertainment and Intrigue Entertainment joining the producing team.
But in December 2017, in an interview by The Mercury News, Adams said that it would be impossible to make the film after his public support of Donald Trump.
In October 2007, the Catfish Bend Casino in Burlington, Iowa notified its staff that the casino would soon be closing for business. David Steward, an employee of seven years, then posted on an office bulletin board the Dilbert strip of October 26, 2007, that compared management decisions to those of "drunken lemurs". The casino called this "very offensive"; they identified him from a surveillance tape, fired him, and tried to prevent him from receiving unemployment benefits. However, an administrative law judge ruled in December 2007 that he would receive benefits, as his action was deemed as justified protest and not intentional misbehavior. Adams stated that it might be the first confirmed case of an employee being fired for posting a Dilbert cartoon. On February 20, 2008, the first of a series of Dilbert strips showed Wally being caught posting a comic strip that "compares managers to drunken lemurs". Adams later stated that fans of his work should "stick to posting Garfield strips, as no one gets fired for that."
On February 29, 2016, Adams posted on his blog that he would be taking a six-week vacation. During that time, strips would be written by him but drawn by guest artists who work for Universal Uclick. Jake Tapper drew the strip on the week of May 23. The other guest artists were John Glynn, Eric Scott, Josh Shipley, Joel Friday, Donna Oatney and Brenna Thummler. Jake Tapper also drew the cartoon strip the week of September 23–28, 2019. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Dilbert is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. It is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office with engineer Dilbert as the title character. It has led to dozens of books, an animated television series, a video game, and hundreds of themed merchandise items. Dilbert Future and The Joy of Work are among the best-selling books in the series. In 1997, Adams received the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award and the Newspaper Comic Strip Award for his work. Dilbert appears online and as of 2013 was published daily in 2,000 newspapers in 65 countries and 25 languages.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "In 2023, Dilbert was dropped by numerous independent newspapers as well as its distributor, Andrews McMeel Syndication (which owns GoComics, from where the comic was also removed), after Adams published a video that called Black Americans a \"hate group\" and saying white Americans should \"get the hell away from Black people\". The video was widely described by sources such as The Economist and Reuters as containing \"racist comments\" and being a \"racist rant.\" The following month, Adams relaunched the strip as a webcomic on Locals under the name Daily Dilbert Reborn.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Dilbert began syndication by United Feature Syndicate (a division of United Media) in April 1989.",
"title": "Publication history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "On June 3, 2010, United Media sold its licensing arm, along with the rights to Dilbert, to Iconix Brand Group. This led to Dilbert leaving United Media. In late December 2010, it was announced that Dilbert would move to Universal Uclick (a division of Andrews McMeel Universal, known as Andrews McMeel Syndication) beginning in June 2011, where it remained until 2023.",
"title": "Publication history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In September 2022, Lee Enterprises ceased running the strip in what Scott Adams reported as 77 newspapers as the publisher declined to include the strip in a new comics page that was instituted throughout the company. He said that he had received complaints about Dilbert mocking the environmental, social, and corporate governance movement, but that he was not sure if that was the reason for the cancellation. The San Francisco Chronicle, owned by Hearst Media dropped Dilbert in October 2022 saying the move came after strips joked that reparations for slavery could be claimed by underperforming office workers.",
"title": "Publication history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In February 2023, hundreds of newspapers owned by media conglomerates including Andrews McMeel Syndication dropped the comic in response to a YouTube video published by Adams on February 22, 2023, during which he advised white people to \"get the hell away from black people\" following publication of a Rasmussen Reports poll which Adams said showed that African-American people collectively form a \"hate group\". The poll found that 53% of African-Americans agree with the statement \"It's okay to be White\", while 26% disagreed, and 21% responded they were \"not sure\". Gannett, including its USA Today network (including the Detroit Free Press, The Indianapolis Star, The Cincinnati Enquirer, and The Arizona Republic) also dropped the strip following Adams's comments. Such major newspapers as The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Seattle Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Plain Dealer all ceased to syndicate Dilbert and published editorials denouncing Adams. The Los Angeles Times also stated it had removed four Dilbert cartoons from its pages in the preceding nine months when they did not meet the newspaper's standards. In response, Adams announced that on March 16, 2023, he would launch Dilbert Reborn on the subscription website Locals, describing it as \"spicier than the original\".",
"title": "Publication history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The comic strip originally revolved around the character Dilbert and his \"pet\" dog Dogbert in their home. Many early plots revolved around Dilbert's engineer nature, bizarre inventions, and megalomaniacal ambitions. Later, the setting of most of the strips was changed to Dilbert's workplace and the strip began to satirize technology, workplace, and company issues. The strip's popular success is attributable to its workplace setting and themes, which are familiar to a large and appreciative audience. Adams said that switching the setting from Dilbert's home to his office was \"when the strip really started to take off\". The workplace location is Silicon Valley.",
"title": "Themes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Dilbert portrays corporate culture as a Kafkaesque world of bureaucracy for its own sake, where office politics preclude productivity, employees' skills and efforts are not rewarded, and busy work is praised. Much of the humor involves characters making ridiculous decisions in reaction to mismanagement.",
"title": "Themes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The strip's central character, Dilbert is depicted as a technically-minded engineer. Until October 2014, he was usually depicted wearing a white dress shirt, black trousers and a red-and-black striped tie that inexplicably curved upward. After October 13, 2014, his standard apparel changed to a red polo shirt with a name badge on a lanyard around his neck. He is a skilled engineer but has poor social and romantic lives.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Dilbert's boss, known only as the Pointy-Haired Boss, is the unnamed, oblivious manager of the engineering division of Dilbert's company. Adams states that he never named him so that people can imagine him to be their boss. In earlier strips he was depicted as a stereotypical late-middle-aged balding middle manager with jowls; it was not until later that he developed his signature pointy hair and the jowls disappeared. He is hopelessly incompetent at management, and he often tries to compensate for his lack of skills with countless group therapy sessions and business strategies that rarely bear fruit. He does not understand technical issues but always tries to disguise this ineptitude, usually by using buzzwords he also does not understand. The Boss treats his employees alternately with enthusiasm or neglect; he often uses them to his own ends regardless of the consequences to them. Adams himself wrote that \"he's not sadistic, just uncaring\". His level of intelligence varies from near-vegetative to perceptive and clever, depending on the strip's comic needs. His utter lack of consistent business ethics, however, is perfectly consistent. His brother is a demon named \"Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light\", and according to Adams, the pointy hair is intended to remind one of devil horns.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "One of the longest-serving engineers, Wally was originally a worker trying to get fired to obtain a large severance package. He hates work and avoids it whenever he can. He often carries a cup of coffee, calmly sipping from it even in the midst of chaos or office-shaking revelations. Wally is extremely cynical. He is even more socially inept than Dilbert (though far less self-aware of the fact), and references to his lack of personal hygiene are not uncommon. Like the Pointy-Haired Boss, Wally is utterly lacking in ethics and will take advantage of any situation to maximize his personal gain while doing the least possible amount of honest work. Until the change to \"business dorky\" wear of a polo shirt, Wally was invariably portrayed wearing a short sleeved dress shirt and tie. Adams has stated that Wally was based on a Pacific Bell coworker of his who was interested in a generous employee buy-out program—for the company's worst employees. This had the effect of causing this man—whom Adams describes as \"one of the more brilliant people I've met\"—to work hard at being incompetent, rude, and generally poor at his job to qualify for the buy-out program. Adams has said that this inspired the basic laziness and amorality of Wally's character. Despite these personality traits, Wally is accepted as part of Dilbert, Ted, Alice, and Asok's clique. Although his relationship with Alice is often antagonistic and Dilbert occasionally denies being his friend, their actions show at least a certain acceptance of him. For Asok, Wally serves as something of a guru of counterintuitive \"wisdom\". Wally exasperates Dilbert at times but is also sometimes the only other co-worker who understands Dilbert's frustrations with company idiocy and bureaucracy. While Dilbert rages at the dysfunction of the policies of the company, Wally has learned to use the dysfunction to cloak, even justify, his laziness.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "One of the more competent and highest paid engineers. She is often frustrated at work because she does not get proper recognition, which she believes is because she is female. She has a quick, often violent temper, sometimes putting her \"Fist of Death\" to use, even with the Pointy-haired Boss. Alice is based on a woman that Adams worked with named Anita, who is described as sharing Alice's \"pink suit, fluffy hair, technical proficiency, coffee obsession, and take-no-crap attitude.\"",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Dilbert's anthropomorphic pet dog is the smartest dog on Earth. Dogbert is a megalomaniac intellectual dog, planning to one day conquer the world. He once succeeded, but became bored with the ensuing peace, and quit. Often seen in high-ranking consultant or technical support jobs, he constantly abuses his power and fools the management of Dilbert's company, though considering the intelligence of the company's management in general and Dilbert's boss in particular, this is not very hard to do. He also enjoys pulling scams on unsuspecting and usually dull customers to steal their money. However, despite Dogbert's cynical exterior, he has been known to pull his master out of some tight jams. Dogbert's nature as a pet was more emphasized during the earlier years of the strip; as the strip progressed, references to his acting like a dog became less common, although he still wags his tail when he perpetrates his scams. When an older Dilbert arrives while time-traveling from the future, he refers to Dogbert as \"majesty\", indicating that Dogbert will one day indeed rule the world again, and make worshipping him retroactive so he could boss around time travelers.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Catbert is the \"evil director of human resources\" in the Dilbert comic strip. He was supposed to be a one-time character but resonated with readers so well that Adams brought him back as the HR director. Catbert's origins with the company are that he was hired by Dogbert. Dogbert hired him because he wanted an H.R. Director that appeared cute while secretly downsizing employees.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "A young intern, Asok works very hard but does not always get proper recognition. He is intensely intelligent but naive about corporate life; the shattering of his optimistic illusions becomes frequent comic fodder. He is Indian and graduated from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). The other workers, especially the Boss, often unwittingly trample on his cultural beliefs. On the occasions when Asok mentions this, he is normally ignored. His test scores (a perfect 1600 on the old SAT) and his IQ of 240 show that he is the smartest member of the engineering team. Nonetheless, he is often called upon by the Boss to do odd jobs, and in meetings his ideas are usually left hanging. He is also seen regularly at the lunch table with Wally and Dilbert, experiencing jarring realizations of the nature of corporate life. There are a few jokes about his psychic powers, which he learned at the IIT. Yet despite his intelligence, ethics, and mystical powers, Asok sometimes takes advice from Wally in the arts of laziness, and from Dilbert in surviving the office. As of February 7, 2014, Asok is officially gay, which never affects any storylines but merely commemorates a decision by the Indian Supreme Court to uphold a British-era anti-gay law, a decision which was overturned on September 6, 2018.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The CEO of the company is bald and has an extremely tall, somewhat pointed cranium. He is only slightly less clueless than the Pointy-Haired Boss.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "An engineer who is often seen hanging out with Wally. He is referenced by name more often in older comics, but he is still seen occasionally. He has been accepted into Dilbert's clique. He has been fired and killed numerous times (for example, being pushed down a flight of stairs and becoming possessed), in which case a new Ted is apparently hired. In addition to this, he is often promoted and given benefits over the other employees. Ted has a wife and children who are referenced multiple times and seen on at least one occasion. Adams refers to him as Ted the Generic Guy, because whenever he needs to fire or kill someone he uses Ted, but slowly over time Ted has become his own character.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Also known as Tina the Tech Writer. She has a less forceful personality than Alice and often seems to get taken advantage of by the other employees. Her job of writing technical directions for her company's software cannot be an easy one as none of their products work as designed.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Carol is the long-suffering secretary (she prefers the title Executive Assistant) to the Pointy-haired Boss. Her hair style is a much smaller triangle than that of Alice. She hates her job, but once told Dilbert that spending time with her family of a husband and two children is like fighting porcupines in a salt mine, although when the job gets to be too much she is glad to get back to them.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Introduced in 2022, Dave is the strip's first black character, although he identifies as white, messing up the company's ESG and diversity scores, possibly deliberately, as it is not clear whether he is serious or not. Dave has proved controversial, with at least one newspaper chain deciding not to run the strips featuring him.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Elbonia is a fictional non-specific under-developed country used when Adams wants \"to involve a foreign country without hurting overseas sales\". He says \"People think I have some specific country in mind when I write about Elbonia, but I don't. It represents the view that Americans have of any country that doesn't have cable television—we think they all wear fur hats and wallow around waist-deep in mud\". The entire country wears the same clothing and hats, and all men and women have full beards. They are occasionally bitter towards their wealthier western neighbors, but are quite happy to trade with them. The whole country is covered in mud, and has limited technology.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Elbonia is located somewhere in the former Soviet bloc: A strip dated April 2, 1990, refers to the \"Tiny East European country of Elbonia.\" It is an extremely poor, fourth-world country that \"has abandoned Communism\". The national bird of Elbonia is the Frisbee.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The Pointy-Haired Boss's brother Phil. His full title is Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light & Supreme Ruler of Heck. His job, one step down from Satan, is to punish those who commit minor sins. His 'Pitch-Spoon' is feared by those who do. He is known to 'Darn to Heck' people who do things like using cell phones in the bathroom, steal office supplies, or those who simply do something annoying. In one strip, it was mentioned that being in Heck is not as bad as being in a cubicle.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Ratbert is an escaped lab rat who lives in Dilbert's house. Ratbert was not originally intended to be a regular, instead being part of a series of strips featuring a lab scientist's cruel experiments. The character is often seen in strips set in Dilbert's home and is frequently a foil / co-conspirator in Dogbert's machinations.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The popularity of the comic strip within the corporate sector led to the Dilbert character being used in many business magazines and publications, including several appearances on the cover of Fortune Magazine. Many newspapers ran the comic in their business section rather than in the regular comics section—similar to the way that Doonesbury is often featured in the editorial section, due to its pointed commentary.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Media analyst Norman Solomon and cartoonist Tom Tomorrow claim that Adams's caricatures of corporate culture seem to project empathy for white-collar workers, but the satire ultimately plays into the hands of upper corporate management itself. Solomon describes the characters of Dilbert as dysfunctional time-wasters, none of whom occupies a position higher than middle management, and whose inefficiencies detract from corporate values such as productivity and growth. Dilbert and his coworkers often find themselves baffled or victimized by the whims of managerial behavior, but they never seem to question it openly. Solomon cites the Xerox corporation's use of Dilbert strips and characters in internally distributed pamphlets:",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Xerox management had recognized what more gullible Dilbert readers did not: Dilbert is an offbeat sugary substance that helps the corporate medicine go down. The Dilbert phenomenon accepts—and perversely eggs on—many negative aspects of corporate existence as unchangeable facets of human nature... As Xerox managers grasped, Dilbert speaks to some very real work experiences while simultaneously eroding inclinations to fight for better working conditions.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Adams responded in the February 2, 1998, strip and in his book The Joy of Work with a sarcastic reiteration.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In 1997, Tom Vanderbilt wrote in a similar vein in The Baffler magazine:",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Labor unions haven't adopted Dilbert characters as insignia. But corporations in droves have rushed to link themselves with Dilbert. Why? Dilbert mirrors the mass media's crocodile tears for working people—and echoes the ambient noises from Wall Street.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "In 1998, Bill Griffith, creator of Zippy the Pinhead, chided Dilbert for crude drawings and simplistic humor. He wrote,",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Long since psychically kidnapped by the gaudy, mindlessly hyperactive world of television, (readers) no longer demand or expect comic strips to be compelling, challenging, or even interesting. Enter Cathy. And Dilbert. Sure, comics are still funny. It's just that the humor has almost no \"nutritional\" value. In the tiny space allotted to them, daily strips have all too successfully adapted to their new environment. In this Darwinian set-up, what thrives are simply drawn panels, minimal dialogue, and a lot of head-and-shoulder shots. Anything more complicated is deemed \"too hard to read\". A full, rich drawing style is a drawback. Simplicity, even crudity, rules.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Adams responded by creating two comic strips called Pippy the Ziphead, in which Dogbert creates a comic by \"cramming as much artwork in [it] as possible so no one will notice there's only one joke\", and it's \"on the reader\". Dilbert says that the strip is \"nothing but a clown with a small head who says random things\", and Dogbert responds that he is \"maintaining [his] artistic integrity by creating a comic that no one will enjoy.\" In September of the same year, Griffith mocked Adams's Pippy the Ziphead with a strip of the same name drawn in a simplistic, stiff, Dilbert-like style set in an office setting and featuring the characters Zippy and Griffy retorting, \"I sense a joke was delivered.\" \"Yes. It was. My one joke. Ha.\"",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "In the late 1990s, amateur cartoonist Karl Hörnell began submitting a comic strip to Savage Dragon creator Erik Larsen that parodied both Dilbert and the Image Comics series The Savage Dragon. This became a regular feature in the Savage Dragon comic book, titled The Savage Dragonbert and Hitler's Brainbert—\"Hitler's Brainbert\" being a loose parody of both Dogbert and the Savage Dragon villain identified as Adolf Hitler's disembodied, superpowered brain. The strip began as a specific parody of the comic book itself, set loosely within the office structure of Dilbert, with Hörnell doing an emulation of Adams's cartooning style.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Adams has invited readers to invent words that have become popular among fans in describing their own office environments, such as induhvidual. This term is based on the American English slang expression \"duh!\" The conscious misspelling of individual as induhvidual is a pejorative term for people who are not in Dogbert's New Ruling Class (DNRC). Its coining is explained in Dilbert Newsletter #6. The strip has also popularized the usage of the terms cow-orker and PHB.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "In 1997, Adams masqueraded as a management consultant to Logitech executives (as Ray Mebert), with the cooperation of the company's vice-chairman. He acted in much the way that he portrays management consultants in the comic strip, with an arrogant manner and bizarre suggestions, such as comparing mission statements to broccoli soup. He convinced the executives to change their existing mission statement for their New Ventures Group from \"provide Logitech with profitable growth and related new business areas\" to \"scout profitable growth opportunities in relationships, both internally and externally, in emerging, mission-inclusive markets, and explore new paradigms and then filter and communicate and evangelize the findings\".",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "To demonstrate what can be achieved with the most mundane objects if planned correctly and imaginatively, Adams has worked with companies to develop \"dream\" products for Dilbert and company. In 2001, he collaborated with design company IDEO to come up with the \"perfect cubicle\", a fitting creation since many of the Dilbert strips make fun of the standard cubicle desk and the environment that it creates. The result was both whimsical and practical.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "This project was followed in 2004 with designs for Dilbert's Ultimate House (abbreviated as DUH). An energy-efficient building was the result, designed to prevent many of the little problems that seem to creep into a normal building. For instance, to save time spent buying and decorating a Christmas tree every year, the house has a large (yet unapparent) closet adjacent to the living room where the tree can be stored from year to year.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "In 1995, Dilbert was the first syndicated comic strip to be published for free on the Internet. Putting his email address in each Dilbert strip, Adams created a \"direct channel to [his] customers\", allowing him to modify the strip based on their feedback. Joe Zabel stated that Dilbert had a large influence on many of the webcomics that followed it, establishing the \"nerdcore\" genre as it found its audience.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "In April 2008, United Media instituted an interactive feature on Dilbert.com, allowing fans to write speech bubbles. Adams has spoken positively about the change, saying, \"This makes cartooning a competitive sport.\"",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Adams was named best international comic strip artist of 1995 in the Adamson Awards given by the Swedish Academy of Comic Art.",
"title": "Awards"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Dilbert won the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award in 1997, and was also named the best syndicated strip of 1997 in the Harvey Awards. In 1998, Dilbert won the Max & Moritz Prize as best international comic strip.",
"title": "Awards"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Dilbert was adapted into a UPN animated television series starring Daniel Stern as Dilbert, Chris Elliott as Dogbert, and Kathy Griffin as Alice. The series ran for two seasons from January 25, 1999, to July 25, 2000. The first season centered around the creation of a new product called the \"Gruntmaster 6000\". It was critically acclaimed and won an Emmy Award, leading to its renewal for a second season. The second season did away with the serial format and was composed entirely of standalone episodes, many of which shifted focus away from the workplace and involved absurdist plots such as Wally being mistaken for a religious leader (\"The Shroud of Wally\") and Dilbert being accused of mass murder (\"The Trial\"). The second season's two-episode finale included Dilbert getting pregnant with the child of a cow, a hillbilly, robot DNA, \"several dozen engineers\", an elderly billionaire, and an alien, eventually ending up in a custody battle with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the Judge.",
"title": "Media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "When UPN declined to renew the series for its third season, Adams stated, \"I lost my TV show for being white when UPN decided it would focus on an African-American audience.\" Adams wrote on Twitter in 2020. \"That was the third job I lost for being white. The other two in corporate America.\" The four-disc DVD called \"Dilbert: The Complete Series\" was released and contains thirty episodes. The first disc contains episodes 1–7, the second disc contains episodes 8–13, the third disc contains episodes 14–21, and the fourth disc contains episodes 22–30.",
"title": "Media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "On April 7, 2008, dilbert.com presented its first Dilbert animation. The new Dilbert animations are animated versions of original comic strips produced by RingTales and animated by Powerhouse Animation Studios. The animation videos run for around 30 seconds each and are added every weekday. The comic shorts have a different voice cast than the television series, with Washington-based radio personality Dan Roberts providing the voice of the title character. On December 10, 2009, the RingTales produced animations were made available as a calendar application for mobile devices.",
"title": "Media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "As early as 2006, Adams and United Media had been struggling to get a film adaptation of the comic strip off the ground. Adams envisioned the idea as a live-action film, with Dogbert and Catbert as computer-animated characters. Film director Chris Columbus was in talks to direct the film in 2007, with Tariq Jalil on board as producer.",
"title": "Media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "In May 2010, it was announced that a live-action Dilbert film was in development. Ken Kwapis was announced as director, fresh off the heels of He's Just Not That Into You and directing several episodes for NBC's The Office. Jahil remained as producer, with Phoenix Entertainment and Intrigue Entertainment joining the producing team.",
"title": "Media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "But in December 2017, in an interview by The Mercury News, Adams said that it would be impossible to make the film after his public support of Donald Trump.",
"title": "Media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "In October 2007, the Catfish Bend Casino in Burlington, Iowa notified its staff that the casino would soon be closing for business. David Steward, an employee of seven years, then posted on an office bulletin board the Dilbert strip of October 26, 2007, that compared management decisions to those of \"drunken lemurs\". The casino called this \"very offensive\"; they identified him from a surveillance tape, fired him, and tried to prevent him from receiving unemployment benefits. However, an administrative law judge ruled in December 2007 that he would receive benefits, as his action was deemed as justified protest and not intentional misbehavior. Adams stated that it might be the first confirmed case of an employee being fired for posting a Dilbert cartoon. On February 20, 2008, the first of a series of Dilbert strips showed Wally being caught posting a comic strip that \"compares managers to drunken lemurs\". Adams later stated that fans of his work should \"stick to posting Garfield strips, as no one gets fired for that.\"",
"title": "\"Drunken lemurs\" case"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "On February 29, 2016, Adams posted on his blog that he would be taking a six-week vacation. During that time, strips would be written by him but drawn by guest artists who work for Universal Uclick. Jake Tapper drew the strip on the week of May 23. The other guest artists were John Glynn, Eric Scott, Josh Shipley, Joel Friday, Donna Oatney and Brenna Thummler. Jake Tapper also drew the cartoon strip the week of September 23–28, 2019.",
"title": "Guest artists"
}
] | Dilbert is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. It is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office with engineer Dilbert as the title character. It has led to dozens of books, an animated television series, a video game, and hundreds of themed merchandise items. Dilbert Future and The Joy of Work are among the best-selling books in the series. In 1997, Adams received the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award and the Newspaper Comic Strip Award for his work. Dilbert appears online and as of 2013 was published daily in 2,000 newspapers in 65 countries and 25 languages. In 2023, Dilbert was dropped by numerous independent newspapers as well as its distributor, Andrews McMeel Syndication, after Adams published a video that called Black Americans a "hate group" and saying white Americans should "get the hell away from Black people". The video was widely described by sources such as The Economist and Reuters as containing "racist comments" and being a "racist rant." The following month, Adams relaunched the strip as a webcomic on Locals under the name Daily Dilbert Reborn. | 2001-09-10T00:56:08Z | 2023-12-28T10:50:08Z | [
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8,128 | Dialect | Dialect (from Latin dialectus, dialectos, from the Ancient Greek word διάλεκτος, diálektos 'discourse', from διά, diá 'through' and λέγω, légō 'I speak') refers to two distinctly different types of linguistic relationships.
The more common usage of the term refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The dialects or varieties of a particular language are closely related and, despite their differences, are most often largely mutually intelligible, especially if geographically close to one another in a dialect continuum. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class or ethnicity. A dialect that is associated with a particular social class can be termed a sociolect, a dialect that is associated with a particular ethnic group can be termed an ethnolect, and a geographical/regional dialect may be termed a regiolect (alternative terms include 'regionalect', 'geolect', and 'topolect'). Any variety of a given language can be classified as a "dialect", including any standardized varieties.
The other usage, which is specific to colloquial settings in a few countries like Italy, such as dialetto, patois in France, much of East Central Europe, and the Philippines, carries a pejorative undertone and underlines the politically and socially subordinated status of a non-national language to the country's single official language. In this case, these "dialects" are not actual dialects in the same sense as in the first usage, as they do not derive from one dominant language and are therefore not one of its varieties since they evolved in a separate and parallel way. While they may be historically cognate with and share genetic roots in the same subfamily as the dominant national language and may even, to a varying degree, share some mutual intelligibility with the latter, "dialects" under this second definition may be better defined as separate languages from the standard or national language. Under this definition, the standard or national language would not itself be considered a dialect, as it is the dominant language in terms of linguistic prestige, social or political (e.g. official) status, predominance or prevalence, or all of the above. Dialect used this way implies a political connotation, being mostly used to refer to "low-prestige" languages (regardless of their actual degree of distance from the national language), languages lacking institutional support, or those perceived as "unsuitable for writing". The designation dialect is also used popularly to refer to the unwritten or non-codified languages of developing countries or isolated areas, where the term "vernacular language" would be preferred by linguists.
Features that distinguish dialects from each other can be found in lexicon (vocabulary) and grammar, as well as in pronunciation (phonology, including prosody). In instances where the salient distinctions are only or mostly to be observed in pronunciation, the more specific term accent may be used instead of dialect. Differences that are largely concentrated in lexicon may be classified as creoles. When lexical differences are mostly concentrated in the specialized vocabulary of a profession or other organization, they are jargons. Differences in vocabulary that are deliberately cultivated to exclude outsiders or to serve as shibboleths are known as cryptolects or cant, and include slangs and argots. The particular speech patterns used by an individual are referred to as that person's idiolect.
Languages are classified as dialects based on linguistic distance. The dialects of a language with a writing system will operate at different degrees of distance from the standardized written form. Some dialects of a language are not mutually intelligible in spoken form, leading to debate as to whether they are regiolects or separate languages.
A standard dialect also known as a "standardized language" is supported by institutions. Such institutional support may include any or all of the following: government recognition or designation; formal presentation in schooling as the "correct" form of a language; informal monitoring of everyday usage; published grammars, dictionaries, and textbooks that set forth a normative spoken and written form; and an extensive formal literature (be it prose, poetry, non-fiction, etc.) that uses it. An example of a standardized language is the French language which is supported by the Académie Française institution. A nonstandard dialect also has a complete grammar and vocabulary, but is usually not the beneficiary of institutional support.
The distinction between the "standard" dialect and the "nonstandard" (vernacular) dialects of the same language is often arbitrary and based on social, political, cultural, or historical considerations or prevalence and prominence. In a similar way, the definitions of the terms "language" and "dialect" may overlap and are often subject to debate, with the differentiation between the two classifications often grounded in arbitrary or sociopolitical motives, and the term "dialect" is sometimes restricted to mean "non-standard variety", particularly in non-specialist settings and non-English linguistic traditions.
The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class or ethnicity. A dialect that is associated with a particular social class can be termed a sociolect. A dialect that is associated with a particular ethnic group can be termed an ethnolect.
A geographical/regional dialect may be termed a regiolect (alternative terms include 'regionalect', 'geolect', and 'topolect'). According to this definition, any variety of a given language can be classified as "a dialect", including any standardized varieties. In this case, the distinction between the "standard language" (i.e. the "standard" dialect of a particular language) and the "nonstandard" (vernacular) dialects of the same language is often arbitrary and based on social, political, cultural, or historical considerations or prevalence and prominence. In a similar way, the definitions of the terms "language" and "dialect" may overlap and are often subject to debate, with the differentiation between the two classifications often grounded in arbitrary or sociopolitical motives. The term "dialect" is however sometimes restricted to mean "non-standard variety", particularly in non-specialist settings and non-English linguistic traditions. Conversely, some dialectologists have reserved the term "dialect" for forms that they believed (sometimes wrongly) to be purer forms of the older languages, as in how early dialectologists of English did not consider the Brummie of Birmingham or the Scouse of Liverpool to be real dialects, as they had arisen fairly recently in time and partly as a result of influences from Irish migrants.
There is no universally accepted criterion for distinguishing two different languages from two dialects (i.e. varieties) of the same language. A number of rough measures exist, sometimes leading to contradictory results. The distinction between dialect and language is therefore subjective (arbitrary) and depends upon the user's preferred frame of reference. For example, there has been discussion about whether or not the Limón Creole English should be considered "a kind" of English or a different language. This creole is spoken in the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica (Central America) by descendants of Jamaican people. The position that Costa Rican linguists support depends upon which university they represent. Another example is Scanian, which even, for a time, had its own ISO code.
An important criterion for categorizing varieties of language is linguistic distance. For a variety to be considered a dialect, the linguistic distance between the two varieties must be low. Linguistic distance between spoken or written forms of language increases as the differences between the forms are characterized. For example, two languages with completely different syntactical structures would have a high linguistic distance, while a language with very few differences from another may be considered a dialect or a sibling of that language. Linguistic distance may be used to determine language families and language siblings. For example, languages with little linguistic distance, like Dutch and German, are considered siblings. Dutch and German are siblings in the West-Germanic language group. Some language siblings are closer to each other in terms of linguistic distance than to other linguistic siblings. French and Spanish, siblings in the Romance Branch of the Indo-European group, are closer to each other than they are to any of the languages of the West-Germanic group. When languages are close in terms of linguistic distance, they resemble one another, hence why dialects are not considered linguistically distant to their parent language.
One criterion, which is often considered to be purely linguistic, is that of mutual intelligibility: two varieties are said to be dialects of the same language if being a speaker of one variety has sufficient knowledge to understand and be understood by a speaker of the other dialect; otherwise, they are said to be different languages. However, this definition has often been criticized, especially in the case of a dialect continuum (or dialect chain), which contains a sequence of varieties, where each mutually intelligible with the next, but may not be mutually intelligible with distant varieties.
Others have argued that mutual intelligibility occurs in varying degrees, and the potential difficulty in distinguishing between intelligibility and prior familiarity with the other variety. However, recent research suggests that there is some empirical evidence in favor of using some form of the intelligibility criterion to distinguish between languages and dialects, though mutuality may not be as relevant as initially thought. The requirement for mutuality is abandoned by the Language Survey Reference Guide of SIL International, publishers of the Ethnologue and the registration authority for the ISO 639-3 standard for language codes. They define a dialect cluster as a central variety together with all those varieties whose speakers understand the central variety at a specified threshold level or higher. If the threshold level is high, usually between 70% and 85%, the cluster is designated as a language.
Another occasionally used criterion for discriminating dialects from languages is the sociolinguistic notion of linguistic authority. According to this definition, two varieties are considered dialects of the same language if (under at least some circumstances) they would defer to the same authority regarding some questions about their language. For instance, to learn the name of a new invention, or an obscure foreign species of plant, speakers of Westphalian and East Franconian German might each consult a German dictionary or ask a German-speaking expert in the subject. Thus these varieties are said to be dependent on, or heteronomous with respect to, Standard German, which is said to be autonomous.
In contrast, speakers in the Netherlands of Low Saxon varieties similar to Westphalian would instead consult a dictionary of Standard Dutch, and hence is categorized as a dialect of Dutch instead. Similarly, although Yiddish is classified by linguists as a language in the High German group of languages and has some degree of mutual intelligibility with German, a Yiddish speaker would consult a Yiddish dictionary rather than a German dictionary in such a case, and is classified as its own language.
Within this framework, W. A. Stewart defined a language as an autonomous variety in addition to all the varieties that are heteronomous with respect to it, noting that an essentially equivalent definition had been stated by Charles A. Ferguson and John J. Gumperz in 1960. A heteronomous variety may be considered a dialect of a language defined in this way. In these terms, Danish and Norwegian, though mutually intelligible to a large degree, are considered separate languages. In the framework of Heinz Kloss, these are described as languages by ausbau (development) rather than by abstand (separation).
In other situations, a closely related group of varieties possess considerable (though incomplete) mutual intelligibility, but none dominates the others. To describe this situation, the editors of the Handbook of African Languages introduced the term dialect cluster as a classificatory unit at the same level as a language. A similar situation, but with a greater degree of mutual unintelligibility, has been termed a language cluster.
In the Language Survey Reference Guide issued by SIL International, who produce Ethnologue, a dialect cluster is defined as a central variety together with a collection of varieties whose speakers can understand the central variety at a specified threshold level (usually between 70% and 85%) or higher. It is not required that peripheral varieties be understood by speakers of the central variety or of other peripheral varieties. A minimal set of central varieties providing coverage of a dialect continuum may be selected algorithmically from intelligibility data.
In many societies, however, a particular dialect, often the sociolect of the elite class, comes to be identified as the "standard" or "proper" version of a language by those seeking to make a social distinction and is contrasted with other varieties. As a result of this, in some contexts, the term "dialect" refers specifically to varieties with low social status. In this secondary sense of "dialect", language varieties are often called dialects rather than languages:
The status of "language" is not solely determined by linguistic criteria, but it is also the result of a historical and political development. Romansh came to be a written language, and therefore it is recognized as a language, even though it is very close to the Lombardic alpine dialects and classical Latin. An opposite example is Chinese, whose variations such as Mandarin and Cantonese are often called dialects and not languages in China, despite their mutual unintelligibility.
National boundaries sometimes make the distinction between "language" and "dialect" an issue of political importance. A group speaking a separate "language" may be seen as having a greater claim to being a separate "people", and thus to be more deserving of its own independent state, while a group speaking a "dialect" may be seen as a sub-group, part of a bigger people, which must content itself with regional autonomy.
The Yiddish linguist Max Weinreich published the expression, A shprakh iz a dialekt mit an armey un flot ("אַ שפּראַך איז אַ דיאַלעקט מיט אַן אַרמײ און פֿלאָט": "A language is a dialect with an army and navy") in YIVO Bleter 25.1, 1945, p. 13. The significance of the political factors in any attempt at answering the question "what is a language?" is great enough to cast doubt on whether any strictly linguistic definition, without a socio-cultural approach, is possible. This is illustrated by the frequency with which the army-navy aphorism is cited.
By the definition most commonly used by linguists, any linguistic variety can be considered a "dialect" of some language—"everybody speaks a dialect". According to that interpretation, the criteria above merely serve to distinguish whether two varieties are dialects of the same language or dialects of different languages.
The terms "language" and "dialect" are not necessarily mutually exclusive, although they are often perceived to be. Thus there is nothing contradictory in the statement "the language of the Pennsylvania Dutch is a dialect of German".
There are various terms that linguists may use to avoid taking a position on whether the speech of a community is an independent language in its own right or a dialect of another language. Perhaps the most common is "variety"; "lect" is another. A more general term is "languoid", which does not distinguish between dialects, languages, and groups of languages, whether genealogically related or not.
The colloquial meaning of dialect can be understood by example, e.g. in Italy (see dialetto), France (see patois) and the Philippines, carries a pejorative undertone and underlines the politically and socially subordinated status of a non-national language to the country's single official language. In other words, these "dialects" are not actual dialects in the same sense as in the first usage, as they do not derive from the politically dominant language and are therefore not one of its varieties, but instead they evolved in a separate and parallel way and may thus better fit various parties' criteria for a separate language.
Despite this, these "dialects" may often be historically cognate and share genetic roots in the same subfamily as the dominant national language and may even, to a varying degree, share some mutual intelligibility with the latter. In this sense, unlike in the first usage, the national language would not itself be considered a "dialect", as it is the dominant language in a particular state, be it in terms of linguistic prestige, social or political (e.g. official) status, predominance or prevalence, or all of the above. The term "dialect" used this way implies a political connotation, being mostly used to refer to low-prestige languages (regardless of their actual degree of distance from the national language), languages lacking institutional support, or those perceived as "unsuitable for writing". The designation "dialect" is also used popularly to refer to the unwritten or non-codified languages of developing countries or isolated areas, where the term "vernacular language" would be preferred by linguists.
John Lyons writes that "Many linguists [...] subsume differences of accent under differences of dialect." In general, accent refers to variations in pronunciation, while dialect also encompasses specific variations in grammar and vocabulary.
There are three geographical zones in which Arabic is spoken (Jastrow 2002). Zone I is categorized as the area in which Arabic was spoken before the rise of Islam. It is the Arabian Peninsula, excluding the areas where southern Arabian was spoken. Zone II is categorized as the areas to which Arabic speaking peoples moved as a result of the conquests of Islam. Included in Zone II are the Levant, Egypt, North Africa, Iraq, and some parts of Iran. The Egyptian, Sudanese, and Levantine dialects (including the Syrian dialect) are well documented, and widely spoken and studied. Zone III comprises the areas in which Arabic is spoken outside of the continuous Arabic Language area.
Spoken dialects of the Arabic language share the same writing system and share Modern Standard Arabic as their common prestige dialect used in writing.
When talking about the German language, the term German dialects is only used for the traditional regional varieties. That allows them to be distinguished from the regional varieties of modern standard German. The German dialects show a wide spectrum of variation. Some of them are not mutually intelligible. German dialectology traditionally names the major dialect groups after Germanic tribes from which they were assumed to have descended.
The extent to which the dialects are spoken varies according to a number of factors: In Northern Germany, dialects are less common than in the South. In cities, dialects are less common than in the countryside. In a public environment, dialects are less common than in a familiar environment.
The situation in Switzerland and Liechtenstein is different from the rest of the German-speaking countries. The Swiss German dialects are the default everyday language in virtually every situation, whereas standard German is only spoken in education, partially in media, and with foreigners not possessing knowledge of Swiss German. Most Swiss German speakers perceive standard German to be a foreign language.
The Low German and Low Franconian varieties spoken in Germany are often counted among the German dialects. This reflects the modern situation where they are roofed by standard German. This is different from the situation in the Middle Ages when Low German had strong tendencies towards an ausbau language.
The Frisian languages spoken in Germany and the Netherlands are excluded from the German dialects.
Italy is an often quoted example of a country where the second definition of the word "dialect" (dialetto) is most prevalent. Italy is in fact home to a vast array of separate languages, most of which lack mutual intelligibility with one another and have their own local varieties; twelve of them (Albanian, Catalan, German, Greek, Slovene, Croatian, French, Franco-Provençal, Friulian, Ladin, Occitan and Sardinian) underwent Italianization to a varying degree (ranging from the currently endangered state displayed by Sardinian and southern Italian Greek to the vigorous promotion of Germanic Tyrolean), but have been officially recognized as minority languages (minoranze linguistiche storiche), in light of their distinctive historical development. Yet, most of the regional languages spoken across the peninsula are often colloquially referred to in non-linguistic circles as Italian dialetti, since most of them, including the prestigious Neapolitan, Sicilian and Venetian, have adopted vulgar Tuscan as their reference language since the Middle Ages. However, all these languages evolved from Vulgar Latin in parallel with Italian, long prior to the popular diffusion of the latter throughout what is now Italy.
During the Risorgimento, Italian still existed mainly as a literary language, and only 2.5% of Italy's population could speak Italian. Proponents of Italian nationalism, like the Lombard Alessandro Manzoni, stressed the importance of establishing a uniform national language in order to better create an Italian national identity. With the unification of Italy in the 1860s, Italian became the official national language of the new Italian state, while the other ones came to be institutionally regarded as "dialects" subordinate to Italian, and negatively associated with a lack of education.
In the early 20th century, the conscription of Italian men from all throughout Italy during World War I is credited with having facilitated the diffusion of Italian among the less educated conscripted soldiers, as these men, who had been speaking various regional languages up until then, found themselves forced to communicate with each other in a common tongue while serving in the Italian military. With the popular spread of Italian out of the intellectual circles, because of the mass-media and the establishment of public education, Italians from all regions were increasingly exposed to Italian. While dialect levelling has increased the number of Italian speakers and decreased the number of speakers of other languages native to Italy, Italians in different regions have developed variations of standard Italian specific to their region. These variations of standard Italian, known as "regional Italian", would thus more appropriately be called dialects in accordance with the first linguistic definition of the term, as they are in fact derived from Italian, with some degree of influence from the local or regional native languages and accents.
The most widely spoken languages of Italy, which are not to be confused with regional Italian, fall within a family of which even Italian is part, the Italo-Dalmatian group. This wide category includes:
Modern Italian is heavily based on the Florentine dialect of Tuscan. The Tuscan-based language that would eventually become modern Italian had been used in poetry and literature since at least the 12th century, and it first spread outside the Tuscan linguistic borders through the works of the so-called tre corone ("three crowns"): Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, and Giovanni Boccaccio. Florentine thus gradually rose to prominence as the volgare of the literate and upper class in Italy, and it spread throughout the peninsula and Sicily as the lingua franca among the Italian educated class as well as Italian travelling merchants. The economic prowess and cultural and artistic importance of Tuscany in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance further encouraged the diffusion of the Florentine-Tuscan Italian throughout Italy and among the educated and powerful, though local and regional languages remained the main languages of the common people.
Aside from the Italo-Dalmatian languages, the second most widespread family in Italy is the Gallo-Italic group, spanning throughout much of Northern Italy's languages and dialects (such as Piedmontese, Emilian-Romagnol, Ligurian, Lombard, Venetian, Sicily's and Basilicata's Gallo-Italic in southern Italy, etc.).
Finally, other languages from a number of different families follow the last two major groups: the Gallo-Romance languages (French, Occitan and its Vivaro-Alpine dialect, Franco-Provençal); the Rhaeto-Romance languages (Friulian and Ladin); the Ibero-Romance languages (Sardinia's Algherese); the Germanic Cimbrian, Southern Bavarian, Walser German and the Mòcheno language; the Albanian Arbëresh language; the Hellenic Griko language and Calabrian Greek; the Serbo-Croatian Slavomolisano dialect; and the various Slovene languages, including the Gail Valley dialect and Istrian dialect. The language indigenous to Sardinia, while being Romance in nature, is considered to be a specific linguistic family of its own, separate from the other Neo-Latin groups; it is often subdivided into the Centro-Southern and Centro-Northern dialects.
Though mostly mutually unintelligible, the exact degree to which all the Italian languages are mutually unintelligible varies, often correlating with geographical distance or geographical barriers between the languages; some regional Italian languages that are closer in geographical proximity to each other or closer to each other on the dialect continuum are more or less mutually intelligible. For instance, a speaker of purely Eastern Lombard, a language in Northern Italy's Lombardy region that includes the Bergamasque dialect, would have severely limited mutual intelligibility with a purely Italian speaker and would be nearly completely unintelligible to a Sicilian-speaking individual. Due to Eastern Lombard's status as a Gallo-Italic language, an Eastern Lombard speaker may, in fact, have more mutual intelligibility with an Occitan, Catalan, or French speaker than with an Italian or Sicilian speaker. Meanwhile, a Sicilian-speaking person would have a greater degree of mutual intelligibility with a speaker of the more closely related Neapolitan language, but far less mutual intelligibility with a person speaking Sicilian Gallo-Italic, a language that developed in isolated Lombard emigrant communities on the same island as the Sicilian language.
Today, the majority of Italian nationals are able to speak Italian, though many Italians still speak their regional language regularly or as their primary day-to-day language, especially at home with family or when communicating with Italians from the same town or region.
The classification of speech varieties as dialects or languages and their relationship to other varieties of speech can be controversial and the verdicts inconsistent. Serbo-Croatian illustrates this point. Serbo-Croatian has two major formal variants (Serbian and Croatian). Both are based on the Shtokavian dialect and therefore mutually intelligible with differences found mostly in their respective local vocabularies and minor grammatical differences. Certain dialects of Serbia (Torlakian) and Croatia (Kajkavian and Chakavian), however, are not mutually intelligible even though they are usually subsumed under Serbo-Croatian. How these dialects should be classified in relation to Shtokavian remains a matter of dispute.
Macedonian, although largely mutually intelligible with Bulgarian and certain dialects of Serbo-Croatian (Torlakian), is considered by Bulgarian linguists to be a Bulgarian dialect, in contrast with the view in North Macedonia, which regards it as a language in its own right. Before the establishment of a literary standard of Macedonian in 1944, in most sources in and out of Bulgaria before the Second World War, the South Slavic dialect continuum covering the area of today's North Macedonia were referred to as Bulgarian dialects. Sociolinguists agree that the question of whether Macedonian is a dialect of Bulgarian or a language is a political one and cannot be resolved on a purely linguistic basis.
In Lebanon, a part of the Christian population considers "Lebanese" to be in some sense a distinct language from Arabic and not merely a dialect thereof. During the civil war, Christians often used Lebanese Arabic officially, and sporadically used the Latin script to write Lebanese, thus further distinguishing it from Arabic. All Lebanese laws are written in the standard literary form of Arabic, though parliamentary debate may be conducted in Lebanese Arabic.
In Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, the Darijas translated as literally meaning Dialect in Arabic (spoken North African languages) are sometimes considered more different from other Arabic dialects. Officially, North African countries prefer to give preference to the Literary Arabic and conduct much of their political and religious life in it (adherence to Islam), and refrain from declaring each country's specific variety to be a separate language, because Literary Arabic is the liturgical language of Islam and the language of the Islamic sacred book, the Qur'an. Although, especially since the 1960s, the Darijas are occupying an increasing use and influence in the cultural life of these countries. Examples of cultural elements where Darijas' use became dominant include: theatre, film, music, television, advertisement, social media, folk-tale books and companies' names.
The Modern Ukrainian language has been in common use since the late 17th century, associated with the establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate. In the 19th century, the Tsarist Government of the Russian Empire claimed that Ukrainian (or Little Russian, per official name) was merely a dialect of Russian (or Polonized dialect) and not a language on its own (same concept as for Belarusian language). That concepted was enrooted soon after the partitions of Poland. According to these claims, the differences were few and caused by the conquest of western Ukraine by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, in reality the dialects in Ukraine were developing independently from the dialects in the modern Russia for several centuries, and as a result they differed substantially.
Following the Spring of Nations in Europe and efforts of the Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius, across the so called "Southwestern Krai" of Russian Empire started to spread cultural societies of Hromada and their Sunday schools. Themselves "hromadas" acted in same manner as Orthodox fraternities of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth back in 15th century. Around that time in Ukraine becoming popular political movements Narodnichestvo (Narodniks) and Khlopomanstvo.
There have been cases of a variety of speech being deliberately reclassified to serve political purposes. One example is Moldovan. In 1996, the Moldovan parliament, citing fears of "Romanian expansionism", rejected a proposal from President Mircea Snegur to change the name of the language to Romanian, and in 2003 a Moldovan–Romanian dictionary was published, purporting to show that the two countries speak different languages. Linguists of the Romanian Academy reacted by declaring that all the Moldovan words were also Romanian words; while in Moldova, the head of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, Ion Bărbuţă, described the dictionary as a politically motivated "absurdity".
Unlike languages that use alphabets to indicate their pronunciation, Chinese characters have developed from logograms that do not always give hints to their pronunciation. Although the written characters have remained relatively consistent for the last two thousand years, the pronunciation and grammar in different regions have developed to an extent that the varieties of the spoken language are often mutually unintelligible. As a series of migration to the south throughout the history, the regional languages of the south, including Gan, Xiang, Wu, Min, Yue and Hakka often show traces of Old Chinese or Middle Chinese. From the Ming dynasty onward, Beijing has been the capital of China and the dialect spoken in Beijing has had the most prestige among other varieties. With the founding of the Republic of China, Standard Mandarin was designated as the official language, based on the spoken language of Beijing. Since then, other spoken varieties are regarded as fangyan (regional speech). Cantonese is still the most commonly-used language in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau and among some overseas Chinese communities, whereas Hokkien has been accepted in Taiwan as an important local language alongside Mandarin.
Interlingua was developed so that the languages of Western civilization would act as its dialects. Drawing from such concepts as the international scientific vocabulary and Standard Average European, researchers at the International Auxiliary Language Association extracted words and affixes to be part of Interlingua's vocabulary. In theory, speakers of the Western languages would understand written or spoken Interlingua immediately, without prior study, since their own languages were its dialects. Interlingua could be used to assist in the learning of other languages. The vocabulary of Interlingua extends beyond the Western language families. | [
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"text": "Dialect (from Latin dialectus, dialectos, from the Ancient Greek word διάλεκτος, diálektos 'discourse', from διά, diá 'through' and λέγω, légō 'I speak') refers to two distinctly different types of linguistic relationships.",
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"text": "The more common usage of the term refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The dialects or varieties of a particular language are closely related and, despite their differences, are most often largely mutually intelligible, especially if geographically close to one another in a dialect continuum. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class or ethnicity. A dialect that is associated with a particular social class can be termed a sociolect, a dialect that is associated with a particular ethnic group can be termed an ethnolect, and a geographical/regional dialect may be termed a regiolect (alternative terms include 'regionalect', 'geolect', and 'topolect'). Any variety of a given language can be classified as a \"dialect\", including any standardized varieties.",
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{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The other usage, which is specific to colloquial settings in a few countries like Italy, such as dialetto, patois in France, much of East Central Europe, and the Philippines, carries a pejorative undertone and underlines the politically and socially subordinated status of a non-national language to the country's single official language. In this case, these \"dialects\" are not actual dialects in the same sense as in the first usage, as they do not derive from one dominant language and are therefore not one of its varieties since they evolved in a separate and parallel way. While they may be historically cognate with and share genetic roots in the same subfamily as the dominant national language and may even, to a varying degree, share some mutual intelligibility with the latter, \"dialects\" under this second definition may be better defined as separate languages from the standard or national language. Under this definition, the standard or national language would not itself be considered a dialect, as it is the dominant language in terms of linguistic prestige, social or political (e.g. official) status, predominance or prevalence, or all of the above. Dialect used this way implies a political connotation, being mostly used to refer to \"low-prestige\" languages (regardless of their actual degree of distance from the national language), languages lacking institutional support, or those perceived as \"unsuitable for writing\". The designation dialect is also used popularly to refer to the unwritten or non-codified languages of developing countries or isolated areas, where the term \"vernacular language\" would be preferred by linguists.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Features that distinguish dialects from each other can be found in lexicon (vocabulary) and grammar, as well as in pronunciation (phonology, including prosody). In instances where the salient distinctions are only or mostly to be observed in pronunciation, the more specific term accent may be used instead of dialect. Differences that are largely concentrated in lexicon may be classified as creoles. When lexical differences are mostly concentrated in the specialized vocabulary of a profession or other organization, they are jargons. Differences in vocabulary that are deliberately cultivated to exclude outsiders or to serve as shibboleths are known as cryptolects or cant, and include slangs and argots. The particular speech patterns used by an individual are referred to as that person's idiolect.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Languages are classified as dialects based on linguistic distance. The dialects of a language with a writing system will operate at different degrees of distance from the standardized written form. Some dialects of a language are not mutually intelligible in spoken form, leading to debate as to whether they are regiolects or separate languages.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "A standard dialect also known as a \"standardized language\" is supported by institutions. Such institutional support may include any or all of the following: government recognition or designation; formal presentation in schooling as the \"correct\" form of a language; informal monitoring of everyday usage; published grammars, dictionaries, and textbooks that set forth a normative spoken and written form; and an extensive formal literature (be it prose, poetry, non-fiction, etc.) that uses it. An example of a standardized language is the French language which is supported by the Académie Française institution. A nonstandard dialect also has a complete grammar and vocabulary, but is usually not the beneficiary of institutional support.",
"title": "Standard and nonstandard dialects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The distinction between the \"standard\" dialect and the \"nonstandard\" (vernacular) dialects of the same language is often arbitrary and based on social, political, cultural, or historical considerations or prevalence and prominence. In a similar way, the definitions of the terms \"language\" and \"dialect\" may overlap and are often subject to debate, with the differentiation between the two classifications often grounded in arbitrary or sociopolitical motives, and the term \"dialect\" is sometimes restricted to mean \"non-standard variety\", particularly in non-specialist settings and non-English linguistic traditions.",
"title": "Standard and nonstandard dialects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class or ethnicity. A dialect that is associated with a particular social class can be termed a sociolect. A dialect that is associated with a particular ethnic group can be termed an ethnolect.",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "A geographical/regional dialect may be termed a regiolect (alternative terms include 'regionalect', 'geolect', and 'topolect'). According to this definition, any variety of a given language can be classified as \"a dialect\", including any standardized varieties. In this case, the distinction between the \"standard language\" (i.e. the \"standard\" dialect of a particular language) and the \"nonstandard\" (vernacular) dialects of the same language is often arbitrary and based on social, political, cultural, or historical considerations or prevalence and prominence. In a similar way, the definitions of the terms \"language\" and \"dialect\" may overlap and are often subject to debate, with the differentiation between the two classifications often grounded in arbitrary or sociopolitical motives. The term \"dialect\" is however sometimes restricted to mean \"non-standard variety\", particularly in non-specialist settings and non-English linguistic traditions. Conversely, some dialectologists have reserved the term \"dialect\" for forms that they believed (sometimes wrongly) to be purer forms of the older languages, as in how early dialectologists of English did not consider the Brummie of Birmingham or the Scouse of Liverpool to be real dialects, as they had arisen fairly recently in time and partly as a result of influences from Irish migrants.",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "There is no universally accepted criterion for distinguishing two different languages from two dialects (i.e. varieties) of the same language. A number of rough measures exist, sometimes leading to contradictory results. The distinction between dialect and language is therefore subjective (arbitrary) and depends upon the user's preferred frame of reference. For example, there has been discussion about whether or not the Limón Creole English should be considered \"a kind\" of English or a different language. This creole is spoken in the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica (Central America) by descendants of Jamaican people. The position that Costa Rican linguists support depends upon which university they represent. Another example is Scanian, which even, for a time, had its own ISO code.",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "An important criterion for categorizing varieties of language is linguistic distance. For a variety to be considered a dialect, the linguistic distance between the two varieties must be low. Linguistic distance between spoken or written forms of language increases as the differences between the forms are characterized. For example, two languages with completely different syntactical structures would have a high linguistic distance, while a language with very few differences from another may be considered a dialect or a sibling of that language. Linguistic distance may be used to determine language families and language siblings. For example, languages with little linguistic distance, like Dutch and German, are considered siblings. Dutch and German are siblings in the West-Germanic language group. Some language siblings are closer to each other in terms of linguistic distance than to other linguistic siblings. French and Spanish, siblings in the Romance Branch of the Indo-European group, are closer to each other than they are to any of the languages of the West-Germanic group. When languages are close in terms of linguistic distance, they resemble one another, hence why dialects are not considered linguistically distant to their parent language.",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "One criterion, which is often considered to be purely linguistic, is that of mutual intelligibility: two varieties are said to be dialects of the same language if being a speaker of one variety has sufficient knowledge to understand and be understood by a speaker of the other dialect; otherwise, they are said to be different languages. However, this definition has often been criticized, especially in the case of a dialect continuum (or dialect chain), which contains a sequence of varieties, where each mutually intelligible with the next, but may not be mutually intelligible with distant varieties.",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Others have argued that mutual intelligibility occurs in varying degrees, and the potential difficulty in distinguishing between intelligibility and prior familiarity with the other variety. However, recent research suggests that there is some empirical evidence in favor of using some form of the intelligibility criterion to distinguish between languages and dialects, though mutuality may not be as relevant as initially thought. The requirement for mutuality is abandoned by the Language Survey Reference Guide of SIL International, publishers of the Ethnologue and the registration authority for the ISO 639-3 standard for language codes. They define a dialect cluster as a central variety together with all those varieties whose speakers understand the central variety at a specified threshold level or higher. If the threshold level is high, usually between 70% and 85%, the cluster is designated as a language.",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Another occasionally used criterion for discriminating dialects from languages is the sociolinguistic notion of linguistic authority. According to this definition, two varieties are considered dialects of the same language if (under at least some circumstances) they would defer to the same authority regarding some questions about their language. For instance, to learn the name of a new invention, or an obscure foreign species of plant, speakers of Westphalian and East Franconian German might each consult a German dictionary or ask a German-speaking expert in the subject. Thus these varieties are said to be dependent on, or heteronomous with respect to, Standard German, which is said to be autonomous.",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In contrast, speakers in the Netherlands of Low Saxon varieties similar to Westphalian would instead consult a dictionary of Standard Dutch, and hence is categorized as a dialect of Dutch instead. Similarly, although Yiddish is classified by linguists as a language in the High German group of languages and has some degree of mutual intelligibility with German, a Yiddish speaker would consult a Yiddish dictionary rather than a German dictionary in such a case, and is classified as its own language.",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Within this framework, W. A. Stewart defined a language as an autonomous variety in addition to all the varieties that are heteronomous with respect to it, noting that an essentially equivalent definition had been stated by Charles A. Ferguson and John J. Gumperz in 1960. A heteronomous variety may be considered a dialect of a language defined in this way. In these terms, Danish and Norwegian, though mutually intelligible to a large degree, are considered separate languages. In the framework of Heinz Kloss, these are described as languages by ausbau (development) rather than by abstand (separation).",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In other situations, a closely related group of varieties possess considerable (though incomplete) mutual intelligibility, but none dominates the others. To describe this situation, the editors of the Handbook of African Languages introduced the term dialect cluster as a classificatory unit at the same level as a language. A similar situation, but with a greater degree of mutual unintelligibility, has been termed a language cluster.",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In the Language Survey Reference Guide issued by SIL International, who produce Ethnologue, a dialect cluster is defined as a central variety together with a collection of varieties whose speakers can understand the central variety at a specified threshold level (usually between 70% and 85%) or higher. It is not required that peripheral varieties be understood by speakers of the central variety or of other peripheral varieties. A minimal set of central varieties providing coverage of a dialect continuum may be selected algorithmically from intelligibility data.",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "In many societies, however, a particular dialect, often the sociolect of the elite class, comes to be identified as the \"standard\" or \"proper\" version of a language by those seeking to make a social distinction and is contrasted with other varieties. As a result of this, in some contexts, the term \"dialect\" refers specifically to varieties with low social status. In this secondary sense of \"dialect\", language varieties are often called dialects rather than languages:",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The status of \"language\" is not solely determined by linguistic criteria, but it is also the result of a historical and political development. Romansh came to be a written language, and therefore it is recognized as a language, even though it is very close to the Lombardic alpine dialects and classical Latin. An opposite example is Chinese, whose variations such as Mandarin and Cantonese are often called dialects and not languages in China, despite their mutual unintelligibility.",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "National boundaries sometimes make the distinction between \"language\" and \"dialect\" an issue of political importance. A group speaking a separate \"language\" may be seen as having a greater claim to being a separate \"people\", and thus to be more deserving of its own independent state, while a group speaking a \"dialect\" may be seen as a sub-group, part of a bigger people, which must content itself with regional autonomy.",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The Yiddish linguist Max Weinreich published the expression, A shprakh iz a dialekt mit an armey un flot (\"אַ שפּראַך איז אַ דיאַלעקט מיט אַן אַרמײ און פֿלאָט\": \"A language is a dialect with an army and navy\") in YIVO Bleter 25.1, 1945, p. 13. The significance of the political factors in any attempt at answering the question \"what is a language?\" is great enough to cast doubt on whether any strictly linguistic definition, without a socio-cultural approach, is possible. This is illustrated by the frequency with which the army-navy aphorism is cited.",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "By the definition most commonly used by linguists, any linguistic variety can be considered a \"dialect\" of some language—\"everybody speaks a dialect\". According to that interpretation, the criteria above merely serve to distinguish whether two varieties are dialects of the same language or dialects of different languages.",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The terms \"language\" and \"dialect\" are not necessarily mutually exclusive, although they are often perceived to be. Thus there is nothing contradictory in the statement \"the language of the Pennsylvania Dutch is a dialect of German\".",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "There are various terms that linguists may use to avoid taking a position on whether the speech of a community is an independent language in its own right or a dialect of another language. Perhaps the most common is \"variety\"; \"lect\" is another. A more general term is \"languoid\", which does not distinguish between dialects, languages, and groups of languages, whether genealogically related or not.",
"title": "Dialect as linguistic variety of a language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The colloquial meaning of dialect can be understood by example, e.g. in Italy (see dialetto), France (see patois) and the Philippines, carries a pejorative undertone and underlines the politically and socially subordinated status of a non-national language to the country's single official language. In other words, these \"dialects\" are not actual dialects in the same sense as in the first usage, as they do not derive from the politically dominant language and are therefore not one of its varieties, but instead they evolved in a separate and parallel way and may thus better fit various parties' criteria for a separate language.",
"title": "Colloquial meaning of dialect"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Despite this, these \"dialects\" may often be historically cognate and share genetic roots in the same subfamily as the dominant national language and may even, to a varying degree, share some mutual intelligibility with the latter. In this sense, unlike in the first usage, the national language would not itself be considered a \"dialect\", as it is the dominant language in a particular state, be it in terms of linguistic prestige, social or political (e.g. official) status, predominance or prevalence, or all of the above. The term \"dialect\" used this way implies a political connotation, being mostly used to refer to low-prestige languages (regardless of their actual degree of distance from the national language), languages lacking institutional support, or those perceived as \"unsuitable for writing\". The designation \"dialect\" is also used popularly to refer to the unwritten or non-codified languages of developing countries or isolated areas, where the term \"vernacular language\" would be preferred by linguists.",
"title": "Colloquial meaning of dialect"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "John Lyons writes that \"Many linguists [...] subsume differences of accent under differences of dialect.\" In general, accent refers to variations in pronunciation, while dialect also encompasses specific variations in grammar and vocabulary.",
"title": "Dialect and accent"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "There are three geographical zones in which Arabic is spoken (Jastrow 2002). Zone I is categorized as the area in which Arabic was spoken before the rise of Islam. It is the Arabian Peninsula, excluding the areas where southern Arabian was spoken. Zone II is categorized as the areas to which Arabic speaking peoples moved as a result of the conquests of Islam. Included in Zone II are the Levant, Egypt, North Africa, Iraq, and some parts of Iran. The Egyptian, Sudanese, and Levantine dialects (including the Syrian dialect) are well documented, and widely spoken and studied. Zone III comprises the areas in which Arabic is spoken outside of the continuous Arabic Language area.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Spoken dialects of the Arabic language share the same writing system and share Modern Standard Arabic as their common prestige dialect used in writing.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "When talking about the German language, the term German dialects is only used for the traditional regional varieties. That allows them to be distinguished from the regional varieties of modern standard German. The German dialects show a wide spectrum of variation. Some of them are not mutually intelligible. German dialectology traditionally names the major dialect groups after Germanic tribes from which they were assumed to have descended.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The extent to which the dialects are spoken varies according to a number of factors: In Northern Germany, dialects are less common than in the South. In cities, dialects are less common than in the countryside. In a public environment, dialects are less common than in a familiar environment.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "The situation in Switzerland and Liechtenstein is different from the rest of the German-speaking countries. The Swiss German dialects are the default everyday language in virtually every situation, whereas standard German is only spoken in education, partially in media, and with foreigners not possessing knowledge of Swiss German. Most Swiss German speakers perceive standard German to be a foreign language.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "The Low German and Low Franconian varieties spoken in Germany are often counted among the German dialects. This reflects the modern situation where they are roofed by standard German. This is different from the situation in the Middle Ages when Low German had strong tendencies towards an ausbau language.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "The Frisian languages spoken in Germany and the Netherlands are excluded from the German dialects.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Italy is an often quoted example of a country where the second definition of the word \"dialect\" (dialetto) is most prevalent. Italy is in fact home to a vast array of separate languages, most of which lack mutual intelligibility with one another and have their own local varieties; twelve of them (Albanian, Catalan, German, Greek, Slovene, Croatian, French, Franco-Provençal, Friulian, Ladin, Occitan and Sardinian) underwent Italianization to a varying degree (ranging from the currently endangered state displayed by Sardinian and southern Italian Greek to the vigorous promotion of Germanic Tyrolean), but have been officially recognized as minority languages (minoranze linguistiche storiche), in light of their distinctive historical development. Yet, most of the regional languages spoken across the peninsula are often colloquially referred to in non-linguistic circles as Italian dialetti, since most of them, including the prestigious Neapolitan, Sicilian and Venetian, have adopted vulgar Tuscan as their reference language since the Middle Ages. However, all these languages evolved from Vulgar Latin in parallel with Italian, long prior to the popular diffusion of the latter throughout what is now Italy.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "During the Risorgimento, Italian still existed mainly as a literary language, and only 2.5% of Italy's population could speak Italian. Proponents of Italian nationalism, like the Lombard Alessandro Manzoni, stressed the importance of establishing a uniform national language in order to better create an Italian national identity. With the unification of Italy in the 1860s, Italian became the official national language of the new Italian state, while the other ones came to be institutionally regarded as \"dialects\" subordinate to Italian, and negatively associated with a lack of education.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "In the early 20th century, the conscription of Italian men from all throughout Italy during World War I is credited with having facilitated the diffusion of Italian among the less educated conscripted soldiers, as these men, who had been speaking various regional languages up until then, found themselves forced to communicate with each other in a common tongue while serving in the Italian military. With the popular spread of Italian out of the intellectual circles, because of the mass-media and the establishment of public education, Italians from all regions were increasingly exposed to Italian. While dialect levelling has increased the number of Italian speakers and decreased the number of speakers of other languages native to Italy, Italians in different regions have developed variations of standard Italian specific to their region. These variations of standard Italian, known as \"regional Italian\", would thus more appropriately be called dialects in accordance with the first linguistic definition of the term, as they are in fact derived from Italian, with some degree of influence from the local or regional native languages and accents.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "The most widely spoken languages of Italy, which are not to be confused with regional Italian, fall within a family of which even Italian is part, the Italo-Dalmatian group. This wide category includes:",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Modern Italian is heavily based on the Florentine dialect of Tuscan. The Tuscan-based language that would eventually become modern Italian had been used in poetry and literature since at least the 12th century, and it first spread outside the Tuscan linguistic borders through the works of the so-called tre corone (\"three crowns\"): Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, and Giovanni Boccaccio. Florentine thus gradually rose to prominence as the volgare of the literate and upper class in Italy, and it spread throughout the peninsula and Sicily as the lingua franca among the Italian educated class as well as Italian travelling merchants. The economic prowess and cultural and artistic importance of Tuscany in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance further encouraged the diffusion of the Florentine-Tuscan Italian throughout Italy and among the educated and powerful, though local and regional languages remained the main languages of the common people.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Aside from the Italo-Dalmatian languages, the second most widespread family in Italy is the Gallo-Italic group, spanning throughout much of Northern Italy's languages and dialects (such as Piedmontese, Emilian-Romagnol, Ligurian, Lombard, Venetian, Sicily's and Basilicata's Gallo-Italic in southern Italy, etc.).",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Finally, other languages from a number of different families follow the last two major groups: the Gallo-Romance languages (French, Occitan and its Vivaro-Alpine dialect, Franco-Provençal); the Rhaeto-Romance languages (Friulian and Ladin); the Ibero-Romance languages (Sardinia's Algherese); the Germanic Cimbrian, Southern Bavarian, Walser German and the Mòcheno language; the Albanian Arbëresh language; the Hellenic Griko language and Calabrian Greek; the Serbo-Croatian Slavomolisano dialect; and the various Slovene languages, including the Gail Valley dialect and Istrian dialect. The language indigenous to Sardinia, while being Romance in nature, is considered to be a specific linguistic family of its own, separate from the other Neo-Latin groups; it is often subdivided into the Centro-Southern and Centro-Northern dialects.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Though mostly mutually unintelligible, the exact degree to which all the Italian languages are mutually unintelligible varies, often correlating with geographical distance or geographical barriers between the languages; some regional Italian languages that are closer in geographical proximity to each other or closer to each other on the dialect continuum are more or less mutually intelligible. For instance, a speaker of purely Eastern Lombard, a language in Northern Italy's Lombardy region that includes the Bergamasque dialect, would have severely limited mutual intelligibility with a purely Italian speaker and would be nearly completely unintelligible to a Sicilian-speaking individual. Due to Eastern Lombard's status as a Gallo-Italic language, an Eastern Lombard speaker may, in fact, have more mutual intelligibility with an Occitan, Catalan, or French speaker than with an Italian or Sicilian speaker. Meanwhile, a Sicilian-speaking person would have a greater degree of mutual intelligibility with a speaker of the more closely related Neapolitan language, but far less mutual intelligibility with a person speaking Sicilian Gallo-Italic, a language that developed in isolated Lombard emigrant communities on the same island as the Sicilian language.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Today, the majority of Italian nationals are able to speak Italian, though many Italians still speak their regional language regularly or as their primary day-to-day language, especially at home with family or when communicating with Italians from the same town or region.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "The classification of speech varieties as dialects or languages and their relationship to other varieties of speech can be controversial and the verdicts inconsistent. Serbo-Croatian illustrates this point. Serbo-Croatian has two major formal variants (Serbian and Croatian). Both are based on the Shtokavian dialect and therefore mutually intelligible with differences found mostly in their respective local vocabularies and minor grammatical differences. Certain dialects of Serbia (Torlakian) and Croatia (Kajkavian and Chakavian), however, are not mutually intelligible even though they are usually subsumed under Serbo-Croatian. How these dialects should be classified in relation to Shtokavian remains a matter of dispute.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Macedonian, although largely mutually intelligible with Bulgarian and certain dialects of Serbo-Croatian (Torlakian), is considered by Bulgarian linguists to be a Bulgarian dialect, in contrast with the view in North Macedonia, which regards it as a language in its own right. Before the establishment of a literary standard of Macedonian in 1944, in most sources in and out of Bulgaria before the Second World War, the South Slavic dialect continuum covering the area of today's North Macedonia were referred to as Bulgarian dialects. Sociolinguists agree that the question of whether Macedonian is a dialect of Bulgarian or a language is a political one and cannot be resolved on a purely linguistic basis.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "In Lebanon, a part of the Christian population considers \"Lebanese\" to be in some sense a distinct language from Arabic and not merely a dialect thereof. During the civil war, Christians often used Lebanese Arabic officially, and sporadically used the Latin script to write Lebanese, thus further distinguishing it from Arabic. All Lebanese laws are written in the standard literary form of Arabic, though parliamentary debate may be conducted in Lebanese Arabic.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "In Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, the Darijas translated as literally meaning Dialect in Arabic (spoken North African languages) are sometimes considered more different from other Arabic dialects. Officially, North African countries prefer to give preference to the Literary Arabic and conduct much of their political and religious life in it (adherence to Islam), and refrain from declaring each country's specific variety to be a separate language, because Literary Arabic is the liturgical language of Islam and the language of the Islamic sacred book, the Qur'an. Although, especially since the 1960s, the Darijas are occupying an increasing use and influence in the cultural life of these countries. Examples of cultural elements where Darijas' use became dominant include: theatre, film, music, television, advertisement, social media, folk-tale books and companies' names.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "The Modern Ukrainian language has been in common use since the late 17th century, associated with the establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate. In the 19th century, the Tsarist Government of the Russian Empire claimed that Ukrainian (or Little Russian, per official name) was merely a dialect of Russian (or Polonized dialect) and not a language on its own (same concept as for Belarusian language). That concepted was enrooted soon after the partitions of Poland. According to these claims, the differences were few and caused by the conquest of western Ukraine by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, in reality the dialects in Ukraine were developing independently from the dialects in the modern Russia for several centuries, and as a result they differed substantially.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Following the Spring of Nations in Europe and efforts of the Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius, across the so called \"Southwestern Krai\" of Russian Empire started to spread cultural societies of Hromada and their Sunday schools. Themselves \"hromadas\" acted in same manner as Orthodox fraternities of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth back in 15th century. Around that time in Ukraine becoming popular political movements Narodnichestvo (Narodniks) and Khlopomanstvo.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "There have been cases of a variety of speech being deliberately reclassified to serve political purposes. One example is Moldovan. In 1996, the Moldovan parliament, citing fears of \"Romanian expansionism\", rejected a proposal from President Mircea Snegur to change the name of the language to Romanian, and in 2003 a Moldovan–Romanian dictionary was published, purporting to show that the two countries speak different languages. Linguists of the Romanian Academy reacted by declaring that all the Moldovan words were also Romanian words; while in Moldova, the head of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, Ion Bărbuţă, described the dictionary as a politically motivated \"absurdity\".",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Unlike languages that use alphabets to indicate their pronunciation, Chinese characters have developed from logograms that do not always give hints to their pronunciation. Although the written characters have remained relatively consistent for the last two thousand years, the pronunciation and grammar in different regions have developed to an extent that the varieties of the spoken language are often mutually unintelligible. As a series of migration to the south throughout the history, the regional languages of the south, including Gan, Xiang, Wu, Min, Yue and Hakka often show traces of Old Chinese or Middle Chinese. From the Ming dynasty onward, Beijing has been the capital of China and the dialect spoken in Beijing has had the most prestige among other varieties. With the founding of the Republic of China, Standard Mandarin was designated as the official language, based on the spoken language of Beijing. Since then, other spoken varieties are regarded as fangyan (regional speech). Cantonese is still the most commonly-used language in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau and among some overseas Chinese communities, whereas Hokkien has been accepted in Taiwan as an important local language alongside Mandarin.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Interlingua was developed so that the languages of Western civilization would act as its dialects. Drawing from such concepts as the international scientific vocabulary and Standard Average European, researchers at the International Auxiliary Language Association extracted words and affixes to be part of Interlingua's vocabulary. In theory, speakers of the Western languages would understand written or spoken Interlingua immediately, without prior study, since their own languages were its dialects. Interlingua could be used to assist in the learning of other languages. The vocabulary of Interlingua extends beyond the Western language families.",
"title": "Interlingua"
}
] | Dialect refers to two distinctly different types of linguistic relationships. The more common usage of the term refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The dialects or varieties of a particular language are closely related and, despite their differences, are most often largely mutually intelligible, especially if geographically close to one another in a dialect continuum. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class or ethnicity. A dialect that is associated with a particular social class can be termed a sociolect, a dialect that is associated with a particular ethnic group can be termed an ethnolect, and a geographical/regional dialect may be termed a regiolect. Any variety of a given language can be classified as a "dialect", including any standardized varieties. The other usage, which is specific to colloquial settings in a few countries like Italy, such as dialetto, patois in France, much of East Central Europe, and the Philippines, carries a pejorative undertone and underlines the politically and socially subordinated status of a non-national language to the country's single official language. In this case, these "dialects" are not actual dialects in the same sense as in the first usage, as they do not derive from one dominant language and are therefore not one of its varieties since they evolved in a separate and parallel way. While they may be historically cognate with and share genetic roots in the same subfamily as the dominant national language and may even, to a varying degree, share some mutual intelligibility with the latter, "dialects" under this second definition may be better defined as separate languages from the standard or national language. Under this definition, the standard or national language would not itself be considered a dialect, as it is the dominant language in terms of linguistic prestige, social or political status, predominance or prevalence, or all of the above. Dialect used this way implies a political connotation, being mostly used to refer to "low-prestige" languages, languages lacking institutional support, or those perceived as "unsuitable for writing". The designation dialect is also used popularly to refer to the unwritten or non-codified languages of developing countries or isolated areas, where the term "vernacular language" would be preferred by linguists. Features that distinguish dialects from each other can be found in lexicon (vocabulary) and grammar, as well as in pronunciation. In instances where the salient distinctions are only or mostly to be observed in pronunciation, the more specific term accent may be used instead of dialect. Differences that are largely concentrated in lexicon may be classified as creoles. When lexical differences are mostly concentrated in the specialized vocabulary of a profession or other organization, they are jargons. Differences in vocabulary that are deliberately cultivated to exclude outsiders or to serve as shibboleths are known as cryptolects or cant, and include slangs and argots. The particular speech patterns used by an individual are referred to as that person's idiolect. Languages are classified as dialects based on linguistic distance. The dialects of a language with a writing system will operate at different degrees of distance from the standardized written form. Some dialects of a language are not mutually intelligible in spoken form, leading to debate as to whether they are regiolects or separate languages. | 2001-05-22T22:12:57Z | 2023-10-29T13:18:53Z | [
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8,129 | Digitalis | Digitalis (/ˌdɪdʒɪˈteɪlɪs/ or /ˌdɪdʒɪˈtælɪs/) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves.
Digitalis is native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in shape, produced on a tall spike, and vary in colour with species, from purple to pink, white, and yellow. The scientific name means "finger". The genus was traditionally placed in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, but phylogenetic research led taxonomists to move it to the Veronicaceae in 2001. More recent phylogenetic work has placed it in the much enlarged family Plantaginaceae.
The best-known species is the common foxglove, Digitalis purpurea. This biennial is often grown as an ornamental plant due to its vivid flowers, which range in colour from various purple tints through pink and purely white. The flowers can also possess various marks and spottings. Other garden-worthy species include D. ferruginea, D. grandiflora, D. lutea, and D. parviflora.
The term digitalis is also used for drug preparations that contain cardiac glycosides, particularly one called digoxin, extracted from various plants of this genus. Foxglove has medicinal uses but is also very toxic to humans and other animals, and consumption can even lead to death.
The generic epithet Digitalis is from the Latin digitus (finger). Leonhart Fuchs first invented the name for this plant in his 1542 book De historia stirpium commentarii insignes (Notable comments on the history of plants), based upon the German vernacular name Fingerhut, which translates literally as 'finger hat', but actually means 'thimble'.
The name is recorded in Old English as 'foxes glofe/glofa' or 'fox's glove'. Over time, folk myths obscured the literal origins of the name, insinuating that foxes wore the flowers on their paws to silence their movements as they stealthily hunted their prey. The woody hillsides where the foxes made their dens were often covered with the toxic flowers. Some of the more menacing names, such as "witch's glove", reference the toxicity of the plant.
Henry Fox Talbot (1847) proposed 'folks' glove', where 'folk' means fairy. Similarly, R. C. A. Prior (1863) suggested an etymology of 'foxes-glew', meaning 'fairy music'. However, neither of these suggestions account for the Old English form foxes glofa.
The Flora Europaea originally recognised a number of species now seen as synonyms of Digitalis purpurea, or others: D. dubia, D. leucophaea, D. micrantha and D. trojana. As of 2017, Plants of the World Online recognises the following 27 species (and a number of hybrids):
The first full monograph regarding this genus was written by Lindley in 1821. He included two sections, a section Isoplexis including two species, and the main section Digitalis with three subsections, including 2Y species, a number of which are now seen as synonyms or hybrids.
In the last full monograph of the genus in 1965, Werner classified the 19 recognised species in five sections (four species from Macaronesia were separated in the genus Isoplexis at the time):
In their 2000 book about Digitalis, Luckner and Wichtl continued to uphold Werner's classification of the 19 species, but molecular studies into the phylogeny of the genus published in 2004 found that although four of Werner's sections were supported by the genetics, the section Tubiflorae was polyphyletic, and that the species D. lutea and D. viridiflora should be placed in the section Grandiflorae. This study, as well as a number of other studies published around that time, reunited the genus Isoplexis with Digitalis, increasing the number of species to 23.
Peter Hadland Davis, an expert on the flora of Turkey, had used a different circumscription than Werner in his works, and recognised eight species in the country. A 2016 molecular phylogenetic study into the relationships of the Turkish species in the section Globiflorae aimed to reconcile this discrepancy, finding that the classification as proposed by Davis was largely correct: Globiflorae contained as distinct species D. cariensis, D. ferruginea, D. lamarckii, D. lanata and D. nervosa, and D. trojana was subsumed at the infraspecific rank as D. lanata subsp. trojana. This study listed 23 species: D. transiens, D. cedretorum, D. ikarica and D. fuscescens were not mentioned. D. parviflora and D. subalpina were not tested in this study, but the 2004 study found these two species situated within the section Globiflorae.
Larvae of the foxglove pug, a moth, consume the flowers of the common foxglove for food. Other species of Lepidoptera eat the leaves, including the lesser yellow underwing.
Nicholas Culpeper included Foxglove in his 1652 herbal medicine guide, The English Physician. He cited its use for healing wounds (both fresh and old), as a purgative, for "the King's Evil" ( mycobacterial cervical lymphadenitis), for "the falling sickness" (epilepsy), and for "a scabby head". There is no empirical evidence for these claims, and it is not used for these conditions in modern medicine, only for slowing excessive heart rate in certain circumstances and/or strengthening heart muscle contraction in heart failure.
Digitalis is an example of a drug derived from a plant that was formerly used by herbalists; herbalists have largely abandoned its use because of its narrow therapeutic index and the difficulty of determining the amount of active drug in herbal preparations. Once the usefulness of digitalis in regulating the human pulse was understood, it was employed for a variety of purposes, including the treatment of epilepsy and other seizure disorders, which are now considered to be inappropriate treatments.
A group of medicines extracted from foxglove plants are called digitalin. The use of D. purpurea extract containing cardiac glycosides for the treatment of heart conditions was first described in the English-speaking medical literature by William Withering, in 1785, which is considered the beginning of modern therapeutics. In contemporary medicine, digitalis (usually digoxin) is obtained from D. lanata. It is used to increase cardiac contractility (it is a positive inotrope) and as an antiarrhythmic agent to control the heart rate, particularly in the irregular (and often fast) atrial fibrillation. Digitalis is hence often prescribed for patients in atrial fibrillation, especially if they have been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Digoxin was approved for heart failure in 1998 under current regulations by the Food and Drug Administration on the basis of prospective, randomized study and clinical trials. It was also approved for the control of ventricular response rate for patients with atrial fibrillation. American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines recommend digoxin for symptomatic chronic heart failure for patients with reduced systolic function, preservation of systolic function, and/or rate control for atrial fibrillation with a rapid ventricular response. Heart Failure Society of America guidelines for heart failure provide similar recommendations. Despite its relatively recent approval by the Food and Drug Administration and the guideline recommendations, the therapeutic use of digoxin is declining in patients with heart failure—likely the result of several factors. The main factor is the more recent introduction of several drugs shown in randomised controlled studies to improve outcomes in heart failure. Safety concerns regarding a proposed link between digoxin therapy and increased mortality seen in observational studies may have contributed to the decline in therapeutic use of digoxin, however a systematic review of 75 studies including four million patient years of patient follow-up showed that in properly designed randomised controlled studies, mortality was no higher in patients given digoxin than in those given placebo.
A group of pharmacologically active compounds are extracted mostly from the leaves of the second year's growth, and in pure form are referred to by common chemical names, such as digitoxin or digoxin, or by brand names such as Crystodigin and Lanoxin, respectively. The two drugs differ in that digoxin has an additional hydroxyl group at the C-3 position on the B-ring (adjacent to the pentane). This results in digoxin having a half-life of about one day (and increasing with impaired kidney function), whereas digitoxin's is about 7 days and not affected by kidney function. Both molecules include a lactone and a triple-repeating sugar called a glycoside.
Digitalis works by inhibiting sodium-potassium ATPase. This results in an increased intracellular concentration of sodium ions and thus a decreased concentration gradient across the cell membrane. This increase in intracellular sodium causes the Na/Ca exchanger to reverse potential, i.e., transition from pumping sodium into the cell in exchange for pumping calcium out of the cell, to pumping sodium out of the cell in exchange for pumping calcium into the cell. This leads to an increase in cytoplasmic calcium concentration, which improves cardiac contractility. Under normal physiological conditions, the cytoplasmic calcium used in cardiac contractions originates from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, an intracellular organelle that stores calcium. Human newborns, some animals, and patients with chronic heart failure lack well developed and fully functioning sarcoplasmic reticula and must rely on the Na/Ca exchanger to provide all or a majority of the cytoplasmic calcium required for cardiac contraction. For this to occur, cytoplasmic sodium must exceed its typical concentration to favour a reversal in potential, which naturally occurs in human newborns and some animals primarily through an elevated heart rate; in patients with chronic heart failure it occurs through the administration of digitalis. As a result of increased contractility, stroke volume is increased. Ultimately, digitalis increases cardiac output (cardiac output = stroke volume x heart rate). This is the mechanism that makes this drug a popular treatment for congestive heart failure, which is characterized by low cardiac output.
Digitalis also has a vagal effect on the parasympathetic nervous system, and can be used to slow the ventricular rate during atrial fibrillation (unless there's an accessory pathway, when it can paradoxically increase the heart rate). The dependence on the vagal effect means digitalis is not effective when a patient has a high sympathetic nervous system drive, which is the case with acutely ill persons, and also during exercise.
Digoxigenin (DIG) is a steroid found in the flowers and leaves of Digitalis species, and is extracted from D. lanata. Digoxigenin can be used as a molecular probe to detect mRNA in situ and label DNA, RNA, and oligonucleotides. It can easily be attached to nucleotides such as uridine by chemical modifications. DIG molecules are often linked to nucleotides; DIG-labelled uridine can then be incorporated into RNA via in vitro transcription. Once hybridisation occurs, RNA with the incorporated DIG-U can be detected with anti-DIG antibodies conjugated to alkaline phosphatase. To reveal the hybridised transcripts, a chromogen can be used which reacts with the alkaline phosphatase to produce a coloured precipitate.
Depending on the species, the digitalis plant may contain several deadly physiological and chemically related cardiac and steroidal glycosides. Thus, the digitalis plants have earned several, more sinister, names: dead man's bells and witch's gloves. The toxins can be absorbed via the skin or ingestion.
Digitalis intoxication, known as digitalism, results from an overdose of digitalis and can cause gastrointestinal, cardiac and neurological effects. The former include appetite loss, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea; the cardiac symptoms include both tachycardia, and bradycardia (either of which, if severe enough, can result in syncope—see below); and the neurological effects include fatigue, delirium, and rarely xanthopsia (jaundiced or yellow vision). Other oculotoxic effects of digitalis include generalized blurry vision, as well as the appearance of blurred outlines ('halos'). Other things mentioned are dilated pupils, drooling, weakness, collapse, seizures, and even death.
Digitalis poisoning can cause indirect inhibition of the atrioventricular node via a direct effect on the vagal nucleus. This results in bradycardia (decreased heart rate) or if severe enough, heart block. The direct effect of cardiac glycosides on heart muscle cells is to increase contraction of the cells, both in force and frequency, tending to produce tachycardia (increased heart rate), depending on the dose, the condition of one's heart, and the prevailing chemistry of the blood (specifically any of: low potassium, high calcium and low magnesium). Electrical cardioversion (to "shock" the heart) is generally not indicated in ventricular fibrillation in digitalis toxicity, as it can make the rhythm disturbance more complicated or sustained. Furthermore, the classic drug of choice for ventricular fibrillation in emergency setting, amiodarone, can worsen the dysrhythmia caused by digitalis, therefore, the second-choice drug lidocaine is more commonly used. Mild toxicity is treated by stopping the medication and general supportive measures; severe toxicity is treated with anti-digoxin antibody fragments.
The entire plant is toxic (including the roots and seeds). Mortality is rare, but case reports do exist. Most plant exposures occur in children younger than six years and are usually unintentional and without associated significant toxicity. More serious toxicity occurs with intentional ingestion by adolescents and adults.
In some instances, people have confused foxglove with the relatively harmless comfrey (Symphytum) plant, which is sometimes brewed into a tea, with fatal consequences. Other fatal accidents involve children drinking the water in a vase containing digitalis plants. Drying does not reduce the toxicity of the plant. The plant is toxic to animals, including all classes of livestock and poultry, as well as felines and canines.
According to 1981 speculation, Vincent van Gogh's "Yellow Period" may have been influenced by digitalis, because it had been proposed as a therapy to control epilepsy around this time, and there are two paintings by the artist where the plant is present. Other studies immediately questioned this: there are a large number of other possible explanations for van Gogh's choice of palette, there is no evidence that van Gogh was ever given the drug or that his physician prescribed it, he was tested and had no xanthopsia, and in his many letters of the time he makes it clear that he simply liked using the colour yellow, but it has remained a popular concept. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Digitalis (/ˌdɪdʒɪˈteɪlɪs/ or /ˌdɪdʒɪˈtælɪs/) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Digitalis is native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in shape, produced on a tall spike, and vary in colour with species, from purple to pink, white, and yellow. The scientific name means \"finger\". The genus was traditionally placed in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, but phylogenetic research led taxonomists to move it to the Veronicaceae in 2001. More recent phylogenetic work has placed it in the much enlarged family Plantaginaceae.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The best-known species is the common foxglove, Digitalis purpurea. This biennial is often grown as an ornamental plant due to its vivid flowers, which range in colour from various purple tints through pink and purely white. The flowers can also possess various marks and spottings. Other garden-worthy species include D. ferruginea, D. grandiflora, D. lutea, and D. parviflora.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The term digitalis is also used for drug preparations that contain cardiac glycosides, particularly one called digoxin, extracted from various plants of this genus. Foxglove has medicinal uses but is also very toxic to humans and other animals, and consumption can even lead to death.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The generic epithet Digitalis is from the Latin digitus (finger). Leonhart Fuchs first invented the name for this plant in his 1542 book De historia stirpium commentarii insignes (Notable comments on the history of plants), based upon the German vernacular name Fingerhut, which translates literally as 'finger hat', but actually means 'thimble'.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The name is recorded in Old English as 'foxes glofe/glofa' or 'fox's glove'. Over time, folk myths obscured the literal origins of the name, insinuating that foxes wore the flowers on their paws to silence their movements as they stealthily hunted their prey. The woody hillsides where the foxes made their dens were often covered with the toxic flowers. Some of the more menacing names, such as \"witch's glove\", reference the toxicity of the plant.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Henry Fox Talbot (1847) proposed 'folks' glove', where 'folk' means fairy. Similarly, R. C. A. Prior (1863) suggested an etymology of 'foxes-glew', meaning 'fairy music'. However, neither of these suggestions account for the Old English form foxes glofa.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The Flora Europaea originally recognised a number of species now seen as synonyms of Digitalis purpurea, or others: D. dubia, D. leucophaea, D. micrantha and D. trojana. As of 2017, Plants of the World Online recognises the following 27 species (and a number of hybrids):",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The first full monograph regarding this genus was written by Lindley in 1821. He included two sections, a section Isoplexis including two species, and the main section Digitalis with three subsections, including 2Y species, a number of which are now seen as synonyms or hybrids.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "In the last full monograph of the genus in 1965, Werner classified the 19 recognised species in five sections (four species from Macaronesia were separated in the genus Isoplexis at the time):",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In their 2000 book about Digitalis, Luckner and Wichtl continued to uphold Werner's classification of the 19 species, but molecular studies into the phylogeny of the genus published in 2004 found that although four of Werner's sections were supported by the genetics, the section Tubiflorae was polyphyletic, and that the species D. lutea and D. viridiflora should be placed in the section Grandiflorae. This study, as well as a number of other studies published around that time, reunited the genus Isoplexis with Digitalis, increasing the number of species to 23.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Peter Hadland Davis, an expert on the flora of Turkey, had used a different circumscription than Werner in his works, and recognised eight species in the country. A 2016 molecular phylogenetic study into the relationships of the Turkish species in the section Globiflorae aimed to reconcile this discrepancy, finding that the classification as proposed by Davis was largely correct: Globiflorae contained as distinct species D. cariensis, D. ferruginea, D. lamarckii, D. lanata and D. nervosa, and D. trojana was subsumed at the infraspecific rank as D. lanata subsp. trojana. This study listed 23 species: D. transiens, D. cedretorum, D. ikarica and D. fuscescens were not mentioned. D. parviflora and D. subalpina were not tested in this study, but the 2004 study found these two species situated within the section Globiflorae.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Larvae of the foxglove pug, a moth, consume the flowers of the common foxglove for food. Other species of Lepidoptera eat the leaves, including the lesser yellow underwing.",
"title": "Ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Nicholas Culpeper included Foxglove in his 1652 herbal medicine guide, The English Physician. He cited its use for healing wounds (both fresh and old), as a purgative, for \"the King's Evil\" ( mycobacterial cervical lymphadenitis), for \"the falling sickness\" (epilepsy), and for \"a scabby head\". There is no empirical evidence for these claims, and it is not used for these conditions in modern medicine, only for slowing excessive heart rate in certain circumstances and/or strengthening heart muscle contraction in heart failure.",
"title": "Uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Digitalis is an example of a drug derived from a plant that was formerly used by herbalists; herbalists have largely abandoned its use because of its narrow therapeutic index and the difficulty of determining the amount of active drug in herbal preparations. Once the usefulness of digitalis in regulating the human pulse was understood, it was employed for a variety of purposes, including the treatment of epilepsy and other seizure disorders, which are now considered to be inappropriate treatments.",
"title": "Uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "A group of medicines extracted from foxglove plants are called digitalin. The use of D. purpurea extract containing cardiac glycosides for the treatment of heart conditions was first described in the English-speaking medical literature by William Withering, in 1785, which is considered the beginning of modern therapeutics. In contemporary medicine, digitalis (usually digoxin) is obtained from D. lanata. It is used to increase cardiac contractility (it is a positive inotrope) and as an antiarrhythmic agent to control the heart rate, particularly in the irregular (and often fast) atrial fibrillation. Digitalis is hence often prescribed for patients in atrial fibrillation, especially if they have been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Digoxin was approved for heart failure in 1998 under current regulations by the Food and Drug Administration on the basis of prospective, randomized study and clinical trials. It was also approved for the control of ventricular response rate for patients with atrial fibrillation. American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines recommend digoxin for symptomatic chronic heart failure for patients with reduced systolic function, preservation of systolic function, and/or rate control for atrial fibrillation with a rapid ventricular response. Heart Failure Society of America guidelines for heart failure provide similar recommendations. Despite its relatively recent approval by the Food and Drug Administration and the guideline recommendations, the therapeutic use of digoxin is declining in patients with heart failure—likely the result of several factors. The main factor is the more recent introduction of several drugs shown in randomised controlled studies to improve outcomes in heart failure. Safety concerns regarding a proposed link between digoxin therapy and increased mortality seen in observational studies may have contributed to the decline in therapeutic use of digoxin, however a systematic review of 75 studies including four million patient years of patient follow-up showed that in properly designed randomised controlled studies, mortality was no higher in patients given digoxin than in those given placebo.",
"title": "Uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "A group of pharmacologically active compounds are extracted mostly from the leaves of the second year's growth, and in pure form are referred to by common chemical names, such as digitoxin or digoxin, or by brand names such as Crystodigin and Lanoxin, respectively. The two drugs differ in that digoxin has an additional hydroxyl group at the C-3 position on the B-ring (adjacent to the pentane). This results in digoxin having a half-life of about one day (and increasing with impaired kidney function), whereas digitoxin's is about 7 days and not affected by kidney function. Both molecules include a lactone and a triple-repeating sugar called a glycoside.",
"title": "Uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Digitalis works by inhibiting sodium-potassium ATPase. This results in an increased intracellular concentration of sodium ions and thus a decreased concentration gradient across the cell membrane. This increase in intracellular sodium causes the Na/Ca exchanger to reverse potential, i.e., transition from pumping sodium into the cell in exchange for pumping calcium out of the cell, to pumping sodium out of the cell in exchange for pumping calcium into the cell. This leads to an increase in cytoplasmic calcium concentration, which improves cardiac contractility. Under normal physiological conditions, the cytoplasmic calcium used in cardiac contractions originates from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, an intracellular organelle that stores calcium. Human newborns, some animals, and patients with chronic heart failure lack well developed and fully functioning sarcoplasmic reticula and must rely on the Na/Ca exchanger to provide all or a majority of the cytoplasmic calcium required for cardiac contraction. For this to occur, cytoplasmic sodium must exceed its typical concentration to favour a reversal in potential, which naturally occurs in human newborns and some animals primarily through an elevated heart rate; in patients with chronic heart failure it occurs through the administration of digitalis. As a result of increased contractility, stroke volume is increased. Ultimately, digitalis increases cardiac output (cardiac output = stroke volume x heart rate). This is the mechanism that makes this drug a popular treatment for congestive heart failure, which is characterized by low cardiac output.",
"title": "Uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Digitalis also has a vagal effect on the parasympathetic nervous system, and can be used to slow the ventricular rate during atrial fibrillation (unless there's an accessory pathway, when it can paradoxically increase the heart rate). The dependence on the vagal effect means digitalis is not effective when a patient has a high sympathetic nervous system drive, which is the case with acutely ill persons, and also during exercise.",
"title": "Uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Digoxigenin (DIG) is a steroid found in the flowers and leaves of Digitalis species, and is extracted from D. lanata. Digoxigenin can be used as a molecular probe to detect mRNA in situ and label DNA, RNA, and oligonucleotides. It can easily be attached to nucleotides such as uridine by chemical modifications. DIG molecules are often linked to nucleotides; DIG-labelled uridine can then be incorporated into RNA via in vitro transcription. Once hybridisation occurs, RNA with the incorporated DIG-U can be detected with anti-DIG antibodies conjugated to alkaline phosphatase. To reveal the hybridised transcripts, a chromogen can be used which reacts with the alkaline phosphatase to produce a coloured precipitate.",
"title": "Uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Depending on the species, the digitalis plant may contain several deadly physiological and chemically related cardiac and steroidal glycosides. Thus, the digitalis plants have earned several, more sinister, names: dead man's bells and witch's gloves. The toxins can be absorbed via the skin or ingestion.",
"title": "Toxicity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Digitalis intoxication, known as digitalism, results from an overdose of digitalis and can cause gastrointestinal, cardiac and neurological effects. The former include appetite loss, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea; the cardiac symptoms include both tachycardia, and bradycardia (either of which, if severe enough, can result in syncope—see below); and the neurological effects include fatigue, delirium, and rarely xanthopsia (jaundiced or yellow vision). Other oculotoxic effects of digitalis include generalized blurry vision, as well as the appearance of blurred outlines ('halos'). Other things mentioned are dilated pupils, drooling, weakness, collapse, seizures, and even death.",
"title": "Toxicity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Digitalis poisoning can cause indirect inhibition of the atrioventricular node via a direct effect on the vagal nucleus. This results in bradycardia (decreased heart rate) or if severe enough, heart block. The direct effect of cardiac glycosides on heart muscle cells is to increase contraction of the cells, both in force and frequency, tending to produce tachycardia (increased heart rate), depending on the dose, the condition of one's heart, and the prevailing chemistry of the blood (specifically any of: low potassium, high calcium and low magnesium). Electrical cardioversion (to \"shock\" the heart) is generally not indicated in ventricular fibrillation in digitalis toxicity, as it can make the rhythm disturbance more complicated or sustained. Furthermore, the classic drug of choice for ventricular fibrillation in emergency setting, amiodarone, can worsen the dysrhythmia caused by digitalis, therefore, the second-choice drug lidocaine is more commonly used. Mild toxicity is treated by stopping the medication and general supportive measures; severe toxicity is treated with anti-digoxin antibody fragments.",
"title": "Toxicity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The entire plant is toxic (including the roots and seeds). Mortality is rare, but case reports do exist. Most plant exposures occur in children younger than six years and are usually unintentional and without associated significant toxicity. More serious toxicity occurs with intentional ingestion by adolescents and adults.",
"title": "Toxicity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In some instances, people have confused foxglove with the relatively harmless comfrey (Symphytum) plant, which is sometimes brewed into a tea, with fatal consequences. Other fatal accidents involve children drinking the water in a vase containing digitalis plants. Drying does not reduce the toxicity of the plant. The plant is toxic to animals, including all classes of livestock and poultry, as well as felines and canines.",
"title": "Toxicity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "According to 1981 speculation, Vincent van Gogh's \"Yellow Period\" may have been influenced by digitalis, because it had been proposed as a therapy to control epilepsy around this time, and there are two paintings by the artist where the plant is present. Other studies immediately questioned this: there are a large number of other possible explanations for van Gogh's choice of palette, there is no evidence that van Gogh was ever given the drug or that his physician prescribed it, he was tested and had no xanthopsia, and in his many letters of the time he makes it clear that he simply liked using the colour yellow, but it has remained a popular concept.",
"title": "In popular culture"
}
] | Digitalis is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves. Digitalis is native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in shape, produced on a tall spike, and vary in colour with species, from purple to pink, white, and yellow. The scientific name means "finger". The genus was traditionally placed in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, but phylogenetic research led taxonomists to move it to the Veronicaceae in 2001. More recent phylogenetic work has placed it in the much enlarged family Plantaginaceae. The best-known species is the common foxglove, Digitalis purpurea. This biennial is often grown as an ornamental plant due to its vivid flowers, which range in colour from various purple tints through pink and purely white. The flowers can also possess various marks and spottings. Other garden-worthy species include D. ferruginea, D. grandiflora, D. lutea, and D. parviflora. The term digitalis is also used for drug preparations that contain cardiac glycosides, particularly one called digoxin, extracted from various plants of this genus. Foxglove has medicinal uses but is also very toxic to humans and other animals, and consumption can even lead to death. | 2001-05-25T11:16:56Z | 2023-12-11T09:08:10Z | [
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8,131 | Dendrite | A dendrite (from Greek δένδρον déndron, "tree") or dendron is a branched protoplasmic extension of a nerve cell that propagates the electrochemical stimulation received from other neural cells to the cell body, or soma, of the neuron from which the dendrites project. Electrical stimulation is transmitted onto dendrites by upstream neurons (usually via their axons) via synapses which are located at various points throughout the dendritic tree.
Dendrites play a critical role in integrating these synaptic inputs and in determining the extent to which action potentials are produced by the neuron.
Dendrites are one of two types of protoplasmic protrusions that extrude from the cell body of a neuron, the other type being an axon. Axons can be distinguished from dendrites by several features including shape, length, and function. Dendrites often taper off in shape and are shorter, while axons tend to maintain a constant radius and can be very long. Typically, axons transmit electrochemical signals and dendrites receive the electrochemical signals, although some types of neurons in certain species lack specialized axons and transmit signals via their dendrites. Dendrites provide an enlarged surface area to receive signals from axon terminals of other neurons. The dendrite of a large pyramidal cell receives signals from about 30,000 presynaptic neurons. Excitatory synapses terminate on dendritic spines, tiny protrusions from the dendrite with a high density of neurotransmitter receptors. Most inhibitory synapses directly contact the dendritic shaft.
Synaptic activity causes local changes in the electrical potential across the plasma membrane of the dendrite. This change in membrane potential will passively spread along the dendrite, but becomes weaker with distance without an action potential. To generate an action potential, many excitatory synapses have to be active at the same time, leading to strong depolarization of the dendrite and the cell body (soma). The action potential, which typically starts at the axon hillock, propagates down the length of the axon to the axon terminals where it triggers the release of neurotransmitters, but also backwards into the dendrite (retrograde propagation), providing an important signal for spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP).
Most synapses are axodendritic, involving an axon signaling to a dendrite. There are also dendrodendritic synapses, signaling from one dendrite to another. An autapse is a synapse in which the axon of one neuron transmits signals to its own dendrite.
The general structure of the dendrite is used to classify neurons into multipolar, bipolar and unipolar types. Multipolar neurons are composed of one axon and many dendritic trees. Pyramidal cells are multipolar cortical neurons with pyramid-shaped cell bodies and large dendrites that extend towards the surface of the cortex (apical dendrite). Bipolar neurons have two main dendrites at opposing ends of the cell body. Many inhibitory neurons have this morphology. Unipolar neurons, typical for insects, have a stalk that extends from the cell body that separates into two branches with one containing the dendrites and the other with the terminal buttons. In vertebrates, sensory neurons detecting touch or temperature are unipolar. Dendritic branching can be extensive and in some cases is sufficient to receive as many as 100,000 inputs to a single neuron.
The term dendrites was first used in 1889 by Wilhelm His to describe the number of smaller "protoplasmic processes" that were attached to a nerve cell. German anatomist Otto Friedrich Karl Deiters is generally credited with the discovery of the axon by distinguishing it from the dendrites.
Some of the first intracellular recordings in a nervous system were made in the late 1930s by Kenneth S. Cole and Howard J. Curtis. Swiss Rüdolf Albert von Kölliker and German Robert Remak were the first to identify and characterize the axonal initial segment. Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley also employed the squid giant axon (1939) and by 1952 they had obtained a full quantitative description of the ionic basis of the action potential, leading the formulation of the Hodgkin–Huxley model. Hodgkin and Huxley were awarded jointly the Nobel Prize for this work in 1963. The formulas detailing axonal conductance were extended to vertebrates in the Frankenhaeuser–Huxley equations. Louis-Antoine Ranvier was the first to describe the gaps or nodes found on axons and for this contribution these axonal features are now commonly referred to as the Nodes of Ranvier. Santiago Ramón y Cajal, a Spanish anatomist, proposed that axons were the output components of neurons. He also proposed that neurons were discrete cells that communicated with each other via specialized junctions, or spaces, between cells, now known as a synapse. Ramón y Cajal improved a silver staining process known as Golgi's method, which had been developed by his rival, Camillo Golgi.
During the development of dendrites, several factors can influence differentiation. These include modulation of sensory input, environmental pollutants, body temperature, and drug use. For example, rats raised in dark environments were found to have a reduced number of spines in pyramidal cells located in the primary visual cortex and a marked change in distribution of dendrite branching in layer 4 stellate cells. Experiments done in vitro and in vivo have shown that the presence of afferents and input activity per se can modulate the patterns in which dendrites differentiate.
Little is known about the process by which dendrites orient themselves in vivo and are compelled to create the intricate branching pattern unique to each specific neuronal class. One theory on the mechanism of dendritic arbor development is the Synaptotropic Hypothesis. The synaptotropic hypothesis proposes that input from a presynaptic to a postsynaptic cell (and maturation of excitatory synaptic inputs) eventually can change the course of synapse formation at dendritic and axonal arbors.
This synapse formation is required for the development of neuronal structure in the functioning brain. A balance between metabolic costs of dendritic elaboration and the need to cover receptive field presumably determine the size and shape of dendrites. A complex array of extracellular and intracellular cues modulates dendrite development including transcription factors, receptor-ligand interactions, various signaling pathways, local translational machinery, cytoskeletal elements, Golgi outposts and endosomes. These contribute to the organization of the dendrites on individual cell bodies and the placement of these dendrites in the neuronal circuitry. For example, it was shown that β-actin zipcode binding protein 1 (ZBP1) contributes to proper dendritic branching.
Other important transcription factors involved in the morphology of dendrites include CUT, Abrupt, Collier, Spineless, ACJ6/drifter, CREST, NEUROD1, CREB, NEUROG2 etc. Secreted proteins and cell surface receptors includes neurotrophins and tyrosine kinase receptors, BMP7, Wnt/dishevelled, EPHB 1–3, Semaphorin/plexin-neuropilin, slit-robo, netrin-frazzled, reelin. Rac, CDC42 and RhoA serve as cytoskeletal regulators and the motor protein includes KIF5, dynein, LIS1. Important secretory and endocytic pathways controlling the dendritic development include DAR3 /SAR1, DAR2/Sec23, DAR6/Rab1 etc. All these molecules interplay with each other in controlling dendritic morphogenesis including the acquisition of type specific dendritic arborization, the regulation of dendrite size and the organization of dendrites emanating from different neurons.
Dendritic arborization, also known as dendritic branching, is a multi-step biological process by which neurons form new dendritic trees and branches to create new synapses. Dendrites in many organisms assume different morphological patterns of branching. The morphology of dendrites such as branch density and grouping patterns are highly correlated to the function of the neuron. Malformation of dendrites is also tightly correlated to impaired nervous system function.
Branching morphologies may assume an adendritic structure (not having a branching structure, or not tree-like), or a tree-like radiation structure. Tree-like arborization patterns can be spindled (where two dendrites radiate from opposite poles of a cell body with few branches, see bipolar neurons ), spherical (where dendrites radiate in a part or in all directions from a cell body, see cerebellar granule cells), laminar (where dendrites can either radiate planarly, offset from cell body by one or more stems, or multi-planarly, see retinal horizontal cells, retinal ganglion cells, retinal amacrine cells respectively), cylindrical (where dendrites radiate in all directions in a cylinder, disk-like fashion, see pallidal neurons), conical (dendrites radiate like a cone away from cell body, see pyramidal cells), or fanned (where dendrites radiate like a flat fan as in Purkinje cells).
The structure and branching of a neuron's dendrites, as well as the availability and variation of voltage-gated ion conductance, strongly influences how the neuron integrates the input from other neurons. This integration is both temporal, involving the summation of stimuli that arrive in rapid succession, as well as spatial, entailing the aggregation of excitatory and inhibitory inputs from separate branches.
Dendrites were once thought to merely convey electrical stimulation passively. This passive transmission means that voltage changes measured at the cell body are the result of activation of distal synapses propagating the electric signal towards the cell body without the aid of voltage-gated ion channels. Passive cable theory describes how voltage changes at a particular location on a dendrite transmit this electrical signal through a system of converging dendrite segments of different diameters, lengths, and electrical properties. Based on passive cable theory one can track how changes in a neuron's dendritic morphology impacts the membrane voltage at the cell body, and thus how variation in dendrite architectures affects the overall output characteristics of the neuron.
Action potentials initiated at the axon hillock propagate back into the dendritic arbor. These back-propagating action potentials depolarize the dendritic membrane and provide a crucial signal for synapse modulation and long-term potentiation. Back-propagation is not completely passive, but modulated by the presence of dendritic voltage-gated potassium channels. Furthermore, in certain types of neurons, a train of back-propagating action potentials can induce a calcium action potential (a dendritic spike) at dendritic initiation zones.
Dendrites themselves appear to be capable of plastic changes during the adult life of animals, including invertebrates. Neuronal dendrites have various compartments known as functional units that are able to compute incoming stimuli. These functional units are involved in processing input and are composed of the subdomains of dendrites such as spines, branches, or groupings of branches. Therefore, plasticity that leads to changes in the dendrite structure will affect communication and processing in the cell. During development, dendrite morphology is shaped by intrinsic programs within the cell's genome and extrinsic factors such as signals from other cells. But in adult life, extrinsic signals become more influential and cause more significant changes in dendrite structure compared to intrinsic signals during development. In females, the dendritic structure can change as a result of physiological conditions induced by hormones during periods such as pregnancy, lactation, and following the estrous cycle. This is particularly visible in pyramidal cells of the CA1 region of the hippocampus, where the density of dendrites can vary up to 30%.
Recent experimental observations suggest that adaptation is performed in the neuronal dendritic trees, where the timescale of adaptation was observed to be as low as several seconds only. Certain machine learning architectures based on dendritic trees have shown to simplify the learning algorithm without affecting performance. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A dendrite (from Greek δένδρον déndron, \"tree\") or dendron is a branched protoplasmic extension of a nerve cell that propagates the electrochemical stimulation received from other neural cells to the cell body, or soma, of the neuron from which the dendrites project. Electrical stimulation is transmitted onto dendrites by upstream neurons (usually via their axons) via synapses which are located at various points throughout the dendritic tree.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Dendrites play a critical role in integrating these synaptic inputs and in determining the extent to which action potentials are produced by the neuron.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Dendrites are one of two types of protoplasmic protrusions that extrude from the cell body of a neuron, the other type being an axon. Axons can be distinguished from dendrites by several features including shape, length, and function. Dendrites often taper off in shape and are shorter, while axons tend to maintain a constant radius and can be very long. Typically, axons transmit electrochemical signals and dendrites receive the electrochemical signals, although some types of neurons in certain species lack specialized axons and transmit signals via their dendrites. Dendrites provide an enlarged surface area to receive signals from axon terminals of other neurons. The dendrite of a large pyramidal cell receives signals from about 30,000 presynaptic neurons. Excitatory synapses terminate on dendritic spines, tiny protrusions from the dendrite with a high density of neurotransmitter receptors. Most inhibitory synapses directly contact the dendritic shaft.",
"title": "Structure and function"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Synaptic activity causes local changes in the electrical potential across the plasma membrane of the dendrite. This change in membrane potential will passively spread along the dendrite, but becomes weaker with distance without an action potential. To generate an action potential, many excitatory synapses have to be active at the same time, leading to strong depolarization of the dendrite and the cell body (soma). The action potential, which typically starts at the axon hillock, propagates down the length of the axon to the axon terminals where it triggers the release of neurotransmitters, but also backwards into the dendrite (retrograde propagation), providing an important signal for spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP).",
"title": "Structure and function"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Most synapses are axodendritic, involving an axon signaling to a dendrite. There are also dendrodendritic synapses, signaling from one dendrite to another. An autapse is a synapse in which the axon of one neuron transmits signals to its own dendrite.",
"title": "Structure and function"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The general structure of the dendrite is used to classify neurons into multipolar, bipolar and unipolar types. Multipolar neurons are composed of one axon and many dendritic trees. Pyramidal cells are multipolar cortical neurons with pyramid-shaped cell bodies and large dendrites that extend towards the surface of the cortex (apical dendrite). Bipolar neurons have two main dendrites at opposing ends of the cell body. Many inhibitory neurons have this morphology. Unipolar neurons, typical for insects, have a stalk that extends from the cell body that separates into two branches with one containing the dendrites and the other with the terminal buttons. In vertebrates, sensory neurons detecting touch or temperature are unipolar. Dendritic branching can be extensive and in some cases is sufficient to receive as many as 100,000 inputs to a single neuron.",
"title": "Structure and function"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The term dendrites was first used in 1889 by Wilhelm His to describe the number of smaller \"protoplasmic processes\" that were attached to a nerve cell. German anatomist Otto Friedrich Karl Deiters is generally credited with the discovery of the axon by distinguishing it from the dendrites.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Some of the first intracellular recordings in a nervous system were made in the late 1930s by Kenneth S. Cole and Howard J. Curtis. Swiss Rüdolf Albert von Kölliker and German Robert Remak were the first to identify and characterize the axonal initial segment. Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley also employed the squid giant axon (1939) and by 1952 they had obtained a full quantitative description of the ionic basis of the action potential, leading the formulation of the Hodgkin–Huxley model. Hodgkin and Huxley were awarded jointly the Nobel Prize for this work in 1963. The formulas detailing axonal conductance were extended to vertebrates in the Frankenhaeuser–Huxley equations. Louis-Antoine Ranvier was the first to describe the gaps or nodes found on axons and for this contribution these axonal features are now commonly referred to as the Nodes of Ranvier. Santiago Ramón y Cajal, a Spanish anatomist, proposed that axons were the output components of neurons. He also proposed that neurons were discrete cells that communicated with each other via specialized junctions, or spaces, between cells, now known as a synapse. Ramón y Cajal improved a silver staining process known as Golgi's method, which had been developed by his rival, Camillo Golgi.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "During the development of dendrites, several factors can influence differentiation. These include modulation of sensory input, environmental pollutants, body temperature, and drug use. For example, rats raised in dark environments were found to have a reduced number of spines in pyramidal cells located in the primary visual cortex and a marked change in distribution of dendrite branching in layer 4 stellate cells. Experiments done in vitro and in vivo have shown that the presence of afferents and input activity per se can modulate the patterns in which dendrites differentiate.",
"title": "Dendrite development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Little is known about the process by which dendrites orient themselves in vivo and are compelled to create the intricate branching pattern unique to each specific neuronal class. One theory on the mechanism of dendritic arbor development is the Synaptotropic Hypothesis. The synaptotropic hypothesis proposes that input from a presynaptic to a postsynaptic cell (and maturation of excitatory synaptic inputs) eventually can change the course of synapse formation at dendritic and axonal arbors.",
"title": "Dendrite development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "This synapse formation is required for the development of neuronal structure in the functioning brain. A balance between metabolic costs of dendritic elaboration and the need to cover receptive field presumably determine the size and shape of dendrites. A complex array of extracellular and intracellular cues modulates dendrite development including transcription factors, receptor-ligand interactions, various signaling pathways, local translational machinery, cytoskeletal elements, Golgi outposts and endosomes. These contribute to the organization of the dendrites on individual cell bodies and the placement of these dendrites in the neuronal circuitry. For example, it was shown that β-actin zipcode binding protein 1 (ZBP1) contributes to proper dendritic branching.",
"title": "Dendrite development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Other important transcription factors involved in the morphology of dendrites include CUT, Abrupt, Collier, Spineless, ACJ6/drifter, CREST, NEUROD1, CREB, NEUROG2 etc. Secreted proteins and cell surface receptors includes neurotrophins and tyrosine kinase receptors, BMP7, Wnt/dishevelled, EPHB 1–3, Semaphorin/plexin-neuropilin, slit-robo, netrin-frazzled, reelin. Rac, CDC42 and RhoA serve as cytoskeletal regulators and the motor protein includes KIF5, dynein, LIS1. Important secretory and endocytic pathways controlling the dendritic development include DAR3 /SAR1, DAR2/Sec23, DAR6/Rab1 etc. All these molecules interplay with each other in controlling dendritic morphogenesis including the acquisition of type specific dendritic arborization, the regulation of dendrite size and the organization of dendrites emanating from different neurons.",
"title": "Dendrite development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Dendritic arborization, also known as dendritic branching, is a multi-step biological process by which neurons form new dendritic trees and branches to create new synapses. Dendrites in many organisms assume different morphological patterns of branching. The morphology of dendrites such as branch density and grouping patterns are highly correlated to the function of the neuron. Malformation of dendrites is also tightly correlated to impaired nervous system function.",
"title": "Types of dendritic patterns"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Branching morphologies may assume an adendritic structure (not having a branching structure, or not tree-like), or a tree-like radiation structure. Tree-like arborization patterns can be spindled (where two dendrites radiate from opposite poles of a cell body with few branches, see bipolar neurons ), spherical (where dendrites radiate in a part or in all directions from a cell body, see cerebellar granule cells), laminar (where dendrites can either radiate planarly, offset from cell body by one or more stems, or multi-planarly, see retinal horizontal cells, retinal ganglion cells, retinal amacrine cells respectively), cylindrical (where dendrites radiate in all directions in a cylinder, disk-like fashion, see pallidal neurons), conical (dendrites radiate like a cone away from cell body, see pyramidal cells), or fanned (where dendrites radiate like a flat fan as in Purkinje cells).",
"title": "Types of dendritic patterns"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The structure and branching of a neuron's dendrites, as well as the availability and variation of voltage-gated ion conductance, strongly influences how the neuron integrates the input from other neurons. This integration is both temporal, involving the summation of stimuli that arrive in rapid succession, as well as spatial, entailing the aggregation of excitatory and inhibitory inputs from separate branches.",
"title": "Electrical properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Dendrites were once thought to merely convey electrical stimulation passively. This passive transmission means that voltage changes measured at the cell body are the result of activation of distal synapses propagating the electric signal towards the cell body without the aid of voltage-gated ion channels. Passive cable theory describes how voltage changes at a particular location on a dendrite transmit this electrical signal through a system of converging dendrite segments of different diameters, lengths, and electrical properties. Based on passive cable theory one can track how changes in a neuron's dendritic morphology impacts the membrane voltage at the cell body, and thus how variation in dendrite architectures affects the overall output characteristics of the neuron.",
"title": "Electrical properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Action potentials initiated at the axon hillock propagate back into the dendritic arbor. These back-propagating action potentials depolarize the dendritic membrane and provide a crucial signal for synapse modulation and long-term potentiation. Back-propagation is not completely passive, but modulated by the presence of dendritic voltage-gated potassium channels. Furthermore, in certain types of neurons, a train of back-propagating action potentials can induce a calcium action potential (a dendritic spike) at dendritic initiation zones.",
"title": "Electrical properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Dendrites themselves appear to be capable of plastic changes during the adult life of animals, including invertebrates. Neuronal dendrites have various compartments known as functional units that are able to compute incoming stimuli. These functional units are involved in processing input and are composed of the subdomains of dendrites such as spines, branches, or groupings of branches. Therefore, plasticity that leads to changes in the dendrite structure will affect communication and processing in the cell. During development, dendrite morphology is shaped by intrinsic programs within the cell's genome and extrinsic factors such as signals from other cells. But in adult life, extrinsic signals become more influential and cause more significant changes in dendrite structure compared to intrinsic signals during development. In females, the dendritic structure can change as a result of physiological conditions induced by hormones during periods such as pregnancy, lactation, and following the estrous cycle. This is particularly visible in pyramidal cells of the CA1 region of the hippocampus, where the density of dendrites can vary up to 30%.",
"title": "Plasticity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Recent experimental observations suggest that adaptation is performed in the neuronal dendritic trees, where the timescale of adaptation was observed to be as low as several seconds only. Certain machine learning architectures based on dendritic trees have shown to simplify the learning algorithm without affecting performance.",
"title": "Plasticity"
}
] | A dendrite or dendron is a branched protoplasmic extension of a nerve cell that propagates the electrochemical stimulation received from other neural cells to the cell body, or soma, of the neuron from which the dendrites project. Electrical stimulation is transmitted onto dendrites by upstream neurons via synapses which are located at various points throughout the dendritic tree. Dendrites play a critical role in integrating these synaptic inputs and in determining the extent to which action potentials are produced by the neuron. | 2001-05-28T00:35:10Z | 2023-11-16T06:38:49Z | [
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8,133 | Dalai Lama | Dalai Lama (UK: /ˈdælaɪ ˈlɑːmə/, US: /ˈdɑːlaɪ/; Tibetan: ཏཱ་ལའི་བླ་མ་, Wylie: Tā la'i bla ma [táːlɛː láma]) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and incumbent Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso, who lives in exile as a refugee in India. The Dalai Lama is also considered to be the successor in a line of tulkus who are believed to be incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.
Since the time of the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century, his personage has always been a symbol of unification of the state of Tibet, where he has represented Buddhist values and traditions. The Dalai Lama was an important figure of the Geluk tradition, which was politically and numerically dominant in Central Tibet, but his religious authority went beyond sectarian boundaries. While he had no formal or institutional role in any of the religious traditions, which were headed by their own high lamas, he was a unifying symbol of the Tibetan state, representing Buddhist values and traditions above any specific school. The traditional function of the Dalai Lama as an ecumenical figure, holding together disparate religious and regional groups, has been taken up by the fourteenth Dalai Lama. He has worked to overcome sectarian and other divisions in the exiled community and has become a symbol of Tibetan nationhood for Tibetans both in Tibet and in exile.
From 1642 until 1705 and from 1750 to the 1950s, the Dalai Lamas or their regents headed the Tibetan government (or Ganden Phodrang) in Lhasa, which governed all or most of the Tibetan Plateau with varying degrees of autonomy. This Tibetan government enjoyed the patronage and protection of firstly Mongol kings of the Khoshut and Dzungar Khanates (1642–1720) and then of the emperors of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty (1720–1912). In 1913, several Tibetan representatives including Agvan Dorzhiev signed a treaty between Tibet and Mongolia, proclaiming mutual recognition and their independence from China. The legitimacy of the treaty and declared independence of Tibet was rejected by both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China. The Dalai Lamas headed the Tibetan government until 1951.
The name "Dalai Lama" is a combination of the Mongolic word dalai meaning "ocean" or "great" (coming from Mongolian title Dalaiyin qan or Dalaiin khan, translated as Gyatso or rgya-mtsho in Tibetan) and the Tibetan word བླ་མ་ (bla-ma) meaning "master, guru".
The Dalai Lama is also known in Tibetan as the Rgyal-ba Rin-po-che ("Precious Conqueror") or simply as the Rgyal-ba.
In Central Asian Buddhist countries, it has been widely believed for the last millennium that Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, has a special relationship with the people of Tibet and intervenes in their fate by incarnating as benevolent rulers and teachers such as the Dalai Lamas. This is according to The Book of Kadam, the main text of the Kadampa school, to which the 1st Dalai Lama, Gendun Drup, first belonged. This text is said to have laid the foundation for the Tibetans' later identification of the Dalai Lamas as incarnations of Avalokiteśvara.
It traces the legend of the bodhisattva's incarnations as early Tibetan kings and emperors such as Songtsen Gampo and later as Dromtönpa (1004–1064).
This lineage has been extrapolated by Tibetans up to and including the Dalai Lamas.
Thus, according to such sources, an informal line of succession of the present Dalai Lamas as incarnations of Avalokiteśvara stretches back much further than Gendun Drub. The Book of Kadam, the compilation of Kadampa teachings largely composed around discussions between the Indian sage Atiśa (980–1054) and his Tibetan host and chief disciple Dromtönpa and Tales of the Previous Incarnations of Arya Avalokiteśvara, nominate as many as sixty persons prior to Gendun Drub who are enumerated as earlier incarnations of Avalokiteśvara and predecessors in the same lineage leading up to him.
In brief, these include a mythology of 36 Indian personalities plus 10 early Tibetan kings and emperors, all said to be previous incarnations of Dromtönpa, and fourteen further Nepalese and Tibetan yogis and sages in between him and the 1st Dalai Lama. In fact, according to the "Birth to Exile" article on the 14th Dalai Lama's website, he is "the seventy-fourth in a lineage that can be traced back to a Brahmin boy who lived in the time of Buddha Shakyamuni."
According to the 14th Dalai Lama, long ago Avalokiteśvara had promised the Buddha to guide and defend the Tibetan people. In the late Middle Ages, his master plan to fulfill this promise was the stage-by-stage establishment of the Dalai Lama theocracy in Tibet.
First, Tsongkhapa established three great monasteries around Lhasa in the province of Ü before he died in 1419. The 1st Dalai Lama soon became Abbot of the greatest one, Drepung, and developed a large popular power base in Ü. He later extended this to cover Tsang, where he constructed a fourth great monastery, Tashi Lhunpo, at Shigatse. The 2nd studied there before returning to Lhasa, where he became Abbot of Drepung. Having reactivated the 1st's large popular followings in Tsang and Ü, the 2nd then moved on to southern Tibet and gathered more followers there who helped him construct a new monastery, Chokorgyel. He established the method by which later Dalai Lama incarnations would be discovered through visions at the "oracle lake", Lhamo Lhatso.
The 3rd built on his predecessors' fame by becoming Abbot of the two great monasteries of Drepung and Sera. The stage was set for the great Mongol King Altan Khan, hearing of his reputation, to invite the 3rd to Mongolia where he converted the King and his followers to Buddhism, as well as other Mongol princes and their followers covering a vast tract of central Asia. Thus, most of Mongolia was added to the Dalai Lama's sphere of influence, founding a spiritual empire which largely survives to the modern age. After being given the Mongolian name 'Dalai', he returned to Tibet to found the great monasteries of Lithang in Kham, eastern Tibet and Kumbum in Amdo, north-eastern Tibet.
The 4th was then born in Mongolia as the great-grandson of Altan Khan, thus cementing strong ties between Central Asia, the Dalai Lamas, the Gelugpa and Tibet. In fulfilment of Avalokiteśvara's master plan, the 5th in the succession used the vast popular power base of devoted followers built up by his four predecessors. By 1642, a strategy that was planned and carried out by his resourceful chagdzo or manager Sonam Rapten with the military assistance of his devoted disciple Gushri Khan, Chieftain of the Khoshut Mongols, enabled the 'Great 5th' to found the Dalai Lamas' religious and political reign over more or less the whole of Tibet that survived for over 300 years.
Thus the Dalai Lamas became pre-eminent spiritual leaders in Tibet and 25 Himalayan and Central Asian kingdoms and countries bordering Tibet and their prolific literary works have "for centuries acted as major sources of spiritual and philosophical inspiration to more than fifty million people of these lands". Overall, they have played "a monumental role in Asian literary, philosophical and religious history".
Gendun Drup (1391–1474), a disciple of the founder Je Tsongkapa, was the ordination name of the monk who came to be known as the 'First Dalai Lama', but only from 104 years after he died. There had been resistance, since first he was ordained a monk in the Kadampa tradition and for various reasons, for hundreds of years the Kadampa school had eschewed the adoption of the tulku system to which the older schools adhered. Tsongkhapa largely modelled his new, reformed Gelugpa school on the Kadampa tradition and refrained from starting a tulku system. Therefore, although Gendun Drup grew to be a very important Gelugpa lama, after he died in 1474 there was no question of any search being made to identify his incarnation.
Despite this, when the Tashilhunpo monks started hearing what seemed credible accounts that an incarnation of Gendun Drup had appeared nearby and repeatedly announced himself from the age of two, their curiosity was aroused. It was some 55 years after Tsongkhapa's death when eventually, the monastic authorities saw compelling evidence that convinced them the child in question was indeed the incarnation of their founder. They felt obliged to break with their own tradition and in 1487, the boy was renamed Gendun Gyatso and installed at Tashilhunpo as Gendun Drup's tulku, albeit informally.
Gendun Gyatso died in 1542 and the lineage of Dalai Lama tulkus finally became firmly established when the third incarnation, Sonam Gyatso (1543–1588), came forth. He made himself known as the tulku of Gendun Gyatso and was formally recognised and enthroned at Drepung in 1546. When Gendun Gyatso was given the titular name "Dalai Lama" by the Tümed Altan Khan in 1578, his two predecessors were accorded the title posthumously and he became known as the third in the lineage.
The Dalai Lama title was posthumously given to Gedun Drupa after 1578. The Dalai Lama lineage started from humble beginnings. 'Pema Dorje' (1391–1474), the boy who was to become the first in the line, was born in a cattle pen in Shabtod, Tsang in 1391. His nomad parents kept sheep and goats and lived in tents. When his father died in 1398 his mother was unable to support the young goatherd so she entrusted him to his uncle, a monk at Narthang, a major Kadampa monastery near Shigatse, for education as a Buddhist monk. Narthang ran the largest printing press in Tibet and its celebrated library attracted scholars and adepts from far and wide, so Pema Dorje received an education beyond the norm at the time as well as exposure to diverse spiritual schools and ideas.
He studied Buddhist philosophy extensively. In 1405, ordained by Narthang's abbot, he took the name of Gendun Drup. Soon recognised as an exceptionally gifted pupil, the abbot tutored him personally and took special interest in his progress. In 12 years he passed the 12 grades of monkhood and took the highest vows. After completing his intensive studies at Narthang he left to continue at specialist monasteries in Central Tibet, his grounding at Narthang was revered among many he encountered.
In 1415 Gendun Drup met Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelugpa school, and became his student; their meeting was of decisive historical and political significance as he was later to be known as the 1st Dalai Lama. When eventually Tsongkhapa's successor the Panchen Lama Khedrup Je died, Gendun Drup became the leader of the Gelugpa. He rose to become Abbot of Drepung, the greatest Gelugpa monastery, outside Lhasa.
It was mainly due to Gendun Drup's energy and ability that Tsongkhapa's new school grew into an expanding order capable of competing with others on an equal footing. Taking advantage of good relations with the nobility and a lack of determined opposition from rival orders, on the very edge of Karma Kagyu-dominated territory he founded Tashilhunpo Monastery at Shigatse. He was based there, as its Abbot, from its founding in 1447 until his death. Tashilhunpo, 'Mountain of Blessings', became the fourth great Gelugpa monastery in Tibet, after Ganden, Drepung and Sera had all been founded in Tsongkhapa's time. It later became the seat of the Panchen Lamas. By establishing it at Shigatse in the middle of Tsang, he expanded the Gelugpa sphere of influence, and his own, from the Lhasa region of Ü to this province, which was the stronghold of the Karma Kagyu school and their patrons, the rising Tsangpa dynasty. Tashilhunpo was destined to become 'Southern Tibet's greatest monastic university' with a complement of 3,000 monks.
Gendun Drup was said to be the greatest scholar-saint ever produced by Narthang Monastery and became 'the single most important lama in Tibet'. Through hard work he became a leading lama, known as 'Perfecter of the Monkhood', 'with a host of disciples'. Famed for his Buddhist scholarship he was also referred to as Panchen Gendun Drup, 'Panchen' being an honorary title designating 'great scholar'. By the great Jonangpa master Bodong Chokley Namgyal he was accorded the honorary title Tamchey Khyenpa meaning "The Omniscient One", an appellation that was later assigned to all Dalai Lama incarnations.
At the age of 50, he entered meditation retreat at Narthang. As he grew older, Karma Kagyu adherents, finding their sect was losing too many recruits to the monkhood to burgeoning Gelugpa monasteries, tried to contain Gelug expansion by launching military expeditions against them in the region. This led to decades of military and political power struggles between Tsangpa dynasty forces and others across central Tibet. In an attempt to ameliorate these clashes, from his retreat Gendun Drup issued a poem of advice to his followers advising restraint from responding to violence with more violence and to practice compassion and patience instead. The poem, entitled Shar Gang Rima, "The Song of the Eastern Snow Mountains", became one of his most enduring popular literary works.
Although he was born in a cattle pen to be a simple goatherd, Gendun Drup rose to become one of the most celebrated and respected teachers in Tibet and Central Asia. His spiritual accomplishments brought him substantial donations from devotees which he used to build and furnish new monasteries, to print and distribute Buddhist texts and to maintain monks and meditators. At last, at the age of 84, older than any of his 13 successors, in 1474 he went on foot to visit Narthang Monastery on a final teaching tour. Returning to Tashilhunpo he died 'in a blaze of glory, recognised as having attained Buddhahood'.
His mortal remains were interred in a bejewelled silver stupa at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, which survived the Cultural Revolution and can still be seen.
Like the Kadampa, the Gelugpa eschewed the tulku system. After Gendun Drup died, however, a boy called Sangyey Pel born to Nyngma adepts at Yolkar in Tsang, declared himself at 3 to be "Gendun Drup" and asked to be 'taken home' to Tashilhunpo. He spoke in mystical verses, quoted classical texts out of the blue and said he was Dromtönpa, an earlier incarnation of the Dalai Lamas. When he saw monks from Tashilhunpo he greeted the disciples of the late Gendun Drup by name. The Gelugpa elders had to break with tradition and recognised him as Gendun Drup's tulku.
He was then 8, but until his 12th year his father took him on his teachings and retreats, training him in all the family Nyingma lineages. At 12 he was installed at Tashilhunpo as Gendun Drup's incarnation, ordained, enthroned and renamed Gendun Gyatso Palzangpo (1475–1542).
Tutored personally by the abbot he made rapid progress and from 1492 at 17 he was requested to teach all over Tsang, where thousands gathered to listen and give obeisance, including senior scholars and abbots. In 1494, at 19, he met some opposition from the Tashilhunpo establishment when tensions arose over conflicts between advocates of the two types of succession, the traditional abbatial election through merit, and incarnation. Although he had served for some years as Tashilhunpo's abbot, he therefore moved to central Tibet, where he was invited to Drepung and where his reputation as a brilliant young teacher quickly grew.
He was accorded all the loyalty and devotion that Gendun Drup had earned and the Gelug school remained as united as ever. This move had the effect of shifting central Gelug authority back to Lhasa. Under his leadership, the sect went on growing in size and influence and with its appeal of simplicity, devotion and austerity its lamas were asked to mediate in disputes between other rivals. Gendun Gyatso's popularity in Ü-Tsang grew as he went on pilgrimage, travelling, teaching and studying from masters such as the adept Khedrup Norzang Gyatso in the Olklha mountains. He also stayed in Kongpo and Dagpo and became known all over Tibet. He spent his winters in Lhasa, writing commentaries and the rest of the year travelling and teaching many thousands of monks and lay people.
In 1509 he moved to southern Tibet to build Chokorgyel Monastery near the 'Oracle Lake', Lhamo Latso, completing it by 1511. That year he saw visions in the lake and 'empowered' it to impart clues to help identify incarnate lamas. All Dalai Lamas from the 3rd on were found with the help of such visions granted to regents. By now widely regarded as one of Tibet's greatest saints and scholars he was invited back to Tashilhunpo. On his return in 1512, he was given the residence built for Gendun Drup, to be occupied later by the Panchen Lamas. He was made abbot of Tashilhunpo and stayed there teaching in Tsang for 9 months.
Gendun Gyatso continued to travel widely and teach while based at Tibet's largest monastery, Drepung and became known as 'Drepung Lama', his fame and influence spreading all over Central Asia as the best students from hundreds of lesser monasteries in Asia were sent to Drepung for education.
Throughout Gendun Gyatso's life, the Gelugpa were opposed and suppressed by older rivals, particularly the Karma Kagyu and their Ringpung clan patrons from Tsang, who felt threatened by their loss of influence. In 1498 the Ringpung army captured Lhasa and banned the Gelugpa annual New Year Monlam Prayer Festival started by Tsongkhapa for world peace and prosperity. Gendun Gyatso was promoted to abbot of Drepung in 1517 and that year Ringpung forces were forced to withdraw from Lhasa.
Gendun Gyatso then went to the Gongma (King) Drakpa Jungne to obtain permission for the festival to be held again. The next New Year, the Gongma was so impressed by Gendun Gyatso's performance leading the Festival that he sponsored construction of a large new residence for him at Drepung, 'a monastery within a monastery'. It was called the Ganden Phodrang, a name later adopted by the Tibetan Government, and it served as home for Dalai Lamas until the Fifth moved to the Potala Palace in 1645.
In 1525, already abbot of Chokhorgyel, Drepung and Tashilhunpo, he was made abbot of Sera monastery as well, and seeing the number of monks was low he worked to increase it. Based at Drepung in winter and Chokorgyel in summer, he spent his remaining years in composing commentaries, regional teaching tours, visiting Tashilhunpo from time to time and acting as abbot of these four great monasteries. As abbot, he made Drepung the largest monastery in the whole of Tibet. He attracted many students and disciples 'from Kashmir to China' as well as major patrons and disciples such as Gongma Nangso Donyopa of Droda who built a monastery at Zhekar Dzong in his honour and invited him to name it and be its spiritual guide.
Gongma Gyaltsen Palzangpo of Khyomorlung at Tolung and his Queen Sangyey Paldzomma also became his favorite devoted lay patrons and disciples in the 1530s and he visited their area to carry out rituals as 'he chose it for his next place of rebirth'. He died in meditation at Drepung in 1542 at 67 and his reliquary stupa was constructed at Khyomorlung. It was said that, by the time he died, through his disciples and their students, his personal influence covered the whole of Buddhist Central Asia where 'there was nobody of any consequence who did not know of him'. The Dalai Lama title was posthumously granted to Gedun Gyatso after 1578.
The Third Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso (1543–1588) was born in Tolung, near Lhasa, as predicted by his predecessor. Claiming he was Gendun Gyatso and readily recalling events from his previous life, he was recognised as the incarnation, named 'Sonam Gyatso' and installed at Drepung, where 'he quickly excelled his teachers in knowledge and wisdom and developed extraordinary powers'. Unlike his predecessors, he came from a noble family, connected with the Sakya and the Phagmo Drupa (Karma Kagyu affiliated) dynasties, and it is to him that the effective conversion of Mongolia to Buddhism is due.
A brilliant scholar and teacher, he had the spiritual maturity to be made Abbot of Drepung, taking responsibility for the material and spiritual well-being of Tibet's largest monastery at the age of nine. At 10 he led the Monlam Prayer Festival, giving daily discourses to the assembly of all Gelugpa monks. His influence grew so quickly that soon the monks at Sera Monastery also made him their Abbot and his mediation was being sought to prevent fighting between political power factions. At 16, in 1559, he was invited to Nedong by King Ngawang Tashi Drakpa, a Karma Kagyu supporter, and became his personal teacher.
At 17, when fighting broke out in Lhasa between Gelug and Kagyu parties and efforts by local lamas to mediate failed, Sonam Gyatso negotiated a peaceful settlement. At 19, when the Kyichu River burst its banks and flooded Lhasa, he led his followers to rescue victims and repair the dykes. He then instituted a custom whereby on the last day of Monlam, all the monks would work on strengthening the flood defences. Gradually, he was shaping himself into a national leader. His popularity and renown became such that in 1564 when the Nedong King died, it was Sonam Gyatso at the age of 21 who was requested to lead his funeral rites, rather than his own Kagyu lamas.
Required to travel and teach without respite after taking full ordination in 1565, he still maintained extensive meditation practices in the hours before dawn and again at the end of the day. In 1569, at age 26, he went to Tashilhunpo to study the layout and administration of the monastery built by his predecessor Gendun Drup. Invited to become the Abbot he declined, already being Abbot of Drepung and Sera, but left his deputy there in his stead. From there he visited Narthang, the first monastery of Gendun Drup and gave numerous discourses and offerings to the monks in gratitude.
Meanwhile, Altan Khan, chief of all the Mongol tribes near China's borders, had heard of Sonam Gyatso's spiritual prowess and repeatedly invited him to Mongolia. By 1571, when Altan Khan received a title of Shunyi Wang (King) from the Ming dynasty of China and swore allegiance to Ming, Although he remained de facto quite independent, he had fulfilled his political destiny and a nephew advised him to seek spiritual salvation, saying that "in Tibet dwells Avalokiteshvara", referring to Sonam Gyatso, then 28 years old. China was also happy to help Altan Khan by providing necessary translations of holy scripture, and also lamas.
At the second invitation, in 1577–78 Sonam Gyatso travelled 1,500 miles to Mongolia to see him. They met in an atmosphere of intense reverence and devotion and their meeting resulted in the re-establishment of strong Tibet-Mongolia relations after a gap of 200 years. To Altan Khan, Sonam Gyatso identified himself as the incarnation of Drogön Chögyal Phagpa, and Altan Khan as that of Kubilai Khan, thus placing the Khan as heir to the Chingizid lineage whilst securing his patronage. Altan Khan and his followers quickly adopted Buddhism as their state religion, replacing the prohibited traditional Shamanism.
Mongol law was reformed to accord with Tibetan Buddhist law. From this time Buddhism spread rapidly across Mongolia and soon the Gelugpa had won the spiritual allegiance of most of the Mongolian tribes. As proposed by Sonam Gyatso, Altan Khan sponsored the building of Thegchen Chonkhor Monastery at the site of Sonam Gyatso's open-air teachings given to the whole Mongol population. He also called Sonam Gyatso "Dalai", Mongolian for 'Gyatso' (Ocean). In October 1587, as requested by the family of Altan Khan, Gyalwa Sonam Gyatso was promoted to Duǒ Er Zhǐ Chàng (Chinese:朵儿只唱) by the emperor of China, seal of authority and golden sheets were granted.
The name "Dalai Lama", by which the lineage later became known throughout the non-Tibetan world, was thus established and it was applied to the first two incarnations retrospectively.
In 1579, the Ming allowed the third Dalai Lama to pay regular tribute. Returning eventually to Tibet by a roundabout route and invited to stay and teach all along the way, in 1580 Sonam Gyatso was in Hohhot [or Ningxia], not far from Beijing, when the Chinese Emperor summoned him to his court. By then he had established a religious empire of such proportions that it was unsurprising the Emperor wanted to summon him and grant him a diploma.
Through Altan Khan, the 3rd Dalai Lama requested to pay tribute to the Emperor of China in order to raise his State Tutor ranking, and the Ming imperial court of China agreed with the request. In 1582, he heard Altan Khan had died and invited by his son Dhüring Khan he decided to return to Mongolia. Passing through Amdo, he founded a second great monastery, Kumbum, at the birthplace of Tsongkhapa near Kokonor. Further on, he was asked to adjudicate on border disputes between Mongolia and China. It was the first time a Dalai Lama had exercised such political authority.
Arriving in Mongolia in 1585, he stayed 2 years with Dhüring Khan, teaching Buddhism to his people and converting more Mongol princes and their tribes. Receiving a second invitation from the Emperor in Beijing he accepted, but died en route in 1588. As he was dying, his Mongolian converts urged him not to leave them, as they needed his continuing religious leadership. He promised them he would be incarnated next in Mongolia, as a Mongolian.
The Fourth Dalai Lama, Yonten Gyatso (1589–1617) was a Mongol, the great-grandson of Altan Khan who was a descendant of Kublai Khan and leader of the Tümed Mongols who had already been converted to Buddhism by the Third Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso (1543–1588). This strong connection caused the Mongols to zealously support the Gelugpa sect in Tibet, strengthening their status and position but also arousing intensified opposition from the Gelugpa's rivals, particularly the Tsang Karma Kagyu in Shigatse and their Mongol patrons and the Bönpo in Kham and their allies. Being the newest school, unlike the older schools the Gelugpa lacked an established network of Tibetan clan patronage and were thus more reliant on foreign patrons.
At the age of 10 with a large Mongol escort he travelled to Lhasa where he was enthroned. He studied at Drepung and became its abbot but being a non-Tibetan he met with opposition from some Tibetans, especially the Karma Kagyu who felt their position was threatened by these emerging events; there were several attempts to remove him from power. Seal of authority was granted in 1616 by Wanli Emperor of Ming. Yonten Gyatso died at the age of 27 under suspicious circumstances and his chief attendant Sonam Rapten went on to discover the 5th Dalai Lama, became his chagdzo or manager and after 1642 he went on to be his regent, the Desi.
The death of the Fourth Dalai Lama in 1617 led to open conflict breaking out between various parties. Firstly, the Tsangpa dynasty, rulers of Central Tibet from Shigatse, supporters of the Karmapa school and rivals to the Gelugpa, forbade the search for his incarnation. However, in 1618 Sonam Rabten, the former attendant of the 4th Dalai Lama who had become the Ganden Phodrang treasurer, secretly identified the child, who had been born to the noble Zahor family at Tagtse castle, south of Lhasa. Then, the Panchen Lama, in Shigatse, negotiated the lifting of the ban, enabling the boy to be recognised as Lobsang Gyatso, the 5th Dalai Lama.
Also in 1618, the Tsangpa King, Karma Puntsok Namgyal, whose Mongol patron was Choghtu Khong Tayiji of the Khalkha Mongols, attacked the Gelugpa in Lhasa to avenge an earlier snub and established two military bases there to control the monasteries and the city. This caused Sonam Rabten who became the 5th Dalai Lama's changdzo or manager, to seek more active Mongol patronage and military assistance for the Gelugpa while the Fifth was still a boy. So, in 1620, Mongol troops allied to the Gelugpa who had camped outside Lhasa suddenly attacked and destroyed the two Tsangpa camps and drove them out of Lhasa, enabling the Dalai Lama to be brought out of hiding and publicly enthroned there in 1622.
In fact, throughout the 5th's minority, it was the influential and forceful Sonam Rabten who inspired the Dzungar Mongols to defend the Gelugpa by attacking their enemies. These enemies included other Mongol tribes who supported the Tsangpas, the Tsangpa themselves and their Bönpo allies in Kham who had also opposed and persecuted Gelugpas. Ultimately, this strategy led to the destruction of the Tsangpa dynasty, the defeat of the Karmapas and their other allies and the Bönpos, by armed forces from the Lhasa valley aided by their Mongol allies, paving the way for Gelugpa political and religious hegemony in Central Tibet.
Apparently by general consensus, by virtue of his position as the Dalai Lama's changdzo (chief attendant, minister), after the Dalai Lama became absolute ruler of Tibet in 1642 Sonam Rabten became the "Desi" or "Viceroy", in fact, the de facto regent or day-to-day ruler of Tibet's governmental affairs. During these years and for the rest of his life (he died in 1658), "there was little doubt that politically Sonam Chophel [Rabten] was more powerful than the Dalai Lama". As a young man, being 22 years his junior, the Dalai Lama addressed him reverentially as "Zhalngo", meaning "the Presence".
During the 1630s Tibet was deeply entangled in rivalry, evolving power struggles and conflicts, not only between the Tibetan religious sects but also between the rising Manchus and the various rival Mongol and Oirat factions, who were also vying for supremacy amongst themselves and on behalf of the religious sects they patronised. For example, Ligdan Khan of the Chahars, a Mongol subgroup who supported the Tsang Karmapas, after retreating from advancing Manchu armies headed for Kokonor intending destroy the Gelug. He died on the way, in 1634.
His vassal Choghtu Khong Tayiji, continued to advance against the Gelugpas, even having his own son Arslan killed after Arslan changed sides, submitted to the Dalai Lama and become a Gelugpa monk. By the mid-1630s, thanks again to the efforts of Sonam Rabten, the 5th Dalai Lama had found a powerful new patron in Güshi Khan of the Khoshut Mongols, a subgroup of the Dzungars, who had recently migrated to the Kokonor area from Dzungaria. He attacked Choghtu Khong Tayiji at Kokonor in 1637 and defeated and killed him, thus eliminating the Tsangpa and the Karmapa's main Mongol patron and protector.
Next, Donyo Dorje, the Bönpo king of Beri in Kham was found writing to the Tsangpa king in Shigatse to propose a co-ordinated 'pincer attack' on the Lhasa Gelugpa monasteries from east and west, seeking to utterly destroy them once and for all. The intercepted letter was sent to Güshi Khan who used it as a pretext to invade central Tibet in 1639 to attack them both, the Bönpo and the Tsangpa. By 1641 he had defeated Donyo Dorje and his allies in Kham and then he marched on Shigatse where after laying siege to their strongholds he defeated Karma Tenkyong, broke the power of the Tsang Karma Kagyu in 1642 and ended the Tsangpa dynasty.
Güshi Khan's attack on the Tsangpa was made on the orders of Sonam Rapten while being publicly and robustly opposed by the Dalai Lama, who, as a matter of conscience, out of compassion and his vision of tolerance for other religious schools, refused to give permission for more warfare in his name after the defeat of the Beri king. Sonam Rabten deviously went behind his master's back to encourage Güshi Khan, to facilitate his plans and to ensure the attacks took place; for this defiance of his master's wishes, Rabten was severely rebuked by the 5th Dalai Lama.
After Desi Sonam Rapten died in 1658, the following year the 5th Dalai Lama appointed his younger brother Depa Norbu (aka Nangso Norbu) as his successor. However, after a few months, Norbu betrayed him and led a rebellion against the Ganden Phodrang Government. With his accomplices he seized Samdruptse fort at Shigatse and tried to raise a rebel army from Tsang and Bhutan, but the Dalai Lama skilfully foiled his plans without any fighting taking place and Norbu had to flee. Four other Desis were appointed after Depa Norbu: Trinle Gyatso, Lozang Tutop, Lozang Jinpa and Sangye Gyatso.
Having thus defeated all the Gelugpa's rivals and resolved all regional and sectarian conflicts Güshi Khan became the undisputed patron of a unified Tibet and acted as a "Protector of the Gelug", establishing the Khoshut Khanate which covered almost the entire Tibetan plateau, an area corresponding roughly to 'Greater Tibet' including Kham and Amdo, as claimed by exiled groups (see maps). At an enthronement ceremony in Shigatse he conferred full sovereignty over Tibet on the Fifth Dalai Lama, unified for the first time since the collapse of the Tibetan Empire exactly eight centuries earlier. Güshi Khan then retired to Kokonor with his armies and [according to Smith] ruled Amdo himself directly thus creating a precedent for the later separation of Amdo from the rest of Tibet.
In this way, Güshi Khan established the Fifth Dalai Lama as the highest spiritual and political authority in Tibet. 'The Great Fifth' became the temporal ruler of Tibet in 1642 and from then on the rule of the Dalai Lama lineage over some, all or most of Tibet lasted with few breaks for the next 317 years, until 1959, when the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India. In 1645, the Great Fifth began the construction of the Potala Palace in Lhasa.
Güshi Khan died in 1655 and was succeeded by his descendants Dayan, Tenzin Dalai Khan and Tenzin Wangchuk Khan. However, Güshi Khan's other eight sons had settled in Amdo but fought amongst themselves over territory so the Fifth Dalai Lama sent governors to rule them in 1656 and 1659, thereby bringing Amdo and thus the whole of Greater Tibet under his personal rule and Gelugpa control. The Mongols in Amdo became absorbed and Tibetanised.
In 1636 the Manchus proclaimed their dynasty as the Qing dynasty and by 1644 they had completed their conquest of China under the prince regent Dorgon. The following year their forces approached Amdo on northern Tibet, causing the Oirat and Khoshut Mongols there to submit in 1647 and send tribute. In 1648, after quelling a rebellion of Tibetans of Gansu-Xining, the Qing invited the Fifth Dalai Lama to visit their court at Beijing since they wished to engender Tibetan influence in their dealings with the Mongols. The Qing were aware the Dalai Lama had extraordinary influence with the Mongols and saw relations with the Dalai Lama as a means to facilitate submission of the Khalka Mongols, traditional patrons of the Karma Kagyu sect.
Similarly, since the Tibetan Gelugpa were keen to revive a priest-patron relationship with the dominant power in China and Inner Asia, the Qing invitation was accepted. After five years of complex diplomatic negotiations about whether the emperor or his representatives should meet the Dalai Lama inside or outside the Great Wall, when the meeting would be astrologically favourable, how it would be conducted and so on, it eventually took place in Beijing in 1653.
The Shunzhi Emperor was then 16 years old, having in the meantime ascended the throne in 1650 after the death of Dorgon. For the Qing, although the Dalai Lama was not required to kowtow to the emperor, who rose from his throne and advanced 30 feet to meet him, the significance of the visit was that of nominal political submission by the Dalai Lama since Inner Asian heads of state did not travel to meet each other but sent envoys. For Tibetan Buddhist historians, however, it was interpreted as the start of an era of independent rule of the Dalai Lamas, and of Qing patronage alongside that of the Mongols.
When the 5th Dalai Lama returned, he was granted by the emperor of China a golden seal of authority and golden sheets with texts written in Manchu, Tibetan and Han Chinese languages. The 5th Dalai Lama wanted to use the golden seal of authority right away. However, Lobzang Gyatsho noted that "The Tibetan version of the inscription of the seal was translated by a Mongol translator but was not a good translation". After correction, it read: "The one who resides in the Western peaceful and virtuous paradise is unalterable Vajradhara, Ocen Lama, unifier of the doctrines of the Buddha for all beings under the sky". The words of the diploma ran: "Proclamation, to let all the people of the western hemisphere know". Tibetan historian Nyima Gyaincain points out that based on the texts written on golden sheets, Dalai Lama was only a subordinate of the Emperor of China.
However, despite such patronising attempts by Chinese officials and historians to symbolically show for the record that they held political influence over Tibet, the Tibetans themselves did not accept any such symbols imposed on them by the Chinese with this kind of motive. For example, concerning the above-mentioned 'golden seal', the Fifth Dalai Lama comments in Dukula, his autobiography, on leaving China after this courtesy visit to the emperor in 1653, that "the emperor made his men bring a golden seal for me that had three vertical lines in three parallel scripts: Chinese, Mongol and Tibetan". He also criticised the words carved on this gift as being faultily translated into Tibetan, writing that "The Tibetan version of the inscription of the seal was translated by a Mongol translator but was not a good translation". Furthermore, when he arrived back in Tibet, he discarded the emperor's famous golden seal and made a new one for important state usage, writing in his autobiography: "Leaving out the Chinese characters that were on the seal given by the emperor, a new seal was carved for stamping documents that dealt with territorial issues. The first imprint of the seal was offered with prayers to the image of Lokeshvara ...".
The 17th-century struggles for domination between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the various Mongol groups spilled over to involve Tibet because of the Fifth Dalai Lama's strong influence over the Mongols as a result of their general adoption of Tibetan Buddhism and their consequent deep loyalty to the Dalai Lama as their guru. Until 1674, the Fifth Dalai Lama had mediated in Dzungar Mongol affairs whenever they required him to do so, and the Kangxi Emperor, who had succeeded the Shunzhi Emperor in 1661, would accept and confirm his decisions automatically.
For the Kangxi Emperor, the alliance between the Dzungar Mongols and the Tibetans was unsettling because he feared it had the potential to unite all the other Mongol tribes together against the Qing Empire, including those tribes who had already submitted. Therefore, in 1674, the Kangxi Emperor, annoyed by the Fifth's less than full cooperation in quelling a rebellion against the Qing in Yunnan, ceased deferring to him as regards Mongol affairs and started dealing with them directly.
In the same year, 1674, the Dalai Lama, then at the height of his powers and conducting a foreign policy independent of the Qing, caused Mongol troops to occupy the border post of Dartsedo between Kham and Sichuan, further annoying the Kangxi Emperor who (according to Smith) already considered Tibet as part of the Qing Empire. It also increased Qing suspicion about Tibetan relations with the Mongol groups and led him to seek strategic opportunities to oppose and undermine Mongol influence in Tibet and eventually, within 50 years, to defeat the Mongols militarily and to establish the Qing as sole 'patrons and protectors' of Tibet in their place.
The time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, who reigned from 1642 to 1682 and founded the government known as the Ganden Phodrang, was a period of rich cultural development. His reign and that of Desi Sangye Gyatso are noteworthy for the upsurge in literary activity and of cultural and economic life that occurred. The same goes for the great increase in the number of foreign visitors thronging Lhasa during the period as well as for the number of inventions and institutions that are attributed to the 'Great Fifth', as the Tibetans refer to him. The most dynamic and prolific of the early Dalai Lamas, he composed more literary works than all the other Dalai Lamas combined. Writing on a wide variety of subjects he is specially noted for his works on history, classical Indian poetry in Sanskrit and his biographies of notable personalities of his epoch, as well as his own two autobiographies, one spiritual in nature and the other political (see Further Reading). He also taught and travelled extensively, reshaped the politics of Central Asia, unified Tibet, conceived and constructed the Potala Palace and is remembered for establishing systems of national medical care and education.
The Fifth Dalai Lama died in 1682. Tibetan historian Nyima Gyaincain points out that the written wills from the fifth Dalai Lama before he died explicitly said his title and authority were from the Emperor of China, and he was subordinate of the Emperor of China .
The Fifth Dalai Lama's death in 1682 was kept secret for fifteen years by his regent Desi Sangye Gyatso. He pretended the Dalai Lama was in retreat and ruled on his behalf, secretly selecting the 6th Dalai Lama and presenting him as someone else. Tibetan historian Nyima Gyaincain points out that Desi Sangye Gyatso wanted to consolidate his personal status and power by not reporting the death of the fifth Dalai Lama to the Emperor of China, and also collude with the rebellion group of the Qing dynasty, Mongol Dzungar tribe in order to counter influence from another Mongol Khoshut tribe in Tibet. Being afraid of prosecution by the Kangxi Emperor of China, Desi Sangye Gyatso explained with fear and trepidation the reason behind his action to the Emperor.
In 1705, Desi Sangye Gyatso was killed by Lha-bzang Khan of the Mongol Khoshut tribe because of his actions including his illegal action of selecting the 6th Dalai Lama. Since the Kangxi Emperor was not happy about Desi Sangye Gyatso's action of not reporting, the Emperor gave Lha-bzang Khan additional title and golden seal. The Kangxi Emperor also ordered Lha-bzang Khan to arrest the 6th Dalai Lama and send him to Beijing, the 6th Dalai Lama died when he was en route to Beijing. Journalist Thomas Laird argues that it was apparently done so that construction of the Potala Palace could be finished, and it was to prevent Tibet's neighbors, the Mongols and the Qing, from taking advantage of an interregnum in the succession of the Dalai Lamas.
The Sixth Dalai Lama (1683–1706) was born near Tawang, now in India, and picked out in 1685 but not enthroned until 1697 when the death of the Fifth was announced. After 16 years of study as a novice monk, in 1702 in his 20th year he rejected full ordination and gave up his monk's robes and monastic life, preferring the lifestyle of a layman.
In 1703 Güshi Khan's ruling grandson Tenzin Wangchuk Khan was murdered by his brother Lhazang Khan who usurped the Khoshut's Tibetan throne, but unlike his four predecessors he started interfering directly in Tibetan affairs in Lhasa; he opposed the Fifth Dalai Lama's regent, Desi Sangye Gyatso for his deceptions and in the same year, with the support of the Kangxi Emperor, he forced him out of office. Then in 1705, he used the Sixth's escapades as an excuse to seize full control of Tibet. Most Tibetans, though, still supported their Dalai Lama despite his behaviour and deeply resented Lhazang Khan's interference.
When Lhazang was requested by the Tibetans to leave Lhasa politics to them and to retire to Kokonor like his predecessors, he quit the city, but only to gather his armies in order to return, capture Lhasa militarily and assume full political control of Tibet. The regent was then murdered by Lhazang or his wife, and, in 1706 with the compliance of the Kangxi Emperor the Sixth Dalai Lama was deposed and arrested by Lhazang who considered him to be an impostor set up by the regent. Lhazang Khan, now acting as the only outright foreign ruler that Tibet had ever had, then sent him to Beijing under escort to appear before the emperor but he died mysteriously on the way near Lake Qinghai, ostensibly from illness.
Having discredited and deposed the Sixth Dalai Lama, whom he considered an impostor, and having removed the regent, Lhazang Khan pressed the Lhasa Gelugpa lamas to endorse a new Dalai Lama in Tsangyang Gyatso's place as the true incarnation of the Fifth. They eventually nominated one Pekar Dzinpa, a monk but also rumored to be Lhazang's son, and Lhazang had him installed as the 'real' Sixth Dalai Lama, endorsed by the Panchen Lama and named Yeshe Gyatso in 1707. This choice was in no way accepted by the Tibetan people, however, nor by Lhazang's princely Mongol rivals in Kokonor who resented his usurpation of the Khoshut Tibetan throne as well as his meddling in Tibetan affairs.
The Kangxi Emperor concurred with them, after sending investigators, initially declining to recognize Yeshe Gyatso. He recognized him in 1710, after sending a Qing official party to assist Lhazang in 'restoring order'. These were the first Chinese representatives of any sort to officiate in Tibet. At the same time, while this puppet 'Dalai Lama' had no political power, the Kangxi Emperor secured from Lhazang Khan in return for this support the promise of regular payments of tribute; this was the first time tribute had been paid to the Manchu by the Mongols in Tibet and the first overt acknowledgment of Qing supremacy over Mongol rule in Tibet.
In 1708, in accordance with an indication given by the 6th Dalai Lama when quitting Lhasa, a child called Kelzang Gyatso had been born at Lithang in eastern Tibet who was soon claimed by local Tibetans to be his incarnation. After going into hiding out of fear of Lhazang Khan, he was installed in Lithang monastery. Along with some of the Kokonor Mongol princes, rivals of Lhazang, in defiance of the situation in Lhasa the Tibetans of Kham duly recognised him as the Seventh Dalai Lama in 1712, retaining his birth-name of Kelzang Gyatso. For security reasons he was moved to Derge monastery and eventually, in 1716, now also backed and sponsored by the Kangxi Emperor of China.
The Tibetans asked Dzungars to bring a true Dalai Lama to Lhasa, but the Manchu Chinese did not want to release Kelsan Gyatso to the Mongol Dzungars. The Regent Taktse Shabdrung and Tibetan officials then wrote a letter to the Manchu Chinese Emperor that they recognized Kelsang Gyatso as the Dalai Lama. The Emperor then granted Kelsang Gyatso a golden seal of authority. The Sixth Dalai Lama was taken to Amdo at the age of 8 to be installed in Kumbum Monastery with great pomp and ceremony.
According to Smith, the Kangxi Emperor now arranged to protect the child and keep him at Kumbum monastery in Amdo in reserve just in case his ally Lhasang Khan and his 'real' Sixth Dalai Lama, were overthrown. According to Mullin, however, the emperor's support came from genuine spiritual recognition and respect rather than being politically motivated.
In any case, the Kangxi Emperor took full advantage of having Kelzang Gyatso under Qing control at Kumbum after other Mongols from the Dzungar tribes led by Tsewang Rabtan who was related to his supposed ally Lhazang Khan, deceived and betrayed the latter by invading Tibet and capturing Lhasa in 1717.
These Dzungars, who were Buddhist, had supported the Fifth Dalai Lama and his regent. They were secretly petitioned by the Lhasa Gelugpa lamas to invade with their help in order to rid them of their foreign ruler Lhazang Khan and to replace the unpopular Sixth Dalai Lama pretender with the young Kelzang Gyatso. This plot suited the devious Dzungar leaders' ambitions and they were only too happy to oblige. Early in 1717, after conspiring to undermine Lhazang Khan through treachery they entered Tibet from the northwest with a large army, sending a smaller force to Kumbum to collect Kelzang Gyatso and escort him to Lhasa.
By the end of the year, with Tibetan connivance they had captured Lhasa, killed Lhazang and all his family and deposed Yeshe Gyatso. Their force sent to fetch Kelzang Gyatso, however, was intercepted and destroyed by Qing armies alerted by Lhazang. In Lhasa, the unruly Dzungar not only failed to produce the boy but also went on the rampage, looting and destroying the holy places, abusing the populace, killing hundreds of Nyingma monks, causing chaos and bloodshed and turning their Tibetan allies against them. The Tibetans were soon appealing to the Kangxi Emperor to rid them of the Dzungars.
When the Dzungars had first attacked, the weakened Lhazang sent word to the Qing for support and they quickly dispatched two armies to assist, the first Chinese armies ever to enter Tibet, but they arrived too late. In 1718 they were halted not far from Lhasa to be defeated and then ruthlessly annihilated by the triumphant Dzungars in the Battle of the Salween River.
This humiliation only determined the Kangxi Emperor to expel the Dzungars from Tibet once and for all and he set about assembling and dispatching a much larger force to march on Lhasa, bringing the emperor's trump card the young Kelzang Gyatso with it. On the imperial army's stately passage from Kumbum to Lhasa with the boy being welcomed adoringly at every stage, Khoshut Mongols and Tibetans were happy (and well paid) to join and swell its ranks.
By the autumn of 1720, the marauding Dzungar Mongols had been vanquished from Tibet. Qing imperial forces had entered Lhasa triumphantly with the 12-year-old, acting as patrons of the Dalai Lama, liberators of Tibet, allies of the Tibetan anti-Dzungar forces led by Kangchenas and Polhanas, and allies of the Khoshut Mongol princes. The delighted Tibetans enthroned him as the Seventh Dalai Lama at the Potala Palace.
A new Tibetan government was established consisting of a Kashag or cabinet of Tibetan ministers headed by Kangchenas. Kelzang Gyatso, too young to participate in politics, studied Buddhism. He played a symbolic role in government, and, being profoundly revered by the Mongols, he exercised much influence with the Qing who now had now taken over Tibet's patronage and protection from them.
Having vanquished the Dzungars, the Qing army withdrew leaving the Seventh Dalai Lama as a political figurehead and only a Khalkha Mongol as the Qing amban or representative and a garrison in Lhasa. After the Kangxi Emperor died in 1722 and was succeeded by his son, the Yongzheng Emperor, these were also withdrawn, leaving the Tibetans to rule autonomously and showing the Qing were interested in an alliance, not conquest. In 1723, after brutally quelling a major rebellion by zealous Tibetan patriots and disgruntled Khoshut Mongols from Amdo who attacked Xining, the Qing intervened again, splitting Tibet by putting Amdo and Kham under their own more direct control.
Continuing Qing interference in Central Tibetan politics and religion incited an anti-Qing faction to quarrel with the Qing-sympathising Tibetan nobles in power in Lhasa, led by Kanchenas who was supported by Polhanas. This led eventually to the murder of Kanchenas in 1727 and a civil war that was resolved in 1728 with the canny Polhanas, who had sent for Qing assistance, the victor. When the Qing forces did arrive they punished the losers and exiled the Seventh Dalai Lama to Kham, under the pretence of sending him to Beijing, because his father had assisted the defeated, anti-Qing faction. He studied and taught Buddhism there for the next seven years.
In 1735 he was allowed back to Lhasa to study and teach, but still under strict control, being mistrusted by the Qing, while Polhanas ruled Central Tibet under nominal Qing supervision. Meanwhile, the Qing had promoted the Fifth Panchen Lama to be a rival leader and reinstated the ambans and the Lhasa garrison. Polhanas died in 1747. He was succeeded by his son Gyurme Namgyal, the last dynastic ruler of Tibet, who was far less cooperative with the Qing. He built a Tibetan army and started conspiring with the Dzungars to rid Tibet of Qing influence. In 1750, when the ambans realised this, they invited him and personally assassinated him. Despite the Dalai Lama's attempts to calm the angered populace, a vengeful Tibetan mob assassinated the ambans, along with most of their escort.
The Qing sent yet another force 'to restore order' but when it arrived the situation had already been stabilised under the leadership of the 7th Dalai Lama who was now seen to have demonstrated loyalty to the Qing. Just as Güshi Khan had done with the Fifth Dalai Lama, they therefore helped reconstitute the government with the Dalai Lama presiding over a Kashag of four Tibetans, reinvesting him with temporal power in addition to his already established spiritual leadership. This arrangement, with a Kashag under the Dalai Lama or his regent, outlasted the Qing dynasty which collapsed in 1912.
The ambans and their garrison were reinstated to observe and to some extent supervise affairs. Their influence generally waned with the power of their empire, which gradually declined after 1792 along with its influence over Tibet, a decline aided by a succession of corrupt or incompetent ambans. Moreover, there was soon no reason for the Qing to fear the Dzungar; by the time the Seventh Dalai Lama died in 1757 at the age of 49, the entire Dzungar people had been practically exterminated through years of genocidal campaigns by Qing armies, and deadly smallpox epidemics, with the survivors being forcibly transported into China. Their emptied lands were then awarded to other peoples.
According to Mullin, despite living through such violent times Kelzang Gyatso was perhaps 'the most spiritually learned and accomplished of any Dalai Lama', his written works comprising several hundred titles including 'some of Tibet's finest spiritual literary achievements'. Despite his apparent lack of zeal in politics, Kelzang Gyatso is credited with establishing in 1751 the reformed government of Tibet headed by the Dalai Lama, which continued over 200 years until the 1950s, and then in exile. Construction of the Norbulingka, the 'Summer Palace' of the Dalai Lamas in Lhasa was started during Kelzang Gyatso's reign.
The Eighth Dalai Lama, Jamphel Gyatso was born in Tsang in 1758 and died aged 46 having taken little part in Tibetan politics, mostly leaving temporal matters to his regents and the ambans. The 8th Dalai Lama was approved by the Emperor of China to be exempted from the lot-drawing ceremony of using Chinese Golden Urn. Qianlong Emperor officially accept Gyiangbai as the 8th Dalai Lama when the 6th Panchen Erdeni came to congratulate the Emperor on his 70th birthday in 1780. The 8th Dalai Lama was granted a jade seal of authority and jade sheets of confirmation of authority by the Emperor of China. The jade sheets of confirmation of authority says
You, the Dalai Lama, is the legal incarnation of Zhongkapa. You are granted the jade certificate of confirmation of authority and jade seal of authority, which you enshrine in the Potala monastery to guard the gate of Buddhism forever. All documents sent for the country's important ceremonies must be stamped with this seal, and all the other reports can be stamped with the original seal. Since you enjoy such honor, you have to make efforts to promote self-cultivation, study and propagate Buddhism, also help me in promoting Buddhism and goodness of the previous generation of the Dalai Lama for the people, and also for the long life of our country"
The Dalai Lama, his later generations and the local government cherished both the jade seal of authority, and the jade sheets of authority. They were properly preserved as the root to their ruling power.
Although the 8th Dalai Lama lived almost as long as the Seventh he was overshadowed by many contemporary lamas in terms of both religious and political accomplishment. According to Mullin, the 14th Dalai Lama has pointed to certain indications that Jamphel Gyatso might not have been the incarnation of the 7th Dalai Lama but of Jamyang Chojey, a disciple of Tsongkhapa and founder of Drepung monastery who was also reputed to be an incarnation of Avalokiteshvara. In any case, he mainly lived a quiet and unassuming life as a devoted and studious monk, uninvolved in the kind of dramas that had surrounded his predecessors.
Nevertheless, Jamphel Gyatso was also said to possess all the signs of being the true incarnation of the Seventh. This was also claimed to have been confirmed by many portents clear to the Tibetans and so, in 1762, at the age of 5, he was duly enthroned as the Eighth Dalai Lama at the Potala Palace. At the age of 23 he was persuaded to assume the throne as ruler of Tibet with a Regent to assist him and after three years of this, when the Regent went to Beijing as ambassador in 1784, he continued to rule solo for a further four years. Feeling unsuited to worldly affairs, however, and unhappy in this role, he then retired from public office to concentrate on religious activities for his remaining 16 years until his death in 1804. He is also credited with the construction of the Norbulingka 'Summer Palace' started by his predecessor in Lhasa and with ordaining some ten thousand monks in his efforts to foster monasticism.
Hugh Richardson's summary of the period covering the four short-lived, 19th-century Dalai Lamas:
After him [the 8th Dalai Lama, Jamphel Gyatso], the 9th and 10th Dalai Lamas died before attaining their majority: one of them is credibly stated to have been murdered and strong suspicion attaches to the other. The 11th and 12th were each enthroned but died soon after being invested with power. For 113 years, therefore, supreme authority in Tibet was in the hands of a Lama Regent, except for about two years when a lay noble held office and for short periods of nominal rule by the 11th and 12th Dalai Lamas.It has sometimes been suggested that this state of affairs was brought about by the Ambans—the Imperial Residents in Tibet—because it would be easier to control the Tibet through a Regent than when a Dalai Lama, with his absolute power, was at the head of the government. That is not true. The regular ebb and flow of events followed its set course. The Imperial Residents in Tibet, after the first flush of zeal in 1750, grew less and less interested and efficient. Tibet was, to them, exile from the urbanity and culture of Peking; and so far from dominating the Regents, the Ambans allowed themselves to be dominated. It was the ambition and greed for power of Tibetans that led to five successive Dalai Lamas being subjected to continuous tutelage.
Thubten Jigme Norbu, the elder brother of the 14th Dalai Lama, described these unfortunate events as follows, although there are few, if any, indications that any of the four were said to be 'Chinese-appointed imposters':
It is perhaps more than a coincidence that between the seventh and the thirteenth holders of that office, only one reached his majority. The eighth, Gyampal Gyatso, died when he was in his thirties, Lungtog Gyatso when he was eleven, Tsultrim Gyatso at eighteen, Khadrup Gyatso when he was eighteen also, and Krinla Gyatso at about the same age. The circumstances are such that it is very likely that some, if not all, were poisoned, either by loyal Tibetans for being Chinese-appointed impostors, or by the Chinese for not being properly manageable. Many Tibetans think that this was done at the time when the young [Dalai Lama] made his ritual visit to the Lake Lhamtso. ... Each of the four [Dalai Lamas] to die young expired shortly after his visit to the lake. Many said it was because they were not the true reincarnations, but imposters imposed by the Chinese. Others tell stories of how the cooks of the retinue, which in those days included many Chinese, were bribed to put poison in the [Dalai Lama's] food. The 13th [Dalai Lama] did not visit Lhamtso until he was 25 years old. He was adequately prepared by spiritual exercise and he also had faithful cooks. The Chinese were disappointed when he did not die like his predecessors, and he was to live long enough to give them much more cause for regret.
According to Mullin, on the other hand, it is improbable that the Manchus would have murdered any of these four for being 'unmanageable' since it would have been in their best interests to have strong Dalai Lamas ruling in Lhasa, he argues, agreeing with Richardson that it was rather "the ambition and greed for power of Tibetans" that might have caused the Lamas' early deaths. Further, if Tibetan nobles murdered any of them, it would more likely have been in order to protect or enhance their family interests rather than out of suspicion that the Dalai Lamas were seen as Chinese-appointed imposters as suggested by Norbu. They could also have died from illnesses, possibly contracted from diseases to which they had no immunity, carried to Lhasa by the multitudes of pilgrims visiting from nearby countries for blessings. Finally, from the Buddhist point of view, Mullin says, "Simply stated, these four Dalai Lamas died young because the world did not have enough good karma to deserve their presence".
Tibetan historian K. Dhondup, however, in his history The Water-Bird and Other Years, based on the Tibetan minister Surkhang Sawang Chenmo's historical manuscripts, disagrees with Mullin's opinion that having strong Dalai Lamas in power in Tibet would have been in China's best interests. He notes that many historians are compelled to suspect Manchu foul play in these serial early deaths because the Ambans had such latitude to interfere; the Manchu, he says, "to perpetuate their domination over Tibetan affairs, did not desire a Dalai Lama who will ascend the throne and become a strong and capable ruler over his own country and people". The life and deeds of the 13th Dalai Lama [in successfully upholding de facto Tibetan independence from China from 1912 to 1950] serve as the living proof of this argument, he points out. This account also corresponds with TJ Norbu's observations above.
Finally, while acknowledging the possibility, the 14th Dalai Lama himself doubts they were poisoned. He ascribes the probable cause of these early deaths to negligence, foolishness and lack of proper medical knowledge and attention. "Even today" he is quoted as saying, "when people get sick, some [Tibetans] will say: 'Just do your prayers, you don't need medical treatment.'"
Born in Kham in 1805–6 amidst the usual miraculous signs the Ninth Dalai Lama, Lungtok Gyatso was appointed by the 7th Panchen Lama's search team at the age of two and enthroned in the Potala in 1808 at an impressive ceremony attended by representatives from China, Mongolia, Nepal and Bhutan. Exemption from using Golden Urn was approved by the Emperor. Tibetan historian Nyima Gyaincain and Wang Jiawei point out that the 9th Dalai Lama was allowed to use the seal of authority given to the late 8th Dalai Lama by the Emperor of China
His second Regent Demo Tulku was the biographer of the 8th and 9th Dalai Lamas and though the 9th died at the age of 9, his biography is as lengthy as those of many of the early Dalai Lamas. In 1793 under Manchu pressure, Tibet had closed its borders to foreigners. In 1811, a British Sinologist, Thomas Manning became the first Englishman to visit Lhasa. Considered to be 'the first Chinese scholar in Europe' he stayed five months and gave enthusiastic accounts in his journal of his regular meetings with the Ninth Dalai Lama whom he found fascinating: "beautiful, elegant, refined, intelligent, and entirely self-possessed, even at the age of six". Three years later in March 1815 the young Lungtok Gyatso caught a severe cold and, leaving the Potala Palace to preside over the Monlam Prayer Festival, he contracted pneumonia from which he soon died.
Like the Seventh Dalai Lama, the Tenth, Tsultrim Gyatso, was born in Lithang, Kham, where the Third Dalai Lama had built a monastery. It was 1816 and Regent Demo Tulku and the Seventh Panchen Lama followed indications from Nechung, the 'state oracle' which led them to appoint him at the age of two. He passed all the tests and was brought to Lhasa but official recognition was delayed until 1822 when he was enthroned and ordained by the Seventh Panchen Lama. There are conflicting reports about whether the Chinese 'Golden Urn' was utilised by drawing lots to choose him, but lot-drawing result was reported and approved by emperor. The 10th Dalai Lama mentioned in his biography that he was allowed to use the golden seal of authority based on the convention set up by the late Dalai Lama. At the investiture, decree of the Emperor of China was issued and read out.
After 15 years of intensive studies and failing health he died, in 1837, at the age of 20 or 21. He identified with ordinary people rather than the court officials and often sat on his verandah in the sunshine with the office clerks. Intending to empower the common people he planned to institute political and economic reforms to share the nation's wealth more equitably. Over this period his health had deteriorated, the implication being that he may have suffered from slow poisoning by Tibetan aristocrats whose interests these reforms were threatening. He was also dissatisfied with his Regent and the Kashag and scolded them for not alleviating the condition of the common people, who had suffered much in small ongoing regional civil wars waged in Kokonor between Mongols, local Tibetans and the government over territory, and in Kham to extract unpaid taxes from rebellious Tibetan communities.
Born in Gathar, Kham in 1838 and soon discovered by the official search committee with the help of the Nechung Oracle, the Eleventh Dalai Lama was brought to Lhasa in 1841 and recognised, enthroned and named Khedrup Gyatso by the Panchen Lama on April 16, 1842, seal of authority and golden sheets were granted on the same date. Sitting-in-the-bed ceremony was held in July 1844. After that he was immersed in religious studies under the Panchen Lama, amongst other great masters. Meanwhile, there were court intrigues and ongoing power struggles taking place between the various Lhasa factions, the Regent, the Kashag, the powerful nobles and the abbots and monks of the three great monasteries. The Tsemonling Regent became mistrusted and was forcibly deposed, there were machinations, plots, beatings and kidnappings of ministers and so forth, resulting at last in the Panchen Lama being appointed as interim Regent to keep the peace.
Eventually the Third Reting Rinpoche was made Regent, and in 1855, Khedrup Gyatso, appearing to be an extremely promising prospect, was requested to take the reins of power at the age of 17. He was enthroned as ruler of Tibet in 1855, on orders of the Xianfeng Emperor. He died after just 11 months, no reason for his sudden and premature death being given in these accounts, Shakabpa and Mullin's histories both being based on untranslated Tibetan chronicles. The respected Reting Rinpoche was recalled once again to act as Regent and requested to lead the search for the next incarnation, the twelfth.
In 1856, a child was born in south central Tibet amidst all the usual extraordinary signs. He came to the notice of the search team, was investigated, passed the traditional tests and was recognised as the 12th Dalai Lama in 1858. The use of the Chinese Golden Urn at the insistence of the Regent, who was later accused of being a Chinese lackey, confirmed this choice to the satisfaction of all. Renamed Trinley Gyatso and enthroned on July 3rd, 1860 after emperor's edict from Amban was announced. The boy underwent 13 years of intensive tutelage and training before stepping up to rule Tibet at the age of 17.
His minority seems a time of even deeper Lhasan political intrigue and power struggles than his predecessor's. By 1862 this led to a coup by Wangchuk Shetra, a minister whom the Regent had banished for conspiring against him. Shetra contrived to return, deposed the Regent, who fled to China, and seized power, appointing himself 'Desi' or Prime Minister. He then ruled with "absolute power" for three years, quelling a major rebellion in northern Kham in 1863 and re-establishing Tibetan control over significant Qing-held territory there. Shetra died in 1864 and the Kashag re-assumed power. The retired 76th Ganden Tripa, Khyenrab Wangchuk, was appointed as 'Regent' but his role was limited to supervising and mentoring Trinley Gyatso.
In 1868 Shetra's coup organiser, a semi-literate Ganden monk named Palden Dondrup, seized power by another coup and ruled as a cruel despot for three years, putting opponents to death by having them 'sewn into fresh animal skins and thrown in the river'. In 1871, at the request of officials outraged after Dondrup had done just that with one minister and imprisoned several others, he in turn was ousted and committed suicide after a counter-coup coordinated by the supposedly powerless 'Regent' Khyenrab Wangchuk. As a result of this action this venerable old Regent, who died the next year, is fondly remembered by Tibetans as saviour of the Dalai Lama and the nation. The Kashag and the Tsongdu or National Assembly were re-instated, and, presided over by a Dalai Lama or his Regent, ruled without further interruption until 1959.
According to Smith, however, during Trinley Gyatso's minority, the Regent was deposed in 1862 for abuse of authority and closeness with China, by an alliance of monks and officials called Gandre Drungche (Ganden and Drepung Monks Assembly); this body then ruled Tibet for ten years until dissolved, when a National Assembly of monks and officials called the Tsongdu was created and took over. Smith makes no mention of Shetra or Dondrup acting as usurpers and despots in this period.
In any case, Trinley Gyatso died within three years of assuming power. In 1873, at the age of 20 "he suddenly became ill and passed away". On the cause of his early death, accounts diverge. Mullin relates an interesting theory, based on cited Tibetan sources: out of concern for the monastic tradition, Trinley Gyatso chose to die and reincarnate as the 13th Dalai Lama, rather than taking the option of marrying a woman called Rigma Tsomo from Kokonor and leaving an heir to "oversee Tibet's future". Shakabpa on the other hand, without citing sources, notes that Trinley Gyatso was influenced and manipulated by two close acquaintances who were subsequently accused of having a hand in his fatal illness and imprisoned, tortured and exiled as a result.
In 1877, request to exempt Lobu Zangtab Kaijia Mucuo (Chinese: 罗布藏塔布开甲木措) from using lot-drawing process Golden Urn to become the 13th Dalai Lama was approved by the Central Government. The 13th Dalai Lama assumed ruling power from the monasteries, which previously had great influence on the Regent, in 1895. Due to his two periods of exile in 1904–1909 to escape the British invasion of 1904, and from 1910–1912 to escape a Chinese invasion, he became well aware of the complexities of international politics and was the first Dalai Lama to become aware of the importance of foreign relations. After his return from exile in India and Sikkim during January 1913, he assumed control of foreign relations and dealt directly with the Maharaja, with the British Political officer in Sikkim and with the king of Nepal – rather than letting the Kashag or parliament do it.
The Great Thirteenth Thubten Gyatso then published the Tibetan Declaration of Independence for the entirety of Tibet in 1913. Tibet's independence was never recognized by the Chinese (who claimed all land ever administered by the Manchus) but was recognized by the Kingdom of Nepal, who would use Tibet as one of its first references regarding its independent status when submitting an application to join the UN. On it, Nepal listed Tibet as a country just as independent and sovereign, with no mention of Chinese 'suzerainty'. Its relations with Tibet were apparently second in significance only to its relations with Britain, and even more significant than its relations with the USA or even India.
Furthermore, Tibet and Mongolia both signed the Treaty of friendship and alliance between the Government of Mongolia and Tibet. Neither countries' independence statuses were ever recognized by the KMT government in China, who would continue to completely claim both as Chinese territory. He expelled the ambans and all Chinese civilians in the country and instituted many measures to modernize Tibet. These included provisions to curb excessive demands on peasants for provisions by the monasteries and tax evasion by the nobles, setting up an independent police force, the abolition of the death penalty, extension of secular education, and the provision of electricity throughout the city of Lhasa in the 1920s. He died in 1933.
The 14th Dalai Lama was born on 6 July 1935 on a straw mat in a cowshed to a farmer's family in a remote part of Tibet. According to most Western journalistic sources he was born into a humble family of farmers as one of 16 children, and one of the three reincarnated Rinpoches in the same family. On February 5, 1940, request to exempt Lhamo Thondup (Chinese: 拉木登珠) from lot-drawing process to become the 14th Dalai Lama was approved by the Central Government.
The 14th Dalai Lama was not formally enthroned until 17 November 1950, during the Battle of Chamdo with the People's Republic of China. On 18 April 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama issued statement that in 1951, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government were pressured into accepting the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet by which it became formally incorporated into the People's Republic of China. The United States already informed the Dalai Lama in 1951 that in order to receive assistance and support from the United States, he must depart from Tibet and publicly disavow "agreements concluded under duress" between the representatives of Tibet and China. Fearing for his life in the wake of a revolt in Tibet in 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India, from where he led a government in exile.
With the aim of launching guerrilla operations against the Chinese, the Central Intelligence Agency funded the Dalai Lama's administration with US$1.7 million a year in the 1960s. In 2001 the 14th Dalai Lama ceded his partial power over the government to an elected parliament of selected Tibetan exiles. His original goal was full independence for Tibet, but by the late 1980s he was seeking high-level autonomy instead. He continued to seek greater autonomy from China, but Dolma Gyari, deputy speaker of the parliament-in-exile, stated: "If the middle path fails in the short term, we will be forced to opt for complete independence or self-determination as per the UN charter".
The 14th Dalai Lama became one of the two most popular world leaders by 2013 (tied with Barack Obama), according to a poll conducted by Harris Interactive of New York, which sampled public opinion in the US and six major European countries.
In 2014 and 2016, he stated that Tibet wants to be part of China but China should let Tibet preserve its culture and script.
In 2018, he stated that "Europe belongs to the Europeans" and that Europe has a moral obligation to aid refugees whose lives are in peril. Further he stated that Europe should receive, help and educate refugees but ultimately they should return to develop their home countries. He made similar comments in an interview the following year, in which he also said "If female Dalai Lama comes, then (she) should be more attractive", because if a female Dalai Lama looked a certain way people would "prefer not see … that face."
In March 2019, the Dalai Lama spoke out about his successor, saying that after his death he is likely to be reincarnated in India. He also warned that any Chinese interference in succession should not be considered valid.
In October 2020, he stated that he did not support Tibetan independence and hoped to visit China as a Nobel Prize winner. He said "I prefer the concept of a 'republic' in the People's Republic of China. In the concept of republic, ethnic minorities are like Tibetans, The Mongols, Manchus, and Xinjiang Uyghurs, we can live in harmony".
In December 2021, he praised India as a role model for religious harmony in the world.
A February 2023 video shows the Dalai Lama in the city of Dharamshala, India, asking a boy for a kiss on the lips, and then to suck his tongue. He later apologized for the incident and expressed regret through a statement that claimed he "often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras" and "regrets the incident."
The 1st Dalai Lama was based at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, which he founded. The Second to the Fifth Dalai Lamas were mainly based at Drepung Monastery outside Lhasa. In 1645, after the unification of Tibet, the Fifth moved to the ruins of a royal fortress or residence on top of Marpori ('Red Mountain') in Lhasa and decided to build a palace on the same site. This ruined palace, called Tritse Marpo, was originally built around 636 AD by the founder of the Tibetan Empire, Songtsen Gampo for his Nepalese wife. Amongst the ruins there was just a small temple left where Tsongkhapa had given a teaching when he arrived in Lhasa in the 1380s.
The Fifth Dalai Lama began construction of the Potala Palace on this site in 1645, carefully incorporating what was left of his predecessor's palace into its structure. From then on and until today, unless on tour or in exile the Dalai Lamas have always spent their winters at the Potala Palace and their summers at the Norbulingka palace and park. Both palaces are in Lhasa and approximately 3 km apart.
Following the failed 1959 Tibetan uprising, the 14th Dalai Lama sought refuge in India. Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru allowed in the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government officials. The Dalai Lama has since lived in exile in McLeod Ganj, in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh in northern India, where the Central Tibetan Administration is established. His residence on the Temple Road in McLeod Ganj is called the Dalai Lama Temple and is visited by people from across the globe. Tibetan refugees have constructed and opened many schools and Buddhist temples in Dharamshala.
By the Himalayan tradition, phowa is the discipline that is believed to transfer the mindstream to the intended body. Upon the death of the Dalai Lama and consultation with the Nechung Oracle, a search for the Lama's yangsi, or reincarnation, is conducted. The government of the People's Republic of China has stated its intention to be the ultimate authority on the selection of the next Dalai Lama.
High Lamas may also claim to have a vision by a dream or if the Dalai Lama was cremated, they will often monitor the direction of the smoke as an 'indication' of the direction of the expected rebirth.
If there is only one boy found, the High Lamas will invite Living Buddhas of the three great monasteries, together with secular clergy and monk officials, to 'confirm their findings' and then report to the Central Government through the Minister of Tibet. Later, a group consisting of the three major servants of Dalai Lama, eminent officials, and troops will collect the boy and his family and travel to Lhasa, where the boy would be taken, usually to Drepung Monastery, to study the Buddhist sutra in preparation for assuming the role of spiritual leader of Tibet.
If there are several possible claimed reincarnations, however, regents, eminent officials, monks at the Jokhang in Lhasa, and the Minister to Tibet have historically decided on the individual by putting the boys' names inside an urn and drawing one lot in public if it was too difficult to judge the reincarnation initially.
In his autobiography, Freedom in Exile, the Dalai Lama states that after he dies it is possible that his people will no longer want a Dalai Lama, in which case there would be no search for the Lama's reincarnation. "So, I might take rebirth as an insect, or an animal - whatever would be of most value to the largest number of sentient beings" (p.237).
There have been 14 recognised incarnations of the Dalai Lama:
There has also been one non-recognised Dalai Lama, Ngawang Yeshe Gyatso, declared 28 June 1707, when he was 25 years old, by Lha-bzang Khan as the "true" 6th Dalai Lama – however, he was never accepted as such by the majority of the population.
In the mid-1970s, Tenzin Gyatso told a Polish newspaper that he thought he would be the last Dalai Lama. In a later interview published in the English language press he stated, "The Dalai Lama office was an institution created to benefit others. It is possible that it will soon have outlived its usefulness." These statements caused a furore amongst Tibetans in India. Many could not believe that such an option could even be considered. It was further felt that it was not the Dalai Lama's decision to reincarnate. Rather, they felt that since the Dalai Lama is a national institution it was up to the people of Tibet to decide whether the Dalai Lama should reincarnate.
The government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) has claimed the power to approve the naming of "high" reincarnations in Tibet, based on a precedent set by the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty. The Qianlong Emperor instituted a system of selecting the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama by a lottery that used a Golden Urn with names wrapped in clumps of barley. This method was used a few times for both positions during the 19th century, but eventually fell into disuse.
In 1995, the Dalai Lama chose to proceed with the selection of the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama without the use of the Golden Urn, while the Chinese government insisted that it must be used. This has led to two rival Panchen Lamas: Gyaincain Norbu as chosen by the Chinese government's process, and Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as chosen by the Dalai Lama. However, Nyima was abducted by the Chinese government shortly after being chosen as the Panchen Lama and has not been seen in public since 1995.
In September 2007, the Chinese government said all high monks must be approved by the government, which would include the selection of the 15th Dalai Lama after the death of Tenzin Gyatso. Since by tradition, the Panchen Lama must approve the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, that is another possible method of control. Consequently, the Dalai Lama has alluded to the possibility of a referendum to determine the 15th Dalai Lama.
In response to this scenario, Tashi Wangdi, the representative of the 14th Dalai Lama, replied that the Chinese government's selection would be meaningless. "You can't impose an Imam, an Archbishop, saints, any religion...you can't politically impose these things on people", said Wangdi. "It has to be a decision of the followers of that tradition. The Chinese can use their political power: force. Again, it's meaningless. Like their Panchen Lama. And they can't keep their Panchen Lama in Tibet. They tried to bring him to his monastery many times but people would not see him. How can you have a religious leader like that?"
The 14th Dalai Lama said as early as 1969 that it was for the Tibetans to decide whether the institution of the Dalai Lama "should continue or not". He has given reference to a possible vote occurring in the future for all Tibetan Buddhists to decide whether they wish to recognize his rebirth. In response to the possibility that the PRC might attempt to choose his successor, the Dalai Lama said he would not be reborn in a country controlled by the People's Republic of China or any other country which is not free. According to Robert D. Kaplan, this could mean that "the next Dalai Lama might come from the Tibetan cultural belt that stretches across Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, presumably making him even more pro-Indian and hence anti-Chinese".
The 14th Dalai Lama supported the possibility that his next incarnation could be a woman. As an "engaged Buddhist" the Dalai Lama has an appeal straddling cultures and political systems making him one of the most recognized and respected moral voices today. "Despite the complex historical, religious and political factors surrounding the selection of incarnate masters in the exiled Tibetan tradition, the Dalai Lama is open to change", author Michaela Haas writes. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Dalai Lama (UK: /ˈdælaɪ ˈlɑːmə/, US: /ˈdɑːlaɪ/; Tibetan: ཏཱ་ལའི་བླ་མ་, Wylie: Tā la'i bla ma [táːlɛː láma]) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or \"Yellow Hat\" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and incumbent Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso, who lives in exile as a refugee in India. The Dalai Lama is also considered to be the successor in a line of tulkus who are believed to be incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Since the time of the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century, his personage has always been a symbol of unification of the state of Tibet, where he has represented Buddhist values and traditions. The Dalai Lama was an important figure of the Geluk tradition, which was politically and numerically dominant in Central Tibet, but his religious authority went beyond sectarian boundaries. While he had no formal or institutional role in any of the religious traditions, which were headed by their own high lamas, he was a unifying symbol of the Tibetan state, representing Buddhist values and traditions above any specific school. The traditional function of the Dalai Lama as an ecumenical figure, holding together disparate religious and regional groups, has been taken up by the fourteenth Dalai Lama. He has worked to overcome sectarian and other divisions in the exiled community and has become a symbol of Tibetan nationhood for Tibetans both in Tibet and in exile.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "From 1642 until 1705 and from 1750 to the 1950s, the Dalai Lamas or their regents headed the Tibetan government (or Ganden Phodrang) in Lhasa, which governed all or most of the Tibetan Plateau with varying degrees of autonomy. This Tibetan government enjoyed the patronage and protection of firstly Mongol kings of the Khoshut and Dzungar Khanates (1642–1720) and then of the emperors of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty (1720–1912). In 1913, several Tibetan representatives including Agvan Dorzhiev signed a treaty between Tibet and Mongolia, proclaiming mutual recognition and their independence from China. The legitimacy of the treaty and declared independence of Tibet was rejected by both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China. The Dalai Lamas headed the Tibetan government until 1951.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The name \"Dalai Lama\" is a combination of the Mongolic word dalai meaning \"ocean\" or \"great\" (coming from Mongolian title Dalaiyin qan or Dalaiin khan, translated as Gyatso or rgya-mtsho in Tibetan) and the Tibetan word བླ་མ་ (bla-ma) meaning \"master, guru\".",
"title": "Names"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The Dalai Lama is also known in Tibetan as the Rgyal-ba Rin-po-che (\"Precious Conqueror\") or simply as the Rgyal-ba.",
"title": "Names"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In Central Asian Buddhist countries, it has been widely believed for the last millennium that Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, has a special relationship with the people of Tibet and intervenes in their fate by incarnating as benevolent rulers and teachers such as the Dalai Lamas. This is according to The Book of Kadam, the main text of the Kadampa school, to which the 1st Dalai Lama, Gendun Drup, first belonged. This text is said to have laid the foundation for the Tibetans' later identification of the Dalai Lamas as incarnations of Avalokiteśvara.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "It traces the legend of the bodhisattva's incarnations as early Tibetan kings and emperors such as Songtsen Gampo and later as Dromtönpa (1004–1064).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "This lineage has been extrapolated by Tibetans up to and including the Dalai Lamas.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Thus, according to such sources, an informal line of succession of the present Dalai Lamas as incarnations of Avalokiteśvara stretches back much further than Gendun Drub. The Book of Kadam, the compilation of Kadampa teachings largely composed around discussions between the Indian sage Atiśa (980–1054) and his Tibetan host and chief disciple Dromtönpa and Tales of the Previous Incarnations of Arya Avalokiteśvara, nominate as many as sixty persons prior to Gendun Drub who are enumerated as earlier incarnations of Avalokiteśvara and predecessors in the same lineage leading up to him.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "In brief, these include a mythology of 36 Indian personalities plus 10 early Tibetan kings and emperors, all said to be previous incarnations of Dromtönpa, and fourteen further Nepalese and Tibetan yogis and sages in between him and the 1st Dalai Lama. In fact, according to the \"Birth to Exile\" article on the 14th Dalai Lama's website, he is \"the seventy-fourth in a lineage that can be traced back to a Brahmin boy who lived in the time of Buddha Shakyamuni.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "According to the 14th Dalai Lama, long ago Avalokiteśvara had promised the Buddha to guide and defend the Tibetan people. In the late Middle Ages, his master plan to fulfill this promise was the stage-by-stage establishment of the Dalai Lama theocracy in Tibet.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "First, Tsongkhapa established three great monasteries around Lhasa in the province of Ü before he died in 1419. The 1st Dalai Lama soon became Abbot of the greatest one, Drepung, and developed a large popular power base in Ü. He later extended this to cover Tsang, where he constructed a fourth great monastery, Tashi Lhunpo, at Shigatse. The 2nd studied there before returning to Lhasa, where he became Abbot of Drepung. Having reactivated the 1st's large popular followings in Tsang and Ü, the 2nd then moved on to southern Tibet and gathered more followers there who helped him construct a new monastery, Chokorgyel. He established the method by which later Dalai Lama incarnations would be discovered through visions at the \"oracle lake\", Lhamo Lhatso.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The 3rd built on his predecessors' fame by becoming Abbot of the two great monasteries of Drepung and Sera. The stage was set for the great Mongol King Altan Khan, hearing of his reputation, to invite the 3rd to Mongolia where he converted the King and his followers to Buddhism, as well as other Mongol princes and their followers covering a vast tract of central Asia. Thus, most of Mongolia was added to the Dalai Lama's sphere of influence, founding a spiritual empire which largely survives to the modern age. After being given the Mongolian name 'Dalai', he returned to Tibet to found the great monasteries of Lithang in Kham, eastern Tibet and Kumbum in Amdo, north-eastern Tibet.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The 4th was then born in Mongolia as the great-grandson of Altan Khan, thus cementing strong ties between Central Asia, the Dalai Lamas, the Gelugpa and Tibet. In fulfilment of Avalokiteśvara's master plan, the 5th in the succession used the vast popular power base of devoted followers built up by his four predecessors. By 1642, a strategy that was planned and carried out by his resourceful chagdzo or manager Sonam Rapten with the military assistance of his devoted disciple Gushri Khan, Chieftain of the Khoshut Mongols, enabled the 'Great 5th' to found the Dalai Lamas' religious and political reign over more or less the whole of Tibet that survived for over 300 years.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Thus the Dalai Lamas became pre-eminent spiritual leaders in Tibet and 25 Himalayan and Central Asian kingdoms and countries bordering Tibet and their prolific literary works have \"for centuries acted as major sources of spiritual and philosophical inspiration to more than fifty million people of these lands\". Overall, they have played \"a monumental role in Asian literary, philosophical and religious history\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Gendun Drup (1391–1474), a disciple of the founder Je Tsongkapa, was the ordination name of the monk who came to be known as the 'First Dalai Lama', but only from 104 years after he died. There had been resistance, since first he was ordained a monk in the Kadampa tradition and for various reasons, for hundreds of years the Kadampa school had eschewed the adoption of the tulku system to which the older schools adhered. Tsongkhapa largely modelled his new, reformed Gelugpa school on the Kadampa tradition and refrained from starting a tulku system. Therefore, although Gendun Drup grew to be a very important Gelugpa lama, after he died in 1474 there was no question of any search being made to identify his incarnation.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Despite this, when the Tashilhunpo monks started hearing what seemed credible accounts that an incarnation of Gendun Drup had appeared nearby and repeatedly announced himself from the age of two, their curiosity was aroused. It was some 55 years after Tsongkhapa's death when eventually, the monastic authorities saw compelling evidence that convinced them the child in question was indeed the incarnation of their founder. They felt obliged to break with their own tradition and in 1487, the boy was renamed Gendun Gyatso and installed at Tashilhunpo as Gendun Drup's tulku, albeit informally.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Gendun Gyatso died in 1542 and the lineage of Dalai Lama tulkus finally became firmly established when the third incarnation, Sonam Gyatso (1543–1588), came forth. He made himself known as the tulku of Gendun Gyatso and was formally recognised and enthroned at Drepung in 1546. When Gendun Gyatso was given the titular name \"Dalai Lama\" by the Tümed Altan Khan in 1578, his two predecessors were accorded the title posthumously and he became known as the third in the lineage.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The Dalai Lama title was posthumously given to Gedun Drupa after 1578. The Dalai Lama lineage started from humble beginnings. 'Pema Dorje' (1391–1474), the boy who was to become the first in the line, was born in a cattle pen in Shabtod, Tsang in 1391. His nomad parents kept sheep and goats and lived in tents. When his father died in 1398 his mother was unable to support the young goatherd so she entrusted him to his uncle, a monk at Narthang, a major Kadampa monastery near Shigatse, for education as a Buddhist monk. Narthang ran the largest printing press in Tibet and its celebrated library attracted scholars and adepts from far and wide, so Pema Dorje received an education beyond the norm at the time as well as exposure to diverse spiritual schools and ideas.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "He studied Buddhist philosophy extensively. In 1405, ordained by Narthang's abbot, he took the name of Gendun Drup. Soon recognised as an exceptionally gifted pupil, the abbot tutored him personally and took special interest in his progress. In 12 years he passed the 12 grades of monkhood and took the highest vows. After completing his intensive studies at Narthang he left to continue at specialist monasteries in Central Tibet, his grounding at Narthang was revered among many he encountered.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "In 1415 Gendun Drup met Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelugpa school, and became his student; their meeting was of decisive historical and political significance as he was later to be known as the 1st Dalai Lama. When eventually Tsongkhapa's successor the Panchen Lama Khedrup Je died, Gendun Drup became the leader of the Gelugpa. He rose to become Abbot of Drepung, the greatest Gelugpa monastery, outside Lhasa.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "It was mainly due to Gendun Drup's energy and ability that Tsongkhapa's new school grew into an expanding order capable of competing with others on an equal footing. Taking advantage of good relations with the nobility and a lack of determined opposition from rival orders, on the very edge of Karma Kagyu-dominated territory he founded Tashilhunpo Monastery at Shigatse. He was based there, as its Abbot, from its founding in 1447 until his death. Tashilhunpo, 'Mountain of Blessings', became the fourth great Gelugpa monastery in Tibet, after Ganden, Drepung and Sera had all been founded in Tsongkhapa's time. It later became the seat of the Panchen Lamas. By establishing it at Shigatse in the middle of Tsang, he expanded the Gelugpa sphere of influence, and his own, from the Lhasa region of Ü to this province, which was the stronghold of the Karma Kagyu school and their patrons, the rising Tsangpa dynasty. Tashilhunpo was destined to become 'Southern Tibet's greatest monastic university' with a complement of 3,000 monks.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Gendun Drup was said to be the greatest scholar-saint ever produced by Narthang Monastery and became 'the single most important lama in Tibet'. Through hard work he became a leading lama, known as 'Perfecter of the Monkhood', 'with a host of disciples'. Famed for his Buddhist scholarship he was also referred to as Panchen Gendun Drup, 'Panchen' being an honorary title designating 'great scholar'. By the great Jonangpa master Bodong Chokley Namgyal he was accorded the honorary title Tamchey Khyenpa meaning \"The Omniscient One\", an appellation that was later assigned to all Dalai Lama incarnations.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "At the age of 50, he entered meditation retreat at Narthang. As he grew older, Karma Kagyu adherents, finding their sect was losing too many recruits to the monkhood to burgeoning Gelugpa monasteries, tried to contain Gelug expansion by launching military expeditions against them in the region. This led to decades of military and political power struggles between Tsangpa dynasty forces and others across central Tibet. In an attempt to ameliorate these clashes, from his retreat Gendun Drup issued a poem of advice to his followers advising restraint from responding to violence with more violence and to practice compassion and patience instead. The poem, entitled Shar Gang Rima, \"The Song of the Eastern Snow Mountains\", became one of his most enduring popular literary works.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Although he was born in a cattle pen to be a simple goatherd, Gendun Drup rose to become one of the most celebrated and respected teachers in Tibet and Central Asia. His spiritual accomplishments brought him substantial donations from devotees which he used to build and furnish new monasteries, to print and distribute Buddhist texts and to maintain monks and meditators. At last, at the age of 84, older than any of his 13 successors, in 1474 he went on foot to visit Narthang Monastery on a final teaching tour. Returning to Tashilhunpo he died 'in a blaze of glory, recognised as having attained Buddhahood'.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "His mortal remains were interred in a bejewelled silver stupa at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, which survived the Cultural Revolution and can still be seen.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Like the Kadampa, the Gelugpa eschewed the tulku system. After Gendun Drup died, however, a boy called Sangyey Pel born to Nyngma adepts at Yolkar in Tsang, declared himself at 3 to be \"Gendun Drup\" and asked to be 'taken home' to Tashilhunpo. He spoke in mystical verses, quoted classical texts out of the blue and said he was Dromtönpa, an earlier incarnation of the Dalai Lamas. When he saw monks from Tashilhunpo he greeted the disciples of the late Gendun Drup by name. The Gelugpa elders had to break with tradition and recognised him as Gendun Drup's tulku.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "He was then 8, but until his 12th year his father took him on his teachings and retreats, training him in all the family Nyingma lineages. At 12 he was installed at Tashilhunpo as Gendun Drup's incarnation, ordained, enthroned and renamed Gendun Gyatso Palzangpo (1475–1542).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Tutored personally by the abbot he made rapid progress and from 1492 at 17 he was requested to teach all over Tsang, where thousands gathered to listen and give obeisance, including senior scholars and abbots. In 1494, at 19, he met some opposition from the Tashilhunpo establishment when tensions arose over conflicts between advocates of the two types of succession, the traditional abbatial election through merit, and incarnation. Although he had served for some years as Tashilhunpo's abbot, he therefore moved to central Tibet, where he was invited to Drepung and where his reputation as a brilliant young teacher quickly grew.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "He was accorded all the loyalty and devotion that Gendun Drup had earned and the Gelug school remained as united as ever. This move had the effect of shifting central Gelug authority back to Lhasa. Under his leadership, the sect went on growing in size and influence and with its appeal of simplicity, devotion and austerity its lamas were asked to mediate in disputes between other rivals. Gendun Gyatso's popularity in Ü-Tsang grew as he went on pilgrimage, travelling, teaching and studying from masters such as the adept Khedrup Norzang Gyatso in the Olklha mountains. He also stayed in Kongpo and Dagpo and became known all over Tibet. He spent his winters in Lhasa, writing commentaries and the rest of the year travelling and teaching many thousands of monks and lay people.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "In 1509 he moved to southern Tibet to build Chokorgyel Monastery near the 'Oracle Lake', Lhamo Latso, completing it by 1511. That year he saw visions in the lake and 'empowered' it to impart clues to help identify incarnate lamas. All Dalai Lamas from the 3rd on were found with the help of such visions granted to regents. By now widely regarded as one of Tibet's greatest saints and scholars he was invited back to Tashilhunpo. On his return in 1512, he was given the residence built for Gendun Drup, to be occupied later by the Panchen Lamas. He was made abbot of Tashilhunpo and stayed there teaching in Tsang for 9 months.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Gendun Gyatso continued to travel widely and teach while based at Tibet's largest monastery, Drepung and became known as 'Drepung Lama', his fame and influence spreading all over Central Asia as the best students from hundreds of lesser monasteries in Asia were sent to Drepung for education.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Throughout Gendun Gyatso's life, the Gelugpa were opposed and suppressed by older rivals, particularly the Karma Kagyu and their Ringpung clan patrons from Tsang, who felt threatened by their loss of influence. In 1498 the Ringpung army captured Lhasa and banned the Gelugpa annual New Year Monlam Prayer Festival started by Tsongkhapa for world peace and prosperity. Gendun Gyatso was promoted to abbot of Drepung in 1517 and that year Ringpung forces were forced to withdraw from Lhasa.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Gendun Gyatso then went to the Gongma (King) Drakpa Jungne to obtain permission for the festival to be held again. The next New Year, the Gongma was so impressed by Gendun Gyatso's performance leading the Festival that he sponsored construction of a large new residence for him at Drepung, 'a monastery within a monastery'. It was called the Ganden Phodrang, a name later adopted by the Tibetan Government, and it served as home for Dalai Lamas until the Fifth moved to the Potala Palace in 1645.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "In 1525, already abbot of Chokhorgyel, Drepung and Tashilhunpo, he was made abbot of Sera monastery as well, and seeing the number of monks was low he worked to increase it. Based at Drepung in winter and Chokorgyel in summer, he spent his remaining years in composing commentaries, regional teaching tours, visiting Tashilhunpo from time to time and acting as abbot of these four great monasteries. As abbot, he made Drepung the largest monastery in the whole of Tibet. He attracted many students and disciples 'from Kashmir to China' as well as major patrons and disciples such as Gongma Nangso Donyopa of Droda who built a monastery at Zhekar Dzong in his honour and invited him to name it and be its spiritual guide.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Gongma Gyaltsen Palzangpo of Khyomorlung at Tolung and his Queen Sangyey Paldzomma also became his favorite devoted lay patrons and disciples in the 1530s and he visited their area to carry out rituals as 'he chose it for his next place of rebirth'. He died in meditation at Drepung in 1542 at 67 and his reliquary stupa was constructed at Khyomorlung. It was said that, by the time he died, through his disciples and their students, his personal influence covered the whole of Buddhist Central Asia where 'there was nobody of any consequence who did not know of him'. The Dalai Lama title was posthumously granted to Gedun Gyatso after 1578.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The Third Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso (1543–1588) was born in Tolung, near Lhasa, as predicted by his predecessor. Claiming he was Gendun Gyatso and readily recalling events from his previous life, he was recognised as the incarnation, named 'Sonam Gyatso' and installed at Drepung, where 'he quickly excelled his teachers in knowledge and wisdom and developed extraordinary powers'. Unlike his predecessors, he came from a noble family, connected with the Sakya and the Phagmo Drupa (Karma Kagyu affiliated) dynasties, and it is to him that the effective conversion of Mongolia to Buddhism is due.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "A brilliant scholar and teacher, he had the spiritual maturity to be made Abbot of Drepung, taking responsibility for the material and spiritual well-being of Tibet's largest monastery at the age of nine. At 10 he led the Monlam Prayer Festival, giving daily discourses to the assembly of all Gelugpa monks. His influence grew so quickly that soon the monks at Sera Monastery also made him their Abbot and his mediation was being sought to prevent fighting between political power factions. At 16, in 1559, he was invited to Nedong by King Ngawang Tashi Drakpa, a Karma Kagyu supporter, and became his personal teacher.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "At 17, when fighting broke out in Lhasa between Gelug and Kagyu parties and efforts by local lamas to mediate failed, Sonam Gyatso negotiated a peaceful settlement. At 19, when the Kyichu River burst its banks and flooded Lhasa, he led his followers to rescue victims and repair the dykes. He then instituted a custom whereby on the last day of Monlam, all the monks would work on strengthening the flood defences. Gradually, he was shaping himself into a national leader. His popularity and renown became such that in 1564 when the Nedong King died, it was Sonam Gyatso at the age of 21 who was requested to lead his funeral rites, rather than his own Kagyu lamas.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Required to travel and teach without respite after taking full ordination in 1565, he still maintained extensive meditation practices in the hours before dawn and again at the end of the day. In 1569, at age 26, he went to Tashilhunpo to study the layout and administration of the monastery built by his predecessor Gendun Drup. Invited to become the Abbot he declined, already being Abbot of Drepung and Sera, but left his deputy there in his stead. From there he visited Narthang, the first monastery of Gendun Drup and gave numerous discourses and offerings to the monks in gratitude.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Meanwhile, Altan Khan, chief of all the Mongol tribes near China's borders, had heard of Sonam Gyatso's spiritual prowess and repeatedly invited him to Mongolia. By 1571, when Altan Khan received a title of Shunyi Wang (King) from the Ming dynasty of China and swore allegiance to Ming, Although he remained de facto quite independent, he had fulfilled his political destiny and a nephew advised him to seek spiritual salvation, saying that \"in Tibet dwells Avalokiteshvara\", referring to Sonam Gyatso, then 28 years old. China was also happy to help Altan Khan by providing necessary translations of holy scripture, and also lamas.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "At the second invitation, in 1577–78 Sonam Gyatso travelled 1,500 miles to Mongolia to see him. They met in an atmosphere of intense reverence and devotion and their meeting resulted in the re-establishment of strong Tibet-Mongolia relations after a gap of 200 years. To Altan Khan, Sonam Gyatso identified himself as the incarnation of Drogön Chögyal Phagpa, and Altan Khan as that of Kubilai Khan, thus placing the Khan as heir to the Chingizid lineage whilst securing his patronage. Altan Khan and his followers quickly adopted Buddhism as their state religion, replacing the prohibited traditional Shamanism.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Mongol law was reformed to accord with Tibetan Buddhist law. From this time Buddhism spread rapidly across Mongolia and soon the Gelugpa had won the spiritual allegiance of most of the Mongolian tribes. As proposed by Sonam Gyatso, Altan Khan sponsored the building of Thegchen Chonkhor Monastery at the site of Sonam Gyatso's open-air teachings given to the whole Mongol population. He also called Sonam Gyatso \"Dalai\", Mongolian for 'Gyatso' (Ocean). In October 1587, as requested by the family of Altan Khan, Gyalwa Sonam Gyatso was promoted to Duǒ Er Zhǐ Chàng (Chinese:朵儿只唱) by the emperor of China, seal of authority and golden sheets were granted.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "The name \"Dalai Lama\", by which the lineage later became known throughout the non-Tibetan world, was thus established and it was applied to the first two incarnations retrospectively.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "In 1579, the Ming allowed the third Dalai Lama to pay regular tribute. Returning eventually to Tibet by a roundabout route and invited to stay and teach all along the way, in 1580 Sonam Gyatso was in Hohhot [or Ningxia], not far from Beijing, when the Chinese Emperor summoned him to his court. By then he had established a religious empire of such proportions that it was unsurprising the Emperor wanted to summon him and grant him a diploma.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Through Altan Khan, the 3rd Dalai Lama requested to pay tribute to the Emperor of China in order to raise his State Tutor ranking, and the Ming imperial court of China agreed with the request. In 1582, he heard Altan Khan had died and invited by his son Dhüring Khan he decided to return to Mongolia. Passing through Amdo, he founded a second great monastery, Kumbum, at the birthplace of Tsongkhapa near Kokonor. Further on, he was asked to adjudicate on border disputes between Mongolia and China. It was the first time a Dalai Lama had exercised such political authority.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Arriving in Mongolia in 1585, he stayed 2 years with Dhüring Khan, teaching Buddhism to his people and converting more Mongol princes and their tribes. Receiving a second invitation from the Emperor in Beijing he accepted, but died en route in 1588. As he was dying, his Mongolian converts urged him not to leave them, as they needed his continuing religious leadership. He promised them he would be incarnated next in Mongolia, as a Mongolian.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "The Fourth Dalai Lama, Yonten Gyatso (1589–1617) was a Mongol, the great-grandson of Altan Khan who was a descendant of Kublai Khan and leader of the Tümed Mongols who had already been converted to Buddhism by the Third Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso (1543–1588). This strong connection caused the Mongols to zealously support the Gelugpa sect in Tibet, strengthening their status and position but also arousing intensified opposition from the Gelugpa's rivals, particularly the Tsang Karma Kagyu in Shigatse and their Mongol patrons and the Bönpo in Kham and their allies. Being the newest school, unlike the older schools the Gelugpa lacked an established network of Tibetan clan patronage and were thus more reliant on foreign patrons.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "At the age of 10 with a large Mongol escort he travelled to Lhasa where he was enthroned. He studied at Drepung and became its abbot but being a non-Tibetan he met with opposition from some Tibetans, especially the Karma Kagyu who felt their position was threatened by these emerging events; there were several attempts to remove him from power. Seal of authority was granted in 1616 by Wanli Emperor of Ming. Yonten Gyatso died at the age of 27 under suspicious circumstances and his chief attendant Sonam Rapten went on to discover the 5th Dalai Lama, became his chagdzo or manager and after 1642 he went on to be his regent, the Desi.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "The death of the Fourth Dalai Lama in 1617 led to open conflict breaking out between various parties. Firstly, the Tsangpa dynasty, rulers of Central Tibet from Shigatse, supporters of the Karmapa school and rivals to the Gelugpa, forbade the search for his incarnation. However, in 1618 Sonam Rabten, the former attendant of the 4th Dalai Lama who had become the Ganden Phodrang treasurer, secretly identified the child, who had been born to the noble Zahor family at Tagtse castle, south of Lhasa. Then, the Panchen Lama, in Shigatse, negotiated the lifting of the ban, enabling the boy to be recognised as Lobsang Gyatso, the 5th Dalai Lama.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Also in 1618, the Tsangpa King, Karma Puntsok Namgyal, whose Mongol patron was Choghtu Khong Tayiji of the Khalkha Mongols, attacked the Gelugpa in Lhasa to avenge an earlier snub and established two military bases there to control the monasteries and the city. This caused Sonam Rabten who became the 5th Dalai Lama's changdzo or manager, to seek more active Mongol patronage and military assistance for the Gelugpa while the Fifth was still a boy. So, in 1620, Mongol troops allied to the Gelugpa who had camped outside Lhasa suddenly attacked and destroyed the two Tsangpa camps and drove them out of Lhasa, enabling the Dalai Lama to be brought out of hiding and publicly enthroned there in 1622.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "In fact, throughout the 5th's minority, it was the influential and forceful Sonam Rabten who inspired the Dzungar Mongols to defend the Gelugpa by attacking their enemies. These enemies included other Mongol tribes who supported the Tsangpas, the Tsangpa themselves and their Bönpo allies in Kham who had also opposed and persecuted Gelugpas. Ultimately, this strategy led to the destruction of the Tsangpa dynasty, the defeat of the Karmapas and their other allies and the Bönpos, by armed forces from the Lhasa valley aided by their Mongol allies, paving the way for Gelugpa political and religious hegemony in Central Tibet.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Apparently by general consensus, by virtue of his position as the Dalai Lama's changdzo (chief attendant, minister), after the Dalai Lama became absolute ruler of Tibet in 1642 Sonam Rabten became the \"Desi\" or \"Viceroy\", in fact, the de facto regent or day-to-day ruler of Tibet's governmental affairs. During these years and for the rest of his life (he died in 1658), \"there was little doubt that politically Sonam Chophel [Rabten] was more powerful than the Dalai Lama\". As a young man, being 22 years his junior, the Dalai Lama addressed him reverentially as \"Zhalngo\", meaning \"the Presence\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "During the 1630s Tibet was deeply entangled in rivalry, evolving power struggles and conflicts, not only between the Tibetan religious sects but also between the rising Manchus and the various rival Mongol and Oirat factions, who were also vying for supremacy amongst themselves and on behalf of the religious sects they patronised. For example, Ligdan Khan of the Chahars, a Mongol subgroup who supported the Tsang Karmapas, after retreating from advancing Manchu armies headed for Kokonor intending destroy the Gelug. He died on the way, in 1634.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "His vassal Choghtu Khong Tayiji, continued to advance against the Gelugpas, even having his own son Arslan killed after Arslan changed sides, submitted to the Dalai Lama and become a Gelugpa monk. By the mid-1630s, thanks again to the efforts of Sonam Rabten, the 5th Dalai Lama had found a powerful new patron in Güshi Khan of the Khoshut Mongols, a subgroup of the Dzungars, who had recently migrated to the Kokonor area from Dzungaria. He attacked Choghtu Khong Tayiji at Kokonor in 1637 and defeated and killed him, thus eliminating the Tsangpa and the Karmapa's main Mongol patron and protector.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Next, Donyo Dorje, the Bönpo king of Beri in Kham was found writing to the Tsangpa king in Shigatse to propose a co-ordinated 'pincer attack' on the Lhasa Gelugpa monasteries from east and west, seeking to utterly destroy them once and for all. The intercepted letter was sent to Güshi Khan who used it as a pretext to invade central Tibet in 1639 to attack them both, the Bönpo and the Tsangpa. By 1641 he had defeated Donyo Dorje and his allies in Kham and then he marched on Shigatse where after laying siege to their strongholds he defeated Karma Tenkyong, broke the power of the Tsang Karma Kagyu in 1642 and ended the Tsangpa dynasty.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Güshi Khan's attack on the Tsangpa was made on the orders of Sonam Rapten while being publicly and robustly opposed by the Dalai Lama, who, as a matter of conscience, out of compassion and his vision of tolerance for other religious schools, refused to give permission for more warfare in his name after the defeat of the Beri king. Sonam Rabten deviously went behind his master's back to encourage Güshi Khan, to facilitate his plans and to ensure the attacks took place; for this defiance of his master's wishes, Rabten was severely rebuked by the 5th Dalai Lama.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "After Desi Sonam Rapten died in 1658, the following year the 5th Dalai Lama appointed his younger brother Depa Norbu (aka Nangso Norbu) as his successor. However, after a few months, Norbu betrayed him and led a rebellion against the Ganden Phodrang Government. With his accomplices he seized Samdruptse fort at Shigatse and tried to raise a rebel army from Tsang and Bhutan, but the Dalai Lama skilfully foiled his plans without any fighting taking place and Norbu had to flee. Four other Desis were appointed after Depa Norbu: Trinle Gyatso, Lozang Tutop, Lozang Jinpa and Sangye Gyatso.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Having thus defeated all the Gelugpa's rivals and resolved all regional and sectarian conflicts Güshi Khan became the undisputed patron of a unified Tibet and acted as a \"Protector of the Gelug\", establishing the Khoshut Khanate which covered almost the entire Tibetan plateau, an area corresponding roughly to 'Greater Tibet' including Kham and Amdo, as claimed by exiled groups (see maps). At an enthronement ceremony in Shigatse he conferred full sovereignty over Tibet on the Fifth Dalai Lama, unified for the first time since the collapse of the Tibetan Empire exactly eight centuries earlier. Güshi Khan then retired to Kokonor with his armies and [according to Smith] ruled Amdo himself directly thus creating a precedent for the later separation of Amdo from the rest of Tibet.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "In this way, Güshi Khan established the Fifth Dalai Lama as the highest spiritual and political authority in Tibet. 'The Great Fifth' became the temporal ruler of Tibet in 1642 and from then on the rule of the Dalai Lama lineage over some, all or most of Tibet lasted with few breaks for the next 317 years, until 1959, when the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India. In 1645, the Great Fifth began the construction of the Potala Palace in Lhasa.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Güshi Khan died in 1655 and was succeeded by his descendants Dayan, Tenzin Dalai Khan and Tenzin Wangchuk Khan. However, Güshi Khan's other eight sons had settled in Amdo but fought amongst themselves over territory so the Fifth Dalai Lama sent governors to rule them in 1656 and 1659, thereby bringing Amdo and thus the whole of Greater Tibet under his personal rule and Gelugpa control. The Mongols in Amdo became absorbed and Tibetanised.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "In 1636 the Manchus proclaimed their dynasty as the Qing dynasty and by 1644 they had completed their conquest of China under the prince regent Dorgon. The following year their forces approached Amdo on northern Tibet, causing the Oirat and Khoshut Mongols there to submit in 1647 and send tribute. In 1648, after quelling a rebellion of Tibetans of Gansu-Xining, the Qing invited the Fifth Dalai Lama to visit their court at Beijing since they wished to engender Tibetan influence in their dealings with the Mongols. The Qing were aware the Dalai Lama had extraordinary influence with the Mongols and saw relations with the Dalai Lama as a means to facilitate submission of the Khalka Mongols, traditional patrons of the Karma Kagyu sect.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Similarly, since the Tibetan Gelugpa were keen to revive a priest-patron relationship with the dominant power in China and Inner Asia, the Qing invitation was accepted. After five years of complex diplomatic negotiations about whether the emperor or his representatives should meet the Dalai Lama inside or outside the Great Wall, when the meeting would be astrologically favourable, how it would be conducted and so on, it eventually took place in Beijing in 1653.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "The Shunzhi Emperor was then 16 years old, having in the meantime ascended the throne in 1650 after the death of Dorgon. For the Qing, although the Dalai Lama was not required to kowtow to the emperor, who rose from his throne and advanced 30 feet to meet him, the significance of the visit was that of nominal political submission by the Dalai Lama since Inner Asian heads of state did not travel to meet each other but sent envoys. For Tibetan Buddhist historians, however, it was interpreted as the start of an era of independent rule of the Dalai Lamas, and of Qing patronage alongside that of the Mongols.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "When the 5th Dalai Lama returned, he was granted by the emperor of China a golden seal of authority and golden sheets with texts written in Manchu, Tibetan and Han Chinese languages. The 5th Dalai Lama wanted to use the golden seal of authority right away. However, Lobzang Gyatsho noted that \"The Tibetan version of the inscription of the seal was translated by a Mongol translator but was not a good translation\". After correction, it read: \"The one who resides in the Western peaceful and virtuous paradise is unalterable Vajradhara, Ocen Lama, unifier of the doctrines of the Buddha for all beings under the sky\". The words of the diploma ran: \"Proclamation, to let all the people of the western hemisphere know\". Tibetan historian Nyima Gyaincain points out that based on the texts written on golden sheets, Dalai Lama was only a subordinate of the Emperor of China.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "However, despite such patronising attempts by Chinese officials and historians to symbolically show for the record that they held political influence over Tibet, the Tibetans themselves did not accept any such symbols imposed on them by the Chinese with this kind of motive. For example, concerning the above-mentioned 'golden seal', the Fifth Dalai Lama comments in Dukula, his autobiography, on leaving China after this courtesy visit to the emperor in 1653, that \"the emperor made his men bring a golden seal for me that had three vertical lines in three parallel scripts: Chinese, Mongol and Tibetan\". He also criticised the words carved on this gift as being faultily translated into Tibetan, writing that \"The Tibetan version of the inscription of the seal was translated by a Mongol translator but was not a good translation\". Furthermore, when he arrived back in Tibet, he discarded the emperor's famous golden seal and made a new one for important state usage, writing in his autobiography: \"Leaving out the Chinese characters that were on the seal given by the emperor, a new seal was carved for stamping documents that dealt with territorial issues. The first imprint of the seal was offered with prayers to the image of Lokeshvara ...\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "The 17th-century struggles for domination between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the various Mongol groups spilled over to involve Tibet because of the Fifth Dalai Lama's strong influence over the Mongols as a result of their general adoption of Tibetan Buddhism and their consequent deep loyalty to the Dalai Lama as their guru. Until 1674, the Fifth Dalai Lama had mediated in Dzungar Mongol affairs whenever they required him to do so, and the Kangxi Emperor, who had succeeded the Shunzhi Emperor in 1661, would accept and confirm his decisions automatically.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "For the Kangxi Emperor, the alliance between the Dzungar Mongols and the Tibetans was unsettling because he feared it had the potential to unite all the other Mongol tribes together against the Qing Empire, including those tribes who had already submitted. Therefore, in 1674, the Kangxi Emperor, annoyed by the Fifth's less than full cooperation in quelling a rebellion against the Qing in Yunnan, ceased deferring to him as regards Mongol affairs and started dealing with them directly.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "In the same year, 1674, the Dalai Lama, then at the height of his powers and conducting a foreign policy independent of the Qing, caused Mongol troops to occupy the border post of Dartsedo between Kham and Sichuan, further annoying the Kangxi Emperor who (according to Smith) already considered Tibet as part of the Qing Empire. It also increased Qing suspicion about Tibetan relations with the Mongol groups and led him to seek strategic opportunities to oppose and undermine Mongol influence in Tibet and eventually, within 50 years, to defeat the Mongols militarily and to establish the Qing as sole 'patrons and protectors' of Tibet in their place.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "The time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, who reigned from 1642 to 1682 and founded the government known as the Ganden Phodrang, was a period of rich cultural development. His reign and that of Desi Sangye Gyatso are noteworthy for the upsurge in literary activity and of cultural and economic life that occurred. The same goes for the great increase in the number of foreign visitors thronging Lhasa during the period as well as for the number of inventions and institutions that are attributed to the 'Great Fifth', as the Tibetans refer to him. The most dynamic and prolific of the early Dalai Lamas, he composed more literary works than all the other Dalai Lamas combined. Writing on a wide variety of subjects he is specially noted for his works on history, classical Indian poetry in Sanskrit and his biographies of notable personalities of his epoch, as well as his own two autobiographies, one spiritual in nature and the other political (see Further Reading). He also taught and travelled extensively, reshaped the politics of Central Asia, unified Tibet, conceived and constructed the Potala Palace and is remembered for establishing systems of national medical care and education.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "The Fifth Dalai Lama died in 1682. Tibetan historian Nyima Gyaincain points out that the written wills from the fifth Dalai Lama before he died explicitly said his title and authority were from the Emperor of China, and he was subordinate of the Emperor of China .",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "The Fifth Dalai Lama's death in 1682 was kept secret for fifteen years by his regent Desi Sangye Gyatso. He pretended the Dalai Lama was in retreat and ruled on his behalf, secretly selecting the 6th Dalai Lama and presenting him as someone else. Tibetan historian Nyima Gyaincain points out that Desi Sangye Gyatso wanted to consolidate his personal status and power by not reporting the death of the fifth Dalai Lama to the Emperor of China, and also collude with the rebellion group of the Qing dynasty, Mongol Dzungar tribe in order to counter influence from another Mongol Khoshut tribe in Tibet. Being afraid of prosecution by the Kangxi Emperor of China, Desi Sangye Gyatso explained with fear and trepidation the reason behind his action to the Emperor.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "In 1705, Desi Sangye Gyatso was killed by Lha-bzang Khan of the Mongol Khoshut tribe because of his actions including his illegal action of selecting the 6th Dalai Lama. Since the Kangxi Emperor was not happy about Desi Sangye Gyatso's action of not reporting, the Emperor gave Lha-bzang Khan additional title and golden seal. The Kangxi Emperor also ordered Lha-bzang Khan to arrest the 6th Dalai Lama and send him to Beijing, the 6th Dalai Lama died when he was en route to Beijing. Journalist Thomas Laird argues that it was apparently done so that construction of the Potala Palace could be finished, and it was to prevent Tibet's neighbors, the Mongols and the Qing, from taking advantage of an interregnum in the succession of the Dalai Lamas.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "The Sixth Dalai Lama (1683–1706) was born near Tawang, now in India, and picked out in 1685 but not enthroned until 1697 when the death of the Fifth was announced. After 16 years of study as a novice monk, in 1702 in his 20th year he rejected full ordination and gave up his monk's robes and monastic life, preferring the lifestyle of a layman.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "In 1703 Güshi Khan's ruling grandson Tenzin Wangchuk Khan was murdered by his brother Lhazang Khan who usurped the Khoshut's Tibetan throne, but unlike his four predecessors he started interfering directly in Tibetan affairs in Lhasa; he opposed the Fifth Dalai Lama's regent, Desi Sangye Gyatso for his deceptions and in the same year, with the support of the Kangxi Emperor, he forced him out of office. Then in 1705, he used the Sixth's escapades as an excuse to seize full control of Tibet. Most Tibetans, though, still supported their Dalai Lama despite his behaviour and deeply resented Lhazang Khan's interference.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "When Lhazang was requested by the Tibetans to leave Lhasa politics to them and to retire to Kokonor like his predecessors, he quit the city, but only to gather his armies in order to return, capture Lhasa militarily and assume full political control of Tibet. The regent was then murdered by Lhazang or his wife, and, in 1706 with the compliance of the Kangxi Emperor the Sixth Dalai Lama was deposed and arrested by Lhazang who considered him to be an impostor set up by the regent. Lhazang Khan, now acting as the only outright foreign ruler that Tibet had ever had, then sent him to Beijing under escort to appear before the emperor but he died mysteriously on the way near Lake Qinghai, ostensibly from illness.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Having discredited and deposed the Sixth Dalai Lama, whom he considered an impostor, and having removed the regent, Lhazang Khan pressed the Lhasa Gelugpa lamas to endorse a new Dalai Lama in Tsangyang Gyatso's place as the true incarnation of the Fifth. They eventually nominated one Pekar Dzinpa, a monk but also rumored to be Lhazang's son, and Lhazang had him installed as the 'real' Sixth Dalai Lama, endorsed by the Panchen Lama and named Yeshe Gyatso in 1707. This choice was in no way accepted by the Tibetan people, however, nor by Lhazang's princely Mongol rivals in Kokonor who resented his usurpation of the Khoshut Tibetan throne as well as his meddling in Tibetan affairs.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "The Kangxi Emperor concurred with them, after sending investigators, initially declining to recognize Yeshe Gyatso. He recognized him in 1710, after sending a Qing official party to assist Lhazang in 'restoring order'. These were the first Chinese representatives of any sort to officiate in Tibet. At the same time, while this puppet 'Dalai Lama' had no political power, the Kangxi Emperor secured from Lhazang Khan in return for this support the promise of regular payments of tribute; this was the first time tribute had been paid to the Manchu by the Mongols in Tibet and the first overt acknowledgment of Qing supremacy over Mongol rule in Tibet.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "In 1708, in accordance with an indication given by the 6th Dalai Lama when quitting Lhasa, a child called Kelzang Gyatso had been born at Lithang in eastern Tibet who was soon claimed by local Tibetans to be his incarnation. After going into hiding out of fear of Lhazang Khan, he was installed in Lithang monastery. Along with some of the Kokonor Mongol princes, rivals of Lhazang, in defiance of the situation in Lhasa the Tibetans of Kham duly recognised him as the Seventh Dalai Lama in 1712, retaining his birth-name of Kelzang Gyatso. For security reasons he was moved to Derge monastery and eventually, in 1716, now also backed and sponsored by the Kangxi Emperor of China.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "The Tibetans asked Dzungars to bring a true Dalai Lama to Lhasa, but the Manchu Chinese did not want to release Kelsan Gyatso to the Mongol Dzungars. The Regent Taktse Shabdrung and Tibetan officials then wrote a letter to the Manchu Chinese Emperor that they recognized Kelsang Gyatso as the Dalai Lama. The Emperor then granted Kelsang Gyatso a golden seal of authority. The Sixth Dalai Lama was taken to Amdo at the age of 8 to be installed in Kumbum Monastery with great pomp and ceremony.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "According to Smith, the Kangxi Emperor now arranged to protect the child and keep him at Kumbum monastery in Amdo in reserve just in case his ally Lhasang Khan and his 'real' Sixth Dalai Lama, were overthrown. According to Mullin, however, the emperor's support came from genuine spiritual recognition and respect rather than being politically motivated.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "In any case, the Kangxi Emperor took full advantage of having Kelzang Gyatso under Qing control at Kumbum after other Mongols from the Dzungar tribes led by Tsewang Rabtan who was related to his supposed ally Lhazang Khan, deceived and betrayed the latter by invading Tibet and capturing Lhasa in 1717.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "These Dzungars, who were Buddhist, had supported the Fifth Dalai Lama and his regent. They were secretly petitioned by the Lhasa Gelugpa lamas to invade with their help in order to rid them of their foreign ruler Lhazang Khan and to replace the unpopular Sixth Dalai Lama pretender with the young Kelzang Gyatso. This plot suited the devious Dzungar leaders' ambitions and they were only too happy to oblige. Early in 1717, after conspiring to undermine Lhazang Khan through treachery they entered Tibet from the northwest with a large army, sending a smaller force to Kumbum to collect Kelzang Gyatso and escort him to Lhasa.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "By the end of the year, with Tibetan connivance they had captured Lhasa, killed Lhazang and all his family and deposed Yeshe Gyatso. Their force sent to fetch Kelzang Gyatso, however, was intercepted and destroyed by Qing armies alerted by Lhazang. In Lhasa, the unruly Dzungar not only failed to produce the boy but also went on the rampage, looting and destroying the holy places, abusing the populace, killing hundreds of Nyingma monks, causing chaos and bloodshed and turning their Tibetan allies against them. The Tibetans were soon appealing to the Kangxi Emperor to rid them of the Dzungars.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "When the Dzungars had first attacked, the weakened Lhazang sent word to the Qing for support and they quickly dispatched two armies to assist, the first Chinese armies ever to enter Tibet, but they arrived too late. In 1718 they were halted not far from Lhasa to be defeated and then ruthlessly annihilated by the triumphant Dzungars in the Battle of the Salween River.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "This humiliation only determined the Kangxi Emperor to expel the Dzungars from Tibet once and for all and he set about assembling and dispatching a much larger force to march on Lhasa, bringing the emperor's trump card the young Kelzang Gyatso with it. On the imperial army's stately passage from Kumbum to Lhasa with the boy being welcomed adoringly at every stage, Khoshut Mongols and Tibetans were happy (and well paid) to join and swell its ranks.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "By the autumn of 1720, the marauding Dzungar Mongols had been vanquished from Tibet. Qing imperial forces had entered Lhasa triumphantly with the 12-year-old, acting as patrons of the Dalai Lama, liberators of Tibet, allies of the Tibetan anti-Dzungar forces led by Kangchenas and Polhanas, and allies of the Khoshut Mongol princes. The delighted Tibetans enthroned him as the Seventh Dalai Lama at the Potala Palace.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "A new Tibetan government was established consisting of a Kashag or cabinet of Tibetan ministers headed by Kangchenas. Kelzang Gyatso, too young to participate in politics, studied Buddhism. He played a symbolic role in government, and, being profoundly revered by the Mongols, he exercised much influence with the Qing who now had now taken over Tibet's patronage and protection from them.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "Having vanquished the Dzungars, the Qing army withdrew leaving the Seventh Dalai Lama as a political figurehead and only a Khalkha Mongol as the Qing amban or representative and a garrison in Lhasa. After the Kangxi Emperor died in 1722 and was succeeded by his son, the Yongzheng Emperor, these were also withdrawn, leaving the Tibetans to rule autonomously and showing the Qing were interested in an alliance, not conquest. In 1723, after brutally quelling a major rebellion by zealous Tibetan patriots and disgruntled Khoshut Mongols from Amdo who attacked Xining, the Qing intervened again, splitting Tibet by putting Amdo and Kham under their own more direct control.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "Continuing Qing interference in Central Tibetan politics and religion incited an anti-Qing faction to quarrel with the Qing-sympathising Tibetan nobles in power in Lhasa, led by Kanchenas who was supported by Polhanas. This led eventually to the murder of Kanchenas in 1727 and a civil war that was resolved in 1728 with the canny Polhanas, who had sent for Qing assistance, the victor. When the Qing forces did arrive they punished the losers and exiled the Seventh Dalai Lama to Kham, under the pretence of sending him to Beijing, because his father had assisted the defeated, anti-Qing faction. He studied and taught Buddhism there for the next seven years.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "In 1735 he was allowed back to Lhasa to study and teach, but still under strict control, being mistrusted by the Qing, while Polhanas ruled Central Tibet under nominal Qing supervision. Meanwhile, the Qing had promoted the Fifth Panchen Lama to be a rival leader and reinstated the ambans and the Lhasa garrison. Polhanas died in 1747. He was succeeded by his son Gyurme Namgyal, the last dynastic ruler of Tibet, who was far less cooperative with the Qing. He built a Tibetan army and started conspiring with the Dzungars to rid Tibet of Qing influence. In 1750, when the ambans realised this, they invited him and personally assassinated him. Despite the Dalai Lama's attempts to calm the angered populace, a vengeful Tibetan mob assassinated the ambans, along with most of their escort.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "The Qing sent yet another force 'to restore order' but when it arrived the situation had already been stabilised under the leadership of the 7th Dalai Lama who was now seen to have demonstrated loyalty to the Qing. Just as Güshi Khan had done with the Fifth Dalai Lama, they therefore helped reconstitute the government with the Dalai Lama presiding over a Kashag of four Tibetans, reinvesting him with temporal power in addition to his already established spiritual leadership. This arrangement, with a Kashag under the Dalai Lama or his regent, outlasted the Qing dynasty which collapsed in 1912.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "The ambans and their garrison were reinstated to observe and to some extent supervise affairs. Their influence generally waned with the power of their empire, which gradually declined after 1792 along with its influence over Tibet, a decline aided by a succession of corrupt or incompetent ambans. Moreover, there was soon no reason for the Qing to fear the Dzungar; by the time the Seventh Dalai Lama died in 1757 at the age of 49, the entire Dzungar people had been practically exterminated through years of genocidal campaigns by Qing armies, and deadly smallpox epidemics, with the survivors being forcibly transported into China. Their emptied lands were then awarded to other peoples.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "According to Mullin, despite living through such violent times Kelzang Gyatso was perhaps 'the most spiritually learned and accomplished of any Dalai Lama', his written works comprising several hundred titles including 'some of Tibet's finest spiritual literary achievements'. Despite his apparent lack of zeal in politics, Kelzang Gyatso is credited with establishing in 1751 the reformed government of Tibet headed by the Dalai Lama, which continued over 200 years until the 1950s, and then in exile. Construction of the Norbulingka, the 'Summer Palace' of the Dalai Lamas in Lhasa was started during Kelzang Gyatso's reign.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "The Eighth Dalai Lama, Jamphel Gyatso was born in Tsang in 1758 and died aged 46 having taken little part in Tibetan politics, mostly leaving temporal matters to his regents and the ambans. The 8th Dalai Lama was approved by the Emperor of China to be exempted from the lot-drawing ceremony of using Chinese Golden Urn. Qianlong Emperor officially accept Gyiangbai as the 8th Dalai Lama when the 6th Panchen Erdeni came to congratulate the Emperor on his 70th birthday in 1780. The 8th Dalai Lama was granted a jade seal of authority and jade sheets of confirmation of authority by the Emperor of China. The jade sheets of confirmation of authority says",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "You, the Dalai Lama, is the legal incarnation of Zhongkapa. You are granted the jade certificate of confirmation of authority and jade seal of authority, which you enshrine in the Potala monastery to guard the gate of Buddhism forever. All documents sent for the country's important ceremonies must be stamped with this seal, and all the other reports can be stamped with the original seal. Since you enjoy such honor, you have to make efforts to promote self-cultivation, study and propagate Buddhism, also help me in promoting Buddhism and goodness of the previous generation of the Dalai Lama for the people, and also for the long life of our country\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "The Dalai Lama, his later generations and the local government cherished both the jade seal of authority, and the jade sheets of authority. They were properly preserved as the root to their ruling power.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "Although the 8th Dalai Lama lived almost as long as the Seventh he was overshadowed by many contemporary lamas in terms of both religious and political accomplishment. According to Mullin, the 14th Dalai Lama has pointed to certain indications that Jamphel Gyatso might not have been the incarnation of the 7th Dalai Lama but of Jamyang Chojey, a disciple of Tsongkhapa and founder of Drepung monastery who was also reputed to be an incarnation of Avalokiteshvara. In any case, he mainly lived a quiet and unassuming life as a devoted and studious monk, uninvolved in the kind of dramas that had surrounded his predecessors.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "Nevertheless, Jamphel Gyatso was also said to possess all the signs of being the true incarnation of the Seventh. This was also claimed to have been confirmed by many portents clear to the Tibetans and so, in 1762, at the age of 5, he was duly enthroned as the Eighth Dalai Lama at the Potala Palace. At the age of 23 he was persuaded to assume the throne as ruler of Tibet with a Regent to assist him and after three years of this, when the Regent went to Beijing as ambassador in 1784, he continued to rule solo for a further four years. Feeling unsuited to worldly affairs, however, and unhappy in this role, he then retired from public office to concentrate on religious activities for his remaining 16 years until his death in 1804. He is also credited with the construction of the Norbulingka 'Summer Palace' started by his predecessor in Lhasa and with ordaining some ten thousand monks in his efforts to foster monasticism.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "Hugh Richardson's summary of the period covering the four short-lived, 19th-century Dalai Lamas:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "After him [the 8th Dalai Lama, Jamphel Gyatso], the 9th and 10th Dalai Lamas died before attaining their majority: one of them is credibly stated to have been murdered and strong suspicion attaches to the other. The 11th and 12th were each enthroned but died soon after being invested with power. For 113 years, therefore, supreme authority in Tibet was in the hands of a Lama Regent, except for about two years when a lay noble held office and for short periods of nominal rule by the 11th and 12th Dalai Lamas.It has sometimes been suggested that this state of affairs was brought about by the Ambans—the Imperial Residents in Tibet—because it would be easier to control the Tibet through a Regent than when a Dalai Lama, with his absolute power, was at the head of the government. That is not true. The regular ebb and flow of events followed its set course. The Imperial Residents in Tibet, after the first flush of zeal in 1750, grew less and less interested and efficient. Tibet was, to them, exile from the urbanity and culture of Peking; and so far from dominating the Regents, the Ambans allowed themselves to be dominated. It was the ambition and greed for power of Tibetans that led to five successive Dalai Lamas being subjected to continuous tutelage.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "Thubten Jigme Norbu, the elder brother of the 14th Dalai Lama, described these unfortunate events as follows, although there are few, if any, indications that any of the four were said to be 'Chinese-appointed imposters':",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "It is perhaps more than a coincidence that between the seventh and the thirteenth holders of that office, only one reached his majority. The eighth, Gyampal Gyatso, died when he was in his thirties, Lungtog Gyatso when he was eleven, Tsultrim Gyatso at eighteen, Khadrup Gyatso when he was eighteen also, and Krinla Gyatso at about the same age. The circumstances are such that it is very likely that some, if not all, were poisoned, either by loyal Tibetans for being Chinese-appointed impostors, or by the Chinese for not being properly manageable. Many Tibetans think that this was done at the time when the young [Dalai Lama] made his ritual visit to the Lake Lhamtso. ... Each of the four [Dalai Lamas] to die young expired shortly after his visit to the lake. Many said it was because they were not the true reincarnations, but imposters imposed by the Chinese. Others tell stories of how the cooks of the retinue, which in those days included many Chinese, were bribed to put poison in the [Dalai Lama's] food. The 13th [Dalai Lama] did not visit Lhamtso until he was 25 years old. He was adequately prepared by spiritual exercise and he also had faithful cooks. The Chinese were disappointed when he did not die like his predecessors, and he was to live long enough to give them much more cause for regret.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "According to Mullin, on the other hand, it is improbable that the Manchus would have murdered any of these four for being 'unmanageable' since it would have been in their best interests to have strong Dalai Lamas ruling in Lhasa, he argues, agreeing with Richardson that it was rather \"the ambition and greed for power of Tibetans\" that might have caused the Lamas' early deaths. Further, if Tibetan nobles murdered any of them, it would more likely have been in order to protect or enhance their family interests rather than out of suspicion that the Dalai Lamas were seen as Chinese-appointed imposters as suggested by Norbu. They could also have died from illnesses, possibly contracted from diseases to which they had no immunity, carried to Lhasa by the multitudes of pilgrims visiting from nearby countries for blessings. Finally, from the Buddhist point of view, Mullin says, \"Simply stated, these four Dalai Lamas died young because the world did not have enough good karma to deserve their presence\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "Tibetan historian K. Dhondup, however, in his history The Water-Bird and Other Years, based on the Tibetan minister Surkhang Sawang Chenmo's historical manuscripts, disagrees with Mullin's opinion that having strong Dalai Lamas in power in Tibet would have been in China's best interests. He notes that many historians are compelled to suspect Manchu foul play in these serial early deaths because the Ambans had such latitude to interfere; the Manchu, he says, \"to perpetuate their domination over Tibetan affairs, did not desire a Dalai Lama who will ascend the throne and become a strong and capable ruler over his own country and people\". The life and deeds of the 13th Dalai Lama [in successfully upholding de facto Tibetan independence from China from 1912 to 1950] serve as the living proof of this argument, he points out. This account also corresponds with TJ Norbu's observations above.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "Finally, while acknowledging the possibility, the 14th Dalai Lama himself doubts they were poisoned. He ascribes the probable cause of these early deaths to negligence, foolishness and lack of proper medical knowledge and attention. \"Even today\" he is quoted as saying, \"when people get sick, some [Tibetans] will say: 'Just do your prayers, you don't need medical treatment.'\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "Born in Kham in 1805–6 amidst the usual miraculous signs the Ninth Dalai Lama, Lungtok Gyatso was appointed by the 7th Panchen Lama's search team at the age of two and enthroned in the Potala in 1808 at an impressive ceremony attended by representatives from China, Mongolia, Nepal and Bhutan. Exemption from using Golden Urn was approved by the Emperor. Tibetan historian Nyima Gyaincain and Wang Jiawei point out that the 9th Dalai Lama was allowed to use the seal of authority given to the late 8th Dalai Lama by the Emperor of China",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "His second Regent Demo Tulku was the biographer of the 8th and 9th Dalai Lamas and though the 9th died at the age of 9, his biography is as lengthy as those of many of the early Dalai Lamas. In 1793 under Manchu pressure, Tibet had closed its borders to foreigners. In 1811, a British Sinologist, Thomas Manning became the first Englishman to visit Lhasa. Considered to be 'the first Chinese scholar in Europe' he stayed five months and gave enthusiastic accounts in his journal of his regular meetings with the Ninth Dalai Lama whom he found fascinating: \"beautiful, elegant, refined, intelligent, and entirely self-possessed, even at the age of six\". Three years later in March 1815 the young Lungtok Gyatso caught a severe cold and, leaving the Potala Palace to preside over the Monlam Prayer Festival, he contracted pneumonia from which he soon died.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "Like the Seventh Dalai Lama, the Tenth, Tsultrim Gyatso, was born in Lithang, Kham, where the Third Dalai Lama had built a monastery. It was 1816 and Regent Demo Tulku and the Seventh Panchen Lama followed indications from Nechung, the 'state oracle' which led them to appoint him at the age of two. He passed all the tests and was brought to Lhasa but official recognition was delayed until 1822 when he was enthroned and ordained by the Seventh Panchen Lama. There are conflicting reports about whether the Chinese 'Golden Urn' was utilised by drawing lots to choose him, but lot-drawing result was reported and approved by emperor. The 10th Dalai Lama mentioned in his biography that he was allowed to use the golden seal of authority based on the convention set up by the late Dalai Lama. At the investiture, decree of the Emperor of China was issued and read out.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "After 15 years of intensive studies and failing health he died, in 1837, at the age of 20 or 21. He identified with ordinary people rather than the court officials and often sat on his verandah in the sunshine with the office clerks. Intending to empower the common people he planned to institute political and economic reforms to share the nation's wealth more equitably. Over this period his health had deteriorated, the implication being that he may have suffered from slow poisoning by Tibetan aristocrats whose interests these reforms were threatening. He was also dissatisfied with his Regent and the Kashag and scolded them for not alleviating the condition of the common people, who had suffered much in small ongoing regional civil wars waged in Kokonor between Mongols, local Tibetans and the government over territory, and in Kham to extract unpaid taxes from rebellious Tibetan communities.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "Born in Gathar, Kham in 1838 and soon discovered by the official search committee with the help of the Nechung Oracle, the Eleventh Dalai Lama was brought to Lhasa in 1841 and recognised, enthroned and named Khedrup Gyatso by the Panchen Lama on April 16, 1842, seal of authority and golden sheets were granted on the same date. Sitting-in-the-bed ceremony was held in July 1844. After that he was immersed in religious studies under the Panchen Lama, amongst other great masters. Meanwhile, there were court intrigues and ongoing power struggles taking place between the various Lhasa factions, the Regent, the Kashag, the powerful nobles and the abbots and monks of the three great monasteries. The Tsemonling Regent became mistrusted and was forcibly deposed, there were machinations, plots, beatings and kidnappings of ministers and so forth, resulting at last in the Panchen Lama being appointed as interim Regent to keep the peace.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "Eventually the Third Reting Rinpoche was made Regent, and in 1855, Khedrup Gyatso, appearing to be an extremely promising prospect, was requested to take the reins of power at the age of 17. He was enthroned as ruler of Tibet in 1855, on orders of the Xianfeng Emperor. He died after just 11 months, no reason for his sudden and premature death being given in these accounts, Shakabpa and Mullin's histories both being based on untranslated Tibetan chronicles. The respected Reting Rinpoche was recalled once again to act as Regent and requested to lead the search for the next incarnation, the twelfth.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "In 1856, a child was born in south central Tibet amidst all the usual extraordinary signs. He came to the notice of the search team, was investigated, passed the traditional tests and was recognised as the 12th Dalai Lama in 1858. The use of the Chinese Golden Urn at the insistence of the Regent, who was later accused of being a Chinese lackey, confirmed this choice to the satisfaction of all. Renamed Trinley Gyatso and enthroned on July 3rd, 1860 after emperor's edict from Amban was announced. The boy underwent 13 years of intensive tutelage and training before stepping up to rule Tibet at the age of 17.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "His minority seems a time of even deeper Lhasan political intrigue and power struggles than his predecessor's. By 1862 this led to a coup by Wangchuk Shetra, a minister whom the Regent had banished for conspiring against him. Shetra contrived to return, deposed the Regent, who fled to China, and seized power, appointing himself 'Desi' or Prime Minister. He then ruled with \"absolute power\" for three years, quelling a major rebellion in northern Kham in 1863 and re-establishing Tibetan control over significant Qing-held territory there. Shetra died in 1864 and the Kashag re-assumed power. The retired 76th Ganden Tripa, Khyenrab Wangchuk, was appointed as 'Regent' but his role was limited to supervising and mentoring Trinley Gyatso.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "In 1868 Shetra's coup organiser, a semi-literate Ganden monk named Palden Dondrup, seized power by another coup and ruled as a cruel despot for three years, putting opponents to death by having them 'sewn into fresh animal skins and thrown in the river'. In 1871, at the request of officials outraged after Dondrup had done just that with one minister and imprisoned several others, he in turn was ousted and committed suicide after a counter-coup coordinated by the supposedly powerless 'Regent' Khyenrab Wangchuk. As a result of this action this venerable old Regent, who died the next year, is fondly remembered by Tibetans as saviour of the Dalai Lama and the nation. The Kashag and the Tsongdu or National Assembly were re-instated, and, presided over by a Dalai Lama or his Regent, ruled without further interruption until 1959.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 115,
"text": "According to Smith, however, during Trinley Gyatso's minority, the Regent was deposed in 1862 for abuse of authority and closeness with China, by an alliance of monks and officials called Gandre Drungche (Ganden and Drepung Monks Assembly); this body then ruled Tibet for ten years until dissolved, when a National Assembly of monks and officials called the Tsongdu was created and took over. Smith makes no mention of Shetra or Dondrup acting as usurpers and despots in this period.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 116,
"text": "In any case, Trinley Gyatso died within three years of assuming power. In 1873, at the age of 20 \"he suddenly became ill and passed away\". On the cause of his early death, accounts diverge. Mullin relates an interesting theory, based on cited Tibetan sources: out of concern for the monastic tradition, Trinley Gyatso chose to die and reincarnate as the 13th Dalai Lama, rather than taking the option of marrying a woman called Rigma Tsomo from Kokonor and leaving an heir to \"oversee Tibet's future\". Shakabpa on the other hand, without citing sources, notes that Trinley Gyatso was influenced and manipulated by two close acquaintances who were subsequently accused of having a hand in his fatal illness and imprisoned, tortured and exiled as a result.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 117,
"text": "In 1877, request to exempt Lobu Zangtab Kaijia Mucuo (Chinese: 罗布藏塔布开甲木措) from using lot-drawing process Golden Urn to become the 13th Dalai Lama was approved by the Central Government. The 13th Dalai Lama assumed ruling power from the monasteries, which previously had great influence on the Regent, in 1895. Due to his two periods of exile in 1904–1909 to escape the British invasion of 1904, and from 1910–1912 to escape a Chinese invasion, he became well aware of the complexities of international politics and was the first Dalai Lama to become aware of the importance of foreign relations. After his return from exile in India and Sikkim during January 1913, he assumed control of foreign relations and dealt directly with the Maharaja, with the British Political officer in Sikkim and with the king of Nepal – rather than letting the Kashag or parliament do it.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 118,
"text": "The Great Thirteenth Thubten Gyatso then published the Tibetan Declaration of Independence for the entirety of Tibet in 1913. Tibet's independence was never recognized by the Chinese (who claimed all land ever administered by the Manchus) but was recognized by the Kingdom of Nepal, who would use Tibet as one of its first references regarding its independent status when submitting an application to join the UN. On it, Nepal listed Tibet as a country just as independent and sovereign, with no mention of Chinese 'suzerainty'. Its relations with Tibet were apparently second in significance only to its relations with Britain, and even more significant than its relations with the USA or even India.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 119,
"text": "Furthermore, Tibet and Mongolia both signed the Treaty of friendship and alliance between the Government of Mongolia and Tibet. Neither countries' independence statuses were ever recognized by the KMT government in China, who would continue to completely claim both as Chinese territory. He expelled the ambans and all Chinese civilians in the country and instituted many measures to modernize Tibet. These included provisions to curb excessive demands on peasants for provisions by the monasteries and tax evasion by the nobles, setting up an independent police force, the abolition of the death penalty, extension of secular education, and the provision of electricity throughout the city of Lhasa in the 1920s. He died in 1933.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 120,
"text": "The 14th Dalai Lama was born on 6 July 1935 on a straw mat in a cowshed to a farmer's family in a remote part of Tibet. According to most Western journalistic sources he was born into a humble family of farmers as one of 16 children, and one of the three reincarnated Rinpoches in the same family. On February 5, 1940, request to exempt Lhamo Thondup (Chinese: 拉木登珠) from lot-drawing process to become the 14th Dalai Lama was approved by the Central Government.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 121,
"text": "The 14th Dalai Lama was not formally enthroned until 17 November 1950, during the Battle of Chamdo with the People's Republic of China. On 18 April 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama issued statement that in 1951, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government were pressured into accepting the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet by which it became formally incorporated into the People's Republic of China. The United States already informed the Dalai Lama in 1951 that in order to receive assistance and support from the United States, he must depart from Tibet and publicly disavow \"agreements concluded under duress\" between the representatives of Tibet and China. Fearing for his life in the wake of a revolt in Tibet in 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India, from where he led a government in exile.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 122,
"text": "With the aim of launching guerrilla operations against the Chinese, the Central Intelligence Agency funded the Dalai Lama's administration with US$1.7 million a year in the 1960s. In 2001 the 14th Dalai Lama ceded his partial power over the government to an elected parliament of selected Tibetan exiles. His original goal was full independence for Tibet, but by the late 1980s he was seeking high-level autonomy instead. He continued to seek greater autonomy from China, but Dolma Gyari, deputy speaker of the parliament-in-exile, stated: \"If the middle path fails in the short term, we will be forced to opt for complete independence or self-determination as per the UN charter\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 123,
"text": "The 14th Dalai Lama became one of the two most popular world leaders by 2013 (tied with Barack Obama), according to a poll conducted by Harris Interactive of New York, which sampled public opinion in the US and six major European countries.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 124,
"text": "In 2014 and 2016, he stated that Tibet wants to be part of China but China should let Tibet preserve its culture and script.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 125,
"text": "In 2018, he stated that \"Europe belongs to the Europeans\" and that Europe has a moral obligation to aid refugees whose lives are in peril. Further he stated that Europe should receive, help and educate refugees but ultimately they should return to develop their home countries. He made similar comments in an interview the following year, in which he also said \"If female Dalai Lama comes, then (she) should be more attractive\", because if a female Dalai Lama looked a certain way people would \"prefer not see … that face.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 126,
"text": "In March 2019, the Dalai Lama spoke out about his successor, saying that after his death he is likely to be reincarnated in India. He also warned that any Chinese interference in succession should not be considered valid.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 127,
"text": "In October 2020, he stated that he did not support Tibetan independence and hoped to visit China as a Nobel Prize winner. He said \"I prefer the concept of a 'republic' in the People's Republic of China. In the concept of republic, ethnic minorities are like Tibetans, The Mongols, Manchus, and Xinjiang Uyghurs, we can live in harmony\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 128,
"text": "In December 2021, he praised India as a role model for religious harmony in the world.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 129,
"text": "A February 2023 video shows the Dalai Lama in the city of Dharamshala, India, asking a boy for a kiss on the lips, and then to suck his tongue. He later apologized for the incident and expressed regret through a statement that claimed he \"often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras\" and \"regrets the incident.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 130,
"text": "The 1st Dalai Lama was based at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, which he founded. The Second to the Fifth Dalai Lamas were mainly based at Drepung Monastery outside Lhasa. In 1645, after the unification of Tibet, the Fifth moved to the ruins of a royal fortress or residence on top of Marpori ('Red Mountain') in Lhasa and decided to build a palace on the same site. This ruined palace, called Tritse Marpo, was originally built around 636 AD by the founder of the Tibetan Empire, Songtsen Gampo for his Nepalese wife. Amongst the ruins there was just a small temple left where Tsongkhapa had given a teaching when he arrived in Lhasa in the 1380s.",
"title": "Residences"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 131,
"text": "The Fifth Dalai Lama began construction of the Potala Palace on this site in 1645, carefully incorporating what was left of his predecessor's palace into its structure. From then on and until today, unless on tour or in exile the Dalai Lamas have always spent their winters at the Potala Palace and their summers at the Norbulingka palace and park. Both palaces are in Lhasa and approximately 3 km apart.",
"title": "Residences"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 132,
"text": "Following the failed 1959 Tibetan uprising, the 14th Dalai Lama sought refuge in India. Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru allowed in the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government officials. The Dalai Lama has since lived in exile in McLeod Ganj, in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh in northern India, where the Central Tibetan Administration is established. His residence on the Temple Road in McLeod Ganj is called the Dalai Lama Temple and is visited by people from across the globe. Tibetan refugees have constructed and opened many schools and Buddhist temples in Dharamshala.",
"title": "Residences"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 133,
"text": "By the Himalayan tradition, phowa is the discipline that is believed to transfer the mindstream to the intended body. Upon the death of the Dalai Lama and consultation with the Nechung Oracle, a search for the Lama's yangsi, or reincarnation, is conducted. The government of the People's Republic of China has stated its intention to be the ultimate authority on the selection of the next Dalai Lama.",
"title": "Searching for the reincarnation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 134,
"text": "High Lamas may also claim to have a vision by a dream or if the Dalai Lama was cremated, they will often monitor the direction of the smoke as an 'indication' of the direction of the expected rebirth.",
"title": "Searching for the reincarnation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 135,
"text": "If there is only one boy found, the High Lamas will invite Living Buddhas of the three great monasteries, together with secular clergy and monk officials, to 'confirm their findings' and then report to the Central Government through the Minister of Tibet. Later, a group consisting of the three major servants of Dalai Lama, eminent officials, and troops will collect the boy and his family and travel to Lhasa, where the boy would be taken, usually to Drepung Monastery, to study the Buddhist sutra in preparation for assuming the role of spiritual leader of Tibet.",
"title": "Searching for the reincarnation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 136,
"text": "If there are several possible claimed reincarnations, however, regents, eminent officials, monks at the Jokhang in Lhasa, and the Minister to Tibet have historically decided on the individual by putting the boys' names inside an urn and drawing one lot in public if it was too difficult to judge the reincarnation initially.",
"title": "Searching for the reincarnation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 137,
"text": "In his autobiography, Freedom in Exile, the Dalai Lama states that after he dies it is possible that his people will no longer want a Dalai Lama, in which case there would be no search for the Lama's reincarnation. \"So, I might take rebirth as an insect, or an animal - whatever would be of most value to the largest number of sentient beings\" (p.237).",
"title": "Searching for the reincarnation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 138,
"text": "There have been 14 recognised incarnations of the Dalai Lama:",
"title": "Searching for the reincarnation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 139,
"text": "There has also been one non-recognised Dalai Lama, Ngawang Yeshe Gyatso, declared 28 June 1707, when he was 25 years old, by Lha-bzang Khan as the \"true\" 6th Dalai Lama – however, he was never accepted as such by the majority of the population.",
"title": "Searching for the reincarnation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 140,
"text": "In the mid-1970s, Tenzin Gyatso told a Polish newspaper that he thought he would be the last Dalai Lama. In a later interview published in the English language press he stated, \"The Dalai Lama office was an institution created to benefit others. It is possible that it will soon have outlived its usefulness.\" These statements caused a furore amongst Tibetans in India. Many could not believe that such an option could even be considered. It was further felt that it was not the Dalai Lama's decision to reincarnate. Rather, they felt that since the Dalai Lama is a national institution it was up to the people of Tibet to decide whether the Dalai Lama should reincarnate.",
"title": "Future of the position"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 141,
"text": "The government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) has claimed the power to approve the naming of \"high\" reincarnations in Tibet, based on a precedent set by the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty. The Qianlong Emperor instituted a system of selecting the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama by a lottery that used a Golden Urn with names wrapped in clumps of barley. This method was used a few times for both positions during the 19th century, but eventually fell into disuse.",
"title": "Future of the position"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 142,
"text": "In 1995, the Dalai Lama chose to proceed with the selection of the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama without the use of the Golden Urn, while the Chinese government insisted that it must be used. This has led to two rival Panchen Lamas: Gyaincain Norbu as chosen by the Chinese government's process, and Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as chosen by the Dalai Lama. However, Nyima was abducted by the Chinese government shortly after being chosen as the Panchen Lama and has not been seen in public since 1995.",
"title": "Future of the position"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 143,
"text": "In September 2007, the Chinese government said all high monks must be approved by the government, which would include the selection of the 15th Dalai Lama after the death of Tenzin Gyatso. Since by tradition, the Panchen Lama must approve the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, that is another possible method of control. Consequently, the Dalai Lama has alluded to the possibility of a referendum to determine the 15th Dalai Lama.",
"title": "Future of the position"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 144,
"text": "In response to this scenario, Tashi Wangdi, the representative of the 14th Dalai Lama, replied that the Chinese government's selection would be meaningless. \"You can't impose an Imam, an Archbishop, saints, any religion...you can't politically impose these things on people\", said Wangdi. \"It has to be a decision of the followers of that tradition. The Chinese can use their political power: force. Again, it's meaningless. Like their Panchen Lama. And they can't keep their Panchen Lama in Tibet. They tried to bring him to his monastery many times but people would not see him. How can you have a religious leader like that?\"",
"title": "Future of the position"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 145,
"text": "The 14th Dalai Lama said as early as 1969 that it was for the Tibetans to decide whether the institution of the Dalai Lama \"should continue or not\". He has given reference to a possible vote occurring in the future for all Tibetan Buddhists to decide whether they wish to recognize his rebirth. In response to the possibility that the PRC might attempt to choose his successor, the Dalai Lama said he would not be reborn in a country controlled by the People's Republic of China or any other country which is not free. According to Robert D. Kaplan, this could mean that \"the next Dalai Lama might come from the Tibetan cultural belt that stretches across Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, presumably making him even more pro-Indian and hence anti-Chinese\".",
"title": "Future of the position"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 146,
"text": "The 14th Dalai Lama supported the possibility that his next incarnation could be a woman. As an \"engaged Buddhist\" the Dalai Lama has an appeal straddling cultures and political systems making him one of the most recognized and respected moral voices today. \"Despite the complex historical, religious and political factors surrounding the selection of incarnate masters in the exiled Tibetan tradition, the Dalai Lama is open to change\", author Michaela Haas writes.",
"title": "Future of the position"
}
] | Dalai Lama is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and incumbent Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso, who lives in exile as a refugee in India. The Dalai Lama is also considered to be the successor in a line of tulkus who are believed to be incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Since the time of the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century, his personage has always been a symbol of unification of the state of Tibet, where he has represented Buddhist values and traditions. The Dalai Lama was an important figure of the Geluk tradition, which was politically and numerically dominant in Central Tibet, but his religious authority went beyond sectarian boundaries. While he had no formal or institutional role in any of the religious traditions, which were headed by their own high lamas, he was a unifying symbol of the Tibetan state, representing Buddhist values and traditions above any specific school. The traditional function of the Dalai Lama as an ecumenical figure, holding together disparate religious and regional groups, has been taken up by the fourteenth Dalai Lama. He has worked to overcome sectarian and other divisions in the exiled community and has become a symbol of Tibetan nationhood for Tibetans both in Tibet and in exile. From 1642 until 1705 and from 1750 to the 1950s, the Dalai Lamas or their regents headed the Tibetan government in Lhasa, which governed all or most of the Tibetan Plateau with varying degrees of autonomy. This Tibetan government enjoyed the patronage and protection of firstly Mongol kings of the Khoshut and Dzungar Khanates (1642–1720) and then of the emperors of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty (1720–1912). In 1913, several Tibetan representatives including Agvan Dorzhiev signed a treaty between Tibet and Mongolia, proclaiming mutual recognition and their independence from China. The legitimacy of the treaty and declared independence of Tibet was rejected by both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China. The Dalai Lamas headed the Tibetan government until 1951. | 2001-10-18T00:12:17Z | 2023-12-22T21:35:49Z | [
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8,134 | Damages | At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at law, the loss must involve damage to property, or mental or physical injury; pure economic loss is rarely recognised for the award of damages.
Compensatory damages are further categorized into special damages, which are economic losses such as loss of earnings, property damage and medical expenses, and general damages, which are non-economic damages such as pain and suffering and emotional distress. Rather than being compensatory, at common law damages may instead be nominal, contemptuous or exemplary.
Among the Saxons, a monetary value called a weregild was assigned to every human being and every piece of property in the Salic Code. If property was stolen or someone was injured or killed, the guilty person had to pay the weregild as restitution to the victim's family or to the owner of the property.
Recovery of damages by a plaintiff in lawsuit is subject to the legal principle that damages must be proximately caused by the wrongful conduct of the defendant. This is known as the principle of proximate cause. This principle governs the recovery of all compensatory damages, whether the underlying claim is based on contract, tort, or both. Damages are likely to be limited to those reasonably foreseeable by the defendant. If a defendant could not reasonably have foreseen that someone might be hurt by their actions, there may be no liability.
This rule does not usually apply to intentional torts (for example, tort of deceit), and also has stunted applicability to the quantum in negligence where the maxim 'Intended consequences are never too remote' applies: 'never' is inaccurate here but resorts to unforeseeable direct and natural consequences of an act.
It may be useful for the lawyers, the plaintiff and/or the defendant to employ forensic accountants or someone trained in the relevant field of economics to give evidence on the value of the loss. In this case, they may be called upon to give opinion evidence as an expert witness.
Compensatory damages are paid to compensate the claimant for loss, injury, or harm suffered by the claimant as a result of another's breach of duty that caused the loss. For example, compensatory damages may be awarded as the result of a negligence claim under tort law. Expectation damages are used in contract law to put an injured party in the position it would have occupied but for the breach. Compensatory damages can be classified as special damages and general damages.
Liability for payment of an award of damages is established when the claimant proves, on the balance of probabilities, that a defendant's wrongful act caused a tangible, harm, loss or injury to the plaintiff. Once that threshold is met, the plaintiff is entitled to some amount of recovery for that loss or injury. No recovery is not an option. The court must then assess the amount of compensation attributable to the harmful acts of the defendant. The amount of damages a plaintiff would recover is usually measured on a "loss of bargain" basis, also known as expectation loss, or "economic loss". This concept reflects the difference between "the value of what has been received and its value as represented".
Damages are usually assessed at the date of the wrongful act, but in England and Wales, Pelling J has observed that this is not the case if justice requires the assessment of damages to be calculated at some other date. In Murfin v Ford Campbell, an agreement had been entered into whereby company shares were exchanged for loan notes, which could only be redeemed if certain profit thresholds had been achieved in the relevant accounting years. As the thresholds were not met, the loan notes were not redeemable, but at the date of the advisors' breach of contract this could not be known, only the loan notes' face value could be known. The conclusion was that in this case valuation could not be done until after the profit performance became known. In his judgement Pelling also referred to the case of Smith New Court Securities Ltd v Scrimgeour Vickers (Asset Management) Ltd, a case where continuing misrepresentation affected the appropriate date for damages to be assessed.
Special damages compensate the claimant for the quantifiable monetary losses he has suffered. For example, extra costs, repair or replacement of damaged property, lost earnings (both historically and in the future), loss of irreplaceable items, additional domestic costs, and so on. They are seen in both personal and commercial actions.
Special damages can include direct losses (such as amounts the claimant had to spend to try to mitigate damages) and consequential or economic losses resulting from lost profits in a business.
Damages in tort are awarded generally to place the claimant in the position in which he would have been had the tort not taken place. Damages for breach of contract are generally awarded to place the claimant in the position in which he would have been had the contract not been breached. This can often result in a different measure of damages. In cases where it is possible to frame a claim in either contract or tort, it is necessary to be aware of what gives the best outcome. If the transaction was a "good bargain", contract generally gives a better result for the claimant.
As an example, Neal agrees to sell Mary an antique Rolex watch for £100. In fact the watch is a fake and worth only £50. If it had been a genuine antique Rolex, it would have been worth £500. Neal is in breach of contract and could be sued. In contract, Mary is entitled to an item worth £500, but she has only one worth £50. Her damages are £450. Neal also induced Mary to enter into the contract through a misrepresentation (a tort). If Mary sues in tort, she is entitled to damages that put herself back to the same financial position place she would have been in had the misrepresentation not been made. She would clearly not have entered into the contract knowing the watch was fake, and is entitled to her £100 back. Thus her damages in tort are £100. (However, she would have to return the watch, or else her damages would be £50.)
If the transaction were a "bad bargain", tort gives a better result for the claimant. If in the above example Mary had overpaid, paying £750 for the watch, her damages in contract would still be £450 (giving her the item she contracted to buy), however in tort damages are £700. This is because damages in tort put her in the position she would have been in had the tort not taken place, and are calculated as her money back (£750) less the value of what she actually got (£50).
Special damages are sometimes divided into incidental damages, and consequential damages.
Incidental losses include the costs needed to remedy problems and put things right. The largest element is likely to be the reinstatement of property damage. Take for example a factory which was burnt down by the negligence of a contractor. The claimant would be entitled to the direct costs required to rebuild the factory and replace the damaged machinery.
The claimant may also be entitled to any consequential losses. These may include the lost profits that the claimant could have been expected to make in the period whilst the factory was closed and rebuilt.
On a breach of contract by a defendant, a court generally awards the sum that would restore the injured party to the economic position they expected from performance of the promise or promises (known as an "expectation measure" or "benefit-of-the-bargain" measure of damages). This rule, however, has attracted increasing scrutiny from Australian courts and legal commentators. A judge arrives compensatory number by considering both the type of contract, and the loss incurred.
When it is either not possible or not desirable to award the victim in that way, a court may award money damages designed to restore the injured party to the economic position they occupied at the time the contract was entered (known as the "reliance measure") or designed to prevent the breaching party from being unjustly enriched ("restitution") (see below).
Parties may contract for liquidated damages to be paid upon a breach of the contract by one of the parties. Under common law, a liquidated damages clause will not be enforced if the purpose of the term is solely to punish a breach (in this case it is termed penal damages). The clause will be enforceable if it involves a genuine attempt to quantify a loss in advance and is a good faith estimate of economic loss. Courts have ruled as excessive and invalidated damages which the parties contracted as liquidated, but which the court nonetheless found to be penal. To determine whether a clause is a liquidated damages clause or a penalty clause, it is necessary to consider:
i) Whether the clause is 'extravagant, out of all proportion, exorbitant or unconscionable'
ii) Whether there is a single sum stipulated for a number of different breaches, or individual sums for each breach
iii) Whether a genuine pre-estimate of damage is ascertainable
Damages in tort are generally awarded to place the claimant in the position that would have been taken had the tort not taken place. Damages in tort are quantified under two headings: general damages and special damages.
In personal injury claims, damages for compensation are quantified by reference to the severity of the injuries sustained (see below general damages for more details). In non-personal injury claims, for instance, a claim for professional negligence against solicitors, the measure of damages will be assessed by the loss suffered by the client due to the negligent act or omission by the solicitor giving rise to the loss. The loss must be reasonably foreseeable and not too remote. Financial losses are usually simple to quantify but in complex cases which involve loss of pension entitlements and future loss projections, the instructing solicitor will usually employ a specialist expert actuary or accountant to assist with the quantification of the loss.
General damages are monetary compensation for the non-monetary aspects of the specific harm suffered. These damages are sometimes termed 'pain, suffering and loss of amenity'. Examples of this include physical or emotional pain and suffering, loss of companionship, loss of consortium, disfigurement, loss of reputation, impairment of mental or physical capacity, hedonic damages or loss of enjoyment of life, etc. This is not easily quantifiable, and depends on the individual circumstances of the claimant. Judges in the United Kingdom base the award on damages awarded in similar previous cases. In 2012 the Court of Appeal of England and Wales noted that
this court has not merely the power, but a positive duty, to monitor, and where appropriate to alter, the guideline rates for general damages in personal injury actions.
General damages in England and Wales were increased by 10% for all cases where judgements were given after 1 April 2013, following changes to the options available to personal injury claimants wanting to cover the cost of their litigation.
General damages are generally awarded only in claims brought by individuals, when they have suffered personal harm. Examples would be personal injury (following the tort of negligence by the defendant), or the tort of defamation.
The quantification of personal injury is not an exact science. In English law solicitors treat personal injury claims as "general damages" for pain and suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA). Solicitors quantify personal injury claims by reference to previous awards made by the courts which are "similar" to the case in hand. The Judicial College's Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases are adjusted following periodic review of the awards which have been made by the courts since the previous review.
The guidance which solicitors will take into account to help quantify general damages are:
The age of the client is important especially when dealing with fatal accident claims or permanent injuries. The younger the injured victim with a permanent injury the longer that person has to live with the PSLA. As a consequence, the greater the compensation payment. In fatal accident claims, generally the younger deceased, the greater the dependency claim by the partner and children.
Solicitors will consider "like for like" injuries with the case in hand and similar cases decided by the courts previously. These cases are known as precedents. Generally speaking decisions from the higher courts will bind the lower courts. Therefore, judgments from the House of Lords and the Court of Appeal have greater authority than the lower courts such as the High Court and the County Court. A compensation award can only be right or wrong with reference to that specific judgment. Solicitors must be careful when looking at older cases when quantifying a claim to ensure that the award is brought up to date and to take into account the court of appeal case in Heil v Rankin Generally speaking the greater the injury the greater the damages awarded.
This heading is inextricably linked with the other points above. Where two clients are of the same age, experience and suffer the same injury, it does not necessarily mean that they will be affected the same. We are all different. Some people will recover more quickly than others. The courts will assess each claim on its own particular facts and therefore if one claimant recovers more quickly than another, the damages will be reflected accordingly. It is important to note here that "psychological injuries" may also follow from an accident which may increase the quantum of damages.
When a personal injury claim is settled either in court or out of court, the most common way the compensation payment is made is by a lump sum award in full and final settlement of the claim. Once accepted there can be no further award for compensation at a later time unless the claim is settled by provisional damages often found in industrial injury claims such as asbestos related injuries.
Statutory damages are an amount stipulated within the statute rather than calculated based on the degree of harm to the plaintiff. Lawmakers will provide for statutory damages for acts in which it is difficult to determine the value of the harm to the victim. Mere violation of the law can entitle the victim to a statutory award, even if no actual injury occurred. These are different from nominal damages, in which no written sum is specified.
Nominal damages are very small damages awarded to show that the loss or harm suffered was technical rather than actual. Perhaps the most famous nominal damages award in modern times has been the $1 verdict against the National Football League (NFL) in the 1986 antitrust suit prosecuted by the United States Football League. Although the verdict was automatically trebled pursuant to antitrust law in the United States, the resulting $3 judgment was regarded as a victory for the NFL. Historically, one of the best known nominal damage awards was the farthing that the jury awarded to James Whistler in his libel suit against John Ruskin. In the English jurisdiction, nominal damages are generally fixed at £5.
Many times a party that has been wronged but is not able to prove significant damages will sue for nominal damages. This is particularly common in cases involving alleged violations of constitutional rights, such as freedom of speech. Until 2021, in the United States, there was a circuit split as to whether nominal damages may be used if a constitutional violation had occurred but has since been rendered moot. The Supreme Court decided 8–1 in the 2021 case Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski that nominal damages are appropriate means to redress violated rights otherwise now rendered moot.
Contemptuous damages are a form of damage award available in some jurisdictions. They are similar to nominal damages awards, as they are given when the plaintiff's suit is trivial, used only to settle a point of honour or law. Awards are usually of the smallest amount, usually 1 cent or similar. The key distinction is that in jurisdictions that follow the loser-pays for attorney fees, the claimant in a contemptuous damages case may be required to pay their own attorney fees.
Traditionally, the court awarded the smallest coin in the Realm, which in England was one farthing, 1/960 of a pound before decimalisation in the 1970s. Court costs are not awarded.
Generally, punitive damages, which are also termed exemplary damages in the United Kingdom, are not awarded in order to compensate the plaintiff, but in order to reform or deter the defendant and similar persons from pursuing a course of action such as that which damaged the plaintiff. Punitive damages are awarded only in special cases where conduct was egregiously insidious and are over and above the amount of compensatory damages, such as in the event of malice or intent. Great judicial restraint is expected to be exercised in their application. In the United States punitive damages awards are subject to the limitations imposed by the due process of law clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.
In England and Wales, exemplary damages are limited to the circumstances set out by Lord Devlin in the leading case of Rookes v. Barnard. They are:
Rookes v Barnard has been much criticised and has not been followed in Canada or Australia or by the Privy Council.
Punitive damages awarded in a US case would be difficult to get recognition for in a European court, where punitive damages are most likely to be considered to violate ordre public.
Some jurisdictions recognize a form of damages, called, aggravated damages, that are similar to punitive or exemplary damages. Aggravated damages are not often awarded; they apply where the injury has been aggravated by the wrongdoer's behaviour, for example, their cruelty.
In certain areas of the law another head of damages has long been available, whereby the defendant is made to give up the profits made through the civil wrong in restitution. Doyle and Wright define restitutionary damages as being a monetary remedy that is measured according to the defendant's gain rather than the plaintiff's loss. The plaintiff thereby gains damages which are not measured by reference to any loss sustained. In some areas of the law this heading of damages is uncontroversial; most particularly intellectual property rights and breach of fiduciary relationship.
In England and Wales the House of Lords case of Attorney-General v. Blake opened up the possibility of restitutionary damages for breach of contract. In this case the profits made by a defecting spy, George Blake, for the publication of his book, were awarded to the British Government for breach of contract. The case has been followed in English courts, but the situations in which restitutionary damages will be available remain unclear.
The basis for restitutionary damages is much debated, but is usually seen as based on denying a wrongdoer any profit from his wrongdoing. The really difficult question, and one which is currently unanswered, relates to what wrongs should allow this remedy.
In addition to damages, the successful party is often entitled to be awarded their reasonable legal costs that they spent during the case. This is the rule in most countries other than the United States. In the United States, a party generally is not entitled to its attorneys' fees or for hardships undergone during trial unless the parties agreed in a contract that attorney's fees should be covered or a specific statute or law permits recovery of legal fees, such as discrimination. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at law, the loss must involve damage to property, or mental or physical injury; pure economic loss is rarely recognised for the award of damages.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Compensatory damages are further categorized into special damages, which are economic losses such as loss of earnings, property damage and medical expenses, and general damages, which are non-economic damages such as pain and suffering and emotional distress. Rather than being compensatory, at common law damages may instead be nominal, contemptuous or exemplary.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Among the Saxons, a monetary value called a weregild was assigned to every human being and every piece of property in the Salic Code. If property was stolen or someone was injured or killed, the guilty person had to pay the weregild as restitution to the victim's family or to the owner of the property.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Recovery of damages by a plaintiff in lawsuit is subject to the legal principle that damages must be proximately caused by the wrongful conduct of the defendant. This is known as the principle of proximate cause. This principle governs the recovery of all compensatory damages, whether the underlying claim is based on contract, tort, or both. Damages are likely to be limited to those reasonably foreseeable by the defendant. If a defendant could not reasonably have foreseen that someone might be hurt by their actions, there may be no liability.",
"title": "Proof of damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "This rule does not usually apply to intentional torts (for example, tort of deceit), and also has stunted applicability to the quantum in negligence where the maxim 'Intended consequences are never too remote' applies: 'never' is inaccurate here but resorts to unforeseeable direct and natural consequences of an act.",
"title": "Proof of damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "It may be useful for the lawyers, the plaintiff and/or the defendant to employ forensic accountants or someone trained in the relevant field of economics to give evidence on the value of the loss. In this case, they may be called upon to give opinion evidence as an expert witness.",
"title": "Proof of damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Compensatory damages are paid to compensate the claimant for loss, injury, or harm suffered by the claimant as a result of another's breach of duty that caused the loss. For example, compensatory damages may be awarded as the result of a negligence claim under tort law. Expectation damages are used in contract law to put an injured party in the position it would have occupied but for the breach. Compensatory damages can be classified as special damages and general damages.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Liability for payment of an award of damages is established when the claimant proves, on the balance of probabilities, that a defendant's wrongful act caused a tangible, harm, loss or injury to the plaintiff. Once that threshold is met, the plaintiff is entitled to some amount of recovery for that loss or injury. No recovery is not an option. The court must then assess the amount of compensation attributable to the harmful acts of the defendant. The amount of damages a plaintiff would recover is usually measured on a \"loss of bargain\" basis, also known as expectation loss, or \"economic loss\". This concept reflects the difference between \"the value of what has been received and its value as represented\".",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Damages are usually assessed at the date of the wrongful act, but in England and Wales, Pelling J has observed that this is not the case if justice requires the assessment of damages to be calculated at some other date. In Murfin v Ford Campbell, an agreement had been entered into whereby company shares were exchanged for loan notes, which could only be redeemed if certain profit thresholds had been achieved in the relevant accounting years. As the thresholds were not met, the loan notes were not redeemable, but at the date of the advisors' breach of contract this could not be known, only the loan notes' face value could be known. The conclusion was that in this case valuation could not be done until after the profit performance became known. In his judgement Pelling also referred to the case of Smith New Court Securities Ltd v Scrimgeour Vickers (Asset Management) Ltd, a case where continuing misrepresentation affected the appropriate date for damages to be assessed.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Special damages compensate the claimant for the quantifiable monetary losses he has suffered. For example, extra costs, repair or replacement of damaged property, lost earnings (both historically and in the future), loss of irreplaceable items, additional domestic costs, and so on. They are seen in both personal and commercial actions.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Special damages can include direct losses (such as amounts the claimant had to spend to try to mitigate damages) and consequential or economic losses resulting from lost profits in a business.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Damages in tort are awarded generally to place the claimant in the position in which he would have been had the tort not taken place. Damages for breach of contract are generally awarded to place the claimant in the position in which he would have been had the contract not been breached. This can often result in a different measure of damages. In cases where it is possible to frame a claim in either contract or tort, it is necessary to be aware of what gives the best outcome. If the transaction was a \"good bargain\", contract generally gives a better result for the claimant.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "As an example, Neal agrees to sell Mary an antique Rolex watch for £100. In fact the watch is a fake and worth only £50. If it had been a genuine antique Rolex, it would have been worth £500. Neal is in breach of contract and could be sued. In contract, Mary is entitled to an item worth £500, but she has only one worth £50. Her damages are £450. Neal also induced Mary to enter into the contract through a misrepresentation (a tort). If Mary sues in tort, she is entitled to damages that put herself back to the same financial position place she would have been in had the misrepresentation not been made. She would clearly not have entered into the contract knowing the watch was fake, and is entitled to her £100 back. Thus her damages in tort are £100. (However, she would have to return the watch, or else her damages would be £50.)",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "If the transaction were a \"bad bargain\", tort gives a better result for the claimant. If in the above example Mary had overpaid, paying £750 for the watch, her damages in contract would still be £450 (giving her the item she contracted to buy), however in tort damages are £700. This is because damages in tort put her in the position she would have been in had the tort not taken place, and are calculated as her money back (£750) less the value of what she actually got (£50).",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Special damages are sometimes divided into incidental damages, and consequential damages.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Incidental losses include the costs needed to remedy problems and put things right. The largest element is likely to be the reinstatement of property damage. Take for example a factory which was burnt down by the negligence of a contractor. The claimant would be entitled to the direct costs required to rebuild the factory and replace the damaged machinery.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The claimant may also be entitled to any consequential losses. These may include the lost profits that the claimant could have been expected to make in the period whilst the factory was closed and rebuilt.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "On a breach of contract by a defendant, a court generally awards the sum that would restore the injured party to the economic position they expected from performance of the promise or promises (known as an \"expectation measure\" or \"benefit-of-the-bargain\" measure of damages). This rule, however, has attracted increasing scrutiny from Australian courts and legal commentators. A judge arrives compensatory number by considering both the type of contract, and the loss incurred.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "When it is either not possible or not desirable to award the victim in that way, a court may award money damages designed to restore the injured party to the economic position they occupied at the time the contract was entered (known as the \"reliance measure\") or designed to prevent the breaching party from being unjustly enriched (\"restitution\") (see below).",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Parties may contract for liquidated damages to be paid upon a breach of the contract by one of the parties. Under common law, a liquidated damages clause will not be enforced if the purpose of the term is solely to punish a breach (in this case it is termed penal damages). The clause will be enforceable if it involves a genuine attempt to quantify a loss in advance and is a good faith estimate of economic loss. Courts have ruled as excessive and invalidated damages which the parties contracted as liquidated, but which the court nonetheless found to be penal. To determine whether a clause is a liquidated damages clause or a penalty clause, it is necessary to consider:",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "i) Whether the clause is 'extravagant, out of all proportion, exorbitant or unconscionable'",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "ii) Whether there is a single sum stipulated for a number of different breaches, or individual sums for each breach",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "iii) Whether a genuine pre-estimate of damage is ascertainable",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Damages in tort are generally awarded to place the claimant in the position that would have been taken had the tort not taken place. Damages in tort are quantified under two headings: general damages and special damages.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In personal injury claims, damages for compensation are quantified by reference to the severity of the injuries sustained (see below general damages for more details). In non-personal injury claims, for instance, a claim for professional negligence against solicitors, the measure of damages will be assessed by the loss suffered by the client due to the negligent act or omission by the solicitor giving rise to the loss. The loss must be reasonably foreseeable and not too remote. Financial losses are usually simple to quantify but in complex cases which involve loss of pension entitlements and future loss projections, the instructing solicitor will usually employ a specialist expert actuary or accountant to assist with the quantification of the loss.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "General damages are monetary compensation for the non-monetary aspects of the specific harm suffered. These damages are sometimes termed 'pain, suffering and loss of amenity'. Examples of this include physical or emotional pain and suffering, loss of companionship, loss of consortium, disfigurement, loss of reputation, impairment of mental or physical capacity, hedonic damages or loss of enjoyment of life, etc. This is not easily quantifiable, and depends on the individual circumstances of the claimant. Judges in the United Kingdom base the award on damages awarded in similar previous cases. In 2012 the Court of Appeal of England and Wales noted that",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "this court has not merely the power, but a positive duty, to monitor, and where appropriate to alter, the guideline rates for general damages in personal injury actions.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "General damages in England and Wales were increased by 10% for all cases where judgements were given after 1 April 2013, following changes to the options available to personal injury claimants wanting to cover the cost of their litigation.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "General damages are generally awarded only in claims brought by individuals, when they have suffered personal harm. Examples would be personal injury (following the tort of negligence by the defendant), or the tort of defamation.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "The quantification of personal injury is not an exact science. In English law solicitors treat personal injury claims as \"general damages\" for pain and suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA). Solicitors quantify personal injury claims by reference to previous awards made by the courts which are \"similar\" to the case in hand. The Judicial College's Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases are adjusted following periodic review of the awards which have been made by the courts since the previous review.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "The guidance which solicitors will take into account to help quantify general damages are:",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "The age of the client is important especially when dealing with fatal accident claims or permanent injuries. The younger the injured victim with a permanent injury the longer that person has to live with the PSLA. As a consequence, the greater the compensation payment. In fatal accident claims, generally the younger deceased, the greater the dependency claim by the partner and children.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Solicitors will consider \"like for like\" injuries with the case in hand and similar cases decided by the courts previously. These cases are known as precedents. Generally speaking decisions from the higher courts will bind the lower courts. Therefore, judgments from the House of Lords and the Court of Appeal have greater authority than the lower courts such as the High Court and the County Court. A compensation award can only be right or wrong with reference to that specific judgment. Solicitors must be careful when looking at older cases when quantifying a claim to ensure that the award is brought up to date and to take into account the court of appeal case in Heil v Rankin Generally speaking the greater the injury the greater the damages awarded.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "This heading is inextricably linked with the other points above. Where two clients are of the same age, experience and suffer the same injury, it does not necessarily mean that they will be affected the same. We are all different. Some people will recover more quickly than others. The courts will assess each claim on its own particular facts and therefore if one claimant recovers more quickly than another, the damages will be reflected accordingly. It is important to note here that \"psychological injuries\" may also follow from an accident which may increase the quantum of damages.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "When a personal injury claim is settled either in court or out of court, the most common way the compensation payment is made is by a lump sum award in full and final settlement of the claim. Once accepted there can be no further award for compensation at a later time unless the claim is settled by provisional damages often found in industrial injury claims such as asbestos related injuries.",
"title": "Compensatory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Statutory damages are an amount stipulated within the statute rather than calculated based on the degree of harm to the plaintiff. Lawmakers will provide for statutory damages for acts in which it is difficult to determine the value of the harm to the victim. Mere violation of the law can entitle the victim to a statutory award, even if no actual injury occurred. These are different from nominal damages, in which no written sum is specified.",
"title": "Statutory damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Nominal damages are very small damages awarded to show that the loss or harm suffered was technical rather than actual. Perhaps the most famous nominal damages award in modern times has been the $1 verdict against the National Football League (NFL) in the 1986 antitrust suit prosecuted by the United States Football League. Although the verdict was automatically trebled pursuant to antitrust law in the United States, the resulting $3 judgment was regarded as a victory for the NFL. Historically, one of the best known nominal damage awards was the farthing that the jury awarded to James Whistler in his libel suit against John Ruskin. In the English jurisdiction, nominal damages are generally fixed at £5.",
"title": "Nominal damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Many times a party that has been wronged but is not able to prove significant damages will sue for nominal damages. This is particularly common in cases involving alleged violations of constitutional rights, such as freedom of speech. Until 2021, in the United States, there was a circuit split as to whether nominal damages may be used if a constitutional violation had occurred but has since been rendered moot. The Supreme Court decided 8–1 in the 2021 case Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski that nominal damages are appropriate means to redress violated rights otherwise now rendered moot.",
"title": "Nominal damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Contemptuous damages are a form of damage award available in some jurisdictions. They are similar to nominal damages awards, as they are given when the plaintiff's suit is trivial, used only to settle a point of honour or law. Awards are usually of the smallest amount, usually 1 cent or similar. The key distinction is that in jurisdictions that follow the loser-pays for attorney fees, the claimant in a contemptuous damages case may be required to pay their own attorney fees.",
"title": "Nominal damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Traditionally, the court awarded the smallest coin in the Realm, which in England was one farthing, 1/960 of a pound before decimalisation in the 1970s. Court costs are not awarded.",
"title": "Nominal damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Generally, punitive damages, which are also termed exemplary damages in the United Kingdom, are not awarded in order to compensate the plaintiff, but in order to reform or deter the defendant and similar persons from pursuing a course of action such as that which damaged the plaintiff. Punitive damages are awarded only in special cases where conduct was egregiously insidious and are over and above the amount of compensatory damages, such as in the event of malice or intent. Great judicial restraint is expected to be exercised in their application. In the United States punitive damages awards are subject to the limitations imposed by the due process of law clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.",
"title": "Punitive damages (non-compensatory)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "In England and Wales, exemplary damages are limited to the circumstances set out by Lord Devlin in the leading case of Rookes v. Barnard. They are:",
"title": "Punitive damages (non-compensatory)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Rookes v Barnard has been much criticised and has not been followed in Canada or Australia or by the Privy Council.",
"title": "Punitive damages (non-compensatory)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Punitive damages awarded in a US case would be difficult to get recognition for in a European court, where punitive damages are most likely to be considered to violate ordre public.",
"title": "Punitive damages (non-compensatory)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Some jurisdictions recognize a form of damages, called, aggravated damages, that are similar to punitive or exemplary damages. Aggravated damages are not often awarded; they apply where the injury has been aggravated by the wrongdoer's behaviour, for example, their cruelty.",
"title": "Punitive damages (non-compensatory)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "In certain areas of the law another head of damages has long been available, whereby the defendant is made to give up the profits made through the civil wrong in restitution. Doyle and Wright define restitutionary damages as being a monetary remedy that is measured according to the defendant's gain rather than the plaintiff's loss. The plaintiff thereby gains damages which are not measured by reference to any loss sustained. In some areas of the law this heading of damages is uncontroversial; most particularly intellectual property rights and breach of fiduciary relationship.",
"title": "Restitutionary or disgorgement damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "In England and Wales the House of Lords case of Attorney-General v. Blake opened up the possibility of restitutionary damages for breach of contract. In this case the profits made by a defecting spy, George Blake, for the publication of his book, were awarded to the British Government for breach of contract. The case has been followed in English courts, but the situations in which restitutionary damages will be available remain unclear.",
"title": "Restitutionary or disgorgement damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "The basis for restitutionary damages is much debated, but is usually seen as based on denying a wrongdoer any profit from his wrongdoing. The really difficult question, and one which is currently unanswered, relates to what wrongs should allow this remedy.",
"title": "Restitutionary or disgorgement damages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "In addition to damages, the successful party is often entitled to be awarded their reasonable legal costs that they spent during the case. This is the rule in most countries other than the United States. In the United States, a party generally is not entitled to its attorneys' fees or for hardships undergone during trial unless the parties agreed in a contract that attorney's fees should be covered or a specific statute or law permits recovery of legal fees, such as discrimination.",
"title": "Legal costs"
}
] | At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at law, the loss must involve damage to property, or mental or physical injury; pure economic loss is rarely recognised for the award of damages. Compensatory damages are further categorized into special damages, which are economic losses such as loss of earnings, property damage and medical expenses, and general damages, which are non-economic damages such as pain and suffering and emotional distress. Rather than being compensatory, at common law damages may instead be nominal, contemptuous or exemplary. | 2001-05-30T02:05:53Z | 2023-11-26T23:44:01Z | [
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8,137 | Disaster | A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. Disasters are routinely divided into either "natural disasters" caused by natural hazards or "human-instigated disasters" caused from anthropogenic hazards. However, in modern times, the divide between natural, human-made and human-accelerated disasters is difficult to draw.
Examples of natural hazards include avalanches, flooding, cold waves and heat waves, droughts, earthquakes, cyclones, landslides, lightning, tsunamis, volcanic activity, wildfires, and winter precipitation. Examples of anthropogenic hazards include criminality, civil disorder, terrorism, war, industrial hazards, engineering hazards, power outages, fire, hazards caused by transportation, and environmental hazards.
Developing countries suffer the greatest costs when a disaster hits – more than 95% of all deaths caused by hazards occur in developing countries, and losses due to natural hazards are 20 times greater (as a percentage of gross domestic product) in developing countries than in industrialized countries.
The word disaster is derived from Middle French désastre and that from Old Italian disastro, which in turn comes from the Ancient Greek pejorative prefix δυσ- (dus-) "bad" and ἀστήρ (aster), "star". The root of the word disaster ("bad star" in Greek) comes from an astrological sense of a calamity blamed on the position of planets.
Disasters are routinely divided into natural or human-made. However, in modern times, the divide between natural, man-made and man-accelerated disasters is quite difficult to draw.
Complex disasters, where there is no single root cause, are more common in developing countries. A specific disaster may spawn a secondary disaster that increases the impact. A classic example is an earthquake that causes a tsunami, resulting in coastal flooding, resulting in damage to a nuclear power plant (such as the Fukushima nuclear disaster). Some manufactured disasters have been wrongly ascribed to nature, such as smog and acid rain.
Some researchers also differentiate between recurring events, such as seasonal flooding, and those considered unpredictable.
Disasters that have links to natural hazards are commonly called natural disasters although this term has been called a misnomer for a long time.
A natural disaster is the highly harmful impact on a society or community following a natural hazard event. Some examples of natural hazard events include: flooding, drought, earthquake, tropical cyclone, lightning, tsunami, volcanic activity, wildfire. A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves economic damage in its wake. The severity of the damage depends on the affected population's resilience and on the infrastructure available. Scholars have been saying that the term natural disaster is unsuitable and should be abandoned. Instead, the simpler term disaster could be used, while also specifying the category (or type) of hazard. A disaster is a result of a natural or human-made hazard impacting a vulnerable community. It is the combination of the hazard along with exposure of a vulnerable society that results in a disaster.
In modern times, the divide between natural, human-made and human-accelerated disasters is quite difficult to draw. Human choices and activities like architecture, fire, resource management and climate change potentially play a role in causing natural disasters. In fact, the term natural disaster was called a misnomer already in 1976.
Human-instigated disasters are the consequence of technological or human hazards. Examples include war, social unrest, stampedes, fires, transport accidents, industrial accidents, conflicts, oil spills, terrorist attacks, and nuclear explosions/nuclear radiation.
Other types of induced disasters include the more cosmic scenarios of catastrophic climate change, nuclear war, and bioterrorism.
One opinion argues that all disasters can be seen as human-made, due to human failure to introduce appropriate emergency management measures.
Famines may be caused locally by drought, flood, fire, or pestilence, but in modern times there is plenty of food globally, and sustained localized shortages are generally due to government mismanagement, violent conflict, or an economic system that does not distribute food where needed.
Major disaster, as it is usually assessed on quantitative criteria of death and damage, was defined by Sheehan and Hewitt (1969), having to conform to the following criteria:
This definition includes indirect losses of life caused after the initial onset of the disaster such as secondary effects of, e.g., cholera or dysentery. This definition is still commonly used but has the limitations of number of deaths, injuries, and damage (in $). UNDRO (1984) defined a disaster in a more qualitative fashion as:
an event, concentrated in time and space, in which a community undergoes severe danger and incurs such losses to its members and physical appurtenances that the social structure is disrupted and the fulfilment of all or some of the essential functions of the society is prevented.
As with other definitions of disaster, this definition not only encompasses the social aspect of disaster impact and stresses potentially caused but also focuses on losses, implying the need for emergency response as an aspect of the disaster. It does not, however, set out quantitative thresholds or scales for damage, death, or injury, respectively. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. Disasters are routinely divided into either \"natural disasters\" caused by natural hazards or \"human-instigated disasters\" caused from anthropogenic hazards. However, in modern times, the divide between natural, human-made and human-accelerated disasters is difficult to draw.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Examples of natural hazards include avalanches, flooding, cold waves and heat waves, droughts, earthquakes, cyclones, landslides, lightning, tsunamis, volcanic activity, wildfires, and winter precipitation. Examples of anthropogenic hazards include criminality, civil disorder, terrorism, war, industrial hazards, engineering hazards, power outages, fire, hazards caused by transportation, and environmental hazards.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Developing countries suffer the greatest costs when a disaster hits – more than 95% of all deaths caused by hazards occur in developing countries, and losses due to natural hazards are 20 times greater (as a percentage of gross domestic product) in developing countries than in industrialized countries.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The word disaster is derived from Middle French désastre and that from Old Italian disastro, which in turn comes from the Ancient Greek pejorative prefix δυσ- (dus-) \"bad\" and ἀστήρ (aster), \"star\". The root of the word disaster (\"bad star\" in Greek) comes from an astrological sense of a calamity blamed on the position of planets.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Disasters are routinely divided into natural or human-made. However, in modern times, the divide between natural, man-made and man-accelerated disasters is quite difficult to draw.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Complex disasters, where there is no single root cause, are more common in developing countries. A specific disaster may spawn a secondary disaster that increases the impact. A classic example is an earthquake that causes a tsunami, resulting in coastal flooding, resulting in damage to a nuclear power plant (such as the Fukushima nuclear disaster). Some manufactured disasters have been wrongly ascribed to nature, such as smog and acid rain.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Some researchers also differentiate between recurring events, such as seasonal flooding, and those considered unpredictable.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Disasters that have links to natural hazards are commonly called natural disasters although this term has been called a misnomer for a long time.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "A natural disaster is the highly harmful impact on a society or community following a natural hazard event. Some examples of natural hazard events include: flooding, drought, earthquake, tropical cyclone, lightning, tsunami, volcanic activity, wildfire. A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves economic damage in its wake. The severity of the damage depends on the affected population's resilience and on the infrastructure available. Scholars have been saying that the term natural disaster is unsuitable and should be abandoned. Instead, the simpler term disaster could be used, while also specifying the category (or type) of hazard. A disaster is a result of a natural or human-made hazard impacting a vulnerable community. It is the combination of the hazard along with exposure of a vulnerable society that results in a disaster.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "In modern times, the divide between natural, human-made and human-accelerated disasters is quite difficult to draw. Human choices and activities like architecture, fire, resource management and climate change potentially play a role in causing natural disasters. In fact, the term natural disaster was called a misnomer already in 1976.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Human-instigated disasters are the consequence of technological or human hazards. Examples include war, social unrest, stampedes, fires, transport accidents, industrial accidents, conflicts, oil spills, terrorist attacks, and nuclear explosions/nuclear radiation.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Other types of induced disasters include the more cosmic scenarios of catastrophic climate change, nuclear war, and bioterrorism.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "One opinion argues that all disasters can be seen as human-made, due to human failure to introduce appropriate emergency management measures.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Famines may be caused locally by drought, flood, fire, or pestilence, but in modern times there is plenty of food globally, and sustained localized shortages are generally due to government mismanagement, violent conflict, or an economic system that does not distribute food where needed.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Major disaster, as it is usually assessed on quantitative criteria of death and damage, was defined by Sheehan and Hewitt (1969), having to conform to the following criteria:",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "This definition includes indirect losses of life caused after the initial onset of the disaster such as secondary effects of, e.g., cholera or dysentery. This definition is still commonly used but has the limitations of number of deaths, injuries, and damage (in $). UNDRO (1984) defined a disaster in a more qualitative fashion as:",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "an event, concentrated in time and space, in which a community undergoes severe danger and incurs such losses to its members and physical appurtenances that the social structure is disrupted and the fulfilment of all or some of the essential functions of the society is prevented.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "As with other definitions of disaster, this definition not only encompasses the social aspect of disaster impact and stresses potentially caused but also focuses on losses, implying the need for emergency response as an aspect of the disaster. It does not, however, set out quantitative thresholds or scales for damage, death, or injury, respectively.",
"title": "Classification"
}
] | A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. Disasters are routinely divided into either "natural disasters" caused by natural hazards or "human-instigated disasters" caused from anthropogenic hazards. However, in modern times, the divide between natural, human-made and human-accelerated disasters is difficult to draw. Examples of natural hazards include avalanches, flooding, cold waves and heat waves, droughts, earthquakes, cyclones, landslides, lightning, tsunamis, volcanic activity, wildfires, and winter precipitation. Examples of anthropogenic hazards include criminality, civil disorder, terrorism, war, industrial hazards, engineering hazards, power outages, fire, hazards caused by transportation, and environmental hazards. Developing countries suffer the greatest costs when a disaster hits – more than 95% of all deaths caused by hazards occur in developing countries, and losses due to natural hazards are 20 times greater in developing countries than in industrialized countries. | 2001-11-19T03:44:02Z | 2023-12-07T14:16:17Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaster |
8,138 | Dino Zoff | Dino Zoff OMRI (pronounced [ˈdiːno dˈdzɔf]; born 28 February 1942) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the oldest ever winner of the World Cup, which he lifted as captain of the Italy national team in the 1982 tournament, at the age of 40 years, 4 months and 13 days. He also won the award for best goalkeeper of the tournament and was elected to the team of the tournament for his performances, keeping two clean-sheets, an honour he also received after winning the 1968 European Championship on home soil. Zoff is the only Italian player to have won both the World Cup and the European Championship. He also achieved great club success with Juventus, winning six Serie A titles, two Coppa Italia titles, and a UEFA Cup, also reaching two European Champions' Cup finals in the 1972–73 and 1982–83 seasons, as well as finishing second in the 1973 Intercontinental Cup final.
Zoff was a goalkeeper of outstanding ability, and he has a place in the history of the sport among the very best in this role, being named the third greatest goalkeeper of the 20th century by the IFFHS behind Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks. He holds the record for the longest playing time without allowing goals in international tournaments (1,142 minutes) set between 1972 and 1974. Haiti's Emmanuel Sanon ended the streak at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, in the Haiti-Italy match. With 112 caps, he is the sixth most capped player for the Italy national team. In 2004, Pelé named Zoff as one of the 100 greatest living footballers. In the same year, Zoff placed fifth in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll, and was elected as Italy's golden player of the past 50 years. He also placed second in the 1973 Ballon d'Or, as he narrowly missed out on a treble with Juventus. In 1999, Zoff placed 47th in World Soccer Magazine's 100 Greatest Players of the Twentieth Century.
After retiring as a footballer, Zoff went on to pursue a managerial career, coaching the Italy national team, with which he reached the Euro 2000 Final, losing to France, and several Italian club teams, including his former club Juventus, with which he won an UEFA Cup and a Coppa Italia double during the 1989–90 season, trophies he had also won as a player. In September 2014, Zoff published his Italian autobiography Dura solo un attimo, la gloria ("Glory only Lasts a Moment").
Dino Zoff was born in Mariano del Friuli, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy into a farming family. Upon his father's suggestion, Zoff initially also pursued studies to be a mechanic in case his football career proved to be unsuccessful. As a young aspiring footballer, Zoff was also interested in other sports, and his two main role models were the cyclist Fausto Coppi, and the race walker Abdon Pamich.
Zoff's career got off to an inauspicious start, when at the age of fourteen he had trials with Inter Milan and Juventus, but was rejected due to a lack of height. Five years later, having grown by 33 centimetres (supposedly due to his grandmother Adelaide's recommended increased daily intake of eight eggs), he made his Serie A debut with Udinese on 24 September 1961, in a 5–2 defeat to Fiorentina, although Zoff was not criticised for any of the goals he conceded. Zoff made only four appearances in his first season for Udinese, as they were relegated to Serie B. He played the next season as the club's starting goalkeeper, helping the club to Serie A promotion, before moving to Mantova in 1963, where he spent four seasons, making 131 appearances.
His performances for Mantova in the top flight caught the attention of larger clubs, while Italy's national coach at the time, Edmondo Fabbri, even considered bringing him as a back-up for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, although he ultimately chose to bring Enrico Albertosi, Roberto Anzolin, and Pierluigi Pizzaballa instead. In 1967, Zoff was transferred to Napoli, in exchange for fellow goalkeeper Claudio Bandoni, and a transfer fee of 130 million Lire; he spent five seasons in Naples, making 143 Serie A appearances with the club. During this time, he began to achieve increasing recognition in Italy, also making his International debut with the Italy national side in 1968, and earning a place in Italy's squads at Euro 68 and the 1970 World Cup.
Following his achievements with the national side, and due to his performances during his time with Napoli, Zoff was signed by Juventus in 1972, at the age of 30, where he resumed his success. In eleven years with Juventus, Zoff won the Serie A championship six times, the Coppa Italia twice and the UEFA Cup once, also reaching two European Cup finals, another semi-final in 1978 (during which Zoff played a decisive role in the club's shoot-out victory over Ajax in the quarter-finals by saving two penalties), and the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup during the 1979–80 season. In 1973, he placed second in the Ballon d'Or, following his Serie A title victory, also narrowly missing out on an historical treble with Juventus, after reaching both the European Cup and the Coppa Italia finals that season, in which his club were defeated, however; Juventus also finished as runners-up in the 1973 Intercontinental Cup that year. In winning the 1977 UEFA Cup Final against Athletic Bilbao, Zoff came out on top against his 'twin', the Basque goalkeeper José Ángel Iribar.
Overall, Zoff made 479 appearances for Juventus in all competitions, making 330 Serie A appearances with the club (all of which came consecutively, a club record), 74 in the Coppa Italia, 71 in European Competitions, and 4 in other Club Competitions. He is currently Juventus's 6th record appearance holder in all competitions, their 7th all-time appearance holder in Serie A, their 3rd all-time appearance holder in the Coppa Italia, their 7th all-time appearance holder in UEFA Club competitions, and their 9th all-time appearance holder in international club competitions.
Zoff won his final Serie A championship with Juventus during the 1981–82 Serie A season, also winning the 1982 FIFA World Cup with Italy that year, as his team's captain. During the following 1982–83 season, the final season of his career, Dino Zoff won the Coppa Italia with defending Serie A champions Juventus, and he reached his second European Cup final with the club in 1983; Juventus were defeated 1–0 by Hamburg in Athens on 25 May, after Zoff was beaten by Felix Magath's long-distance strike; this was the final club match of his career. His final league appearance came in a 4–2 home win over Genoa on 15 May 1983.
Upon retirement, Zoff held the records for the oldest Serie A player, at the age of 41, and the most Serie A appearances (570 matches) for more than 20 years, until the 2005–06 season, when the records were broken by Lazio goalkeeper Marco Ballotta, and A.C. Milan defender Paolo Maldini respectively. Behind only former A.C. Milan goalkeeper Sebastiano Rossi, who overtook him during the 1993–94 season, Zoff has conceded the fewest goals in a single Serie A season; behind only Gianluigi Buffon and Sebastiano Rossi, he has also gone the most time unbeaten in Serie A without conceding a goal, producing a 903-minute unbeaten streak during the 1972–73 season, a record that stood until Rossi overtook him in the 1993–94 season; Buffon broke the record during the 2015–16 season. He also held the Serie A record for most consecutive clean sheets alongside Rossi (9), until Gianluigi Buffon overtook them both with his 10th consecutive clean sheet in 2016. With 570 Serie A appearances, Zoff is also the sixth highest appearance holder in Serie A of all time, and he is the fourth oldest player in Serie A to have ever played a match. He holds the record for most consecutive matches played in Serie A (332), a streak which went unbroken from 21 May 1972 (in a 0–0 home draw with Napoli against Bologna), until his final league appearance with Juventus in 1983. At 41 years and 86 days, Zoff is also the oldest player to have appeared in a European Cup or UEFA Champions League Final.
Prior to representing the senior Italian side, Zoff had won a gold medal with the Italy under-23 side at the 1963 Mediterranean Games. On 20 April 1968, Zoff made his senior debut for Italy, playing in a 2–0 win against Bulgaria in the quarter finals of the 1968 European Championships, in Naples. Zoff ended up being promoted to starting goalkeeper over his perceived career rival Enrico Albertosi during the tournament, and Italy proceeded to win the European Championship on home soil, with Zoff taking home a winners' medal after only his fourth international appearance, keeping two clean sheets, and winning the award for the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Zoff was left out of the Italian starting eleven in the 1970 World Cup, however, and was Albertosi's deputy throughout the tournament, as Italy went on to reach the final of the World Cup, and were defeated 4–1 by Brazil. He returned to the starting line-up, however, ahead of Albertosi, in Italy's disappointing 1974 World Cup campaign, during which they would be eliminated in the first round.
From 1972 onwards, Zoff became Italy's undisputed number 1, and he participated in the 1978 World Cup with Italy, during which he managed a fourth-place finish, keeping 3 clean-sheets. Italy were eliminated in the semi-final, in a 2–1 loss to the Netherlands. After the match, Zoff was criticised for making a fairly uncommon error, as he was beaten by a strike from distance by Arie Haan. Zoff was also Italy's starting goalkeeper once again at the 1980 European Championships on home soil, however, helping his side to reach the semi-finals, finishing the tournament in fourth place once again. During the 1980 European Championship, Zoff kept three clean sheets, only conceding one goal in the bronze medal match, which Italy would lose on penalties; Zoff was elected as the goalkeeper of the tournament once again, an honour he had previously managed after winning the tournament in 1968. Throughout these two tournaments, Zoff established a record for most consecutive minutes unbeaten in a European Championship, which was later beaten by Iker Casillas in 2012. Zoff had also established the record for most minutes unbeaten European Championship qualifying, which was also beaten, by compatriot Buffon in 2011. He still holds the record, however, for most consecutive minutes without conceding a goal at the European Championships including qualifying, having kept eight consecutive cleans sheets between 1975 and 1980, while going unbeaten for 784 minutes. Alongside Casillas, Buffon, and Thomas Myhre, he is the goalkeeper with the fewest goals conceded in a single edition of the European Championships, having conceded only one goal in the 1968 European Championships; of these players, only Zoff and Casillas won the title while achieving this feat.
Zoff's greatest accomplishment, however, came in the 1982 World Cup in Spain, where he captained Italy to victory in the tournament at the age of 40, making him the oldest ever winner of the World Cup; throughout the tournament, he kept two clean sheets, and produced a crucial goal-line save in the final minutes of the last second-round group match against favourites Brazil on 5 July, which enabled the Italians to earn a 3–2 victory and advance to the semi-finals of the competition. On 11 July, at the age of 40 years and 133 days, he became the oldest player ever to feature in a World Cup final; following Italy's 3–1 victory over West Germany at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, he followed in the footsteps of compatriot Gianpiero Combi (1934) as only the second goalkeeper to captain a World Cup-winning side (later Iker Casillas and Hugo Lloris repeated this feat for Spain and France in the 2010 and 2018 World Cups respectively). Due to his performances, he was voted as the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament. Regarding Zoff's importance during Italy's victorious World Cup campaign, his manager Enzo Bearzot said of him:
He was a level-headed goalkeeper, capable of staying calm during the toughest and the most exhilarating moments. He always held back both out of modesty and respect for his opponents. At the end of the Brazil match, he came over to give me a kiss on the cheek, without saying a single word. For me, that fleeting moment was the most intense of the entire World Cup.
During the flight of return from Spain on a DC-9 airplane, Zoff, Sandro Pertini (the Italian President of Republic), Causio and Bearzot were immortalized in a photo, suddenly gone highly popular, while playing card at scopone scientifico, an Italian social and team sport. In the previous years, the same aircraft had been used by Pertini and Pope John Paul II for private and institutional flights. In April 2017, it was put down back in the Museum of Volandia, near Varese.
Zoff also holds the record for the longest stretch (1142 minutes) without allowing any goals in international football, set between 1972 and 1974. That clean sheet stretch was ended by Haitian player Manno Sanon's beautiful goal during the 1974 World Cup. Zoff made his final appearance for Italy on 29 May 1983, in a 2–0 away loss to Sweden, in a Euro 1984 qualifying match. At the time of his retirement, Zoff's 112 caps were the most ever by a member of the Italy national team. He currently sits in sixth place in this category, as well as second among goalkeepers, with Gianluigi Buffon having surpassed the latter record.
Zoff was a traditional, effective, and experienced goalkeeper, who usually favoured efficiency and caution over flamboyance and making saves, although he was also capable of producing spectacular dives and decisive saves when necessary due to his strength and athleticism. He was particularly regarded for his outstanding positioning and handling of the ball, in particular when coming out to collect crosses, as well as his concentration, consistency, calm mindset, and composure under pressure; he was also an elegant player, who possessed good reactions and excellent shot-stopping abilities. Zoff was also noted for his attention to detail during matches, as well as his ability to read the game, anticipate his opponents, communicate with his defenders, and organise his back-line, which also enabled him to start attacking plays quickly from the back after claiming the ball. Despite his serious and reserved character, Zoff also drew praise for his leadership skills, correct behaviour, and competitive spirit, which led him to serve as captain of his national side, and enabled him to inspire a sense of calmness and confidence in his teammates. On occasion, however, Zoff was accused by certain pundits of occasionally struggling when facing long-range shots, and for not always being particularly adept at stopping penalties. Known for his work-rate in training, dedication, and discipline as a footballer, in addition to his goalkeeping skills, Zoff also stood out for his stamina, longevity, and determination, which enabled him to avoid injuries and have an extensive and highly successful career; due to his constant desire to improve himself, he was able to maintain a consistent level of performance throughout his entire career, even with his advancing age towards the end of his career, into his late 30s and early 40s. Considered one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, in 1999 he was elected in a poll by the IFFHS as the third best goalkeeper of the 20th Century – after Lev Yashin (1st) and Gordon Banks (2nd) – as well as Italy's best keeper of the century, and the second best European keeper of the century – behind only Yashin.
After his retirement as a player, Zoff went into coaching, joining the technical staff at Juventus, initially as a goalkeeping coach, although this experience proved to be unsatisfactory for him. He subsequently coached the Italian Olympic side, his first experience as a coach, helping the team to qualify for the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, before returning to Juventus in a coaching role; the Italian Olympic side eventually managed a fourth-place finish in the final tournament. Zoff served as Juventus's head coach from 1988 to 1990. In 1990, he was sacked, however, despite winning the UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia during the 1989–90 season, while also helping the club to a third-place finish in the league. He then joined Lazio, where he became the coach in 1994, and later the club's sporting director, winning the Coppa Italia in 1998, and helping the club to an UEFA Cup final the same season, and was defeated by compatriots Inter.
In 1998, Zoff was appointed as the head coach of the Italy national team. Although Italy were still cautious and organised defensively, Zoff used a more open, fluid, and attacking style of play than that used by his more defensive Italian coaching predecessors Cesare Maldini and Arrigo Sacchi. Zoff helped the team to qualify for Euro 2000, and he introduced several younger players to the team, such as Francesco Totti, Gianluca Zambrotta, Stefano Fiore, Massimo Ambrosini, Christian Abbiati, Marco Delvecchio, and Vincenzo Montella. Although Italy were not top favourites because of a young squad, he coached a young Italy squad to a second-place finish in Euro 2000, suffering a 2–1 extra-time defeat at the hands of reigning World Cup Champions France in the final, due to a golden goal by David Trezeguet. En route to the final, a ten-man Italy had eliminated co-hosts the Netherlands in the semi-finals in a penalty shoot-out, after a 0–0 draw, following extra-time, with a tightly contested defensive display against a more offensive-minded Dutch side. In the final of the tournament, Italy had been 1–0 up for most of the second half, and were less than sixty seconds away from winning the tournament, before France forward Sylvain Wiltord scored in the fourth and final minute of stoppage time to equalise, and send the match into extra time. Despite reaching the final, Zoff resigned a few days later, following strong criticism from A.C. Milan president and politician Silvio Berlusconi. Zoff was voted the World Soccer Manager of the Year in 2000.
Zoff returned to defending Serie A, Coppa Italia, and Supercoppa Italiana champions Lazio as a manager for the next season, replacing Sven-Göran Eriksson in 2001, and finishing third in Serie A. The following season, he resigned on 20 September, after only the third match, due to a poor start to the 2001–02 season. In 2005, he was named the coach of Fiorentina as a replacement for Sergio Buso. Despite saving the team from relegation on the last day of the season, Zoff was let go.
As a manager, Zoff was known for his use of tactics based upon the zona mista system (or "Gioco all'Italiana"), which was a cross between the catenaccio man-marking and zonal marking systems. Although he was initially known for fielding a 4–4–2 formation, at Euro 2000, he used a 5–2–1–2 system with Italy. His teams often used a sweeper, who, in addition to his defensive duties and organisational responsibilities, was also required to start plays from the back. He preferred not to base his team's play on set plays and formations, as he believed that cultivating a good relationship with his players and fostering a winning team mentality were the keys to getting the best out of them, and that this would also allow their natural creativity to come through in matches.
Zoff is married to Annamaria Passerini; they have a son, Marco, born in 1967. Zoff is Roman Catholic.
On 28 November 2015, it was reported Zoff was hospitalised for three weeks with a viral neurological infection, which made it difficult for him to walk. On 23 December 2015, it was reported Zoff had been recovering well, however stating, "For the first time in my life, I was actually afraid... When I say scared, I wasn't afraid for myself, but for those around me. My wife, my son, my grandchildren. My tribe, basically. I would've really hurt them by leaving." He also revealed, "One night I saw two figures at the end of my bed. They had the faces of Gaetano Scirea [one of his former, deceased teammates] and Enzo Bearzot [one of his former, deceased coaches]. They were both smiling. I wasn't asleep, it wasn't a dream. I told them: 'Not yet, not now.' And I am still here."
Juventus
Italy
Juventus
Italy
Player
Manager | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Dino Zoff OMRI (pronounced [ˈdiːno dˈdzɔf]; born 28 February 1942) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the oldest ever winner of the World Cup, which he lifted as captain of the Italy national team in the 1982 tournament, at the age of 40 years, 4 months and 13 days. He also won the award for best goalkeeper of the tournament and was elected to the team of the tournament for his performances, keeping two clean-sheets, an honour he also received after winning the 1968 European Championship on home soil. Zoff is the only Italian player to have won both the World Cup and the European Championship. He also achieved great club success with Juventus, winning six Serie A titles, two Coppa Italia titles, and a UEFA Cup, also reaching two European Champions' Cup finals in the 1972–73 and 1982–83 seasons, as well as finishing second in the 1973 Intercontinental Cup final.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Zoff was a goalkeeper of outstanding ability, and he has a place in the history of the sport among the very best in this role, being named the third greatest goalkeeper of the 20th century by the IFFHS behind Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks. He holds the record for the longest playing time without allowing goals in international tournaments (1,142 minutes) set between 1972 and 1974. Haiti's Emmanuel Sanon ended the streak at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, in the Haiti-Italy match. With 112 caps, he is the sixth most capped player for the Italy national team. In 2004, Pelé named Zoff as one of the 100 greatest living footballers. In the same year, Zoff placed fifth in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll, and was elected as Italy's golden player of the past 50 years. He also placed second in the 1973 Ballon d'Or, as he narrowly missed out on a treble with Juventus. In 1999, Zoff placed 47th in World Soccer Magazine's 100 Greatest Players of the Twentieth Century.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "After retiring as a footballer, Zoff went on to pursue a managerial career, coaching the Italy national team, with which he reached the Euro 2000 Final, losing to France, and several Italian club teams, including his former club Juventus, with which he won an UEFA Cup and a Coppa Italia double during the 1989–90 season, trophies he had also won as a player. In September 2014, Zoff published his Italian autobiography Dura solo un attimo, la gloria (\"Glory only Lasts a Moment\").",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Dino Zoff was born in Mariano del Friuli, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy into a farming family. Upon his father's suggestion, Zoff initially also pursued studies to be a mechanic in case his football career proved to be unsuccessful. As a young aspiring footballer, Zoff was also interested in other sports, and his two main role models were the cyclist Fausto Coppi, and the race walker Abdon Pamich.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Zoff's career got off to an inauspicious start, when at the age of fourteen he had trials with Inter Milan and Juventus, but was rejected due to a lack of height. Five years later, having grown by 33 centimetres (supposedly due to his grandmother Adelaide's recommended increased daily intake of eight eggs), he made his Serie A debut with Udinese on 24 September 1961, in a 5–2 defeat to Fiorentina, although Zoff was not criticised for any of the goals he conceded. Zoff made only four appearances in his first season for Udinese, as they were relegated to Serie B. He played the next season as the club's starting goalkeeper, helping the club to Serie A promotion, before moving to Mantova in 1963, where he spent four seasons, making 131 appearances.",
"title": "Club career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "His performances for Mantova in the top flight caught the attention of larger clubs, while Italy's national coach at the time, Edmondo Fabbri, even considered bringing him as a back-up for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, although he ultimately chose to bring Enrico Albertosi, Roberto Anzolin, and Pierluigi Pizzaballa instead. In 1967, Zoff was transferred to Napoli, in exchange for fellow goalkeeper Claudio Bandoni, and a transfer fee of 130 million Lire; he spent five seasons in Naples, making 143 Serie A appearances with the club. During this time, he began to achieve increasing recognition in Italy, also making his International debut with the Italy national side in 1968, and earning a place in Italy's squads at Euro 68 and the 1970 World Cup.",
"title": "Club career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Following his achievements with the national side, and due to his performances during his time with Napoli, Zoff was signed by Juventus in 1972, at the age of 30, where he resumed his success. In eleven years with Juventus, Zoff won the Serie A championship six times, the Coppa Italia twice and the UEFA Cup once, also reaching two European Cup finals, another semi-final in 1978 (during which Zoff played a decisive role in the club's shoot-out victory over Ajax in the quarter-finals by saving two penalties), and the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup during the 1979–80 season. In 1973, he placed second in the Ballon d'Or, following his Serie A title victory, also narrowly missing out on an historical treble with Juventus, after reaching both the European Cup and the Coppa Italia finals that season, in which his club were defeated, however; Juventus also finished as runners-up in the 1973 Intercontinental Cup that year. In winning the 1977 UEFA Cup Final against Athletic Bilbao, Zoff came out on top against his 'twin', the Basque goalkeeper José Ángel Iribar.",
"title": "Club career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Overall, Zoff made 479 appearances for Juventus in all competitions, making 330 Serie A appearances with the club (all of which came consecutively, a club record), 74 in the Coppa Italia, 71 in European Competitions, and 4 in other Club Competitions. He is currently Juventus's 6th record appearance holder in all competitions, their 7th all-time appearance holder in Serie A, their 3rd all-time appearance holder in the Coppa Italia, their 7th all-time appearance holder in UEFA Club competitions, and their 9th all-time appearance holder in international club competitions.",
"title": "Club career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Zoff won his final Serie A championship with Juventus during the 1981–82 Serie A season, also winning the 1982 FIFA World Cup with Italy that year, as his team's captain. During the following 1982–83 season, the final season of his career, Dino Zoff won the Coppa Italia with defending Serie A champions Juventus, and he reached his second European Cup final with the club in 1983; Juventus were defeated 1–0 by Hamburg in Athens on 25 May, after Zoff was beaten by Felix Magath's long-distance strike; this was the final club match of his career. His final league appearance came in a 4–2 home win over Genoa on 15 May 1983.",
"title": "Club career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Upon retirement, Zoff held the records for the oldest Serie A player, at the age of 41, and the most Serie A appearances (570 matches) for more than 20 years, until the 2005–06 season, when the records were broken by Lazio goalkeeper Marco Ballotta, and A.C. Milan defender Paolo Maldini respectively. Behind only former A.C. Milan goalkeeper Sebastiano Rossi, who overtook him during the 1993–94 season, Zoff has conceded the fewest goals in a single Serie A season; behind only Gianluigi Buffon and Sebastiano Rossi, he has also gone the most time unbeaten in Serie A without conceding a goal, producing a 903-minute unbeaten streak during the 1972–73 season, a record that stood until Rossi overtook him in the 1993–94 season; Buffon broke the record during the 2015–16 season. He also held the Serie A record for most consecutive clean sheets alongside Rossi (9), until Gianluigi Buffon overtook them both with his 10th consecutive clean sheet in 2016. With 570 Serie A appearances, Zoff is also the sixth highest appearance holder in Serie A of all time, and he is the fourth oldest player in Serie A to have ever played a match. He holds the record for most consecutive matches played in Serie A (332), a streak which went unbroken from 21 May 1972 (in a 0–0 home draw with Napoli against Bologna), until his final league appearance with Juventus in 1983. At 41 years and 86 days, Zoff is also the oldest player to have appeared in a European Cup or UEFA Champions League Final.",
"title": "Club career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Prior to representing the senior Italian side, Zoff had won a gold medal with the Italy under-23 side at the 1963 Mediterranean Games. On 20 April 1968, Zoff made his senior debut for Italy, playing in a 2–0 win against Bulgaria in the quarter finals of the 1968 European Championships, in Naples. Zoff ended up being promoted to starting goalkeeper over his perceived career rival Enrico Albertosi during the tournament, and Italy proceeded to win the European Championship on home soil, with Zoff taking home a winners' medal after only his fourth international appearance, keeping two clean sheets, and winning the award for the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Zoff was left out of the Italian starting eleven in the 1970 World Cup, however, and was Albertosi's deputy throughout the tournament, as Italy went on to reach the final of the World Cup, and were defeated 4–1 by Brazil. He returned to the starting line-up, however, ahead of Albertosi, in Italy's disappointing 1974 World Cup campaign, during which they would be eliminated in the first round.",
"title": "International career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "From 1972 onwards, Zoff became Italy's undisputed number 1, and he participated in the 1978 World Cup with Italy, during which he managed a fourth-place finish, keeping 3 clean-sheets. Italy were eliminated in the semi-final, in a 2–1 loss to the Netherlands. After the match, Zoff was criticised for making a fairly uncommon error, as he was beaten by a strike from distance by Arie Haan. Zoff was also Italy's starting goalkeeper once again at the 1980 European Championships on home soil, however, helping his side to reach the semi-finals, finishing the tournament in fourth place once again. During the 1980 European Championship, Zoff kept three clean sheets, only conceding one goal in the bronze medal match, which Italy would lose on penalties; Zoff was elected as the goalkeeper of the tournament once again, an honour he had previously managed after winning the tournament in 1968. Throughout these two tournaments, Zoff established a record for most consecutive minutes unbeaten in a European Championship, which was later beaten by Iker Casillas in 2012. Zoff had also established the record for most minutes unbeaten European Championship qualifying, which was also beaten, by compatriot Buffon in 2011. He still holds the record, however, for most consecutive minutes without conceding a goal at the European Championships including qualifying, having kept eight consecutive cleans sheets between 1975 and 1980, while going unbeaten for 784 minutes. Alongside Casillas, Buffon, and Thomas Myhre, he is the goalkeeper with the fewest goals conceded in a single edition of the European Championships, having conceded only one goal in the 1968 European Championships; of these players, only Zoff and Casillas won the title while achieving this feat.",
"title": "International career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Zoff's greatest accomplishment, however, came in the 1982 World Cup in Spain, where he captained Italy to victory in the tournament at the age of 40, making him the oldest ever winner of the World Cup; throughout the tournament, he kept two clean sheets, and produced a crucial goal-line save in the final minutes of the last second-round group match against favourites Brazil on 5 July, which enabled the Italians to earn a 3–2 victory and advance to the semi-finals of the competition. On 11 July, at the age of 40 years and 133 days, he became the oldest player ever to feature in a World Cup final; following Italy's 3–1 victory over West Germany at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, he followed in the footsteps of compatriot Gianpiero Combi (1934) as only the second goalkeeper to captain a World Cup-winning side (later Iker Casillas and Hugo Lloris repeated this feat for Spain and France in the 2010 and 2018 World Cups respectively). Due to his performances, he was voted as the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament. Regarding Zoff's importance during Italy's victorious World Cup campaign, his manager Enzo Bearzot said of him:",
"title": "International career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "He was a level-headed goalkeeper, capable of staying calm during the toughest and the most exhilarating moments. He always held back both out of modesty and respect for his opponents. At the end of the Brazil match, he came over to give me a kiss on the cheek, without saying a single word. For me, that fleeting moment was the most intense of the entire World Cup.",
"title": "International career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "During the flight of return from Spain on a DC-9 airplane, Zoff, Sandro Pertini (the Italian President of Republic), Causio and Bearzot were immortalized in a photo, suddenly gone highly popular, while playing card at scopone scientifico, an Italian social and team sport. In the previous years, the same aircraft had been used by Pertini and Pope John Paul II for private and institutional flights. In April 2017, it was put down back in the Museum of Volandia, near Varese.",
"title": "International career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Zoff also holds the record for the longest stretch (1142 minutes) without allowing any goals in international football, set between 1972 and 1974. That clean sheet stretch was ended by Haitian player Manno Sanon's beautiful goal during the 1974 World Cup. Zoff made his final appearance for Italy on 29 May 1983, in a 2–0 away loss to Sweden, in a Euro 1984 qualifying match. At the time of his retirement, Zoff's 112 caps were the most ever by a member of the Italy national team. He currently sits in sixth place in this category, as well as second among goalkeepers, with Gianluigi Buffon having surpassed the latter record.",
"title": "International career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Zoff was a traditional, effective, and experienced goalkeeper, who usually favoured efficiency and caution over flamboyance and making saves, although he was also capable of producing spectacular dives and decisive saves when necessary due to his strength and athleticism. He was particularly regarded for his outstanding positioning and handling of the ball, in particular when coming out to collect crosses, as well as his concentration, consistency, calm mindset, and composure under pressure; he was also an elegant player, who possessed good reactions and excellent shot-stopping abilities. Zoff was also noted for his attention to detail during matches, as well as his ability to read the game, anticipate his opponents, communicate with his defenders, and organise his back-line, which also enabled him to start attacking plays quickly from the back after claiming the ball. Despite his serious and reserved character, Zoff also drew praise for his leadership skills, correct behaviour, and competitive spirit, which led him to serve as captain of his national side, and enabled him to inspire a sense of calmness and confidence in his teammates. On occasion, however, Zoff was accused by certain pundits of occasionally struggling when facing long-range shots, and for not always being particularly adept at stopping penalties. Known for his work-rate in training, dedication, and discipline as a footballer, in addition to his goalkeeping skills, Zoff also stood out for his stamina, longevity, and determination, which enabled him to avoid injuries and have an extensive and highly successful career; due to his constant desire to improve himself, he was able to maintain a consistent level of performance throughout his entire career, even with his advancing age towards the end of his career, into his late 30s and early 40s. Considered one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, in 1999 he was elected in a poll by the IFFHS as the third best goalkeeper of the 20th Century – after Lev Yashin (1st) and Gordon Banks (2nd) – as well as Italy's best keeper of the century, and the second best European keeper of the century – behind only Yashin.",
"title": "Style of play"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "After his retirement as a player, Zoff went into coaching, joining the technical staff at Juventus, initially as a goalkeeping coach, although this experience proved to be unsatisfactory for him. He subsequently coached the Italian Olympic side, his first experience as a coach, helping the team to qualify for the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, before returning to Juventus in a coaching role; the Italian Olympic side eventually managed a fourth-place finish in the final tournament. Zoff served as Juventus's head coach from 1988 to 1990. In 1990, he was sacked, however, despite winning the UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia during the 1989–90 season, while also helping the club to a third-place finish in the league. He then joined Lazio, where he became the coach in 1994, and later the club's sporting director, winning the Coppa Italia in 1998, and helping the club to an UEFA Cup final the same season, and was defeated by compatriots Inter.",
"title": "Coaching career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In 1998, Zoff was appointed as the head coach of the Italy national team. Although Italy were still cautious and organised defensively, Zoff used a more open, fluid, and attacking style of play than that used by his more defensive Italian coaching predecessors Cesare Maldini and Arrigo Sacchi. Zoff helped the team to qualify for Euro 2000, and he introduced several younger players to the team, such as Francesco Totti, Gianluca Zambrotta, Stefano Fiore, Massimo Ambrosini, Christian Abbiati, Marco Delvecchio, and Vincenzo Montella. Although Italy were not top favourites because of a young squad, he coached a young Italy squad to a second-place finish in Euro 2000, suffering a 2–1 extra-time defeat at the hands of reigning World Cup Champions France in the final, due to a golden goal by David Trezeguet. En route to the final, a ten-man Italy had eliminated co-hosts the Netherlands in the semi-finals in a penalty shoot-out, after a 0–0 draw, following extra-time, with a tightly contested defensive display against a more offensive-minded Dutch side. In the final of the tournament, Italy had been 1–0 up for most of the second half, and were less than sixty seconds away from winning the tournament, before France forward Sylvain Wiltord scored in the fourth and final minute of stoppage time to equalise, and send the match into extra time. Despite reaching the final, Zoff resigned a few days later, following strong criticism from A.C. Milan president and politician Silvio Berlusconi. Zoff was voted the World Soccer Manager of the Year in 2000.",
"title": "Coaching career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Zoff returned to defending Serie A, Coppa Italia, and Supercoppa Italiana champions Lazio as a manager for the next season, replacing Sven-Göran Eriksson in 2001, and finishing third in Serie A. The following season, he resigned on 20 September, after only the third match, due to a poor start to the 2001–02 season. In 2005, he was named the coach of Fiorentina as a replacement for Sergio Buso. Despite saving the team from relegation on the last day of the season, Zoff was let go.",
"title": "Coaching career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "As a manager, Zoff was known for his use of tactics based upon the zona mista system (or \"Gioco all'Italiana\"), which was a cross between the catenaccio man-marking and zonal marking systems. Although he was initially known for fielding a 4–4–2 formation, at Euro 2000, he used a 5–2–1–2 system with Italy. His teams often used a sweeper, who, in addition to his defensive duties and organisational responsibilities, was also required to start plays from the back. He preferred not to base his team's play on set plays and formations, as he believed that cultivating a good relationship with his players and fostering a winning team mentality were the keys to getting the best out of them, and that this would also allow their natural creativity to come through in matches.",
"title": "Style of management"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Zoff is married to Annamaria Passerini; they have a son, Marco, born in 1967. Zoff is Roman Catholic.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "On 28 November 2015, it was reported Zoff was hospitalised for three weeks with a viral neurological infection, which made it difficult for him to walk. On 23 December 2015, it was reported Zoff had been recovering well, however stating, \"For the first time in my life, I was actually afraid... When I say scared, I wasn't afraid for myself, but for those around me. My wife, my son, my grandchildren. My tribe, basically. I would've really hurt them by leaving.\" He also revealed, \"One night I saw two figures at the end of my bed. They had the faces of Gaetano Scirea [one of his former, deceased teammates] and Enzo Bearzot [one of his former, deceased coaches]. They were both smiling. I wasn't asleep, it wasn't a dream. I told them: 'Not yet, not now.' And I am still here.\"",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Juventus",
"title": "Honours and achievements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Italy",
"title": "Honours and achievements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Juventus",
"title": "Honours and achievements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Italy",
"title": "Honours and achievements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Player",
"title": "Honours and achievements"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Manager",
"title": "Honours and achievements"
}
] | Dino Zoff is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the oldest ever winner of the World Cup, which he lifted as captain of the Italy national team in the 1982 tournament, at the age of 40 years, 4 months and 13 days. He also won the award for best goalkeeper of the tournament and was elected to the team of the tournament for his performances, keeping two clean-sheets, an honour he also received after winning the 1968 European Championship on home soil. Zoff is the only Italian player to have won both the World Cup and the European Championship. He also achieved great club success with Juventus, winning six Serie A titles, two Coppa Italia titles, and a UEFA Cup, also reaching two European Champions' Cup finals in the 1972–73 and 1982–83 seasons, as well as finishing second in the 1973 Intercontinental Cup final. Zoff was a goalkeeper of outstanding ability, and he has a place in the history of the sport among the very best in this role, being named the third greatest goalkeeper of the 20th century by the IFFHS behind Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks. He holds the record for the longest playing time without allowing goals in international tournaments set between 1972 and 1974. Haiti's Emmanuel Sanon ended the streak at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, in the Haiti-Italy match. With 112 caps, he is the sixth most capped player for the Italy national team. In 2004, Pelé named Zoff as one of the 100 greatest living footballers. In the same year, Zoff placed fifth in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll, and was elected as Italy's golden player of the past 50 years. He also placed second in the 1973 Ballon d'Or, as he narrowly missed out on a treble with Juventus. In 1999, Zoff placed 47th in World Soccer Magazine's 100 Greatest Players of the Twentieth Century. After retiring as a footballer, Zoff went on to pursue a managerial career, coaching the Italy national team, with which he reached the Euro 2000 Final, losing to France, and several Italian club teams, including his former club Juventus, with which he won an UEFA Cup and a Coppa Italia double during the 1989–90 season, trophies he had also won as a player. In September 2014, Zoff published his Italian autobiography Dura solo un attimo, la gloria. | 2001-09-21T09:22:35Z | 2023-12-11T23:59:14Z | [
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8,141 | Dipsacales | The Dipsacales are an order of flowering plants, included within the asterid group of dicotyledons. In the APG III system of 2009, the order includes only two families, Adoxaceae and a broadly defined Caprifoliaceae. Some well-known members of the Dipsacales order are honeysuckle, elder, viburnum, and valerian.
Under the Cronquist system, the order included Adoxaceae, Caprifoliaceae sensu stricto, Dipsacaceae, and Valerianaceae. Under the 2003 APG II system, the circumscription of the order was much the same but the system allowed either a broadly circumscribed Caprifoliaceae including the families Diervillaceae, Dipsacaceae, Linnaeaceae, Morinaceae, and Valerianaceae, or these families being kept separate. The APG III system only uses the broadly circumscribed Caprifoliceae.
The Dipsacales appear to be most closely related to the Paracryphiales. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Dipsacales are an order of flowering plants, included within the asterid group of dicotyledons. In the APG III system of 2009, the order includes only two families, Adoxaceae and a broadly defined Caprifoliaceae. Some well-known members of the Dipsacales order are honeysuckle, elder, viburnum, and valerian.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Under the Cronquist system, the order included Adoxaceae, Caprifoliaceae sensu stricto, Dipsacaceae, and Valerianaceae. Under the 2003 APG II system, the circumscription of the order was much the same but the system allowed either a broadly circumscribed Caprifoliaceae including the families Diervillaceae, Dipsacaceae, Linnaeaceae, Morinaceae, and Valerianaceae, or these families being kept separate. The APG III system only uses the broadly circumscribed Caprifoliceae.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The Dipsacales appear to be most closely related to the Paracryphiales.",
"title": ""
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"title": "External links"
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] | The Dipsacales are an order of flowering plants, included within the asterid group of dicotyledons. In the APG III system of 2009, the order includes only two families, Adoxaceae and a broadly defined Caprifoliaceae. Some well-known members of the Dipsacales order are honeysuckle, elder, viburnum, and valerian. Under the Cronquist system, the order included Adoxaceae, Caprifoliaceae sensu stricto, Dipsacaceae, and Valerianaceae. Under the 2003 APG II system, the circumscription of the order was much the same but the system allowed either a broadly circumscribed Caprifoliaceae including the families Diervillaceae, Dipsacaceae, Linnaeaceae, Morinaceae, and Valerianaceae, or these families being kept separate. The APG III system only uses the broadly circumscribed Caprifoliceae. The Dipsacales appear to be most closely related to the Paracryphiales. | 2002-02-25T15:43:11Z | 2023-10-20T16:17:58Z | [
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8,142 | Democrat | Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: the believing in the enslavement of people of a darker skin tone | [
{
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"text": "Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: the believing in the enslavement of people of a darker skin tone",
"title": ""
}
] | Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: the believing in the enslavement of people of a darker skin tone | 2001-06-10T03:13:32Z | 2023-12-20T18:00:13Z | [
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8,143 | December | December is the twelfth and final month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the last of seven months to have a length of 31 days.
December got its name from the Latin word decem (meaning ten) because it was originally the tenth month of the year in the calendar of Romulus c. 750 BC which began in March. The winter days following December were not included as part of any month. Later, the months of January and February were created out of the monthless period and added to the beginning of the calendar, but December retained its name.
In Ancient Rome, as one of the four Agonalia, this day in honour of Sol Indiges was held on December 11, as was Septimontium. Dies natalis (birthday) was held at the temple of Tellus on December 13, Consualia was held on December 15, Saturnalia was held December 17–23, Opiconsivia was held on December 19, Divalia was held on December 21, Larentalia was held on December 23, and the dies natalis of Sol Invictus was held on December 25. These dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar.
The Anglo-Saxons referred to December–January as Ġēolamonaþ (modern English: "Yule month"). The French Republican Calendar contained December within the months of Frimaire and Nivôse.
December contains the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the day with the fewest daylight hours, and the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, the day with the most daylight hours (excluding polar regions in both cases). December in the Northern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent to June in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa. In the Northern hemisphere, the beginning of the astronomical winter is traditionally 21 December or the date of the solstice.
Meteor showers occurring in December are the Andromedids (September 25 – December 6, peaking around November 9), the Canis-Minorids (December 4 – December 15, peaking around December 10–11), the Coma Berenicids (December 12 to December 23, peaking around December 16), the Delta Cancrids (December 14 to February 14, the main shower from January 1 to January 24, peaking on January 17), the Geminids (December 13–14), the Monocerotids (December 7 to December 20, peaking on December 9. This shower can also start in November), the Phoenicids (November 29 to December 9, with a peak occurring around 5/6 December), the Quadrantids (typically a January shower but can also start in December), the Sigma Hydrids (December 4–15), and the Ursids (December 17-to December 25/26, peaking around December 22).
December's birth flower is the narcissus. Its birthstones are turquoise, zircon and tanzanite.
This list does not necessarily imply either official status or general observance.
(All Baháʼí, Islamic, and Jewish observances begin at the sundown prior to the date listed, and end at sundown of the date in question unless otherwise noted.)
Tuesday immediately following fourth Thursday of November
First Friday
First Sunday
Second Monday
December 15, unless the date falls on a Sunday, then December 16
Winter Solstice
December 22, unless that date is a Sunday, in which case the 23rd
December 26, unless that day is a Sunday, in which case the 27th | [
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"text": "December is the twelfth and final month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the last of seven months to have a length of 31 days.",
"title": ""
},
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"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "December got its name from the Latin word decem (meaning ten) because it was originally the tenth month of the year in the calendar of Romulus c. 750 BC which began in March. The winter days following December were not included as part of any month. Later, the months of January and February were created out of the monthless period and added to the beginning of the calendar, but December retained its name.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In Ancient Rome, as one of the four Agonalia, this day in honour of Sol Indiges was held on December 11, as was Septimontium. Dies natalis (birthday) was held at the temple of Tellus on December 13, Consualia was held on December 15, Saturnalia was held December 17–23, Opiconsivia was held on December 19, Divalia was held on December 21, Larentalia was held on December 23, and the dies natalis of Sol Invictus was held on December 25. These dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The Anglo-Saxons referred to December–January as Ġēolamonaþ (modern English: \"Yule month\"). The French Republican Calendar contained December within the months of Frimaire and Nivôse.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "December contains the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the day with the fewest daylight hours, and the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, the day with the most daylight hours (excluding polar regions in both cases). December in the Northern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent to June in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa. In the Northern hemisphere, the beginning of the astronomical winter is traditionally 21 December or the date of the solstice.",
"title": "Astronomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Meteor showers occurring in December are the Andromedids (September 25 – December 6, peaking around November 9), the Canis-Minorids (December 4 – December 15, peaking around December 10–11), the Coma Berenicids (December 12 to December 23, peaking around December 16), the Delta Cancrids (December 14 to February 14, the main shower from January 1 to January 24, peaking on January 17), the Geminids (December 13–14), the Monocerotids (December 7 to December 20, peaking on December 9. This shower can also start in November), the Phoenicids (November 29 to December 9, with a peak occurring around 5/6 December), the Quadrantids (typically a January shower but can also start in December), the Sigma Hydrids (December 4–15), and the Ursids (December 17-to December 25/26, peaking around December 22).",
"title": "Astronomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "December's birth flower is the narcissus. Its birthstones are turquoise, zircon and tanzanite.",
"title": "Symbols"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "This list does not necessarily imply either official status or general observance.",
"title": "Observances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "(All Baháʼí, Islamic, and Jewish observances begin at the sundown prior to the date listed, and end at sundown of the date in question unless otherwise noted.)",
"title": "Observances"
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"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Tuesday immediately following fourth Thursday of November",
"title": "Observances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "First Friday",
"title": "Observances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "First Sunday",
"title": "Observances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Second Monday",
"title": "Observances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "December 15, unless the date falls on a Sunday, then December 16",
"title": "Observances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Winter Solstice",
"title": "Observances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "December 22, unless that date is a Sunday, in which case the 23rd",
"title": "Observances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "December 26, unless that day is a Sunday, in which case the 27th",
"title": "Observances"
}
] | December is the twelfth and final month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the last of seven months to have a length of 31 days. December got its name from the Latin word decem because it was originally the tenth month of the year in the calendar of Romulus c. 750 BC which began in March. The winter days following December were not included as part of any month. Later, the months of January and February were created out of the monthless period and added to the beginning of the calendar, but December retained its name. In Ancient Rome, as one of the four Agonalia, this day in honour of Sol Indiges was held on December 11, as was Septimontium. Dies natalis (birthday) was held at the temple of Tellus on December 13, Consualia was held on December 15, Saturnalia was held December 17–23, Opiconsivia was held on December 19, Divalia was held on December 21, Larentalia was held on December 23, and the dies natalis of Sol Invictus was held on December 25. These dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar. The Anglo-Saxons referred to December–January as Ġēolamonaþ. The French Republican Calendar contained December within the months of Frimaire and Nivôse. | 2001-10-15T17:24:49Z | 2023-12-02T07:26:32Z | [
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8,144 | December 7 | December 7 is the 341st day of the year (342nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 24 days remain until the end of the year. | [
{
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"text": "December 7 is the 341st day of the year (342nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 24 days remain until the end of the year.",
"title": ""
}
] | December 7 is the 341st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 24 days remain until the end of the year. | 2001-10-15T15:21:30Z | 2023-12-31T12:17:59Z | [
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8,145 | December 15 | December 15 is the 349th day of the year (350th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 16 days remain until the end of the year. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "December 15 is the 349th day of the year (350th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 16 days remain until the end of the year.",
"title": ""
}
] | December 15 is the 349th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 16 days remain until the end of the year. | 2001-10-15T15:18:00Z | 2023-12-15T20:00:52Z | [
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8,148 | Diogo Cão | Diogo Cão (c. 1452-1486), also known as Diogo Cam, was a Portuguese mariner and one of the most notable explorers of the fifteenth century. He made two voyages along the west coast of Africa in the 1480s, exploring the Congo River and the coasts of present-day Angola and Namibia.
Little is known about the early life of Diogo Cão. According to tradition, he was born in Vila Real, Portugal, around 1452. His grandfather, Gonçalo Cão, had fought for Portuguese independence at the Battle of Aljubarrota.
By 1480, Cão was sailing off the coast of Africa in the service of João II. There is a record that he returned to Portugal with captured Spanish ships.
When the Treaty of Alcáçovas (1480) confirmed Portugal's monopoly on trade and exploration along Africa's west coast, João II moved quickly to secure and expand his hold on the region. In 1481, a fleet of ten ships was dispatched to the Gold Coast to construct a fortress known as Sao Jorge da Mina. The fort would serve as a commercial center for trade and an important point of resupply for Portuguese voyages. João II also re-instituted a program of exploration southward along the African coast, an initiative that had been held in abeyance during the war with Spain. Diogo Cão was selected to lead João's first voyage of exploration in 1482.
When João II restarted the work of Henry the Navigator, he sent out Cão, probably around midsummer 1482, to explore the African coast south of the equator. Diogo Cão filled his ship with stone pillars (padrões) surmounted by the cross of the Order of Christ and engraved with the Portuguese royal arms, planning to erect them at significant landmarks along his voyage of discovery. On the way, the expedition stopped at Sao Jorge da Mina to resupply.
In August 1482, Cão discovered the mouth of the Congo River and marked it with a padrão erected on Shark Point, commemorating the Portuguese discovery. This padrão stood until 1642 when it was destroyed by the Dutch during their occupation of the Congo.
Cão sailed up the great river for a short distance and commenced modest commerce with the natives of the Bakongo kingdom. He was told that their king lived farther upriver, so he sent four Christian native messengers to search for the ruler and then proceeded south along the coast of present-day Angola where he erected a second padrão, probably marking the termination of this voyage, at Cabo de Santa Maria. When he returned to the Congo, Cão was annoyed to find that his messengers had not returned, so he abducted four local natives who were visiting his ship and returned with them to Portugal.
He reached Lisbon by 8 April 1484, where John II ennobled him, promoting him from esquire to a cavalier of his household, and granted him an annuity of ten thousand reals and a coat of arms on which two padrões are depicted.
The King also asked him to sail back to Kongo to repatriate the 4 men he left behind.
That Cão, on his second voyage of 1484–1486, was accompanied by Martin Behaim (as alleged on the latter's Nuremberg globe of 1492) is very doubtful. But it is known that the explorer revisited the Congo and erected two more padrões on land beyond his previous voyage. The first was at Cabo Negro, Angola, the second at Cape Cross. The Cape Cross pillar probably marked the end of his progress southward, some 1,400 kilometers. Diogo Cão also embarked the four indigenous ambassadors, that he had promised not to keep for more than fifteen moons.
Cão sailed 170 kilometers up the Congo River to the falls of Ielala. On the cliffs above this site an inscription was engraved which records the passage of Cão and his men: "Here arrived the ships of the illustrious monarch, Dom João the Second of Portugal – Diogo Cão, Pedro Anes, Pedro da Costa, Alvaro Pires, Pero Escolar".
Information regarding Cão's death is scanty and contradictory. A legend on the globe created by Martin Behaim reads "hic moritur" (here he dies), seeming to indicate that the explorer lost his life on the coast of Africa in 1486 during his second voyage. However, sixteenth-century historian João de Barros never mentions Cão's death but wrote instead of his return to the Congo, and subsequent taking of a native envoy back to Portugal.
A report by a board of astronomers and pilots presented at a 1525 conference in Badajo clearly stated that his death happened near Serra Parda. A coast map by Henricus Martellus Germanus published in 1489 indicated the location of a padrão erected by Diogo Cão in Ponta dos Farilhões nearby Serra Parda, with the legend "et hic moritur" ("and here he died").
The four pillars set up by Cão on his two voyages have all been discovered still on their original site, and the inscriptions on two of them from Cape Santa Maria and Cape Cross, dated 1482 and 1485 respectively, are still to be read and have been printed. The Cape Cross padrão was long in Berlin (replaced on the spot by a granite facsimile) but was recently returned to Namibia; those from the Kongo estuary and the more southerly Cape Santa Maria and Cabo Negro are in the Museum of the Lisbon Geographical Society.
In 1951, botanists named a genus of plants from western central tropical Africa in his honour, Diogoa.
In Vila Real, the plaza Diogo Cão was named after him. In the center of the plaza, stands a bronze statue of him supported on a square granite pedestal base.
In 1999, André Roubertou from the French Hydrographic Office (SHOM) named an undersea hole located off the southern coast of Portugal (Gulf of Cádiz) the Diogo Cão Hole.
In 2018, a hopper dredger called the Diogo Cao and immatriculated in Luxembourg was launched afloat.
Diogo Cão is the subject of Padrão, one of the best-known poems in Fernando Pessoa's book Mensagem, the only one published during the author's lifetime. He also figures strongly in the 1996 novel Lord of the Kongo by Peter Forbath.
English
Portuguese | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Diogo Cão (c. 1452-1486), also known as Diogo Cam, was a Portuguese mariner and one of the most notable explorers of the fifteenth century. He made two voyages along the west coast of Africa in the 1480s, exploring the Congo River and the coasts of present-day Angola and Namibia.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Little is known about the early life of Diogo Cão. According to tradition, he was born in Vila Real, Portugal, around 1452. His grandfather, Gonçalo Cão, had fought for Portuguese independence at the Battle of Aljubarrota.",
"title": "Early life and family"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "By 1480, Cão was sailing off the coast of Africa in the service of João II. There is a record that he returned to Portugal with captured Spanish ships.",
"title": "Early life and family"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "When the Treaty of Alcáçovas (1480) confirmed Portugal's monopoly on trade and exploration along Africa's west coast, João II moved quickly to secure and expand his hold on the region. In 1481, a fleet of ten ships was dispatched to the Gold Coast to construct a fortress known as Sao Jorge da Mina. The fort would serve as a commercial center for trade and an important point of resupply for Portuguese voyages. João II also re-instituted a program of exploration southward along the African coast, an initiative that had been held in abeyance during the war with Spain. Diogo Cão was selected to lead João's first voyage of exploration in 1482.",
"title": "Exploration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "When João II restarted the work of Henry the Navigator, he sent out Cão, probably around midsummer 1482, to explore the African coast south of the equator. Diogo Cão filled his ship with stone pillars (padrões) surmounted by the cross of the Order of Christ and engraved with the Portuguese royal arms, planning to erect them at significant landmarks along his voyage of discovery. On the way, the expedition stopped at Sao Jorge da Mina to resupply.",
"title": "Exploration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In August 1482, Cão discovered the mouth of the Congo River and marked it with a padrão erected on Shark Point, commemorating the Portuguese discovery. This padrão stood until 1642 when it was destroyed by the Dutch during their occupation of the Congo.",
"title": "Exploration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Cão sailed up the great river for a short distance and commenced modest commerce with the natives of the Bakongo kingdom. He was told that their king lived farther upriver, so he sent four Christian native messengers to search for the ruler and then proceeded south along the coast of present-day Angola where he erected a second padrão, probably marking the termination of this voyage, at Cabo de Santa Maria. When he returned to the Congo, Cão was annoyed to find that his messengers had not returned, so he abducted four local natives who were visiting his ship and returned with them to Portugal.",
"title": "Exploration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "He reached Lisbon by 8 April 1484, where John II ennobled him, promoting him from esquire to a cavalier of his household, and granted him an annuity of ten thousand reals and a coat of arms on which two padrões are depicted.",
"title": "Exploration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The King also asked him to sail back to Kongo to repatriate the 4 men he left behind.",
"title": "Exploration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "That Cão, on his second voyage of 1484–1486, was accompanied by Martin Behaim (as alleged on the latter's Nuremberg globe of 1492) is very doubtful. But it is known that the explorer revisited the Congo and erected two more padrões on land beyond his previous voyage. The first was at Cabo Negro, Angola, the second at Cape Cross. The Cape Cross pillar probably marked the end of his progress southward, some 1,400 kilometers. Diogo Cão also embarked the four indigenous ambassadors, that he had promised not to keep for more than fifteen moons.",
"title": "Exploration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Cão sailed 170 kilometers up the Congo River to the falls of Ielala. On the cliffs above this site an inscription was engraved which records the passage of Cão and his men: \"Here arrived the ships of the illustrious monarch, Dom João the Second of Portugal – Diogo Cão, Pedro Anes, Pedro da Costa, Alvaro Pires, Pero Escolar\".",
"title": "Exploration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Information regarding Cão's death is scanty and contradictory. A legend on the globe created by Martin Behaim reads \"hic moritur\" (here he dies), seeming to indicate that the explorer lost his life on the coast of Africa in 1486 during his second voyage. However, sixteenth-century historian João de Barros never mentions Cão's death but wrote instead of his return to the Congo, and subsequent taking of a native envoy back to Portugal.",
"title": "Exploration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "A report by a board of astronomers and pilots presented at a 1525 conference in Badajo clearly stated that his death happened near Serra Parda. A coast map by Henricus Martellus Germanus published in 1489 indicated the location of a padrão erected by Diogo Cão in Ponta dos Farilhões nearby Serra Parda, with the legend \"et hic moritur\" (\"and here he died\").",
"title": "Exploration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The four pillars set up by Cão on his two voyages have all been discovered still on their original site, and the inscriptions on two of them from Cape Santa Maria and Cape Cross, dated 1482 and 1485 respectively, are still to be read and have been printed. The Cape Cross padrão was long in Berlin (replaced on the spot by a granite facsimile) but was recently returned to Namibia; those from the Kongo estuary and the more southerly Cape Santa Maria and Cabo Negro are in the Museum of the Lisbon Geographical Society.",
"title": "Padrões"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "In 1951, botanists named a genus of plants from western central tropical Africa in his honour, Diogoa.",
"title": "Tributes post-mortem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In Vila Real, the plaza Diogo Cão was named after him. In the center of the plaza, stands a bronze statue of him supported on a square granite pedestal base.",
"title": "Tributes post-mortem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "In 1999, André Roubertou from the French Hydrographic Office (SHOM) named an undersea hole located off the southern coast of Portugal (Gulf of Cádiz) the Diogo Cão Hole.",
"title": "Tributes post-mortem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In 2018, a hopper dredger called the Diogo Cao and immatriculated in Luxembourg was launched afloat.",
"title": "Tributes post-mortem"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Diogo Cão is the subject of Padrão, one of the best-known poems in Fernando Pessoa's book Mensagem, the only one published during the author's lifetime. He also figures strongly in the 1996 novel Lord of the Kongo by Peter Forbath.",
"title": "In literature"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "English",
"title": "Sources"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Portuguese",
"title": "Sources"
}
] | Diogo Cão, also known as Diogo Cam, was a Portuguese mariner and one of the most notable explorers of the fifteenth century. He made two voyages along the west coast of Africa in the 1480s, exploring the Congo River and the coasts of present-day Angola and Namibia. | 2001-10-10T11:27:19Z | 2023-12-05T16:55:09Z | [
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8,162 | Drinking game | Drinking games are games which involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages and often enduring the subsequent intoxication resulting from them. Evidence of the existence of drinking games dates back to antiquity. Drinking games have been banned at some institutions, particularly colleges and universities.
Kottabos is one of the earliest known drinking games from ancient Greece, dated to the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Players would use dregs (remnants of what was left in their cup) to hit targets across the room with their wine. Often, there were special prizes and penalties for one's performance in the game.
Drinking games were enjoyed in ancient China, usually incorporating the use of dice or verbal exchange of riddles. During the Tang dynasty (618–907), the Chinese used a silver canister where written lots could be drawn that designated which player had to drink and specifically how much; for example, from 1, 5, 7, or 10 measures of drink that the youngest player, or the last player to join the game, or the most talkative player, or the host, or the player with the greatest alcohol tolerance, etc. had to drink. There were even drinking game referee officials, including a 'registrar of the rules' who knew all the rules to the game, a 'registrar of the horn' who tossed a silver flag down on calling out second offenses, and a 'governor' who decided one's third call of offense. These referees were used mainly for maintaining order (as drinking games often became rowdy) and for reviewing faults that could be punished with a player drinking a penalty cup. If a guest was considered a 'coward' for dropping out of the game, he could be branded as a 'deserter' and not invited back to further drinking bouts. There was another game where little puppets and dolls dressed as western foreigners with blue eyes (Iranian peoples) were set up and when one fell over, the person it pointed to had to empty his cup of wine.
Drinking games in 19th century Germany included Bierskat, Elfern, Rammes and Quodlibet, as well as Schlauch and Laubober, probably the same game as Grasobern. But the "crown of all drinking games" was one with an ancient and distinctive name: Cerevis. One feature of the game was that everything went under a different name from normal. So the cards (Karten) were called 'spoons' (Löffel), the Sevens were 'Septembers' and the Aces were the 'Juveniles' (junge Leichtsinn). A player who used the normal names was penalised. Every time a card was played, it was supposed to be accompanied by humorous words, so if a Jack or Unter was played, the player might say something like "my merry Unterkasser" (Lustig mein Unterkasser) or "long live my Unterkasser" (Vivat mein Unterkasser). If his opponent beat it, he might say "hang the Unterkasser" (Hängt den Unterkasser). The loser had to chalk up a figure such as a swallow, a wheel or a pair of scissors depending on the number of minus points gained and was only allowed to erase them once he had drunk the associated amount of beer.
Silver wager cups, originally used during 16th century German wedding feasts, are used in dexterity drinking games. Players fill both the large cup and the smaller cup that swings beneath it, and must drink from the former without spilling the latter.
The simplest drinking games are endurance games in which players compete to out-drink one another. Players take turns taking shots, and the last person standing is the winner. Some games have rules involving the "cascade", "fountain", or "waterfall", which encourages each player to drink constantly from their cup so long as the player before him does not stop drinking. Such games can also favor speed over quantity, in which players race to drink a case of beer the fastest. Often drinking large amounts will be combined with a stylistic element or an abnormal method of drinking, as with the boot of beer, yard of ale, or a keg stand.
Tolerance games are simply about seeing which player can last the longest. It can be as simple as two people matching each other drink for drink until one of the participants "passes out". Power hour and its variant, centurion, fall under this category.
Many pub or bar games involve competitive drinking for speed. Examples of such drinking games are Edward Fortyhands, boat races, beer bonging, shotgunning, flippy cup (a team-based speed game), and yard. Some say that the most important skill to improving speed is to relax and take fewer but larger gulps. There are a variety of individual tactics to accomplishing this, such as bending the knees in anticipation, or when drinking from a plastic cup, squeezing the sides of the cup to form a more perfect funnel.
Athletic races involving alcohol including the beer mile, which consists of a mile run with a can of beer consumed before each of the four laps. A variant is known in German speaking countries as Bierkastenlauf (beer crate running) where a team of two carries a crate of beer along a route of several kilometers and must consume all of the bottles prior to crossing the finish line.
Some party and pub games focus on the performance of a particular act of skill, rather than on either the amount a participant drinks or the speed with which they do so. Examples include beer pong, quarters, chandeliers (also known as gauchoball, rage cage, stack cup), caps, polish horseshoes, pong, baseball, and beer darts.
Pub golf involves orienteering and pub crawling together.
A unique drinking game is made in the tavern Oepfelchammer in Zürich, Switzerland. It is called "Balkenprobe" and one has therefore to climb up a beam at the ceiling and move to another beam and then to drink a glass of wine with the head hanging down.
Thinking games rely on the players' powers of observation, recollection, logic and articulation.
Numerous types of thinking games exist, including Think or Drink, 21, beer checkers, bizz buzz, buffalo, saved by the bell, bullshit, tourettes, matchboxes, never have I ever, roman numerals, fuzzy duck, pennying, wine games, and Zoom Schwartz Profigliano. Trivia games, such as Trivial Pursuit, are sometimes played as drinking games.
Drinking games involving cards include president, horserace, Kings, liar's poker, pyramid, ring of fire, toepen, ride the bus and black or red.
Dice games include beer die, dudo, kinito, liar's dice, Mexico, mia, ship, captain, and crew, three man, and Triple Snakes.
Movie drinking games are played while watching a movie (sometimes a TV show or a sporting event) and have a set of rules for who drinks when and how much based on on-screen events and dialogue. The rules may be the same for all players, or alternatively players may each be assigned rules related to particular characters. The rules are designed so that rarer events require larger drinks. Rule sets for such games are usually arbitrary and local, although they are sometimes published by fan clubs.
In reference to film, a popular game among young adults consists of printing out a mustache and taping it on the television screen. Every time the mustache fits appropriately to a person on the screen, one must drink the designated amount.
Live drinking games such as Los Angeles-based "A Drinking Game" involve recreating films of the 80s in a "Rocky Horror" fashion, with gift bags, drinking cues, and costumed actors. A suggestion to "do six shots for SEAL Team 6" following every mention of Osama bin Laden at the 2012 Democratic National Convention necessitated a prominent disclaimer on the satire site that posted it, as the quantity of alcohol ingested would probably have been lethal.
"Datsyuk Game" involves a Datsyuk highlight reel being played and contestants drink every time the word Datsyuk is mentioned. The ceremonial playing of the Russian national anthem before the game is another tradition.
Music can also be used as a basis for drinking games. The song "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC is used in which a player begins drinking when the word thunder is sung and switches to the next player the next time it is sung.
Sport related drinking games involve the participants each selecting a scenario of the game resulting in their drink being downed. Examples of this include participants each picking a footballer in a game while other versions require multiple players to be selected. Should a player score or be sent off, a drink must be taken. Another version requires a drink for every touch a player takes of the ball.
Some drinking games can fall into multiple categories such as a Power hour which is a primarily an endurance-based game, but can also incorporate the arts if players are prompted to drink by a playlist that changes songs every 60 seconds. Similarly, Flip cup combines the skill of flipping cups with the speed of drinking quickly prior to flipping.
Many drinking game apps (i.e. Boom Phone, Picolo and Appyshot) have been launched on mobile devices, Android, iOS, and Windows Phone. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Drinking games are games which involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages and often enduring the subsequent intoxication resulting from them. Evidence of the existence of drinking games dates back to antiquity. Drinking games have been banned at some institutions, particularly colleges and universities.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Kottabos is one of the earliest known drinking games from ancient Greece, dated to the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Players would use dregs (remnants of what was left in their cup) to hit targets across the room with their wine. Often, there were special prizes and penalties for one's performance in the game.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Drinking games were enjoyed in ancient China, usually incorporating the use of dice or verbal exchange of riddles. During the Tang dynasty (618–907), the Chinese used a silver canister where written lots could be drawn that designated which player had to drink and specifically how much; for example, from 1, 5, 7, or 10 measures of drink that the youngest player, or the last player to join the game, or the most talkative player, or the host, or the player with the greatest alcohol tolerance, etc. had to drink. There were even drinking game referee officials, including a 'registrar of the rules' who knew all the rules to the game, a 'registrar of the horn' who tossed a silver flag down on calling out second offenses, and a 'governor' who decided one's third call of offense. These referees were used mainly for maintaining order (as drinking games often became rowdy) and for reviewing faults that could be punished with a player drinking a penalty cup. If a guest was considered a 'coward' for dropping out of the game, he could be branded as a 'deserter' and not invited back to further drinking bouts. There was another game where little puppets and dolls dressed as western foreigners with blue eyes (Iranian peoples) were set up and when one fell over, the person it pointed to had to empty his cup of wine.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Drinking games in 19th century Germany included Bierskat, Elfern, Rammes and Quodlibet, as well as Schlauch and Laubober, probably the same game as Grasobern. But the \"crown of all drinking games\" was one with an ancient and distinctive name: Cerevis. One feature of the game was that everything went under a different name from normal. So the cards (Karten) were called 'spoons' (Löffel), the Sevens were 'Septembers' and the Aces were the 'Juveniles' (junge Leichtsinn). A player who used the normal names was penalised. Every time a card was played, it was supposed to be accompanied by humorous words, so if a Jack or Unter was played, the player might say something like \"my merry Unterkasser\" (Lustig mein Unterkasser) or \"long live my Unterkasser\" (Vivat mein Unterkasser). If his opponent beat it, he might say \"hang the Unterkasser\" (Hängt den Unterkasser). The loser had to chalk up a figure such as a swallow, a wheel or a pair of scissors depending on the number of minus points gained and was only allowed to erase them once he had drunk the associated amount of beer.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Silver wager cups, originally used during 16th century German wedding feasts, are used in dexterity drinking games. Players fill both the large cup and the smaller cup that swings beneath it, and must drink from the former without spilling the latter.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The simplest drinking games are endurance games in which players compete to out-drink one another. Players take turns taking shots, and the last person standing is the winner. Some games have rules involving the \"cascade\", \"fountain\", or \"waterfall\", which encourages each player to drink constantly from their cup so long as the player before him does not stop drinking. Such games can also favor speed over quantity, in which players race to drink a case of beer the fastest. Often drinking large amounts will be combined with a stylistic element or an abnormal method of drinking, as with the boot of beer, yard of ale, or a keg stand.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Tolerance games are simply about seeing which player can last the longest. It can be as simple as two people matching each other drink for drink until one of the participants \"passes out\". Power hour and its variant, centurion, fall under this category.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Many pub or bar games involve competitive drinking for speed. Examples of such drinking games are Edward Fortyhands, boat races, beer bonging, shotgunning, flippy cup (a team-based speed game), and yard. Some say that the most important skill to improving speed is to relax and take fewer but larger gulps. There are a variety of individual tactics to accomplishing this, such as bending the knees in anticipation, or when drinking from a plastic cup, squeezing the sides of the cup to form a more perfect funnel.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Athletic races involving alcohol including the beer mile, which consists of a mile run with a can of beer consumed before each of the four laps. A variant is known in German speaking countries as Bierkastenlauf (beer crate running) where a team of two carries a crate of beer along a route of several kilometers and must consume all of the bottles prior to crossing the finish line.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Some party and pub games focus on the performance of a particular act of skill, rather than on either the amount a participant drinks or the speed with which they do so. Examples include beer pong, quarters, chandeliers (also known as gauchoball, rage cage, stack cup), caps, polish horseshoes, pong, baseball, and beer darts.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Pub golf involves orienteering and pub crawling together.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "A unique drinking game is made in the tavern Oepfelchammer in Zürich, Switzerland. It is called \"Balkenprobe\" and one has therefore to climb up a beam at the ceiling and move to another beam and then to drink a glass of wine with the head hanging down.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Thinking games rely on the players' powers of observation, recollection, logic and articulation.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Numerous types of thinking games exist, including Think or Drink, 21, beer checkers, bizz buzz, buffalo, saved by the bell, bullshit, tourettes, matchboxes, never have I ever, roman numerals, fuzzy duck, pennying, wine games, and Zoom Schwartz Profigliano. Trivia games, such as Trivial Pursuit, are sometimes played as drinking games.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Drinking games involving cards include president, horserace, Kings, liar's poker, pyramid, ring of fire, toepen, ride the bus and black or red.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Dice games include beer die, dudo, kinito, liar's dice, Mexico, mia, ship, captain, and crew, three man, and Triple Snakes.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Movie drinking games are played while watching a movie (sometimes a TV show or a sporting event) and have a set of rules for who drinks when and how much based on on-screen events and dialogue. The rules may be the same for all players, or alternatively players may each be assigned rules related to particular characters. The rules are designed so that rarer events require larger drinks. Rule sets for such games are usually arbitrary and local, although they are sometimes published by fan clubs.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In reference to film, a popular game among young adults consists of printing out a mustache and taping it on the television screen. Every time the mustache fits appropriately to a person on the screen, one must drink the designated amount.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Live drinking games such as Los Angeles-based \"A Drinking Game\" involve recreating films of the 80s in a \"Rocky Horror\" fashion, with gift bags, drinking cues, and costumed actors. A suggestion to \"do six shots for SEAL Team 6\" following every mention of Osama bin Laden at the 2012 Democratic National Convention necessitated a prominent disclaimer on the satire site that posted it, as the quantity of alcohol ingested would probably have been lethal.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "\"Datsyuk Game\" involves a Datsyuk highlight reel being played and contestants drink every time the word Datsyuk is mentioned. The ceremonial playing of the Russian national anthem before the game is another tradition.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Music can also be used as a basis for drinking games. The song \"Thunderstruck\" by AC/DC is used in which a player begins drinking when the word thunder is sung and switches to the next player the next time it is sung.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Sport related drinking games involve the participants each selecting a scenario of the game resulting in their drink being downed. Examples of this include participants each picking a footballer in a game while other versions require multiple players to be selected. Should a player score or be sent off, a drink must be taken. Another version requires a drink for every touch a player takes of the ball.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Some drinking games can fall into multiple categories such as a Power hour which is a primarily an endurance-based game, but can also incorporate the arts if players are prompted to drink by a playlist that changes songs every 60 seconds. Similarly, Flip cup combines the skill of flipping cups with the speed of drinking quickly prior to flipping.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Many drinking game apps (i.e. Boom Phone, Picolo and Appyshot) have been launched on mobile devices, Android, iOS, and Windows Phone.",
"title": "Types"
}
] | Drinking games are games which involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages and often enduring the subsequent intoxication resulting from them. Evidence of the existence of drinking games dates back to antiquity. Drinking games have been banned at some institutions, particularly colleges and universities. | 2001-08-11T08:52:47Z | 2023-12-23T21:34:56Z | [
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8,166 | Devon | Devon (/ˈdɛvən/ DEV-ən, historically also known as Devonshire /-ʃɪər, -ʃər/ -sheer, -shər) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west. The city of Plymouth is the largest settlement, and the city of Exeter is the county town.
The county has an area of 2,590 sq mi (6,700 km) and a population of 1,194,166. The largest settlements after Plymouth (264,695) are the city of Exeter (130,709) and the seaside resorts of Torquay and Paignton, which have a combined population of 115,410. They all are located along the south coast, which is the most populous part of the county; Barnstaple (46,619) and Tiverton (22,291) are the largest towns in the north and centre respectively. For local government purposes Devon comprises a non-metropolitan county, with eight districts, and two unitary authority areas: Plymouth and Torbay.
Devon has a varied geography. It contains Dartmoor and part of Exmoor, two upland moors which are the source of most of the county's rivers, including the Taw, Dart, and Exe. The longest river in the county is the Tamar, which forms most of the border with Cornwall and rises in the Devon's northwest hills. The southeast coast is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, and characterised by tall cliffs which reveal the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous geology of the region. The county gives its name to the Devonian geologic period, which includes the slates and sandstones of the north coast. Dartmoor and Exmoor have been designated national parks, and the county also contains, in whole or in part, five national landscapes.
In the Iron Age, Roman and the Sub-Roman periods, the county was the home of the Dumnonii Celtic Britons. The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain resulted in the partial assimilation of Dumnonia into the kingdom of Wessex in the eighth and ninth centuries, and the western boundary with Cornwall was set at the Tamar by king Æthelstan in 936.
The name Devon derives from the name of the Brythons who inhabited the southwestern peninsula of Britain at the time of the Roman conquest of Britain known as the Dumnonii, thought to mean 'deep valley dwellers' from Proto-Celtic *dubnos 'deep'. In the Brittonic, Devon is known as Welsh: Dyfnaint, Breton: Devnent and Cornish: Dewnens, each meaning 'deep valleys'. (For an account of Celtic Dumnonia, see the separate article.) Among the most common Devon placenames is -combe which derives from Brittonic cwm meaning 'valley' usually prefixed by the name of the possessor.
William Camden, in his 1607 edition of Britannia, described Devon as being one part of an older, wider country that once included Cornwall:
THAT region which, according to the Geographers, is the first of all Britaine, and, growing straiter still and narrower, shooteth out farthest into the West, [...] was in antient time inhabited by those Britans whom Solinus called Dumnonii, Ptolomee Damnonii [...] For their habitation all over this Countrey is somewhat low and in valleys, which manner of dwelling is called in the British tongue Dan-munith, in which sense also the Province next adjoyning in like respect is at this day named by the Britans Duffneit, that is to say, Low valleys. [...] But the Country of this nation is at this day divided into two parts, knowen by later names of Cornwall and Denshire, [...]
The term Devon is normally used for everyday purposes (e.g., "Devon County Council"), but Devonshire has continued to be used in the names of the "Devonshire and Dorset Regiment" (until 2007) and "The Devonshire Association". One erroneous theory is that the shire suffix is due to a mistake in the making of the original letters patent for the Duke of Devonshire, resident in Derbyshire. However, there are references to Defenasċīre in Anglo-Saxon texts from before 1000 CE (this would mean 'Shire of the Devonians'), which translates to modern English as Devonshire. The term Devonshire may have originated around the 8th century, when it changed from Dumnonia (Latin) to Defenasċīr.
Kents Cavern in Torquay had produced human remains from 30 to 40,000 years ago. Dartmoor is thought to have been occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherer peoples from about 6000 BC. The Romans held the area under military occupation for around 350 years. Later, the area began to experience Saxon incursions from the east around 600 AD, firstly as small bands of settlers along the coasts of Lyme Bay and southern estuaries and later as more organised bands pushing in from the east. Devon became a frontier between Brittonic and Anglo-Saxon Wessex, and it was largely absorbed into Wessex by the mid ninth century.
A genetic study carried out by the University of Oxford & University College London discovered separate genetic groups in Cornwall and Devon. Not only were there differences on either side of the River Tamar—-with a division almost exactly following the modern county boundary —but also between Devon and the rest of Southern England. Devon's population also exhibited similarities with modern northern France, including Brittany. This suggests the Anglo-Saxon migration into Devon was limited, rather than a mass movement of people.
The border with Cornwall was set by King Æthelstan on the east bank of the River Tamar in 936 AD. Danish raids also occurred sporadically along many coastal parts of Devon between around 800AD and just before the time of the Norman conquest, including the silver mint at Hlidaforda Lydford in 997 and Taintona (a settlement on the Teign estuary) in 1001.
Devon was the home of a number of anticlerical movements in the Later Middle Ages. For example, the Order of Brothelyngham—a fake monastic order of 1348 — regularly rode through Exeter, kidnapping both religious men and laymen, and extorting money from them as ransom.
Devon has also featured in most of the civil conflicts in England since the Norman conquest, including the Wars of the Roses, Perkin Warbeck's rising in 1497, the Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549, and the English Civil War. The arrival of William of Orange to launch the Glorious Revolution of 1688 took place at Brixham.
Devon has produced tin, copper and other metals from ancient times. Devon's tin miners enjoyed a substantial degree of independence through Devon's Stannary Convocation, which dates back to the 12th century. The last recorded sitting was in 1748.
Devon's total economic output in 2019 was over £26 billion, larger than either Manchester, or Edinburgh.
Like neighbouring Cornwall to the west, historically Devon has been disadvantaged economically compared to other parts of Southern England, owing to the decline of a number of core industries, notably fishing, mining, and farming, but it is now significantly more diverse. Agriculture has been an important industry in Devon since the 19th century. The 2001 UK foot and mouth crisis harmed the farming community severely. Since then some parts of the agricultural industry have begun to diversify and recover, with a strong local food sector and many artisan producers. Nonetheless, in 2015 the dairy industry was still suffering from the low prices offered for wholesale milk by major dairies and especially large supermarket chains.
The attractive lifestyle of the area is drawing in new industries which are not heavily dependent upon geographical location; Dartmoor, for instance, has recently seen a significant rise in the percentage of its inhabitants involved in the digital and financial services sectors. The Met Office, the UK's national and international weather service, moved to Exeter in 2003. Plymouth hosts the head office and first ever store of The Range, the only major national retail chain headquartered in Devon.
Since the rise of seaside resorts with the arrival of the railways in the 19th century, Devon's economy has been heavily reliant on tourism. The county's economy followed the declining trend of British seaside resorts since the mid-20th century, but with some recent revival and regeneration of its resorts, particularly focused around camping; sports such as surfing, cycling, sailing and heritage. This revival has been aided by the designation of much of Devon's countryside and coastline as the Dartmoor and Exmoor national parks, and the Jurassic Coast and Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Sites. In 2019 the county's visitor spend was almost £2.5 billion. More successful visitor attractions are particularly concentrated on food and drink, including sea-view restaurants in North-West Devon (such as one example belonging to Damien Hurst), walking the South West Coast Path, cycling on the Devon Coast to Coast Cycle Route and other cycle routes such as the Tarka Trail and the Stover Trail; watersports; surfing; indoor and outdoor folk music festivals across the county and sailing in the 5-mile (8.0 km) hill-surrounded inlet (ria) at Salcombe.
Incomes vary significantly and the average is bolstered by a high proportion of affluent retired people. Incomes in much of the South Hams and in villages surrounding Exeter and Plymouth are close to, or above the national average, but there are also areas of severe deprivation, with earnings in some places among the lowest in the UK.
The table also shows the population change in the ten years to the 2011 census by subdivision. It also shows the proportion of residents in each district reliant upon lowest income and/or joblessness benefits, the national average proportion of which was 4.5% as at August 2012, the year for which latest datasets have been published. It can be seen that the most populous district of Devon is East Devon but only if excluding Torbay which has marginally more residents and Plymouth which has approximately double the number of residents of either of these. West Devon has the fewest residents, having 63,839 at the time of the census.
There is a network of bus services across Devon. Bus operators include: Stagecoach (much of Devon), AVMT Buses (East Devon/Jurassic Coast), County Bus (Teignbridge) and Plymouth Citybus.
The key train operator for Devon is Great Western Railway, which operates numerous regional, local and suburban services, as well as inter-city services north to London Paddington and south to Plymouth and Penzance. Other inter-city services are operated by CrossCountry north to Manchester Piccadilly, Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central, Dundee, Aberdeen and south to Plymouth and Penzance; and by South Western Railway, operating hourly services between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids, via the West of England Main Line. All Devon services are diesel-hauled, since there are no electrified lines in the county.
Okehampton station in Devon was closed in 1972 to passenger traffic as a result of the Beeching cuts, but regained regular passenger services run by GWR to Exeter in November 2021, funded by the UK Government's Restoring your Railway programme.
There are proposals to reopen the line from Tavistock to Bere Alston for a through service to Plymouth. The possibility of reopening the line between Tavistock and Okehampton, to provide an alternative route between Exeter and Plymouth, has also been suggested following damage to the railway's sea wall at Dawlish in 2014, which caused widespread disruption to trains between Exeter and Penzance. However, a study by Network Rail determined that maintaining the existing railway line would offer the best value for money and work to strengthen the line at Dawlish began in 2019.
Devon County Council has proposed a 'Devon Metro' scheme to improve rail services in the county and offer a realistic alternative to car travel. This includes the delivery of Cranbrook station, plus four new stations (including Torquay Gateway) as a priority. Several elements of the scheme have, or are in the process of being delivered including the building of Marsh Barton station on the edge of Exeter and a regular half hourly local rail service now extended from the Exmouth to Exeter Branch onto Paignton.
Exeter Airport is the only passenger airport in Devon and in 2019 was used by over one million people. Until 2020, Flybe had its headquarters at the airport. Destinations include various locations within the UK (London City, Manchester, Belfast, Edinburgh, etc.), as well as locations in Cyprus, Italy, Netherlands, Lapland, Portugal, Spain, France, Malta, Switzerland and Turkey.
Devon straddles a peninsula and so, uniquely among English counties, has two separate coastlines: on the Bristol Channel and Celtic Sea in the north, and on the English Channel in the south. The South West Coast Path runs along the entire length of both, around 65% of which is named as Heritage Coast. Before the changes to English counties in 1974, Devon was the third largest county by area and the largest of the counties not divided into county-like divisions (only Yorkshire and Lincolnshire were larger and both were sub-divided into ridings or parts, respectively). Since 1974 the county is ranked fourth by area (due to the creation of Cumbria) amongst ceremonial counties and is the third largest non-metropolitan county. The island of Lundy and the reef of Eddystone are also in Devon. The county has more mileage of road than any other county in England.
Inland, the Dartmoor National park lies wholly in Devon, and the Exmoor National Park lies in both Devon and Somerset. Apart from these areas of high moorland the county has attractive rolling rural scenery and villages with thatched cob cottages. All these features make Devon a popular holiday destination.
In South Devon the landscape consists of rolling hills dotted with small towns, such as Dartmouth, Ivybridge, Kingsbridge, Salcombe, and Totnes. The towns of Torquay and Paignton are the principal seaside resorts on the south coast. East Devon has the first seaside resort to be developed in the county, Exmouth and the more upmarket Georgian town of Sidmouth, headquarters of the East Devon District Council. Exmouth marks the western end of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. Another notable feature is the coastal railway line between Newton Abbot and the Exe Estuary: the red sandstone cliffs and sea views are very dramatic and in the resorts railway line and beaches are very near.
North Devon is very rural with few major towns except Barnstaple, Great Torrington, Bideford and Ilfracombe. Devon's Exmoor coast has the highest cliffs in southern Britain, culminating in the Great Hangman, a 318 m (1,043 ft) "hog's-back" hill with a 250 m (820 ft) cliff-face, located near Combe Martin Bay. Its sister cliff is the 218 m (715 ft) Little Hangman, which marks the western edge of coastal Exmoor. One of the features of the North Devon coast is that Bideford Bay and the Hartland Point peninsula are both west-facing, Atlantic facing coastlines; so that a combination of an off-shore (east) wind and an Atlantic swell produce excellent surfing conditions. The beaches of Bideford Bay (Woolacombe, Saunton, Westward Ho! and Croyde), along with parts of North Cornwall and South Wales, are the main centres of surfing in Britain.
A geological dividing line cuts across Devon roughly along the line of the Bristol to Exeter line and the M5 motorway east of Tiverton and Exeter. It is a part of the Tees–Exe line broadly dividing Britain into a southeastern lowland zone typified by gently dipping sedimentary rocks and a northwestern upland zone typified by igneous rocks and folded sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.
The principal geological components of Devon are i) the Devonian strata of north Devon and south west Devon (and extending into Cornwall); ii) the Culm Measures (north western Devon also extending into north Cornwall); and iii) the granite intrusion of Dartmoor in central Devon, part of the Cornubian batholith forming the 'spine' of the southwestern peninsula. There are blocks of Silurian and Ordovician rocks within Devonian strata on the south Devon coast but otherwise no pre-Devonian rocks on the Devon mainland. The metamorphic rocks of Eddystone are of presumed Precambrian age.
The oldest rocks which can be dated are those of the Devonian period which are approximately 395–359 million years old. Sandstones and shales were deposited in North and South Devon beneath tropical seas. In shallower waters, limestone beds were laid down in the area now near Torquay and Plymouth. This geological period was named after Devon by Roderick Murchison and Adam Sedgwick in the 1840s and is the only British county whose name is used worldwide as the basis for a geological time period.
Devon's second major rock system is the Culm Measures, a geological formation of the Carboniferous period that occurs principally in Devon and Cornwall. The measures are so called either from the occasional presence of a soft, sooty coal, which is known in Devon as culm, or from the contortions commonly found in the beds. This formation stretches from Bideford to Bude in Cornwall, and contributes to a gentler, greener, more rounded landscape. It is also found on the western, north and eastern borders of Dartmoor.
The sedimentary rocks in more eastern parts of the county include Permian and Triassic sandstones (giving rise to east Devon's well known fertile red soils); Bunter pebble beds around Budleigh Salterton and Woodbury Common and Jurassic rocks in the easternmost parts of Devon. Smaller outcrops of younger rocks also exist, such as Cretaceous chalk cliffs at Beer Head and gravels on Haldon, plus Eocene and Oligocene ball clay and lignite deposits in the Bovey Basin, formed around 50 million years ago under tropical forest conditions.
Devon generally has a cool oceanic climate, heavily influenced by the North Atlantic Drift. In winter, snow is relatively uncommon away from high land, although there are few exceptions. The county has mild summers with occasional warm spells and cool rainy periods. Winters are generally cool and the county often experiences some of the mildest winters in the world for its high latitude, with average daily maximum temperatures in January at 8 °C (46 °F). Rainfall varies significantly across the county, ranging from over 2,000 mm (79 in) on parts of Dartmoor, to around 750 mm (30 in) in the rain shadow along the coast in southeastern Devon and around Exeter. Sunshine amounts also vary widely: the moors are generally cloudy, but the SE coast from Salcombe to Exmouth is one of the sunniest parts of the UK (a generally cloudy region). With westerly or south-westerly winds and high pressure the area around Torbay and Teignmouth will often be warm, with long sunny spells due to shelter by high ground (Foehn wind).
The variety of habitats means that there is a wide range of wildlife (see Dartmoor wildlife, for example). A popular challenge among birders is to find over 100 species in the county in a day. The county's wildlife is protected by several wildlife charities such as the Devon Wildlife Trust, which looks after 40 nature reserves. The Devon Bird Watching and Preservation Society (founded in 1928 and known since 2005 as "Devon Birds") is a county bird society dedicated to the study and conservation of wild birds. The RSPB has reserves in the county, and Natural England is responsible for over 200 Devon Sites of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserves, such as Slapton Ley. The Devon Bat Group was founded in 1984 to help conserve bats. Wildlife found in this area extend to a plethora of different kinds of insects, butterflies and moths; an interesting butterfly to take look at is the chequered skipper.
Devon is a national hotspot for several species that are uncommon in Britain, including the cirl bunting; greater horseshoe bat; Bechstein's bat and Jersey tiger moth. It is also the only place in mainland Britain where the sand crocus (Romulea columnae) can be found – at Dawlish Warren, and is home to all six British native land reptile species, partly as a result of some reintroductions. Another recent reintroduction is the Eurasian beaver, primarily on the river Otter. Other rare species recorded in Devon include seahorses and the sea daffodil.
The botany of the county is very diverse and includes some rare species not found elsewhere in the British Isles other than Cornwall. Devon is divided into two Watsonian vice-counties: north and south, the boundary being an irregular line approximately across the higher part of Dartmoor and then along the canal eastwards. Botanical reports begin in the 17th century and there is a Flora Devoniensis by Jones and Kingston in 1829. A general account appeared in The Victoria History of the County of Devon (1906), and a Flora of Devon was published in 1939 by Keble Martin and Fraser. An Atlas of the Devon Flora by Ivimey-Cook appeared in 1984, and A New Flora of Devon, based on field work undertaken between 2005 and 2014, was published in 2016.
Rising temperatures have led to Devon becoming the first place in modern Britain to cultivate olives commercially.
The administrative centre and capital of Devon is the city of Exeter. The largest city in Devon, Plymouth, and the conurbation of Torbay (which includes the largest town in Devon and capital of Torbay, Torquay, as well as Paignton and Brixham) have been unitary authorities since 1998, separate from the remainder of Devon which is administered by Devon County Council for the purposes of local government.
Devon County Council is controlled by the Conservatives, and the political representation of its 62 councillors are: 38 Conservatives, 9 Liberal Democrats, seven Labour, four UKIP, three Independents and one Green.
At the 2019 general election, Devon returned 10 Conservatives and two Labour MPs to the House of Commons.
Historically Devon was divided into 32 hundreds: Axminster, Bampton, Black Torrington, Braunton, Cliston, Coleridge, Colyton, Crediton, East Budleigh, Ermington, Exminster, Fremington, Halberton, Hartland, Hayridge, Haytor, Hemyock, Lifton, North Tawton and Winkleigh, Ottery, Plympton, Roborough, Shebbear, Shirwell, South Molton, Stanborough, Tavistock, Teignbridge, Tiverton, West Budleigh, Witheridge, and Wonford.
The main settlements in Devon are the cities of Plymouth, a historic port now administratively independent, Exeter, the county town, and Torbay, the county's tourist centre. Devon's coast is lined with tourist resorts, many of which grew rapidly with the arrival of the railways in the 19th century. Examples include Dawlish, Exmouth and Sidmouth on the south coast, and Ilfracombe and Lynmouth on the north. The Torbay conurbation of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham on the south coast is now administratively independent of the county. Rural market towns in the county include Barnstaple, Bideford, Honiton, Newton Abbot, Okehampton, Tavistock, Totnes and Tiverton.
The boundary with Cornwall has not always been on the River Tamar as at present: until the late 19th century a few parishes in the Torpoint area were in Devon and five parishes now in north-east Cornwall were in Devon until 1974 (however, for ecclesiastical purposes these were nevertheless in the Archdeaconry of Cornwall and in 1876 became part of the Diocese of Truro).
The region of Devon was the dominion of the pre-Roman Dumnonii Celtic tribe, known as the "Deep Valley Dwellers". The region to the west of Exeter was less Romanised than the rest of Roman Britain since it was considered a remote part of the province. After the formal Roman withdrawal from Britain in AD 410, one of the leading Dumnonii families attempted to create a dynasty and rule over Devon as the new Kings of Dumnonii.
Celtic paganism and Roman practices were the first known religions in Devon, although in the mid-fourth century AD, Christianity was introduced to Devon. In the Sub-Roman period the church in the British Isles was characterised by some differences in practice from the Latin Christianity of the continent of Europe and is known as Celtic Christianity; however it was always in communion with the wider Roman Catholic Church. Many Cornish saints are commemorated also in Devon in legends, churches and place-names. Western Christianity came to Devon when it was over a long period incorporated into the kingdom of Wessex and the jurisdiction of the bishop of Wessex. Saint Petroc is said to have passed through Devon, where ancient dedications to him are even more numerous than in Cornwall: a probable seventeen (plus Timberscombe just over the border in Somerset), compared to Cornwall's five. The position of churches bearing his name, including one within the old Roman walls of Exeter, are nearly always near the coast, as in those days travelling was done mainly by sea. The Devonian villages of Petrockstowe and Newton St Petroc are also named after Saint Petroc and the flag of Devon is dedicated to him.
The history of Christianity in the South West of England remains to some degree obscure. Parts of the historic county of Devon formed part of the diocese of Wessex, while nothing is known of the church organisation of the Celtic areas. About 703 Devon and Cornwall were included in the separate diocese of Sherborne and in 900 this was again divided into two, the Devon bishop having from 905 his seat at Tawton (now Bishop's Tawton) and from 912 at Crediton, birthplace of St Boniface. Lyfing became Bishop of Crediton in 1027 and shortly afterwards became Bishop of Cornwall.
The two dioceses of Crediton and Cornwall, covering Devon and Cornwall, were united under Edward the Confessor by Lyfing's successor Bishop Leofric, hitherto Bishop of Crediton, who became first Bishop of Exeter under Edward the Confessor, which was established as his cathedral city in 1050. At first, the abbey church of St Mary and St Peter, founded by Athelstan in 932 and rebuilt in 1019, served as the cathedral.
Devon came under the political influence of several different nobles during the Middle Ages, especially the Courtenays Earl of Devon. During the Wars of the Roses, important magnates included the Earl of Devon, William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville, and Humphrey Stafford, earl of Devon whose wider influence stretched from Cornwall to Wiltshire. After 1485, one of the county's influential figures included Henry VII's courtier Robert Willoughby, 1st Baron Willoughby de Broke.
In 1549, the Prayer Book Rebellion caused the deaths of thousands of people from Devon and Cornwall. During the English Reformation, churches in Devon officially became affiliated with the Church of England. From the late sixteenth century onwards, zealous Protestantism – or 'puritanism' – became increasingly well-entrenched in some parts of Devon, while other districts of the county remained much more conservative. These divisions would become starkly apparent during the English Civil War of 1642–46, when the county split apart along religious and cultural lines. The Methodism of John Wesley proved to be very popular with the working classes in Devon in the 19th century. Methodist chapels became important social centres, with male voice choirs and other church-affiliated groups playing a central role in the social lives of working class Devonians. Methodism still plays a large part in the religious life of Devon today, although the county has shared in the post-World War II decline in British religious feeling.
The Diocese of Exeter remains the Anglican diocese including the whole of Devon. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth was established in the mid 19th century.
There was no established coat of arms for the county until 1926: the arms of the City of Exeter were often used to represent Devon, for instance in the badge of the Devonshire Regiment. During the forming of a county council by the Local Government Act 1888 adoption of a common seal was required. The seal contained three shields depicting the arms of Exeter along with those of the first chairman and vice-chairman of the council (Lord Clinton and the Earl of Morley).
On 11 October 1926, the county council received a grant of arms from the College of Arms. The main part of the shield displays a red crowned lion on a silver field, the arms of Richard Plantagenet, Earl of Cornwall. The chief or upper portion of the shield depicts an ancient ship on wavers, for Devon's seafaring traditions. The Latin motto adopted was Auxilio Divino (by Divine aid), that of Sir Francis Drake. The 1926 grant was of arms alone. On 6 March 1962 a further grant of crest and supporters was obtained. The crest is the head of a Dartmoor Pony rising from a "Naval Crown". This distinctive form of crown is formed from the sails and sterns of ships, and is associated with the Royal Navy. The supporters are a Devon bull and a sea lion.
Devon County Council adopted a "ship silhouette" logo after the 1974 reorganisation, adapted from the ship emblem on the coat of arms, but following the loss in 1998 of Plymouth and Torbay re-adopted the coat of arms. In April 2006 the council unveiled a new logo which was to be used in most everyday applications, though the coat of arms will continue to be used for "various civic purposes".
Devon also has its own flag which has been dedicated to Saint Petroc, a local saint with dedications throughout Devon and neighbouring counties. The flag was adopted in 2003 after a competition run by BBC Radio Devon. The winning design was created by website contributor Ryan Sealey, and won 49% of the votes cast. The colours of the flag are those popularly identified with Devon, for example, the colours of the University of Exeter, the rugby union team, and the Green and White flag flown by the first Viscount Exmouth at the Bombardment of Algiers (now on view at the Teign Valley Museum), as well as one of the county's football teams, Plymouth Argyle. On 17 October 2006, the flag was hoisted for the first time outside County Hall in Exeter to mark Local Democracy Week, receiving official recognition from the county council. In 2019 Devon County Council with the support of both the Anglican and Catholic churches in Exeter and Plymouth, officially recognised Saint Boniface as the Patron Saint of Devon.
Devon's toponyms include many with the endings "coombe/combe" and "tor". Both 'coombe' (valley or hollow, cf. Welsh cwm, Cornish komm) and 'tor' (Old Welsh twrr and Scots Gaelic tòrr from Latin turris; 'tower' used for granite formations) are rare Celtic loanwords in English and their frequency is greatest in Devon which shares a boundary with Brittonic speaking Cornwall. Ruined medieval settlements of Dartmoor longhouses indicate that dispersed rural settlement (OE tun, now often -ton) was very similar to that found in Cornish 'tre-' settlements, however these are generally described with the local placename -(a)cott, from the Old English for homestead, cf. cottage. Saxon endings in -worthy (from Anglo-Saxon worthig) indicate larger settlements. Several 'Bere's indicate Anglo-Saxon wood groves, as 'leighs' indicate clearings.
Devon has a variety of festivals and traditional practices, including the traditional orchard-visiting Wassail in Whimple every 17 January, and the carrying of flaming tar barrels in Ottery St. Mary, where people who have lived in Ottery for long enough are called upon to celebrate Bonfire Night by running through the village (and the gathered crowds) with flaming barrels on their backs. Berry Pomeroy still celebrates Queene's Day for Elizabeth I.
Devon has a mostly comprehensive education system. There are 37 state and 23 independent secondary schools. There are three tertiary (FE) colleges and an agricultural college (Bicton College, near Budleigh Salterton). Torbay has 8 state (with 3 grammar schools) and 3 independent secondary schools, and Plymouth has 17 state (with 3 grammar schools – two female and one male) and one independent school, Plymouth College. East Devon and Teignbridge have the largest school populations, with West Devon the smallest (with only two schools). Only one school in Exeter, Mid Devon, Torridge and North Devon have a sixth form – the schools in other districts mostly have sixth forms, with all schools in West Devon and East Devon having a sixth form.
Two universities are located in Devon, the University of Exeter (split between the Streatham Campus and St Luke's Campus, both in Exeter, and a campus in Cornwall); in Plymouth the University of Plymouth in Britain is present, along with the University of St Mark & St John to the city's north. The universities of Exeter and Plymouth have together formed the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry which has bases in Exeter and Plymouth. There is also Schumacher College.
The county has given its name to a number of culinary specialities. The Devonshire cream tea, involving scones, jam and clotted cream, is thought to have originated in Devon (though claims have also been made for neighbouring counties); in other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, it is known as a "Devonshire tea". It has also been claimed that the pasty originated in Devon rather than Cornwall, with the first record of the pasty coming from Plymouth in 1509.
In October 2008, Devon was awarded Fairtrade County status by the Fairtrade Foundation.
Devon has been home to a number of customs, such as its own form of Devon wrestling, similar in some ways to Cornish wrestling. As recently as the 19th century, a crowd of over 17,000 at Devonport, near Plymouth, attended a match between the champions of Devon and Cornwall. Another Devon sport was outhurling which was played in some regions until the 20th century (e.g. 1922, at Great Torrington). Other ancient customs which survive include Dartmoor step dancing, and "Crying The Neck".
Devon has three professional football teams, based in each of its most populous towns and cities. As of 2023, Plymouth Argyle F.C. competes in the EFL Championship, Exeter City F.C. in the EFL League One, whilst Torquay United F.C. compete in the National League. Plymouth's highest Football League finish was fourth in the Second Division, which was achieved twice, in 1932 and 1953. Torquay and Exeter have never progressed beyond the third tier of the league; Torquay finished second on goal average in the Third Division (S) behind Sir Alf Ramsey's Ipswich Town in 1957. Exeter's highest position has been eighth in the Third Division (S). The county's biggest non-league clubs are Plymouth Parkway F.C. and Tiverton Town F.C. which compete in the Southern Football League Premier Division, and Bideford A.F.C., Exmouth Town F.C. and Tavistock A.F.C. which are in the Southern Football League Division One South and West.
Rugby Union is popular in Devon with over forty clubs under the banner of the Devon Rugby Football Union, many with various teams at senior, youth and junior levels. One club – Exeter Chiefs – play in the Aviva Premiership, winning the title in 2017 for the first time in their history after beating Wasps RFC in the final 23–20. Plymouth Albion who are, as of 2023, in the National League 1 (The third tier of English Professional Rugby Union).
There are five rugby league teams in Devon. Plymouth Titans, Exeter Centurions, Devon Sharks from Torquay, North Devon Raiders from Barnstaple and East Devon Eagles from Exmouth. They all play in the Rugby League Conference.
Plymouth City Patriots represent Devon in the British Basketball League. Formed in 2021, they replaced the former professional club, Plymouth Raiders, after the latter team were withdrawn from competition due to venue issues. Motorcycle speedway is also supported in the county, with both the Exeter Falcons and Plymouth Gladiators succeeding in the National Leagues in recent years.
The University of Exeter Hockey Club enter teams in both the Men's and Women's England Hockey Leagues.
Horse Racing is also popular in the county, with two National Hunt racecourses (Exeter and Newton Abbot), and numerous point to point courses. There are also many successful professional racehorse trainers based in Devon.
The county is represented in cricket by Devon County Cricket Club, who play at a Minor counties level.
Devon is known for its mariners, such as Sir Francis Drake, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Richard Grenville, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Sir Francis Chichester. Henry Every, described as the most notorious pirate of the late 17th century, was probably born in the village of Newton Ferrers. John Oxenham (1536–1580) was a lieutenant of Drake but considered a pirate by the Spanish. Thomas Morton (1576–1647) was an avid Elizabethan outdoorsman probably born in Devon who became an attorney for The Council For New England, and built the New England fur-trading-plantation called Ma-Re Mount or Merrymount around a West Country-style Maypole, much to the displeasure of Pilgrim and Puritan colonists. Morton wrote a 1637 book New English Canaan about his experiences, partly in verse, and may have thereby become America's first poet to write in English. Another famous mariner and Devonian was Robert Falcon Scott, the leader of the unfortunate Terra Nova Expedition to reach the geographical South Pole. The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the crime writer Agatha Christie, the Irish writer William Trevor, and the poet Ted Hughes lived in Devon. The painter and founder of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds, was born in Devon. Chris Dawson, the billionaire owner of retailer The Range was born in Devon, where his business retains its head office in Plymouth.
The actor Matthew Goode was raised in Devon, and Bradley James, also an actor, was born there. The singer Joss Stone was brought up in Devon and frontman Chris Martin from the British rock group Coldplay was born there. Matt Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme from the English group Muse all grew up in Devon and formed the band there. Dave Hill of rock band Slade was born in Flete House which is in the South Hams district of Devon. Singer-songwriter Ben Howard grew up in Totnes, a small town in Devon. Another famous Devonian is the model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who was born in Plymouth and raised in Tavistock. The singer and songwriter Rebecca Newman was born and raised in Exmouth. Roger Deakins, called "the pre-eminent cinematographer of our time", was born and lives in Devon.
Trevor Francis, former Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City professional footballer, and the first English footballer to cost £1 million, was born and brought up in Plymouth.
Swimmer Sharron Davies and diver Tom Daley were born in Plymouth. The Olympic runner Jo Pavey was born in Honiton. Peter Cook the satirist, writer and comedian was born in Torquay, Devon. Leicester Tigers and British and Irish Lions Rugby player Julian White was born and raised in Devon and now farms a herd of pedigree South Devon beef cattle. The dog breeder John "Jack" Russell was also from Devon. Jane McGrath, who married Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath was born in Paignton, her long battle with and subsequent death from breast cancer inspired the formation of the McGrath Foundation, which is one of Australia's leading charities.
Devon has also been represented in the House of Commons by notable Members of Parliament (MPs) such as Nancy Astor, Gwyneth Dunwoody, Michael Foot and David Owen and the Prime Ministers Lord John Russell and Lord Palmerston.
Tamar Valley AONB | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Devon (/ˈdɛvən/ DEV-ən, historically also known as Devonshire /-ʃɪər, -ʃər/ -sheer, -shər) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west. The city of Plymouth is the largest settlement, and the city of Exeter is the county town.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The county has an area of 2,590 sq mi (6,700 km) and a population of 1,194,166. The largest settlements after Plymouth (264,695) are the city of Exeter (130,709) and the seaside resorts of Torquay and Paignton, which have a combined population of 115,410. They all are located along the south coast, which is the most populous part of the county; Barnstaple (46,619) and Tiverton (22,291) are the largest towns in the north and centre respectively. For local government purposes Devon comprises a non-metropolitan county, with eight districts, and two unitary authority areas: Plymouth and Torbay.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Devon has a varied geography. It contains Dartmoor and part of Exmoor, two upland moors which are the source of most of the county's rivers, including the Taw, Dart, and Exe. The longest river in the county is the Tamar, which forms most of the border with Cornwall and rises in the Devon's northwest hills. The southeast coast is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, and characterised by tall cliffs which reveal the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous geology of the region. The county gives its name to the Devonian geologic period, which includes the slates and sandstones of the north coast. Dartmoor and Exmoor have been designated national parks, and the county also contains, in whole or in part, five national landscapes.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "In the Iron Age, Roman and the Sub-Roman periods, the county was the home of the Dumnonii Celtic Britons. The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain resulted in the partial assimilation of Dumnonia into the kingdom of Wessex in the eighth and ninth centuries, and the western boundary with Cornwall was set at the Tamar by king Æthelstan in 936.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The name Devon derives from the name of the Brythons who inhabited the southwestern peninsula of Britain at the time of the Roman conquest of Britain known as the Dumnonii, thought to mean 'deep valley dwellers' from Proto-Celtic *dubnos 'deep'. In the Brittonic, Devon is known as Welsh: Dyfnaint, Breton: Devnent and Cornish: Dewnens, each meaning 'deep valleys'. (For an account of Celtic Dumnonia, see the separate article.) Among the most common Devon placenames is -combe which derives from Brittonic cwm meaning 'valley' usually prefixed by the name of the possessor.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "William Camden, in his 1607 edition of Britannia, described Devon as being one part of an older, wider country that once included Cornwall:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "THAT region which, according to the Geographers, is the first of all Britaine, and, growing straiter still and narrower, shooteth out farthest into the West, [...] was in antient time inhabited by those Britans whom Solinus called Dumnonii, Ptolomee Damnonii [...] For their habitation all over this Countrey is somewhat low and in valleys, which manner of dwelling is called in the British tongue Dan-munith, in which sense also the Province next adjoyning in like respect is at this day named by the Britans Duffneit, that is to say, Low valleys. [...] But the Country of this nation is at this day divided into two parts, knowen by later names of Cornwall and Denshire, [...]",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The term Devon is normally used for everyday purposes (e.g., \"Devon County Council\"), but Devonshire has continued to be used in the names of the \"Devonshire and Dorset Regiment\" (until 2007) and \"The Devonshire Association\". One erroneous theory is that the shire suffix is due to a mistake in the making of the original letters patent for the Duke of Devonshire, resident in Derbyshire. However, there are references to Defenasċīre in Anglo-Saxon texts from before 1000 CE (this would mean 'Shire of the Devonians'), which translates to modern English as Devonshire. The term Devonshire may have originated around the 8th century, when it changed from Dumnonia (Latin) to Defenasċīr.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Kents Cavern in Torquay had produced human remains from 30 to 40,000 years ago. Dartmoor is thought to have been occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherer peoples from about 6000 BC. The Romans held the area under military occupation for around 350 years. Later, the area began to experience Saxon incursions from the east around 600 AD, firstly as small bands of settlers along the coasts of Lyme Bay and southern estuaries and later as more organised bands pushing in from the east. Devon became a frontier between Brittonic and Anglo-Saxon Wessex, and it was largely absorbed into Wessex by the mid ninth century.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "A genetic study carried out by the University of Oxford & University College London discovered separate genetic groups in Cornwall and Devon. Not only were there differences on either side of the River Tamar—-with a division almost exactly following the modern county boundary —but also between Devon and the rest of Southern England. Devon's population also exhibited similarities with modern northern France, including Brittany. This suggests the Anglo-Saxon migration into Devon was limited, rather than a mass movement of people.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The border with Cornwall was set by King Æthelstan on the east bank of the River Tamar in 936 AD. Danish raids also occurred sporadically along many coastal parts of Devon between around 800AD and just before the time of the Norman conquest, including the silver mint at Hlidaforda Lydford in 997 and Taintona (a settlement on the Teign estuary) in 1001.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Devon was the home of a number of anticlerical movements in the Later Middle Ages. For example, the Order of Brothelyngham—a fake monastic order of 1348 — regularly rode through Exeter, kidnapping both religious men and laymen, and extorting money from them as ransom.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Devon has also featured in most of the civil conflicts in England since the Norman conquest, including the Wars of the Roses, Perkin Warbeck's rising in 1497, the Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549, and the English Civil War. The arrival of William of Orange to launch the Glorious Revolution of 1688 took place at Brixham.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Devon has produced tin, copper and other metals from ancient times. Devon's tin miners enjoyed a substantial degree of independence through Devon's Stannary Convocation, which dates back to the 12th century. The last recorded sitting was in 1748.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Devon's total economic output in 2019 was over £26 billion, larger than either Manchester, or Edinburgh.",
"title": "Economy and industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Like neighbouring Cornwall to the west, historically Devon has been disadvantaged economically compared to other parts of Southern England, owing to the decline of a number of core industries, notably fishing, mining, and farming, but it is now significantly more diverse. Agriculture has been an important industry in Devon since the 19th century. The 2001 UK foot and mouth crisis harmed the farming community severely. Since then some parts of the agricultural industry have begun to diversify and recover, with a strong local food sector and many artisan producers. Nonetheless, in 2015 the dairy industry was still suffering from the low prices offered for wholesale milk by major dairies and especially large supermarket chains.",
"title": "Economy and industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The attractive lifestyle of the area is drawing in new industries which are not heavily dependent upon geographical location; Dartmoor, for instance, has recently seen a significant rise in the percentage of its inhabitants involved in the digital and financial services sectors. The Met Office, the UK's national and international weather service, moved to Exeter in 2003. Plymouth hosts the head office and first ever store of The Range, the only major national retail chain headquartered in Devon.",
"title": "Economy and industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Since the rise of seaside resorts with the arrival of the railways in the 19th century, Devon's economy has been heavily reliant on tourism. The county's economy followed the declining trend of British seaside resorts since the mid-20th century, but with some recent revival and regeneration of its resorts, particularly focused around camping; sports such as surfing, cycling, sailing and heritage. This revival has been aided by the designation of much of Devon's countryside and coastline as the Dartmoor and Exmoor national parks, and the Jurassic Coast and Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Sites. In 2019 the county's visitor spend was almost £2.5 billion. More successful visitor attractions are particularly concentrated on food and drink, including sea-view restaurants in North-West Devon (such as one example belonging to Damien Hurst), walking the South West Coast Path, cycling on the Devon Coast to Coast Cycle Route and other cycle routes such as the Tarka Trail and the Stover Trail; watersports; surfing; indoor and outdoor folk music festivals across the county and sailing in the 5-mile (8.0 km) hill-surrounded inlet (ria) at Salcombe.",
"title": "Economy and industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Incomes vary significantly and the average is bolstered by a high proportion of affluent retired people. Incomes in much of the South Hams and in villages surrounding Exeter and Plymouth are close to, or above the national average, but there are also areas of severe deprivation, with earnings in some places among the lowest in the UK.",
"title": "Economy and industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The table also shows the population change in the ten years to the 2011 census by subdivision. It also shows the proportion of residents in each district reliant upon lowest income and/or joblessness benefits, the national average proportion of which was 4.5% as at August 2012, the year for which latest datasets have been published. It can be seen that the most populous district of Devon is East Devon but only if excluding Torbay which has marginally more residents and Plymouth which has approximately double the number of residents of either of these. West Devon has the fewest residents, having 63,839 at the time of the census.",
"title": "Economy and industry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "There is a network of bus services across Devon. Bus operators include: Stagecoach (much of Devon), AVMT Buses (East Devon/Jurassic Coast), County Bus (Teignbridge) and Plymouth Citybus.",
"title": "Transport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The key train operator for Devon is Great Western Railway, which operates numerous regional, local and suburban services, as well as inter-city services north to London Paddington and south to Plymouth and Penzance. Other inter-city services are operated by CrossCountry north to Manchester Piccadilly, Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central, Dundee, Aberdeen and south to Plymouth and Penzance; and by South Western Railway, operating hourly services between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids, via the West of England Main Line. All Devon services are diesel-hauled, since there are no electrified lines in the county.",
"title": "Transport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Okehampton station in Devon was closed in 1972 to passenger traffic as a result of the Beeching cuts, but regained regular passenger services run by GWR to Exeter in November 2021, funded by the UK Government's Restoring your Railway programme.",
"title": "Transport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "There are proposals to reopen the line from Tavistock to Bere Alston for a through service to Plymouth. The possibility of reopening the line between Tavistock and Okehampton, to provide an alternative route between Exeter and Plymouth, has also been suggested following damage to the railway's sea wall at Dawlish in 2014, which caused widespread disruption to trains between Exeter and Penzance. However, a study by Network Rail determined that maintaining the existing railway line would offer the best value for money and work to strengthen the line at Dawlish began in 2019.",
"title": "Transport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Devon County Council has proposed a 'Devon Metro' scheme to improve rail services in the county and offer a realistic alternative to car travel. This includes the delivery of Cranbrook station, plus four new stations (including Torquay Gateway) as a priority. Several elements of the scheme have, or are in the process of being delivered including the building of Marsh Barton station on the edge of Exeter and a regular half hourly local rail service now extended from the Exmouth to Exeter Branch onto Paignton.",
"title": "Transport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Exeter Airport is the only passenger airport in Devon and in 2019 was used by over one million people. Until 2020, Flybe had its headquarters at the airport. Destinations include various locations within the UK (London City, Manchester, Belfast, Edinburgh, etc.), as well as locations in Cyprus, Italy, Netherlands, Lapland, Portugal, Spain, France, Malta, Switzerland and Turkey.",
"title": "Transport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Devon straddles a peninsula and so, uniquely among English counties, has two separate coastlines: on the Bristol Channel and Celtic Sea in the north, and on the English Channel in the south. The South West Coast Path runs along the entire length of both, around 65% of which is named as Heritage Coast. Before the changes to English counties in 1974, Devon was the third largest county by area and the largest of the counties not divided into county-like divisions (only Yorkshire and Lincolnshire were larger and both were sub-divided into ridings or parts, respectively). Since 1974 the county is ranked fourth by area (due to the creation of Cumbria) amongst ceremonial counties and is the third largest non-metropolitan county. The island of Lundy and the reef of Eddystone are also in Devon. The county has more mileage of road than any other county in England.",
"title": "Geography and geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Inland, the Dartmoor National park lies wholly in Devon, and the Exmoor National Park lies in both Devon and Somerset. Apart from these areas of high moorland the county has attractive rolling rural scenery and villages with thatched cob cottages. All these features make Devon a popular holiday destination.",
"title": "Geography and geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In South Devon the landscape consists of rolling hills dotted with small towns, such as Dartmouth, Ivybridge, Kingsbridge, Salcombe, and Totnes. The towns of Torquay and Paignton are the principal seaside resorts on the south coast. East Devon has the first seaside resort to be developed in the county, Exmouth and the more upmarket Georgian town of Sidmouth, headquarters of the East Devon District Council. Exmouth marks the western end of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. Another notable feature is the coastal railway line between Newton Abbot and the Exe Estuary: the red sandstone cliffs and sea views are very dramatic and in the resorts railway line and beaches are very near.",
"title": "Geography and geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "North Devon is very rural with few major towns except Barnstaple, Great Torrington, Bideford and Ilfracombe. Devon's Exmoor coast has the highest cliffs in southern Britain, culminating in the Great Hangman, a 318 m (1,043 ft) \"hog's-back\" hill with a 250 m (820 ft) cliff-face, located near Combe Martin Bay. Its sister cliff is the 218 m (715 ft) Little Hangman, which marks the western edge of coastal Exmoor. One of the features of the North Devon coast is that Bideford Bay and the Hartland Point peninsula are both west-facing, Atlantic facing coastlines; so that a combination of an off-shore (east) wind and an Atlantic swell produce excellent surfing conditions. The beaches of Bideford Bay (Woolacombe, Saunton, Westward Ho! and Croyde), along with parts of North Cornwall and South Wales, are the main centres of surfing in Britain.",
"title": "Geography and geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "A geological dividing line cuts across Devon roughly along the line of the Bristol to Exeter line and the M5 motorway east of Tiverton and Exeter. It is a part of the Tees–Exe line broadly dividing Britain into a southeastern lowland zone typified by gently dipping sedimentary rocks and a northwestern upland zone typified by igneous rocks and folded sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.",
"title": "Geography and geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "The principal geological components of Devon are i) the Devonian strata of north Devon and south west Devon (and extending into Cornwall); ii) the Culm Measures (north western Devon also extending into north Cornwall); and iii) the granite intrusion of Dartmoor in central Devon, part of the Cornubian batholith forming the 'spine' of the southwestern peninsula. There are blocks of Silurian and Ordovician rocks within Devonian strata on the south Devon coast but otherwise no pre-Devonian rocks on the Devon mainland. The metamorphic rocks of Eddystone are of presumed Precambrian age.",
"title": "Geography and geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The oldest rocks which can be dated are those of the Devonian period which are approximately 395–359 million years old. Sandstones and shales were deposited in North and South Devon beneath tropical seas. In shallower waters, limestone beds were laid down in the area now near Torquay and Plymouth. This geological period was named after Devon by Roderick Murchison and Adam Sedgwick in the 1840s and is the only British county whose name is used worldwide as the basis for a geological time period.",
"title": "Geography and geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Devon's second major rock system is the Culm Measures, a geological formation of the Carboniferous period that occurs principally in Devon and Cornwall. The measures are so called either from the occasional presence of a soft, sooty coal, which is known in Devon as culm, or from the contortions commonly found in the beds. This formation stretches from Bideford to Bude in Cornwall, and contributes to a gentler, greener, more rounded landscape. It is also found on the western, north and eastern borders of Dartmoor.",
"title": "Geography and geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "The sedimentary rocks in more eastern parts of the county include Permian and Triassic sandstones (giving rise to east Devon's well known fertile red soils); Bunter pebble beds around Budleigh Salterton and Woodbury Common and Jurassic rocks in the easternmost parts of Devon. Smaller outcrops of younger rocks also exist, such as Cretaceous chalk cliffs at Beer Head and gravels on Haldon, plus Eocene and Oligocene ball clay and lignite deposits in the Bovey Basin, formed around 50 million years ago under tropical forest conditions.",
"title": "Geography and geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Devon generally has a cool oceanic climate, heavily influenced by the North Atlantic Drift. In winter, snow is relatively uncommon away from high land, although there are few exceptions. The county has mild summers with occasional warm spells and cool rainy periods. Winters are generally cool and the county often experiences some of the mildest winters in the world for its high latitude, with average daily maximum temperatures in January at 8 °C (46 °F). Rainfall varies significantly across the county, ranging from over 2,000 mm (79 in) on parts of Dartmoor, to around 750 mm (30 in) in the rain shadow along the coast in southeastern Devon and around Exeter. Sunshine amounts also vary widely: the moors are generally cloudy, but the SE coast from Salcombe to Exmouth is one of the sunniest parts of the UK (a generally cloudy region). With westerly or south-westerly winds and high pressure the area around Torbay and Teignmouth will often be warm, with long sunny spells due to shelter by high ground (Foehn wind).",
"title": "Geography and geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The variety of habitats means that there is a wide range of wildlife (see Dartmoor wildlife, for example). A popular challenge among birders is to find over 100 species in the county in a day. The county's wildlife is protected by several wildlife charities such as the Devon Wildlife Trust, which looks after 40 nature reserves. The Devon Bird Watching and Preservation Society (founded in 1928 and known since 2005 as \"Devon Birds\") is a county bird society dedicated to the study and conservation of wild birds. The RSPB has reserves in the county, and Natural England is responsible for over 200 Devon Sites of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserves, such as Slapton Ley. The Devon Bat Group was founded in 1984 to help conserve bats. Wildlife found in this area extend to a plethora of different kinds of insects, butterflies and moths; an interesting butterfly to take look at is the chequered skipper.",
"title": "Geography and geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Devon is a national hotspot for several species that are uncommon in Britain, including the cirl bunting; greater horseshoe bat; Bechstein's bat and Jersey tiger moth. It is also the only place in mainland Britain where the sand crocus (Romulea columnae) can be found – at Dawlish Warren, and is home to all six British native land reptile species, partly as a result of some reintroductions. Another recent reintroduction is the Eurasian beaver, primarily on the river Otter. Other rare species recorded in Devon include seahorses and the sea daffodil.",
"title": "Geography and geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "The botany of the county is very diverse and includes some rare species not found elsewhere in the British Isles other than Cornwall. Devon is divided into two Watsonian vice-counties: north and south, the boundary being an irregular line approximately across the higher part of Dartmoor and then along the canal eastwards. Botanical reports begin in the 17th century and there is a Flora Devoniensis by Jones and Kingston in 1829. A general account appeared in The Victoria History of the County of Devon (1906), and a Flora of Devon was published in 1939 by Keble Martin and Fraser. An Atlas of the Devon Flora by Ivimey-Cook appeared in 1984, and A New Flora of Devon, based on field work undertaken between 2005 and 2014, was published in 2016.",
"title": "Geography and geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Rising temperatures have led to Devon becoming the first place in modern Britain to cultivate olives commercially.",
"title": "Geography and geology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "The administrative centre and capital of Devon is the city of Exeter. The largest city in Devon, Plymouth, and the conurbation of Torbay (which includes the largest town in Devon and capital of Torbay, Torquay, as well as Paignton and Brixham) have been unitary authorities since 1998, separate from the remainder of Devon which is administered by Devon County Council for the purposes of local government.",
"title": "Politics and administration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Devon County Council is controlled by the Conservatives, and the political representation of its 62 councillors are: 38 Conservatives, 9 Liberal Democrats, seven Labour, four UKIP, three Independents and one Green.",
"title": "Politics and administration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "At the 2019 general election, Devon returned 10 Conservatives and two Labour MPs to the House of Commons.",
"title": "Politics and administration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Historically Devon was divided into 32 hundreds: Axminster, Bampton, Black Torrington, Braunton, Cliston, Coleridge, Colyton, Crediton, East Budleigh, Ermington, Exminster, Fremington, Halberton, Hartland, Hayridge, Haytor, Hemyock, Lifton, North Tawton and Winkleigh, Ottery, Plympton, Roborough, Shebbear, Shirwell, South Molton, Stanborough, Tavistock, Teignbridge, Tiverton, West Budleigh, Witheridge, and Wonford.",
"title": "Politics and administration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "The main settlements in Devon are the cities of Plymouth, a historic port now administratively independent, Exeter, the county town, and Torbay, the county's tourist centre. Devon's coast is lined with tourist resorts, many of which grew rapidly with the arrival of the railways in the 19th century. Examples include Dawlish, Exmouth and Sidmouth on the south coast, and Ilfracombe and Lynmouth on the north. The Torbay conurbation of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham on the south coast is now administratively independent of the county. Rural market towns in the county include Barnstaple, Bideford, Honiton, Newton Abbot, Okehampton, Tavistock, Totnes and Tiverton.",
"title": "Cities, towns and villages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "The boundary with Cornwall has not always been on the River Tamar as at present: until the late 19th century a few parishes in the Torpoint area were in Devon and five parishes now in north-east Cornwall were in Devon until 1974 (however, for ecclesiastical purposes these were nevertheless in the Archdeaconry of Cornwall and in 1876 became part of the Diocese of Truro).",
"title": "Cities, towns and villages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "The region of Devon was the dominion of the pre-Roman Dumnonii Celtic tribe, known as the \"Deep Valley Dwellers\". The region to the west of Exeter was less Romanised than the rest of Roman Britain since it was considered a remote part of the province. After the formal Roman withdrawal from Britain in AD 410, one of the leading Dumnonii families attempted to create a dynasty and rule over Devon as the new Kings of Dumnonii.",
"title": "Religion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Celtic paganism and Roman practices were the first known religions in Devon, although in the mid-fourth century AD, Christianity was introduced to Devon. In the Sub-Roman period the church in the British Isles was characterised by some differences in practice from the Latin Christianity of the continent of Europe and is known as Celtic Christianity; however it was always in communion with the wider Roman Catholic Church. Many Cornish saints are commemorated also in Devon in legends, churches and place-names. Western Christianity came to Devon when it was over a long period incorporated into the kingdom of Wessex and the jurisdiction of the bishop of Wessex. Saint Petroc is said to have passed through Devon, where ancient dedications to him are even more numerous than in Cornwall: a probable seventeen (plus Timberscombe just over the border in Somerset), compared to Cornwall's five. The position of churches bearing his name, including one within the old Roman walls of Exeter, are nearly always near the coast, as in those days travelling was done mainly by sea. The Devonian villages of Petrockstowe and Newton St Petroc are also named after Saint Petroc and the flag of Devon is dedicated to him.",
"title": "Religion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "The history of Christianity in the South West of England remains to some degree obscure. Parts of the historic county of Devon formed part of the diocese of Wessex, while nothing is known of the church organisation of the Celtic areas. About 703 Devon and Cornwall were included in the separate diocese of Sherborne and in 900 this was again divided into two, the Devon bishop having from 905 his seat at Tawton (now Bishop's Tawton) and from 912 at Crediton, birthplace of St Boniface. Lyfing became Bishop of Crediton in 1027 and shortly afterwards became Bishop of Cornwall.",
"title": "Religion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "The two dioceses of Crediton and Cornwall, covering Devon and Cornwall, were united under Edward the Confessor by Lyfing's successor Bishop Leofric, hitherto Bishop of Crediton, who became first Bishop of Exeter under Edward the Confessor, which was established as his cathedral city in 1050. At first, the abbey church of St Mary and St Peter, founded by Athelstan in 932 and rebuilt in 1019, served as the cathedral.",
"title": "Religion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Devon came under the political influence of several different nobles during the Middle Ages, especially the Courtenays Earl of Devon. During the Wars of the Roses, important magnates included the Earl of Devon, William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville, and Humphrey Stafford, earl of Devon whose wider influence stretched from Cornwall to Wiltshire. After 1485, one of the county's influential figures included Henry VII's courtier Robert Willoughby, 1st Baron Willoughby de Broke.",
"title": "Religion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "In 1549, the Prayer Book Rebellion caused the deaths of thousands of people from Devon and Cornwall. During the English Reformation, churches in Devon officially became affiliated with the Church of England. From the late sixteenth century onwards, zealous Protestantism – or 'puritanism' – became increasingly well-entrenched in some parts of Devon, while other districts of the county remained much more conservative. These divisions would become starkly apparent during the English Civil War of 1642–46, when the county split apart along religious and cultural lines. The Methodism of John Wesley proved to be very popular with the working classes in Devon in the 19th century. Methodist chapels became important social centres, with male voice choirs and other church-affiliated groups playing a central role in the social lives of working class Devonians. Methodism still plays a large part in the religious life of Devon today, although the county has shared in the post-World War II decline in British religious feeling.",
"title": "Religion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "The Diocese of Exeter remains the Anglican diocese including the whole of Devon. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth was established in the mid 19th century.",
"title": "Religion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "There was no established coat of arms for the county until 1926: the arms of the City of Exeter were often used to represent Devon, for instance in the badge of the Devonshire Regiment. During the forming of a county council by the Local Government Act 1888 adoption of a common seal was required. The seal contained three shields depicting the arms of Exeter along with those of the first chairman and vice-chairman of the council (Lord Clinton and the Earl of Morley).",
"title": "Symbols"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "On 11 October 1926, the county council received a grant of arms from the College of Arms. The main part of the shield displays a red crowned lion on a silver field, the arms of Richard Plantagenet, Earl of Cornwall. The chief or upper portion of the shield depicts an ancient ship on wavers, for Devon's seafaring traditions. The Latin motto adopted was Auxilio Divino (by Divine aid), that of Sir Francis Drake. The 1926 grant was of arms alone. On 6 March 1962 a further grant of crest and supporters was obtained. The crest is the head of a Dartmoor Pony rising from a \"Naval Crown\". This distinctive form of crown is formed from the sails and sterns of ships, and is associated with the Royal Navy. The supporters are a Devon bull and a sea lion.",
"title": "Symbols"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Devon County Council adopted a \"ship silhouette\" logo after the 1974 reorganisation, adapted from the ship emblem on the coat of arms, but following the loss in 1998 of Plymouth and Torbay re-adopted the coat of arms. In April 2006 the council unveiled a new logo which was to be used in most everyday applications, though the coat of arms will continue to be used for \"various civic purposes\".",
"title": "Symbols"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Devon also has its own flag which has been dedicated to Saint Petroc, a local saint with dedications throughout Devon and neighbouring counties. The flag was adopted in 2003 after a competition run by BBC Radio Devon. The winning design was created by website contributor Ryan Sealey, and won 49% of the votes cast. The colours of the flag are those popularly identified with Devon, for example, the colours of the University of Exeter, the rugby union team, and the Green and White flag flown by the first Viscount Exmouth at the Bombardment of Algiers (now on view at the Teign Valley Museum), as well as one of the county's football teams, Plymouth Argyle. On 17 October 2006, the flag was hoisted for the first time outside County Hall in Exeter to mark Local Democracy Week, receiving official recognition from the county council. In 2019 Devon County Council with the support of both the Anglican and Catholic churches in Exeter and Plymouth, officially recognised Saint Boniface as the Patron Saint of Devon.",
"title": "Symbols"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Devon's toponyms include many with the endings \"coombe/combe\" and \"tor\". Both 'coombe' (valley or hollow, cf. Welsh cwm, Cornish komm) and 'tor' (Old Welsh twrr and Scots Gaelic tòrr from Latin turris; 'tower' used for granite formations) are rare Celtic loanwords in English and their frequency is greatest in Devon which shares a boundary with Brittonic speaking Cornwall. Ruined medieval settlements of Dartmoor longhouses indicate that dispersed rural settlement (OE tun, now often -ton) was very similar to that found in Cornish 'tre-' settlements, however these are generally described with the local placename -(a)cott, from the Old English for homestead, cf. cottage. Saxon endings in -worthy (from Anglo-Saxon worthig) indicate larger settlements. Several 'Bere's indicate Anglo-Saxon wood groves, as 'leighs' indicate clearings.",
"title": "Place names and customs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Devon has a variety of festivals and traditional practices, including the traditional orchard-visiting Wassail in Whimple every 17 January, and the carrying of flaming tar barrels in Ottery St. Mary, where people who have lived in Ottery for long enough are called upon to celebrate Bonfire Night by running through the village (and the gathered crowds) with flaming barrels on their backs. Berry Pomeroy still celebrates Queene's Day for Elizabeth I.",
"title": "Place names and customs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Devon has a mostly comprehensive education system. There are 37 state and 23 independent secondary schools. There are three tertiary (FE) colleges and an agricultural college (Bicton College, near Budleigh Salterton). Torbay has 8 state (with 3 grammar schools) and 3 independent secondary schools, and Plymouth has 17 state (with 3 grammar schools – two female and one male) and one independent school, Plymouth College. East Devon and Teignbridge have the largest school populations, with West Devon the smallest (with only two schools). Only one school in Exeter, Mid Devon, Torridge and North Devon have a sixth form – the schools in other districts mostly have sixth forms, with all schools in West Devon and East Devon having a sixth form.",
"title": "Education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Two universities are located in Devon, the University of Exeter (split between the Streatham Campus and St Luke's Campus, both in Exeter, and a campus in Cornwall); in Plymouth the University of Plymouth in Britain is present, along with the University of St Mark & St John to the city's north. The universities of Exeter and Plymouth have together formed the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry which has bases in Exeter and Plymouth. There is also Schumacher College.",
"title": "Education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "The county has given its name to a number of culinary specialities. The Devonshire cream tea, involving scones, jam and clotted cream, is thought to have originated in Devon (though claims have also been made for neighbouring counties); in other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, it is known as a \"Devonshire tea\". It has also been claimed that the pasty originated in Devon rather than Cornwall, with the first record of the pasty coming from Plymouth in 1509.",
"title": "Cuisine"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "In October 2008, Devon was awarded Fairtrade County status by the Fairtrade Foundation.",
"title": "Cuisine"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Devon has been home to a number of customs, such as its own form of Devon wrestling, similar in some ways to Cornish wrestling. As recently as the 19th century, a crowd of over 17,000 at Devonport, near Plymouth, attended a match between the champions of Devon and Cornwall. Another Devon sport was outhurling which was played in some regions until the 20th century (e.g. 1922, at Great Torrington). Other ancient customs which survive include Dartmoor step dancing, and \"Crying The Neck\".",
"title": "Sport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Devon has three professional football teams, based in each of its most populous towns and cities. As of 2023, Plymouth Argyle F.C. competes in the EFL Championship, Exeter City F.C. in the EFL League One, whilst Torquay United F.C. compete in the National League. Plymouth's highest Football League finish was fourth in the Second Division, which was achieved twice, in 1932 and 1953. Torquay and Exeter have never progressed beyond the third tier of the league; Torquay finished second on goal average in the Third Division (S) behind Sir Alf Ramsey's Ipswich Town in 1957. Exeter's highest position has been eighth in the Third Division (S). The county's biggest non-league clubs are Plymouth Parkway F.C. and Tiverton Town F.C. which compete in the Southern Football League Premier Division, and Bideford A.F.C., Exmouth Town F.C. and Tavistock A.F.C. which are in the Southern Football League Division One South and West.",
"title": "Sport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "Rugby Union is popular in Devon with over forty clubs under the banner of the Devon Rugby Football Union, many with various teams at senior, youth and junior levels. One club – Exeter Chiefs – play in the Aviva Premiership, winning the title in 2017 for the first time in their history after beating Wasps RFC in the final 23–20. Plymouth Albion who are, as of 2023, in the National League 1 (The third tier of English Professional Rugby Union).",
"title": "Sport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "There are five rugby league teams in Devon. Plymouth Titans, Exeter Centurions, Devon Sharks from Torquay, North Devon Raiders from Barnstaple and East Devon Eagles from Exmouth. They all play in the Rugby League Conference.",
"title": "Sport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Plymouth City Patriots represent Devon in the British Basketball League. Formed in 2021, they replaced the former professional club, Plymouth Raiders, after the latter team were withdrawn from competition due to venue issues. Motorcycle speedway is also supported in the county, with both the Exeter Falcons and Plymouth Gladiators succeeding in the National Leagues in recent years.",
"title": "Sport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "The University of Exeter Hockey Club enter teams in both the Men's and Women's England Hockey Leagues.",
"title": "Sport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "Horse Racing is also popular in the county, with two National Hunt racecourses (Exeter and Newton Abbot), and numerous point to point courses. There are also many successful professional racehorse trainers based in Devon.",
"title": "Sport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "The county is represented in cricket by Devon County Cricket Club, who play at a Minor counties level.",
"title": "Sport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "Devon is known for its mariners, such as Sir Francis Drake, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Richard Grenville, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Sir Francis Chichester. Henry Every, described as the most notorious pirate of the late 17th century, was probably born in the village of Newton Ferrers. John Oxenham (1536–1580) was a lieutenant of Drake but considered a pirate by the Spanish. Thomas Morton (1576–1647) was an avid Elizabethan outdoorsman probably born in Devon who became an attorney for The Council For New England, and built the New England fur-trading-plantation called Ma-Re Mount or Merrymount around a West Country-style Maypole, much to the displeasure of Pilgrim and Puritan colonists. Morton wrote a 1637 book New English Canaan about his experiences, partly in verse, and may have thereby become America's first poet to write in English. Another famous mariner and Devonian was Robert Falcon Scott, the leader of the unfortunate Terra Nova Expedition to reach the geographical South Pole. The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the crime writer Agatha Christie, the Irish writer William Trevor, and the poet Ted Hughes lived in Devon. The painter and founder of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds, was born in Devon. Chris Dawson, the billionaire owner of retailer The Range was born in Devon, where his business retains its head office in Plymouth.",
"title": "Notable Devonians"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "The actor Matthew Goode was raised in Devon, and Bradley James, also an actor, was born there. The singer Joss Stone was brought up in Devon and frontman Chris Martin from the British rock group Coldplay was born there. Matt Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme from the English group Muse all grew up in Devon and formed the band there. Dave Hill of rock band Slade was born in Flete House which is in the South Hams district of Devon. Singer-songwriter Ben Howard grew up in Totnes, a small town in Devon. Another famous Devonian is the model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who was born in Plymouth and raised in Tavistock. The singer and songwriter Rebecca Newman was born and raised in Exmouth. Roger Deakins, called \"the pre-eminent cinematographer of our time\", was born and lives in Devon.",
"title": "Notable Devonians"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "Trevor Francis, former Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City professional footballer, and the first English footballer to cost £1 million, was born and brought up in Plymouth.",
"title": "Notable Devonians"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "Swimmer Sharron Davies and diver Tom Daley were born in Plymouth. The Olympic runner Jo Pavey was born in Honiton. Peter Cook the satirist, writer and comedian was born in Torquay, Devon. Leicester Tigers and British and Irish Lions Rugby player Julian White was born and raised in Devon and now farms a herd of pedigree South Devon beef cattle. The dog breeder John \"Jack\" Russell was also from Devon. Jane McGrath, who married Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath was born in Paignton, her long battle with and subsequent death from breast cancer inspired the formation of the McGrath Foundation, which is one of Australia's leading charities.",
"title": "Notable Devonians"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "Devon has also been represented in the House of Commons by notable Members of Parliament (MPs) such as Nancy Astor, Gwyneth Dunwoody, Michael Foot and David Owen and the Prime Ministers Lord John Russell and Lord Palmerston.",
"title": "Notable Devonians"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Tamar Valley AONB",
"title": "See also"
}
] | Devon is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west. The city of Plymouth is the largest settlement, and the city of Exeter is the county town. The county has an area of 2,590 sq mi (6,700 km2) and a population of 1,194,166. The largest settlements after Plymouth (264,695) are the city of Exeter (130,709) and the seaside resorts of Torquay and Paignton, which have a combined population of 115,410. They all are located along the south coast, which is the most populous part of the county; Barnstaple (46,619) and Tiverton (22,291) are the largest towns in the north and centre respectively. For local government purposes Devon comprises a non-metropolitan county, with eight districts, and two unitary authority areas: Plymouth and Torbay. Devon has a varied geography. It contains Dartmoor and part of Exmoor, two upland moors which are the source of most of the county's rivers, including the Taw, Dart, and Exe. The longest river in the county is the Tamar, which forms most of the border with Cornwall and rises in the Devon's northwest hills. The southeast coast is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, and characterised by tall cliffs which reveal the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous geology of the region. The county gives its name to the Devonian geologic period, which includes the slates and sandstones of the north coast. Dartmoor and Exmoor have been designated national parks, and the county also contains, in whole or in part, five national landscapes. In the Iron Age, Roman and the Sub-Roman periods, the county was the home of the Dumnonii Celtic Britons. The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain resulted in the partial assimilation of Dumnonia into the kingdom of Wessex in the eighth and ninth centuries, and the western boundary with Cornwall was set at the Tamar by king Æthelstan in 936. | 2001-10-08T20:14:14Z | 2023-12-26T17:57:41Z | [
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8,167 | Dartmoor | Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers 954 km (368 sq mi).
The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous Period of geological history. The landscape consists of moorland capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for wildlife. The highest point is High Willhays, 621 m (2,037 ft) above sea level. The entire area is rich in antiquities and archaeological artefacts.
Dartmoor National Park is managed by the Dartmoor National Park Authority, whose 22 members are drawn from Devon County Council, local district councils and Government.
Parts of Dartmoor have been used as military firing ranges for over 200 years. The public is granted extensive land access rights on Dartmoor (including restricted access to the firing ranges) and it is a popular tourist destination.
Dartmoor includes the largest area of granite in Britain, with about 625 km (241 sq mi) at the surface, though most of it is under superficial peat deposits. The granite (or more specifically adamellite) was intruded at depth as a pluton into the surrounding sedimentary rocks during the Carboniferous period, probably about 309 million years ago. It is generally accepted that the present surface is not far below the original top of the pluton; evidence for this includes partly digested shale xenoliths, contamination of the granite and the existence of two patches of altered sedimentary rock on top of the granite. A considerable gravity anomaly is associated with the Dartmoor pluton as with other such plutons. Measurement of the anomaly has helped to determine the likely shape and extent of the rock mass at depth.
Dartmoor is known for its tors – hills topped with outcrops of bedrock, which in granite country such as this are usually rounded boulder-like formations. More than 160 of the hills of Dartmoor have the word tor in their name but quite a number do not. However, this does not appear to relate to whether or not there is an outcrop of rock on their summit. The tors are the focus of an annual event known as the Ten Tors Challenge, when around 2400 people aged between 14 and 19 walk for distances of 56, 72 or 88 km (35, 45 or 55 mi) between ten tors on many differing routes.
The highest points on Dartmoor are on the northern moor: High Willhays, 621 m (2,037 ft), (grid reference SX 580892) and Yes Tor, 619 m (2,031 ft), (grid reference SX 581901) The highest points on the southern moor are Ryder's Hill, 515 m (1,690 ft), (grid reference SX 660690), Snowdon 495 m (1,624 ft), (grid reference SX 668684), and an unnamed point, 493 m (1,617 ft) at (grid reference SX 603645), between Langcombe Hill and Shell Top. The best-known tor on Dartmoor is Haytor (called Hey Tor by William Crossing), 457 m (1,499 ft), (grid reference SX 757771). For a more complete list see List of Dartmoor tors and hills.
The high ground of Dartmoor forms the catchment area for many of Devon's rivers. As well as shaping the landscape, these have traditionally provided a source of power for moor industries such as tin mining and quarrying.
The moor takes its name from the River Dart, which starts as the East Dart and West Dart and then becomes a single river at Dartmeet. It leaves the moor at Buckfastleigh, flowing through Totnes below where it opens up into a long ria, reaching the sea at Dartmouth. Other rivers flowing from Dartmoor include the Teign, the Taw, the Tavy, the Avon, and the Lyd.
Some of the rivers in Dartmoor have been dammed to create reservoirs for drinking water, including the River Avon and the South Teign River (Fernworthy Reservoir).
Much more rain falls on Dartmoor than in the surrounding lowlands. As much of the national park is covered in thick layers of peat (decaying vegetation), the rain is usually absorbed quickly and distributed slowly, so the moor is rarely dry. In areas where water accumulates, dangerous bogs or mires can result. Some of these, topped with bright green moss, are known to locals as "feather beds" or "quakers", because they can shift (or 'quake') beneath a person's feet. Quakers result from sphagnum moss growing over the water that accumulates in the hollows in the granite.
The vegetation of the bogs depends on the type and location. Blanket bog, which forms on the highest land where the rainfall exceeds 2,000 millimetres (79 in) a year, consists mainly of cotton-grass (Eriophorum species), sedges (Carex and Rhynchospora), Bog Asphodel and Common Tormentil, with Sphagnum thriving in the wettest patches. The valley bogs have lush growth of rushes, with sphagnum, cross-leaved heath, sundews and several other species.
Some of the bogs on Dartmoor have achieved notoriety. Fox Tor Mires was supposedly the inspiration for Great Grimpen Mire in Conan Doyle's novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, although there is a waymarked footpath across it. Sabine Baring-Gould, in his Book of Dartmoor (1900) related the story of a man who was making his way through Aune Mire at the head of the River Avon when he came upon a top-hat brim down on the surface of the mire. He kicked it, whereupon a voice called out: "What be you a-doin' to my 'at?" The man replied, "Be there now a chap under'n?" "Ees, I reckon," was the reply, "and a hoss under me likewise."
Along with the rest of South West England, Dartmoor has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than locations at similar height in the rest of England. At Princetown, near the centre of the moor at a height of 453 metres (1,486 ft), January and February are the coldest months with mean minimum temperatures around 1 °C (34 °F). July and August are the warmest months with mean daily maxima not reaching 18 °C (64 °F). Compared with Teignmouth, which is on the coast about 22 miles (35 km) to the east, the average maximum and minimum temperatures are 3.0 °C (5.4 °F) and 2.6 °C (4.7 °F) lower respectively, and frost is at least five times as frequent. On the highest ground, in the north of the moor, the growing season is less than 175 days – this contrasts with some 300 days along most of the south coast of the county.
Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection. In summer, convection caused by solar surface heating sometimes forms shower clouds and a large proportion of rainfall falls from showers and thunderstorms at this time of year. The wettest months are November and December and on the highest parts of the moor the average annual total rainfall is over 2,000 millimetres (79 in). This compares with less than 800 millimetres (31 in) in the lower land to the east around the Exe Estuary, which is in the rain shadow of the moor. Due to the influence of the Gulf Stream snowfall is not common, though due to its high altitude it is more vulnerable to snowfall than surrounding regions.
Between 1961 and 1990 Met Office data shows that there was an average of 20 days when snow fell on the moor, and over 40 days a year with hail, which is as high as anywhere else in the country. This results when cold polar maritime air that has travelled over a large expanse of warmer ocean is forced to rise over high country.
When average temperatures at Princetown between 1961 and 2000 are compared, the average annual temperature in the decade 1990–2000 was up by 0.2 °C (0.4 °F) and the late winter temperature increased by 0.5 °C (0.9 °F).
Because of Dartmoor's height and granite geology, it experiences strong winds and has acidic soils. In consequence it has been subject to very little intensive farming, and all these factors combine to form the basis of the important ecosystems found here. The landscape is one of granite with peat bogs overlying it. While the moors topped with granite tors are the most iconic part of Dartmoor's landscape, only about half of Dartmoor is actually moorland. Equally important for wildlife are the blanket bogs, upland heaths and the oak woodlands which are all of global importance. Dartmoor is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) with four habitats (Northern Atlantic wet heaths with Erica tetralix; European dry heaths; Blanket bogs and Old sessile oak woods with Ilex and Blechnum in the British Isles) being listed as primary reasons for the selection of Dartmoor as a SAC. In addition the area has a population of the southern damselfly which is also a primary reason for its selection along with populations of Atlantic salmon and otter being qualifying reasons.
Wistman's Wood is one of the old sessile oak woods which contribute to the listing of Dartmoor as a SAC and is possibly a surviving fragment from the earliest Neolithic woodland clearances. It is home to exceptional epiphytic mosses, liverworts and lichens. Nearly 50 species of moss and liverwort are found in the wood along with 120 types of lichen, including Smith's horsehair lichen, speckled sea-storm lichen and pendulous wing-moss. Over 60 species of lichens grow on the exposed surfaces of the granite tors, including granite-speck rim-lichen, purple rock lichen, brown cobblestone lichen and goldspot lichen and many rare lichen grow on rocks exposed by mining which are rich in heavy metals. On the upland heaths heather (ling) and bell heather are common along with western gorse. In dry grassy areas tormentil, heath bedstraw and heath milkwort are all common. Cross-leaved heath and purple moor grass grow in wetter spots and in the boggy areas many different species of sphagnum and other mosses can be found along with liverworts, Hare's-tail Cotton-grass, round-leaved sundew and bog asphodel and in the valley bottoms, many different sedges, bogbean and pale butterwort all grow.
A large variety of bird species can be found on Dartmoor including ones that have declined elsewhere in the UK, such as skylark and common snipe, or are even rare nationally, such as the ring ouzel and the cuckoo. There are internationally important populations of meadow pipit and stonechat. Woodland birds include a number of migrant species, like the pied flycatcher, the wood warbler or the common redstart. Mammals found here include otters, hazel dormice and nearly all of the UK's 16 bat species. Three rare species, the barbastelle, and the greater and lesser horseshoe bats are of particular importance. The upper reaches of the rivers, are spawning grounds for Salmon and trout and Palmate newts, frogs and toads breed in the numerous small pools. Two shrimp species can be found on Dartmoor: fairy shrimp that can be found in temporary pools and in underground streams very rare cave shrimp. The world's largest land slug, the Ash black, is also found. Reptiles include common lizards and adders. The farmland in the wet valleys around the edge of the moors is the most important habitat for insects including the marsh fritillary butterfly, southern damselfly, narrow-bordered bee hawkmoth and bog hoverfly. Areas of bracken are home to the high brown fritillary and pearl-bordered fritillary. Insects found in the heathlands include the emperor moth, green hairstreak and the bilberry bumblebee. The old oak woodlands have a distinctive group of insects including the blue ground beetle and Heckford's pygmy moth, a species found nowhere else in the world.
The South West Peatland Project aims to restore around 300 hectares of Dartmoor's peatland through collaboration with Dartmoor National Park. Preserving these peatlands will help mitigate climate change through sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. More generally, Dartmoor aims to be carbon negative by 2045.
The majority of the prehistoric remains on Dartmoor date back to the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age. Indeed, Dartmoor contains the largest concentration of Bronze Age remains in the United Kingdom, which suggests that this was when a larger population moved onto the hills of Dartmoor. The large systems of Bronze Age fields, divided by reaves, cover an area of over 10,000 hectares (39 sq mi) of the lower moors.
The climate at the time was warmer than today, and much of today's moorland was covered with trees. The prehistoric settlers began clearing the forest, and established the first farming communities. Fire was the main method of clearing land, creating pasture and swidden types of fire-fallow farmland. Areas less suited for farming tended to be burned for livestock grazing. Over the centuries these Neolithic practices greatly expanded the upland moors, and contributed to the acidification of the soil and the accumulation of peat and bogs.
After a few thousand years the mild climate deteriorated leaving these areas uninhabited and consequently relatively undisturbed to the present day. The highly acidic soil has ensured that no organic remains have survived, but the durability of the granite has meant that the remains of buildings, enclosures and monuments have survived well, as have flint tools. A number of remains were "restored" by enthusiastic Victorians and, in some cases, they have placed their own interpretation on how an area may have looked.
Numerous prehistoric menhirs (more usually referred to locally as standing stones or longstones), stone circles, kistvaens, cairns and stone rows are to be found on the moor. The most significant sites include:
There are also an estimated 5,000 hut circles still surviving although many have been raided over the centuries by the builders of the traditional dry stone walls. These are the remnants of Bronze Age houses. The smallest are around 1.8 m (6 ft) in diameter, and the largest may be up to five times this size.
Some have L-shaped porches to protect against wind and rain; some particularly good examples are to be found at Grimspound. It is believed that they would have had a conical roof, supported by timbers and covered in turf or thatch.
There are also numerous kistvaens, Neolithic stone box-like tombs.
The climate became wetter and cooler over the course of a thousand years from around 1000 BC, resulting in much of high Dartmoor being largely abandoned by its early inhabitants.
It was not until the early Mediaeval period that the weather again became warmer, and settlers moved back onto the moors. Like their ancient forebears, they also used the natural granite to build their homes, preferring a style known as the longhouse — some of which are still inhabited today, although they have been clearly adapted over the centuries. Many are now being used as farm buildings, while others were abandoned and fell into ruin.
The earliest surviving farms, still in operation today, are known as the Ancient Tenements. Most of these date back to the 14th century and sometimes earlier.
Some way into the moor stands the town of Princetown, the site of Dartmoor Prison, which was originally built by Isbell Rowe & Company, Plymouth, for prisoners of war from the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. The prison has an incorrect reputation for being escape-proof, due to both the buildings themselves and its physical location.
The Dartmoor landscape is scattered with the marks left by the many generations who have lived and worked there over the centuries – such as the remains of the Dartmoor tin-mining industry, and farmhouses long since abandoned. Indeed, the industrial archaeology of Dartmoor is a subject in its own right.
Dartmoor is known for its myths and legends. It is reputedly the haunt of pixies, a headless horseman, a mysterious pack of "spectral hounds", and a large black dog, among others. During the Great Thunderstorm of 1638, the moorland village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor was said to have been visited by the Devil.
Many landmarks have ancient legends and ghost stories associated with them, such as the allegedly haunted Jay's Grave, the ancient burial site of Childe's Tomb, the rock pile called Bowerman's Nose, and the stone crosses that mark former mediaeval routes across the moor.
A few stories have emerged in recent decades, such as the "hairy hands", that are said to attack motorists on the B3212 near Two Bridges; and the "Beast of Dartmoor", a supposed big cat.
Dartmoor has inspired a number of artists and writers, such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventure of Silver Blaze, R. D. Blackmore, Eden Phillpotts, Beatrice Chase, Agatha Christie, Rosamunde Pilcher, Gilbert Adair and the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould.
In 1820, the newly formed Royal Society of Literature offered a prize for a poem on the subject of Dartmoor, this being won by Felicia Hemans.
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fictional 1994 Quidditch World Cup final between Ireland and Bulgaria was hosted on the moor.
Over half of Dartmoor National Park (57.3%) is private land; the Forest of Dartmoor being the major part of this, owned by the Duke of Cornwall. The Ministry of Defence owns 14% (see below), 3.8% is owned by water companies (see Dartmoor reservoirs), 3.7% by the National Trust, 1.8% by the Forestry Commission and 1.4% by Dartmoor's national park authority. About 37% of Dartmoor is common land.
Dartmoor differs from some other National Parks in England and Wales, in that since the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 much of it has been designated as Access Land, which, although it remains privately owned, has no restrictions on where walkers can roam. In addition to this Access Land, there are about 730 km (450 mi) of public rights of way on Dartmoor, and many kilometres of permitted footpaths and bridleways where the owners allow access.
Because of the 1985 Act, Dartmoor was largely unaffected by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, which established similar rights in other rural parts of the country, but in 2006, this Act opened up much of the remaining restricted land to walkers.
In January 2023, following a high court judgement in a case brought by landowner Alexander Darwall, the right for members of the public to wild camp on Dartmoor was lost. Julian Flaux, the chancellor of the high court, ruled: "In my judgment, on the first issue set out at [14] above, the claimants are entitled to the declaration they seek that, on its true construction, section 10(1) of the 1985 Act does not confer on the public any right to pitch tents or otherwise make camp overnight on Dartmoor Commons. Any such camping requires the consent of the landowner." A protest against the new restrictions, led by local storyteller Martin Shaw, was held in January 2023.
On July 31 the ban was overturned by the Court of Appeal.
There is a tradition of military usage of Dartmoor dating back to the Napoleonic Wars. Today, a large British Army training camp remains at Okehampton — also the site of an airbase during the Second World War.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) uses three areas of the northern moor for manoeuvres and live-firing exercises, totalling 108.71 km (41.97 sq mi), or just over 11% of the National Park. Red and white posts mark the boundaries of these military areas (shown on Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 scale maps). Flagpoles on many tors in and around the ranges fly red flags when firing is taking place. At other times, members of the public are allowed access. Blank rounds may also be used, but the MoD does not notify the public of this in advance.
Some "challenge" and charitable events take place with assistance of the military on Dartmoor including the long established Ten Tors event and the more recent Dartmoor Beast.
Dartmoor's fictional use as an MoD centre for animal testing called Baskerville was referenced in the BBC drama Sherlock episode "The Hounds of Baskerville".
The disused Rippon Tor Rifle Range was built to train soldiers during the Second World War, and remained in use until its closure in 1977.
Throughout human history, the landscape has been exploited for industrial purposes. In recent years, controversy has surrounded the work of industrial conglomerates Imerys and Sibelco (formerly Watts Blake Bearne), who have used parts of the moor for china clay mining. Licences were granted by the British Government but were recently renounced after sustained public pressure from bodies such as the Dartmoor Preservation Association.
The British government has made promises to protect the integrity of the moor; however, the cost of compensating companies for these licences, which may not have been granted in today's political climate, could prove prohibitive.
The military use of the moor has been another source of controversy, as when training was extended in January 2003. The national park authority received 1,700 objections before making the decision. Objectors said that Dartmoor should be an area for recreation, and that the training disturbs the peace.
Those who objected included the Open Spaces Society and the Dartmoor Preservation Association. During her lifetime, Sylvia Sayer was another outspoken critic of the damage which she perceived that the army was doing to the moor.
Dartmoor has a resident population of about 33,000, which swells considerably during holiday periods with incoming tourists. The largest settlements within the National Park are Ashburton (the largest with a population of about 3,500), Buckfastleigh, Moretonhampstead, Princetown, Yelverton, Horrabridge, South Brent, Christow, and Chagford.
For a full list, expand the Settlements of Dartmoor navigational box at the bottom of this page.
Until the early 19th century Dartmoor was not considered to be a place worth visiting: in the 1540s John Leland wrote in his Itinerary that "Dartmore is muche a wilde Morish and forest Ground", and even by 1789 Richard Gough's opinion was that it is a "dreary mountainous tract". At the turn of the 19th century John Swete was one of the first people to visit Dartmoor for pleasure and his journals and watercolour paintings now provide a valuable historical resource.
The oldest leisure pursuit on the moor is hill walking. William Crossing's definitive Guide to Dartmoor was published in 1909, and in 1938 a plaque and letterbox in his memory were placed at Duck's Pool on the southern moor. Parts of the Abbots Way, Two Moors Way and the Templer Way are on Dartmoor.
Letterboxing originated on Dartmoor in the 19th century and has become increasingly popular in recent decades. Watertight containers, or 'letterboxes', are hidden throughout the moor, each containing a visitor's book and a rubber stamp. Visitors take an impression of the letterbox's rubber stamp as proof of finding the box and record their visit by stamping their own personal stamp in the letterbox's logbook. A recent related development is geocaching. Geocache clues make use of GPS coordinates, whereas letterboxing clues tend to consist of grid references and compass bearings.
Whitewater kayaking and canoeing are popular on the rivers due to the high rainfall and their high quality, though for environmental reasons access is restricted to the winter months. The River Dart is the most prominent meeting place, the section known as the Loop being particularly popular. Other white water rivers are the Erme, Tavy, Plym and Meavy.
Other activities are rock climbing on the granite tors and outcrops, some of the well-known venues being Haytor, Hound Tor and The Dewerstone; horse riding, which can be undertaken on any of the common land; cycling (but not on open moorland); and angling for wild brown trout, sea trout and salmon—although much of the river fishing on Dartmoor is privately owned, permits are available for some stretches.
The park's main visitor centre is located in Princetown and features exhibits about Dartmoor's history, culture and wildlife, as well as changing displays of local art. The visitor centres located in Postbridge and Haytor feature information, maps, guidebooks and items for exploring the area.
Dartmoor is served by the following bus services:
Other bus services operate in Dartmoor on a less frequent basis.
GWR operate direct trains from Exeter to Okehampton. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers 954 km (368 sq mi).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous Period of geological history. The landscape consists of moorland capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for wildlife. The highest point is High Willhays, 621 m (2,037 ft) above sea level. The entire area is rich in antiquities and archaeological artefacts.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Dartmoor National Park is managed by the Dartmoor National Park Authority, whose 22 members are drawn from Devon County Council, local district councils and Government.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Parts of Dartmoor have been used as military firing ranges for over 200 years. The public is granted extensive land access rights on Dartmoor (including restricted access to the firing ranges) and it is a popular tourist destination.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Dartmoor includes the largest area of granite in Britain, with about 625 km (241 sq mi) at the surface, though most of it is under superficial peat deposits. The granite (or more specifically adamellite) was intruded at depth as a pluton into the surrounding sedimentary rocks during the Carboniferous period, probably about 309 million years ago. It is generally accepted that the present surface is not far below the original top of the pluton; evidence for this includes partly digested shale xenoliths, contamination of the granite and the existence of two patches of altered sedimentary rock on top of the granite. A considerable gravity anomaly is associated with the Dartmoor pluton as with other such plutons. Measurement of the anomaly has helped to determine the likely shape and extent of the rock mass at depth.",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Dartmoor is known for its tors – hills topped with outcrops of bedrock, which in granite country such as this are usually rounded boulder-like formations. More than 160 of the hills of Dartmoor have the word tor in their name but quite a number do not. However, this does not appear to relate to whether or not there is an outcrop of rock on their summit. The tors are the focus of an annual event known as the Ten Tors Challenge, when around 2400 people aged between 14 and 19 walk for distances of 56, 72 or 88 km (35, 45 or 55 mi) between ten tors on many differing routes.",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The highest points on Dartmoor are on the northern moor: High Willhays, 621 m (2,037 ft), (grid reference SX 580892) and Yes Tor, 619 m (2,031 ft), (grid reference SX 581901) The highest points on the southern moor are Ryder's Hill, 515 m (1,690 ft), (grid reference SX 660690), Snowdon 495 m (1,624 ft), (grid reference SX 668684), and an unnamed point, 493 m (1,617 ft) at (grid reference SX 603645), between Langcombe Hill and Shell Top. The best-known tor on Dartmoor is Haytor (called Hey Tor by William Crossing), 457 m (1,499 ft), (grid reference SX 757771). For a more complete list see List of Dartmoor tors and hills.",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The high ground of Dartmoor forms the catchment area for many of Devon's rivers. As well as shaping the landscape, these have traditionally provided a source of power for moor industries such as tin mining and quarrying.",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The moor takes its name from the River Dart, which starts as the East Dart and West Dart and then becomes a single river at Dartmeet. It leaves the moor at Buckfastleigh, flowing through Totnes below where it opens up into a long ria, reaching the sea at Dartmouth. Other rivers flowing from Dartmoor include the Teign, the Taw, the Tavy, the Avon, and the Lyd.",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Some of the rivers in Dartmoor have been dammed to create reservoirs for drinking water, including the River Avon and the South Teign River (Fernworthy Reservoir).",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Much more rain falls on Dartmoor than in the surrounding lowlands. As much of the national park is covered in thick layers of peat (decaying vegetation), the rain is usually absorbed quickly and distributed slowly, so the moor is rarely dry. In areas where water accumulates, dangerous bogs or mires can result. Some of these, topped with bright green moss, are known to locals as \"feather beds\" or \"quakers\", because they can shift (or 'quake') beneath a person's feet. Quakers result from sphagnum moss growing over the water that accumulates in the hollows in the granite.",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The vegetation of the bogs depends on the type and location. Blanket bog, which forms on the highest land where the rainfall exceeds 2,000 millimetres (79 in) a year, consists mainly of cotton-grass (Eriophorum species), sedges (Carex and Rhynchospora), Bog Asphodel and Common Tormentil, with Sphagnum thriving in the wettest patches. The valley bogs have lush growth of rushes, with sphagnum, cross-leaved heath, sundews and several other species.",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Some of the bogs on Dartmoor have achieved notoriety. Fox Tor Mires was supposedly the inspiration for Great Grimpen Mire in Conan Doyle's novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, although there is a waymarked footpath across it. Sabine Baring-Gould, in his Book of Dartmoor (1900) related the story of a man who was making his way through Aune Mire at the head of the River Avon when he came upon a top-hat brim down on the surface of the mire. He kicked it, whereupon a voice called out: \"What be you a-doin' to my 'at?\" The man replied, \"Be there now a chap under'n?\" \"Ees, I reckon,\" was the reply, \"and a hoss under me likewise.\"",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Along with the rest of South West England, Dartmoor has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than locations at similar height in the rest of England. At Princetown, near the centre of the moor at a height of 453 metres (1,486 ft), January and February are the coldest months with mean minimum temperatures around 1 °C (34 °F). July and August are the warmest months with mean daily maxima not reaching 18 °C (64 °F). Compared with Teignmouth, which is on the coast about 22 miles (35 km) to the east, the average maximum and minimum temperatures are 3.0 °C (5.4 °F) and 2.6 °C (4.7 °F) lower respectively, and frost is at least five times as frequent. On the highest ground, in the north of the moor, the growing season is less than 175 days – this contrasts with some 300 days along most of the south coast of the county.",
"title": "Climate"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection. In summer, convection caused by solar surface heating sometimes forms shower clouds and a large proportion of rainfall falls from showers and thunderstorms at this time of year. The wettest months are November and December and on the highest parts of the moor the average annual total rainfall is over 2,000 millimetres (79 in). This compares with less than 800 millimetres (31 in) in the lower land to the east around the Exe Estuary, which is in the rain shadow of the moor. Due to the influence of the Gulf Stream snowfall is not common, though due to its high altitude it is more vulnerable to snowfall than surrounding regions.",
"title": "Climate"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Between 1961 and 1990 Met Office data shows that there was an average of 20 days when snow fell on the moor, and over 40 days a year with hail, which is as high as anywhere else in the country. This results when cold polar maritime air that has travelled over a large expanse of warmer ocean is forced to rise over high country.",
"title": "Climate"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "When average temperatures at Princetown between 1961 and 2000 are compared, the average annual temperature in the decade 1990–2000 was up by 0.2 °C (0.4 °F) and the late winter temperature increased by 0.5 °C (0.9 °F).",
"title": "Climate"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Because of Dartmoor's height and granite geology, it experiences strong winds and has acidic soils. In consequence it has been subject to very little intensive farming, and all these factors combine to form the basis of the important ecosystems found here. The landscape is one of granite with peat bogs overlying it. While the moors topped with granite tors are the most iconic part of Dartmoor's landscape, only about half of Dartmoor is actually moorland. Equally important for wildlife are the blanket bogs, upland heaths and the oak woodlands which are all of global importance. Dartmoor is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) with four habitats (Northern Atlantic wet heaths with Erica tetralix; European dry heaths; Blanket bogs and Old sessile oak woods with Ilex and Blechnum in the British Isles) being listed as primary reasons for the selection of Dartmoor as a SAC. In addition the area has a population of the southern damselfly which is also a primary reason for its selection along with populations of Atlantic salmon and otter being qualifying reasons.",
"title": "Wildlife"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Wistman's Wood is one of the old sessile oak woods which contribute to the listing of Dartmoor as a SAC and is possibly a surviving fragment from the earliest Neolithic woodland clearances. It is home to exceptional epiphytic mosses, liverworts and lichens. Nearly 50 species of moss and liverwort are found in the wood along with 120 types of lichen, including Smith's horsehair lichen, speckled sea-storm lichen and pendulous wing-moss. Over 60 species of lichens grow on the exposed surfaces of the granite tors, including granite-speck rim-lichen, purple rock lichen, brown cobblestone lichen and goldspot lichen and many rare lichen grow on rocks exposed by mining which are rich in heavy metals. On the upland heaths heather (ling) and bell heather are common along with western gorse. In dry grassy areas tormentil, heath bedstraw and heath milkwort are all common. Cross-leaved heath and purple moor grass grow in wetter spots and in the boggy areas many different species of sphagnum and other mosses can be found along with liverworts, Hare's-tail Cotton-grass, round-leaved sundew and bog asphodel and in the valley bottoms, many different sedges, bogbean and pale butterwort all grow.",
"title": "Wildlife"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "A large variety of bird species can be found on Dartmoor including ones that have declined elsewhere in the UK, such as skylark and common snipe, or are even rare nationally, such as the ring ouzel and the cuckoo. There are internationally important populations of meadow pipit and stonechat. Woodland birds include a number of migrant species, like the pied flycatcher, the wood warbler or the common redstart. Mammals found here include otters, hazel dormice and nearly all of the UK's 16 bat species. Three rare species, the barbastelle, and the greater and lesser horseshoe bats are of particular importance. The upper reaches of the rivers, are spawning grounds for Salmon and trout and Palmate newts, frogs and toads breed in the numerous small pools. Two shrimp species can be found on Dartmoor: fairy shrimp that can be found in temporary pools and in underground streams very rare cave shrimp. The world's largest land slug, the Ash black, is also found. Reptiles include common lizards and adders. The farmland in the wet valleys around the edge of the moors is the most important habitat for insects including the marsh fritillary butterfly, southern damselfly, narrow-bordered bee hawkmoth and bog hoverfly. Areas of bracken are home to the high brown fritillary and pearl-bordered fritillary. Insects found in the heathlands include the emperor moth, green hairstreak and the bilberry bumblebee. The old oak woodlands have a distinctive group of insects including the blue ground beetle and Heckford's pygmy moth, a species found nowhere else in the world.",
"title": "Wildlife"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The South West Peatland Project aims to restore around 300 hectares of Dartmoor's peatland through collaboration with Dartmoor National Park. Preserving these peatlands will help mitigate climate change through sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. More generally, Dartmoor aims to be carbon negative by 2045.",
"title": "Restoration and climate change mitigation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The majority of the prehistoric remains on Dartmoor date back to the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age. Indeed, Dartmoor contains the largest concentration of Bronze Age remains in the United Kingdom, which suggests that this was when a larger population moved onto the hills of Dartmoor. The large systems of Bronze Age fields, divided by reaves, cover an area of over 10,000 hectares (39 sq mi) of the lower moors.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The climate at the time was warmer than today, and much of today's moorland was covered with trees. The prehistoric settlers began clearing the forest, and established the first farming communities. Fire was the main method of clearing land, creating pasture and swidden types of fire-fallow farmland. Areas less suited for farming tended to be burned for livestock grazing. Over the centuries these Neolithic practices greatly expanded the upland moors, and contributed to the acidification of the soil and the accumulation of peat and bogs.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "After a few thousand years the mild climate deteriorated leaving these areas uninhabited and consequently relatively undisturbed to the present day. The highly acidic soil has ensured that no organic remains have survived, but the durability of the granite has meant that the remains of buildings, enclosures and monuments have survived well, as have flint tools. A number of remains were \"restored\" by enthusiastic Victorians and, in some cases, they have placed their own interpretation on how an area may have looked.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Numerous prehistoric menhirs (more usually referred to locally as standing stones or longstones), stone circles, kistvaens, cairns and stone rows are to be found on the moor. The most significant sites include:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "There are also an estimated 5,000 hut circles still surviving although many have been raided over the centuries by the builders of the traditional dry stone walls. These are the remnants of Bronze Age houses. The smallest are around 1.8 m (6 ft) in diameter, and the largest may be up to five times this size.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Some have L-shaped porches to protect against wind and rain; some particularly good examples are to be found at Grimspound. It is believed that they would have had a conical roof, supported by timbers and covered in turf or thatch.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "There are also numerous kistvaens, Neolithic stone box-like tombs.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "The climate became wetter and cooler over the course of a thousand years from around 1000 BC, resulting in much of high Dartmoor being largely abandoned by its early inhabitants.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "It was not until the early Mediaeval period that the weather again became warmer, and settlers moved back onto the moors. Like their ancient forebears, they also used the natural granite to build their homes, preferring a style known as the longhouse — some of which are still inhabited today, although they have been clearly adapted over the centuries. Many are now being used as farm buildings, while others were abandoned and fell into ruin.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "The earliest surviving farms, still in operation today, are known as the Ancient Tenements. Most of these date back to the 14th century and sometimes earlier.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Some way into the moor stands the town of Princetown, the site of Dartmoor Prison, which was originally built by Isbell Rowe & Company, Plymouth, for prisoners of war from the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. The prison has an incorrect reputation for being escape-proof, due to both the buildings themselves and its physical location.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The Dartmoor landscape is scattered with the marks left by the many generations who have lived and worked there over the centuries – such as the remains of the Dartmoor tin-mining industry, and farmhouses long since abandoned. Indeed, the industrial archaeology of Dartmoor is a subject in its own right.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Dartmoor is known for its myths and legends. It is reputedly the haunt of pixies, a headless horseman, a mysterious pack of \"spectral hounds\", and a large black dog, among others. During the Great Thunderstorm of 1638, the moorland village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor was said to have been visited by the Devil.",
"title": "Myths and literature"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Many landmarks have ancient legends and ghost stories associated with them, such as the allegedly haunted Jay's Grave, the ancient burial site of Childe's Tomb, the rock pile called Bowerman's Nose, and the stone crosses that mark former mediaeval routes across the moor.",
"title": "Myths and literature"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "A few stories have emerged in recent decades, such as the \"hairy hands\", that are said to attack motorists on the B3212 near Two Bridges; and the \"Beast of Dartmoor\", a supposed big cat.",
"title": "Myths and literature"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Dartmoor has inspired a number of artists and writers, such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventure of Silver Blaze, R. D. Blackmore, Eden Phillpotts, Beatrice Chase, Agatha Christie, Rosamunde Pilcher, Gilbert Adair and the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould.",
"title": "Myths and literature"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "In 1820, the newly formed Royal Society of Literature offered a prize for a poem on the subject of Dartmoor, this being won by Felicia Hemans.",
"title": "Myths and literature"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fictional 1994 Quidditch World Cup final between Ireland and Bulgaria was hosted on the moor.",
"title": "Myths and literature"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Over half of Dartmoor National Park (57.3%) is private land; the Forest of Dartmoor being the major part of this, owned by the Duke of Cornwall. The Ministry of Defence owns 14% (see below), 3.8% is owned by water companies (see Dartmoor reservoirs), 3.7% by the National Trust, 1.8% by the Forestry Commission and 1.4% by Dartmoor's national park authority. About 37% of Dartmoor is common land.",
"title": "Ownership and access"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Dartmoor differs from some other National Parks in England and Wales, in that since the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 much of it has been designated as Access Land, which, although it remains privately owned, has no restrictions on where walkers can roam. In addition to this Access Land, there are about 730 km (450 mi) of public rights of way on Dartmoor, and many kilometres of permitted footpaths and bridleways where the owners allow access.",
"title": "Ownership and access"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Because of the 1985 Act, Dartmoor was largely unaffected by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, which established similar rights in other rural parts of the country, but in 2006, this Act opened up much of the remaining restricted land to walkers.",
"title": "Ownership and access"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "In January 2023, following a high court judgement in a case brought by landowner Alexander Darwall, the right for members of the public to wild camp on Dartmoor was lost. Julian Flaux, the chancellor of the high court, ruled: \"In my judgment, on the first issue set out at [14] above, the claimants are entitled to the declaration they seek that, on its true construction, section 10(1) of the 1985 Act does not confer on the public any right to pitch tents or otherwise make camp overnight on Dartmoor Commons. Any such camping requires the consent of the landowner.\" A protest against the new restrictions, led by local storyteller Martin Shaw, was held in January 2023.",
"title": "Ownership and access"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "On July 31 the ban was overturned by the Court of Appeal.",
"title": "Ownership and access"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "There is a tradition of military usage of Dartmoor dating back to the Napoleonic Wars. Today, a large British Army training camp remains at Okehampton — also the site of an airbase during the Second World War.",
"title": "Ownership and access"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "The Ministry of Defence (MoD) uses three areas of the northern moor for manoeuvres and live-firing exercises, totalling 108.71 km (41.97 sq mi), or just over 11% of the National Park. Red and white posts mark the boundaries of these military areas (shown on Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 scale maps). Flagpoles on many tors in and around the ranges fly red flags when firing is taking place. At other times, members of the public are allowed access. Blank rounds may also be used, but the MoD does not notify the public of this in advance.",
"title": "Ownership and access"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Some \"challenge\" and charitable events take place with assistance of the military on Dartmoor including the long established Ten Tors event and the more recent Dartmoor Beast.",
"title": "Ownership and access"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Dartmoor's fictional use as an MoD centre for animal testing called Baskerville was referenced in the BBC drama Sherlock episode \"The Hounds of Baskerville\".",
"title": "Ownership and access"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "The disused Rippon Tor Rifle Range was built to train soldiers during the Second World War, and remained in use until its closure in 1977.",
"title": "Ownership and access"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Throughout human history, the landscape has been exploited for industrial purposes. In recent years, controversy has surrounded the work of industrial conglomerates Imerys and Sibelco (formerly Watts Blake Bearne), who have used parts of the moor for china clay mining. Licences were granted by the British Government but were recently renounced after sustained public pressure from bodies such as the Dartmoor Preservation Association.",
"title": "Preservation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "The British government has made promises to protect the integrity of the moor; however, the cost of compensating companies for these licences, which may not have been granted in today's political climate, could prove prohibitive.",
"title": "Preservation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "The military use of the moor has been another source of controversy, as when training was extended in January 2003. The national park authority received 1,700 objections before making the decision. Objectors said that Dartmoor should be an area for recreation, and that the training disturbs the peace.",
"title": "Preservation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Those who objected included the Open Spaces Society and the Dartmoor Preservation Association. During her lifetime, Sylvia Sayer was another outspoken critic of the damage which she perceived that the army was doing to the moor.",
"title": "Preservation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Dartmoor has a resident population of about 33,000, which swells considerably during holiday periods with incoming tourists. The largest settlements within the National Park are Ashburton (the largest with a population of about 3,500), Buckfastleigh, Moretonhampstead, Princetown, Yelverton, Horrabridge, South Brent, Christow, and Chagford.",
"title": "Towns and villages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "For a full list, expand the Settlements of Dartmoor navigational box at the bottom of this page.",
"title": "Towns and villages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Until the early 19th century Dartmoor was not considered to be a place worth visiting: in the 1540s John Leland wrote in his Itinerary that \"Dartmore is muche a wilde Morish and forest Ground\", and even by 1789 Richard Gough's opinion was that it is a \"dreary mountainous tract\". At the turn of the 19th century John Swete was one of the first people to visit Dartmoor for pleasure and his journals and watercolour paintings now provide a valuable historical resource.",
"title": "Leisure activities"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "The oldest leisure pursuit on the moor is hill walking. William Crossing's definitive Guide to Dartmoor was published in 1909, and in 1938 a plaque and letterbox in his memory were placed at Duck's Pool on the southern moor. Parts of the Abbots Way, Two Moors Way and the Templer Way are on Dartmoor.",
"title": "Leisure activities"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Letterboxing originated on Dartmoor in the 19th century and has become increasingly popular in recent decades. Watertight containers, or 'letterboxes', are hidden throughout the moor, each containing a visitor's book and a rubber stamp. Visitors take an impression of the letterbox's rubber stamp as proof of finding the box and record their visit by stamping their own personal stamp in the letterbox's logbook. A recent related development is geocaching. Geocache clues make use of GPS coordinates, whereas letterboxing clues tend to consist of grid references and compass bearings.",
"title": "Leisure activities"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Whitewater kayaking and canoeing are popular on the rivers due to the high rainfall and their high quality, though for environmental reasons access is restricted to the winter months. The River Dart is the most prominent meeting place, the section known as the Loop being particularly popular. Other white water rivers are the Erme, Tavy, Plym and Meavy.",
"title": "Leisure activities"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Other activities are rock climbing on the granite tors and outcrops, some of the well-known venues being Haytor, Hound Tor and The Dewerstone; horse riding, which can be undertaken on any of the common land; cycling (but not on open moorland); and angling for wild brown trout, sea trout and salmon—although much of the river fishing on Dartmoor is privately owned, permits are available for some stretches.",
"title": "Leisure activities"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "The park's main visitor centre is located in Princetown and features exhibits about Dartmoor's history, culture and wildlife, as well as changing displays of local art. The visitor centres located in Postbridge and Haytor feature information, maps, guidebooks and items for exploring the area.",
"title": "Leisure activities"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Dartmoor is served by the following bus services:",
"title": "Transport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Other bus services operate in Dartmoor on a less frequent basis.",
"title": "Transport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "GWR operate direct trains from Exeter to Okehampton.",
"title": "Transport"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "",
"title": "External links"
}
] | Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers 954 km2 (368 sq mi). The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous Period of geological history. The landscape consists of moorland capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for wildlife. The highest point is High Willhays, 621 m (2,037 ft) above sea level. The entire area is rich in antiquities and archaeological artefacts. Dartmoor National Park is managed by the Dartmoor National Park Authority, whose 22 members are drawn from Devon County Council, local district councils and Government. Parts of Dartmoor have been used as military firing ranges for over 200 years. The public is granted extensive land access rights on Dartmoor and it is a popular tourist destination. | 2001-09-14T15:29:02Z | 2023-12-26T13:25:19Z | [
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8,169 | Dante Alighieri | Dante Alighieri (Italian: [ˈdante aliˈɡjɛːri]; c. 1265 – 14 September 1321), most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (English: /ˈdɑːnteɪ, ˈdænteɪ, ˈdænti/, US: /ˈdɑːnti/), was an Italian poet, writer, and philosopher. His Divine Comedy, originally called Comedìa (modern Italian: Commedia) and later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio, is widely considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.
Dante is known for establishing the use of the vernacular in literature at a time when most poetry was written in Latin, which was accessible only to educated readers. His De vulgari eloquentia (On Eloquence in the Vernacular) was one of the first scholarly defenses of the vernacular. His use of the Florentine dialect for works such as The New Life (1295) and Divine Comedy helped establish the modern-day standardized Italian language. By writing his poem in the Italian vernacular rather than in Latin, Dante influenced the course of literary development, making Italian the literary language in western Europe for several centuries. His work set a precedent that important Italian writers such as Petrarch and Boccaccio would later follow.
Dante was instrumental in establishing the literature of Italy, and is considered to be among the country's national poets and the Western world's greatest literary icons. His depictions of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven provided inspiration for the larger body of Western art and literature. He influenced English writers such as Geoffrey Chaucer, John Milton, and Alfred Tennyson, among many others. In addition, the first use of the interlocking three-line rhyme scheme, or the terza rima, is attributed to him. He is described as the "father" of the Italian language, and in Italy he is often referred to as il Sommo Poeta ("the Supreme Poet"). Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio are also called the tre corone ("three crowns") of Italian literature.
Dante was born in Florence, Republic of Florence, in what is now Italy. The exact date of his birth is unknown, although it is believed to be around 1265. This can be deduced from autobiographic allusions in the Divine Comedy. Its first section, the Inferno, begins, "Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita" ("Midway upon the journey of our life"), implying that Dante was around 35 years old, since the average lifespan according to the Bible (Psalm 89:10, Vulgate) is 70 years; and since his imaginary travel to the netherworld took place in 1300, he was most probably born around 1265. Some verses of the Paradiso section of the Divine Comedy also provide a possible clue that he was born under the sign of Gemini: "As I revolved with the eternal twins, I saw revealed, from hills to river outlets, the threshing-floor that makes us so ferocious" (XXII 151–154). In 1265, the sun was in Gemini between approximately 11 May and 11 June (Julian calendar).
Dante claimed that his family descended from the ancient Romans (Inferno, XV, 76), but the earliest relative he could mention by name was Cacciaguida degli Elisei (Paradiso, XV, 135), born no earlier than about 1100. Dante's father, Alighiero di Bellincione, was a White Guelph who suffered no reprisals after the Ghibellines won the Battle of Montaperti in the middle of the 13th century. This suggests that Alighiero or his family may have enjoyed some protective prestige and status, although some suggest that the politically inactive Alighiero was of such low standing that he was not considered worth exiling.
Dante's family was loyal to the Guelphs, a political alliance that supported the Papacy and that was involved in complex opposition to the Ghibellines, who were backed by the Holy Roman Emperor. The poet's mother was Bella, probably a member of the Abati family. She died when Dante was not yet ten years old. His father Alighiero soon married again, to Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi. It is uncertain whether he really married her, since widowers were socially limited in such matters, but she definitely bore him two children, Dante's half-brother Francesco and half-sister Tana (Gaetana).
Dante said he first met Beatrice Portinari, daughter of Folco Portinari, when he was nine (she was eight), and he claimed to have fallen in love with her "at first sight", apparently without even talking with her. When he was 12, however, he was promised in marriage to Gemma di Manetto Donati, daughter of Manetto Donati, member of the powerful Donati family. Contracting marriages for children at such an early age was quite common and involved a formal ceremony, including contracts signed before a notary. Dante claimed to have seen Beatrice again frequently after he turned 18, exchanging greetings with her in the streets of Florence, though he never knew her well.
Years after his marriage to Gemma, he claims to have met Beatrice again; he wrote several sonnets to Beatrice but never mentioned Gemma in any of his poems. He refers to other Donati relations, notably Forese and Piccarda, in his Divine Comedy. The exact date of his marriage is not known; the only certain information is that, before his exile in 1301, he had fathered three children with Gemma (Pietro, Jacopo and Antonia).
Dante fought with the Guelph cavalry at the Battle of Campaldino (11 June 1289). This victory brought about a reformation of the Florentine constitution. To take part in public life, one had to enroll in one of the city's many commercial or artisan guilds, so Dante entered the Physicians' and Apothecaries' Guild. His name is occasionally recorded as speaking or voting in the councils of the republic. Many minutes from such meetings between 1298–1300 were lost, so the extent of his participation is uncertain.
Not much is known about Dante's education; he presumably studied at home or in a chapter school attached to a church or monastery in Florence. It is known that he studied Tuscan poetry and that he admired the compositions of the Bolognese poet Guido Guinizelli—in Purgatorio XXVI he characterized him as his "father"—at a time when the Sicilian School (Scuola poetica Siciliana), a cultural group from Sicily, was becoming known in Tuscany. He also discovered the Provençal poetry of the troubadours, such as Arnaut Daniel, and the Latin writers of classical antiquity, including Cicero, Ovid and especially Virgil.
Dante's interactions with Beatrice set an example of so-called courtly love, a phenomenon developed in French and Provençal poetry of prior centuries. Dante's experience of such love was typical, but his expression of it was unique. It was in the name of this love that Dante left his imprint on the dolce stil nuovo ("sweet new style", a term that Dante himself coined), and he would join other contemporary poets and writers in exploring never-before-emphasized aspects of love (Amore). Love for Beatrice (as Petrarch would express for Laura somewhat differently) would be his reason for writing poetry and for living, together with political passions. In many of his poems, she is depicted as semi-divine, watching over him constantly and providing spiritual instruction, sometimes harshly. When Beatrice died in 1290, Dante sought refuge in Latin literature. The Convivio chronicles his having read Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae and Cicero's De Amicitia.
He next dedicated himself to philosophical studies at religious schools like the Dominican one in Santa Maria Novella. He took part in the disputes that the two principal mendicant orders (Franciscan and Dominican) publicly or indirectly held in Florence, the former explaining the doctrines of the mystics and of St. Bonaventure, the latter expounding on the theories of St. Thomas Aquinas.
At around the age of 18, Dante met Guido Cavalcanti, Lapo Gianni, Cino da Pistoia and, soon after, Brunetto Latini; together they became the leaders of the dolce stil nuovo. Brunetto later received special mention in the Divine Comedy (Inferno, XV, 28) for what he had taught Dante: Nor speaking less on that account I go With Ser Brunetto, and I ask who are his most known and most eminent companions. Some fifty poetical commentaries by Dante are known (the so-called Rime, rhymes), others being included in the later Vita Nuova and Convivio. Other studies are reported, or deduced from Vita Nuova or the Comedy, regarding painting and music.
Dante, like most Florentines of his day, was embroiled in the Guelph–Ghibelline conflict. He fought in the Battle of Campaldino (11 June 1289), with the Florentine Guelphs against Arezzo Ghibellines; he fought as a feditore [it], responsible for the first attack. He was among the escorts for Charles Martel of Anjou (grandson of Charles I of Anjou) when he came to Florence in 1294. To further his political career, he became a pharmacist. He did not intend to practice as one, but a law issued in 1295 required nobles aspiring to public office to be enrolled in one of the Corporazioni delle Arti e dei Mestieri, so Dante obtained admission to the Apothecaries' Guild. This profession was not inappropriate, since at that time books were sold from apothecaries' shops. As a politician, he accomplished little but held various offices over some years in a city rife with political unrest.
After defeating the Ghibellines, the Guelphs divided into two factions: the White Guelphs (Guelfi Bianchi)—Dante's party, led by Vieri dei Cerchi—and the Black Guelphs (Guelfi Neri), led by Corso Donati. Although the split was along family lines at first, ideological differences arose based on opposing views of the papal role in Florentine affairs. The Blacks supported the Pope and the Whites wanted more freedom from Rome. The Whites took power first and expelled the Blacks. In response, Pope Boniface VIII planned a military occupation of Florence. In 1301, Charles of Valois, brother of King Philip IV of France, was expected to visit Florence because the Pope had appointed him as peacemaker for Tuscany. But the city's government had treated the Pope's ambassadors badly a few weeks before, seeking independence from papal influence. It was believed that Charles had received other unofficial instructions, so the council sent a delegation that included Dante to Rome to ascertain the Pope's intentions.
Pope Boniface quickly dismissed the other delegates and asked Dante alone to remain in Rome. At the same time (1 November 1301), Charles of Valois entered Florence with the Black Guelphs, who in the next six days destroyed much of the city and killed many of their enemies. A new Black Guelph government was installed, and Cante dei Gabrielli da Gubbio was appointed podestà of the city. In March 1302, Dante, a White Guelph by affiliation, along with the Gherardini family, was condemned to exile for two years and ordered to pay a large fine. Dante was accused of corruption and financial wrongdoing by the Black Guelphs for the time that Dante was serving as city prior (Florence's highest position) for two months in 1300. The poet was still in Rome in 1302, as the Pope, who had backed the Black Guelphs, had "suggested" that Dante stay there. Florence under the Black Guelphs, therefore, considered Dante an absconder.
Dante did not pay the fine, in part because he believed he was not guilty and in part because all his assets in Florence had been seized by the Black Guelphs. He was condemned to perpetual exile; if he had returned to Florence without paying the fine, he could have been burned at the stake. (In June 2008, nearly seven centuries after his death, the city council of Florence passed a motion rescinding Dante's sentence.) In 1306–07, Dante was a guest of Moroello Malaspina [it] in the region of Lunigiana.
Dante took part in several attempts by the White Guelphs to regain power, but these failed due to treachery. Bitter at the treatment he received from his enemies, he grew disgusted with the infighting and ineffectiveness of his former allies and vowed to become a party of one. He went to Verona as a guest of Bartolomeo I della Scala, then moved to Sarzana in Liguria. Later he is supposed to have lived in Lucca with a woman named Gentucca. She apparently made his stay comfortable (and he later gratefully mentioned her in Purgatorio, XXIV, 37). Some speculative sources claim he visited Paris between 1308 and 1310, and other sources even less trustworthy say he went to Oxford: these claims, first made in Boccaccio's book on Dante several decades after his death, seem inspired by readers who were impressed with the poet's wide learning and erudition. Evidently, Dante's command of philosophy and his literary interests deepened in exile and when he was no longer busy with the day-to-day business of Florentine domestic politics, and this is evidenced in his prose writings in this period. There is no real evidence that he ever left Italy. Dante's Immensa Dei dilectione testante to Henry VII of Luxembourg confirms his residence "beneath the springs of Arno, near Tuscany" in April 1311.
In 1310, Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII of Luxembourg marched into Italy at the head of 5,000 troops. Dante saw in him a new Charlemagne who would restore the office of the Holy Roman Emperor to its former glory and also retake Florence from the Black Guelphs. He wrote to Henry and several Italian princes, demanding that they destroy the Black Guelphs. Mixing religion and private concerns in his writings, he invoked the worst anger of God against his city and suggested several particular targets, who were also his personal enemies. It was during this time that he wrote De Monarchia, proposing a universal monarchy under Henry VII.
At some point during his exile, he conceived of the Comedy, but the date is uncertain. The work is much more assured and on a larger scale than anything he had written in Florence; it is likely he would have undertaken such a work only after he realized his political ambitions, which had been central to him up to his banishment, had been halted for some time, possibly forever. It is also noticeable that Beatrice has returned to his imagination with renewed force and with a wider meaning than in the Vita Nuova; in Convivio (written c. 1304–07) he had declared that the memory of this youthful romance belonged to the past.
An early indication that the poem was underway is a notice by Francesco da Barberino, tucked into his Documenti d'Amore (Lessons of Love), probably written in 1314 or early 1315. Francesco notes that Dante followed the Aeneid in a poem called "Comedy" and that the setting of this poem (or part of it) was the underworld; i.e., hell. The brief note gives no incontestable indication that Barberino had seen or read even the Inferno, or that this part had been published at the time, but it indicates composition was well underway and that the sketching of the poem might have begun some years before. (It has been suggested that a knowledge of Dante's work also underlies some of the illuminations in Francesco da Barberino's earlier Officiolum [c. 1305–08], a manuscript that came to light in 2003.) It is known that the Inferno had been published by 1317; this is established by quoted lines interspersed in the margins of contemporary dated records from Bologna, but there is no certainty as to whether the three parts of the poem were each published in full or, rather, a few cantos at a time. Paradiso was likely finished before he died, but it may have been published posthumously.
In 1312, Henry assaulted Florence and defeated the Black Guelphs, but there is no evidence that Dante was involved. Some say he refused to participate in the attack on his city by a foreigner; others suggest that he had become unpopular with the White Guelphs, too, and that any trace of his passage had carefully been removed. Henry VII died (from a fever) in 1313 and with him any hope for Dante to see Florence again. He returned to Verona, where Cangrande I della Scala allowed him to live in certain security and, presumably, in a fair degree of prosperity. Cangrande was admitted to Dante's Paradise (Paradiso, XVII, 76).
During the period of his exile, Dante corresponded with Dominican theologian Fr. Nicholas Brunacci OP [1240–1322], who had been a student of Thomas Aquinas at the Santa Sabina studium in Rome, later at Paris, and of Albert the Great at the Cologne studium. Brunacci became lector at the Santa Sabina studium, forerunner of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, and later served in the papal curia.
In 1315, Florence was forced by Uguccione della Faggiuola (the military officer controlling the town) to grant an amnesty to those in exile, including Dante. But for this, Florence required public penance in addition to payment of a high fine. Dante refused, preferring to remain in exile. When Uguccione defeated Florence, Dante's death sentence was commuted to house arrest, on condition that he go to Florence to swear he would never enter the town again. He refused to go, and his death sentence was confirmed and extended to his sons. Despite this, he still hoped late in life that he might be invited back to Florence on honorable terms, particularly in praise of his poetry.
Dante's final days were spent in Ravenna, where he had been invited to stay in the city in 1318 by its prince, Guido II da Polenta. Dante died in Ravenna on 14 September 1321, aged about 56, of quartan malaria contracted while returning from a diplomatic mission to the Republic of Venice. He was attended by his three children, and possibly by Gemma Donati, and by friends and admirers he had in the city. He was buried in Ravenna at the Church of San Pier Maggiore (later called Basilica di San Francesco). Bernardo Bembo, praetor of Venice, erected a tomb for him in 1483.
On the grave, a verse of Bernardo Canaccio, a friend of Dante, is dedicated to Florence:
In 1329, Bertrand du Pouget, Cardinal and nephew of Pope John XXII, classified Dante's Monarchia as heretical and sought to have his bones burned at the stake. Ostasio I da Polenta and Pino della Tosa, allies of Pouget, interceded to prevent the destruction of Dante's remains.
Florence eventually came to regret having exiled Dante. The city made repeated requests for the return of his remains. The custodians of the body in Ravenna refused, at one point going so far as to conceal the bones in a false wall of the monastery. Florence built a tomb for Dante in 1829, in the Basilica of Santa Croce. That tomb has been empty ever since, with Dante's body remaining in Ravenna. The front of his tomb in Florence reads Onorate l'altissimo poeta — which roughly translates as "Honor the most exalted poet" and is a quote from the fourth canto of the Inferno.
In 1945, the fascist government discussed bringing Dante's remains to the Valtellina Redoubt, the Alpine valley in which the regime intended to make its last stand against the Allies. The case was made that "the greatest symbol of Italianness" should be present at fascism's "heroic" end.
A copy of Dante's so-called death mask has been displayed since 1911 in the Palazzo Vecchio; scholars today believe it is not a true death mask and was probably carved in 1483, perhaps by Pietro and Tullio Lombardo.
The first formal biography of Dante was the Vita di Dante (also known as Trattatello in laude di Dante), written after 1348 by Giovanni Boccaccio. Although several statements and episodes of it have been deemed unreliable on the basis of modern research, an earlier account of Dante's life and works had been included in the Nuova Cronica of the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani.
Some 16th-century English Protestants, such as John Bale and John Foxe, argued that Dante was a proto-Protestant because of his opposition to the pope.
The 19th century saw a "Dante revival", a product of the medieval revival, which was itself an important aspect of Romanticism. Thomas Carlyle profiled him in "The Hero as Poet", the third lecture in On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History (1841): "He is world-great not because he is worldwide, but because he is world-deep. . . . Dante is the spokesman of the Middle Ages; the Thought they lived by stands here, in everlasting music." Leigh Hunt, Henry Francis Cary and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow were among Dante's translators of the era.
Italy's first dreadnought battleship was completed in 1913 and named Dante Alighieri in honor of him.
On 30 April 1921, in honor of the 600th anniversary of Dante's death, Pope Benedict XV promulgated an encyclical named In praeclara summorum, naming Dante as one "of the many celebrated geniuses of whom the Catholic faith can boast" and the "pride and glory of humanity".
On 7 December 1965, Pope Paul VI promulgated the Latin motu proprio titled Altissimi cantus, which was dedicated to Dante's figure and poetry. In that year, the pope also donated a golden iron Greek Cross to Dante's burial site in Ravenna, in occasion of the 700th anniversary of his birth. The same cross was blessed by Pope Francis in October 2020.
In 2007, a reconstruction of Dante's face was undertaken in a collaborative project. Artists from the University of Pisa and forensic engineers at the University of Bologna at Forlì constructed the model, portraying Dante's features as somewhat different from what was once thought.
In 2008, the Municipality of Florence officially apologized for expelling Dante 700 years earlier. In May 2021, a symbolic re-trial was held virtually in Florence to posthumously clear his name.
A celebration was held in 2015 at Italy's Senate of the Republic for the 750th anniversary of Dante's birth. It included a commemoration from Pope Francis, who also issued the apostolic letter Cando lucis aeternae in honor of the anniversary.
Most of Dante's literary work was composed after his exile in 1301. La Vita Nuova ("The New Life") is the only major work that predates it; it is a collection of lyric poems (sonnets and songs) with commentary in prose, ostensibly intended to be circulated in manuscript form, as was customary for such poems. It also contains, or constructs, the story of his love for Beatrice Portinari, who later served as the ultimate symbol of salvation in the Comedy, a function already indicated in the final pages of the Vita Nuova. The work contains many of Dante's love poems in Tuscan, which was not unprecedented; the vernacular had been regularly used for lyric works before, during all the thirteenth century. However, Dante's commentary on his own work is also in the vernacular—both in the Vita Nuova and in the Convivio—instead of the Latin that was almost universally used.
The Divine Comedy describes Dante's journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Paradise (Paradiso); he is first guided by the Roman poet Virgil and then by Beatrice. Of the books, Purgatorio is arguably the most lyrical of the three, referring to more contemporary poets and artists than Inferno; Paradiso is the most heavily theological, and the one in which, many scholars have argued, the Divine Comedy's most beautiful and mystic passages appear.
With its seriousness of purpose, its literary stature and the range—both stylistic and thematic—of its content, the Comedy soon became a cornerstone in the evolution of Italian as an established literary language. Dante was more aware than most early Italian writers of the variety of Italian dialects and of the need to create a literature and a unified literary language beyond the limits of Latin writing at the time; in that sense, he is a forerunner of the Renaissance, with its effort to create vernacular literature in competition with earlier classical writers. Dante's in-depth knowledge (within the limits of his time) of Roman antiquity, and his evident admiration for some aspects of pagan Rome, also point forward to the 15th century. Ironically, while he was widely honored in the centuries after his death, the Comedy slipped out of fashion among men of letters: too medieval, too rough and tragic, and not stylistically refined in the respects that the high and late Renaissance came to demand of literature.
He wrote the Comedy in a language he called "Italian", in some sense an amalgamated literary language predominantly based on the regional dialect of Tuscany, but with some elements of Latin and other regional dialects. He deliberately aimed to reach a readership throughout Italy including laymen, clergymen and other poets. By creating a poem of epic structure and philosophic purpose, he established that the Italian language was suitable for the highest sort of expression. In French, Italian is sometimes nicknamed la langue de Dante. Publishing in the vernacular language marked Dante as one of the first in Roman Catholic Western Europe (among others such as Geoffrey Chaucer and Giovanni Boccaccio) to break free from standards of publishing in only Latin (the language of liturgy, history and scholarship in general, but often also of lyric poetry). This break set a precedent and allowed more literature to be published for a wider audience, setting the stage for greater levels of literacy in the future. However, unlike Boccaccio, Milton or Ariosto, Dante did not really become an author read across Europe until the Romantic era. To the Romantics, Dante, like Homer and Shakespeare, was a prime example of the "original genius" who set his own rules, created persons of overpowering stature and depth, and went far beyond any imitation of the patterns of earlier masters; and who, in turn, could not truly be imitated. Throughout the 19th century, Dante's reputation grew and solidified; and by 1865, the 600th anniversary of his birth, he had become established as one of the greatest literary icons of the Western world.
New readers often wonder how such a serious work may be called a "comedy". In the classical sense the word comedy refers to works that reflect belief in an ordered universe, in which events tend toward not only a happy or amusing ending but one influenced by a Providential will that orders all things to an ultimate good. By this meaning of the word, as Dante himself allegedly wrote in a letter to Cangrande I della Scala, the progression of the pilgrimage from Hell to Paradise is the paradigmatic expression of comedy, since the work begins with the pilgrim's moral confusion and ends with the vision of God.
A number of other works are credited to Dante. Convivio ("The Banquet") is a collection of his longest poems with an (unfinished) allegorical commentary. Monarchia ("Monarchy") is a summary treatise of political philosophy in Latin which was condemned and burned after Dante's death by the Papal Legate Bertrando del Poggetto; it argues for the necessity of a universal or global monarchy to establish universal peace in this life, and this monarchy's relationship to the Roman Catholic Church as guide to eternal peace. De vulgari eloquentia ("On the Eloquence in the Vernacular") is a treatise on vernacular literature, partly inspired by the Razos de trobar of Raimon Vidal de Bezaudun. Quaestio de aqua et terra ("A Question of the Water and of the Land") is a theological work discussing the arrangement of Earth's dry land and ocean. The Eclogues are two poems addressed to the poet Giovanni del Virgilio. Dante is also sometimes credited with writing Il Fiore ("The Flower"), a series of sonnets summarizing Le Roman de la Rose, and Detto d'Amore ("Tale of Love"), a short narrative poem also based on Le Roman de la Rose. These would be the earliest, and most novice, of his known works. Le Rime is a posthumous collection of miscellaneous poems.
The major works of Dante's are the following.
Dante's works reside in cultural institutions across the world. Many items have been digitised or are available for public consultation. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Dante Alighieri (Italian: [ˈdante aliˈɡjɛːri]; c. 1265 – 14 September 1321), most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (English: /ˈdɑːnteɪ, ˈdænteɪ, ˈdænti/, US: /ˈdɑːnti/), was an Italian poet, writer, and philosopher. His Divine Comedy, originally called Comedìa (modern Italian: Commedia) and later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio, is widely considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Dante is known for establishing the use of the vernacular in literature at a time when most poetry was written in Latin, which was accessible only to educated readers. His De vulgari eloquentia (On Eloquence in the Vernacular) was one of the first scholarly defenses of the vernacular. His use of the Florentine dialect for works such as The New Life (1295) and Divine Comedy helped establish the modern-day standardized Italian language. By writing his poem in the Italian vernacular rather than in Latin, Dante influenced the course of literary development, making Italian the literary language in western Europe for several centuries. His work set a precedent that important Italian writers such as Petrarch and Boccaccio would later follow.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Dante was instrumental in establishing the literature of Italy, and is considered to be among the country's national poets and the Western world's greatest literary icons. His depictions of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven provided inspiration for the larger body of Western art and literature. He influenced English writers such as Geoffrey Chaucer, John Milton, and Alfred Tennyson, among many others. In addition, the first use of the interlocking three-line rhyme scheme, or the terza rima, is attributed to him. He is described as the \"father\" of the Italian language, and in Italy he is often referred to as il Sommo Poeta (\"the Supreme Poet\"). Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio are also called the tre corone (\"three crowns\") of Italian literature.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Dante was born in Florence, Republic of Florence, in what is now Italy. The exact date of his birth is unknown, although it is believed to be around 1265. This can be deduced from autobiographic allusions in the Divine Comedy. Its first section, the Inferno, begins, \"Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita\" (\"Midway upon the journey of our life\"), implying that Dante was around 35 years old, since the average lifespan according to the Bible (Psalm 89:10, Vulgate) is 70 years; and since his imaginary travel to the netherworld took place in 1300, he was most probably born around 1265. Some verses of the Paradiso section of the Divine Comedy also provide a possible clue that he was born under the sign of Gemini: \"As I revolved with the eternal twins, I saw revealed, from hills to river outlets, the threshing-floor that makes us so ferocious\" (XXII 151–154). In 1265, the sun was in Gemini between approximately 11 May and 11 June (Julian calendar).",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Dante claimed that his family descended from the ancient Romans (Inferno, XV, 76), but the earliest relative he could mention by name was Cacciaguida degli Elisei (Paradiso, XV, 135), born no earlier than about 1100. Dante's father, Alighiero di Bellincione, was a White Guelph who suffered no reprisals after the Ghibellines won the Battle of Montaperti in the middle of the 13th century. This suggests that Alighiero or his family may have enjoyed some protective prestige and status, although some suggest that the politically inactive Alighiero was of such low standing that he was not considered worth exiling.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Dante's family was loyal to the Guelphs, a political alliance that supported the Papacy and that was involved in complex opposition to the Ghibellines, who were backed by the Holy Roman Emperor. The poet's mother was Bella, probably a member of the Abati family. She died when Dante was not yet ten years old. His father Alighiero soon married again, to Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi. It is uncertain whether he really married her, since widowers were socially limited in such matters, but she definitely bore him two children, Dante's half-brother Francesco and half-sister Tana (Gaetana).",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Dante said he first met Beatrice Portinari, daughter of Folco Portinari, when he was nine (she was eight), and he claimed to have fallen in love with her \"at first sight\", apparently without even talking with her. When he was 12, however, he was promised in marriage to Gemma di Manetto Donati, daughter of Manetto Donati, member of the powerful Donati family. Contracting marriages for children at such an early age was quite common and involved a formal ceremony, including contracts signed before a notary. Dante claimed to have seen Beatrice again frequently after he turned 18, exchanging greetings with her in the streets of Florence, though he never knew her well.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Years after his marriage to Gemma, he claims to have met Beatrice again; he wrote several sonnets to Beatrice but never mentioned Gemma in any of his poems. He refers to other Donati relations, notably Forese and Piccarda, in his Divine Comedy. The exact date of his marriage is not known; the only certain information is that, before his exile in 1301, he had fathered three children with Gemma (Pietro, Jacopo and Antonia).",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Dante fought with the Guelph cavalry at the Battle of Campaldino (11 June 1289). This victory brought about a reformation of the Florentine constitution. To take part in public life, one had to enroll in one of the city's many commercial or artisan guilds, so Dante entered the Physicians' and Apothecaries' Guild. His name is occasionally recorded as speaking or voting in the councils of the republic. Many minutes from such meetings between 1298–1300 were lost, so the extent of his participation is uncertain.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Not much is known about Dante's education; he presumably studied at home or in a chapter school attached to a church or monastery in Florence. It is known that he studied Tuscan poetry and that he admired the compositions of the Bolognese poet Guido Guinizelli—in Purgatorio XXVI he characterized him as his \"father\"—at a time when the Sicilian School (Scuola poetica Siciliana), a cultural group from Sicily, was becoming known in Tuscany. He also discovered the Provençal poetry of the troubadours, such as Arnaut Daniel, and the Latin writers of classical antiquity, including Cicero, Ovid and especially Virgil.",
"title": "Education and poetry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Dante's interactions with Beatrice set an example of so-called courtly love, a phenomenon developed in French and Provençal poetry of prior centuries. Dante's experience of such love was typical, but his expression of it was unique. It was in the name of this love that Dante left his imprint on the dolce stil nuovo (\"sweet new style\", a term that Dante himself coined), and he would join other contemporary poets and writers in exploring never-before-emphasized aspects of love (Amore). Love for Beatrice (as Petrarch would express for Laura somewhat differently) would be his reason for writing poetry and for living, together with political passions. In many of his poems, she is depicted as semi-divine, watching over him constantly and providing spiritual instruction, sometimes harshly. When Beatrice died in 1290, Dante sought refuge in Latin literature. The Convivio chronicles his having read Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae and Cicero's De Amicitia.",
"title": "Education and poetry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "He next dedicated himself to philosophical studies at religious schools like the Dominican one in Santa Maria Novella. He took part in the disputes that the two principal mendicant orders (Franciscan and Dominican) publicly or indirectly held in Florence, the former explaining the doctrines of the mystics and of St. Bonaventure, the latter expounding on the theories of St. Thomas Aquinas.",
"title": "Education and poetry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "At around the age of 18, Dante met Guido Cavalcanti, Lapo Gianni, Cino da Pistoia and, soon after, Brunetto Latini; together they became the leaders of the dolce stil nuovo. Brunetto later received special mention in the Divine Comedy (Inferno, XV, 28) for what he had taught Dante: Nor speaking less on that account I go With Ser Brunetto, and I ask who are his most known and most eminent companions. Some fifty poetical commentaries by Dante are known (the so-called Rime, rhymes), others being included in the later Vita Nuova and Convivio. Other studies are reported, or deduced from Vita Nuova or the Comedy, regarding painting and music.",
"title": "Education and poetry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Dante, like most Florentines of his day, was embroiled in the Guelph–Ghibelline conflict. He fought in the Battle of Campaldino (11 June 1289), with the Florentine Guelphs against Arezzo Ghibellines; he fought as a feditore [it], responsible for the first attack. He was among the escorts for Charles Martel of Anjou (grandson of Charles I of Anjou) when he came to Florence in 1294. To further his political career, he became a pharmacist. He did not intend to practice as one, but a law issued in 1295 required nobles aspiring to public office to be enrolled in one of the Corporazioni delle Arti e dei Mestieri, so Dante obtained admission to the Apothecaries' Guild. This profession was not inappropriate, since at that time books were sold from apothecaries' shops. As a politician, he accomplished little but held various offices over some years in a city rife with political unrest.",
"title": "Florence and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "After defeating the Ghibellines, the Guelphs divided into two factions: the White Guelphs (Guelfi Bianchi)—Dante's party, led by Vieri dei Cerchi—and the Black Guelphs (Guelfi Neri), led by Corso Donati. Although the split was along family lines at first, ideological differences arose based on opposing views of the papal role in Florentine affairs. The Blacks supported the Pope and the Whites wanted more freedom from Rome. The Whites took power first and expelled the Blacks. In response, Pope Boniface VIII planned a military occupation of Florence. In 1301, Charles of Valois, brother of King Philip IV of France, was expected to visit Florence because the Pope had appointed him as peacemaker for Tuscany. But the city's government had treated the Pope's ambassadors badly a few weeks before, seeking independence from papal influence. It was believed that Charles had received other unofficial instructions, so the council sent a delegation that included Dante to Rome to ascertain the Pope's intentions.",
"title": "Florence and politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Pope Boniface quickly dismissed the other delegates and asked Dante alone to remain in Rome. At the same time (1 November 1301), Charles of Valois entered Florence with the Black Guelphs, who in the next six days destroyed much of the city and killed many of their enemies. A new Black Guelph government was installed, and Cante dei Gabrielli da Gubbio was appointed podestà of the city. In March 1302, Dante, a White Guelph by affiliation, along with the Gherardini family, was condemned to exile for two years and ordered to pay a large fine. Dante was accused of corruption and financial wrongdoing by the Black Guelphs for the time that Dante was serving as city prior (Florence's highest position) for two months in 1300. The poet was still in Rome in 1302, as the Pope, who had backed the Black Guelphs, had \"suggested\" that Dante stay there. Florence under the Black Guelphs, therefore, considered Dante an absconder.",
"title": "Exile from Florence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Dante did not pay the fine, in part because he believed he was not guilty and in part because all his assets in Florence had been seized by the Black Guelphs. He was condemned to perpetual exile; if he had returned to Florence without paying the fine, he could have been burned at the stake. (In June 2008, nearly seven centuries after his death, the city council of Florence passed a motion rescinding Dante's sentence.) In 1306–07, Dante was a guest of Moroello Malaspina [it] in the region of Lunigiana.",
"title": "Exile from Florence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Dante took part in several attempts by the White Guelphs to regain power, but these failed due to treachery. Bitter at the treatment he received from his enemies, he grew disgusted with the infighting and ineffectiveness of his former allies and vowed to become a party of one. He went to Verona as a guest of Bartolomeo I della Scala, then moved to Sarzana in Liguria. Later he is supposed to have lived in Lucca with a woman named Gentucca. She apparently made his stay comfortable (and he later gratefully mentioned her in Purgatorio, XXIV, 37). Some speculative sources claim he visited Paris between 1308 and 1310, and other sources even less trustworthy say he went to Oxford: these claims, first made in Boccaccio's book on Dante several decades after his death, seem inspired by readers who were impressed with the poet's wide learning and erudition. Evidently, Dante's command of philosophy and his literary interests deepened in exile and when he was no longer busy with the day-to-day business of Florentine domestic politics, and this is evidenced in his prose writings in this period. There is no real evidence that he ever left Italy. Dante's Immensa Dei dilectione testante to Henry VII of Luxembourg confirms his residence \"beneath the springs of Arno, near Tuscany\" in April 1311.",
"title": "Exile from Florence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In 1310, Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII of Luxembourg marched into Italy at the head of 5,000 troops. Dante saw in him a new Charlemagne who would restore the office of the Holy Roman Emperor to its former glory and also retake Florence from the Black Guelphs. He wrote to Henry and several Italian princes, demanding that they destroy the Black Guelphs. Mixing religion and private concerns in his writings, he invoked the worst anger of God against his city and suggested several particular targets, who were also his personal enemies. It was during this time that he wrote De Monarchia, proposing a universal monarchy under Henry VII.",
"title": "Exile from Florence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "At some point during his exile, he conceived of the Comedy, but the date is uncertain. The work is much more assured and on a larger scale than anything he had written in Florence; it is likely he would have undertaken such a work only after he realized his political ambitions, which had been central to him up to his banishment, had been halted for some time, possibly forever. It is also noticeable that Beatrice has returned to his imagination with renewed force and with a wider meaning than in the Vita Nuova; in Convivio (written c. 1304–07) he had declared that the memory of this youthful romance belonged to the past.",
"title": "Exile from Florence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "An early indication that the poem was underway is a notice by Francesco da Barberino, tucked into his Documenti d'Amore (Lessons of Love), probably written in 1314 or early 1315. Francesco notes that Dante followed the Aeneid in a poem called \"Comedy\" and that the setting of this poem (or part of it) was the underworld; i.e., hell. The brief note gives no incontestable indication that Barberino had seen or read even the Inferno, or that this part had been published at the time, but it indicates composition was well underway and that the sketching of the poem might have begun some years before. (It has been suggested that a knowledge of Dante's work also underlies some of the illuminations in Francesco da Barberino's earlier Officiolum [c. 1305–08], a manuscript that came to light in 2003.) It is known that the Inferno had been published by 1317; this is established by quoted lines interspersed in the margins of contemporary dated records from Bologna, but there is no certainty as to whether the three parts of the poem were each published in full or, rather, a few cantos at a time. Paradiso was likely finished before he died, but it may have been published posthumously.",
"title": "Exile from Florence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "In 1312, Henry assaulted Florence and defeated the Black Guelphs, but there is no evidence that Dante was involved. Some say he refused to participate in the attack on his city by a foreigner; others suggest that he had become unpopular with the White Guelphs, too, and that any trace of his passage had carefully been removed. Henry VII died (from a fever) in 1313 and with him any hope for Dante to see Florence again. He returned to Verona, where Cangrande I della Scala allowed him to live in certain security and, presumably, in a fair degree of prosperity. Cangrande was admitted to Dante's Paradise (Paradiso, XVII, 76).",
"title": "Exile from Florence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "During the period of his exile, Dante corresponded with Dominican theologian Fr. Nicholas Brunacci OP [1240–1322], who had been a student of Thomas Aquinas at the Santa Sabina studium in Rome, later at Paris, and of Albert the Great at the Cologne studium. Brunacci became lector at the Santa Sabina studium, forerunner of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, and later served in the papal curia.",
"title": "Exile from Florence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "In 1315, Florence was forced by Uguccione della Faggiuola (the military officer controlling the town) to grant an amnesty to those in exile, including Dante. But for this, Florence required public penance in addition to payment of a high fine. Dante refused, preferring to remain in exile. When Uguccione defeated Florence, Dante's death sentence was commuted to house arrest, on condition that he go to Florence to swear he would never enter the town again. He refused to go, and his death sentence was confirmed and extended to his sons. Despite this, he still hoped late in life that he might be invited back to Florence on honorable terms, particularly in praise of his poetry.",
"title": "Exile from Florence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Dante's final days were spent in Ravenna, where he had been invited to stay in the city in 1318 by its prince, Guido II da Polenta. Dante died in Ravenna on 14 September 1321, aged about 56, of quartan malaria contracted while returning from a diplomatic mission to the Republic of Venice. He was attended by his three children, and possibly by Gemma Donati, and by friends and admirers he had in the city. He was buried in Ravenna at the Church of San Pier Maggiore (later called Basilica di San Francesco). Bernardo Bembo, praetor of Venice, erected a tomb for him in 1483.",
"title": "Death and burial"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "On the grave, a verse of Bernardo Canaccio, a friend of Dante, is dedicated to Florence:",
"title": "Death and burial"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "In 1329, Bertrand du Pouget, Cardinal and nephew of Pope John XXII, classified Dante's Monarchia as heretical and sought to have his bones burned at the stake. Ostasio I da Polenta and Pino della Tosa, allies of Pouget, interceded to prevent the destruction of Dante's remains.",
"title": "Death and burial"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Florence eventually came to regret having exiled Dante. The city made repeated requests for the return of his remains. The custodians of the body in Ravenna refused, at one point going so far as to conceal the bones in a false wall of the monastery. Florence built a tomb for Dante in 1829, in the Basilica of Santa Croce. That tomb has been empty ever since, with Dante's body remaining in Ravenna. The front of his tomb in Florence reads Onorate l'altissimo poeta — which roughly translates as \"Honor the most exalted poet\" and is a quote from the fourth canto of the Inferno.",
"title": "Death and burial"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In 1945, the fascist government discussed bringing Dante's remains to the Valtellina Redoubt, the Alpine valley in which the regime intended to make its last stand against the Allies. The case was made that \"the greatest symbol of Italianness\" should be present at fascism's \"heroic\" end.",
"title": "Death and burial"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "A copy of Dante's so-called death mask has been displayed since 1911 in the Palazzo Vecchio; scholars today believe it is not a true death mask and was probably carved in 1483, perhaps by Pietro and Tullio Lombardo.",
"title": "Death and burial"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "The first formal biography of Dante was the Vita di Dante (also known as Trattatello in laude di Dante), written after 1348 by Giovanni Boccaccio. Although several statements and episodes of it have been deemed unreliable on the basis of modern research, an earlier account of Dante's life and works had been included in the Nuova Cronica of the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Some 16th-century English Protestants, such as John Bale and John Foxe, argued that Dante was a proto-Protestant because of his opposition to the pope.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The 19th century saw a \"Dante revival\", a product of the medieval revival, which was itself an important aspect of Romanticism. Thomas Carlyle profiled him in \"The Hero as Poet\", the third lecture in On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History (1841): \"He is world-great not because he is worldwide, but because he is world-deep. . . . Dante is the spokesman of the Middle Ages; the Thought they lived by stands here, in everlasting music.\" Leigh Hunt, Henry Francis Cary and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow were among Dante's translators of the era.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Italy's first dreadnought battleship was completed in 1913 and named Dante Alighieri in honor of him.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "On 30 April 1921, in honor of the 600th anniversary of Dante's death, Pope Benedict XV promulgated an encyclical named In praeclara summorum, naming Dante as one \"of the many celebrated geniuses of whom the Catholic faith can boast\" and the \"pride and glory of humanity\".",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "On 7 December 1965, Pope Paul VI promulgated the Latin motu proprio titled Altissimi cantus, which was dedicated to Dante's figure and poetry. In that year, the pope also donated a golden iron Greek Cross to Dante's burial site in Ravenna, in occasion of the 700th anniversary of his birth. The same cross was blessed by Pope Francis in October 2020.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "In 2007, a reconstruction of Dante's face was undertaken in a collaborative project. Artists from the University of Pisa and forensic engineers at the University of Bologna at Forlì constructed the model, portraying Dante's features as somewhat different from what was once thought.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "In 2008, the Municipality of Florence officially apologized for expelling Dante 700 years earlier. In May 2021, a symbolic re-trial was held virtually in Florence to posthumously clear his name.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "A celebration was held in 2015 at Italy's Senate of the Republic for the 750th anniversary of Dante's birth. It included a commemoration from Pope Francis, who also issued the apostolic letter Cando lucis aeternae in honor of the anniversary.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Most of Dante's literary work was composed after his exile in 1301. La Vita Nuova (\"The New Life\") is the only major work that predates it; it is a collection of lyric poems (sonnets and songs) with commentary in prose, ostensibly intended to be circulated in manuscript form, as was customary for such poems. It also contains, or constructs, the story of his love for Beatrice Portinari, who later served as the ultimate symbol of salvation in the Comedy, a function already indicated in the final pages of the Vita Nuova. The work contains many of Dante's love poems in Tuscan, which was not unprecedented; the vernacular had been regularly used for lyric works before, during all the thirteenth century. However, Dante's commentary on his own work is also in the vernacular—both in the Vita Nuova and in the Convivio—instead of the Latin that was almost universally used.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "The Divine Comedy describes Dante's journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Paradise (Paradiso); he is first guided by the Roman poet Virgil and then by Beatrice. Of the books, Purgatorio is arguably the most lyrical of the three, referring to more contemporary poets and artists than Inferno; Paradiso is the most heavily theological, and the one in which, many scholars have argued, the Divine Comedy's most beautiful and mystic passages appear.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "With its seriousness of purpose, its literary stature and the range—both stylistic and thematic—of its content, the Comedy soon became a cornerstone in the evolution of Italian as an established literary language. Dante was more aware than most early Italian writers of the variety of Italian dialects and of the need to create a literature and a unified literary language beyond the limits of Latin writing at the time; in that sense, he is a forerunner of the Renaissance, with its effort to create vernacular literature in competition with earlier classical writers. Dante's in-depth knowledge (within the limits of his time) of Roman antiquity, and his evident admiration for some aspects of pagan Rome, also point forward to the 15th century. Ironically, while he was widely honored in the centuries after his death, the Comedy slipped out of fashion among men of letters: too medieval, too rough and tragic, and not stylistically refined in the respects that the high and late Renaissance came to demand of literature.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "He wrote the Comedy in a language he called \"Italian\", in some sense an amalgamated literary language predominantly based on the regional dialect of Tuscany, but with some elements of Latin and other regional dialects. He deliberately aimed to reach a readership throughout Italy including laymen, clergymen and other poets. By creating a poem of epic structure and philosophic purpose, he established that the Italian language was suitable for the highest sort of expression. In French, Italian is sometimes nicknamed la langue de Dante. Publishing in the vernacular language marked Dante as one of the first in Roman Catholic Western Europe (among others such as Geoffrey Chaucer and Giovanni Boccaccio) to break free from standards of publishing in only Latin (the language of liturgy, history and scholarship in general, but often also of lyric poetry). This break set a precedent and allowed more literature to be published for a wider audience, setting the stage for greater levels of literacy in the future. However, unlike Boccaccio, Milton or Ariosto, Dante did not really become an author read across Europe until the Romantic era. To the Romantics, Dante, like Homer and Shakespeare, was a prime example of the \"original genius\" who set his own rules, created persons of overpowering stature and depth, and went far beyond any imitation of the patterns of earlier masters; and who, in turn, could not truly be imitated. Throughout the 19th century, Dante's reputation grew and solidified; and by 1865, the 600th anniversary of his birth, he had become established as one of the greatest literary icons of the Western world.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "New readers often wonder how such a serious work may be called a \"comedy\". In the classical sense the word comedy refers to works that reflect belief in an ordered universe, in which events tend toward not only a happy or amusing ending but one influenced by a Providential will that orders all things to an ultimate good. By this meaning of the word, as Dante himself allegedly wrote in a letter to Cangrande I della Scala, the progression of the pilgrimage from Hell to Paradise is the paradigmatic expression of comedy, since the work begins with the pilgrim's moral confusion and ends with the vision of God.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "A number of other works are credited to Dante. Convivio (\"The Banquet\") is a collection of his longest poems with an (unfinished) allegorical commentary. Monarchia (\"Monarchy\") is a summary treatise of political philosophy in Latin which was condemned and burned after Dante's death by the Papal Legate Bertrando del Poggetto; it argues for the necessity of a universal or global monarchy to establish universal peace in this life, and this monarchy's relationship to the Roman Catholic Church as guide to eternal peace. De vulgari eloquentia (\"On the Eloquence in the Vernacular\") is a treatise on vernacular literature, partly inspired by the Razos de trobar of Raimon Vidal de Bezaudun. Quaestio de aqua et terra (\"A Question of the Water and of the Land\") is a theological work discussing the arrangement of Earth's dry land and ocean. The Eclogues are two poems addressed to the poet Giovanni del Virgilio. Dante is also sometimes credited with writing Il Fiore (\"The Flower\"), a series of sonnets summarizing Le Roman de la Rose, and Detto d'Amore (\"Tale of Love\"), a short narrative poem also based on Le Roman de la Rose. These would be the earliest, and most novice, of his known works. Le Rime is a posthumous collection of miscellaneous poems.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "The major works of Dante's are the following.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Dante's works reside in cultural institutions across the world. Many items have been digitised or are available for public consultation.",
"title": "Works"
}
] | Dante Alighieri, most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante, was an Italian poet, writer, and philosopher. His Divine Comedy, originally called Comedìa and later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio, is widely considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language. Dante is known for establishing the use of the vernacular in literature at a time when most poetry was written in Latin, which was accessible only to educated readers. His De vulgari eloquentia was one of the first scholarly defenses of the vernacular. His use of the Florentine dialect for works such as The New Life (1295) and Divine Comedy helped establish the modern-day standardized Italian language. By writing his poem in the Italian vernacular rather than in Latin, Dante influenced the course of literary development, making Italian the literary language in western Europe for several centuries. His work set a precedent that important Italian writers such as Petrarch and Boccaccio would later follow. Dante was instrumental in establishing the literature of Italy, and is considered to be among the country's national poets and the Western world's greatest literary icons. His depictions of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven provided inspiration for the larger body of Western art and literature. He influenced English writers such as Geoffrey Chaucer, John Milton, and Alfred Tennyson, among many others. In addition, the first use of the interlocking three-line rhyme scheme, or the terza rima, is attributed to him. He is described as the "father" of the Italian language, and in Italy he is often referred to as il Sommo Poeta. Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio are also called the tre corone of Italian literature. | 2001-06-19T18:04:10Z | 2023-12-25T23:39:33Z | [
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8,171 | Dennis the Menace | Dennis the Menace may refer to either of two comic strip characters that both appeared in March 1951, one in the UK and one in the US. | [
{
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"text": "Dennis the Menace may refer to either of two comic strip characters that both appeared in March 1951, one in the UK and one in the US.",
"title": ""
}
] | Dennis the Menace may refer to either of two comic strip characters that both appeared in March 1951, one in the UK and one in the US. | 2001-06-23T04:20:13Z | 2023-12-29T22:48:37Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_the_Menace |
8,176 | Dave Brubeck | David Warren Brubeck (/ˈbruːbɛk/; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities.
Born in Concord, California, Brubeck was drafted into the US Army, but was spared from combat service when a Red Cross show he had played at became a hit. Within the US Army, Brubeck formed one of the first racially diverse bands. In 1951, Brubeck formed the Dave Brubeck Quartet, which kept its name despite shifting personnel. The most successful—and prolific—lineup of the quartet was the one between 1958 and 1968. This lineup, in addition to Brubeck, featured saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello. A U.S. Department of State-sponsored tour in 1958 featuring the band inspired several of Brubeck's subsequent albums, most notably the 1959 album Time Out. Despite its esoteric theme and contrarian time signatures, Time Out became Brubeck's highest-selling album, and the first jazz album to sell over one million copies. The lead single from the album, "Take Five", a tune written by Desmond in 4 time, similarly became the highest-selling jazz single of all time. The quartet followed up Time Out with four other albums in non-standard time signatures, and some of the other songs from this series became hits as well, including "Blue Rondo à la Turk" (in 8) and "Unsquare Dance" (in 4). Brubeck continued releasing music until his death in 2012.
Brubeck's style ranged from refined to bombastic, reflecting both his mother's classical training and his own improvisational skills. He expressed elements of atonality and fugue. Brubeck, with Desmond, used elements of West Coast jazz near the height of its popularity, combining them with the unorthodox time signatures seen in Time Out. Like many of his contemporaries, Brubeck played into the style of the French composer Darius Milhaud, especially his earlier works, including "Serenade Suite" and "Playland-At-The-Beach". Brubeck's fusion of classical music and jazz would come to be known as "third stream", although Brubeck's use of third stream would predate the coining of the term. John Fordham of The Guardian commented: "Brubeck's real achievement was to blend European compositional ideas, very demanding rhythmic structures, jazz song-forms and improvisation in expressive and accessible ways."
Brubeck was the recipient of several music awards and honors throughout his lifetime. In 1996, Brubeck received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2008, Brubeck was inducted into the California Hall of Fame, and a year later, he was given an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music. Brubeck's 1959 album Time Out was added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2005. Noted as "one of Jazz's first pop stars" by the Los Angeles Times, Brubeck rejected his fame, and felt uncomfortable with Time magazine featuring him on the cover before Duke Ellington.
Brubeck had Swiss ancestry (the family surname was originally Brodbeck), while his maternal grandparents were English and German. He was born on December 6, 1920, in Concord, California, and grew up in Ione, California. His father, Peter Howard "Pete" Brubeck, was a cattle rancher, while his mother, Elizabeth (née Ivey), who had studied piano in England under Myra Hess and intended to become a concert pianist, taught piano for extra money.
Brubeck did not intend to become a musician, although his two older brothers, Henry and Howard, were already on that track. Brubeck did, however, take lessons from his mother. He could not read music during these early lessons, attributing the difficulty to poor eyesight, but "faked" his way through well enough that his deficiency went mostly unnoticed. Planning to work with his father on their ranch, Brubeck entered the liberal arts college College of the Pacific in Stockton, California, in 1938 to study veterinary science. He switched his major to music at the urging of the head of zoology at the time, Dr. Arnold, who told him, "Brubeck, your mind's not here. It's across the lawn in the conservatory. Please go there. Stop wasting my time and yours." Later, Brubeck was nearly expelled when one of his professors discovered that he was unable to sight-read. Several others came forward to his defense, however, arguing that his ability to write counterpoint and harmony more than compensated, and demonstrated his skill with music notation. The college was still concerned, but agreed to allow Brubeck to graduate only after he promised never to teach piano.
After graduating in 1942, Brubeck was drafted into the United States Army, serving in Europe in the Third Army under George S. Patton. He volunteered to play piano at a Red Cross show; the show was a resounding success, and Brubeck was spared from combat service. He created one of the U.S. armed forces' first racially integrated bands, "The Wolfpack". It was in the military, in 1944, that Brubeck met Paul Desmond. After serving nearly four years in the army, he returned to California for graduate study at Mills College in Oakland. He was a student of Darius Milhaud, who encouraged him to study fugue and orchestration, but not classical piano. While on active duty, he received two lessons from Arnold Schoenberg at UCLA in an attempt to connect with high modernist theory and practice. However, the encounter did not end on good terms since Schoenberg believed that every note should be accounted for, an approach which Brubeck could not accept, although according to his son Chris Brubeck, there is a twelve-tone row in The Light in the Wilderness, Dave Brubeck's first oratorio. In it, Jesus's Twelve Disciples are introduced each singing their own individual notes; it is described as "quite dramatic, especially when Judas starts singing 'Repent' on a high and straining dissonant note".
Jack Sheedy owned San Francisco-based Coronet Records, which had previously recorded area Dixieland bands. (This Coronet Records is distinct from the late 1950s New York-based budget label, and also from Australia-based Coronet Records.) In 1949, Sheedy was convinced to make the first recording of Brubeck's octet and later his trio. But Sheedy was unable to pay his bills and in 1949 gave up his masters to his record stamping company, the Circle Record Company, owned by Max and Sol Weiss. The Weiss brothers soon changed the name of their business to Fantasy Records.
The first Brubeck records sold well, and he made new records for Fantasy. Soon the company was shipping 40,000 to 50,000 copies of Brubeck records each quarter, making a good profit.
In 1951, Brubeck organized the Dave Brubeck Quartet, with Paul Desmond on alto saxophone. The two took up residency at San Francisco's Black Hawk nightclub and had success touring college campuses, recording a series of live albums.
The first of these live albums, Jazz at Oberlin, was recorded in March 1953 in the Finney Chapel at Oberlin College. Brubeck's live performance was credited with legitimizing the field of jazz music at Oberlin, and the album is one of the earliest examples of cool jazz. Brubeck returned to College of the Pacific to record Jazz at the College of the Pacific in December of that year.
Following the release of Jazz at the College of the Pacific, Brubeck signed with Fantasy Records, believing that he had a stake in the company and worked as an artists and repertoire promoter for the label, encouraging the Weiss brothers to sign other contemporary jazz performers, including Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker and Red Norvo. Upon discovering that the deal was for a half interest in his own recordings, Brubeck quit to sign with another label, Columbia Records.
In June 1954, Brubeck released Jazz Goes to College, with double bassist Bob Bates and drummer Joe Dodge. The album is a compilation of the quartet's visits to three colleges: Oberlin College, University of Michigan, and University of Cincinnati, and features seven songs, two of which were written by Brubeck and Desmond. "Balcony Rock", the opening song on the album, was noted for its timing and uneven tonalities, themes that would be explored by Brubeck later.
Brubeck was featured on the cover of Time in November 1954, the second jazz musician to be featured, following Louis Armstrong in February 1949. Brubeck personally found this acclaim embarrassing, since he considered Duke Ellington more deserving and was convinced that he had been favored as a Caucasian. In one encounter with Ellington, he knocked on the door of Brubeck's hotel room to show him the cover; Brubeck's response was, "It should have been you."
Early bassists for the group included Ron Crotty, Bates, and Bates' brother Norman; Lloyd Davis and Dodge held the drum chair. In 1956, Brubeck hired drummer Joe Morello, who had been working with Marian McPartland; Morello's presence made possible the rhythmic experiments that were to come. In 1958, African-American bassist Eugene Wright joined for the group's Department of State tour of Europe and Asia. The group visited Poland, Turkey, India, Ceylon, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq on behalf of the Department of State. They spent two weeks in Poland, giving thirteen concerts and visiting with Polish musicians and citizens as part of the People-to-People program. Wright became a permanent member in 1959, finishing the "classic era" of the quartet's personnel. During this time, Brubeck was strongly supportive of Wright's inclusion in the band, and reportedly canceled several concerts when the club owners or hall managers objected to presenting an integrated band. He also canceled a television appearance when he found out that the producers intended to keep Wright off-camera.
In 1959, the Dave Brubeck Quartet recorded Time Out. The album, which featured pieces entirely written by members of the quartet, notably uses unusual time signatures in the field of music—and especially jazz—a crux which Columbia Records was enthusiastic about, but which they were nonetheless hesitant to release.
The release of Time Out required the cooperation of Columbia Records president Goddard Lieberson, who underwrote and released Time Out, on the condition that the quartet record a conventional album of the American South, Gone with the Wind, to cover the risk of Time Out becoming a commercial failure.
Featuring the cover art of S. Neil Fujita, Time Out was released in December 1959, to negative critical reception. Nonetheless, on the strength of these unusual time signatures, the album quickly went Gold (and was eventually certified Double Platinum), and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. It was the first jazz album to sell more than a million copies. The single "Take Five" off the album quickly became a jazz standard, despite its unusual composition and its time signature: 4 time.
Time Out was followed by several albums with a similar approach, including Time Further Out: Miro Reflections (1961), using more 4, 4, and 8, plus the first attempt at 4; Countdown—Time in Outer Space (dedicated to John Glenn, 1962), featuring 4 and more 4; Time Changes (1963), with much 4, 4 and 4; and Time In (1966). These albums (except Time In) were also known for using contemporary paintings as cover art, featuring the work of Joan Miró on Time Further Out, Franz Kline on Time in Outer Space, and Sam Francis on Time Changes.
On a handful of albums in the early 1960s, clarinetist Bill Smith replaced Desmond. These albums were devoted to Smith's compositions and thus had a somewhat different aesthetic than other Brubeck Quartet albums. Nonetheless, according to critic Ken Dryden, "[Smith] proves himself very much in Desmond's league with his witty solos". Smith was an old friend of Brubeck's; they would record together, intermittently, from the 1940s until the final years of Brubeck's career.
In 1961, Brubeck and his wife, Iola, developed a jazz musical, The Real Ambassadors, based in part on experiences they and their colleagues had during foreign tours on behalf of the Department of State. The soundtrack album, which featured Louis Armstrong, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, and Carmen McRae was recorded in 1961; the musical was performed at the 1962 Monterey Jazz Festival.
At its peak in the early 1960s, the Brubeck Quartet was releasing as many as four albums a year. Apart from the "College" and the "Time" series, Brubeck recorded four LP records featuring his compositions based on the group's travels, and the local music they encountered. Jazz Impressions of the U.S.A. (1956, Morello's debut with the group), Jazz Impressions of Eurasia (1958), Jazz Impressions of Japan (1964), and Jazz Impressions of New York (1964) are less well-known albums and they produced Brubeck standards such as "Summer Song", "Brandenburg Gate", "Koto Song", and "Theme from Mr. Broadway". (Brubeck wrote, and the Quartet performed, the theme song for this Craig Stevens CBS drama series; the music from the series became material for the New York album.) In 1961, Brubeck appeared in a few scenes of the British jazz/beat film All Night Long, which starred Patrick McGoohan and Richard Attenborough. Brubeck merely plays himself, with the film featuring close-ups of his piano fingerings. Brubeck performs "It's a Raggy Waltz" from the Time Further Out album and duets briefly with bassist Charles Mingus in "Non-Sectarian Blues".
Brubeck also served as the program director of WJZZ-FM (now WEZN-FM) while recording for the quartet. He achieved his vision of an all-jazz format radio station along with his friend and neighbor John E. Metts, one of the first African Americans in senior radio management.
The final studio album for Columbia by the Desmond/Wright/Morello quartet was Anything Goes (1966), featuring the songs of Cole Porter. A few concert recordings followed, and The Last Time We Saw Paris (1967) was the "Classic" quartet's swan-song.
Brubeck produced The Gates of Justice in 1968, a cantata mixing Biblical scripture with the words of Martin Luther King Jr.
In 1971, the new senior management at Columbia Records decided not to renew Brubeck's contract, as they wished to focus on rock music. He moved to Atlantic Records.
Brubeck's music was used in the 1985 film Ordeal by Innocence. He also composed for—and performed with his ensemble on—"The NASA Space Station", a 1988 episode of the CBS TV series This Is America, Charlie Brown.
Brubeck founded the Brubeck Institute with his wife, Iola, at their alma mater, the University of the Pacific in 2000. What began as a special archive, consisting of the personal document collection of the Brubecks, has since expanded to provide fellowships and educational opportunities in jazz for students, also leading to having one of the main streets on which the school resides named in his honor, Dave Brubeck Way.
In 2008, Brubeck became a supporter of the Jazz Foundation of America in its mission to save the homes and the lives of elderly jazz and blues musicians, including those who had survived Hurricane Katrina. Brubeck supported the Jazz Foundation by performing in its annual benefit concert "A Great Night in Harlem".
Dave Brubeck married jazz lyricist Iola Whitlock in September 1942; the couple were married for 70 years, until his death in 2012. Iola died at age 90 on March 12, 2014, from cancer in Wilton, Connecticut.
Brubeck had six children with Iola. Four of his children have been professional musicians. Darius, named after Brubeck's mentor Darius Milhaud and the eldest, is a pianist, producer, educator and performer. Dan is a percussionist, Chris is a multi-instrumentalist and composer, and Matthew, the youngest, is a cellist with an extensive list of composing and performance credits. Another son, Michael, died in 2009. Brubeck's children often joined him in concerts and in the recording studio.
Brubeck became a Catholic in 1980, shortly after completing the Mass To Hope which had been commissioned by Ed Murray, editor of the national Catholic weekly Our Sunday Visitor. Although he had spiritual interests before that time, he said, "I didn't convert to Catholicism, because I wasn't anything to convert from. I just joined the Catholic Church." In 1996, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006, Brubeck was awarded the University of Notre Dame's Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics, during the university's commencement. He performed "Travellin' Blues" for the graduating class of 2006.
Brubeck died of heart failure on December 5, 2012, in Norwalk, Connecticut, one day before his 92nd birthday. He was on his way to a cardiology appointment, accompanied by his son Darius. A birthday party concert had been planned for him with family and famous guests. A memorial tribute was held in May 2013.
Brubeck is interred at Umpawaug Cemetery in Redding, Connecticut.
The Los Angeles Times noted that he "was one of Jazz's first pop stars", even though he was not always happy with his fame. He felt uncomfortable, for example, that Time magazine had featured him on the cover before it did so for Duke Ellington, saying, "It just bothered me." The New York Times noted he had continued to play well into his old age, performing in 2011 and in 2010 only a month after getting a pacemaker, with Times music writer Nate Chinen commenting that Brubeck had replaced "the old hammer-and-anvil attack with something almost airy" and that his playing at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City was "the picture of judicious clarity".
In The Daily Telegraph, music journalist Ivan Hewett wrote: "Brubeck didn't have the réclame of some jazz musicians who lead tragic lives. He didn't do drugs or drink. What he had was endless curiosity combined with stubbornness", adding: "His work list is astonishing, including oratorios, musicals and concertos, as well as hundreds of jazz compositions. This quiet man of jazz was truly a marvel."
In The Guardian, John Fordham said "Brubeck's real achievement was to blend European compositional ideas, very demanding rhythmic structures, jazz song-forms and improvisation in expressive and accessible ways. His son Chris told The Guardian "when I hear Chorale, it reminds me of the very best Aaron Copland, something like Appalachian Spring. There's a sort of American honesty to it." Robert Christgau dubbed Brubeck the "jazz hero of the rock and roll generation".
The Economist wrote: "Above all they found it hard to believe that the most successful jazz in America was being played by a family man, a laid-back Californian, modest, gentle and open, who would happily have been a rancher all his days—except that he couldn't live without performing, because the rhythm of jazz, under all his extrapolation and exploration, was, he had discovered, the rhythm of his heart."
While on tour performing "Hot House" in Toronto, Chick Corea and Gary Burton completed a tribute to Brubeck on the day of his death. Corea played "Strange Meadow Lark", from Brubeck's album Time Out.
In the United States, May 4 is informally observed as "Dave Brubeck Day". In the format most commonly used in the U.S., May 4 is written "5/4", recalling the time signature of "Take Five", Brubeck's best-known recording. In September 2019, musicologist Stephen A. Crist's book, Dave Brubeck's Time Out, provided the first scholarly book length analysis of the seminal album. In addition to his musical analyses of each of the album's original compositions, Crist provides insight into Brubeck's career during a time he was rising to the top of the jazz charts.
In 1975, the main-belt asteroid 5079 Brubeck was named after Brubeck.
Brubeck recorded five of the seven tracks of his album Jazz Goes to College in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He returned to Michigan many times, including a performance at Hill Auditorium where he received a Distinguished Artist Award from the University of Michigan's Musical Society in 2006. Brubeck was presented with a "Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy" by United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2008 for offering an American "vision of hope, opportunity and freedom" through his music. "As a little girl I grew up on the sounds of Dave Brubeck because my dad was your biggest fan", said Rice. The State Department said in a statement that "as a pianist, composer, cultural emissary and educator, Dave Brubeck's life's work exemplifies the best of America's cultural diplomacy". At the ceremony, Brubeck played a brief recital for the audience at the State Department. "I want to thank all of you because this honor is something that I never expected. Now I am going to play a cold piano with cold hands", Brubeck stated.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced on May 28, 2008, that Brubeck would be inducted into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts. The induction ceremony occurred December 10, and he was inducted alongside eleven other famous Californians.
On October 18, 2008, Brubeck received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Similarly, at the Monterey Jazz Festival in September 2009, Brubeck was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree (D.Mus. honoris causa) from Berklee College of Music. On May 16, 2010, Brubeck was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree (honoris causa) from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The ceremony took place on the National Mall.
In September 2009, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Brubeck as a Kennedy Center Honoree for exhibiting excellence in performance arts. The Kennedy Center Honors Gala took place on Sunday, December 6 (Brubeck's 89th birthday), and was broadcast nationwide on CBS on December 29 at 9:00 pm EST. When the award was made, President Barack Obama recalled a 1971 concert Brubeck had given in Honolulu and said, "You can't understand America without understanding jazz, and you can't understand jazz without understanding Dave Brubeck."
On July 5, 2010, Brubeck was awarded the Miles Davis Award at the Montreal International Jazz Festival. In 2010, Bruce Ricker and Clint Eastwood produced Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way, a documentary about Brubeck for Turner Classic Movies (TCM) to commemorate his 90th birthday in December 2010.
The Concord Boulevard Park in his hometown of Concord, California, was posthumously renamed to "Dave Brubeck Memorial Park" in his honor. Mayor Dan Helix favorably recalled one of his performances at the park, saying: "He will be with us forever because his music will never die." | [
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{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Born in Concord, California, Brubeck was drafted into the US Army, but was spared from combat service when a Red Cross show he had played at became a hit. Within the US Army, Brubeck formed one of the first racially diverse bands. In 1951, Brubeck formed the Dave Brubeck Quartet, which kept its name despite shifting personnel. The most successful—and prolific—lineup of the quartet was the one between 1958 and 1968. This lineup, in addition to Brubeck, featured saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello. A U.S. Department of State-sponsored tour in 1958 featuring the band inspired several of Brubeck's subsequent albums, most notably the 1959 album Time Out. Despite its esoteric theme and contrarian time signatures, Time Out became Brubeck's highest-selling album, and the first jazz album to sell over one million copies. The lead single from the album, \"Take Five\", a tune written by Desmond in 4 time, similarly became the highest-selling jazz single of all time. The quartet followed up Time Out with four other albums in non-standard time signatures, and some of the other songs from this series became hits as well, including \"Blue Rondo à la Turk\" (in 8) and \"Unsquare Dance\" (in 4). Brubeck continued releasing music until his death in 2012.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Brubeck's style ranged from refined to bombastic, reflecting both his mother's classical training and his own improvisational skills. He expressed elements of atonality and fugue. Brubeck, with Desmond, used elements of West Coast jazz near the height of its popularity, combining them with the unorthodox time signatures seen in Time Out. Like many of his contemporaries, Brubeck played into the style of the French composer Darius Milhaud, especially his earlier works, including \"Serenade Suite\" and \"Playland-At-The-Beach\". Brubeck's fusion of classical music and jazz would come to be known as \"third stream\", although Brubeck's use of third stream would predate the coining of the term. John Fordham of The Guardian commented: \"Brubeck's real achievement was to blend European compositional ideas, very demanding rhythmic structures, jazz song-forms and improvisation in expressive and accessible ways.\"",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Brubeck was the recipient of several music awards and honors throughout his lifetime. In 1996, Brubeck received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2008, Brubeck was inducted into the California Hall of Fame, and a year later, he was given an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music. Brubeck's 1959 album Time Out was added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2005. Noted as \"one of Jazz's first pop stars\" by the Los Angeles Times, Brubeck rejected his fame, and felt uncomfortable with Time magazine featuring him on the cover before Duke Ellington.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Brubeck had Swiss ancestry (the family surname was originally Brodbeck), while his maternal grandparents were English and German. He was born on December 6, 1920, in Concord, California, and grew up in Ione, California. His father, Peter Howard \"Pete\" Brubeck, was a cattle rancher, while his mother, Elizabeth (née Ivey), who had studied piano in England under Myra Hess and intended to become a concert pianist, taught piano for extra money.",
"title": "Ancestry and early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Brubeck did not intend to become a musician, although his two older brothers, Henry and Howard, were already on that track. Brubeck did, however, take lessons from his mother. He could not read music during these early lessons, attributing the difficulty to poor eyesight, but \"faked\" his way through well enough that his deficiency went mostly unnoticed. Planning to work with his father on their ranch, Brubeck entered the liberal arts college College of the Pacific in Stockton, California, in 1938 to study veterinary science. He switched his major to music at the urging of the head of zoology at the time, Dr. Arnold, who told him, \"Brubeck, your mind's not here. It's across the lawn in the conservatory. Please go there. Stop wasting my time and yours.\" Later, Brubeck was nearly expelled when one of his professors discovered that he was unable to sight-read. Several others came forward to his defense, however, arguing that his ability to write counterpoint and harmony more than compensated, and demonstrated his skill with music notation. The college was still concerned, but agreed to allow Brubeck to graduate only after he promised never to teach piano.",
"title": "Ancestry and early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "After graduating in 1942, Brubeck was drafted into the United States Army, serving in Europe in the Third Army under George S. Patton. He volunteered to play piano at a Red Cross show; the show was a resounding success, and Brubeck was spared from combat service. He created one of the U.S. armed forces' first racially integrated bands, \"The Wolfpack\". It was in the military, in 1944, that Brubeck met Paul Desmond. After serving nearly four years in the army, he returned to California for graduate study at Mills College in Oakland. He was a student of Darius Milhaud, who encouraged him to study fugue and orchestration, but not classical piano. While on active duty, he received two lessons from Arnold Schoenberg at UCLA in an attempt to connect with high modernist theory and practice. However, the encounter did not end on good terms since Schoenberg believed that every note should be accounted for, an approach which Brubeck could not accept, although according to his son Chris Brubeck, there is a twelve-tone row in The Light in the Wilderness, Dave Brubeck's first oratorio. In it, Jesus's Twelve Disciples are introduced each singing their own individual notes; it is described as \"quite dramatic, especially when Judas starts singing 'Repent' on a high and straining dissonant note\".",
"title": "Military service"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Jack Sheedy owned San Francisco-based Coronet Records, which had previously recorded area Dixieland bands. (This Coronet Records is distinct from the late 1950s New York-based budget label, and also from Australia-based Coronet Records.) In 1949, Sheedy was convinced to make the first recording of Brubeck's octet and later his trio. But Sheedy was unable to pay his bills and in 1949 gave up his masters to his record stamping company, the Circle Record Company, owned by Max and Sol Weiss. The Weiss brothers soon changed the name of their business to Fantasy Records.",
"title": "Military service"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The first Brubeck records sold well, and he made new records for Fantasy. Soon the company was shipping 40,000 to 50,000 copies of Brubeck records each quarter, making a good profit.",
"title": "Military service"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "In 1951, Brubeck organized the Dave Brubeck Quartet, with Paul Desmond on alto saxophone. The two took up residency at San Francisco's Black Hawk nightclub and had success touring college campuses, recording a series of live albums.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The first of these live albums, Jazz at Oberlin, was recorded in March 1953 in the Finney Chapel at Oberlin College. Brubeck's live performance was credited with legitimizing the field of jazz music at Oberlin, and the album is one of the earliest examples of cool jazz. Brubeck returned to College of the Pacific to record Jazz at the College of the Pacific in December of that year.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Following the release of Jazz at the College of the Pacific, Brubeck signed with Fantasy Records, believing that he had a stake in the company and worked as an artists and repertoire promoter for the label, encouraging the Weiss brothers to sign other contemporary jazz performers, including Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker and Red Norvo. Upon discovering that the deal was for a half interest in his own recordings, Brubeck quit to sign with another label, Columbia Records.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "In June 1954, Brubeck released Jazz Goes to College, with double bassist Bob Bates and drummer Joe Dodge. The album is a compilation of the quartet's visits to three colleges: Oberlin College, University of Michigan, and University of Cincinnati, and features seven songs, two of which were written by Brubeck and Desmond. \"Balcony Rock\", the opening song on the album, was noted for its timing and uneven tonalities, themes that would be explored by Brubeck later.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Brubeck was featured on the cover of Time in November 1954, the second jazz musician to be featured, following Louis Armstrong in February 1949. Brubeck personally found this acclaim embarrassing, since he considered Duke Ellington more deserving and was convinced that he had been favored as a Caucasian. In one encounter with Ellington, he knocked on the door of Brubeck's hotel room to show him the cover; Brubeck's response was, \"It should have been you.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Early bassists for the group included Ron Crotty, Bates, and Bates' brother Norman; Lloyd Davis and Dodge held the drum chair. In 1956, Brubeck hired drummer Joe Morello, who had been working with Marian McPartland; Morello's presence made possible the rhythmic experiments that were to come. In 1958, African-American bassist Eugene Wright joined for the group's Department of State tour of Europe and Asia. The group visited Poland, Turkey, India, Ceylon, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq on behalf of the Department of State. They spent two weeks in Poland, giving thirteen concerts and visiting with Polish musicians and citizens as part of the People-to-People program. Wright became a permanent member in 1959, finishing the \"classic era\" of the quartet's personnel. During this time, Brubeck was strongly supportive of Wright's inclusion in the band, and reportedly canceled several concerts when the club owners or hall managers objected to presenting an integrated band. He also canceled a television appearance when he found out that the producers intended to keep Wright off-camera.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In 1959, the Dave Brubeck Quartet recorded Time Out. The album, which featured pieces entirely written by members of the quartet, notably uses unusual time signatures in the field of music—and especially jazz—a crux which Columbia Records was enthusiastic about, but which they were nonetheless hesitant to release.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The release of Time Out required the cooperation of Columbia Records president Goddard Lieberson, who underwrote and released Time Out, on the condition that the quartet record a conventional album of the American South, Gone with the Wind, to cover the risk of Time Out becoming a commercial failure.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Featuring the cover art of S. Neil Fujita, Time Out was released in December 1959, to negative critical reception. Nonetheless, on the strength of these unusual time signatures, the album quickly went Gold (and was eventually certified Double Platinum), and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. It was the first jazz album to sell more than a million copies. The single \"Take Five\" off the album quickly became a jazz standard, despite its unusual composition and its time signature: 4 time.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Time Out was followed by several albums with a similar approach, including Time Further Out: Miro Reflections (1961), using more 4, 4, and 8, plus the first attempt at 4; Countdown—Time in Outer Space (dedicated to John Glenn, 1962), featuring 4 and more 4; Time Changes (1963), with much 4, 4 and 4; and Time In (1966). These albums (except Time In) were also known for using contemporary paintings as cover art, featuring the work of Joan Miró on Time Further Out, Franz Kline on Time in Outer Space, and Sam Francis on Time Changes.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "On a handful of albums in the early 1960s, clarinetist Bill Smith replaced Desmond. These albums were devoted to Smith's compositions and thus had a somewhat different aesthetic than other Brubeck Quartet albums. Nonetheless, according to critic Ken Dryden, \"[Smith] proves himself very much in Desmond's league with his witty solos\". Smith was an old friend of Brubeck's; they would record together, intermittently, from the 1940s until the final years of Brubeck's career.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "In 1961, Brubeck and his wife, Iola, developed a jazz musical, The Real Ambassadors, based in part on experiences they and their colleagues had during foreign tours on behalf of the Department of State. The soundtrack album, which featured Louis Armstrong, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, and Carmen McRae was recorded in 1961; the musical was performed at the 1962 Monterey Jazz Festival.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "At its peak in the early 1960s, the Brubeck Quartet was releasing as many as four albums a year. Apart from the \"College\" and the \"Time\" series, Brubeck recorded four LP records featuring his compositions based on the group's travels, and the local music they encountered. Jazz Impressions of the U.S.A. (1956, Morello's debut with the group), Jazz Impressions of Eurasia (1958), Jazz Impressions of Japan (1964), and Jazz Impressions of New York (1964) are less well-known albums and they produced Brubeck standards such as \"Summer Song\", \"Brandenburg Gate\", \"Koto Song\", and \"Theme from Mr. Broadway\". (Brubeck wrote, and the Quartet performed, the theme song for this Craig Stevens CBS drama series; the music from the series became material for the New York album.) In 1961, Brubeck appeared in a few scenes of the British jazz/beat film All Night Long, which starred Patrick McGoohan and Richard Attenborough. Brubeck merely plays himself, with the film featuring close-ups of his piano fingerings. Brubeck performs \"It's a Raggy Waltz\" from the Time Further Out album and duets briefly with bassist Charles Mingus in \"Non-Sectarian Blues\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Brubeck also served as the program director of WJZZ-FM (now WEZN-FM) while recording for the quartet. He achieved his vision of an all-jazz format radio station along with his friend and neighbor John E. Metts, one of the first African Americans in senior radio management.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The final studio album for Columbia by the Desmond/Wright/Morello quartet was Anything Goes (1966), featuring the songs of Cole Porter. A few concert recordings followed, and The Last Time We Saw Paris (1967) was the \"Classic\" quartet's swan-song.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Brubeck produced The Gates of Justice in 1968, a cantata mixing Biblical scripture with the words of Martin Luther King Jr.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "In 1971, the new senior management at Columbia Records decided not to renew Brubeck's contract, as they wished to focus on rock music. He moved to Atlantic Records.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Brubeck's music was used in the 1985 film Ordeal by Innocence. He also composed for—and performed with his ensemble on—\"The NASA Space Station\", a 1988 episode of the CBS TV series This Is America, Charlie Brown.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Brubeck founded the Brubeck Institute with his wife, Iola, at their alma mater, the University of the Pacific in 2000. What began as a special archive, consisting of the personal document collection of the Brubecks, has since expanded to provide fellowships and educational opportunities in jazz for students, also leading to having one of the main streets on which the school resides named in his honor, Dave Brubeck Way.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In 2008, Brubeck became a supporter of the Jazz Foundation of America in its mission to save the homes and the lives of elderly jazz and blues musicians, including those who had survived Hurricane Katrina. Brubeck supported the Jazz Foundation by performing in its annual benefit concert \"A Great Night in Harlem\".",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Dave Brubeck married jazz lyricist Iola Whitlock in September 1942; the couple were married for 70 years, until his death in 2012. Iola died at age 90 on March 12, 2014, from cancer in Wilton, Connecticut.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Brubeck had six children with Iola. Four of his children have been professional musicians. Darius, named after Brubeck's mentor Darius Milhaud and the eldest, is a pianist, producer, educator and performer. Dan is a percussionist, Chris is a multi-instrumentalist and composer, and Matthew, the youngest, is a cellist with an extensive list of composing and performance credits. Another son, Michael, died in 2009. Brubeck's children often joined him in concerts and in the recording studio.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Brubeck became a Catholic in 1980, shortly after completing the Mass To Hope which had been commissioned by Ed Murray, editor of the national Catholic weekly Our Sunday Visitor. Although he had spiritual interests before that time, he said, \"I didn't convert to Catholicism, because I wasn't anything to convert from. I just joined the Catholic Church.\" In 1996, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006, Brubeck was awarded the University of Notre Dame's Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics, during the university's commencement. He performed \"Travellin' Blues\" for the graduating class of 2006.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Brubeck died of heart failure on December 5, 2012, in Norwalk, Connecticut, one day before his 92nd birthday. He was on his way to a cardiology appointment, accompanied by his son Darius. A birthday party concert had been planned for him with family and famous guests. A memorial tribute was held in May 2013.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Brubeck is interred at Umpawaug Cemetery in Redding, Connecticut.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "The Los Angeles Times noted that he \"was one of Jazz's first pop stars\", even though he was not always happy with his fame. He felt uncomfortable, for example, that Time magazine had featured him on the cover before it did so for Duke Ellington, saying, \"It just bothered me.\" The New York Times noted he had continued to play well into his old age, performing in 2011 and in 2010 only a month after getting a pacemaker, with Times music writer Nate Chinen commenting that Brubeck had replaced \"the old hammer-and-anvil attack with something almost airy\" and that his playing at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City was \"the picture of judicious clarity\".",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "In The Daily Telegraph, music journalist Ivan Hewett wrote: \"Brubeck didn't have the réclame of some jazz musicians who lead tragic lives. He didn't do drugs or drink. What he had was endless curiosity combined with stubbornness\", adding: \"His work list is astonishing, including oratorios, musicals and concertos, as well as hundreds of jazz compositions. This quiet man of jazz was truly a marvel.\"",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "In The Guardian, John Fordham said \"Brubeck's real achievement was to blend European compositional ideas, very demanding rhythmic structures, jazz song-forms and improvisation in expressive and accessible ways. His son Chris told The Guardian \"when I hear Chorale, it reminds me of the very best Aaron Copland, something like Appalachian Spring. There's a sort of American honesty to it.\" Robert Christgau dubbed Brubeck the \"jazz hero of the rock and roll generation\".",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "The Economist wrote: \"Above all they found it hard to believe that the most successful jazz in America was being played by a family man, a laid-back Californian, modest, gentle and open, who would happily have been a rancher all his days—except that he couldn't live without performing, because the rhythm of jazz, under all his extrapolation and exploration, was, he had discovered, the rhythm of his heart.\"",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "While on tour performing \"Hot House\" in Toronto, Chick Corea and Gary Burton completed a tribute to Brubeck on the day of his death. Corea played \"Strange Meadow Lark\", from Brubeck's album Time Out.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "In the United States, May 4 is informally observed as \"Dave Brubeck Day\". In the format most commonly used in the U.S., May 4 is written \"5/4\", recalling the time signature of \"Take Five\", Brubeck's best-known recording. In September 2019, musicologist Stephen A. Crist's book, Dave Brubeck's Time Out, provided the first scholarly book length analysis of the seminal album. In addition to his musical analyses of each of the album's original compositions, Crist provides insight into Brubeck's career during a time he was rising to the top of the jazz charts.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "In 1975, the main-belt asteroid 5079 Brubeck was named after Brubeck.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Brubeck recorded five of the seven tracks of his album Jazz Goes to College in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He returned to Michigan many times, including a performance at Hill Auditorium where he received a Distinguished Artist Award from the University of Michigan's Musical Society in 2006. Brubeck was presented with a \"Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy\" by United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2008 for offering an American \"vision of hope, opportunity and freedom\" through his music. \"As a little girl I grew up on the sounds of Dave Brubeck because my dad was your biggest fan\", said Rice. The State Department said in a statement that \"as a pianist, composer, cultural emissary and educator, Dave Brubeck's life's work exemplifies the best of America's cultural diplomacy\". At the ceremony, Brubeck played a brief recital for the audience at the State Department. \"I want to thank all of you because this honor is something that I never expected. Now I am going to play a cold piano with cold hands\", Brubeck stated.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced on May 28, 2008, that Brubeck would be inducted into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts. The induction ceremony occurred December 10, and he was inducted alongside eleven other famous Californians.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "On October 18, 2008, Brubeck received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Similarly, at the Monterey Jazz Festival in September 2009, Brubeck was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree (D.Mus. honoris causa) from Berklee College of Music. On May 16, 2010, Brubeck was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree (honoris causa) from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The ceremony took place on the National Mall.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "In September 2009, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Brubeck as a Kennedy Center Honoree for exhibiting excellence in performance arts. The Kennedy Center Honors Gala took place on Sunday, December 6 (Brubeck's 89th birthday), and was broadcast nationwide on CBS on December 29 at 9:00 pm EST. When the award was made, President Barack Obama recalled a 1971 concert Brubeck had given in Honolulu and said, \"You can't understand America without understanding jazz, and you can't understand jazz without understanding Dave Brubeck.\"",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "On July 5, 2010, Brubeck was awarded the Miles Davis Award at the Montreal International Jazz Festival. In 2010, Bruce Ricker and Clint Eastwood produced Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way, a documentary about Brubeck for Turner Classic Movies (TCM) to commemorate his 90th birthday in December 2010.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "The Concord Boulevard Park in his hometown of Concord, California, was posthumously renamed to \"Dave Brubeck Memorial Park\" in his honor. Mayor Dan Helix favorably recalled one of his performances at the park, saying: \"He will be with us forever because his music will never die.\"",
"title": "Legacy"
}
] | David Warren Brubeck was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities. Born in Concord, California, Brubeck was drafted into the US Army, but was spared from combat service when a Red Cross show he had played at became a hit. Within the US Army, Brubeck formed one of the first racially diverse bands. In 1951, Brubeck formed the Dave Brubeck Quartet, which kept its name despite shifting personnel. The most successful—and prolific—lineup of the quartet was the one between 1958 and 1968. This lineup, in addition to Brubeck, featured saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello. A U.S. Department of State-sponsored tour in 1958 featuring the band inspired several of Brubeck's subsequent albums, most notably the 1959 album Time Out. Despite its esoteric theme and contrarian time signatures, Time Out became Brubeck's highest-selling album, and the first jazz album to sell over one million copies. The lead single from the album, "Take Five", a tune written by Desmond in 54 time, similarly became the highest-selling jazz single of all time. The quartet followed up Time Out with four other albums in non-standard time signatures, and some of the other songs from this series became hits as well, including "Blue Rondo à la Turk" and "Unsquare Dance". Brubeck continued releasing music until his death in 2012. Brubeck's style ranged from refined to bombastic, reflecting both his mother's classical training and his own improvisational skills. He expressed elements of atonality and fugue. Brubeck, with Desmond, used elements of West Coast jazz near the height of its popularity, combining them with the unorthodox time signatures seen in Time Out. Like many of his contemporaries, Brubeck played into the style of the French composer Darius Milhaud, especially his earlier works, including "Serenade Suite" and "Playland-At-The-Beach". Brubeck's fusion of classical music and jazz would come to be known as "third stream", although Brubeck's use of third stream would predate the coining of the term. John Fordham of The Guardian commented: "Brubeck's real achievement was to blend European compositional ideas, very demanding rhythmic structures, jazz song-forms and improvisation in expressive and accessible ways." Brubeck was the recipient of several music awards and honors throughout his lifetime. In 1996, Brubeck received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2008, Brubeck was inducted into the California Hall of Fame, and a year later, he was given an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music. Brubeck's 1959 album Time Out was added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2005. Noted as "one of Jazz's first pop stars" by the Los Angeles Times, Brubeck rejected his fame, and felt uncomfortable with Time magazine featuring him on the cover before Duke Ellington. | 2001-06-22T18:48:41Z | 2023-12-17T18:19:19Z | [
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8,179 | Dye | A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution and may require a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber.
The majority of natural dyes are derived from non-animal sources such as roots, berries, bark, leaves, wood, fungi and lichens. However, due to large-scale demand and technological improvements, most dyes used in the modern world are synthetically produced from substances such as petrochemicals. Some are extracted from insects and/or minerals.
Synthetic dyes are produced from various chemicals. The great majority of dyes are obtained in this way because of their superior cost, optical properties (color), and resilience (fastness, mordancy). Both dyes and pigments are colored, because they absorb only some wavelengths of visible light. Dyes are usually soluble in some solvent, whereas pigments are insoluble. Some dyes can be rendered insoluble with the addition of salt to produce a lake pigment.
Textile dyeing dates back to the Neolithic period. Throughout history, people have dyed their textiles using common, locally available materials. Scarce dyestuffs that produced brilliant and permanent colors such as the natural invertebrate dyes Tyrian purple and crimson kermes were highly prized luxury items in the ancient and medieval world. Plant-based dyes such as woad, indigo, saffron, and madder were important trade goods in the economies of Asia and Europe. Across Asia and Africa, patterned fabrics were produced using resist dyeing techniques to control the absorption of color in piece-dyed cloth. Dyes from the New World such as cochineal and logwood were brought to Europe by the Spanish treasure fleets, and the dyestuffs of Europe were carried by colonists to America.
Dyed flax fibers have been found in the Republic of Georgia in a prehistoric cave dated to 36,000 BP. Archaeological evidence shows that, particularly in India and Phoenicia, dyeing has been widely carried out for over 5,000 years. Early dyes were obtained from animal, vegetable or mineral sources, with no to very little processing. By far the greatest source of dyes has been from the plant kingdom, notably roots, berries, bark, leaves and wood, only few of which are used on a commercial scale.
Early industrialization was conducted by J. Pullar and Sons in Scotland. The first synthetic dye, mauve, was discovered serendipitously by William Henry Perkin in 1856. The discovery of mauveine started a surge in synthetic dyes and in organic chemistry in general. Other aniline dyes followed, such as fuchsine, safranine, and induline. Many thousands of synthetic dyes have since been prepared.
The discovery of mauve also led to developments within immunology and chemotherapy. In 1863 the forerunner to Bayer AG was formed in what became Wuppertal, Germany. In 1891, Paul Ehrlich discovered that certain cells or organisms took up certain dyes selectively. He then reasoned that a sufficiently large dose could be injected to kill pathogenic microorganisms, if the dye did not affect other cells. Ehrlich went on to use a compound to target syphilis, the first time a chemical was used in order to selectively kill bacteria in the body. He also used methylene blue to target the plasmodium responsible for malaria.
The color of a dye is dependent upon the ability of the substance to absorb light within the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum (380-750 nm). An earlier theory known as Witt theory stated that a colored dye had two components, a chromophore which imparts color by absorbing light in the visible region (some examples are nitro, azo, quinoid groups) and an auxochrome which serves to deepen the color. This theory has been superseded by modern electronic structure theory which states that the color in dyes is due to excitation of valence π-electrons by visible light.
Dyes are classified according to their solubility and chemical properties.
Acid dyes are water-soluble anionic dyes that are applied to fibers such as silk, wool, nylon and modified acrylic fibers using neutral to acid dye baths. Attachment to the fiber is attributed, at least partly, to salt formation between anionic groups in the dyes and cationic groups in the fiber. Acid dyes are not substantive to cellulosic fibers. Most synthetic food colors fall in this category. Examples of acid dye are Alizarine Pure Blue B, Acid red 88, etc.
Basic dyes are water-soluble cationic dyes that are mainly applied to acrylic fibers, but find some use for wool and silk. Usually acetic acid is added to the dye bath to help the uptake of the dye onto the fiber. Basic dyes are also used in the coloration of paper.
Direct or substantive dyeing is normally carried out in a neutral or slightly alkaline dye bath, at or near boiling point, with the addition of either sodium chloride (NaCl) or sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) or sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). Direct dyes are used on cotton, paper, leather, wool, silk and nylon. They are also used as pH indicators and as biological stains.
Laser dyes are used in the production of some lasers, optical media (CD-R), and camera sensors (color filter array).
Mordant dyes require a mordant, which improves the fastness of the dye against water, light and perspiration. The choice of mordant is very important as different mordants can change the final color significantly. Most natural dyes are mordant dyes and there is therefore a large literature base describing dyeing techniques. The most important mordant dyes are the synthetic mordant dyes, or chrome dyes, used for wool; these comprise some 30% of dyes used for wool, and are especially useful for black and navy shades. The mordant potassium dichromate is applied as an after-treatment. It is important to note that many mordants, particularly those in the heavy metal category, can be hazardous to health and extreme care must be taken in using them.
Vat dyes are essentially insoluble in water and incapable of dyeing fibres directly. However, reduction in alkaline liquor produces the water-soluble alkali metal salt of the dye. This form is often colorless, in which case it is referred to as a Leuco dye, and has an affinity for the textile fibre. Subsequent oxidation reforms the original insoluble dye. The color of denim is due to indigo, the original vat dye.
Reactive dyes utilize a chromophore attached to a substituent that is capable of directly reacting with the fiber substrate. The covalent bonds that attach reactive dye to natural fibers make them among the most permanent of dyes. "Cold" reactive dyes, such as Procion MX, Cibacron F, and Drimarene K, are very easy to use because the dye can be applied at room temperature. Reactive dyes are by far the best choice for dyeing cotton and other cellulose fibers at home or in the art studio.
Disperse dyes were originally developed for the dyeing of cellulose acetate, and are water-insoluble. The dyes are finely ground in the presence of a dispersing agent and sold as a paste, or spray-dried and sold as a powder. Their main use is to dye polyester, but they can also be used to dye nylon, cellulose triacetate, and acrylic fibers. In some cases, a dyeing temperature of 130 °C (266 °F) is required, and a pressurized dyebath is used. The very fine particle size gives a large surface area that aids dissolution to allow uptake by the fiber. The dyeing rate can be significantly influenced by the choice of dispersing agent used during the grinding.
Azoic dyeing is a technique in which an insoluble Azo dye is produced directly onto or within the fiber. This is achieved by treating a fiber with both diazoic and coupling components. With suitable adjustment of dyebath conditions the two components react to produce the required insoluble azo dye. This technique of dyeing is unique, in that the final color is controlled by the choice of the diazoic and coupling components. This method of dyeing cotton is declining in importance due to the toxic nature of the chemicals used.
Sulfur dyes are inexpensive dyes used to dye cotton with dark colors. Dyeing is effected by heating the fabric in a solution of an organic compound, typically a nitrophenol derivative, and sulfide or polysulfide. The organic compound reacts with the sulfide source to form dark colors that adhere to the fabric. Sulfur Black 1, the largest selling dye by volume, does not have a well defined chemical structure.
Some dyes commonly used in Staining:
One other class that describes the role of dyes, rather than their mode of use, is the food dye. Because food dyes are classed as food additives, they are manufactured to a higher standard than some industrial dyes. Food dyes can be direct, mordant and vat dyes, and their use is strictly controlled by legislation. Many are azo dyes, although anthraquinone and triphenylmethane compounds are used for colors such as green and blue. Some naturally occurring dyes are also used.
A number of other classes have also been established, including:
By the nature of their chromophore, dyes are divided into:
Dyes produced by the textile, printing and paper industries are a source of pollution of rivers and waterways. An estimated 700,000 tons of dyestuffs are produced annually (1990 data). The disposal of that material has received much attention, using chemical and biological means.
A “vital dye” or stain is a dye capable of penetrating living cells or tissues without causing immediate visible degenerative changes. Such dyes are useful in medical and pathological fields in order to selectively color certain structures (such as cells) in order to distinguish them from surrounding tissue and thus make them more visible for study (for instance, under a microscope). As the visibility is meant to allow study of the cells or tissues, it is usually important that the dye not have other effects on the structure or function of the tissue that might impair objective observation.
A distinction is drawn between dyes that are meant to be used on cells that have been removed from the organism prior to study (supravital staining) and dyes that are used within a living body - administered by injection or other means (intravital staining) - as the latter is (for instance) subject to higher safety standards, and must typically be a chemical known to avoid causing adverse effects on any biochemistry (until cleared from the tissue), not just to the tissue being studied, or in the short term.
The term "vital stain" is occasionally used interchangeably with both intravital and supravital stains, the underlying concept in either case being that the cells examined are still alive. In a stricter sense, the term "vital staining" means the polar opposite of "supravital staining." If living cells absorb the stain during supravital staining, they exclude it during "vital staining"; for example, they color negatively while only dead cells color positively, and thus viability can be determined by counting the percentage of total cells that stain negatively. Because the dye determines whether the staining is supravital or intravital, a combination of supravital and vital dyes can be used to more accurately classify cells into various groups (e.g., viable, dead, dying). | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution and may require a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The majority of natural dyes are derived from non-animal sources such as roots, berries, bark, leaves, wood, fungi and lichens. However, due to large-scale demand and technological improvements, most dyes used in the modern world are synthetically produced from substances such as petrochemicals. Some are extracted from insects and/or minerals.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Synthetic dyes are produced from various chemicals. The great majority of dyes are obtained in this way because of their superior cost, optical properties (color), and resilience (fastness, mordancy). Both dyes and pigments are colored, because they absorb only some wavelengths of visible light. Dyes are usually soluble in some solvent, whereas pigments are insoluble. Some dyes can be rendered insoluble with the addition of salt to produce a lake pigment.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Textile dyeing dates back to the Neolithic period. Throughout history, people have dyed their textiles using common, locally available materials. Scarce dyestuffs that produced brilliant and permanent colors such as the natural invertebrate dyes Tyrian purple and crimson kermes were highly prized luxury items in the ancient and medieval world. Plant-based dyes such as woad, indigo, saffron, and madder were important trade goods in the economies of Asia and Europe. Across Asia and Africa, patterned fabrics were produced using resist dyeing techniques to control the absorption of color in piece-dyed cloth. Dyes from the New World such as cochineal and logwood were brought to Europe by the Spanish treasure fleets, and the dyestuffs of Europe were carried by colonists to America.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Dyed flax fibers have been found in the Republic of Georgia in a prehistoric cave dated to 36,000 BP. Archaeological evidence shows that, particularly in India and Phoenicia, dyeing has been widely carried out for over 5,000 years. Early dyes were obtained from animal, vegetable or mineral sources, with no to very little processing. By far the greatest source of dyes has been from the plant kingdom, notably roots, berries, bark, leaves and wood, only few of which are used on a commercial scale.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Early industrialization was conducted by J. Pullar and Sons in Scotland. The first synthetic dye, mauve, was discovered serendipitously by William Henry Perkin in 1856. The discovery of mauveine started a surge in synthetic dyes and in organic chemistry in general. Other aniline dyes followed, such as fuchsine, safranine, and induline. Many thousands of synthetic dyes have since been prepared.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The discovery of mauve also led to developments within immunology and chemotherapy. In 1863 the forerunner to Bayer AG was formed in what became Wuppertal, Germany. In 1891, Paul Ehrlich discovered that certain cells or organisms took up certain dyes selectively. He then reasoned that a sufficiently large dose could be injected to kill pathogenic microorganisms, if the dye did not affect other cells. Ehrlich went on to use a compound to target syphilis, the first time a chemical was used in order to selectively kill bacteria in the body. He also used methylene blue to target the plasmodium responsible for malaria.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The color of a dye is dependent upon the ability of the substance to absorb light within the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum (380-750 nm). An earlier theory known as Witt theory stated that a colored dye had two components, a chromophore which imparts color by absorbing light in the visible region (some examples are nitro, azo, quinoid groups) and an auxochrome which serves to deepen the color. This theory has been superseded by modern electronic structure theory which states that the color in dyes is due to excitation of valence π-electrons by visible light.",
"title": "Chemistry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Dyes are classified according to their solubility and chemical properties.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Acid dyes are water-soluble anionic dyes that are applied to fibers such as silk, wool, nylon and modified acrylic fibers using neutral to acid dye baths. Attachment to the fiber is attributed, at least partly, to salt formation between anionic groups in the dyes and cationic groups in the fiber. Acid dyes are not substantive to cellulosic fibers. Most synthetic food colors fall in this category. Examples of acid dye are Alizarine Pure Blue B, Acid red 88, etc.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Basic dyes are water-soluble cationic dyes that are mainly applied to acrylic fibers, but find some use for wool and silk. Usually acetic acid is added to the dye bath to help the uptake of the dye onto the fiber. Basic dyes are also used in the coloration of paper.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Direct or substantive dyeing is normally carried out in a neutral or slightly alkaline dye bath, at or near boiling point, with the addition of either sodium chloride (NaCl) or sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) or sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). Direct dyes are used on cotton, paper, leather, wool, silk and nylon. They are also used as pH indicators and as biological stains.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Laser dyes are used in the production of some lasers, optical media (CD-R), and camera sensors (color filter array).",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Mordant dyes require a mordant, which improves the fastness of the dye against water, light and perspiration. The choice of mordant is very important as different mordants can change the final color significantly. Most natural dyes are mordant dyes and there is therefore a large literature base describing dyeing techniques. The most important mordant dyes are the synthetic mordant dyes, or chrome dyes, used for wool; these comprise some 30% of dyes used for wool, and are especially useful for black and navy shades. The mordant potassium dichromate is applied as an after-treatment. It is important to note that many mordants, particularly those in the heavy metal category, can be hazardous to health and extreme care must be taken in using them.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Vat dyes are essentially insoluble in water and incapable of dyeing fibres directly. However, reduction in alkaline liquor produces the water-soluble alkali metal salt of the dye. This form is often colorless, in which case it is referred to as a Leuco dye, and has an affinity for the textile fibre. Subsequent oxidation reforms the original insoluble dye. The color of denim is due to indigo, the original vat dye.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Reactive dyes utilize a chromophore attached to a substituent that is capable of directly reacting with the fiber substrate. The covalent bonds that attach reactive dye to natural fibers make them among the most permanent of dyes. \"Cold\" reactive dyes, such as Procion MX, Cibacron F, and Drimarene K, are very easy to use because the dye can be applied at room temperature. Reactive dyes are by far the best choice for dyeing cotton and other cellulose fibers at home or in the art studio.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Disperse dyes were originally developed for the dyeing of cellulose acetate, and are water-insoluble. The dyes are finely ground in the presence of a dispersing agent and sold as a paste, or spray-dried and sold as a powder. Their main use is to dye polyester, but they can also be used to dye nylon, cellulose triacetate, and acrylic fibers. In some cases, a dyeing temperature of 130 °C (266 °F) is required, and a pressurized dyebath is used. The very fine particle size gives a large surface area that aids dissolution to allow uptake by the fiber. The dyeing rate can be significantly influenced by the choice of dispersing agent used during the grinding.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Azoic dyeing is a technique in which an insoluble Azo dye is produced directly onto or within the fiber. This is achieved by treating a fiber with both diazoic and coupling components. With suitable adjustment of dyebath conditions the two components react to produce the required insoluble azo dye. This technique of dyeing is unique, in that the final color is controlled by the choice of the diazoic and coupling components. This method of dyeing cotton is declining in importance due to the toxic nature of the chemicals used.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Sulfur dyes are inexpensive dyes used to dye cotton with dark colors. Dyeing is effected by heating the fabric in a solution of an organic compound, typically a nitrophenol derivative, and sulfide or polysulfide. The organic compound reacts with the sulfide source to form dark colors that adhere to the fabric. Sulfur Black 1, the largest selling dye by volume, does not have a well defined chemical structure.",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Some dyes commonly used in Staining:",
"title": "Types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "One other class that describes the role of dyes, rather than their mode of use, is the food dye. Because food dyes are classed as food additives, they are manufactured to a higher standard than some industrial dyes. Food dyes can be direct, mordant and vat dyes, and their use is strictly controlled by legislation. Many are azo dyes, although anthraquinone and triphenylmethane compounds are used for colors such as green and blue. Some naturally occurring dyes are also used.",
"title": "Food dyes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "A number of other classes have also been established, including:",
"title": "Other important dyes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "By the nature of their chromophore, dyes are divided into:",
"title": "Chromophoric dyes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Dyes produced by the textile, printing and paper industries are a source of pollution of rivers and waterways. An estimated 700,000 tons of dyestuffs are produced annually (1990 data). The disposal of that material has received much attention, using chemical and biological means.",
"title": "Pollution"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "A “vital dye” or stain is a dye capable of penetrating living cells or tissues without causing immediate visible degenerative changes. Such dyes are useful in medical and pathological fields in order to selectively color certain structures (such as cells) in order to distinguish them from surrounding tissue and thus make them more visible for study (for instance, under a microscope). As the visibility is meant to allow study of the cells or tissues, it is usually important that the dye not have other effects on the structure or function of the tissue that might impair objective observation.",
"title": "Vital dyes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "A distinction is drawn between dyes that are meant to be used on cells that have been removed from the organism prior to study (supravital staining) and dyes that are used within a living body - administered by injection or other means (intravital staining) - as the latter is (for instance) subject to higher safety standards, and must typically be a chemical known to avoid causing adverse effects on any biochemistry (until cleared from the tissue), not just to the tissue being studied, or in the short term.",
"title": "Vital dyes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The term \"vital stain\" is occasionally used interchangeably with both intravital and supravital stains, the underlying concept in either case being that the cells examined are still alive. In a stricter sense, the term \"vital staining\" means the polar opposite of \"supravital staining.\" If living cells absorb the stain during supravital staining, they exclude it during \"vital staining\"; for example, they color negatively while only dead cells color positively, and thus viability can be determined by counting the percentage of total cells that stain negatively. Because the dye determines whether the staining is supravital or intravital, a combination of supravital and vital dyes can be used to more accurately classify cells into various groups (e.g., viable, dead, dying).",
"title": "Vital dyes"
}
] | A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution and may require a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber. The majority of natural dyes are derived from non-animal sources such as roots, berries, bark, leaves, wood, fungi and lichens. However, due to large-scale demand and technological improvements, most dyes used in the modern world are synthetically produced from substances such as petrochemicals. Some are extracted from insects and/or minerals. Synthetic dyes are produced from various chemicals. The great majority of dyes are obtained in this way because of their superior cost, optical properties (color), and resilience. Both dyes and pigments are colored, because they absorb only some wavelengths of visible light. Dyes are usually soluble in some solvent, whereas pigments are insoluble. Some dyes can be rendered insoluble with the addition of salt to produce a lake pigment. | 2001-06-26T22:41:11Z | 2023-11-22T06:03:37Z | [
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8,182 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | Dwight David Eisenhower (/ˈaɪzənhaʊ.ər/ EYE-zən-how-ər; born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969), nicknamed Ike, was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe and achieved the five-star rank as General of the Army. Eisenhower planned and supervised two of the most consequential military campaigns of World War II: Operation Torch in the North Africa campaign in 1942–1943 and the invasion of Normandy in 1944.
Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas, and raised in Abilene, Kansas. His family had a strong religious background, and his mother became a Jehovah's Witness. Eisenhower, however, belonged to no organized church until 1952. He graduated from West Point in 1915 and later married Mamie Doud, with whom he had two sons. During World War I, he was denied a request to serve in Europe and instead commanded a unit that trained tank crews. Following the war, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1941. After the United States entered World War II, Eisenhower oversaw the invasions of North Africa and Sicily before supervising the invasions of France and Germany. After the war ended in Europe, he served as military governor of the American-occupied zone of Germany (1945), Army Chief of Staff (1945–1948), president of Columbia University (1948–1953), and as the first supreme commander of NATO (1951–1952).
In 1952, Eisenhower entered the presidential race as a Republican to block the isolationist foreign policies of Senator Robert A. Taft, who opposed NATO. Eisenhower won that election and the 1956 election in landslides, both times defeating Adlai Stevenson II. Eisenhower's main goals in office were to contain the spread of communism and reduce federal deficits. In 1953, he considered using nuclear weapons to end the Korean War and may have threatened China with nuclear attack if an armistice was not reached quickly. China did agree and an armistice resulted, which remains in effect. His New Look policy of nuclear deterrence prioritized "inexpensive" nuclear weapons while reducing funding for expensive Army divisions. He continued Harry S. Truman's policy of recognizing Taiwan as the legitimate government of China, and he won congressional approval of the Formosa Resolution. His administration provided major aid to help the French fight off Vietnamese Communists in the First Indochina War. After the French left, he gave strong financial support to the new state of South Vietnam. He supported regime-changing military coups in Iran and Guatemala orchestrated by his own administration. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, he condemned the Israeli, British, and French invasion of Egypt, and he forced them to withdraw. He also condemned the Soviet invasion during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 but took no action. He deployed 15,000 soldiers during the 1958 Lebanon crisis. Near the end of his term, a summit meeting with the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was cancelled when a US spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. Eisenhower approved the Bay of Pigs Invasion, which was left to John F. Kennedy to carry out.
On the domestic front, Eisenhower governed as a moderate conservative who continued New Deal agencies and expanded Social Security. He covertly opposed Joseph McCarthy and contributed to the end of McCarthyism by openly invoking executive privilege. He signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and sent Army troops to enforce federal court orders which integrated schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. His administration undertook the development and construction of the Interstate Highway System, which remains the largest construction of roadways in American history. In 1957, following the Soviet launch of Sputnik, Eisenhower led the American response which included the creation of NASA and the establishment of a stronger, science-based education via the National Defense Education Act. The Soviet Union began to reinforce their own space program, escalating the Space Race. His two terms saw unprecedented economic prosperity except for a minor recession in 1958. In his farewell address, he expressed his concerns about the dangers of massive military spending, particularly deficit spending and government contracts to private military manufacturers, which he dubbed "the military–industrial complex". Historical evaluations of his presidency place him among the upper tier of American presidents.
The Eisenhauer (German for "iron hewer" or "iron miner") family migrated from the German village of Karlsbrunn to the Province of Pennsylvania in 1741. Accounts vary as to how and when the German name Eisenhauer was anglicized.
David Jacob Eisenhower, Eisenhower's father, was a college-educated engineer, despite his own father's urging to stay on the family farm. Eisenhower's mother, Ida Elizabeth (Stover) Eisenhower, of predominantly German Protestant ancestry, moved to Kansas from Virginia. She married David on September 23, 1885, in Lecompton, Kansas, on the campus of their alma mater, Lane University. David owned a general store in Hope, Kansas, but the business failed due to economic conditions and the family became impoverished. The Eisenhowers lived in Texas from 1889 until 1892, and later returned to Kansas, with $24 (equivalent to $782 in 2022) to their name. David worked as a railroad mechanic and then at a creamery. By 1898, the parents made a decent living and provided a suitable home for their large family.
Eisenhower was born David Dwight Eisenhower in Denison, Texas, on October 14, 1890, the third of seven sons born to Ida and David. His mother soon reversed his two forenames after his birth to avoid the confusion of having two Davids in the family. He was named Dwight after the evangelist Dwight L. Moody. All of the boys were nicknamed "Ike", such as "Big Ike" (Edgar) and "Little Ike" (Dwight); the nickname was intended as an abbreviation of their last name. By World War II, only Dwight was still called "Ike".
In 1892, the family moved to Abilene, Kansas, which Eisenhower considered his hometown. As a child, he was involved in an accident that cost his younger brother Earl an eye, for which he was remorseful for the remainder of his life. Eisenhower developed a keen and enduring interest in exploring the outdoors. He learned about hunting and fishing, cooking, and card playing from a man named Bob Davis who camped on the Smoky Hill River. While his mother was against war, it was her collection of history books that first sparked Eisenhower's interest in military history; he became a voracious reader on the subject. Other favorite subjects early in his education were arithmetic and spelling.
Eisenhower's parents set aside specific times at breakfast and at dinner for daily family Bible reading. Chores were regularly assigned and rotated among all the children, and misbehavior was met with unequivocal discipline, usually from David. His mother, previously a member (with David) of the River Brethren (Brethren in Christ Church) sect of the Mennonites, joined the International Bible Students Association, later known as Jehovah's Witnesses. The Eisenhower home served as the local meeting hall from 1896 to 1915, though Dwight never joined. His later decision to attend West Point saddened his mother, who felt that warfare was "rather wicked", but she did not overrule his decision. Speaking of himself in 1948, Eisenhower said he was "one of the most deeply religious men I know" though unattached to any "sect or organization". He was baptized in the Presbyterian Church in 1953.
Eisenhower attended Abilene High School and graduated in 1909. As a freshman, he injured his knee and developed a leg infection that extended into his groin, which his doctor diagnosed as life-threatening. The doctor insisted that the leg be amputated but Dwight refused to allow it, and surprisingly recovered, though he had to repeat his freshman year. He and brother Edgar both wanted to attend college, though they lacked the funds. They made a pact to take alternate years at college while the other worked to earn the tuitions.
Edgar took the first turn at school, and Dwight was employed as a night supervisor at the Belle Springs Creamery. When Edgar asked for a second year, Dwight consented and worked for a second year. At that time, a friend Edward "Swede" Hazlett was applying to the Naval Academy and urged Dwight to apply, since no tuition was required. Eisenhower requested consideration for either Annapolis or West Point with his Senator, Joseph L. Bristow. Though Eisenhower was among the winners of the entrance-exam competition, he was beyond the age limit for the Naval Academy. He accepted an appointment to West Point in 1911.
At West Point, Eisenhower relished the emphasis on traditions and on sports, but was less enthusiastic about the hazing, though he willingly accepted it as a plebe. He was also a regular violator of the more detailed regulations and finished school with a less than stellar discipline rating. Academically, Eisenhower's best subject by far was English. Otherwise, his performance was average, though he thoroughly enjoyed the typical emphasis of engineering on science and mathematics.
In athletics, Eisenhower later said that "not making the baseball team at West Point was one of the greatest disappointments of my life, maybe my greatest". He made the varsity football team and was a starter at halfback in 1912, when he tried to tackle the legendary Jim Thorpe of the Carlisle Indians. Eisenhower suffered a torn knee while being tackled in the next game, which was the last he played; he reinjured his knee on horseback and in the boxing ring, so he turned to fencing and gymnastics.
Eisenhower later served as junior varsity football coach and cheerleader, which caught the attention of General Frederick Funston. He graduated from West Point in the middle of the class of 1915, which became known as "the class the stars fell on", because 59 members eventually became general officers. After graduation in 1915, Second Lieutenant Eisenhower requested an assignment in the Philippines, which was denied; because of the ongoing Mexican Revolution, he was posted to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, under the command of General Funston. In 1916, while stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Funston convinced him to become the football coach for Peacock Military Academy; he later became the coach at St. Louis College, now St. Mary's University, and was an honorary member of the Sigma Beta Chi fraternity there.
While Eisenhower was stationed in Texas, he met Mamie Doud of Boone, Iowa. They were immediately taken with each other. He proposed to her on Valentine's Day in 1916. A November wedding date in Denver was moved up to July 1 due to the impending American entry into World War I; Funston approved 10 days of leave for their wedding. The Eisenhowers moved many times during their first 35 years of marriage.
The Eisenhowers had two sons. In late 1917 while he was in charge of training at Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia, his wife Mamie had their first son, Doud Dwight "Icky" Eisenhower, who died of scarlet fever at the age of three. Eisenhower was mostly reluctant to discuss his death. Their second son, John Eisenhower, was born in Denver, Colorado. John served in the United States Army, retired as a brigadier general, became an author and served as Ambassador to Belgium from 1969 to 1971. He married Barbara Jean Thompson and had four children: David, Barbara Ann, Susan Elaine and Mary Jean. David, after whom Camp David is named, married Richard Nixon's daughter Julie in 1968.
Eisenhower was a golf enthusiast later in life, and he joined the Augusta National Golf Club in 1948. He played golf frequently during and after his presidency and was unreserved in his passion for the game, to the point of golfing during winter; he ordered his golf balls painted black so he could see them better against snow. He had a basic golf facility installed at Camp David, and he became close friends with the Augusta National Chairman Clifford Roberts, inviting Roberts to stay at the White House on numerous occasions. Roberts, an investment broker, also handled the Eisenhower family's investments.
He began oil painting while at Columbia University, after watching Thomas E. Stephens paint Mamie's portrait. In order to relax, Eisenhower painted about 260 oils during the last 20 years of his life. The images were mostly landscapes but also portraits of subjects such as Mamie, their grandchildren, General Montgomery, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. Wendy Beckett stated that Eisenhower's paintings, "simple and earnest", caused her to "wonder at the hidden depths of this reticent president". A conservative in both art and politics, Eisenhower in a 1962 speech denounced modern art as "a piece of canvas that looks like a broken-down Tin Lizzie, loaded with paint, has been driven over it".
Angels in the Outfield was Eisenhower's favorite movie. His favorite reading material for relaxation was the Western novels of Zane Grey. With his excellent memory and ability to focus, Eisenhower was skilled at cards. He learned poker, which he called his "favorite indoor sport", in Abilene. Eisenhower recorded West Point classmates' poker losses for payment after graduation and later stopped playing because his opponents resented having to pay him. A friend reported that after learning to play contract bridge at West Point, Eisenhower played the game six nights a week for five months. Eisenhower continued to play bridge throughout his military career. While stationed in the Philippines, he played regularly with President Manuel Quezon, earning him the nickname the "Bridge Wizard of Manila". An unwritten qualification for an officer's appointment to Eisenhower's staff during World War II was the ability to play bridge. He played even during the stressful weeks leading up to the D-Day landings. His favorite partner was General Alfred Gruenther, considered the best player in the US Army; he appointed Gruenther his second-in-command at NATO partly because of his skill at bridge. Saturday night bridge games at the White House were a feature of his presidency. He was a strong player, though not an expert by modern standards. The great bridge player and popularizer Ely Culbertson described his game as classic and sound with "flashes of brilliance" and said that "you can always judge a man's character by the way he plays cards. Eisenhower is a calm and collected player and never whines at his losses. He is brilliant in victory but never commits the bridge player's worst crime of gloating when he wins." Bridge expert Oswald Jacoby frequently participated in the White House games and said, "The President plays better bridge than golf. He tries to break 90 at golf. At bridge, you would say he plays in the 70s."
Eisenhower served initially in logistics and then the infantry at various camps in Texas and Georgia until 1918. When the US entered World War I, he immediately requested an overseas assignment but was denied and assigned to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. In February 1918, he was transferred to Camp Meade in Maryland with the 65th Engineers. His unit was later ordered to France, but, to his chagrin, he received orders for the new tank corps, where he was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel in the National Army. He commanded a unit that trained tank crews at Camp Colt – his first command. Though Eisenhower and his tank crews never saw combat, he displayed excellent organizational skills as well as an ability to accurately assess junior officers' strengths and make optimal placements of personnel.
His spirits were raised when the unit under his command received orders overseas to France. This time his wishes were thwarted when the armistice was signed a week before his departure date. Completely missing out on the warfront left him depressed and bitter for a time, despite receiving the Distinguished Service Medal for his work at home. In World War II, rivals who had combat service in the Great War (led by Gen. Bernard Montgomery) sought to denigrate Eisenhower for his previous lack of combat duty, despite his stateside experience establishing a camp for thousands of troops and developing a full combat training schedule.
After the war, Eisenhower reverted to his regular rank of captain and a few days later was promoted to major, a rank he held for 16 years. The major was assigned in 1919 to a transcontinental Army convoy to test vehicles and dramatize the need for improved roads. Indeed, the convoy averaged only 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h) from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco; later the improvement of highways became a signature issue for Eisenhower as president.
He assumed duties again at Camp Meade, Maryland, commanding a battalion of tanks, where he remained until 1922. His schooling continued, focused on the nature of the next war and the role of the tank. His new expertise in tank warfare was strengthened by a close collaboration with George S. Patton, Sereno E. Brett, and other senior tank leaders. Their leading-edge ideas of speed-oriented offensive tank warfare were strongly discouraged by superiors, who considered the new approach too radical and preferred to continue using tanks in a strictly supportive role for the infantry. Eisenhower was even threatened with court-martial for continued publication of these proposed methods of tank deployment, and he relented.
From 1920, Eisenhower served under a succession of talented generals – Fox Conner, John J. Pershing, Douglas MacArthur and George Marshall. He first became executive officer to General Conner in the Panama Canal Zone, where, joined by Mamie, he served until 1924. Under Conner's tutelage, he studied military history and theory (including Carl von Clausewitz's On War), and later cited Conner's enormous influence on his military thinking, saying in 1962 that "Fox Conner was the ablest man I ever knew." Conner's comment on Eisenhower was, "[He] is one of the most capable, efficient and loyal officers I have ever met." On Conner's recommendation, in 1925–1926 he attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he graduated first in a class of 245 officers.
During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Eisenhower's career stalled somewhat, as military priorities diminished; many of his friends resigned for high-paying business jobs. He was assigned to the American Battle Monuments Commission directed by General Pershing, and with the help of his brother Milton Eisenhower, then a journalist at the Agriculture Department, he produced a guide to American battlefields in Europe. He then was assigned to the Army War College and graduated in 1928. After a one-year assignment in France, Eisenhower served as executive officer to General George V. Moseley, Assistant Secretary of War, from 1929 to February 1933. Major Eisenhower graduated from the Army Industrial College in 1933 and later served on the faculty (it was later expanded to become the Industrial College of the Armed Services and is now known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy).
His primary duty was planning for the next war, which proved most difficult in the midst of the Great Depression. He then was posted as chief military aide to General Douglas MacArthur, Army Chief of Staff. In 1932, he participated in the clearing of the Bonus March encampment in Washington, D.C. Although he was against the actions taken against the veterans and strongly advised MacArthur against taking a public role in it, he later wrote the Army's official incident report, endorsing MacArthur's conduct.
In 1935, he accompanied MacArthur to the Philippines, where he served as assistant military adviser to the Philippine government in developing their army. MacArthur allowed Eisenhower to handpick an officer whom he thought would contribute to the mission. Hence he chose James Ord, a classmate of his at West Point. Having been brought up in Mexico, which inculcated into him the Spanish culture which influenced both Mexico and the Philippines, Ord was deemed the right pick for the job. Eisenhower had strong philosophical disagreements with MacArthur regarding the role of the Philippine Army and the leadership qualities that an American army officer should exhibit and develop in his subordinates. The antipathy between Eisenhower and MacArthur lasted the rest of their lives.
Historians have concluded that this assignment provided valuable preparation for handling the challenging personalities of Winston Churchill, George S. Patton, George Marshall, and Bernard Montgomery during World War II. Eisenhower later emphasized that too much had been made of the disagreements with MacArthur and that a positive relationship endured. While in Manila, Mamie suffered a life-threatening stomach ailment but recovered fully. Eisenhower was promoted to the rank of permanent lieutenant colonel in 1936. He also learned to fly with the Philippine Army Air Corps at the Zablan Airfield in Camp Murphy under Capt. Jesus Villamor, making a solo flight over the Philippines in 1937, and obtained his private pilot's license in 1939 at Fort Lewis. Also around this time, he was offered a post by the Philippine Commonwealth Government, namely by then Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon on recommendations by MacArthur, to become the chief of police of a new capital being planned, now named Quezon City, but he declined the offer.
Eisenhower returned to the United States in December 1939 and was assigned as commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment at Fort Lewis, Washington, later becoming the regimental executive officer. In March 1941 he was promoted to colonel and assigned as chief of staff of the newly activated IX Corps under Major General Kenyon Joyce. In June 1941, he was appointed chief of staff to General Walter Krueger, Commander of the Third Army, at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. After successfully participating in the Louisiana Maneuvers, he was promoted to brigadier general on October 3, 1941.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower was assigned to the General Staff in Washington, where he served until June 1942 with responsibility for creating the major war plans to defeat Japan and Germany. He was appointed Deputy Chief in charge of Pacific Defenses under the Chief of War Plans Division (WPD), General Leonard T. Gerow, and then succeeded Gerow as Chief of the War Plans Division. Next, he was appointed Assistant Chief of Staff in charge of the new Operations Division (which replaced WPD) under Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall, who spotted talent and promoted accordingly.
At the end of May 1942, Eisenhower accompanied Lt. Gen. Henry H. Arnold, commanding general of the Army Air Forces, to London to assess the effectiveness of the theater commander in England, Maj. Gen. James E. Chaney. He returned to Washington on June 3 with a pessimistic assessment, stating he had an "uneasy feeling" about Chaney and his staff. On June 23, 1942, he returned to London as Commanding General, European Theater of Operations (ETOUSA), based in London and with a house on Coombe, Kingston upon Thames, and took over command of ETOUSA from Chaney. He was promoted to lieutenant general on July 7.
In November 1942, Eisenhower was also appointed Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force of the North African Theater of Operations (NATOUSA) through the new operational Headquarters Allied (Expeditionary) Force Headquarters (A(E)FHQ). The word "expeditionary" was dropped soon after his appointment for security reasons. The campaign in North Africa was designated Operation Torch and was planned in the underground headquarters within the Rock of Gibraltar. Eisenhower was the first non-British person to command Gibraltar in 200 years.
French cooperation was deemed necessary to the campaign and Eisenhower encountered a "preposterous situation" with the multiple rival factions in France. His primary objective was to move forces successfully into Tunisia and intending to facilitate that objective, he gave his support to François Darlan as High Commissioner in North Africa, despite Darlan's previous high offices in Vichy France and his continued role as commander-in-chief of the French armed forces. The Allied leaders were "thunderstruck" by this from a political standpoint, though none had offered Eisenhower guidance with the problem in planning the operation. Eisenhower was severely criticized for the move. Darlan was assassinated on December 24 by Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, a French antifascist monarchist. Eisenhower later appointed as High Commissioner General Henri Giraud, who had been installed by the Allies as Darlan's commander-in-chief.
Operation Torch also served as a valuable training ground for Eisenhower's combat command skills; during the initial phase of Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel's move into the Kasserine Pass, Eisenhower created some confusion in the ranks by interference with the execution of battle plans by his subordinates. He also was initially indecisive in his removal of Lloyd Fredendall, commanding II Corps. He became more adroit in such matters in later campaigns. In February 1943, his authority was extended as commander of AFHQ across the Mediterranean basin to include the British Eighth Army, commanded by General Sir Bernard Montgomery. The Eighth Army had advanced across the Western Desert from the east and was ready for the start of the Tunisia Campaign.
After the capitulation of Axis forces in North Africa, Eisenhower oversaw the invasion of Sicily. Once Mussolini, the Italian leader, had fallen in Italy, the Allies switched their attention to the mainland with Operation Avalanche. But while Eisenhower argued with President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill, who both insisted on unconditional surrender in exchange for helping the Italians, the Germans pursued an aggressive buildup of forces in the country. The Germans made the already tough battle more difficult by adding 19 divisions and initially outnumbering the Allied forces 2 to 1.
In December 1943, President Roosevelt decided that Eisenhower – not Marshall – would be Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. The following month, he resumed command of ETOUSA and the following month was officially designated as the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), serving in a dual role until the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945. He was charged in these positions with planning and carrying out the Allied assault on the coast of Normandy in June 1944 under the code name Operation Overlord, the liberation of Western Europe and the invasion of Germany.
Eisenhower, as well as the officers and troops under him, had learned valuable lessons in their previous operations, and their skills had all strengthened in preparation for the next most difficult campaign against the Germans—a beach landing assault. His first struggles, however, were with Allied leaders and officers on matters vital to the success of the Normandy invasion; he argued with Roosevelt over an essential agreement with De Gaulle to use French resistance forces in covert operations against the Germans in advance of Operation Overlord. Admiral Ernest J. King fought with Eisenhower over King's refusal to provide additional landing craft from the Pacific. Eisenhower also insisted that the British give him exclusive command over all strategic air forces to facilitate Overlord, to the point of threatening to resign unless Churchill relented, which he did. Eisenhower then designed a bombing plan in France in advance of Overlord and argued with Churchill over the latter's concern with civilian casualties; de Gaulle interjected that the casualties were justified, and Eisenhower prevailed. He also had to skillfully manage to retain the services of the often unruly George S. Patton, by severely reprimanding him when Patton earlier had slapped a subordinate, and then when Patton gave a speech in which he made improper comments about postwar policy.
The D-Day Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, were costly but successful. Two months later (August 15), the invasion of Southern France took place, and control of forces in the southern invasion passed from the AFHQ to the SHAEF. Many thought that victory in Europe would come by summer's end, but the Germans did not capitulate for almost a year. From then until the end of the war in Europe on May 8, 1945, Eisenhower, through SHAEF, commanded all Allied forces, and through his command of ETOUSA had administrative command of all US forces on the Western Front north of the Alps. He was ever mindful of the inevitable loss of life and suffering that would be experienced on an individual level by the troops under his command and their families. This prompted him to make a point of visiting every division involved in the invasion. Eisenhower's sense of responsibility was underscored by his draft of a statement to be issued if the invasion failed. It has been called one of the great speeches of history:
Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.
Every ground commander seeks the battle of annihilation; so far as conditions permit, he tries to duplicate in modern war the classic example of Cannae
Once the coastal assault had succeeded, Eisenhower insisted on retaining personal control over the land battle strategy and was immersed in the command and supply of multiple assaults through France on Germany. Field Marshal Montgomery insisted priority be given to his 21st Army Group's attack being made in the north, while Generals Bradley (12th US Army Group) and Devers (Sixth US Army Group) insisted they be given priority in the center and south of the front (respectively). Eisenhower worked tirelessly to address the demands of the rival commanders to optimize Allied forces, often by giving them tactical latitude; many historians conclude this delayed the Allied victory in Europe. However, due to Eisenhower's persistence, the pivotal supply port at Antwerp was successfully, albeit belatedly, opened in late 1944.
In recognition of his senior position in the Allied command, on December 20, 1944, he was promoted to General of the Army, equivalent to the rank of Field Marshal in most European armies. In this and the previous high commands he held, Eisenhower showed his great talents for leadership and diplomacy. Although he had never seen action himself, he won the respect of front-line commanders. He interacted adeptly with allies such as Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and General Charles de Gaulle. He had serious disagreements with Churchill and Montgomery over questions of strategy, but these rarely upset his relationships with them. He dealt with Soviet Marshal Zhukov, his Russian counterpart, and they became good friends.
In December 1944, the Germans launched a surprise counteroffensive, the Battle of the Bulge, which the Allies turned back in early 1945 after Eisenhower repositioned his armies and improved weather allowed the Army Air Force to engage. German defenses continued to deteriorate on both the Eastern Front with the Red Army and the Western Front with the Western Allies. The British wanted to capture Berlin, but Eisenhower decided it would be a military mistake for him to attack Berlin and said orders to that effect would have to be explicit. The British backed down but then wanted Eisenhower to move into Czechoslovakia for political reasons. Washington refused to support Churchill's plan to use Eisenhower's army for political maneuvers against Moscow. The actual division of Germany followed the lines that Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin had previously agreed upon. The Soviet Red Army captured Berlin in a very bloody large-scale battle, and the Germans finally surrendered on May 7, 1945.
In 1945, Eisenhower anticipated that someday an attempt would be made to recharacterize Nazi crimes as propaganda (Holocaust denial) and took steps against it by demanding extensive photo and film documentation of Nazi death camps.
Following the German unconditional surrender, Eisenhower was appointed military governor of the American-occupied zone of Germany, located primarily in Southern Germany, and headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. Upon discovery of the Nazi concentration camps, he ordered camera crews to document evidence for use in the Nuremberg Trials. He reclassified German prisoners of war (POWs) in US custody as Disarmed Enemy Forces (DEFs), who were no longer subject to the Geneva Convention. Eisenhower followed the orders laid down by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) in directive JCS 1067 but softened them by bringing in 400,000 tons of food for civilians and allowing more fraternization. In response to the devastation in Germany, including food shortages and an influx of refugees, he arranged distribution of American food and medical equipment. His actions reflected the new American attitudes of the German people as Nazi victims not villains, while aggressively purging the ex-Nazis.
In November 1945, Eisenhower returned to Washington to replace Marshall as Chief of Staff of the Army. His main role was the rapid demobilization of millions of soldiers, a job that was delayed by lack of shipping. Eisenhower was convinced in 1946 that the Soviet Union did not want war and that friendly relations could be maintained; he strongly supported the new United Nations and favored its involvement in the control of atomic bombs. However, in formulating policies regarding the atomic bomb and relations with the Soviets, Truman was guided by the State Department and ignored Eisenhower and the Pentagon. Indeed, Eisenhower had opposed the use of the atomic bomb against the Japanese, writing, "First, the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing. Second, I hated to see our country be the first to use such a weapon." Initially, Eisenhower hoped for cooperation with the Soviets. He even visited Warsaw in 1945. Invited by Bolesław Bierut and decorated with the highest military decoration, he was shocked by the scale of destruction in the city. However, by mid-1947, as east–west tensions over economic recovery in Germany and the Greek Civil War escalated, Eisenhower agreed with a containment policy to stop Soviet expansion.
According to historian Daniel Immerwahr, Eisenhower was the first Army Chief of Staff who did not serve in the Philippine–American War.
In June 1943, a visiting politician had suggested to Eisenhower that he might become president after the war. Believing that a general should not participate in politics, Merlo J. Pusey wrote that "figuratively speaking, [Eisenhower] kicked his political-minded visitor out of his office". As others asked him about his political future, Eisenhower told one that he could not imagine wanting to be considered for any political job "from dogcatcher to Grand High Supreme King of the Universe", and another that he could not serve as Army Chief of Staff if others believed he had political ambitions. In 1945, Truman told Eisenhower during the Potsdam Conference that if desired, the president would help the general win the 1948 election, and in 1947 he offered to run as Eisenhower's running mate on the Democratic ticket if MacArthur won the Republican nomination.
As the election approached, other prominent citizens and politicians from both parties urged Eisenhower to run. In January 1948, after learning of plans in New Hampshire to elect delegates supporting him for the forthcoming Republican National Convention, Eisenhower stated through the Army that he was "not available for and could not accept nomination to high political office"; "life-long professional soldiers", he wrote, "in the absence of some obvious and overriding reason, [should] abstain from seeking high political office". Eisenhower maintained no political party affiliation during this time. Many believed he was forgoing his only opportunity to be president as Republican Thomas E. Dewey was considered the probable winner and would presumably serve two terms, meaning that Eisenhower, at age 66 in 1956, would be too old to run.
In 1948, Eisenhower became President of Columbia University, an Ivy League university in New York City, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. The choice was subsequently characterized as not having been a good fit for either party. During that year, Eisenhower's memoir, Crusade in Europe, was published. It was a major financial success. Eisenhower sought the advice of Augusta National's Roberts about the tax implications of this, and in due course Eisenhower's profit on the book was substantially aided by what author David Pietrusza calls "a ruling without precedent" by the Department of the Treasury. It held that Eisenhower was not a professional writer, but rather, marketing the lifetime asset of his experiences, and thus he had to pay only capital gains tax on his $635,000 advance instead of the much higher personal tax rate. This ruling saved Eisenhower about $400,000.
Eisenhower's stint as the president of Columbia was punctuated by his activity within the Council on Foreign Relations, a study group he led concerning the political and military implications of the Marshall Plan and The American Assembly, Eisenhower's "vision of a great cultural center where business, professional and governmental leaders could meet from time to time to discuss and reach conclusions concerning problems of a social and political nature". His biographer Blanche Wiesen Cook suggested that this period served his "the political education", since he had to prioritize wide-ranging educational, administrative, and financial demands for the university. Through his involvement in the Council on Foreign Relations, he also gained exposure to economic analysis, which would become the bedrock of his understanding in economic policy. "Whatever General Eisenhower knows about economics, he has learned at the study group meetings," one Aid to Europe member claimed.
Eisenhower accepted the presidency of the university to expand his ability to promote "the American form of democracy" through education. He was clear on this point to the trustees on the search committee. He informed them that his main purpose was "to promote the basic concepts of education in a democracy". As a result, he was "almost incessantly" devoted to the idea of the American Assembly, a concept he developed into an institution by the end of 1950.
Within months of becoming university president, Eisenhower was requested to advise Secretary of Defense James Forrestal on the unification of the armed services. About six months after his appointment, he became the informal Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington. Two months later he fell ill with what was diagnosed as acute gastroenteritis, and he spent over a month in recovery at the Augusta National Golf Club. He returned to his post in New York in mid-May, and in July 1949 took a two-month vacation out-of-state. Because the American Assembly had begun to take shape, he traveled around the country during summer and fall 1950, building financial support for it, including from Columbia Associates, a recently created alumni and benefactor organization for which he had helped recruit members. Eisenhower was unknowingly building resentment and a reputation among the Columbia University faculty and staff as an absentee president who was using the university for his own interests. As a career military man, he naturally had little in common with the academics. The contacts gained through university and American Assembly fundraising activities would later become important supporters in Eisenhower's bid for the Republican party nomination and the presidency. Meanwhile, Columbia University's liberal faculty members became disenchanted with the university president's ties to oilmen and businessmen.
He did have some successes at Columbia. Puzzled as to why no American university had undertaken the "continuous study of the causes, conduct and consequences of war", Eisenhower undertook the creation of the Institute of War and Peace Studies, a research facility to "study war as a tragic social phenomenon". Eisenhower was able to use his network of wealthy friends and acquaintances to secure initial funding for it. Under its founding director, international relations scholar William T. R. Fox, the institute began in 1951 and became a pioneer in international security studies, one that would be emulated by other institutes in the United States and Britain later in the decade. The Institute of War and Peace Studies thus become one of the projects which Eisenhower considered his "unique contribution" to Columbia. As the president of Columbia, Eisenhower gave voice to his opinions about the supremacy and difficulties of American democracy. His tenure marked his transformation from military to civilian leadership. His biographer Travis Beal Jacobs also suggested that the alienation of the Columbia faculty contributed to sharp intellectual criticism of him for many years.
The trustees of Columbia University declined to accept Eisenhower's offer to resign in December 1950, when he took an extended leave from the university to become the Supreme Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and he was given operational command of NATO forces in Europe. Eisenhower retired from active service as an army general on June 3, 1952, and he resumed his presidency of Columbia. Meanwhile, Eisenhower had become the Republican Party nominee for president of the United States, a contest that he won on November 4. Eisenhower tendered his resignation as university president on November 15, 1952, effective January 19, 1953, the day before his inauguration.
At home, Eisenhower was more effective in making the case for NATO in Congress than the Truman administration had been. By the middle of 1951, with American and European support, NATO was a genuine military power. Nevertheless, Eisenhower thought that NATO would become a truly European alliance, with the American and Canadian commitments ending after about ten years.
President Truman sensed a broad-based desire for an Eisenhower candidacy for president, and he again pressed him to run for the office as a Democrat in 1951. But Eisenhower voiced his disagreements with the Democrats and declared himself to be a Republican. A "Draft Eisenhower" movement in the Republican Party persuaded him to declare his candidacy in the 1952 presidential election to counter the candidacy of non-interventionist Senator Robert A. Taft. The effort was a long struggle; Eisenhower had to be convinced that political circumstances had created a genuine duty for him to offer himself as a candidate and that there was a mandate from the public for him to be their president. Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. and others succeeded in convincing him, and he resigned his command at NATO in June 1952 to campaign full-time.
Eisenhower defeated Taft for the nomination, having won critical delegate votes from Texas. His campaign was noted for the simple slogan "I Like Ike". It was essential to his success that Eisenhower express opposition to Roosevelt's policy at the Yalta Conference and to Truman's policies in Korea and China—matters in which he had once participated. In defeating Taft for the nomination, it became necessary for Eisenhower to appease the right-wing Old Guard of the Republican Party; his selection of Richard Nixon as the vice-president on the ticket was designed in part for that purpose. Nixon also provided a strong anti-communist reputation, as well as youth to counter Eisenhower's more advanced age.
Eisenhower insisted on campaigning in the South in the general election, against the advice of his campaign team, refusing to surrender the region to the Democratic Party. The campaign strategy was dubbed "K1C2" and was intended to focus on attacking the Truman administration on three failures: the Korean War, Communism, and corruption.
Two controversies tested him and his staff, but they did not damage the campaign. One involved a report that Nixon had improperly received funds from a secret trust. Nixon spoke out adroitly to avoid potential damage, but the matter permanently alienated the two candidates. The second issue centered on Eisenhower's relented decision to confront the controversial methods of Joseph McCarthy on his home turf in a Wisconsin appearance. Eisenhower condemned "wickedness in government", an allusion to gay government employees who were conflated with communism during McCarthyism.
Eisenhower defeated Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson II in a landslide, with an electoral margin of 442 to 89, marking the first Republican return to the White House in 20 years. He also brought a Republican majority in the House, by eight votes, and in the Senate, evenly divided with Vice President Nixon providing Republicans the majority.
Eisenhower was the last president born in the 19th century, and he was the oldest president-elect at age 62 since James Buchanan in 1856. He was the third commanding general of the Army to serve as president, after George Washington and Ulysses S. Grant, and the last not to have held political office prior to becoming president until Donald Trump entered office in January 2017.
The United States presidential election of 1956 was held on November 6, 1956. Eisenhower, the popular incumbent, successfully ran for re-election. The election was a re-match of 1952, as his opponent in 1956 was Stevenson, a former Illinois governor, whom Eisenhower had defeated four years earlier. Compared to the 1952 election, Eisenhower gained Kentucky, Louisiana, and West Virginia from Stevenson, while losing Missouri. His voters were less likely to bring up his leadership record. Instead what stood out this time "was the response to personal qualities— to his sincerity, his integrity and sense of duty, his virtue as a family man, his religious devotion, and his sheer likeableness."
Truman and Eisenhower had minimal discussions about the transition of administrations due to a complete estrangement between them as a result of campaigning. Eisenhower selected Joseph M. Dodge as his budget director, then asked Herbert Brownell Jr. and Lucius D. Clay to make recommendations for his cabinet appointments. He accepted their recommendations without exception; they included John Foster Dulles and George M. Humphrey with whom he developed his closest relationships, as well as Oveta Culp Hobby. His cabinet consisted of several corporate executives and one labor leader, and one journalist dubbed it "eight millionaires and a plumber". The cabinet was known for its lack of personal friends, office seekers, or experienced government administrators. He also upgraded the role of the National Security Council in planning all phases of the Cold War.
Before his inauguration, Eisenhower led a meeting of advisors at Pearl Harbor where they set goals for his first term: balance the budget, end the Korean War, defend vital interests at lower cost through nuclear deterrent, and end price and wage controls. He also conducted the first pre-inaugural cabinet meeting in history in late 1952; he used this meeting to articulate his anti-communist Russia policy. His inaugural address was exclusively devoted to foreign policy and included this same philosophy as well as a commitment to foreign trade and the United Nations.
Eisenhower made greater use of press conferences than any previous president, holding almost 200 over his two terms. He saw the benefit of maintaining a good relationship with the press, and he saw value in them as a means of direct communication with the American people.
Throughout his presidency, Eisenhower adhered to a political philosophy of dynamic conservatism. He described himself as a "progressive conservative" and used terms such as "progressive moderate" and "dynamic conservatism" to describe his approach. He continued all the major New Deal programs still in operation, especially Social Security. He expanded its programs and rolled them into the new Cabinet-level agency of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, while extending benefits to an additional ten million workers. He implemented racial integration in the Armed Services in two years, which had not been completed under Truman.
In a private letter, Eisenhower wrote:
Should any party attempt to abolish social security and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group of course, that believes you can do these things [...] Their number is negligible and they are stupid.
When the 1954 Congressional elections approached, it became evident that the Republicans were in danger of losing their thin majority in both houses. Eisenhower was among those who blamed the Old Guard for the losses, and he took up the charge to stop suspected efforts by the right wing to take control of the GOP. He then articulated his position as a moderate, progressive Republican: "I have just one purpose ... and that is to build up a strong progressive Republican Party in this country. If the right wing wants a fight, they are going to get it ... before I end up, either this Republican Party will reflect progressivism or I won't be with them anymore."
Eisenhower initially planned on serving only one term, but he remained flexible in case leading Republicans wanted him to run again. He was recovering from a heart attack late in September 1955 when he met with his closest advisors to evaluate the GOP's potential candidates; the group concluded that a second term was well advised, and he announced that he would run again in February 1956. Eisenhower was publicly noncommittal about having Nixon as the Vice President on his ticket; the question was an especially important one in light of his heart condition. He personally favored Robert B. Anderson, a Democrat who rejected his offer, so Eisenhower resolved to leave the matter in the hands of the party. In 1956, Eisenhower faced Adlai Stevenson again and won by an even larger landslide, with 457 of 531 electoral votes and 57.6 percent of the popular vote. His campaigning was curtailed out of health considerations.
Eisenhower made full use of his valet, chauffeur, and secretarial support; he rarely drove or even dialed a phone number. He was an avid fisherman, golfer, painter, and bridge player. On August 26, 1959, he was aboard the maiden flight of Air Force One, which replaced the Columbine as the presidential aircraft.
Eisenhower championed and signed the bill that authorized the Interstate Highway System in 1956. He justified the project through the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 as essential to American security during the Cold War.
Eisenhower's goal to create improved highways was influenced his involvement in the Army's 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy. He was assigned as an observer for the mission, which involved sending a convoy of Army vehicles coast to coast. His subsequent experience with the German autobahn convinced him of the benefits of an Interstate Highway System. The system could also be used as a runway for airplanes, which would be beneficial to war efforts. Franklin D. Roosevelt put this system into place with the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944. He thought that an interstate highway system would be beneficial for military operations and would support continued economic growth. The legislation initially stalled in Congress over the issuance of bonds to finance the project, but the legislative effort was renewed and Eisenhower signed the law in June 1956.
The United States foreign policy of the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration, from 1953 to 1961, focused on the Cold War with the Soviet Union and its satellites. The United States built up a stockpile of nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems to deter military threats and save money while cutting back on expensive Army combat units. A major uprising broke out in Hungary in 1956; the Eisenhower administration did not become directly involved, but condemned the military invasion by the Soviet Union. Eisenhower sought to reach a nuclear test ban treaty with the Soviet Union, but following the 1960 U-2 incident the Kremlin canceled a scheduled summit in Paris.
As he promised, Eisenhower quickly ended the fighting in Korea, leaving it divided North and South. The U.S. has kept major forces there ever since to deter North Korea. In 1954, he played a key role in the Senate's defeat of the Bricker Amendment, which would have limited the president's treaty making power and ability to enter into executive agreements with foreign leaders. The Eisenhower administration used propaganda and covert action extensively, and the Central Intelligence Agency supported two military coups: the 1953 Iranian coup d'état and the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état. The administration did not approve the partition of Vietnam at the 1954 Geneva Conference, and directed economic and military aid and advice to South Vietnam. Washington led the establishment of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization as an alliance of anti-Communist states in Southeast Asia. It ended two crises with China over Taiwan.
Eisenhower and the CIA had known since at least January 1957, nine months before Sputnik, that Russia had the capability to launch a small payload into orbit and was likely to do so within a year.
Eisenhower's support of the nation's fledgling space program was officially modest until the Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957, gaining the Cold War enemy enormous prestige. He then launched a national campaign that funded not just space exploration but a major strengthening of science and higher education. The Eisenhower administration determined to adopt a non-aggressive policy that would allow "space-crafts of any state to overfly all states, a region free of military posturing and launch Earth satellites to explore space". His Open Skies Policy attempted to legitimize illegal Lockheed U-2 flyovers and Project Genetrix while paving the way for spy satellite technology to orbit over sovereign territory, but Nikolai Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev declined Eisenhower's proposal at the Geneva conference in July 1955. In response to Sputnik being launched in October 1957, Eisenhower created NASA as a civilian space agency in October 1958, signed a landmark science education law, and improved relations with American scientists.
Fear spread through the United States that the Soviet Union would invade and spread communism, so Eisenhower wanted to not only create a surveillance satellite to detect any threats but ballistic missiles that would protect the United States. In strategic terms, it was Eisenhower who devised the American basic strategy of nuclear deterrence based upon the triad of strategic bombers, land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).
NASA planners projected that human spaceflight would pull the United States ahead in the Space Race; however, in 1960, an Ad Hoc Panel on Man-in-Space concluded that "man-in-space can not be justified" and was too costly. Eisenhower later resented the space program and its gargantuan price tag—he was quoted as saying, "Anyone who would spend $40 billion in a race to the moon for national prestige is nuts."
In late 1952, Eisenhower went to Korea and discovered a military and political stalemate. Once in office, when the Chinese People's Volunteer Army began a buildup in the Kaesong sanctuary, he considered using nuclear weapons if an armistice was not reached. Whether China was informed of the potential for nuclear force is unknown. His earlier military reputation in Europe was effective with the Chinese communists. The National Security Council, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Strategic Air Command (SAC) devised detailed plans for nuclear war against Red China. With the death of Stalin in early March 1953, Russian support for a Chinese communist hard-line weakened and China decided to compromise on the prisoner issue.
In July 1953, an armistice took effect with Korea divided along approximately the same boundary as in 1950. The armistice and boundary remain in effect today. The armistice, which concluded despite opposition from Secretary Dulles, South Korean President Syngman Rhee, and also within Eisenhower's party, has been described by biographer Ambrose as the greatest achievement of the administration. Eisenhower had the insight to realize that unlimited war in the nuclear age was unthinkable, and limited war unwinnable.
A point of emphasis in Eisenhower's campaign had been his endorsement of a policy of liberation from communism as opposed to a policy of containment. This remained his preference despite the armistice with Korea. Throughout his terms Eisenhower took a hard-line attitude toward China, as demanded by conservative Republicans, with the goal of driving a wedge between China and the Soviet Union.
Eisenhower continued Truman's policy of recognizing the Republic of China (Taiwan) as the legitimate government of China, not the Peking (Beijing) regime. There were localized flare-ups when the People's Liberation Army began shelling the islands of Quemoy and Matsu in September 1954. Eisenhower received recommendations embracing every variation of response; he thought it essential to have every possible option available to him as the crisis unfolded.
The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty with the Republic of China was signed in December 1954. He requested and secured from Congress their "Free China Resolution" in January 1955, which gave Eisenhower unprecedented power in advance to use military force at any level in defense of Free China and the Pescadores. The Resolution bolstered the morale of the Chinese nationalists and signaled to Beijing that the US was committed to holding the line.
Eisenhower openly threatened the Chinese communists with the use of nuclear weapons, authorizing a series of bomb tests labeled Operation Teapot. Nevertheless, he left the Chinese communists guessing as to the exact nature of his nuclear response. This allowed Eisenhower to accomplish all of his objectives—the end of this communist encroachment, the retention of the Islands by the Chinese nationalists and continued peace. Defense of the Republic of China from an invasion remains a core American policy.
By the end of 1954, Eisenhower's military and foreign policy experts—the NSC, JCS and State Department—had unanimously urged him, on no less than five occasions, to launch an atomic attack against China; yet he consistently refused to do so and felt a distinct sense of accomplishment in having sufficiently confronted communism while keeping world peace.
Early in 1953, the French asked Eisenhower for help in French Indochina against the Communists, supplied from China, who were fighting the First Indochina War. Eisenhower sent Lt. General John W. O'Daniel to Vietnam to assess the French forces there. Chief of Staff Matthew Ridgway dissuaded the President from intervening by presenting a comprehensive estimate of the massive military deployment that would be necessary. Eisenhower stated prophetically that "this war would absorb our troops by divisions."
Eisenhower did provide France with bombers and non-combat personnel. After a few months with no success by the French, he added other aircraft to drop napalm for clearing purposes. Further requests for assistance from the French were agreed to but only on conditions Eisenhower knew were impossible to meet – allied participation and congressional approval. When the French fortress of Dien Bien Phu fell to the Vietnamese Communists in May 1954, Eisenhower refused to intervene despite urging from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Vice President and the head of NCS.
Eisenhower responded to the French defeat with the formation of the SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) Alliance with the UK, France, New Zealand and Australia in defense of Vietnam against communism. At that time the French and Chinese reconvened the Geneva peace talks; Eisenhower agreed the US would participate only as an observer. After France and the Communists agreed to a partition of Vietnam, Eisenhower rejected the agreement, offering military and economic aid to southern Vietnam. Ambrose argues that Eisenhower, by not participating in the Geneva agreement, had kept the US out of Vietnam; nevertheless, with the formation of SEATO, he had put the US back into the conflict.
In late 1954, Gen. J. Lawton Collins was made ambassador to "Free Vietnam", effectively elevating the country to sovereign status. Collins' instructions were to support the leader Ngo Dinh Diem in subverting communism, by helping him to build an army and wage a military campaign. In February 1955, Eisenhower dispatched the first American soldiers to Vietnam as military advisors to Diem's army. After Diem announced the formation of the Republic of Vietnam (commonly known as South Vietnam) in October, Eisenhower immediately recognized the new state and offered military, economic, and technical assistance.
In the years that followed, Eisenhower increased the number of US military advisors in South Vietnam to 900. This was due to North Vietnam's support of "uprisings" in the south and concern the nation would fall. In May 1957 Diem, then President of South Vietnam, made a state visit to the United States. President Eisenhower pledged his continued support, and a parade was held in Diem's honor in New York City. Although Diem was publicly praised, in private Secretary of State John Foster Dulles conceded that Diem had been selected because there were no better alternatives.
After the election of November 1960, Eisenhower, in a briefing with John F. Kennedy, pointed out the communist threat in Southeast Asia as requiring prioritization in the next administration. Eisenhower told Kennedy he considered Laos "the cork in the bottle" with regard to the regional threat.
The Pact of Madrid, signed on September 23, 1953, by Francoist Spain and the United States, was a significant effort to break international isolation of Spain, together with the Concordat of 1953. This development came at a time when other victorious Allies and much of the rest of the world remained hostile to a fascist regime sympathetic to the cause of the former Axis powers and established with Nazi assistance. This accord took the form of three separate executive agreements that pledged the United States to furnish economic and military aid to Spain.
Even before he was inaugurated Eisenhower accepted a request from the British government to restore the Shah of Iran (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi) to power. He therefore authorized the CIA to overthrow Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. This resulted in increased strategic control over Iranian oil by US and British companies.
In November 1956, Eisenhower forced an end to the combined British, French and Israeli invasion of Egypt in response to the Suez Crisis, receiving praise from Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. Simultaneously he condemned the brutal Soviet invasion of Hungary in response to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He publicly disavowed his allies at the United Nations and used financial and diplomatic pressure to make them withdraw from Egypt. Eisenhower explicitly defended his strong position against Britain and France in his memoirs, published in 1965.
After the Suez Crisis, the United States became the protector of unstable friendly governments in the Middle East via the "Eisenhower Doctrine". Designed by Secretary of State Dulles, it held the US would be "prepared to use armed force ... [to counter] aggression from any country controlled by international communism". Further, the US would provide economic and military aid and, if necessary, use military force to stop the spread of communism in the Middle East.
Eisenhower applied the doctrine in 1957–1958 by dispensing economic aid to the Kingdom of Jordan, and by encouraging Syria's neighbors to consider military operations against it. More dramatically, in July 1958, he sent 15,000 Marines and soldiers to Lebanon as part of Operation Blue Bat, a non-combat peacekeeping mission to stabilize the pro-Western government and to prevent a radical revolution. The Marines departed three months later. Washington considered the military intervention successful since it brought about regional stability, weakened Soviet influence, and intimidated the Egyptian and Syrian governments, whose anti-West political position had hardened after the Suez Crisis.
Most Arab countries were skeptical about the "Eisenhower doctrine" because they considered "Zionist imperialism" the real danger. However, they did take the opportunity to obtain free money and weapons. Egypt and Syria, supported by the Soviet Union, openly opposed the initiative. However, Egypt received American aid until the Six-Day War in 1967.
As the Cold War deepened, Dulles sought to isolate the Soviet Union by building regional alliances against it. Critics sometimes called it "pacto-mania".
On 1 May 1960, a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down by the Soviet Air Defence Forces while conducting photographic aerial reconnaissance deep inside Soviet territory. Flown by American pilot Francis Gary Powers, the aircraft had taken off from Peshawar, Pakistan, and crashed near Sverdlovsk (present-day Yekaterinburg), after being hit by a surface-to-air missile. Powers parachuted to the ground and was captured.
Initially American authorities acknowledged the incident as the loss of a civilian weather research aircraft operated by NASA, but were forced to admit the mission's true purpose a few days later after the Soviet government produced the captured pilot and parts of the U-2's surveillance equipment, including photographs of Soviet military bases.
The incident occurred during the tenures of American president Dwight D. Eisenhower and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, around two weeks before the scheduled opening of an east–west summit in Paris, France. Khrushchev and Eisenhower had met face-to-face at Camp David in Maryland in September 1959, and the seeming thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations had raised hopes globally for a peaceful resolution to the Cold War. The U-2 incident shattered the amiable "Spirit of Camp David" that had prevailed for eight months, prompting the cancellation of the summit in Paris and embarrassing the U.S. on the international stage. The Pakistani government issued a formal apology to the Soviet Union for its role in the mission.
While President Truman's 1948 Executive Order 9981 had begun the process of desegregating the Armed Forces, actual implementation had been slow. Eisenhower made clear his stance in his first State of the Union address in February 1953, saying "I propose to use whatever authority exists in the office of the President to end segregation in the District of Columbia, including the Federal Government, and any segregation in the Armed Forces". When he encountered opposition from the services, he used government control of military spending to force the change through, stating "Wherever Federal Funds are expended ..., I do not see how any American can justify ... a discrimination in the expenditure of those funds". When Robert B. Anderson, Eisenhower's first Secretary of the Navy, argued that the US Navy must recognize the "customs and usages prevailing in certain geographic areas of our country which the Navy had no part in creating," Eisenhower overruled him: "We have not taken and we shall not take a single backward step. There must be no second class citizens in this country."
The administration declared racial discrimination a national security issue, as Communists around the world used the racial discrimination and history of violence in the US as a point of propaganda attack.
Eisenhower told Washington, D.C. officials to make the city a model for the rest of the country in integrating black and white public-school children. He proposed to Congress the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and of 1960 and signed those acts into law. The 1957 act for the first time established a permanent civil rights office inside the Justice Department and a Civil Rights Commission to hear testimony about abuses of voting rights. Although both acts were much weaker than subsequent civil rights legislation, they constituted the first significant civil rights acts since 1875.
In 1957 Arkansas refused to honor a federal court order to integrate their public school system stemming from the Brown decision. Eisenhower demanded that Arkansas governor Orval Faubus obey the court order. When Faubus balked, the president placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal control and sent in the 101st Airborne Division. They protected nine black students' entry to Little Rock Central High School, an all-white public school, marking the first time since the Reconstruction Era the federal government had used federal troops in the South to enforce the Constitution. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote to Eisenhower to thank him for his actions, writing "The overwhelming majority of southerners, Negro and white, stand firmly behind your resolute action to restore law and order in Little Rock".
Eisenhower's administration contributed to the McCarthyist Lavender Scare with Eisenhower issuing Executive Order 10450 in 1953. During Eisenhower's presidency thousands of lesbian and gay applicants were barred from federal employment and over 5,000 federal employees were fired under suspicions of being homosexual. From 1947 to 1961 the number of firings based on sexual orientation were far greater than those for membership in the Communist Party, and government officials intentionally campaigned to make "homosexual" synonymous with "Communist traitor" such that LGBT people were treated as a national security threat.
Eisenhower had a Republican Congress for only his first two years in office; in the Senate, Republicans held the majority by a one-vote margin. Despite being Eisenhower's political opponent for the 1952 Republican presidential nomination, Senator Majority Leader Robert A. Taft assisted Eisenhower a great deal by promoting the President's proposals among the "Old Guard" Republican Senators. Taft's death in July 1953—six months into Eisenhower's presidency—affected Eisenhower both personally and professionally. The President noted he had lost "a dear friend" with Taft's passing. Eisenhower disliked Taft's successor as Majority Leader, Senator William Knowland, and the relationship between the two men led to tension between the Senate and the White House.
This prevented Eisenhower from openly condemning Joseph McCarthy's highly criticized methods against communism. To facilitate relations with Congress, Eisenhower decided to ignore McCarthy's controversies and thereby deprive them of more energy from the involvement of the White House. This position drew criticism from a number of corners. In late 1953, McCarthy declared on national television that the employment of communists within the government was a menace and would be a pivotal issue in the 1954 Senate elections. Eisenhower was urged to respond directly and specify the various measures he had taken to purge the government of communists.
Among Eisenhower's objectives in not directly confronting McCarthy was to prevent McCarthy from dragging the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) into McCarthy's witchhunt, which might interfere with the AEC's work on hydrogen bombs and other weapons programs. In December 1953, Eisenhower learned that nuclear scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer had been accused of being a spy for the Soviet Union. Although Eisenhower never really believed these allegations, in January 1954 he ordered that "a blank wall" be placed between Oppenheimer and all defense-related activities. The Oppenheimer security hearing later that year resulted in the physicist losing his security clearance. The matter was controversial at the time and remained so in later years, with Oppenheimer achieving a certain martyrdom. The case would reflect poorly on Eisenhower, but the president had never examined it in any detail and had instead relied excessively upon the advice of his subordinates, especially that of AEC chairman Lewis Strauss. Eisenhower later suffered a major political defeat when his nomination of Strauss to be Secretary of Commerce was defeated in the Senate in 1959, in part due to Strauss's role in the Oppenheimer matter.
In May 1955, McCarthy threatened to issue subpoenas to White House personnel. Eisenhower was furious, and issued an order as follows: "It is essential to efficient and effective administration that employees of the Executive Branch be in a position to be completely candid in advising with each other on official matters ... it is not in the public interest that any of their conversations or communications, or any documents or reproductions, concerning such advice be disclosed." This was an unprecedented step by Eisenhower to protect communication beyond the confines of a cabinet meeting, and soon became a tradition known as executive privilege. Eisenhower's denial of McCarthy's access to his staff reduced McCarthy's hearings to rants about trivial matters and contributed to his ultimate downfall.
In early 1954, the Old Guard put forward a constitutional amendment, called the Bricker Amendment, which would curtail international agreements by the Chief Executive, such as the Yalta Agreements. Eisenhower opposed the measure. The Old Guard agreed with Eisenhower on the development and ownership of nuclear reactors by private enterprises, which the Democrats opposed. The President succeeded in getting legislation creating a system of licensure for nuclear plants by the AEC.
The Democrats gained a majority in both houses in the 1954 election. Eisenhower had to work with the Democratic Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson (later US president) in the Senate and Speaker Sam Rayburn in the House. Joe Martin, the Republican Speaker from 1947 to 1949 and again from 1953 to 1955, wrote that Eisenhower "never surrounded himself with assistants who could solve political problems with professional skill. There were exceptions, Leonard W. Hall, for example, who as chairman of the Republican National Committee tried to open the administration's eyes to the political facts of life, with occasional success. However, these exceptions were not enough to right the balance."
Speaker Martin concluded that Eisenhower worked too much through subordinates in dealing with Congress, with results, "often the reverse of what he has desired" because Members of Congress, "resent having some young fellow who was picked up by the White House without ever having been elected to office himself coming around and telling them 'The Chief wants this'. The administration never made use of many Republicans of consequence whose services in one form or another would have been available for the asking."
Eisenhower appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:
Whittaker was unsuited for the role and retired in 1962, after Eisenhower's presidency had ended. Stewart and Harlan were conservative Republicans, while Brennan was a Democrat who became a leading voice for liberalism. In selecting a Chief Justice, Eisenhower looked for an experienced jurist who could appeal to liberals in the party as well as law-and-order conservatives, noting privately that Warren "represents the kind of political, economic, and social thinking that I believe we need on the Supreme Court ... He has a national name for integrity, uprightness, and courage that, again, I believe we need on the Court".
Two states were admitted to the Union during Eisenhower's presidency.
Eisenhower began chain smoking cigarettes at West Point, often three or four packs a day. He joked that he "gave [himself] an order" to stop cold turkey in 1949. However, Evan Thomas says the true story was more complex. At first, he removed cigarettes and ashtrays, but that did not work. He told a friend:
I decided to make a game of the whole business and try to achieve a feeling of some superiority ... So I stuffed cigarettes in every pocket, put them around my office on the desk ... [and] made it a practice to offer a cigarette to anyone who came in ... while mentally reminding myself as I sat down, "I do not have to do what that poor fellow is doing.
He was the first president to release information about his health and medical records while in office, but people around him deliberately misled the public about his health. On September 24, 1955, while vacationing in Colorado, he had a serious heart attack. While convalescing at Building 500 Howard McCrum Snyder, his personal physician, misdiagnosed the symptoms as indigestion, and failed to call in help that was urgently needed. Snyder later falsified his own records to cover his blunder and to allow Eisenhower to imply that he was healthy enough to do his job.
The heart attack required six weeks' hospitalization, during which time Nixon, Dulles, and Sherman Adams assumed administrative duties and provided communication with the president. He was treated by Paul Dudley White, a cardiologist with a national reputation, who regularly informed the press of the president's progress. His physician recommended a second presidential term as essential to his recovery.
As a consequence of his heart attack Eisenhower developed a left ventricular aneurysm, which caused a mild stroke during a cabinet meeting on November 25, 1957, when Eisenhower suddenly found himself unable to move his right hand or to speak. The president also suffered from Crohn's disease, which necessitated surgery for a bowel obstruction on June 9, 1956. To treat the intestinal block, surgeons bypassed about ten inches of his small intestine. His scheduled meeting with Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was postponed so he could recover at his farm. He was still recovering from this operation during the Suez Crisis. Eisenhower's health issues forced him to give up smoking and make some changes to his diet, but he still drank alcohol. During a visit to England, he complained of dizziness and had to have his blood pressure checked on August 29, 1959; however, before dinner at prime ministerial manor house Chequers on the next day his physician, General Howard Snyder, recalled that Eisenhower "drank several gin-and-tonics, and one or two gins on the rocks ... three or four wines with the dinner".
Eisenhower's health during the last three years of his second term in office was relatively good. After leaving the White House, he suffered several additional and ultimately crippling heart attacks. A severe heart attack in August 1965 largely ended his participation in public affairs. On December 12, 1966, his gallbladder was removed, containing 16 gallstones. After Eisenhower's death in 1969, an autopsy revealed an undiagnosed adrenal pheochromocytoma, a benign adrenalin-secreting tumor that may have made him more vulnerable to heart disease. Eisenhower suffered seven heart attacks from 1955 until his death.
The 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution, which set a two-term limit on the presidency, was ratified in 1951. Eisenhower was the first president constitutionally prevented from serving a third term.
Eisenhower was also the first outgoing president to come under the protection of the Former Presidents Act. Under the act, Eisenhower was entitled to a lifetime pension, state-provided staff and a Secret Service security detail.
In the 1960 election to choose his successor, Eisenhower endorsed Nixon over Democrat John F. Kennedy. He told friends, "I will do almost anything to avoid turning my chair and country over to Kennedy." He actively campaigned for Nixon in the final days, although he may have done Nixon some harm. When asked by reporters at the end of a televised press conference to list one of Nixon's policy ideas he had adopted, Eisenhower joked, "If you give me a week, I might think of one. I don't remember." Kennedy's campaign used the quote in one of its campaign commercials. Nixon narrowly lost to Kennedy. Eisenhower, who was, at 70, the oldest president to date, was succeeded by 43-year-old Kennedy, the youngest elected president.
It was originally intended for Eisenhower to have a more active role in the campaign as he wanted to respond to attacks Kennedy made on his administration. However, First Lady Mamie Eisenhower expressed concern to Second Lady Pat Nixon about the strain campaigning would put on his heart, and wanted the president to withdraw, without letting him know of her intervention. Vice President Nixon himself was informed by White House physician Major General Howard Snyder that he could not approve a heavy campaign schedule for the president, whose health problems had been exacerbated by Kennedy's attacks. Nixon then convinced Eisenhower not to go ahead with the expanded campaign schedule and limit himself to the original schedule. Nixon reflected that if Eisenhower had carried out his expanded campaign schedule, he might have had a decisive impact on the outcome of the election, especially in states that Kennedy won with razor-thin margins. Mamie did not tell Dwight why Nixon changed his mind on Dwight's campaigning until years later.
On January 17, 1961, Eisenhower gave his final televised Address to the Nation from the Oval Office. In his farewell speech, Eisenhower raised the issue of the Cold War and role of the armed forces. He described the Cold War: "We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose and insidious in method ..." and warned about what he saw as unjustified government spending proposals. He continued with a warning that "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military–industrial complex." Eisenhower elaborated, "we recognize the imperative need for this development ... the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist ... Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
Because of legal issues related to holding a military rank while in a civilian office, Eisenhower had resigned his permanent commission as General of the Army before assuming the presidency. Upon completion of his presidential term, his commission was reactivated by Congress.
Following the presidency, Eisenhower moved to the place where he and Mamie had spent much of their post-war time, a working farm adjacent to the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 70 miles (110 km) from his ancestral home in Elizabethville, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. They also maintained a retirement home in Palm Desert, California.
After leaving office, Eisenhower did not completely retreat from political life. He flew to San Antonio, where he had been stationed years earlier, to support John W. Goode, the unsuccessful Republican candidate against the Democrat Henry B. Gonzalez for Texas's 20th congressional district seat. He addressed the 1964 Republican National Convention, in San Francisco, and appeared with party nominee Barry Goldwater in a campaign commercial. That endorsement came somewhat reluctantly, because Goldwater had in the late 1950s criticized Eisenhower's administration as "a dime-store New Deal". On January 20, 1969, the day Nixon was inaugurated as President, Eisenhower issued a statement praising his former vice president and calling it a "day for rejoicing".
At 12:25 p.m. on March 28, 1969, Eisenhower died from congestive heart failure at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., at age 78. The following day, his body was moved to the Washington National Cathedral's Bethlehem Chapel, where he lay in repose for 28 hours. He was then transported to the United States Capitol, where he lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda on March 30 and 31. A state funeral was conducted at the Washington National Cathedral on March 31. The president and First Lady, Richard and Pat Nixon, attended, as did former president Lyndon Johnson. Also among the 2,000 invited guests were UN Secretary General U Thant and 191 foreign delegates from 78 countries, including 10 foreign heads of state and government. Guests included President Charles de Gaulle of France, who was in the United States for the first time since the state funeral of John F. Kennedy, Chancellor Kurt-Georg Kiesinger of West Germany, King Baudouin of Belgium and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran.
The service included the singing of Faure's "The Palms", and the playing of the hymn "Onward, Christian Soldiers".
That evening, Eisenhower's body was placed onto a special funeral train for its journey from the capital through seven states to his hometown of Abilene, Kansas. First incorporated into President Abraham Lincoln's funeral in 1865, a funeral train would not be part of a US state funeral again until 2018. Eisenhower is buried inside the Place of Meditation, the chapel on the grounds of the Eisenhower Presidential Center in Abilene. As requested, he was buried in a Government Issue casket, wearing his World War II uniform, decorated with Army Distinguished Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit. Buried alongside Eisenhower are his son Doud, who died at age 3 in 1921, and wife Mamie, who died in 1979.
President Richard Nixon eulogized Eisenhower in 1969, saying:
Some men are considered great because they lead great armies or they lead powerful nations. For eight years now, Dwight Eisenhower has neither commanded an army nor led a nation; and yet he remained through his final days the world's most admired and respected man, truly the first citizen of the world.
Eisenhower's reputation declined in the immediate years after he left office. During his presidency, he was widely seen by critics as an inactive, uninspiring, golf-playing president. This was in stark contrast to his vigorous young successor, John F. Kennedy, who was 26 years his junior. Despite his unprecedented use of Army troops to enforce a federal desegregation order at Central High School in Little Rock, Eisenhower was criticized for his reluctance to support the civil rights movement to the degree that activists wanted. Eisenhower also attracted criticism for his handling of the 1960 U-2 incident and the associated international embarrassment, for the Soviet Union's perceived leadership in the nuclear arms race and the Space Race, and for his failure to publicly oppose McCarthyism. In particular, Eisenhower was criticized for failing to defend George C. Marshall from attacks by Joseph McCarthy, though he privately deplored McCarthy's tactics.
Following the access of Eisenhower's private papers, his reputation changed amongst presidential historians. Historian John Lewis Gaddis has summarized a more recent turnaround in evaluations by historians:
Historians long ago abandoned the view that Eisenhower's was a failed presidency. He did, after all, end the Korean War without getting into any others. He stabilized, and did not escalate, the Soviet–American rivalry. He strengthened European alliances while withdrawing support from European colonialism. He rescued the Republican Party from isolationism and McCarthyism. He maintained prosperity, balanced the budget, promoted technological innovation, facilitated (if reluctantly) the civil rights movement and warned, in the most memorable farewell address since Washington's, of a "military–industrial complex" that could endanger the nation's liberties. Not until Reagan would another president leave office with so strong a sense of having accomplished what he set out to do.
Although conservatism in politics was strong during the 1950s, and Eisenhower generally espoused conservative sentiments, his administration concerned itself mostly with foreign affairs and pursued a hands-off domestic policy. Eisenhower looked to moderation and cooperation as a means of governance, which he dubbed "The Middle Way".
Although he sought to slow or contain the New Deal and other federal programs, he did not attempt to repeal them outright. In doing so, Eisenhower was popular among the liberal wing of the Republican Party. Conservative critics of his administration thought that he did not do enough to advance the goals of the right; according to Hans Morgenthau, "Eisenhower's victories were but accidents without consequence in the history of the Republican party."
Since the 19th century, many if not all presidents were assisted by a central figure or "gatekeeper", sometimes described as the president's private secretary, sometimes with no official title. Eisenhower formalized this role, introducing the office of White House Chief of Staff – an idea he borrowed from the United States Army. Every president after Lyndon Johnson has appointed staff to this position.
As president, Eisenhower also initiated the "up or out" policy that still prevails in the US military. Officers who are passed over for promotion twice are then usually honorably but quickly discharged, in order to make way for younger and more able officers.
On December 20, 1944, Eisenhower was appointed to the rank of General of the Army, placing him in the company of George Marshall, Henry "Hap" Arnold, and Douglas MacArthur, the only four men to achieve the rank in World War II. Along with Omar Bradley, they were the only five men to achieve the rank since the August 5, 1888, death of Philip Sheridan, and the only five men to hold the rank of five-star general. The rank was created by an Act of Congress on a temporary basis, when Public Law 78-482 was passed on December 14, 1944, as a temporary rank, subject to reversion to permanent rank six months after the end of the war. The temporary rank was declared permanent on March 23, 1946, by Public Law 333 of the 79th Congress, which also awarded full pay and allowances in the grade to those on the retired list. It was created to give the most senior American commanders parity of rank with their British counterparts holding the ranks of field marshal and admiral of the fleet.
Eisenhower founded People to People International in 1956, based on his belief that citizen interaction would promote cultural interaction and world peace. The program includes a student ambassador component, which sends American youth on educational trips to other countries.
During his second term as president, Eisenhower awarded a series of specially designed US Mint presidential appreciation medals. Eisenhower presented the medal to individuals as an expression of his appreciation. The development of the appreciation medals was initiated by the White House and executed by the United States Mint, through the Philadelphia Mint. The medals were struck from September 1958 through October 1960. A total of twenty designs are cataloged with a total mintage of 9,858. Prior to the end of his second term as president, 1,451 medals were turned in to the Bureau of the Mint and destroyed. The Eisenhower appreciation medals are part of the Presidential Medal of Appreciation Award Medal Series.
The Interstate Highway System is officially known as the "Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways". It was inspired in part by Eisenhower's experiences in World War II, where he recognized the advantages of the autobahn system in Germany. Commemorative signs reading "Eisenhower Interstate System" and bearing Eisenhower's permanent 5-star rank insignia were introduced in 1993 and now are displayed throughout the Interstate System. Several highways are also named for him, including the Eisenhower Expressway (Interstate 290) near Chicago, the Eisenhower Tunnel on Interstate 70 west of Denver, and Interstate 80 in California.
Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy is a senior war college of the Department of Defense's National Defense University in Washington, DC. Eisenhower graduated from this school when it was previously known as the Army Industrial College.
Eisenhower was honored on the Eisenhower dollar, minted from 1971 to 1978. His centenary was honored on the Eisenhower commemorative dollar issued in 1990.
In 1969 four major record companies – ABC Records, MGM Records, Buddha Records and Caedmon Audio – released tribute albums in Eisenhower's honor.
In 1999, the United States Congress created the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission, to create an enduring national memorial in Washington, D.C. In 2009 the commission chose the architect Frank Gehry to design the memorial. The groundbreaking ceremony of the memorial was held on November 3, 2017, and was dedicated on September 17, 2020. It stands on a 4-acre (1.6 ha) site near the National Mall on Maryland Avenue, across the street from the National Air and Space Museum.
In December 1999 he was listed on Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th century. In 2009 he was named to the World Golf Hall of Fame in the Lifetime Achievement category for his contributions to the sport. In 1973, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. The Naming Commission later recommended that Fort Gordon be renamed Fort Eisenhower, and on 5 January 2023, William A. LaPlante, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment directed the full implementation of the recommendations of the Naming Commission. The official redesignation occurred 27 October 2023.
Eisenhower received the Freedom honor from several locations, including:
Eisenhower received many honorary degrees from universities and colleges around the world. These included:
General: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Dwight David Eisenhower (/ˈaɪzənhaʊ.ər/ EYE-zən-how-ər; born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969), nicknamed Ike, was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe and achieved the five-star rank as General of the Army. Eisenhower planned and supervised two of the most consequential military campaigns of World War II: Operation Torch in the North Africa campaign in 1942–1943 and the invasion of Normandy in 1944.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas, and raised in Abilene, Kansas. His family had a strong religious background, and his mother became a Jehovah's Witness. Eisenhower, however, belonged to no organized church until 1952. He graduated from West Point in 1915 and later married Mamie Doud, with whom he had two sons. During World War I, he was denied a request to serve in Europe and instead commanded a unit that trained tank crews. Following the war, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1941. After the United States entered World War II, Eisenhower oversaw the invasions of North Africa and Sicily before supervising the invasions of France and Germany. After the war ended in Europe, he served as military governor of the American-occupied zone of Germany (1945), Army Chief of Staff (1945–1948), president of Columbia University (1948–1953), and as the first supreme commander of NATO (1951–1952).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In 1952, Eisenhower entered the presidential race as a Republican to block the isolationist foreign policies of Senator Robert A. Taft, who opposed NATO. Eisenhower won that election and the 1956 election in landslides, both times defeating Adlai Stevenson II. Eisenhower's main goals in office were to contain the spread of communism and reduce federal deficits. In 1953, he considered using nuclear weapons to end the Korean War and may have threatened China with nuclear attack if an armistice was not reached quickly. China did agree and an armistice resulted, which remains in effect. His New Look policy of nuclear deterrence prioritized \"inexpensive\" nuclear weapons while reducing funding for expensive Army divisions. He continued Harry S. Truman's policy of recognizing Taiwan as the legitimate government of China, and he won congressional approval of the Formosa Resolution. His administration provided major aid to help the French fight off Vietnamese Communists in the First Indochina War. After the French left, he gave strong financial support to the new state of South Vietnam. He supported regime-changing military coups in Iran and Guatemala orchestrated by his own administration. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, he condemned the Israeli, British, and French invasion of Egypt, and he forced them to withdraw. He also condemned the Soviet invasion during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 but took no action. He deployed 15,000 soldiers during the 1958 Lebanon crisis. Near the end of his term, a summit meeting with the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was cancelled when a US spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. Eisenhower approved the Bay of Pigs Invasion, which was left to John F. Kennedy to carry out.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "On the domestic front, Eisenhower governed as a moderate conservative who continued New Deal agencies and expanded Social Security. He covertly opposed Joseph McCarthy and contributed to the end of McCarthyism by openly invoking executive privilege. He signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and sent Army troops to enforce federal court orders which integrated schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. His administration undertook the development and construction of the Interstate Highway System, which remains the largest construction of roadways in American history. In 1957, following the Soviet launch of Sputnik, Eisenhower led the American response which included the creation of NASA and the establishment of a stronger, science-based education via the National Defense Education Act. The Soviet Union began to reinforce their own space program, escalating the Space Race. His two terms saw unprecedented economic prosperity except for a minor recession in 1958. In his farewell address, he expressed his concerns about the dangers of massive military spending, particularly deficit spending and government contracts to private military manufacturers, which he dubbed \"the military–industrial complex\". Historical evaluations of his presidency place him among the upper tier of American presidents.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The Eisenhauer (German for \"iron hewer\" or \"iron miner\") family migrated from the German village of Karlsbrunn to the Province of Pennsylvania in 1741. Accounts vary as to how and when the German name Eisenhauer was anglicized.",
"title": "Family background"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "David Jacob Eisenhower, Eisenhower's father, was a college-educated engineer, despite his own father's urging to stay on the family farm. Eisenhower's mother, Ida Elizabeth (Stover) Eisenhower, of predominantly German Protestant ancestry, moved to Kansas from Virginia. She married David on September 23, 1885, in Lecompton, Kansas, on the campus of their alma mater, Lane University. David owned a general store in Hope, Kansas, but the business failed due to economic conditions and the family became impoverished. The Eisenhowers lived in Texas from 1889 until 1892, and later returned to Kansas, with $24 (equivalent to $782 in 2022) to their name. David worked as a railroad mechanic and then at a creamery. By 1898, the parents made a decent living and provided a suitable home for their large family.",
"title": "Family background"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Eisenhower was born David Dwight Eisenhower in Denison, Texas, on October 14, 1890, the third of seven sons born to Ida and David. His mother soon reversed his two forenames after his birth to avoid the confusion of having two Davids in the family. He was named Dwight after the evangelist Dwight L. Moody. All of the boys were nicknamed \"Ike\", such as \"Big Ike\" (Edgar) and \"Little Ike\" (Dwight); the nickname was intended as an abbreviation of their last name. By World War II, only Dwight was still called \"Ike\".",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In 1892, the family moved to Abilene, Kansas, which Eisenhower considered his hometown. As a child, he was involved in an accident that cost his younger brother Earl an eye, for which he was remorseful for the remainder of his life. Eisenhower developed a keen and enduring interest in exploring the outdoors. He learned about hunting and fishing, cooking, and card playing from a man named Bob Davis who camped on the Smoky Hill River. While his mother was against war, it was her collection of history books that first sparked Eisenhower's interest in military history; he became a voracious reader on the subject. Other favorite subjects early in his education were arithmetic and spelling.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Eisenhower's parents set aside specific times at breakfast and at dinner for daily family Bible reading. Chores were regularly assigned and rotated among all the children, and misbehavior was met with unequivocal discipline, usually from David. His mother, previously a member (with David) of the River Brethren (Brethren in Christ Church) sect of the Mennonites, joined the International Bible Students Association, later known as Jehovah's Witnesses. The Eisenhower home served as the local meeting hall from 1896 to 1915, though Dwight never joined. His later decision to attend West Point saddened his mother, who felt that warfare was \"rather wicked\", but she did not overrule his decision. Speaking of himself in 1948, Eisenhower said he was \"one of the most deeply religious men I know\" though unattached to any \"sect or organization\". He was baptized in the Presbyterian Church in 1953.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Eisenhower attended Abilene High School and graduated in 1909. As a freshman, he injured his knee and developed a leg infection that extended into his groin, which his doctor diagnosed as life-threatening. The doctor insisted that the leg be amputated but Dwight refused to allow it, and surprisingly recovered, though he had to repeat his freshman year. He and brother Edgar both wanted to attend college, though they lacked the funds. They made a pact to take alternate years at college while the other worked to earn the tuitions.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Edgar took the first turn at school, and Dwight was employed as a night supervisor at the Belle Springs Creamery. When Edgar asked for a second year, Dwight consented and worked for a second year. At that time, a friend Edward \"Swede\" Hazlett was applying to the Naval Academy and urged Dwight to apply, since no tuition was required. Eisenhower requested consideration for either Annapolis or West Point with his Senator, Joseph L. Bristow. Though Eisenhower was among the winners of the entrance-exam competition, he was beyond the age limit for the Naval Academy. He accepted an appointment to West Point in 1911.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "At West Point, Eisenhower relished the emphasis on traditions and on sports, but was less enthusiastic about the hazing, though he willingly accepted it as a plebe. He was also a regular violator of the more detailed regulations and finished school with a less than stellar discipline rating. Academically, Eisenhower's best subject by far was English. Otherwise, his performance was average, though he thoroughly enjoyed the typical emphasis of engineering on science and mathematics.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "In athletics, Eisenhower later said that \"not making the baseball team at West Point was one of the greatest disappointments of my life, maybe my greatest\". He made the varsity football team and was a starter at halfback in 1912, when he tried to tackle the legendary Jim Thorpe of the Carlisle Indians. Eisenhower suffered a torn knee while being tackled in the next game, which was the last he played; he reinjured his knee on horseback and in the boxing ring, so he turned to fencing and gymnastics.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Eisenhower later served as junior varsity football coach and cheerleader, which caught the attention of General Frederick Funston. He graduated from West Point in the middle of the class of 1915, which became known as \"the class the stars fell on\", because 59 members eventually became general officers. After graduation in 1915, Second Lieutenant Eisenhower requested an assignment in the Philippines, which was denied; because of the ongoing Mexican Revolution, he was posted to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, under the command of General Funston. In 1916, while stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Funston convinced him to become the football coach for Peacock Military Academy; he later became the coach at St. Louis College, now St. Mary's University, and was an honorary member of the Sigma Beta Chi fraternity there.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "While Eisenhower was stationed in Texas, he met Mamie Doud of Boone, Iowa. They were immediately taken with each other. He proposed to her on Valentine's Day in 1916. A November wedding date in Denver was moved up to July 1 due to the impending American entry into World War I; Funston approved 10 days of leave for their wedding. The Eisenhowers moved many times during their first 35 years of marriage.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The Eisenhowers had two sons. In late 1917 while he was in charge of training at Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia, his wife Mamie had their first son, Doud Dwight \"Icky\" Eisenhower, who died of scarlet fever at the age of three. Eisenhower was mostly reluctant to discuss his death. Their second son, John Eisenhower, was born in Denver, Colorado. John served in the United States Army, retired as a brigadier general, became an author and served as Ambassador to Belgium from 1969 to 1971. He married Barbara Jean Thompson and had four children: David, Barbara Ann, Susan Elaine and Mary Jean. David, after whom Camp David is named, married Richard Nixon's daughter Julie in 1968.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Eisenhower was a golf enthusiast later in life, and he joined the Augusta National Golf Club in 1948. He played golf frequently during and after his presidency and was unreserved in his passion for the game, to the point of golfing during winter; he ordered his golf balls painted black so he could see them better against snow. He had a basic golf facility installed at Camp David, and he became close friends with the Augusta National Chairman Clifford Roberts, inviting Roberts to stay at the White House on numerous occasions. Roberts, an investment broker, also handled the Eisenhower family's investments.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "He began oil painting while at Columbia University, after watching Thomas E. Stephens paint Mamie's portrait. In order to relax, Eisenhower painted about 260 oils during the last 20 years of his life. The images were mostly landscapes but also portraits of subjects such as Mamie, their grandchildren, General Montgomery, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. Wendy Beckett stated that Eisenhower's paintings, \"simple and earnest\", caused her to \"wonder at the hidden depths of this reticent president\". A conservative in both art and politics, Eisenhower in a 1962 speech denounced modern art as \"a piece of canvas that looks like a broken-down Tin Lizzie, loaded with paint, has been driven over it\".",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Angels in the Outfield was Eisenhower's favorite movie. His favorite reading material for relaxation was the Western novels of Zane Grey. With his excellent memory and ability to focus, Eisenhower was skilled at cards. He learned poker, which he called his \"favorite indoor sport\", in Abilene. Eisenhower recorded West Point classmates' poker losses for payment after graduation and later stopped playing because his opponents resented having to pay him. A friend reported that after learning to play contract bridge at West Point, Eisenhower played the game six nights a week for five months. Eisenhower continued to play bridge throughout his military career. While stationed in the Philippines, he played regularly with President Manuel Quezon, earning him the nickname the \"Bridge Wizard of Manila\". An unwritten qualification for an officer's appointment to Eisenhower's staff during World War II was the ability to play bridge. He played even during the stressful weeks leading up to the D-Day landings. His favorite partner was General Alfred Gruenther, considered the best player in the US Army; he appointed Gruenther his second-in-command at NATO partly because of his skill at bridge. Saturday night bridge games at the White House were a feature of his presidency. He was a strong player, though not an expert by modern standards. The great bridge player and popularizer Ely Culbertson described his game as classic and sound with \"flashes of brilliance\" and said that \"you can always judge a man's character by the way he plays cards. Eisenhower is a calm and collected player and never whines at his losses. He is brilliant in victory but never commits the bridge player's worst crime of gloating when he wins.\" Bridge expert Oswald Jacoby frequently participated in the White House games and said, \"The President plays better bridge than golf. He tries to break 90 at golf. At bridge, you would say he plays in the 70s.\"",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Eisenhower served initially in logistics and then the infantry at various camps in Texas and Georgia until 1918. When the US entered World War I, he immediately requested an overseas assignment but was denied and assigned to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. In February 1918, he was transferred to Camp Meade in Maryland with the 65th Engineers. His unit was later ordered to France, but, to his chagrin, he received orders for the new tank corps, where he was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel in the National Army. He commanded a unit that trained tank crews at Camp Colt – his first command. Though Eisenhower and his tank crews never saw combat, he displayed excellent organizational skills as well as an ability to accurately assess junior officers' strengths and make optimal placements of personnel.",
"title": "World War I (1914–1918)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "His spirits were raised when the unit under his command received orders overseas to France. This time his wishes were thwarted when the armistice was signed a week before his departure date. Completely missing out on the warfront left him depressed and bitter for a time, despite receiving the Distinguished Service Medal for his work at home. In World War II, rivals who had combat service in the Great War (led by Gen. Bernard Montgomery) sought to denigrate Eisenhower for his previous lack of combat duty, despite his stateside experience establishing a camp for thousands of troops and developing a full combat training schedule.",
"title": "World War I (1914–1918)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "After the war, Eisenhower reverted to his regular rank of captain and a few days later was promoted to major, a rank he held for 16 years. The major was assigned in 1919 to a transcontinental Army convoy to test vehicles and dramatize the need for improved roads. Indeed, the convoy averaged only 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h) from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco; later the improvement of highways became a signature issue for Eisenhower as president.",
"title": "Between the Wars (1918–1939)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "He assumed duties again at Camp Meade, Maryland, commanding a battalion of tanks, where he remained until 1922. His schooling continued, focused on the nature of the next war and the role of the tank. His new expertise in tank warfare was strengthened by a close collaboration with George S. Patton, Sereno E. Brett, and other senior tank leaders. Their leading-edge ideas of speed-oriented offensive tank warfare were strongly discouraged by superiors, who considered the new approach too radical and preferred to continue using tanks in a strictly supportive role for the infantry. Eisenhower was even threatened with court-martial for continued publication of these proposed methods of tank deployment, and he relented.",
"title": "Between the Wars (1918–1939)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "From 1920, Eisenhower served under a succession of talented generals – Fox Conner, John J. Pershing, Douglas MacArthur and George Marshall. He first became executive officer to General Conner in the Panama Canal Zone, where, joined by Mamie, he served until 1924. Under Conner's tutelage, he studied military history and theory (including Carl von Clausewitz's On War), and later cited Conner's enormous influence on his military thinking, saying in 1962 that \"Fox Conner was the ablest man I ever knew.\" Conner's comment on Eisenhower was, \"[He] is one of the most capable, efficient and loyal officers I have ever met.\" On Conner's recommendation, in 1925–1926 he attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he graduated first in a class of 245 officers.",
"title": "Between the Wars (1918–1939)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Eisenhower's career stalled somewhat, as military priorities diminished; many of his friends resigned for high-paying business jobs. He was assigned to the American Battle Monuments Commission directed by General Pershing, and with the help of his brother Milton Eisenhower, then a journalist at the Agriculture Department, he produced a guide to American battlefields in Europe. He then was assigned to the Army War College and graduated in 1928. After a one-year assignment in France, Eisenhower served as executive officer to General George V. Moseley, Assistant Secretary of War, from 1929 to February 1933. Major Eisenhower graduated from the Army Industrial College in 1933 and later served on the faculty (it was later expanded to become the Industrial College of the Armed Services and is now known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy).",
"title": "Between the Wars (1918–1939)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "His primary duty was planning for the next war, which proved most difficult in the midst of the Great Depression. He then was posted as chief military aide to General Douglas MacArthur, Army Chief of Staff. In 1932, he participated in the clearing of the Bonus March encampment in Washington, D.C. Although he was against the actions taken against the veterans and strongly advised MacArthur against taking a public role in it, he later wrote the Army's official incident report, endorsing MacArthur's conduct.",
"title": "Between the Wars (1918–1939)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "In 1935, he accompanied MacArthur to the Philippines, where he served as assistant military adviser to the Philippine government in developing their army. MacArthur allowed Eisenhower to handpick an officer whom he thought would contribute to the mission. Hence he chose James Ord, a classmate of his at West Point. Having been brought up in Mexico, which inculcated into him the Spanish culture which influenced both Mexico and the Philippines, Ord was deemed the right pick for the job. Eisenhower had strong philosophical disagreements with MacArthur regarding the role of the Philippine Army and the leadership qualities that an American army officer should exhibit and develop in his subordinates. The antipathy between Eisenhower and MacArthur lasted the rest of their lives.",
"title": "Between the Wars (1918–1939)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Historians have concluded that this assignment provided valuable preparation for handling the challenging personalities of Winston Churchill, George S. Patton, George Marshall, and Bernard Montgomery during World War II. Eisenhower later emphasized that too much had been made of the disagreements with MacArthur and that a positive relationship endured. While in Manila, Mamie suffered a life-threatening stomach ailment but recovered fully. Eisenhower was promoted to the rank of permanent lieutenant colonel in 1936. He also learned to fly with the Philippine Army Air Corps at the Zablan Airfield in Camp Murphy under Capt. Jesus Villamor, making a solo flight over the Philippines in 1937, and obtained his private pilot's license in 1939 at Fort Lewis. Also around this time, he was offered a post by the Philippine Commonwealth Government, namely by then Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon on recommendations by MacArthur, to become the chief of police of a new capital being planned, now named Quezon City, but he declined the offer.",
"title": "Between the Wars (1918–1939)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Eisenhower returned to the United States in December 1939 and was assigned as commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment at Fort Lewis, Washington, later becoming the regimental executive officer. In March 1941 he was promoted to colonel and assigned as chief of staff of the newly activated IX Corps under Major General Kenyon Joyce. In June 1941, he was appointed chief of staff to General Walter Krueger, Commander of the Third Army, at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. After successfully participating in the Louisiana Maneuvers, he was promoted to brigadier general on October 3, 1941.",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower was assigned to the General Staff in Washington, where he served until June 1942 with responsibility for creating the major war plans to defeat Japan and Germany. He was appointed Deputy Chief in charge of Pacific Defenses under the Chief of War Plans Division (WPD), General Leonard T. Gerow, and then succeeded Gerow as Chief of the War Plans Division. Next, he was appointed Assistant Chief of Staff in charge of the new Operations Division (which replaced WPD) under Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall, who spotted talent and promoted accordingly.",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "At the end of May 1942, Eisenhower accompanied Lt. Gen. Henry H. Arnold, commanding general of the Army Air Forces, to London to assess the effectiveness of the theater commander in England, Maj. Gen. James E. Chaney. He returned to Washington on June 3 with a pessimistic assessment, stating he had an \"uneasy feeling\" about Chaney and his staff. On June 23, 1942, he returned to London as Commanding General, European Theater of Operations (ETOUSA), based in London and with a house on Coombe, Kingston upon Thames, and took over command of ETOUSA from Chaney. He was promoted to lieutenant general on July 7.",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "In November 1942, Eisenhower was also appointed Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force of the North African Theater of Operations (NATOUSA) through the new operational Headquarters Allied (Expeditionary) Force Headquarters (A(E)FHQ). The word \"expeditionary\" was dropped soon after his appointment for security reasons. The campaign in North Africa was designated Operation Torch and was planned in the underground headquarters within the Rock of Gibraltar. Eisenhower was the first non-British person to command Gibraltar in 200 years.",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "French cooperation was deemed necessary to the campaign and Eisenhower encountered a \"preposterous situation\" with the multiple rival factions in France. His primary objective was to move forces successfully into Tunisia and intending to facilitate that objective, he gave his support to François Darlan as High Commissioner in North Africa, despite Darlan's previous high offices in Vichy France and his continued role as commander-in-chief of the French armed forces. The Allied leaders were \"thunderstruck\" by this from a political standpoint, though none had offered Eisenhower guidance with the problem in planning the operation. Eisenhower was severely criticized for the move. Darlan was assassinated on December 24 by Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, a French antifascist monarchist. Eisenhower later appointed as High Commissioner General Henri Giraud, who had been installed by the Allies as Darlan's commander-in-chief.",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Operation Torch also served as a valuable training ground for Eisenhower's combat command skills; during the initial phase of Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel's move into the Kasserine Pass, Eisenhower created some confusion in the ranks by interference with the execution of battle plans by his subordinates. He also was initially indecisive in his removal of Lloyd Fredendall, commanding II Corps. He became more adroit in such matters in later campaigns. In February 1943, his authority was extended as commander of AFHQ across the Mediterranean basin to include the British Eighth Army, commanded by General Sir Bernard Montgomery. The Eighth Army had advanced across the Western Desert from the east and was ready for the start of the Tunisia Campaign.",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "After the capitulation of Axis forces in North Africa, Eisenhower oversaw the invasion of Sicily. Once Mussolini, the Italian leader, had fallen in Italy, the Allies switched their attention to the mainland with Operation Avalanche. But while Eisenhower argued with President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill, who both insisted on unconditional surrender in exchange for helping the Italians, the Germans pursued an aggressive buildup of forces in the country. The Germans made the already tough battle more difficult by adding 19 divisions and initially outnumbering the Allied forces 2 to 1.",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "In December 1943, President Roosevelt decided that Eisenhower – not Marshall – would be Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. The following month, he resumed command of ETOUSA and the following month was officially designated as the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), serving in a dual role until the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945. He was charged in these positions with planning and carrying out the Allied assault on the coast of Normandy in June 1944 under the code name Operation Overlord, the liberation of Western Europe and the invasion of Germany.",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Eisenhower, as well as the officers and troops under him, had learned valuable lessons in their previous operations, and their skills had all strengthened in preparation for the next most difficult campaign against the Germans—a beach landing assault. His first struggles, however, were with Allied leaders and officers on matters vital to the success of the Normandy invasion; he argued with Roosevelt over an essential agreement with De Gaulle to use French resistance forces in covert operations against the Germans in advance of Operation Overlord. Admiral Ernest J. King fought with Eisenhower over King's refusal to provide additional landing craft from the Pacific. Eisenhower also insisted that the British give him exclusive command over all strategic air forces to facilitate Overlord, to the point of threatening to resign unless Churchill relented, which he did. Eisenhower then designed a bombing plan in France in advance of Overlord and argued with Churchill over the latter's concern with civilian casualties; de Gaulle interjected that the casualties were justified, and Eisenhower prevailed. He also had to skillfully manage to retain the services of the often unruly George S. Patton, by severely reprimanding him when Patton earlier had slapped a subordinate, and then when Patton gave a speech in which he made improper comments about postwar policy.",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "The D-Day Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, were costly but successful. Two months later (August 15), the invasion of Southern France took place, and control of forces in the southern invasion passed from the AFHQ to the SHAEF. Many thought that victory in Europe would come by summer's end, but the Germans did not capitulate for almost a year. From then until the end of the war in Europe on May 8, 1945, Eisenhower, through SHAEF, commanded all Allied forces, and through his command of ETOUSA had administrative command of all US forces on the Western Front north of the Alps. He was ever mindful of the inevitable loss of life and suffering that would be experienced on an individual level by the troops under his command and their families. This prompted him to make a point of visiting every division involved in the invasion. Eisenhower's sense of responsibility was underscored by his draft of a statement to be issued if the invasion failed. It has been called one of the great speeches of history:",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Every ground commander seeks the battle of annihilation; so far as conditions permit, he tries to duplicate in modern war the classic example of Cannae",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Once the coastal assault had succeeded, Eisenhower insisted on retaining personal control over the land battle strategy and was immersed in the command and supply of multiple assaults through France on Germany. Field Marshal Montgomery insisted priority be given to his 21st Army Group's attack being made in the north, while Generals Bradley (12th US Army Group) and Devers (Sixth US Army Group) insisted they be given priority in the center and south of the front (respectively). Eisenhower worked tirelessly to address the demands of the rival commanders to optimize Allied forces, often by giving them tactical latitude; many historians conclude this delayed the Allied victory in Europe. However, due to Eisenhower's persistence, the pivotal supply port at Antwerp was successfully, albeit belatedly, opened in late 1944.",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "In recognition of his senior position in the Allied command, on December 20, 1944, he was promoted to General of the Army, equivalent to the rank of Field Marshal in most European armies. In this and the previous high commands he held, Eisenhower showed his great talents for leadership and diplomacy. Although he had never seen action himself, he won the respect of front-line commanders. He interacted adeptly with allies such as Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and General Charles de Gaulle. He had serious disagreements with Churchill and Montgomery over questions of strategy, but these rarely upset his relationships with them. He dealt with Soviet Marshal Zhukov, his Russian counterpart, and they became good friends.",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "In December 1944, the Germans launched a surprise counteroffensive, the Battle of the Bulge, which the Allies turned back in early 1945 after Eisenhower repositioned his armies and improved weather allowed the Army Air Force to engage. German defenses continued to deteriorate on both the Eastern Front with the Red Army and the Western Front with the Western Allies. The British wanted to capture Berlin, but Eisenhower decided it would be a military mistake for him to attack Berlin and said orders to that effect would have to be explicit. The British backed down but then wanted Eisenhower to move into Czechoslovakia for political reasons. Washington refused to support Churchill's plan to use Eisenhower's army for political maneuvers against Moscow. The actual division of Germany followed the lines that Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin had previously agreed upon. The Soviet Red Army captured Berlin in a very bloody large-scale battle, and the Germans finally surrendered on May 7, 1945.",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "In 1945, Eisenhower anticipated that someday an attempt would be made to recharacterize Nazi crimes as propaganda (Holocaust denial) and took steps against it by demanding extensive photo and film documentation of Nazi death camps.",
"title": "World War II (1939–1945)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Following the German unconditional surrender, Eisenhower was appointed military governor of the American-occupied zone of Germany, located primarily in Southern Germany, and headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. Upon discovery of the Nazi concentration camps, he ordered camera crews to document evidence for use in the Nuremberg Trials. He reclassified German prisoners of war (POWs) in US custody as Disarmed Enemy Forces (DEFs), who were no longer subject to the Geneva Convention. Eisenhower followed the orders laid down by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) in directive JCS 1067 but softened them by bringing in 400,000 tons of food for civilians and allowing more fraternization. In response to the devastation in Germany, including food shortages and an influx of refugees, he arranged distribution of American food and medical equipment. His actions reflected the new American attitudes of the German people as Nazi victims not villains, while aggressively purging the ex-Nazis.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "In November 1945, Eisenhower returned to Washington to replace Marshall as Chief of Staff of the Army. His main role was the rapid demobilization of millions of soldiers, a job that was delayed by lack of shipping. Eisenhower was convinced in 1946 that the Soviet Union did not want war and that friendly relations could be maintained; he strongly supported the new United Nations and favored its involvement in the control of atomic bombs. However, in formulating policies regarding the atomic bomb and relations with the Soviets, Truman was guided by the State Department and ignored Eisenhower and the Pentagon. Indeed, Eisenhower had opposed the use of the atomic bomb against the Japanese, writing, \"First, the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing. Second, I hated to see our country be the first to use such a weapon.\" Initially, Eisenhower hoped for cooperation with the Soviets. He even visited Warsaw in 1945. Invited by Bolesław Bierut and decorated with the highest military decoration, he was shocked by the scale of destruction in the city. However, by mid-1947, as east–west tensions over economic recovery in Germany and the Greek Civil War escalated, Eisenhower agreed with a containment policy to stop Soviet expansion.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "According to historian Daniel Immerwahr, Eisenhower was the first Army Chief of Staff who did not serve in the Philippine–American War.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "In June 1943, a visiting politician had suggested to Eisenhower that he might become president after the war. Believing that a general should not participate in politics, Merlo J. Pusey wrote that \"figuratively speaking, [Eisenhower] kicked his political-minded visitor out of his office\". As others asked him about his political future, Eisenhower told one that he could not imagine wanting to be considered for any political job \"from dogcatcher to Grand High Supreme King of the Universe\", and another that he could not serve as Army Chief of Staff if others believed he had political ambitions. In 1945, Truman told Eisenhower during the Potsdam Conference that if desired, the president would help the general win the 1948 election, and in 1947 he offered to run as Eisenhower's running mate on the Democratic ticket if MacArthur won the Republican nomination.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "As the election approached, other prominent citizens and politicians from both parties urged Eisenhower to run. In January 1948, after learning of plans in New Hampshire to elect delegates supporting him for the forthcoming Republican National Convention, Eisenhower stated through the Army that he was \"not available for and could not accept nomination to high political office\"; \"life-long professional soldiers\", he wrote, \"in the absence of some obvious and overriding reason, [should] abstain from seeking high political office\". Eisenhower maintained no political party affiliation during this time. Many believed he was forgoing his only opportunity to be president as Republican Thomas E. Dewey was considered the probable winner and would presumably serve two terms, meaning that Eisenhower, at age 66 in 1956, would be too old to run.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "In 1948, Eisenhower became President of Columbia University, an Ivy League university in New York City, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. The choice was subsequently characterized as not having been a good fit for either party. During that year, Eisenhower's memoir, Crusade in Europe, was published. It was a major financial success. Eisenhower sought the advice of Augusta National's Roberts about the tax implications of this, and in due course Eisenhower's profit on the book was substantially aided by what author David Pietrusza calls \"a ruling without precedent\" by the Department of the Treasury. It held that Eisenhower was not a professional writer, but rather, marketing the lifetime asset of his experiences, and thus he had to pay only capital gains tax on his $635,000 advance instead of the much higher personal tax rate. This ruling saved Eisenhower about $400,000.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Eisenhower's stint as the president of Columbia was punctuated by his activity within the Council on Foreign Relations, a study group he led concerning the political and military implications of the Marshall Plan and The American Assembly, Eisenhower's \"vision of a great cultural center where business, professional and governmental leaders could meet from time to time to discuss and reach conclusions concerning problems of a social and political nature\". His biographer Blanche Wiesen Cook suggested that this period served his \"the political education\", since he had to prioritize wide-ranging educational, administrative, and financial demands for the university. Through his involvement in the Council on Foreign Relations, he also gained exposure to economic analysis, which would become the bedrock of his understanding in economic policy. \"Whatever General Eisenhower knows about economics, he has learned at the study group meetings,\" one Aid to Europe member claimed.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Eisenhower accepted the presidency of the university to expand his ability to promote \"the American form of democracy\" through education. He was clear on this point to the trustees on the search committee. He informed them that his main purpose was \"to promote the basic concepts of education in a democracy\". As a result, he was \"almost incessantly\" devoted to the idea of the American Assembly, a concept he developed into an institution by the end of 1950.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Within months of becoming university president, Eisenhower was requested to advise Secretary of Defense James Forrestal on the unification of the armed services. About six months after his appointment, he became the informal Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington. Two months later he fell ill with what was diagnosed as acute gastroenteritis, and he spent over a month in recovery at the Augusta National Golf Club. He returned to his post in New York in mid-May, and in July 1949 took a two-month vacation out-of-state. Because the American Assembly had begun to take shape, he traveled around the country during summer and fall 1950, building financial support for it, including from Columbia Associates, a recently created alumni and benefactor organization for which he had helped recruit members. Eisenhower was unknowingly building resentment and a reputation among the Columbia University faculty and staff as an absentee president who was using the university for his own interests. As a career military man, he naturally had little in common with the academics. The contacts gained through university and American Assembly fundraising activities would later become important supporters in Eisenhower's bid for the Republican party nomination and the presidency. Meanwhile, Columbia University's liberal faculty members became disenchanted with the university president's ties to oilmen and businessmen.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "He did have some successes at Columbia. Puzzled as to why no American university had undertaken the \"continuous study of the causes, conduct and consequences of war\", Eisenhower undertook the creation of the Institute of War and Peace Studies, a research facility to \"study war as a tragic social phenomenon\". Eisenhower was able to use his network of wealthy friends and acquaintances to secure initial funding for it. Under its founding director, international relations scholar William T. R. Fox, the institute began in 1951 and became a pioneer in international security studies, one that would be emulated by other institutes in the United States and Britain later in the decade. The Institute of War and Peace Studies thus become one of the projects which Eisenhower considered his \"unique contribution\" to Columbia. As the president of Columbia, Eisenhower gave voice to his opinions about the supremacy and difficulties of American democracy. His tenure marked his transformation from military to civilian leadership. His biographer Travis Beal Jacobs also suggested that the alienation of the Columbia faculty contributed to sharp intellectual criticism of him for many years.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "The trustees of Columbia University declined to accept Eisenhower's offer to resign in December 1950, when he took an extended leave from the university to become the Supreme Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and he was given operational command of NATO forces in Europe. Eisenhower retired from active service as an army general on June 3, 1952, and he resumed his presidency of Columbia. Meanwhile, Eisenhower had become the Republican Party nominee for president of the United States, a contest that he won on November 4. Eisenhower tendered his resignation as university president on November 15, 1952, effective January 19, 1953, the day before his inauguration.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "At home, Eisenhower was more effective in making the case for NATO in Congress than the Truman administration had been. By the middle of 1951, with American and European support, NATO was a genuine military power. Nevertheless, Eisenhower thought that NATO would become a truly European alliance, with the American and Canadian commitments ending after about ten years.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "President Truman sensed a broad-based desire for an Eisenhower candidacy for president, and he again pressed him to run for the office as a Democrat in 1951. But Eisenhower voiced his disagreements with the Democrats and declared himself to be a Republican. A \"Draft Eisenhower\" movement in the Republican Party persuaded him to declare his candidacy in the 1952 presidential election to counter the candidacy of non-interventionist Senator Robert A. Taft. The effort was a long struggle; Eisenhower had to be convinced that political circumstances had created a genuine duty for him to offer himself as a candidate and that there was a mandate from the public for him to be their president. Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. and others succeeded in convincing him, and he resigned his command at NATO in June 1952 to campaign full-time.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Eisenhower defeated Taft for the nomination, having won critical delegate votes from Texas. His campaign was noted for the simple slogan \"I Like Ike\". It was essential to his success that Eisenhower express opposition to Roosevelt's policy at the Yalta Conference and to Truman's policies in Korea and China—matters in which he had once participated. In defeating Taft for the nomination, it became necessary for Eisenhower to appease the right-wing Old Guard of the Republican Party; his selection of Richard Nixon as the vice-president on the ticket was designed in part for that purpose. Nixon also provided a strong anti-communist reputation, as well as youth to counter Eisenhower's more advanced age.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Eisenhower insisted on campaigning in the South in the general election, against the advice of his campaign team, refusing to surrender the region to the Democratic Party. The campaign strategy was dubbed \"K1C2\" and was intended to focus on attacking the Truman administration on three failures: the Korean War, Communism, and corruption.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Two controversies tested him and his staff, but they did not damage the campaign. One involved a report that Nixon had improperly received funds from a secret trust. Nixon spoke out adroitly to avoid potential damage, but the matter permanently alienated the two candidates. The second issue centered on Eisenhower's relented decision to confront the controversial methods of Joseph McCarthy on his home turf in a Wisconsin appearance. Eisenhower condemned \"wickedness in government\", an allusion to gay government employees who were conflated with communism during McCarthyism.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Eisenhower defeated Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson II in a landslide, with an electoral margin of 442 to 89, marking the first Republican return to the White House in 20 years. He also brought a Republican majority in the House, by eight votes, and in the Senate, evenly divided with Vice President Nixon providing Republicans the majority.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Eisenhower was the last president born in the 19th century, and he was the oldest president-elect at age 62 since James Buchanan in 1856. He was the third commanding general of the Army to serve as president, after George Washington and Ulysses S. Grant, and the last not to have held political office prior to becoming president until Donald Trump entered office in January 2017.",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "The United States presidential election of 1956 was held on November 6, 1956. Eisenhower, the popular incumbent, successfully ran for re-election. The election was a re-match of 1952, as his opponent in 1956 was Stevenson, a former Illinois governor, whom Eisenhower had defeated four years earlier. Compared to the 1952 election, Eisenhower gained Kentucky, Louisiana, and West Virginia from Stevenson, while losing Missouri. His voters were less likely to bring up his leadership record. Instead what stood out this time \"was the response to personal qualities— to his sincerity, his integrity and sense of duty, his virtue as a family man, his religious devotion, and his sheer likeableness.\"",
"title": "After World War II (1945–1953)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Truman and Eisenhower had minimal discussions about the transition of administrations due to a complete estrangement between them as a result of campaigning. Eisenhower selected Joseph M. Dodge as his budget director, then asked Herbert Brownell Jr. and Lucius D. Clay to make recommendations for his cabinet appointments. He accepted their recommendations without exception; they included John Foster Dulles and George M. Humphrey with whom he developed his closest relationships, as well as Oveta Culp Hobby. His cabinet consisted of several corporate executives and one labor leader, and one journalist dubbed it \"eight millionaires and a plumber\". The cabinet was known for its lack of personal friends, office seekers, or experienced government administrators. He also upgraded the role of the National Security Council in planning all phases of the Cold War.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Before his inauguration, Eisenhower led a meeting of advisors at Pearl Harbor where they set goals for his first term: balance the budget, end the Korean War, defend vital interests at lower cost through nuclear deterrent, and end price and wage controls. He also conducted the first pre-inaugural cabinet meeting in history in late 1952; he used this meeting to articulate his anti-communist Russia policy. His inaugural address was exclusively devoted to foreign policy and included this same philosophy as well as a commitment to foreign trade and the United Nations.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "Eisenhower made greater use of press conferences than any previous president, holding almost 200 over his two terms. He saw the benefit of maintaining a good relationship with the press, and he saw value in them as a means of direct communication with the American people.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "Throughout his presidency, Eisenhower adhered to a political philosophy of dynamic conservatism. He described himself as a \"progressive conservative\" and used terms such as \"progressive moderate\" and \"dynamic conservatism\" to describe his approach. He continued all the major New Deal programs still in operation, especially Social Security. He expanded its programs and rolled them into the new Cabinet-level agency of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, while extending benefits to an additional ten million workers. He implemented racial integration in the Armed Services in two years, which had not been completed under Truman.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "In a private letter, Eisenhower wrote:",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Should any party attempt to abolish social security and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group of course, that believes you can do these things [...] Their number is negligible and they are stupid.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "When the 1954 Congressional elections approached, it became evident that the Republicans were in danger of losing their thin majority in both houses. Eisenhower was among those who blamed the Old Guard for the losses, and he took up the charge to stop suspected efforts by the right wing to take control of the GOP. He then articulated his position as a moderate, progressive Republican: \"I have just one purpose ... and that is to build up a strong progressive Republican Party in this country. If the right wing wants a fight, they are going to get it ... before I end up, either this Republican Party will reflect progressivism or I won't be with them anymore.\"",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "Eisenhower initially planned on serving only one term, but he remained flexible in case leading Republicans wanted him to run again. He was recovering from a heart attack late in September 1955 when he met with his closest advisors to evaluate the GOP's potential candidates; the group concluded that a second term was well advised, and he announced that he would run again in February 1956. Eisenhower was publicly noncommittal about having Nixon as the Vice President on his ticket; the question was an especially important one in light of his heart condition. He personally favored Robert B. Anderson, a Democrat who rejected his offer, so Eisenhower resolved to leave the matter in the hands of the party. In 1956, Eisenhower faced Adlai Stevenson again and won by an even larger landslide, with 457 of 531 electoral votes and 57.6 percent of the popular vote. His campaigning was curtailed out of health considerations.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "Eisenhower made full use of his valet, chauffeur, and secretarial support; he rarely drove or even dialed a phone number. He was an avid fisherman, golfer, painter, and bridge player. On August 26, 1959, he was aboard the maiden flight of Air Force One, which replaced the Columbine as the presidential aircraft.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "Eisenhower championed and signed the bill that authorized the Interstate Highway System in 1956. He justified the project through the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 as essential to American security during the Cold War.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "Eisenhower's goal to create improved highways was influenced his involvement in the Army's 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy. He was assigned as an observer for the mission, which involved sending a convoy of Army vehicles coast to coast. His subsequent experience with the German autobahn convinced him of the benefits of an Interstate Highway System. The system could also be used as a runway for airplanes, which would be beneficial to war efforts. Franklin D. Roosevelt put this system into place with the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944. He thought that an interstate highway system would be beneficial for military operations and would support continued economic growth. The legislation initially stalled in Congress over the issuance of bonds to finance the project, but the legislative effort was renewed and Eisenhower signed the law in June 1956.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "The United States foreign policy of the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration, from 1953 to 1961, focused on the Cold War with the Soviet Union and its satellites. The United States built up a stockpile of nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems to deter military threats and save money while cutting back on expensive Army combat units. A major uprising broke out in Hungary in 1956; the Eisenhower administration did not become directly involved, but condemned the military invasion by the Soviet Union. Eisenhower sought to reach a nuclear test ban treaty with the Soviet Union, but following the 1960 U-2 incident the Kremlin canceled a scheduled summit in Paris.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "As he promised, Eisenhower quickly ended the fighting in Korea, leaving it divided North and South. The U.S. has kept major forces there ever since to deter North Korea. In 1954, he played a key role in the Senate's defeat of the Bricker Amendment, which would have limited the president's treaty making power and ability to enter into executive agreements with foreign leaders. The Eisenhower administration used propaganda and covert action extensively, and the Central Intelligence Agency supported two military coups: the 1953 Iranian coup d'état and the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état. The administration did not approve the partition of Vietnam at the 1954 Geneva Conference, and directed economic and military aid and advice to South Vietnam. Washington led the establishment of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization as an alliance of anti-Communist states in Southeast Asia. It ended two crises with China over Taiwan.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Eisenhower and the CIA had known since at least January 1957, nine months before Sputnik, that Russia had the capability to launch a small payload into orbit and was likely to do so within a year.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "Eisenhower's support of the nation's fledgling space program was officially modest until the Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957, gaining the Cold War enemy enormous prestige. He then launched a national campaign that funded not just space exploration but a major strengthening of science and higher education. The Eisenhower administration determined to adopt a non-aggressive policy that would allow \"space-crafts of any state to overfly all states, a region free of military posturing and launch Earth satellites to explore space\". His Open Skies Policy attempted to legitimize illegal Lockheed U-2 flyovers and Project Genetrix while paving the way for spy satellite technology to orbit over sovereign territory, but Nikolai Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev declined Eisenhower's proposal at the Geneva conference in July 1955. In response to Sputnik being launched in October 1957, Eisenhower created NASA as a civilian space agency in October 1958, signed a landmark science education law, and improved relations with American scientists.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "Fear spread through the United States that the Soviet Union would invade and spread communism, so Eisenhower wanted to not only create a surveillance satellite to detect any threats but ballistic missiles that would protect the United States. In strategic terms, it was Eisenhower who devised the American basic strategy of nuclear deterrence based upon the triad of strategic bombers, land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "NASA planners projected that human spaceflight would pull the United States ahead in the Space Race; however, in 1960, an Ad Hoc Panel on Man-in-Space concluded that \"man-in-space can not be justified\" and was too costly. Eisenhower later resented the space program and its gargantuan price tag—he was quoted as saying, \"Anyone who would spend $40 billion in a race to the moon for national prestige is nuts.\"",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "In late 1952, Eisenhower went to Korea and discovered a military and political stalemate. Once in office, when the Chinese People's Volunteer Army began a buildup in the Kaesong sanctuary, he considered using nuclear weapons if an armistice was not reached. Whether China was informed of the potential for nuclear force is unknown. His earlier military reputation in Europe was effective with the Chinese communists. The National Security Council, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Strategic Air Command (SAC) devised detailed plans for nuclear war against Red China. With the death of Stalin in early March 1953, Russian support for a Chinese communist hard-line weakened and China decided to compromise on the prisoner issue.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "In July 1953, an armistice took effect with Korea divided along approximately the same boundary as in 1950. The armistice and boundary remain in effect today. The armistice, which concluded despite opposition from Secretary Dulles, South Korean President Syngman Rhee, and also within Eisenhower's party, has been described by biographer Ambrose as the greatest achievement of the administration. Eisenhower had the insight to realize that unlimited war in the nuclear age was unthinkable, and limited war unwinnable.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "A point of emphasis in Eisenhower's campaign had been his endorsement of a policy of liberation from communism as opposed to a policy of containment. This remained his preference despite the armistice with Korea. Throughout his terms Eisenhower took a hard-line attitude toward China, as demanded by conservative Republicans, with the goal of driving a wedge between China and the Soviet Union.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "Eisenhower continued Truman's policy of recognizing the Republic of China (Taiwan) as the legitimate government of China, not the Peking (Beijing) regime. There were localized flare-ups when the People's Liberation Army began shelling the islands of Quemoy and Matsu in September 1954. Eisenhower received recommendations embracing every variation of response; he thought it essential to have every possible option available to him as the crisis unfolded.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty with the Republic of China was signed in December 1954. He requested and secured from Congress their \"Free China Resolution\" in January 1955, which gave Eisenhower unprecedented power in advance to use military force at any level in defense of Free China and the Pescadores. The Resolution bolstered the morale of the Chinese nationalists and signaled to Beijing that the US was committed to holding the line.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "Eisenhower openly threatened the Chinese communists with the use of nuclear weapons, authorizing a series of bomb tests labeled Operation Teapot. Nevertheless, he left the Chinese communists guessing as to the exact nature of his nuclear response. This allowed Eisenhower to accomplish all of his objectives—the end of this communist encroachment, the retention of the Islands by the Chinese nationalists and continued peace. Defense of the Republic of China from an invasion remains a core American policy.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "By the end of 1954, Eisenhower's military and foreign policy experts—the NSC, JCS and State Department—had unanimously urged him, on no less than five occasions, to launch an atomic attack against China; yet he consistently refused to do so and felt a distinct sense of accomplishment in having sufficiently confronted communism while keeping world peace.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "Early in 1953, the French asked Eisenhower for help in French Indochina against the Communists, supplied from China, who were fighting the First Indochina War. Eisenhower sent Lt. General John W. O'Daniel to Vietnam to assess the French forces there. Chief of Staff Matthew Ridgway dissuaded the President from intervening by presenting a comprehensive estimate of the massive military deployment that would be necessary. Eisenhower stated prophetically that \"this war would absorb our troops by divisions.\"",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "Eisenhower did provide France with bombers and non-combat personnel. After a few months with no success by the French, he added other aircraft to drop napalm for clearing purposes. Further requests for assistance from the French were agreed to but only on conditions Eisenhower knew were impossible to meet – allied participation and congressional approval. When the French fortress of Dien Bien Phu fell to the Vietnamese Communists in May 1954, Eisenhower refused to intervene despite urging from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Vice President and the head of NCS.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "Eisenhower responded to the French defeat with the formation of the SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) Alliance with the UK, France, New Zealand and Australia in defense of Vietnam against communism. At that time the French and Chinese reconvened the Geneva peace talks; Eisenhower agreed the US would participate only as an observer. After France and the Communists agreed to a partition of Vietnam, Eisenhower rejected the agreement, offering military and economic aid to southern Vietnam. Ambrose argues that Eisenhower, by not participating in the Geneva agreement, had kept the US out of Vietnam; nevertheless, with the formation of SEATO, he had put the US back into the conflict.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "In late 1954, Gen. J. Lawton Collins was made ambassador to \"Free Vietnam\", effectively elevating the country to sovereign status. Collins' instructions were to support the leader Ngo Dinh Diem in subverting communism, by helping him to build an army and wage a military campaign. In February 1955, Eisenhower dispatched the first American soldiers to Vietnam as military advisors to Diem's army. After Diem announced the formation of the Republic of Vietnam (commonly known as South Vietnam) in October, Eisenhower immediately recognized the new state and offered military, economic, and technical assistance.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "In the years that followed, Eisenhower increased the number of US military advisors in South Vietnam to 900. This was due to North Vietnam's support of \"uprisings\" in the south and concern the nation would fall. In May 1957 Diem, then President of South Vietnam, made a state visit to the United States. President Eisenhower pledged his continued support, and a parade was held in Diem's honor in New York City. Although Diem was publicly praised, in private Secretary of State John Foster Dulles conceded that Diem had been selected because there were no better alternatives.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "After the election of November 1960, Eisenhower, in a briefing with John F. Kennedy, pointed out the communist threat in Southeast Asia as requiring prioritization in the next administration. Eisenhower told Kennedy he considered Laos \"the cork in the bottle\" with regard to the regional threat.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "The Pact of Madrid, signed on September 23, 1953, by Francoist Spain and the United States, was a significant effort to break international isolation of Spain, together with the Concordat of 1953. This development came at a time when other victorious Allies and much of the rest of the world remained hostile to a fascist regime sympathetic to the cause of the former Axis powers and established with Nazi assistance. This accord took the form of three separate executive agreements that pledged the United States to furnish economic and military aid to Spain.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "Even before he was inaugurated Eisenhower accepted a request from the British government to restore the Shah of Iran (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi) to power. He therefore authorized the CIA to overthrow Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. This resulted in increased strategic control over Iranian oil by US and British companies.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "In November 1956, Eisenhower forced an end to the combined British, French and Israeli invasion of Egypt in response to the Suez Crisis, receiving praise from Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. Simultaneously he condemned the brutal Soviet invasion of Hungary in response to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He publicly disavowed his allies at the United Nations and used financial and diplomatic pressure to make them withdraw from Egypt. Eisenhower explicitly defended his strong position against Britain and France in his memoirs, published in 1965.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "After the Suez Crisis, the United States became the protector of unstable friendly governments in the Middle East via the \"Eisenhower Doctrine\". Designed by Secretary of State Dulles, it held the US would be \"prepared to use armed force ... [to counter] aggression from any country controlled by international communism\". Further, the US would provide economic and military aid and, if necessary, use military force to stop the spread of communism in the Middle East.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "Eisenhower applied the doctrine in 1957–1958 by dispensing economic aid to the Kingdom of Jordan, and by encouraging Syria's neighbors to consider military operations against it. More dramatically, in July 1958, he sent 15,000 Marines and soldiers to Lebanon as part of Operation Blue Bat, a non-combat peacekeeping mission to stabilize the pro-Western government and to prevent a radical revolution. The Marines departed three months later. Washington considered the military intervention successful since it brought about regional stability, weakened Soviet influence, and intimidated the Egyptian and Syrian governments, whose anti-West political position had hardened after the Suez Crisis.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "Most Arab countries were skeptical about the \"Eisenhower doctrine\" because they considered \"Zionist imperialism\" the real danger. However, they did take the opportunity to obtain free money and weapons. Egypt and Syria, supported by the Soviet Union, openly opposed the initiative. However, Egypt received American aid until the Six-Day War in 1967.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "As the Cold War deepened, Dulles sought to isolate the Soviet Union by building regional alliances against it. Critics sometimes called it \"pacto-mania\".",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "On 1 May 1960, a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down by the Soviet Air Defence Forces while conducting photographic aerial reconnaissance deep inside Soviet territory. Flown by American pilot Francis Gary Powers, the aircraft had taken off from Peshawar, Pakistan, and crashed near Sverdlovsk (present-day Yekaterinburg), after being hit by a surface-to-air missile. Powers parachuted to the ground and was captured.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "Initially American authorities acknowledged the incident as the loss of a civilian weather research aircraft operated by NASA, but were forced to admit the mission's true purpose a few days later after the Soviet government produced the captured pilot and parts of the U-2's surveillance equipment, including photographs of Soviet military bases.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "The incident occurred during the tenures of American president Dwight D. Eisenhower and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, around two weeks before the scheduled opening of an east–west summit in Paris, France. Khrushchev and Eisenhower had met face-to-face at Camp David in Maryland in September 1959, and the seeming thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations had raised hopes globally for a peaceful resolution to the Cold War. The U-2 incident shattered the amiable \"Spirit of Camp David\" that had prevailed for eight months, prompting the cancellation of the summit in Paris and embarrassing the U.S. on the international stage. The Pakistani government issued a formal apology to the Soviet Union for its role in the mission.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "While President Truman's 1948 Executive Order 9981 had begun the process of desegregating the Armed Forces, actual implementation had been slow. Eisenhower made clear his stance in his first State of the Union address in February 1953, saying \"I propose to use whatever authority exists in the office of the President to end segregation in the District of Columbia, including the Federal Government, and any segregation in the Armed Forces\". When he encountered opposition from the services, he used government control of military spending to force the change through, stating \"Wherever Federal Funds are expended ..., I do not see how any American can justify ... a discrimination in the expenditure of those funds\". When Robert B. Anderson, Eisenhower's first Secretary of the Navy, argued that the US Navy must recognize the \"customs and usages prevailing in certain geographic areas of our country which the Navy had no part in creating,\" Eisenhower overruled him: \"We have not taken and we shall not take a single backward step. There must be no second class citizens in this country.\"",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "The administration declared racial discrimination a national security issue, as Communists around the world used the racial discrimination and history of violence in the US as a point of propaganda attack.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "Eisenhower told Washington, D.C. officials to make the city a model for the rest of the country in integrating black and white public-school children. He proposed to Congress the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and of 1960 and signed those acts into law. The 1957 act for the first time established a permanent civil rights office inside the Justice Department and a Civil Rights Commission to hear testimony about abuses of voting rights. Although both acts were much weaker than subsequent civil rights legislation, they constituted the first significant civil rights acts since 1875.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "In 1957 Arkansas refused to honor a federal court order to integrate their public school system stemming from the Brown decision. Eisenhower demanded that Arkansas governor Orval Faubus obey the court order. When Faubus balked, the president placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal control and sent in the 101st Airborne Division. They protected nine black students' entry to Little Rock Central High School, an all-white public school, marking the first time since the Reconstruction Era the federal government had used federal troops in the South to enforce the Constitution. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote to Eisenhower to thank him for his actions, writing \"The overwhelming majority of southerners, Negro and white, stand firmly behind your resolute action to restore law and order in Little Rock\".",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "Eisenhower's administration contributed to the McCarthyist Lavender Scare with Eisenhower issuing Executive Order 10450 in 1953. During Eisenhower's presidency thousands of lesbian and gay applicants were barred from federal employment and over 5,000 federal employees were fired under suspicions of being homosexual. From 1947 to 1961 the number of firings based on sexual orientation were far greater than those for membership in the Communist Party, and government officials intentionally campaigned to make \"homosexual\" synonymous with \"Communist traitor\" such that LGBT people were treated as a national security threat.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "Eisenhower had a Republican Congress for only his first two years in office; in the Senate, Republicans held the majority by a one-vote margin. Despite being Eisenhower's political opponent for the 1952 Republican presidential nomination, Senator Majority Leader Robert A. Taft assisted Eisenhower a great deal by promoting the President's proposals among the \"Old Guard\" Republican Senators. Taft's death in July 1953—six months into Eisenhower's presidency—affected Eisenhower both personally and professionally. The President noted he had lost \"a dear friend\" with Taft's passing. Eisenhower disliked Taft's successor as Majority Leader, Senator William Knowland, and the relationship between the two men led to tension between the Senate and the White House.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "This prevented Eisenhower from openly condemning Joseph McCarthy's highly criticized methods against communism. To facilitate relations with Congress, Eisenhower decided to ignore McCarthy's controversies and thereby deprive them of more energy from the involvement of the White House. This position drew criticism from a number of corners. In late 1953, McCarthy declared on national television that the employment of communists within the government was a menace and would be a pivotal issue in the 1954 Senate elections. Eisenhower was urged to respond directly and specify the various measures he had taken to purge the government of communists.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "Among Eisenhower's objectives in not directly confronting McCarthy was to prevent McCarthy from dragging the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) into McCarthy's witchhunt, which might interfere with the AEC's work on hydrogen bombs and other weapons programs. In December 1953, Eisenhower learned that nuclear scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer had been accused of being a spy for the Soviet Union. Although Eisenhower never really believed these allegations, in January 1954 he ordered that \"a blank wall\" be placed between Oppenheimer and all defense-related activities. The Oppenheimer security hearing later that year resulted in the physicist losing his security clearance. The matter was controversial at the time and remained so in later years, with Oppenheimer achieving a certain martyrdom. The case would reflect poorly on Eisenhower, but the president had never examined it in any detail and had instead relied excessively upon the advice of his subordinates, especially that of AEC chairman Lewis Strauss. Eisenhower later suffered a major political defeat when his nomination of Strauss to be Secretary of Commerce was defeated in the Senate in 1959, in part due to Strauss's role in the Oppenheimer matter.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "In May 1955, McCarthy threatened to issue subpoenas to White House personnel. Eisenhower was furious, and issued an order as follows: \"It is essential to efficient and effective administration that employees of the Executive Branch be in a position to be completely candid in advising with each other on official matters ... it is not in the public interest that any of their conversations or communications, or any documents or reproductions, concerning such advice be disclosed.\" This was an unprecedented step by Eisenhower to protect communication beyond the confines of a cabinet meeting, and soon became a tradition known as executive privilege. Eisenhower's denial of McCarthy's access to his staff reduced McCarthy's hearings to rants about trivial matters and contributed to his ultimate downfall.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "In early 1954, the Old Guard put forward a constitutional amendment, called the Bricker Amendment, which would curtail international agreements by the Chief Executive, such as the Yalta Agreements. Eisenhower opposed the measure. The Old Guard agreed with Eisenhower on the development and ownership of nuclear reactors by private enterprises, which the Democrats opposed. The President succeeded in getting legislation creating a system of licensure for nuclear plants by the AEC.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "The Democrats gained a majority in both houses in the 1954 election. Eisenhower had to work with the Democratic Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson (later US president) in the Senate and Speaker Sam Rayburn in the House. Joe Martin, the Republican Speaker from 1947 to 1949 and again from 1953 to 1955, wrote that Eisenhower \"never surrounded himself with assistants who could solve political problems with professional skill. There were exceptions, Leonard W. Hall, for example, who as chairman of the Republican National Committee tried to open the administration's eyes to the political facts of life, with occasional success. However, these exceptions were not enough to right the balance.\"",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "Speaker Martin concluded that Eisenhower worked too much through subordinates in dealing with Congress, with results, \"often the reverse of what he has desired\" because Members of Congress, \"resent having some young fellow who was picked up by the White House without ever having been elected to office himself coming around and telling them 'The Chief wants this'. The administration never made use of many Republicans of consequence whose services in one form or another would have been available for the asking.\"",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 115,
"text": "Eisenhower appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 116,
"text": "Whittaker was unsuited for the role and retired in 1962, after Eisenhower's presidency had ended. Stewart and Harlan were conservative Republicans, while Brennan was a Democrat who became a leading voice for liberalism. In selecting a Chief Justice, Eisenhower looked for an experienced jurist who could appeal to liberals in the party as well as law-and-order conservatives, noting privately that Warren \"represents the kind of political, economic, and social thinking that I believe we need on the Supreme Court ... He has a national name for integrity, uprightness, and courage that, again, I believe we need on the Court\".",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 117,
"text": "Two states were admitted to the Union during Eisenhower's presidency.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 118,
"text": "Eisenhower began chain smoking cigarettes at West Point, often three or four packs a day. He joked that he \"gave [himself] an order\" to stop cold turkey in 1949. However, Evan Thomas says the true story was more complex. At first, he removed cigarettes and ashtrays, but that did not work. He told a friend:",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 119,
"text": "I decided to make a game of the whole business and try to achieve a feeling of some superiority ... So I stuffed cigarettes in every pocket, put them around my office on the desk ... [and] made it a practice to offer a cigarette to anyone who came in ... while mentally reminding myself as I sat down, \"I do not have to do what that poor fellow is doing.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 120,
"text": "He was the first president to release information about his health and medical records while in office, but people around him deliberately misled the public about his health. On September 24, 1955, while vacationing in Colorado, he had a serious heart attack. While convalescing at Building 500 Howard McCrum Snyder, his personal physician, misdiagnosed the symptoms as indigestion, and failed to call in help that was urgently needed. Snyder later falsified his own records to cover his blunder and to allow Eisenhower to imply that he was healthy enough to do his job.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 121,
"text": "The heart attack required six weeks' hospitalization, during which time Nixon, Dulles, and Sherman Adams assumed administrative duties and provided communication with the president. He was treated by Paul Dudley White, a cardiologist with a national reputation, who regularly informed the press of the president's progress. His physician recommended a second presidential term as essential to his recovery.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 122,
"text": "As a consequence of his heart attack Eisenhower developed a left ventricular aneurysm, which caused a mild stroke during a cabinet meeting on November 25, 1957, when Eisenhower suddenly found himself unable to move his right hand or to speak. The president also suffered from Crohn's disease, which necessitated surgery for a bowel obstruction on June 9, 1956. To treat the intestinal block, surgeons bypassed about ten inches of his small intestine. His scheduled meeting with Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was postponed so he could recover at his farm. He was still recovering from this operation during the Suez Crisis. Eisenhower's health issues forced him to give up smoking and make some changes to his diet, but he still drank alcohol. During a visit to England, he complained of dizziness and had to have his blood pressure checked on August 29, 1959; however, before dinner at prime ministerial manor house Chequers on the next day his physician, General Howard Snyder, recalled that Eisenhower \"drank several gin-and-tonics, and one or two gins on the rocks ... three or four wines with the dinner\".",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 123,
"text": "Eisenhower's health during the last three years of his second term in office was relatively good. After leaving the White House, he suffered several additional and ultimately crippling heart attacks. A severe heart attack in August 1965 largely ended his participation in public affairs. On December 12, 1966, his gallbladder was removed, containing 16 gallstones. After Eisenhower's death in 1969, an autopsy revealed an undiagnosed adrenal pheochromocytoma, a benign adrenalin-secreting tumor that may have made him more vulnerable to heart disease. Eisenhower suffered seven heart attacks from 1955 until his death.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 124,
"text": "The 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution, which set a two-term limit on the presidency, was ratified in 1951. Eisenhower was the first president constitutionally prevented from serving a third term.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 125,
"text": "Eisenhower was also the first outgoing president to come under the protection of the Former Presidents Act. Under the act, Eisenhower was entitled to a lifetime pension, state-provided staff and a Secret Service security detail.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 126,
"text": "In the 1960 election to choose his successor, Eisenhower endorsed Nixon over Democrat John F. Kennedy. He told friends, \"I will do almost anything to avoid turning my chair and country over to Kennedy.\" He actively campaigned for Nixon in the final days, although he may have done Nixon some harm. When asked by reporters at the end of a televised press conference to list one of Nixon's policy ideas he had adopted, Eisenhower joked, \"If you give me a week, I might think of one. I don't remember.\" Kennedy's campaign used the quote in one of its campaign commercials. Nixon narrowly lost to Kennedy. Eisenhower, who was, at 70, the oldest president to date, was succeeded by 43-year-old Kennedy, the youngest elected president.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 127,
"text": "It was originally intended for Eisenhower to have a more active role in the campaign as he wanted to respond to attacks Kennedy made on his administration. However, First Lady Mamie Eisenhower expressed concern to Second Lady Pat Nixon about the strain campaigning would put on his heart, and wanted the president to withdraw, without letting him know of her intervention. Vice President Nixon himself was informed by White House physician Major General Howard Snyder that he could not approve a heavy campaign schedule for the president, whose health problems had been exacerbated by Kennedy's attacks. Nixon then convinced Eisenhower not to go ahead with the expanded campaign schedule and limit himself to the original schedule. Nixon reflected that if Eisenhower had carried out his expanded campaign schedule, he might have had a decisive impact on the outcome of the election, especially in states that Kennedy won with razor-thin margins. Mamie did not tell Dwight why Nixon changed his mind on Dwight's campaigning until years later.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 128,
"text": "On January 17, 1961, Eisenhower gave his final televised Address to the Nation from the Oval Office. In his farewell speech, Eisenhower raised the issue of the Cold War and role of the armed forces. He described the Cold War: \"We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose and insidious in method ...\" and warned about what he saw as unjustified government spending proposals. He continued with a warning that \"we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military–industrial complex.\" Eisenhower elaborated, \"we recognize the imperative need for this development ... the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist ... Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.\"",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 129,
"text": "Because of legal issues related to holding a military rank while in a civilian office, Eisenhower had resigned his permanent commission as General of the Army before assuming the presidency. Upon completion of his presidential term, his commission was reactivated by Congress.",
"title": "Presidency (1953–1961)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 130,
"text": "Following the presidency, Eisenhower moved to the place where he and Mamie had spent much of their post-war time, a working farm adjacent to the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 70 miles (110 km) from his ancestral home in Elizabethville, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. They also maintained a retirement home in Palm Desert, California.",
"title": "Post-presidency (1961–1969)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 131,
"text": "After leaving office, Eisenhower did not completely retreat from political life. He flew to San Antonio, where he had been stationed years earlier, to support John W. Goode, the unsuccessful Republican candidate against the Democrat Henry B. Gonzalez for Texas's 20th congressional district seat. He addressed the 1964 Republican National Convention, in San Francisco, and appeared with party nominee Barry Goldwater in a campaign commercial. That endorsement came somewhat reluctantly, because Goldwater had in the late 1950s criticized Eisenhower's administration as \"a dime-store New Deal\". On January 20, 1969, the day Nixon was inaugurated as President, Eisenhower issued a statement praising his former vice president and calling it a \"day for rejoicing\".",
"title": "Post-presidency (1961–1969)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 132,
"text": "At 12:25 p.m. on March 28, 1969, Eisenhower died from congestive heart failure at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., at age 78. The following day, his body was moved to the Washington National Cathedral's Bethlehem Chapel, where he lay in repose for 28 hours. He was then transported to the United States Capitol, where he lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda on March 30 and 31. A state funeral was conducted at the Washington National Cathedral on March 31. The president and First Lady, Richard and Pat Nixon, attended, as did former president Lyndon Johnson. Also among the 2,000 invited guests were UN Secretary General U Thant and 191 foreign delegates from 78 countries, including 10 foreign heads of state and government. Guests included President Charles de Gaulle of France, who was in the United States for the first time since the state funeral of John F. Kennedy, Chancellor Kurt-Georg Kiesinger of West Germany, King Baudouin of Belgium and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran.",
"title": "Post-presidency (1961–1969)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 133,
"text": "The service included the singing of Faure's \"The Palms\", and the playing of the hymn \"Onward, Christian Soldiers\".",
"title": "Post-presidency (1961–1969)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 134,
"text": "That evening, Eisenhower's body was placed onto a special funeral train for its journey from the capital through seven states to his hometown of Abilene, Kansas. First incorporated into President Abraham Lincoln's funeral in 1865, a funeral train would not be part of a US state funeral again until 2018. Eisenhower is buried inside the Place of Meditation, the chapel on the grounds of the Eisenhower Presidential Center in Abilene. As requested, he was buried in a Government Issue casket, wearing his World War II uniform, decorated with Army Distinguished Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit. Buried alongside Eisenhower are his son Doud, who died at age 3 in 1921, and wife Mamie, who died in 1979.",
"title": "Post-presidency (1961–1969)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 135,
"text": "President Richard Nixon eulogized Eisenhower in 1969, saying:",
"title": "Post-presidency (1961–1969)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 136,
"text": "Some men are considered great because they lead great armies or they lead powerful nations. For eight years now, Dwight Eisenhower has neither commanded an army nor led a nation; and yet he remained through his final days the world's most admired and respected man, truly the first citizen of the world.",
"title": "Post-presidency (1961–1969)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 137,
"text": "Eisenhower's reputation declined in the immediate years after he left office. During his presidency, he was widely seen by critics as an inactive, uninspiring, golf-playing president. This was in stark contrast to his vigorous young successor, John F. Kennedy, who was 26 years his junior. Despite his unprecedented use of Army troops to enforce a federal desegregation order at Central High School in Little Rock, Eisenhower was criticized for his reluctance to support the civil rights movement to the degree that activists wanted. Eisenhower also attracted criticism for his handling of the 1960 U-2 incident and the associated international embarrassment, for the Soviet Union's perceived leadership in the nuclear arms race and the Space Race, and for his failure to publicly oppose McCarthyism. In particular, Eisenhower was criticized for failing to defend George C. Marshall from attacks by Joseph McCarthy, though he privately deplored McCarthy's tactics.",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 138,
"text": "Following the access of Eisenhower's private papers, his reputation changed amongst presidential historians. Historian John Lewis Gaddis has summarized a more recent turnaround in evaluations by historians:",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 139,
"text": "Historians long ago abandoned the view that Eisenhower's was a failed presidency. He did, after all, end the Korean War without getting into any others. He stabilized, and did not escalate, the Soviet–American rivalry. He strengthened European alliances while withdrawing support from European colonialism. He rescued the Republican Party from isolationism and McCarthyism. He maintained prosperity, balanced the budget, promoted technological innovation, facilitated (if reluctantly) the civil rights movement and warned, in the most memorable farewell address since Washington's, of a \"military–industrial complex\" that could endanger the nation's liberties. Not until Reagan would another president leave office with so strong a sense of having accomplished what he set out to do.",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 140,
"text": "Although conservatism in politics was strong during the 1950s, and Eisenhower generally espoused conservative sentiments, his administration concerned itself mostly with foreign affairs and pursued a hands-off domestic policy. Eisenhower looked to moderation and cooperation as a means of governance, which he dubbed \"The Middle Way\".",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 141,
"text": "Although he sought to slow or contain the New Deal and other federal programs, he did not attempt to repeal them outright. In doing so, Eisenhower was popular among the liberal wing of the Republican Party. Conservative critics of his administration thought that he did not do enough to advance the goals of the right; according to Hans Morgenthau, \"Eisenhower's victories were but accidents without consequence in the history of the Republican party.\"",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 142,
"text": "Since the 19th century, many if not all presidents were assisted by a central figure or \"gatekeeper\", sometimes described as the president's private secretary, sometimes with no official title. Eisenhower formalized this role, introducing the office of White House Chief of Staff – an idea he borrowed from the United States Army. Every president after Lyndon Johnson has appointed staff to this position.",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 143,
"text": "As president, Eisenhower also initiated the \"up or out\" policy that still prevails in the US military. Officers who are passed over for promotion twice are then usually honorably but quickly discharged, in order to make way for younger and more able officers.",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 144,
"text": "On December 20, 1944, Eisenhower was appointed to the rank of General of the Army, placing him in the company of George Marshall, Henry \"Hap\" Arnold, and Douglas MacArthur, the only four men to achieve the rank in World War II. Along with Omar Bradley, they were the only five men to achieve the rank since the August 5, 1888, death of Philip Sheridan, and the only five men to hold the rank of five-star general. The rank was created by an Act of Congress on a temporary basis, when Public Law 78-482 was passed on December 14, 1944, as a temporary rank, subject to reversion to permanent rank six months after the end of the war. The temporary rank was declared permanent on March 23, 1946, by Public Law 333 of the 79th Congress, which also awarded full pay and allowances in the grade to those on the retired list. It was created to give the most senior American commanders parity of rank with their British counterparts holding the ranks of field marshal and admiral of the fleet.",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 145,
"text": "Eisenhower founded People to People International in 1956, based on his belief that citizen interaction would promote cultural interaction and world peace. The program includes a student ambassador component, which sends American youth on educational trips to other countries.",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 146,
"text": "During his second term as president, Eisenhower awarded a series of specially designed US Mint presidential appreciation medals. Eisenhower presented the medal to individuals as an expression of his appreciation. The development of the appreciation medals was initiated by the White House and executed by the United States Mint, through the Philadelphia Mint. The medals were struck from September 1958 through October 1960. A total of twenty designs are cataloged with a total mintage of 9,858. Prior to the end of his second term as president, 1,451 medals were turned in to the Bureau of the Mint and destroyed. The Eisenhower appreciation medals are part of the Presidential Medal of Appreciation Award Medal Series.",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 147,
"text": "The Interstate Highway System is officially known as the \"Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways\". It was inspired in part by Eisenhower's experiences in World War II, where he recognized the advantages of the autobahn system in Germany. Commemorative signs reading \"Eisenhower Interstate System\" and bearing Eisenhower's permanent 5-star rank insignia were introduced in 1993 and now are displayed throughout the Interstate System. Several highways are also named for him, including the Eisenhower Expressway (Interstate 290) near Chicago, the Eisenhower Tunnel on Interstate 70 west of Denver, and Interstate 80 in California.",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 148,
"text": "Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy is a senior war college of the Department of Defense's National Defense University in Washington, DC. Eisenhower graduated from this school when it was previously known as the Army Industrial College.",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 149,
"text": "Eisenhower was honored on the Eisenhower dollar, minted from 1971 to 1978. His centenary was honored on the Eisenhower commemorative dollar issued in 1990.",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 150,
"text": "In 1969 four major record companies – ABC Records, MGM Records, Buddha Records and Caedmon Audio – released tribute albums in Eisenhower's honor.",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 151,
"text": "In 1999, the United States Congress created the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission, to create an enduring national memorial in Washington, D.C. In 2009 the commission chose the architect Frank Gehry to design the memorial. The groundbreaking ceremony of the memorial was held on November 3, 2017, and was dedicated on September 17, 2020. It stands on a 4-acre (1.6 ha) site near the National Mall on Maryland Avenue, across the street from the National Air and Space Museum.",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 152,
"text": "In December 1999 he was listed on Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th century. In 2009 he was named to the World Golf Hall of Fame in the Lifetime Achievement category for his contributions to the sport. In 1973, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. The Naming Commission later recommended that Fort Gordon be renamed Fort Eisenhower, and on 5 January 2023, William A. LaPlante, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment directed the full implementation of the recommendations of the Naming Commission. The official redesignation occurred 27 October 2023.",
"title": "Legacy and memory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 153,
"text": "Eisenhower received the Freedom honor from several locations, including:",
"title": "Honors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 154,
"text": "Eisenhower received many honorary degrees from universities and colleges around the world. These included:",
"title": "Honors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 155,
"text": "General:",
"title": "See also"
}
] | Dwight David Eisenhower, nicknamed Ike, was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe and achieved the five-star rank as General of the Army. Eisenhower planned and supervised two of the most consequential military campaigns of World War II: Operation Torch in the North Africa campaign in 1942–1943 and the invasion of Normandy in 1944. Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas, and raised in Abilene, Kansas. His family had a strong religious background, and his mother became a Jehovah's Witness. Eisenhower, however, belonged to no organized church until 1952. He graduated from West Point in 1915 and later married Mamie Doud, with whom he had two sons. During World War I, he was denied a request to serve in Europe and instead commanded a unit that trained tank crews. Following the war, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1941. After the United States entered World War II, Eisenhower oversaw the invasions of North Africa and Sicily before supervising the invasions of France and Germany. After the war ended in Europe, he served as military governor of the American-occupied zone of Germany (1945), Army Chief of Staff (1945–1948), president of Columbia University (1948–1953), and as the first supreme commander of NATO (1951–1952). In 1952, Eisenhower entered the presidential race as a Republican to block the isolationist foreign policies of Senator Robert A. Taft, who opposed NATO. Eisenhower won that election and the 1956 election in landslides, both times defeating Adlai Stevenson II. Eisenhower's main goals in office were to contain the spread of communism and reduce federal deficits. In 1953, he considered using nuclear weapons to end the Korean War and may have threatened China with nuclear attack if an armistice was not reached quickly. China did agree and an armistice resulted, which remains in effect. His New Look policy of nuclear deterrence prioritized "inexpensive" nuclear weapons while reducing funding for expensive Army divisions. He continued Harry S. Truman's policy of recognizing Taiwan as the legitimate government of China, and he won congressional approval of the Formosa Resolution. His administration provided major aid to help the French fight off Vietnamese Communists in the First Indochina War. After the French left, he gave strong financial support to the new state of South Vietnam. He supported regime-changing military coups in Iran and Guatemala orchestrated by his own administration. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, he condemned the Israeli, British, and French invasion of Egypt, and he forced them to withdraw. He also condemned the Soviet invasion during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 but took no action. He deployed 15,000 soldiers during the 1958 Lebanon crisis. Near the end of his term, a summit meeting with the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was cancelled when a US spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. Eisenhower approved the Bay of Pigs Invasion, which was left to John F. Kennedy to carry out. On the domestic front, Eisenhower governed as a moderate conservative who continued New Deal agencies and expanded Social Security. He covertly opposed Joseph McCarthy and contributed to the end of McCarthyism by openly invoking executive privilege. He signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and sent Army troops to enforce federal court orders which integrated schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. His administration undertook the development and construction of the Interstate Highway System, which remains the largest construction of roadways in American history. In 1957, following the Soviet launch of Sputnik, Eisenhower led the American response which included the creation of NASA and the establishment of a stronger, science-based education via the National Defense Education Act. The Soviet Union began to reinforce their own space program, escalating the Space Race. His two terms saw unprecedented economic prosperity except for a minor recession in 1958. In his farewell address, he expressed his concerns about the dangers of massive military spending, particularly deficit spending and government contracts to private military manufacturers, which he dubbed "the military–industrial complex". Historical evaluations of his presidency place him among the upper tier of American presidents. | 2001-09-05T19:59:00Z | 2023-12-24T06:58:07Z | [
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8,185 | Dejima | Dejima (Japanese: 出島, "exit island") or Deshima, in the 17th century also called Tsukishima ( 築島, "built island"), was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1854). For 220 years, it was the central conduit for foreign trade and cultural exchange with Japan during the isolationist Edo period (1600–1869), and the only Japanese territory open to Westerners.
Spanning 120 m × 75 m (390 ft × 250 ft) or 9,000 m (2.2 acres), Dejima was created in 1636 by digging a canal through a small peninsula and linking it to the mainland with a small bridge. The island was constructed by the Tokugawa shogunate, whose isolationist policies sought to preserve the existing sociopolitical order by forbidding outsiders from entering Japan while prohibiting most Japanese from leaving. Dejima housed Portuguese merchants and separated them from Japanese society while still facilitating lucrative trade with the West.
Following a rebellion by mostly Catholic converts, all Portuguese were expelled in 1639. The Dutch were moved to Dejima in 1641, albeit under stricter control: the open practice of Christianity was banned, and interactions between Dutch and Japanese traders were tightly regulated. Until the mid-19th century, the Dutch were the only Westerners with exclusive access to Japanese goods, and, to a lesser extent, society and culture. Dejima consequently played a key role in the Japanese movement of rangaku (蘭學, "Dutch learning"), an organized scholarly effort to learn the Dutch language in order to understand Western science, medicine, and technology.
After the Treaty of Kanagawa in 1854, which fully opened Japan to foreign trade and diplomatic relations, Dejima was abolished and later integrated into Nagasaki city through land reclamation. In 1922, the "Dejima Dutch Trading Post" was designated a Japanese national historic site, and there are ongoing efforts in the 21st century to restore Dejima as an island.
In 1543, the history of direct contact between Japan and Europe began with the arrival of storm-blown Portuguese merchants on Tanegashima. Six years later the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier landed in Kagoshima. At first Portuguese traders were based in Hirado, but they moved in search of a better port. In 1570 daimyō Ōmura Sumitada converted to Catholicism (choosing Bartolomeu as his Christian name) and made a deal with the Portuguese to develop Nagasaki; soon the port was open for trade.
In 1580 Sumitada gave the jurisdiction of Nagasaki to the Jesuits, and the Portuguese obtained the de facto monopoly on the silk trade with China through Macau. The shōgun Iemitsu ordered the construction of the artificial island in 1634, to accommodate the Portuguese traders living in Nagasaki and prevent the propagation of their religion. This was one of the many edicts put forth by Iemitsu between 1633 and 1639 moderating contact between Japan and other countries. However, in response to the uprising of the predominantly Christian population in the Shimabara-Amakusa region, the Tokugawa government decided to expel the Portuguese in 1639.
Since 1609, the Dutch East India Company had run a trading post on the island of Hirado. The departure of the Portuguese left the Dutch employees of the "Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie" ("VOC") as the sole Westerners with trade access to Japan. For 33 years they were allowed to trade relatively freely. At its maximum, the Hirado trading post (平戸オランダ商館, Hirado Oranda Shōkan) covered a large area. In 1637 and 1639 stone warehouses were constructed within the ambit of this Hirado trading post. Christian-era year dates were used on the stonework of the new warehouses and these were used in 1640 as a pretext to demolish the buildings and relocate the trading post to Nagasaki.
With the expulsion of the last Portuguese in 1639, Dejima became a failed commercial post and without the annual trading with Portuguese ships from Macau, the economy of Nagasaki suffered greatly. The Dutch were forced by government officials to move from Hirado to Dejima in Nagasaki. From 1641 on, only Chinese and Dutch ships were allowed to come to Japan, and Nagasaki harbor was the only harbor they were allowed to enter.
On the administrative level, the island of Dejima was part of the city of Nagasaki. The 25 local Japanese families who owned the land received an annual rent from the Dutch. Dejima was a small island, 120 metres (390 ft) by 75 metres (246 ft), linked to the mainland by a small bridge, guarded on both sides, and with a gate on the Dutch side. It contained houses for about twenty Dutchmen, warehouses, and accommodation for Japanese officials.
The Dutch were watched by several Japanese officials, gatekeepers, night watchmen, and a supervisor (otona 乙名) with about fifty subordinates. Numerous merchants supplied goods and catering, and about 150 interpreters (tsūji 通詞) served. They all had to be paid by the VOC. As the city of Nagasaki, Dejima was under the direct supervision of Edo through a governor (Nagasaki bugyō).
Every ship that arrived in Dejima was inspected. Its sails were held by the Japanese until they released the ship to leave. They confiscated religious books and weapons. Christian churches were banned on the island and the Dutch were not allowed to hold any religious services.
Despite the financial burden of maintaining the isolated outpost on Dejima, the trade with Japan was very profitable for the Dutch, initially yielding profits of 50% or more. Trade declined in the 18th century, as only two ships per year were allowed to dock at Dejima. After the bankruptcy of the East-India Company in 1795, the Dutch government took over the exchange with Japan. Times were especially hard when the Netherlands, then called the Batavian Republic, was under French Napoleonic rule. All ties with the homeland were severed at Dejima, and for a while, it was the only place in the world where the Dutch flag was flown.
The chief VOC trading post office in Japan was called the Opperhoofd by the Dutch, or Kapitan (from Portuguese capitão) by the Japanese. This descriptive title did not change when the VOC went bankrupt and trade with Japan was continued by the Dutch Indies government at Batavia. According to the Sakoku rules of the Tokugawa shogunate, the VOC had to transfer and replace the opperhoofd every year with a new one. And each opperhoofd was expected to travel to Edo to offer tribute to the shogun.
Originally, the Dutch mainly traded in silk, cotton, and materia medica from China and India. Sugar became more important later. Deer pelts and shark skin were transported to Japan from Formosa, as well as books, scientific instruments and many other rarities from Europe. In return, the Dutch traders bought Japanese copper, silver, camphor, porcelain, lacquer ware, and rice.
To this was added the personal trade of VOC employees on Dejima, which was an important source of income for them and their Japanese counterparts. They sold more than 10,000 foreign books on various scientific subjects to the Japanese from the end of the 18th to the early 19th century. These became the basis of knowledge and a factor in the Rangaku movement, or Dutch studies.
In all, 606 Dutch ships arrived at Dejima during its two centuries of settlement, from 1641 to 1847.
For two hundred years, foreign merchants were generally not allowed to cross from Dejima to Nagasaki. Japanese civilians were likewise banned from entering Dejima, except interpreters, cooks, carpenters, clerks and yūjo ("women of pleasure") from the Maruyama teahouses. The yūjo were handpicked from 1642 by the Japanese, often against their will. From the 18th century, there were some exceptions to this rule, especially following Tokugawa Yoshimune's doctrine of promoting European practical sciences. A few Oranda-yuki ("those who stay with the Dutch") were allowed to stay for longer periods, but they had to report regularly to the Japanese guard post. Once a year the Europeans were allowed to attend the festivities at the Suwa-Shrine under escort. Sometimes physicians such as Engelbert Kaempfer, Carl Peter Thunberg, and Philipp Franz von Siebold were called to high-ranking Japanese patients with the permission of the authorities. Starting in the 18th century, Dejima became known throughout Japan as a center of medicine, military science, and astronomy. Many samurai traveled there for "Dutch studies" (Rangaku).
The Opperhoofd was treated like the representative of a tributary state, which meant that he had to pay a visit of homage to the shōgun in Edo. The Dutch delegation traveled to Edo yearly between 1660 and 1790, and once every four years thereafter. This prerogative was denied to the Chinese traders. The lengthy travel to the shogunal court broke the boredom of the Dutch stay, but it was a costly affair. Government officials told them in advance and in detail which (expensive) gifts were expected at the court, such as astrolabes, a pair of glasses, telescopes, globes, medical instruments, medical books, or exotic animals and tropical birds.
In return, the Dutch delegation received some gifts from the shōgun. On arrival in Edo, the Opperhoofd and his retinue, usually his scribe and the factory physician, had to wait in the Nagasakiya (長崎屋), their mandatory residence, until they were summoned at the court. During the reign of the somewhat eccentric shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, they were expected to perform Dutch dances and songs for the amusement of the shōgun after their official audience, according to Engelbert Kaempfer. But they also used the opportunity of their stay of about two to three weeks in the capital to exchange knowledge with learned Japanese and, under escort, to visit the town.
Allegations published in the late 17th and early 18th century that Dutch traders were required by the Shogunate to renounce their Christian faith and undergo the test of treading on a fumi-e, an image of Jesus or Mary, are thought by modern scholars to be propaganda arising from the Anglo-Dutch Wars.
Following the forced opening of Japan by US Navy Commodore Perry in 1854, the Bakufu suddenly increased its interactions with Dejima in an effort to build up knowledge of Western shipping methods. The Nagasaki Naval Training Center (長崎海軍伝習所, Nagasaki Kaigun Denshūsho), a naval training institute, was established in 1855 by the government of the shōgun at the entrance of Dejima, to enable maximum interaction with Dutch naval know-how. The center was equipped with Japan's first steamship, the Kankō Maru, given by the government of the Netherlands the same year. The future Admiral Enomoto Takeaki was one of the students of the Training Center.
The Dutch East India Company's trading post at Dejima was abolished when Japan concluded the Treaty of Kanagawa with the United States in 1858. This ended Dejima's role as Japan's only window on the Western world during the era of national isolation. Since then, the island was expanded by reclaimed land and merged into Nagasaki. Extensive redesigning of Nagasaki Harbor in 1904 obscured its original location. The original footprint of Dejima Island has been marked by rivets; but as restoration progresses, the ambit of the island will be easier to see at a glance.
Dejima today is a work in progress. The island was designated a national historic site in 1922, but further steps were slow to follow. Restoration work was started in 1953, but that project languished. In 1996, restoration of Dejima began with plans for reconstructing 25 buildings in their early 19th-century state. To better display Dejima's fan-shaped form, the project anticipated rebuilding only parts of the surrounding embankment wall that had once enclosed the island. Buildings that remained from the Meiji period were to be used.
In 2000, five buildings including the Deputy Factor's Quarters were completed and opened to the public. In the spring of 2006, the finishing touches were put on the Chief Factor's Residence, the Japanese Officials' Office, the Head Clerk's Quarters, the No. 3 Warehouse, and the Sea Gate. Currently, some 10 buildings throughout the area have been restored.
In 2017, six new buildings, as well as the Omotemon Bridge (the old bridge to the mainland), were restored. The bridge was officially opened in attendance of members of the Japanese and Dutch royal families.
Long-term planning intends that Dejima will again be surrounded by water on all four sides; its characteristic fan-shaped form and all of its embankment walls will be fully restored. This long-term plan will include large-scale urban redevelopment in the area. To make Dejima an island again will require rerouting the Nakashima River and moving a part of Route 499.
Opperhoofd is a Dutch word (plural opperhoofden) which literally means 'supreme head'. The Japanese used to call the trading post chiefs kapitan which is derived from Portuguese capitão (cf. Latin caput, head). In its historical usage, the word is a gubernatorial title, comparable to the English Chief factor, for the chief executive officer of a Dutch factory in the sense of trading post, as led by a Factor, i.e. agent.
32°44′37″N 129°52′23″E / 32.74352°N 129.87302°E / 32.74352; 129.87302 | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Dejima (Japanese: 出島, \"exit island\") or Deshima, in the 17th century also called Tsukishima ( 築島, \"built island\"), was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1854). For 220 years, it was the central conduit for foreign trade and cultural exchange with Japan during the isolationist Edo period (1600–1869), and the only Japanese territory open to Westerners.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Spanning 120 m × 75 m (390 ft × 250 ft) or 9,000 m (2.2 acres), Dejima was created in 1636 by digging a canal through a small peninsula and linking it to the mainland with a small bridge. The island was constructed by the Tokugawa shogunate, whose isolationist policies sought to preserve the existing sociopolitical order by forbidding outsiders from entering Japan while prohibiting most Japanese from leaving. Dejima housed Portuguese merchants and separated them from Japanese society while still facilitating lucrative trade with the West.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Following a rebellion by mostly Catholic converts, all Portuguese were expelled in 1639. The Dutch were moved to Dejima in 1641, albeit under stricter control: the open practice of Christianity was banned, and interactions between Dutch and Japanese traders were tightly regulated. Until the mid-19th century, the Dutch were the only Westerners with exclusive access to Japanese goods, and, to a lesser extent, society and culture. Dejima consequently played a key role in the Japanese movement of rangaku (蘭學, \"Dutch learning\"), an organized scholarly effort to learn the Dutch language in order to understand Western science, medicine, and technology.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "After the Treaty of Kanagawa in 1854, which fully opened Japan to foreign trade and diplomatic relations, Dejima was abolished and later integrated into Nagasaki city through land reclamation. In 1922, the \"Dejima Dutch Trading Post\" was designated a Japanese national historic site, and there are ongoing efforts in the 21st century to restore Dejima as an island.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In 1543, the history of direct contact between Japan and Europe began with the arrival of storm-blown Portuguese merchants on Tanegashima. Six years later the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier landed in Kagoshima. At first Portuguese traders were based in Hirado, but they moved in search of a better port. In 1570 daimyō Ōmura Sumitada converted to Catholicism (choosing Bartolomeu as his Christian name) and made a deal with the Portuguese to develop Nagasaki; soon the port was open for trade.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In 1580 Sumitada gave the jurisdiction of Nagasaki to the Jesuits, and the Portuguese obtained the de facto monopoly on the silk trade with China through Macau. The shōgun Iemitsu ordered the construction of the artificial island in 1634, to accommodate the Portuguese traders living in Nagasaki and prevent the propagation of their religion. This was one of the many edicts put forth by Iemitsu between 1633 and 1639 moderating contact between Japan and other countries. However, in response to the uprising of the predominantly Christian population in the Shimabara-Amakusa region, the Tokugawa government decided to expel the Portuguese in 1639.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Since 1609, the Dutch East India Company had run a trading post on the island of Hirado. The departure of the Portuguese left the Dutch employees of the \"Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie\" (\"VOC\") as the sole Westerners with trade access to Japan. For 33 years they were allowed to trade relatively freely. At its maximum, the Hirado trading post (平戸オランダ商館, Hirado Oranda Shōkan) covered a large area. In 1637 and 1639 stone warehouses were constructed within the ambit of this Hirado trading post. Christian-era year dates were used on the stonework of the new warehouses and these were used in 1640 as a pretext to demolish the buildings and relocate the trading post to Nagasaki.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "With the expulsion of the last Portuguese in 1639, Dejima became a failed commercial post and without the annual trading with Portuguese ships from Macau, the economy of Nagasaki suffered greatly. The Dutch were forced by government officials to move from Hirado to Dejima in Nagasaki. From 1641 on, only Chinese and Dutch ships were allowed to come to Japan, and Nagasaki harbor was the only harbor they were allowed to enter.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "On the administrative level, the island of Dejima was part of the city of Nagasaki. The 25 local Japanese families who owned the land received an annual rent from the Dutch. Dejima was a small island, 120 metres (390 ft) by 75 metres (246 ft), linked to the mainland by a small bridge, guarded on both sides, and with a gate on the Dutch side. It contained houses for about twenty Dutchmen, warehouses, and accommodation for Japanese officials.",
"title": "Organization"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The Dutch were watched by several Japanese officials, gatekeepers, night watchmen, and a supervisor (otona 乙名) with about fifty subordinates. Numerous merchants supplied goods and catering, and about 150 interpreters (tsūji 通詞) served. They all had to be paid by the VOC. As the city of Nagasaki, Dejima was under the direct supervision of Edo through a governor (Nagasaki bugyō).",
"title": "Organization"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Every ship that arrived in Dejima was inspected. Its sails were held by the Japanese until they released the ship to leave. They confiscated religious books and weapons. Christian churches were banned on the island and the Dutch were not allowed to hold any religious services.",
"title": "Organization"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Despite the financial burden of maintaining the isolated outpost on Dejima, the trade with Japan was very profitable for the Dutch, initially yielding profits of 50% or more. Trade declined in the 18th century, as only two ships per year were allowed to dock at Dejima. After the bankruptcy of the East-India Company in 1795, the Dutch government took over the exchange with Japan. Times were especially hard when the Netherlands, then called the Batavian Republic, was under French Napoleonic rule. All ties with the homeland were severed at Dejima, and for a while, it was the only place in the world where the Dutch flag was flown.",
"title": "Organization"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The chief VOC trading post office in Japan was called the Opperhoofd by the Dutch, or Kapitan (from Portuguese capitão) by the Japanese. This descriptive title did not change when the VOC went bankrupt and trade with Japan was continued by the Dutch Indies government at Batavia. According to the Sakoku rules of the Tokugawa shogunate, the VOC had to transfer and replace the opperhoofd every year with a new one. And each opperhoofd was expected to travel to Edo to offer tribute to the shogun.",
"title": "Organization"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Originally, the Dutch mainly traded in silk, cotton, and materia medica from China and India. Sugar became more important later. Deer pelts and shark skin were transported to Japan from Formosa, as well as books, scientific instruments and many other rarities from Europe. In return, the Dutch traders bought Japanese copper, silver, camphor, porcelain, lacquer ware, and rice.",
"title": "Trade"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "To this was added the personal trade of VOC employees on Dejima, which was an important source of income for them and their Japanese counterparts. They sold more than 10,000 foreign books on various scientific subjects to the Japanese from the end of the 18th to the early 19th century. These became the basis of knowledge and a factor in the Rangaku movement, or Dutch studies.",
"title": "Trade"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In all, 606 Dutch ships arrived at Dejima during its two centuries of settlement, from 1641 to 1847.",
"title": "Ships"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "For two hundred years, foreign merchants were generally not allowed to cross from Dejima to Nagasaki. Japanese civilians were likewise banned from entering Dejima, except interpreters, cooks, carpenters, clerks and yūjo (\"women of pleasure\") from the Maruyama teahouses. The yūjo were handpicked from 1642 by the Japanese, often against their will. From the 18th century, there were some exceptions to this rule, especially following Tokugawa Yoshimune's doctrine of promoting European practical sciences. A few Oranda-yuki (\"those who stay with the Dutch\") were allowed to stay for longer periods, but they had to report regularly to the Japanese guard post. Once a year the Europeans were allowed to attend the festivities at the Suwa-Shrine under escort. Sometimes physicians such as Engelbert Kaempfer, Carl Peter Thunberg, and Philipp Franz von Siebold were called to high-ranking Japanese patients with the permission of the authorities. Starting in the 18th century, Dejima became known throughout Japan as a center of medicine, military science, and astronomy. Many samurai traveled there for \"Dutch studies\" (Rangaku).",
"title": "Trade policy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The Opperhoofd was treated like the representative of a tributary state, which meant that he had to pay a visit of homage to the shōgun in Edo. The Dutch delegation traveled to Edo yearly between 1660 and 1790, and once every four years thereafter. This prerogative was denied to the Chinese traders. The lengthy travel to the shogunal court broke the boredom of the Dutch stay, but it was a costly affair. Government officials told them in advance and in detail which (expensive) gifts were expected at the court, such as astrolabes, a pair of glasses, telescopes, globes, medical instruments, medical books, or exotic animals and tropical birds.",
"title": "Trade policy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In return, the Dutch delegation received some gifts from the shōgun. On arrival in Edo, the Opperhoofd and his retinue, usually his scribe and the factory physician, had to wait in the Nagasakiya (長崎屋), their mandatory residence, until they were summoned at the court. During the reign of the somewhat eccentric shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, they were expected to perform Dutch dances and songs for the amusement of the shōgun after their official audience, according to Engelbert Kaempfer. But they also used the opportunity of their stay of about two to three weeks in the capital to exchange knowledge with learned Japanese and, under escort, to visit the town.",
"title": "Trade policy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Allegations published in the late 17th and early 18th century that Dutch traders were required by the Shogunate to renounce their Christian faith and undergo the test of treading on a fumi-e, an image of Jesus or Mary, are thought by modern scholars to be propaganda arising from the Anglo-Dutch Wars.",
"title": "Trade policy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Following the forced opening of Japan by US Navy Commodore Perry in 1854, the Bakufu suddenly increased its interactions with Dejima in an effort to build up knowledge of Western shipping methods. The Nagasaki Naval Training Center (長崎海軍伝習所, Nagasaki Kaigun Denshūsho), a naval training institute, was established in 1855 by the government of the shōgun at the entrance of Dejima, to enable maximum interaction with Dutch naval know-how. The center was equipped with Japan's first steamship, the Kankō Maru, given by the government of the Netherlands the same year. The future Admiral Enomoto Takeaki was one of the students of the Training Center.",
"title": "Nagasaki Naval Training Center"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The Dutch East India Company's trading post at Dejima was abolished when Japan concluded the Treaty of Kanagawa with the United States in 1858. This ended Dejima's role as Japan's only window on the Western world during the era of national isolation. Since then, the island was expanded by reclaimed land and merged into Nagasaki. Extensive redesigning of Nagasaki Harbor in 1904 obscured its original location. The original footprint of Dejima Island has been marked by rivets; but as restoration progresses, the ambit of the island will be easier to see at a glance.",
"title": "Reconstruction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Dejima today is a work in progress. The island was designated a national historic site in 1922, but further steps were slow to follow. Restoration work was started in 1953, but that project languished. In 1996, restoration of Dejima began with plans for reconstructing 25 buildings in their early 19th-century state. To better display Dejima's fan-shaped form, the project anticipated rebuilding only parts of the surrounding embankment wall that had once enclosed the island. Buildings that remained from the Meiji period were to be used.",
"title": "Reconstruction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "In 2000, five buildings including the Deputy Factor's Quarters were completed and opened to the public. In the spring of 2006, the finishing touches were put on the Chief Factor's Residence, the Japanese Officials' Office, the Head Clerk's Quarters, the No. 3 Warehouse, and the Sea Gate. Currently, some 10 buildings throughout the area have been restored.",
"title": "Reconstruction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In 2017, six new buildings, as well as the Omotemon Bridge (the old bridge to the mainland), were restored. The bridge was officially opened in attendance of members of the Japanese and Dutch royal families.",
"title": "Reconstruction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Long-term planning intends that Dejima will again be surrounded by water on all four sides; its characteristic fan-shaped form and all of its embankment walls will be fully restored. This long-term plan will include large-scale urban redevelopment in the area. To make Dejima an island again will require rerouting the Nakashima River and moving a part of Route 499.",
"title": "Reconstruction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Opperhoofd is a Dutch word (plural opperhoofden) which literally means 'supreme head'. The Japanese used to call the trading post chiefs kapitan which is derived from Portuguese capitão (cf. Latin caput, head). In its historical usage, the word is a gubernatorial title, comparable to the English Chief factor, for the chief executive officer of a Dutch factory in the sense of trading post, as led by a Factor, i.e. agent.",
"title": "Trading post chiefs (Opperhoofden)"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "32°44′37″N 129°52′23″E / 32.74352°N 129.87302°E / 32.74352; 129.87302",
"title": "External links"
}
] | Dejima or Deshima, in the 17th century also called Tsukishima, was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1854). For 220 years, it was the central conduit for foreign trade and cultural exchange with Japan during the isolationist Edo period (1600–1869), and the only Japanese territory open to Westerners. Spanning 120 m × 75 m or 9,000 m2, Dejima was created in 1636 by digging a canal through a small peninsula and linking it to the mainland with a small bridge. The island was constructed by the Tokugawa shogunate, whose isolationist policies sought to preserve the existing sociopolitical order by forbidding outsiders from entering Japan while prohibiting most Japanese from leaving. Dejima housed Portuguese merchants and separated them from Japanese society while still facilitating lucrative trade with the West. Following a rebellion by mostly Catholic converts, all Portuguese were expelled in 1639. The Dutch were moved to Dejima in 1641, albeit under stricter control: the open practice of Christianity was banned, and interactions between Dutch and Japanese traders were tightly regulated. Until the mid-19th century, the Dutch were the only Westerners with exclusive access to Japanese goods, and, to a lesser extent, society and culture. Dejima consequently played a key role in the Japanese movement of rangaku, an organized scholarly effort to learn the Dutch language in order to understand Western science, medicine, and technology. After the Treaty of Kanagawa in 1854, which fully opened Japan to foreign trade and diplomatic relations, Dejima was abolished and later integrated into Nagasaki city through land reclamation. In 1922, the "Dejima Dutch Trading Post" was designated a Japanese national historic site, and there are ongoing efforts in the 21st century to restore Dejima as an island. | 2001-06-29T16:06:13Z | 2023-11-12T20:45:27Z | [
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8,187 | Descriptive statistics | A descriptive statistic (in the count noun sense) is a summary statistic that quantitatively describes or summarizes features from a collection of information, while descriptive statistics (in the mass noun sense) is the process of using and analysing those statistics. Descriptive statistics is distinguished from inferential statistics (or inductive statistics) by its aim to summarize a sample, rather than use the data to learn about the population that the sample of data is thought to represent. This generally means that descriptive statistics, unlike inferential statistics, is not developed on the basis of probability theory, and are frequently nonparametric statistics. Even when a data analysis draws its main conclusions using inferential statistics, descriptive statistics are generally also presented. For example, in papers reporting on human subjects, typically a table is included giving the overall sample size, sample sizes in important subgroups (e.g., for each treatment or exposure group), and demographic or clinical characteristics such as the average age, the proportion of subjects of each sex, the proportion of subjects with related co-morbidities, etc.
Some measures that are commonly used to describe a data set are measures of central tendency and measures of variability or dispersion. Measures of central tendency include the mean, median and mode, while measures of variability include the standard deviation (or variance), the minimum and maximum values of the variables, kurtosis and skewness.
Descriptive statistics provide simple summaries about the sample and about the observations that have been made. Such summaries may be either quantitative, i.e. summary statistics, or visual, i.e. simple-to-understand graphs. These summaries may either form the basis of the initial description of the data as part of a more extensive statistical analysis, or they may be sufficient in and of themselves for a particular investigation.
For example, the shooting percentage in basketball is a descriptive statistic that summarizes the performance of a player or a team. This number is the number of shots made divided by the number of shots taken. For example, a player who shoots 33% is making approximately one shot in every three. The percentage summarizes or describes multiple discrete events. Consider also the grade point average. This single number describes the general performance of a student across the range of their course experiences.
The use of descriptive and summary statistics has an extensive history and, indeed, the simple tabulation of populations and of economic data was the first way the topic of statistics appeared. More recently, a collection of summarisation techniques has been formulated under the heading of exploratory data analysis: an example of such a technique is the box plot.
In the business world, descriptive statistics provides a useful summary of many types of data. For example, investors and brokers may use a historical account of return behaviour by performing empirical and analytical analyses on their investments in order to make better investing decisions in the future.
Univariate analysis involves describing the distribution of a single variable, including its central tendency (including the mean, median, and mode) and dispersion (including the range and quartiles of the data-set, and measures of spread such as the variance and standard deviation). The shape of the distribution may also be described via indices such as skewness and kurtosis. Characteristics of a variable's distribution may also be depicted in graphical or tabular format, including histograms and stem-and-leaf display.
When a sample consists of more than one variable, descriptive statistics may be used to describe the relationship between pairs of variables. In this case, descriptive statistics include:
The main reason for differentiating univariate and bivariate analysis is that bivariate analysis is not only a simple descriptive analysis, but also it describes the relationship between two different variables. Quantitative measures of dependence include correlation (such as Pearson's r when both variables are continuous, or Spearman's rho if one or both are not) and covariance (which reflects the scale variables are measured on). The slope, in regression analysis, also reflects the relationship between variables. The unstandardised slope indicates the unit change in the criterion variable for a one unit change in the predictor. The standardised slope indicates this change in standardised (z-score) units. Highly skewed data are often transformed by taking logarithms. The use of logarithms makes graphs more symmetrical and look more similar to the normal distribution, making them easier to interpret intuitively. | [
{
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"text": "A descriptive statistic (in the count noun sense) is a summary statistic that quantitatively describes or summarizes features from a collection of information, while descriptive statistics (in the mass noun sense) is the process of using and analysing those statistics. Descriptive statistics is distinguished from inferential statistics (or inductive statistics) by its aim to summarize a sample, rather than use the data to learn about the population that the sample of data is thought to represent. This generally means that descriptive statistics, unlike inferential statistics, is not developed on the basis of probability theory, and are frequently nonparametric statistics. Even when a data analysis draws its main conclusions using inferential statistics, descriptive statistics are generally also presented. For example, in papers reporting on human subjects, typically a table is included giving the overall sample size, sample sizes in important subgroups (e.g., for each treatment or exposure group), and demographic or clinical characteristics such as the average age, the proportion of subjects of each sex, the proportion of subjects with related co-morbidities, etc.",
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},
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"title": "Use in statistical analysis"
},
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"text": "For example, the shooting percentage in basketball is a descriptive statistic that summarizes the performance of a player or a team. This number is the number of shots made divided by the number of shots taken. For example, a player who shoots 33% is making approximately one shot in every three. The percentage summarizes or describes multiple discrete events. Consider also the grade point average. This single number describes the general performance of a student across the range of their course experiences.",
"title": "Use in statistical analysis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The use of descriptive and summary statistics has an extensive history and, indeed, the simple tabulation of populations and of economic data was the first way the topic of statistics appeared. More recently, a collection of summarisation techniques has been formulated under the heading of exploratory data analysis: an example of such a technique is the box plot.",
"title": "Use in statistical analysis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In the business world, descriptive statistics provides a useful summary of many types of data. For example, investors and brokers may use a historical account of return behaviour by performing empirical and analytical analyses on their investments in order to make better investing decisions in the future.",
"title": "Use in statistical analysis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Univariate analysis involves describing the distribution of a single variable, including its central tendency (including the mean, median, and mode) and dispersion (including the range and quartiles of the data-set, and measures of spread such as the variance and standard deviation). The shape of the distribution may also be described via indices such as skewness and kurtosis. Characteristics of a variable's distribution may also be depicted in graphical or tabular format, including histograms and stem-and-leaf display.",
"title": "Use in statistical analysis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "When a sample consists of more than one variable, descriptive statistics may be used to describe the relationship between pairs of variables. In this case, descriptive statistics include:",
"title": "Use in statistical analysis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The main reason for differentiating univariate and bivariate analysis is that bivariate analysis is not only a simple descriptive analysis, but also it describes the relationship between two different variables. Quantitative measures of dependence include correlation (such as Pearson's r when both variables are continuous, or Spearman's rho if one or both are not) and covariance (which reflects the scale variables are measured on). The slope, in regression analysis, also reflects the relationship between variables. The unstandardised slope indicates the unit change in the criterion variable for a one unit change in the predictor. The standardised slope indicates this change in standardised (z-score) units. Highly skewed data are often transformed by taking logarithms. The use of logarithms makes graphs more symmetrical and look more similar to the normal distribution, making them easier to interpret intuitively.",
"title": "Use in statistical analysis"
}
] | A descriptive statistic is a summary statistic that quantitatively describes or summarizes features from a collection of information, while descriptive statistics is the process of using and analysing those statistics. Descriptive statistics is distinguished from inferential statistics by its aim to summarize a sample, rather than use the data to learn about the population that the sample of data is thought to represent. This generally means that descriptive statistics, unlike inferential statistics, is not developed on the basis of probability theory, and are frequently nonparametric statistics. Even when a data analysis draws its main conclusions using inferential statistics, descriptive statistics are generally also presented. For example, in papers reporting on human subjects, typically a table is included giving the overall sample size, sample sizes in important subgroups, and demographic or clinical characteristics such as the average age, the proportion of subjects of each sex, the proportion of subjects with related co-morbidities, etc. Some measures that are commonly used to describe a data set are measures of central tendency and measures of variability or dispersion. Measures of central tendency include the mean, median and mode, while measures of variability include the standard deviation, the minimum and maximum values of the variables, kurtosis and skewness. | 2023-03-12T01:48:52Z | [
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|
8,189 | Demographic statistics | Demographic statistics are measures of the characteristics of, or changes to, a population. Records of births, deaths, marriages, immigration and emigration and a regular census of population provide information that is key to making sound decisions about national policy.
A useful summary of such data is the population pyramid. It provides data about the sex and age distribution of the population in an accessible graphical format.
Another summary is called the life table. For a cohort of persons born in the same year, it traces and projects their life experiences from birth to death. For a given cohort, the proportion expected to survive each year (or decade in an abridged life table) is presented in tabular or graphical form.
The ratio of males to females by age indicates the consequences of differing mortality rates on the sexes. Thus, while values above one are common for newborns, the ratio dwindles until it is well below one for the older population.
National population statistics are usually collected by conducting a census. However, because these are usually huge logistical exercises, countries normally conduct censuses only once every five to 10 years. Even when a census is conducted it may miss counting everyone (known as undercount). Also, some people counted in the census may be recorded in a different place than where they usually live, because they are travelling, for example (this may result in overcounting). Consequently, raw census numbers are often adjusted to produce census estimates that identify such statistics as resident population, residents, tourists and other visitors, nationals and aliens (non-nationals). For privacy reasons, particularly when there are small counts, some census results may be rounded, often to the nearest ten, hundred, thousand and sometimes randomly up, down or to another small number such as within 3 of the actual count.
Between censuses, administrative data collected by various agencies about population events such as births, deaths, and cross-border migration may be used to produce intercensal estimates.
Population estimates are usually derived from census and other administrative data. Population estimates are normally produced after the date the estimate is for.
Some estimates, such as the Usually resident population estimate who usually lives in a locality as at the census date, even though the census did not count them within that locality. Census questions usually include a questions about where a person usually lives, whether they are a resident or visitor, or also live somewhere else, to allow these estimates to be made.
Other estimates are concerned with estimating population on a particular date that is different from the census date, for example the middle or end of a calendar or financial year. These estimates often use birth and death records and migration data to adjust census counts for the changes that have happened since the census.
Population projections are produced in advance of the date they are for. They use time series analysis of existing census data and other sources of population information to forecast the size of future populations. Because there are unknown factors that may affect future population changes, population projections often incorporate high and low as well as expected values for future populations. Population projections are often recomputed after a census has been conducted. It depends on how the area is adjusted in a particular demarcation.
While many censuses were conducted in antiquity, there are few population statistics that survive. One example though can be found in the Bible, in chapter 1 of the Book of Numbers. Not only are the statistics given, but the method used to compile those statistics is also described. In modern-day terms, this metadata about the census is probably of as much value as the statistics themselves as it allows researchers to determine not only what was being counted but how and why it was done.
Modern population statistics are normally accompanied by metadata that explains how the statistics have been compiled and adjusted to compensate for any collection issues.
Most countries have a census bureau or government agency responsible for conducting censuses. Many of these agencies publish their country's census results and other population statistics on their agency's website. | [
{
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},
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"text": "A useful summary of such data is the population pyramid. It provides data about the sex and age distribution of the population in an accessible graphical format.",
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"text": "Another summary is called the life table. For a cohort of persons born in the same year, it traces and projects their life experiences from birth to death. For a given cohort, the proportion expected to survive each year (or decade in an abridged life table) is presented in tabular or graphical form.",
"title": ""
},
{
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"text": "The ratio of males to females by age indicates the consequences of differing mortality rates on the sexes. Thus, while values above one are common for newborns, the ratio dwindles until it is well below one for the older population.",
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},
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"text": "National population statistics are usually collected by conducting a census. However, because these are usually huge logistical exercises, countries normally conduct censuses only once every five to 10 years. Even when a census is conducted it may miss counting everyone (known as undercount). Also, some people counted in the census may be recorded in a different place than where they usually live, because they are travelling, for example (this may result in overcounting). Consequently, raw census numbers are often adjusted to produce census estimates that identify such statistics as resident population, residents, tourists and other visitors, nationals and aliens (non-nationals). For privacy reasons, particularly when there are small counts, some census results may be rounded, often to the nearest ten, hundred, thousand and sometimes randomly up, down or to another small number such as within 3 of the actual count.",
"title": "Collection"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Between censuses, administrative data collected by various agencies about population events such as births, deaths, and cross-border migration may be used to produce intercensal estimates.",
"title": "Collection"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Population estimates are usually derived from census and other administrative data. Population estimates are normally produced after the date the estimate is for.",
"title": "Population estimates and projections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Some estimates, such as the Usually resident population estimate who usually lives in a locality as at the census date, even though the census did not count them within that locality. Census questions usually include a questions about where a person usually lives, whether they are a resident or visitor, or also live somewhere else, to allow these estimates to be made.",
"title": "Population estimates and projections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Other estimates are concerned with estimating population on a particular date that is different from the census date, for example the middle or end of a calendar or financial year. These estimates often use birth and death records and migration data to adjust census counts for the changes that have happened since the census.",
"title": "Population estimates and projections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Population projections are produced in advance of the date they are for. They use time series analysis of existing census data and other sources of population information to forecast the size of future populations. Because there are unknown factors that may affect future population changes, population projections often incorporate high and low as well as expected values for future populations. Population projections are often recomputed after a census has been conducted. It depends on how the area is adjusted in a particular demarcation.",
"title": "Population estimates and projections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "While many censuses were conducted in antiquity, there are few population statistics that survive. One example though can be found in the Bible, in chapter 1 of the Book of Numbers. Not only are the statistics given, but the method used to compile those statistics is also described. In modern-day terms, this metadata about the census is probably of as much value as the statistics themselves as it allows researchers to determine not only what was being counted but how and why it was done.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Modern population statistics are normally accompanied by metadata that explains how the statistics have been compiled and adjusted to compensate for any collection issues.",
"title": "Metadata"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Most countries have a census bureau or government agency responsible for conducting censuses. Many of these agencies publish their country's census results and other population statistics on their agency's website.",
"title": "Statistical sources"
}
] | Demographic statistics are measures of the characteristics of, or changes to, a population. Records of births, deaths, marriages, immigration and emigration and a regular census of population provide information that is key to making sound decisions about national policy. A useful summary of such data is the population pyramid. It provides data about the sex and age distribution of the population in an accessible graphical format. Another summary is called the life table. For a cohort of persons born in the same year, it traces and projects their life experiences from birth to death. For a given cohort, the proportion expected to survive each year is presented in tabular or graphical form. The ratio of males to females by age indicates the consequences of differing mortality rates on the sexes. Thus, while values above one are common for newborns, the ratio dwindles until it is well below one for the older population. | 2001-03-07T12:50:11Z | 2023-10-21T23:24:12Z | [
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8,192 | Detective fiction | Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as speculative fiction and other genre fiction in the mid-nineteenth century and has remained extremely popular, particularly in novels. Some of the most famous heroes of detective fiction include C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot. Juvenile stories featuring The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Boxcar Children have also remained in print for several decades.
Some scholars, such as R. H. Pfeiffer, have suggested that certain ancient and religious texts bear similarities to what would later be called detective fiction. In the Old Testament story of Susanna and the Elders (the Protestant Bible locates this story within the apocrypha), the account told by two witnesses broke down when Daniel cross-examines them. In response, author Julian Symons has argued that "those who search for fragments of detection in the Bible and Herodotus are looking only for puzzles" and that these puzzles are not detective stories. In the play Oedipus Rex by Ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, Oedipus investigates the unsolved murder of King Laius and discovers the truth after questioning various witnesses that he himself is the culprit. Although "Oedipus's enquiry is based on supernatural, pre-rational methods that are evident in most narratives of crime until the development of Enlightenment thought in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries", this narrative has "all of the central characteristics and formal elements of the detective story, including a mystery surrounding a murder, a closed circle of suspects, and the gradual uncovering of a hidden past."
The One Thousand and One Nights contains several of the earliest detective stories, anticipating modern detective fiction. The oldest known example of a detective story was "The Three Apples", one of the tales narrated by Scheherazade in the One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights). In this story, a fisherman discovers a heavy, locked chest along the Tigris river, which he then sells to the Abbasid Caliph, Harun al-Rashid. When Harun breaks open the chest, he discovers the body of a young woman who has been cut into pieces. Harun then orders his vizier, Ja'far ibn Yahya, to solve the crime and to find the murderer within three days, or be executed if he fails in his assignment. Suspense is generated through multiple plot twists that occur as the story progressed. With these characteristics this may be considered an archetype for detective fiction. It anticipates the use of reverse chronology in modern detective fiction, where the story begins with a crime before presenting a gradual reconstruction of the past.
The main difference between Ja'far ("The Three Apples") and later fictional detectives, such as Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, is that Ja'far has no actual desire to solve the case. The whodunit mystery is solved when the murderer himself confessed his crime. This in turn leads to another assignment in which Ja'far has to find the culprit who instigated the murder within three days or else be executed. Ja'far again fails to find the culprit before the deadline, but owing to chance, he discovers a key item. In the end, he manages to solve the case through reasoning in order to prevent his own execution.
On the other hand, two other Arabian Nights stories, "The Merchant and the Thief" and "Ali Khwaja", contain two of the earliest fictional detectives, who uncover clues and present evidence to catch or convict a criminal known to the audience, with the story unfolding in normal chronology and the criminal already known to the audience. The latter involves a climax where the titular detective protagonist Ali Khwaja presents evidence from expert witnesses in a court.
Gong'an fiction (公案小说, literally："case records of a public law court") is the earliest known genre of Chinese detective fiction.
Some well-known stories include the Yuan dynasty story Circle of Chalk (Chinese: 灰闌記), the Ming dynasty story collection Bao Gong An (Chinese: 包公案) and the 18th century Di Gong An (Chinese: 狄公案) story collection. The latter was translated into English as Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee by Dutch sinologist Robert Van Gulik, who then used the style and characters to write the original Judge Dee series.
The hero/detective of these novels was typically a traditional judge or similar official based on historical personages such as Judge Bao (Bao Qingtian) or Judge Dee (Di Renjie). Although the historical characters may have lived in an earlier period (such as the Song or Tang dynasty) most stories are written in the later Ming or Qing dynasty period.
These novels differ from the Western style tradition in several points as described by Van Gulik:
Van Gulik chose Di Gong An to translate because in his view it was closer to the Western literary style and more likely to appeal to non-Chinese readers.
A number of Gong An works may have been lost or destroyed during the Literary Inquisitions and the wars in ancient China. In the traditional Chinese culture, this genre was low-prestige, and therefore was less worthy of preservation than works such as philosophy or poetry. Only little or incomplete case volumes can be found; for example, the only copy of Di Gong An was found at a second-hand book store in Tokyo, Japan.
One of the earliest examples of detective fiction in Western Literature is Voltaire's Zadig (1748), which features a main character who performs feats of analysis. Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams (1794) by William Godwin portrays the law as protecting the murderer and destroying the innocent. Thomas Skinner Sturr's anonymous Richmond, or stories in the life of a Bow Street officer was published in London in 1827; the Danish crime story The Rector of Veilbye by Steen Steensen Blicher was written in 1829; and the Norwegian crime novel Mordet paa Maskinbygger Roolfsen ("The Murder of Engine Maker Roolfsen") by Maurits Hansen was published in December 1839.
"Das Fräulein von Scuderi" is an 1819 short story by E. T. A. Hoffmann, in which Mlle de Scudery establishes the innocence of the police's favorite suspect in the murder of a jeweller. This story is sometimes cited as the first detective story and as a direct influence on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841). Also suggested as a possible influence on Poe is 'The Secret Cell', a short story published in September 1837 by William Evans Burton. It has been suggested that this story may have been known to Poe, who in 1839 worked for Burton. The story was about a London policeman who solves the mystery of a kidnapped girl. Burton's fictional detective relied on practical methods such as dogged legwork, knowledge of the underworld and undercover surveillance, rather than brilliance of imagination or intellect.
Detective fiction in the English-speaking world is considered to have begun in 1841 with the publication of Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", featuring "the first fictional detective, the eccentric and brilliant C. Auguste Dupin". When the character first appeared, the word detective had not yet been used in English; however, the character's name, "Dupin", originated from the English word dupe or deception. Poe devised a "plot formula that's been successful ever since, give or take a few shifting variables." Poe followed with further Auguste Dupin tales: "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" in 1842 and "The Purloined Letter" in 1844.
Poe referred to his stories as "tales of ratiocination". In stories such as these, the primary concern of the plot is ascertaining truth, and the usual means of obtaining the truth is a complex and mysterious process combining intuitive logic, astute observation, and perspicacious inference. "Early detective stories tended to follow an investigating protagonist from the first scene to the last, making the unravelling a practical rather than emotional matter." "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" is particularly interesting because it is a barely fictionalized account based on Poe's theory of what happened to the real-life Mary Cecilia Rogers.
William Russell (1806–1876) was among the first English authors to write fictitious 'police memoirs', contributing an irregular series of stories (under the pseudonym 'Waters') to Chambers's Edinburgh Journal between 1849 and 1852. Unauthorised collections of his stories were published in New York City in 1852 and 1853, entitled The Recollections of a Policeman. Twelve stories were then collated into a volume entitled Recollections of a Detective Police-Officer, published in London in 1856.
Literary critic Catherine Ross Nickerson credits Louisa May Alcott with creating the second-oldest work of modern detective fiction, after only Poe's Dupin stories themselves, with the 1865 thriller "V.V., or Plots and Counterplots." A short story published anonymously by Alcott, the story concerns a Scottish aristocrat who tries to prove that a mysterious woman has killed his fiancée and cousin. The detective on the case, Antoine Dupres, is a parody of Auguste Dupin who is less concerned with solving the crime as he is in setting up a way to reveal the solution with a dramatic flourish. Ross Nickerson notes that many of the American writers who experimented with Poe's established rules of the genre were women, inventing a subgenre of domestic detective fiction that flourished in its own right for several generations. These included Metta Fuller Victor's two detective novels The Dead Letter (1867) and The Figure Eight (1869). The Dead Letter is noteworthy as the first full-length work of American crime fiction.
Émile Gaboriau was a pioneer of the detective fiction genre in France. In Monsieur Lecoq (1868), the title character is adept at disguise, a key characteristic of detectives. Gaboriau's writing is also considered to contain the first example of a detective minutely examining a crime scene for clues.
Another early example of a whodunit is a subplot in the novel Bleak House (1853) by Charles Dickens. The conniving lawyer Tulkinghorn is killed in his office late one night, and the crime is investigated by Inspector Bucket of the Metropolitan police force. Numerous characters appeared on the staircase leading to Tulkinghorn's office that night, some of them in disguise, and Inspector Bucket must penetrate these mysteries to identify the murderer. Dickens also left a novel unfinished at his death, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Dickens's protégé, Wilkie Collins (1824–1889)—sometimes called the "grandfather of English detective fiction"—is credited with the first great mystery novel, The Woman in White. T. S. Eliot called Collins's novel The Moonstone (1868) "the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels... in a genre invented by Collins and not by Poe", and Dorothy L. Sayers called it "probably the very finest detective story ever written". The Moonstone contains a number of ideas that have established in the genre several classic features of the 20th century detective story:
Although The Moonstone is usually seen as the first detective novel, there are other contenders for the honor. A number of critics suggest that the lesser known Notting Hill Mystery (1862–63), written by the pseudonymous "Charles Felix" (later identified as Charles Warren Adams), preceded it by a number of years and first used techniques that would come to define the genre.
Literary critics Chris Willis and Kate Watson consider Mary Elizabeth Braddon's first book, the even earlier The Trail of the Serpent (1861), to be the first British detective novel. The Trail of the Serpent "features an innovative detective figure, Mr. Peters, who is lower class and mute, and who is initially dismissed both by the text and its characters." Braddon's later and better-remembered work, Aurora Floyd (printed in 1863 novel form, but serialized in 1862–63), also features a compelling detective in the person of Detective Grimstone of Scotland Yard.
Tom Taylor's melodrama The Ticket-of-Leave Man, an adaptation of Léonard by Édouard Brisbarre and Eugène Nus, appeared in 1863, introducing Hawkshaw the Detective. In short, it is difficult to establish who was the first to write the English-language detective novel, as various authors were exploring the theme simultaneously.
Anna Katharine Green, in her 1878 debut The Leavenworth Case and other works, popularized the genre among middle-class readers and helped to shape the genre into its classic form as well as developed the concept of the series detective.
In 1887, Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, arguably the most famous of all fictional detectives. Although Sherlock Holmes is not the original fictional detective (he was influenced by Poe's Dupin and Gaboriau's Lecoq), his name has become a byword for the part. Conan Doyle stated that the character of Holmes was inspired by Dr. Joseph Bell, for whom Doyle had worked as a clerk at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Like Holmes, Bell was noted for drawing large conclusions from the smallest observations. A brilliant London-based "consulting detective" residing at 221B Baker Street, Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess and is renowned for his skillful use of astute observation, deductive reasoning, and forensic skills to solve difficult cases. Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories featuring Holmes, and all but four stories are narrated by Holmes's friend, assistant, and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson.
The period between World War I and World War II (the 1920s and 1930s) is generally referred to as the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. During this period, a number of very popular writers emerged, including mostly British but also a notable subset of American and New Zealand writers. Female writers constituted a major portion of notable Golden Age writers. Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Josephine Tey, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh were particularly famous female writers of this time. Apart from Ngaio Marsh (a New Zealander), they were all British.
Various conventions of the detective genre were standardized during the Golden Age, and in 1929, some of them were codified by the English Catholic priest and author of detective stories Ronald Knox in his 'Decalogue' of rules for detective fiction. One of his rules was to avoid supernatural elements so that the focus remained on the mystery itself. Knox has contended that a detective story "must have as its main interest the unravelling of a mystery; a mystery whose elements are clearly presented to the reader at an early stage in the proceedings, and whose nature is such as to arouse curiosity, a curiosity which is gratified at the end." Another common convention in Golden Age detective stories involved an outsider–sometimes a salaried investigator or a police officer, but often a gifted amateur—investigating a murder committed in a closed environment by one of a limited number of suspects.
The most widespread subgenre of the detective novel became the whodunit (or whodunnit, short for "who done it?"). In this subgenre, great ingenuity may be exercised in narrating the crime, usually a homicide, and the subsequent investigation. This objective was to conceal the identity of the criminal from the reader until the end of the book, when the method and culprit are both revealed. According to scholars Carole Kismaric and Marvin Heiferman, "The golden age of detective fiction began with high-class amateur detectives sniffing out murderers lurking in rose gardens, down country lanes, and in picturesque villages. Many conventions of the detective-fiction genre evolved in this era, as numerous writers—from populist entertainers to respected poets—tried their hands at mystery stories."
John Dickson Carr—who also wrote as Carter Dickson—used the “puzzle” approach in his writing which was characterized by including a complex puzzle for the reader to try to unravel. He created ingenious and seemingly impossible plots and is regarded as the master of the "locked room mystery". Two of Carr's most famous works are The Case of Constant Suicides (1941) and The Hollow Man (1935). Another author, Cecil Street—who also wrote as John Rhode—wrote of a detective, Dr. Priestley, who specialised in elaborate technical devices. In the United States, the whodunit subgenre was adopted and extended by Rex Stout and Ellery Queen, along with others. The emphasis on formal rules during the Golden Age produced great works, albeit with highly standardized form. The most successful novels of this time included “an original and exciting plot; distinction in the writing, a vivid sense of place, a memorable and compelling hero and the ability to draw the reader into their comforting and highly individual world.”
A whodunit or whodunnit (a colloquial elision of "Who [has] done it?" or "Who did it?") is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the audience is given the opportunity to engage in the same process of deduction as the protagonist throughout the investigation of a crime. The reader or viewer is provided with the clues from which the identity of the perpetrator may be deduced before the story provides the revelation itself at its climax. The "whodunit" flourished during the so-called "Golden Age" of detective fiction, between 1920 and 1950, when it was the predominant mode of crime writing.
Agatha Christie is not only the most famous Golden Age writer, but also considered one of the most famous authors of all genres of all time. At the time of her death in 1976, “she was the best-selling novelist in history.”
Many of the most popular books of the Golden Age were written by Agatha Christie. She produced long series of books featuring detective characters like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, amongst others. Her use of basing her stories on complex puzzles, “combined with her stereotyped characters and picturesque middle-class settings”, is credited for her success. Christie's works include Murder on the Orient Express (1934), Death on the Nile (1937), Three Blind Mice (1950) and And Then There Were None (1939).
Through China's Golden Age of crime fiction (1900–1949), translations of Western classics, and native Chinese detective fictions circulated within the country.
Cheng Xiaoqing had first encountered Conan Doyle's highly popular stories as an adolescent. In the ensuing years, he played a major role in rendering them first into classical and later into vernacular Chinese. Cheng Xiaoqing's translated works from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduced China to a new type of narrative style. Western detective fiction that was translated often emphasized “individuality, equality, and the importance of knowledge”, appealing to China that it was the time for opening their eyes to the rest of the world.
This style began China's interest in popular crime fiction, and is what drove Cheng Xiaoqing to write his own crime fiction novel, Sherlock in Shanghai. In the late 1910s, Cheng began writing detective fiction very much in Conan Doyle's style, with Bao as the Watson-like narrator; a rare instance of such a direct appropriation from foreign fiction. Famed as the “Oriental Sherlock Holmes”, the duo Huo Sang and Bao Lang become counterparts to Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson characters.
"Sadiq Mamquli, The Sherlock Holmes of Iran, The Sherriff of Isfahan" is the first major detective fiction in Persian, written by Kazim Musta'an al-Sultan (Houshi Daryan). It was first published in 1925. There was no biographical account of the author of the book for over 70 years until being identified after the book was reprinted in 2017.
Edogawa Rampo is the first major Japanese modern mystery writer and the founder of the Detective Story Club in Japan. Rampo was an admirer of western mystery writers. He gained his fame in the early 1920s, when he began to bring to the genre many bizarre, erotic and even fantastic elements. This is partly because of the social tension before World War II. In 1957, Seicho Matsumoto received the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for his short story The Face (顔 kao). The Face and Matsumoto's subsequent works began the "social school" (社会派 shakai ha) within the genre, which emphasized social realism, described crimes in an ordinary setting and sets motives within a wider context of social injustice and political corruption. Since the 1980s, a "new orthodox school" (新本格派 shin honkaku ha) has surfaced. It demands restoration of the classic rules of detective fiction and the use of more self-reflective elements. Famous authors of this movement include Soji Shimada, Yukito Ayatsuji, Rintaro Norizuki, Alice Arisugawa, Kaoru Kitamura and Taku Ashibe.
Kottayam Pushpanath, a prolific writer, brought to life a vivid array of characters and mysteries. Pushpanath practiced teaching history for several years before becoming a full time writer. It was in the last 1960s that he made his literary debut with Chuvanna Manushyan. Pushpanath authored more than 350 detective novels.
Ibn-e-Safi is the most popular Urdo detective fiction writer. He started writing his famous Jasoosi Dunya Series spy stories in 1952 with Col. Fareedi & Captain. Hameed as main characters. In 1955 he started writing Imran Series spy novels with Ali Imran as X2 the chief of secret service and his companions. After his death many other writers accepted Ali Imran character and wrote spy novels.
Another popular spy novel writer was Ishtiaq Ahmad who wrote Inspector Jamsheed, Inspector Kamran Mirza and Shooki brother's series of spy novels.
Stories about robbers and detectives were very popular in Russia since old times. The most famous hero in XVIII cent. was Ivan Osipov (1718–after 1756), nicknamed Ivan Kain. Another examples of early Russian detective stories are: "Bitter Fate" (1789) by M. D. Chulkov (1743–1792), "The Finger Ring" (1831) by Yevgeny Baratynsky, "The White Ghost" (1834) by Mikhail Zagoskin, Crime and Punishment (1866) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880) by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Detective fiction in modern Russian literature with clear detective plots started with The Garin Death Ray (1926–1927) and The Black Gold (1931) by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Mess-Mend by Marietta Shaginyan, The Investigator's Notes by Lev Sheinin. Boris Akunin is a famous Russian writer of historical detective fiction in modern-day Russia.
Especially in the United States, detective fiction emerged in the 1960s, and gained prominence in later decades, as a way for authors to bring stories about various subcultures to mainstream audiences. One scholar wrote about the detective novels of Tony Hillerman, set among the Native American population around New Mexico, "many American readers have probably gotten more insight into traditional Navajo culture from his detective stories than from any other recent books." Other notable writers who have explored regional and ethnic communities in their detective novels are Harry Kemelman, whose Rabbi Small series were set in the Conservative Jewish community of Massachusetts; Walter Mosley, whose Easy Rawlins books are set in the African American community of 1950s Los Angeles; and Sara Paretsky, whose V. I. Warshawski books have explored the various subcultures of Chicago.
Martin Hewitt, created by British author Arthur Morrison in 1894, is one of the first examples of the modern style of fictional private detective. This character is described as an "'Everyman' detective meant to challenge the detective-as-superman that Holmes represented."
By the late 1920s, Al Capone and the Mob were inspiring not only fear, but piquing mainstream curiosity about the American crime underworld. Popular pulp fiction magazines like Black Mask capitalized on this, as authors such as Carrol John Daly published violent stories that focused on the mayhem and injustice surrounding the criminals, not the circumstances behind the crime. Very often, no actual mystery even existed: the books simply revolved around justice being served to those who deserved harsh treatment, which was described in explicit detail." The overall theme these writers portrayed reflected "the changing face of America itself."
In the 1930s, the private eye genre was adopted wholeheartedly by American writers. One of the primary contributors to this style was Dashiell Hammett with his famous private investigator character, Sam Spade. His style of crime fiction came to be known as "hardboiled", which is described as a genre that "usually deals with criminal activity in a modern urban environment, a world of disconnected signs and anonymous strangers." "Told in stark and sometimes elegant language through the unemotional eyes of new hero-detectives, these stories were an American phenomenon."
In the late 1930s, Raymond Chandler updated the form with his private detective Philip Marlowe, who brought a more intimate voice to the detective than the more distanced "operative's report" style of Hammett's Continental Op stories. Despite struggling through the task of plotting a story, his cadenced dialogue and cryptic narrations were musical, evoking the dark alleys and tough thugs, rich women and powerful men about whom he wrote. Several feature and television movies have been made about the Philip Marlowe character. James Hadley Chase wrote a few novels with private eyes as the main heroes, including Blonde's Requiem (1945), Lay Her Among the Lilies (1950), and Figure It Out for Yourself (1950). The heroes of these novels are typical private eyes, very similar to or plagiarizing Raymond Chandler's work.
Ross Macdonald, pseudonym of Kenneth Millar, updated the form again with his detective Lew Archer. Archer, like Hammett's fictional heroes, was a camera eye, with hardly any known past. "Turn Archer sideways, and he disappears," one reviewer wrote. Two of Macdonald's strengths were his use of psychology and his beautiful prose, which was full of imagery. Like other 'hardboiled' writers, Macdonald aimed to give an impression of realism in his work through violence, sex and confrontation. The 1966 movie Harper starring Paul Newman was based on the first Lew Archer story The Moving Target (1949). Newman reprised the role in The Drowning Pool in 1976.
Michael Collins, pseudonym of Dennis Lynds, is generally considered the author who led the form into the Modern Age. His PI, Dan Fortune, was consistently involved in the same sort of David-and-Goliath stories that Hammett, Chandler, and Macdonald wrote, but Collins took a sociological bent, exploring the meaning of his characters' places in society and the impact society had on people. Full of commentary and clipped prose, his books were more intimate than those of his predecessors, dramatizing that crime can happen in one's own living room.
The PI novel was a male-dominated field in which female authors seldom found publication until Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky, and Sue Grafton were finally published in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Each author's detective, also female, was brainy and physical and could hold her own. Their acceptance, and success, caused publishers to seek out other female authors.
An inverted detective story, also known as a "howcatchem", is a murder mystery fiction structure in which the commission of the crime is shown or described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator. The story then describes the detective's attempt to solve the mystery. There may also be subsidiary puzzles, such as why the crime was committed, and they are explained or resolved during the story. This format is the opposite of the more typical "whodunit", where all of the details of the perpetrator of the crime are not revealed until the story's climax.
Many detective stories have police officers as the main characters. These stories may take a variety of forms, but many authors try to realistically depict the routine activities of a group of police officers who are frequently working on more than one case simultaneously. Some of these stories are whodunits; in others, the criminal is well known, and it is a case of getting enough evidence.
In the 1940s the police procedural evolved as a new style of detective fiction. Unlike the heroes of Christie, Chandler, and Spillane, the police detective was subject to error and was constrained by rules and regulations. As Gary Huasladen says in Places for Dead Bodies, "not all the clients were insatiable bombshells, and invariably there was life outside the job." The detective in the police procedural does the things police officers do to catch a criminal. Writers include Ed McBain, P. D. James, and Bartholomew Gill.
Historical mystery is set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the central plot involves the solving of a mystery or crime (usually murder). Though works combining these genres have existed since at least the early 20th century, many credit Ellis Peters's Cadfael Chronicles (1977–1994) for popularizing what would become known as the historical mystery.
A variation on this is Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time. In it, Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant—who considers himself a good judge of faces—is surprised to find that what he considers to be the portrait of a sensitive man is in reality a portrait of Richard III, who murdered his brother's children in order to become king. The story details his attempt to get to the historical truth of whether Richard III is the villain he has been made out to be by history. The novel was awarded the top spot in the Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time by the UK Crime Writers' Association and the number 4 spot in The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time Mystery Writers of America
Cozy mystery began in the late 20th century as a reinvention of the Golden Age whodunit; these novels generally shy away from violence and suspense and frequently feature female amateur detectives. Modern cozy mysteries are frequently, though not necessarily in either case, humorous and thematic (culinary mystery, animal mystery, quilting mystery, etc.)
This style features minimal violence, sex, and social relevance; a solution achieved by intellect or intuition rather than police procedure, with order restored in the end; honorable and well bred characters; and a setting in a closed community. Writers include Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Elizabeth Daly.
Serial killer mystery might be thought of as an outcropping of the police procedural. There are early mystery novels in which a police force attempts to contend with the type of criminal known in the 1920s as a homicidal maniac, such as a few of the early novels of Philip Macdonald and Ellery Queen's Cat of Many Tails. However, this sort of story became much more popular after the coining of the phrase "serial killer" in the 1970s and the publication of The Silence of the Lambs in 1988. These stories frequently show the activities of many members of a police force or government agency in their efforts to apprehend a killer who is selecting victims on some obscure basis. They are also often much more violent and suspenseful than other mysteries.
The legal thriller or courtroom novel is also related to detective fiction. The system of justice itself is always a major part of these works, at times almost functioning as one of the characters. In this way, the legal system provides the framework for the legal thriller as much as the system of modern police work does for the police procedural. The legal thriller usually starts its business with the court proceedings following the closure of an investigation, often resulting in a new angle on the investigation, so as to bring about a final outcome different from the one originally devised by the investigators. In the legal thriller, court proceedings play a very active, if not to say decisive part in a case reaching its ultimate solution. Erle Stanley Gardner popularized the courtroom novel in the 20th century with his Perry Mason series. Contemporary authors of legal thrillers include Michael Connelly, Linda Fairstein, John Grisham, John Lescroart, Paul Levine, Lisa Scottoline, and Scott Turow.
The locked room mystery is a subgenre of detective fiction in which a crime—almost always murder—is committed under circumstances which it was seemingly impossible for the perpetrator to commit the crime and/or evade detection in the course of getting in and out of the crime scene. The genre was established in the 19th century. Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841) is considered the first locked-room mystery; since then, other authors have used the scheme. The crime in question typically involves a crime scene with no indication as to how the intruder could have entered or left, i.e., a locked room. Following other conventions of classic detective fiction, the reader is normally presented with the puzzle and all of the clues, and is encouraged to solve the mystery before the solution is revealed in a dramatic climax.
Occult detective fiction is a subgenre of detective fiction that combines the tropes of detective fiction with those of supernatural horror fiction. Unlike the traditional detective, the occult detective is employed in cases involving ghosts, demons, curses, magic, monsters and other supernatural elements. Some occult detectives are portrayed as knowing magic or being themselves psychic or in possession of other paranormal powers.
Even if they do not mean to, advertisers, reviewers, scholars and aficionados sometimes give away details or parts of the plot, and sometimes—for example in the case of Mickey Spillane's novel I, the Jury—even the solution. After the credits of Billy Wilder's film Witness for the Prosecution, the cinemagoers are asked not to talk to anyone about the plot so that future viewers will also be able to fully enjoy the unravelling of the mystery.
For series involving amateur detectives, their frequent encounters with crime often test the limits of plausibility. The character Miss Marple, for instance, dealt with an estimated two murders a year; De Andrea has described Marple's home town, the quiet little village of St. Mary Mead, as having "put on a pageant of human depravity rivaled only by that of Sodom and Gomorrah". Similarly, TV heroine Jessica Fletcher of Murder, She Wrote was confronted with bodies wherever she went, but most notably in her small hometown of Cabot Cove, Maine; The New York Times estimated that, by the end of the series' 12-year run, nearly 2% of the town's residents had been killed. It is arguably more convincing if police, forensic experts or similar professionals are made the protagonist of a series of crime novels.
The television series Monk has often made fun of this implausible frequency. The main character, Adrian Monk, is frequently accused of being a "bad luck charm" and a "murder magnet" as the result of the frequency with which murder happens in his vicinity.
Likewise Kogoro Mori of the manga series Detective Conan got that kind of unflattering reputation. Although Mori is actually a private investigator with his own agency, the police never intentionally consult him as he stumbles from one crime scene to another.
The role and legitimacy of coincidence has frequently been the topic of heated arguments ever since Ronald A. Knox categorically stated that "no accident must ever help the detective" (Commandment No. 6 in his "Decalogue").
Technological progress has also rendered many plots implausible and antiquated. For example, the predominance of mobile phones, pagers, and PDAs has significantly altered the previously dangerous situations in which investigators traditionally might have found themselves.
One tactic that avoids the issue of technology altogether is the historical detective genre. As global interconnectedness makes legitimate suspense more difficult to achieve, several writers—including Elizabeth Peters, P. C. Doherty, Steven Saylor, and Lindsey Davis—have eschewed fabricating convoluted plots in order to manufacture tension, instead opting to set their characters in some former period. Such a strategy forces the protagonist to rely on more inventive means of investigation, lacking as they do the technological tools available to modern detectives.
Conversely, some detective fiction embraces networked computer technology and deals in cybercrime, like the Daemon novel series by Daniel Suarez.
Several authors have attempted to set forth a sort of list of “Detective Commandments” for prospective authors of the genre.
According to "Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories," by Van Dine in 1928: "The detective story is a kind of intellectual game. It is more—it is a sporting event. And for the writing of detective stories there are very definite laws—unwritten, perhaps, but nonetheless binding; and every respectable and self-respecting concocter of literary mysteries lives up to them. Herewith, then, is a sort of credo, based partly on the practice of all the great writers of detective stories, and partly on the promptings of the honest author's inner conscience." Ronald Knox wrote a set of Ten Commandments or Decalogue in 1929, see article on the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
A general consensus among crime fiction authors is there is a specific set of rules that must be applied for a novel to truly be considered part of the detective fiction genre. As noted in "Introduction to the Analysis of Crime Fiction", crime fiction from the past 100 years has generally contained the following key rules to be a detective novel:
Sherlock Holmes is the British fictional detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. After first appearing in A Study in Scarlet, the Sherlock Holmes stories were not an immediate success. However, after being published in the Strand Magazine in 1891, the detective became unquestionably popular. Following the success of Sherlock Holmes, many mystery writers imitated Doyle's structure in their own detective stories and copied Sherlock Holmes's characteristics in their own detectives.
Sherlock Holmes as a series is perhaps the most popular form of detective fiction. Doyle attempted to kill the character off after twenty-three stories, but after popular request, he continued to pen the Holmes tales. The popularity of Sherlock Holmes extends beyond the written medium. For example, the BBC-produced TV series Sherlock gained a very large following after first airing in 2010, imbuing a renewed interest in the character in the general public. Because of the popularity of Holmes, Conan Doyle was often regarded as being “as well-known as Queen Victoria”.
Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian private detective, created by Agatha Christie. As one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, Poirot appeared in 33 novels, one play (Black Coffee), and more than 50 short stories, published between 1920 and 1975. Hercule Poirot first appeared in The Mysterious Affair at Styles, published in 1920, and died in Curtain, published in 1975, which is Agatha Christie's last work. On August 6, 1975, The New York Times published the obituary of Poirot's death with the cover of the newly published novel on their front page.
Le Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin is a fictional character created by Edgar Allan Poe. Dupin made his first appearance in Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841), widely considered the first detective fiction story. He reappears in "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" (1842) and "The Purloined Letter" (1844).
C. Auguste Dupin is generally acknowledged as the prototype for many fictional detectives that were created later, including Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle and Hercule Poirot by Agatha Christie. Conan Doyle once wrote, "Each [of Poe's detective stories] is a root from which a whole literature has developed... Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?"
Ellery Queen is a fictional detective created by American writers Manfred Bennington Lee and Frederic Dannay, as well as the joint pseudonym for the cousins Dannay and Lee. He first appeared in The Roman Hat Mystery (1929), and starred in more than 30 novels and several short story collections. During the 1930s and much of the 1940s, Ellery Queen was possibly the best known American fictional detective.
Many detectives appear in more than one novel or story. Here is a list of a few debut stories and final appearances. | [
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"text": "Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as speculative fiction and other genre fiction in the mid-nineteenth century and has remained extremely popular, particularly in novels. Some of the most famous heroes of detective fiction include C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot. Juvenile stories featuring The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Boxcar Children have also remained in print for several decades.",
"title": ""
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"text": "Some scholars, such as R. H. Pfeiffer, have suggested that certain ancient and religious texts bear similarities to what would later be called detective fiction. In the Old Testament story of Susanna and the Elders (the Protestant Bible locates this story within the apocrypha), the account told by two witnesses broke down when Daniel cross-examines them. In response, author Julian Symons has argued that \"those who search for fragments of detection in the Bible and Herodotus are looking only for puzzles\" and that these puzzles are not detective stories. In the play Oedipus Rex by Ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, Oedipus investigates the unsolved murder of King Laius and discovers the truth after questioning various witnesses that he himself is the culprit. Although \"Oedipus's enquiry is based on supernatural, pre-rational methods that are evident in most narratives of crime until the development of Enlightenment thought in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries\", this narrative has \"all of the central characteristics and formal elements of the detective story, including a mystery surrounding a murder, a closed circle of suspects, and the gradual uncovering of a hidden past.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The One Thousand and One Nights contains several of the earliest detective stories, anticipating modern detective fiction. The oldest known example of a detective story was \"The Three Apples\", one of the tales narrated by Scheherazade in the One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights). In this story, a fisherman discovers a heavy, locked chest along the Tigris river, which he then sells to the Abbasid Caliph, Harun al-Rashid. When Harun breaks open the chest, he discovers the body of a young woman who has been cut into pieces. Harun then orders his vizier, Ja'far ibn Yahya, to solve the crime and to find the murderer within three days, or be executed if he fails in his assignment. Suspense is generated through multiple plot twists that occur as the story progressed. With these characteristics this may be considered an archetype for detective fiction. It anticipates the use of reverse chronology in modern detective fiction, where the story begins with a crime before presenting a gradual reconstruction of the past.",
"title": "History"
},
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"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The main difference between Ja'far (\"The Three Apples\") and later fictional detectives, such as Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, is that Ja'far has no actual desire to solve the case. The whodunit mystery is solved when the murderer himself confessed his crime. This in turn leads to another assignment in which Ja'far has to find the culprit who instigated the murder within three days or else be executed. Ja'far again fails to find the culprit before the deadline, but owing to chance, he discovers a key item. In the end, he manages to solve the case through reasoning in order to prevent his own execution.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "On the other hand, two other Arabian Nights stories, \"The Merchant and the Thief\" and \"Ali Khwaja\", contain two of the earliest fictional detectives, who uncover clues and present evidence to catch or convict a criminal known to the audience, with the story unfolding in normal chronology and the criminal already known to the audience. The latter involves a climax where the titular detective protagonist Ali Khwaja presents evidence from expert witnesses in a court.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Gong'an fiction (公案小说, literally：\"case records of a public law court\") is the earliest known genre of Chinese detective fiction.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Some well-known stories include the Yuan dynasty story Circle of Chalk (Chinese: 灰闌記), the Ming dynasty story collection Bao Gong An (Chinese: 包公案) and the 18th century Di Gong An (Chinese: 狄公案) story collection. The latter was translated into English as Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee by Dutch sinologist Robert Van Gulik, who then used the style and characters to write the original Judge Dee series.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The hero/detective of these novels was typically a traditional judge or similar official based on historical personages such as Judge Bao (Bao Qingtian) or Judge Dee (Di Renjie). Although the historical characters may have lived in an earlier period (such as the Song or Tang dynasty) most stories are written in the later Ming or Qing dynasty period.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "These novels differ from the Western style tradition in several points as described by Van Gulik:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Van Gulik chose Di Gong An to translate because in his view it was closer to the Western literary style and more likely to appeal to non-Chinese readers.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "A number of Gong An works may have been lost or destroyed during the Literary Inquisitions and the wars in ancient China. In the traditional Chinese culture, this genre was low-prestige, and therefore was less worthy of preservation than works such as philosophy or poetry. Only little or incomplete case volumes can be found; for example, the only copy of Di Gong An was found at a second-hand book store in Tokyo, Japan.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "One of the earliest examples of detective fiction in Western Literature is Voltaire's Zadig (1748), which features a main character who performs feats of analysis. Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams (1794) by William Godwin portrays the law as protecting the murderer and destroying the innocent. Thomas Skinner Sturr's anonymous Richmond, or stories in the life of a Bow Street officer was published in London in 1827; the Danish crime story The Rector of Veilbye by Steen Steensen Blicher was written in 1829; and the Norwegian crime novel Mordet paa Maskinbygger Roolfsen (\"The Murder of Engine Maker Roolfsen\") by Maurits Hansen was published in December 1839.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "\"Das Fräulein von Scuderi\" is an 1819 short story by E. T. A. Hoffmann, in which Mlle de Scudery establishes the innocence of the police's favorite suspect in the murder of a jeweller. This story is sometimes cited as the first detective story and as a direct influence on Edgar Allan Poe's \"The Murders in the Rue Morgue\" (1841). Also suggested as a possible influence on Poe is 'The Secret Cell', a short story published in September 1837 by William Evans Burton. It has been suggested that this story may have been known to Poe, who in 1839 worked for Burton. The story was about a London policeman who solves the mystery of a kidnapped girl. Burton's fictional detective relied on practical methods such as dogged legwork, knowledge of the underworld and undercover surveillance, rather than brilliance of imagination or intellect.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Detective fiction in the English-speaking world is considered to have begun in 1841 with the publication of Poe's \"The Murders in the Rue Morgue\", featuring \"the first fictional detective, the eccentric and brilliant C. Auguste Dupin\". When the character first appeared, the word detective had not yet been used in English; however, the character's name, \"Dupin\", originated from the English word dupe or deception. Poe devised a \"plot formula that's been successful ever since, give or take a few shifting variables.\" Poe followed with further Auguste Dupin tales: \"The Mystery of Marie Rogêt\" in 1842 and \"The Purloined Letter\" in 1844.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Poe referred to his stories as \"tales of ratiocination\". In stories such as these, the primary concern of the plot is ascertaining truth, and the usual means of obtaining the truth is a complex and mysterious process combining intuitive logic, astute observation, and perspicacious inference. \"Early detective stories tended to follow an investigating protagonist from the first scene to the last, making the unravelling a practical rather than emotional matter.\" \"The Mystery of Marie Rogêt\" is particularly interesting because it is a barely fictionalized account based on Poe's theory of what happened to the real-life Mary Cecilia Rogers.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "William Russell (1806–1876) was among the first English authors to write fictitious 'police memoirs', contributing an irregular series of stories (under the pseudonym 'Waters') to Chambers's Edinburgh Journal between 1849 and 1852. Unauthorised collections of his stories were published in New York City in 1852 and 1853, entitled The Recollections of a Policeman. Twelve stories were then collated into a volume entitled Recollections of a Detective Police-Officer, published in London in 1856.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Literary critic Catherine Ross Nickerson credits Louisa May Alcott with creating the second-oldest work of modern detective fiction, after only Poe's Dupin stories themselves, with the 1865 thriller \"V.V., or Plots and Counterplots.\" A short story published anonymously by Alcott, the story concerns a Scottish aristocrat who tries to prove that a mysterious woman has killed his fiancée and cousin. The detective on the case, Antoine Dupres, is a parody of Auguste Dupin who is less concerned with solving the crime as he is in setting up a way to reveal the solution with a dramatic flourish. Ross Nickerson notes that many of the American writers who experimented with Poe's established rules of the genre were women, inventing a subgenre of domestic detective fiction that flourished in its own right for several generations. These included Metta Fuller Victor's two detective novels The Dead Letter (1867) and The Figure Eight (1869). The Dead Letter is noteworthy as the first full-length work of American crime fiction.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Émile Gaboriau was a pioneer of the detective fiction genre in France. In Monsieur Lecoq (1868), the title character is adept at disguise, a key characteristic of detectives. Gaboriau's writing is also considered to contain the first example of a detective minutely examining a crime scene for clues.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Another early example of a whodunit is a subplot in the novel Bleak House (1853) by Charles Dickens. The conniving lawyer Tulkinghorn is killed in his office late one night, and the crime is investigated by Inspector Bucket of the Metropolitan police force. Numerous characters appeared on the staircase leading to Tulkinghorn's office that night, some of them in disguise, and Inspector Bucket must penetrate these mysteries to identify the murderer. Dickens also left a novel unfinished at his death, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Dickens's protégé, Wilkie Collins (1824–1889)—sometimes called the \"grandfather of English detective fiction\"—is credited with the first great mystery novel, The Woman in White. T. S. Eliot called Collins's novel The Moonstone (1868) \"the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels... in a genre invented by Collins and not by Poe\", and Dorothy L. Sayers called it \"probably the very finest detective story ever written\". The Moonstone contains a number of ideas that have established in the genre several classic features of the 20th century detective story:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Although The Moonstone is usually seen as the first detective novel, there are other contenders for the honor. A number of critics suggest that the lesser known Notting Hill Mystery (1862–63), written by the pseudonymous \"Charles Felix\" (later identified as Charles Warren Adams), preceded it by a number of years and first used techniques that would come to define the genre.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Literary critics Chris Willis and Kate Watson consider Mary Elizabeth Braddon's first book, the even earlier The Trail of the Serpent (1861), to be the first British detective novel. The Trail of the Serpent \"features an innovative detective figure, Mr. Peters, who is lower class and mute, and who is initially dismissed both by the text and its characters.\" Braddon's later and better-remembered work, Aurora Floyd (printed in 1863 novel form, but serialized in 1862–63), also features a compelling detective in the person of Detective Grimstone of Scotland Yard.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Tom Taylor's melodrama The Ticket-of-Leave Man, an adaptation of Léonard by Édouard Brisbarre and Eugène Nus, appeared in 1863, introducing Hawkshaw the Detective. In short, it is difficult to establish who was the first to write the English-language detective novel, as various authors were exploring the theme simultaneously.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Anna Katharine Green, in her 1878 debut The Leavenworth Case and other works, popularized the genre among middle-class readers and helped to shape the genre into its classic form as well as developed the concept of the series detective.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In 1887, Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, arguably the most famous of all fictional detectives. Although Sherlock Holmes is not the original fictional detective (he was influenced by Poe's Dupin and Gaboriau's Lecoq), his name has become a byword for the part. Conan Doyle stated that the character of Holmes was inspired by Dr. Joseph Bell, for whom Doyle had worked as a clerk at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Like Holmes, Bell was noted for drawing large conclusions from the smallest observations. A brilliant London-based \"consulting detective\" residing at 221B Baker Street, Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess and is renowned for his skillful use of astute observation, deductive reasoning, and forensic skills to solve difficult cases. Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories featuring Holmes, and all but four stories are narrated by Holmes's friend, assistant, and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The period between World War I and World War II (the 1920s and 1930s) is generally referred to as the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. During this period, a number of very popular writers emerged, including mostly British but also a notable subset of American and New Zealand writers. Female writers constituted a major portion of notable Golden Age writers. Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Josephine Tey, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh were particularly famous female writers of this time. Apart from Ngaio Marsh (a New Zealander), they were all British.",
"title": "Golden Age novels"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Various conventions of the detective genre were standardized during the Golden Age, and in 1929, some of them were codified by the English Catholic priest and author of detective stories Ronald Knox in his 'Decalogue' of rules for detective fiction. One of his rules was to avoid supernatural elements so that the focus remained on the mystery itself. Knox has contended that a detective story \"must have as its main interest the unravelling of a mystery; a mystery whose elements are clearly presented to the reader at an early stage in the proceedings, and whose nature is such as to arouse curiosity, a curiosity which is gratified at the end.\" Another common convention in Golden Age detective stories involved an outsider–sometimes a salaried investigator or a police officer, but often a gifted amateur—investigating a murder committed in a closed environment by one of a limited number of suspects.",
"title": "Golden Age novels"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "The most widespread subgenre of the detective novel became the whodunit (or whodunnit, short for \"who done it?\"). In this subgenre, great ingenuity may be exercised in narrating the crime, usually a homicide, and the subsequent investigation. This objective was to conceal the identity of the criminal from the reader until the end of the book, when the method and culprit are both revealed. According to scholars Carole Kismaric and Marvin Heiferman, \"The golden age of detective fiction began with high-class amateur detectives sniffing out murderers lurking in rose gardens, down country lanes, and in picturesque villages. Many conventions of the detective-fiction genre evolved in this era, as numerous writers—from populist entertainers to respected poets—tried their hands at mystery stories.\"",
"title": "Golden Age novels"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "John Dickson Carr—who also wrote as Carter Dickson—used the “puzzle” approach in his writing which was characterized by including a complex puzzle for the reader to try to unravel. He created ingenious and seemingly impossible plots and is regarded as the master of the \"locked room mystery\". Two of Carr's most famous works are The Case of Constant Suicides (1941) and The Hollow Man (1935). Another author, Cecil Street—who also wrote as John Rhode—wrote of a detective, Dr. Priestley, who specialised in elaborate technical devices. In the United States, the whodunit subgenre was adopted and extended by Rex Stout and Ellery Queen, along with others. The emphasis on formal rules during the Golden Age produced great works, albeit with highly standardized form. The most successful novels of this time included “an original and exciting plot; distinction in the writing, a vivid sense of place, a memorable and compelling hero and the ability to draw the reader into their comforting and highly individual world.”",
"title": "Golden Age novels"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "A whodunit or whodunnit (a colloquial elision of \"Who [has] done it?\" or \"Who did it?\") is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the audience is given the opportunity to engage in the same process of deduction as the protagonist throughout the investigation of a crime. The reader or viewer is provided with the clues from which the identity of the perpetrator may be deduced before the story provides the revelation itself at its climax. The \"whodunit\" flourished during the so-called \"Golden Age\" of detective fiction, between 1920 and 1950, when it was the predominant mode of crime writing.",
"title": "Golden Age novels"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Agatha Christie is not only the most famous Golden Age writer, but also considered one of the most famous authors of all genres of all time. At the time of her death in 1976, “she was the best-selling novelist in history.”",
"title": "Golden Age novels"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Many of the most popular books of the Golden Age were written by Agatha Christie. She produced long series of books featuring detective characters like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, amongst others. Her use of basing her stories on complex puzzles, “combined with her stereotyped characters and picturesque middle-class settings”, is credited for her success. Christie's works include Murder on the Orient Express (1934), Death on the Nile (1937), Three Blind Mice (1950) and And Then There Were None (1939).",
"title": "Golden Age novels"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Through China's Golden Age of crime fiction (1900–1949), translations of Western classics, and native Chinese detective fictions circulated within the country.",
"title": "By country"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Cheng Xiaoqing had first encountered Conan Doyle's highly popular stories as an adolescent. In the ensuing years, he played a major role in rendering them first into classical and later into vernacular Chinese. Cheng Xiaoqing's translated works from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduced China to a new type of narrative style. Western detective fiction that was translated often emphasized “individuality, equality, and the importance of knowledge”, appealing to China that it was the time for opening their eyes to the rest of the world.",
"title": "By country"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "This style began China's interest in popular crime fiction, and is what drove Cheng Xiaoqing to write his own crime fiction novel, Sherlock in Shanghai. In the late 1910s, Cheng began writing detective fiction very much in Conan Doyle's style, with Bao as the Watson-like narrator; a rare instance of such a direct appropriation from foreign fiction. Famed as the “Oriental Sherlock Holmes”, the duo Huo Sang and Bao Lang become counterparts to Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson characters.",
"title": "By country"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "\"Sadiq Mamquli, The Sherlock Holmes of Iran, The Sherriff of Isfahan\" is the first major detective fiction in Persian, written by Kazim Musta'an al-Sultan (Houshi Daryan). It was first published in 1925. There was no biographical account of the author of the book for over 70 years until being identified after the book was reprinted in 2017.",
"title": "By country"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Edogawa Rampo is the first major Japanese modern mystery writer and the founder of the Detective Story Club in Japan. Rampo was an admirer of western mystery writers. He gained his fame in the early 1920s, when he began to bring to the genre many bizarre, erotic and even fantastic elements. This is partly because of the social tension before World War II. In 1957, Seicho Matsumoto received the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for his short story The Face (顔 kao). The Face and Matsumoto's subsequent works began the \"social school\" (社会派 shakai ha) within the genre, which emphasized social realism, described crimes in an ordinary setting and sets motives within a wider context of social injustice and political corruption. Since the 1980s, a \"new orthodox school\" (新本格派 shin honkaku ha) has surfaced. It demands restoration of the classic rules of detective fiction and the use of more self-reflective elements. Famous authors of this movement include Soji Shimada, Yukito Ayatsuji, Rintaro Norizuki, Alice Arisugawa, Kaoru Kitamura and Taku Ashibe.",
"title": "By country"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Kottayam Pushpanath, a prolific writer, brought to life a vivid array of characters and mysteries. Pushpanath practiced teaching history for several years before becoming a full time writer. It was in the last 1960s that he made his literary debut with Chuvanna Manushyan. Pushpanath authored more than 350 detective novels.",
"title": "By country"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Ibn-e-Safi is the most popular Urdo detective fiction writer. He started writing his famous Jasoosi Dunya Series spy stories in 1952 with Col. Fareedi & Captain. Hameed as main characters. In 1955 he started writing Imran Series spy novels with Ali Imran as X2 the chief of secret service and his companions. After his death many other writers accepted Ali Imran character and wrote spy novels.",
"title": "By country"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Another popular spy novel writer was Ishtiaq Ahmad who wrote Inspector Jamsheed, Inspector Kamran Mirza and Shooki brother's series of spy novels.",
"title": "By country"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Stories about robbers and detectives were very popular in Russia since old times. The most famous hero in XVIII cent. was Ivan Osipov (1718–after 1756), nicknamed Ivan Kain. Another examples of early Russian detective stories are: \"Bitter Fate\" (1789) by M. D. Chulkov (1743–1792), \"The Finger Ring\" (1831) by Yevgeny Baratynsky, \"The White Ghost\" (1834) by Mikhail Zagoskin, Crime and Punishment (1866) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880) by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Detective fiction in modern Russian literature with clear detective plots started with The Garin Death Ray (1926–1927) and The Black Gold (1931) by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Mess-Mend by Marietta Shaginyan, The Investigator's Notes by Lev Sheinin. Boris Akunin is a famous Russian writer of historical detective fiction in modern-day Russia.",
"title": "By country"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Especially in the United States, detective fiction emerged in the 1960s, and gained prominence in later decades, as a way for authors to bring stories about various subcultures to mainstream audiences. One scholar wrote about the detective novels of Tony Hillerman, set among the Native American population around New Mexico, \"many American readers have probably gotten more insight into traditional Navajo culture from his detective stories than from any other recent books.\" Other notable writers who have explored regional and ethnic communities in their detective novels are Harry Kemelman, whose Rabbi Small series were set in the Conservative Jewish community of Massachusetts; Walter Mosley, whose Easy Rawlins books are set in the African American community of 1950s Los Angeles; and Sara Paretsky, whose V. I. Warshawski books have explored the various subcultures of Chicago.",
"title": "By country"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Martin Hewitt, created by British author Arthur Morrison in 1894, is one of the first examples of the modern style of fictional private detective. This character is described as an \"'Everyman' detective meant to challenge the detective-as-superman that Holmes represented.\"",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "By the late 1920s, Al Capone and the Mob were inspiring not only fear, but piquing mainstream curiosity about the American crime underworld. Popular pulp fiction magazines like Black Mask capitalized on this, as authors such as Carrol John Daly published violent stories that focused on the mayhem and injustice surrounding the criminals, not the circumstances behind the crime. Very often, no actual mystery even existed: the books simply revolved around justice being served to those who deserved harsh treatment, which was described in explicit detail.\" The overall theme these writers portrayed reflected \"the changing face of America itself.\"",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "In the 1930s, the private eye genre was adopted wholeheartedly by American writers. One of the primary contributors to this style was Dashiell Hammett with his famous private investigator character, Sam Spade. His style of crime fiction came to be known as \"hardboiled\", which is described as a genre that \"usually deals with criminal activity in a modern urban environment, a world of disconnected signs and anonymous strangers.\" \"Told in stark and sometimes elegant language through the unemotional eyes of new hero-detectives, these stories were an American phenomenon.\"",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "In the late 1930s, Raymond Chandler updated the form with his private detective Philip Marlowe, who brought a more intimate voice to the detective than the more distanced \"operative's report\" style of Hammett's Continental Op stories. Despite struggling through the task of plotting a story, his cadenced dialogue and cryptic narrations were musical, evoking the dark alleys and tough thugs, rich women and powerful men about whom he wrote. Several feature and television movies have been made about the Philip Marlowe character. James Hadley Chase wrote a few novels with private eyes as the main heroes, including Blonde's Requiem (1945), Lay Her Among the Lilies (1950), and Figure It Out for Yourself (1950). The heroes of these novels are typical private eyes, very similar to or plagiarizing Raymond Chandler's work.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Ross Macdonald, pseudonym of Kenneth Millar, updated the form again with his detective Lew Archer. Archer, like Hammett's fictional heroes, was a camera eye, with hardly any known past. \"Turn Archer sideways, and he disappears,\" one reviewer wrote. Two of Macdonald's strengths were his use of psychology and his beautiful prose, which was full of imagery. Like other 'hardboiled' writers, Macdonald aimed to give an impression of realism in his work through violence, sex and confrontation. The 1966 movie Harper starring Paul Newman was based on the first Lew Archer story The Moving Target (1949). Newman reprised the role in The Drowning Pool in 1976.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Michael Collins, pseudonym of Dennis Lynds, is generally considered the author who led the form into the Modern Age. His PI, Dan Fortune, was consistently involved in the same sort of David-and-Goliath stories that Hammett, Chandler, and Macdonald wrote, but Collins took a sociological bent, exploring the meaning of his characters' places in society and the impact society had on people. Full of commentary and clipped prose, his books were more intimate than those of his predecessors, dramatizing that crime can happen in one's own living room.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "The PI novel was a male-dominated field in which female authors seldom found publication until Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky, and Sue Grafton were finally published in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Each author's detective, also female, was brainy and physical and could hold her own. Their acceptance, and success, caused publishers to seek out other female authors.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "An inverted detective story, also known as a \"howcatchem\", is a murder mystery fiction structure in which the commission of the crime is shown or described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator. The story then describes the detective's attempt to solve the mystery. There may also be subsidiary puzzles, such as why the crime was committed, and they are explained or resolved during the story. This format is the opposite of the more typical \"whodunit\", where all of the details of the perpetrator of the crime are not revealed until the story's climax.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Many detective stories have police officers as the main characters. These stories may take a variety of forms, but many authors try to realistically depict the routine activities of a group of police officers who are frequently working on more than one case simultaneously. Some of these stories are whodunits; in others, the criminal is well known, and it is a case of getting enough evidence.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "In the 1940s the police procedural evolved as a new style of detective fiction. Unlike the heroes of Christie, Chandler, and Spillane, the police detective was subject to error and was constrained by rules and regulations. As Gary Huasladen says in Places for Dead Bodies, \"not all the clients were insatiable bombshells, and invariably there was life outside the job.\" The detective in the police procedural does the things police officers do to catch a criminal. Writers include Ed McBain, P. D. James, and Bartholomew Gill.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Historical mystery is set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the central plot involves the solving of a mystery or crime (usually murder). Though works combining these genres have existed since at least the early 20th century, many credit Ellis Peters's Cadfael Chronicles (1977–1994) for popularizing what would become known as the historical mystery.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "A variation on this is Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time. In it, Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant—who considers himself a good judge of faces—is surprised to find that what he considers to be the portrait of a sensitive man is in reality a portrait of Richard III, who murdered his brother's children in order to become king. The story details his attempt to get to the historical truth of whether Richard III is the villain he has been made out to be by history. The novel was awarded the top spot in the Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time by the UK Crime Writers' Association and the number 4 spot in The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time Mystery Writers of America",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Cozy mystery began in the late 20th century as a reinvention of the Golden Age whodunit; these novels generally shy away from violence and suspense and frequently feature female amateur detectives. Modern cozy mysteries are frequently, though not necessarily in either case, humorous and thematic (culinary mystery, animal mystery, quilting mystery, etc.)",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "This style features minimal violence, sex, and social relevance; a solution achieved by intellect or intuition rather than police procedure, with order restored in the end; honorable and well bred characters; and a setting in a closed community. Writers include Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Elizabeth Daly.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Serial killer mystery might be thought of as an outcropping of the police procedural. There are early mystery novels in which a police force attempts to contend with the type of criminal known in the 1920s as a homicidal maniac, such as a few of the early novels of Philip Macdonald and Ellery Queen's Cat of Many Tails. However, this sort of story became much more popular after the coining of the phrase \"serial killer\" in the 1970s and the publication of The Silence of the Lambs in 1988. These stories frequently show the activities of many members of a police force or government agency in their efforts to apprehend a killer who is selecting victims on some obscure basis. They are also often much more violent and suspenseful than other mysteries.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "The legal thriller or courtroom novel is also related to detective fiction. The system of justice itself is always a major part of these works, at times almost functioning as one of the characters. In this way, the legal system provides the framework for the legal thriller as much as the system of modern police work does for the police procedural. The legal thriller usually starts its business with the court proceedings following the closure of an investigation, often resulting in a new angle on the investigation, so as to bring about a final outcome different from the one originally devised by the investigators. In the legal thriller, court proceedings play a very active, if not to say decisive part in a case reaching its ultimate solution. Erle Stanley Gardner popularized the courtroom novel in the 20th century with his Perry Mason series. Contemporary authors of legal thrillers include Michael Connelly, Linda Fairstein, John Grisham, John Lescroart, Paul Levine, Lisa Scottoline, and Scott Turow.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "The locked room mystery is a subgenre of detective fiction in which a crime—almost always murder—is committed under circumstances which it was seemingly impossible for the perpetrator to commit the crime and/or evade detection in the course of getting in and out of the crime scene. The genre was established in the 19th century. Edgar Allan Poe's \"The Murders in the Rue Morgue\" (1841) is considered the first locked-room mystery; since then, other authors have used the scheme. The crime in question typically involves a crime scene with no indication as to how the intruder could have entered or left, i.e., a locked room. Following other conventions of classic detective fiction, the reader is normally presented with the puzzle and all of the clues, and is encouraged to solve the mystery before the solution is revealed in a dramatic climax.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Occult detective fiction is a subgenre of detective fiction that combines the tropes of detective fiction with those of supernatural horror fiction. Unlike the traditional detective, the occult detective is employed in cases involving ghosts, demons, curses, magic, monsters and other supernatural elements. Some occult detectives are portrayed as knowing magic or being themselves psychic or in possession of other paranormal powers.",
"title": "Subgenres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Even if they do not mean to, advertisers, reviewers, scholars and aficionados sometimes give away details or parts of the plot, and sometimes—for example in the case of Mickey Spillane's novel I, the Jury—even the solution. After the credits of Billy Wilder's film Witness for the Prosecution, the cinemagoers are asked not to talk to anyone about the plot so that future viewers will also be able to fully enjoy the unravelling of the mystery.",
"title": "Modern criticism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "For series involving amateur detectives, their frequent encounters with crime often test the limits of plausibility. The character Miss Marple, for instance, dealt with an estimated two murders a year; De Andrea has described Marple's home town, the quiet little village of St. Mary Mead, as having \"put on a pageant of human depravity rivaled only by that of Sodom and Gomorrah\". Similarly, TV heroine Jessica Fletcher of Murder, She Wrote was confronted with bodies wherever she went, but most notably in her small hometown of Cabot Cove, Maine; The New York Times estimated that, by the end of the series' 12-year run, nearly 2% of the town's residents had been killed. It is arguably more convincing if police, forensic experts or similar professionals are made the protagonist of a series of crime novels.",
"title": "Modern criticism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "The television series Monk has often made fun of this implausible frequency. The main character, Adrian Monk, is frequently accused of being a \"bad luck charm\" and a \"murder magnet\" as the result of the frequency with which murder happens in his vicinity.",
"title": "Modern criticism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Likewise Kogoro Mori of the manga series Detective Conan got that kind of unflattering reputation. Although Mori is actually a private investigator with his own agency, the police never intentionally consult him as he stumbles from one crime scene to another.",
"title": "Modern criticism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "The role and legitimacy of coincidence has frequently been the topic of heated arguments ever since Ronald A. Knox categorically stated that \"no accident must ever help the detective\" (Commandment No. 6 in his \"Decalogue\").",
"title": "Modern criticism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "Technological progress has also rendered many plots implausible and antiquated. For example, the predominance of mobile phones, pagers, and PDAs has significantly altered the previously dangerous situations in which investigators traditionally might have found themselves.",
"title": "Modern criticism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "One tactic that avoids the issue of technology altogether is the historical detective genre. As global interconnectedness makes legitimate suspense more difficult to achieve, several writers—including Elizabeth Peters, P. C. Doherty, Steven Saylor, and Lindsey Davis—have eschewed fabricating convoluted plots in order to manufacture tension, instead opting to set their characters in some former period. Such a strategy forces the protagonist to rely on more inventive means of investigation, lacking as they do the technological tools available to modern detectives.",
"title": "Modern criticism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Conversely, some detective fiction embraces networked computer technology and deals in cybercrime, like the Daemon novel series by Daniel Suarez.",
"title": "Modern criticism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Several authors have attempted to set forth a sort of list of “Detective Commandments” for prospective authors of the genre.",
"title": "Detective Commandments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "According to \"Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories,\" by Van Dine in 1928: \"The detective story is a kind of intellectual game. It is more—it is a sporting event. And for the writing of detective stories there are very definite laws—unwritten, perhaps, but nonetheless binding; and every respectable and self-respecting concocter of literary mysteries lives up to them. Herewith, then, is a sort of credo, based partly on the practice of all the great writers of detective stories, and partly on the promptings of the honest author's inner conscience.\" Ronald Knox wrote a set of Ten Commandments or Decalogue in 1929, see article on the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.",
"title": "Detective Commandments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "A general consensus among crime fiction authors is there is a specific set of rules that must be applied for a novel to truly be considered part of the detective fiction genre. As noted in \"Introduction to the Analysis of Crime Fiction\", crime fiction from the past 100 years has generally contained the following key rules to be a detective novel:",
"title": "Detective Commandments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "Sherlock Holmes is the British fictional detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. After first appearing in A Study in Scarlet, the Sherlock Holmes stories were not an immediate success. However, after being published in the Strand Magazine in 1891, the detective became unquestionably popular. Following the success of Sherlock Holmes, many mystery writers imitated Doyle's structure in their own detective stories and copied Sherlock Holmes's characteristics in their own detectives.",
"title": "Influential fictional detectives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "Sherlock Holmes as a series is perhaps the most popular form of detective fiction. Doyle attempted to kill the character off after twenty-three stories, but after popular request, he continued to pen the Holmes tales. The popularity of Sherlock Holmes extends beyond the written medium. For example, the BBC-produced TV series Sherlock gained a very large following after first airing in 2010, imbuing a renewed interest in the character in the general public. Because of the popularity of Holmes, Conan Doyle was often regarded as being “as well-known as Queen Victoria”.",
"title": "Influential fictional detectives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian private detective, created by Agatha Christie. As one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, Poirot appeared in 33 novels, one play (Black Coffee), and more than 50 short stories, published between 1920 and 1975. Hercule Poirot first appeared in The Mysterious Affair at Styles, published in 1920, and died in Curtain, published in 1975, which is Agatha Christie's last work. On August 6, 1975, The New York Times published the obituary of Poirot's death with the cover of the newly published novel on their front page.",
"title": "Influential fictional detectives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "Le Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin is a fictional character created by Edgar Allan Poe. Dupin made his first appearance in Poe's \"The Murders in the Rue Morgue\" (1841), widely considered the first detective fiction story. He reappears in \"The Mystery of Marie Rogêt\" (1842) and \"The Purloined Letter\" (1844).",
"title": "Influential fictional detectives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "C. Auguste Dupin is generally acknowledged as the prototype for many fictional detectives that were created later, including Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle and Hercule Poirot by Agatha Christie. Conan Doyle once wrote, \"Each [of Poe's detective stories] is a root from which a whole literature has developed... Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?\"",
"title": "Influential fictional detectives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Ellery Queen is a fictional detective created by American writers Manfred Bennington Lee and Frederic Dannay, as well as the joint pseudonym for the cousins Dannay and Lee. He first appeared in The Roman Hat Mystery (1929), and starred in more than 30 novels and several short story collections. During the 1930s and much of the 1940s, Ellery Queen was possibly the best known American fictional detective.",
"title": "Influential fictional detectives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "Many detectives appear in more than one novel or story. Here is a list of a few debut stories and final appearances.",
"title": "Detective debuts and swan songs"
}
] | Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as speculative fiction and other genre fiction in the mid-nineteenth century and has remained extremely popular, particularly in novels. Some of the most famous heroes of detective fiction include C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot. Juvenile stories featuring The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Boxcar Children have also remained in print for several decades. | 2001-07-02T13:15:24Z | 2023-12-15T20:03:53Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detective_fiction |
8,193 | Daniel Defoe | Daniel Defoe (/dɪˈfoʊ/; born Daniel Foe; c. 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English journalist, merchant, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations. He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel, and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson. Defoe wrote many political tracts, was often in trouble with the authorities, and spent a period in prison. Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted him.
Defoe was a prolific and versatile writer, producing more than three hundred works—books, pamphlets, and journals—on diverse topics, including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology and the supernatural. He was also a pioneer of business journalism and economic journalism.
Daniel Foe (his original name) was probably born in Fore Street in the parish of St Giles Cripplegate, London. Defoe later added the aristocratic-sounding "De" to his name, and on occasion made the false claim of descent from a family named De Beau Faux. "De" is also a common prefix in Flemish surnames. His birthdate and birthplace are uncertain, and sources offer dates from 1659 to 1662, with the summer or early autumn of 1660 considered the most likely. His father, James Foe, was a prosperous tallow chandler of probable Flemish descent, and a member of the Worshipful Company of Butchers. In Defoe's early childhood, he experienced some of the most unusual occurrences in English history: in 1665, seventy thousand were killed by the Great Plague of London, and the next year, the Great Fire of London left only Defoe's and two other houses standing in his neighbourhood. In 1667, when he was probably about seven, a Dutch fleet sailed up the Medway via the River Thames and attacked the town of Chatham in the raid on the Medway. His mother, Alice, had died by the time he was about ten.
Defoe was educated at the Rev. James Fisher's boarding school in Pixham Lane in Dorking, Surrey. His parents were Presbyterian dissenters, and around the age of 14, he was sent to Charles Morton's dissenting academy at Newington Green, then a village just north of London, where he is believed to have attended the Dissenting church there. He lived on Church Street, Stoke Newington, at what is now nos. 95–103. During this period, the English government persecuted those who chose to worship outside the established Church of England.
Defoe entered the world of business as a general merchant, dealing at different times in hosiery, general woollen goods, and wine. His ambitions were great and he was able to buy a country estate and a ship (as well as civets to make perfume), though he was rarely out of debt. On 1 January 1684, Defoe married Mary Tuffley at St Botolph's Aldgate. She was the daughter of a London merchant, and brought with her a dowry of £3,700—a huge amount by the standards of the day. Given his debts and political difficulties, the marriage may have been troubled, but it lasted 47 years and produced eight children.
In 1685, Defoe joined the ill-fated Monmouth Rebellion but gained a pardon, by which he escaped the Bloody Assizes of Judge George Jeffreys. Queen Mary and her husband William III were jointly crowned in 1689, and Defoe became one of William's close allies and a secret agent. Some of the new policies led to conflict with France, thus damaging prosperous trade relationships for Defoe. In 1692, he was arrested for debts of £700 and, in the face of total debts that may have amounted to £17,000, was forced to declare bankruptcy. He died with little wealth and evidently embroiled in lawsuits with the royal treasury.
Following his release from debtors' prison, he probably travelled in Europe and Scotland, and it may have been at this time that he traded wine to Cadiz, Porto and Lisbon. By 1695, he was back in England, now formally using the name "Defoe" and serving as a "commissioner of the glass duty", responsible for collecting taxes on bottles. In 1696, he ran a tile and brick factory in what is now Tilbury in Essex and lived in the parish of Chadwell St Mary nearby.
As many as 545 titles have been attributed to Defoe, including satirical poems, political and religious pamphlets, and volumes.
Defoe's first notable publication was An Essay Upon Projects, a series of proposals for social and economic improvement, published in 1697. From 1697 to 1698, he defended the right of King William III to a standing army during disarmament, after the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) had ended the Nine Years' War (1688–1697). His most successful poem, The True-Born Englishman (1701), defended William against xenophobic attacks from his political enemies in England, and English anti-immigration sentiments more generally. In 1701, Defoe presented the Legion's Memorial to Robert Harley, then Speaker of the House of Commons—and his subsequent employer—while flanked by a guard of sixteen gentlemen of quality. It demanded the release of the Kentish petitioners, who had asked Parliament to support the king in an imminent war against France.
The death of William III in 1702 once again created a political upheaval, as the king was replaced by Queen Anne who immediately began her offensive against Nonconformists. Defoe was a natural target, and his pamphleteering and political activities resulted in his arrest and placement in a pillory on 31 July 1703, principally on account of his December 1702 pamphlet entitled The Shortest-Way with the Dissenters; Or, Proposals for the Establishment of the Church, purporting to argue for their extermination. In it, he ruthlessly satirised both the high church Tories and those Dissenters who hypocritically practised so-called "occasional conformity", such as his Stoke Newington neighbour Sir Thomas Abney. It was published anonymously, but the true authorship was quickly discovered and Defoe was arrested. He was charged with seditious libel and found guilty in a trial at the Old Bailey in front of the notoriously sadistic judge Salathiel Lovell. Lovell sentenced him to a punitive fine of 200 marks (£336 then, £60,544 in 2023), to public humiliation in a pillory, and to an indeterminate length of imprisonment which would only end upon the discharge of the punitive fine. According to legend, the publication of his poem Hymn to the Pillory caused his audience at the pillory to throw flowers instead of the customary harmful and noxious objects and to drink to his health. The truth of this story is questioned by most scholars, although John Robert Moore later said that "no man in England but Defoe ever stood in the pillory and later rose to eminence among his fellow men".
"Wherever God erects a house of prayerthe Devil always builds a chapel there;And 't will be found, upon examination,the latter has the largest congregation."
– Defoe's The True-Born Englishman, 1701
After his three days in the pillory, Defoe went into Newgate Prison. Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, brokered his release in exchange for Defoe's cooperation as an intelligence agent for the Tories. In exchange for such cooperation with the rival political side, Harley paid some of Defoe's outstanding debts, improving his financial situation considerably.
Within a week of his release from prison, Defoe witnessed the Great Storm of 1703, which raged through the night of 26/27 November. It caused severe damage to London and Bristol, uprooted millions of trees, and killed more than 8,000 people, mostly at sea. The event became the subject of Defoe's The Storm (1704), which includes a collection of witness accounts of the tempest. Many regard it as one of the world's first examples of modern journalism.
In the same year, he set up his periodical A Review of the Affairs of France, which supported the Harley Ministry, chronicling the events of the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1714). The Review ran three times a week without interruption until 1713. Defoe was amazed that a man as gifted as Harley left vital state papers lying in the open, and warned that he was almost inviting an unscrupulous clerk to commit treason; his warnings were fully justified by the William Gregg affair.
When Harley was ousted from the ministry in 1708, Defoe continued writing the Review to support Godolphin, then again to support Harley and the Tories in the Tory ministry of 1710–1714. The Tories fell from power with the death of Queen Anne, but Defoe continued doing intelligence work for the Whig government, writing "Tory" pamphlets that undermined the Tory point of view.
Not all of Defoe's pamphlet writing was political. One pamphlet was originally published anonymously, entitled A True Relation of the Apparition of One Mrs. Veal the Next Day after her Death to One Mrs. Bargrave at Canterbury The 8th of September, 1705. It deals with the interaction between the spiritual realm and the physical realm and was most likely written in support of Charles Drelincourt's The Christian Defence against the Fears of Death (1651). It describes Mrs. Bargrave's encounter with her old friend Mrs. Veal after she had died. It is clear from this piece and other writings that the political portion of Defoe's life was by no means his only focus.
In despair during his imprisonment for the seditious libel case, Defoe wrote to William Paterson, the London Scot and founder of the Bank of England and part instigator of the Darien scheme, who was in the confidence of Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, leading minister and spymaster in the English government. Harley accepted Defoe's services and released him in 1703. He immediately published The Review, which appeared weekly, then three times a week, written mostly by himself. This was the main mouthpiece of the English Government promoting the Act of Union 1707.
Defoe began his campaign in The Review and other pamphlets aimed at English opinion, claiming that it would end the threat from the north, gaining for the Treasury an "inexhaustible treasury of men", a valuable new market increasing the power of England. By September 1706, Harley ordered Defoe to Edinburgh as a secret agent to do everything possible to help secure acquiescence in the Treaty of Union. He was conscious of the risk to himself. Thanks to books such as The Letters of Daniel Defoe (edited by G. H. Healey, Oxford 1955), far more is known about his activities than is usual with such agents.
His first reports included vivid descriptions of violent demonstrations against the Union. "A Scots rabble is the worst of its kind", he reported. Years later John Clerk of Penicuik, a leading Unionist, wrote in his memoirs that it was not known at the time that Defoe had been sent by Godolphin:
… to give a faithful account to him from time to time how everything past here. He was therefor a spy among us, but not known to be such, otherways the Mob of Edin. had pull him to pieces.
Defoe was a Presbyterian who had suffered in England for his convictions, and as such he was accepted as an adviser to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and committees of the Parliament of Scotland. He told Harley that he was "privy to all their folly" but "Perfectly unsuspected as with corresponding with anybody in England". He was then able to influence the proposals that were put to Parliament and reported,
Having had the honour to be always sent for the committee to whom these amendments were referrèd,I have had the good fortune to break their measures in two particulars via the bounty on Corn andproportion of the Excise.
For Scotland, he used different arguments, even the opposite of those which he used in England, usually ignoring the English doctrine of the Sovereignty of Parliament, for example, telling the Scots that they could have complete confidence in the guarantees in the Treaty. Some of his pamphlets were purported to be written by Scots, misleading even reputable historians into quoting them as evidence of Scottish opinion of the time. The same is true of a massive history of the Union which Defoe published in 1709 and which some historians still treat as a valuable contemporary source for their own works. Defoe took pains to give his history an air of objectivity by giving some space to arguments against the Union but always having the last word for himself.
He disposed of the main Union opponent, Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, by ignoring him. Nor does he account for the deviousness of the Duke of Hamilton, the official leader of the various factions opposed to the Union, who seemingly betrayed his former colleagues when he switched to the Unionist/Government side in the decisive final stages of the debate.
In 1709, Defoe authored a rather lengthy book entitled The History of the Union of Great Britain, an Edinburgh publication printed by the Heirs of Anderson. The book cites Defoe twice as being its author, and gives details leading up to the Acts of Union 1707 by means of presenting information that dates all the way back to 6 December 1604 when King James I was presented with a proposal for unification. And so, such a so-called "first draft" for unification took place just a little over 100 years before the signing of the 1707 accord, which, respectively, preceded the commencement of Robinson Crusoe by another ten years.
Defoe made no attempt to explain why the same Parliament of Scotland which was so vehement for its independence from 1703 to 1705 became so supine in 1706. He received very little reward from his paymasters and of course no recognition for his services by the government. He made use of his Scottish experience to write his Tour thro' the whole Island of Great Britain, published in 1726, where he admitted that the increase of trade and population in Scotland which he had predicted as a consequence of the Union was "not the case, but rather the contrary".
Defoe's description of Glasgow (Glaschu) as a "Dear Green Place" has often been misquoted as a Gaelic translation for the town's name. The Gaelic Glas could mean grey or green, while chu means dog or hollow. Glaschu probably means "Green Hollow". The "Dear Green Place", like much of Scotland, was a hotbed of unrest against the Union. The local Tron minister urged his congregation "to up and anent for the City of God".
The "Dear Green Place" and "City of God" required government troops to put down the rioters tearing up copies of the Treaty at almost every mercat cross in Scotland. When Defoe visited in the mid-1720s, he claimed that the hostility towards his party was "because they were English and because of the Union, which they were almost universally exclaimed against".
The extent and particulars are widely contested concerning Defoe's writing in the period from the Tory fall in 1714 to the publication of Robinson Crusoe in 1719. Defoe comments on the tendency to attribute tracts of uncertain authorship to him in his apologia Appeal to Honour and Justice (1715), a defence of his part in Harley's Tory ministry (1710–1714). Other works that anticipate his novelistic career include The Family Instructor (1715), a conduct manual on religious duty; Minutes of the Negotiations of Monsr. Mesnager (1717), in which he impersonates Nicolas Mesnager, the French plenipotentiary who negotiated the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); and A Continuation of the Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy (1718), a satire of European politics and religion, ostensibly written by a Muslim in Paris.
From 1719 to 1724, Defoe published the novels for which he is famous (see below). In the final decade of his life, he also wrote conduct manuals, including Religious Courtship (1722), The Complete English Tradesman (1726) and The New Family Instructor (1727). He published a number of books decrying the breakdown of the social order, such as The Great Law of Subordination Considered (1724) and Everybody's Business is Nobody's Business (1725) and works on the supernatural, like The Political History of the Devil (1726), A System of Magick (1727) and An Essay on the History and Reality of Apparitions (1727). His works on foreign travel and trade include A General History of Discoveries and Improvements (1727) and Atlas Maritimus and Commercialis (1728). Perhaps his most significant work, apart from the novels, is A Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain (1724–1727), which provided a panoramic survey of British trade on the eve of the Industrial Revolution.
Published in 1726, The Complete English Tradesman is an example of Defoe's political works. In the work, Defoe discussed the role of the tradesman in England in comparison to tradesmen internationally, arguing that the British system of trade is far superior. Defoe also implied that trade was the backbone of the British economy: "estate's a pond, but trade's a spring." In the work, Defoe praised the practicality of trade not only within the economy but the social stratification as well. Defoe argued that most of the British gentry was at one time or another inextricably linked with the institution of trade, either through personal experience, marriage or genealogy. Oftentimes younger members of noble families entered into trade, and marriages to a tradesman's daughter by a nobleman was also common. Overall, Defoe demonstrated a high respect for tradesmen, being one himself.
Not only did Defoe elevate individual British tradesmen to the level of gentleman, but he praised the entirety of British trade as a superior system to other systems of trade. Trade, Defoe argues, is a much better catalyst for social and economic change than war. Defoe also argued that through the expansion of the British Empire and British mercantile influence, Britain would be able to "increase commerce at home" through job creations and increased consumption. He wrote in the work that increased consumption, by laws of supply and demand, increases production and in turn raises wages for the poor therefore lifting part of British society further out of poverty.
Published when Defoe was in his late fifties, Robinson Crusoe relates the story of a man's shipwreck on a desert island for twenty-eight years and his subsequent adventures. Throughout its episodic narrative, Crusoe's struggles with faith are apparent as he bargains with God in times of life-threatening crises, but time and again he turns his back after his deliverances. He is finally content with his lot in life, separated from society, following a more genuine conversion experience.
In the opening pages of The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, the author describes how Crusoe settled in Bedfordshire, married and produced a family, and that when his wife died, he went off on these further adventures. Bedford is also the place where the brother of "H. F." in A Journal of the Plague Year retired to avoid the danger of the plague, so that by implication, if these works were not fiction, Defoe's family met Crusoe in Bedford, from whence the information in these books was gathered. Defoe went to school Newington Green with a friend named Caruso.
The novel has been assumed to be based in part on the story of the Scottish castaway Alexander Selkirk, who spent four years stranded in the Juan Fernández Islands, but his experience is inconsistent with the details of the narrative. The island Selkirk lived on, Más a Tierra (Closer to Land) was renamed Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966. It has been supposed that Defoe may have also been inspired by a translation of a book by the Andalusian-Arab Muslim polymath Ibn Tufail, who was known as "Abubacer" in Europe. The Latin edition was entitled Philosophus Autodidactus; Simon Ockley published an English translation in 1708, entitled The improvement of human reason, exhibited in the life of Hai ebn Yokdhan.
Defoe's next novel was Captain Singleton (1720), an adventure story whose first half covers a traversal of Africa which anticipated subsequent discoveries by David Livingstone and whose second half taps into the contemporary fascination with piracy. The novel has been commended for its sensitive depiction of the close relationship between the hero and his religious mentor, Quaker William Walters. Its description of the geography of Africa and some of its fauna does not use the language or knowledge of a fiction writer and suggests an eyewitness experience.
Memoirs of a Cavalier (1720) is set during the Thirty Years' War and the English Civil War.
A Journal of the Plague Year, published in 1722, can be read both as novel and as nonfiction. It is an account of the Great Plague of London in 1665, which is undersigned by the initials "H. F.", suggesting the author's uncle Henry Foe as its primary source. It is a historical account of the events based on extensive research and written as if by an eyewitness, even though Defoe was only about five years old when it occurred.
Colonel Jack (1722) follows an orphaned boy from a life of poverty and crime to prosperity in the colonies, military and marital imbroglios, and religious conversion, driven by a problematic notion of becoming a "gentleman."
Also in 1722, Defoe wrote Moll Flanders, another first-person picaresque novel of the fall and eventual redemption, both material and spiritual, of a lone woman in 17th-century England. The titular heroine appears as a whore, bigamist and thief, lives in The Mint, commits adultery and incest, and yet manages to retain the reader's sympathy. Her savvy manipulation of both men and wealth earns her a life of trials but ultimately an ending in reward. Although Moll struggles with the morality of some of her actions and decisions, religion seems to be far from her concerns throughout most of her story. However, like Robinson Crusoe, she finally repents. Moll Flanders is an important work in the development of the novel, as it challenged the common perception of femininity and gender roles in 18th-century British society. More recently it has come to be misunderstood as an example of erotica.
Defoe's final novel, Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (1724), which narrates the moral and spiritual decline of a high society courtesan, differs from other Defoe works because the main character does not exhibit a conversion experience, even though she claims to be a penitent later in her life, at the time that she is relating her story.
In Defoe's writings, especially in his fiction, are traits that can be seen across his works. Defoe was well known for his didacticism, with most of his works aiming to convey a message of some kind to the readers (typically a moral one, stemming from his religious background). Connected to Defoe's didacticism is his use of the genre of spiritual autobiography, particularly in Robinson Crusoe. Another common feature of Defoe's fictional works is that he claimed them to be the true stories of their subjects.
Defoe is known to have used at least 198 pen names. It was a very common practice in eighteenth-century novel publishing to initially publish works under a pen name, with most other authors at the time publishing their works anonymously. As a result of the anonymous ways in which most of his works were published, it has been a challenge for scholars over the years to properly credit Defoe for all of the works that he wrote in his lifetime. If counting only works that Defoe published under his own name, or his known pen name "the author of the True-Born Englishman," there would be about 75 works that could be attributed to him.
Beyond these 75 works, scholars have used a variety of strategies to determine what other works should be attributed to Defoe. Writer George Chalmers was the first to begin the work of attributing anonymously published works to Defoe. In History of the Union, he created an expanded list with over a hundred titles that he attributed to Defoe, alongside twenty additional works that he designated as "Books which are supposed to be De Foe's." Chalmers included works in his canon of Defoe that were particularly in line with his style and way of thinking, and ultimately attributed 174 works to Defoe. Many of the attributions of Defoe’s novels came long after his death. Notably, Moll Flanders and Roxana were piublished anonymously for over fifty years until Francis Noble named Daniel Defoe on their title pages in edition publication in 1775 and 1774.
Biographer P. N. Furbank and W. R. Owens built upon this canon, also relying on what they believed could be Defoe's work, without a means to be absolutely certain. In the Cambridge History of English Literature, the section on Defoe by author William P. Trent attributes 370 works to Defoe. J.R. Moore generated the largest list of Defoe's work, with approximately five hundred and fifty works that he attributed to Defoe.
Defoe died on 24 April 1731, probably while in hiding from his creditors. He was often in debtors' prison. The cause of his death was labelled as lethargy, but he probably experienced a stroke. He was interred in Bunhill Fields (today Bunhill Fields Burial and Gardens), just outside the medieval boundaries of the City of London, in what is now the Borough of Islington, where a monument was erected to his memory in 1870. A street in the Bronx, New York is named in his honour (De Foe Place). | [
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"text": "Daniel Defoe (/dɪˈfoʊ/; born Daniel Foe; c. 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English journalist, merchant, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations. He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel, and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson. Defoe wrote many political tracts, was often in trouble with the authorities, and spent a period in prison. Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted him.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Defoe was a prolific and versatile writer, producing more than three hundred works—books, pamphlets, and journals—on diverse topics, including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology and the supernatural. He was also a pioneer of business journalism and economic journalism.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Daniel Foe (his original name) was probably born in Fore Street in the parish of St Giles Cripplegate, London. Defoe later added the aristocratic-sounding \"De\" to his name, and on occasion made the false claim of descent from a family named De Beau Faux. \"De\" is also a common prefix in Flemish surnames. His birthdate and birthplace are uncertain, and sources offer dates from 1659 to 1662, with the summer or early autumn of 1660 considered the most likely. His father, James Foe, was a prosperous tallow chandler of probable Flemish descent, and a member of the Worshipful Company of Butchers. In Defoe's early childhood, he experienced some of the most unusual occurrences in English history: in 1665, seventy thousand were killed by the Great Plague of London, and the next year, the Great Fire of London left only Defoe's and two other houses standing in his neighbourhood. In 1667, when he was probably about seven, a Dutch fleet sailed up the Medway via the River Thames and attacked the town of Chatham in the raid on the Medway. His mother, Alice, had died by the time he was about ten.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Defoe was educated at the Rev. James Fisher's boarding school in Pixham Lane in Dorking, Surrey. His parents were Presbyterian dissenters, and around the age of 14, he was sent to Charles Morton's dissenting academy at Newington Green, then a village just north of London, where he is believed to have attended the Dissenting church there. He lived on Church Street, Stoke Newington, at what is now nos. 95–103. During this period, the English government persecuted those who chose to worship outside the established Church of England.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Defoe entered the world of business as a general merchant, dealing at different times in hosiery, general woollen goods, and wine. His ambitions were great and he was able to buy a country estate and a ship (as well as civets to make perfume), though he was rarely out of debt. On 1 January 1684, Defoe married Mary Tuffley at St Botolph's Aldgate. She was the daughter of a London merchant, and brought with her a dowry of £3,700—a huge amount by the standards of the day. Given his debts and political difficulties, the marriage may have been troubled, but it lasted 47 years and produced eight children.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In 1685, Defoe joined the ill-fated Monmouth Rebellion but gained a pardon, by which he escaped the Bloody Assizes of Judge George Jeffreys. Queen Mary and her husband William III were jointly crowned in 1689, and Defoe became one of William's close allies and a secret agent. Some of the new policies led to conflict with France, thus damaging prosperous trade relationships for Defoe. In 1692, he was arrested for debts of £700 and, in the face of total debts that may have amounted to £17,000, was forced to declare bankruptcy. He died with little wealth and evidently embroiled in lawsuits with the royal treasury.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Following his release from debtors' prison, he probably travelled in Europe and Scotland, and it may have been at this time that he traded wine to Cadiz, Porto and Lisbon. By 1695, he was back in England, now formally using the name \"Defoe\" and serving as a \"commissioner of the glass duty\", responsible for collecting taxes on bottles. In 1696, he ran a tile and brick factory in what is now Tilbury in Essex and lived in the parish of Chadwell St Mary nearby.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "As many as 545 titles have been attributed to Defoe, including satirical poems, political and religious pamphlets, and volumes.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Defoe's first notable publication was An Essay Upon Projects, a series of proposals for social and economic improvement, published in 1697. From 1697 to 1698, he defended the right of King William III to a standing army during disarmament, after the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) had ended the Nine Years' War (1688–1697). His most successful poem, The True-Born Englishman (1701), defended William against xenophobic attacks from his political enemies in England, and English anti-immigration sentiments more generally. In 1701, Defoe presented the Legion's Memorial to Robert Harley, then Speaker of the House of Commons—and his subsequent employer—while flanked by a guard of sixteen gentlemen of quality. It demanded the release of the Kentish petitioners, who had asked Parliament to support the king in an imminent war against France.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The death of William III in 1702 once again created a political upheaval, as the king was replaced by Queen Anne who immediately began her offensive against Nonconformists. Defoe was a natural target, and his pamphleteering and political activities resulted in his arrest and placement in a pillory on 31 July 1703, principally on account of his December 1702 pamphlet entitled The Shortest-Way with the Dissenters; Or, Proposals for the Establishment of the Church, purporting to argue for their extermination. In it, he ruthlessly satirised both the high church Tories and those Dissenters who hypocritically practised so-called \"occasional conformity\", such as his Stoke Newington neighbour Sir Thomas Abney. It was published anonymously, but the true authorship was quickly discovered and Defoe was arrested. He was charged with seditious libel and found guilty in a trial at the Old Bailey in front of the notoriously sadistic judge Salathiel Lovell. Lovell sentenced him to a punitive fine of 200 marks (£336 then, £60,544 in 2023), to public humiliation in a pillory, and to an indeterminate length of imprisonment which would only end upon the discharge of the punitive fine. According to legend, the publication of his poem Hymn to the Pillory caused his audience at the pillory to throw flowers instead of the customary harmful and noxious objects and to drink to his health. The truth of this story is questioned by most scholars, although John Robert Moore later said that \"no man in England but Defoe ever stood in the pillory and later rose to eminence among his fellow men\".",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "\"Wherever God erects a house of prayerthe Devil always builds a chapel there;And 't will be found, upon examination,the latter has the largest congregation.\"",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "– Defoe's The True-Born Englishman, 1701",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "After his three days in the pillory, Defoe went into Newgate Prison. Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, brokered his release in exchange for Defoe's cooperation as an intelligence agent for the Tories. In exchange for such cooperation with the rival political side, Harley paid some of Defoe's outstanding debts, improving his financial situation considerably.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Within a week of his release from prison, Defoe witnessed the Great Storm of 1703, which raged through the night of 26/27 November. It caused severe damage to London and Bristol, uprooted millions of trees, and killed more than 8,000 people, mostly at sea. The event became the subject of Defoe's The Storm (1704), which includes a collection of witness accounts of the tempest. Many regard it as one of the world's first examples of modern journalism.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "In the same year, he set up his periodical A Review of the Affairs of France, which supported the Harley Ministry, chronicling the events of the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1714). The Review ran three times a week without interruption until 1713. Defoe was amazed that a man as gifted as Harley left vital state papers lying in the open, and warned that he was almost inviting an unscrupulous clerk to commit treason; his warnings were fully justified by the William Gregg affair.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "When Harley was ousted from the ministry in 1708, Defoe continued writing the Review to support Godolphin, then again to support Harley and the Tories in the Tory ministry of 1710–1714. The Tories fell from power with the death of Queen Anne, but Defoe continued doing intelligence work for the Whig government, writing \"Tory\" pamphlets that undermined the Tory point of view.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Not all of Defoe's pamphlet writing was political. One pamphlet was originally published anonymously, entitled A True Relation of the Apparition of One Mrs. Veal the Next Day after her Death to One Mrs. Bargrave at Canterbury The 8th of September, 1705. It deals with the interaction between the spiritual realm and the physical realm and was most likely written in support of Charles Drelincourt's The Christian Defence against the Fears of Death (1651). It describes Mrs. Bargrave's encounter with her old friend Mrs. Veal after she had died. It is clear from this piece and other writings that the political portion of Defoe's life was by no means his only focus.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In despair during his imprisonment for the seditious libel case, Defoe wrote to William Paterson, the London Scot and founder of the Bank of England and part instigator of the Darien scheme, who was in the confidence of Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, leading minister and spymaster in the English government. Harley accepted Defoe's services and released him in 1703. He immediately published The Review, which appeared weekly, then three times a week, written mostly by himself. This was the main mouthpiece of the English Government promoting the Act of Union 1707.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Defoe began his campaign in The Review and other pamphlets aimed at English opinion, claiming that it would end the threat from the north, gaining for the Treasury an \"inexhaustible treasury of men\", a valuable new market increasing the power of England. By September 1706, Harley ordered Defoe to Edinburgh as a secret agent to do everything possible to help secure acquiescence in the Treaty of Union. He was conscious of the risk to himself. Thanks to books such as The Letters of Daniel Defoe (edited by G. H. Healey, Oxford 1955), far more is known about his activities than is usual with such agents.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "His first reports included vivid descriptions of violent demonstrations against the Union. \"A Scots rabble is the worst of its kind\", he reported. Years later John Clerk of Penicuik, a leading Unionist, wrote in his memoirs that it was not known at the time that Defoe had been sent by Godolphin:",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "… to give a faithful account to him from time to time how everything past here. He was therefor a spy among us, but not known to be such, otherways the Mob of Edin. had pull him to pieces.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Defoe was a Presbyterian who had suffered in England for his convictions, and as such he was accepted as an adviser to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and committees of the Parliament of Scotland. He told Harley that he was \"privy to all their folly\" but \"Perfectly unsuspected as with corresponding with anybody in England\". He was then able to influence the proposals that were put to Parliament and reported,",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Having had the honour to be always sent for the committee to whom these amendments were referrèd,I have had the good fortune to break their measures in two particulars via the bounty on Corn andproportion of the Excise.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "For Scotland, he used different arguments, even the opposite of those which he used in England, usually ignoring the English doctrine of the Sovereignty of Parliament, for example, telling the Scots that they could have complete confidence in the guarantees in the Treaty. Some of his pamphlets were purported to be written by Scots, misleading even reputable historians into quoting them as evidence of Scottish opinion of the time. The same is true of a massive history of the Union which Defoe published in 1709 and which some historians still treat as a valuable contemporary source for their own works. Defoe took pains to give his history an air of objectivity by giving some space to arguments against the Union but always having the last word for himself.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "He disposed of the main Union opponent, Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, by ignoring him. Nor does he account for the deviousness of the Duke of Hamilton, the official leader of the various factions opposed to the Union, who seemingly betrayed his former colleagues when he switched to the Unionist/Government side in the decisive final stages of the debate.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "In 1709, Defoe authored a rather lengthy book entitled The History of the Union of Great Britain, an Edinburgh publication printed by the Heirs of Anderson. The book cites Defoe twice as being its author, and gives details leading up to the Acts of Union 1707 by means of presenting information that dates all the way back to 6 December 1604 when King James I was presented with a proposal for unification. And so, such a so-called \"first draft\" for unification took place just a little over 100 years before the signing of the 1707 accord, which, respectively, preceded the commencement of Robinson Crusoe by another ten years.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Defoe made no attempt to explain why the same Parliament of Scotland which was so vehement for its independence from 1703 to 1705 became so supine in 1706. He received very little reward from his paymasters and of course no recognition for his services by the government. He made use of his Scottish experience to write his Tour thro' the whole Island of Great Britain, published in 1726, where he admitted that the increase of trade and population in Scotland which he had predicted as a consequence of the Union was \"not the case, but rather the contrary\".",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Defoe's description of Glasgow (Glaschu) as a \"Dear Green Place\" has often been misquoted as a Gaelic translation for the town's name. The Gaelic Glas could mean grey or green, while chu means dog or hollow. Glaschu probably means \"Green Hollow\". The \"Dear Green Place\", like much of Scotland, was a hotbed of unrest against the Union. The local Tron minister urged his congregation \"to up and anent for the City of God\".",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "The \"Dear Green Place\" and \"City of God\" required government troops to put down the rioters tearing up copies of the Treaty at almost every mercat cross in Scotland. When Defoe visited in the mid-1720s, he claimed that the hostility towards his party was \"because they were English and because of the Union, which they were almost universally exclaimed against\".",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "The extent and particulars are widely contested concerning Defoe's writing in the period from the Tory fall in 1714 to the publication of Robinson Crusoe in 1719. Defoe comments on the tendency to attribute tracts of uncertain authorship to him in his apologia Appeal to Honour and Justice (1715), a defence of his part in Harley's Tory ministry (1710–1714). Other works that anticipate his novelistic career include The Family Instructor (1715), a conduct manual on religious duty; Minutes of the Negotiations of Monsr. Mesnager (1717), in which he impersonates Nicolas Mesnager, the French plenipotentiary who negotiated the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); and A Continuation of the Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy (1718), a satire of European politics and religion, ostensibly written by a Muslim in Paris.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "From 1719 to 1724, Defoe published the novels for which he is famous (see below). In the final decade of his life, he also wrote conduct manuals, including Religious Courtship (1722), The Complete English Tradesman (1726) and The New Family Instructor (1727). He published a number of books decrying the breakdown of the social order, such as The Great Law of Subordination Considered (1724) and Everybody's Business is Nobody's Business (1725) and works on the supernatural, like The Political History of the Devil (1726), A System of Magick (1727) and An Essay on the History and Reality of Apparitions (1727). His works on foreign travel and trade include A General History of Discoveries and Improvements (1727) and Atlas Maritimus and Commercialis (1728). Perhaps his most significant work, apart from the novels, is A Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain (1724–1727), which provided a panoramic survey of British trade on the eve of the Industrial Revolution.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Published in 1726, The Complete English Tradesman is an example of Defoe's political works. In the work, Defoe discussed the role of the tradesman in England in comparison to tradesmen internationally, arguing that the British system of trade is far superior. Defoe also implied that trade was the backbone of the British economy: \"estate's a pond, but trade's a spring.\" In the work, Defoe praised the practicality of trade not only within the economy but the social stratification as well. Defoe argued that most of the British gentry was at one time or another inextricably linked with the institution of trade, either through personal experience, marriage or genealogy. Oftentimes younger members of noble families entered into trade, and marriages to a tradesman's daughter by a nobleman was also common. Overall, Defoe demonstrated a high respect for tradesmen, being one himself.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Not only did Defoe elevate individual British tradesmen to the level of gentleman, but he praised the entirety of British trade as a superior system to other systems of trade. Trade, Defoe argues, is a much better catalyst for social and economic change than war. Defoe also argued that through the expansion of the British Empire and British mercantile influence, Britain would be able to \"increase commerce at home\" through job creations and increased consumption. He wrote in the work that increased consumption, by laws of supply and demand, increases production and in turn raises wages for the poor therefore lifting part of British society further out of poverty.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Published when Defoe was in his late fifties, Robinson Crusoe relates the story of a man's shipwreck on a desert island for twenty-eight years and his subsequent adventures. Throughout its episodic narrative, Crusoe's struggles with faith are apparent as he bargains with God in times of life-threatening crises, but time and again he turns his back after his deliverances. He is finally content with his lot in life, separated from society, following a more genuine conversion experience.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "In the opening pages of The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, the author describes how Crusoe settled in Bedfordshire, married and produced a family, and that when his wife died, he went off on these further adventures. Bedford is also the place where the brother of \"H. F.\" in A Journal of the Plague Year retired to avoid the danger of the plague, so that by implication, if these works were not fiction, Defoe's family met Crusoe in Bedford, from whence the information in these books was gathered. Defoe went to school Newington Green with a friend named Caruso.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "The novel has been assumed to be based in part on the story of the Scottish castaway Alexander Selkirk, who spent four years stranded in the Juan Fernández Islands, but his experience is inconsistent with the details of the narrative. The island Selkirk lived on, Más a Tierra (Closer to Land) was renamed Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966. It has been supposed that Defoe may have also been inspired by a translation of a book by the Andalusian-Arab Muslim polymath Ibn Tufail, who was known as \"Abubacer\" in Europe. The Latin edition was entitled Philosophus Autodidactus; Simon Ockley published an English translation in 1708, entitled The improvement of human reason, exhibited in the life of Hai ebn Yokdhan.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Defoe's next novel was Captain Singleton (1720), an adventure story whose first half covers a traversal of Africa which anticipated subsequent discoveries by David Livingstone and whose second half taps into the contemporary fascination with piracy. The novel has been commended for its sensitive depiction of the close relationship between the hero and his religious mentor, Quaker William Walters. Its description of the geography of Africa and some of its fauna does not use the language or knowledge of a fiction writer and suggests an eyewitness experience.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Memoirs of a Cavalier (1720) is set during the Thirty Years' War and the English Civil War.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "A Journal of the Plague Year, published in 1722, can be read both as novel and as nonfiction. It is an account of the Great Plague of London in 1665, which is undersigned by the initials \"H. F.\", suggesting the author's uncle Henry Foe as its primary source. It is a historical account of the events based on extensive research and written as if by an eyewitness, even though Defoe was only about five years old when it occurred.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Colonel Jack (1722) follows an orphaned boy from a life of poverty and crime to prosperity in the colonies, military and marital imbroglios, and religious conversion, driven by a problematic notion of becoming a \"gentleman.\"",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Also in 1722, Defoe wrote Moll Flanders, another first-person picaresque novel of the fall and eventual redemption, both material and spiritual, of a lone woman in 17th-century England. The titular heroine appears as a whore, bigamist and thief, lives in The Mint, commits adultery and incest, and yet manages to retain the reader's sympathy. Her savvy manipulation of both men and wealth earns her a life of trials but ultimately an ending in reward. Although Moll struggles with the morality of some of her actions and decisions, religion seems to be far from her concerns throughout most of her story. However, like Robinson Crusoe, she finally repents. Moll Flanders is an important work in the development of the novel, as it challenged the common perception of femininity and gender roles in 18th-century British society. More recently it has come to be misunderstood as an example of erotica.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Defoe's final novel, Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (1724), which narrates the moral and spiritual decline of a high society courtesan, differs from other Defoe works because the main character does not exhibit a conversion experience, even though she claims to be a penitent later in her life, at the time that she is relating her story.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "In Defoe's writings, especially in his fiction, are traits that can be seen across his works. Defoe was well known for his didacticism, with most of his works aiming to convey a message of some kind to the readers (typically a moral one, stemming from his religious background). Connected to Defoe's didacticism is his use of the genre of spiritual autobiography, particularly in Robinson Crusoe. Another common feature of Defoe's fictional works is that he claimed them to be the true stories of their subjects.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Defoe is known to have used at least 198 pen names. It was a very common practice in eighteenth-century novel publishing to initially publish works under a pen name, with most other authors at the time publishing their works anonymously. As a result of the anonymous ways in which most of his works were published, it has been a challenge for scholars over the years to properly credit Defoe for all of the works that he wrote in his lifetime. If counting only works that Defoe published under his own name, or his known pen name \"the author of the True-Born Englishman,\" there would be about 75 works that could be attributed to him.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Beyond these 75 works, scholars have used a variety of strategies to determine what other works should be attributed to Defoe. Writer George Chalmers was the first to begin the work of attributing anonymously published works to Defoe. In History of the Union, he created an expanded list with over a hundred titles that he attributed to Defoe, alongside twenty additional works that he designated as \"Books which are supposed to be De Foe's.\" Chalmers included works in his canon of Defoe that were particularly in line with his style and way of thinking, and ultimately attributed 174 works to Defoe. Many of the attributions of Defoe’s novels came long after his death. Notably, Moll Flanders and Roxana were piublished anonymously for over fifty years until Francis Noble named Daniel Defoe on their title pages in edition publication in 1775 and 1774.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Biographer P. N. Furbank and W. R. Owens built upon this canon, also relying on what they believed could be Defoe's work, without a means to be absolutely certain. In the Cambridge History of English Literature, the section on Defoe by author William P. Trent attributes 370 works to Defoe. J.R. Moore generated the largest list of Defoe's work, with approximately five hundred and fifty works that he attributed to Defoe.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Defoe died on 24 April 1731, probably while in hiding from his creditors. He was often in debtors' prison. The cause of his death was labelled as lethargy, but he probably experienced a stroke. He was interred in Bunhill Fields (today Bunhill Fields Burial and Gardens), just outside the medieval boundaries of the City of London, in what is now the Borough of Islington, where a monument was erected to his memory in 1870. A street in the Bronx, New York is named in his honour (De Foe Place).",
"title": "Death"
}
] | Daniel Defoe was an English journalist, merchant, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations. He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel, and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson. Defoe wrote many political tracts, was often in trouble with the authorities, and spent a period in prison. Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted him. Defoe was a prolific and versatile writer, producing more than three hundred works—books, pamphlets, and journals—on diverse topics, including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology and the supernatural. He was also a pioneer of business journalism and economic journalism. | 2001-07-03T16:27:28Z | 2023-12-30T22:49:25Z | [
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8,194 | December 8 | December 8 is the 342nd day of the year (343rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 23 days remain until the end of the year. | [
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] | December 8 is the 342nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 23 days remain until the end of the year. | 2001-10-15T15:19:55Z | 2023-12-09T16:45:54Z | [
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8,197 | Desmond Morris | Desmond John Morris FLS hon. caus. (born 24 January 1928) is an English zoologist, ethologist and surrealist painter, as well as a popular author in human sociobiology. He is known for his 1967 book The Naked Ape, and for his television programmes such as Zoo Time.
Morris was born in Purton, Wiltshire, to Marjorie (née Hunt) and children's fiction author Harry Morris. In 1933, the Morrises moved to Swindon where Desmond developed an interest in natural history and writing. He was educated at Dauntsey's School, a boarding school in Wiltshire.
In 1946, Morris joined the British Army for two years of national service, becoming a lecturer in fine arts at the Chiseldon Army College in Wiltshire. After being demobilised in 1948, he held his first one-man show of his own paintings at the Swindon Arts Centre, and studied zoology at the University of Birmingham. In 1950 he held a surrealist art exhibition with Joan Miró at the London Gallery. He held many other exhibitions in later years. Also in 1950, Desmond Morris wrote and directed two surrealist films, Time Flower and The Butterfly and the Pin. In 1951 he began a doctorate at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, in animal behaviour. In 1954, he earned a Doctor of Philosophy for his work on the reproductive behaviour of the ten-spined stickleback.
Morris stayed at Oxford, researching the reproductive behaviour of birds. In 1956 he moved to London as Head of the Granada TV and Film Unit for the Zoological Society of London, and studied the picture-making abilities of apes. The work included creating programmes for film and television on animal behaviour and other zoology topics. He hosted Granada TV's weekly Zoo Time programme until 1959, scripting and hosting 500 programmes, and 100 episodes of the show Life in the Animal World for BBC2. In 1957 he organised an exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, showing paintings and drawings composed by common chimpanzees. In 1958 he co-organised an exhibition, The Lost Image, which compared pictures by infants, human adults, and apes, at the Royal Festival Hall in London. In 1959 he left Zoo Time to become the Zoological Society's Curator of Mammals. In 1964, he delivered the Royal Institution Christmas Lecture on Animal Behaviour. In 1967 he spent a year as executive director of the London Institute of Contemporary Arts.
Morris's books include The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal, published in 1967. The book sold well enough for Morris to move to Malta in 1968 to write a sequel and other books. In 1973 he returned to Oxford to work for the ethologist Niko Tinbergen. From 1973 to 1981, Morris was a Research Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford. In 1979 he undertook a television series for Thames TV, The Human Race, followed in 1982 by Man Watching in Japan, The Animals Road Show in 1986 and then several other series. Morris wrote and presented the BBC documentary The Human Animal and its accompanying book in 1994. National Life Stories conducted an oral history interview (C1672/16) with Desmond Morris in 2015 for its Science and Religion collection held by the British Library.
Morris is a Fellow honoris causa of the Linnean Society of London.
Morris's father suffered lung damage in World War I, and died when Morris was 14. He was not allowed to go to the funeral and said later; "It was the beginning of a lifelong hatred of the establishment. The church, the government and the military were all on my hate list and have remained there ever since." His grandfather William Morris, an enthusiastic Victorian naturalist and founder of the Swindon local newspaper, greatly influenced him during his time living in Swindon.
In July 1952, Morris married Ramona Baulch; they had one son, Jason. In 1978 Morris was elected vice-chairman of Oxford United. While a director of the club, he designed its ox-head badge based on a Minoan-style bull’s head, which remains in use to this day.
Morris lived in the same house in North Oxford as the 19th-century lexicographer James Murray who worked on the Oxford English Dictionary. He has exhibited at the Taurus Gallery in North Parade, Oxford, close to where he lived. He is the patron of the Friends of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery and gave a talk to launch the charity in 1993. Since the death of his wife in 2018 he has lived with his son and family in Ireland.
Some of Morris's theories have been criticized as untestable. For instance, geneticist Adam Rutherford writes that Morris commits "the scientific sin of the 'just-so' story – speculation that sounds appealing but cannot be tested or is devoid of evidence". However, this is also a criticism of adaptationism in evolutionary biology, not just of Morris.
Morris is also criticized for stating that gender roles have a deep evolutionary rather than cultural background. | [
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"text": "Desmond John Morris FLS hon. caus. (born 24 January 1928) is an English zoologist, ethologist and surrealist painter, as well as a popular author in human sociobiology. He is known for his 1967 book The Naked Ape, and for his television programmes such as Zoo Time.",
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"text": "Morris was born in Purton, Wiltshire, to Marjorie (née Hunt) and children's fiction author Harry Morris. In 1933, the Morrises moved to Swindon where Desmond developed an interest in natural history and writing. He was educated at Dauntsey's School, a boarding school in Wiltshire.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
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"text": "In 1946, Morris joined the British Army for two years of national service, becoming a lecturer in fine arts at the Chiseldon Army College in Wiltshire. After being demobilised in 1948, he held his first one-man show of his own paintings at the Swindon Arts Centre, and studied zoology at the University of Birmingham. In 1950 he held a surrealist art exhibition with Joan Miró at the London Gallery. He held many other exhibitions in later years. Also in 1950, Desmond Morris wrote and directed two surrealist films, Time Flower and The Butterfly and the Pin. In 1951 he began a doctorate at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, in animal behaviour. In 1954, he earned a Doctor of Philosophy for his work on the reproductive behaviour of the ten-spined stickleback.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Morris stayed at Oxford, researching the reproductive behaviour of birds. In 1956 he moved to London as Head of the Granada TV and Film Unit for the Zoological Society of London, and studied the picture-making abilities of apes. The work included creating programmes for film and television on animal behaviour and other zoology topics. He hosted Granada TV's weekly Zoo Time programme until 1959, scripting and hosting 500 programmes, and 100 episodes of the show Life in the Animal World for BBC2. In 1957 he organised an exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, showing paintings and drawings composed by common chimpanzees. In 1958 he co-organised an exhibition, The Lost Image, which compared pictures by infants, human adults, and apes, at the Royal Festival Hall in London. In 1959 he left Zoo Time to become the Zoological Society's Curator of Mammals. In 1964, he delivered the Royal Institution Christmas Lecture on Animal Behaviour. In 1967 he spent a year as executive director of the London Institute of Contemporary Arts.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Morris's books include The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal, published in 1967. The book sold well enough for Morris to move to Malta in 1968 to write a sequel and other books. In 1973 he returned to Oxford to work for the ethologist Niko Tinbergen. From 1973 to 1981, Morris was a Research Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford. In 1979 he undertook a television series for Thames TV, The Human Race, followed in 1982 by Man Watching in Japan, The Animals Road Show in 1986 and then several other series. Morris wrote and presented the BBC documentary The Human Animal and its accompanying book in 1994. National Life Stories conducted an oral history interview (C1672/16) with Desmond Morris in 2015 for its Science and Religion collection held by the British Library.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Morris is a Fellow honoris causa of the Linnean Society of London.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Morris's father suffered lung damage in World War I, and died when Morris was 14. He was not allowed to go to the funeral and said later; \"It was the beginning of a lifelong hatred of the establishment. The church, the government and the military were all on my hate list and have remained there ever since.\" His grandfather William Morris, an enthusiastic Victorian naturalist and founder of the Swindon local newspaper, greatly influenced him during his time living in Swindon.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In July 1952, Morris married Ramona Baulch; they had one son, Jason. In 1978 Morris was elected vice-chairman of Oxford United. While a director of the club, he designed its ox-head badge based on a Minoan-style bull’s head, which remains in use to this day.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Morris lived in the same house in North Oxford as the 19th-century lexicographer James Murray who worked on the Oxford English Dictionary. He has exhibited at the Taurus Gallery in North Parade, Oxford, close to where he lived. He is the patron of the Friends of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery and gave a talk to launch the charity in 1993. Since the death of his wife in 2018 he has lived with his son and family in Ireland.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Some of Morris's theories have been criticized as untestable. For instance, geneticist Adam Rutherford writes that Morris commits \"the scientific sin of the 'just-so' story – speculation that sounds appealing but cannot be tested or is devoid of evidence\". However, this is also a criticism of adaptationism in evolutionary biology, not just of Morris.",
"title": "Criticism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Morris is also criticized for stating that gender roles have a deep evolutionary rather than cultural background.",
"title": "Criticism"
}
] | Desmond John Morris FLS hon. caus. is an English zoologist, ethologist and surrealist painter, as well as a popular author in human sociobiology. He is known for his 1967 book The Naked Ape, and for his television programmes such as Zoo Time. | 2001-07-05T11:09:33Z | 2023-11-25T23:27:22Z | [
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8,198 | December 28 | December 28 is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; three days remain until the end of the year. | [
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] | December 28 is the 362nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; three days remain until the end of the year. | 2001-08-26T01:28:08Z | 2023-12-28T05:46:00Z | [
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8,199 | Denis Diderot | Denis Diderot (/ˈdiːdəroʊ/; French: [dəni did(ə)ʁo]; 5 October 1713 – 31 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the Encyclopédie along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during the Age of Enlightenment.
Diderot initially studied philosophy at a Jesuit college, then considered working in the church clergy before briefly studying law. When he decided to become a writer in 1734, his father disowned him. He lived a bohemian existence for the next decade. In the 1740s he wrote many of his best-known works in both fiction and non-fiction, including the 1748 novel Les Bijoux indiscrets (The Indiscreet Jewels).
In 1751 Diderot co-created the Encyclopédie with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. It was the first encyclopedia to include contributions from many named contributors and the first to describe the mechanical arts. Its secular tone, which included articles skeptical about Biblical miracles, angered both religious and government authorities; in 1758 it was banned by the Catholic Church and, in 1759, the French government banned it as well, although this ban was not strictly enforced. Many of the initial contributors to the Encyclopédie left the project as a result of its controversies and some were even jailed. D'Alembert left in 1759, making Diderot the sole editor. Diderot also became the main contributor, writing around 7,000 articles. He continued working on the project until 1765. He was increasingly despondent about the Encyclopédie by the end of his involvement in it and felt that the entire project might have been a waste. Nevertheless, the Encyclopédie is considered one of the forerunners of the French Revolution.
Diderot struggled financially throughout most of his career and received very little official recognition of his merit, including being passed over for membership in the Académie française. His fortunes improved significantly in 1766, when Empress Catherine the Great, who heard of his financial troubles, generously bought his 3,000-volume personal library, amassed during his work on the Encyclopédie, for 15,000 livres, and offered him in addition a thousand more livres per year to serve as its custodian while he lived. He received 50 years' "salary" up front from her, and stayed five months at her court in Saint Petersburg in 1773 and 1774, sharing discussions and writing essays on various topics for her several times a week.
Diderot's literary reputation during his life rested primarily on his plays and his contributions to the Encyclopédie; many of his most important works, including Jacques the Fatalist, Rameau's Nephew, Paradox of the Actor, and D'Alembert's Dream, were published only after his death.
Denis Diderot was born in Langres, Champagne. His parents were Didier Diderot (1685–1759), a cutler, maître coutelier, and Angélique Vigneron (1677–1748). Of Denis' five siblings, three survived to adulthood: Denise Diderot (1715–1797), their youngest brother Pierre-Didier Diderot (1722–1787) and, finally, their sister Angélique Diderot (1720–1749). It is reported that Denis Diderot greatly admired his sister Denise, sometimes referring to her as "a female Socrates".
Diderot began his formal education at a Jesuit college in Langres. In 1732 he received the degree of Master of Arts from the University of Paris. He abandoned the idea of entering the clergy in 1735 and, instead, decided to study at the Paris Law Faculty. His study of law was short-lived, however, and in the early 1740s he decided to become a writer and translator. Because of his refusal to enter one of the learned professions, he was disowned by his father and, for the next ten years, he lived a bohemian existence.
In 1742 he formed a friendship with Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whom he met while watching games of chess and drinking coffee at the Café de la Régence. In 1743, he further alienated his father by marrying, in October 1743, Antoinette Champion (1710–1796), a devout Catholic. Diderot senior considered the match inappropriate, given Champion's low social standing, poor education, fatherless status, and lack of a dowry. She was about three years older than Diderot. She bore Diderot one surviving child, a girl, named Angélique, after both Diderot's dead mother and his sister. The death of his sister Angélique in 1749, a nun, in her convent, may have affected Diderot's opinion of religion. She is assumed to have been the inspiration for his novel about a nun, La Religieuse, in which he depicts a woman who is forced to enter a convent, where she suffers at the hands of her fellow nuns.
Diderot was unfaithful to his wife, and had affairs with Anne-Gabrielle Babuty (who would marry and later divorce the artist Jean-Baptiste Greuze), Madeleine de Puisieux, Sophie Volland, and Mme de Maux (Jeanne-Catherine de Maux), to whom he wrote numerous surviving letters and who eventually left him for a younger man. Diderot's letters to Sophie Volland are known for their candor and are regarded to be "among the literary treasures of the eighteenth century".
Diderot's earliest works included a translation of Temple Stanyan's History of Greece (1743); with two colleagues, François-Vincent Toussaint and Marc-Antoine Eidous, he produced a translation of Robert James's Medicinal Dictionary (1746–1748). In 1745, he published a translation of Shaftesbury's Inquiry Concerning Virtue and Merit, to which he had added his own "reflections".
In 1746, Diderot wrote his first original work: the Philosophical Thoughts (Pensées philosophiques). In this book, Diderot argued for a reconciliation of reason with feeling so as to establish harmony. According to Diderot, without feeling there is a detrimental effect on virtue, and no possibility of creating sublime work. However, since feeling without discipline can be destructive, reason is necessary to control feeling.
At the time Diderot wrote this book he was a deist. Hence there is a defense of deism in this book, and some arguments against atheism. The book also contains criticism of Christianity.
In 1747, Diderot wrote The Skeptic's Walk (Promenade du sceptique) in which a deist, an atheist, and a pantheist have a dialogue on the nature of divinity. The deist gives the argument from design. The atheist says that the universe is better explained by physics, chemistry, matter, and motion. The pantheist says that the cosmic unity of mind and matter, which are co-eternal and comprise the universe, is God. This work remained unpublished until 1830. Accounts differ as to why. It was either because the local police, warned by the priests of another attack on Christianity, seized the manuscript, or because the authorities forced Diderot to give an undertaking that he would not publish this work.
In 1748, Diderot needed to raise money on short notice. His wife had born him a child, and his mistress Madeleine de Puisieux was making financial demands of him. At this time, Diderot had told his mistress that writing a novel was a trivial task, whereupon she challenged him to write one. As a result Diderot produced The Indiscreet Jewels (Les bijoux indiscrets). The book is about the magical ring of a Sultan that induces any woman's "discreet jewels" to confess their sexual experiences when the ring is pointed at them. In all, the ring is pointed at thirty different women in the book—usually at a dinner or a social meeting—with the Sultan typically being visible to the woman. However, since the ring has the additional property of making its owner invisible when required, a few of the sexual experiences recounted are through direct observation with the Sultan making himself invisible and placing his person in the unsuspecting woman's boudoir.
Besides the bawdiness, there are several digressions into philosophy, music, and literature in the book. In one such philosophical digression, the Sultan has a dream in which he sees a child named "Experiment" growing bigger and stronger till the child demolishes an ancient temple named "Hypothesis". The book proved to be lucrative for Diderot even though it could only be sold clandestinely. It is Diderot's most published work.
The book is believed to draw upon the 1742 libertine novel Le Sopha by Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (Crébillon fils).
Diderot kept writing on science in a desultory way all his life. The scientific work of which he was most proud was Memoires sur differents sujets de mathematique (1748). This work contains original ideas on acoustics, tension, air resistance, and "a project for a new organ" that could be played by all. Some of Diderot's scientific works were applauded by contemporary publications of his time such as The Gentleman's Magazine, the Journal des savants; and the Jesuit publication Journal de Trevoux, which invited more such work: "on the part of a man as clever and able as M. Diderot seems to be, of whom we should also observe that his style is as elegant, trenchant, and unaffected as it is lively and ingenious."
On the unity of nature Diderot wrote, "Without the idea of the whole, philosophy is no more," and, "Everything changes; everything passes; nothing remains but the whole." He wrote of the temporal nature of molecules, and rejected emboîtement, the view that organisms are pre-formed in an infinite regression of non-changing germs. He saw minerals and species as part of a spectrum, and he was fascinated with hermaphroditism. His answer to the universal attraction in corpuscular physics models was universal elasticity. His view of nature's flexibility foreshadows the discovery of evolution, but it is not Darwinistic in a strict sense.
Diderot's celebrated Letter on the Blind (Lettre sur les aveugles à l'usage de ceux qui voient) (1749) introduced him to the world as an original thinker. The subject is a discussion of the relation between reasoning and the knowledge acquired through perception (the five senses). The title of his book also evoked some ironic doubt about who exactly were "the blind" under discussion. In the essay, blind English mathematician Nicholas Saunderson argues that, since knowledge derives from the senses, mathematics is the only form of knowledge that both he and a sighted person can agree on. It is suggested that the blind could be taught to read through their sense of touch. (A later essay, Lettre sur les sourds et muets, considered the case of a similar deprivation in the deaf and mute.) According to Jonathan Israel, what makes the Lettre sur les aveugles so remarkable, however, is its distinct, if undeveloped, presentation of the theory of variation and natural selection.
This powerful essay, for which La Mettrie expressed warm appreciation in 1751, revolves around a remarkable deathbed scene in which a dying blind philosopher, Saunderson, rejects the arguments of a deist clergyman who endeavours to win him around to a belief in a providential God during his last hours. Saunderson's arguments are those of a neo-Spinozist Naturalist and fatalist, using a sophisticated notion of the self-generation and natural evolution of species without creation or supernatural intervention. The notion of "thinking matter" is upheld and the "argument from design" discarded (following La Mettrie) as hollow and unconvincing. The work appeared anonymously in Paris in June 1749, and was vigorously suppressed by the authorities. Diderot, who had been under police surveillance since 1747, was swiftly identified as the author, had his manuscripts confiscated, and he was imprisoned for some months, under a lettre de cachet, on the outskirts of Paris, in the dungeons at Vincennes where he was visited almost daily by Rousseau, at the time his closest and most assiduous ally.
Voltaire wrote an enthusiastic letter to Diderot commending the Lettre and stating that he had held Diderot in high regard for a long time, to which Diderot had sent a warm response. Soon after this, Diderot was arrested.
Science historian Conway Zirkle has written that Diderot was an early evolutionary thinker and noted that his passage that described natural selection was "so clear and accurate that it almost seems that we would be forced to accept his conclusions as a logical necessity even in the absence of the evidence collected since his time."
Angered by public resentment over the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, the government started incarcerating many of its critics. It was decided at this time to rein in Diderot. On 23 July 1749, the governor of the Vincennes fortress instructed the police to incarcerate Diderot, and the next day he was arrested and placed in solitary confinement at Vincennes. It was at this period that Rousseau visited Diderot in prison and came out a changed man, with newfound ideas about the disadvantages of knowledge, civilization, and Enlightenment — the so-called illumination de Vincennes.
Diderot had been permitted to retain one book that he had in his possession at the time of his arrest, Paradise Lost, which he read during his incarceration. He wrote notes and annotations on the book, using a toothpick as a pen, and ink that he made by scraping slate from the walls and mixing it with wine.
In August 1749, Mme du Chatelet, presumably at Voltaire's behest, wrote to the governor of Vincennes, who was her relative, pleading for Diderot to be lodged more comfortably during his incarceration. The governor then offered Diderot access to the great halls of the Vincennes castle and the freedom to receive books and visitors providing he wrote a document of submission. On 13 August 1749, Diderot wrote to the governor:
I admit to you...that the Pensées, the Bijoux, and the Lettre sur les aveugles are debaucheries of the mind that escaped from me; but I can...promise you on my honor (and I do have honor) that they will be the last, and that they are the only ones...As for those who have taken part in the publication of these works, nothing will be hidden from you. I shall depose verbally, in the depths[secrecy] of your heart, the names both of the publishers and the printers.
On 20 August, Diderot was moved to a comfortable room in the fortess, allowed to meet visitors, and to walk within the gardens. On 23 August, Diderot signed another letter promising never to leave the prison without permission. On 3 November 1749, he was given his freedom. Subsequently, in 1750, he released the prospectus for the Encyclopédie.
André le Breton, a bookseller and printer, approached Diderot with a project for the publication of a translation of Ephraim Chambers' Cyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences into French, first undertaken by the Englishman John Mills, and followed by the German Gottfried Sellius. Diderot accepted the proposal, and transformed it. He persuaded Le Breton to publish a new work, which would consolidate ideas and knowledge from the Republic of Letters. The publishers found capital for a larger enterprise than they had first planned. Jean le Rond d'Alembert was persuaded to become Diderot's colleague, and permission was procured from the government.
In 1750, an elaborate prospectus announced the project, and the first volume was published in 1751. This work was unorthodox and advanced for the time. Diderot stated that "An encyclopedia ought to make good the failure to execute such a project hitherto, and should encompass not only the fields already covered by the academies, but each and every branch of human knowledge." Comprehensive knowledge will give "the power to change men's common way of thinking." The work combined scholarship with information on trades. Diderot emphasized the abundance of knowledge within each subject area. Everyone would benefit from these insights.
Diderot's work, however, was mired in controversy from the beginning; the project was suspended by the courts in 1752. Just as the second volume was completed, accusations arose regarding seditious content, concerning the editor's entries on religion and natural law. Diderot was detained and his house was searched for manuscripts for subsequent articles: but the search proved fruitless as no manuscripts could be found. They had been hidden in the house of an unlikely confederate—Chretien de Lamoignon Malesherbes, who originally ordered the search. Although Malesherbes was a staunch absolutist, and loyal to the monarchy—he was sympathetic to the literary project. Along with his support, and that of other well-placed influential confederates, the project resumed. Diderot returned to his efforts only to be constantly embroiled in controversy.
These twenty years were to Diderot not merely a time of incessant drudgery, but harassing persecution and desertion of friends. The ecclesiastical party detested the Encyclopédie, in which they saw a rising stronghold for their philosophic enemies. By 1757, they could endure it no longer—the subscribers had grown from 2,000 to 4,000, a measure of the growth of the work in popular influence and power. Diderot wanted the Encyclopédie to give all the knowledge of the world to the people of France. However, the Encyclopédie threatened the governing social classes of France (aristocracy) because it took for granted the justice of religious tolerance, freedom of thought, and the value of science and industry. It asserted the doctrine that the main concern of the nation's government ought to be the nation's common people. It was believed that the Encyclopédie was the work of an organized band of conspirators against society, and that the dangerous ideas they held were made truly formidable by their open publication. In 1759, the Encyclopédie was formally suppressed. The decree did not stop the work, which went on, but its difficulties increased by the necessity of being clandestine. Jean le Rond d'Alembert withdrew from the enterprise and other powerful colleagues, including Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune, declined to contribute further to a book that had acquired a bad reputation.
Diderot was left to finish the task as best he could. He wrote approximately 7,000 articles, some very slight, but many of them laborious, comprehensive, and long. He damaged his eyesight correcting proofs and editing the manuscripts of less scrupulous contributors. He spent his days at workshops, mastering manufacturing processes, and his nights writing what he had learned during the day. He was incessantly harassed by threats of police raids. The last copies of the first volume were issued in 1765.
In 1764, when his immense work was drawing to an end, he encountered a crowning mortification: he discovered that the bookseller, Le Breton, fearing the government's displeasure, had struck out from the proof sheets, after they had left Diderot's hands, all passages that he considered too dangerous. "He and his printing-house overseer", writes Furbank, "had worked in complete secrecy, and had moreover deliberately destroyed the author's original manuscript so that the damage could not be repaired." The monument to which Diderot had given the labor of twenty long and oppressive years was irreparably mutilated and defaced. It was 12 years, in 1772, before the subscribers received the final 28 folio volumes of the Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers since the first volume had been published.
When Diderot's work on the Encyclopédie project came to an end in 1765, he expressed concerns to his friends that the twenty-five years he had spent on the project had been wasted.
Although the Encyclopédie was Diderot's most monumental product, he was the author of many other works that sowed nearly every intellectual field with new and creative ideas. Diderot's writing ranges from a graceful trifle like the Regrets sur ma vieille robe de chambre (Regrets for my Old Dressing Gown) up to the heady D'Alembert's Dream (Le Rêve de d'Alembert) (composed 1769), a philosophical dialogue in which he plunges into the depths of the controversy as to the ultimate constitution of matter and the meaning of life. Jacques le fataliste (written between 1765 and 1780, but not published until 1792 in German and 1796 in French) is similar to Tristram Shandy and The Sentimental Journey in its challenge to the conventional novel's structure and content.
La Religieuse was a novel that claimed to show the corruption of the Catholic Church's institutions.
The novel began not as a work for literary consumption, but as an elaborate practical joke aimed at luring the Marquis de Croismare, a companion of Diderot's, back to Paris. The Nun is set in the 18th century, that is, contemporary France. Suzanne Simonin is an intelligent and sensitive sixteen-year-old French girl who is forced against her will into a Catholic convent by her parents. Suzanne's parents initially inform her that she is being sent to the convent for financial reasons. However, while in the convent, she learns that she is actually there because she is an illegitimate child, as her mother committed adultery. By sending Suzanne to the convent, her mother thought she could make amends for her sins by using her daughter as a sacrificial offering.
At the convent, Suzanne suffers humiliation, harassment and violence because she refuses to make the vows of the religious community. She eventually finds companionship with the Mother Superior, Sister de Moni, who pities Suzanne's anguish. After Sister de Moni's death, the new Mother Superior, Sister Sainte-Christine, does not share the same empathy for Suzanne that her predecessor had, blaming Suzanne for the death of Sister de Moni. Suzanne is physically and mentally harassed by Sister Sainte-Christine, almost to the point of death.
Suzanne contacts her lawyer, Monsieur Manouri, who attempts to legally free her from her vows. Manouri manages to have Suzanne transferred to another convent, Sainte-Eutrope. At the new convent, the Mother Superior is revealed to be a lesbian, and she grows affectionate towards Suzanne. The Mother Superior attempts to seduce Suzanne, but her innocence and chastity eventually drives the Mother Superior to insanity, leading to her death.
Suzanne escapes the Sainte-Eutrope convent using the help of a priest. Following her liberation, she lives in fear of being captured and taken back to the convent as she awaits the help from Diderot's friend the Marquis de Croismare.
Diderot's novel was not aimed at condemning Christianity as such but at criticizing cloistered religious life. In Diderot's telling, some critics have claimed, the Church is depicted as fostering a hierarchical society, exemplified in the power dynamic between the Mother Superior and the girls in the convent, forced as they are against their will to take the vows and endure what is to them the intolerable life of the convent. On this view, the subjection of the unwilling young women to convent life dehumanized them by repressing their sexuality. Moreover, their plight would have been all the more oppressive since it should be remembered that in France at this period, religious vows were recognized, regulated and enforced not only by the Church but also by the civil authorities. Some broaden their interpretation to suggest that Diderot was out to expose more general victimization of women by the Catholic Church, that forced them to accept the fate imposed upon them by a hierarchical society.
Although The Nun was completed in about 1780, the work was not published until 1796, after Diderot's death.
The dialogue Rameau's Nephew (French: Le Neveu de Rameau) is a "farce-tragedy" reminiscent of the Satires of Horace, a favorite classical author of Diderot's whose lines "Vertumnis, quotquot sunt, natus iniquis" ("Born under (the influence of) the unfavorable (gods) Vertumnuses, however many they are") appear as epigraph. According to Nicholas Cronk, Rameau's Nephew is "arguably the greatest work of the French Enlightenment's greatest writer."
The narrator in the book recounts a conversation with Jean-François Rameau, nephew of the famous Jean-Philippe Rameau. The nephew composes and teaches music with some success but feels disadvantaged by his name and is jealous of his uncle. Eventually he sinks into an indolent and debauched state. After his wife's death, he loses all self-esteem and his brusque manners result in him being ostracized by former friends. A character profile of the nephew is now sketched by Diderot: a man who was once wealthy and comfortable with a pretty wife, who is now living in poverty and decadence, shunned by his friends. And yet this man retains enough of his past to analyze his despondency philosophically and maintains his sense of humor. Essentially he believes in nothing—not in religion, nor in morality; nor in the Roussean view about nature being better than civilization since in his opinion every species in nature consumes one another. He views the same process at work in the economic world where men consume each other through the legal system. The wise man, according to the nephew, will consequently practice hedonism:
Hurrah for wisdom and philosophy!—the wisdom of Solomon: to drink good wines, gorge on choice foods, tumble pretty women, sleep on downy beds; outside of that, all is vanity.
The dialogue ends with Diderot calling the nephew a wastrel, a coward, and a glutton devoid of spiritual values to which the nephew replies: "I believe you are right."
Diderot's intention in writing the dialogue—whether as a satire on contemporary manners, a reduction of the theory of self-interest to an absurdity, the application of irony to the ethics of ordinary convention, a mere setting for a discussion about music, or a vigorous dramatic sketch of a parasite and a human original—is disputed. In political terms it explores "the bipolarisation of the social classes under absolute monarchy," and insofar as its protagonist demonstrates how the servant often manipulates the master, Le Neveu de Rameau can be seen to anticipate Hegel's master–slave dialectic.
The publication history of the Nephew is circuitous. Written between 1761 and 1774, Diderot never saw the work through to publication during his lifetime, and apparently did not even share it with his friends. After Diderot's death, a copy of the text reached Schiller, who gave it to Goethe, who, in 1805, translated the work into German. Goethe's translation entered France, and was retranslated into French in 1821. Another copy of the text was published in 1823, but it had been expurgated by Diderot's daughter prior to publication. The original manuscript was only found in 1891.
Diderot's most intimate friend was the philologist Friedrich Melchior Grimm. They were brought together by their common friend at that time, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In 1753, Grimm began writing a newsletter, the La Correspondance littéraire, philosophique et critique, which he would send to various high personages in Europe.
In 1759, Grimm asked Diderot to report on the biennial art exhibitions in the Louvre for the Correspondance. Diderot reported on the Salons between 1759 and 1771 and again in 1775 and 1781. Diderot's reports would become "the most celebrated contributions to La Correspondance."
According to Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, Diderot's reports initiated the French into a new way of laughing, and introduced people to the mystery and purport of colour by ideas. "Before Diderot", Anne Louise Germaine de Staël wrote, "I had never seen anything in pictures except dull and lifeless colours; it was his imagination that gave them relief and life, and it is almost a new sense for which I am indebted to his genius".
Diderot had appended an Essai sur la peinture to his report on the 1765 Salon in which he expressed his views on artistic beauty. Goethe described the Essai sur la peinture as "a magnificent work; it speaks even more usefully to the poet than to the painter, though for the painter too it is a torch of blazing illumination".
Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805) was Diderot's favorite contemporary artist. Diderot appreciated Greuze's sentimentality, and more particularly Greuze's portrayals of his wife who had once been Diderot's mistress.
Diderot wrote sentimental plays, Le Fils naturel (1757) and Le Père de famille (1758), accompanying them with essays on theatrical theory and practice, including "Les Entretiens sur Le Fils Naturel" (Conversations on The Natural Son), in which he announced the principles of a new drama: the 'serious genre', a realistic midpoint between comedy and tragedy that stood in opposition to the stilted conventions of the classical French stage. In 1758, Diderot introduced the concept of the fourth wall, the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. He also wrote Paradoxe sur le comédien (Paradox of the Actor), written between 1770 and 1778 but first published after his death in 1830, which is a dramatic essay elucidating a theory of acting in which it is argued that great actors do not experience the emotions they are displaying. That essay is also of note for being where the term l'esprit de l'escalier (or l'esprit d'escalier) comes from. It is a French term used in English for the predicament of thinking of the perfect reply too late.
When the Russian Empress Catherine the Great heard that Diderot was in need of money, she arranged to buy his library and appoint him caretaker of it until his death, at a salary of 1,000 livres per year. She even paid him 50 years salary in advance. Although Diderot hated traveling, he was obliged to visit her.
On 9 October 1773, he reached Saint Petersburg, met Catherine the next day and they had several discussions on various subjects. During his five-month stay at her court, he met her almost every day. During these conversations, he would later state, they spoke 'man to man'.
He would occasionally make his point by slapping her thighs. In a letter to Madame Geoffrin, Catherine wrote:
Your Diderot is an extraordinary man. I emerge from interviews with him with my thighs bruised and quite black. I have been obliged to put a table between us to protect myself and my members.
One of the topics discussed was Diderot's ideas about how to transform Russia into a utopia. In a letter to Comte de Ségur, the Empress wrote that if she followed Diderot's advice, chaos would ensue in her kingdom.
When returning, Diderot asked the Empress for 1,500 rubles as reimbursement for his trip. She gave him 3,000 rubles, an expensive ring, and an officer to escort him back to Paris. He wrote a eulogy in her honor upon reaching Paris.
In 1766, when Catherine heard that Diderot had not received his annual fee for editing the Encyclopédie (an important source of income for the philosopher), she arranged for him to receive a massive sum of 50,000 livres as an advance for his services as her librarian.
In July 1784, upon hearing that Diderot was in poor health, Catherine arranged for him to move into a luxurious suite in the Rue de Richelieu. Diderot died two weeks after moving there—on 31 July 1784.
Among Diderot's last works were notes "On the Instructions of her Imperial Majesty...for the Drawing up of Laws". This commentary on Russia included replies to some arguments Catherine had made in the Nakaz. Diderot wrote that Catherine was certainly despotic, due to circumstances and training, but was not inherently tyrannical. Thus, if she wished to destroy despotism in Russia, she should abdicate her throne and destroy anyone who tries to revive the monarchy. She should publicly declare that "there is no true sovereign other than the nation, and there can be no true legislator other than the people." She should create a new Russian legal code establishing an independent legal framework and starting with the text: "We the people, and we the sovereign of this people, swear conjointly these laws, by which we are judged equally." In the Nakaz, Catherine had written: "It is for legislation to follow the spirit of the nation." Diderot's rebuttal stated that it is for legislation to make the spirit of the nation. For instance, he argued, it is not appropriate to make public executions unnecessarily horrific.
Ultimately, Diderot decided not to send these notes to Catherine; however, they were delivered to her with his other papers after he died. When she read them, she was furious and commented that they were an incoherent gibberish devoid of prudence, insight, and verisimilitude.
In his youth, Diderot was originally a follower of Voltaire and his deist Anglomanie, but gradually moved away from this line of thought towards materialism and atheism, a move which was finally realised in 1747 in the philosophical debate in the second part of his The Skeptic's Walk (1747). Diderot opposed mysticism and occultism, which were highly prevalent in France at the time he wrote, and believed religious truth claims must fall under the domain of reason, not mystical experience or esoteric secrets. However, Diderot showed some interest in the work of Paracelsus. He was "a philosopher in whom all the contradictions of the time struggle with one another" (Rosenkranz).
In his 1754 book On the interpretation of Nature, Diderot expounded on his views about nature, evolution, materialism, mathematics, and experimental science. It is speculated that Diderot may have contributed to his friend Baron d'Holbach's 1770 book The System of Nature. Diderot had enthusiastically endorsed the book stating that:
What I like is a philosophy clear, definite, and frank, such as you have in the System of Nature. The author is not an atheist on one page and a deist on another. His philosophy is all of one piece.
In conceiving the Encyclopédie, Diderot had thought of the work as a fight on behalf of posterity and had expressed confidence that posterity would be grateful for his effort. According to Diderot, "posterity is for the philosopher what the 'other world' is for the man of religion."
According to Andrew S. Curran, the main questions of Diderot's thought are the following :
Diderot died of pulmonary thrombosis in Paris on 31 July 1784, and was buried in the city's Église Saint-Roch. His heirs sent his vast library to Catherine II, who had it deposited at the National Library of Russia. He has several times been denied burial in the Panthéon with other French notables.
Diderot's remains were unearthed by grave robbers in 1793, leaving his corpse on the church's floor. His remains were then presumably transferred to a mass grave by the authorities.
The French government considered memorializing him on the 300th anniversary of his birth, but this did not come to pass.
Marmontel and Henri Meister commented on the great pleasure of having intellectual conversations with Diderot. Morellet, a regular attendee at D'Holbach's salon, wrote: "It is there that I heard...Diderot treat questions of philosophy, art, or literature, and by his wealth of expression, fluency, and inspired appearance, hold our attention for a long stretch of time." Diderot's contemporary, and rival, Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote in his Confessions that after a few centuries Diderot would be accorded as much respect by posterity as was given to Plato and Aristotle. In Germany, Goethe, Schiller, and Lessing expressed admiration for Diderot's writings, Goethe pronouncing Diderot's Rameau's Nephew to be "the classical work of an outstanding man" and that "Diderot is Diderot, a unique individual; whoever carps at him and his affairs is a philistine."
As atheism fell out of favor during the French Revolution, Diderot was vilified and considered responsible for the excessive persecution of the clergy.
In the next century, Diderot was admired by Balzac, Delacroix, Stendhal, Zola, and Schopenhauer. According to Comte, Diderot was the foremost intellectual in an exciting age. Historian Michelet described him as "the true Prometheus" and stated that Diderot's ideas would continue to remain influential long into the future. Marx chose Diderot as his "favourite prose-writer."
Otis Fellows and Norman Torrey have described Diderot as "the most interesting and provocative figure of the French eighteenth century."
In 1993, American writer Cathleen Schine published Rameau's Niece, a satire of academic life in New York that took as its premise a woman's research into an (imagined) 18th-century pornographic parody of Diderot's Rameau's Nephew. The book was praised by Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times as "a nimble philosophical satire of the academic mind" and "an enchanting comedy of modern manners."
French author Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt wrote a play titled Le Libertin (The Libertine) which imagines a day in Diderot's life including a fictional sitting for a woman painter which becomes sexually charged but is interrupted by the demands of editing the Encyclopédie. It was first staged at Paris' Théâtre Montparnasse in 1997 starring Bernard Giraudeau as Diderot and Christiane Cohendy as Madame Therbouche and was well received by critics.
In 2013, the tricentennial of Diderot's birth, his hometown of Langres held a series of events in his honor and produced an audio tour of the town highlighting places that were part of Diderot's past, including the remains of the convent where his sister Angélique took her vows. On 6 October 2013, a museum of the Enlightenment focusing on Diderot's contributions to the movement, the Maison des Lumières Denis Diderot, was inaugurated in Langres. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Denis Diderot (/ˈdiːdəroʊ/; French: [dəni did(ə)ʁo]; 5 October 1713 – 31 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the Encyclopédie along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during the Age of Enlightenment.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Diderot initially studied philosophy at a Jesuit college, then considered working in the church clergy before briefly studying law. When he decided to become a writer in 1734, his father disowned him. He lived a bohemian existence for the next decade. In the 1740s he wrote many of his best-known works in both fiction and non-fiction, including the 1748 novel Les Bijoux indiscrets (The Indiscreet Jewels).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In 1751 Diderot co-created the Encyclopédie with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. It was the first encyclopedia to include contributions from many named contributors and the first to describe the mechanical arts. Its secular tone, which included articles skeptical about Biblical miracles, angered both religious and government authorities; in 1758 it was banned by the Catholic Church and, in 1759, the French government banned it as well, although this ban was not strictly enforced. Many of the initial contributors to the Encyclopédie left the project as a result of its controversies and some were even jailed. D'Alembert left in 1759, making Diderot the sole editor. Diderot also became the main contributor, writing around 7,000 articles. He continued working on the project until 1765. He was increasingly despondent about the Encyclopédie by the end of his involvement in it and felt that the entire project might have been a waste. Nevertheless, the Encyclopédie is considered one of the forerunners of the French Revolution.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Diderot struggled financially throughout most of his career and received very little official recognition of his merit, including being passed over for membership in the Académie française. His fortunes improved significantly in 1766, when Empress Catherine the Great, who heard of his financial troubles, generously bought his 3,000-volume personal library, amassed during his work on the Encyclopédie, for 15,000 livres, and offered him in addition a thousand more livres per year to serve as its custodian while he lived. He received 50 years' \"salary\" up front from her, and stayed five months at her court in Saint Petersburg in 1773 and 1774, sharing discussions and writing essays on various topics for her several times a week.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Diderot's literary reputation during his life rested primarily on his plays and his contributions to the Encyclopédie; many of his most important works, including Jacques the Fatalist, Rameau's Nephew, Paradox of the Actor, and D'Alembert's Dream, were published only after his death.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Denis Diderot was born in Langres, Champagne. His parents were Didier Diderot (1685–1759), a cutler, maître coutelier, and Angélique Vigneron (1677–1748). Of Denis' five siblings, three survived to adulthood: Denise Diderot (1715–1797), their youngest brother Pierre-Didier Diderot (1722–1787) and, finally, their sister Angélique Diderot (1720–1749). It is reported that Denis Diderot greatly admired his sister Denise, sometimes referring to her as \"a female Socrates\".",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Diderot began his formal education at a Jesuit college in Langres. In 1732 he received the degree of Master of Arts from the University of Paris. He abandoned the idea of entering the clergy in 1735 and, instead, decided to study at the Paris Law Faculty. His study of law was short-lived, however, and in the early 1740s he decided to become a writer and translator. Because of his refusal to enter one of the learned professions, he was disowned by his father and, for the next ten years, he lived a bohemian existence.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In 1742 he formed a friendship with Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whom he met while watching games of chess and drinking coffee at the Café de la Régence. In 1743, he further alienated his father by marrying, in October 1743, Antoinette Champion (1710–1796), a devout Catholic. Diderot senior considered the match inappropriate, given Champion's low social standing, poor education, fatherless status, and lack of a dowry. She was about three years older than Diderot. She bore Diderot one surviving child, a girl, named Angélique, after both Diderot's dead mother and his sister. The death of his sister Angélique in 1749, a nun, in her convent, may have affected Diderot's opinion of religion. She is assumed to have been the inspiration for his novel about a nun, La Religieuse, in which he depicts a woman who is forced to enter a convent, where she suffers at the hands of her fellow nuns.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Diderot was unfaithful to his wife, and had affairs with Anne-Gabrielle Babuty (who would marry and later divorce the artist Jean-Baptiste Greuze), Madeleine de Puisieux, Sophie Volland, and Mme de Maux (Jeanne-Catherine de Maux), to whom he wrote numerous surviving letters and who eventually left him for a younger man. Diderot's letters to Sophie Volland are known for their candor and are regarded to be \"among the literary treasures of the eighteenth century\".",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Diderot's earliest works included a translation of Temple Stanyan's History of Greece (1743); with two colleagues, François-Vincent Toussaint and Marc-Antoine Eidous, he produced a translation of Robert James's Medicinal Dictionary (1746–1748). In 1745, he published a translation of Shaftesbury's Inquiry Concerning Virtue and Merit, to which he had added his own \"reflections\".",
"title": "Early works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In 1746, Diderot wrote his first original work: the Philosophical Thoughts (Pensées philosophiques). In this book, Diderot argued for a reconciliation of reason with feeling so as to establish harmony. According to Diderot, without feeling there is a detrimental effect on virtue, and no possibility of creating sublime work. However, since feeling without discipline can be destructive, reason is necessary to control feeling.",
"title": "Early works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "At the time Diderot wrote this book he was a deist. Hence there is a defense of deism in this book, and some arguments against atheism. The book also contains criticism of Christianity.",
"title": "Early works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "In 1747, Diderot wrote The Skeptic's Walk (Promenade du sceptique) in which a deist, an atheist, and a pantheist have a dialogue on the nature of divinity. The deist gives the argument from design. The atheist says that the universe is better explained by physics, chemistry, matter, and motion. The pantheist says that the cosmic unity of mind and matter, which are co-eternal and comprise the universe, is God. This work remained unpublished until 1830. Accounts differ as to why. It was either because the local police, warned by the priests of another attack on Christianity, seized the manuscript, or because the authorities forced Diderot to give an undertaking that he would not publish this work.",
"title": "Early works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "In 1748, Diderot needed to raise money on short notice. His wife had born him a child, and his mistress Madeleine de Puisieux was making financial demands of him. At this time, Diderot had told his mistress that writing a novel was a trivial task, whereupon she challenged him to write one. As a result Diderot produced The Indiscreet Jewels (Les bijoux indiscrets). The book is about the magical ring of a Sultan that induces any woman's \"discreet jewels\" to confess their sexual experiences when the ring is pointed at them. In all, the ring is pointed at thirty different women in the book—usually at a dinner or a social meeting—with the Sultan typically being visible to the woman. However, since the ring has the additional property of making its owner invisible when required, a few of the sexual experiences recounted are through direct observation with the Sultan making himself invisible and placing his person in the unsuspecting woman's boudoir.",
"title": "Early works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Besides the bawdiness, there are several digressions into philosophy, music, and literature in the book. In one such philosophical digression, the Sultan has a dream in which he sees a child named \"Experiment\" growing bigger and stronger till the child demolishes an ancient temple named \"Hypothesis\". The book proved to be lucrative for Diderot even though it could only be sold clandestinely. It is Diderot's most published work.",
"title": "Early works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The book is believed to draw upon the 1742 libertine novel Le Sopha by Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (Crébillon fils).",
"title": "Early works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Diderot kept writing on science in a desultory way all his life. The scientific work of which he was most proud was Memoires sur differents sujets de mathematique (1748). This work contains original ideas on acoustics, tension, air resistance, and \"a project for a new organ\" that could be played by all. Some of Diderot's scientific works were applauded by contemporary publications of his time such as The Gentleman's Magazine, the Journal des savants; and the Jesuit publication Journal de Trevoux, which invited more such work: \"on the part of a man as clever and able as M. Diderot seems to be, of whom we should also observe that his style is as elegant, trenchant, and unaffected as it is lively and ingenious.\"",
"title": "Early works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "On the unity of nature Diderot wrote, \"Without the idea of the whole, philosophy is no more,\" and, \"Everything changes; everything passes; nothing remains but the whole.\" He wrote of the temporal nature of molecules, and rejected emboîtement, the view that organisms are pre-formed in an infinite regression of non-changing germs. He saw minerals and species as part of a spectrum, and he was fascinated with hermaphroditism. His answer to the universal attraction in corpuscular physics models was universal elasticity. His view of nature's flexibility foreshadows the discovery of evolution, but it is not Darwinistic in a strict sense.",
"title": "Early works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Diderot's celebrated Letter on the Blind (Lettre sur les aveugles à l'usage de ceux qui voient) (1749) introduced him to the world as an original thinker. The subject is a discussion of the relation between reasoning and the knowledge acquired through perception (the five senses). The title of his book also evoked some ironic doubt about who exactly were \"the blind\" under discussion. In the essay, blind English mathematician Nicholas Saunderson argues that, since knowledge derives from the senses, mathematics is the only form of knowledge that both he and a sighted person can agree on. It is suggested that the blind could be taught to read through their sense of touch. (A later essay, Lettre sur les sourds et muets, considered the case of a similar deprivation in the deaf and mute.) According to Jonathan Israel, what makes the Lettre sur les aveugles so remarkable, however, is its distinct, if undeveloped, presentation of the theory of variation and natural selection.",
"title": "Early works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "This powerful essay, for which La Mettrie expressed warm appreciation in 1751, revolves around a remarkable deathbed scene in which a dying blind philosopher, Saunderson, rejects the arguments of a deist clergyman who endeavours to win him around to a belief in a providential God during his last hours. Saunderson's arguments are those of a neo-Spinozist Naturalist and fatalist, using a sophisticated notion of the self-generation and natural evolution of species without creation or supernatural intervention. The notion of \"thinking matter\" is upheld and the \"argument from design\" discarded (following La Mettrie) as hollow and unconvincing. The work appeared anonymously in Paris in June 1749, and was vigorously suppressed by the authorities. Diderot, who had been under police surveillance since 1747, was swiftly identified as the author, had his manuscripts confiscated, and he was imprisoned for some months, under a lettre de cachet, on the outskirts of Paris, in the dungeons at Vincennes where he was visited almost daily by Rousseau, at the time his closest and most assiduous ally.",
"title": "Early works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Voltaire wrote an enthusiastic letter to Diderot commending the Lettre and stating that he had held Diderot in high regard for a long time, to which Diderot had sent a warm response. Soon after this, Diderot was arrested.",
"title": "Early works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Science historian Conway Zirkle has written that Diderot was an early evolutionary thinker and noted that his passage that described natural selection was \"so clear and accurate that it almost seems that we would be forced to accept his conclusions as a logical necessity even in the absence of the evidence collected since his time.\"",
"title": "Early works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Angered by public resentment over the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, the government started incarcerating many of its critics. It was decided at this time to rein in Diderot. On 23 July 1749, the governor of the Vincennes fortress instructed the police to incarcerate Diderot, and the next day he was arrested and placed in solitary confinement at Vincennes. It was at this period that Rousseau visited Diderot in prison and came out a changed man, with newfound ideas about the disadvantages of knowledge, civilization, and Enlightenment — the so-called illumination de Vincennes.",
"title": "Incarceration and release"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Diderot had been permitted to retain one book that he had in his possession at the time of his arrest, Paradise Lost, which he read during his incarceration. He wrote notes and annotations on the book, using a toothpick as a pen, and ink that he made by scraping slate from the walls and mixing it with wine.",
"title": "Incarceration and release"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In August 1749, Mme du Chatelet, presumably at Voltaire's behest, wrote to the governor of Vincennes, who was her relative, pleading for Diderot to be lodged more comfortably during his incarceration. The governor then offered Diderot access to the great halls of the Vincennes castle and the freedom to receive books and visitors providing he wrote a document of submission. On 13 August 1749, Diderot wrote to the governor:",
"title": "Incarceration and release"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "I admit to you...that the Pensées, the Bijoux, and the Lettre sur les aveugles are debaucheries of the mind that escaped from me; but I can...promise you on my honor (and I do have honor) that they will be the last, and that they are the only ones...As for those who have taken part in the publication of these works, nothing will be hidden from you. I shall depose verbally, in the depths[secrecy] of your heart, the names both of the publishers and the printers.",
"title": "Incarceration and release"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "On 20 August, Diderot was moved to a comfortable room in the fortess, allowed to meet visitors, and to walk within the gardens. On 23 August, Diderot signed another letter promising never to leave the prison without permission. On 3 November 1749, he was given his freedom. Subsequently, in 1750, he released the prospectus for the Encyclopédie.",
"title": "Incarceration and release"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "André le Breton, a bookseller and printer, approached Diderot with a project for the publication of a translation of Ephraim Chambers' Cyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences into French, first undertaken by the Englishman John Mills, and followed by the German Gottfried Sellius. Diderot accepted the proposal, and transformed it. He persuaded Le Breton to publish a new work, which would consolidate ideas and knowledge from the Republic of Letters. The publishers found capital for a larger enterprise than they had first planned. Jean le Rond d'Alembert was persuaded to become Diderot's colleague, and permission was procured from the government.",
"title": "Encyclopédie"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In 1750, an elaborate prospectus announced the project, and the first volume was published in 1751. This work was unorthodox and advanced for the time. Diderot stated that \"An encyclopedia ought to make good the failure to execute such a project hitherto, and should encompass not only the fields already covered by the academies, but each and every branch of human knowledge.\" Comprehensive knowledge will give \"the power to change men's common way of thinking.\" The work combined scholarship with information on trades. Diderot emphasized the abundance of knowledge within each subject area. Everyone would benefit from these insights.",
"title": "Encyclopédie"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Diderot's work, however, was mired in controversy from the beginning; the project was suspended by the courts in 1752. Just as the second volume was completed, accusations arose regarding seditious content, concerning the editor's entries on religion and natural law. Diderot was detained and his house was searched for manuscripts for subsequent articles: but the search proved fruitless as no manuscripts could be found. They had been hidden in the house of an unlikely confederate—Chretien de Lamoignon Malesherbes, who originally ordered the search. Although Malesherbes was a staunch absolutist, and loyal to the monarchy—he was sympathetic to the literary project. Along with his support, and that of other well-placed influential confederates, the project resumed. Diderot returned to his efforts only to be constantly embroiled in controversy.",
"title": "Encyclopédie"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "These twenty years were to Diderot not merely a time of incessant drudgery, but harassing persecution and desertion of friends. The ecclesiastical party detested the Encyclopédie, in which they saw a rising stronghold for their philosophic enemies. By 1757, they could endure it no longer—the subscribers had grown from 2,000 to 4,000, a measure of the growth of the work in popular influence and power. Diderot wanted the Encyclopédie to give all the knowledge of the world to the people of France. However, the Encyclopédie threatened the governing social classes of France (aristocracy) because it took for granted the justice of religious tolerance, freedom of thought, and the value of science and industry. It asserted the doctrine that the main concern of the nation's government ought to be the nation's common people. It was believed that the Encyclopédie was the work of an organized band of conspirators against society, and that the dangerous ideas they held were made truly formidable by their open publication. In 1759, the Encyclopédie was formally suppressed. The decree did not stop the work, which went on, but its difficulties increased by the necessity of being clandestine. Jean le Rond d'Alembert withdrew from the enterprise and other powerful colleagues, including Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune, declined to contribute further to a book that had acquired a bad reputation.",
"title": "Encyclopédie"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Diderot was left to finish the task as best he could. He wrote approximately 7,000 articles, some very slight, but many of them laborious, comprehensive, and long. He damaged his eyesight correcting proofs and editing the manuscripts of less scrupulous contributors. He spent his days at workshops, mastering manufacturing processes, and his nights writing what he had learned during the day. He was incessantly harassed by threats of police raids. The last copies of the first volume were issued in 1765.",
"title": "Encyclopédie"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "In 1764, when his immense work was drawing to an end, he encountered a crowning mortification: he discovered that the bookseller, Le Breton, fearing the government's displeasure, had struck out from the proof sheets, after they had left Diderot's hands, all passages that he considered too dangerous. \"He and his printing-house overseer\", writes Furbank, \"had worked in complete secrecy, and had moreover deliberately destroyed the author's original manuscript so that the damage could not be repaired.\" The monument to which Diderot had given the labor of twenty long and oppressive years was irreparably mutilated and defaced. It was 12 years, in 1772, before the subscribers received the final 28 folio volumes of the Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers since the first volume had been published.",
"title": "Encyclopédie"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "When Diderot's work on the Encyclopédie project came to an end in 1765, he expressed concerns to his friends that the twenty-five years he had spent on the project had been wasted.",
"title": "Encyclopédie"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Although the Encyclopédie was Diderot's most monumental product, he was the author of many other works that sowed nearly every intellectual field with new and creative ideas. Diderot's writing ranges from a graceful trifle like the Regrets sur ma vieille robe de chambre (Regrets for my Old Dressing Gown) up to the heady D'Alembert's Dream (Le Rêve de d'Alembert) (composed 1769), a philosophical dialogue in which he plunges into the depths of the controversy as to the ultimate constitution of matter and the meaning of life. Jacques le fataliste (written between 1765 and 1780, but not published until 1792 in German and 1796 in French) is similar to Tristram Shandy and The Sentimental Journey in its challenge to the conventional novel's structure and content.",
"title": "Mature works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "La Religieuse was a novel that claimed to show the corruption of the Catholic Church's institutions.",
"title": "Mature works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The novel began not as a work for literary consumption, but as an elaborate practical joke aimed at luring the Marquis de Croismare, a companion of Diderot's, back to Paris. The Nun is set in the 18th century, that is, contemporary France. Suzanne Simonin is an intelligent and sensitive sixteen-year-old French girl who is forced against her will into a Catholic convent by her parents. Suzanne's parents initially inform her that she is being sent to the convent for financial reasons. However, while in the convent, she learns that she is actually there because she is an illegitimate child, as her mother committed adultery. By sending Suzanne to the convent, her mother thought she could make amends for her sins by using her daughter as a sacrificial offering.",
"title": "Mature works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "At the convent, Suzanne suffers humiliation, harassment and violence because she refuses to make the vows of the religious community. She eventually finds companionship with the Mother Superior, Sister de Moni, who pities Suzanne's anguish. After Sister de Moni's death, the new Mother Superior, Sister Sainte-Christine, does not share the same empathy for Suzanne that her predecessor had, blaming Suzanne for the death of Sister de Moni. Suzanne is physically and mentally harassed by Sister Sainte-Christine, almost to the point of death.",
"title": "Mature works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Suzanne contacts her lawyer, Monsieur Manouri, who attempts to legally free her from her vows. Manouri manages to have Suzanne transferred to another convent, Sainte-Eutrope. At the new convent, the Mother Superior is revealed to be a lesbian, and she grows affectionate towards Suzanne. The Mother Superior attempts to seduce Suzanne, but her innocence and chastity eventually drives the Mother Superior to insanity, leading to her death.",
"title": "Mature works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Suzanne escapes the Sainte-Eutrope convent using the help of a priest. Following her liberation, she lives in fear of being captured and taken back to the convent as she awaits the help from Diderot's friend the Marquis de Croismare.",
"title": "Mature works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Diderot's novel was not aimed at condemning Christianity as such but at criticizing cloistered religious life. In Diderot's telling, some critics have claimed, the Church is depicted as fostering a hierarchical society, exemplified in the power dynamic between the Mother Superior and the girls in the convent, forced as they are against their will to take the vows and endure what is to them the intolerable life of the convent. On this view, the subjection of the unwilling young women to convent life dehumanized them by repressing their sexuality. Moreover, their plight would have been all the more oppressive since it should be remembered that in France at this period, religious vows were recognized, regulated and enforced not only by the Church but also by the civil authorities. Some broaden their interpretation to suggest that Diderot was out to expose more general victimization of women by the Catholic Church, that forced them to accept the fate imposed upon them by a hierarchical society.",
"title": "Mature works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Although The Nun was completed in about 1780, the work was not published until 1796, after Diderot's death.",
"title": "Mature works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "The dialogue Rameau's Nephew (French: Le Neveu de Rameau) is a \"farce-tragedy\" reminiscent of the Satires of Horace, a favorite classical author of Diderot's whose lines \"Vertumnis, quotquot sunt, natus iniquis\" (\"Born under (the influence of) the unfavorable (gods) Vertumnuses, however many they are\") appear as epigraph. According to Nicholas Cronk, Rameau's Nephew is \"arguably the greatest work of the French Enlightenment's greatest writer.\"",
"title": "Mature works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "The narrator in the book recounts a conversation with Jean-François Rameau, nephew of the famous Jean-Philippe Rameau. The nephew composes and teaches music with some success but feels disadvantaged by his name and is jealous of his uncle. Eventually he sinks into an indolent and debauched state. After his wife's death, he loses all self-esteem and his brusque manners result in him being ostracized by former friends. A character profile of the nephew is now sketched by Diderot: a man who was once wealthy and comfortable with a pretty wife, who is now living in poverty and decadence, shunned by his friends. And yet this man retains enough of his past to analyze his despondency philosophically and maintains his sense of humor. Essentially he believes in nothing—not in religion, nor in morality; nor in the Roussean view about nature being better than civilization since in his opinion every species in nature consumes one another. He views the same process at work in the economic world where men consume each other through the legal system. The wise man, according to the nephew, will consequently practice hedonism:",
"title": "Mature works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Hurrah for wisdom and philosophy!—the wisdom of Solomon: to drink good wines, gorge on choice foods, tumble pretty women, sleep on downy beds; outside of that, all is vanity.",
"title": "Mature works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "The dialogue ends with Diderot calling the nephew a wastrel, a coward, and a glutton devoid of spiritual values to which the nephew replies: \"I believe you are right.\"",
"title": "Mature works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Diderot's intention in writing the dialogue—whether as a satire on contemporary manners, a reduction of the theory of self-interest to an absurdity, the application of irony to the ethics of ordinary convention, a mere setting for a discussion about music, or a vigorous dramatic sketch of a parasite and a human original—is disputed. In political terms it explores \"the bipolarisation of the social classes under absolute monarchy,\" and insofar as its protagonist demonstrates how the servant often manipulates the master, Le Neveu de Rameau can be seen to anticipate Hegel's master–slave dialectic.",
"title": "Mature works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "The publication history of the Nephew is circuitous. Written between 1761 and 1774, Diderot never saw the work through to publication during his lifetime, and apparently did not even share it with his friends. After Diderot's death, a copy of the text reached Schiller, who gave it to Goethe, who, in 1805, translated the work into German. Goethe's translation entered France, and was retranslated into French in 1821. Another copy of the text was published in 1823, but it had been expurgated by Diderot's daughter prior to publication. The original manuscript was only found in 1891.",
"title": "Mature works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Diderot's most intimate friend was the philologist Friedrich Melchior Grimm. They were brought together by their common friend at that time, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In 1753, Grimm began writing a newsletter, the La Correspondance littéraire, philosophique et critique, which he would send to various high personages in Europe.",
"title": "Visual arts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "In 1759, Grimm asked Diderot to report on the biennial art exhibitions in the Louvre for the Correspondance. Diderot reported on the Salons between 1759 and 1771 and again in 1775 and 1781. Diderot's reports would become \"the most celebrated contributions to La Correspondance.\"",
"title": "Visual arts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "According to Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, Diderot's reports initiated the French into a new way of laughing, and introduced people to the mystery and purport of colour by ideas. \"Before Diderot\", Anne Louise Germaine de Staël wrote, \"I had never seen anything in pictures except dull and lifeless colours; it was his imagination that gave them relief and life, and it is almost a new sense for which I am indebted to his genius\".",
"title": "Visual arts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Diderot had appended an Essai sur la peinture to his report on the 1765 Salon in which he expressed his views on artistic beauty. Goethe described the Essai sur la peinture as \"a magnificent work; it speaks even more usefully to the poet than to the painter, though for the painter too it is a torch of blazing illumination\".",
"title": "Visual arts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805) was Diderot's favorite contemporary artist. Diderot appreciated Greuze's sentimentality, and more particularly Greuze's portrayals of his wife who had once been Diderot's mistress.",
"title": "Visual arts"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Diderot wrote sentimental plays, Le Fils naturel (1757) and Le Père de famille (1758), accompanying them with essays on theatrical theory and practice, including \"Les Entretiens sur Le Fils Naturel\" (Conversations on The Natural Son), in which he announced the principles of a new drama: the 'serious genre', a realistic midpoint between comedy and tragedy that stood in opposition to the stilted conventions of the classical French stage. In 1758, Diderot introduced the concept of the fourth wall, the imaginary \"wall\" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. He also wrote Paradoxe sur le comédien (Paradox of the Actor), written between 1770 and 1778 but first published after his death in 1830, which is a dramatic essay elucidating a theory of acting in which it is argued that great actors do not experience the emotions they are displaying. That essay is also of note for being where the term l'esprit de l'escalier (or l'esprit d'escalier) comes from. It is a French term used in English for the predicament of thinking of the perfect reply too late.",
"title": "Theatre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "When the Russian Empress Catherine the Great heard that Diderot was in need of money, she arranged to buy his library and appoint him caretaker of it until his death, at a salary of 1,000 livres per year. She even paid him 50 years salary in advance. Although Diderot hated traveling, he was obliged to visit her.",
"title": "Diderot and Catherine the Great"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "On 9 October 1773, he reached Saint Petersburg, met Catherine the next day and they had several discussions on various subjects. During his five-month stay at her court, he met her almost every day. During these conversations, he would later state, they spoke 'man to man'.",
"title": "Diderot and Catherine the Great"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "He would occasionally make his point by slapping her thighs. In a letter to Madame Geoffrin, Catherine wrote:",
"title": "Diderot and Catherine the Great"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Your Diderot is an extraordinary man. I emerge from interviews with him with my thighs bruised and quite black. I have been obliged to put a table between us to protect myself and my members.",
"title": "Diderot and Catherine the Great"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "One of the topics discussed was Diderot's ideas about how to transform Russia into a utopia. In a letter to Comte de Ségur, the Empress wrote that if she followed Diderot's advice, chaos would ensue in her kingdom.",
"title": "Diderot and Catherine the Great"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "When returning, Diderot asked the Empress for 1,500 rubles as reimbursement for his trip. She gave him 3,000 rubles, an expensive ring, and an officer to escort him back to Paris. He wrote a eulogy in her honor upon reaching Paris.",
"title": "Diderot and Catherine the Great"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "In 1766, when Catherine heard that Diderot had not received his annual fee for editing the Encyclopédie (an important source of income for the philosopher), she arranged for him to receive a massive sum of 50,000 livres as an advance for his services as her librarian.",
"title": "Diderot and Catherine the Great"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "In July 1784, upon hearing that Diderot was in poor health, Catherine arranged for him to move into a luxurious suite in the Rue de Richelieu. Diderot died two weeks after moving there—on 31 July 1784.",
"title": "Diderot and Catherine the Great"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Among Diderot's last works were notes \"On the Instructions of her Imperial Majesty...for the Drawing up of Laws\". This commentary on Russia included replies to some arguments Catherine had made in the Nakaz. Diderot wrote that Catherine was certainly despotic, due to circumstances and training, but was not inherently tyrannical. Thus, if she wished to destroy despotism in Russia, she should abdicate her throne and destroy anyone who tries to revive the monarchy. She should publicly declare that \"there is no true sovereign other than the nation, and there can be no true legislator other than the people.\" She should create a new Russian legal code establishing an independent legal framework and starting with the text: \"We the people, and we the sovereign of this people, swear conjointly these laws, by which we are judged equally.\" In the Nakaz, Catherine had written: \"It is for legislation to follow the spirit of the nation.\" Diderot's rebuttal stated that it is for legislation to make the spirit of the nation. For instance, he argued, it is not appropriate to make public executions unnecessarily horrific.",
"title": "Diderot and Catherine the Great"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Ultimately, Diderot decided not to send these notes to Catherine; however, they were delivered to her with his other papers after he died. When she read them, she was furious and commented that they were an incoherent gibberish devoid of prudence, insight, and verisimilitude.",
"title": "Diderot and Catherine the Great"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "In his youth, Diderot was originally a follower of Voltaire and his deist Anglomanie, but gradually moved away from this line of thought towards materialism and atheism, a move which was finally realised in 1747 in the philosophical debate in the second part of his The Skeptic's Walk (1747). Diderot opposed mysticism and occultism, which were highly prevalent in France at the time he wrote, and believed religious truth claims must fall under the domain of reason, not mystical experience or esoteric secrets. However, Diderot showed some interest in the work of Paracelsus. He was \"a philosopher in whom all the contradictions of the time struggle with one another\" (Rosenkranz).",
"title": "Philosophy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "In his 1754 book On the interpretation of Nature, Diderot expounded on his views about nature, evolution, materialism, mathematics, and experimental science. It is speculated that Diderot may have contributed to his friend Baron d'Holbach's 1770 book The System of Nature. Diderot had enthusiastically endorsed the book stating that:",
"title": "Philosophy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "What I like is a philosophy clear, definite, and frank, such as you have in the System of Nature. The author is not an atheist on one page and a deist on another. His philosophy is all of one piece.",
"title": "Philosophy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "In conceiving the Encyclopédie, Diderot had thought of the work as a fight on behalf of posterity and had expressed confidence that posterity would be grateful for his effort. According to Diderot, \"posterity is for the philosopher what the 'other world' is for the man of religion.\"",
"title": "Philosophy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "According to Andrew S. Curran, the main questions of Diderot's thought are the following :",
"title": "Philosophy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "Diderot died of pulmonary thrombosis in Paris on 31 July 1784, and was buried in the city's Église Saint-Roch. His heirs sent his vast library to Catherine II, who had it deposited at the National Library of Russia. He has several times been denied burial in the Panthéon with other French notables.",
"title": "Death and burial"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "Diderot's remains were unearthed by grave robbers in 1793, leaving his corpse on the church's floor. His remains were then presumably transferred to a mass grave by the authorities.",
"title": "Death and burial"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "The French government considered memorializing him on the 300th anniversary of his birth, but this did not come to pass.",
"title": "Death and burial"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "Marmontel and Henri Meister commented on the great pleasure of having intellectual conversations with Diderot. Morellet, a regular attendee at D'Holbach's salon, wrote: \"It is there that I heard...Diderot treat questions of philosophy, art, or literature, and by his wealth of expression, fluency, and inspired appearance, hold our attention for a long stretch of time.\" Diderot's contemporary, and rival, Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote in his Confessions that after a few centuries Diderot would be accorded as much respect by posterity as was given to Plato and Aristotle. In Germany, Goethe, Schiller, and Lessing expressed admiration for Diderot's writings, Goethe pronouncing Diderot's Rameau's Nephew to be \"the classical work of an outstanding man\" and that \"Diderot is Diderot, a unique individual; whoever carps at him and his affairs is a philistine.\"",
"title": "Appreciation and influence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "As atheism fell out of favor during the French Revolution, Diderot was vilified and considered responsible for the excessive persecution of the clergy.",
"title": "Appreciation and influence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "In the next century, Diderot was admired by Balzac, Delacroix, Stendhal, Zola, and Schopenhauer. According to Comte, Diderot was the foremost intellectual in an exciting age. Historian Michelet described him as \"the true Prometheus\" and stated that Diderot's ideas would continue to remain influential long into the future. Marx chose Diderot as his \"favourite prose-writer.\"",
"title": "Appreciation and influence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "Otis Fellows and Norman Torrey have described Diderot as \"the most interesting and provocative figure of the French eighteenth century.\"",
"title": "Modern tributes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "In 1993, American writer Cathleen Schine published Rameau's Niece, a satire of academic life in New York that took as its premise a woman's research into an (imagined) 18th-century pornographic parody of Diderot's Rameau's Nephew. The book was praised by Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times as \"a nimble philosophical satire of the academic mind\" and \"an enchanting comedy of modern manners.\"",
"title": "Modern tributes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "French author Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt wrote a play titled Le Libertin (The Libertine) which imagines a day in Diderot's life including a fictional sitting for a woman painter which becomes sexually charged but is interrupted by the demands of editing the Encyclopédie. It was first staged at Paris' Théâtre Montparnasse in 1997 starring Bernard Giraudeau as Diderot and Christiane Cohendy as Madame Therbouche and was well received by critics.",
"title": "Modern tributes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "In 2013, the tricentennial of Diderot's birth, his hometown of Langres held a series of events in his honor and produced an audio tour of the town highlighting places that were part of Diderot's past, including the remains of the convent where his sister Angélique took her vows. On 6 October 2013, a museum of the Enlightenment focusing on Diderot's contributions to the movement, the Maison des Lumières Denis Diderot, was inaugurated in Langres.",
"title": "Modern tributes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "",
"title": "Further reading"
}
] | Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the Encyclopédie along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during the Age of Enlightenment. Diderot initially studied philosophy at a Jesuit college, then considered working in the church clergy before briefly studying law. When he decided to become a writer in 1734, his father disowned him. He lived a bohemian existence for the next decade. In the 1740s he wrote many of his best-known works in both fiction and non-fiction, including the 1748 novel Les Bijoux indiscrets. In 1751 Diderot co-created the Encyclopédie with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. It was the first encyclopedia to include contributions from many named contributors and the first to describe the mechanical arts. Its secular tone, which included articles skeptical about Biblical miracles, angered both religious and government authorities; in 1758 it was banned by the Catholic Church and, in 1759, the French government banned it as well, although this ban was not strictly enforced. Many of the initial contributors to the Encyclopédie left the project as a result of its controversies and some were even jailed. D'Alembert left in 1759, making Diderot the sole editor. Diderot also became the main contributor, writing around 7,000 articles. He continued working on the project until 1765. He was increasingly despondent about the Encyclopédie by the end of his involvement in it and felt that the entire project might have been a waste. Nevertheless, the Encyclopédie is considered one of the forerunners of the French Revolution. Diderot struggled financially throughout most of his career and received very little official recognition of his merit, including being passed over for membership in the Académie française. His fortunes improved significantly in 1766, when Empress Catherine the Great, who heard of his financial troubles, generously bought his 3,000-volume personal library, amassed during his work on the Encyclopédie, for 15,000 livres, and offered him in addition a thousand more livres per year to serve as its custodian while he lived. He received 50 years' "salary" up front from her, and stayed five months at her court in Saint Petersburg in 1773 and 1774, sharing discussions and writing essays on various topics for her several times a week. Diderot's literary reputation during his life rested primarily on his plays and his contributions to the Encyclopédie; many of his most important works, including Jacques the Fatalist, Rameau's Nephew, Paradox of the Actor, and D'Alembert's Dream, were published only after his death. | 2001-07-09T13:15:04Z | 2023-11-20T11:03:28Z | [
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8,200 | Timeline of chemical element discoveries | The discovery of the 118 chemical elements known to exist as of 2023 is presented here in chronological order. The elements are listed generally in the order in which each was first defined as the pure element, as the exact date of discovery of most elements cannot be accurately determined. There are plans to synthesize more elements, and it is not known how many elements are possible.
Each element's name, atomic number, year of first report, name of the discoverer, and notes related to the discovery are listed.
For 18th-century discoveries, around the time that Antoine Lavoisier first questioned the phlogiston theory, the recognition of a new "earth" has been regarded as being equivalent to the discovery of a new element (as was the general practice then). For some of the most common elements, this presents further difficulties as their compounds were widely known since medieval or even ancient times, and their true nature was only gradually discovered, so it is very difficult to name one specific discoverer. In such cases the first publication on their chemistry is noted, and a longer explanation given in the notes. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The discovery of the 118 chemical elements known to exist as of 2023 is presented here in chronological order. The elements are listed generally in the order in which each was first defined as the pure element, as the exact date of discovery of most elements cannot be accurately determined. There are plans to synthesize more elements, and it is not known how many elements are possible.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Each element's name, atomic number, year of first report, name of the discoverer, and notes related to the discovery are listed.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "For 18th-century discoveries, around the time that Antoine Lavoisier first questioned the phlogiston theory, the recognition of a new \"earth\" has been regarded as being equivalent to the discovery of a new element (as was the general practice then). For some of the most common elements, this presents further difficulties as their compounds were widely known since medieval or even ancient times, and their true nature was only gradually discovered, so it is very difficult to name one specific discoverer. In such cases the first publication on their chemistry is noted, and a longer explanation given in the notes.",
"title": "Modern discoveries"
}
] | The discovery of the 118 chemical elements known to exist as of 2023 is presented here in chronological order. The elements are listed generally in the order in which each was first defined as the pure element, as the exact date of discovery of most elements cannot be accurately determined. There are plans to synthesize more elements, and it is not known how many elements are possible. Each element's name, atomic number, year of first report, name of the discoverer, and notes related to the discovery are listed. | 2001-10-23T13:21:15Z | 2023-12-26T01:48:44Z | [
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"Template:Lang",
"Template:Chem",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Navbox periodic table",
"Template:Sidebar periodic table",
"Template:Element cell",
"Template:Harvnb",
"Template:Branches of chemistry",
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"Template:Clarify",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Ullmann",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Element cell-asterisk"
] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_chemical_element_discoveries |
8,202 | Diatonic scale | In music theory, a diatonic scale is any heptatonic scale that includes five whole steps (whole tones) and two half steps (semitones) in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps, depending on their position in the scale. This pattern ensures that, in a diatonic scale spanning more than one octave, all the half steps are maximally separated from each other (i.e. separated by at least two whole steps).
The seven pitches of any diatonic scale can also be obtained by using a chain of six perfect fifths. For instance, the seven natural pitch classes that form the C-major scale can be obtained from a stack of perfect fifths starting from F:
Any sequence of seven successive natural notes, such as C–D–E–F–G–A–B, and any transposition thereof, is a diatonic scale. Modern musical keyboards are designed so that the white-key notes form a diatonic scale, though transpositions of this diatonic scale require one or more black keys. A diatonic scale can be also described as two tetrachords separated by a whole tone. In musical set theory, Allen Forte classifies diatonic scales as set form 7–35.
The term diatonic originally referred to the diatonic genus, one of the three genera of the ancient Greeks, and comes from Ancient Greek: διατονικός, romanized: diatonikós, of uncertain etymology. Most likely, it refers to the intervals being "stretched out" in that tuning, in contrast to the other two genera (chromatic and enharmonic).
This article does not concern alternative seven-note scales such as the harmonic minor or the melodic minor which, although sometimes called "diatonic", do not fulfill the condition of maximal separation of the semitones indicated above.
Western music from the Middle Ages until the late 19th century (see common practice period) is based on the diatonic scale and the unique hierarchical relationships created by this system of organizing seven notes.
Canadian musicologist Bob Fink concluded from his analysis of the 45,000-year-old Divje Babe flute that it "could produce four notes ... of a minor diatonic scale" and that this suggests human perception of "what constitutes harmony is at least partly hard wired".
Evidence that the Sumerians and Babylonians used a version of the diatonic scale is found in cuneiform inscriptions that contain both musical compositions and a tuning system. Despite the conjectural nature of reconstructions of the Hurrian songs, the diatonic nature of the tuning system is demonstrated by the fact that it involves a series of six perfect fifths, which is a recipe for the construction of a diatonic scale.
The 9,000-year-old flutes found in Jiahu, China, indicate the evolution over 1,200 years of flutes having 4, 5 and 6 holes to having 7 and 8 holes, the latter exhibiting striking similarity to diatonic hole spacings and sounds.
The scales corresponding to the medieval church modes were diatonic. Depending on which of the seven notes of the diatonic scale you use as the beginning, the positions of the intervals fall at different distances from the starting tone (the "reference note"), producing seven different scales. One of these, the one starting on B, has no pure fifth above its reference note (B–F is a diminished fifth): it is probably for this reason that it was not used. Of the six remaining scales, two were described as corresponding to two others with a B♭ instead of a B♮:
As a result, medieval theory described the church modes as corresponding to four diatonic scales only (two of which had the variable B♮/♭). They were the modern Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, and Mixolydian modes of C major, plus the Aeolian and Ionian modes of F major when B♭ was substituted into the Dorian and Lydian modes of C major, respectively.
Heinrich Glarean considered that the modal scales including a B♭ had to be the result of a transposition. In his Dodecachordon, he not only described six "natural" diatonic scales (still neglecting the seventh one with a diminished fifth above the reference note), but also six "transposed" ones, each including a B♭, resulting in the total of twelve scales that justified the title of his treatise. These were the 6 non-Locrian modes of C major and F major.
By the beginning of the Baroque period, the notion of the musical key was established, describing additional possible transpositions of the diatonic scale. Major and minor scales came to dominate until at least the start of the 20th century, partly because their intervallic patterns are suited to the reinforcement of a central triad. Some church modes survived into the early 18th century, as well as appearing in classical and 20th-century music, and jazz (see chord-scale system).
Of Glarean's six natural scales, three have a major third/first triad: (Ionian, Lydian, and Mixolydian), and three have a minor one: Dorian, Phrygian, and Aeolian). To these may be added the seventh diatonic scale, with a diminished fifth above the reference note, the Locrian scale. These could be transposed not only to include one flat in the signature (as described by Glarean), but to all twelve notes of the chromatic scale, resulting in a total of eighty-four diatonic scales.
The modern musical keyboard originated as a diatonic keyboard with only white keys. The black keys were progressively added for several purposes:
The pattern of elementary intervals forming the diatonic scale can be represented either by the letters T (Tone) and S (Semitone) respectively. With this abbreviation, major scale, for instance, can be represented as
The major scale or Ionian mode is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth that duplicates the first an octave higher. The pattern of seven intervals separating the eight notes is T–T–S–T–T–T–S. In solfège, the syllables used to name each degree of the scale are Do–Re–Mi–Fa–Sol–La–Ti–Do. A sequence of successive natural notes starting from C is an example of major scale, called C-major scale.
The eight degrees of the scale are also known by traditional names, especially when used in a tonal context:
For each major scale, there is a corresponding natural minor scale, sometimes called its relative minor. It uses the same sequence of notes as the corresponding major scale but starts from a different note. That is, it begins on the sixth degree of the major scale and proceeds step-by-step to the first octave of the sixth degree. A sequence of successive natural notes starting from A is an example of a natural minor scale, called the A natural minor scale.
The degrees of the natural minor scale, especially in a tonal context, have the same names as those of the major scale, except the seventh degree, which is known as the subtonic because it is a whole step below the tonic. The term leading tone is generally reserved for seventh degrees that are a half step (semitone) below the tonic, as is the case in the major scale.
Besides the natural minor scale, five other kinds of scales can be obtained from the notes of a major scale, by simply choosing a different note as the starting note. All these scales meet the definition of diatonic scale.
The whole collection of diatonic scales as defined above can be divided into seven different scales.
As explained above, all major scales use the same interval sequence T–T–S–T–T–T–S. This interval sequence was called the Ionian mode by Glarean. It is one of the seven modern modes. From any major scale, a new scale is obtained by taking a different degree as the tonic. With this method it is possible to generate six other scales or modes from each major scale. Another way to describe the same result would be to consider that, behind the diatonic scales, there exists an underlying diatonic system which is the series of diatonic notes without a reference note; assigning the reference note in turn to each of the seven notes in each octave of the system produces seven diatonic scales, each characterized by a different interval sequence:
The first column examples shown above are formed by natural notes (i.e. neither sharps nor flats, also called "white-notes", as they can be played using the white keys of a piano keyboard). However, any transposition of each of these scales (or of the system underlying them) is a valid example of the corresponding mode. In other words, transposition preserves mode. This is shown in the second column, with each mode transposed to start on C.
The whole set of diatonic scales is commonly defined as the set composed of these seven natural-note scales, together with all of their possible transpositions. As discussed elsewhere, different definitions of this set are sometimes adopted in the literature.
A diatonic scale can be also described as two tetrachords separated by a whole tone. For example, under this view the two tetrachord structures of C major would be:
each tetrachord being formed of two tones and a semitone, T–T–S,
and the natural minor of A would be:
formed two different tetrachords, the first consisting in a semitone between two tones, T–S–T, and the second of a semitone and two tones, S–T–T.
The medieval conception of the tetrachordal structure, however, was based on one single tetrachord, that of the D scale,
each formed of a semitone between tones, T–S–T. It viewed other diatonic scales as differently overlapping disjunct and conjunct tetrachords:
(where G | A indicates the disjunction of tetrachords, always between G and A, and D = D indicates their conjunction, always on the common note D).
Diatonic scales can be tuned variously, either by iteration of a perfect or tempered fifth, or by a combination of perfect fifths and perfect thirds (Just intonation), or possibly by a combination of fifths and thirds of various sizes, as in well temperament.
If the scale is produced by the iteration of six perfect fifths, for instance F–C–G–D–A–E–B, the result is Pythagorean tuning:
This tuning dates to Ancient Mesopotamia (see Music of Mesopotamia § Music theory), and was done by alternating ascending fifths with descending fourths (equal to an ascending fifth followed by a descending octave), resulting in the notes of a pentatonic or heptatonic scale falling within an octave.
Six of the "fifth" intervals (C–G, D–A, E–B, F–C', G–D', A–E') are all 3⁄2 = 1.5 (701.955 cents), but B–F' is the discordant tritone, here 729⁄512 = 1.423828125 (611.73 cents). Tones are each 9⁄8 = 1.125 (203.91 cents) and diatonic semitones are 256⁄243 ≈ 1.0535 (90.225 cents).
Extending the series of fifths to eleven fifths would result into the Pythagorean chromatic scale.
Equal temperament is the division of the octave in twelve equal semitones. The frequency ratio of the semitone then becomes the twelfth root of two (√2 ≈ 1.059463, 100 cents). The tone is the sum of two semitone. Its ratio is the sixth root of two (√2 ≈ 1.122462, 200 cents). Equal temperament can be produced by a succession of tempered fifths, each of them with the ratio of 2 ≈ 1.498307, 700 cents.
The fifths could be tempered more than in equal temperament, in order to produce better thirds. See quarter-comma meantone for a meantone temperament commonly used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and sometimes after, which produces perfect major thirds.
Just intonation often is represented using Leonhard Euler's Tonnetz, with the horizontal axis showing the perfect fifths and the vertical axis the perfect major thirds. In the Tonnetz, the diatonic scale in just intonation appears as follows:
F–A, C–E and G–B, aligned vertically, are perfect major thirds; A–E–B and F–C–G–D are two series of perfect fifths. The notes of the top line, A, E and B, are lowered by the syntonic comma, 81⁄80, and the "wolf" fifth D–A is too narrow by the same amount. The tritone F–B is 45⁄32 ≈ 1.40625.
This tuning has been first described by Ptolemy and is known as Ptolemy's intense diatonic scale. It was also mentioned by Zarlino in the 16th century and has been described by theorists in the 17th and 18th centuries as the "natural" scale.
Since the frequency ratios are based on simple powers of the prime numbers 2, 3, and 5, this is also known as five-limit tuning. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "In music theory, a diatonic scale is any heptatonic scale that includes five whole steps (whole tones) and two half steps (semitones) in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps, depending on their position in the scale. This pattern ensures that, in a diatonic scale spanning more than one octave, all the half steps are maximally separated from each other (i.e. separated by at least two whole steps).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The seven pitches of any diatonic scale can also be obtained by using a chain of six perfect fifths. For instance, the seven natural pitch classes that form the C-major scale can be obtained from a stack of perfect fifths starting from F:",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Any sequence of seven successive natural notes, such as C–D–E–F–G–A–B, and any transposition thereof, is a diatonic scale. Modern musical keyboards are designed so that the white-key notes form a diatonic scale, though transpositions of this diatonic scale require one or more black keys. A diatonic scale can be also described as two tetrachords separated by a whole tone. In musical set theory, Allen Forte classifies diatonic scales as set form 7–35.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The term diatonic originally referred to the diatonic genus, one of the three genera of the ancient Greeks, and comes from Ancient Greek: διατονικός, romanized: diatonikós, of uncertain etymology. Most likely, it refers to the intervals being \"stretched out\" in that tuning, in contrast to the other two genera (chromatic and enharmonic).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "This article does not concern alternative seven-note scales such as the harmonic minor or the melodic minor which, although sometimes called \"diatonic\", do not fulfill the condition of maximal separation of the semitones indicated above.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Western music from the Middle Ages until the late 19th century (see common practice period) is based on the diatonic scale and the unique hierarchical relationships created by this system of organizing seven notes.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Canadian musicologist Bob Fink concluded from his analysis of the 45,000-year-old Divje Babe flute that it \"could produce four notes ... of a minor diatonic scale\" and that this suggests human perception of \"what constitutes harmony is at least partly hard wired\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Evidence that the Sumerians and Babylonians used a version of the diatonic scale is found in cuneiform inscriptions that contain both musical compositions and a tuning system. Despite the conjectural nature of reconstructions of the Hurrian songs, the diatonic nature of the tuning system is demonstrated by the fact that it involves a series of six perfect fifths, which is a recipe for the construction of a diatonic scale.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The 9,000-year-old flutes found in Jiahu, China, indicate the evolution over 1,200 years of flutes having 4, 5 and 6 holes to having 7 and 8 holes, the latter exhibiting striking similarity to diatonic hole spacings and sounds.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The scales corresponding to the medieval church modes were diatonic. Depending on which of the seven notes of the diatonic scale you use as the beginning, the positions of the intervals fall at different distances from the starting tone (the \"reference note\"), producing seven different scales. One of these, the one starting on B, has no pure fifth above its reference note (B–F is a diminished fifth): it is probably for this reason that it was not used. Of the six remaining scales, two were described as corresponding to two others with a B♭ instead of a B♮:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "As a result, medieval theory described the church modes as corresponding to four diatonic scales only (two of which had the variable B♮/♭). They were the modern Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, and Mixolydian modes of C major, plus the Aeolian and Ionian modes of F major when B♭ was substituted into the Dorian and Lydian modes of C major, respectively.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Heinrich Glarean considered that the modal scales including a B♭ had to be the result of a transposition. In his Dodecachordon, he not only described six \"natural\" diatonic scales (still neglecting the seventh one with a diminished fifth above the reference note), but also six \"transposed\" ones, each including a B♭, resulting in the total of twelve scales that justified the title of his treatise. These were the 6 non-Locrian modes of C major and F major.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "By the beginning of the Baroque period, the notion of the musical key was established, describing additional possible transpositions of the diatonic scale. Major and minor scales came to dominate until at least the start of the 20th century, partly because their intervallic patterns are suited to the reinforcement of a central triad. Some church modes survived into the early 18th century, as well as appearing in classical and 20th-century music, and jazz (see chord-scale system).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Of Glarean's six natural scales, three have a major third/first triad: (Ionian, Lydian, and Mixolydian), and three have a minor one: Dorian, Phrygian, and Aeolian). To these may be added the seventh diatonic scale, with a diminished fifth above the reference note, the Locrian scale. These could be transposed not only to include one flat in the signature (as described by Glarean), but to all twelve notes of the chromatic scale, resulting in a total of eighty-four diatonic scales.",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The modern musical keyboard originated as a diatonic keyboard with only white keys. The black keys were progressively added for several purposes:",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The pattern of elementary intervals forming the diatonic scale can be represented either by the letters T (Tone) and S (Semitone) respectively. With this abbreviation, major scale, for instance, can be represented as",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The major scale or Ionian mode is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth that duplicates the first an octave higher. The pattern of seven intervals separating the eight notes is T–T–S–T–T–T–S. In solfège, the syllables used to name each degree of the scale are Do–Re–Mi–Fa–Sol–La–Ti–Do. A sequence of successive natural notes starting from C is an example of major scale, called C-major scale.",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The eight degrees of the scale are also known by traditional names, especially when used in a tonal context:",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "For each major scale, there is a corresponding natural minor scale, sometimes called its relative minor. It uses the same sequence of notes as the corresponding major scale but starts from a different note. That is, it begins on the sixth degree of the major scale and proceeds step-by-step to the first octave of the sixth degree. A sequence of successive natural notes starting from A is an example of a natural minor scale, called the A natural minor scale.",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The degrees of the natural minor scale, especially in a tonal context, have the same names as those of the major scale, except the seventh degree, which is known as the subtonic because it is a whole step below the tonic. The term leading tone is generally reserved for seventh degrees that are a half step (semitone) below the tonic, as is the case in the major scale.",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Besides the natural minor scale, five other kinds of scales can be obtained from the notes of a major scale, by simply choosing a different note as the starting note. All these scales meet the definition of diatonic scale.",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The whole collection of diatonic scales as defined above can be divided into seven different scales.",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "As explained above, all major scales use the same interval sequence T–T–S–T–T–T–S. This interval sequence was called the Ionian mode by Glarean. It is one of the seven modern modes. From any major scale, a new scale is obtained by taking a different degree as the tonic. With this method it is possible to generate six other scales or modes from each major scale. Another way to describe the same result would be to consider that, behind the diatonic scales, there exists an underlying diatonic system which is the series of diatonic notes without a reference note; assigning the reference note in turn to each of the seven notes in each octave of the system produces seven diatonic scales, each characterized by a different interval sequence:",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The first column examples shown above are formed by natural notes (i.e. neither sharps nor flats, also called \"white-notes\", as they can be played using the white keys of a piano keyboard). However, any transposition of each of these scales (or of the system underlying them) is a valid example of the corresponding mode. In other words, transposition preserves mode. This is shown in the second column, with each mode transposed to start on C.",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The whole set of diatonic scales is commonly defined as the set composed of these seven natural-note scales, together with all of their possible transpositions. As discussed elsewhere, different definitions of this set are sometimes adopted in the literature.",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "A diatonic scale can be also described as two tetrachords separated by a whole tone. For example, under this view the two tetrachord structures of C major would be:",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "each tetrachord being formed of two tones and a semitone, T–T–S,",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "and the natural minor of A would be:",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "formed two different tetrachords, the first consisting in a semitone between two tones, T–S–T, and the second of a semitone and two tones, S–T–T.",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "The medieval conception of the tetrachordal structure, however, was based on one single tetrachord, that of the D scale,",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "each formed of a semitone between tones, T–S–T. It viewed other diatonic scales as differently overlapping disjunct and conjunct tetrachords:",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "(where G | A indicates the disjunction of tetrachords, always between G and A, and D = D indicates their conjunction, always on the common note D).",
"title": "Theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Diatonic scales can be tuned variously, either by iteration of a perfect or tempered fifth, or by a combination of perfect fifths and perfect thirds (Just intonation), or possibly by a combination of fifths and thirds of various sizes, as in well temperament.",
"title": "Tuning"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "If the scale is produced by the iteration of six perfect fifths, for instance F–C–G–D–A–E–B, the result is Pythagorean tuning:",
"title": "Tuning"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "This tuning dates to Ancient Mesopotamia (see Music of Mesopotamia § Music theory), and was done by alternating ascending fifths with descending fourths (equal to an ascending fifth followed by a descending octave), resulting in the notes of a pentatonic or heptatonic scale falling within an octave.",
"title": "Tuning"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Six of the \"fifth\" intervals (C–G, D–A, E–B, F–C', G–D', A–E') are all 3⁄2 = 1.5 (701.955 cents), but B–F' is the discordant tritone, here 729⁄512 = 1.423828125 (611.73 cents). Tones are each 9⁄8 = 1.125 (203.91 cents) and diatonic semitones are 256⁄243 ≈ 1.0535 (90.225 cents).",
"title": "Tuning"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Extending the series of fifths to eleven fifths would result into the Pythagorean chromatic scale.",
"title": "Tuning"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Equal temperament is the division of the octave in twelve equal semitones. The frequency ratio of the semitone then becomes the twelfth root of two (√2 ≈ 1.059463, 100 cents). The tone is the sum of two semitone. Its ratio is the sixth root of two (√2 ≈ 1.122462, 200 cents). Equal temperament can be produced by a succession of tempered fifths, each of them with the ratio of 2 ≈ 1.498307, 700 cents.",
"title": "Tuning"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "The fifths could be tempered more than in equal temperament, in order to produce better thirds. See quarter-comma meantone for a meantone temperament commonly used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and sometimes after, which produces perfect major thirds.",
"title": "Tuning"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Just intonation often is represented using Leonhard Euler's Tonnetz, with the horizontal axis showing the perfect fifths and the vertical axis the perfect major thirds. In the Tonnetz, the diatonic scale in just intonation appears as follows:",
"title": "Tuning"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "F–A, C–E and G–B, aligned vertically, are perfect major thirds; A–E–B and F–C–G–D are two series of perfect fifths. The notes of the top line, A, E and B, are lowered by the syntonic comma, 81⁄80, and the \"wolf\" fifth D–A is too narrow by the same amount. The tritone F–B is 45⁄32 ≈ 1.40625.",
"title": "Tuning"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "This tuning has been first described by Ptolemy and is known as Ptolemy's intense diatonic scale. It was also mentioned by Zarlino in the 16th century and has been described by theorists in the 17th and 18th centuries as the \"natural\" scale.",
"title": "Tuning"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Since the frequency ratios are based on simple powers of the prime numbers 2, 3, and 5, this is also known as five-limit tuning.",
"title": "Tuning"
}
] | In music theory, a diatonic scale is any heptatonic scale that includes five whole steps and two half steps (semitones) in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps, depending on their position in the scale. This pattern ensures that, in a diatonic scale spanning more than one octave, all the half steps are maximally separated from each other. The seven pitches of any diatonic scale can also be obtained by using a chain of six perfect fifths. For instance, the seven natural pitch classes that form the C-major scale can be obtained from a stack of perfect fifths starting from F: Any sequence of seven successive natural notes, such as C–D–E–F–G–A–B, and any transposition thereof, is a diatonic scale. Modern musical keyboards are designed so that the white-key notes form a diatonic scale, though transpositions of this diatonic scale require one or more black keys. A diatonic scale can be also described as two tetrachords separated by a whole tone. In musical set theory, Allen Forte classifies diatonic scales as set form 7–35. The term diatonic originally referred to the diatonic genus, one of the three genera of the ancient Greeks, and comes from Ancient Greek: διατονικός, romanized: diatonikós, of uncertain etymology. Most likely, it refers to the intervals being "stretched out" in that tuning, in contrast to the other two genera. This article does not concern alternative seven-note scales such as the harmonic minor or the melodic minor which, although sometimes called "diatonic", do not fulfill the condition of maximal separation of the semitones indicated above. | 2001-07-10T17:13:26Z | 2023-11-30T16:56:12Z | [
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8,203 | Deutschlandlied | The "Deutschlandlied" (German pronunciation: [ˈdɔʏtʃlantˌliːt] ; "Song of Germany"), officially titled "Das Lied der Deutschen" (German: [das ˌliːt dɛːʁ ˈdɔʏtʃn̩]; "The Song of the Germans"), has been the national anthem of Germany either wholly or in part since 1922, except for a seven-year gap following World War II in West Germany. In East Germany, the national anthem was "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" ("Risen from Ruins") between 1949 and 1990.
Since World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany, only the third stanza has been used as the national anthem. Its phrase "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" ("Unity and Justice and Freedom") is considered the unofficial national motto of Germany, and is inscribed on modern German Army belt buckles and the rims of some German coins.
The music is the hymn "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser", written in 1797 by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn as an anthem for the birthday of Francis II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and later of Austria. In 1841, the German linguist and poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the lyrics of "Das Lied der Deutschen" as a new text for that music, counterposing the national unification of Germany to the eulogy of a monarch: lyrics that were considered revolutionary at the time.
The "Deutschlandlied" was adopted as the national anthem of Germany in 1922, during the Weimar Republic, to which all three stanzas were used. West Germany retained it as its official national anthem in 1952, with only the third stanza sung on official occasions. After German reunification in 1990, in 1991 only the third stanza was reconfirmed as the national anthem. It is discouraged, although not illegal, to perform the first stanza (or to some degree, the second), due to association with the Nazi regime.
The "Deutschlandlied" is also well known by the incipit and refrain of the first stanza, "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" ("Germany, Germany above all"), but this has never been its title. This line originally meant that the most important aim of 19th-century German liberal revolutionaries should be a unified Germany which would overcome loyalties to the local kingdoms, principalities, duchies and palatines (Kleinstaaterei) of then-fragmented Germany, essentially that the idea of a unified Germany should be above all else. Only later, and especially in Nazi Germany, did these words come to imply German superiority over and domination of other countries.
The melody of the "Deutschlandlied", also known as “the Austria tune”, was written by Joseph Haydn in 1797 to provide music to the poem "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" ("God save Francis the Emperor") by Lorenz Leopold Haschka. The song was a birthday anthem honouring Francis II (1768–1835), Habsburg emperor, and was intended as a parallel to Great Britain's "God Save the King". Haydn's work is sometimes called the "Emperor's Hymn" (Kaiserhymne). It was the music of the National Anthem of Austria-Hungary until the abolition of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918. It is often used as the musical basis for the hymn "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken".
It has been conjectured that Haydn took the first four measures of the melody from a Croatian folk song. This hypothesis has never achieved unanimous agreement; an alternative theory reverses the direction of transmission, positing that Haydn's melody was adapted as a folk tune. For further discussion, see Haydn and folk music.
Haydn later used the hymn as the basis for the second movement (Poco adagio cantabile) of his String Quartet No. 62 in C major, Opus 76 No. 3, often called the "Emperor" or "Kaiser" quartet.
The Holy Roman Empire, stemming from the Middle Ages, was already disintegrating when the French Revolution and the ensuing Napoleonic Wars altered the political map of Central Europe. However, hopes for human rights and republican government after Napoleon's defeat in 1815 were dashed when the Congress of Vienna reinstated many small German principalities. In addition, with the Carlsbad Decrees of 1819, Austrian Chancellor Klemens von Metternich and his secret police enforced censorship, mainly in universities, to keep a watch on the activities of teachers and students, whom he held responsible for the spread of radical liberalist ideas. Since reactionaries among the monarchs were the main adversaries, demands for freedom of the press and other liberal rights were most often uttered in connection with the demand for a united Germany, even though many revolutionaries-to-be held differing opinions over whether a republic or a constitutional monarchy would be the best solution for Germany.
The German Confederation (Deutscher Bund, 1815–1866) was a federation of 35 monarchical states and four republican free cities, with a Federal Assembly in Frankfurt. The federation was essentially a military alliance, but it was also abused by the larger powers to oppress liberal and national movements. Another federation, the German Customs Union (Zollverein) was formed among the majority of the states in 1834. In 1840 Hoffmann wrote a song about the Zollverein, also to Haydn's melody, in which he ironically praised the free trade of German goods which brought Germans and Germany closer.
After the 1848 March Revolution, the German Confederation handed over its authority to the Frankfurt Parliament. For a short period in the late 1840s, Germany was united with the borders described in the anthem, and a democratic constitution was being drafted, and with the black-red-gold flag representing it. However, after 1849, the two largest German monarchies, Prussia and Austria, put an end to this liberal movement towards national unification.
August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the text in 1841 while on holiday on the North Sea island Heligoland, then a possession of the United Kingdom (now part of Germany).
Hoffmann von Fallersleben intended "Das Lied der Deutschen" to be sung to Haydn's tune; the first publication of the poem included the music. The first line, "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, über alles in der Welt" (usually translated into English as "Germany, Germany above all, above all in the world"), was an appeal to the various German monarchs to give the creation of a united Germany a higher priority than the independence of their small states. In the third stanza, with a call for "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" (unity and justice and freedom), Hoffmann expressed his desire for a united and free Germany where the rule of law, not arbitrary monarchy, would prevail.
In the era after the Congress of Vienna, influenced by Metternich and his secret police, Hoffmann's text had a distinctly revolutionary and at the same time liberal connotation, since the appeal for a united Germany was most often made in connection with demands for freedom of the press and other civil rights. Its implication that loyalty to a larger Germany should replace loyalty to one's local sovereign was then a revolutionary idea.
The year after he wrote "Das Deutschlandlied", Hoffmann lost his job as a librarian and professor in Breslau, Prussia (now Wrocław, Poland) because of this and other revolutionary works, and was forced into hiding until he was pardoned following the revolutions of 1848 in the German states.
Only the third stanza is used as the modern German national anthem.
The melody of the "Deutschlandlied" was originally written by Joseph Haydn in 1797 to provide music to the poem "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" ("God save Franz the Emperor") by Lorenz Leopold Haschka. The song was a birthday anthem to Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor of the House of Habsburg, and was intended to rival in merit the British "God Save the King".
After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" became the official anthem of the emperor of the Austrian Empire. After the death of Francis II new lyrics were composed in 1854, Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze, that mentioned the Emperor, but not by name. With those new lyrics, the song continued to be the anthem of Imperial Austria and later of Austria-Hungary. Austrian monarchists continued to use this anthem after 1918 in the hope of restoring the monarchy. The adoption of the Austrian anthem's melody by Germany in 1922 was not opposed by Austria.
"Das Lied der Deutschen" was not played at an official ceremony until Germany and the United Kingdom had agreed on the Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty in 1890, when it appeared only appropriate to sing it at the ceremony on the now officially German island of Heligoland. During the time of the German Empire, it became one of the most widely known patriotic songs.
The song became very popular after the 1914 Battle of Langemarck during World War I, when, supposedly, several German regiments, consisting mostly of students no older than 20, attacked the British lines on the Western front while singing the song, suffering heavy casualties. They are buried in the Langemark German war cemetery in Belgium.
By December of 1914, according to George Haven Putnam, Deutschland über alles had "come to express the . . . war spirit of the Fatherland" and "the supremacy of Germans over all other peoples", despite being, in past years, "an expression simply of patriotic devotion". Morris Jastrow Jr., then an American apologist for Germany, maintained that it meant only "that Germany is dearer to Germans than anything else". J. William White wrote into the Public Ledger to confirm Putnam's view.
The melody used by the "Deutschlandlied" was still in use as the anthem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until its demise in 1918. On 11 August 1922, German President Friedrich Ebert, a Social Democrat, made the "Deutschlandlied" the official German national anthem. In 1919 the black, red and gold tricolour, the colours of the 19th century liberal revolutionaries advocated by the political left and centre, was adopted (rather than the previous black, white and red of Imperial Germany). Thus, in a political trade-off, the conservative right was granted a nationalistic composition, although Ebert continued to advocate the use of the third stanza only (as after World War II).
During the Nazi era, only the first stanza was used, followed by the SA song "Horst-Wessel-Lied". It was played at occasions of great national significance, such as the opening of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, when Hitler and his entourage, along with Olympic officials, walked into the stadium amid a chorus of three thousand Germans singing "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles". In this way, the first stanza became closely identified with the Nazi regime.
After its founding in 1949, West Germany did not have a national anthem for official events for some years, despite a growing need for one for the purpose of diplomatic procedures. In lieu of an official national anthem, popular German songs such as the "Trizonesien-Song", a self-deprecating carnival song, were used at some sporting events. A variety of musical compositions was used or discussed, such as the finale of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which is a musical setting of Friedrich Schiller's poem "An die Freude" ("Ode to Joy"). Though the black, red and gold colours of the national flag had been incorporated into Article 22 of the (West) German constitution, no national anthem had been specified. On 29 April 1952, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer asked President Theodor Heuss in a letter to accept "Das Lied der Deutschen" as the national anthem, with only the third stanza to be sung on official occasions. However, the first and second stanzas were not outlawed, contrary to popular belief. President Heuss agreed to this on 2 May 1952. This exchange of letters was published in the Bulletin of the Federal Government. Since it was viewed as the traditional right of the President as head of state to set the symbols of the state, the "Deutschlandlied" thus became the national anthem.
Meanwhile, East Germany had adopted its own national anthem, "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" ("Risen from Ruins"). As the lyrics of this anthem called for "Germany, united Fatherland", they were no longer officially used from approximately 1972 onwards, when East Germany abandoned its goal of uniting Germany under communism. By design, with slight adaptations, the lyrics of "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" can be sung to the melody of the "Deutschlandlied" and vice versa.
In the 1970s and 1980s, efforts were made by conservatives in Germany to reclaim all three stanzas for the national anthem. The Christian Democratic Union of Baden-Württemberg, for instance, attempted twice (in 1985 and 1986) to require German high school students to study all three stanzas, and in 1989, CDU politician Christean Wagner decreed that all high school students in Hesse were to memorise the three stanzas.
On 7 March 1990, months before reunification, the Federal Constitutional Court declared only the third stanza of Hoffmann's poem to be legally protected as a national anthem under German criminal law; Section 90a of the Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch) makes defamation of the national anthem a crime, but does not specify what the national anthem is. This did not mean that stanzas one and two were no longer part of the national anthem, but that their peculiar status as "part of the [national] anthem but unsung" disqualified them for penal law protection, since the penal law must be interpreted in the narrowest manner possible.
In November 1991, President Richard von Weizsäcker and Chancellor Helmut Kohl agreed in an exchange of letters to declare the third stanza alone to be the national anthem of the reunified republic. Hence, as of then, the national anthem of Germany is unmistakably the third stanza of the "Deutschlandlied", and only this stanza, set to Haydn's music.
The incipit of the third stanza, "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" ("Unity and Justice and Freedom"), is widely considered to be the national motto of Germany, although it has never been officially proclaimed as such. It appears on Bundeswehr soldiers' belt buckles (replacing the earlier "Gott mit uns" ("God with Us") of the Imperial German Army and the Nazi-era Wehrmacht) and on 2 euro coins minted in Germany, and on the edges of the obsolete 2 and 5 Deutsche Mark coins.
The first stanza, which is no longer part of the national anthem and is not sung on official occasions, names three rivers and one strait – the Meuse (Maas in German), Adige (Etsch) and Neman (Memel) Rivers and the Little Belt strait – as natural boundaries of the German Sprachbund. The song was written before German unification, and there was no intention to delineate borders of Germany as a nation-state. Nevertheless, these geographical references have been variously criticised as irredentist or misleading. Today, no part of any of these four natural boundaries lies in Germany. The Meuse and the Adige were parts of the German Confederation when the song was composed, and were no longer part of the German Reich as of 1871; the Little Belt strait and the Neman became German boundaries later (the Belt until 1920, and the Neman between 1920 and 1939).
None of these natural boundaries formed a distinct ethnic border. The Duchy of Schleswig (to which the Belt refers) was inhabited by both Germans and Danes, with the Danes forming a clear majority near the strait. Around the Adige there was a mix of German, Venetian and Gallo-Italian speakers, and the area around the Neman was not homogeneously German, but also accommodated Prussian Lithuanians. The Meuse (if taken as referencing the Duchy of Limburg, nominally part of the German Confederation for 28 years due to the political consequences of the Belgian Revolution) was ethnically Dutch, with few Germans.
Nevertheless, such nationalistic rhetoric was relatively common in 19th-century public discourse. For example, Georg Herwegh in his poem "The German Fleet" (1841) gives the Germans as the people "between the Po and the Sund" (Øresund), and in 1832 Philipp Jakob Siebenpfeiffer, a noted journalist, declared at the Hambach Festival that he considered all "between the Alps and the North Sea" to be Deutschtum (the ethnic and spiritual German community).
The anthem has frequently been criticised for its generally nationalistic tone, the immodest geographic definition of Germany given in the first stanza, and an alleged male-chauvinistic attitude in the second stanza. A relatively early critic was Friedrich Nietzsche, who called the grandiose claim in the first stanza "die blödsinnigste Parole der Welt" (the most idiotic slogan in the world), and in Thus Spoke Zarathustra said, "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles – I fear that was the end of German philosophy." The pacifist Kurt Tucholsky was another critic, who published in 1929 a photo book sarcastically titled Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, criticising right-wing groups in Germany.
German grammar distinguishes between über alles, i.e. above all else, and über alle[n], meaning "above everyone else". However, for propaganda purposes, the latter translation was endorsed by the Allies during World War I.
As the first stanza of the "Deutschlandlied" is historically associated with the Nazi regime and its crimes, the singing of the first stanza is considered taboo within modern German society. Although the first stanza is not forbidden within Germany based on the German legal system, any mention of the first stanza is considered to be incorrect, inaccurate, and improper during official settings and functions, within Germany or abroad.
In 1977, the German pop singer Heino produced a record of the song which included all three stanzas for use in primary schools in Baden-Württemberg. The inclusion of the first two stanzas was met with criticism at the time.
In 2009, the English rock musician Pete Doherty sang "Deutschlandlied" live on radio at Bayerischer Rundfunk in Munich with all three stanzas. As he sang the first stanza, he was booed by the audience. Three days later, Doherty's spokesperson declared that the singer was "not aware of the historical background and regrets the misunderstanding". A spokesperson for Bayerischer Rundfunk welcomed the apology, noting that further cooperation with Doherty would not have been possible otherwise.
When the first stanza was played as the German national anthem at the canoe sprint world championships in Hungary in August 2011, German athletes were reportedly "appalled". Eurosport, under the headline of "Nazi anthem", erroneously reported that "the first stanza of the piece [had been] banned in 1952."
Similarly, in 2017, the first stanza was mistakenly sung by Will Kimble, an American soloist, during the welcome ceremony of the Fed Cup tennis match between Andrea Petkovic (Germany) and Alison Riske (U.S.) at the Center Court in Lahaina, Hawaii. In an attempt to drown out the soloist, German tennis players and fans began to sing the third stanza instead.
Hoffmann von Fallersleben also intended the text to be used as a drinking song; the second stanza's toast to German wine, women and song is typical of this genre. The original Heligoland manuscript included a variant ending of the third stanza for such occasions:
An alternative version called "Kinderhymne" (Children's Hymn) was written by Bertolt Brecht shortly after his return from exile in the U.S. to a war-ravaged, bankrupt and geographically shrunken Germany at the end of World War II, and set to music by Hanns Eisler in the same year. It gained some currency after the 1990 unification of Germany, with a number of prominent Germans calling for his "antihymn" to be made official:
In the English version of this "antihymn", the second stanza refers ambiguously to "people" and "other folk", but the German version is more specific: the author encourages Germans to find ways to relieve the people of other nations from needing to flinch at the memory of things Germans have done in the past, so that people of other nations can feel ready to shake hands with a German again as they would with anyone else.
The German musician Nico sometimes performed the national anthem at concerts and dedicated it to militant Andreas Baader, leader of the Red Army Faction. She included a version of "Das Lied der Deutschen" on her 1974 album The End.... In 2006, the Slovenian industrial band Laibach incorporated Hoffmann's lyrics in a song titled "Germania", on the album Volk, which contains fourteen songs with adaptations of national anthems.
The German composer Max Reger quotes the "Deutschlandlied" in the final section of his collection of organ pieces Sieben Stücke, Op. 145, composed in 1915–16 when it was a patriotic song but not yet the national anthem.
An Afrikaans patriotic song, "Afrikaners Landgenote", has been written with an identical melody and similarly-structured lyrics to the "Deutschlandlied". The lyrics of this song consist of three stanzas, the first of which sets the boundaries of the Afrikaans homeland with the means of geographical areas, the second of which states the importance of "Afrikaans mothers, daughters, sun, and field", recalling the "German women, loyalty, wine, and song", and the third of which describes the importance of unity, justice, and freedom, along with love.
Sources | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The \"Deutschlandlied\" (German pronunciation: [ˈdɔʏtʃlantˌliːt] ; \"Song of Germany\"), officially titled \"Das Lied der Deutschen\" (German: [das ˌliːt dɛːʁ ˈdɔʏtʃn̩]; \"The Song of the Germans\"), has been the national anthem of Germany either wholly or in part since 1922, except for a seven-year gap following World War II in West Germany. In East Germany, the national anthem was \"Auferstanden aus Ruinen\" (\"Risen from Ruins\") between 1949 and 1990.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Since World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany, only the third stanza has been used as the national anthem. Its phrase \"Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit\" (\"Unity and Justice and Freedom\") is considered the unofficial national motto of Germany, and is inscribed on modern German Army belt buckles and the rims of some German coins.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The music is the hymn \"Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser\", written in 1797 by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn as an anthem for the birthday of Francis II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and later of Austria. In 1841, the German linguist and poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the lyrics of \"Das Lied der Deutschen\" as a new text for that music, counterposing the national unification of Germany to the eulogy of a monarch: lyrics that were considered revolutionary at the time.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The \"Deutschlandlied\" was adopted as the national anthem of Germany in 1922, during the Weimar Republic, to which all three stanzas were used. West Germany retained it as its official national anthem in 1952, with only the third stanza sung on official occasions. After German reunification in 1990, in 1991 only the third stanza was reconfirmed as the national anthem. It is discouraged, although not illegal, to perform the first stanza (or to some degree, the second), due to association with the Nazi regime.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The \"Deutschlandlied\" is also well known by the incipit and refrain of the first stanza, \"Deutschland, Deutschland über alles\" (\"Germany, Germany above all\"), but this has never been its title. This line originally meant that the most important aim of 19th-century German liberal revolutionaries should be a unified Germany which would overcome loyalties to the local kingdoms, principalities, duchies and palatines (Kleinstaaterei) of then-fragmented Germany, essentially that the idea of a unified Germany should be above all else. Only later, and especially in Nazi Germany, did these words come to imply German superiority over and domination of other countries.",
"title": "Title"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The melody of the \"Deutschlandlied\", also known as “the Austria tune”, was written by Joseph Haydn in 1797 to provide music to the poem \"Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser\" (\"God save Francis the Emperor\") by Lorenz Leopold Haschka. The song was a birthday anthem honouring Francis II (1768–1835), Habsburg emperor, and was intended as a parallel to Great Britain's \"God Save the King\". Haydn's work is sometimes called the \"Emperor's Hymn\" (Kaiserhymne). It was the music of the National Anthem of Austria-Hungary until the abolition of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918. It is often used as the musical basis for the hymn \"Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken\".",
"title": "Melody"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "It has been conjectured that Haydn took the first four measures of the melody from a Croatian folk song. This hypothesis has never achieved unanimous agreement; an alternative theory reverses the direction of transmission, positing that Haydn's melody was adapted as a folk tune. For further discussion, see Haydn and folk music.",
"title": "Melody"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Haydn later used the hymn as the basis for the second movement (Poco adagio cantabile) of his String Quartet No. 62 in C major, Opus 76 No. 3, often called the \"Emperor\" or \"Kaiser\" quartet.",
"title": "Melody"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "",
"title": "Melody"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The Holy Roman Empire, stemming from the Middle Ages, was already disintegrating when the French Revolution and the ensuing Napoleonic Wars altered the political map of Central Europe. However, hopes for human rights and republican government after Napoleon's defeat in 1815 were dashed when the Congress of Vienna reinstated many small German principalities. In addition, with the Carlsbad Decrees of 1819, Austrian Chancellor Klemens von Metternich and his secret police enforced censorship, mainly in universities, to keep a watch on the activities of teachers and students, whom he held responsible for the spread of radical liberalist ideas. Since reactionaries among the monarchs were the main adversaries, demands for freedom of the press and other liberal rights were most often uttered in connection with the demand for a united Germany, even though many revolutionaries-to-be held differing opinions over whether a republic or a constitutional monarchy would be the best solution for Germany.",
"title": "Historical background"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The German Confederation (Deutscher Bund, 1815–1866) was a federation of 35 monarchical states and four republican free cities, with a Federal Assembly in Frankfurt. The federation was essentially a military alliance, but it was also abused by the larger powers to oppress liberal and national movements. Another federation, the German Customs Union (Zollverein) was formed among the majority of the states in 1834. In 1840 Hoffmann wrote a song about the Zollverein, also to Haydn's melody, in which he ironically praised the free trade of German goods which brought Germans and Germany closer.",
"title": "Historical background"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "After the 1848 March Revolution, the German Confederation handed over its authority to the Frankfurt Parliament. For a short period in the late 1840s, Germany was united with the borders described in the anthem, and a democratic constitution was being drafted, and with the black-red-gold flag representing it. However, after 1849, the two largest German monarchies, Prussia and Austria, put an end to this liberal movement towards national unification.",
"title": "Historical background"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the text in 1841 while on holiday on the North Sea island Heligoland, then a possession of the United Kingdom (now part of Germany).",
"title": "Hoffmann's lyrics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Hoffmann von Fallersleben intended \"Das Lied der Deutschen\" to be sung to Haydn's tune; the first publication of the poem included the music. The first line, \"Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, über alles in der Welt\" (usually translated into English as \"Germany, Germany above all, above all in the world\"), was an appeal to the various German monarchs to give the creation of a united Germany a higher priority than the independence of their small states. In the third stanza, with a call for \"Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit\" (unity and justice and freedom), Hoffmann expressed his desire for a united and free Germany where the rule of law, not arbitrary monarchy, would prevail.",
"title": "Hoffmann's lyrics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "In the era after the Congress of Vienna, influenced by Metternich and his secret police, Hoffmann's text had a distinctly revolutionary and at the same time liberal connotation, since the appeal for a united Germany was most often made in connection with demands for freedom of the press and other civil rights. Its implication that loyalty to a larger Germany should replace loyalty to one's local sovereign was then a revolutionary idea.",
"title": "Hoffmann's lyrics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The year after he wrote \"Das Deutschlandlied\", Hoffmann lost his job as a librarian and professor in Breslau, Prussia (now Wrocław, Poland) because of this and other revolutionary works, and was forced into hiding until he was pardoned following the revolutions of 1848 in the German states.",
"title": "Hoffmann's lyrics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Only the third stanza is used as the modern German national anthem.",
"title": "Text"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The melody of the \"Deutschlandlied\" was originally written by Joseph Haydn in 1797 to provide music to the poem \"Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser\" (\"God save Franz the Emperor\") by Lorenz Leopold Haschka. The song was a birthday anthem to Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor of the House of Habsburg, and was intended to rival in merit the British \"God Save the King\".",
"title": "Use before 1922"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, \"Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser\" became the official anthem of the emperor of the Austrian Empire. After the death of Francis II new lyrics were composed in 1854, Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze, that mentioned the Emperor, but not by name. With those new lyrics, the song continued to be the anthem of Imperial Austria and later of Austria-Hungary. Austrian monarchists continued to use this anthem after 1918 in the hope of restoring the monarchy. The adoption of the Austrian anthem's melody by Germany in 1922 was not opposed by Austria.",
"title": "Use before 1922"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "\"Das Lied der Deutschen\" was not played at an official ceremony until Germany and the United Kingdom had agreed on the Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty in 1890, when it appeared only appropriate to sing it at the ceremony on the now officially German island of Heligoland. During the time of the German Empire, it became one of the most widely known patriotic songs.",
"title": "Use before 1922"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The song became very popular after the 1914 Battle of Langemarck during World War I, when, supposedly, several German regiments, consisting mostly of students no older than 20, attacked the British lines on the Western front while singing the song, suffering heavy casualties. They are buried in the Langemark German war cemetery in Belgium.",
"title": "Use before 1922"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "By December of 1914, according to George Haven Putnam, Deutschland über alles had \"come to express the . . . war spirit of the Fatherland\" and \"the supremacy of Germans over all other peoples\", despite being, in past years, \"an expression simply of patriotic devotion\". Morris Jastrow Jr., then an American apologist for Germany, maintained that it meant only \"that Germany is dearer to Germans than anything else\". J. William White wrote into the Public Ledger to confirm Putnam's view.",
"title": "Use before 1922"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The melody used by the \"Deutschlandlied\" was still in use as the anthem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until its demise in 1918. On 11 August 1922, German President Friedrich Ebert, a Social Democrat, made the \"Deutschlandlied\" the official German national anthem. In 1919 the black, red and gold tricolour, the colours of the 19th century liberal revolutionaries advocated by the political left and centre, was adopted (rather than the previous black, white and red of Imperial Germany). Thus, in a political trade-off, the conservative right was granted a nationalistic composition, although Ebert continued to advocate the use of the third stanza only (as after World War II).",
"title": "Official adoption"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "During the Nazi era, only the first stanza was used, followed by the SA song \"Horst-Wessel-Lied\". It was played at occasions of great national significance, such as the opening of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, when Hitler and his entourage, along with Olympic officials, walked into the stadium amid a chorus of three thousand Germans singing \"Deutschland, Deutschland über alles\". In this way, the first stanza became closely identified with the Nazi regime.",
"title": "Official adoption"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "After its founding in 1949, West Germany did not have a national anthem for official events for some years, despite a growing need for one for the purpose of diplomatic procedures. In lieu of an official national anthem, popular German songs such as the \"Trizonesien-Song\", a self-deprecating carnival song, were used at some sporting events. A variety of musical compositions was used or discussed, such as the finale of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which is a musical setting of Friedrich Schiller's poem \"An die Freude\" (\"Ode to Joy\"). Though the black, red and gold colours of the national flag had been incorporated into Article 22 of the (West) German constitution, no national anthem had been specified. On 29 April 1952, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer asked President Theodor Heuss in a letter to accept \"Das Lied der Deutschen\" as the national anthem, with only the third stanza to be sung on official occasions. However, the first and second stanzas were not outlawed, contrary to popular belief. President Heuss agreed to this on 2 May 1952. This exchange of letters was published in the Bulletin of the Federal Government. Since it was viewed as the traditional right of the President as head of state to set the symbols of the state, the \"Deutschlandlied\" thus became the national anthem.",
"title": "Use after World War II"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Meanwhile, East Germany had adopted its own national anthem, \"Auferstanden aus Ruinen\" (\"Risen from Ruins\"). As the lyrics of this anthem called for \"Germany, united Fatherland\", they were no longer officially used from approximately 1972 onwards, when East Germany abandoned its goal of uniting Germany under communism. By design, with slight adaptations, the lyrics of \"Auferstanden aus Ruinen\" can be sung to the melody of the \"Deutschlandlied\" and vice versa.",
"title": "Use after World War II"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "In the 1970s and 1980s, efforts were made by conservatives in Germany to reclaim all three stanzas for the national anthem. The Christian Democratic Union of Baden-Württemberg, for instance, attempted twice (in 1985 and 1986) to require German high school students to study all three stanzas, and in 1989, CDU politician Christean Wagner decreed that all high school students in Hesse were to memorise the three stanzas.",
"title": "Use after World War II"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "On 7 March 1990, months before reunification, the Federal Constitutional Court declared only the third stanza of Hoffmann's poem to be legally protected as a national anthem under German criminal law; Section 90a of the Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch) makes defamation of the national anthem a crime, but does not specify what the national anthem is. This did not mean that stanzas one and two were no longer part of the national anthem, but that their peculiar status as \"part of the [national] anthem but unsung\" disqualified them for penal law protection, since the penal law must be interpreted in the narrowest manner possible.",
"title": "Use after World War II"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In November 1991, President Richard von Weizsäcker and Chancellor Helmut Kohl agreed in an exchange of letters to declare the third stanza alone to be the national anthem of the reunified republic. Hence, as of then, the national anthem of Germany is unmistakably the third stanza of the \"Deutschlandlied\", and only this stanza, set to Haydn's music.",
"title": "Use after World War II"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "The incipit of the third stanza, \"Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit\" (\"Unity and Justice and Freedom\"), is widely considered to be the national motto of Germany, although it has never been officially proclaimed as such. It appears on Bundeswehr soldiers' belt buckles (replacing the earlier \"Gott mit uns\" (\"God with Us\") of the Imperial German Army and the Nazi-era Wehrmacht) and on 2 euro coins minted in Germany, and on the edges of the obsolete 2 and 5 Deutsche Mark coins.",
"title": "Use after World War II"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "The first stanza, which is no longer part of the national anthem and is not sung on official occasions, names three rivers and one strait – the Meuse (Maas in German), Adige (Etsch) and Neman (Memel) Rivers and the Little Belt strait – as natural boundaries of the German Sprachbund. The song was written before German unification, and there was no intention to delineate borders of Germany as a nation-state. Nevertheless, these geographical references have been variously criticised as irredentist or misleading. Today, no part of any of these four natural boundaries lies in Germany. The Meuse and the Adige were parts of the German Confederation when the song was composed, and were no longer part of the German Reich as of 1871; the Little Belt strait and the Neman became German boundaries later (the Belt until 1920, and the Neman between 1920 and 1939).",
"title": "Criticisms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "None of these natural boundaries formed a distinct ethnic border. The Duchy of Schleswig (to which the Belt refers) was inhabited by both Germans and Danes, with the Danes forming a clear majority near the strait. Around the Adige there was a mix of German, Venetian and Gallo-Italian speakers, and the area around the Neman was not homogeneously German, but also accommodated Prussian Lithuanians. The Meuse (if taken as referencing the Duchy of Limburg, nominally part of the German Confederation for 28 years due to the political consequences of the Belgian Revolution) was ethnically Dutch, with few Germans.",
"title": "Criticisms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Nevertheless, such nationalistic rhetoric was relatively common in 19th-century public discourse. For example, Georg Herwegh in his poem \"The German Fleet\" (1841) gives the Germans as the people \"between the Po and the Sund\" (Øresund), and in 1832 Philipp Jakob Siebenpfeiffer, a noted journalist, declared at the Hambach Festival that he considered all \"between the Alps and the North Sea\" to be Deutschtum (the ethnic and spiritual German community).",
"title": "Criticisms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "The anthem has frequently been criticised for its generally nationalistic tone, the immodest geographic definition of Germany given in the first stanza, and an alleged male-chauvinistic attitude in the second stanza. A relatively early critic was Friedrich Nietzsche, who called the grandiose claim in the first stanza \"die blödsinnigste Parole der Welt\" (the most idiotic slogan in the world), and in Thus Spoke Zarathustra said, \"Deutschland, Deutschland über alles – I fear that was the end of German philosophy.\" The pacifist Kurt Tucholsky was another critic, who published in 1929 a photo book sarcastically titled Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, criticising right-wing groups in Germany.",
"title": "Criticisms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "German grammar distinguishes between über alles, i.e. above all else, and über alle[n], meaning \"above everyone else\". However, for propaganda purposes, the latter translation was endorsed by the Allies during World War I.",
"title": "Criticisms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "As the first stanza of the \"Deutschlandlied\" is historically associated with the Nazi regime and its crimes, the singing of the first stanza is considered taboo within modern German society. Although the first stanza is not forbidden within Germany based on the German legal system, any mention of the first stanza is considered to be incorrect, inaccurate, and improper during official settings and functions, within Germany or abroad.",
"title": "Criticisms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "In 1977, the German pop singer Heino produced a record of the song which included all three stanzas for use in primary schools in Baden-Württemberg. The inclusion of the first two stanzas was met with criticism at the time.",
"title": "Criticisms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "In 2009, the English rock musician Pete Doherty sang \"Deutschlandlied\" live on radio at Bayerischer Rundfunk in Munich with all three stanzas. As he sang the first stanza, he was booed by the audience. Three days later, Doherty's spokesperson declared that the singer was \"not aware of the historical background and regrets the misunderstanding\". A spokesperson for Bayerischer Rundfunk welcomed the apology, noting that further cooperation with Doherty would not have been possible otherwise.",
"title": "Criticisms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "When the first stanza was played as the German national anthem at the canoe sprint world championships in Hungary in August 2011, German athletes were reportedly \"appalled\". Eurosport, under the headline of \"Nazi anthem\", erroneously reported that \"the first stanza of the piece [had been] banned in 1952.\"",
"title": "Criticisms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Similarly, in 2017, the first stanza was mistakenly sung by Will Kimble, an American soloist, during the welcome ceremony of the Fed Cup tennis match between Andrea Petkovic (Germany) and Alison Riske (U.S.) at the Center Court in Lahaina, Hawaii. In an attempt to drown out the soloist, German tennis players and fans began to sing the third stanza instead.",
"title": "Criticisms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Hoffmann von Fallersleben also intended the text to be used as a drinking song; the second stanza's toast to German wine, women and song is typical of this genre. The original Heligoland manuscript included a variant ending of the third stanza for such occasions:",
"title": "Variants and additions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "An alternative version called \"Kinderhymne\" (Children's Hymn) was written by Bertolt Brecht shortly after his return from exile in the U.S. to a war-ravaged, bankrupt and geographically shrunken Germany at the end of World War II, and set to music by Hanns Eisler in the same year. It gained some currency after the 1990 unification of Germany, with a number of prominent Germans calling for his \"antihymn\" to be made official:",
"title": "Variants and additions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "In the English version of this \"antihymn\", the second stanza refers ambiguously to \"people\" and \"other folk\", but the German version is more specific: the author encourages Germans to find ways to relieve the people of other nations from needing to flinch at the memory of things Germans have done in the past, so that people of other nations can feel ready to shake hands with a German again as they would with anyone else.",
"title": "Variants and additions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "The German musician Nico sometimes performed the national anthem at concerts and dedicated it to militant Andreas Baader, leader of the Red Army Faction. She included a version of \"Das Lied der Deutschen\" on her 1974 album The End.... In 2006, the Slovenian industrial band Laibach incorporated Hoffmann's lyrics in a song titled \"Germania\", on the album Volk, which contains fourteen songs with adaptations of national anthems.",
"title": "Variants and additions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "The German composer Max Reger quotes the \"Deutschlandlied\" in the final section of his collection of organ pieces Sieben Stücke, Op. 145, composed in 1915–16 when it was a patriotic song but not yet the national anthem.",
"title": "Variants and additions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "An Afrikaans patriotic song, \"Afrikaners Landgenote\", has been written with an identical melody and similarly-structured lyrics to the \"Deutschlandlied\". The lyrics of this song consist of three stanzas, the first of which sets the boundaries of the Afrikaans homeland with the means of geographical areas, the second of which states the importance of \"Afrikaans mothers, daughters, sun, and field\", recalling the \"German women, loyalty, wine, and song\", and the third of which describes the importance of unity, justice, and freedom, along with love.",
"title": "Variants and additions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Sources",
"title": "References"
}
] | The "Deutschlandlied", officially titled "Das Lied der Deutschen", has been the national anthem of Germany either wholly or in part since 1922, except for a seven-year gap following World War II in West Germany. In East Germany, the national anthem was "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" between 1949 and 1990. Since World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany, only the third stanza has been used as the national anthem. Its phrase "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" is considered the unofficial national motto of Germany, and is inscribed on modern German Army belt buckles and the rims of some German coins. The music is the hymn "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser", written in 1797 by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn as an anthem for the birthday of Francis II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and later of Austria. In 1841, the German linguist and poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the lyrics of "Das Lied der Deutschen" as a new text for that music, counterposing the national unification of Germany to the eulogy of a monarch: lyrics that were considered revolutionary at the time. The "Deutschlandlied" was adopted as the national anthem of Germany in 1922, during the Weimar Republic, to which all three stanzas were used. West Germany retained it as its official national anthem in 1952, with only the third stanza sung on official occasions. After German reunification in 1990, in 1991 only the third stanza was reconfirmed as the national anthem. It is discouraged, although not illegal, to perform the first stanza, due to association with the Nazi regime. | 2001-10-19T18:45:44Z | 2023-12-19T22:18:20Z | [
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8,204 | December 31 | December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. It is known by a collection of names including: Saint Sylvester's Day, New Year's Eve or Old Year’s Day/Night, as the following day is New Year's Day. It is the last day of the year; the following day is January 1, the first day of the following year. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. It is known by a collection of names including: Saint Sylvester's Day, New Year's Eve or Old Year’s Day/Night, as the following day is New Year's Day. It is the last day of the year; the following day is January 1, the first day of the following year.",
"title": ""
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] | December 31 is the 365th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. It is known by a collection of names including: Saint Sylvester's Day, New Year's Eve or Old Year’s Day/Night, as the following day is New Year's Day. It is the last day of the year; the following day is January 1, the first day of the following year. | 2001-08-10T17:30:35Z | 2023-12-31T22:56:48Z | [
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8,205 | Deng Xiaoping | Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Deng gradually rose to supreme power and led China through a series of far-reaching market-economy reforms earning him the reputation as the "Architect of Modern China".
Born in Sichuan during the end of the Qing dynasty, Deng moved to France in 1921 as a teenager, where he worked and studied; in the coming years he became attracted to the theories of Vladimir Lenin, and in 1924 he joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In early 1926, Deng travelled to Moscow to study political science, becoming a commissar for the Red Army upon his return to China. Near the end of 1929, Deng led local Red Army uprisings in Guangxi. In 1931, he was demoted within the party due to his support for Mao, but was again promoted during the Zunyi Conference. Deng was an important figure throughout the Chinese Civil War (1927–1949), including during the Long March (1934–1935) and in fighting against the Japanese (1937–1945). He, Liu Bocheng and Chen Yi led the newly formed People's Liberation Army (PLA) into the former Kuomintang capital of Nanjing during the final stretch of the civil war. Following the proclamation of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949, Deng served in Tibet and southwestern China as the regional party chief, working to consolidate party control in the region. In 1952, he returned to Beijing and held a central position in the State Council. In 1955, when the PLA adopted Russian-style military ranks, Deng was offered the position of marshal, which he declined. As the party's Secretary-General under Chairman Mao Zedong, and Vice Premier under Premier Zhou Enlai during the 1950s, Deng presided over the Anti-Rightist Campaign spearheaded by Mao, and became instrumental in China's economic reconstruction following the disastrous Great Leap Forward (1958–1960). However, his right-leaning political and economic stances eventually caused him to fall out of favor with Mao, and he was the target of purges twice during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976).
Following Mao's death in September 1976, Deng outmaneuvered Mao’s chosen successor Hua Guofeng, and became China's paramount leader during the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee in December 1978. Having inherited a country beset with institutional disorder and disenchantment with communism as orchestrated by Mao, resulting from the chaotic political movements of the previous decades, Deng and his allies launched the Boluan Fanzheng program. Among other things, the program sought to rehabilitate veteran CCP leadership, as well as millions of others that were persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, and sought to gradually bring the country back to order. From 1977 to early 1979, he resumed the National College Entrance Examination that had not taken place for ten years, and initiated the Reform and Opening-up program that introduced elements of market capitalism to the Chinese economy. This included designating special economic zones, such as Shenzhen. Still embroiled in the Sino-Soviet split that began during the 1960s, Deng's China fought a one-month war with Vietnam. On 1 January 1979, the PRC officially established diplomatic relations with the United States after years of prelude, and Deng became the first paramount leader of China to visit the US. In August 1980, Deng embarked on a series of political reforms, setting constitutional term limits for state officials and other systematic revisions, which were incorporated in the country's third constitution (1982). In the 1980s, Deng advocated for the one-child policy to deal with China's perceived overpopulation crisis, helped establish China's nine-year compulsory education, launched the 863 Program for science and technology, and downsized the PLA by one million. Deng also proposed the One Country, Two Systems principle for the governance of Hong Kong and Macau, as well as the future unification with Taiwan. During Deng's tenure, his protégés Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang were head of the party and the government, but both of whom were later ousted from power. Deng stepped down from all his official positions in November 1989, in the wake of an eruption of protests in Tiananmen Square.
The reforms carried out by Deng and his allies gradually led China away from a planned economy and Maoist ideologies, opened it up to foreign investments and technology, and introduced its vast labor force to the global market, thus elevating a billion people from poverty and turning China into one of the world's fastest-growing economies. Deng and his chosen successors Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao contributed to China becoming the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP in 2010. He was eventually characterized as the "architect" of a new brand of thinking combining socialist ideology with free enterprise, dubbed "socialism with Chinese characteristics" (now known as Deng Xiaoping Theory). Despite never holding office as either the PRC's state representative or head of government nor as the head of CCP, Deng is generally viewed as the "core" of the CCP's second-generation leadership, a status enshrined within the party's constitution. Deng was named the Time Person of the Year for 1978 and 1985. He was criticized for ordering a military crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, yet was praised for his reaffirmation of the reform program in his Southern Tour of 1992 as well as the reversion of Hong Kong to Chinese control in 1997 and the return of Macau in 1999.
Deng's ancestors can be traced back to Jiaying County (now renamed as Meixian), Guangdong, a prominent ancestral area for the Hakka people, and had settled in Sichuan for several generations. Deng's daughter Deng Rong wrote in the book My Father Deng Xiaoping (我的父亲邓小平) that his ancestry was probably, but not definitely, Hakka. Sichuan was originally the origin of the Deng lineage until one of them was hired as an official in Guangdong during the Ming dynasty, but when the Qing dynasty planned to increase the population in 1671, they moved back to Sichuan. Deng was born in Guang'an District, Guang'an on 22 August 1904 in Sichuan province.
Deng's father, Deng Wenming, was a mid-level landowner who had studied at the University of Law and Political Science in Chengdu, Sichuan. He was locally prominent. His mother, surnamed Dan, died early in Deng's life, leaving Deng, his three brothers, and three sisters. At the age of five, Deng was sent to a traditional Chinese-style private primary school, followed by a more modern primary school at the age of seven.
Deng's first wife, one of his schoolmates from Moscow, died aged 24 a few days after giving birth to their first child, a baby girl who also died. His second wife, Jin Weiying, left him after Deng came under political attack in 1933. His third wife, Zhuo Lin, was the daughter of an industrialist in Yunnan. She became a member of the Communist Party in 1938, and married Deng a year later in front of Mao's cave dwelling in Yan'an. They had five children: three daughters (Deng Lin, Deng Nan and Deng Rong) and two sons (Deng Pufang and Deng Zhifang). Deng quit smoking when he was 86.
When Deng first attended school, his tutor objected to his having the given name "Xiansheng" (先圣), calling him "Xixian" (希贤), which includes the characters "to aspire to" and "goodness", with overtones of wisdom.
In the summer of 1919, Deng graduated from the Chongqing School. He and 80 schoolmates travelled by ship to France (travelling steerage) to participate in the Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement, a work-study program in which 4,001 Chinese would participate by 1927. Deng, the youngest of all the Chinese students in the group, had just turned 15. Wu Yuzhang, the local leader of the Movement in Chongqing, enrolled Deng and his paternal uncle, Deng Shaosheng, in the program. Deng's father strongly supported his son's participation in the work-study abroad program. The night before his departure, Deng's father took his son aside and asked him what he hoped to learn in France. He repeated the words he had learned from his teachers: "To learn knowledge and truth from the West in order to save China." Deng was aware that China was suffering greatly, and that the Chinese people must have a modern education to save their country.
On 19 October 1920, a French packet ship, the André Lebon, sailed into Marseille with 210 Chinese students aboard including Deng. The sixteen-year-old Deng briefly attended middle schools in Bayeux and Châtillon, but he spent most of his time in France working, including at a Renault factory and as a fitter at the Le Creusot Iron and Steel Plant in La Garenne-Colombes, a north-western suburb of Paris where he moved in April 1921. Coincidentally, when Deng's later political fortunes were down and he was sent to work in a tractor factory in 1969 during the Cultural Revolution, he found himself a fitter again and proved to still be a master of the skill.
In La Garenne-Colombes Deng met future CCP leaders Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi, Nie Rongzhen, Li Fuchun, Li Lisan and Li Weihan. In June 1923 he joined the Chinese Communist Youth League in Europe. In the second half of 1924, he joined the Chinese Communist Party and became one of the leading members of the General Branch of the Youth League in Europe. In 1926 Deng traveled to the Soviet Union and studied at Moscow Sun Yat-sen University, where one of his classmates was Chiang Ching-kuo, the son of Chiang Kai-shek.
In late 1927, Deng left Moscow to return to China, where he joined the army of Feng Yuxiang, a military leader in northwest China, who had requested assistance from the Soviet Union in his struggle with other local leaders in the region. At that time, the Soviet Union, through the Comintern, an international organization supporting the Communist movements, supported the Communists' alliance with the Nationalists of the Kuomintang (KMT) party founded by Sun Yat-sen.
He arrived in Xi'an, the stronghold of Feng Yuxiang, in March 1927. He was part of the Fengtian clique's attempt to prevent the break of the alliance between the KMT and the Communists. This split resulted in part from Chiang Kai-shek's forcing them to flee areas controlled by the KMT. After the breakup of the alliance between communists and nationalists, Feng Yuxiang stood on the side of Chiang Kai-shek, and the Communists who participated in their army, such as Deng Xiaoping, were forced to flee.
Although Deng got involved in the Marxist revolutionary movement in China, the historian Mobo Gao has argued that "Deng Xiaoping and many like him [in the Chinese Communist Party] were not really Marxists, but basically revolutionary nationalists who wanted to see China standing on equal terms with the great global powers. They were primarily nationalists and they participated in the Communist revolution because that was the only viable route they could find to Chinese nationalism."
After leaving the army of Feng Yuxiang in the northwest, Deng ended up in the city of Wuhan, where the Communists at that time had their headquarters. At that time, he began using the nickname "Xiaoping" and occupied prominent positions in the party apparatus. He participated in the historic emergency session on 7 August 1927 in which, by Soviet instruction, the Party dismissed its founder Chen Duxiu, and Qu Qiubai became the general secretary. In Wuhan, Deng first established contact with Mao Zedong, who was then little valued by militant pro-Soviet leaders of the party.
Between 1927 and 1929, Deng lived in Shanghai, where he helped organize protests that would be harshly persecuted by the Kuomintang authorities. The death of many Communist militants in those years led to a decrease in the number of members of the Communist Party, which enabled Deng to quickly move up the ranks. During this stage in Shanghai, Deng married a woman he met in Moscow, Zhang Xiyuan.
From 1929 to 1931, Deng served as the chief representative of the Central Committee in Guangxi, where he helped lead the Baise and Longzhou Uprisings. Both at the time and later, Deng Xiaoping's leadership during the rebellion has come under serious criticism. He followed the "Li Lisan Line" that called for aggressive attacks on cities. In practice, this meant that the rural soviet in Guangxi was abandoned and that the Seventh Red Army under Deng's political leadership fought and lost several bloody battles. Eventually, Deng and the other Communist leaders in Guangxi decided to retreat to Jiangxi to join Mao Zedong. However, after a costly march across rough terrain, Deng left the army leaderless without prior authorization to do so. A Central Committee post-mortem in 1931 singled out Deng's behavior as an example of "rightist opportunism and a rich peasant line". In 1945, several former commanders of the Seventh Red Army spoke out against Deng for his actions during the uprising, although Mao Zedong protected Deng from any serious repercussions. During the Cultural Revolution, Red Guards learned about the events of the Baise Uprising and accused Deng of desertion. Deng admitted that leaving the army was one of the "worst mistakes of [his] life" and that "although this action was allowed by the party, it was politically horribly wrong." Modern historians and biographers tend to agree. Uli Franz calls leaving the army a "serious error". Benjamin Yang calls it a "tragic failure and dark period in [Deng's] political life." On the other hand, Diana Lary places blame for the disaster more broadly on the "ineptitude" of both the local leaders and the CCP Central Committee.
The campaigns against the Communists in the cities represented a setback for the party and in particular to the Comintern Soviet advisers, who saw the mobilization of the urban proletariat as the force for the advancement of communism. Contrary to the urban vision of the revolution, based on the Soviet experience, the Communist leader Mao Zedong saw the rural peasants as the revolutionary force in China. In a mountainous area of Jiangxi province, where Mao went to establish a communist system, there developed the embryo of a future state of China under communism, which adopted the official name of the Chinese Soviet Republic, but was better known as the "Jiangxi Soviet".
In one of the most important cities in the Soviet zone, Ruijin, Deng took over as secretary of the Party Committee in the summer of 1931. In the winter of 1932, Deng went on to play the same position in the nearby district of Huichang. In 1933 he became director of the propaganda department of the Provincial Party Committee in Jiangxi. It was then that he married a young woman he had met in Shanghai named Jin Weiying.
The successes of the Soviet in Jiangxi made the party leaders decide to move to Jiangxi from Shanghai. The confrontation among Mao, the party leaders, and their Soviet advisers was increasingly tense and the struggle for power between the two factions led to the removal of Deng, who favored the ideas of Mao, from his position in the propaganda department. Despite the strife within the party, the Jiangxi Soviet became the first successful experiment of communist rule in rural China. It even issued stamps and paper money under the letterhead of the Soviet Republic of China, and the army of Chiang Kai-shek finally decided to attack the communist area.
Surrounded by the more powerful nationalist army, the Communists fled Jiangxi in October 1934. Thus began the epic movement that would mark a turning point in the development of Chinese communism. The evacuation was difficult because the Army of the nationalists had taken positions in all areas occupied by the Communists. Advancing through remote and mountainous terrain, some 100,000 men managed to escape Jiangxi, starting a long strategic retreat through the interior of China, which ended one year later when between 8,000 and 9,000 survivors reached the northern province of Shaanxi.
During the Zunyi Conference at the beginning of the Long March, the so-called 28 Bolsheviks, led by Bo Gu and Wang Ming, were ousted from power and Mao Zedong, to the dismay of the Soviet Union, became the new leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The pro-Soviet Chinese Communist Party had ended and a new rural-inspired party emerged under the leadership of Mao. Deng had once again become a leading figure in the party.
The confrontation between the two parties was temporarily interrupted, however, by the Japanese invasion, forcing the Kuomintang to form an alliance for the second time with the Communists to defend the nation against external aggression.
The invasion of Japanese troops in 1937 marked the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. During the invasion, Deng remained in the area controlled by the Communists in the north, where he assumed the role of deputy political director of the three divisions of the restructured Communist army. From September 1937 until January 1938, he lived in Buddhist monasteries and temples in the Wutai Mountains. In January 1938, he was appointed as Political Commissar of the 129th division of the Eighth Route Army commanded by Liu Bocheng, starting a long-lasting partnership with Liu.
Deng stayed for most of the conflict with the Japanese in the war front in the area bordering the provinces of Shanxi, Henan and Hebei, then traveled several times to the city of Yan'an, where Mao had established the basis for Communist Party leadership. While in Henan, he delivered the famous report, "The Victorious Situation of Leaping into the Central Plains and Future Policies and Strategies", at a Gospel Hall where he lived for some time. In one of his trips to Yan'an in 1939, he married, for the third and last time in his life, Zhuo Lin, a young native of Kunming, who, like other young idealists of the time, had traveled to Yan'an to join the Communists.
Deng was considered a "revolutionary veteran" because of his participation in the Long March. He took a leading role in the Hundred Regiments Offensive which boosted his standing among his comrades.
After Japan's defeat in World War II, Deng traveled to Chongqing, the city in which Chiang Kai-shek established his government during the Japanese invasion, to participate in peace talks between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. The results of those negotiations were not positive and military confrontation between the two antagonistic parties resumed shortly after the meeting in Chongqing.
While Chiang Kai-shek re-established the government in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, the Communists were fighting for control in the field. Following up with guerrilla tactics from their positions in rural areas against cities under the control of the government of Chiang and their supply lines, the Communists were increasing the territory under their control, and incorporating more and more soldiers who had deserted the Nationalist army.
Deng played a major part in the Huaihai Campaign against the nationalists.
In the final phase of the war, Deng again exercised a key role as political leader and propaganda master as Political Commissar of the 2nd Field Army commanded by Liu Bocheng where he was instrumental in the PLA's march into Tibet. He also participated in disseminating the ideas of Mao Zedong, which turned into the ideological foundation of the Communist Party. His political and ideological work, along with his status as a veteran of the Long March, placed him in a privileged position within the party to occupy positions of power after the Communist Party managed to defeat Chiang Kai-shek and founded the People's Republic of China.
On 1 October 1949, Deng attended the proclamation of the People's Republic of China in Beijing. At that time, the Communist Party controlled the entire north, but there were still parts of the south held by the Kuomintang regime. He became responsible for leading the pacification of southwest China, in his capacity as the first secretary of the Department of the Southwest. This organization had the task of managing the final takeover of that part of the country still held by the Kuomintang; Tibet remained independent for another year.
The Kuomintang government was being forced to leave Guangzhou (Canton), and established Chongqing (Chungking) as a new provisional capital. There, Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-kuo, a former classmate of Deng in Moscow, wanted to stop the advance of the Communist Party forces.
Under the political control of Deng, the Communist army took over Chongqing in late November 1949 and entered Chengdu, the last bastion of power of Chiang Kai-shek, a few days later. At that time Deng became mayor of Chongqing, while he simultaneously was the leader of the Communist Party in the southwest, where the Communist army, now proclaiming itself the People's Liberation Army, suppressed resistance loyal to the old Kuomintang regime. In 1950, the Communist Party-ruled state also seized control over Tibet.
In a 1951 speech to cadres preparing to supervise campaigns in the land reform movement, Deng instructed that while cadres should help peasants carry out nonviolent "speak reason struggle", they also had to remember that as a mass movement, land reform was not a time to be "refined and gentle". Expressing his view as a rhetorical question, Deng stated that while ideally no landlords would die in the process, "If some tightfisted landlords hang themselves, does that mean our policies are wrong? Are we responsible?"
Deng Xiaoping would spend three years in Chongqing, the city where he had studied in his teenage years before going to France. In 1952 he moved to Beijing, where he occupied different positions in the central government.
In July 1952, Deng came to Beijing to assume the posts of Vice Premier and Deputy Chair of the Committee on Finance. Soon after, he took the posts of Minister of Finance and Director of the Office of Communications. In 1954, he was removed from all these positions, holding only the post of Vice Premier. In 1956, he became Head of the Communist Party's Organization Department and member of the Central Military Commission.
After officially supporting Mao Zedong in his Anti-Rightist Movement of 1957, Deng acted as Secretary-General of the Secretariat and ran the country's daily affairs with President Liu Shaoqi and Premier Zhou Enlai. Deng and Liu's policies emphasized economics over ideological dogma, an implicit departure from the mass fervor of the Great Leap Forward.
Both Liu and Deng supported Mao in the mass campaigns of the 1950s, in which they attacked the bourgeois and capitalists, and promoted Mao's ideology. However, the economic failure of the Great Leap Forward was seen as an indictment on the ability of Mao to manage the economy. Peng Dehuai openly criticized Mao, while Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, though more cautious, began to take charge of economic policy, leaving Mao out of day-to-day affairs of the party and state. Mao agreed to cede the presidency of the People's Republic of China (China's de jure head of state position) to Liu Shaoqi, while retaining his positions as leader of the party and the army.
In 1955, he was considered as a candidate for the PLA rank of Marshal of the People's Republic of China but he was ultimately not awarded the rank.
At the 8th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 1956, Deng supported removing all references to "Mao Zedong Thought" from the party statutes.
In 1963, Deng traveled to Moscow to lead a meeting of the Chinese delegation with Stalin's successor, Nikita Khrushchev. Relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union had worsened since the death of Stalin. After this meeting, no agreement was reached and the Sino–Soviet split was consummated; there was an almost total suspension of relations between the two major communist powers of the time.
After the "Seven Thousand Cadres Conference" in 1962, Liu and Deng's economic reforms of the early 1960s were generally popular and restored many of the economic institutions previously dismantled during the Great Leap Forward. Mao, sensing his loss of prestige, took action to regain control of the state. Appealing to his revolutionary spirit, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution, which encouraged the masses to root out the right-wing capitalists who had "infiltrated the party". Deng was ridiculed as the "number two capitalist roader".
Deng was one of the primary drafters of the Third Five Year Plan. In draft form, it emphasized a consumer focus and further development in China's more industrialized coastal cities. When Mao argued for a massive campaign to develop basic and national security industry in China's interior as a Third Front in case of invasion by the United States or Soviet Union, Deng was among the key leadership that did not support the idea. Following increased concerns of attack from the United States after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, Deng and other key leadership ultimately supported the Third Front construction, and the focus of the Third Year Plan changed to industrialization of the interior.
Mao feared that the reformist economic policies of Deng and Liu could lead to restoration of capitalism and end the Chinese Revolution. For this and other reasons, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution in 1966, during which Deng fell out of favor and was forced to retire from all his positions.
During the Cultural Revolution, he and his family were targeted by Red Guards, who imprisoned Deng's eldest son, Deng Pufang. Deng Pufang was tortured and jumped out, or was thrown out, of the window of a four-story building in 1968, becoming a paraplegic. In October 1969 Deng Xiaoping was sent to the Xinjian County Tractor Factory in rural Jiangxi province to work as a regular worker. In his four years there, Deng spent his spare time writing. He was purged nationally, but to a lesser scale than President Liu Shaoqi.
In 1971, Mao's second official successor and the sole Vice Chairman of the party, Lin Biao, was killed in an air crash. According to official reports, Lin was trying to flee from China after a failed coup against Mao. Mao purged all of Lin's allies, who made up nearly all of the senior ranks of the PLA, leaving Deng (who had been political commissar of the 2nd Field Army during the civil war) the most influential of the remaining army leaders. In the time that followed, Deng wrote to Mao twice to say that he had learned a lesson from the Lin Biao incident, admitted that he had "capitalist trends" and did not "hold high the great banner of Mao Zedong Thought", and expressed the hope that he could work for the Party to make up for his mistakes. Premier Zhou Enlai was Mao's third successor but he fell ill with cancer and made Deng his choice as successor. In February 1973, Deng returned to Beijing, after Zhou brought him back from exile in order for Deng to focus on reconstructing the Chinese economy. Zhou was also able to convince Mao to bring Deng back into politics in October 1974 as First Vice-Premier, in practice running daily affairs. He remained careful, however, to avoid contradicting Maoist ideology on paper. In January 1975, he was additionally elected Vice Chairman of the party by the 10th Central Committee for the first time in his party career; Li Desheng had to resign in his favour. Deng was one of five Vice Chairmen, with Zhou being the First Vice Chairman.
During his brief ascendency in 1973, Deng established the Political Research Office, headed by intellectuals Hu Qiaomu, Yu Guangyuan and Hu Sheng, delegated to explore approaches to political and economic reforms. He led the group himself and managed the project within the State Council, in order to avoid rousing the suspicions of the Gang of Four.
The Cultural Revolution was not yet over, and a radical leftist political group known as the Gang of Four, led by Mao's wife Jiang Qing, competed for power within the Party. The Gang saw Deng as their greatest challenge to power. Mao, too, was suspicious that Deng would destroy the positive reputation of the Cultural Revolution, which Mao considered one of his greatest policy initiatives. Beginning in late 1975, Deng was asked to draw up a series of self-criticisms. Although he admitted to having taken an "inappropriate ideological perspective" while dealing with state and party affairs, he was reluctant to admit that his policies were wrong in essence. His antagonism with the Gang of Four became increasingly clear, and Mao seemed to lean in the Gang's favour. Mao refused to accept Deng's self-criticisms and asked the party's Central Committee to "discuss Deng's mistakes thoroughly".
Zhou Enlai died in January 1976, to an outpouring of national grief. Zhou was a very important figure in Deng's political life, and his death eroded his remaining support within the Party's Central Committee. After Deng delivered Zhou's official eulogy at the state funeral, the Gang of Four, with Mao's permission, began the "Counterattack the Right-Deviationist Reversal-of-Verdicts Trend" campaign. Hua Guofeng, not Deng, was selected to become Zhou's successor as Premier on 4 February 1976.
On 2 February 1976, the Central Committee issued a Top-Priority Directive, officially transferring Deng to work on "external affairs" and thus removing him from the party's power apparatus. Deng stayed at home for several months, awaiting his fate. The Political Research Office was promptly dissolved, and Deng's advisers such as Yu Guangyuan suspended. As a result, the political turmoil halted the economic progress Deng had labored for in the past year. On 3 March, Mao issued a directive reaffirming the legitimacy of the Cultural Revolution and specifically pointed to Deng as an internal, rather than external, problem. This was followed by a Central Committee directive issued to all local party organs to study Mao's directive and criticize Deng.
Deng's reputation as a reformer suffered a severe blow when the Qingming Festival, after the mass public mourning of Zhou on a traditional Chinese holiday, culminated in the Tiananmen Incident on 5 April 1976, an event the Gang of Four branded as counter-revolutionary and threatening to their power. Furthermore, the Gang deemed Deng the mastermind behind the incident, and Mao himself wrote that "the nature of things has changed". This prompted Mao to remove Deng from all leadership positions, although he retained his party membership. As a result, on 6 April 1976 Premier Hua Guofeng was also appointed to Deng's position as Vice Chairman and at the same time received the vacant position of First Vice Chairman, which Zhou had held, making him Mao's fourth official successor.
Following Mao's death on 9 September 1976 and the purge of the Gang of Four in October 1976, Premier Hua Guofeng succeeded as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and gradually emerged as the de facto leader of China. Prior to Mao's death, the only governmental position Deng held was that of First Vice Premier of the State Council, but Hua Guofeng wanted to rid the Party of extremists and successfully marginalised the Gang of Four. On 22 July 1977, Deng was restored to the posts of vice-chairman of the Central Committee, Vice-chairman of the Military Commission and Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army.
By carefully mobilizing his supporters within the party, Deng outmaneuvered Hua, who had pardoned him, then ousted Hua from his top leadership positions by 1980. In contrast to previous leadership changes, Deng allowed Hua to retain membership in the Central Committee and quietly retire, helping to set the precedent that losing a high-level leadership struggle would not result in physical harm.
During his paramount leadership, his official state positions were Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from 1978 to 1983 and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (an ad hoc body comprising the most senior members of the party elite) of the People's Republic of China from 1983 to 1990, while his official party positions were Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1977 to 1982, Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party from 1981 to 1989 and Chairman of the Central Advisory Commission from 1982 to 1987. He was offered the rank of General First Class in 1988 when the PLA restored military ranks, but as in 1955, he once again declined. Even after retiring from the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 1987 and the Central Military Commission in 1989, Deng continued to exert influence over China's policies until his death in 1997.
Important decisions were always taken in Deng's home in Zhongnanhai with a caucus of eight senior party cadres, called "Eight Elders", especially with Chen Yun and Li Xiannian. Despite Deng's recognition as paramount leader, in practice these elders governed China as a small collective leadership. Deng ruled as "paramount leader" although he never held the top title of the party, and was able to successively remove three party leaders, including Hu Yaobang. Deng stepped down from the Central Committee and its Politburo Standing Committee. However, he remained as the chairman of the State and Party's Central Military Commission and was still seen as the paramount leader of China rather than General Secretary Zhao Ziyang and Presidents Li Xiannian and Yang Shangkun.
Deng repudiated the Cultural Revolution and, in 1977, launched the "Beijing Spring", which allowed open criticism of the excesses and suffering that had occurred during the period, and restored the National College Entrance Examination (Gao Kao) which was cancelled for ten years during the Cultural Revolution. Meanwhile, he was the impetus for the abolition of the class background system. Under this system, the CCP removed employment barriers to Chinese deemed to be associated with the former landlord class; its removal allowed a faction favoring the restoration of the private market to enter the Communist Party.
Deng gradually outmaneuvered his political opponents. By encouraging public criticism of the Cultural Revolution, he weakened the position of those who owed their political positions to that event, while strengthening the position of those like himself who had been purged during that time. Deng also received a great deal of popular support. As Deng gradually consolidated control over the CCP, Hua was replaced by Zhao Ziyang as premier in 1980, and by Hu Yaobang as party chairman in 1981, despite the fact that Hua was Mao Zedong's designated successor as the "paramount leader" of the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Republic of China. During the "Boluan Fanzheng" period, the Cultural Revolution was invalidated, and victims of more than 3 million "unjust, false, wrongful cases" by 1976 were officially rehabilitated.
Deng's elevation to China's new number-one figure meant that the historical and ideological questions around Mao Zedong had to be addressed properly. Because Deng wished to pursue deep reforms, it was not possible for him to continue Mao's hard-line "class struggle" policies and mass public campaigns. In 1982 the Central Committee of the Communist Party released a document entitled On the Various Historical Issues since the Founding of the People's Republic of China. Mao retained his status as a "great Marxist, proletarian revolutionary, militarist, and general", and the undisputed founder and pioneer of the country and the People's Liberation Army. "His accomplishments must be considered before his mistakes", the document declared. Deng personally commented that Mao was "seven parts good, three parts bad". The document also steered the prime responsibility of the Cultural Revolution away from Mao (although it did state that "Mao mistakenly began the Cultural Revolution") to the "counter-revolutionary cliques" of the Gang of Four and Lin Biao.
Deng prioritized China's modernization and opening up to the outside world, stating that China's "strategy in foreign affairs is to seek a peaceful environment" for the Four Modernizations. Under Deng's leadership, China opened up to the outside world, to learn from more advanced countries. Deng developed the principle that in foreign affairs, China should keep a low-profile and bide its time. He continued to seek an independent position between the United States and the Soviet Union. Although Deng retained control over key national security decisions, he also delegated power to bureaucrats in routine matters, ratifying consensus decisions and stepping in if a bureaucratic consensus could not be reached. In contrast to the Mao-era, Deng involved more parties in foreign policy decision-making, decentralizing the foreign policy bureaucracy. This decentralized approach led to consideration of a number of interests and views, but also fragmentation of policy institutions and extensive bargaining between different bureaucratic units during the policy-making process.
In November 1978, after the country had stabilized following political turmoil, Deng visited Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and met with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Deng was very impressed with Singapore's economic development, greenery and housing, and later sent tens of thousands of Chinese to Singapore and countries around the world to learn from their experiences and bring back their knowledge. Lee Kuan Yew, on the other hand, advised Deng to stop exporting Communist ideologies to Southeast Asia, advice that according to Lee, Deng later followed. In late 1978, the aerospace company Boeing announced the sale of 747 aircraft to various airlines in the PRC, and the beverage company Coca-Cola made public their intention to open a production plant in Shanghai.
On 1 January 1979, the United States recognized the People's Republic of China, leaving the (Taiwan) Republic of China's nationalist government to one side, and business contacts between China and the West began to grow.
In early 1979, Deng undertook an official visit to the United States, meeting President Jimmy Carter in Washington as well as several Congressmen. The Chinese insisted that former President Richard Nixon be invited to the formal White House reception, a symbolic indication of their assertiveness on the one hand, and their desire to continue with the Nixon initiatives on the other. As part of the discussions with Carter, Deng sought United States approval for China's contemplated invasion of Vietnam in the Sino-Vietnamese war. According to United States National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter reserved judgment, an action which Chinese diplomats interpreted as tacit approval, and China launched the invasion shortly after Deng's return.
During the visit, Deng visited the Johnson Space Center in Houston, as well as the headquarters of Coca-Cola and Boeing in Atlanta and Seattle, respectively. With these visits so significant, Deng made it clear that the new Chinese regime's priorities were economic and technological development.
Deng took personal charge of the final negotiations with the United States on normalizing foreign relations between the two countries. In response to criticism from within the Party regarding his United States policy, Deng wrote, "I am presiding over the work on the United States. If there are problems, I take full responsibility."
Sino-Japanese relations improved significantly. Deng used Japan as an example of a rapidly progressing power that set a good example for China economically.
Deng initially continued to adhere to the Maoist line of the Sino–Soviet split era that the Soviet Union was a superpower as "hegemonic" as the United States, but even more threatening to China because of its close proximity. Relations with the Soviet Union improved after Mikhail Gorbachev took over the Kremlin in 1985, and formal relations between the two countries were finally restored at the 1989 Sino-Soviet Summit.
Deng responded to the Western sanctions following the Tiananmen Square protests by adopting the "twenty-four character guidelines" for China's international affairs: observe carefully (冷静观察), secure China's positions (稳住阵脚), calmly cope with the challenges (沉着应付), hide China's capacities and bide its time (韬光养晦), be good at maintaining a low profile (善于守拙), and never claim leadership (绝不当头).
The end of the Cold War and dissolution of the Soviet Union removed the original motives underlying rapprochement between China and the United States. Motivated by concerns that the United States might curtail support for China's modernization, Deng adopted a low-profile foreign policy to live with the fact of United States hegemony and focus primarily on domestic development. In this period of its foreign policy, China focused on building good relations with its neighbors and actively participating in multi-lateral institutions. As academic Suisheng Zhao writes in evaluating Deng's foreign policy legacy, "Deng's developmental diplomacy helped create a favorable external environment for China's rise in the twenty-first century. His hand-picked successors, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, faithfully followed his course."
In 1990 when he met Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau he stated "The key principle governing the new international order should be noninterference in other countries’ internal affairs and social systems. It won't work to require all the countries in the world to copy the patterns set by the United States, Britain and France." Deng championed the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence stating that they should be used as the "guiding norms of international relations".
At the outset of China's reform and opening up, Deng set out the Four Cardinal Principles that had to be maintained in the process: (1) the leadership of the Communist Party, (2) the socialist road, (3) Marxism, and (4) the dictatorship of the proletariat. Overall, reform proceeded gradually, with Deng delegating specific issues to proteges such as Hu Yaobang or Zhao Ziyang, who in turn addressed them under the guiding principle of "seeking truth from facts" - meaning that the correctness of an approach had to be gauged by its economic results. Deng described reform and opening up as a "large scale experiment" requiring thorough "experimentation in practice" instead of textbook knowledge.
Deng quoted the old proverb "it doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white, if it catches mice it is a good cat." The point was that capitalistic methods worked. Deng worked with his team, especially as Zhao Ziyang, who in 1980 replaced Hua Guofeng as premier, and Hu Yaobang, who in 1981 did the same with the post of party chairman. Deng thus took the reins of power and began to emphasize the goals of "four modernizations" (economy, agriculture, scientific and technological development and national defense). He announced an ambitious plan of opening and liberalizing the economy. On Deng's initiative, the CCP revoked the position of Chairman and made the General Secretary the ex officio leader of the party.
The last position of power retained by Hua Guofeng, chairman of the Central Military Commission, was taken by Deng in 1981. However, progress toward military modernization went slowly. A border war with Vietnam in 1977–1979 made major changes unwise. The war puzzled outside observers, but Xiaoming Zhang argues that Deng had multiple goals: stopping Soviet expansion in the region, obtain American support for his four modernizations, and mobilizing China for reform and integration into the world economy. Deng also sought to strengthen his control of the PLA, and demonstrate to the world that China was capable of fighting a real war. Zhang thinks punishment of Vietnam for its invasion of Cambodia was a minor factor. In the event, the Chinese forces did poorly, in terms of equipment, strategy, leadership, and battlefield performance. Deng subsequently used the PLA's poor performance to overcome resistance by military leaders to his military reforms.
China's primary military threat came from the Soviet Union, which was much more powerful despite having fewer soldiers, owing to its more advanced weapons technology. In March 1981, Deng deemed a military exercise necessary for the PLA, and in September, the North China Military Exercise took place, becoming the largest exercise conducted by the PLA since the founding of the People's Republic. Moreover, Deng initiated the modernization of the PLA and decided that China first had to develop an advanced civilian scientific infrastructure before it could hope to build modern weapons. He therefore concentrated on downsizing the military, cutting 1 million troops in 1985 (百万大裁军), retiring the elderly and corrupt senior officers and their cronies. He emphasized the recruitment of much better educated young men who would be able to handle the advanced technology when it finally arrived. Instead of patronage and corruption in the officer corps, he imposed strict discipline in all ranks. In 1982 he established a new Commission for Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense to plan for using technology developed in the civilian sector.
In 1986, Deng explained to Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes that some people and regions could become prosperous first in order to bring about common prosperity faster. In October 1987, at the Plenary Session of the National People's Congress, Deng was re-elected as Chairman of the Central Military Commission, but he resigned as Chairman of the Central Advisory Commission and was succeeded by Chen Yun. Deng continued to chair and develop the reform and opening up as the main policy, and he advanced the three steps suitable for China's economic development strategy within seventy years: the first step, to double the 1980 GNP and ensure that the people have enough food and clothing, was attained by the end of the 1980s; the second step, to quadruple the 1980 GNP by the end of the 20th century, was achieved in 1995 ahead of schedule; the third step, to increase per capita GNP to the level of the medium-developed countries by 2050, at which point, the Chinese people will be fairly well-off and modernization will be basically realized.
Improving relations with the outside world was the second of two important philosophical shifts outlined in Deng's program of reform termed Gaige Kaifang (lit. Reforms and Openness). China's domestic social, political, and most notably, economic systems would undergo significant changes during Deng's time. The goals of Deng's reforms were summed up by the Four Modernizations, those of agriculture, industry, science and technology, and the military.
The strategy for achieving these aims of becoming a modern, industrial nation was the socialist market economy. Deng argued that China was in the primary stage of socialism and that the duty of the party was to perfect so-called "socialism with Chinese characteristics", and "seek truth from facts". (This somewhat resembles the Leninist theoretical justification of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in the 1920s, which argued that the Soviet Union had not gone deeply enough into the capitalist phase and therefore needed limited capitalism in order to fully evolve its means of production.) The "socialism with Chinese characteristics" settles a benign structure for the implementation of ethnic policy and forming a unique method of ethnic theory.
Deng's economic policy prioritized developing China's productive forces. In Deng's view, this development "is the most fundamental revolution from the viewpoint of historical development[,]" and "[p]oor socialism" is not socialism. His theoretical justification for allowing market forces was:
The proportion of planning to market forces is not the essential difference between socialism and capitalism. A planned economy is not equivalent to socialism, because there is planning under capitalism too; a market economy is not capitalism, because there are markets under socialism too. Planning and market forces are both means of controlling economic activity. The essence of socialism is liberation and development of the productive forces, elimination of exploitation and polarisation, and the ultimate achievement of prosperity for all. This concept must be made clear to the people.
Unlike Hua Guofeng, Deng believed that no policy should be rejected outright simply because it was not associated with Mao. Unlike more conservative leaders such as Chen Yun, Deng did not object to policies on the grounds that they were similar to ones that were found in capitalist nations.
This political flexibility towards the foundations of socialism is strongly supported by quotes such as:
We mustn't fear to adopt the advanced management methods applied in capitalist countries ... The very essence of socialism is the liberation and development of the productive systems ... Socialism and market economy are not incompatible ... We should be concerned about right-wing deviations, but most of all, we must be concerned about left-wing deviations.
Although Deng provided the theoretical background and the political support to allow economic reform to occur, the general consensus amongst historians is that few of the economic reforms that Deng introduced were originated by Deng himself. Premier Zhou Enlai, for example, pioneered the Four Modernizations years before Deng. In addition, many reforms would be introduced by local leaders, often not sanctioned by central government directives. If successful and promising, these reforms would be adopted by larger and larger areas and ultimately introduced nationally. An often cited example is the household responsibility system, which was first secretly implemented by a poor rural village at the risk of being convicted as "counter-revolutionary". This experiment proved very successful. Deng openly supported it and it was later adopted nationally. Many other reforms were influenced by the experiences of the East Asian Tigers.
This was in sharp contrast to the pattern of perestroika undertaken by Mikhail Gorbachev, in which most major reforms originated with Gorbachev himself. The bottom-up approach of Deng's reforms, in contrast to the top-down approach of perestroika, was likely a key factor in the success of the former.
Deng's reforms actually included the introduction of planned, centralized management of the macro-economy by technically proficient bureaucrats, abandoning Mao's mass campaign style of economic construction. However, unlike the Soviet model, management was indirect through market mechanisms. Deng sustained Mao's legacy to the extent that he stressed the primacy of agricultural output and encouraged a significant decentralization of decision making in the rural economy teams and individual peasant households. At the local level, material incentives, rather than political appeals, were to be used to motivate the labor force, including allowing peasants to earn extra income by selling the produce of their private plots at free market value.
In the move toward market allocation, local municipalities and provinces were allowed to invest in industries that they considered most profitable, which encouraged investment in light manufacturing. Thus, Deng's reforms shifted China's development strategy to an emphasis on light industry and export-led growth. Light industrial output was vital for a developing country coming from a low capital base. With the short gestation period, low capital requirements, and high foreign-exchange export earnings, revenues generated by light manufacturing were able to be reinvested in technologically more advanced production and further capital expenditures and investments.
However, in sharp contrast to the similar, but much less successful reforms in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the People's Republic of Hungary, these investments were not government mandated. The capital invested in heavy industry largely came from the banking system, and most of that capital came from consumer deposits. One of the first items of the Deng reforms was to prevent reallocation of profits except through taxation or through the banking system; hence, the reallocation in state-owned industries was somewhat indirect, thus making them more or less independent from government interference. In short, Deng's reforms sparked an industrial revolution in China.
These reforms were a reversal of the Maoist policy of economic self-reliance. China decided to accelerate the modernization process by stepping up the volume of foreign trade, especially the purchase of machinery from Japan and the West. By participating in such export-led growth, China was able to step up the Four Modernizations by attaining certain foreign funds, market, advanced technologies and management experiences, thus accelerating its economic development. From 1980, Deng attracted foreign companies to a series of Special Economic Zones, where foreign investment and market liberalization were encouraged.
The reforms sought to improve labor productivity. New material incentives and bonus systems were introduced. Rural markets selling peasants' homegrown products and the surplus products of communes were revived. Not only did rural markets increase agricultural output, they stimulated industrial development as well. With peasants able to sell surplus agricultural yields on the open market, domestic consumption stimulated industrialization as well and also created political support for more difficult economic reforms.
There are some parallels between Deng's market socialism especially in the early stages, and Vladimir Lenin's NEP as well as those of Nikolai Bukharin's economic policies, in that both foresaw a role for private entrepreneurs and markets based on trade and pricing rather than central planning. As academics Christopher Marquis and Kunyuan Qiao observe, Deng had been present in the Soviet Union when Lenin implemented the NEP, and it is reasonable to infer that it may have impacted Deng's view that markets could exist within socialism. In first meeting between Deng and Armand Hammer, Deng pressed the industrialist and former investor in Lenin's Soviet Union for as much information on the new economic policy as possible.
From 1980 onwards, Deng led the expansion of the economy, and in political terms took over negotiations with the United Kingdom to return the territory of Hong Kong, meeting personally with then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher had participated in the meetings with the hopes of keeping British rule over Hong Kong Island and Kowloon—two of the three constituent territories of the colony—but this was firmly rejected by Deng. The result of these negotiations was the Sino-British Joint Declaration, signed on 19 December 1984, which formally outlined the United Kingdom's return of the whole Hong Kong colony to China by 1997. The Chinese government pledged to respect the economic system and civil liberties of the British colony for fifty years after the handover.
Deng's theory of one country, two systems applied to Hong Kong and Macau and Deng intended to also present it as an attractive option to the people of Taiwan for eventual incorporation of that island, where sovereignty over the territory is still disputed. In 1982, Deng first explained the concept of one country, two systems in relation to Taiwan.
Deng's statements during the 1987 drafting of the Basic Law of Hong Kong showed his view of the principle in the Hong Kong context. At that time, Deng stated that the central government would not intervene in the daily business of Hong Kong, but predicted Hong Kong would sometimes have issues affecting national interests that would require the central government's involvement. Deng said, "What if Hong Kong is turned into an antimainland base under the pretext of 'democracy? Then we must intervene." In June 1988, Deng stated that "Hong Kong's political system today is neither the British system nor the American system, and it should not transplant the Western ways in the future."
China's rapid economic growth presented several problems. The 1982 census revealed the extraordinary growth of the population, which already exceeded a billion people. Deng continued the plans initiated by Hua Guofeng to restrict birth to only one child, limiting women to one child under pain of administrative penalty. The policy applied to urban areas, and included forced abortions.
In August 1983, Deng launched the "Strike hard" Anti-crime Campaign due to the worsening public safety after the Cultural Revolution. It was reported that the government set quotas for 5,000 executions by mid-November, and sources in Taiwan claimed that as many as 60,000 people were executed in that time, although more recent estimates have placed the number at 24,000 who were sentenced to death (mostly in the first "battle" of the campaign). A number of people arrested (some even received death penalty) were children or relatives of government officials at various levels, including the grandson of Zhu De, demonstrating the principle of "all are equal before the law". The campaign had an immediate positive effect on public safety, while controversies also arose such as whether some of the legal punishments were too harsh and whether the campaign had long-term positive effect on public safety.
Increasing economic freedom was being translated into a greater freedom of opinion, and critics began to arise within the system, including the famous dissident Wei Jingsheng, who coined the term "fifth modernization" in reference to democracy as a missing element in the renewal plans of Deng Xiaoping. In the late 1980s, dissatisfaction with the authoritarian regime and growing inequalities caused the biggest crisis to Deng's leadership.
The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, culminating in the June Fourth Massacre, were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in the People's Republic of China (PRC) between 15 April and 5 June 1989, a year in which many other communist governments collapsed.
The protests were sparked by the death of Hu Yaobang, a reformist official backed by Deng but ousted by the Eight Elders and the conservative wing of the politburo. Many people were dissatisfied with the party's slow response and relatively subdued funeral arrangements. Public mourning began on the streets of Beijing and universities in the surrounding areas. In Beijing this was centered on the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square. The mourning became a public conduit for anger against perceived nepotism in the government, the unfair dismissal and early death of Hu, and the behind-the-scenes role of the "old men". By the eve of Hu's funeral, the demonstration had reached 100,000 people on Tiananmen Square. While the protests lacked a unified cause or leadership, participants raised the issue of corruption within the government and some voiced calls for economic liberalization and democratic reform within the structure of the government while others called for a less authoritarian and less centralized form of socialism.
During the demonstrations, Deng's pro-market ally General Secretary Zhao Ziyang supported the demonstrators and distanced himself from the Politburo. Martial law was declared on 20 May by the socialist hardliner, Chinese premier Li Peng, but the initial military advance on the city was blocked by residents. The movement lasted seven weeks. On 3–4 June, over two hundred thousand soldiers in tanks and helicopters were sent into the city to quell the protests by force, resulting in hundreds to thousands of casualties. Many ordinary people in Beijing believed that Deng had ordered the intervention, but political analysts do not know who was actually behind the order. However, Deng's daughter defends the actions that occurred as a collective decision by the party leadership.
To purge sympathizers of Tiananmen demonstrators, the Communist Party initiated a one-and-a-half-year-long program similar to the Anti-Rightist Movement. Old-timers like Deng Fei aimed to deal "strictly with those inside the party with serious tendencies toward bourgeois liberalization", and more than 30,000 communist officers were deployed to the task.
Zhao was placed under house arrest by hardliners and Deng himself was forced to make concessions to them. He soon declared that "the entire imperialist Western world plans to make all socialist countries discard the socialist road and then bring them under the monopoly of international capital and onto the capitalist road". A few months later he said that the "United States was too deeply involved" in the student movement, referring to foreign reporters who had given financial aid to the student leaders and later helped them escape to various Western countries, primarily the United States through Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Although Deng initially made concessions to the socialist hardliners, he soon resumed his reforms after his 1992 southern tour. After his tour, he was able to stop the attacks of the socialist hardliners on the reforms through their "named capitalist or socialist?" campaign. Deng privately told former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau that factions of the Communist Party could have grabbed army units and the country had risked a civil war. Two years later, Deng endorsed Zhu Rongji, a Shanghai Mayor, as a vice-premier candidate. Zhu Rongji had refused to declare martial law in Shanghai during the demonstrations even though socialist hardliners had pressured him.
Officially, Deng decided to retire from top positions when he stepped down as Chairman of the Central Military Commission in November 1989 and his successor Jiang Zemin became the new Chairman of the Central Military Commission and paramount leader. China, however, was still in the era of Deng Xiaoping. He continued to be widely regarded as the de facto leader of the country, believed to have backroom control despite no official position apart from being chairman of the Chinese Contract Bridge Association, and appointed Hu Jintao as Jiang's successor at the 14th Party Congress in 1992. Deng was recognized officially as "the chief architect of China's economic reforms and China's socialist modernization". To the Communist Party, he was believed to have set a good example for communist cadres who refused to retire at old age. He broke earlier conventions of holding offices for life. He was often referred to as simply Comrade Xiaoping, with no title attached.
Because of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Deng's power had been significantly weakened and there was a growing formalist faction opposed to Deng's reforms within the Communist Party. To reassert his economic agenda, in the spring of 1992, Deng made a tour of southern China, visiting Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and spending the New Year in Shanghai, using his travels as a method of reasserting his economic policy after his retirement from office. The 1992 Southern Tour is widely regarded as a critical point in the modern history of China, as it saved the Chinese economic reform and preserved the stability of the society. Deng’s health deteriorated drastically around two years before his death. In January 1995, Deng’s daughter told the press that “A year ago, he could walk for 30 minutes twice a day, but now he cannot walk … He needs two people to support him.” It was also reported that Parkinson's experts were sent to Beijing to help him in 1995.
Deng died on 19 February 1997 at 9:08 p.m. Beijing time, aged 92 from a lung infection and Parkinson's disease. The public was largely prepared for his death, as there had been rumors that his health was deteriorating. At 10:00 on the morning of 24 February, people were asked by Premier Li Peng to pause in silence for three minutes. The nation's flags flew at half-mast for over a week. The nationally televised funeral, which was a simple and relatively private affair attended by the country's leaders and Deng's family, was broadcast on all cable channels. After the funeral, his organs were donated to medical research, the remains were cremated at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, and his ashes were subsequently scattered at sea, according to his wishes. For the next two weeks, Chinese state media ran news stories and documentaries related to Deng's life and death, with the regular 19:00 National News program in the evening lasting almost two hours over the regular broadcast time.
Deng's successor, Jiang Zemin, maintained Deng's political and economic philosophies. Deng was eulogized as a "great Marxist, great Proletarian Revolutionary, statesman, military strategist, and diplomat; one of the main leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, the People's Liberation Army of China, and the People's Republic of China; the great architect of China's socialist opening-up and modernized construction; the founder of Deng Xiaoping Theory". Some elements, notably modern Maoists and radical reformers (the far left and the far right), had negative views, however. In the following year, songs like "Story of Spring" by Dong Wenhua, which were created in Deng's honour shortly after Deng's southern tour in 1992, once again were widely played.
Deng's death drew international reaction. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Deng was to be remembered "in the international community at large as a primary architect of China's modernization and dramatic economic development". French President Jacques Chirac said "In the course of this century, few men have, as much as Deng, led a vast human community through such profound and determining changes"; British Prime Minister John Major commented about Deng's key role in the return of Hong Kong to Chinese control; Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien called Deng a "pivotal figure" in Chinese history. The Kuomintang chair in Taiwan also sent its condolences, saying it longed for peace, cooperation, and prosperity. The Dalai Lama voiced regret that Deng died without resolving questions over Tibet.
Memorials to Deng have been low profile compared to other leaders, in keeping with Deng's image of pragmatism. Rather than being embalmed, as was Mao, he was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea. There are some public displays, however. A bronze statue was erected on 14 November 2000, at the grand plaza of Lianhua Mountain Park in Shenzhen. This statue is dedicated to Deng's role as a planner and contributor to the development of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. The statue is 6 metres (20 ft) high, with an additional 3.68-meter base, and shows Deng striding forward confidently. Many CCP high level leaders visit the statue. In addition, in coastal areas and on the island province of Hainan, Deng appeared on roadside billboards with messages emphasizing economic reform or his policy of one country, two systems.
A bronze statue to commemorate Deng's 100th birthday was dedicated 13 August 2004 in the city of Guang'an, Deng's hometown, in southwest China's Sichuan. Deng is dressed casually, sitting on a chair and smiling. The Chinese characters on the pedestal were written by Jiang Zemin, then General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
Deng Xiaoping's Former Residence in his hometown of Paifang Village in Sichuan has been preserved as an historical museum.
In Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, there is a six-lane boulevard, 25 metres (82 ft) wide and 3.5 kilometres (2 mi) long, the Deng Xiaoping Prospekt, which was dedicated on 18 June 1997. A two-meter high red granite monument stands at the east end of this route. The epigraph is written in Chinese, Russian and Kirghiz.
The documentary, Deng Xiaoping, released by CCTV in January 1997, presents his life from his days as a student in France to his "Southern Tour" of 1993. In 2014, CCTV released a TV series, Deng Xiaoping at History's Crossroads, in anticipation of the 110th anniversary of his birth.
Deng has been called the "architect of contemporary China" and is widely considered to have been one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. He was the Time Person of the Year in 1978 and 1985, the third Chinese leader (after Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Soong Mei-ling) and the fourth time for a communist leader (after Joseph Stalin, picked twice; and Nikita Khrushchev) to be selected.
Deng is remembered primarily for the economic reforms he initiated while paramount leader of the People's Republic of China, which pivoted China towards a market economy, led to high economic growth, increased standards of living of hundreds of millions, expanded personal and cultural freedoms, and substantially integrated the country into the world economy. More people were lifted out of poverty during his leadership than during any other time in human history, attributed largely to his reforms. For this reason, some have suggested that Deng should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Deng is also credited with reducing the cult of Mao Zedong and with bringing an end to the chaotic era of the Cultural Revolution. Furthermore, his strong-handed tactics have been credited with keeping the People's Republic of China unified, in contrast to the other major Communist power of the time, the Soviet Union, which collapsed in 1991.
However, Deng is also remembered for human rights and for numerous instances of political violence. As paramount leader, he oversaw the Tiananmen Square massacre; afterwards, he was influential in the Communist Party's domestic cover-up of the event. Furthermore, he is associated with some of the worst purges during Mao Zedong's rule; for instance, he ordered an army crackdown on a Muslim village in Yunnan which resulted in the deaths of 1,600 people, including 300 children.
As paramount leader, Deng also negotiated an end to the British colonial rule of Hong Kong and normalized relations with the United States and the Soviet Union. In August 1980, he started China's political reforms by setting term limits for officials and proposing a systematic revision of China's third Constitution which was made during the Cultural Revolution; the new Constitution embodied Chinese-style constitutionalism and was passed by the National People's Congress in December 1982, with most of its content still being effective as of today. He helped establish China's nine-year compulsory education, and revived China's political reforms. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Deng gradually rose to supreme power and led China through a series of far-reaching market-economy reforms earning him the reputation as the \"Architect of Modern China\".",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Born in Sichuan during the end of the Qing dynasty, Deng moved to France in 1921 as a teenager, where he worked and studied; in the coming years he became attracted to the theories of Vladimir Lenin, and in 1924 he joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In early 1926, Deng travelled to Moscow to study political science, becoming a commissar for the Red Army upon his return to China. Near the end of 1929, Deng led local Red Army uprisings in Guangxi. In 1931, he was demoted within the party due to his support for Mao, but was again promoted during the Zunyi Conference. Deng was an important figure throughout the Chinese Civil War (1927–1949), including during the Long March (1934–1935) and in fighting against the Japanese (1937–1945). He, Liu Bocheng and Chen Yi led the newly formed People's Liberation Army (PLA) into the former Kuomintang capital of Nanjing during the final stretch of the civil war. Following the proclamation of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949, Deng served in Tibet and southwestern China as the regional party chief, working to consolidate party control in the region. In 1952, he returned to Beijing and held a central position in the State Council. In 1955, when the PLA adopted Russian-style military ranks, Deng was offered the position of marshal, which he declined. As the party's Secretary-General under Chairman Mao Zedong, and Vice Premier under Premier Zhou Enlai during the 1950s, Deng presided over the Anti-Rightist Campaign spearheaded by Mao, and became instrumental in China's economic reconstruction following the disastrous Great Leap Forward (1958–1960). However, his right-leaning political and economic stances eventually caused him to fall out of favor with Mao, and he was the target of purges twice during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Following Mao's death in September 1976, Deng outmaneuvered Mao’s chosen successor Hua Guofeng, and became China's paramount leader during the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee in December 1978. Having inherited a country beset with institutional disorder and disenchantment with communism as orchestrated by Mao, resulting from the chaotic political movements of the previous decades, Deng and his allies launched the Boluan Fanzheng program. Among other things, the program sought to rehabilitate veteran CCP leadership, as well as millions of others that were persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, and sought to gradually bring the country back to order. From 1977 to early 1979, he resumed the National College Entrance Examination that had not taken place for ten years, and initiated the Reform and Opening-up program that introduced elements of market capitalism to the Chinese economy. This included designating special economic zones, such as Shenzhen. Still embroiled in the Sino-Soviet split that began during the 1960s, Deng's China fought a one-month war with Vietnam. On 1 January 1979, the PRC officially established diplomatic relations with the United States after years of prelude, and Deng became the first paramount leader of China to visit the US. In August 1980, Deng embarked on a series of political reforms, setting constitutional term limits for state officials and other systematic revisions, which were incorporated in the country's third constitution (1982). In the 1980s, Deng advocated for the one-child policy to deal with China's perceived overpopulation crisis, helped establish China's nine-year compulsory education, launched the 863 Program for science and technology, and downsized the PLA by one million. Deng also proposed the One Country, Two Systems principle for the governance of Hong Kong and Macau, as well as the future unification with Taiwan. During Deng's tenure, his protégés Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang were head of the party and the government, but both of whom were later ousted from power. Deng stepped down from all his official positions in November 1989, in the wake of an eruption of protests in Tiananmen Square.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The reforms carried out by Deng and his allies gradually led China away from a planned economy and Maoist ideologies, opened it up to foreign investments and technology, and introduced its vast labor force to the global market, thus elevating a billion people from poverty and turning China into one of the world's fastest-growing economies. Deng and his chosen successors Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao contributed to China becoming the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP in 2010. He was eventually characterized as the \"architect\" of a new brand of thinking combining socialist ideology with free enterprise, dubbed \"socialism with Chinese characteristics\" (now known as Deng Xiaoping Theory). Despite never holding office as either the PRC's state representative or head of government nor as the head of CCP, Deng is generally viewed as the \"core\" of the CCP's second-generation leadership, a status enshrined within the party's constitution. Deng was named the Time Person of the Year for 1978 and 1985. He was criticized for ordering a military crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, yet was praised for his reaffirmation of the reform program in his Southern Tour of 1992 as well as the reversion of Hong Kong to Chinese control in 1997 and the return of Macau in 1999.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Deng's ancestors can be traced back to Jiaying County (now renamed as Meixian), Guangdong, a prominent ancestral area for the Hakka people, and had settled in Sichuan for several generations. Deng's daughter Deng Rong wrote in the book My Father Deng Xiaoping (我的父亲邓小平) that his ancestry was probably, but not definitely, Hakka. Sichuan was originally the origin of the Deng lineage until one of them was hired as an official in Guangdong during the Ming dynasty, but when the Qing dynasty planned to increase the population in 1671, they moved back to Sichuan. Deng was born in Guang'an District, Guang'an on 22 August 1904 in Sichuan province.",
"title": "Early life and family"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Deng's father, Deng Wenming, was a mid-level landowner who had studied at the University of Law and Political Science in Chengdu, Sichuan. He was locally prominent. His mother, surnamed Dan, died early in Deng's life, leaving Deng, his three brothers, and three sisters. At the age of five, Deng was sent to a traditional Chinese-style private primary school, followed by a more modern primary school at the age of seven.",
"title": "Early life and family"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Deng's first wife, one of his schoolmates from Moscow, died aged 24 a few days after giving birth to their first child, a baby girl who also died. His second wife, Jin Weiying, left him after Deng came under political attack in 1933. His third wife, Zhuo Lin, was the daughter of an industrialist in Yunnan. She became a member of the Communist Party in 1938, and married Deng a year later in front of Mao's cave dwelling in Yan'an. They had five children: three daughters (Deng Lin, Deng Nan and Deng Rong) and two sons (Deng Pufang and Deng Zhifang). Deng quit smoking when he was 86.",
"title": "Early life and family"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "When Deng first attended school, his tutor objected to his having the given name \"Xiansheng\" (先圣), calling him \"Xixian\" (希贤), which includes the characters \"to aspire to\" and \"goodness\", with overtones of wisdom.",
"title": "Early life and family"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In the summer of 1919, Deng graduated from the Chongqing School. He and 80 schoolmates travelled by ship to France (travelling steerage) to participate in the Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement, a work-study program in which 4,001 Chinese would participate by 1927. Deng, the youngest of all the Chinese students in the group, had just turned 15. Wu Yuzhang, the local leader of the Movement in Chongqing, enrolled Deng and his paternal uncle, Deng Shaosheng, in the program. Deng's father strongly supported his son's participation in the work-study abroad program. The night before his departure, Deng's father took his son aside and asked him what he hoped to learn in France. He repeated the words he had learned from his teachers: \"To learn knowledge and truth from the West in order to save China.\" Deng was aware that China was suffering greatly, and that the Chinese people must have a modern education to save their country.",
"title": "Early life and family"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "On 19 October 1920, a French packet ship, the André Lebon, sailed into Marseille with 210 Chinese students aboard including Deng. The sixteen-year-old Deng briefly attended middle schools in Bayeux and Châtillon, but he spent most of his time in France working, including at a Renault factory and as a fitter at the Le Creusot Iron and Steel Plant in La Garenne-Colombes, a north-western suburb of Paris where he moved in April 1921. Coincidentally, when Deng's later political fortunes were down and he was sent to work in a tractor factory in 1969 during the Cultural Revolution, he found himself a fitter again and proved to still be a master of the skill.",
"title": "Early life and family"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In La Garenne-Colombes Deng met future CCP leaders Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi, Nie Rongzhen, Li Fuchun, Li Lisan and Li Weihan. In June 1923 he joined the Chinese Communist Youth League in Europe. In the second half of 1924, he joined the Chinese Communist Party and became one of the leading members of the General Branch of the Youth League in Europe. In 1926 Deng traveled to the Soviet Union and studied at Moscow Sun Yat-sen University, where one of his classmates was Chiang Ching-kuo, the son of Chiang Kai-shek.",
"title": "Early life and family"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In late 1927, Deng left Moscow to return to China, where he joined the army of Feng Yuxiang, a military leader in northwest China, who had requested assistance from the Soviet Union in his struggle with other local leaders in the region. At that time, the Soviet Union, through the Comintern, an international organization supporting the Communist movements, supported the Communists' alliance with the Nationalists of the Kuomintang (KMT) party founded by Sun Yat-sen.",
"title": "Early life and family"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "He arrived in Xi'an, the stronghold of Feng Yuxiang, in March 1927. He was part of the Fengtian clique's attempt to prevent the break of the alliance between the KMT and the Communists. This split resulted in part from Chiang Kai-shek's forcing them to flee areas controlled by the KMT. After the breakup of the alliance between communists and nationalists, Feng Yuxiang stood on the side of Chiang Kai-shek, and the Communists who participated in their army, such as Deng Xiaoping, were forced to flee.",
"title": "Early life and family"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Although Deng got involved in the Marxist revolutionary movement in China, the historian Mobo Gao has argued that \"Deng Xiaoping and many like him [in the Chinese Communist Party] were not really Marxists, but basically revolutionary nationalists who wanted to see China standing on equal terms with the great global powers. They were primarily nationalists and they participated in the Communist revolution because that was the only viable route they could find to Chinese nationalism.\"",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "After leaving the army of Feng Yuxiang in the northwest, Deng ended up in the city of Wuhan, where the Communists at that time had their headquarters. At that time, he began using the nickname \"Xiaoping\" and occupied prominent positions in the party apparatus. He participated in the historic emergency session on 7 August 1927 in which, by Soviet instruction, the Party dismissed its founder Chen Duxiu, and Qu Qiubai became the general secretary. In Wuhan, Deng first established contact with Mao Zedong, who was then little valued by militant pro-Soviet leaders of the party.",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Between 1927 and 1929, Deng lived in Shanghai, where he helped organize protests that would be harshly persecuted by the Kuomintang authorities. The death of many Communist militants in those years led to a decrease in the number of members of the Communist Party, which enabled Deng to quickly move up the ranks. During this stage in Shanghai, Deng married a woman he met in Moscow, Zhang Xiyuan.",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "From 1929 to 1931, Deng served as the chief representative of the Central Committee in Guangxi, where he helped lead the Baise and Longzhou Uprisings. Both at the time and later, Deng Xiaoping's leadership during the rebellion has come under serious criticism. He followed the \"Li Lisan Line\" that called for aggressive attacks on cities. In practice, this meant that the rural soviet in Guangxi was abandoned and that the Seventh Red Army under Deng's political leadership fought and lost several bloody battles. Eventually, Deng and the other Communist leaders in Guangxi decided to retreat to Jiangxi to join Mao Zedong. However, after a costly march across rough terrain, Deng left the army leaderless without prior authorization to do so. A Central Committee post-mortem in 1931 singled out Deng's behavior as an example of \"rightist opportunism and a rich peasant line\". In 1945, several former commanders of the Seventh Red Army spoke out against Deng for his actions during the uprising, although Mao Zedong protected Deng from any serious repercussions. During the Cultural Revolution, Red Guards learned about the events of the Baise Uprising and accused Deng of desertion. Deng admitted that leaving the army was one of the \"worst mistakes of [his] life\" and that \"although this action was allowed by the party, it was politically horribly wrong.\" Modern historians and biographers tend to agree. Uli Franz calls leaving the army a \"serious error\". Benjamin Yang calls it a \"tragic failure and dark period in [Deng's] political life.\" On the other hand, Diana Lary places blame for the disaster more broadly on the \"ineptitude\" of both the local leaders and the CCP Central Committee.",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The campaigns against the Communists in the cities represented a setback for the party and in particular to the Comintern Soviet advisers, who saw the mobilization of the urban proletariat as the force for the advancement of communism. Contrary to the urban vision of the revolution, based on the Soviet experience, the Communist leader Mao Zedong saw the rural peasants as the revolutionary force in China. In a mountainous area of Jiangxi province, where Mao went to establish a communist system, there developed the embryo of a future state of China under communism, which adopted the official name of the Chinese Soviet Republic, but was better known as the \"Jiangxi Soviet\".",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In one of the most important cities in the Soviet zone, Ruijin, Deng took over as secretary of the Party Committee in the summer of 1931. In the winter of 1932, Deng went on to play the same position in the nearby district of Huichang. In 1933 he became director of the propaganda department of the Provincial Party Committee in Jiangxi. It was then that he married a young woman he had met in Shanghai named Jin Weiying.",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The successes of the Soviet in Jiangxi made the party leaders decide to move to Jiangxi from Shanghai. The confrontation among Mao, the party leaders, and their Soviet advisers was increasingly tense and the struggle for power between the two factions led to the removal of Deng, who favored the ideas of Mao, from his position in the propaganda department. Despite the strife within the party, the Jiangxi Soviet became the first successful experiment of communist rule in rural China. It even issued stamps and paper money under the letterhead of the Soviet Republic of China, and the army of Chiang Kai-shek finally decided to attack the communist area.",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Surrounded by the more powerful nationalist army, the Communists fled Jiangxi in October 1934. Thus began the epic movement that would mark a turning point in the development of Chinese communism. The evacuation was difficult because the Army of the nationalists had taken positions in all areas occupied by the Communists. Advancing through remote and mountainous terrain, some 100,000 men managed to escape Jiangxi, starting a long strategic retreat through the interior of China, which ended one year later when between 8,000 and 9,000 survivors reached the northern province of Shaanxi.",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "During the Zunyi Conference at the beginning of the Long March, the so-called 28 Bolsheviks, led by Bo Gu and Wang Ming, were ousted from power and Mao Zedong, to the dismay of the Soviet Union, became the new leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The pro-Soviet Chinese Communist Party had ended and a new rural-inspired party emerged under the leadership of Mao. Deng had once again become a leading figure in the party.",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The confrontation between the two parties was temporarily interrupted, however, by the Japanese invasion, forcing the Kuomintang to form an alliance for the second time with the Communists to defend the nation against external aggression.",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The invasion of Japanese troops in 1937 marked the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. During the invasion, Deng remained in the area controlled by the Communists in the north, where he assumed the role of deputy political director of the three divisions of the restructured Communist army. From September 1937 until January 1938, he lived in Buddhist monasteries and temples in the Wutai Mountains. In January 1938, he was appointed as Political Commissar of the 129th division of the Eighth Route Army commanded by Liu Bocheng, starting a long-lasting partnership with Liu.",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Deng stayed for most of the conflict with the Japanese in the war front in the area bordering the provinces of Shanxi, Henan and Hebei, then traveled several times to the city of Yan'an, where Mao had established the basis for Communist Party leadership. While in Henan, he delivered the famous report, \"The Victorious Situation of Leaping into the Central Plains and Future Policies and Strategies\", at a Gospel Hall where he lived for some time. In one of his trips to Yan'an in 1939, he married, for the third and last time in his life, Zhuo Lin, a young native of Kunming, who, like other young idealists of the time, had traveled to Yan'an to join the Communists.",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Deng was considered a \"revolutionary veteran\" because of his participation in the Long March. He took a leading role in the Hundred Regiments Offensive which boosted his standing among his comrades.",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "After Japan's defeat in World War II, Deng traveled to Chongqing, the city in which Chiang Kai-shek established his government during the Japanese invasion, to participate in peace talks between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. The results of those negotiations were not positive and military confrontation between the two antagonistic parties resumed shortly after the meeting in Chongqing.",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "While Chiang Kai-shek re-established the government in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, the Communists were fighting for control in the field. Following up with guerrilla tactics from their positions in rural areas against cities under the control of the government of Chiang and their supply lines, the Communists were increasing the territory under their control, and incorporating more and more soldiers who had deserted the Nationalist army.",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Deng played a major part in the Huaihai Campaign against the nationalists.",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "In the final phase of the war, Deng again exercised a key role as political leader and propaganda master as Political Commissar of the 2nd Field Army commanded by Liu Bocheng where he was instrumental in the PLA's march into Tibet. He also participated in disseminating the ideas of Mao Zedong, which turned into the ideological foundation of the Communist Party. His political and ideological work, along with his status as a veteran of the Long March, placed him in a privileged position within the party to occupy positions of power after the Communist Party managed to defeat Chiang Kai-shek and founded the People's Republic of China.",
"title": "Political rise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "On 1 October 1949, Deng attended the proclamation of the People's Republic of China in Beijing. At that time, the Communist Party controlled the entire north, but there were still parts of the south held by the Kuomintang regime. He became responsible for leading the pacification of southwest China, in his capacity as the first secretary of the Department of the Southwest. This organization had the task of managing the final takeover of that part of the country still held by the Kuomintang; Tibet remained independent for another year.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "The Kuomintang government was being forced to leave Guangzhou (Canton), and established Chongqing (Chungking) as a new provisional capital. There, Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-kuo, a former classmate of Deng in Moscow, wanted to stop the advance of the Communist Party forces.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Under the political control of Deng, the Communist army took over Chongqing in late November 1949 and entered Chengdu, the last bastion of power of Chiang Kai-shek, a few days later. At that time Deng became mayor of Chongqing, while he simultaneously was the leader of the Communist Party in the southwest, where the Communist army, now proclaiming itself the People's Liberation Army, suppressed resistance loyal to the old Kuomintang regime. In 1950, the Communist Party-ruled state also seized control over Tibet.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "In a 1951 speech to cadres preparing to supervise campaigns in the land reform movement, Deng instructed that while cadres should help peasants carry out nonviolent \"speak reason struggle\", they also had to remember that as a mass movement, land reform was not a time to be \"refined and gentle\". Expressing his view as a rhetorical question, Deng stated that while ideally no landlords would die in the process, \"If some tightfisted landlords hang themselves, does that mean our policies are wrong? Are we responsible?\"",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Deng Xiaoping would spend three years in Chongqing, the city where he had studied in his teenage years before going to France. In 1952 he moved to Beijing, where he occupied different positions in the central government.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "In July 1952, Deng came to Beijing to assume the posts of Vice Premier and Deputy Chair of the Committee on Finance. Soon after, he took the posts of Minister of Finance and Director of the Office of Communications. In 1954, he was removed from all these positions, holding only the post of Vice Premier. In 1956, he became Head of the Communist Party's Organization Department and member of the Central Military Commission.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "After officially supporting Mao Zedong in his Anti-Rightist Movement of 1957, Deng acted as Secretary-General of the Secretariat and ran the country's daily affairs with President Liu Shaoqi and Premier Zhou Enlai. Deng and Liu's policies emphasized economics over ideological dogma, an implicit departure from the mass fervor of the Great Leap Forward.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Both Liu and Deng supported Mao in the mass campaigns of the 1950s, in which they attacked the bourgeois and capitalists, and promoted Mao's ideology. However, the economic failure of the Great Leap Forward was seen as an indictment on the ability of Mao to manage the economy. Peng Dehuai openly criticized Mao, while Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, though more cautious, began to take charge of economic policy, leaving Mao out of day-to-day affairs of the party and state. Mao agreed to cede the presidency of the People's Republic of China (China's de jure head of state position) to Liu Shaoqi, while retaining his positions as leader of the party and the army.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "In 1955, he was considered as a candidate for the PLA rank of Marshal of the People's Republic of China but he was ultimately not awarded the rank.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "At the 8th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 1956, Deng supported removing all references to \"Mao Zedong Thought\" from the party statutes.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "In 1963, Deng traveled to Moscow to lead a meeting of the Chinese delegation with Stalin's successor, Nikita Khrushchev. Relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union had worsened since the death of Stalin. After this meeting, no agreement was reached and the Sino–Soviet split was consummated; there was an almost total suspension of relations between the two major communist powers of the time.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "After the \"Seven Thousand Cadres Conference\" in 1962, Liu and Deng's economic reforms of the early 1960s were generally popular and restored many of the economic institutions previously dismantled during the Great Leap Forward. Mao, sensing his loss of prestige, took action to regain control of the state. Appealing to his revolutionary spirit, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution, which encouraged the masses to root out the right-wing capitalists who had \"infiltrated the party\". Deng was ridiculed as the \"number two capitalist roader\".",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Deng was one of the primary drafters of the Third Five Year Plan. In draft form, it emphasized a consumer focus and further development in China's more industrialized coastal cities. When Mao argued for a massive campaign to develop basic and national security industry in China's interior as a Third Front in case of invasion by the United States or Soviet Union, Deng was among the key leadership that did not support the idea. Following increased concerns of attack from the United States after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, Deng and other key leadership ultimately supported the Third Front construction, and the focus of the Third Year Plan changed to industrialization of the interior.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Mao feared that the reformist economic policies of Deng and Liu could lead to restoration of capitalism and end the Chinese Revolution. For this and other reasons, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution in 1966, during which Deng fell out of favor and was forced to retire from all his positions.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "During the Cultural Revolution, he and his family were targeted by Red Guards, who imprisoned Deng's eldest son, Deng Pufang. Deng Pufang was tortured and jumped out, or was thrown out, of the window of a four-story building in 1968, becoming a paraplegic. In October 1969 Deng Xiaoping was sent to the Xinjian County Tractor Factory in rural Jiangxi province to work as a regular worker. In his four years there, Deng spent his spare time writing. He was purged nationally, but to a lesser scale than President Liu Shaoqi.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "In 1971, Mao's second official successor and the sole Vice Chairman of the party, Lin Biao, was killed in an air crash. According to official reports, Lin was trying to flee from China after a failed coup against Mao. Mao purged all of Lin's allies, who made up nearly all of the senior ranks of the PLA, leaving Deng (who had been political commissar of the 2nd Field Army during the civil war) the most influential of the remaining army leaders. In the time that followed, Deng wrote to Mao twice to say that he had learned a lesson from the Lin Biao incident, admitted that he had \"capitalist trends\" and did not \"hold high the great banner of Mao Zedong Thought\", and expressed the hope that he could work for the Party to make up for his mistakes. Premier Zhou Enlai was Mao's third successor but he fell ill with cancer and made Deng his choice as successor. In February 1973, Deng returned to Beijing, after Zhou brought him back from exile in order for Deng to focus on reconstructing the Chinese economy. Zhou was also able to convince Mao to bring Deng back into politics in October 1974 as First Vice-Premier, in practice running daily affairs. He remained careful, however, to avoid contradicting Maoist ideology on paper. In January 1975, he was additionally elected Vice Chairman of the party by the 10th Central Committee for the first time in his party career; Li Desheng had to resign in his favour. Deng was one of five Vice Chairmen, with Zhou being the First Vice Chairman.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "During his brief ascendency in 1973, Deng established the Political Research Office, headed by intellectuals Hu Qiaomu, Yu Guangyuan and Hu Sheng, delegated to explore approaches to political and economic reforms. He led the group himself and managed the project within the State Council, in order to avoid rousing the suspicions of the Gang of Four.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "The Cultural Revolution was not yet over, and a radical leftist political group known as the Gang of Four, led by Mao's wife Jiang Qing, competed for power within the Party. The Gang saw Deng as their greatest challenge to power. Mao, too, was suspicious that Deng would destroy the positive reputation of the Cultural Revolution, which Mao considered one of his greatest policy initiatives. Beginning in late 1975, Deng was asked to draw up a series of self-criticisms. Although he admitted to having taken an \"inappropriate ideological perspective\" while dealing with state and party affairs, he was reluctant to admit that his policies were wrong in essence. His antagonism with the Gang of Four became increasingly clear, and Mao seemed to lean in the Gang's favour. Mao refused to accept Deng's self-criticisms and asked the party's Central Committee to \"discuss Deng's mistakes thoroughly\".",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Zhou Enlai died in January 1976, to an outpouring of national grief. Zhou was a very important figure in Deng's political life, and his death eroded his remaining support within the Party's Central Committee. After Deng delivered Zhou's official eulogy at the state funeral, the Gang of Four, with Mao's permission, began the \"Counterattack the Right-Deviationist Reversal-of-Verdicts Trend\" campaign. Hua Guofeng, not Deng, was selected to become Zhou's successor as Premier on 4 February 1976.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "On 2 February 1976, the Central Committee issued a Top-Priority Directive, officially transferring Deng to work on \"external affairs\" and thus removing him from the party's power apparatus. Deng stayed at home for several months, awaiting his fate. The Political Research Office was promptly dissolved, and Deng's advisers such as Yu Guangyuan suspended. As a result, the political turmoil halted the economic progress Deng had labored for in the past year. On 3 March, Mao issued a directive reaffirming the legitimacy of the Cultural Revolution and specifically pointed to Deng as an internal, rather than external, problem. This was followed by a Central Committee directive issued to all local party organs to study Mao's directive and criticize Deng.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Deng's reputation as a reformer suffered a severe blow when the Qingming Festival, after the mass public mourning of Zhou on a traditional Chinese holiday, culminated in the Tiananmen Incident on 5 April 1976, an event the Gang of Four branded as counter-revolutionary and threatening to their power. Furthermore, the Gang deemed Deng the mastermind behind the incident, and Mao himself wrote that \"the nature of things has changed\". This prompted Mao to remove Deng from all leadership positions, although he retained his party membership. As a result, on 6 April 1976 Premier Hua Guofeng was also appointed to Deng's position as Vice Chairman and at the same time received the vacant position of First Vice Chairman, which Zhou had held, making him Mao's fourth official successor.",
"title": "Political career under Mao"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Following Mao's death on 9 September 1976 and the purge of the Gang of Four in October 1976, Premier Hua Guofeng succeeded as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and gradually emerged as the de facto leader of China. Prior to Mao's death, the only governmental position Deng held was that of First Vice Premier of the State Council, but Hua Guofeng wanted to rid the Party of extremists and successfully marginalised the Gang of Four. On 22 July 1977, Deng was restored to the posts of vice-chairman of the Central Committee, Vice-chairman of the Military Commission and Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "By carefully mobilizing his supporters within the party, Deng outmaneuvered Hua, who had pardoned him, then ousted Hua from his top leadership positions by 1980. In contrast to previous leadership changes, Deng allowed Hua to retain membership in the Central Committee and quietly retire, helping to set the precedent that losing a high-level leadership struggle would not result in physical harm.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "During his paramount leadership, his official state positions were Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from 1978 to 1983 and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (an ad hoc body comprising the most senior members of the party elite) of the People's Republic of China from 1983 to 1990, while his official party positions were Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1977 to 1982, Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party from 1981 to 1989 and Chairman of the Central Advisory Commission from 1982 to 1987. He was offered the rank of General First Class in 1988 when the PLA restored military ranks, but as in 1955, he once again declined. Even after retiring from the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 1987 and the Central Military Commission in 1989, Deng continued to exert influence over China's policies until his death in 1997.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Important decisions were always taken in Deng's home in Zhongnanhai with a caucus of eight senior party cadres, called \"Eight Elders\", especially with Chen Yun and Li Xiannian. Despite Deng's recognition as paramount leader, in practice these elders governed China as a small collective leadership. Deng ruled as \"paramount leader\" although he never held the top title of the party, and was able to successively remove three party leaders, including Hu Yaobang. Deng stepped down from the Central Committee and its Politburo Standing Committee. However, he remained as the chairman of the State and Party's Central Military Commission and was still seen as the paramount leader of China rather than General Secretary Zhao Ziyang and Presidents Li Xiannian and Yang Shangkun.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Deng repudiated the Cultural Revolution and, in 1977, launched the \"Beijing Spring\", which allowed open criticism of the excesses and suffering that had occurred during the period, and restored the National College Entrance Examination (Gao Kao) which was cancelled for ten years during the Cultural Revolution. Meanwhile, he was the impetus for the abolition of the class background system. Under this system, the CCP removed employment barriers to Chinese deemed to be associated with the former landlord class; its removal allowed a faction favoring the restoration of the private market to enter the Communist Party.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Deng gradually outmaneuvered his political opponents. By encouraging public criticism of the Cultural Revolution, he weakened the position of those who owed their political positions to that event, while strengthening the position of those like himself who had been purged during that time. Deng also received a great deal of popular support. As Deng gradually consolidated control over the CCP, Hua was replaced by Zhao Ziyang as premier in 1980, and by Hu Yaobang as party chairman in 1981, despite the fact that Hua was Mao Zedong's designated successor as the \"paramount leader\" of the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Republic of China. During the \"Boluan Fanzheng\" period, the Cultural Revolution was invalidated, and victims of more than 3 million \"unjust, false, wrongful cases\" by 1976 were officially rehabilitated.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Deng's elevation to China's new number-one figure meant that the historical and ideological questions around Mao Zedong had to be addressed properly. Because Deng wished to pursue deep reforms, it was not possible for him to continue Mao's hard-line \"class struggle\" policies and mass public campaigns. In 1982 the Central Committee of the Communist Party released a document entitled On the Various Historical Issues since the Founding of the People's Republic of China. Mao retained his status as a \"great Marxist, proletarian revolutionary, militarist, and general\", and the undisputed founder and pioneer of the country and the People's Liberation Army. \"His accomplishments must be considered before his mistakes\", the document declared. Deng personally commented that Mao was \"seven parts good, three parts bad\". The document also steered the prime responsibility of the Cultural Revolution away from Mao (although it did state that \"Mao mistakenly began the Cultural Revolution\") to the \"counter-revolutionary cliques\" of the Gang of Four and Lin Biao.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Deng prioritized China's modernization and opening up to the outside world, stating that China's \"strategy in foreign affairs is to seek a peaceful environment\" for the Four Modernizations. Under Deng's leadership, China opened up to the outside world, to learn from more advanced countries. Deng developed the principle that in foreign affairs, China should keep a low-profile and bide its time. He continued to seek an independent position between the United States and the Soviet Union. Although Deng retained control over key national security decisions, he also delegated power to bureaucrats in routine matters, ratifying consensus decisions and stepping in if a bureaucratic consensus could not be reached. In contrast to the Mao-era, Deng involved more parties in foreign policy decision-making, decentralizing the foreign policy bureaucracy. This decentralized approach led to consideration of a number of interests and views, but also fragmentation of policy institutions and extensive bargaining between different bureaucratic units during the policy-making process.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "In November 1978, after the country had stabilized following political turmoil, Deng visited Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and met with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Deng was very impressed with Singapore's economic development, greenery and housing, and later sent tens of thousands of Chinese to Singapore and countries around the world to learn from their experiences and bring back their knowledge. Lee Kuan Yew, on the other hand, advised Deng to stop exporting Communist ideologies to Southeast Asia, advice that according to Lee, Deng later followed. In late 1978, the aerospace company Boeing announced the sale of 747 aircraft to various airlines in the PRC, and the beverage company Coca-Cola made public their intention to open a production plant in Shanghai.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "On 1 January 1979, the United States recognized the People's Republic of China, leaving the (Taiwan) Republic of China's nationalist government to one side, and business contacts between China and the West began to grow.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "In early 1979, Deng undertook an official visit to the United States, meeting President Jimmy Carter in Washington as well as several Congressmen. The Chinese insisted that former President Richard Nixon be invited to the formal White House reception, a symbolic indication of their assertiveness on the one hand, and their desire to continue with the Nixon initiatives on the other. As part of the discussions with Carter, Deng sought United States approval for China's contemplated invasion of Vietnam in the Sino-Vietnamese war. According to United States National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter reserved judgment, an action which Chinese diplomats interpreted as tacit approval, and China launched the invasion shortly after Deng's return.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "During the visit, Deng visited the Johnson Space Center in Houston, as well as the headquarters of Coca-Cola and Boeing in Atlanta and Seattle, respectively. With these visits so significant, Deng made it clear that the new Chinese regime's priorities were economic and technological development.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Deng took personal charge of the final negotiations with the United States on normalizing foreign relations between the two countries. In response to criticism from within the Party regarding his United States policy, Deng wrote, \"I am presiding over the work on the United States. If there are problems, I take full responsibility.\"",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Sino-Japanese relations improved significantly. Deng used Japan as an example of a rapidly progressing power that set a good example for China economically.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "Deng initially continued to adhere to the Maoist line of the Sino–Soviet split era that the Soviet Union was a superpower as \"hegemonic\" as the United States, but even more threatening to China because of its close proximity. Relations with the Soviet Union improved after Mikhail Gorbachev took over the Kremlin in 1985, and formal relations between the two countries were finally restored at the 1989 Sino-Soviet Summit.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "Deng responded to the Western sanctions following the Tiananmen Square protests by adopting the \"twenty-four character guidelines\" for China's international affairs: observe carefully (冷静观察), secure China's positions (稳住阵脚), calmly cope with the challenges (沉着应付), hide China's capacities and bide its time (韬光养晦), be good at maintaining a low profile (善于守拙), and never claim leadership (绝不当头).",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "The end of the Cold War and dissolution of the Soviet Union removed the original motives underlying rapprochement between China and the United States. Motivated by concerns that the United States might curtail support for China's modernization, Deng adopted a low-profile foreign policy to live with the fact of United States hegemony and focus primarily on domestic development. In this period of its foreign policy, China focused on building good relations with its neighbors and actively participating in multi-lateral institutions. As academic Suisheng Zhao writes in evaluating Deng's foreign policy legacy, \"Deng's developmental diplomacy helped create a favorable external environment for China's rise in the twenty-first century. His hand-picked successors, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, faithfully followed his course.\"",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "In 1990 when he met Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau he stated \"The key principle governing the new international order should be noninterference in other countries’ internal affairs and social systems. It won't work to require all the countries in the world to copy the patterns set by the United States, Britain and France.\" Deng championed the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence stating that they should be used as the \"guiding norms of international relations\".",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "At the outset of China's reform and opening up, Deng set out the Four Cardinal Principles that had to be maintained in the process: (1) the leadership of the Communist Party, (2) the socialist road, (3) Marxism, and (4) the dictatorship of the proletariat. Overall, reform proceeded gradually, with Deng delegating specific issues to proteges such as Hu Yaobang or Zhao Ziyang, who in turn addressed them under the guiding principle of \"seeking truth from facts\" - meaning that the correctness of an approach had to be gauged by its economic results. Deng described reform and opening up as a \"large scale experiment\" requiring thorough \"experimentation in practice\" instead of textbook knowledge.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "Deng quoted the old proverb \"it doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white, if it catches mice it is a good cat.\" The point was that capitalistic methods worked. Deng worked with his team, especially as Zhao Ziyang, who in 1980 replaced Hua Guofeng as premier, and Hu Yaobang, who in 1981 did the same with the post of party chairman. Deng thus took the reins of power and began to emphasize the goals of \"four modernizations\" (economy, agriculture, scientific and technological development and national defense). He announced an ambitious plan of opening and liberalizing the economy. On Deng's initiative, the CCP revoked the position of Chairman and made the General Secretary the ex officio leader of the party.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "The last position of power retained by Hua Guofeng, chairman of the Central Military Commission, was taken by Deng in 1981. However, progress toward military modernization went slowly. A border war with Vietnam in 1977–1979 made major changes unwise. The war puzzled outside observers, but Xiaoming Zhang argues that Deng had multiple goals: stopping Soviet expansion in the region, obtain American support for his four modernizations, and mobilizing China for reform and integration into the world economy. Deng also sought to strengthen his control of the PLA, and demonstrate to the world that China was capable of fighting a real war. Zhang thinks punishment of Vietnam for its invasion of Cambodia was a minor factor. In the event, the Chinese forces did poorly, in terms of equipment, strategy, leadership, and battlefield performance. Deng subsequently used the PLA's poor performance to overcome resistance by military leaders to his military reforms.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "China's primary military threat came from the Soviet Union, which was much more powerful despite having fewer soldiers, owing to its more advanced weapons technology. In March 1981, Deng deemed a military exercise necessary for the PLA, and in September, the North China Military Exercise took place, becoming the largest exercise conducted by the PLA since the founding of the People's Republic. Moreover, Deng initiated the modernization of the PLA and decided that China first had to develop an advanced civilian scientific infrastructure before it could hope to build modern weapons. He therefore concentrated on downsizing the military, cutting 1 million troops in 1985 (百万大裁军), retiring the elderly and corrupt senior officers and their cronies. He emphasized the recruitment of much better educated young men who would be able to handle the advanced technology when it finally arrived. Instead of patronage and corruption in the officer corps, he imposed strict discipline in all ranks. In 1982 he established a new Commission for Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense to plan for using technology developed in the civilian sector.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "In 1986, Deng explained to Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes that some people and regions could become prosperous first in order to bring about common prosperity faster. In October 1987, at the Plenary Session of the National People's Congress, Deng was re-elected as Chairman of the Central Military Commission, but he resigned as Chairman of the Central Advisory Commission and was succeeded by Chen Yun. Deng continued to chair and develop the reform and opening up as the main policy, and he advanced the three steps suitable for China's economic development strategy within seventy years: the first step, to double the 1980 GNP and ensure that the people have enough food and clothing, was attained by the end of the 1980s; the second step, to quadruple the 1980 GNP by the end of the 20th century, was achieved in 1995 ahead of schedule; the third step, to increase per capita GNP to the level of the medium-developed countries by 2050, at which point, the Chinese people will be fairly well-off and modernization will be basically realized.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "Improving relations with the outside world was the second of two important philosophical shifts outlined in Deng's program of reform termed Gaige Kaifang (lit. Reforms and Openness). China's domestic social, political, and most notably, economic systems would undergo significant changes during Deng's time. The goals of Deng's reforms were summed up by the Four Modernizations, those of agriculture, industry, science and technology, and the military.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "The strategy for achieving these aims of becoming a modern, industrial nation was the socialist market economy. Deng argued that China was in the primary stage of socialism and that the duty of the party was to perfect so-called \"socialism with Chinese characteristics\", and \"seek truth from facts\". (This somewhat resembles the Leninist theoretical justification of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in the 1920s, which argued that the Soviet Union had not gone deeply enough into the capitalist phase and therefore needed limited capitalism in order to fully evolve its means of production.) The \"socialism with Chinese characteristics\" settles a benign structure for the implementation of ethnic policy and forming a unique method of ethnic theory.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Deng's economic policy prioritized developing China's productive forces. In Deng's view, this development \"is the most fundamental revolution from the viewpoint of historical development[,]\" and \"[p]oor socialism\" is not socialism. His theoretical justification for allowing market forces was:",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "The proportion of planning to market forces is not the essential difference between socialism and capitalism. A planned economy is not equivalent to socialism, because there is planning under capitalism too; a market economy is not capitalism, because there are markets under socialism too. Planning and market forces are both means of controlling economic activity. The essence of socialism is liberation and development of the productive forces, elimination of exploitation and polarisation, and the ultimate achievement of prosperity for all. This concept must be made clear to the people.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "Unlike Hua Guofeng, Deng believed that no policy should be rejected outright simply because it was not associated with Mao. Unlike more conservative leaders such as Chen Yun, Deng did not object to policies on the grounds that they were similar to ones that were found in capitalist nations.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "This political flexibility towards the foundations of socialism is strongly supported by quotes such as:",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "We mustn't fear to adopt the advanced management methods applied in capitalist countries ... The very essence of socialism is the liberation and development of the productive systems ... Socialism and market economy are not incompatible ... We should be concerned about right-wing deviations, but most of all, we must be concerned about left-wing deviations.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "Although Deng provided the theoretical background and the political support to allow economic reform to occur, the general consensus amongst historians is that few of the economic reforms that Deng introduced were originated by Deng himself. Premier Zhou Enlai, for example, pioneered the Four Modernizations years before Deng. In addition, many reforms would be introduced by local leaders, often not sanctioned by central government directives. If successful and promising, these reforms would be adopted by larger and larger areas and ultimately introduced nationally. An often cited example is the household responsibility system, which was first secretly implemented by a poor rural village at the risk of being convicted as \"counter-revolutionary\". This experiment proved very successful. Deng openly supported it and it was later adopted nationally. Many other reforms were influenced by the experiences of the East Asian Tigers.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "This was in sharp contrast to the pattern of perestroika undertaken by Mikhail Gorbachev, in which most major reforms originated with Gorbachev himself. The bottom-up approach of Deng's reforms, in contrast to the top-down approach of perestroika, was likely a key factor in the success of the former.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "Deng's reforms actually included the introduction of planned, centralized management of the macro-economy by technically proficient bureaucrats, abandoning Mao's mass campaign style of economic construction. However, unlike the Soviet model, management was indirect through market mechanisms. Deng sustained Mao's legacy to the extent that he stressed the primacy of agricultural output and encouraged a significant decentralization of decision making in the rural economy teams and individual peasant households. At the local level, material incentives, rather than political appeals, were to be used to motivate the labor force, including allowing peasants to earn extra income by selling the produce of their private plots at free market value.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "In the move toward market allocation, local municipalities and provinces were allowed to invest in industries that they considered most profitable, which encouraged investment in light manufacturing. Thus, Deng's reforms shifted China's development strategy to an emphasis on light industry and export-led growth. Light industrial output was vital for a developing country coming from a low capital base. With the short gestation period, low capital requirements, and high foreign-exchange export earnings, revenues generated by light manufacturing were able to be reinvested in technologically more advanced production and further capital expenditures and investments.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "However, in sharp contrast to the similar, but much less successful reforms in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the People's Republic of Hungary, these investments were not government mandated. The capital invested in heavy industry largely came from the banking system, and most of that capital came from consumer deposits. One of the first items of the Deng reforms was to prevent reallocation of profits except through taxation or through the banking system; hence, the reallocation in state-owned industries was somewhat indirect, thus making them more or less independent from government interference. In short, Deng's reforms sparked an industrial revolution in China.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "These reforms were a reversal of the Maoist policy of economic self-reliance. China decided to accelerate the modernization process by stepping up the volume of foreign trade, especially the purchase of machinery from Japan and the West. By participating in such export-led growth, China was able to step up the Four Modernizations by attaining certain foreign funds, market, advanced technologies and management experiences, thus accelerating its economic development. From 1980, Deng attracted foreign companies to a series of Special Economic Zones, where foreign investment and market liberalization were encouraged.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "The reforms sought to improve labor productivity. New material incentives and bonus systems were introduced. Rural markets selling peasants' homegrown products and the surplus products of communes were revived. Not only did rural markets increase agricultural output, they stimulated industrial development as well. With peasants able to sell surplus agricultural yields on the open market, domestic consumption stimulated industrialization as well and also created political support for more difficult economic reforms.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "There are some parallels between Deng's market socialism especially in the early stages, and Vladimir Lenin's NEP as well as those of Nikolai Bukharin's economic policies, in that both foresaw a role for private entrepreneurs and markets based on trade and pricing rather than central planning. As academics Christopher Marquis and Kunyuan Qiao observe, Deng had been present in the Soviet Union when Lenin implemented the NEP, and it is reasonable to infer that it may have impacted Deng's view that markets could exist within socialism. In first meeting between Deng and Armand Hammer, Deng pressed the industrialist and former investor in Lenin's Soviet Union for as much information on the new economic policy as possible.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "From 1980 onwards, Deng led the expansion of the economy, and in political terms took over negotiations with the United Kingdom to return the territory of Hong Kong, meeting personally with then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher had participated in the meetings with the hopes of keeping British rule over Hong Kong Island and Kowloon—two of the three constituent territories of the colony—but this was firmly rejected by Deng. The result of these negotiations was the Sino-British Joint Declaration, signed on 19 December 1984, which formally outlined the United Kingdom's return of the whole Hong Kong colony to China by 1997. The Chinese government pledged to respect the economic system and civil liberties of the British colony for fifty years after the handover.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "Deng's theory of one country, two systems applied to Hong Kong and Macau and Deng intended to also present it as an attractive option to the people of Taiwan for eventual incorporation of that island, where sovereignty over the territory is still disputed. In 1982, Deng first explained the concept of one country, two systems in relation to Taiwan.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "Deng's statements during the 1987 drafting of the Basic Law of Hong Kong showed his view of the principle in the Hong Kong context. At that time, Deng stated that the central government would not intervene in the daily business of Hong Kong, but predicted Hong Kong would sometimes have issues affecting national interests that would require the central government's involvement. Deng said, \"What if Hong Kong is turned into an antimainland base under the pretext of 'democracy? Then we must intervene.\" In June 1988, Deng stated that \"Hong Kong's political system today is neither the British system nor the American system, and it should not transplant the Western ways in the future.\"",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "China's rapid economic growth presented several problems. The 1982 census revealed the extraordinary growth of the population, which already exceeded a billion people. Deng continued the plans initiated by Hua Guofeng to restrict birth to only one child, limiting women to one child under pain of administrative penalty. The policy applied to urban areas, and included forced abortions.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "In August 1983, Deng launched the \"Strike hard\" Anti-crime Campaign due to the worsening public safety after the Cultural Revolution. It was reported that the government set quotas for 5,000 executions by mid-November, and sources in Taiwan claimed that as many as 60,000 people were executed in that time, although more recent estimates have placed the number at 24,000 who were sentenced to death (mostly in the first \"battle\" of the campaign). A number of people arrested (some even received death penalty) were children or relatives of government officials at various levels, including the grandson of Zhu De, demonstrating the principle of \"all are equal before the law\". The campaign had an immediate positive effect on public safety, while controversies also arose such as whether some of the legal punishments were too harsh and whether the campaign had long-term positive effect on public safety.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "Increasing economic freedom was being translated into a greater freedom of opinion, and critics began to arise within the system, including the famous dissident Wei Jingsheng, who coined the term \"fifth modernization\" in reference to democracy as a missing element in the renewal plans of Deng Xiaoping. In the late 1980s, dissatisfaction with the authoritarian regime and growing inequalities caused the biggest crisis to Deng's leadership.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, culminating in the June Fourth Massacre, were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in the People's Republic of China (PRC) between 15 April and 5 June 1989, a year in which many other communist governments collapsed.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "The protests were sparked by the death of Hu Yaobang, a reformist official backed by Deng but ousted by the Eight Elders and the conservative wing of the politburo. Many people were dissatisfied with the party's slow response and relatively subdued funeral arrangements. Public mourning began on the streets of Beijing and universities in the surrounding areas. In Beijing this was centered on the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square. The mourning became a public conduit for anger against perceived nepotism in the government, the unfair dismissal and early death of Hu, and the behind-the-scenes role of the \"old men\". By the eve of Hu's funeral, the demonstration had reached 100,000 people on Tiananmen Square. While the protests lacked a unified cause or leadership, participants raised the issue of corruption within the government and some voiced calls for economic liberalization and democratic reform within the structure of the government while others called for a less authoritarian and less centralized form of socialism.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "During the demonstrations, Deng's pro-market ally General Secretary Zhao Ziyang supported the demonstrators and distanced himself from the Politburo. Martial law was declared on 20 May by the socialist hardliner, Chinese premier Li Peng, but the initial military advance on the city was blocked by residents. The movement lasted seven weeks. On 3–4 June, over two hundred thousand soldiers in tanks and helicopters were sent into the city to quell the protests by force, resulting in hundreds to thousands of casualties. Many ordinary people in Beijing believed that Deng had ordered the intervention, but political analysts do not know who was actually behind the order. However, Deng's daughter defends the actions that occurred as a collective decision by the party leadership.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "To purge sympathizers of Tiananmen demonstrators, the Communist Party initiated a one-and-a-half-year-long program similar to the Anti-Rightist Movement. Old-timers like Deng Fei aimed to deal \"strictly with those inside the party with serious tendencies toward bourgeois liberalization\", and more than 30,000 communist officers were deployed to the task.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "Zhao was placed under house arrest by hardliners and Deng himself was forced to make concessions to them. He soon declared that \"the entire imperialist Western world plans to make all socialist countries discard the socialist road and then bring them under the monopoly of international capital and onto the capitalist road\". A few months later he said that the \"United States was too deeply involved\" in the student movement, referring to foreign reporters who had given financial aid to the student leaders and later helped them escape to various Western countries, primarily the United States through Hong Kong and Taiwan.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "Although Deng initially made concessions to the socialist hardliners, he soon resumed his reforms after his 1992 southern tour. After his tour, he was able to stop the attacks of the socialist hardliners on the reforms through their \"named capitalist or socialist?\" campaign. Deng privately told former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau that factions of the Communist Party could have grabbed army units and the country had risked a civil war. Two years later, Deng endorsed Zhu Rongji, a Shanghai Mayor, as a vice-premier candidate. Zhu Rongji had refused to declare martial law in Shanghai during the demonstrations even though socialist hardliners had pressured him.",
"title": "Leadership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "Officially, Deng decided to retire from top positions when he stepped down as Chairman of the Central Military Commission in November 1989 and his successor Jiang Zemin became the new Chairman of the Central Military Commission and paramount leader. China, however, was still in the era of Deng Xiaoping. He continued to be widely regarded as the de facto leader of the country, believed to have backroom control despite no official position apart from being chairman of the Chinese Contract Bridge Association, and appointed Hu Jintao as Jiang's successor at the 14th Party Congress in 1992. Deng was recognized officially as \"the chief architect of China's economic reforms and China's socialist modernization\". To the Communist Party, he was believed to have set a good example for communist cadres who refused to retire at old age. He broke earlier conventions of holding offices for life. He was often referred to as simply Comrade Xiaoping, with no title attached.",
"title": "Resignation and 1992 southern tour"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "Because of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Deng's power had been significantly weakened and there was a growing formalist faction opposed to Deng's reforms within the Communist Party. To reassert his economic agenda, in the spring of 1992, Deng made a tour of southern China, visiting Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and spending the New Year in Shanghai, using his travels as a method of reasserting his economic policy after his retirement from office. The 1992 Southern Tour is widely regarded as a critical point in the modern history of China, as it saved the Chinese economic reform and preserved the stability of the society. Deng’s health deteriorated drastically around two years before his death. In January 1995, Deng’s daughter told the press that “A year ago, he could walk for 30 minutes twice a day, but now he cannot walk … He needs two people to support him.” It was also reported that Parkinson's experts were sent to Beijing to help him in 1995.",
"title": "Resignation and 1992 southern tour"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "Deng died on 19 February 1997 at 9:08 p.m. Beijing time, aged 92 from a lung infection and Parkinson's disease. The public was largely prepared for his death, as there had been rumors that his health was deteriorating. At 10:00 on the morning of 24 February, people were asked by Premier Li Peng to pause in silence for three minutes. The nation's flags flew at half-mast for over a week. The nationally televised funeral, which was a simple and relatively private affair attended by the country's leaders and Deng's family, was broadcast on all cable channels. After the funeral, his organs were donated to medical research, the remains were cremated at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, and his ashes were subsequently scattered at sea, according to his wishes. For the next two weeks, Chinese state media ran news stories and documentaries related to Deng's life and death, with the regular 19:00 National News program in the evening lasting almost two hours over the regular broadcast time.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "Deng's successor, Jiang Zemin, maintained Deng's political and economic philosophies. Deng was eulogized as a \"great Marxist, great Proletarian Revolutionary, statesman, military strategist, and diplomat; one of the main leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, the People's Liberation Army of China, and the People's Republic of China; the great architect of China's socialist opening-up and modernized construction; the founder of Deng Xiaoping Theory\". Some elements, notably modern Maoists and radical reformers (the far left and the far right), had negative views, however. In the following year, songs like \"Story of Spring\" by Dong Wenhua, which were created in Deng's honour shortly after Deng's southern tour in 1992, once again were widely played.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "Deng's death drew international reaction. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Deng was to be remembered \"in the international community at large as a primary architect of China's modernization and dramatic economic development\". French President Jacques Chirac said \"In the course of this century, few men have, as much as Deng, led a vast human community through such profound and determining changes\"; British Prime Minister John Major commented about Deng's key role in the return of Hong Kong to Chinese control; Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien called Deng a \"pivotal figure\" in Chinese history. The Kuomintang chair in Taiwan also sent its condolences, saying it longed for peace, cooperation, and prosperity. The Dalai Lama voiced regret that Deng died without resolving questions over Tibet.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "Memorials to Deng have been low profile compared to other leaders, in keeping with Deng's image of pragmatism. Rather than being embalmed, as was Mao, he was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea. There are some public displays, however. A bronze statue was erected on 14 November 2000, at the grand plaza of Lianhua Mountain Park in Shenzhen. This statue is dedicated to Deng's role as a planner and contributor to the development of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. The statue is 6 metres (20 ft) high, with an additional 3.68-meter base, and shows Deng striding forward confidently. Many CCP high level leaders visit the statue. In addition, in coastal areas and on the island province of Hainan, Deng appeared on roadside billboards with messages emphasizing economic reform or his policy of one country, two systems.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "A bronze statue to commemorate Deng's 100th birthday was dedicated 13 August 2004 in the city of Guang'an, Deng's hometown, in southwest China's Sichuan. Deng is dressed casually, sitting on a chair and smiling. The Chinese characters on the pedestal were written by Jiang Zemin, then General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "Deng Xiaoping's Former Residence in his hometown of Paifang Village in Sichuan has been preserved as an historical museum.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "In Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, there is a six-lane boulevard, 25 metres (82 ft) wide and 3.5 kilometres (2 mi) long, the Deng Xiaoping Prospekt, which was dedicated on 18 June 1997. A two-meter high red granite monument stands at the east end of this route. The epigraph is written in Chinese, Russian and Kirghiz.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "The documentary, Deng Xiaoping, released by CCTV in January 1997, presents his life from his days as a student in France to his \"Southern Tour\" of 1993. In 2014, CCTV released a TV series, Deng Xiaoping at History's Crossroads, in anticipation of the 110th anniversary of his birth.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "Deng has been called the \"architect of contemporary China\" and is widely considered to have been one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. He was the Time Person of the Year in 1978 and 1985, the third Chinese leader (after Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Soong Mei-ling) and the fourth time for a communist leader (after Joseph Stalin, picked twice; and Nikita Khrushchev) to be selected.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "Deng is remembered primarily for the economic reforms he initiated while paramount leader of the People's Republic of China, which pivoted China towards a market economy, led to high economic growth, increased standards of living of hundreds of millions, expanded personal and cultural freedoms, and substantially integrated the country into the world economy. More people were lifted out of poverty during his leadership than during any other time in human history, attributed largely to his reforms. For this reason, some have suggested that Deng should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Deng is also credited with reducing the cult of Mao Zedong and with bringing an end to the chaotic era of the Cultural Revolution. Furthermore, his strong-handed tactics have been credited with keeping the People's Republic of China unified, in contrast to the other major Communist power of the time, the Soviet Union, which collapsed in 1991.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "However, Deng is also remembered for human rights and for numerous instances of political violence. As paramount leader, he oversaw the Tiananmen Square massacre; afterwards, he was influential in the Communist Party's domestic cover-up of the event. Furthermore, he is associated with some of the worst purges during Mao Zedong's rule; for instance, he ordered an army crackdown on a Muslim village in Yunnan which resulted in the deaths of 1,600 people, including 300 children.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "As paramount leader, Deng also negotiated an end to the British colonial rule of Hong Kong and normalized relations with the United States and the Soviet Union. In August 1980, he started China's political reforms by setting term limits for officials and proposing a systematic revision of China's third Constitution which was made during the Cultural Revolution; the new Constitution embodied Chinese-style constitutionalism and was passed by the National People's Congress in December 1982, with most of its content still being effective as of today. He helped establish China's nine-year compulsory education, and revived China's political reforms.",
"title": "Legacy"
}
] | Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese revolutionary and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Deng gradually rose to supreme power and led China through a series of far-reaching market-economy reforms earning him the reputation as the "Architect of Modern China". Born in Sichuan during the end of the Qing dynasty, Deng moved to France in 1921 as a teenager, where he worked and studied; in the coming years he became attracted to the theories of Vladimir Lenin, and in 1924 he joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In early 1926, Deng travelled to Moscow to study political science, becoming a commissar for the Red Army upon his return to China. Near the end of 1929, Deng led local Red Army uprisings in Guangxi. In 1931, he was demoted within the party due to his support for Mao, but was again promoted during the Zunyi Conference. Deng was an important figure throughout the Chinese Civil War (1927–1949), including during the Long March (1934–1935) and in fighting against the Japanese (1937–1945). He, Liu Bocheng and Chen Yi led the newly formed People's Liberation Army (PLA) into the former Kuomintang capital of Nanjing during the final stretch of the civil war. Following the proclamation of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949, Deng served in Tibet and southwestern China as the regional party chief, working to consolidate party control in the region. In 1952, he returned to Beijing and held a central position in the State Council. In 1955, when the PLA adopted Russian-style military ranks, Deng was offered the position of marshal, which he declined. As the party's Secretary-General under Chairman Mao Zedong, and Vice Premier under Premier Zhou Enlai during the 1950s, Deng presided over the Anti-Rightist Campaign spearheaded by Mao, and became instrumental in China's economic reconstruction following the disastrous Great Leap Forward (1958–1960). However, his right-leaning political and economic stances eventually caused him to fall out of favor with Mao, and he was the target of purges twice during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). Following Mao's death in September 1976, Deng outmaneuvered Mao’s chosen successor Hua Guofeng, and became China's paramount leader during the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee in December 1978. Having inherited a country beset with institutional disorder and disenchantment with communism as orchestrated by Mao, resulting from the chaotic political movements of the previous decades, Deng and his allies launched the Boluan Fanzheng program. Among other things, the program sought to rehabilitate veteran CCP leadership, as well as millions of others that were persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, and sought to gradually bring the country back to order. From 1977 to early 1979, he resumed the National College Entrance Examination that had not taken place for ten years, and initiated the Reform and Opening-up program that introduced elements of market capitalism to the Chinese economy. This included designating special economic zones, such as Shenzhen. Still embroiled in the Sino-Soviet split that began during the 1960s, Deng's China fought a one-month war with Vietnam. On 1 January 1979, the PRC officially established diplomatic relations with the United States after years of prelude, and Deng became the first paramount leader of China to visit the US. In August 1980, Deng embarked on a series of political reforms, setting constitutional term limits for state officials and other systematic revisions, which were incorporated in the country's third constitution (1982). In the 1980s, Deng advocated for the one-child policy to deal with China's perceived overpopulation crisis, helped establish China's nine-year compulsory education, launched the 863 Program for science and technology, and downsized the PLA by one million. Deng also proposed the One Country, Two Systems principle for the governance of Hong Kong and Macau, as well as the future unification with Taiwan. During Deng's tenure, his protégés Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang were head of the party and the government, but both of whom were later ousted from power. Deng stepped down from all his official positions in November 1989, in the wake of an eruption of protests in Tiananmen Square. The reforms carried out by Deng and his allies gradually led China away from a planned economy and Maoist ideologies, opened it up to foreign investments and technology, and introduced its vast labor force to the global market, thus elevating a billion people from poverty and turning China into one of the world's fastest-growing economies. Deng and his chosen successors Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao contributed to China becoming the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP in 2010. He was eventually characterized as the "architect" of a new brand of thinking combining socialist ideology with free enterprise, dubbed "socialism with Chinese characteristics". Despite never holding office as either the PRC's state representative or head of government nor as the head of CCP, Deng is generally viewed as the "core" of the CCP's second-generation leadership, a status enshrined within the party's constitution. Deng was named the Time Person of the Year for 1978 and 1985. He was criticized for ordering a military crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, yet was praised for his reaffirmation of the reform program in his Southern Tour of 1992 as well as the reversion of Hong Kong to Chinese control in 1997 and the return of Macau in 1999. | 2001-10-21T23:04:48Z | 2023-12-25T09:26:20Z | [
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8,206 | HM Prison Dartmoor | HM Prison Dartmoor is a Category C men's prison, located in Princetown, high on Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. Its high granite walls dominate this area of the moor. The prison is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, and is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
Dartmoor Prison was given Grade II heritage listing in 1987.
In 1805, the United Kingdom was at war with Napoleonic France, a conflict during which thousands of prisoners were taken and confined in prison "hulks" or derelict ships. This was considered unsafe, partially due to the proximity of the Royal Naval dockyard at Devonport (then called Plymouth Dock), and as living conditions were appalling in the extreme, a prisoner of war depot was planned in the remote isolation of Dartmoor.
The prison was designed by Daniel Asher Alexander. Construction by local labour started in 1806, taking three years to complete. In 1809, the first French prisoners arrived and the prison was full by the end of the year.
From the spring of 1813 until March 1815, about 6,500 American sailors from the War of 1812 were imprisoned at Dartmoor in poor conditions (food was bad and the roofs leaked). These were either naval prisoners or impressed American seamen discharged from British vessels. Whilst the British were in overall charge of the prison, the prisoners created their own governance and culture. They had courts which meted out punishments, a market, a theatre and a gambling room. About 1,000 of the prisoners were Black. A recent examination of the General Entry Book of American Prisoners of War at Dartmoor, by Nicholas Guyatt, found "Eight Hundred and Twenty - Nine Sailors of Colour had been entered into the register by the end of October 1814."
Unlike many detention facilities of the period, Dartmoor Prison was purpose built in an isolated location, ringed by high stone walls, and manned by hundreds of armed militia sentries. In addition a rope ran around the entire circumference of the prison, linked to a series of bells, which quickly spread an alarm. Even if a determined prisoner made it beyond the walls, he would still have to traverse ten miles on foot, over wild moorland and bogs, an area frequently beset with fog and chilling winds, to reach the nearest town. Local residents turning in an escapee could expect a reward of a guinea. Yet, despite these daunting odds, scholar Nicholas Guyatt has tallied a total of twenty-four American POWs successfully making their way to freedom.
Although the war ended with the Treaty of Ghent on 24 December 1814, American prisoners of war remained in Dartmoor because the British government refused to let them go on parole or take any steps until the treaty was ratified by the United States Senate on 17 February 1815. It took several weeks for the American agent to secure ships for their transportation home, and the men grew very impatient. On 4 April, a food contractor attempted to work off some damaged hardtack on them in place of soft bread and was forced to yield by their insurrection. The commandant, Captain T. G. Shortland, suspected them of a design to break out of the gaol. This was the reverse of the truth in general, as they would lose their chance of going on the ships, but a few had made threats of the sort, and the commandant was very uneasy.
At about 6:00 pm on 6 April, Shortland discovered a hole from one of the five prisons to the barrack yard near the gun racks. Some prisoners were outside the fence, noisily pelting each other with turf, and many more were near the breach (and the gambling tables), though the signal for return to prisons had sounded. Shortland was convinced of a plot and rang the alarm bell to collect the officers and have the guards ready. This precaution brought back a crowd just going to quarters. Just then a prisoner broke a gate chain with an iron bar and a number of the prisoners pressed through to the prison market square. After attempts at persuasion, Shortland ordered a charge which drove some of the prisoners in. Those near the gate, however, hooted at and taunted the soldiery, who fired a volley over their heads. The crowd yelled louder and threw stones, and the soldiers, probably without orders fired a direct volley which killed and wounded a large number. Then they continued firing at the prisoners, many of whom were now struggling to get back inside the blocks.
Finally the captain, a lieutenant and the hospital surgeon (the other officers being at dinner) succeeded in stopping the shooting and started caring for the wounded – about 60, 30 seriously, besides seven killed outright. The affair was examined by a joint commission, Charles King for the United States and F. S. Larpent for Great Britain, which exonerated Shortland, justified the initial shooting and blamed the subsequent deaths on unknown culprits. Following these findings, Shortland was rewarded with a promotion. Despite being labelled "The Dartmoor Massacre", the British government paid compensation to the American families of those killed and pensioned the disabled.
A memorial has been erected to the 271 POWs (mostly seamen) who are buried in the prison grounds. By July 1815 at least 270 Americans and 1,200 French prisoners had died.
After all American and French prisoners had been released, paroled and repatriated, the gaol on Dartmoor was left unused for 35 years until 1850. Work then began to rebuild and recommission the prison for civilian convicts. It reopened in 1851. The POW remains that had been originally buried on the moor were exhumed and re-interred in two cemeteries behind the prison when the prison farm was established in about 1852. During the First World War in 1917, criminals were removed from the gaol when it was converted into a Home Office Work Centre for conscientious objectors granted release from other prisons. The cells were left unlocked, inmates wore their own clothes and could go outside to visit the village in their off-duty time.
In 1920, the Dartmoor began housing UK criminals. It would develop a reputation for housing some of Britain's most serious offenders that included murderers, gangsters, thieves, spies, and robbers such as Jack “the Hat” McVitie, Jack “Spot” Comer, John George Haigh, and Frank Mitchell. Numerous escape attempts have been made by inmates to get out of the prison and onto the moors, leading to massive manhunts by the police and prison service. Instances of disobedience included a model prisoner attacking a popular guard with a razor blade and rough treatment by prisoners of a prisoner being removed to solitary.
The prison's tough conditions eventually led to its worst outbreak of violence on 24 January 1932. The cause of the riots is generally attributed to prisoners' perceptions of poor quality of the food, not generally but on specific days prior to the disturbance when it was suspected it had been tampered with. At the parade later that day, 50 prisoners refused orders, and the rest were marched back to their cells but refused to enter. At this point, the prison governor and his staff fled to an unused part of the prison and secured themselves there. The prisoners then released those held in solitary. There was extensive damage to property, and a prisoner was shot by one of the staff, but no prison staff were injured. According to the du Parcq report into the riot: "Reinforcements arrived, and within fifteen minutes these 'vicious brutes', who for some two hours had terrorized well-armed prison staff, and effectively controlled the prison, had surrendered and been locked up again".
Dartmoor continues to suffer from its age, in 2001 a Board of Visitors report condemned sanitation, as well as highlighting a list of urgent repairs needed. A year later, the prison was converted to a Category C prison for less violent offenders. In 2002, the Prison Reform Trust warned that the prison may be breaching the Human Rights Act 1998 due to severe overcrowding at the jail. A year later, however, the Chief Inspector of Prisons declared that the prison had made substantial improvements to its management and regime.
In March 2008, staff at the prison passed a vote of no confidence in the governor Serena Watts, claiming they felt bullied by managers and unsafe.
Dartmoor is now a Category C prison, which means it houses mainly non-violent offenders and white-collar criminals. It also holds people with convictions for sexual offences, but it is designated as a support site only for these individuals and as such does not offer treatment programmes for them.
Dartmoor offers cell accommodation on six wings. Education is available at the prison (full and part-time), and ranges from basic educational skills to Open University courses. Vocational training includes electronics, brickwork and carpentry courses up to City & Guilds and NVQ level, Painting and Decorating courses, industrial cleaning and desktop publishing. Full-time employment is also available in catering, farming, gardening, laundry, textiles, Braille, contract services, furniture manufacturing and polishing. Employment is supported with NVQ or City & Guilds vocational qualifications. All courses and qualifications at Dartmoor are operated by South Gloucestershire and Stroud College and Cornwall College.
The "Dartmoor Jailbreak" is a yearly event, in which members of the public "escape" from the prison and must travel as far as possible in four days, without directly paying for transport. By doing so they raise money for charity.
In September 2013, it was announced that discussions would commence with the Duchy of Cornwall about the long-term future of HMP Dartmoor. In January 2014 it was stated on the BBC news website that the notice period with the Duchy for closing is 10 years. In November 2015 the Ministry of Justice confirmed that, as part of a major programme to replace older prisons, it would not renew its lease on the prison.
It was announced in October 2019 that HMP Dartmoor would close in 2023, but in December 2021 it was confirmed that, following negotiations with the Duchy, it would remain open beyond 2023 and for the foreseeable future.
The Dartmoor Prison Museum, located in the old dairy buildings, focuses on the history of HMP Dartmoor. Exhibits include the prison's role in housing prisoners of war from the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, manacles and weapons, memorabilia, clothing and uniforms, famous prisoners, and the changed focus of the prison. It also sells (2015) garden ornaments and other items made in the prison concrete and carpentry shops by prisoners engaged in educational courses.
There are also displays and information on less well known aspects of the prison such as the incarceration of conscientious objectors during World War One. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "HM Prison Dartmoor is a Category C men's prison, located in Princetown, high on Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. Its high granite walls dominate this area of the moor. The prison is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, and is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Dartmoor Prison was given Grade II heritage listing in 1987.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In 1805, the United Kingdom was at war with Napoleonic France, a conflict during which thousands of prisoners were taken and confined in prison \"hulks\" or derelict ships. This was considered unsafe, partially due to the proximity of the Royal Naval dockyard at Devonport (then called Plymouth Dock), and as living conditions were appalling in the extreme, a prisoner of war depot was planned in the remote isolation of Dartmoor.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The prison was designed by Daniel Asher Alexander. Construction by local labour started in 1806, taking three years to complete. In 1809, the first French prisoners arrived and the prison was full by the end of the year.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "From the spring of 1813 until March 1815, about 6,500 American sailors from the War of 1812 were imprisoned at Dartmoor in poor conditions (food was bad and the roofs leaked). These were either naval prisoners or impressed American seamen discharged from British vessels. Whilst the British were in overall charge of the prison, the prisoners created their own governance and culture. They had courts which meted out punishments, a market, a theatre and a gambling room. About 1,000 of the prisoners were Black. A recent examination of the General Entry Book of American Prisoners of War at Dartmoor, by Nicholas Guyatt, found \"Eight Hundred and Twenty - Nine Sailors of Colour had been entered into the register by the end of October 1814.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Unlike many detention facilities of the period, Dartmoor Prison was purpose built in an isolated location, ringed by high stone walls, and manned by hundreds of armed militia sentries. In addition a rope ran around the entire circumference of the prison, linked to a series of bells, which quickly spread an alarm. Even if a determined prisoner made it beyond the walls, he would still have to traverse ten miles on foot, over wild moorland and bogs, an area frequently beset with fog and chilling winds, to reach the nearest town. Local residents turning in an escapee could expect a reward of a guinea. Yet, despite these daunting odds, scholar Nicholas Guyatt has tallied a total of twenty-four American POWs successfully making their way to freedom.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Although the war ended with the Treaty of Ghent on 24 December 1814, American prisoners of war remained in Dartmoor because the British government refused to let them go on parole or take any steps until the treaty was ratified by the United States Senate on 17 February 1815. It took several weeks for the American agent to secure ships for their transportation home, and the men grew very impatient. On 4 April, a food contractor attempted to work off some damaged hardtack on them in place of soft bread and was forced to yield by their insurrection. The commandant, Captain T. G. Shortland, suspected them of a design to break out of the gaol. This was the reverse of the truth in general, as they would lose their chance of going on the ships, but a few had made threats of the sort, and the commandant was very uneasy.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "At about 6:00 pm on 6 April, Shortland discovered a hole from one of the five prisons to the barrack yard near the gun racks. Some prisoners were outside the fence, noisily pelting each other with turf, and many more were near the breach (and the gambling tables), though the signal for return to prisons had sounded. Shortland was convinced of a plot and rang the alarm bell to collect the officers and have the guards ready. This precaution brought back a crowd just going to quarters. Just then a prisoner broke a gate chain with an iron bar and a number of the prisoners pressed through to the prison market square. After attempts at persuasion, Shortland ordered a charge which drove some of the prisoners in. Those near the gate, however, hooted at and taunted the soldiery, who fired a volley over their heads. The crowd yelled louder and threw stones, and the soldiers, probably without orders fired a direct volley which killed and wounded a large number. Then they continued firing at the prisoners, many of whom were now struggling to get back inside the blocks.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Finally the captain, a lieutenant and the hospital surgeon (the other officers being at dinner) succeeded in stopping the shooting and started caring for the wounded – about 60, 30 seriously, besides seven killed outright. The affair was examined by a joint commission, Charles King for the United States and F. S. Larpent for Great Britain, which exonerated Shortland, justified the initial shooting and blamed the subsequent deaths on unknown culprits. Following these findings, Shortland was rewarded with a promotion. Despite being labelled \"The Dartmoor Massacre\", the British government paid compensation to the American families of those killed and pensioned the disabled.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "A memorial has been erected to the 271 POWs (mostly seamen) who are buried in the prison grounds. By July 1815 at least 270 Americans and 1,200 French prisoners had died.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "After all American and French prisoners had been released, paroled and repatriated, the gaol on Dartmoor was left unused for 35 years until 1850. Work then began to rebuild and recommission the prison for civilian convicts. It reopened in 1851. The POW remains that had been originally buried on the moor were exhumed and re-interred in two cemeteries behind the prison when the prison farm was established in about 1852. During the First World War in 1917, criminals were removed from the gaol when it was converted into a Home Office Work Centre for conscientious objectors granted release from other prisons. The cells were left unlocked, inmates wore their own clothes and could go outside to visit the village in their off-duty time.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In 1920, the Dartmoor began housing UK criminals. It would develop a reputation for housing some of Britain's most serious offenders that included murderers, gangsters, thieves, spies, and robbers such as Jack “the Hat” McVitie, Jack “Spot” Comer, John George Haigh, and Frank Mitchell. Numerous escape attempts have been made by inmates to get out of the prison and onto the moors, leading to massive manhunts by the police and prison service. Instances of disobedience included a model prisoner attacking a popular guard with a razor blade and rough treatment by prisoners of a prisoner being removed to solitary.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The prison's tough conditions eventually led to its worst outbreak of violence on 24 January 1932. The cause of the riots is generally attributed to prisoners' perceptions of poor quality of the food, not generally but on specific days prior to the disturbance when it was suspected it had been tampered with. At the parade later that day, 50 prisoners refused orders, and the rest were marched back to their cells but refused to enter. At this point, the prison governor and his staff fled to an unused part of the prison and secured themselves there. The prisoners then released those held in solitary. There was extensive damage to property, and a prisoner was shot by one of the staff, but no prison staff were injured. According to the du Parcq report into the riot: \"Reinforcements arrived, and within fifteen minutes these 'vicious brutes', who for some two hours had terrorized well-armed prison staff, and effectively controlled the prison, had surrendered and been locked up again\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Dartmoor continues to suffer from its age, in 2001 a Board of Visitors report condemned sanitation, as well as highlighting a list of urgent repairs needed. A year later, the prison was converted to a Category C prison for less violent offenders. In 2002, the Prison Reform Trust warned that the prison may be breaching the Human Rights Act 1998 due to severe overcrowding at the jail. A year later, however, the Chief Inspector of Prisons declared that the prison had made substantial improvements to its management and regime.",
"title": "Modern operations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "In March 2008, staff at the prison passed a vote of no confidence in the governor Serena Watts, claiming they felt bullied by managers and unsafe.",
"title": "Modern operations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Dartmoor is now a Category C prison, which means it houses mainly non-violent offenders and white-collar criminals. It also holds people with convictions for sexual offences, but it is designated as a support site only for these individuals and as such does not offer treatment programmes for them.",
"title": "Modern operations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Dartmoor offers cell accommodation on six wings. Education is available at the prison (full and part-time), and ranges from basic educational skills to Open University courses. Vocational training includes electronics, brickwork and carpentry courses up to City & Guilds and NVQ level, Painting and Decorating courses, industrial cleaning and desktop publishing. Full-time employment is also available in catering, farming, gardening, laundry, textiles, Braille, contract services, furniture manufacturing and polishing. Employment is supported with NVQ or City & Guilds vocational qualifications. All courses and qualifications at Dartmoor are operated by South Gloucestershire and Stroud College and Cornwall College.",
"title": "Modern operations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The \"Dartmoor Jailbreak\" is a yearly event, in which members of the public \"escape\" from the prison and must travel as far as possible in four days, without directly paying for transport. By doing so they raise money for charity.",
"title": "Modern operations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In September 2013, it was announced that discussions would commence with the Duchy of Cornwall about the long-term future of HMP Dartmoor. In January 2014 it was stated on the BBC news website that the notice period with the Duchy for closing is 10 years. In November 2015 the Ministry of Justice confirmed that, as part of a major programme to replace older prisons, it would not renew its lease on the prison.",
"title": "Modern operations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "It was announced in October 2019 that HMP Dartmoor would close in 2023, but in December 2021 it was confirmed that, following negotiations with the Duchy, it would remain open beyond 2023 and for the foreseeable future.",
"title": "Modern operations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The Dartmoor Prison Museum, located in the old dairy buildings, focuses on the history of HMP Dartmoor. Exhibits include the prison's role in housing prisoners of war from the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, manacles and weapons, memorabilia, clothing and uniforms, famous prisoners, and the changed focus of the prison. It also sells (2015) garden ornaments and other items made in the prison concrete and carpentry shops by prisoners engaged in educational courses.",
"title": "Dartmoor Prison Museum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "There are also displays and information on less well known aspects of the prison such as the incarceration of conscientious objectors during World War One.",
"title": "Dartmoor Prison Museum"
}
] | HM Prison Dartmoor is a Category C men's prison, located in Princetown, high on Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. Its high granite walls dominate this area of the moor. The prison is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, and is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Dartmoor Prison was given Grade II heritage listing in 1987. | 2001-07-17T12:47:12Z | 2023-09-10T18:28:52Z | [
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"Template:Infobox prison",
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"Template:Cite book",
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Prison_Dartmoor |
8,207 | Dilation and curettage | Dilation (or dilatation) and curettage (D&C) refers to the dilation (widening/opening) of the cervix and surgical removal of part of the lining of the uterus and/or contents of the uterus by scraping and scooping (curettage). It is a gynecologic procedure used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, and is the most commonly used method for first-trimester miscarriage or abortion.
D&C normally refers to a procedure involving a curette, also called sharp curettage. However, some sources use the term D&C to refer to any procedure that involves the processes of dilation and removal of uterine contents, which includes the more common suction curettage procedures of manual and electric vacuum aspiration.
D&Cs may be performed in pregnant and non-pregnant patients, for different clinical indications.
A D&C may be performed early in pregnancy to remove pregnancy tissue, either in the case of a non-viable pregnancy, such as a missed or incomplete miscarriage, or an undesired pregnancy, as in a surgical abortion. Medical management of miscarriage and medical abortion using drugs such as misoprostol and mifepristone are safe, non-invasive and potentially less expensive alternatives to D&C.
Because medication-based non-invasive methods of abortion now exist, dilation and curettage has been declining as a method of abortion, although suction curettage is still the most common method used for termination of a first-trimester pregnancy. The World Health Organization recommends D&C with a sharp curette as a method of surgical abortion only when manual vacuum aspiration with a suction curette is unavailable.
For patients who have recently given birth, a D&C may be indicated to remove retained placental tissue that does not pass spontaneously or for postpartum hemorrhage.
D&Cs for non-pregnant patients are commonly performed for the diagnosis of gynecological conditions leading to abnormal uterine bleeding; to remove the excess uterine lining in women who have conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome; to remove tissue in the uterus that may be causing abnormal uterine bleeding, such as endometrial polyps or uterine fibroids; or to diagnose the cause of post-menopausal bleeding, such as in the case of endometrial cancer.
Hysteroscopy is a valid alternative or addition to D&C for many surgical indications, from diagnosis of uterine pathology to the removal of fibroids and even retained products of conception. It allows direct visualization of the inside of the uterus and may allow targeted sampling and removal of tissue inside the uterus.
Depending on the anticipated duration and difficulty expected with the procedure, as well as the clinical indication and patient preferences, a D&C may be performed with local anesthesia, moderate sedation, deep sedation, or general anesthesia. The first step in a D&C is to place a speculum in the vagina so as to see the cervix. Often, a tenaculum is placed to steady the cervix. Next, the provider will dilate the cervix. This can be done with Hegar or similar dilators. The amount of dilation depends on the amount of tissue to be removed as well as the size of the instruments to be used. After sufficient dilation, a curette, a metal rod with a handle on one end and a loop on the other, is then inserted into the uterus through the dilated cervix. The curette is used to gently scrape the lining of the uterus and remove the tissue in the uterus. If a suction curette is used, as in a vacuum aspiration, a plastic tubular curette will be introduced into the uterus and connected to suction to remove all tissue in the uterus. This tissue is examined for completeness (in the case of abortion or miscarriage treatment) or by pathology for abnormalities (in the case of treatment for abnormal bleeding).
The most common complications associated with D&C are infection, bleeding, or damage to nearby organs, including through uterine perforation. Aside from the surgery itself, complications related to anesthesia administration may also occur.
Infection is uncommon after D&C for a non-pregnant patient, and society practice guidelines do not recommend routine prophylactic antibiotics to patients. However, for curettage of a pregnant patient, the risk of infection is higher, and patients should receive antibiotics that cover the bacteria commonly found in the vagina and gastrointestinal tract; doxycycline is a common recommendation, though azithromycin may also be used.
Another risk of D&C is uterine perforation. The highest rate of uterine perforation appears to be in the setting of postpartum hemorrhage (5.1%) compared with a lower rate in diagnostic curettage in non-pregnant patients (0.3% in the premenopausal patient and 2.6% in the postmenopausal patient). Perforation may cause excessive bleeding or damage to organs outside the uterus. If the provider is concerned about ongoing bleeding or the possibility of injury to organs outside the uterus, a laparoscopy may be done to verify that there has been no undiagnosed injury.
Another potential risk is Asherman’s syndrome, a condition where intrauterine adhesions lead to subfertility, amenorrhea, or recurrent pregnancy loss. Although older studies described a high (25-30%) risk of developing this condition after dilation and curettage for treatment of miscarriage, these procedures were likely done using sharp curettage, which is no longer routinely performed in modern miscarriage and abortion care. Newer studies reflect the common technique of suction curettage and demonstrate a much lower risk of Asherman’s syndrome, with incidence in large prospective trials ranging from 0.7-1.6%. A history of multiple (>3) procedures and sharp curettage were identified as risk factors for developing clinical Asherman’s syndrome. A systematic review in 2013 concluded that recurrent miscarriage treated with D&C is the main risk factors for intrauterine adhesions. There are currently no studies linking asymptomatic intrauterine adhesions and long-term reproductive outcomes, and similar pregnancy outcomes have been found after miscarriage regardless of whether surgical treatment, medication management, or conservative management (i.e. watchful waiting) was chosen. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Dilation (or dilatation) and curettage (D&C) refers to the dilation (widening/opening) of the cervix and surgical removal of part of the lining of the uterus and/or contents of the uterus by scraping and scooping (curettage). It is a gynecologic procedure used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, and is the most commonly used method for first-trimester miscarriage or abortion.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "D&C normally refers to a procedure involving a curette, also called sharp curettage. However, some sources use the term D&C to refer to any procedure that involves the processes of dilation and removal of uterine contents, which includes the more common suction curettage procedures of manual and electric vacuum aspiration.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "D&Cs may be performed in pregnant and non-pregnant patients, for different clinical indications.",
"title": "Clinical uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "A D&C may be performed early in pregnancy to remove pregnancy tissue, either in the case of a non-viable pregnancy, such as a missed or incomplete miscarriage, or an undesired pregnancy, as in a surgical abortion. Medical management of miscarriage and medical abortion using drugs such as misoprostol and mifepristone are safe, non-invasive and potentially less expensive alternatives to D&C.",
"title": "Clinical uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Because medication-based non-invasive methods of abortion now exist, dilation and curettage has been declining as a method of abortion, although suction curettage is still the most common method used for termination of a first-trimester pregnancy. The World Health Organization recommends D&C with a sharp curette as a method of surgical abortion only when manual vacuum aspiration with a suction curette is unavailable.",
"title": "Clinical uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "For patients who have recently given birth, a D&C may be indicated to remove retained placental tissue that does not pass spontaneously or for postpartum hemorrhage.",
"title": "Clinical uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "D&Cs for non-pregnant patients are commonly performed for the diagnosis of gynecological conditions leading to abnormal uterine bleeding; to remove the excess uterine lining in women who have conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome; to remove tissue in the uterus that may be causing abnormal uterine bleeding, such as endometrial polyps or uterine fibroids; or to diagnose the cause of post-menopausal bleeding, such as in the case of endometrial cancer.",
"title": "Clinical uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Hysteroscopy is a valid alternative or addition to D&C for many surgical indications, from diagnosis of uterine pathology to the removal of fibroids and even retained products of conception. It allows direct visualization of the inside of the uterus and may allow targeted sampling and removal of tissue inside the uterus.",
"title": "Clinical uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Depending on the anticipated duration and difficulty expected with the procedure, as well as the clinical indication and patient preferences, a D&C may be performed with local anesthesia, moderate sedation, deep sedation, or general anesthesia. The first step in a D&C is to place a speculum in the vagina so as to see the cervix. Often, a tenaculum is placed to steady the cervix. Next, the provider will dilate the cervix. This can be done with Hegar or similar dilators. The amount of dilation depends on the amount of tissue to be removed as well as the size of the instruments to be used. After sufficient dilation, a curette, a metal rod with a handle on one end and a loop on the other, is then inserted into the uterus through the dilated cervix. The curette is used to gently scrape the lining of the uterus and remove the tissue in the uterus. If a suction curette is used, as in a vacuum aspiration, a plastic tubular curette will be introduced into the uterus and connected to suction to remove all tissue in the uterus. This tissue is examined for completeness (in the case of abortion or miscarriage treatment) or by pathology for abnormalities (in the case of treatment for abnormal bleeding).",
"title": "Procedure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The most common complications associated with D&C are infection, bleeding, or damage to nearby organs, including through uterine perforation. Aside from the surgery itself, complications related to anesthesia administration may also occur.",
"title": "Complications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Infection is uncommon after D&C for a non-pregnant patient, and society practice guidelines do not recommend routine prophylactic antibiotics to patients. However, for curettage of a pregnant patient, the risk of infection is higher, and patients should receive antibiotics that cover the bacteria commonly found in the vagina and gastrointestinal tract; doxycycline is a common recommendation, though azithromycin may also be used.",
"title": "Complications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Another risk of D&C is uterine perforation. The highest rate of uterine perforation appears to be in the setting of postpartum hemorrhage (5.1%) compared with a lower rate in diagnostic curettage in non-pregnant patients (0.3% in the premenopausal patient and 2.6% in the postmenopausal patient). Perforation may cause excessive bleeding or damage to organs outside the uterus. If the provider is concerned about ongoing bleeding or the possibility of injury to organs outside the uterus, a laparoscopy may be done to verify that there has been no undiagnosed injury.",
"title": "Complications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Another potential risk is Asherman’s syndrome, a condition where intrauterine adhesions lead to subfertility, amenorrhea, or recurrent pregnancy loss. Although older studies described a high (25-30%) risk of developing this condition after dilation and curettage for treatment of miscarriage, these procedures were likely done using sharp curettage, which is no longer routinely performed in modern miscarriage and abortion care. Newer studies reflect the common technique of suction curettage and demonstrate a much lower risk of Asherman’s syndrome, with incidence in large prospective trials ranging from 0.7-1.6%. A history of multiple (>3) procedures and sharp curettage were identified as risk factors for developing clinical Asherman’s syndrome. A systematic review in 2013 concluded that recurrent miscarriage treated with D&C is the main risk factors for intrauterine adhesions. There are currently no studies linking asymptomatic intrauterine adhesions and long-term reproductive outcomes, and similar pregnancy outcomes have been found after miscarriage regardless of whether surgical treatment, medication management, or conservative management (i.e. watchful waiting) was chosen.",
"title": "Complications"
}
] | Dilation and curettage (D&C) refers to the dilation (widening/opening) of the cervix and surgical removal of part of the lining of the uterus and/or contents of the uterus by scraping and scooping (curettage). It is a gynecologic procedure used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, and is the most commonly used method for first-trimester miscarriage or abortion. D&C normally refers to a procedure involving a curette, also called sharp curettage. However, some sources use the term D&C to refer to any procedure that involves the processes of dilation and removal of uterine contents, which includes the more common suction curettage procedures of manual and electric vacuum aspiration. | 2001-07-17T10:24:15Z | 2023-10-07T01:47:46Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilation_and_curettage |
8,209 | Doctor Who | Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber, and Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterrestrial being called the Doctor, part of a humanoid species called Time Lords. The Doctor travels in the universe and in time using a time travelling spaceship called the TARDIS, which externally appears as a British police box. While travelling, the Doctor works to save lives and liberate oppressed peoples by combating foes. The Doctor often travels with companions.
Beginning with William Hartnell, fourteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; as of 2023, Ncuti Gatwa leads the series as the Fifteenth Doctor. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the series with the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation, a plot device in which, when a Time Lord is fatally injured, their cells regenerate and they are reincarnated. Each actor's portrayal is distinct, but all represent stages in the life of the same character and, together, they form a single lifetime with a single narrative. The time-travelling nature of the plot means that different incarnations of the Doctor occasionally meet. In 2017, Jodie Whittaker became the first woman to be cast in the lead role as the Thirteenth Doctor.
The series is a significant part of popular culture in Britain and elsewhere; it has gained a cult following. It has influenced generations of British television professionals, many of whom grew up watching the series. Fans of the series are sometimes referred to as Whovians. The series has been listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science-fiction television series in the world, as well as the "most successful" science-fiction series of all time, based on its overall broadcast ratings, DVD, and book sales.
The series originally ran from 1963 to 1989. There was an unsuccessful attempt to revive regular production in 1996 with a backdoor pilot in the form of a television film titled Doctor Who. The series was relaunched in 2005 and was produced in-house by BBC Wales in Cardiff. Since 2023, the show is co-produced by BBC Studios and Bad Wolf, also in Cardiff. Doctor Who has also spawned numerous spin-offs, including comic books, films, novels, and audio dramas, and the television series Torchwood (2006–2011), The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011), K9 (2009–2010), and Class (2016). It has been the subject of many parodies and references in popular culture.
Doctor Who follows the adventures of the title character, a rogue Time Lord with somewhat unknown origins who goes by the name "the Doctor". The Doctor fled Gallifrey, the planet of the Time Lords, in a stolen TARDIS ("Time and Relative Dimension(s) in Space"), a time machine that travels by materialising into, and dematerialising out of, the time vortex. The TARDIS has a vast interior but appears smaller on the outside, and is equipped with a "chameleon circuit" intended to make the machine take on the appearance of local objects as a disguise. Due to a malfunction, the Doctor's TARDIS remains fixed as a blue British police box.
Across time and space, the Doctor's many incarnations often find events that pique their curiosity, and try to prevent evil forces from harming innocent people or changing history, using only ingenuity and minimal resources, such as the versatile sonic screwdriver. The Doctor rarely travels alone and is often joined by one or more companions on these adventures; these companions are usually humans, owing to the Doctor's fascination with planet Earth, which also leads to frequent collaborations with the international military task force UNIT when Earth is threatened. The Doctor is centuries old and as a Time Lord, has the ability to regenerate when there is mortal damage to their body. The Doctor's various incarnations have gained numerous recurring enemies during their travels, including the Daleks, their creator Davros, the Cybermen, and the renegade Time Lord the Master.
Doctor Who first appeared on the BBC Television Service at 17:16:20 GMT on 23 November 1963; this was eighty seconds later than the scheduled programme time, because of announcements concerning the previous day's assassination of John F. Kennedy. It was to be a regular weekly programme, each episode 25 minutes of transmission length. Discussions and plans for the programme had been in progress for a year. The head of drama Sydney Newman was mainly responsible for developing the programme, with the first format document for the series being written by Newman along with the head of the script department (later head of serials) Donald Wilson and staff writer C. E. Webber; in a 1971 interview Wilson claimed to have named the series, and when this claim was put to Newman he did not dispute it. Writer Anthony Coburn, story editor David Whitaker and initial producer Verity Lambert also heavily contributed to the development of the series.
The programme was originally intended to appeal to a family audience as an educational programme using time travel as a means to explore scientific ideas and famous moments in history. On 31 July 1963, Whitaker commissioned Terry Nation to write a story under the title The Mutants. As originally written, the Daleks and Thals were the victims of an alien neutron bomb attack but Nation later dropped the aliens and made the Daleks the aggressors. When the script was presented to Newman and Wilson, it was immediately rejected as the programme was not permitted to contain any "bug-eyed monsters". According to Lambert, "We didn't have a lot of choice—we only had the Dalek serial to go ... We had a bit of a crisis of confidence because Donald [Wilson] was so adamant that we shouldn't make it. Had we had anything else ready we would have made that." Nation's script became the second Doctor Who serial – The Daleks (also known as The Mutants). The serial introduced the eponymous aliens that would become the series' most popular monsters, dubbed "Dalekmania", and was responsible for the BBC's first merchandising boom.
We had to rely on the story because there was little we could do with the effects. Star Wars in a way was the turning point. Once Star Wars had happened, Doctor Who effectively was out of date from that moment on really, judged by that level of technological expertise.
—Philip Hinchcliffe, producer of Doctor Who from 1974 to 1977, on why the "classic series" eventually fell behind other science fiction in production values and reputation, leading to its cancellation
The BBC drama department's serials division produced the programme for 26 seasons, broadcast on BBC One. Due to his increasingly poor health, William Hartnell, first actor to play the Doctor, was succeeded by Patrick Troughton in 1966. In 1970, Jon Pertwee replaced Troughton and the series began production in colour. In 1974, Tom Baker was cast as the Doctor. His eccentric personality became hugely popular, with viewing figures for the series returning to a level not seen since the height of "Dalekmania" a decade earlier. After seven years in the role, Baker was replaced by Peter Davison in 1981, and Colin Baker replaced Davison in 1984. In 1985, the channel's controller Michael Grade attempted to cancel the series, but it returned after an 18-month hiatus. He also had Colin Baker removed from the starring role in 1986. The role was recast with Sylvester McCoy, but falling viewing numbers, a decline in the public perception of the series and a less-prominent transmission slot saw production ended in 1989 by Peter Cregeen, the BBC's new head of series. Although it was effectively cancelled, the BBC repeatedly affirmed over several years that the series would return.
While in-house production concluded, the BBC explored an independent production company to relaunch the series. Philip Segal, a British expatriate who worked for Columbia Pictures' television arm in the United States, had approached the BBC as early as July 1989, while the 26th season was still in production. Segal's negotiations eventually led to a Doctor Who television film as a pilot for an American series, broadcast on the Fox Network in 1996, as an international co-production between Fox, Universal Pictures, the BBC and BBC Worldwide. Starring Paul McGann as the Doctor, the film was successful in the UK (with 9.1 million viewers), but was less so in the United States and did not lead to a series.
Licensed media such as novels and audio plays provided new stories, but as a television programme, Doctor Who remained dormant. In September 2003, BBC Television announced the in-house production of a new series, after several years of attempts by BBC Worldwide to find backing for a feature film version. The 2005 revival of Doctor Who is a direct plot continuation of the original 1963–1989 series and the 1996 television film. The executive producers of the new incarnation of the series were Queer as Folk writer Russell T Davies and BBC Cymru Wales head of drama Julie Gardner. From 2005, the series switched from a multi-camera to a single-camera setup.
Starring Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor, Doctor Who returned with the episode "Rose" on BBC One on 26 March 2005, after a 16-year hiatus of in-house production. Eccleston left after one series and was replaced by David Tennant. There have since been twelve seasons, as well as various specials broadcast. Davies left the production team in 2009. Steven Moffat, a writer under Davies, was announced as his successor, along with Matt Smith as the new Doctor. Smith decided to leave the role of the Doctor in 2013, the 50th anniversary year. He was replaced by Peter Capaldi.
In January 2016, Moffat announced that he would step down after the 2017 finale, to be replaced by Chris Chibnall in 2018. Jodie Whittaker, the first female Doctor, appeared in three series, the last of which was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both Whittaker and Chibnall announced that they would depart the series after a series of specials in 2022. Davies returned as showrunner from the 60th anniversary specials, twelve years after he had left the series previously. Bad Wolf co-produces the series in partnership with BBC Studios. Bad Wolf's involvement sees Gardner return to the series alongside Davies and Jane Tranter, who recommissioned the series in 2005.
The programme has been sold to many other countries worldwide (see § Viewership).
It has been claimed that the transmission of the first episode was delayed by ten minutes due to extended news coverage of the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy the previous day; in fact, it went out after a delay of eighty seconds. The BBC believed that coverage of the assassination, as well as a series of power blackouts across the country, had caused many viewers to miss this introduction to a new series, and it was broadcast again on 30 November 1963, just before episode two.
The programme soon became a national institution in the United Kingdom, with a large following among the general viewing audience. The show received controversy over the suitability of the series for children. Morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse repeatedly complained to the BBC over what she saw as the programme's violent, frightening and gory content. According to Radio Times, the series "never had a more implacable foe than Mary Whitehouse".
A BBC audience research survey conducted in 1972 found that, by their own definition of violence ("any act[s] which may cause physical and/or psychological injury, hurt or death to persons, animals or property, whether intentional or accidental"), Doctor Who was the most violent of the drama programmes the corporation produced at the time. The same report found that 3% of the surveyed audience believed the series was "very unsuitable" for family viewing. Responding to the findings of the survey in The Times newspaper, journalist Philip Howard maintained that, "to compare the violence of Dr Who, sired by a horse-laugh out of a nightmare, with the more realistic violence of other television series, where actors who look like human beings bleed paint that looks like blood, is like comparing Monopoly with the property market in London: both are fantasies, but one is meant to be taken seriously."
During Jon Pertwee's second season as the Doctor, in the serial Terror of the Autons (1971), images of murderous plastic dolls, daffodils killing unsuspecting victims, and blank-featured policemen marked the apex of the series' ability to frighten children. Other notable moments in that decade include a disembodied brain falling to the floor in The Brain of Morbius and the Doctor apparently being drowned by a villain in The Deadly Assassin (both 1976). Mary Whitehouse's complaint about the latter incident prompted a change in BBC policy towards the series, with much tighter controls imposed on the production team, and the series' next producer, Graham Williams, was under a directive to take out "anything graphic in the depiction of violence". John Nathan-Turner produced the series during the 1980s and said in the documentary More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS that he looked forward to Whitehouse's comments because the ratings of the series would increase soon after she had made them. Nathan-Turner also got into trouble with BBC executives over the violence he allowed to be depicted for season 22 of the series in 1985, which was publicly criticised by controller Michael Grade and given as one of his reasons for suspending the series for 18 months.
The phrase "Hiding behind (or 'watching from behind') the sofa" entered British pop culture, signifying the stereotypical but apocryphal early-series behaviour of children who wanted to avoid seeing frightening parts of a television programme while remaining in the room to watch the remainder of it. The phrase retains this association with Doctor Who, to the point that in 1991 the Museum of the Moving Image in London named its exhibition celebrating the programme Behind the Sofa. The electronic theme music too was perceived as eerie, novel, and frightening at the time. A 2012 article placed this childhood juxtaposition of fear and thrill "at the center of many people's relationship with the series", and a 2011 online vote at Digital Spy deemed the series the "scariest TV show of all time".
The image of the TARDIS has become firmly linked to the series in the public's consciousness; BBC scriptwriter Anthony Coburn, who lived in the resort of Herne Bay, Kent, was one of the people who conceived the idea of a police box as a time machine. In 1996, the BBC applied for a trademark to use the TARDIS' blue police box design in merchandising associated with Doctor Who. In 1998, the Metropolitan Police Authority filed an objection to the trademark claim; but in 2002, the Patent Office ruled in favour of the BBC.
The 21st-century revival of the programme became the centrepiece of BBC One's Saturday schedule and "defined the channel". Many renowned actors have made guest-starring appearances in various stories including Kylie Minogue, Sir Ian McKellen, and Andrew Garfield among others. According to an article in the Daily Telegraph in 2009, the revival of Doctor Who had consistently received high ratings, both in number of viewers and as measured by the Appreciation Index. In 2007, Caitlin Moran, television reviewer for The Times, wrote that Doctor Who is "quintessential to being British". According to Steven Moffat, the American film director Steven Spielberg has commented that "the world would be a poorer place without Doctor Who".
On 4 August 2013, a live programme titled Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor was broadcast on BBC One, during which the actor who was going to play the Twelfth Doctor was revealed. The live show was watched by an average of 6.27 million in the UK, and was also simulcast in the United States, Canada and Australia.
Doctor Who originally ran for 26 seasons on BBC One, from 23 November 1963 until 6 December 1989. During the original run, each weekly episode formed part of a story (or "serial")—usually of four to six parts in earlier years and three to four in later years. Some notable exceptions were: The Daleks' Master Plan, which aired twelve episodes (plus an earlier one-episode teaser, "Mission to the Unknown", featuring none of the regular cast); almost an entire season of seven-episode serials (season 7); the ten-episode serial The War Games; and The Trial of a Time Lord, which ran for fourteen episodes (albeit divided into three production codes and four narrative segments) during season 23. Occasionally, serials were loosely connected by a story line, such as season 8 focusing on the Doctor battling a rogue Time Lord called the Master, season 16's quest for the Key to Time, season 18's journey through E-Space and the theme of entropy, and season 20's Black Guardian trilogy.
The programme was intended to be educational and for family viewing on the early Saturday evening schedule. It initially alternated stories set in the past, which taught younger audience members about history, and with those in the future or outer space, focusing on science. This was also reflected in the Doctor's original companions, one of whom was a science teacher and another a history teacher.
However, science fiction stories came to dominate the programme, and the history-oriented episodes, which were not popular with the production team, were dropped after The Highlanders (1967). While the show continued to use historical settings, they were generally used as a backdrop for science fiction tales, with one exception: Black Orchid (1982), set in 1920s England.
The early stories were serialised in nature, with the narrative of one story flowing into the next and each episode having its own title, although produced as distinct stories with their own production codes. Following The Gunfighters (1966), however, each serial was given its own title, and the individual parts were assigned episode numbers.
Of the programme's many writers, Robert Holmes was the most prolific, while Douglas Adams became the best known outside Doctor Who itself, due to the popularity of his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy works.
The serial format changed for the 2005 revival, with what was now called a series usually consisting of thirteen 45-minute, self-contained episodes (60 minutes with adverts, on overseas commercial channels) and an extended 60-minute episode broadcast on Christmas Day. This system was shortened to twelve episodes and one Christmas special following the revival's eighth series, and ten episodes from the eleventh series. Each series includes standalone and multiple episodic stories, often linked with a loose story arc resolved in the series finale. As in the early "classic" era, each episode has its own title, whether stand-alone or part of a larger story. Occasionally, regular-series episodes will exceed the 45-minute run time; notably, the episodes "Journey's End" from 2008 and "The Eleventh Hour" from 2010 were longer than an hour.
875 Doctor Who instalments have been televised since 1963, ranging between 25-minute episodes (the most common format for the classic era), 45/50-minute episodes (for Resurrection of the Daleks in the 1984 series, a single season in 1985, and the most common format for the revival era since 2005), two feature-length productions (1983's The Five Doctors and the 1996 television film), twelve Christmas specials (most of approximately 60 minutes' duration, one of 72 minutes), and four additional specials ranging from 60 to 75 minutes in 2009, 2010, and 2013. Four mini-episodes, running about eight minutes each, were also produced for the 1993, 2005, and 2007 Children in Need charity appeals, while another mini-episode was produced in 2008 for a Doctor Who–themed edition of The Proms. The 1993 two-part story, entitled Dimensions in Time, was made in collaboration with the cast of the BBC soap-opera EastEnders and was filmed partly on the EastEnders set. A two-part mini-episode was also produced for the 2011 edition of Comic Relief. Starting with the 2009 special "Planet of the Dead", the series was filmed in 1080i for HDTV and broadcast simultaneously on BBC One and BBC HD.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show, a special 3D episode, "The Day of the Doctor", was broadcast in 2013. In March 2013, it was announced that Tennant and Piper would be returning and that the episode would have a limited cinematic release worldwide.
In June 2017, it was announced that due to the terms of a deal between BBC Worldwide and SMG Pictures in China, the company has first right of refusal on the purchase for the Chinese market of future series of the programme until and including Series 15.
Between 1967 and 1978, large amounts of older material stored in the BBC's various video tape and film libraries was either destroyed or wiped. This included many early episodes of Doctor Who, those stories featuring the first two Doctors: William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton. In all, 97 of 253 episodes produced during the programme's first six years are not held in the BBC's archives (most notably seasons 3, 4, and 5, from which 79 episodes are missing). In 1972, almost all episodes then made were known to exist at the BBC, while by 1978 the practice of wiping tapes and destroying "spare" film copies had been brought to a stop.
No 1960s episodes exist on their original videotapes (all surviving prints being film transfers), though some were transferred to film for editing before transmission and exist in their broadcast form.
Some episodes have been returned to the BBC from the archives of other countries that bought prints for broadcast or by private individuals who acquired them by various means. Early colour videotape recordings made off-air by fans have also been retrieved, as well as excerpts filmed from the television screen onto 8 mm cine film and clips that were shown on other programmes. Audio versions of all lost episodes exist from home viewers who made tape recordings of the show. Short clips from every story with the exception of Marco Polo (1964), "Mission to the Unknown" (1965) and The Massacre (1966) also exist.
In addition to these, there are off-screen photographs made by photographer John Cura, who was hired by various production personnel to document many of their programmes during the 1950s and 1960s, including Doctor Who. These have been used in fan reconstructions of the serials. The BBC has tolerated these amateur reconstructions, provided they are not sold for profit and are distributed as low-quality copies.
One of the most sought-after lost episodes is part four of the last William Hartnell serial, The Tenth Planet (1966), which ends with the First Doctor transforming into the Second. The only portion of this in existence, barring a few poor-quality silent 8 mm clips, is the few seconds of the regeneration scene, as it was shown on the children's magazine show Blue Peter. With the approval of the BBC, efforts are now underway to restore as many of the episodes as possible from the extant material.
"Official" reconstructions have also been released by the BBC on VHS, on MP3 CD-ROM, and as special features on DVD. The BBC, in conjunction with animation studio Cosgrove Hall, reconstructed the missing episodes 1 and 4 of The Invasion (1968), using remastered audio tracks and the comprehensive stage notes for the original filming, for the serial's DVD release in November 2006. The missing episodes of The Reign of Terror were animated by animation company Theta-Sigma, in collaboration with Big Finish, and became available for purchase in May 2013 through Amazon.com. Subsequent animations made in 2013 include The Tenth Planet, The Ice Warriors (1967) and The Moonbase (1967).
In April 2006, Blue Peter launched a challenge to find missing Doctor Who episodes with the promise of a full-scale Dalek model as a reward. In December 2011, it was announced that part 3 of Galaxy 4 (1965) and part 2 of The Underwater Menace (1967) had been returned to the BBC by a fan who had purchased them in the mid-1980s without realising that the BBC did not hold copies of them.
On 10 October 2013, the BBC announced that films of eleven episodes, including nine missing episodes, had been found in a Nigerian television relay station in Jos. Six of the eleven films discovered were the six-part serial The Enemy of the World (1968), from which all but the third episode had been missing. The remaining films were from another six-part serial, The Web of Fear (1968), and included the previously missing episodes 2, 4, 5 and 6. Episode 3 of The Web of Fear is still missing.
The Doctor was initially shrouded in mystery. In the programme's early days, the character was an eccentric alien traveller of great intelligence who battled injustice while exploring time and space in an unreliable time machine, the "TARDIS" (an acronym for Time and Relative Dimension in Space), which notably appears much larger on the inside than on the outside (a quality referred to as "dimensionally transcendental").
The initially irascible and slightly sinister Doctor quickly mellowed into a more compassionate figure and was eventually revealed to be a Time Lord, whose race are from the planet Gallifrey, which the Doctor fled by stealing the TARDIS.
Producers introduced the concept of regeneration to permit the recasting of the main character. This was prompted by the poor health of the original star, William Hartnell. The term "regeneration" was not conceived until the Doctor's third on-screen regeneration; Hartnell's Doctor merely described undergoing a "renewal", and the Second Doctor underwent a "change of appearance". The device has allowed for the recasting of the actor various times in the show's history, as well as the depiction of alternative Doctors either from the Doctor's relative past or future.
The serials The Deadly Assassin (1976) and Mawdryn Undead (1983) established that a Time Lord can only regenerate 12 times, for a total of 13 incarnations. This line became stuck in the public consciousness despite not often being repeated and was recognised by producers of the show as a plot obstacle for when the show finally had to regenerate the Doctor a thirteenth time. The episode "The Time of the Doctor" (2013) depicted the Doctor acquiring a new cycle of regenerations, starting from the Twelfth Doctor, due to the Eleventh Doctor being the product of the Doctor's twelfth regeneration from his original set.
Although the idea of casting a woman as the Doctor had been suggested by the show's writers several times, including by Newman in 1986 and Davies in 2008, until 2017, all official depictions were played by men. Jodie Whittaker took over the role as the Thirteenth Doctor at the end of the 2017 Christmas special and is the first woman to be cast as the character. The show introduced the Time Lords' ability to change sex on regeneration in earlier episodes, first in dialogue, then with Michelle Gomez's version of The Master and T'Nia Miller's version of The General.
Upon Jodie Whittaker's final appearance as the character in "The Power of the Doctor" on 23 October 2022, she regenerated into a form portrayed by David Tennant, who was confirmed to be the Fourteenth Doctor and the first actor to play two incarnations. In the same year, Ncuti Gatwa was revealed to be portraying the Fifteenth Doctor, making him the first black actor to headline the series.
In addition to those actors who have headlined the series, others have portrayed versions of the Doctor in guest roles. Notably, in 2013, John Hurt guest-starred as a hitherto unknown incarnation of the Doctor known as the War Doctor in the run-up to the show's 50th-anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor". He is shown in mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor" retroactively inserted into the show's fictional chronology between McGann's and Eccleston's Doctors, although his introduction was written so as not to disturb the established numerical naming of the Doctors. The show later introduced another such unknown past Doctor with Jo Martin's recurring portrayal of the Fugitive Doctor, beginning with "Fugitive of the Judoon" (2020). An example from the classic series comes from The Trial of a Time Lord (1986), in which Michael Jayston's character the Valeyard is described as an amalgamation of the darker sides of the Doctor's nature, somewhere between the twelfth and final incarnation.
On rare occasions, other actors have stood in for the lead. In The Five Doctors, Richard Hurndall played the First Doctor due to William Hartnell's death in 1975; 34 years later David Bradley similarly replaced Hartnell in "Twice Upon a Time". In Time and the Rani, Sylvester McCoy briefly played the Sixth Doctor during the regeneration sequence, carrying on as the Seventh. In other media, the Doctor has been played by various other actors, including Peter Cushing in two films. For more information, see the list of actors who have played the Doctor.
The casting of a new Doctor has often inspired debate and speculation. Common topics of focus include the Doctor's sex (prior to the casting of Whittaker, all official incarnations were male), race (all Doctors were white prior to the casting of Jo Martin in "Fugitive of the Judoon") and age (the youngest actor to be cast is Smith at 26, and the oldest are Capaldi and Hartnell, both 55).
There have been instances of actors returning later to reprise their specific Doctor's role. In 1973's The Three Doctors, William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton returned alongside Jon Pertwee. For 1983's The Five Doctors, Troughton and Pertwee returned to star with Peter Davison, and Tom Baker appeared in previously unseen footage from the uncompleted Shada serial. For this episode, Richard Hurndall replaced William Hartnell. Patrick Troughton again returned in 1985's The Two Doctors with Colin Baker. In 2007, Peter Davison returned in the Children in Need short "Time Crash" alongside David Tennant. In "The Name of the Doctor" (2013), the Eleventh Doctor meets a previously unseen incarnation of himself, subsequently revealed to be the War Doctor. In the following episode, "The Day of the Doctor", David Tennant's Tenth Doctor appeared alongside Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and John Hurt as the War Doctor, as well as brief footage of all the previous actors. In 2017, the First Doctor (this time portrayed by David Bradley) returned alongside Peter Capaldi in "The Doctor Falls" and "Twice Upon a Time". In 2020's "Fugitive of the Judoon", Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor meets Jo Martin's incarnation of the Doctor, subsequently known as the Fugitive Doctor; they later interact in "The Timeless Children" later that year and "Once, Upon Time" in 2021. In her final episode, "The Power of the Doctor" (2022), Whittaker interacts with the Guardians of the Edge, manifestations of the Doctor's First (Bradley), Fifth (Davison), Sixth (Colin Baker), Seventh (McCoy), and Eighth (McGann) incarnations. Additionally, multiple incarnations of the Doctor have met in various audio dramas and novels based on the television show.
Throughout the programme's long history, there have been revelations about the Doctor that have raised additional questions. In The Brain of Morbius (1976), it was hinted that the First Doctor might not have been the first incarnation (although the other faces depicted might have been incarnations of the Time Lord Morbius). In subsequent stories, the First Doctor was depicted as the earliest incarnation of the Doctor. In Mawdryn Undead (1983), the Fifth Doctor explicitly confirmed that he was then currently in his fifth incarnation. Later that same year, during 1983's 20th-anniversary special The Five Doctors, the First Doctor enquires as to the Fifth Doctor's regeneration; when the Fifth Doctor confirms "Fourth", the First Doctor excitedly replies, "Goodness me. So there are five of me now." In 2010, the Eleventh Doctor similarly calls himself "the Eleventh" in "The Lodger". In the 2013 episode "The Time of the Doctor", the Eleventh Doctor clarifies that he is the product of the twelfth regeneration due to a previous incarnation that he chooses not to count and one other aborted regeneration. The name Eleventh is still used for this incarnation; the same episode depicts the prophesied "Fall of the Eleventh", which had been trailed throughout the series. While the Doctor was early on described as from the planet Gallifrey, as first mentioned in The Time Warrior (1973), these origins were retconned in "The Timeless Children" (2020), and the Doctor was shown as from another unknown dimension or universe. In the same story, it was revealed that First Doctor was not the earliest incarnation of the Doctor.
During the Seventh Doctor's era, it was hinted that the Doctor was more than just an ordinary Time Lord. In the 1996 television film, the Eighth Doctor describes himself as being "half human". The BBC's FAQ for the programme notes that "purists tend to disregard this", instead focusing on his Gallifreyan heritage.
The programme's first serial, An Unearthly Child, shows that the Doctor has a granddaughter, Susan Foreman. In the 1967 serial, The Tomb of the Cybermen, when Victoria Waterfield doubts the Doctor can remember his family because of "being so ancient", the Doctor says that he can when he really wants to—"The rest of the time they sleep in my mind". The 2005 series reveals that the Ninth Doctor thought he was the last surviving Time Lord and that his home planet had been destroyed; in "The Empty Child" (2005), Dr. Constantine states, "Before the war even began, I was a father and a grandfather. Now I am neither." The Doctor remarks in response, "Yeah, I know the feeling." In "Smith and Jones" (2007), when asked if he had a brother, he replied, "No, not any more." In both "Fear Her" (2006) and "The Doctor's Daughter" (2008), he states that he had, in the past, been a father.
In "The Wedding of River Song" (2011), it is implied that the Doctor's true name is a secret that must never be revealed; this is explored further in "The Name of the Doctor" (2013), when River Song speaking his name allows the Great Intelligence to enter his tomb, and in "The Time of the Doctor" (2013) where speaking his true name becomes the signal by which the Time Lords would know they can safely return to the universe.
The companion figure – generally a human – has been a constant feature in Doctor Who since the programme's inception in 1963. One of the roles of the companion is to be a reminder for the Doctor's "moral duty". The Doctor's first companions seen on-screen were his granddaughter Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford) and her teachers Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) and Ian Chesterton (William Russell). These characters were intended to act as audience surrogates, through which the audience would discover information about the Doctor, who was to act as a mysterious father figure. The only story from the original series in which the Doctor travels alone is "The Deadly Assassin" (1976). Notable companions from the earlier series include Romana (Mary Tamm and Lalla Ward), a Time Lady; Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen); and Jo Grant (Katy Manning). Dramatically, these characters provide a figure with whom the audience can identify and serve to further the story by requesting exposition from the Doctor and manufacturing peril for the Doctor to resolve. The Doctor regularly gains new companions and loses old ones; sometimes they return home or find new causes—or loves—on worlds they have visited. Some have died during the course of the series. Companions are usually humans or humanoid aliens.
Since the 2005 revival, the Doctor generally travels with a primary female companion, who occupies a larger narrative role. Steven Moffat described the companion as the main character of the show, as the story begins anew with each companion and she undergoes more change than the Doctor. The primary companions of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors were Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), with Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke) and Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) recurring as secondary companion figures. The Eleventh Doctor became the first to travel with a married couple, Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill), whilst out-of-sync meetings with River Song (Alex Kingston) and Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) provided ongoing story arcs that continued with the Twelfth Doctor. The tenth series included the alien Nardole (Matt Lucas) and introduced Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts, the Doctor's first openly gay companion. Pearl Mackie said that the increased representation of LGBTQ people is important on a mainstream show. The Thirteenth Doctor has primarily travelled with Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh), Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill), and Dan Lewis (John Bishop).
Some companions have gone on to reappear, either in the main series or in spin-offs. Sarah Jane Smith became the central character in The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011) following a return to Doctor Who in 2006. Guest stars in the series include former companions Jo Grant, K9, and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney). The character of Jack Harkness also served to launch a spin-off, Torchwood (2006–2011), in which Martha Jones also appeared.
When Sydney Newman commissioned the series, he specifically did not want to perpetuate the cliché of the "bug-eyed monster" of science fiction. However, monsters were popular with audiences and so became a staple of Doctor Who almost from the beginning. Daleks, Cybermen, and the Master are some of the most iconic foes the Doctor has battled in the series.
With the show's 2005 revival, executive producer Russell T Davies stated his intention to reintroduce the classic monsters of Doctor Who. The Autons with the Nestene Consciousness, first seen in 1970, and Daleks, first seen in 1963, returned in series 1. Davies's successor, Steven Moffat, continued the trend by reviving the Silurians, also first seen in 1970, in series 5 and Zygons, first seen in 1975, in the 50th-anniversary special. Since its 2005 return, the series has also introduced new recurring aliens: Slitheen (Raxacoricofallapatorians), Ood, Judoon, Weeping Angels and the Silence.
The Dalek race, which first appeared in the show's second serial in 1963, are Doctor Who's oldest villains. The Daleks are Kaleds from the planet Skaro, mutated by the scientist Davros and housed in mechanical armour shells for mobility. The actual creatures resemble octopuses with large, pronounced brains. Their armour shells have a single eye-stalk, a sink-plunger-like device that serves the purpose of a hand, and a directed-energy weapon. Their main weakness is their eyestalk; attacks upon them using various weapons can blind a Dalek, making it go mad. Their chief role in the series plot, as they frequently remark in their instantly recognisable metallic voices, is to "exterminate" all non-Dalek beings. They even attack the Time Lords in the Time War, as shown during the 50th Anniversary of the show. They continue to be a recurring 'monster' within the Doctor Who franchise, their most recent appearance being the 2022 episode "The Power of the Doctor". Davros has also been a recurring figure since his debut in Genesis of the Daleks, although played by several different actors.
The Daleks were created by the writer Terry Nation (who intended them to be an allegory of the Nazis) and BBC designer Raymond Cusick. The Daleks' début in the programme's second serial, The Daleks (1963–1964), made both the Daleks and Doctor Who very popular. A Dalek appeared on a postage stamp celebrating British popular culture in 1999, photographed by Lord Snowdon. In "Victory of the Daleks" a new set of Daleks were introduced that come in a range of colours; the colour denoting its role within the species.
Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more and more artificial parts into their bodies. This led to the race becoming coldly logical and calculating cyborgs, with emotions usually only shown when naked aggression was called for. With the demise of Mondas, they acquired Telos as their new home planet. They continue to be a recurring 'monster' within the Doctor Who franchise.
The 2006 series introduced a new variation of Cybermen. These Cybus Cybermen were created in a parallel universe by the mad inventor John Lumic; he was attempting to preserve the humans by transplanting their brains into powerful metal bodies, sending them orders using a mobile phone network and inhibiting their emotions with an electronic chip.
The Master is the Doctor's archenemy, a renegade Time Lord who desires to rule the universe. Conceived as "Professor Moriarty to the Doctor's Sherlock Holmes", the character first appeared in 1971. As with the Doctor, the role has been portrayed by several actors, since the Master is a Time Lord as well and able to regenerate; the first of these actors was Roger Delgado, who continued in the role until his death in 1973. The Master was briefly played by Peter Pratt and Geoffrey Beevers until Anthony Ainley took over and continued to play the character until Doctor Who's hiatus in 1989. The Master returned in the 1996 television movie of Doctor Who, and was played by American actor Eric Roberts.
Following the series revival in 2005, Derek Jacobi provided the character's reintroduction in the 2007 episode "Utopia". During that story, the role was then assumed by John Simm, who returned to the role multiple times throughout the Tenth Doctor's tenure. As of the 2014 episode "Dark Water", it was revealed that the Master had become a female incarnation or "Time Lady", going by the name of "Missy" (short for Mistress, the feminine equivalent of "Master"). This incarnation is played by Michelle Gomez. Simm returned to his role as the Master alongside Gomez in the tenth series. The Master returned for the 2020 twelfth series with Sacha Dhawan in the role. The character had dubbed himself the "Spy Master" referencing a role he had taken with MI6.
The Doctor Who theme music was one of the first electronic music signature tunes for television, and after more than a half century remains one of the most easily recognised. The original theme was composed by Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, with assistance from Dick Mills, and was released as a single on Decca F 11837 in 1964. The Derbyshire arrangement served, with minor edits, as the theme tune up to the end of season 17 (1979–1980). It is regarded as a significant and innovative piece of electronic music recorded well before the availability of commercial synthesisers or multitrack mixers. Each note was individually created by cutting, splicing, speeding up and slowing down segments of analogue tape containing recordings of a single plucked string, white noise, and the simple harmonic waveforms of test-tone oscillators, intended for calibrating equipment and rooms, not creating music. New techniques were invented to allow mixing of the music, as this was before the era of multitrack tape machines. On hearing the finished result, Grainer asked, "Jeez, Delia, did I write that?" She answered, "Most of it." Although Grainer was willing to give Derbyshire the co-composer credit, it was against BBC policy at the time. Derbyshire would not receive an on-screen credit until the 50th-anniversary story "The Day of the Doctor" in 2013.
A different arrangement was recorded by Peter Howell for season 18 (1980), which was in turn replaced by Dominic Glynn's arrangement for the season-long serial The Trial of a Time Lord in season 23 (1986). Keff McCulloch provided the new arrangement for the Seventh Doctor's era, which lasted from season 24 (1987) until the series' suspension in 1989. American composer John Debney created a new arrangement of Ron Grainer's original theme for Doctor Who in 1996. For the return of the series in 2005, Murray Gold provided a new arrangement, which featured samples from the 1963 original with further elements added in the 2005 Christmas episode "The Christmas Invasion".
A new arrangement of the theme, once again by Gold, was introduced in the 2007 Christmas special episode, "Voyage of the Damned". Gold returned as composer for the 2010 series, and was responsible for a new version of the theme which was reported to have had a hostile reception from some viewers. In 2011, the theme tune charted at number 228 of radio station Classic FM's Hall of Fame, a survey of classical music tastes. A revised version of Gold's 2010 arrangement had its debut over the opening titles of the 2012 Christmas special "The Snowmen", and a further revision of the arrangement was made for the 50th-anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor" in November 2013.
Versions of the "Doctor Who Theme" have also been released as pop music. In the early 1970s, Jon Pertwee, who had played the Third Doctor, recorded a version of the Doctor Who theme with spoken lyrics, titled, "Who Is the Doctor". In 1978, a disco version of the theme in the UK, Denmark and Australia by the group Mankind, which reached number 24 in the UK charts. In 1988, the band The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (later known as The KLF) released the single "Doctorin' the Tardis" under the name The Timelords, which reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in Australia; this version incorporated several other songs, including "Rock and Roll Part 2" by Gary Glitter (who recorded vocals for some of the CD-single remix versions of "Doctorin' the Tardis"). Others who have covered or reinterpreted the theme include Orbital, Pink Floyd, the Australian string ensemble Fourplay, New Zealand punk band Blam Blam Blam, The Pogues, Thin Lizzy, Dub Syndicate, and the comedians Bill Bailey and Mitch Benn. Both the theme and obsessive fans were satirised on The Chaser's War on Everything. The theme tune has also appeared on many compilation CDs, and has made its way into mobile-phone ringtones. Fans have also produced and distributed their own remixes of the theme. In January 2011, the Mankind version was released as a digital download on the album Gallifrey And Beyond.
On 26 June 2018, producer Chris Chibnall announced that the musical score for series 11 would be provided by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire alumnus Segun Akinola.
Most of the innovative incidental music for Doctor Who has been specially commissioned from freelance composers, although in the early years some episodes also used stock music, as well as occasional excerpts from original recordings or cover versions of songs by popular music acts such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys. Since its 2005 return, the series has featured occasional use of excerpts of pop music from the 1970s to the 2000s.
The incidental music for the first Doctor Who adventure, An Unearthly Child, was written by Norman Kay. Many of the stories of the William Hartnell period were scored by electronic music pioneer Tristram Cary, whose Doctor Who credits include The Daleks, Marco Polo, The Daleks' Master Plan, The Gunfighters and The Mutants. Other composers in this early period included Richard Rodney Bennett, Carey Blyton and Geoffrey Burgon.
The most frequent musical contributor during the first 15 years was Dudley Simpson, who is also well known for his theme and incidental music for Blake's 7, and for his haunting theme music and score for the original 1970s version of The Tomorrow People. Simpson's first Doctor Who score was Planet of Giants (1964) and he went on to write music for many adventures of the 1960s and 1970s, including most of the stories of the Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker periods, ending with The Horns of Nimon (1979). He also made a cameo appearance in The Talons of Weng-Chiang (as a Music hall conductor).
In 1980 starting with the serial The Leisure Hive the task of creating incidental music was assigned to the Radiophonic Workshop. Paddy Kingsland and Peter Howell contributed many scores in this period and other contributors included Roger Limb, Malcolm Clarke and Jonathan Gibbs.
The Radiophonic Workshop was dropped after 1986's The Trial of a Time Lord series, and Keff McCulloch took over as the series' main composer until the end of its run, with Dominic Glynn and Mark Ayres also contributing scores.
From the 2005 revival to the 2017 Christmas episode "Twice Upon a Time", all incidental music for the series was composed by Murray Gold and Ben Foster and has been performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales from the 2005 Christmas episode "The Christmas Invasion" onwards. A concert featuring the orchestra performing music from the first two series took place on 19 November 2006 to raise money for Children in Need. David Tennant hosted the event, introducing the different sections of the concert. Murray Gold and Russell T Davies answered questions during the interval, and Daleks and Cybermen appeared whilst music from their stories was played. The concert aired on BBCi on Christmas Day 2006. A Doctor Who Prom was celebrated on 27 July 2008 in the Royal Albert Hall as part of the annual BBC Proms. The BBC Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic Choir performed Murray Gold's compositions for the series, conducted by Ben Foster, as well as a selection of classics based on the theme of space and time. The event was presented by Freema Agyeman and guest-presented by various other stars of the show with numerous monsters participating in the proceedings. It also featured the specially filmed mini-episode "Music of the Spheres", written by Russell T Davies and starring David Tennant.
Six soundtracks have been released since 2005. The first featured tracks from the first two series, the second and third featured music from the third and fourth series respectively. The fourth was released on 4 October 2010 as a two-disc special edition and contained music from the 2008–2010 specials (The Next Doctor to "End of Time Part 2"). The soundtrack for Series 5 was released on 8 November 2010. In February 2011, a soundtrack was released for the 2010 Christmas special "A Christmas Carol", and in December 2011, the soundtrack for Series 6 was released, both by Silva Screen Records.
In 2013, a 50th-anniversary boxed set of audio CDs was released featuring music and sound effects from Doctor Who's 50-year history. The celebration continued in 2016 with the release of Doctor Who: The 50th Anniversary Collection Four LP Box Set by New York City-based Spacelab9. The company pressed 1,000 copies of the set on "Metallic Silver" vinyl, dubbed the "Cyberman Edition".
Premiering the day after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the first episode of Doctor Who was repeated with the second episode the following week. Doctor Who has always appeared initially on the BBC's mainstream BBC One channel, where it is regarded as a family show, drawing audiences of many millions of viewers; episodes were also repeated on BBC Three, before it transitioned to an online-only channel. The programme's popularity has waxed and waned over the decades, with three notable periods of high ratings. The first of these was the "Dalekmania" period (c. 1964–1965), when the popularity of the Daleks regularly brought Doctor Who ratings of between 9 and 14 million, even for stories which did not feature them. The second was the mid to late 1970s, when Tom Baker occasionally drew audiences of over 12 million.
During the ITV network strike of 1979, viewership peaked at 16 million. Figures remained respectable into the 1980s, but fell noticeably after the programme's 23rd series was postponed in 1985 and the show was off the air for 18 months.
Its late 1980s performance of three to five million viewers was seen as poor at the time and was, according to the BBC Board of Control, a leading cause of the programme's 1989 suspension. Some fans considered this disingenuous, since the programme was scheduled against the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, the most popular show at the time. During Tennant's run (the third notable period of high ratings), the show had consistently high viewership, with the Christmas specials regularly attracting over 10 million.
The BBC One broadcast of "Rose", the first episode of the 2005 revival, drew an average audience of 10.81 million, third highest for BBC One that week and seventh across all channels. The current revival also garners the highest audience Appreciation Index of any drama on television.
Doctor Who has been broadcast internationally outside of the United Kingdom since 1964, a year after the show first aired. As of 1 January 2013, the modern series has been broadcast in more than 50 countries. The 50th anniversary was broadcast In 94 countries and screened to more than half a million people in cinemas across Australia, Latin America, North America and Europe. The scope of the broadcast was a world record, according to Guinness World Records.
Doctor Who is one of the five top-grossing titles for BBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial arm. BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith has said that Doctor Who is one of a small number of "Superbrands" which Worldwide will promote heavily.
Only four episodes have premiere showings on channels other than BBC One. The 1983 20th-anniversary special The Five Doctors had its début on 23 November (the actual date of the anniversary) on a number of PBS stations two days before its BBC One broadcast. The 1988 story Silver Nemesis was broadcast with all three episodes airing back to back on TVNZ in New Zealand in November, after the first episode had been shown in the UK but before the final two instalments had aired there.
Starting with the 60th-anniversary specials in 2023, Doctor Who will be released on Disney+ outside of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
New Zealand was the first country outside the United Kingdom to screen Doctor Who, beginning in September 1964, and continued to screen the series for many years, including the new revived series that aired on Prime Television from 2005 to 2017. In 2018, the series is aired on Fridays on TVNZ 2, and on TVNZ On Demand on the same episode as the UK. The series moved to TVNZ 1 in 2021.
In Australia, the show has had a strong fan base since its inception, having been exclusively first run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) since January 1965. The ABC has periodically repeated episodes; of note were the daily screenings of all available classic episodes starting in 2003 for the show's 40th anniversary and the weekly screenings of all available revived episodes in 2013 for the show's 50th anniversary. The ABC broadcast the modern series' first run on ABC1 and ABC Me, with repeats on ABC2 and streaming available on ABC iview.
The series also has a fan base in the United States, where it was shown in syndication from the 1970s to the 1990s, particularly on PBS stations.
TVOntario picked up the show in 1976 beginning with The Three Doctors and aired each series (several years late) through to series 24 in 1991. From 1979 to 1981, TVO airings were bookended by science-fiction writer Judith Merril who introduced the episode and then, after the episode concluded, tried to place it in an educational context in keeping with TVO's status as an educational channel. Its airing of The Talons of Weng-Chiang was cancelled as a result of accusations that the story was racist; the story was later broadcast in the 1990s on cable station YTV. CBC began showing the series again in 2005. The series moved to the Canadian cable channel Space in 2009.
Series three began broadcasting on CBC on 18 June 2007 followed by the second Christmas special, "The Runaway Bride", at midnight, and the Sci Fi Channel began on 6 July 2007, starting with the second Christmas special at 8:00 pm E/P followed by the first episode.
Series four aired in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel (now known as Syfy), beginning in April 2008. It aired on CBC beginning 19 September 2008, although the CBC did not air the "Voyage of the Damned" special. The Canadian cable network Space (now known as CTV Sci-Fi Channel) broadcast "The Next Doctor" (in March 2009) and all subsequent series and specials.
The series was aired in Brazil at the TV networks Syfy and, more frequently, at the public broadcaster TV Cultura. Expect international distribution rights holders, it had already been made available on local streaming platforms Looke and Globoplay. Starting from 2024, the previous 13 series will be available at the upcoming streaming service +SBT.
Series 1 through 3 of Doctor Who were broadcast on various NHK channels from 2006 to 2008 with Japanese subtitles. Beginning on 2 August 2009, upon the launch of Disney XD in Japan, the series has been broadcast with Japanese dubbing.
A wide selection of serials is available from BBC Video on DVD, on sale in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the United States. Every fully extant serial has been released on VHS, and BBC Worldwide continues to regularly release serials on DVD. The 2005 series is also available in its entirety on UMD for the PlayStation Portable. Eight original series serials have been released on Laserdisc and many have also been released on Betamax tape and Video 2000. One episode of Doctor Who (The Infinite Quest) was released on VCD. Initially, only the series from 2005 onwards were also available on Blu-ray, along with the 1996 TV film Doctor Who, released in September 2016. However in March 2021, it was announced that the classic run would be released on Blu-ray starting with seasons 12 and 19.
Over 600 episodes of the classic series (the first 8 Doctors, from 1963 to 1996) are available to stream on BritBox (launched in 2017) and Pluto TV. From 2020, the revival series is available for streaming on HBO Max, as well as spin-offs Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood. Ahead of the 60th anniversary of the series, BBC cleared the rights to allow every single non-missing episode of Doctor Who onto iPlayer. Additionally various spin-offs were also added to iPlayer including Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Class, and Doctor Who Confidential.
There are two Dr. Who [sic] feature films: Dr. Who and the Daleks, released in 1965 and Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. in 1966. Both are retellings of existing television stories (specifically, the first two Dalek serials, The Daleks and The Dalek Invasion of Earth respectively) with a larger budget and alterations to the series concept.
In these films, Peter Cushing plays a human scientist named "Dr. Who" who travels with his granddaughter, niece, and other companions in a time machine he has invented. The Cushing version of the character reappears in both comic strips and a short story, the latter attempting to reconcile the film continuity with that of the series.
In addition, several planned films were proposed, including a sequel, The Chase, loosely based on the original series story, for the Cushing Doctor, plus many attempted television movie and big-screen productions to revive the original Doctor Who after the original series was cancelled.
Paul McGann starred in the only television film as the eighth incarnation of the Doctor. After the film, he continued the role in audio dramas and was confirmed as the eighth incarnation through flashback footage and a mini episode in the 2005 revival, effectively linking the two series and the television movie.
In 2011, David Yates announced that he had started work with the BBC on a Doctor Who film, a project that would take three or more years to complete. Yates indicated that the film would take a different approach from Doctor Who, although then showrunner Steven Moffat stated later that any such film would not be a reboot of the series and that a film should be made by the BBC team and star the current TV Doctor.
Doctor Who has appeared on stage numerous times. In the early 1970s, Trevor Martin played the role in Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday. In the late 1980s, Jon Pertwee and Colin Baker both played the Doctor at different times during the run of a play titled Doctor Who – The Ultimate Adventure. For two performances, while Pertwee was ill, David Banks (better known for playing Cybermen) played the Doctor. Other original plays have been staged as amateur productions, with other actors playing the Doctor, while Terry Nation wrote The Curse of the Daleks, a stage play mounted in the late 1960s, but without the Doctor.
A pilot episode ("A Girl's Best Friend") for a potential spin-off series, K-9 and Company, aired in 1981, with Elisabeth Sladen reprising her role as companion Sarah Jane Smith and John Leeson as the voice of K9, but was not picked up as a regular series. Concept art for an animated Doctor Who series was produced by animation company Nelvana in the 1980s, but the series was not produced.
Following the success of the 2005 series produced by Russell T Davies, the BBC commissioned Davies to produce a 13-part spin-off series titled Torchwood (an anagram of "Doctor Who"), set in modern-day Cardiff and investigating alien activities and crime. The series debuted on BBC Three on 22 October 2006. John Barrowman reprised his role of Jack Harkness from the 2005 series of Doctor Who. Two other actresses who appeared in Doctor Who also star in the series: Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper, who played the similarly named servant girl Gwyneth in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Unquiet Dead", and Naoko Mori, who reprised her role as Toshiko Sato, first seen in "Aliens of London". A second series of Torchwood aired in 2008; for three episodes, the cast was joined by Freema Agyeman reprising her Doctor Who role of Martha Jones. A third series was broadcast from 6 to 10 July 2009, and consisted of a single five-part story called Children of Earth which was set largely in London. A fourth series, Torchwood: Miracle Day jointly produced by BBC Wales, BBC Worldwide and the American entertainment company Starz debuted in 2011. The series was predominantly set in the United States, though Wales remained part of the show's setting.
The Sarah Jane Adventures, starring Elisabeth Sladen who reprised her role as investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith, was developed by CBBC; a special aired on New Year's Day 2007, and a full series began on 24 September 2007. A second series followed in 2008, notable for (as noted above) featuring the return of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. A third in 2009 featured a crossover appearance from the main show by David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. In 2010, a further such appearance featured Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor alongside former companion actress Katy Manning reprising her role as Jo Grant. A final, three-story fifth series was transmitted in autumn 2011 – uncompleted due to the death of Elisabeth Sladen in early 2011.
An animated serial, The Infinite Quest, aired alongside the 2007 series of Doctor Who as part of the children's television series Totally Doctor Who. The serial featured the voices of series regulars David Tennant and Freema Agyeman but is not considered part of the 2007 series. A second animated serial, Dreamland, aired in six parts on the BBC Red Button service, and the official Doctor Who website in 2009.
Class, featuring students of Coal Hill School, was first aired on-line on BBC Three from 22 October 2016, as a series of eight 45 minute episodes, written by Patrick Ness. Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor appears in the show's first episode. The series was picked up by BBC America on 8 January 2016 and by BBC One a day later. On 7 September 2017, BBC Three controller Damian Kavanagh confirmed that the series had officially been cancelled.
On 27 January 2023, Russell T Davies confirmed via GQ that future Doctor Who spin-offs were in the works. It is currently unknown what form these spin-offs will take, aside from one centering around UNIT and starring Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart.
Numerous other spin-off series have been created not by the BBC but by the respective owners of the characters and concepts. Such spin-offs include the novel and audio drama series Faction Paradox, Iris Wildthyme and Bernice Summerfield; as well as the made-for-video series P.R.O.B.E.; the Australian-produced television series K-9, which aired a 26-episode first season on Disney XD; and the audio spin-off Counter-Measures.
When the revived series of Doctor Who was brought back, an aftershow series was created by the BBC, titled Doctor Who Confidential. There have been three aftershow series created, with the latest one titled Doctor Who: The Fan Show, which began airing from the tenth series. Each series follows behind-the-scenes footage on the making of Doctor Who through clips and interviews with the cast, production crew and other people, including those who have participated in the television series in some manner. Each episode deals with a different topic, and in most cases refers to the Doctor Who episode that preceded it.
In 1983, coinciding with the series' 20th anniversary, The Five Doctors was shown as part of the annual BBC Children in Need Appeal, however it was not a charity-based production, simply scheduled within the line-up of Friday 25 November 1983. This was the programme's first co-production with Australian broadcaster ABC. At 90 minutes long it was the longest single episode of Doctor Who produced to date. It featured three of the first five Doctors, a new actor to replace the deceased William Hartnell, and unused footage to represent Tom Baker.
In 1993, for the franchise's 30th anniversary, another charity special, Dimensions in Time, was produced for Children in Need, featuring all the surviving actors who played the Doctor and a number of previous companions. It also featured a crossover with the soap opera EastEnders, the action taking place in the latter's Albert Square location and around Greenwich. The special was one of several special 3D programmes the BBC produced at the time, using a 3D system that made use of the Pulfrich effect, requiring glasses with one darkened lens; the picture would look normal to those viewers who watched without the glasses.
In 1999, another special, Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death, was made for Comic Relief and later released on VHS. An affectionate parody of the television series, it was split into four segments, mimicking the traditional serial format, complete with cliffhangers, and running down the same corridor several times when being chased (the version released on video was split into only two episodes). In the story, the Doctor (Rowan Atkinson) encounters both the Master (Jonathan Pryce) and the Daleks. During the special, the Doctor is forced to regenerate several times, with his subsequent incarnations played by, in order, Richard E. Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, and Joanna Lumley. The script was written by Steven Moffat, later to be head writer and executive producer of the revived series.
Since the return of Doctor Who in 2005, the franchise has produced two original "mini-episodes" to support Children in Need. The first, which aired in November 2005, was an untitled seven-minute scene introducing David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. It was followed in November 2007 by "Time Crash", a 7-minute scene that featured the Tenth Doctor meeting the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison.
A set of two mini-episodes, titled "Space" and "Time" respectively, were produced to support Comic Relief. They were aired during the Comic Relief 2011 event. During Children in Need 2011, an exclusively filmed segment showed the Doctor addressing the viewer, attempting to persuade them to purchase items of his clothing, which were going up for auction for Children in Need. Children in Need 2012 featured the mini-episode "The Great Detective". In 2014, the Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi designed a Doctor Who-themed Paddington Bear statue, which was located at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich (one of 50 placed around London), which was auctioned to raise funds for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).
Doctor Who has been satirised and spoofed on many occasions by comedians including Spike Milligan (a Dalek invades his bathroom—Milligan, naked, hurls a soap sponge at it) and Lenny Henry. Jon Culshaw frequently impersonates the Fourth Doctor in the BBC Dead Ringers series. Doctor Who fandom has also been lampooned on programs such as Saturday Night Live, The Chaser's War on Everything, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Family Guy, American Dad!, Futurama, South Park, Community as Inspector Spacetime, The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory. As part of the 50th-anniversary programmes, former Fifth Doctor Peter Davison directed, wrote, and co-starred in the parody The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, which also starred two other former Doctors, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, and had cameo appearances from cast and crew involved in the programme, including showrunner Steven Moffat and Doctors Paul McGann, David Tennant, and Matt Smith.
The Doctor in his fourth incarnation has been represented on several episodes of The Simpsons and Matt Groening's other animated series Futurama. A fan of Doctor Who since childhood, Groening favours Tom Baker's fourth Doctor, with Simpsons writer Ron Hauge stating, "There are several Doctor Who actors but Tom Baker is the one we always go with."
There have also been many references to Doctor Who in popular culture and other science fiction, including Star Trek: The Next Generation ("The Neutral Zone") and Leverage. In the Channel 4 series Queer as Folk (created by later Doctor Who executive producer Russell T. Davies), the character of Vince was portrayed as an avid Doctor Who fan, with references appearing many times throughout in the form of clips from the programme. In a similar manner, the character of Oliver on Coupling (created and written by Steven Moffat) is portrayed as a Doctor Who collector and enthusiast. References to Doctor Who have also appeared in the young adult fantasy novels Brisingr and High Wizardry, the video game Rock Band, the Adult Swim comedy show Robot Chicken, the Family Guy episodes "Blue Harvest" and "420", and the game RuneScape. It has also been referenced in Destroy All Humans! 2, by civilians in the game's variation of England, and multiple times throughout the Ace Attorney series.
Doctor Who has been a reference in several political cartoons, from a 1964 cartoon in the Daily Mail depicting Charles de Gaulle as a Dalek to a 2008 edition of This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow in which the Tenth Doctor informs an incredulous character from 2003 that the Democratic Party will nominate an African-American as its presidential candidate.
The word "TARDIS" is an entry in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, and the iOS dictionary.
There have been various Doctor Who–related exhibitions in the United Kingdom, including the now-closed exhibitions at:
Since its beginnings, Doctor Who has generated hundreds of products related to the show, from toys and games to collectible picture cards and postage stamps. These include board games, card games, gamebooks, computer games, roleplaying games, action figures and a pinball game. Many games have been released that feature the Daleks, including Dalek computer games.
The earliest Doctor Who–related audio release was a 21-minute narrated abridgement of the First Doctor television story The Chase released in 1966. Ten years later, the first original Doctor Who audio was released on LP record; Doctor Who and the Pescatons featuring the Fourth Doctor. The first commercially available audiobook was an abridged reading of the Fourth Doctor story State of Decay in 1981. In 1988, during a hiatus in the television show, Slipback, the first radio drama, was transmitted.
Since 1999, Big Finish Productions has released several different series of Doctor Who audios on CD. The earliest of these featured the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors, with Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor joining the line in 2001. Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor began appearing for Big Finish in 2012. Along with the main range, adventures of the First, Second and Third Doctors have been produced in both limited cast and full cast formats, as well as audiobooks. The 2013 series Destiny of the Doctor, produced as part of the series' 50th-anniversary celebrations, marked the first time Big Finish created stories (in this case audiobooks) featuring the Doctors from the revived show. Along with this, in May 2016, the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, appeared alongside Catherine Tate in a collection of three audio adventures. In August 2020, Big Finish announced a new series of audios beginning release in May 2021, featuring Christopher Eccleston reprising his role as the Ninth Doctor.
The main range, Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures, holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-running science fiction audio play series.
In 2022, BBC Sounds began airing Doctor Who: Redacted, a 10-episode podcast written by Juno Dawson and starring Charlie Craggs and Jodie Whittaker. The podcast focuses on a trio of friends who host a paranormal conspiracy podcast, "The Blue Box Files", and end up getting involved in much more than they expected.
Doctor Who books have been published from the mid-sixties through to the present day. From 1965 to 1991 the books published were primarily novelised adaptations of broadcast episodes; beginning in 1991 an extensive line of original fiction was launched, the Virgin New Adventures and Virgin Missing Adventures. Since the relaunch of the programme in 2005, a new range of novels has been published by BBC Books. Numerous non-fiction books about the series, including guidebooks and critical studies, have also been published, and a dedicated Doctor Who Magazine (DWM) with newsstand circulation has been published regularly since 1979: DWM is recognised by Guinness World Records as the longest running TV tie-in magazine, celebrating 40 years of continuous publication on 11 October 2019. This is published by Panini, as is the Doctor Who Adventures magazine for younger fans.
See also:
Numerous Doctor Who video games have been created from the mid-80s through to the present day. A Doctor Who game was planned for the Sega Mega Drive but never released. One of the recent ones is a match-3 game released in November 2013 for iOS, Android, Amazon App Store and Facebook called Doctor Who: Legacy. It has been constantly updated since its release and features all the Doctors as playable characters as well as over 100 companions.
Another video game instalment is Lego Dimensions – in which Doctor Who is one of the many "Level Packs" in the game. The pack contains the Twelfth Doctor (who can reincarnate into the others), K9, the TARDIS and a Victorian London adventure level area. The game and pack released in November 2015.
Doctor Who: Battle of Time was a digital collectible card game developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment and released for iOS and Android. It was soft-launched on 30 May 2018 in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Thailand, but was shutdown on 26 November of that same year.
Doctor Who Infinity was released on Steam on 7 August 2018. It was nominated for "Best Start-up" at The Independent Game Developers' Association Awards 2018.
Since the creation of the Doctor Who character by BBC Television in the early 1960s, a myriad of stories have been published about Doctor Who, in different media: apart from the actual television episodes that continue to be produced by the BBC, there have also been novels, comics, short stories, audio books, radio plays, interactive video games, game books, webcasts, DVD extras, and stage performances. The BBC takes no position on the canonicity of any of such stories, and producers of the show have expressed distaste for the idea of canonicity.
The show has received recognition as one of Britain's finest television programmes, winning the 2006 British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series and five consecutive (2005–2010) awards at the National Television Awards during Russell T Davies' tenure as executive producer. In 2011, Matt Smith became the first Doctor to be nominated for a BAFTA Television Award for Best Actor, and in 2016, Michelle Gomez became the first female to receive a BAFTA nomination for the series, getting a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work as Missy.
In 2013, the Peabody Awards honoured Doctor Who with an Institutional Peabody "for evolving with technology and the times like nothing else in the known television universe." The programme is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science-fiction television show in the world, as the "most successful" science-fiction series of all time—based on its overall broadcast ratings, DVD and book sales, and iTunes traffic— and for the largest ever simulcast of a TV drama with its 50th-anniversary special.
In 1975, Season 11 of the series won a Writers' Guild of Great Britain award for Best Writing in a Children's Serial. In 1996, BBC television held the "Auntie Awards" as the culmination of their "TV60" series, celebrating 60 years of BBC television broadcasting, where Doctor Who was voted as the "Best Popular Drama" the corporation had ever produced, ahead of such ratings heavyweights as EastEnders and Casualty. In 2000, Doctor Who was ranked third in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century, produced by the British Film Institute and voted on by industry professionals. In 2005, the series came first in a survey by SFX magazine of "The Greatest UK Science Fiction and Fantasy Television Series Ever". In Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest Kids' TV shows, Doctor Who was placed at number nine. In 2004 and 2007, Doctor Who was ranked number 18 and number 22 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever. In 2013, TV Guide ranked it as the number 6 sci-fi show.
The revived series has received recognition from critics and the public, across various awards ceremonies. It won five BAFTA TV Awards, including Best Drama Series, the highest-profile and most prestigious British television award for which the series has ever been nominated. It was very popular at the BAFTA Cymru Awards, with 25 wins overall including Best Drama Series (twice), Best Screenplay/Screenwriter (thrice) and Best Actor. It was also nominated for 7 Saturn Awards, winning the only Best International Series in the ceremony's history. In 2009, Doctor Who was voted the 3rd greatest show of the 2000s by Channel 4, behind Top Gear and The Apprentice. The episode "Vincent and the Doctor" was shortlisted for a Mind Award at the 2010 Mind Mental Health Media Awards for its "touching" portrayal of Vincent van Gogh.
It has won the Short Form of the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, the oldest science fiction/fantasy award for films and series, six times since 2006. The winning episodes were "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" (2006), "The Girl in the Fireplace" (2007), "Blink" (2008), "The Waters of Mars" (2010), "The Pandorica Opens"/"The Big Bang" (2011), and "The Doctor's Wife" (2012). The 2016 Christmas special "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" was also a finalist for the 2017 Hugo Awards. Doctor Who star Matt Smith won Best Actor in the 2012 National Television awards alongside Karen Gillan, who won Best Actress. Doctor Who has been nominated for over 200 awards and has won over a hundred of them.
As a British series, the majority of its nominations and awards have been for national competitions such as the BAFTAs, but it has occasionally received nominations in mainstream American awards, most notably a nomination for "Favorite Sci-Fi Show" in the 2008 People's Choice Awards, and the series has been nominated multiple times in the Spike Scream Awards, with Smith winning Best Science Fiction Actor in 2011. The Canadian Constellation Awards have also recognised the series. In 2019, Doctor Who was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame based in Seattle, Washington. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber, and Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterrestrial being called the Doctor, part of a humanoid species called Time Lords. The Doctor travels in the universe and in time using a time travelling spaceship called the TARDIS, which externally appears as a British police box. While travelling, the Doctor works to save lives and liberate oppressed peoples by combating foes. The Doctor often travels with companions.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Beginning with William Hartnell, fourteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; as of 2023, Ncuti Gatwa leads the series as the Fifteenth Doctor. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the series with the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation, a plot device in which, when a Time Lord is fatally injured, their cells regenerate and they are reincarnated. Each actor's portrayal is distinct, but all represent stages in the life of the same character and, together, they form a single lifetime with a single narrative. The time-travelling nature of the plot means that different incarnations of the Doctor occasionally meet. In 2017, Jodie Whittaker became the first woman to be cast in the lead role as the Thirteenth Doctor.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The series is a significant part of popular culture in Britain and elsewhere; it has gained a cult following. It has influenced generations of British television professionals, many of whom grew up watching the series. Fans of the series are sometimes referred to as Whovians. The series has been listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science-fiction television series in the world, as well as the \"most successful\" science-fiction series of all time, based on its overall broadcast ratings, DVD, and book sales.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The series originally ran from 1963 to 1989. There was an unsuccessful attempt to revive regular production in 1996 with a backdoor pilot in the form of a television film titled Doctor Who. The series was relaunched in 2005 and was produced in-house by BBC Wales in Cardiff. Since 2023, the show is co-produced by BBC Studios and Bad Wolf, also in Cardiff. Doctor Who has also spawned numerous spin-offs, including comic books, films, novels, and audio dramas, and the television series Torchwood (2006–2011), The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011), K9 (2009–2010), and Class (2016). It has been the subject of many parodies and references in popular culture.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Doctor Who follows the adventures of the title character, a rogue Time Lord with somewhat unknown origins who goes by the name \"the Doctor\". The Doctor fled Gallifrey, the planet of the Time Lords, in a stolen TARDIS (\"Time and Relative Dimension(s) in Space\"), a time machine that travels by materialising into, and dematerialising out of, the time vortex. The TARDIS has a vast interior but appears smaller on the outside, and is equipped with a \"chameleon circuit\" intended to make the machine take on the appearance of local objects as a disguise. Due to a malfunction, the Doctor's TARDIS remains fixed as a blue British police box.",
"title": "Premise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Across time and space, the Doctor's many incarnations often find events that pique their curiosity, and try to prevent evil forces from harming innocent people or changing history, using only ingenuity and minimal resources, such as the versatile sonic screwdriver. The Doctor rarely travels alone and is often joined by one or more companions on these adventures; these companions are usually humans, owing to the Doctor's fascination with planet Earth, which also leads to frequent collaborations with the international military task force UNIT when Earth is threatened. The Doctor is centuries old and as a Time Lord, has the ability to regenerate when there is mortal damage to their body. The Doctor's various incarnations have gained numerous recurring enemies during their travels, including the Daleks, their creator Davros, the Cybermen, and the renegade Time Lord the Master.",
"title": "Premise"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Doctor Who first appeared on the BBC Television Service at 17:16:20 GMT on 23 November 1963; this was eighty seconds later than the scheduled programme time, because of announcements concerning the previous day's assassination of John F. Kennedy. It was to be a regular weekly programme, each episode 25 minutes of transmission length. Discussions and plans for the programme had been in progress for a year. The head of drama Sydney Newman was mainly responsible for developing the programme, with the first format document for the series being written by Newman along with the head of the script department (later head of serials) Donald Wilson and staff writer C. E. Webber; in a 1971 interview Wilson claimed to have named the series, and when this claim was put to Newman he did not dispute it. Writer Anthony Coburn, story editor David Whitaker and initial producer Verity Lambert also heavily contributed to the development of the series.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The programme was originally intended to appeal to a family audience as an educational programme using time travel as a means to explore scientific ideas and famous moments in history. On 31 July 1963, Whitaker commissioned Terry Nation to write a story under the title The Mutants. As originally written, the Daleks and Thals were the victims of an alien neutron bomb attack but Nation later dropped the aliens and made the Daleks the aggressors. When the script was presented to Newman and Wilson, it was immediately rejected as the programme was not permitted to contain any \"bug-eyed monsters\". According to Lambert, \"We didn't have a lot of choice—we only had the Dalek serial to go ... We had a bit of a crisis of confidence because Donald [Wilson] was so adamant that we shouldn't make it. Had we had anything else ready we would have made that.\" Nation's script became the second Doctor Who serial – The Daleks (also known as The Mutants). The serial introduced the eponymous aliens that would become the series' most popular monsters, dubbed \"Dalekmania\", and was responsible for the BBC's first merchandising boom.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "We had to rely on the story because there was little we could do with the effects. Star Wars in a way was the turning point. Once Star Wars had happened, Doctor Who effectively was out of date from that moment on really, judged by that level of technological expertise.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "—Philip Hinchcliffe, producer of Doctor Who from 1974 to 1977, on why the \"classic series\" eventually fell behind other science fiction in production values and reputation, leading to its cancellation",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The BBC drama department's serials division produced the programme for 26 seasons, broadcast on BBC One. Due to his increasingly poor health, William Hartnell, first actor to play the Doctor, was succeeded by Patrick Troughton in 1966. In 1970, Jon Pertwee replaced Troughton and the series began production in colour. In 1974, Tom Baker was cast as the Doctor. His eccentric personality became hugely popular, with viewing figures for the series returning to a level not seen since the height of \"Dalekmania\" a decade earlier. After seven years in the role, Baker was replaced by Peter Davison in 1981, and Colin Baker replaced Davison in 1984. In 1985, the channel's controller Michael Grade attempted to cancel the series, but it returned after an 18-month hiatus. He also had Colin Baker removed from the starring role in 1986. The role was recast with Sylvester McCoy, but falling viewing numbers, a decline in the public perception of the series and a less-prominent transmission slot saw production ended in 1989 by Peter Cregeen, the BBC's new head of series. Although it was effectively cancelled, the BBC repeatedly affirmed over several years that the series would return.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "While in-house production concluded, the BBC explored an independent production company to relaunch the series. Philip Segal, a British expatriate who worked for Columbia Pictures' television arm in the United States, had approached the BBC as early as July 1989, while the 26th season was still in production. Segal's negotiations eventually led to a Doctor Who television film as a pilot for an American series, broadcast on the Fox Network in 1996, as an international co-production between Fox, Universal Pictures, the BBC and BBC Worldwide. Starring Paul McGann as the Doctor, the film was successful in the UK (with 9.1 million viewers), but was less so in the United States and did not lead to a series.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Licensed media such as novels and audio plays provided new stories, but as a television programme, Doctor Who remained dormant. In September 2003, BBC Television announced the in-house production of a new series, after several years of attempts by BBC Worldwide to find backing for a feature film version. The 2005 revival of Doctor Who is a direct plot continuation of the original 1963–1989 series and the 1996 television film. The executive producers of the new incarnation of the series were Queer as Folk writer Russell T Davies and BBC Cymru Wales head of drama Julie Gardner. From 2005, the series switched from a multi-camera to a single-camera setup.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Starring Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor, Doctor Who returned with the episode \"Rose\" on BBC One on 26 March 2005, after a 16-year hiatus of in-house production. Eccleston left after one series and was replaced by David Tennant. There have since been twelve seasons, as well as various specials broadcast. Davies left the production team in 2009. Steven Moffat, a writer under Davies, was announced as his successor, along with Matt Smith as the new Doctor. Smith decided to leave the role of the Doctor in 2013, the 50th anniversary year. He was replaced by Peter Capaldi.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "In January 2016, Moffat announced that he would step down after the 2017 finale, to be replaced by Chris Chibnall in 2018. Jodie Whittaker, the first female Doctor, appeared in three series, the last of which was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Both Whittaker and Chibnall announced that they would depart the series after a series of specials in 2022. Davies returned as showrunner from the 60th anniversary specials, twelve years after he had left the series previously. Bad Wolf co-produces the series in partnership with BBC Studios. Bad Wolf's involvement sees Gardner return to the series alongside Davies and Jane Tranter, who recommissioned the series in 2005.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The programme has been sold to many other countries worldwide (see § Viewership).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "It has been claimed that the transmission of the first episode was delayed by ten minutes due to extended news coverage of the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy the previous day; in fact, it went out after a delay of eighty seconds. The BBC believed that coverage of the assassination, as well as a series of power blackouts across the country, had caused many viewers to miss this introduction to a new series, and it was broadcast again on 30 November 1963, just before episode two.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The programme soon became a national institution in the United Kingdom, with a large following among the general viewing audience. The show received controversy over the suitability of the series for children. Morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse repeatedly complained to the BBC over what she saw as the programme's violent, frightening and gory content. According to Radio Times, the series \"never had a more implacable foe than Mary Whitehouse\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "A BBC audience research survey conducted in 1972 found that, by their own definition of violence (\"any act[s] which may cause physical and/or psychological injury, hurt or death to persons, animals or property, whether intentional or accidental\"), Doctor Who was the most violent of the drama programmes the corporation produced at the time. The same report found that 3% of the surveyed audience believed the series was \"very unsuitable\" for family viewing. Responding to the findings of the survey in The Times newspaper, journalist Philip Howard maintained that, \"to compare the violence of Dr Who, sired by a horse-laugh out of a nightmare, with the more realistic violence of other television series, where actors who look like human beings bleed paint that looks like blood, is like comparing Monopoly with the property market in London: both are fantasies, but one is meant to be taken seriously.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "During Jon Pertwee's second season as the Doctor, in the serial Terror of the Autons (1971), images of murderous plastic dolls, daffodils killing unsuspecting victims, and blank-featured policemen marked the apex of the series' ability to frighten children. Other notable moments in that decade include a disembodied brain falling to the floor in The Brain of Morbius and the Doctor apparently being drowned by a villain in The Deadly Assassin (both 1976). Mary Whitehouse's complaint about the latter incident prompted a change in BBC policy towards the series, with much tighter controls imposed on the production team, and the series' next producer, Graham Williams, was under a directive to take out \"anything graphic in the depiction of violence\". John Nathan-Turner produced the series during the 1980s and said in the documentary More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS that he looked forward to Whitehouse's comments because the ratings of the series would increase soon after she had made them. Nathan-Turner also got into trouble with BBC executives over the violence he allowed to be depicted for season 22 of the series in 1985, which was publicly criticised by controller Michael Grade and given as one of his reasons for suspending the series for 18 months.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The phrase \"Hiding behind (or 'watching from behind') the sofa\" entered British pop culture, signifying the stereotypical but apocryphal early-series behaviour of children who wanted to avoid seeing frightening parts of a television programme while remaining in the room to watch the remainder of it. The phrase retains this association with Doctor Who, to the point that in 1991 the Museum of the Moving Image in London named its exhibition celebrating the programme Behind the Sofa. The electronic theme music too was perceived as eerie, novel, and frightening at the time. A 2012 article placed this childhood juxtaposition of fear and thrill \"at the center of many people's relationship with the series\", and a 2011 online vote at Digital Spy deemed the series the \"scariest TV show of all time\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The image of the TARDIS has become firmly linked to the series in the public's consciousness; BBC scriptwriter Anthony Coburn, who lived in the resort of Herne Bay, Kent, was one of the people who conceived the idea of a police box as a time machine. In 1996, the BBC applied for a trademark to use the TARDIS' blue police box design in merchandising associated with Doctor Who. In 1998, the Metropolitan Police Authority filed an objection to the trademark claim; but in 2002, the Patent Office ruled in favour of the BBC.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The 21st-century revival of the programme became the centrepiece of BBC One's Saturday schedule and \"defined the channel\". Many renowned actors have made guest-starring appearances in various stories including Kylie Minogue, Sir Ian McKellen, and Andrew Garfield among others. According to an article in the Daily Telegraph in 2009, the revival of Doctor Who had consistently received high ratings, both in number of viewers and as measured by the Appreciation Index. In 2007, Caitlin Moran, television reviewer for The Times, wrote that Doctor Who is \"quintessential to being British\". According to Steven Moffat, the American film director Steven Spielberg has commented that \"the world would be a poorer place without Doctor Who\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "On 4 August 2013, a live programme titled Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor was broadcast on BBC One, during which the actor who was going to play the Twelfth Doctor was revealed. The live show was watched by an average of 6.27 million in the UK, and was also simulcast in the United States, Canada and Australia.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Doctor Who originally ran for 26 seasons on BBC One, from 23 November 1963 until 6 December 1989. During the original run, each weekly episode formed part of a story (or \"serial\")—usually of four to six parts in earlier years and three to four in later years. Some notable exceptions were: The Daleks' Master Plan, which aired twelve episodes (plus an earlier one-episode teaser, \"Mission to the Unknown\", featuring none of the regular cast); almost an entire season of seven-episode serials (season 7); the ten-episode serial The War Games; and The Trial of a Time Lord, which ran for fourteen episodes (albeit divided into three production codes and four narrative segments) during season 23. Occasionally, serials were loosely connected by a story line, such as season 8 focusing on the Doctor battling a rogue Time Lord called the Master, season 16's quest for the Key to Time, season 18's journey through E-Space and the theme of entropy, and season 20's Black Guardian trilogy.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The programme was intended to be educational and for family viewing on the early Saturday evening schedule. It initially alternated stories set in the past, which taught younger audience members about history, and with those in the future or outer space, focusing on science. This was also reflected in the Doctor's original companions, one of whom was a science teacher and another a history teacher.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "However, science fiction stories came to dominate the programme, and the history-oriented episodes, which were not popular with the production team, were dropped after The Highlanders (1967). While the show continued to use historical settings, they were generally used as a backdrop for science fiction tales, with one exception: Black Orchid (1982), set in 1920s England.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "The early stories were serialised in nature, with the narrative of one story flowing into the next and each episode having its own title, although produced as distinct stories with their own production codes. Following The Gunfighters (1966), however, each serial was given its own title, and the individual parts were assigned episode numbers.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Of the programme's many writers, Robert Holmes was the most prolific, while Douglas Adams became the best known outside Doctor Who itself, due to the popularity of his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy works.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "The serial format changed for the 2005 revival, with what was now called a series usually consisting of thirteen 45-minute, self-contained episodes (60 minutes with adverts, on overseas commercial channels) and an extended 60-minute episode broadcast on Christmas Day. This system was shortened to twelve episodes and one Christmas special following the revival's eighth series, and ten episodes from the eleventh series. Each series includes standalone and multiple episodic stories, often linked with a loose story arc resolved in the series finale. As in the early \"classic\" era, each episode has its own title, whether stand-alone or part of a larger story. Occasionally, regular-series episodes will exceed the 45-minute run time; notably, the episodes \"Journey's End\" from 2008 and \"The Eleventh Hour\" from 2010 were longer than an hour.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "875 Doctor Who instalments have been televised since 1963, ranging between 25-minute episodes (the most common format for the classic era), 45/50-minute episodes (for Resurrection of the Daleks in the 1984 series, a single season in 1985, and the most common format for the revival era since 2005), two feature-length productions (1983's The Five Doctors and the 1996 television film), twelve Christmas specials (most of approximately 60 minutes' duration, one of 72 minutes), and four additional specials ranging from 60 to 75 minutes in 2009, 2010, and 2013. Four mini-episodes, running about eight minutes each, were also produced for the 1993, 2005, and 2007 Children in Need charity appeals, while another mini-episode was produced in 2008 for a Doctor Who–themed edition of The Proms. The 1993 two-part story, entitled Dimensions in Time, was made in collaboration with the cast of the BBC soap-opera EastEnders and was filmed partly on the EastEnders set. A two-part mini-episode was also produced for the 2011 edition of Comic Relief. Starting with the 2009 special \"Planet of the Dead\", the series was filmed in 1080i for HDTV and broadcast simultaneously on BBC One and BBC HD.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show, a special 3D episode, \"The Day of the Doctor\", was broadcast in 2013. In March 2013, it was announced that Tennant and Piper would be returning and that the episode would have a limited cinematic release worldwide.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "In June 2017, it was announced that due to the terms of a deal between BBC Worldwide and SMG Pictures in China, the company has first right of refusal on the purchase for the Chinese market of future series of the programme until and including Series 15.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Between 1967 and 1978, large amounts of older material stored in the BBC's various video tape and film libraries was either destroyed or wiped. This included many early episodes of Doctor Who, those stories featuring the first two Doctors: William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton. In all, 97 of 253 episodes produced during the programme's first six years are not held in the BBC's archives (most notably seasons 3, 4, and 5, from which 79 episodes are missing). In 1972, almost all episodes then made were known to exist at the BBC, while by 1978 the practice of wiping tapes and destroying \"spare\" film copies had been brought to a stop.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "No 1960s episodes exist on their original videotapes (all surviving prints being film transfers), though some were transferred to film for editing before transmission and exist in their broadcast form.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Some episodes have been returned to the BBC from the archives of other countries that bought prints for broadcast or by private individuals who acquired them by various means. Early colour videotape recordings made off-air by fans have also been retrieved, as well as excerpts filmed from the television screen onto 8 mm cine film and clips that were shown on other programmes. Audio versions of all lost episodes exist from home viewers who made tape recordings of the show. Short clips from every story with the exception of Marco Polo (1964), \"Mission to the Unknown\" (1965) and The Massacre (1966) also exist.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "In addition to these, there are off-screen photographs made by photographer John Cura, who was hired by various production personnel to document many of their programmes during the 1950s and 1960s, including Doctor Who. These have been used in fan reconstructions of the serials. The BBC has tolerated these amateur reconstructions, provided they are not sold for profit and are distributed as low-quality copies.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "One of the most sought-after lost episodes is part four of the last William Hartnell serial, The Tenth Planet (1966), which ends with the First Doctor transforming into the Second. The only portion of this in existence, barring a few poor-quality silent 8 mm clips, is the few seconds of the regeneration scene, as it was shown on the children's magazine show Blue Peter. With the approval of the BBC, efforts are now underway to restore as many of the episodes as possible from the extant material.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "\"Official\" reconstructions have also been released by the BBC on VHS, on MP3 CD-ROM, and as special features on DVD. The BBC, in conjunction with animation studio Cosgrove Hall, reconstructed the missing episodes 1 and 4 of The Invasion (1968), using remastered audio tracks and the comprehensive stage notes for the original filming, for the serial's DVD release in November 2006. The missing episodes of The Reign of Terror were animated by animation company Theta-Sigma, in collaboration with Big Finish, and became available for purchase in May 2013 through Amazon.com. Subsequent animations made in 2013 include The Tenth Planet, The Ice Warriors (1967) and The Moonbase (1967).",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "In April 2006, Blue Peter launched a challenge to find missing Doctor Who episodes with the promise of a full-scale Dalek model as a reward. In December 2011, it was announced that part 3 of Galaxy 4 (1965) and part 2 of The Underwater Menace (1967) had been returned to the BBC by a fan who had purchased them in the mid-1980s without realising that the BBC did not hold copies of them.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "On 10 October 2013, the BBC announced that films of eleven episodes, including nine missing episodes, had been found in a Nigerian television relay station in Jos. Six of the eleven films discovered were the six-part serial The Enemy of the World (1968), from which all but the third episode had been missing. The remaining films were from another six-part serial, The Web of Fear (1968), and included the previously missing episodes 2, 4, 5 and 6. Episode 3 of The Web of Fear is still missing.",
"title": "Episodes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "The Doctor was initially shrouded in mystery. In the programme's early days, the character was an eccentric alien traveller of great intelligence who battled injustice while exploring time and space in an unreliable time machine, the \"TARDIS\" (an acronym for Time and Relative Dimension in Space), which notably appears much larger on the inside than on the outside (a quality referred to as \"dimensionally transcendental\").",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "The initially irascible and slightly sinister Doctor quickly mellowed into a more compassionate figure and was eventually revealed to be a Time Lord, whose race are from the planet Gallifrey, which the Doctor fled by stealing the TARDIS.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Producers introduced the concept of regeneration to permit the recasting of the main character. This was prompted by the poor health of the original star, William Hartnell. The term \"regeneration\" was not conceived until the Doctor's third on-screen regeneration; Hartnell's Doctor merely described undergoing a \"renewal\", and the Second Doctor underwent a \"change of appearance\". The device has allowed for the recasting of the actor various times in the show's history, as well as the depiction of alternative Doctors either from the Doctor's relative past or future.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "The serials The Deadly Assassin (1976) and Mawdryn Undead (1983) established that a Time Lord can only regenerate 12 times, for a total of 13 incarnations. This line became stuck in the public consciousness despite not often being repeated and was recognised by producers of the show as a plot obstacle for when the show finally had to regenerate the Doctor a thirteenth time. The episode \"The Time of the Doctor\" (2013) depicted the Doctor acquiring a new cycle of regenerations, starting from the Twelfth Doctor, due to the Eleventh Doctor being the product of the Doctor's twelfth regeneration from his original set.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Although the idea of casting a woman as the Doctor had been suggested by the show's writers several times, including by Newman in 1986 and Davies in 2008, until 2017, all official depictions were played by men. Jodie Whittaker took over the role as the Thirteenth Doctor at the end of the 2017 Christmas special and is the first woman to be cast as the character. The show introduced the Time Lords' ability to change sex on regeneration in earlier episodes, first in dialogue, then with Michelle Gomez's version of The Master and T'Nia Miller's version of The General.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Upon Jodie Whittaker's final appearance as the character in \"The Power of the Doctor\" on 23 October 2022, she regenerated into a form portrayed by David Tennant, who was confirmed to be the Fourteenth Doctor and the first actor to play two incarnations. In the same year, Ncuti Gatwa was revealed to be portraying the Fifteenth Doctor, making him the first black actor to headline the series.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "In addition to those actors who have headlined the series, others have portrayed versions of the Doctor in guest roles. Notably, in 2013, John Hurt guest-starred as a hitherto unknown incarnation of the Doctor known as the War Doctor in the run-up to the show's 50th-anniversary special \"The Day of the Doctor\". He is shown in mini-episode \"The Night of the Doctor\" retroactively inserted into the show's fictional chronology between McGann's and Eccleston's Doctors, although his introduction was written so as not to disturb the established numerical naming of the Doctors. The show later introduced another such unknown past Doctor with Jo Martin's recurring portrayal of the Fugitive Doctor, beginning with \"Fugitive of the Judoon\" (2020). An example from the classic series comes from The Trial of a Time Lord (1986), in which Michael Jayston's character the Valeyard is described as an amalgamation of the darker sides of the Doctor's nature, somewhere between the twelfth and final incarnation.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "On rare occasions, other actors have stood in for the lead. In The Five Doctors, Richard Hurndall played the First Doctor due to William Hartnell's death in 1975; 34 years later David Bradley similarly replaced Hartnell in \"Twice Upon a Time\". In Time and the Rani, Sylvester McCoy briefly played the Sixth Doctor during the regeneration sequence, carrying on as the Seventh. In other media, the Doctor has been played by various other actors, including Peter Cushing in two films. For more information, see the list of actors who have played the Doctor.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "The casting of a new Doctor has often inspired debate and speculation. Common topics of focus include the Doctor's sex (prior to the casting of Whittaker, all official incarnations were male), race (all Doctors were white prior to the casting of Jo Martin in \"Fugitive of the Judoon\") and age (the youngest actor to be cast is Smith at 26, and the oldest are Capaldi and Hartnell, both 55).",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "There have been instances of actors returning later to reprise their specific Doctor's role. In 1973's The Three Doctors, William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton returned alongside Jon Pertwee. For 1983's The Five Doctors, Troughton and Pertwee returned to star with Peter Davison, and Tom Baker appeared in previously unseen footage from the uncompleted Shada serial. For this episode, Richard Hurndall replaced William Hartnell. Patrick Troughton again returned in 1985's The Two Doctors with Colin Baker. In 2007, Peter Davison returned in the Children in Need short \"Time Crash\" alongside David Tennant. In \"The Name of the Doctor\" (2013), the Eleventh Doctor meets a previously unseen incarnation of himself, subsequently revealed to be the War Doctor. In the following episode, \"The Day of the Doctor\", David Tennant's Tenth Doctor appeared alongside Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and John Hurt as the War Doctor, as well as brief footage of all the previous actors. In 2017, the First Doctor (this time portrayed by David Bradley) returned alongside Peter Capaldi in \"The Doctor Falls\" and \"Twice Upon a Time\". In 2020's \"Fugitive of the Judoon\", Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor meets Jo Martin's incarnation of the Doctor, subsequently known as the Fugitive Doctor; they later interact in \"The Timeless Children\" later that year and \"Once, Upon Time\" in 2021. In her final episode, \"The Power of the Doctor\" (2022), Whittaker interacts with the Guardians of the Edge, manifestations of the Doctor's First (Bradley), Fifth (Davison), Sixth (Colin Baker), Seventh (McCoy), and Eighth (McGann) incarnations. Additionally, multiple incarnations of the Doctor have met in various audio dramas and novels based on the television show.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Throughout the programme's long history, there have been revelations about the Doctor that have raised additional questions. In The Brain of Morbius (1976), it was hinted that the First Doctor might not have been the first incarnation (although the other faces depicted might have been incarnations of the Time Lord Morbius). In subsequent stories, the First Doctor was depicted as the earliest incarnation of the Doctor. In Mawdryn Undead (1983), the Fifth Doctor explicitly confirmed that he was then currently in his fifth incarnation. Later that same year, during 1983's 20th-anniversary special The Five Doctors, the First Doctor enquires as to the Fifth Doctor's regeneration; when the Fifth Doctor confirms \"Fourth\", the First Doctor excitedly replies, \"Goodness me. So there are five of me now.\" In 2010, the Eleventh Doctor similarly calls himself \"the Eleventh\" in \"The Lodger\". In the 2013 episode \"The Time of the Doctor\", the Eleventh Doctor clarifies that he is the product of the twelfth regeneration due to a previous incarnation that he chooses not to count and one other aborted regeneration. The name Eleventh is still used for this incarnation; the same episode depicts the prophesied \"Fall of the Eleventh\", which had been trailed throughout the series. While the Doctor was early on described as from the planet Gallifrey, as first mentioned in The Time Warrior (1973), these origins were retconned in \"The Timeless Children\" (2020), and the Doctor was shown as from another unknown dimension or universe. In the same story, it was revealed that First Doctor was not the earliest incarnation of the Doctor.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "During the Seventh Doctor's era, it was hinted that the Doctor was more than just an ordinary Time Lord. In the 1996 television film, the Eighth Doctor describes himself as being \"half human\". The BBC's FAQ for the programme notes that \"purists tend to disregard this\", instead focusing on his Gallifreyan heritage.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "The programme's first serial, An Unearthly Child, shows that the Doctor has a granddaughter, Susan Foreman. In the 1967 serial, The Tomb of the Cybermen, when Victoria Waterfield doubts the Doctor can remember his family because of \"being so ancient\", the Doctor says that he can when he really wants to—\"The rest of the time they sleep in my mind\". The 2005 series reveals that the Ninth Doctor thought he was the last surviving Time Lord and that his home planet had been destroyed; in \"The Empty Child\" (2005), Dr. Constantine states, \"Before the war even began, I was a father and a grandfather. Now I am neither.\" The Doctor remarks in response, \"Yeah, I know the feeling.\" In \"Smith and Jones\" (2007), when asked if he had a brother, he replied, \"No, not any more.\" In both \"Fear Her\" (2006) and \"The Doctor's Daughter\" (2008), he states that he had, in the past, been a father.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "In \"The Wedding of River Song\" (2011), it is implied that the Doctor's true name is a secret that must never be revealed; this is explored further in \"The Name of the Doctor\" (2013), when River Song speaking his name allows the Great Intelligence to enter his tomb, and in \"The Time of the Doctor\" (2013) where speaking his true name becomes the signal by which the Time Lords would know they can safely return to the universe.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "The companion figure – generally a human – has been a constant feature in Doctor Who since the programme's inception in 1963. One of the roles of the companion is to be a reminder for the Doctor's \"moral duty\". The Doctor's first companions seen on-screen were his granddaughter Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford) and her teachers Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) and Ian Chesterton (William Russell). These characters were intended to act as audience surrogates, through which the audience would discover information about the Doctor, who was to act as a mysterious father figure. The only story from the original series in which the Doctor travels alone is \"The Deadly Assassin\" (1976). Notable companions from the earlier series include Romana (Mary Tamm and Lalla Ward), a Time Lady; Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen); and Jo Grant (Katy Manning). Dramatically, these characters provide a figure with whom the audience can identify and serve to further the story by requesting exposition from the Doctor and manufacturing peril for the Doctor to resolve. The Doctor regularly gains new companions and loses old ones; sometimes they return home or find new causes—or loves—on worlds they have visited. Some have died during the course of the series. Companions are usually humans or humanoid aliens.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Since the 2005 revival, the Doctor generally travels with a primary female companion, who occupies a larger narrative role. Steven Moffat described the companion as the main character of the show, as the story begins anew with each companion and she undergoes more change than the Doctor. The primary companions of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors were Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), with Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke) and Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) recurring as secondary companion figures. The Eleventh Doctor became the first to travel with a married couple, Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill), whilst out-of-sync meetings with River Song (Alex Kingston) and Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) provided ongoing story arcs that continued with the Twelfth Doctor. The tenth series included the alien Nardole (Matt Lucas) and introduced Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts, the Doctor's first openly gay companion. Pearl Mackie said that the increased representation of LGBTQ people is important on a mainstream show. The Thirteenth Doctor has primarily travelled with Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh), Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill), and Dan Lewis (John Bishop).",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Some companions have gone on to reappear, either in the main series or in spin-offs. Sarah Jane Smith became the central character in The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011) following a return to Doctor Who in 2006. Guest stars in the series include former companions Jo Grant, K9, and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney). The character of Jack Harkness also served to launch a spin-off, Torchwood (2006–2011), in which Martha Jones also appeared.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "When Sydney Newman commissioned the series, he specifically did not want to perpetuate the cliché of the \"bug-eyed monster\" of science fiction. However, monsters were popular with audiences and so became a staple of Doctor Who almost from the beginning. Daleks, Cybermen, and the Master are some of the most iconic foes the Doctor has battled in the series.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "With the show's 2005 revival, executive producer Russell T Davies stated his intention to reintroduce the classic monsters of Doctor Who. The Autons with the Nestene Consciousness, first seen in 1970, and Daleks, first seen in 1963, returned in series 1. Davies's successor, Steven Moffat, continued the trend by reviving the Silurians, also first seen in 1970, in series 5 and Zygons, first seen in 1975, in the 50th-anniversary special. Since its 2005 return, the series has also introduced new recurring aliens: Slitheen (Raxacoricofallapatorians), Ood, Judoon, Weeping Angels and the Silence.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "The Dalek race, which first appeared in the show's second serial in 1963, are Doctor Who's oldest villains. The Daleks are Kaleds from the planet Skaro, mutated by the scientist Davros and housed in mechanical armour shells for mobility. The actual creatures resemble octopuses with large, pronounced brains. Their armour shells have a single eye-stalk, a sink-plunger-like device that serves the purpose of a hand, and a directed-energy weapon. Their main weakness is their eyestalk; attacks upon them using various weapons can blind a Dalek, making it go mad. Their chief role in the series plot, as they frequently remark in their instantly recognisable metallic voices, is to \"exterminate\" all non-Dalek beings. They even attack the Time Lords in the Time War, as shown during the 50th Anniversary of the show. They continue to be a recurring 'monster' within the Doctor Who franchise, their most recent appearance being the 2022 episode \"The Power of the Doctor\". Davros has also been a recurring figure since his debut in Genesis of the Daleks, although played by several different actors.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "The Daleks were created by the writer Terry Nation (who intended them to be an allegory of the Nazis) and BBC designer Raymond Cusick. The Daleks' début in the programme's second serial, The Daleks (1963–1964), made both the Daleks and Doctor Who very popular. A Dalek appeared on a postage stamp celebrating British popular culture in 1999, photographed by Lord Snowdon. In \"Victory of the Daleks\" a new set of Daleks were introduced that come in a range of colours; the colour denoting its role within the species.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more and more artificial parts into their bodies. This led to the race becoming coldly logical and calculating cyborgs, with emotions usually only shown when naked aggression was called for. With the demise of Mondas, they acquired Telos as their new home planet. They continue to be a recurring 'monster' within the Doctor Who franchise.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "The 2006 series introduced a new variation of Cybermen. These Cybus Cybermen were created in a parallel universe by the mad inventor John Lumic; he was attempting to preserve the humans by transplanting their brains into powerful metal bodies, sending them orders using a mobile phone network and inhibiting their emotions with an electronic chip.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "The Master is the Doctor's archenemy, a renegade Time Lord who desires to rule the universe. Conceived as \"Professor Moriarty to the Doctor's Sherlock Holmes\", the character first appeared in 1971. As with the Doctor, the role has been portrayed by several actors, since the Master is a Time Lord as well and able to regenerate; the first of these actors was Roger Delgado, who continued in the role until his death in 1973. The Master was briefly played by Peter Pratt and Geoffrey Beevers until Anthony Ainley took over and continued to play the character until Doctor Who's hiatus in 1989. The Master returned in the 1996 television movie of Doctor Who, and was played by American actor Eric Roberts.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "Following the series revival in 2005, Derek Jacobi provided the character's reintroduction in the 2007 episode \"Utopia\". During that story, the role was then assumed by John Simm, who returned to the role multiple times throughout the Tenth Doctor's tenure. As of the 2014 episode \"Dark Water\", it was revealed that the Master had become a female incarnation or \"Time Lady\", going by the name of \"Missy\" (short for Mistress, the feminine equivalent of \"Master\"). This incarnation is played by Michelle Gomez. Simm returned to his role as the Master alongside Gomez in the tenth series. The Master returned for the 2020 twelfth series with Sacha Dhawan in the role. The character had dubbed himself the \"Spy Master\" referencing a role he had taken with MI6.",
"title": "Characters"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "The Doctor Who theme music was one of the first electronic music signature tunes for television, and after more than a half century remains one of the most easily recognised. The original theme was composed by Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, with assistance from Dick Mills, and was released as a single on Decca F 11837 in 1964. The Derbyshire arrangement served, with minor edits, as the theme tune up to the end of season 17 (1979–1980). It is regarded as a significant and innovative piece of electronic music recorded well before the availability of commercial synthesisers or multitrack mixers. Each note was individually created by cutting, splicing, speeding up and slowing down segments of analogue tape containing recordings of a single plucked string, white noise, and the simple harmonic waveforms of test-tone oscillators, intended for calibrating equipment and rooms, not creating music. New techniques were invented to allow mixing of the music, as this was before the era of multitrack tape machines. On hearing the finished result, Grainer asked, \"Jeez, Delia, did I write that?\" She answered, \"Most of it.\" Although Grainer was willing to give Derbyshire the co-composer credit, it was against BBC policy at the time. Derbyshire would not receive an on-screen credit until the 50th-anniversary story \"The Day of the Doctor\" in 2013.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "A different arrangement was recorded by Peter Howell for season 18 (1980), which was in turn replaced by Dominic Glynn's arrangement for the season-long serial The Trial of a Time Lord in season 23 (1986). Keff McCulloch provided the new arrangement for the Seventh Doctor's era, which lasted from season 24 (1987) until the series' suspension in 1989. American composer John Debney created a new arrangement of Ron Grainer's original theme for Doctor Who in 1996. For the return of the series in 2005, Murray Gold provided a new arrangement, which featured samples from the 1963 original with further elements added in the 2005 Christmas episode \"The Christmas Invasion\".",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "A new arrangement of the theme, once again by Gold, was introduced in the 2007 Christmas special episode, \"Voyage of the Damned\". Gold returned as composer for the 2010 series, and was responsible for a new version of the theme which was reported to have had a hostile reception from some viewers. In 2011, the theme tune charted at number 228 of radio station Classic FM's Hall of Fame, a survey of classical music tastes. A revised version of Gold's 2010 arrangement had its debut over the opening titles of the 2012 Christmas special \"The Snowmen\", and a further revision of the arrangement was made for the 50th-anniversary special \"The Day of the Doctor\" in November 2013.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "Versions of the \"Doctor Who Theme\" have also been released as pop music. In the early 1970s, Jon Pertwee, who had played the Third Doctor, recorded a version of the Doctor Who theme with spoken lyrics, titled, \"Who Is the Doctor\". In 1978, a disco version of the theme in the UK, Denmark and Australia by the group Mankind, which reached number 24 in the UK charts. In 1988, the band The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (later known as The KLF) released the single \"Doctorin' the Tardis\" under the name The Timelords, which reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in Australia; this version incorporated several other songs, including \"Rock and Roll Part 2\" by Gary Glitter (who recorded vocals for some of the CD-single remix versions of \"Doctorin' the Tardis\"). Others who have covered or reinterpreted the theme include Orbital, Pink Floyd, the Australian string ensemble Fourplay, New Zealand punk band Blam Blam Blam, The Pogues, Thin Lizzy, Dub Syndicate, and the comedians Bill Bailey and Mitch Benn. Both the theme and obsessive fans were satirised on The Chaser's War on Everything. The theme tune has also appeared on many compilation CDs, and has made its way into mobile-phone ringtones. Fans have also produced and distributed their own remixes of the theme. In January 2011, the Mankind version was released as a digital download on the album Gallifrey And Beyond.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "On 26 June 2018, producer Chris Chibnall announced that the musical score for series 11 would be provided by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire alumnus Segun Akinola.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "Most of the innovative incidental music for Doctor Who has been specially commissioned from freelance composers, although in the early years some episodes also used stock music, as well as occasional excerpts from original recordings or cover versions of songs by popular music acts such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys. Since its 2005 return, the series has featured occasional use of excerpts of pop music from the 1970s to the 2000s.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "The incidental music for the first Doctor Who adventure, An Unearthly Child, was written by Norman Kay. Many of the stories of the William Hartnell period were scored by electronic music pioneer Tristram Cary, whose Doctor Who credits include The Daleks, Marco Polo, The Daleks' Master Plan, The Gunfighters and The Mutants. Other composers in this early period included Richard Rodney Bennett, Carey Blyton and Geoffrey Burgon.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "The most frequent musical contributor during the first 15 years was Dudley Simpson, who is also well known for his theme and incidental music for Blake's 7, and for his haunting theme music and score for the original 1970s version of The Tomorrow People. Simpson's first Doctor Who score was Planet of Giants (1964) and he went on to write music for many adventures of the 1960s and 1970s, including most of the stories of the Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker periods, ending with The Horns of Nimon (1979). He also made a cameo appearance in The Talons of Weng-Chiang (as a Music hall conductor).",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "In 1980 starting with the serial The Leisure Hive the task of creating incidental music was assigned to the Radiophonic Workshop. Paddy Kingsland and Peter Howell contributed many scores in this period and other contributors included Roger Limb, Malcolm Clarke and Jonathan Gibbs.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "The Radiophonic Workshop was dropped after 1986's The Trial of a Time Lord series, and Keff McCulloch took over as the series' main composer until the end of its run, with Dominic Glynn and Mark Ayres also contributing scores.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "From the 2005 revival to the 2017 Christmas episode \"Twice Upon a Time\", all incidental music for the series was composed by Murray Gold and Ben Foster and has been performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales from the 2005 Christmas episode \"The Christmas Invasion\" onwards. A concert featuring the orchestra performing music from the first two series took place on 19 November 2006 to raise money for Children in Need. David Tennant hosted the event, introducing the different sections of the concert. Murray Gold and Russell T Davies answered questions during the interval, and Daleks and Cybermen appeared whilst music from their stories was played. The concert aired on BBCi on Christmas Day 2006. A Doctor Who Prom was celebrated on 27 July 2008 in the Royal Albert Hall as part of the annual BBC Proms. The BBC Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic Choir performed Murray Gold's compositions for the series, conducted by Ben Foster, as well as a selection of classics based on the theme of space and time. The event was presented by Freema Agyeman and guest-presented by various other stars of the show with numerous monsters participating in the proceedings. It also featured the specially filmed mini-episode \"Music of the Spheres\", written by Russell T Davies and starring David Tennant.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "Six soundtracks have been released since 2005. The first featured tracks from the first two series, the second and third featured music from the third and fourth series respectively. The fourth was released on 4 October 2010 as a two-disc special edition and contained music from the 2008–2010 specials (The Next Doctor to \"End of Time Part 2\"). The soundtrack for Series 5 was released on 8 November 2010. In February 2011, a soundtrack was released for the 2010 Christmas special \"A Christmas Carol\", and in December 2011, the soundtrack for Series 6 was released, both by Silva Screen Records.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "In 2013, a 50th-anniversary boxed set of audio CDs was released featuring music and sound effects from Doctor Who's 50-year history. The celebration continued in 2016 with the release of Doctor Who: The 50th Anniversary Collection Four LP Box Set by New York City-based Spacelab9. The company pressed 1,000 copies of the set on \"Metallic Silver\" vinyl, dubbed the \"Cyberman Edition\".",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "Premiering the day after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the first episode of Doctor Who was repeated with the second episode the following week. Doctor Who has always appeared initially on the BBC's mainstream BBC One channel, where it is regarded as a family show, drawing audiences of many millions of viewers; episodes were also repeated on BBC Three, before it transitioned to an online-only channel. The programme's popularity has waxed and waned over the decades, with three notable periods of high ratings. The first of these was the \"Dalekmania\" period (c. 1964–1965), when the popularity of the Daleks regularly brought Doctor Who ratings of between 9 and 14 million, even for stories which did not feature them. The second was the mid to late 1970s, when Tom Baker occasionally drew audiences of over 12 million.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "During the ITV network strike of 1979, viewership peaked at 16 million. Figures remained respectable into the 1980s, but fell noticeably after the programme's 23rd series was postponed in 1985 and the show was off the air for 18 months.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "Its late 1980s performance of three to five million viewers was seen as poor at the time and was, according to the BBC Board of Control, a leading cause of the programme's 1989 suspension. Some fans considered this disingenuous, since the programme was scheduled against the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, the most popular show at the time. During Tennant's run (the third notable period of high ratings), the show had consistently high viewership, with the Christmas specials regularly attracting over 10 million.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "The BBC One broadcast of \"Rose\", the first episode of the 2005 revival, drew an average audience of 10.81 million, third highest for BBC One that week and seventh across all channels. The current revival also garners the highest audience Appreciation Index of any drama on television.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "Doctor Who has been broadcast internationally outside of the United Kingdom since 1964, a year after the show first aired. As of 1 January 2013, the modern series has been broadcast in more than 50 countries. The 50th anniversary was broadcast In 94 countries and screened to more than half a million people in cinemas across Australia, Latin America, North America and Europe. The scope of the broadcast was a world record, according to Guinness World Records.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "Doctor Who is one of the five top-grossing titles for BBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial arm. BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith has said that Doctor Who is one of a small number of \"Superbrands\" which Worldwide will promote heavily.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "Only four episodes have premiere showings on channels other than BBC One. The 1983 20th-anniversary special The Five Doctors had its début on 23 November (the actual date of the anniversary) on a number of PBS stations two days before its BBC One broadcast. The 1988 story Silver Nemesis was broadcast with all three episodes airing back to back on TVNZ in New Zealand in November, after the first episode had been shown in the UK but before the final two instalments had aired there.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "Starting with the 60th-anniversary specials in 2023, Doctor Who will be released on Disney+ outside of the United Kingdom and Ireland.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "New Zealand was the first country outside the United Kingdom to screen Doctor Who, beginning in September 1964, and continued to screen the series for many years, including the new revived series that aired on Prime Television from 2005 to 2017. In 2018, the series is aired on Fridays on TVNZ 2, and on TVNZ On Demand on the same episode as the UK. The series moved to TVNZ 1 in 2021.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "In Australia, the show has had a strong fan base since its inception, having been exclusively first run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) since January 1965. The ABC has periodically repeated episodes; of note were the daily screenings of all available classic episodes starting in 2003 for the show's 40th anniversary and the weekly screenings of all available revived episodes in 2013 for the show's 50th anniversary. The ABC broadcast the modern series' first run on ABC1 and ABC Me, with repeats on ABC2 and streaming available on ABC iview.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "The series also has a fan base in the United States, where it was shown in syndication from the 1970s to the 1990s, particularly on PBS stations.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "TVOntario picked up the show in 1976 beginning with The Three Doctors and aired each series (several years late) through to series 24 in 1991. From 1979 to 1981, TVO airings were bookended by science-fiction writer Judith Merril who introduced the episode and then, after the episode concluded, tried to place it in an educational context in keeping with TVO's status as an educational channel. Its airing of The Talons of Weng-Chiang was cancelled as a result of accusations that the story was racist; the story was later broadcast in the 1990s on cable station YTV. CBC began showing the series again in 2005. The series moved to the Canadian cable channel Space in 2009.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "Series three began broadcasting on CBC on 18 June 2007 followed by the second Christmas special, \"The Runaway Bride\", at midnight, and the Sci Fi Channel began on 6 July 2007, starting with the second Christmas special at 8:00 pm E/P followed by the first episode.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "Series four aired in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel (now known as Syfy), beginning in April 2008. It aired on CBC beginning 19 September 2008, although the CBC did not air the \"Voyage of the Damned\" special. The Canadian cable network Space (now known as CTV Sci-Fi Channel) broadcast \"The Next Doctor\" (in March 2009) and all subsequent series and specials.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "The series was aired in Brazil at the TV networks Syfy and, more frequently, at the public broadcaster TV Cultura. Expect international distribution rights holders, it had already been made available on local streaming platforms Looke and Globoplay. Starting from 2024, the previous 13 series will be available at the upcoming streaming service +SBT.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "Series 1 through 3 of Doctor Who were broadcast on various NHK channels from 2006 to 2008 with Japanese subtitles. Beginning on 2 August 2009, upon the launch of Disney XD in Japan, the series has been broadcast with Japanese dubbing.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "A wide selection of serials is available from BBC Video on DVD, on sale in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the United States. Every fully extant serial has been released on VHS, and BBC Worldwide continues to regularly release serials on DVD. The 2005 series is also available in its entirety on UMD for the PlayStation Portable. Eight original series serials have been released on Laserdisc and many have also been released on Betamax tape and Video 2000. One episode of Doctor Who (The Infinite Quest) was released on VCD. Initially, only the series from 2005 onwards were also available on Blu-ray, along with the 1996 TV film Doctor Who, released in September 2016. However in March 2021, it was announced that the classic run would be released on Blu-ray starting with seasons 12 and 19.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "Over 600 episodes of the classic series (the first 8 Doctors, from 1963 to 1996) are available to stream on BritBox (launched in 2017) and Pluto TV. From 2020, the revival series is available for streaming on HBO Max, as well as spin-offs Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood. Ahead of the 60th anniversary of the series, BBC cleared the rights to allow every single non-missing episode of Doctor Who onto iPlayer. Additionally various spin-offs were also added to iPlayer including Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Class, and Doctor Who Confidential.",
"title": "Viewership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "There are two Dr. Who [sic] feature films: Dr. Who and the Daleks, released in 1965 and Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. in 1966. Both are retellings of existing television stories (specifically, the first two Dalek serials, The Daleks and The Dalek Invasion of Earth respectively) with a larger budget and alterations to the series concept.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "In these films, Peter Cushing plays a human scientist named \"Dr. Who\" who travels with his granddaughter, niece, and other companions in a time machine he has invented. The Cushing version of the character reappears in both comic strips and a short story, the latter attempting to reconcile the film continuity with that of the series.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "In addition, several planned films were proposed, including a sequel, The Chase, loosely based on the original series story, for the Cushing Doctor, plus many attempted television movie and big-screen productions to revive the original Doctor Who after the original series was cancelled.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "Paul McGann starred in the only television film as the eighth incarnation of the Doctor. After the film, he continued the role in audio dramas and was confirmed as the eighth incarnation through flashback footage and a mini episode in the 2005 revival, effectively linking the two series and the television movie.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "In 2011, David Yates announced that he had started work with the BBC on a Doctor Who film, a project that would take three or more years to complete. Yates indicated that the film would take a different approach from Doctor Who, although then showrunner Steven Moffat stated later that any such film would not be a reboot of the series and that a film should be made by the BBC team and star the current TV Doctor.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "Doctor Who has appeared on stage numerous times. In the early 1970s, Trevor Martin played the role in Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday. In the late 1980s, Jon Pertwee and Colin Baker both played the Doctor at different times during the run of a play titled Doctor Who – The Ultimate Adventure. For two performances, while Pertwee was ill, David Banks (better known for playing Cybermen) played the Doctor. Other original plays have been staged as amateur productions, with other actors playing the Doctor, while Terry Nation wrote The Curse of the Daleks, a stage play mounted in the late 1960s, but without the Doctor.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "A pilot episode (\"A Girl's Best Friend\") for a potential spin-off series, K-9 and Company, aired in 1981, with Elisabeth Sladen reprising her role as companion Sarah Jane Smith and John Leeson as the voice of K9, but was not picked up as a regular series. Concept art for an animated Doctor Who series was produced by animation company Nelvana in the 1980s, but the series was not produced.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "Following the success of the 2005 series produced by Russell T Davies, the BBC commissioned Davies to produce a 13-part spin-off series titled Torchwood (an anagram of \"Doctor Who\"), set in modern-day Cardiff and investigating alien activities and crime. The series debuted on BBC Three on 22 October 2006. John Barrowman reprised his role of Jack Harkness from the 2005 series of Doctor Who. Two other actresses who appeared in Doctor Who also star in the series: Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper, who played the similarly named servant girl Gwyneth in the 2005 Doctor Who episode \"The Unquiet Dead\", and Naoko Mori, who reprised her role as Toshiko Sato, first seen in \"Aliens of London\". A second series of Torchwood aired in 2008; for three episodes, the cast was joined by Freema Agyeman reprising her Doctor Who role of Martha Jones. A third series was broadcast from 6 to 10 July 2009, and consisted of a single five-part story called Children of Earth which was set largely in London. A fourth series, Torchwood: Miracle Day jointly produced by BBC Wales, BBC Worldwide and the American entertainment company Starz debuted in 2011. The series was predominantly set in the United States, though Wales remained part of the show's setting.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "The Sarah Jane Adventures, starring Elisabeth Sladen who reprised her role as investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith, was developed by CBBC; a special aired on New Year's Day 2007, and a full series began on 24 September 2007. A second series followed in 2008, notable for (as noted above) featuring the return of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. A third in 2009 featured a crossover appearance from the main show by David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. In 2010, a further such appearance featured Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor alongside former companion actress Katy Manning reprising her role as Jo Grant. A final, three-story fifth series was transmitted in autumn 2011 – uncompleted due to the death of Elisabeth Sladen in early 2011.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "An animated serial, The Infinite Quest, aired alongside the 2007 series of Doctor Who as part of the children's television series Totally Doctor Who. The serial featured the voices of series regulars David Tennant and Freema Agyeman but is not considered part of the 2007 series. A second animated serial, Dreamland, aired in six parts on the BBC Red Button service, and the official Doctor Who website in 2009.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "Class, featuring students of Coal Hill School, was first aired on-line on BBC Three from 22 October 2016, as a series of eight 45 minute episodes, written by Patrick Ness. Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor appears in the show's first episode. The series was picked up by BBC America on 8 January 2016 and by BBC One a day later. On 7 September 2017, BBC Three controller Damian Kavanagh confirmed that the series had officially been cancelled.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "On 27 January 2023, Russell T Davies confirmed via GQ that future Doctor Who spin-offs were in the works. It is currently unknown what form these spin-offs will take, aside from one centering around UNIT and starring Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "Numerous other spin-off series have been created not by the BBC but by the respective owners of the characters and concepts. Such spin-offs include the novel and audio drama series Faction Paradox, Iris Wildthyme and Bernice Summerfield; as well as the made-for-video series P.R.O.B.E.; the Australian-produced television series K-9, which aired a 26-episode first season on Disney XD; and the audio spin-off Counter-Measures.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "When the revived series of Doctor Who was brought back, an aftershow series was created by the BBC, titled Doctor Who Confidential. There have been three aftershow series created, with the latest one titled Doctor Who: The Fan Show, which began airing from the tenth series. Each series follows behind-the-scenes footage on the making of Doctor Who through clips and interviews with the cast, production crew and other people, including those who have participated in the television series in some manner. Each episode deals with a different topic, and in most cases refers to the Doctor Who episode that preceded it.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "In 1983, coinciding with the series' 20th anniversary, The Five Doctors was shown as part of the annual BBC Children in Need Appeal, however it was not a charity-based production, simply scheduled within the line-up of Friday 25 November 1983. This was the programme's first co-production with Australian broadcaster ABC. At 90 minutes long it was the longest single episode of Doctor Who produced to date. It featured three of the first five Doctors, a new actor to replace the deceased William Hartnell, and unused footage to represent Tom Baker.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "In 1993, for the franchise's 30th anniversary, another charity special, Dimensions in Time, was produced for Children in Need, featuring all the surviving actors who played the Doctor and a number of previous companions. It also featured a crossover with the soap opera EastEnders, the action taking place in the latter's Albert Square location and around Greenwich. The special was one of several special 3D programmes the BBC produced at the time, using a 3D system that made use of the Pulfrich effect, requiring glasses with one darkened lens; the picture would look normal to those viewers who watched without the glasses.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "In 1999, another special, Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death, was made for Comic Relief and later released on VHS. An affectionate parody of the television series, it was split into four segments, mimicking the traditional serial format, complete with cliffhangers, and running down the same corridor several times when being chased (the version released on video was split into only two episodes). In the story, the Doctor (Rowan Atkinson) encounters both the Master (Jonathan Pryce) and the Daleks. During the special, the Doctor is forced to regenerate several times, with his subsequent incarnations played by, in order, Richard E. Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, and Joanna Lumley. The script was written by Steven Moffat, later to be head writer and executive producer of the revived series.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 115,
"text": "Since the return of Doctor Who in 2005, the franchise has produced two original \"mini-episodes\" to support Children in Need. The first, which aired in November 2005, was an untitled seven-minute scene introducing David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. It was followed in November 2007 by \"Time Crash\", a 7-minute scene that featured the Tenth Doctor meeting the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 116,
"text": "A set of two mini-episodes, titled \"Space\" and \"Time\" respectively, were produced to support Comic Relief. They were aired during the Comic Relief 2011 event. During Children in Need 2011, an exclusively filmed segment showed the Doctor addressing the viewer, attempting to persuade them to purchase items of his clothing, which were going up for auction for Children in Need. Children in Need 2012 featured the mini-episode \"The Great Detective\". In 2014, the Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi designed a Doctor Who-themed Paddington Bear statue, which was located at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich (one of 50 placed around London), which was auctioned to raise funds for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 117,
"text": "Doctor Who has been satirised and spoofed on many occasions by comedians including Spike Milligan (a Dalek invades his bathroom—Milligan, naked, hurls a soap sponge at it) and Lenny Henry. Jon Culshaw frequently impersonates the Fourth Doctor in the BBC Dead Ringers series. Doctor Who fandom has also been lampooned on programs such as Saturday Night Live, The Chaser's War on Everything, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Family Guy, American Dad!, Futurama, South Park, Community as Inspector Spacetime, The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory. As part of the 50th-anniversary programmes, former Fifth Doctor Peter Davison directed, wrote, and co-starred in the parody The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, which also starred two other former Doctors, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, and had cameo appearances from cast and crew involved in the programme, including showrunner Steven Moffat and Doctors Paul McGann, David Tennant, and Matt Smith.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 118,
"text": "The Doctor in his fourth incarnation has been represented on several episodes of The Simpsons and Matt Groening's other animated series Futurama. A fan of Doctor Who since childhood, Groening favours Tom Baker's fourth Doctor, with Simpsons writer Ron Hauge stating, \"There are several Doctor Who actors but Tom Baker is the one we always go with.\"",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 119,
"text": "There have also been many references to Doctor Who in popular culture and other science fiction, including Star Trek: The Next Generation (\"The Neutral Zone\") and Leverage. In the Channel 4 series Queer as Folk (created by later Doctor Who executive producer Russell T. Davies), the character of Vince was portrayed as an avid Doctor Who fan, with references appearing many times throughout in the form of clips from the programme. In a similar manner, the character of Oliver on Coupling (created and written by Steven Moffat) is portrayed as a Doctor Who collector and enthusiast. References to Doctor Who have also appeared in the young adult fantasy novels Brisingr and High Wizardry, the video game Rock Band, the Adult Swim comedy show Robot Chicken, the Family Guy episodes \"Blue Harvest\" and \"420\", and the game RuneScape. It has also been referenced in Destroy All Humans! 2, by civilians in the game's variation of England, and multiple times throughout the Ace Attorney series.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 120,
"text": "Doctor Who has been a reference in several political cartoons, from a 1964 cartoon in the Daily Mail depicting Charles de Gaulle as a Dalek to a 2008 edition of This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow in which the Tenth Doctor informs an incredulous character from 2003 that the Democratic Party will nominate an African-American as its presidential candidate.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 121,
"text": "The word \"TARDIS\" is an entry in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, and the iOS dictionary.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 122,
"text": "There have been various Doctor Who–related exhibitions in the United Kingdom, including the now-closed exhibitions at:",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 123,
"text": "Since its beginnings, Doctor Who has generated hundreds of products related to the show, from toys and games to collectible picture cards and postage stamps. These include board games, card games, gamebooks, computer games, roleplaying games, action figures and a pinball game. Many games have been released that feature the Daleks, including Dalek computer games.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 124,
"text": "The earliest Doctor Who–related audio release was a 21-minute narrated abridgement of the First Doctor television story The Chase released in 1966. Ten years later, the first original Doctor Who audio was released on LP record; Doctor Who and the Pescatons featuring the Fourth Doctor. The first commercially available audiobook was an abridged reading of the Fourth Doctor story State of Decay in 1981. In 1988, during a hiatus in the television show, Slipback, the first radio drama, was transmitted.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 125,
"text": "Since 1999, Big Finish Productions has released several different series of Doctor Who audios on CD. The earliest of these featured the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors, with Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor joining the line in 2001. Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor began appearing for Big Finish in 2012. Along with the main range, adventures of the First, Second and Third Doctors have been produced in both limited cast and full cast formats, as well as audiobooks. The 2013 series Destiny of the Doctor, produced as part of the series' 50th-anniversary celebrations, marked the first time Big Finish created stories (in this case audiobooks) featuring the Doctors from the revived show. Along with this, in May 2016, the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, appeared alongside Catherine Tate in a collection of three audio adventures. In August 2020, Big Finish announced a new series of audios beginning release in May 2021, featuring Christopher Eccleston reprising his role as the Ninth Doctor.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 126,
"text": "The main range, Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures, holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-running science fiction audio play series.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 127,
"text": "In 2022, BBC Sounds began airing Doctor Who: Redacted, a 10-episode podcast written by Juno Dawson and starring Charlie Craggs and Jodie Whittaker. The podcast focuses on a trio of friends who host a paranormal conspiracy podcast, \"The Blue Box Files\", and end up getting involved in much more than they expected.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 128,
"text": "Doctor Who books have been published from the mid-sixties through to the present day. From 1965 to 1991 the books published were primarily novelised adaptations of broadcast episodes; beginning in 1991 an extensive line of original fiction was launched, the Virgin New Adventures and Virgin Missing Adventures. Since the relaunch of the programme in 2005, a new range of novels has been published by BBC Books. Numerous non-fiction books about the series, including guidebooks and critical studies, have also been published, and a dedicated Doctor Who Magazine (DWM) with newsstand circulation has been published regularly since 1979: DWM is recognised by Guinness World Records as the longest running TV tie-in magazine, celebrating 40 years of continuous publication on 11 October 2019. This is published by Panini, as is the Doctor Who Adventures magazine for younger fans.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 129,
"text": "See also:",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 130,
"text": "Numerous Doctor Who video games have been created from the mid-80s through to the present day. A Doctor Who game was planned for the Sega Mega Drive but never released. One of the recent ones is a match-3 game released in November 2013 for iOS, Android, Amazon App Store and Facebook called Doctor Who: Legacy. It has been constantly updated since its release and features all the Doctors as playable characters as well as over 100 companions.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 131,
"text": "Another video game instalment is Lego Dimensions – in which Doctor Who is one of the many \"Level Packs\" in the game. The pack contains the Twelfth Doctor (who can reincarnate into the others), K9, the TARDIS and a Victorian London adventure level area. The game and pack released in November 2015.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 132,
"text": "Doctor Who: Battle of Time was a digital collectible card game developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment and released for iOS and Android. It was soft-launched on 30 May 2018 in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Thailand, but was shutdown on 26 November of that same year.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 133,
"text": "Doctor Who Infinity was released on Steam on 7 August 2018. It was nominated for \"Best Start-up\" at The Independent Game Developers' Association Awards 2018.",
"title": "Adaptations and other appearances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 134,
"text": "Since the creation of the Doctor Who character by BBC Television in the early 1960s, a myriad of stories have been published about Doctor Who, in different media: apart from the actual television episodes that continue to be produced by the BBC, there have also been novels, comics, short stories, audio books, radio plays, interactive video games, game books, webcasts, DVD extras, and stage performances. The BBC takes no position on the canonicity of any of such stories, and producers of the show have expressed distaste for the idea of canonicity.",
"title": "Chronology and canonicity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 135,
"text": "The show has received recognition as one of Britain's finest television programmes, winning the 2006 British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series and five consecutive (2005–2010) awards at the National Television Awards during Russell T Davies' tenure as executive producer. In 2011, Matt Smith became the first Doctor to be nominated for a BAFTA Television Award for Best Actor, and in 2016, Michelle Gomez became the first female to receive a BAFTA nomination for the series, getting a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work as Missy.",
"title": "Awards"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 136,
"text": "In 2013, the Peabody Awards honoured Doctor Who with an Institutional Peabody \"for evolving with technology and the times like nothing else in the known television universe.\" The programme is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science-fiction television show in the world, as the \"most successful\" science-fiction series of all time—based on its overall broadcast ratings, DVD and book sales, and iTunes traffic— and for the largest ever simulcast of a TV drama with its 50th-anniversary special.",
"title": "Awards"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 137,
"text": "In 1975, Season 11 of the series won a Writers' Guild of Great Britain award for Best Writing in a Children's Serial. In 1996, BBC television held the \"Auntie Awards\" as the culmination of their \"TV60\" series, celebrating 60 years of BBC television broadcasting, where Doctor Who was voted as the \"Best Popular Drama\" the corporation had ever produced, ahead of such ratings heavyweights as EastEnders and Casualty. In 2000, Doctor Who was ranked third in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century, produced by the British Film Institute and voted on by industry professionals. In 2005, the series came first in a survey by SFX magazine of \"The Greatest UK Science Fiction and Fantasy Television Series Ever\". In Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest Kids' TV shows, Doctor Who was placed at number nine. In 2004 and 2007, Doctor Who was ranked number 18 and number 22 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever. In 2013, TV Guide ranked it as the number 6 sci-fi show.",
"title": "Awards"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 138,
"text": "The revived series has received recognition from critics and the public, across various awards ceremonies. It won five BAFTA TV Awards, including Best Drama Series, the highest-profile and most prestigious British television award for which the series has ever been nominated. It was very popular at the BAFTA Cymru Awards, with 25 wins overall including Best Drama Series (twice), Best Screenplay/Screenwriter (thrice) and Best Actor. It was also nominated for 7 Saturn Awards, winning the only Best International Series in the ceremony's history. In 2009, Doctor Who was voted the 3rd greatest show of the 2000s by Channel 4, behind Top Gear and The Apprentice. The episode \"Vincent and the Doctor\" was shortlisted for a Mind Award at the 2010 Mind Mental Health Media Awards for its \"touching\" portrayal of Vincent van Gogh.",
"title": "Awards"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 139,
"text": "It has won the Short Form of the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, the oldest science fiction/fantasy award for films and series, six times since 2006. The winning episodes were \"The Empty Child\"/\"The Doctor Dances\" (2006), \"The Girl in the Fireplace\" (2007), \"Blink\" (2008), \"The Waters of Mars\" (2010), \"The Pandorica Opens\"/\"The Big Bang\" (2011), and \"The Doctor's Wife\" (2012). The 2016 Christmas special \"The Return of Doctor Mysterio\" was also a finalist for the 2017 Hugo Awards. Doctor Who star Matt Smith won Best Actor in the 2012 National Television awards alongside Karen Gillan, who won Best Actress. Doctor Who has been nominated for over 200 awards and has won over a hundred of them.",
"title": "Awards"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 140,
"text": "As a British series, the majority of its nominations and awards have been for national competitions such as the BAFTAs, but it has occasionally received nominations in mainstream American awards, most notably a nomination for \"Favorite Sci-Fi Show\" in the 2008 People's Choice Awards, and the series has been nominated multiple times in the Spike Scream Awards, with Smith winning Best Science Fiction Actor in 2011. The Canadian Constellation Awards have also recognised the series. In 2019, Doctor Who was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame based in Seattle, Washington.",
"title": "Awards"
}
] | Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber, and Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterrestrial being called the Doctor, part of a humanoid species called Time Lords. The Doctor travels in the universe and in time using a time travelling spaceship called the TARDIS, which externally appears as a British police box. While travelling, the Doctor works to save lives and liberate oppressed peoples by combating foes. The Doctor often travels with companions. Beginning with William Hartnell, fourteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; as of 2023, Ncuti Gatwa leads the series as the Fifteenth Doctor. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the series with the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation, a plot device in which, when a Time Lord is fatally injured, their cells regenerate and they are reincarnated. Each actor's portrayal is distinct, but all represent stages in the life of the same character and, together, they form a single lifetime with a single narrative. The time-travelling nature of the plot means that different incarnations of the Doctor occasionally meet. In 2017, Jodie Whittaker became the first woman to be cast in the lead role as the Thirteenth Doctor. The series is a significant part of popular culture in Britain and elsewhere; it has gained a cult following. It has influenced generations of British television professionals, many of whom grew up watching the series. Fans of the series are sometimes referred to as Whovians. The series has been listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science-fiction television series in the world, as well as the "most successful" science-fiction series of all time, based on its overall broadcast ratings, DVD, and book sales. The series originally ran from 1963 to 1989. There was an unsuccessful attempt to revive regular production in 1996 with a backdoor pilot in the form of a television film titled Doctor Who. The series was relaunched in 2005 and was produced in-house by BBC Wales in Cardiff. Since 2023, the show is co-produced by BBC Studios and Bad Wolf, also in Cardiff. Doctor Who has also spawned numerous spin-offs, including comic books, films, novels, and audio dramas, and the television series Torchwood (2006–2011), The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011), K9 (2009–2010), and Class (2016). It has been the subject of many parodies and references in popular culture. | 2001-09-28T23:02:16Z | 2024-01-01T00:22:33Z | [
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8,211 | Democritus | Democritus (/dɪˈmɒkrɪtəs/, dim-OCK-rit-əs; Greek: Δημόκριτος, Dēmókritos, meaning "chosen of the people"; c. 460 – c. 370 BC) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe. None of his work has survived.
Although many anecdotes about Democritus' life survive, their authenticity cannot be verified and modern scholars doubt their accuracy. Democritus was said to be born in the city of Abdera in Thrace, an Ionian colony of Teos. Ancient accounts of his life have claimed that he lived to a very old age, with some writers claiming that he was over a hundred years old at the time of his death.
Christopher Charles Whiston Taylor [de] states that the relation between Democritus and his predecessor Leucippus is not clear; while earlier ancient sources such as Aristotle and Theophrastus credit Leucippus with the invention of atomism and credit its doctrines to both philosophers, later sources credit only Democritus, making definitive identification of specific doctrines difficult.
We have various quotes from Democritus on atoms, one of them being:
δοκεῖ δὲ αὐτῶι τάδε· ἀρχὰς εἶναι τῶν ὅλων ἀτόμους καὶ κενόν, τὰ δ'ἀλλα πάντα νενομίσθαι [δοξάζεσθαι]. (Diogenes Laërtius, Democritus, Vol. IX, 44) Now his principal doctrines were these. That atoms and the vacuum were the beginning of the universe; and that everything else existed only in opinion. (trans. Yonge 1853)
The theory of Democritus held that everything is composed of "atoms," which are physically, but not geometrically, indivisible; that between atoms, there lies empty space; that atoms are indestructible, and have always been and always will be in motion; that there is an infinite number of atoms and of kinds of atoms, which differ in shape and size. Of the mass of atoms, Democritus said, "The more any indivisible exceeds, the heavier it is." However, his exact position on atomic weight is disputed. His exact contributions are difficult to disentangle from those of his mentor Leucippus, as they are often mentioned together in texts. Their speculation on atoms, taken from Leucippus, bears a passing and partial resemblance to the 19th-century understanding of atomic structure that has led some to regard Democritus as more of a scientist than other Greek philosophers; however, their ideas rested on very different bases.
Democritus, along with Leucippus and Epicurus, proposed the earliest views on the shapes and connectivity of atoms. They reasoned that the solidness of the material corresponded to the shape of the atoms involved. Using analogies from humans' sense experiences, he gave a picture or an image of an atom that distinguished them from each other by their shape, their size, and the arrangement of their parts. Moreover, connections were explained by material links in which single atoms were supplied with attachments: some with hooks and eyes, others with balls and sockets.
The Democritean atom is an inert solid (merely excluding other bodies from its volume) that interacts with other atoms mechanically. In contrast, modern, quantum-mechanical atoms interact via electric and magnetic forces and are dynamic.
The theory of the atomists appears to be more nearly aligned with that of modern science than any other theory of antiquity. However, the similarity with modern concepts of science can be confusing when trying to understand where the hypothesis came from. Classical atomists could not have had an empirical basis for modern concepts of atoms and molecules.
The atomistic void hypothesis was a response to the paradoxes of Parmenides and Zeno, the founders of metaphysical logic, who put forth difficult-to-answer arguments in favor of the idea that there can be no movement. They held that any movement would require a void—which is nothing—but a nothing cannot exist. The Parmenidean position was "You say there is a void; therefore the void is not nothing; therefore there is not the void." The position of Parmenides appeared validated by the observation that where there seems to be nothing there is air, and indeed even where there is not matter there is something, for instance light waves.
The atomists agreed that motion required a void, but simply ignored the argument of Parmenides on the grounds that motion was an observable fact. Therefore, they asserted, there must be a void. This idea survived in a refined version as Newton's theory of absolute space, which met the logical requirements of attributing reality to not-being. Einstein's theory of relativity provided a new answer to Parmenides and Zeno, with the insight that space by itself is relative and cannot be separated from time as part of a generally curved space-time manifold. Consequently, Newton's refinement is now considered superfluous.
Democritus held that originally the universe was composed of nothing but tiny atoms churning in chaos, until they collided together to form larger units—including the earth and everything on it. He surmised that there are many worlds, some growing, some decaying; some with no sun or moon, some with several. He held that every world has a beginning and an end and that a world could be destroyed by collision with another world.
The ethics and politics of Democritus come to us mostly in the form of maxims. As such, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has gone as far as to say that: "despite the large number of ethical sayings, it is difficult to construct a coherent account of Democritus's ethical views," noting that there is a "difficulty of deciding which fragments are genuinely Democritean."
Democritus was also a pioneer of mathematics and geometry in particular. According to Archimedes, Democritus was among the first to observe that a cone and pyramid with the same base area and height has one-third the volume of a cylinder or prism respectively, a result which Archimedes states was later proved by Eudoxus of Cnidus. Plutarch also reports that Democritus worked on a problem involving the cross-section of a cone that Thomas Heath suggests may be an early version of infinitesimal calculus.
Democritus thought that the first humans lived an anarchic and animal sort of life, going out to forage individually and living off the most palatable herbs and the fruit which grew wild on the trees. They were driven together into societies for fear of wild animals, he said. He believed that these early people had no language, but that they gradually began to articulate their expressions, establishing symbols for every sort of object, and in this manner came to understand each other. He says that the earliest men lived laboriously, having none of the utilities of life; clothing, houses, fire, domestication, and farming were unknown to them. Democritus presents the early period of mankind as one of learning by trial and error, and says that each step slowly led to more discoveries; they took refuge in the caves in winter, stored fruits that could be preserved, and through reason and keenness of mind came to build upon each new idea.
Later Greek historians consider Democritus to have established aesthetics as a subject of investigation and study, as he wrote theoretically on poetry and fine art long before authors such as Aristotle. Specifically, Thrasyllus identified six works in the philosopher's oeuvre which had belonged to aesthetics as a discipline, but only fragments of the relevant works are extant; hence of all Democritus's writings on these matters, only a small percentage of his thoughts and ideas can be known.
Diogenes Laertius attributes several works to Democritus, but none of them have survived in a complete form.
A collections of sayings credited to Democritus have been preserved by Stobaeus, as well as a collection of sayings ascribed to "Democrates" which some scholars including Diels and Kranz have also ascribed to Democritus.
Diogenes Laertius claims that Plato disliked Democritus so much that he wished to have all of his books burned. He was nevertheless well known to his fellow northern-born philosopher Aristotle, and was the teacher of Protagoras. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Democritus (/dɪˈmɒkrɪtəs/, dim-OCK-rit-əs; Greek: Δημόκριτος, Dēmókritos, meaning \"chosen of the people\"; c. 460 – c. 370 BC) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe. None of his work has survived.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Although many anecdotes about Democritus' life survive, their authenticity cannot be verified and modern scholars doubt their accuracy. Democritus was said to be born in the city of Abdera in Thrace, an Ionian colony of Teos. Ancient accounts of his life have claimed that he lived to a very old age, with some writers claiming that he was over a hundred years old at the time of his death.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Christopher Charles Whiston Taylor [de] states that the relation between Democritus and his predecessor Leucippus is not clear; while earlier ancient sources such as Aristotle and Theophrastus credit Leucippus with the invention of atomism and credit its doctrines to both philosophers, later sources credit only Democritus, making definitive identification of specific doctrines difficult.",
"title": "Philosophy and science"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "We have various quotes from Democritus on atoms, one of them being:",
"title": "Philosophy and science"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "δοκεῖ δὲ αὐτῶι τάδε· ἀρχὰς εἶναι τῶν ὅλων ἀτόμους καὶ κενόν, τὰ δ'ἀλλα πάντα νενομίσθαι [δοξάζεσθαι]. (Diogenes Laërtius, Democritus, Vol. IX, 44) Now his principal doctrines were these. That atoms and the vacuum were the beginning of the universe; and that everything else existed only in opinion. (trans. Yonge 1853)",
"title": "Philosophy and science"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The theory of Democritus held that everything is composed of \"atoms,\" which are physically, but not geometrically, indivisible; that between atoms, there lies empty space; that atoms are indestructible, and have always been and always will be in motion; that there is an infinite number of atoms and of kinds of atoms, which differ in shape and size. Of the mass of atoms, Democritus said, \"The more any indivisible exceeds, the heavier it is.\" However, his exact position on atomic weight is disputed. His exact contributions are difficult to disentangle from those of his mentor Leucippus, as they are often mentioned together in texts. Their speculation on atoms, taken from Leucippus, bears a passing and partial resemblance to the 19th-century understanding of atomic structure that has led some to regard Democritus as more of a scientist than other Greek philosophers; however, their ideas rested on very different bases.",
"title": "Philosophy and science"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Democritus, along with Leucippus and Epicurus, proposed the earliest views on the shapes and connectivity of atoms. They reasoned that the solidness of the material corresponded to the shape of the atoms involved. Using analogies from humans' sense experiences, he gave a picture or an image of an atom that distinguished them from each other by their shape, their size, and the arrangement of their parts. Moreover, connections were explained by material links in which single atoms were supplied with attachments: some with hooks and eyes, others with balls and sockets.",
"title": "Philosophy and science"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The Democritean atom is an inert solid (merely excluding other bodies from its volume) that interacts with other atoms mechanically. In contrast, modern, quantum-mechanical atoms interact via electric and magnetic forces and are dynamic.",
"title": "Philosophy and science"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The theory of the atomists appears to be more nearly aligned with that of modern science than any other theory of antiquity. However, the similarity with modern concepts of science can be confusing when trying to understand where the hypothesis came from. Classical atomists could not have had an empirical basis for modern concepts of atoms and molecules.",
"title": "Philosophy and science"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The atomistic void hypothesis was a response to the paradoxes of Parmenides and Zeno, the founders of metaphysical logic, who put forth difficult-to-answer arguments in favor of the idea that there can be no movement. They held that any movement would require a void—which is nothing—but a nothing cannot exist. The Parmenidean position was \"You say there is a void; therefore the void is not nothing; therefore there is not the void.\" The position of Parmenides appeared validated by the observation that where there seems to be nothing there is air, and indeed even where there is not matter there is something, for instance light waves.",
"title": "Philosophy and science"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The atomists agreed that motion required a void, but simply ignored the argument of Parmenides on the grounds that motion was an observable fact. Therefore, they asserted, there must be a void. This idea survived in a refined version as Newton's theory of absolute space, which met the logical requirements of attributing reality to not-being. Einstein's theory of relativity provided a new answer to Parmenides and Zeno, with the insight that space by itself is relative and cannot be separated from time as part of a generally curved space-time manifold. Consequently, Newton's refinement is now considered superfluous.",
"title": "Philosophy and science"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Democritus held that originally the universe was composed of nothing but tiny atoms churning in chaos, until they collided together to form larger units—including the earth and everything on it. He surmised that there are many worlds, some growing, some decaying; some with no sun or moon, some with several. He held that every world has a beginning and an end and that a world could be destroyed by collision with another world.",
"title": "Philosophy and science"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The ethics and politics of Democritus come to us mostly in the form of maxims. As such, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has gone as far as to say that: \"despite the large number of ethical sayings, it is difficult to construct a coherent account of Democritus's ethical views,\" noting that there is a \"difficulty of deciding which fragments are genuinely Democritean.\"",
"title": "Philosophy and science"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Democritus was also a pioneer of mathematics and geometry in particular. According to Archimedes, Democritus was among the first to observe that a cone and pyramid with the same base area and height has one-third the volume of a cylinder or prism respectively, a result which Archimedes states was later proved by Eudoxus of Cnidus. Plutarch also reports that Democritus worked on a problem involving the cross-section of a cone that Thomas Heath suggests may be an early version of infinitesimal calculus.",
"title": "Philosophy and science"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Democritus thought that the first humans lived an anarchic and animal sort of life, going out to forage individually and living off the most palatable herbs and the fruit which grew wild on the trees. They were driven together into societies for fear of wild animals, he said. He believed that these early people had no language, but that they gradually began to articulate their expressions, establishing symbols for every sort of object, and in this manner came to understand each other. He says that the earliest men lived laboriously, having none of the utilities of life; clothing, houses, fire, domestication, and farming were unknown to them. Democritus presents the early period of mankind as one of learning by trial and error, and says that each step slowly led to more discoveries; they took refuge in the caves in winter, stored fruits that could be preserved, and through reason and keenness of mind came to build upon each new idea.",
"title": "Philosophy and science"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Later Greek historians consider Democritus to have established aesthetics as a subject of investigation and study, as he wrote theoretically on poetry and fine art long before authors such as Aristotle. Specifically, Thrasyllus identified six works in the philosopher's oeuvre which had belonged to aesthetics as a discipline, but only fragments of the relevant works are extant; hence of all Democritus's writings on these matters, only a small percentage of his thoughts and ideas can be known.",
"title": "Philosophy and science"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Diogenes Laertius attributes several works to Democritus, but none of them have survived in a complete form.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "A collections of sayings credited to Democritus have been preserved by Stobaeus, as well as a collection of sayings ascribed to \"Democrates\" which some scholars including Diels and Kranz have also ascribed to Democritus.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Diogenes Laertius claims that Plato disliked Democritus so much that he wished to have all of his books burned. He was nevertheless well known to his fellow northern-born philosopher Aristotle, and was the teacher of Protagoras.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "",
"title": "Notes"
}
] | Democritus was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe. None of his work has survived. | 2001-11-09T02:04:23Z | 2023-12-25T00:20:26Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democritus |
8,212 | Disc golf | Disc golf, formerly known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf. Most disc golf discs are made out of polypropylene plastic, otherwise known as polypropene, which is a thermoplastic polymer resin used in a wide variety of applications. Discs are also made using a variety of other plastic types that are heated and molded into individual discs. The sport is usually played on a course with 9 or 18 holes (baskets). Players complete a hole by throwing a disc from a tee pad or area toward a target, known as a basket, throwing again from where the previous throw landed, until the basket is reached. The baskets are formed by wire with hanging chains above the basket, designed to catch the incoming discs, which then fall into the basket. Usually, the number of throws a player uses to reach each basket is tallied (often in relation to par), and players seek to complete each hole in the lowest number of total throws. Par is the number of strokes an expert player is expected to make for a given hole or a group of holes (usually 9 or 18).
The game is played in about 40 countries and, as of April 26, 2023, there are 107,853 active members of the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) worldwide.
Modern disc golf started in the early 1960s, but there is debate over who came up with the idea first. The consensus is that multiple groups of people played independently throughout the 1960s. Students at Rice University in Houston, Texas, for example, held tournaments with trees as targets as early as 1964, and in the early 1960s, players in Pendleton King Park in Augusta, Georgia, would toss Frisbees into 50-gallon barrel trash cans designated as targets. In 1968 Frisbee Golf was also played in Alameda Park in Santa Barbara, California, by teenagers in the Anacapa and Sola street areas. Gazebos, water fountains, lamp posts, and trees were all part of the course. This took place for several years and an Alameda Park collectors edition disc still exists, though rare, as few were made. Clifford Towne from this group went on to hold a National Time Aloft record.
Ed Headrick, also known as "Steady" Ed Headrick, (June 28, 1924 – August 12, 2002) was an American toy inventor. He is most well known as the father of both the modern-day Frisbee and of the sport and game of disc golf.
In 1975 Headrick's tenure at Wham-O where he helped redesign the flying disc known as the frisbee ended, and ties between Headrick and Wham-O eventually split. Headrick left the company to start out on his own to focus all his efforts on his new interest, which he coined and trademarked "Disc Golf".
In 1976 "Steady" Ed Headrick and his son Ken Headrick started the first disc golf company, the Disc Golf Association (DGA). The purpose of DGA was to manufacture discs and targets and to formalize the game for disc golf. The first disc golf target was Ed's pole hole design which basically consisted of a pole sticking out of the ground.
In 1977, Headrick and his son Ken developed the modern basket catch for disc golf, US Patent 4039189A, titled Flying Disc Entrapment Device, which they trademarked "Disc Pole Hole". The Disc Pole Hole created a standardized catching device that had a chain-hanger that held vertical hanging rows of chain out and away from a center pole. The vertical rows of chain came together forming a parabolic shape above and angling down towards a metal basket that attached to and surrounded the center pole, and could catch a disc from all directions.
Ed and his company DGA revised and obtained patents for basket designs until his death in 2002. Today there are over 13,000 courses installed throughout the world, the majority of them using baskets modeled on the Disc Pole Hole DGA baskets Headrick designed.
Most disc golf courses have 9 or 18 holes, and exceptions most often have holes in multiples of three. Courses with 6, 10, 12, 21, 24 or 27 holes are not uncommon. The PDGA recommends that courses average 200–400 ft (61–122 m) per hole, with holes no shorter than 100 ft (30 m). The longest holes in the world measure more than 1,500 ft (460 m) long. Course designers use trees, bushes, elevation changes, water hazards, and distance variation, along with out-of-bounds zones and mandatory flight paths to make each hole challenging and unique. Many courses include multiple tee positions or multiple target positions to cater to players of different ability levels.
Most disc golf courses are built in more natural and less manicured environments than golf and require minimal maintenance. Professional course designers consider safety a critical factor in course design, and are careful to minimize the danger of being hit by a flying disc while providing designs that create strategy in play and variety in shots for enjoyment. Holes are designed to require a range of different throws to challenge players with different strengths or particular skills. Many courses are central organizing points for local disc golf clubs, and some include shops selling disc golf equipment. More than 80% of the courses listed on Disc Golf Course Review are listed as public and free to play.
Three countries account for 85% of all disc golf courses worldwide: the United States (75%), Finland (7%) and Canada (3%). Other notable countries include Sweden and Estonia, which has the highest density of disc golf courses per km of dry land of any country and the second-highest number of courses per capita, between Iceland and Finland, which have 150 and 111 courses per million inhabitants, respectively. Outside the North American and European continents, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea have the most courses. There are disc golf courses on every continent, including 24 in Latin America, 8 in Africa, and one in Antarctica. Åland has been defined as the world's largest single disc golf park, with one course in each of the 16 municipalities of Åland.
* indicates "Disc golf in COUNTRY or TERRITORY" links.
A disc golf tee (commonly referred to as a tee box or the box) is the starting position of a hole. The PDGA recommends that the tee box be no smaller than 1.2 meters wide by 3 meters long. The tee box is usually a pad of concrete, asphalt, rubber, gravel, or artificial turf. Some courses have natural turf with only the front of the tee position marked or no tee boxes at all and players begin from a general location based on the course layout.
Established courses have tee signs near each tee position. Signs may depict a simple map of the hole including the tee, target, expected disc flight, out-of-bounds areas, water hazards, trees, and mandatory paths. Signs typically include the distance to the hole, and par. Some courses include a unique name for the hole and may have sponsor logos. They are often supplemented with a larger sign near the course entrance which has a map of the entire course.
Although early courses were played using trees, fence posts, or park equipment as the target, standard disc golf baskets are by far the most common type of target on modern courses. Some courses feature tone targets that are designed to make a distinctive sound when hit with a disc. Disc golf baskets are constructed with a central pole holding a basket under an assembly of hanging chains. When a disc hits the chains, it is often, but not always, deflected into the basket. Per PDGA rules, in order to complete a hole with a basket target, the disc must come to rest supported by the tray or the chains below the chain support. There are many different brands of baskets made by numerous manufacturers.
The sport of disc golf is set up similar to a game of golf. A "round" is played on a disc golf course consisting of a number of "holes", usually 9 or 18. Each hole includes a tee position for starting play and a disc golf target some distance away, often with obstacles such as trees, hills or bodies of water in between. Players begin by throwing a disc from the tee, without crossing over the front of the tee prior to releasing the disc when throwing. This could lead to a fault similar to a bowling foot fault in cricket. Players then navigate the hole by picking up the disc where it lands and throwing again until they reach the target. The object of the game is to get through the course with the lowest number of total throws. Play is usually in groups of five or fewer, with each player taking turn at the tee box, then progressing with the player furthest from the hole throwing first, while the other players stand aside.
Each course is unique, and so requires a different combination of throws to complete, with the best players aiming to shape the flight of the disc to account for distance, terrain, obstacles and weather. In order to facilitate making different shots, players carry a variety of discs with different flight characteristics, choosing an appropriate disc for each throw. Some players also carry a mini marker disc, used to accurately mark the throwing position before each throw. Use of mini marker discs is particularly prevalent in formal competitive play.
Many courses include out-of-bounds areas, commonly called "OB zones" or just "OB". If the disc lands in these areas, the player is usually required to add a penalty throw onto his or her score and continue play from near where the disc entered the out-of-bounds zone. Some courses include out-of-bounds areas with special rules requiring the player to resume play from a specified area called a drop zone or requiring the player to restart the hole from the tee. Some courses also include Mandatories (also called "Mandos") which require the path of the disc to be above, below or to one side of a specific line indicated by a sign.
By tradition, players throw from the tee box in the order of their score on the previous hole, with the lowest scorer throwing first. Most players also follow a loose code of courtesy while playing, which includes norms such as standing out of the sight line of the throwing player and avoiding making distracting noises. Because a thrown disc could injure someone, the Professional Disc Golf Association recommends that players "Never throw into a blind area or when spectators, pedestrians or facility users are within range."
Formal competitive play is governed by the PDGA Official Rules of Disc Golf and the PDGA Competition Manual for Disc Golf events.
Disc golf discs are smaller than Ultimate flying discs or general-purpose recreational frisbees. They typically measure 21–22 cm (8.3–8.7 in) in diameter and weigh 130–180 g (4.6–6.3 oz). All PDGA-approved discs measure 21–30 cm (8.3–11.8 in) in diameter and weigh no more than 200 g (7.1 oz). Discs used for disc golf are designed and shaped for control, speed, and accuracy, while general-purpose flying discs, such as those used for playing guts or ultimate, have a more traditional shape, similar to a catch disc. There is a wide variety of discs used in disc golf and they are generally divided into three categories: drivers, mid-range discs, and putters.
Drivers are recognized by their sharp, beveled edge and have most of their mass concentrated on the outer rim of the disc rather than distributed equally throughout. They are optimized for aerodynamics and designed to travel maximum distances at high speeds. They are typically thrown by experienced players during tee-off and other long distance fairway throws.
Some disc brands further sub-divide their drivers into different categories. For example, Innova has Distance Drivers and Fairway Drivers, with a fairway driver being somewhere between a distance driver and a mid-range disc. Discraft has three categories of drivers: Long Drivers, Extra Long Drivers, and Maximum Distance Drivers. Another type of driver, used less frequently, is a roller. As the name indicates, it has an edge designed to roll rather than fly. (Although any disc can be used for a roller, some behave quite differently than others.)
The world record distance for a golf disc was once 863.5 ft (263.2 m), thrown by Simon Lizotte on October 25, 2014. David Wiggins, Jr. broke the record with a distance of 1,108.92 ft (338.00 m) on March 28, 2016.
Mid-range discs feature a dull, beveled edge and a moderate rim width. They offer more control than drivers, but they have a smaller range. Mid-range discs are typically used as approach discs. Beginner players will often use mid-ranges instead of drivers at tee-off, as they require less strength and technique to fly straight than higher speed drivers.
Putters are designed to fly straight, predictably, and very slowly compared to mid-range discs and drivers. They are typically used for tight, controlled shots that are close to the basket, although some players use them for short drives where trees or other obstacles come into play. Additionally, higher speed discs will not fly properly without a fast enough release snap, so a putter or mid-range with lower snap requirements is more forgiving and will behave in a more regular way. Professional players often carry multiple putters with varying flight characteristics.
Stability is the measurement of a disc's tendency to bank laterally during its flight. A disc that is over-stable will tend to track left (for a right-handed, backhand throw), whereas a disc that is under-stable will tend to track right (also for a right-handed, backhand throw). The stability rating of the discs differs depending on the manufacturer of the disc. Innova Discs rate stability as "turn" and "fade". "Turn" references how the disc will fly at high speed during the beginning and middle of its flight, and is rated on a scale of +1 to −5, where +1 is the most overstable and −5 is the most understable. "Fade" references how the disc will fly at lower speeds towards the end of its flight, and is rated on a scale of 0 to 6, where 0 has the least fade, and 6 has the most fade. For example, a disc with a turn of −5 and fade of 0 will fly to the right (for right handed, backhand throw) the majority of its flight then curl back minimally left at the end. A disc with a turn of −1 and a fade of +3 will turn slightly right during the middle of its flight and turn hard left as it slows down. These ratings can be found on the discs themselves or from the manufacturer's web site. Discraft prints the stability rating on all discs and also provides this information on their web site. The stability ranges from 3 to −2 for Discraft discs; however Discraft's ratings are more of a combination of turn and fade with the predominance being fade.
Spin (rotation) has little influence on lift and drag forces but impacts a disc's stability during flight. Imagine a spinning top: a gentle nudge will knock it off its axis of rotation momentarily, but it will not topple over because spin adds gyroscopic stability. In the same way, a flying disc resists rolling (flipping over) because spin adds gyroscopic stability. A flying disc will maintain its spin rate even as it loses velocity. Toward the end of a disc's flight, when the spin and velocity lines cross, a flying disc will predictably begin to fade. The degree to which a disc will fade depends on its pitch angle and design.
There are dozens of different types of plastic used for making discs by the various disc manufacturers. The type of plastic affects the feel of the disc's grip as well as its durability, which in turn affects its flight pattern as the disc becomes worn. Plastics such as DX, J-Pro, Pro-D, X-Line, D-line, retro, and R-Pro from Innova, Latitude 64°, Discmania, and Discraft are some of the less durable, but good for beginners due to their lower prices, compared to the higher end plastics. Plastics such as Champion, Titanium, FLX, GStar, Gold Line, Tournament Plastic, Fuzion and Star, which are the best offered from the same companies, have the best quality, durability and flight compared to the other types available. There are also plastics that provide additional functionality, e.g. glow in the dark plastic and plastic that allows the disc to float in water. Most companies also offer a line of plastic that is much lighter than the maximum throwing weight (normally filled with air bubbles) which is conducive to beginners or players with less arm speed. Players might prefer bright colored discs to contrast most green flora and recover their disc easier. The commercial production process typically used is injection molding for the low unit cost and reliability. For prototyping and small-scale offerings 3D printing is a growing option with the PDGA approved designs currently available for purchase from company's such as NSH custom discs. 3D printed discs are typically produced using different plastics than traditional production methods, utilizing the printability characteristics of polymers such as TPU or specialized proprietary blends.
While there are many different grips and styles to throwing the disc, there are two basic throwing techniques: backhand and forehand (or sidearm). These techniques vary in effectiveness under different circumstances. Their understanding and mastery can greatly improve a player's game and offer diverse options in maneuvering the disc to the basket with greater efficacy. Many players use what is referred to as a run-up during their drive. This is practiced to build more forward disc momentum and distance. Throwing styles vary from player to player, and there is no standard throwing style.
All discs when thrown will naturally fall to a certain direction determined by the rotation direction of the disc when released. This direction is termed hyzer, the natural fall of the disc, or anhyzer, making the disc fall against its natural flight pattern. For a right-handed backhand throw (RHBH), the disc will naturally fall to the left. For a right-handed forehand throw (RHFH), the disc will naturally fall to the right. For a left-handed, backhand throw (LHBH), the disc will naturally fall to the right. For a left-handed, forehand throw (LHFH), the disc will naturally fall to the left.
To perform this throw, the disc is rapidly drawn from across the front of the body, and released towards a forward aimpoint. Due to the high level of potential spin generated with this technique, it often results in greater distance than with a forehand throw. Power is created by initiating momentum from the feet and allow it to travel up the body, hips, and shoulders, culminating in the transfer of energy to the disc.
The forehand (sidearm) throw is performed by drawing the disc from behind and partially across the front of the body: similar to a sidearm throw in baseball. The term sidearm actually predates the term forehand, which is seemingly in use today as a simpler means to communicate the technique, equating to a tennis forehand.
The following examples of throws may be used to better deliver a disc where the former common two throws would be impeded by obstacles such as bushes, trees, boulders, or artificial structures.
Common alternative styles
Other alternative styles
Stroke play is the most common scoring method used in the sport but there are many other forms. These include match play, skins, speed golf and captain's choice, which in disc golf is referred to as "doubles" (not to be confused with partner or team play).
Regardless of which form of play the participants choose, the main objectives of disc golf are conceptually the same as traditional golf in the sense that players follow the same scorekeeping technique.
Scoring terms for a single hole:
Doubles play is a unique style of play that many local courses offer on a weekly basis. In this format, teams of two golfers are determined. Sometimes this is done by random draw, and other times it is a pro-am format. On the course, it is a "best-disc" scramble, meaning both players throw their tee shot and then decide which lie they would like to play. Both players then play from the same lie, again choosing which lie is preferable. The World Amateur Doubles Format includes best shot, alternate shot, best score (players play singles and take the best result from the hole) and worst shot (both players must sink the putt).
Tournaments are held nationwide and yearlong in the United States. Sanctioned Tournament play is communicated through the Professional Disc Golf Association Membership. The PDGA provides international, professional, and amateur disc golf tournaments as well as communicates event results, opinions and other information beneficial to the sport via electronic and printed media. In 1982 the PDGA hosted the first World Championship Tournament. Since then, the World Championships have been held in 17 different American states, as well as Toronto, Ontario.
Disc golf tournaments are popular around the world. As with traditional golf, there are many championship tournaments. One of the largest is the United States Disc Golf Championship, held in October in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
To prove the year-round sustainability of the sport, annual winter tournaments known as Ice Bowls are held at courses around the world. Using the motto "No Wimps, No Whiners", Ice Bowls collectively are designed to create sport awareness, and are considered charity events that typically benefit a food bank local to a given tournament location. The official website reports that the 2010 Ice Bowls raised over $250,000 and donated over 67,000 pounds of food in the 222 tournaments for the year. Other charitable tournaments include the annual St. Jude Disc Golf Tournament which started in 2017 and has raised over $100,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Disc golf is a rapidly growing sport worldwide, and is the 4th fastest growing sport in United States, behind mixed martial arts, roller derby, and parkour. DGCourseReview.com, which tracks courses worldwide along with opening dates, shows a rapid increase in installed permanent courses with an average of more than 400 new courses added each year between 2007 and 2017. The site lists 9744 courses worldwide (in Feb 2022).
Although most players play on a casual, amateur level, the professional disc golf scene is also growing rapidly, with the top professionals playing full-time and earning their livings through tournament winnings and sponsorship from equipment manufacturers. Online viewership of major tournaments and events has increased rapidly, with coverage of the 2019 world championship achieving more than 3 million views on YouTube, and a clip of an albatross by professional Philo Braithwaite gaining more than 1.4 million views.
Increased popularity of disc golf can be largely attributed to increased coverage of pro tour events, available for free on YouTube. Jomez Productions, Gatekeeper Media, and Gk Pro all film events the day of, and then air them the morning after. Often, these videos can have a reach of as many as 200,000 viewers. Jomez's coverage of the final round of the 2019 World Championships has more than 5.5 million Youtube views. In the 2020 season, Jomez Productions and the Disc Golf Pro Tour reached an agreement with CBS Sports and ESPN 2 to air post production coverage of a tournament on each network. The Dynamic Discs Open was shown on CBS Sports, and the Disc Golf Pro Tour championship was re-aired on ESPN2 November 24, 2020. With 225,000 viewers, it was the most-watched show on the channel that day.
While there are more male than female players, the Women's Disc Golf Association exists to encourage female players and arrange women's tournaments. A PDGA survey from 2020 states that out of its 71,016 active members, 4,752 are female.
Several companies have started programs and websites to help attract women to the sport. The PDGA Women's Committee is "Dedicated to Attract, Encourage, and Retain Female Participation in Organized Disc Golf Events". The PDGA Women's Committee set historical records on 12 May 2012 by running the Inaugural Women's Global Event that attracted 636 female players in 24 states and 4 countries. The Women's Global Event was expected to take place every two years from 2014, with hopes of increasing the number of participants. The 2021 Women's Global Event had 99 registered tournaments that spanned the globe, from Minnesota to Malaysia, with a combined turnout of 3224 women competing in 23 different PDGA divisions.
There are also disc golf companies such as Disc-Diva, that have started up with a primary, though not exclusive, focus on women in the sport, promoting accessories geared towards women and using catch phrases like "you wish you threw like a girl". Sassy Pants is another group that focuses on getting more involvement from women in the sport, advocating for sponsorship of women to enter tournaments.
Women's disc golf teams are involved in the National Collegiate Disc Golf Championship, and the Mississippi State Women's Team were the inaugural champions.
Inductees: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Disc golf, formerly known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf. Most disc golf discs are made out of polypropylene plastic, otherwise known as polypropene, which is a thermoplastic polymer resin used in a wide variety of applications. Discs are also made using a variety of other plastic types that are heated and molded into individual discs. The sport is usually played on a course with 9 or 18 holes (baskets). Players complete a hole by throwing a disc from a tee pad or area toward a target, known as a basket, throwing again from where the previous throw landed, until the basket is reached. The baskets are formed by wire with hanging chains above the basket, designed to catch the incoming discs, which then fall into the basket. Usually, the number of throws a player uses to reach each basket is tallied (often in relation to par), and players seek to complete each hole in the lowest number of total throws. Par is the number of strokes an expert player is expected to make for a given hole or a group of holes (usually 9 or 18).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The game is played in about 40 countries and, as of April 26, 2023, there are 107,853 active members of the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) worldwide.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Modern disc golf started in the early 1960s, but there is debate over who came up with the idea first. The consensus is that multiple groups of people played independently throughout the 1960s. Students at Rice University in Houston, Texas, for example, held tournaments with trees as targets as early as 1964, and in the early 1960s, players in Pendleton King Park in Augusta, Georgia, would toss Frisbees into 50-gallon barrel trash cans designated as targets. In 1968 Frisbee Golf was also played in Alameda Park in Santa Barbara, California, by teenagers in the Anacapa and Sola street areas. Gazebos, water fountains, lamp posts, and trees were all part of the course. This took place for several years and an Alameda Park collectors edition disc still exists, though rare, as few were made. Clifford Towne from this group went on to hold a National Time Aloft record.",
"title": "Origin and early history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Ed Headrick, also known as \"Steady\" Ed Headrick, (June 28, 1924 – August 12, 2002) was an American toy inventor. He is most well known as the father of both the modern-day Frisbee and of the sport and game of disc golf.",
"title": "Origin and early history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In 1975 Headrick's tenure at Wham-O where he helped redesign the flying disc known as the frisbee ended, and ties between Headrick and Wham-O eventually split. Headrick left the company to start out on his own to focus all his efforts on his new interest, which he coined and trademarked \"Disc Golf\".",
"title": "Origin and early history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In 1976 \"Steady\" Ed Headrick and his son Ken Headrick started the first disc golf company, the Disc Golf Association (DGA). The purpose of DGA was to manufacture discs and targets and to formalize the game for disc golf. The first disc golf target was Ed's pole hole design which basically consisted of a pole sticking out of the ground.",
"title": "Origin and early history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "In 1977, Headrick and his son Ken developed the modern basket catch for disc golf, US Patent 4039189A, titled Flying Disc Entrapment Device, which they trademarked \"Disc Pole Hole\". The Disc Pole Hole created a standardized catching device that had a chain-hanger that held vertical hanging rows of chain out and away from a center pole. The vertical rows of chain came together forming a parabolic shape above and angling down towards a metal basket that attached to and surrounded the center pole, and could catch a disc from all directions.",
"title": "Origin and early history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Ed and his company DGA revised and obtained patents for basket designs until his death in 2002. Today there are over 13,000 courses installed throughout the world, the majority of them using baskets modeled on the Disc Pole Hole DGA baskets Headrick designed.",
"title": "Origin and early history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Most disc golf courses have 9 or 18 holes, and exceptions most often have holes in multiples of three. Courses with 6, 10, 12, 21, 24 or 27 holes are not uncommon. The PDGA recommends that courses average 200–400 ft (61–122 m) per hole, with holes no shorter than 100 ft (30 m). The longest holes in the world measure more than 1,500 ft (460 m) long. Course designers use trees, bushes, elevation changes, water hazards, and distance variation, along with out-of-bounds zones and mandatory flight paths to make each hole challenging and unique. Many courses include multiple tee positions or multiple target positions to cater to players of different ability levels.",
"title": "Disc golf courses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Most disc golf courses are built in more natural and less manicured environments than golf and require minimal maintenance. Professional course designers consider safety a critical factor in course design, and are careful to minimize the danger of being hit by a flying disc while providing designs that create strategy in play and variety in shots for enjoyment. Holes are designed to require a range of different throws to challenge players with different strengths or particular skills. Many courses are central organizing points for local disc golf clubs, and some include shops selling disc golf equipment. More than 80% of the courses listed on Disc Golf Course Review are listed as public and free to play.",
"title": "Disc golf courses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Three countries account for 85% of all disc golf courses worldwide: the United States (75%), Finland (7%) and Canada (3%). Other notable countries include Sweden and Estonia, which has the highest density of disc golf courses per km of dry land of any country and the second-highest number of courses per capita, between Iceland and Finland, which have 150 and 111 courses per million inhabitants, respectively. Outside the North American and European continents, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea have the most courses. There are disc golf courses on every continent, including 24 in Latin America, 8 in Africa, and one in Antarctica. Åland has been defined as the world's largest single disc golf park, with one course in each of the 16 municipalities of Åland.",
"title": "Disc golf courses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "* indicates \"Disc golf in COUNTRY or TERRITORY\" links.",
"title": "Disc golf courses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "A disc golf tee (commonly referred to as a tee box or the box) is the starting position of a hole. The PDGA recommends that the tee box be no smaller than 1.2 meters wide by 3 meters long. The tee box is usually a pad of concrete, asphalt, rubber, gravel, or artificial turf. Some courses have natural turf with only the front of the tee position marked or no tee boxes at all and players begin from a general location based on the course layout.",
"title": "Disc golf courses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Established courses have tee signs near each tee position. Signs may depict a simple map of the hole including the tee, target, expected disc flight, out-of-bounds areas, water hazards, trees, and mandatory paths. Signs typically include the distance to the hole, and par. Some courses include a unique name for the hole and may have sponsor logos. They are often supplemented with a larger sign near the course entrance which has a map of the entire course.",
"title": "Disc golf courses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Although early courses were played using trees, fence posts, or park equipment as the target, standard disc golf baskets are by far the most common type of target on modern courses. Some courses feature tone targets that are designed to make a distinctive sound when hit with a disc. Disc golf baskets are constructed with a central pole holding a basket under an assembly of hanging chains. When a disc hits the chains, it is often, but not always, deflected into the basket. Per PDGA rules, in order to complete a hole with a basket target, the disc must come to rest supported by the tray or the chains below the chain support. There are many different brands of baskets made by numerous manufacturers.",
"title": "Disc golf courses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The sport of disc golf is set up similar to a game of golf. A \"round\" is played on a disc golf course consisting of a number of \"holes\", usually 9 or 18. Each hole includes a tee position for starting play and a disc golf target some distance away, often with obstacles such as trees, hills or bodies of water in between. Players begin by throwing a disc from the tee, without crossing over the front of the tee prior to releasing the disc when throwing. This could lead to a fault similar to a bowling foot fault in cricket. Players then navigate the hole by picking up the disc where it lands and throwing again until they reach the target. The object of the game is to get through the course with the lowest number of total throws. Play is usually in groups of five or fewer, with each player taking turn at the tee box, then progressing with the player furthest from the hole throwing first, while the other players stand aside.",
"title": "Gameplay"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Each course is unique, and so requires a different combination of throws to complete, with the best players aiming to shape the flight of the disc to account for distance, terrain, obstacles and weather. In order to facilitate making different shots, players carry a variety of discs with different flight characteristics, choosing an appropriate disc for each throw. Some players also carry a mini marker disc, used to accurately mark the throwing position before each throw. Use of mini marker discs is particularly prevalent in formal competitive play.",
"title": "Gameplay"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Many courses include out-of-bounds areas, commonly called \"OB zones\" or just \"OB\". If the disc lands in these areas, the player is usually required to add a penalty throw onto his or her score and continue play from near where the disc entered the out-of-bounds zone. Some courses include out-of-bounds areas with special rules requiring the player to resume play from a specified area called a drop zone or requiring the player to restart the hole from the tee. Some courses also include Mandatories (also called \"Mandos\") which require the path of the disc to be above, below or to one side of a specific line indicated by a sign.",
"title": "Gameplay"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "By tradition, players throw from the tee box in the order of their score on the previous hole, with the lowest scorer throwing first. Most players also follow a loose code of courtesy while playing, which includes norms such as standing out of the sight line of the throwing player and avoiding making distracting noises. Because a thrown disc could injure someone, the Professional Disc Golf Association recommends that players \"Never throw into a blind area or when spectators, pedestrians or facility users are within range.\"",
"title": "Gameplay"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Formal competitive play is governed by the PDGA Official Rules of Disc Golf and the PDGA Competition Manual for Disc Golf events.",
"title": "Gameplay"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Disc golf discs are smaller than Ultimate flying discs or general-purpose recreational frisbees. They typically measure 21–22 cm (8.3–8.7 in) in diameter and weigh 130–180 g (4.6–6.3 oz). All PDGA-approved discs measure 21–30 cm (8.3–11.8 in) in diameter and weigh no more than 200 g (7.1 oz). Discs used for disc golf are designed and shaped for control, speed, and accuracy, while general-purpose flying discs, such as those used for playing guts or ultimate, have a more traditional shape, similar to a catch disc. There is a wide variety of discs used in disc golf and they are generally divided into three categories: drivers, mid-range discs, and putters.",
"title": "Disc types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Drivers are recognized by their sharp, beveled edge and have most of their mass concentrated on the outer rim of the disc rather than distributed equally throughout. They are optimized for aerodynamics and designed to travel maximum distances at high speeds. They are typically thrown by experienced players during tee-off and other long distance fairway throws.",
"title": "Disc types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Some disc brands further sub-divide their drivers into different categories. For example, Innova has Distance Drivers and Fairway Drivers, with a fairway driver being somewhere between a distance driver and a mid-range disc. Discraft has three categories of drivers: Long Drivers, Extra Long Drivers, and Maximum Distance Drivers. Another type of driver, used less frequently, is a roller. As the name indicates, it has an edge designed to roll rather than fly. (Although any disc can be used for a roller, some behave quite differently than others.)",
"title": "Disc types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The world record distance for a golf disc was once 863.5 ft (263.2 m), thrown by Simon Lizotte on October 25, 2014. David Wiggins, Jr. broke the record with a distance of 1,108.92 ft (338.00 m) on March 28, 2016.",
"title": "Disc types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Mid-range discs feature a dull, beveled edge and a moderate rim width. They offer more control than drivers, but they have a smaller range. Mid-range discs are typically used as approach discs. Beginner players will often use mid-ranges instead of drivers at tee-off, as they require less strength and technique to fly straight than higher speed drivers.",
"title": "Disc types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Putters are designed to fly straight, predictably, and very slowly compared to mid-range discs and drivers. They are typically used for tight, controlled shots that are close to the basket, although some players use them for short drives where trees or other obstacles come into play. Additionally, higher speed discs will not fly properly without a fast enough release snap, so a putter or mid-range with lower snap requirements is more forgiving and will behave in a more regular way. Professional players often carry multiple putters with varying flight characteristics.",
"title": "Disc types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Stability is the measurement of a disc's tendency to bank laterally during its flight. A disc that is over-stable will tend to track left (for a right-handed, backhand throw), whereas a disc that is under-stable will tend to track right (also for a right-handed, backhand throw). The stability rating of the discs differs depending on the manufacturer of the disc. Innova Discs rate stability as \"turn\" and \"fade\". \"Turn\" references how the disc will fly at high speed during the beginning and middle of its flight, and is rated on a scale of +1 to −5, where +1 is the most overstable and −5 is the most understable. \"Fade\" references how the disc will fly at lower speeds towards the end of its flight, and is rated on a scale of 0 to 6, where 0 has the least fade, and 6 has the most fade. For example, a disc with a turn of −5 and fade of 0 will fly to the right (for right handed, backhand throw) the majority of its flight then curl back minimally left at the end. A disc with a turn of −1 and a fade of +3 will turn slightly right during the middle of its flight and turn hard left as it slows down. These ratings can be found on the discs themselves or from the manufacturer's web site. Discraft prints the stability rating on all discs and also provides this information on their web site. The stability ranges from 3 to −2 for Discraft discs; however Discraft's ratings are more of a combination of turn and fade with the predominance being fade.",
"title": "Disc types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Spin (rotation) has little influence on lift and drag forces but impacts a disc's stability during flight. Imagine a spinning top: a gentle nudge will knock it off its axis of rotation momentarily, but it will not topple over because spin adds gyroscopic stability. In the same way, a flying disc resists rolling (flipping over) because spin adds gyroscopic stability. A flying disc will maintain its spin rate even as it loses velocity. Toward the end of a disc's flight, when the spin and velocity lines cross, a flying disc will predictably begin to fade. The degree to which a disc will fade depends on its pitch angle and design.",
"title": "Disc types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "There are dozens of different types of plastic used for making discs by the various disc manufacturers. The type of plastic affects the feel of the disc's grip as well as its durability, which in turn affects its flight pattern as the disc becomes worn. Plastics such as DX, J-Pro, Pro-D, X-Line, D-line, retro, and R-Pro from Innova, Latitude 64°, Discmania, and Discraft are some of the less durable, but good for beginners due to their lower prices, compared to the higher end plastics. Plastics such as Champion, Titanium, FLX, GStar, Gold Line, Tournament Plastic, Fuzion and Star, which are the best offered from the same companies, have the best quality, durability and flight compared to the other types available. There are also plastics that provide additional functionality, e.g. glow in the dark plastic and plastic that allows the disc to float in water. Most companies also offer a line of plastic that is much lighter than the maximum throwing weight (normally filled with air bubbles) which is conducive to beginners or players with less arm speed. Players might prefer bright colored discs to contrast most green flora and recover their disc easier. The commercial production process typically used is injection molding for the low unit cost and reliability. For prototyping and small-scale offerings 3D printing is a growing option with the PDGA approved designs currently available for purchase from company's such as NSH custom discs. 3D printed discs are typically produced using different plastics than traditional production methods, utilizing the printability characteristics of polymers such as TPU or specialized proprietary blends.",
"title": "Disc types"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "While there are many different grips and styles to throwing the disc, there are two basic throwing techniques: backhand and forehand (or sidearm). These techniques vary in effectiveness under different circumstances. Their understanding and mastery can greatly improve a player's game and offer diverse options in maneuvering the disc to the basket with greater efficacy. Many players use what is referred to as a run-up during their drive. This is practiced to build more forward disc momentum and distance. Throwing styles vary from player to player, and there is no standard throwing style.",
"title": "Throwing styles"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "All discs when thrown will naturally fall to a certain direction determined by the rotation direction of the disc when released. This direction is termed hyzer, the natural fall of the disc, or anhyzer, making the disc fall against its natural flight pattern. For a right-handed backhand throw (RHBH), the disc will naturally fall to the left. For a right-handed forehand throw (RHFH), the disc will naturally fall to the right. For a left-handed, backhand throw (LHBH), the disc will naturally fall to the right. For a left-handed, forehand throw (LHFH), the disc will naturally fall to the left.",
"title": "Throwing styles"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "To perform this throw, the disc is rapidly drawn from across the front of the body, and released towards a forward aimpoint. Due to the high level of potential spin generated with this technique, it often results in greater distance than with a forehand throw. Power is created by initiating momentum from the feet and allow it to travel up the body, hips, and shoulders, culminating in the transfer of energy to the disc.",
"title": "Throwing styles"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The forehand (sidearm) throw is performed by drawing the disc from behind and partially across the front of the body: similar to a sidearm throw in baseball. The term sidearm actually predates the term forehand, which is seemingly in use today as a simpler means to communicate the technique, equating to a tennis forehand.",
"title": "Throwing styles"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "The following examples of throws may be used to better deliver a disc where the former common two throws would be impeded by obstacles such as bushes, trees, boulders, or artificial structures.",
"title": "Throwing styles"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Common alternative styles",
"title": "Throwing styles"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Other alternative styles",
"title": "Throwing styles"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Stroke play is the most common scoring method used in the sport but there are many other forms. These include match play, skins, speed golf and captain's choice, which in disc golf is referred to as \"doubles\" (not to be confused with partner or team play).",
"title": "Scoring"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Regardless of which form of play the participants choose, the main objectives of disc golf are conceptually the same as traditional golf in the sense that players follow the same scorekeeping technique.",
"title": "Scoring"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Scoring terms for a single hole:",
"title": "Scoring"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Doubles play is a unique style of play that many local courses offer on a weekly basis. In this format, teams of two golfers are determined. Sometimes this is done by random draw, and other times it is a pro-am format. On the course, it is a \"best-disc\" scramble, meaning both players throw their tee shot and then decide which lie they would like to play. Both players then play from the same lie, again choosing which lie is preferable. The World Amateur Doubles Format includes best shot, alternate shot, best score (players play singles and take the best result from the hole) and worst shot (both players must sink the putt).",
"title": "Scoring"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Tournaments are held nationwide and yearlong in the United States. Sanctioned Tournament play is communicated through the Professional Disc Golf Association Membership. The PDGA provides international, professional, and amateur disc golf tournaments as well as communicates event results, opinions and other information beneficial to the sport via electronic and printed media. In 1982 the PDGA hosted the first World Championship Tournament. Since then, the World Championships have been held in 17 different American states, as well as Toronto, Ontario.",
"title": "Tournaments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Disc golf tournaments are popular around the world. As with traditional golf, there are many championship tournaments. One of the largest is the United States Disc Golf Championship, held in October in Rock Hill, South Carolina.",
"title": "Tournaments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "To prove the year-round sustainability of the sport, annual winter tournaments known as Ice Bowls are held at courses around the world. Using the motto \"No Wimps, No Whiners\", Ice Bowls collectively are designed to create sport awareness, and are considered charity events that typically benefit a food bank local to a given tournament location. The official website reports that the 2010 Ice Bowls raised over $250,000 and donated over 67,000 pounds of food in the 222 tournaments for the year. Other charitable tournaments include the annual St. Jude Disc Golf Tournament which started in 2017 and has raised over $100,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.",
"title": "Tournaments"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Disc golf is a rapidly growing sport worldwide, and is the 4th fastest growing sport in United States, behind mixed martial arts, roller derby, and parkour. DGCourseReview.com, which tracks courses worldwide along with opening dates, shows a rapid increase in installed permanent courses with an average of more than 400 new courses added each year between 2007 and 2017. The site lists 9744 courses worldwide (in Feb 2022).",
"title": "Popularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Although most players play on a casual, amateur level, the professional disc golf scene is also growing rapidly, with the top professionals playing full-time and earning their livings through tournament winnings and sponsorship from equipment manufacturers. Online viewership of major tournaments and events has increased rapidly, with coverage of the 2019 world championship achieving more than 3 million views on YouTube, and a clip of an albatross by professional Philo Braithwaite gaining more than 1.4 million views.",
"title": "Popularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Increased popularity of disc golf can be largely attributed to increased coverage of pro tour events, available for free on YouTube. Jomez Productions, Gatekeeper Media, and Gk Pro all film events the day of, and then air them the morning after. Often, these videos can have a reach of as many as 200,000 viewers. Jomez's coverage of the final round of the 2019 World Championships has more than 5.5 million Youtube views. In the 2020 season, Jomez Productions and the Disc Golf Pro Tour reached an agreement with CBS Sports and ESPN 2 to air post production coverage of a tournament on each network. The Dynamic Discs Open was shown on CBS Sports, and the Disc Golf Pro Tour championship was re-aired on ESPN2 November 24, 2020. With 225,000 viewers, it was the most-watched show on the channel that day.",
"title": "Popularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "While there are more male than female players, the Women's Disc Golf Association exists to encourage female players and arrange women's tournaments. A PDGA survey from 2020 states that out of its 71,016 active members, 4,752 are female.",
"title": "Popularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Several companies have started programs and websites to help attract women to the sport. The PDGA Women's Committee is \"Dedicated to Attract, Encourage, and Retain Female Participation in Organized Disc Golf Events\". The PDGA Women's Committee set historical records on 12 May 2012 by running the Inaugural Women's Global Event that attracted 636 female players in 24 states and 4 countries. The Women's Global Event was expected to take place every two years from 2014, with hopes of increasing the number of participants. The 2021 Women's Global Event had 99 registered tournaments that spanned the globe, from Minnesota to Malaysia, with a combined turnout of 3224 women competing in 23 different PDGA divisions.",
"title": "Popularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "There are also disc golf companies such as Disc-Diva, that have started up with a primary, though not exclusive, focus on women in the sport, promoting accessories geared towards women and using catch phrases like \"you wish you threw like a girl\". Sassy Pants is another group that focuses on getting more involvement from women in the sport, advocating for sponsorship of women to enter tournaments.",
"title": "Popularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Women's disc golf teams are involved in the National Collegiate Disc Golf Championship, and the Mississippi State Women's Team were the inaugural champions.",
"title": "Popularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Inductees:",
"title": "The Disc Golf Hall of Fame"
}
] | Disc golf, formerly known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf. Most disc golf discs are made out of polypropylene plastic, otherwise known as polypropene, which is a thermoplastic polymer resin used in a wide variety of applications. Discs are also made using a variety of other plastic types that are heated and molded into individual discs. The sport is usually played on a course with 9 or 18 holes (baskets). Players complete a hole by throwing a disc from a tee pad or area toward a target, known as a basket, throwing again from where the previous throw landed, until the basket is reached. The baskets are formed by wire with hanging chains above the basket, designed to catch the incoming discs, which then fall into the basket. Usually, the number of throws a player uses to reach each basket is tallied, and players seek to complete each hole in the lowest number of total throws. Par is the number of strokes an expert player is expected to make for a given hole or a group of holes. The game is played in about 40 countries and, as of April 26, 2023, there are 107,853 active members of the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) worldwide. | 2001-07-26T15:57:05Z | 2023-12-14T22:03:16Z | [
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8,214 | Decimal | The decimal numeral system (also called the base-ten positional numeral system and denary /ˈdiːnəri/ or decanary) is the standard system for denoting integer and non-integer numbers. It is the extension to non-integer numbers (decimal fractions) of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. The way of denoting numbers in the decimal system is often referred to as decimal notation.
A decimal numeral (also often just decimal or, less correctly, decimal number), refers generally to the notation of a number in the decimal numeral system. Decimals may sometimes be identified by a decimal separator (usually "." or "," as in 25.9703 or 3,1415). Decimal may also refer specifically to the digits after the decimal separator, such as in "3.14 is the approximation of π to two decimals". Zero-digits after a decimal separator serve the purpose of signifying the precision of a value.
The numbers that may be represented in the decimal system are the decimal fractions. That is, fractions of the form a/10, where a is an integer, and n is a non-negative integer. Decimal fractions also result from the addition of an integer and a fractional part; the resulting sum sometimes is called a fractional number.
Generally, a decimal has only a finite number of digits after the decimal seperator. However, the decimal system has been extended to infinite decimals for representing any real number, by using an infinite sequence of digits after the decimal separator (see decimal representation). In this context, the usual decimals, with a finite number of non-zero digits after the decimal separator, are sometimes called terminating decimals. A repeating decimal is an infinite decimal that, after some place, repeats indefinitely the same sequence of digits (e.g., 5.123144144144144... = 5.123144). An infinite decimal represents a rational number, the quotient of two integers, if and only if it is a repeating decimal or has a finite number of non-zero digits.
Many numeral systems of ancient civilizations use ten and its powers for representing numbers, possibly because there are ten fingers on two hands and people started counting by using their fingers. Examples are firstly the Egyptian numerals, then the Brahmi numerals, Greek numerals, Hebrew numerals, Roman numerals, and Chinese numerals. Very large numbers were difficult to represent in these old numeral systems, and only the best mathematicians were able to multiply or divide large numbers. These difficulties were completely solved with the introduction of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system for representing integers. This system has been extended to represent some non-integer numbers, called decimal fractions or decimal numbers, for forming the decimal numeral system.
For writing numbers, the decimal system uses ten decimal digits, a decimal mark, and, for negative numbers, a minus sign "−". The decimal digits are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; the decimal separator is the dot "." in many countries (mostly English-speaking), and a comma "," in other countries.
For representing a non-negative number, a decimal numeral consists of
If m > 0, that is, if the first sequence contains at least two digits, it is generally assumed that the first digit am is not zero. In some circumstances it may be useful to have one or more 0's on the left; this does not change the value represented by the decimal: for example, 3.14 = 03.14 = 003.14. Similarly, if the final digit on the right of the decimal mark is zero—that is, if bn = 0—it may be removed; conversely, trailing zeros may be added after the decimal mark without changing the represented number; for example, 15 = 15.0 = 15.00 and 5.2 = 5.20 = 5.200.
For representing a negative number, a minus sign is placed before am.
The numeral a m a m − 1 … a 0 . b 1 b 2 … b n {\displaystyle a_{m}a_{m-1}\ldots a_{0}.b_{1}b_{2}\ldots b_{n}} represents the number
The integer part or integral part of a decimal numeral is the integer written to the left of the decimal separator (see also truncation). For a non-negative decimal numeral, it is the largest integer that is not greater than the decimal. The part from the decimal separator to the right is the fractional part, which equals the difference between the numeral and its integer part.
When the integral part of a numeral is zero, it may occur, typically in computing, that the integer part is not written (for example, .1234, instead of 0.1234). In normal writing, this is generally avoided, because of the risk of confusion between the decimal mark and other punctuation.
In brief, the contribution of each digit to the value of a number depends on its position in the numeral. That is, the decimal system is a positional numeral system.
Decimal fractions (sometimes called decimal numbers, especially in contexts involving explicit fractions) are the rational numbers that may be expressed as a fraction whose denominator is a power of ten. For example, the decimals 0.8 , 14.89 , 0.00079 , 1.618 , 3.14159 {\displaystyle 0.8,14.89,0.00079,1.618,3.14159} represent the fractions 4/5, 1489/100, 79/100000, +809/500 and +314159/100000, and are therefore decimal numbers.
More generally, a decimal with n digits after the separator (a point or comma) represents the fraction with denominator 10, whose numerator is the integer obtained by removing the separator.
It follows that a number is a decimal fraction if and only if it has a finite decimal representation.
Expressed as fully reduced fractions, the decimal numbers are those whose denominator is a product of a power of 2 and a power of 5. Thus the smallest denominators of decimal numbers are
Decimal numerals do not allow an exact representation for all real numbers. Nevertheless, they allow approximating every real number with any desired accuracy, e.g., the decimal 3.14159 approximates π, being less than 10 off; so decimals are widely used in science, engineering and everyday life.
More precisely, for every real number x and every positive integer n, there are two decimals L and u with at most n digits after the decimal mark such that L ≤ x ≤ u and (u − L) = 10.
Numbers are very often obtained as the result of measurement. As measurements are subject to measurement uncertainty with a known upper bound, the result of a measurement is well-represented by a decimal with n digits after the decimal mark, as soon as the absolute measurement error is bounded from above by 10. In practice, measurement results are often given with a certain number of digits after the decimal point, which indicate the error bounds. For example, although 0.080 and 0.08 denote the same number, the decimal numeral 0.080 suggests a measurement with an error less than 0.001, while the numeral 0.08 indicates an absolute error bounded by 0.01. In both cases, the true value of the measured quantity could be, for example, 0.0803 or 0.0796 (see also significant figures).
For a real number x and an integer n ≥ 0, let [x]n denote the (finite) decimal expansion of the greatest number that is not greater than x that has exactly n digits after the decimal mark. Let di denote the last digit of [x]i. It is straightforward to see that [x]n may be obtained by appending dn to the right of [x]n−1. This way one has
and the difference of [x]n−1 and [x]n amounts to
which is either 0, if dn = 0, or gets arbitrarily small as n tends to infinity. According to the definition of a limit, x is the limit of [x]n when n tends to infinity. This is written as x = lim n → ∞ [ x ] n {\textstyle \;x=\lim _{n\rightarrow \infty }[x]_{n}\;} or
which is called an infinite decimal expansion of x.
Conversely, for any integer [x]0 and any sequence of digits ( d n ) n = 1 ∞ {\textstyle \;(d_{n})_{n=1}^{\infty }} the (infinite) expression [x]0.d1d2...dn... is an infinite decimal expansion of a real number x. This expansion is unique if neither all dn are equal to 9 nor all dn are equal to 0 for n large enough (for all n greater than some natural number N).
If all dn for n > N equal to 9 and [x]n = [x]0.d1d2...dn, the limit of the sequence ( [ x ] n ) n = 1 ∞ {\textstyle \;([x]_{n})_{n=1}^{\infty }} is the decimal fraction obtained by replacing the last digit that is not a 9, i.e.: dN, by dN + 1, and replacing all subsequent 9s by 0s (see 0.999...).
Any such decimal fraction, i.e.: dn = 0 for n > N, may be converted to its equivalent infinite decimal expansion by replacing dN by dN − 1 and replacing all subsequent 0s by 9s (see 0.999...).
In summary, every real number that is not a decimal fraction has a unique infinite decimal expansion. Each decimal fraction has exactly two infinite decimal expansions, one containing only 0s after some place, which is obtained by the above definition of [x]n, and the other containing only 9s after some place, which is obtained by defining [x]n as the greatest number that is less than x, having exactly n digits after the decimal mark.
Long division allows computing the infinite decimal expansion of a rational number. If the rational number is a decimal fraction, the division stops eventually, producing a decimal numeral, which may be prolongated into an infinite expansion by adding infinitely many zeros. If the rational number is not a decimal fraction, the division may continue indefinitely. However, as all successive remainders are less than the divisor, there are only a finite number of possible remainders, and after some place, the same sequence of digits must be repeated indefinitely in the quotient. That is, one has a repeating decimal. For example,
The converse is also true: if, at some point in the decimal representation of a number, the same string of digits starts repeating indefinitely, the number is rational.
or, dividing both numerator and denominator by 6, 692/1665.
Most modern computer hardware and software systems commonly use a binary representation internally (although many early computers, such as the ENIAC or the IBM 650, used decimal representation internally). For external use by computer specialists, this binary representation is sometimes presented in the related octal or hexadecimal systems.
For most purposes, however, binary values are converted to or from the equivalent decimal values for presentation to or input from humans; computer programs express literals in decimal by default. (123.1, for example, is written as such in a computer program, even though many computer languages are unable to encode that number precisely.)
Both computer hardware and software also use internal representations which are effectively decimal for storing decimal values and doing arithmetic. Often this arithmetic is done on data which are encoded using some variant of binary-coded decimal, especially in database implementations, but there are other decimal representations in use (including decimal floating point such as in newer revisions of the IEEE 754 Standard for Floating-Point Arithmetic).
Decimal arithmetic is used in computers so that decimal fractional results of adding (or subtracting) values with a fixed length of their fractional part always are computed to this same length of precision. This is especially important for financial calculations, e.g., requiring in their results integer multiples of the smallest currency unit for book keeping purposes. This is not possible in binary, because the negative powers of 10 {\displaystyle 10} have no finite binary fractional representation; and is generally impossible for multiplication (or division). See Arbitrary-precision arithmetic for exact calculations.
Many ancient cultures calculated with numerals based on ten, sometimes argued due to human hands typically having ten fingers/digits. Standardized weights used in the Indus Valley civilization (c. 3300–1300 BCE) were based on the ratios: 1/20, 1/10, 1/5, 1/2, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500, while their standardized ruler – the Mohenjo-daro ruler – was divided into ten equal parts. Egyptian hieroglyphs, in evidence since around 3000 BCE, used a purely decimal system, as did the Linear A script (c. 1800–1450 BCE) of the Minoans and the Linear B script (c. 1400–1200 BCE) of the Mycenaeans. The number system of classical Greece also used powers of ten, including an intermediate base of 5, as did Roman numerals. Notably, the polymath Archimedes (c. 287–212 BCE) invented a decimal positional system in his Sand Reckoner which was based on 10 and later led the German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss to lament what heights science would have already reached in his days if Archimedes had fully realized the potential of his ingenious discovery. Hittite hieroglyphs (since 15th century BCE) were also strictly decimal.
Some non-mathematical ancient texts such as the Vedas, dating back to 1700–900 BCE make use of decimals and mathematical decimal fractions.
The Egyptian hieratic numerals, the Greek alphabet numerals, the Hebrew alphabet numerals, the Roman numerals, the Chinese numerals and early Indian Brahmi numerals are all non-positional decimal systems, and required large numbers of symbols. For instance, Egyptian numerals used different symbols for 10, 20 to 90, 100, 200 to 900, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, to 10,000. The world's earliest positional decimal system was the Chinese rod calculus.
Decimal fractions were first developed and used by the Chinese in the end of 4th century BCE, and then spread to the Middle East and from there to Europe. The written Chinese decimal fractions were non-positional. However, counting rod fractions were positional.
Qin Jiushao in his book Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections (1247) denoted 0.96644 by
J. Lennart Berggren notes that positional decimal fractions appear for the first time in a book by the Arab mathematician Abu'l-Hasan al-Uqlidisi written in the 10th century. The Jewish mathematician Immanuel Bonfils used decimal fractions around 1350, anticipating Simon Stevin, but did not develop any notation to represent them. The Persian mathematician Jamshīd al-Kāshī claimed to have discovered decimal fractions himself in the 15th century. Al Khwarizmi introduced fraction to Islamic countries in the early 9th century; a Chinese author has alleged that his fraction presentation was an exact copy of traditional Chinese mathematical fraction from Sunzi Suanjing. This form of fraction with numerator on top and denominator at bottom without a horizontal bar was also used by al-Uqlidisi and by al-Kāshī in his work "Arithmetic Key".
A forerunner of modern European decimal notation was introduced by Simon Stevin in the 16th century.
John Napier introduced using the period (.) to separate the integer part of a decimal number from the fractional part in his book on constructing tables of logarithms, published posthumously in 1620.
A method of expressing every possible natural number using a set of ten symbols emerged in India. Several Indian languages show a straightforward decimal system. Many Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages have numbers between 10 and 20 expressed in a regular pattern of addition to 10.
The Hungarian language also uses a straightforward decimal system. All numbers between 10 and 20 are formed regularly (e.g. 11 is expressed as "tizenegy" literally "one on ten"), as with those between 20 and 100 (23 as "huszonhárom" = "three on twenty").
A straightforward decimal rank system with a word for each order (10 十, 100 百, 1000 千, 10,000 万), and in which 11 is expressed as ten-one and 23 as two-ten-three, and 89,345 is expressed as 8 (ten thousands) 万 9 (thousand) 千 3 (hundred) 百 4 (tens) 十 5 is found in Chinese, and in Vietnamese with a few irregularities. Japanese, Korean, and Thai have imported the Chinese decimal system. Many other languages with a decimal system have special words for the numbers between 10 and 20, and decades. For example, in English 11 is "eleven" not "ten-one" or "one-teen".
Incan languages such as Quechua and Aymara have an almost straightforward decimal system, in which 11 is expressed as ten with one and 23 as two-ten with three.
Some psychologists suggest irregularities of the English names of numerals may hinder children's counting ability.
Some cultures do, or did, use other bases of numbers. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The decimal numeral system (also called the base-ten positional numeral system and denary /ˈdiːnəri/ or decanary) is the standard system for denoting integer and non-integer numbers. It is the extension to non-integer numbers (decimal fractions) of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. The way of denoting numbers in the decimal system is often referred to as decimal notation.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "A decimal numeral (also often just decimal or, less correctly, decimal number), refers generally to the notation of a number in the decimal numeral system. Decimals may sometimes be identified by a decimal separator (usually \".\" or \",\" as in 25.9703 or 3,1415). Decimal may also refer specifically to the digits after the decimal separator, such as in \"3.14 is the approximation of π to two decimals\". Zero-digits after a decimal separator serve the purpose of signifying the precision of a value.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The numbers that may be represented in the decimal system are the decimal fractions. That is, fractions of the form a/10, where a is an integer, and n is a non-negative integer. Decimal fractions also result from the addition of an integer and a fractional part; the resulting sum sometimes is called a fractional number.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Generally, a decimal has only a finite number of digits after the decimal seperator. However, the decimal system has been extended to infinite decimals for representing any real number, by using an infinite sequence of digits after the decimal separator (see decimal representation). In this context, the usual decimals, with a finite number of non-zero digits after the decimal separator, are sometimes called terminating decimals. A repeating decimal is an infinite decimal that, after some place, repeats indefinitely the same sequence of digits (e.g., 5.123144144144144... = 5.123144). An infinite decimal represents a rational number, the quotient of two integers, if and only if it is a repeating decimal or has a finite number of non-zero digits.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Many numeral systems of ancient civilizations use ten and its powers for representing numbers, possibly because there are ten fingers on two hands and people started counting by using their fingers. Examples are firstly the Egyptian numerals, then the Brahmi numerals, Greek numerals, Hebrew numerals, Roman numerals, and Chinese numerals. Very large numbers were difficult to represent in these old numeral systems, and only the best mathematicians were able to multiply or divide large numbers. These difficulties were completely solved with the introduction of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system for representing integers. This system has been extended to represent some non-integer numbers, called decimal fractions or decimal numbers, for forming the decimal numeral system.",
"title": "Origin"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "For writing numbers, the decimal system uses ten decimal digits, a decimal mark, and, for negative numbers, a minus sign \"−\". The decimal digits are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; the decimal separator is the dot \".\" in many countries (mostly English-speaking), and a comma \",\" in other countries.",
"title": "Decimal notation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "For representing a non-negative number, a decimal numeral consists of",
"title": "Decimal notation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "If m > 0, that is, if the first sequence contains at least two digits, it is generally assumed that the first digit am is not zero. In some circumstances it may be useful to have one or more 0's on the left; this does not change the value represented by the decimal: for example, 3.14 = 03.14 = 003.14. Similarly, if the final digit on the right of the decimal mark is zero—that is, if bn = 0—it may be removed; conversely, trailing zeros may be added after the decimal mark without changing the represented number; for example, 15 = 15.0 = 15.00 and 5.2 = 5.20 = 5.200.",
"title": "Decimal notation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "For representing a negative number, a minus sign is placed before am.",
"title": "Decimal notation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The numeral a m a m − 1 … a 0 . b 1 b 2 … b n {\\displaystyle a_{m}a_{m-1}\\ldots a_{0}.b_{1}b_{2}\\ldots b_{n}} represents the number",
"title": "Decimal notation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The integer part or integral part of a decimal numeral is the integer written to the left of the decimal separator (see also truncation). For a non-negative decimal numeral, it is the largest integer that is not greater than the decimal. The part from the decimal separator to the right is the fractional part, which equals the difference between the numeral and its integer part.",
"title": "Decimal notation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "When the integral part of a numeral is zero, it may occur, typically in computing, that the integer part is not written (for example, .1234, instead of 0.1234). In normal writing, this is generally avoided, because of the risk of confusion between the decimal mark and other punctuation.",
"title": "Decimal notation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "In brief, the contribution of each digit to the value of a number depends on its position in the numeral. That is, the decimal system is a positional numeral system.",
"title": "Decimal notation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Decimal fractions (sometimes called decimal numbers, especially in contexts involving explicit fractions) are the rational numbers that may be expressed as a fraction whose denominator is a power of ten. For example, the decimals 0.8 , 14.89 , 0.00079 , 1.618 , 3.14159 {\\displaystyle 0.8,14.89,0.00079,1.618,3.14159} represent the fractions 4/5, 1489/100, 79/100000, +809/500 and +314159/100000, and are therefore decimal numbers.",
"title": "Decimal fractions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "More generally, a decimal with n digits after the separator (a point or comma) represents the fraction with denominator 10, whose numerator is the integer obtained by removing the separator.",
"title": "Decimal fractions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "It follows that a number is a decimal fraction if and only if it has a finite decimal representation.",
"title": "Decimal fractions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Expressed as fully reduced fractions, the decimal numbers are those whose denominator is a product of a power of 2 and a power of 5. Thus the smallest denominators of decimal numbers are",
"title": "Decimal fractions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Decimal numerals do not allow an exact representation for all real numbers. Nevertheless, they allow approximating every real number with any desired accuracy, e.g., the decimal 3.14159 approximates π, being less than 10 off; so decimals are widely used in science, engineering and everyday life.",
"title": "Decimal fractions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "More precisely, for every real number x and every positive integer n, there are two decimals L and u with at most n digits after the decimal mark such that L ≤ x ≤ u and (u − L) = 10.",
"title": "Decimal fractions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Numbers are very often obtained as the result of measurement. As measurements are subject to measurement uncertainty with a known upper bound, the result of a measurement is well-represented by a decimal with n digits after the decimal mark, as soon as the absolute measurement error is bounded from above by 10. In practice, measurement results are often given with a certain number of digits after the decimal point, which indicate the error bounds. For example, although 0.080 and 0.08 denote the same number, the decimal numeral 0.080 suggests a measurement with an error less than 0.001, while the numeral 0.08 indicates an absolute error bounded by 0.01. In both cases, the true value of the measured quantity could be, for example, 0.0803 or 0.0796 (see also significant figures).",
"title": "Decimal fractions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "For a real number x and an integer n ≥ 0, let [x]n denote the (finite) decimal expansion of the greatest number that is not greater than x that has exactly n digits after the decimal mark. Let di denote the last digit of [x]i. It is straightforward to see that [x]n may be obtained by appending dn to the right of [x]n−1. This way one has",
"title": "Infinite decimal expansion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "and the difference of [x]n−1 and [x]n amounts to",
"title": "Infinite decimal expansion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "which is either 0, if dn = 0, or gets arbitrarily small as n tends to infinity. According to the definition of a limit, x is the limit of [x]n when n tends to infinity. This is written as x = lim n → ∞ [ x ] n {\\textstyle \\;x=\\lim _{n\\rightarrow \\infty }[x]_{n}\\;} or",
"title": "Infinite decimal expansion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "which is called an infinite decimal expansion of x.",
"title": "Infinite decimal expansion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Conversely, for any integer [x]0 and any sequence of digits ( d n ) n = 1 ∞ {\\textstyle \\;(d_{n})_{n=1}^{\\infty }} the (infinite) expression [x]0.d1d2...dn... is an infinite decimal expansion of a real number x. This expansion is unique if neither all dn are equal to 9 nor all dn are equal to 0 for n large enough (for all n greater than some natural number N).",
"title": "Infinite decimal expansion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "If all dn for n > N equal to 9 and [x]n = [x]0.d1d2...dn, the limit of the sequence ( [ x ] n ) n = 1 ∞ {\\textstyle \\;([x]_{n})_{n=1}^{\\infty }} is the decimal fraction obtained by replacing the last digit that is not a 9, i.e.: dN, by dN + 1, and replacing all subsequent 9s by 0s (see 0.999...).",
"title": "Infinite decimal expansion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Any such decimal fraction, i.e.: dn = 0 for n > N, may be converted to its equivalent infinite decimal expansion by replacing dN by dN − 1 and replacing all subsequent 0s by 9s (see 0.999...).",
"title": "Infinite decimal expansion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "In summary, every real number that is not a decimal fraction has a unique infinite decimal expansion. Each decimal fraction has exactly two infinite decimal expansions, one containing only 0s after some place, which is obtained by the above definition of [x]n, and the other containing only 9s after some place, which is obtained by defining [x]n as the greatest number that is less than x, having exactly n digits after the decimal mark.",
"title": "Infinite decimal expansion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Long division allows computing the infinite decimal expansion of a rational number. If the rational number is a decimal fraction, the division stops eventually, producing a decimal numeral, which may be prolongated into an infinite expansion by adding infinitely many zeros. If the rational number is not a decimal fraction, the division may continue indefinitely. However, as all successive remainders are less than the divisor, there are only a finite number of possible remainders, and after some place, the same sequence of digits must be repeated indefinitely in the quotient. That is, one has a repeating decimal. For example,",
"title": "Infinite decimal expansion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "The converse is also true: if, at some point in the decimal representation of a number, the same string of digits starts repeating indefinitely, the number is rational.",
"title": "Infinite decimal expansion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "or, dividing both numerator and denominator by 6, 692/1665.",
"title": "Infinite decimal expansion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Most modern computer hardware and software systems commonly use a binary representation internally (although many early computers, such as the ENIAC or the IBM 650, used decimal representation internally). For external use by computer specialists, this binary representation is sometimes presented in the related octal or hexadecimal systems.",
"title": "Decimal computation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "For most purposes, however, binary values are converted to or from the equivalent decimal values for presentation to or input from humans; computer programs express literals in decimal by default. (123.1, for example, is written as such in a computer program, even though many computer languages are unable to encode that number precisely.)",
"title": "Decimal computation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Both computer hardware and software also use internal representations which are effectively decimal for storing decimal values and doing arithmetic. Often this arithmetic is done on data which are encoded using some variant of binary-coded decimal, especially in database implementations, but there are other decimal representations in use (including decimal floating point such as in newer revisions of the IEEE 754 Standard for Floating-Point Arithmetic).",
"title": "Decimal computation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Decimal arithmetic is used in computers so that decimal fractional results of adding (or subtracting) values with a fixed length of their fractional part always are computed to this same length of precision. This is especially important for financial calculations, e.g., requiring in their results integer multiples of the smallest currency unit for book keeping purposes. This is not possible in binary, because the negative powers of 10 {\\displaystyle 10} have no finite binary fractional representation; and is generally impossible for multiplication (or division). See Arbitrary-precision arithmetic for exact calculations.",
"title": "Decimal computation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Many ancient cultures calculated with numerals based on ten, sometimes argued due to human hands typically having ten fingers/digits. Standardized weights used in the Indus Valley civilization (c. 3300–1300 BCE) were based on the ratios: 1/20, 1/10, 1/5, 1/2, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500, while their standardized ruler – the Mohenjo-daro ruler – was divided into ten equal parts. Egyptian hieroglyphs, in evidence since around 3000 BCE, used a purely decimal system, as did the Linear A script (c. 1800–1450 BCE) of the Minoans and the Linear B script (c. 1400–1200 BCE) of the Mycenaeans. The number system of classical Greece also used powers of ten, including an intermediate base of 5, as did Roman numerals. Notably, the polymath Archimedes (c. 287–212 BCE) invented a decimal positional system in his Sand Reckoner which was based on 10 and later led the German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss to lament what heights science would have already reached in his days if Archimedes had fully realized the potential of his ingenious discovery. Hittite hieroglyphs (since 15th century BCE) were also strictly decimal.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Some non-mathematical ancient texts such as the Vedas, dating back to 1700–900 BCE make use of decimals and mathematical decimal fractions.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "The Egyptian hieratic numerals, the Greek alphabet numerals, the Hebrew alphabet numerals, the Roman numerals, the Chinese numerals and early Indian Brahmi numerals are all non-positional decimal systems, and required large numbers of symbols. For instance, Egyptian numerals used different symbols for 10, 20 to 90, 100, 200 to 900, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, to 10,000. The world's earliest positional decimal system was the Chinese rod calculus.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Decimal fractions were first developed and used by the Chinese in the end of 4th century BCE, and then spread to the Middle East and from there to Europe. The written Chinese decimal fractions were non-positional. However, counting rod fractions were positional.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Qin Jiushao in his book Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections (1247) denoted 0.96644 by",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "J. Lennart Berggren notes that positional decimal fractions appear for the first time in a book by the Arab mathematician Abu'l-Hasan al-Uqlidisi written in the 10th century. The Jewish mathematician Immanuel Bonfils used decimal fractions around 1350, anticipating Simon Stevin, but did not develop any notation to represent them. The Persian mathematician Jamshīd al-Kāshī claimed to have discovered decimal fractions himself in the 15th century. Al Khwarizmi introduced fraction to Islamic countries in the early 9th century; a Chinese author has alleged that his fraction presentation was an exact copy of traditional Chinese mathematical fraction from Sunzi Suanjing. This form of fraction with numerator on top and denominator at bottom without a horizontal bar was also used by al-Uqlidisi and by al-Kāshī in his work \"Arithmetic Key\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "A forerunner of modern European decimal notation was introduced by Simon Stevin in the 16th century.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "John Napier introduced using the period (.) to separate the integer part of a decimal number from the fractional part in his book on constructing tables of logarithms, published posthumously in 1620.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "A method of expressing every possible natural number using a set of ten symbols emerged in India. Several Indian languages show a straightforward decimal system. Many Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages have numbers between 10 and 20 expressed in a regular pattern of addition to 10.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "The Hungarian language also uses a straightforward decimal system. All numbers between 10 and 20 are formed regularly (e.g. 11 is expressed as \"tizenegy\" literally \"one on ten\"), as with those between 20 and 100 (23 as \"huszonhárom\" = \"three on twenty\").",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "A straightforward decimal rank system with a word for each order (10 十, 100 百, 1000 千, 10,000 万), and in which 11 is expressed as ten-one and 23 as two-ten-three, and 89,345 is expressed as 8 (ten thousands) 万 9 (thousand) 千 3 (hundred) 百 4 (tens) 十 5 is found in Chinese, and in Vietnamese with a few irregularities. Japanese, Korean, and Thai have imported the Chinese decimal system. Many other languages with a decimal system have special words for the numbers between 10 and 20, and decades. For example, in English 11 is \"eleven\" not \"ten-one\" or \"one-teen\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Incan languages such as Quechua and Aymara have an almost straightforward decimal system, in which 11 is expressed as ten with one and 23 as two-ten with three.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Some psychologists suggest irregularities of the English names of numerals may hinder children's counting ability.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Some cultures do, or did, use other bases of numbers.",
"title": "History"
}
] | The decimal numeral system is the standard system for denoting integer and non-integer numbers. It is the extension to non-integer numbers of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. The way of denoting numbers in the decimal system is often referred to as decimal notation. A decimal numeral, refers generally to the notation of a number in the decimal numeral system. Decimals may sometimes be identified by a decimal separator. Decimal may also refer specifically to the digits after the decimal separator, such as in "3.14 is the approximation of π to two decimals". Zero-digits after a decimal separator serve the purpose of signifying the precision of a value. The numbers that may be represented in the decimal system are the decimal fractions. That is, fractions of the form a/10n, where a is an integer, and n is a non-negative integer. Decimal fractions also result from the addition of an integer and a fractional part; the resulting sum sometimes is called a fractional number. Generally, a decimal has only a finite number of digits after the decimal seperator. However, the decimal system has been extended to infinite decimals for representing any real number, by using an infinite sequence of digits after the decimal separator. In this context, the usual decimals, with a finite number of non-zero digits after the decimal separator, are sometimes called terminating decimals. A repeating decimal is an infinite decimal that, after some place, repeats indefinitely the same sequence of digits. An infinite decimal represents a rational number, the quotient of two integers, if and only if it is a repeating decimal or has a finite number of non-zero digits. | 2001-07-21T03:12:29Z | 2023-12-19T13:07:05Z | [
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8,216 | Dorians | The Dorians (/ˈdɔːriənz/; Greek: Δωριεῖς, Dōrieîs, singular Δωριεύς, Dōrieús) were one of the four major ethnic groups into which the Hellenes (or Greeks) of Classical Greece divided themselves (along with the Aeolians, Achaeans, and Ionians). They are almost always referred to as just "the Dorians", as they are called in the earliest literary mention of them in the Odyssey, where they already can be found inhabiting the island of Crete.
They were diverse in way of life and social organization, varying from the populous trade center of the city of Corinth, known for its ornate style in art and architecture, to the isolationist, military state of Sparta. And yet, all Hellenes knew which localities were Dorian, and which were not. Dorian states at war could more likely, but not always, count on the assistance of other Dorian states. Dorians were distinguished by the Doric Greek dialect and by characteristic social and historical traditions.
In the 5th century BC, Dorians and Ionians were the two most politically important Greek ethnē, whose ultimate clash resulted in the Peloponnesian War. The degree to which fifth-century Hellenes self-identified as "Ionian" or "Dorian" has itself been disputed. At one extreme Édouard Will concludes that there was no true ethnic component in fifth-century Greek culture, in spite of anti-Dorian elements in Athenian propaganda. At the other extreme John Alty reinterprets the sources to conclude that ethnicity did motivate fifth-century actions. Moderns viewing these ethnic identifications through the 5th and 4th century BC literary tradition have been profoundly influenced by their own social politics. Also, according to E.N. Tigerstedt, nineteenth-century European admirers of virtues they considered "Dorian" identified themselves as "Laconophile" and found responsive parallels in the culture of their day as well; their biases contribute to the traditional modern interpretation of "Dorians".
Accounts vary as to the Dorians' place of origin. One theory, widely believed in ancient times, is that they originated in the mountainous regions of Greece, such as Macedonia and Epirus, and obscure circumstances brought them south into the Peloponnese, to certain Aegean islands.
The origin of the Dorians is a multifaceted concept. In modern scholarship, the term has often meant the location of the population disseminating the Doric Greek dialect within a hypothetical Proto-Greek speaking population. The dialect is known from records of classical northwestern Greece, the Peloponnesus and Crete and some of the islands. The geographic and ethnic information found in the west's earliest known literary work, the Iliad, combined with the administrative records of the former Mycenaean states, prove to universal satisfaction that East Greek (Ionian) speakers were once dominant in the Peloponnesus but suffered a setback there and were replaced at least in official circles by West Greek (Doric) speakers. An historical event is associated with the overthrow, called anciently the Return of the Heracleidai and by moderns the Dorian Invasion.
This theory of a return or invasion presupposes that West Greek speakers resided in northwest Greece but overran the Peloponnesus replacing the East Greek there with their own dialect. No records other than Mycenaean ones are known to have existed in the Bronze Age so a West Greek of that time and place can be neither proved nor disproved. West Greek speakers were in western Greece in classical times. Unlike the East Greeks, they are not associated with any evidence of displacement events. That provides circumstantial evidence that the Doric dialect disseminated among the Hellenes of northwest Greece, a highly-mountainous and somewhat-isolated region.
The Dorian invasion is a modern historical concept attempting to account for:
On the whole, none of the objectives has been met, but the investigations served to rule out various speculative hypotheses. Most scholars doubt that the Dorian invasion was the main cause of the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization. The source of the West Greek speakers in the Peloponnese remains unattested by any solid evidence.
Though most of the Dorians settled in the Peloponnese, they also settled on Rhodes and Sicily and in what is now Southern Italy. In Asia Minor existed the Dorian Hexapolis (the six great Dorian cities): Halikarnassos (Halicarnassus) and Knidos (Cnidus) in Asia Minor, Kos, and Lindos, Kameiros, and Ialyssos on the island of Rhodes. The six cities would later become rivals with the Ionian cities of Asia Minor. The Dorians also settled Crete. The origin traditions remained strong into classical times: Thucydides saw the Peloponnesian War in part as "Ionians fighting against Dorians" and reported the tradition that the Syracusans in Sicily were of Dorian descent. Other such "Dorian" colonies, originally from Corinth, Megara, and the Dorian islands, dotted the southern coasts of Sicily from Syracuse to Selinus. Also Taras was a Spartan colony.
A man's name, Dōrieus, occurs in the Linear B tablets at Pylos, one of the regions later invaded and subjugated by the Dorians. Pylos tablet Fn867 records it in the dative case as do-ri-je-we, *Dōriēwei, a third- or consonant-declension noun with stem ending in w. An unattested nominative plural, *Dōriēwes, would have become Dōrieis by loss of the w and contraction. The tablet records the grain rations issued to the servants of "religious dignitaries" celebrating a religious festival of Potnia, the mother goddess.
The nominative singular, Dōrieus, remained the same in the classical period. Many Linear B names of servants were formed from their home territory or the places where they came into Mycenaean ownership. Carl Darling Buck sees the -eus suffix as very productive. One of its uses was to convert a toponym to an anthroponym; for example, Megareus, "Megarian", from Megara. A Dōrieus would be from Dōris, the only classical Greek state to serve as the basis for the name of the Dorians. The state was a small one in the mountains of west central Greece. However, classical Doris may not have been the same as Mycenaean Doris.
A number of credible etymologies by noted scholars have been proposed. Julius Pokorny derives Δωριεύς, Dōrieus from δωρίς, dōris, "woodland" (which can also mean upland). The dōri- segment is from the o-grade (either ō or o) of Proto-Indo-European *deru-, "tree", which also gives the Homeric Δούρειος Ἵππος (Doureios Hippos, "Wooden Horse"). This derivation has the advantage of naming the people after their wooded, mountainous country.
A second popular derivation was given by the French linguist, Émile Boisacq, from the same root, but from Greek δόρυ (doru) 'spear-shaft' (which was made of wood); i.e., "the people of the spear" or "spearmen." In this case the country would be named after the people, as in Saxony from the Saxons. However, R. S. P. Beekes doubted the validity of this derivation and asserted that no good etymology exists.
It sometimes happens that different derivations of an Indo-European word exploit similar-sounding Indo-European roots. Greek doru, "lance," is from the o-grade of Indo-European *deru, "solid," in the sense of wood. It is similar to an extended form, *dō-ro-, of *dō-, (give), as can be seen in the modern Greek imperative δώσε (dose, "give [sing.]!") appearing in Greek as δῶρον (dōron, "gift"). This is the path taken by Jonathan Hall, relying on elements taken from the myth of the Return of the Herakleidai.
Hall cites the tradition, based on a fragment of the poet, Tyrtaeus, that "Sparta is a divine gift granted by Zeus and Hera" to the Heracleidae. In another version, Tyndareus gives his kingdom to Heracles in gratitude for restoring him to the throne, but Heracles "asks the Spartan king to safeguard the gift until his descendants might claim it."
Hall, therefore, proposes that the Dorians are the people of the gift. They assumed the name on taking possession of Lacedaemon. Doris was subsequently named after them. Hall makes comparisons of Spartans to Hebrews as a chosen people maintaining a covenant with God and being assigned a Holy Land. To arrive at this conclusion, Hall relies on Herodotus' version of the myth (see below) that the Hellenes under Dorus did not take his name until reaching the Peloponnesus. In other versions the Heracleidae enlisted the help of their Dorian neighbors. Hall does not address the problem of the Dorians not calling Lacedaemon Doris, but assigning that name to some less holy and remoter land. Similarly, he does not mention the Dorian servant at Pylos, whose sacred gift, if such it was, was still being ruled by the Achaean Atreid family at Lacedaemon.
A minor, and perhaps regrettably forgotten, episode in the history of scholarship was the attempt to emphasize the etymology of Doron with the meaning of 'hand'. This in turn was connected to an interpretation of the famous lambda on Spartan shields, which was to rather stand for a hand with outstanding thumb than the initial letter of Lacedaimon. Given the origin of the Spartan shield lambda legend, however, in a fragment by Eupolis, an Athenian comic poet, there has been a recent attempt to suggest that a comic confusion between the letter and the hand image may yet have been intended.
Dorian social structure was characterized by a communal social structure and separation of the sexes. The lives of free men centered around military campaigns. When not abroad, men stayed in all-male residences focusing on military training until the age of 30, regardless of marital status.
Dorian women had greater freedom and economic power than women of other Greek ethnicities. Unlike other Hellenic women, Dorian women were able to own property, manage their husbands' estate, and delegate many domestic tasks to slaves. Women in ancient Sparta possessed the greatest agency and economic power, likely due to the prolonged absences of men during military campaigns. Dorian women wore the peplos, which was once common to all Hellenes. This tunic was pinned at the shoulders by brooches and had slit skirts which bared the thighs and permitted more freedom of movement than the voluminous Ionian chiton (costume).
The Doric dialect was spoken in northwest Greece, the Peloponnese, Crete, southwest Asia Minor, the southernmost islands of the Aegean Sea, and the various Dorian colonies of Magna Graecia in Southern Italy and Sicily. After the classical period, it was mainly replaced by the Attic dialect upon which the Koine or "common" Greek language of the Hellenistic period was based. The main characteristic of Doric was the preservation of Proto-Indo-European [aː], long ⟨α⟩, which in Attic-Ionic became [ɛː], ⟨η⟩. A famous example is the valedictory phrase uttered by Spartan mothers to their sons before sending them off to war: ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς (ḕ tàn ḕ epì tâs, literally "either with it or on it": return alive with your shield or dead upon it) would have been ἢ τὴν ἢ ἐπὶ τῆς (ḕ tḕn ḕ epì tês) in the Attic-Ionic dialect of an Athenian mother. Tsakonian, a descendant of Doric Greek, is still spoken in some parts of the southern Argolid coast of the Peloponnese, in the modern prefecture of Arcadia.
Culturally, in addition to their Doric dialect of Greek, Doric colonies retained their characteristic Doric calendar that revolved round a cycle of festivals, the Hyacinthia and the Carneia being especially important.
The Dorian mode in music also was attributed to Doric societies and was associated by classical writers with martial qualities.
The Doric order of architecture in the tradition inherited by Vitruvius included the Doric column, noted for its simplicity and strength.
The Dorians seem to have offered the central mainland cultus for Helios. The scattering of cults of the sun god in Sicyon, Argos, Ermioni, Epidaurus and Laconia, and his holy livestock flocks at Taenarum, seem to suggest that the deity was considerably important in Dorian religion, compared to other parts of ancient Greece. Additionally, it may have been the Dorians to import his worship to Rhodes.
In Greek historiography, the Dorians are mentioned by many authors. The chief classical authors to relate their origins are Herodotus, Thucydides and Pausanias. The most copious authors, however, lived in Hellenistic and Roman times, long after the main events. This apparent paradox does not necessarily discredit the later writers, who were relying on earlier works that did not survive. The customs of the Spartan state and its illustrious individuals are detailed at great length in such authors as Plutarch and Diodorus Siculus.
The Odyssey has one reference to the Dorians:
There is a land called Crete, in the midst of the wine-dark sea, a fair, rich land, begirt with water, and therein are many men, past counting, and ninety cities. They have not all the same speech, but their tongues are mixed. There dwell Achaeans, there great-hearted native Cretans, there Cydonians, and Dorians of waving plumes, and goodly Pelasgians.
The reference is not compatible with a Dorian invasion that brought Dorians to Crete only after the fall of the Mycenaean states. In the Odyssey, Odysseus and his relatives visit those states. Two solutions are possible, either the Odyssey is anachronistic or Dorians were on Crete in Mycenaean times. The uncertain nature of the Dorian invasion defers a definitive answer until more is known about it. Also, the Messenian town of Dorium is mentioned in the Catalogue of Ships. If its name comes from Dorians, it would imply there were settlements of the latter in Messenia during that time as well.
Tyrtaeus, a Spartan poet, became advisor of the Lacedaemonians in their mid-7th-century war to suppress a rebellion of the Messenians. The latter were a remnant of the Achaeans conquered "two generations before," which suggests a rise to supremacy at the end of the Dark Age rather than during and after the fall of Mycenae. The Messenian population was reduced to serfdom.
Only a few fragments of Tyrtaeus' five books of martial verse survive. His is the earliest mention of the three Dorian tribes: Pamphyli, Hylleis, Dymanes. He also says:
For Cronus' Son Himself, Zeus the husband of fair-crowned Hera, hath given this city to the children of Heracles, with whom we came into the wide isle of Pelops from windy Erineus.
Erineus was a village of Doris. He helped to establish the Spartan constitution, giving the kings and elders, among other powers, the power to dismiss the assembly. He established a rigorous military training program for the young including songs and poems he wrote himself, such as the "Embateria or Songs of the Battle-Charge which are also called Enoplia or Songs-under-Arms." These were chants used to establish the timing of standard drills under arms. He stressed patriotism:
For 'tis a fair thing for a good man to fall and die fighting in the van for his native land, ... let us fight with a will for this land, and die for our children and never spare our lives.
Herodotus was from Halicarnassus, a Dorian colony on the southwest coast of Asia Minor; following the literary tradition of the times he wrote in Ionic Greek, being one of the last authors to do so. He described the Persian Wars, giving a thumbnail account of the histories of the antagonists, Greeks and Persians.
Herodotus gives a general account of the events termed "the Dorian Invasion", presenting them as transfers of population. Their original home was in Thessaly, central Greece. He goes on to expand in mythological terms, giving some of the geographic details of the myth:
1.56.2-3 And inquiring he found that the Lacedemonians and the Athenians had the pre-eminence, the first of the Dorian and the others of the Ionian race. For these were the most eminent races in ancient time, the second being a Pelasgian and the first a Hellenic race: and the one never migrated from its place in any direction, while the other was very exceedingly given to wanderings; for in the reign of Deucalion this race dwelt in Pthiotis, and in the time of Doros the son of Hellen in the land lying below Ossa and Olympos, which is called Histiaiotis; and when it was driven from Histiaiotis by the sons of Cadmos, it dwelt in Pindos and was called Makednian; and thence it moved afterwards to Dryopis, and from Dryopis it came finally to Peloponnesus, and began to be called Dorian.
1.57.1-3 What language however the Pelasgians used to speak I am not able with certainty to say. But if one must pronounce judging by those that still remain of the Pelasgians who dwelt in the city of Creston above the Tyrsenians, and who were once neighbours of the race now called Dorian, dwelling then in the land which is now called Thessaliotis, and also by those that remain of the Pelasgians who settled at Plakia and Skylake in the region of the Hellespont, who before that had been settlers with the Athenians, and of the natives of the various other towns which are really Pelasgian, though they have lost the name,—if one must pronounce judging by these, the Pelasgians used to speak a Barbarian language. If therefore all the Pelasgian race was such as these, then the Attic race, being Pelasgian, at the same time when it changed and became Hellenic, unlearnt also its language. For the people of Creston do not speak the same language with any of those who dwell about them, nor yet do the people of Phakia, but they speak the same language one as the other: and by this it is proved that they still keep unchanged the form of language which they brought with them when they migrated to these places.
1.58 As for the Hellenic race, it has used ever the same language, as I clearly perceive, since it first took its rise; but since the time when it parted off feeble at first from the Pelasgian race, setting forth from a small beginning it has increased to that great number of races which we see, and chiefly because many Barbarian races have been added to it besides. Moreover it is true, as I think, of the Pelasgian race also, that so far as it remained Barbarian it never made any great increase.
Thus, according to Herodotus, the Dorians did not name themselves after Dorus until they had reached Peloponnesus. Herodotus does not explain the contradictions of the myth; for example, how Doris, located outside the Peloponnesus, acquired its name. However, his goal, as he relates in the beginning of the first book, is only to report what he had heard from his sources without judgement. In the myth, the Achaeans displaced from the Peloponnesus gathered at Athens under a leader Ion and became identified as "Ionians".
Herodotus' list of Dorian states is as follows. From northeastern Greece were Phthia, Histiaea and Macedon. In central Greece were Doris (the former Dryopia) and in the south Peloponnesus, specifically the states of Lacedaemon, Corinth, Sicyon, Epidaurus and Troezen. Hermione was not Dorian but had joined the Dorians. Overseas were the islands of Rhodes, Cos, Nisyrus and the Anatolian cities of Cnidus, Halicarnassus, Phaselis and Calydna. Dorians also colonised Crete including founding of such towns as Lato, Dreros and Olous. The Cynurians were originally Ionians but had become Dorian under the influence of their Argive masters.
Thucydides professes little of Greece before the Trojan War except to say that it was full of barbarians and that there was no distinction between barbarians and Greeks. The Hellenes came from Phthiotis. The whole country indulged in and suffered from piracy and was not settled. After the Trojan War, "Hellas was still engaged in removing and settling."
Some 60 years after the Trojan War the Boeotians were driven out of Arne by the Thessalians into Boeotia and 20 years later "the Dorians and the Heraclids became masters of the Peloponnese." So the lines were drawn between the Dorians and the Aeolians (here Boeotians) with the Ionians (former Peloponnesians).
Other than these few brief observations Thucydides names but few Dorians. He does make it clear that some Dorian states aligned or were forced to align with the Athenians while some Ionians went with the Lacedaemonians and that the motives for alignment were not always ethnic but were diverse. Among the Dorians was Lacedaemon, Corcyra, Corinth and Epidamnus, Leucadia, Ambracia, Potidaea, Rhodes, Cythera, Argos, Syracuse, Gela, Acragas (later Agrigentum), Acrae, Casmenae.
He does explain with considerable dismay what happened to incite ethnic war after the unity between the Greek states during the Battle of Thermopylae. The Congress of Corinth, formed prior to it, "split into two sections." Athens headed one and Lacedaemon the other:
For a short time the league held together, till the Lacedaemonians and Athenians quarreled, and made war upon each other with their allies, a duel into which all the Hellenes sooner or later were drawn.
He adds: "the real cause I consider to be ... the growth of the power of Athens and the alarm which this inspired in Lacedaemon...."
In the Platonic work Laws is mentioned that the Achaeans who fought in the Trojan War, on their return from Troy were driven out from their homes and cities by the young residents, so they migrated under a leader named Dorieus and hence they were renamed "Dorians".
Now during this period of ten years, while the siege lasted, the affairs of each of the besiegers at home suffered much owing to the seditious conduct of the young men. For when the soldiers returned to their own cities and homes, these young people did not receive them fittingly and justly, but in such a way that there ensued a vast number of cases of death, slaughter, and exile. So they, being again driven out, migrated by sea; and because Dorieus was the man who then banded together the exiles, they got the new name of "Dorians", instead of "Achaeans". But as to all the events that follow this, you Lacedaemonians relate them all fully in your traditions.
The Description of Greece by Pausanias relates that the Achaeans were driven from their lands by Dorians coming from Oeta, a mountainous region bordering on Thessaly. They were led by Hyllus, a son of Heracles, but were defeated by the Achaeans. Under other leadership they managed to be victorious over the Achaeans and remain in the Peloponnesus, a mythic theme called "the return of the Heracleidae." They had built ships at Naupactus in which to cross the Gulf of Corinth. This invasion is viewed by the tradition of Pausanias as a return of the Dorians to the Peloponnesus, apparently meaning a return of families ruling in Aetolia and northern Greece to a land in which they had once had a share. The return is described in detail: there were "disturbances" throughout the Peloponnesus except in Arcadia, and new Dorian settlers. Pausanias goes on to describe the conquest and resettlement of Laconia, Messenia, Argos and elsewhere, and the emigration from there to Crete and the coast of Asia Minor.
Diodorus is a rich source of traditional information concerning the mythology and history of the Dorians, especially the Library of History. He does not make any such distinction but the fantastic nature of the earliest material marks it as mythical or legendary. The myths do attempt to justify some Dorian operations, suggesting that they were in part political.
Diodorus quoting from an earlier historian Hecataeus of Abdera details that during the Exodus many Israelites went into the islands of Greece and other places.
All the foreigners were forthwith expelled, and the most valiant and noble among them, under some notable leaders, were brought to Greece and other places, as some relate; the most famous of their leaders were Danaus and Cadmus. But the majority of the people descended into a country not far from Egypt, which is now called Judaea and at that time was altogether uninhabited.
Heracles was a Perseid, a member of the ruling family of Greece. His mother Alcmene had both Perseids and Pelopids in her ancestry. A princess of the realm, she received Zeus thinking he was Amphitryon. Zeus intended his son to rule Greece but according to the rules of succession Eurystheus, born slightly earlier, preempted the right. Attempts to kill Heracles as a child failed. On adulthood he was forced into the service of Eurystheus, who commanded him to perform 12 labors.
Heracles became a warrior without a home, wandering from place to place assisting the local rulers with various problems. He took a retinue of Arcadians with him acquiring also over time a family of grown sons, the Heraclidae. He continued this mode of life even after completing the 12 labors. The legend has it that he became involved with Achaean Sparta when the family of king Tyndareus was unseated and driven into exile by Hippocoön and his family, who in the process happened to kill the son of a friend of Heracles. The latter and his retinue assaulted Sparta, taking it back from Hippocoön. He recalled Tyndareus, set him up as a guardian regent, and instructed him to turn the kingdom over to any descendants of his that should claim it. Heracles went on with the way of life to which he had become accustomed, which was by today's standards that of a mercenary, as he was being paid for his assistance. Subsequently, he founded a colony in Aetolia, then in Trachis.
After displacing the Dryopes, he went to the assistance of the Dorians, who lived in a land called Hestiaeotis under king Aegimius and were campaigning against the numerically superior Lapithae. The Dorians promised him 1⁄3 of Doris (which they did not yet possess). He asked Aegimius to keep his share of the land "in trust" until it should be claimed by a descendant. He went on to further adventures but was poisoned by his jealous wife, Deianeira. He immolated himself in full armor dressed for combat and "passed from among men into the company of the gods."
Strabo, who depends on the books available to him, goes on to elaborate:
Of these peoples, according to Staphylus, the Dorians occupy the part toward the east, the Cydonians the western part, the Eteo-Cretans the southern; and to these last belongs the town Praisos, where is the temple of the Dictaean Zeus; whereas the other peoples, since they were more powerful, dwelt in the plains. Now it is reasonable to suppose that the Eteo-Cretans and the Cydonians were autochthonous, and that the others were foreigners ...
Beside this sole reference to Dorians in Crete, the mention of the Iliad of the Heraclid Tlepolemus, a warrior on the side of Achaeans and colonist of three important Dorian cities in Rhodes has been also regarded as a later interpolation.
Language
Mythology
History
List of Dorian states | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Dorians (/ˈdɔːriənz/; Greek: Δωριεῖς, Dōrieîs, singular Δωριεύς, Dōrieús) were one of the four major ethnic groups into which the Hellenes (or Greeks) of Classical Greece divided themselves (along with the Aeolians, Achaeans, and Ionians). They are almost always referred to as just \"the Dorians\", as they are called in the earliest literary mention of them in the Odyssey, where they already can be found inhabiting the island of Crete.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "They were diverse in way of life and social organization, varying from the populous trade center of the city of Corinth, known for its ornate style in art and architecture, to the isolationist, military state of Sparta. And yet, all Hellenes knew which localities were Dorian, and which were not. Dorian states at war could more likely, but not always, count on the assistance of other Dorian states. Dorians were distinguished by the Doric Greek dialect and by characteristic social and historical traditions.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In the 5th century BC, Dorians and Ionians were the two most politically important Greek ethnē, whose ultimate clash resulted in the Peloponnesian War. The degree to which fifth-century Hellenes self-identified as \"Ionian\" or \"Dorian\" has itself been disputed. At one extreme Édouard Will concludes that there was no true ethnic component in fifth-century Greek culture, in spite of anti-Dorian elements in Athenian propaganda. At the other extreme John Alty reinterprets the sources to conclude that ethnicity did motivate fifth-century actions. Moderns viewing these ethnic identifications through the 5th and 4th century BC literary tradition have been profoundly influenced by their own social politics. Also, according to E.N. Tigerstedt, nineteenth-century European admirers of virtues they considered \"Dorian\" identified themselves as \"Laconophile\" and found responsive parallels in the culture of their day as well; their biases contribute to the traditional modern interpretation of \"Dorians\".",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Accounts vary as to the Dorians' place of origin. One theory, widely believed in ancient times, is that they originated in the mountainous regions of Greece, such as Macedonia and Epirus, and obscure circumstances brought them south into the Peloponnese, to certain Aegean islands.",
"title": "Origin"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The origin of the Dorians is a multifaceted concept. In modern scholarship, the term has often meant the location of the population disseminating the Doric Greek dialect within a hypothetical Proto-Greek speaking population. The dialect is known from records of classical northwestern Greece, the Peloponnesus and Crete and some of the islands. The geographic and ethnic information found in the west's earliest known literary work, the Iliad, combined with the administrative records of the former Mycenaean states, prove to universal satisfaction that East Greek (Ionian) speakers were once dominant in the Peloponnesus but suffered a setback there and were replaced at least in official circles by West Greek (Doric) speakers. An historical event is associated with the overthrow, called anciently the Return of the Heracleidai and by moderns the Dorian Invasion.",
"title": "Origin"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "This theory of a return or invasion presupposes that West Greek speakers resided in northwest Greece but overran the Peloponnesus replacing the East Greek there with their own dialect. No records other than Mycenaean ones are known to have existed in the Bronze Age so a West Greek of that time and place can be neither proved nor disproved. West Greek speakers were in western Greece in classical times. Unlike the East Greeks, they are not associated with any evidence of displacement events. That provides circumstantial evidence that the Doric dialect disseminated among the Hellenes of northwest Greece, a highly-mountainous and somewhat-isolated region.",
"title": "Origin"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The Dorian invasion is a modern historical concept attempting to account for:",
"title": "Origin"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "On the whole, none of the objectives has been met, but the investigations served to rule out various speculative hypotheses. Most scholars doubt that the Dorian invasion was the main cause of the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization. The source of the West Greek speakers in the Peloponnese remains unattested by any solid evidence.",
"title": "Origin"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Though most of the Dorians settled in the Peloponnese, they also settled on Rhodes and Sicily and in what is now Southern Italy. In Asia Minor existed the Dorian Hexapolis (the six great Dorian cities): Halikarnassos (Halicarnassus) and Knidos (Cnidus) in Asia Minor, Kos, and Lindos, Kameiros, and Ialyssos on the island of Rhodes. The six cities would later become rivals with the Ionian cities of Asia Minor. The Dorians also settled Crete. The origin traditions remained strong into classical times: Thucydides saw the Peloponnesian War in part as \"Ionians fighting against Dorians\" and reported the tradition that the Syracusans in Sicily were of Dorian descent. Other such \"Dorian\" colonies, originally from Corinth, Megara, and the Dorian islands, dotted the southern coasts of Sicily from Syracuse to Selinus. Also Taras was a Spartan colony.",
"title": "Origin"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "A man's name, Dōrieus, occurs in the Linear B tablets at Pylos, one of the regions later invaded and subjugated by the Dorians. Pylos tablet Fn867 records it in the dative case as do-ri-je-we, *Dōriēwei, a third- or consonant-declension noun with stem ending in w. An unattested nominative plural, *Dōriēwes, would have become Dōrieis by loss of the w and contraction. The tablet records the grain rations issued to the servants of \"religious dignitaries\" celebrating a religious festival of Potnia, the mother goddess.",
"title": "Identity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The nominative singular, Dōrieus, remained the same in the classical period. Many Linear B names of servants were formed from their home territory or the places where they came into Mycenaean ownership. Carl Darling Buck sees the -eus suffix as very productive. One of its uses was to convert a toponym to an anthroponym; for example, Megareus, \"Megarian\", from Megara. A Dōrieus would be from Dōris, the only classical Greek state to serve as the basis for the name of the Dorians. The state was a small one in the mountains of west central Greece. However, classical Doris may not have been the same as Mycenaean Doris.",
"title": "Identity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "A number of credible etymologies by noted scholars have been proposed. Julius Pokorny derives Δωριεύς, Dōrieus from δωρίς, dōris, \"woodland\" (which can also mean upland). The dōri- segment is from the o-grade (either ō or o) of Proto-Indo-European *deru-, \"tree\", which also gives the Homeric Δούρειος Ἵππος (Doureios Hippos, \"Wooden Horse\"). This derivation has the advantage of naming the people after their wooded, mountainous country.",
"title": "Identity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "A second popular derivation was given by the French linguist, Émile Boisacq, from the same root, but from Greek δόρυ (doru) 'spear-shaft' (which was made of wood); i.e., \"the people of the spear\" or \"spearmen.\" In this case the country would be named after the people, as in Saxony from the Saxons. However, R. S. P. Beekes doubted the validity of this derivation and asserted that no good etymology exists.",
"title": "Identity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "It sometimes happens that different derivations of an Indo-European word exploit similar-sounding Indo-European roots. Greek doru, \"lance,\" is from the o-grade of Indo-European *deru, \"solid,\" in the sense of wood. It is similar to an extended form, *dō-ro-, of *dō-, (give), as can be seen in the modern Greek imperative δώσε (dose, \"give [sing.]!\") appearing in Greek as δῶρον (dōron, \"gift\"). This is the path taken by Jonathan Hall, relying on elements taken from the myth of the Return of the Herakleidai.",
"title": "Identity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Hall cites the tradition, based on a fragment of the poet, Tyrtaeus, that \"Sparta is a divine gift granted by Zeus and Hera\" to the Heracleidae. In another version, Tyndareus gives his kingdom to Heracles in gratitude for restoring him to the throne, but Heracles \"asks the Spartan king to safeguard the gift until his descendants might claim it.\"",
"title": "Identity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Hall, therefore, proposes that the Dorians are the people of the gift. They assumed the name on taking possession of Lacedaemon. Doris was subsequently named after them. Hall makes comparisons of Spartans to Hebrews as a chosen people maintaining a covenant with God and being assigned a Holy Land. To arrive at this conclusion, Hall relies on Herodotus' version of the myth (see below) that the Hellenes under Dorus did not take his name until reaching the Peloponnesus. In other versions the Heracleidae enlisted the help of their Dorian neighbors. Hall does not address the problem of the Dorians not calling Lacedaemon Doris, but assigning that name to some less holy and remoter land. Similarly, he does not mention the Dorian servant at Pylos, whose sacred gift, if such it was, was still being ruled by the Achaean Atreid family at Lacedaemon.",
"title": "Identity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "A minor, and perhaps regrettably forgotten, episode in the history of scholarship was the attempt to emphasize the etymology of Doron with the meaning of 'hand'. This in turn was connected to an interpretation of the famous lambda on Spartan shields, which was to rather stand for a hand with outstanding thumb than the initial letter of Lacedaimon. Given the origin of the Spartan shield lambda legend, however, in a fragment by Eupolis, an Athenian comic poet, there has been a recent attempt to suggest that a comic confusion between the letter and the hand image may yet have been intended.",
"title": "Identity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Dorian social structure was characterized by a communal social structure and separation of the sexes. The lives of free men centered around military campaigns. When not abroad, men stayed in all-male residences focusing on military training until the age of 30, regardless of marital status.",
"title": "Identity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Dorian women had greater freedom and economic power than women of other Greek ethnicities. Unlike other Hellenic women, Dorian women were able to own property, manage their husbands' estate, and delegate many domestic tasks to slaves. Women in ancient Sparta possessed the greatest agency and economic power, likely due to the prolonged absences of men during military campaigns. Dorian women wore the peplos, which was once common to all Hellenes. This tunic was pinned at the shoulders by brooches and had slit skirts which bared the thighs and permitted more freedom of movement than the voluminous Ionian chiton (costume).",
"title": "Identity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The Doric dialect was spoken in northwest Greece, the Peloponnese, Crete, southwest Asia Minor, the southernmost islands of the Aegean Sea, and the various Dorian colonies of Magna Graecia in Southern Italy and Sicily. After the classical period, it was mainly replaced by the Attic dialect upon which the Koine or \"common\" Greek language of the Hellenistic period was based. The main characteristic of Doric was the preservation of Proto-Indo-European [aː], long ⟨α⟩, which in Attic-Ionic became [ɛː], ⟨η⟩. A famous example is the valedictory phrase uttered by Spartan mothers to their sons before sending them off to war: ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς (ḕ tàn ḕ epì tâs, literally \"either with it or on it\": return alive with your shield or dead upon it) would have been ἢ τὴν ἢ ἐπὶ τῆς (ḕ tḕn ḕ epì tês) in the Attic-Ionic dialect of an Athenian mother. Tsakonian, a descendant of Doric Greek, is still spoken in some parts of the southern Argolid coast of the Peloponnese, in the modern prefecture of Arcadia.",
"title": "Identity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Culturally, in addition to their Doric dialect of Greek, Doric colonies retained their characteristic Doric calendar that revolved round a cycle of festivals, the Hyacinthia and the Carneia being especially important.",
"title": "Identity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The Dorian mode in music also was attributed to Doric societies and was associated by classical writers with martial qualities.",
"title": "Identity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The Doric order of architecture in the tradition inherited by Vitruvius included the Doric column, noted for its simplicity and strength.",
"title": "Identity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The Dorians seem to have offered the central mainland cultus for Helios. The scattering of cults of the sun god in Sicyon, Argos, Ermioni, Epidaurus and Laconia, and his holy livestock flocks at Taenarum, seem to suggest that the deity was considerably important in Dorian religion, compared to other parts of ancient Greece. Additionally, it may have been the Dorians to import his worship to Rhodes.",
"title": "Identity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In Greek historiography, the Dorians are mentioned by many authors. The chief classical authors to relate their origins are Herodotus, Thucydides and Pausanias. The most copious authors, however, lived in Hellenistic and Roman times, long after the main events. This apparent paradox does not necessarily discredit the later writers, who were relying on earlier works that did not survive. The customs of the Spartan state and its illustrious individuals are detailed at great length in such authors as Plutarch and Diodorus Siculus.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The Odyssey has one reference to the Dorians:",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "There is a land called Crete, in the midst of the wine-dark sea, a fair, rich land, begirt with water, and therein are many men, past counting, and ninety cities. They have not all the same speech, but their tongues are mixed. There dwell Achaeans, there great-hearted native Cretans, there Cydonians, and Dorians of waving plumes, and goodly Pelasgians.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "The reference is not compatible with a Dorian invasion that brought Dorians to Crete only after the fall of the Mycenaean states. In the Odyssey, Odysseus and his relatives visit those states. Two solutions are possible, either the Odyssey is anachronistic or Dorians were on Crete in Mycenaean times. The uncertain nature of the Dorian invasion defers a definitive answer until more is known about it. Also, the Messenian town of Dorium is mentioned in the Catalogue of Ships. If its name comes from Dorians, it would imply there were settlements of the latter in Messenia during that time as well.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Tyrtaeus, a Spartan poet, became advisor of the Lacedaemonians in their mid-7th-century war to suppress a rebellion of the Messenians. The latter were a remnant of the Achaeans conquered \"two generations before,\" which suggests a rise to supremacy at the end of the Dark Age rather than during and after the fall of Mycenae. The Messenian population was reduced to serfdom.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Only a few fragments of Tyrtaeus' five books of martial verse survive. His is the earliest mention of the three Dorian tribes: Pamphyli, Hylleis, Dymanes. He also says:",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "For Cronus' Son Himself, Zeus the husband of fair-crowned Hera, hath given this city to the children of Heracles, with whom we came into the wide isle of Pelops from windy Erineus.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Erineus was a village of Doris. He helped to establish the Spartan constitution, giving the kings and elders, among other powers, the power to dismiss the assembly. He established a rigorous military training program for the young including songs and poems he wrote himself, such as the \"Embateria or Songs of the Battle-Charge which are also called Enoplia or Songs-under-Arms.\" These were chants used to establish the timing of standard drills under arms. He stressed patriotism:",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "For 'tis a fair thing for a good man to fall and die fighting in the van for his native land, ... let us fight with a will for this land, and die for our children and never spare our lives.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Herodotus was from Halicarnassus, a Dorian colony on the southwest coast of Asia Minor; following the literary tradition of the times he wrote in Ionic Greek, being one of the last authors to do so. He described the Persian Wars, giving a thumbnail account of the histories of the antagonists, Greeks and Persians.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Herodotus gives a general account of the events termed \"the Dorian Invasion\", presenting them as transfers of population. Their original home was in Thessaly, central Greece. He goes on to expand in mythological terms, giving some of the geographic details of the myth:",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "1.56.2-3 And inquiring he found that the Lacedemonians and the Athenians had the pre-eminence, the first of the Dorian and the others of the Ionian race. For these were the most eminent races in ancient time, the second being a Pelasgian and the first a Hellenic race: and the one never migrated from its place in any direction, while the other was very exceedingly given to wanderings; for in the reign of Deucalion this race dwelt in Pthiotis, and in the time of Doros the son of Hellen in the land lying below Ossa and Olympos, which is called Histiaiotis; and when it was driven from Histiaiotis by the sons of Cadmos, it dwelt in Pindos and was called Makednian; and thence it moved afterwards to Dryopis, and from Dryopis it came finally to Peloponnesus, and began to be called Dorian.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "1.57.1-3 What language however the Pelasgians used to speak I am not able with certainty to say. But if one must pronounce judging by those that still remain of the Pelasgians who dwelt in the city of Creston above the Tyrsenians, and who were once neighbours of the race now called Dorian, dwelling then in the land which is now called Thessaliotis, and also by those that remain of the Pelasgians who settled at Plakia and Skylake in the region of the Hellespont, who before that had been settlers with the Athenians, and of the natives of the various other towns which are really Pelasgian, though they have lost the name,—if one must pronounce judging by these, the Pelasgians used to speak a Barbarian language. If therefore all the Pelasgian race was such as these, then the Attic race, being Pelasgian, at the same time when it changed and became Hellenic, unlearnt also its language. For the people of Creston do not speak the same language with any of those who dwell about them, nor yet do the people of Phakia, but they speak the same language one as the other: and by this it is proved that they still keep unchanged the form of language which they brought with them when they migrated to these places.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "1.58 As for the Hellenic race, it has used ever the same language, as I clearly perceive, since it first took its rise; but since the time when it parted off feeble at first from the Pelasgian race, setting forth from a small beginning it has increased to that great number of races which we see, and chiefly because many Barbarian races have been added to it besides. Moreover it is true, as I think, of the Pelasgian race also, that so far as it remained Barbarian it never made any great increase.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Thus, according to Herodotus, the Dorians did not name themselves after Dorus until they had reached Peloponnesus. Herodotus does not explain the contradictions of the myth; for example, how Doris, located outside the Peloponnesus, acquired its name. However, his goal, as he relates in the beginning of the first book, is only to report what he had heard from his sources without judgement. In the myth, the Achaeans displaced from the Peloponnesus gathered at Athens under a leader Ion and became identified as \"Ionians\".",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Herodotus' list of Dorian states is as follows. From northeastern Greece were Phthia, Histiaea and Macedon. In central Greece were Doris (the former Dryopia) and in the south Peloponnesus, specifically the states of Lacedaemon, Corinth, Sicyon, Epidaurus and Troezen. Hermione was not Dorian but had joined the Dorians. Overseas were the islands of Rhodes, Cos, Nisyrus and the Anatolian cities of Cnidus, Halicarnassus, Phaselis and Calydna. Dorians also colonised Crete including founding of such towns as Lato, Dreros and Olous. The Cynurians were originally Ionians but had become Dorian under the influence of their Argive masters.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Thucydides professes little of Greece before the Trojan War except to say that it was full of barbarians and that there was no distinction between barbarians and Greeks. The Hellenes came from Phthiotis. The whole country indulged in and suffered from piracy and was not settled. After the Trojan War, \"Hellas was still engaged in removing and settling.\"",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Some 60 years after the Trojan War the Boeotians were driven out of Arne by the Thessalians into Boeotia and 20 years later \"the Dorians and the Heraclids became masters of the Peloponnese.\" So the lines were drawn between the Dorians and the Aeolians (here Boeotians) with the Ionians (former Peloponnesians).",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Other than these few brief observations Thucydides names but few Dorians. He does make it clear that some Dorian states aligned or were forced to align with the Athenians while some Ionians went with the Lacedaemonians and that the motives for alignment were not always ethnic but were diverse. Among the Dorians was Lacedaemon, Corcyra, Corinth and Epidamnus, Leucadia, Ambracia, Potidaea, Rhodes, Cythera, Argos, Syracuse, Gela, Acragas (later Agrigentum), Acrae, Casmenae.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "He does explain with considerable dismay what happened to incite ethnic war after the unity between the Greek states during the Battle of Thermopylae. The Congress of Corinth, formed prior to it, \"split into two sections.\" Athens headed one and Lacedaemon the other:",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "For a short time the league held together, till the Lacedaemonians and Athenians quarreled, and made war upon each other with their allies, a duel into which all the Hellenes sooner or later were drawn.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "He adds: \"the real cause I consider to be ... the growth of the power of Athens and the alarm which this inspired in Lacedaemon....\"",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "In the Platonic work Laws is mentioned that the Achaeans who fought in the Trojan War, on their return from Troy were driven out from their homes and cities by the young residents, so they migrated under a leader named Dorieus and hence they were renamed \"Dorians\".",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Now during this period of ten years, while the siege lasted, the affairs of each of the besiegers at home suffered much owing to the seditious conduct of the young men. For when the soldiers returned to their own cities and homes, these young people did not receive them fittingly and justly, but in such a way that there ensued a vast number of cases of death, slaughter, and exile. So they, being again driven out, migrated by sea; and because Dorieus was the man who then banded together the exiles, they got the new name of \"Dorians\", instead of \"Achaeans\". But as to all the events that follow this, you Lacedaemonians relate them all fully in your traditions.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "The Description of Greece by Pausanias relates that the Achaeans were driven from their lands by Dorians coming from Oeta, a mountainous region bordering on Thessaly. They were led by Hyllus, a son of Heracles, but were defeated by the Achaeans. Under other leadership they managed to be victorious over the Achaeans and remain in the Peloponnesus, a mythic theme called \"the return of the Heracleidae.\" They had built ships at Naupactus in which to cross the Gulf of Corinth. This invasion is viewed by the tradition of Pausanias as a return of the Dorians to the Peloponnesus, apparently meaning a return of families ruling in Aetolia and northern Greece to a land in which they had once had a share. The return is described in detail: there were \"disturbances\" throughout the Peloponnesus except in Arcadia, and new Dorian settlers. Pausanias goes on to describe the conquest and resettlement of Laconia, Messenia, Argos and elsewhere, and the emigration from there to Crete and the coast of Asia Minor.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Diodorus is a rich source of traditional information concerning the mythology and history of the Dorians, especially the Library of History. He does not make any such distinction but the fantastic nature of the earliest material marks it as mythical or legendary. The myths do attempt to justify some Dorian operations, suggesting that they were in part political.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Diodorus quoting from an earlier historian Hecataeus of Abdera details that during the Exodus many Israelites went into the islands of Greece and other places.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "All the foreigners were forthwith expelled, and the most valiant and noble among them, under some notable leaders, were brought to Greece and other places, as some relate; the most famous of their leaders were Danaus and Cadmus. But the majority of the people descended into a country not far from Egypt, which is now called Judaea and at that time was altogether uninhabited.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Heracles was a Perseid, a member of the ruling family of Greece. His mother Alcmene had both Perseids and Pelopids in her ancestry. A princess of the realm, she received Zeus thinking he was Amphitryon. Zeus intended his son to rule Greece but according to the rules of succession Eurystheus, born slightly earlier, preempted the right. Attempts to kill Heracles as a child failed. On adulthood he was forced into the service of Eurystheus, who commanded him to perform 12 labors.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Heracles became a warrior without a home, wandering from place to place assisting the local rulers with various problems. He took a retinue of Arcadians with him acquiring also over time a family of grown sons, the Heraclidae. He continued this mode of life even after completing the 12 labors. The legend has it that he became involved with Achaean Sparta when the family of king Tyndareus was unseated and driven into exile by Hippocoön and his family, who in the process happened to kill the son of a friend of Heracles. The latter and his retinue assaulted Sparta, taking it back from Hippocoön. He recalled Tyndareus, set him up as a guardian regent, and instructed him to turn the kingdom over to any descendants of his that should claim it. Heracles went on with the way of life to which he had become accustomed, which was by today's standards that of a mercenary, as he was being paid for his assistance. Subsequently, he founded a colony in Aetolia, then in Trachis.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "After displacing the Dryopes, he went to the assistance of the Dorians, who lived in a land called Hestiaeotis under king Aegimius and were campaigning against the numerically superior Lapithae. The Dorians promised him 1⁄3 of Doris (which they did not yet possess). He asked Aegimius to keep his share of the land \"in trust\" until it should be claimed by a descendant. He went on to further adventures but was poisoned by his jealous wife, Deianeira. He immolated himself in full armor dressed for combat and \"passed from among men into the company of the gods.\"",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Strabo, who depends on the books available to him, goes on to elaborate:",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Of these peoples, according to Staphylus, the Dorians occupy the part toward the east, the Cydonians the western part, the Eteo-Cretans the southern; and to these last belongs the town Praisos, where is the temple of the Dictaean Zeus; whereas the other peoples, since they were more powerful, dwelt in the plains. Now it is reasonable to suppose that the Eteo-Cretans and the Cydonians were autochthonous, and that the others were foreigners ...",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Beside this sole reference to Dorians in Crete, the mention of the Iliad of the Heraclid Tlepolemus, a warrior on the side of Achaeans and colonist of three important Dorian cities in Rhodes has been also regarded as a later interpolation.",
"title": "Ancient traditions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Language",
"title": "See also"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Mythology",
"title": "See also"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "History",
"title": "See also"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "List of Dorian states",
"title": "See also"
}
] | The Dorians were one of the four major ethnic groups into which the Hellenes of Classical Greece divided themselves. They are almost always referred to as just "the Dorians", as they are called in the earliest literary mention of them in the Odyssey, where they already can be found inhabiting the island of Crete. They were diverse in way of life and social organization, varying from the populous trade center of the city of Corinth, known for its ornate style in art and architecture, to the isolationist, military state of Sparta. And yet, all Hellenes knew which localities were Dorian, and which were not. Dorian states at war could more likely, but not always, count on the assistance of other Dorian states. Dorians were distinguished by the Doric Greek dialect and by characteristic social and historical traditions. In the 5th century BC, Dorians and Ionians were the two most politically important Greek ethnē, whose ultimate clash resulted in the Peloponnesian War. The degree to which fifth-century Hellenes self-identified as "Ionian" or "Dorian" has itself been disputed. At one extreme Édouard Will concludes that there was no true ethnic component in fifth-century Greek culture, in spite of anti-Dorian elements in Athenian propaganda. At the other extreme John Alty reinterprets the sources to conclude that ethnicity did motivate fifth-century actions. Moderns viewing these ethnic identifications through the 5th and 4th century BC literary tradition have been profoundly influenced by their own social politics. Also, according to E.N. Tigerstedt, nineteenth-century European admirers of virtues they considered "Dorian" identified themselves as "Laconophile" and found responsive parallels in the culture of their day as well; their biases contribute to the traditional modern interpretation of "Dorians". | 2001-07-21T17:25:32Z | 2023-12-24T05:00:20Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorians |
8,217 | Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen | The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen de 1789), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revolution. Inspired by Enlightenment philosophers, the Declaration was a core statement of the values of the French Revolution and had a significant impact on the development of popular conceptions of individual liberty and democracy in Europe and worldwide.
The Declaration was initially drafted by Marquis de Lafayette, but the majority of the final draft came from Abbé Sieyès. Influenced by the doctrine of natural right, human rights are held to be universal: valid at all times and in every place. It became the basis for a nation of free individuals protected equally by the law. It is included at the beginning of the constitutions of both the Fourth French Republic (1946) and Fifth Republic (1958), and is considered valid as constitutional law.
The content of the document emerged largely from the ideals of the Enlightenment. Lafayette prepared the principal drafts in consultation with his close friend Thomas Jefferson. In August 1789, Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès and Honoré Mirabeau played a central role in conceptualizing and drafting the final Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
The last article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was adopted on the 26 of August 1789 by the National Constituent Assembly, during the period of the French Revolution, as the first step toward writing a constitution for France. Inspired by the Enlightenment, the original version of the Declaration was discussed by the representatives based on a 24-article draft proposed by the sixth bureau, led by Jérôme Champion de Cicé. The draft was later modified during the debates. A second and lengthier declaration, known as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1793, was written in 1793 but never formally adopted.
The concepts in the Declaration come from the philosophical and political duties of the Enlightenment, such as individualism, the social contract as theorized by the Genevan philosopher Rousseau, and the separation of powers espoused by the Baron de Montesquieu. As can be seen in the texts, the French declaration was heavily influenced by the political philosophy of the Enlightenment and principles of human rights, as was the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which preceded it (4 July 1776).
These principles were shared widely throughout European society, rather than being confined to a small elite as in the past. This took different forms, such as 'English coffeehouse culture', and extended to areas colonised by Europeans, particularly British North America. Contacts between diverse groups in Edinburgh, Geneva, Boston, Amsterdam, Paris, London, or Vienna were much greater than often appreciated.
Transnational elites who shared ideas and styles were not new; what changed was their extent and the numbers involved. Under Louis XIV, Versailles was the centre of French culture, fashion and political power. Improvements in education and literacy over the course of the 18th century meant larger audiences for newspapers and journals, with Masonic lodges, coffee houses and reading clubs providing areas where people could debate and discuss ideas. The emergence of this "public sphere" led to Paris replacing Versailles as the cultural and intellectual centre, leaving the Court isolated and less able to influence opinion.
Assisted by Thomas Jefferson, then American ambassador to France, Lafayette prepared a draft which echoed some of the provisions of the US declaration. However, there was no consensus on the role of the Crown, and until this question was settled, it was impossible to create political institutions. When presented to the legislative committee on 11 July, it was rejected by pragmatists such as Jean Joseph Mounier, President of the Assembly, who feared creating expectations that could not be satisfied.
Conservatives like Gérard de Lally-Tollendal wanted a bicameral system, with an upper house appointed by the king, who would have the right of veto. On 10 September, the majority led by Sieyès and Talleyrand rejected this in favour of a single assembly, while Louis XVI retained only a "suspensive veto"; this meant he could delay the implementation of a law, but not block it. With these questions settled, a new committee was convened to agree on a constitution; the most controversial remaining issue was citizenship, itself linked to the debate on the balance between individual rights and obligations. Ultimately, the 1791 Constitution distinguished between 'active citizens' who held political rights, defined as French males over the age of 25, who paid direct taxes equal to three days' labour, and 'passive citizens', who were restricted to 'civil rights'. As a result, it was never fully accepted by radicals in the Jacobin club.
After editing by Mirabeau, it was published on 26 August as a statement of principle. The final draft contained provisions then considered radical in any European society, let alone France in 1789. French historian Georges Lefebvre argues that combined with the elimination of privilege and feudalism, it "highlighted equality in a way the (American Declaration of Independence) did not". More importantly, the two differed in intent; Jefferson saw the US Constitution and Bill of Rights as fixing the political system at a specific point in time, claiming they 'contained no original thought...but expressed the American mind' at that stage. The 1791 French Constitution was viewed as a starting point, the Declaration providing an aspirational vision, a key difference between the two Revolutions. Attached as a preamble to the French Constitution of 1791, and that of the 1870 to 1940 French Third Republic, it was incorporated into the current Constitution of France in 1958.
The Declaration defined a single set of individual and collective rights for all men. Influenced by the doctrine of natural rights, these rights are held to be universal and valid in all times and places. For example, "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good." They have certain natural rights to property, to liberty, and to life. According to this theory, the role of government is to recognize and secure these rights. Furthermore, the government should be carried on by elected representatives.
When it was written, the rights contained in the declaration were only awarded to men. Furthermore, the declaration was a statement of vision rather than reality. The declaration was not deeply rooted in either the practice of the West or even France at the time. The declaration emerged in the late 18th century out of war and revolution. It encountered opposition, as democracy and individual rights were frequently regarded as synonymous with anarchy and subversion. This declaration embodies ideals and aspirations towards which France pledged to struggle in the future.
The Declaration is introduced by a preamble describing the fundamental characteristics of the rights, which are qualified as "natural, unalienable and sacred" and "simple and incontestable principles" on which citizens could base their demands. In the second article, "the natural and imprescriptible rights of man" are defined as "liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression". It called for the destruction of aristocratic privileges by proclaiming an end to feudalism and to exemptions from taxation, freedom, and equal rights for all "Men" and access to public office based on talent. The monarchy was restricted, and all citizens had the right to participate in the legislative process. Freedom of speech and press were declared, and arbitrary arrests outlawed.
The Declaration also asserted the principles of popular sovereignty, in contrast to the divine right of kings that characterized the French monarchy, and social equality among citizens, "All the citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally admissible to all public dignities, places, and employments, according to their capacity and without distinction other than that of their virtues and of their talents," eliminating the special rights of the nobility and clergy.
Article I – Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.
Article II – The goal of any political association is the conservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, safety and resistance against oppression.
Article III – The principle of any sovereignty resides essentially in the Nation. No body, no individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation.
Article IV – Liberty consists of doing anything which does not harm others: thus, the exercise of the natural rights of each man has only those borders which assure other members of the society the fruition of these same rights. These borders can be determined only by the law.
Article V – The law has the right to forbid only actions harmful to society. Anything which is not forbidden by the law cannot be impeded, and no one can be constrained to do what it does not order.
Article VI – The law is the expression of the general will. All the citizens have the right of contributing personally or through their representatives to its formation. It must be the same for all, either that it protects, or that it punishes. All the citizens, being equal in its eyes, are equally admissible to all public dignities, places, and employments, according to their capacity and without distinction other than that of their virtues and of their talents.
Article VII – No man can be accused, arrested nor detained but in the cases determined by the law, and according to the forms which it has prescribed. Those who solicit, dispatch, carry out or cause to be carried out arbitrary orders, must be punished; but any citizen called or seized under the terms of the law must obey at once; he renders himself culpable by resistance.
Article VIII – The law should establish only penalties that are strictly and evidently necessary, and no one can be punished but under a law established and promulgated before the offense and legally applied.
Article IX – Any man being presumed innocent until he is declared culpable if it is judged indispensable to arrest him, any rigor which would not be necessary for the securing of his person must be severely reprimanded by the law.
Article X – No one may be disquieted for his opinions, even religious ones, provided that their manifestation does not trouble the public order established by the law.
Article XI – The free communication of thoughts and of opinions is one of the most precious rights of man: any citizen thus may speak, write, print freely, except to respond to the abuse of this liberty, in the cases determined by the law.
Article XII – The guarantee of the rights of man and of the citizen necessitates a public force: this force is thus instituted for the advantage of all and not for the particular utility of those in whom it is trusted.
Article XIII – For the maintenance of the public force and for the expenditures of administration, a common contribution is indispensable; it must be equally distributed to all the citizens, according to their ability to pay.
Article XIV – Each citizen has the right to ascertain, by himself or through his representatives, the need for a public tax, to consent to it freely, to know the uses to which it is put, and of determining the proportion, basis, collection, and duration.
Article XV – The society has the right of requesting an account from any public agent of its administration.
Article XVI – Any society in which the guarantee of rights is not assured, nor the separation of powers determined, has no Constitution.
Article XVII – Property being an inviolable and sacred right, no one can be deprived of private usage, if it is not when the public necessity, legally noted, evidently requires it, and under the condition of a just and prior indemnity.
While the French Revolution provided rights to a larger portion of the population, there remained a distinction between those who obtained the political rights in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and those who did not. Those who were deemed to hold these political rights were called active citizens. Active citizenship was granted to men who were French, at least 25 years old, paid taxes equal to three days work, and could not be defined as servants. This meant that at the time of the Declaration, only male property owners held these rights. The deputies in the National Assembly believed that only those who held tangible interests in the nation could make informed political decisions. This distinction directly affects articles 6, 12, 14, and 15 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, as each of these rights is related to the right to vote and to participate actively in the government. With the decree of 29 October 1789, the term active citizen became embedded in French politics.
The concept of passive citizens was created to encompass those populations excluded from political rights in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Because of the requirements set down for active citizens, the vote was granted to approximately 4.3 million Frenchmen out of a population of around 29 million. These omitted groups included women, the poor, enslaved people, children, and foreigners. As the General Assembly voted upon these measures, they limited the rights of certain groups of citizens while implementing the democratic process of the new French Republic (1792–1804). This legislation, passed in 1789, was amended by the creators of the Constitution of the Year III to eliminate the label of an active citizen. The power to vote was then, however, to be granted solely to substantial property owners.
Tensions arose between active and passive citizens throughout the Revolution. This happened when passive citizens started to call for more rights or openly refused to listen to the ideals set forth by active citizens. This cartoon demonstrates the difference that existed between the active and passive citizens along with the tensions associated with such differences. In the cartoon, an active citizen is holding a spade and a passive citizen (on the right) says "Take care that my patience does not escape me".
Women, in particular, were strong passive citizens who played a significant role in the Revolution. Olympe de Gouges penned her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen in 1791 and drew attention to the need for gender equality. By supporting the ideals of the French Revolution and wishing to expand them to women, she represented herself as a revolutionary citizen. Madame Roland also established herself as an influential figure throughout the Revolution. She saw women of the French Revolution as holding three roles; "inciting revolutionary action, formulating policy, and informing others of revolutionary events." By working with men, as opposed to working apart from men, she may have been able to further the fight for revolutionary women. As players in the French Revolution, women occupied a significant role in the civic sphere by forming social movements and participating in popular clubs, allowing them societal influence, despite their lack of direct political power.
The Declaration recognized many rights as belonging to citizens (who could only be male). This was despite the fact that after The March on Versailles on 5 October 1789, women presented the Women's Petition to the National Assembly in which they proposed a decree giving women equal rights. In 1790, Nicolas de Condorcet and Etta Palm d'Aelders unsuccessfully called on the National Assembly to extend civil and political rights to women. Condorcet declared that "he who votes against the right of another, whatever the religion, color, or sex of that other, has henceforth abjured his own". The French Revolution did not lead to a recognition of women's rights and this prompted Olympe de Gouges to publish the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen in September 1791.
The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen is modeled on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and is ironic in the formulation and exposes the failure of the French Revolution, which had been devoted to equality. It states that:
This revolution will only take effect when all women become fully aware of their deplorable condition, and of the rights, they have lost in society.
The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen follows the seventeen articles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen point for point. Camille Naish has described it as "almost a parody... of the original document". The first article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen proclaims that "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on common utility." The first article of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen replied: "Woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights. Social distinctions may only be based on common utility".
De Gouges also draws attention to the fact that under French law, women were fully punishable yet denied equal rights, declaring, "Women have the right to mount the scaffold, they must also have the right to mount the speaker's rostrum".
The declaration did not revoke the institution of slavery, as lobbied for by Jacques-Pierre Brissot's Les Amis des Noirs and against by the group of colonial planters called the Club Massiac because they met at the Hôtel Massiac. Despite the lack of explicit mention of slavery in the Declaration, slave uprisings in Saint-Domingue in the Haitian Revolution were inspired by it, as discussed in C. L. R. James' history of the Haitian Revolution, The Black Jacobins. In Louisiana, the organizers of the Pointe Coupée Slave Conspiracy of 1795 also drew information from the declaration.
Deplorable conditions for the thousands of enslaved people in Saint-Domingue, the most profitable slave colony in the world, led to the uprisings known as the first successful slave revolt in the New World. Free persons of color were part of the first wave of revolt, but later formerly enslaved people took control. In 1794 the Convention was dominated by the Jacobins and abolished slavery, including in the colonies of Saint-Domingue and Guadeloupe. However, Napoleon reinstated it in 1802 and attempted to regain control of Saint-Domingue by sending in thousands of troops. After suffering the losses of two-thirds of the men, many to yellow fever, the French withdrew from Saint-Domingue in 1803. Napoleon gave up on North America and agreed to the Louisiana Purchase by the United States. In 1804, the leaders of Saint-Domingue declared it an independent state, the Republic of Haiti, the second republic of the New World. Napoleon abolished the slave trade in 1815. Slavery in France was finally abolished in 1848.
The vast amount of personal freedom given to citizens by the document created a situation where homosexuality was decriminalized by the French Penal Code of 1791, which covered felonies; the law simply failed to mention sodomy as a crime, and thus no one could be prosecuted for it. The 1791 Code of Municipal Police did provide misdemeanor penalties for "gross public indecency," which the police could use to punish anyone having sex in public places or otherwise violating social norms. This approach to punishing homosexual conduct was reiterated in the French Penal Code of 1810. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen de 1789), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revolution. Inspired by Enlightenment philosophers, the Declaration was a core statement of the values of the French Revolution and had a significant impact on the development of popular conceptions of individual liberty and democracy in Europe and worldwide.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The Declaration was initially drafted by Marquis de Lafayette, but the majority of the final draft came from Abbé Sieyès. Influenced by the doctrine of natural right, human rights are held to be universal: valid at all times and in every place. It became the basis for a nation of free individuals protected equally by the law. It is included at the beginning of the constitutions of both the Fourth French Republic (1946) and Fifth Republic (1958), and is considered valid as constitutional law.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The content of the document emerged largely from the ideals of the Enlightenment. Lafayette prepared the principal drafts in consultation with his close friend Thomas Jefferson. In August 1789, Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès and Honoré Mirabeau played a central role in conceptualizing and drafting the final Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The last article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was adopted on the 26 of August 1789 by the National Constituent Assembly, during the period of the French Revolution, as the first step toward writing a constitution for France. Inspired by the Enlightenment, the original version of the Declaration was discussed by the representatives based on a 24-article draft proposed by the sixth bureau, led by Jérôme Champion de Cicé. The draft was later modified during the debates. A second and lengthier declaration, known as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1793, was written in 1793 but never formally adopted.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The concepts in the Declaration come from the philosophical and political duties of the Enlightenment, such as individualism, the social contract as theorized by the Genevan philosopher Rousseau, and the separation of powers espoused by the Baron de Montesquieu. As can be seen in the texts, the French declaration was heavily influenced by the political philosophy of the Enlightenment and principles of human rights, as was the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which preceded it (4 July 1776).",
"title": "Background"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "These principles were shared widely throughout European society, rather than being confined to a small elite as in the past. This took different forms, such as 'English coffeehouse culture', and extended to areas colonised by Europeans, particularly British North America. Contacts between diverse groups in Edinburgh, Geneva, Boston, Amsterdam, Paris, London, or Vienna were much greater than often appreciated.",
"title": "Background"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Transnational elites who shared ideas and styles were not new; what changed was their extent and the numbers involved. Under Louis XIV, Versailles was the centre of French culture, fashion and political power. Improvements in education and literacy over the course of the 18th century meant larger audiences for newspapers and journals, with Masonic lodges, coffee houses and reading clubs providing areas where people could debate and discuss ideas. The emergence of this \"public sphere\" led to Paris replacing Versailles as the cultural and intellectual centre, leaving the Court isolated and less able to influence opinion.",
"title": "Background"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Assisted by Thomas Jefferson, then American ambassador to France, Lafayette prepared a draft which echoed some of the provisions of the US declaration. However, there was no consensus on the role of the Crown, and until this question was settled, it was impossible to create political institutions. When presented to the legislative committee on 11 July, it was rejected by pragmatists such as Jean Joseph Mounier, President of the Assembly, who feared creating expectations that could not be satisfied.",
"title": "Background"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Conservatives like Gérard de Lally-Tollendal wanted a bicameral system, with an upper house appointed by the king, who would have the right of veto. On 10 September, the majority led by Sieyès and Talleyrand rejected this in favour of a single assembly, while Louis XVI retained only a \"suspensive veto\"; this meant he could delay the implementation of a law, but not block it. With these questions settled, a new committee was convened to agree on a constitution; the most controversial remaining issue was citizenship, itself linked to the debate on the balance between individual rights and obligations. Ultimately, the 1791 Constitution distinguished between 'active citizens' who held political rights, defined as French males over the age of 25, who paid direct taxes equal to three days' labour, and 'passive citizens', who were restricted to 'civil rights'. As a result, it was never fully accepted by radicals in the Jacobin club.",
"title": "Background"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "After editing by Mirabeau, it was published on 26 August as a statement of principle. The final draft contained provisions then considered radical in any European society, let alone France in 1789. French historian Georges Lefebvre argues that combined with the elimination of privilege and feudalism, it \"highlighted equality in a way the (American Declaration of Independence) did not\". More importantly, the two differed in intent; Jefferson saw the US Constitution and Bill of Rights as fixing the political system at a specific point in time, claiming they 'contained no original thought...but expressed the American mind' at that stage. The 1791 French Constitution was viewed as a starting point, the Declaration providing an aspirational vision, a key difference between the two Revolutions. Attached as a preamble to the French Constitution of 1791, and that of the 1870 to 1940 French Third Republic, it was incorporated into the current Constitution of France in 1958.",
"title": "Background"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The Declaration defined a single set of individual and collective rights for all men. Influenced by the doctrine of natural rights, these rights are held to be universal and valid in all times and places. For example, \"Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.\" They have certain natural rights to property, to liberty, and to life. According to this theory, the role of government is to recognize and secure these rights. Furthermore, the government should be carried on by elected representatives.",
"title": "Summary of principles"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "When it was written, the rights contained in the declaration were only awarded to men. Furthermore, the declaration was a statement of vision rather than reality. The declaration was not deeply rooted in either the practice of the West or even France at the time. The declaration emerged in the late 18th century out of war and revolution. It encountered opposition, as democracy and individual rights were frequently regarded as synonymous with anarchy and subversion. This declaration embodies ideals and aspirations towards which France pledged to struggle in the future.",
"title": "Summary of principles"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The Declaration is introduced by a preamble describing the fundamental characteristics of the rights, which are qualified as \"natural, unalienable and sacred\" and \"simple and incontestable principles\" on which citizens could base their demands. In the second article, \"the natural and imprescriptible rights of man\" are defined as \"liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression\". It called for the destruction of aristocratic privileges by proclaiming an end to feudalism and to exemptions from taxation, freedom, and equal rights for all \"Men\" and access to public office based on talent. The monarchy was restricted, and all citizens had the right to participate in the legislative process. Freedom of speech and press were declared, and arbitrary arrests outlawed.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The Declaration also asserted the principles of popular sovereignty, in contrast to the divine right of kings that characterized the French monarchy, and social equality among citizens, \"All the citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally admissible to all public dignities, places, and employments, according to their capacity and without distinction other than that of their virtues and of their talents,\" eliminating the special rights of the nobility and clergy.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Article I – Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Article II – The goal of any political association is the conservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, safety and resistance against oppression.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Article III – The principle of any sovereignty resides essentially in the Nation. No body, no individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Article IV – Liberty consists of doing anything which does not harm others: thus, the exercise of the natural rights of each man has only those borders which assure other members of the society the fruition of these same rights. These borders can be determined only by the law.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Article V – The law has the right to forbid only actions harmful to society. Anything which is not forbidden by the law cannot be impeded, and no one can be constrained to do what it does not order.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Article VI – The law is the expression of the general will. All the citizens have the right of contributing personally or through their representatives to its formation. It must be the same for all, either that it protects, or that it punishes. All the citizens, being equal in its eyes, are equally admissible to all public dignities, places, and employments, according to their capacity and without distinction other than that of their virtues and of their talents.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Article VII – No man can be accused, arrested nor detained but in the cases determined by the law, and according to the forms which it has prescribed. Those who solicit, dispatch, carry out or cause to be carried out arbitrary orders, must be punished; but any citizen called or seized under the terms of the law must obey at once; he renders himself culpable by resistance.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Article VIII – The law should establish only penalties that are strictly and evidently necessary, and no one can be punished but under a law established and promulgated before the offense and legally applied.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Article IX – Any man being presumed innocent until he is declared culpable if it is judged indispensable to arrest him, any rigor which would not be necessary for the securing of his person must be severely reprimanded by the law.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Article X – No one may be disquieted for his opinions, even religious ones, provided that their manifestation does not trouble the public order established by the law.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Article XI – The free communication of thoughts and of opinions is one of the most precious rights of man: any citizen thus may speak, write, print freely, except to respond to the abuse of this liberty, in the cases determined by the law.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Article XII – The guarantee of the rights of man and of the citizen necessitates a public force: this force is thus instituted for the advantage of all and not for the particular utility of those in whom it is trusted.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Article XIII – For the maintenance of the public force and for the expenditures of administration, a common contribution is indispensable; it must be equally distributed to all the citizens, according to their ability to pay.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Article XIV – Each citizen has the right to ascertain, by himself or through his representatives, the need for a public tax, to consent to it freely, to know the uses to which it is put, and of determining the proportion, basis, collection, and duration.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Article XV – The society has the right of requesting an account from any public agent of its administration.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Article XVI – Any society in which the guarantee of rights is not assured, nor the separation of powers determined, has no Constitution.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Article XVII – Property being an inviolable and sacred right, no one can be deprived of private usage, if it is not when the public necessity, legally noted, evidently requires it, and under the condition of a just and prior indemnity.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "While the French Revolution provided rights to a larger portion of the population, there remained a distinction between those who obtained the political rights in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and those who did not. Those who were deemed to hold these political rights were called active citizens. Active citizenship was granted to men who were French, at least 25 years old, paid taxes equal to three days work, and could not be defined as servants. This meant that at the time of the Declaration, only male property owners held these rights. The deputies in the National Assembly believed that only those who held tangible interests in the nation could make informed political decisions. This distinction directly affects articles 6, 12, 14, and 15 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, as each of these rights is related to the right to vote and to participate actively in the government. With the decree of 29 October 1789, the term active citizen became embedded in French politics.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The concept of passive citizens was created to encompass those populations excluded from political rights in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Because of the requirements set down for active citizens, the vote was granted to approximately 4.3 million Frenchmen out of a population of around 29 million. These omitted groups included women, the poor, enslaved people, children, and foreigners. As the General Assembly voted upon these measures, they limited the rights of certain groups of citizens while implementing the democratic process of the new French Republic (1792–1804). This legislation, passed in 1789, was amended by the creators of the Constitution of the Year III to eliminate the label of an active citizen. The power to vote was then, however, to be granted solely to substantial property owners.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Tensions arose between active and passive citizens throughout the Revolution. This happened when passive citizens started to call for more rights or openly refused to listen to the ideals set forth by active citizens. This cartoon demonstrates the difference that existed between the active and passive citizens along with the tensions associated with such differences. In the cartoon, an active citizen is holding a spade and a passive citizen (on the right) says \"Take care that my patience does not escape me\".",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Women, in particular, were strong passive citizens who played a significant role in the Revolution. Olympe de Gouges penned her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen in 1791 and drew attention to the need for gender equality. By supporting the ideals of the French Revolution and wishing to expand them to women, she represented herself as a revolutionary citizen. Madame Roland also established herself as an influential figure throughout the Revolution. She saw women of the French Revolution as holding three roles; \"inciting revolutionary action, formulating policy, and informing others of revolutionary events.\" By working with men, as opposed to working apart from men, she may have been able to further the fight for revolutionary women. As players in the French Revolution, women occupied a significant role in the civic sphere by forming social movements and participating in popular clubs, allowing them societal influence, despite their lack of direct political power.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "The Declaration recognized many rights as belonging to citizens (who could only be male). This was despite the fact that after The March on Versailles on 5 October 1789, women presented the Women's Petition to the National Assembly in which they proposed a decree giving women equal rights. In 1790, Nicolas de Condorcet and Etta Palm d'Aelders unsuccessfully called on the National Assembly to extend civil and political rights to women. Condorcet declared that \"he who votes against the right of another, whatever the religion, color, or sex of that other, has henceforth abjured his own\". The French Revolution did not lead to a recognition of women's rights and this prompted Olympe de Gouges to publish the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen in September 1791.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen is modeled on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and is ironic in the formulation and exposes the failure of the French Revolution, which had been devoted to equality. It states that:",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "This revolution will only take effect when all women become fully aware of their deplorable condition, and of the rights, they have lost in society.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen follows the seventeen articles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen point for point. Camille Naish has described it as \"almost a parody... of the original document\". The first article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen proclaims that \"Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on common utility.\" The first article of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen replied: \"Woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights. Social distinctions may only be based on common utility\".",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "De Gouges also draws attention to the fact that under French law, women were fully punishable yet denied equal rights, declaring, \"Women have the right to mount the scaffold, they must also have the right to mount the speaker's rostrum\".",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "The declaration did not revoke the institution of slavery, as lobbied for by Jacques-Pierre Brissot's Les Amis des Noirs and against by the group of colonial planters called the Club Massiac because they met at the Hôtel Massiac. Despite the lack of explicit mention of slavery in the Declaration, slave uprisings in Saint-Domingue in the Haitian Revolution were inspired by it, as discussed in C. L. R. James' history of the Haitian Revolution, The Black Jacobins. In Louisiana, the organizers of the Pointe Coupée Slave Conspiracy of 1795 also drew information from the declaration.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Deplorable conditions for the thousands of enslaved people in Saint-Domingue, the most profitable slave colony in the world, led to the uprisings known as the first successful slave revolt in the New World. Free persons of color were part of the first wave of revolt, but later formerly enslaved people took control. In 1794 the Convention was dominated by the Jacobins and abolished slavery, including in the colonies of Saint-Domingue and Guadeloupe. However, Napoleon reinstated it in 1802 and attempted to regain control of Saint-Domingue by sending in thousands of troops. After suffering the losses of two-thirds of the men, many to yellow fever, the French withdrew from Saint-Domingue in 1803. Napoleon gave up on North America and agreed to the Louisiana Purchase by the United States. In 1804, the leaders of Saint-Domingue declared it an independent state, the Republic of Haiti, the second republic of the New World. Napoleon abolished the slave trade in 1815. Slavery in France was finally abolished in 1848.",
"title": "Substance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "The vast amount of personal freedom given to citizens by the document created a situation where homosexuality was decriminalized by the French Penal Code of 1791, which covered felonies; the law simply failed to mention sodomy as a crime, and thus no one could be prosecuted for it. The 1791 Code of Municipal Police did provide misdemeanor penalties for \"gross public indecency,\" which the police could use to punish anyone having sex in public places or otherwise violating social norms. This approach to punishing homosexual conduct was reiterated in the French Penal Code of 1810.",
"title": "Substance"
}
] | The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revolution. Inspired by Enlightenment philosophers, the Declaration was a core statement of the values of the French Revolution and had a significant impact on the development of popular conceptions of individual liberty and democracy in Europe and worldwide. The Declaration was initially drafted by Marquis de Lafayette, but the majority of the final draft came from Abbé Sieyès. Influenced by the doctrine of natural right, human rights are held to be universal: valid at all times and in every place. It became the basis for a nation of free individuals protected equally by the law. It is included at the beginning of the constitutions of both the Fourth French Republic (1946) and Fifth Republic (1958), and is considered valid as constitutional law. | 2002-02-25T15:51:15Z | 2023-11-15T16:56:52Z | [
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8,218 | Dennis Ritchie | Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie (September 9, 1941 – c. October 12, 2011) was an American computer scientist. He is best known for creating the C programming language and, with long-time colleague Ken Thompson, the Unix operating system and B programming language. Ritchie and Thompson were awarded the Turing Award from the ACM in 1983, the Hamming Medal from the IEEE in 1990 and the National Medal of Technology from President Bill Clinton in 1999. Ritchie was the head of Lucent Technologies System Software Research Department when he retired in 2007. He was the "R" in K&R C, and commonly known by his username dmr.
Dennis Ritchie was born in Bronxville, New York. His father was Alistair E. Ritchie, a longtime Bell Labs scientist and co-author of The Design of Switching Circuits on switching circuit theory. As a child, Dennis moved with his family to Summit, New Jersey, where he graduated from Summit High School. He graduated from Harvard University with degrees in physics and applied mathematics in 1963.
In 1967, Ritchie began working at the Bell Labs Computing Sciences Research Center. In 1968, he defended his PhD thesis on "Computational Complexity and Program Structure" at Harvard under the supervision of Patrick C. Fischer. However, Ritchie never officially received his PhD degree as he did not submit a bound copy of his dissertation to the Harvard library, a requirement for the degree. In 2020, the Computer History Museum worked with Ritchie's family and Fischer's family and found a copy of the lost dissertation.
During the 1960s, Ritchie and Ken Thompson worked on the Multics operating system at Bell Labs. Thompson then found an old PDP-7 machine and developed his own application programs and operating system from scratch, aided by Ritchie and others. In 1970, Brian Kernighan suggested the name "Unix", a pun on the name "Multics". To supplement assembly language with a system-level programming language, Thompson created B. Later, B was replaced by C, created by Ritchie, who continued to contribute to the development of Unix and C for many years.
During the 1970s, Ritchie collaborated with James Reeds and Robert Morris on a ciphertext-only attack on the M-209 US cipher machine that could solve messages of at least 2000–2500 letters. Ritchie relates that, after discussions with the National Security Agency, the authors decided not to publish it, as they were told that the principle applied to machines still in use by foreign governments.
Ritchie was also involved with the development of the Plan 9 and Inferno operating systems, and the programming language Limbo.
As part of an AT&T restructuring in the mid-1990s, Ritchie was transferred to Lucent Technologies, where he retired in 2007 as head of System Software Research Department.
Ritchie is best known as the creator of the C programming language, one of the developers of the Unix operating system, and co-author of the book The C Programming Language; he was the 'R' in K&R (a common reference to the book's authors Kernighan and Ritchie). Ritchie worked together with Ken Thompson, who is credited with writing the original version of Unix; one of Ritchie's most important contributions to Unix was its porting to different machines and platforms. They were so influential on Research Unix that Doug McIlroy later wrote, "The names of Ritchie and Thompson may safely be assumed to be attached to almost everything not otherwise attributed."
Ritchie liked to emphasize that he was just one member of a group. He suggested that many of the improvements he introduced "looked like a good thing to do" and that anyone else in the same place at the same time might have done the same thing.
Nowadays, the C language is widely used in application, operating system, and embedded system development, and its influence is seen in most modern programming languages. C is a low-level language with constructs closely translating to the hardware's instruction set. However, it is not tied to any particular hardware—making it easy to write programs on any machine that supports C. Moreover, C is a high-level language with constructs mapping to the application's data structures.
C influenced several other languages and derivatives, such as C++, Objective-C used by Apple, C# used by Microsoft, and Java extensively used in corporate environment and also by Android. Ritchie and Thompson used C to write UNIX. Unix has been influential in establishing computing concepts and principles that have been widely adopted.
In an interview from 1999, Ritchie clarified that he saw Linux and BSD operating systems as a continuation of the basis of the Unix operating system, and as derivatives of Unix:
I think the Linux phenomenon is quite delightful, because it draws so strongly on the basis that Unix provided. Linux seems to be among the healthiest of the direct Unix derivatives, though there are also the various BSD systems as well as the more official offerings from the workstation and mainframe manufacturers.
In the same interview, he stated that he viewed Unix and Linux as "the continuation of ideas that were started by Ken and me and many others, many years ago."
In 1983, Ritchie and Thompson received the Turing Award "for their development of generic operating systems theory and specifically for the implementation of the UNIX operating system". Ritchie's Turing Award lecture was titled "Reflections on Software Research". In 1990, both Ritchie and Thompson received the IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), "for the origination of the UNIX operating system and the C programming language".
In 1997, both Ritchie and Thompson were made Fellows of the Computer History Museum, "for co-creation of the UNIX operating system, and for development of the C programming language."
On April 21, 1999, Thompson and Ritchie jointly received the National Medal of Technology of 1998 from President Bill Clinton for co-inventing the UNIX operating system and the C programming language which, according to the citation for the medal, "led to enormous advances in computer hardware, software, and networking systems and stimulated growth of an entire industry, thereby enhancing American leadership in the Information Age".
In 2005, the Industrial Research Institute awarded Ritchie its Achievement Award in recognition of his contribution to science and technology, and to society generally, with his development of the Unix operating system.
In 2011, Ritchie, along with Thompson, was awarded the Japan Prize for Information and Communications for his work in the development of the Unix operating system.
Ritchie was found dead on October 12, 2011, at the age of 70 at his home in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, where he lived alone. First news of his death came from his former colleague, Rob Pike. He had been in frail health for several years following treatment for prostate cancer and heart disease. News of Ritchie's death was largely overshadowed by the media coverage of the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, which occurred the week before.
Following Ritchie's death, computer historian Paul E. Ceruzzi stated:
Ritchie was under the radar. His name was not a household name at all, but... if you had a microscope and could look in a computer, you'd see his work everywhere inside.
In an interview shortly after Ritchie's death, long-time colleague Brian Kernighan said Ritchie never expected C to be so significant. Kernighan told The New York Times "The tools that Dennis built—and their direct descendants—run pretty much everything today." Kernighan reminded readers of how important a role C and Unix had played in the development of later high-profile projects, such as the iPhone. Other testimonials to his influence followed.
Reflecting upon his death, a commentator compared the relative importance of Steve Jobs and Ritchie, concluding that "[Ritchie's] work played a key role in spawning the technological revolution of the last forty years—including technology on which Apple went on to build its fortune." Another commentator said, "Ritchie, on the other hand, invented and co-invented two key software technologies which make up the DNA of effectively every single computer software product we use directly or even indirectly in the modern age. It sounds like a wild claim, but it really is true." Another said, "many in computer science and related fields knew of Ritchie's importance to the growth and development of, well, everything to do with computing,..."
The Fedora 16 Linux distribution, which was released about a month after he died, was dedicated to his memory. FreeBSD 9.0, released January 12, 2012, was also dedicated in his memory.
Asteroid 294727 Dennisritchie, discovered by astronomers Tom Glinos and David H. Levy in 2008, was named in his memory. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 7 February 2012 (M.P.C. 78272).
Ritchie has been the author or contributor to about 50 academic papers, books and textbooks and which have had over 15,000 citations.
Here are some of his most cited works: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie (September 9, 1941 – c. October 12, 2011) was an American computer scientist. He is best known for creating the C programming language and, with long-time colleague Ken Thompson, the Unix operating system and B programming language. Ritchie and Thompson were awarded the Turing Award from the ACM in 1983, the Hamming Medal from the IEEE in 1990 and the National Medal of Technology from President Bill Clinton in 1999. Ritchie was the head of Lucent Technologies System Software Research Department when he retired in 2007. He was the \"R\" in K&R C, and commonly known by his username dmr.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Dennis Ritchie was born in Bronxville, New York. His father was Alistair E. Ritchie, a longtime Bell Labs scientist and co-author of The Design of Switching Circuits on switching circuit theory. As a child, Dennis moved with his family to Summit, New Jersey, where he graduated from Summit High School. He graduated from Harvard University with degrees in physics and applied mathematics in 1963.",
"title": "Personal life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In 1967, Ritchie began working at the Bell Labs Computing Sciences Research Center. In 1968, he defended his PhD thesis on \"Computational Complexity and Program Structure\" at Harvard under the supervision of Patrick C. Fischer. However, Ritchie never officially received his PhD degree as he did not submit a bound copy of his dissertation to the Harvard library, a requirement for the degree. In 2020, the Computer History Museum worked with Ritchie's family and Fischer's family and found a copy of the lost dissertation.",
"title": "Personal life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "During the 1960s, Ritchie and Ken Thompson worked on the Multics operating system at Bell Labs. Thompson then found an old PDP-7 machine and developed his own application programs and operating system from scratch, aided by Ritchie and others. In 1970, Brian Kernighan suggested the name \"Unix\", a pun on the name \"Multics\". To supplement assembly language with a system-level programming language, Thompson created B. Later, B was replaced by C, created by Ritchie, who continued to contribute to the development of Unix and C for many years.",
"title": "Personal life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "During the 1970s, Ritchie collaborated with James Reeds and Robert Morris on a ciphertext-only attack on the M-209 US cipher machine that could solve messages of at least 2000–2500 letters. Ritchie relates that, after discussions with the National Security Agency, the authors decided not to publish it, as they were told that the principle applied to machines still in use by foreign governments.",
"title": "Personal life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Ritchie was also involved with the development of the Plan 9 and Inferno operating systems, and the programming language Limbo.",
"title": "Personal life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "As part of an AT&T restructuring in the mid-1990s, Ritchie was transferred to Lucent Technologies, where he retired in 2007 as head of System Software Research Department.",
"title": "Personal life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Ritchie is best known as the creator of the C programming language, one of the developers of the Unix operating system, and co-author of the book The C Programming Language; he was the 'R' in K&R (a common reference to the book's authors Kernighan and Ritchie). Ritchie worked together with Ken Thompson, who is credited with writing the original version of Unix; one of Ritchie's most important contributions to Unix was its porting to different machines and platforms. They were so influential on Research Unix that Doug McIlroy later wrote, \"The names of Ritchie and Thompson may safely be assumed to be attached to almost everything not otherwise attributed.\"",
"title": "C and Unix"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Ritchie liked to emphasize that he was just one member of a group. He suggested that many of the improvements he introduced \"looked like a good thing to do\" and that anyone else in the same place at the same time might have done the same thing.",
"title": "C and Unix"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Nowadays, the C language is widely used in application, operating system, and embedded system development, and its influence is seen in most modern programming languages. C is a low-level language with constructs closely translating to the hardware's instruction set. However, it is not tied to any particular hardware—making it easy to write programs on any machine that supports C. Moreover, C is a high-level language with constructs mapping to the application's data structures.",
"title": "C and Unix"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "C influenced several other languages and derivatives, such as C++, Objective-C used by Apple, C# used by Microsoft, and Java extensively used in corporate environment and also by Android. Ritchie and Thompson used C to write UNIX. Unix has been influential in establishing computing concepts and principles that have been widely adopted.",
"title": "C and Unix"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In an interview from 1999, Ritchie clarified that he saw Linux and BSD operating systems as a continuation of the basis of the Unix operating system, and as derivatives of Unix:",
"title": "C and Unix"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "I think the Linux phenomenon is quite delightful, because it draws so strongly on the basis that Unix provided. Linux seems to be among the healthiest of the direct Unix derivatives, though there are also the various BSD systems as well as the more official offerings from the workstation and mainframe manufacturers.",
"title": "C and Unix"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "In the same interview, he stated that he viewed Unix and Linux as \"the continuation of ideas that were started by Ken and me and many others, many years ago.\"",
"title": "C and Unix"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "In 1983, Ritchie and Thompson received the Turing Award \"for their development of generic operating systems theory and specifically for the implementation of the UNIX operating system\". Ritchie's Turing Award lecture was titled \"Reflections on Software Research\". In 1990, both Ritchie and Thompson received the IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), \"for the origination of the UNIX operating system and the C programming language\".",
"title": "Awards"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In 1997, both Ritchie and Thompson were made Fellows of the Computer History Museum, \"for co-creation of the UNIX operating system, and for development of the C programming language.\"",
"title": "Awards"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "On April 21, 1999, Thompson and Ritchie jointly received the National Medal of Technology of 1998 from President Bill Clinton for co-inventing the UNIX operating system and the C programming language which, according to the citation for the medal, \"led to enormous advances in computer hardware, software, and networking systems and stimulated growth of an entire industry, thereby enhancing American leadership in the Information Age\".",
"title": "Awards"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In 2005, the Industrial Research Institute awarded Ritchie its Achievement Award in recognition of his contribution to science and technology, and to society generally, with his development of the Unix operating system.",
"title": "Awards"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In 2011, Ritchie, along with Thompson, was awarded the Japan Prize for Information and Communications for his work in the development of the Unix operating system.",
"title": "Awards"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Ritchie was found dead on October 12, 2011, at the age of 70 at his home in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, where he lived alone. First news of his death came from his former colleague, Rob Pike. He had been in frail health for several years following treatment for prostate cancer and heart disease. News of Ritchie's death was largely overshadowed by the media coverage of the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, which occurred the week before.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Following Ritchie's death, computer historian Paul E. Ceruzzi stated:",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Ritchie was under the radar. His name was not a household name at all, but... if you had a microscope and could look in a computer, you'd see his work everywhere inside.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "In an interview shortly after Ritchie's death, long-time colleague Brian Kernighan said Ritchie never expected C to be so significant. Kernighan told The New York Times \"The tools that Dennis built—and their direct descendants—run pretty much everything today.\" Kernighan reminded readers of how important a role C and Unix had played in the development of later high-profile projects, such as the iPhone. Other testimonials to his influence followed.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Reflecting upon his death, a commentator compared the relative importance of Steve Jobs and Ritchie, concluding that \"[Ritchie's] work played a key role in spawning the technological revolution of the last forty years—including technology on which Apple went on to build its fortune.\" Another commentator said, \"Ritchie, on the other hand, invented and co-invented two key software technologies which make up the DNA of effectively every single computer software product we use directly or even indirectly in the modern age. It sounds like a wild claim, but it really is true.\" Another said, \"many in computer science and related fields knew of Ritchie's importance to the growth and development of, well, everything to do with computing,...\"",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The Fedora 16 Linux distribution, which was released about a month after he died, was dedicated to his memory. FreeBSD 9.0, released January 12, 2012, was also dedicated in his memory.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Asteroid 294727 Dennisritchie, discovered by astronomers Tom Glinos and David H. Levy in 2008, was named in his memory. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 7 February 2012 (M.P.C. 78272).",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Ritchie has been the author or contributor to about 50 academic papers, books and textbooks and which have had over 15,000 citations.",
"title": "Publications and academic papers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Here are some of his most cited works:",
"title": "Publications and academic papers"
}
] | Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie was an American computer scientist. He is best known for creating the C programming language and, with long-time colleague Ken Thompson, the Unix operating system and B programming language. Ritchie and Thompson were awarded the Turing Award from the ACM in 1983, the Hamming Medal from the IEEE in 1990 and the National Medal of Technology from President Bill Clinton in 1999. Ritchie was the head of Lucent Technologies System Software Research Department when he retired in 2007. He was the "R" in K&R C, and commonly known by his username dmr. | 2001-07-22T10:59:11Z | 2023-12-26T05:36:33Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie |
8,219 | December 16 | December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 15 days remain until the end of the year. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 15 days remain until the end of the year.",
"title": ""
}
] | December 16 is the 350th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 15 days remain until the end of the year. | 2001-10-23T12:47:13Z | 2023-12-28T03:14:27Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_16 |
8,220 | Doctrine and Covenants | The Doctrine and Covenants (sometimes abbreviated and cited as D&C or D. and C.) is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. Originally published in 1835 as Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God, editions of the book continue to be printed mainly by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints [RLDS Church]).
The book originally contained two parts: a sequence of lectures setting forth basic church doctrine, followed by a compilation of revelations, or "covenants" of the church: thus the name "Doctrine and Covenants". The "doctrine" portion of the book, however, has been removed by both the LDS Church and Community of Christ. The remaining portion of the book contains revelations on numerous topics, most of which were dictated by the movement's founder Joseph Smith, supplemented by materials periodically added by each denomination.
Controversy has existed between the two largest denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement over some sections added to the 1876 LDS edition, attributed to founder Smith. Whereas the LDS Church believes these sections to have been revelations to Smith, the RLDS Church traditionally disputed their authenticity.
The Doctrine and Covenants was first published in 1835 as a later version of the Book of Commandments, which had been partially printed in 1833. This earlier book contained 65 early revelations to church leaders, notably Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. Before many copies of the book could be printed, the printing press and most of the printed copies were destroyed by a mob in Missouri.
On September 24, 1834, a committee was appointed by the general assembly of the church to organize a new volume containing the most significant revelations. This committee of Presiding Elders, consisting of Smith, Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams, began to review and revise numerous revelations for inclusion in the new work. The committee eventually organized the book into two parts: a "Doctrine" part and a "Covenants" part.
The "Doctrine" part of the book consisted of a theological course now called the "Lectures on Faith". The lectures were a series of doctrinal courses used in the School of the Prophets which had recently been completed in Kirtland, Ohio. According to the committee, these lectures were included in the compilation "in consequence of their embracing the important doctrine of salvation." The "Covenants" part of the book, labeled "Covenants and Commandments of the Lord, to his servants of the church of the Latter Day Saints", contained a total of 103 revelations. These 103 revelations were said to "contain items or principles for the regulation of the church, as taken from the revelations which have been given since its organization, as well as from former ones." Each of the 103 revelations was assigned a "section number"; however, section 66 was mistakenly used twice. Thus, the sections of the original work were numbered only to 102.
On February 17, 1835, after the committee had selected the book's contents, the committee wrote that the resulting work represents "our belief, and when we say this, humbly trust, the faith and principles of this society as a body."
The book was first introduced to the church body in a general conference on August 17, 1835. Smith and Williams, two of the Presiding Elders on the committee, were absent, but Cowdery and Rigdon were present. The church membership at the time had not yet seen the Doctrine and Covenants manuscript as it had been compiled and revised solely by the committee; however, various church members who were familiar with the work "bore record" of the book's truth. At the end of the conference, the church "by a unanimous vote" agreed to accept the compilation as "the doctrine and covenants of their faith" and to make arrangements for its printing.
In 1835, the book was printed and published under the title Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God.
A copy of the Doctrine and Covenants from NASA photographer M. Edward Thomas traveled to the moon and back in 1972 with astronaut John Young aboard Apollo 16.
In the LDS Church, The Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands alongside the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Pearl of Great Price as scripture. Together the LDS Church's scriptures are referred to as the "standard works". The LDS Church's version of the Doctrine and Covenants is described by the church as "containing revelations given to Joseph Smith, the Prophet, with some additions by his successors in the Presidency of the Church."
The 138 sections and two official declarations in LDS Church's Doctrine and Covenants break down as follows:
The following sections consist of letters, reports, statements, and other similar documents: 102, 123, 127–131, 134, 135, and Official Declarations 1 and 2.
In 1844, the church added eight sections not included in the 1835 edition. In the current edition, these added sections are numbered 103, 105, 112, 119, 124, 127, 128, and 135.
In 1876, a new LDS Church edition renumbered most of the sections in a roughly chronological order instead of the earlier topical order, and included 26 sections not included in previous editions, now numbered as sections 2, 13, 77, 85, 87, 108–111, 113–118, 120–123, 125, 126, 129–132, and 136. Previous editions had been divided into verses with the early versifications generally following the paragraph structure of the original text. It was with the 1876 edition that the currently used versification was first employed.
In 1876, section 101 from the 1835 edition (and subsequent printings) was removed. Section 101 was a "Statement on Marriage" as adopted by an 1835 conference of the church, and contained the following text:
Inasmuch as this Church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy, we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife, and one woman but one husband, except in the case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.
This section was removed because it had been superseded by section 132 of the modern LDS edition, recorded in 1843, which contains a revelation received by Joseph Smith on eternal marriage and plural marriage, the origin of the principles of which the LDS Church traces to as early as 1831.
During the 1880s, five foreign editions contained two revelations to John Taylor that were received in 1882 and 1883; these revelations "set in order" the priesthood, gave more clarification about the roles of priesthood offices—especially the seventy—and required "men who ... preside over my priesthood" to live plural marriage in order to qualify to hold their church positions. Due to the LDS Church's change in attitude to polygamy in 1890, these sections were not included in future English editions of the Doctrine and Covenants.
In 1921, the LDS Church removed the "Lectures on Faith" portion of the book, with an explanation that the lectures "were never presented to nor accepted by the Church as being otherwise than theological lectures or lessons". The lectures contain theology concerning the Godhead and emphasize the importance of faith and works.
In 1930, a small volume edited by apostle James E. Talmage titled Latter-day Revelation: Selections from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants was published, which was a highly edited selective version of the Doctrine and Covenants printed in paragraph format rather than verses. Talmage wrote that the book's purpose was "to make the strictly doctrinal parts of the Doctrine and Covenants of easy access and reduce its bulk" by including only "the sections comprising scriptures of general and enduring value". Ninety-five of the sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were completely omitted—most notably section 132 on plural and celestial marriage—along with parts of 21 others. Twenty complete sections were retained along with parts of 21 others. Fundamentalist Mormons were offended, particularly at the exclusion of section 132, and accused the church of "changing the scriptures." As a result, church president Heber J. Grant ordered the withdrawal of the book from sale with the remaining copies shredded in order to "avoid further conflict with the fundamentalists".
Sections 137 and 138 were added to the LDS Church's 1981 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, which is the edition currently in use by the church. These were accounts of two visions, one from Joseph Smith in 1837 and the other from his nephew, Joseph F. Smith, in 1918. The revelations were earlier accepted as scripture when added to the Pearl of Great Price in April 1976. No new revelatory sections have been added since 1981.
The LDS Church's 1981 edition contains two "Official Declarations" at the book's conclusion. The 1890 Official Declaration 1 ended the church-authorized practice of plural marriage, and the 1978 Official Declaration 2 announces the opening of priesthood ordination to all worthy male members without regard to race or color. The two Official Declarations are not revelations, but they serve as the formal announcements that a revelation was received. In neither case is the revelation included in the Doctrine and Covenants. The text of Official Declaration 1 has been included in every LDS Church printing of the Doctrine and Covenants since 1908.
Until 1981, editions of the book used code names for certain people and places in those sections that dealt with the United Order. The 1981 LDS edition replaced these with the real names, relegating the code names to footnotes. The Community of Christ edition still uses the code names.
Officials of the Community of Christ (formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints [RLDS Church]) first published an edition of the Doctrine and Covenants in 1864, based on the previous 1844 edition. A general conference of the church in 1878 approved a resolution that declared that the revelations of the Prophet-President Joseph Smith III had equal standing to those previously included in the work. Since that time, the church has continued to add sections to its edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, containing the revelations of succeeding Prophet-Presidents. The most recent addition was formally authorized on April 14, 2010, after being presented to the church for informal consideration on January 17, 2010. The numbers of the sections and versification differ from the edition published by the LDS Church and both modern editions differ from the original 1835 edition numeration.
The 167 sections of the Community of Christ's Doctrine and Covenants break down as follows:
The following sections are not revelations, but letters, reports, statements, and other similar documents: 99, 108A, 109–113, and 123.
Based on the above, the number of revelations (accounting for sections that are not revelations) presented by each Community of Christ president, are as follows:
The Community of Christ removed the "Lectures on Faith" in 1897. The 1970 World Conference concluded that several sections that had been added between the 1835 and 1844 editions—mainly dealing with the subjects of temple worship and baptism for the dead—had been published without proper approval of a church conference. As a result, the World Conference removed sections 107, 109, 110, 113, and 123 to a historical appendix, which also includes documents that were never published as sections. Of these, only section 107 was a revelation. The World Conference of 1990 subsequently removed the entire appendix from the Doctrine and Covenants. Section 108A contained the minutes of a business meeting, which, because of its historical nature, was moved to the Introduction in the 1970s. After 1990, the Introduction was updated, and what was section 108A was removed entirely.
The ongoing additions to the Community of Christ edition provide a record of the leadership changes and doctrinal developments within the denomination. When W. Grant McMurray became Prophet-President, he declared that instruction specific to leadership changes would no longer be included, so that the focus of the work could be more doctrinal in nature, and less administrative. The record of these leadership changes are still maintained in the form of published "letters of counsel." Prophet-President Stephen M. Veazey has conformed to this pattern. Although these letters are not formally published in the Doctrine and Covenants, they are still deemed to be inspired, and are dealt with in the same manner that revelations are (that is, they must be deliberated and approved by the voting members of a World Conference).
A modern revelation that resulted in some "disaffection" and "led to intense conflict in scattered areas of the RLDS Church" is contained in the Community of Christ version's section 156, presented by Prophet–President Wallace B. Smith and added in 1984, which called for the ordination of women to the priesthood and set out the primary purpose of temples to be "the pursuit of peace". A resulting schism over the legitimacy of these change led to the formation of the Restoration Branches movement, the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
While some of the prose in the new revelations seems designed to guide the denomination on matters of church governance and doctrine, others are seen as inspirational. One such example can be cited from section 161, presented as counsel to the church by W. Grant McMurray in 1996: "Become a people of the Temple—those who see violence but proclaim peace, who feel conflict yet extend the hand of reconciliation, who encounter broken spirits and find pathways for healing."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) uses the 1846 edition that was published in Nauvoo, Illinois; this version is virtually identical to the 1844 edition. Most recently a facsimile reprint was produced for the church at Voree, Wisconsin by Richard Drew in 1993.
The Church of Christ (Temple Lot) contends that the thousands of changes made to the original revelations as published in the Book of Commandments (including the change of the church's name) are not doctrinal and result from Joseph Smith's fall from his original calling. As a result, the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) prefers to use reprints of the Book of Commandments text.
The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) accepts the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, including the Lectures on Faith, which it insists are as much inspired as the revelations themselves.
The Restoration Branches generally use the older RLDS Church Doctrine and Covenants, typically sections 1–144.
The Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints uses the older RLDS Church version of the Doctrine and Covenants up to section 144, and also 19 new revelations from their previous president, Frederick Niels Larsen.
"Remnant" movement, a spiritual movement in schism with the LDS Church, published an online "Restoration" edition of the Doctrine and Covenants in 2017. It includes any sections authored by Joseph Smith. It also: includes a new version of D&C 54, as revised by Denver Snuffer; excludes the Kirtland Temple visitation by Elijah and other angelic beings in D&C 110; excludes portions based on fragmentary teachings by Smith in D&C 129; includes Smith's Lectures on Faith; and includes a new appendix titled, "A Prophet’s Prerogative," by Jeff Savage.
The following chart compares the current editions of the Doctrine and Covenants used by the LDS Church (LDS ed.) and Community of Christ (CofC ed.) with the 1833 Book of Commandments (BofC), the 1835 edition published in Kirtland, and the 1844 edition published in Nauvoo. Unless otherwise specified, the document is styled a "revelation" of the person delivering it. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Doctrine and Covenants (sometimes abbreviated and cited as D&C or D. and C.) is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. Originally published in 1835 as Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God, editions of the book continue to be printed mainly by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints [RLDS Church]).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The book originally contained two parts: a sequence of lectures setting forth basic church doctrine, followed by a compilation of revelations, or \"covenants\" of the church: thus the name \"Doctrine and Covenants\". The \"doctrine\" portion of the book, however, has been removed by both the LDS Church and Community of Christ. The remaining portion of the book contains revelations on numerous topics, most of which were dictated by the movement's founder Joseph Smith, supplemented by materials periodically added by each denomination.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Controversy has existed between the two largest denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement over some sections added to the 1876 LDS edition, attributed to founder Smith. Whereas the LDS Church believes these sections to have been revelations to Smith, the RLDS Church traditionally disputed their authenticity.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The Doctrine and Covenants was first published in 1835 as a later version of the Book of Commandments, which had been partially printed in 1833. This earlier book contained 65 early revelations to church leaders, notably Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. Before many copies of the book could be printed, the printing press and most of the printed copies were destroyed by a mob in Missouri.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "On September 24, 1834, a committee was appointed by the general assembly of the church to organize a new volume containing the most significant revelations. This committee of Presiding Elders, consisting of Smith, Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams, began to review and revise numerous revelations for inclusion in the new work. The committee eventually organized the book into two parts: a \"Doctrine\" part and a \"Covenants\" part.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The \"Doctrine\" part of the book consisted of a theological course now called the \"Lectures on Faith\". The lectures were a series of doctrinal courses used in the School of the Prophets which had recently been completed in Kirtland, Ohio. According to the committee, these lectures were included in the compilation \"in consequence of their embracing the important doctrine of salvation.\" The \"Covenants\" part of the book, labeled \"Covenants and Commandments of the Lord, to his servants of the church of the Latter Day Saints\", contained a total of 103 revelations. These 103 revelations were said to \"contain items or principles for the regulation of the church, as taken from the revelations which have been given since its organization, as well as from former ones.\" Each of the 103 revelations was assigned a \"section number\"; however, section 66 was mistakenly used twice. Thus, the sections of the original work were numbered only to 102.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "On February 17, 1835, after the committee had selected the book's contents, the committee wrote that the resulting work represents \"our belief, and when we say this, humbly trust, the faith and principles of this society as a body.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The book was first introduced to the church body in a general conference on August 17, 1835. Smith and Williams, two of the Presiding Elders on the committee, were absent, but Cowdery and Rigdon were present. The church membership at the time had not yet seen the Doctrine and Covenants manuscript as it had been compiled and revised solely by the committee; however, various church members who were familiar with the work \"bore record\" of the book's truth. At the end of the conference, the church \"by a unanimous vote\" agreed to accept the compilation as \"the doctrine and covenants of their faith\" and to make arrangements for its printing.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In 1835, the book was printed and published under the title Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "A copy of the Doctrine and Covenants from NASA photographer M. Edward Thomas traveled to the moon and back in 1972 with astronaut John Young aboard Apollo 16.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In the LDS Church, The Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands alongside the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Pearl of Great Price as scripture. Together the LDS Church's scriptures are referred to as the \"standard works\". The LDS Church's version of the Doctrine and Covenants is described by the church as \"containing revelations given to Joseph Smith, the Prophet, with some additions by his successors in the Presidency of the Church.\"",
"title": "LDS Church editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The 138 sections and two official declarations in LDS Church's Doctrine and Covenants break down as follows:",
"title": "LDS Church editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The following sections consist of letters, reports, statements, and other similar documents: 102, 123, 127–131, 134, 135, and Official Declarations 1 and 2.",
"title": "LDS Church editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "In 1844, the church added eight sections not included in the 1835 edition. In the current edition, these added sections are numbered 103, 105, 112, 119, 124, 127, 128, and 135.",
"title": "LDS Church editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "In 1876, a new LDS Church edition renumbered most of the sections in a roughly chronological order instead of the earlier topical order, and included 26 sections not included in previous editions, now numbered as sections 2, 13, 77, 85, 87, 108–111, 113–118, 120–123, 125, 126, 129–132, and 136. Previous editions had been divided into verses with the early versifications generally following the paragraph structure of the original text. It was with the 1876 edition that the currently used versification was first employed.",
"title": "LDS Church editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In 1876, section 101 from the 1835 edition (and subsequent printings) was removed. Section 101 was a \"Statement on Marriage\" as adopted by an 1835 conference of the church, and contained the following text:",
"title": "LDS Church editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Inasmuch as this Church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy, we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife, and one woman but one husband, except in the case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.",
"title": "LDS Church editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "This section was removed because it had been superseded by section 132 of the modern LDS edition, recorded in 1843, which contains a revelation received by Joseph Smith on eternal marriage and plural marriage, the origin of the principles of which the LDS Church traces to as early as 1831.",
"title": "LDS Church editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "During the 1880s, five foreign editions contained two revelations to John Taylor that were received in 1882 and 1883; these revelations \"set in order\" the priesthood, gave more clarification about the roles of priesthood offices—especially the seventy—and required \"men who ... preside over my priesthood\" to live plural marriage in order to qualify to hold their church positions. Due to the LDS Church's change in attitude to polygamy in 1890, these sections were not included in future English editions of the Doctrine and Covenants.",
"title": "LDS Church editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "In 1921, the LDS Church removed the \"Lectures on Faith\" portion of the book, with an explanation that the lectures \"were never presented to nor accepted by the Church as being otherwise than theological lectures or lessons\". The lectures contain theology concerning the Godhead and emphasize the importance of faith and works.",
"title": "LDS Church editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "In 1930, a small volume edited by apostle James E. Talmage titled Latter-day Revelation: Selections from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants was published, which was a highly edited selective version of the Doctrine and Covenants printed in paragraph format rather than verses. Talmage wrote that the book's purpose was \"to make the strictly doctrinal parts of the Doctrine and Covenants of easy access and reduce its bulk\" by including only \"the sections comprising scriptures of general and enduring value\". Ninety-five of the sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were completely omitted—most notably section 132 on plural and celestial marriage—along with parts of 21 others. Twenty complete sections were retained along with parts of 21 others. Fundamentalist Mormons were offended, particularly at the exclusion of section 132, and accused the church of \"changing the scriptures.\" As a result, church president Heber J. Grant ordered the withdrawal of the book from sale with the remaining copies shredded in order to \"avoid further conflict with the fundamentalists\".",
"title": "LDS Church editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Sections 137 and 138 were added to the LDS Church's 1981 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, which is the edition currently in use by the church. These were accounts of two visions, one from Joseph Smith in 1837 and the other from his nephew, Joseph F. Smith, in 1918. The revelations were earlier accepted as scripture when added to the Pearl of Great Price in April 1976. No new revelatory sections have been added since 1981.",
"title": "LDS Church editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The LDS Church's 1981 edition contains two \"Official Declarations\" at the book's conclusion. The 1890 Official Declaration 1 ended the church-authorized practice of plural marriage, and the 1978 Official Declaration 2 announces the opening of priesthood ordination to all worthy male members without regard to race or color. The two Official Declarations are not revelations, but they serve as the formal announcements that a revelation was received. In neither case is the revelation included in the Doctrine and Covenants. The text of Official Declaration 1 has been included in every LDS Church printing of the Doctrine and Covenants since 1908.",
"title": "LDS Church editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Until 1981, editions of the book used code names for certain people and places in those sections that dealt with the United Order. The 1981 LDS edition replaced these with the real names, relegating the code names to footnotes. The Community of Christ edition still uses the code names.",
"title": "LDS Church editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Officials of the Community of Christ (formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints [RLDS Church]) first published an edition of the Doctrine and Covenants in 1864, based on the previous 1844 edition. A general conference of the church in 1878 approved a resolution that declared that the revelations of the Prophet-President Joseph Smith III had equal standing to those previously included in the work. Since that time, the church has continued to add sections to its edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, containing the revelations of succeeding Prophet-Presidents. The most recent addition was formally authorized on April 14, 2010, after being presented to the church for informal consideration on January 17, 2010. The numbers of the sections and versification differ from the edition published by the LDS Church and both modern editions differ from the original 1835 edition numeration.",
"title": "Community of Christ editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The 167 sections of the Community of Christ's Doctrine and Covenants break down as follows:",
"title": "Community of Christ editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The following sections are not revelations, but letters, reports, statements, and other similar documents: 99, 108A, 109–113, and 123.",
"title": "Community of Christ editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Based on the above, the number of revelations (accounting for sections that are not revelations) presented by each Community of Christ president, are as follows:",
"title": "Community of Christ editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "The Community of Christ removed the \"Lectures on Faith\" in 1897. The 1970 World Conference concluded that several sections that had been added between the 1835 and 1844 editions—mainly dealing with the subjects of temple worship and baptism for the dead—had been published without proper approval of a church conference. As a result, the World Conference removed sections 107, 109, 110, 113, and 123 to a historical appendix, which also includes documents that were never published as sections. Of these, only section 107 was a revelation. The World Conference of 1990 subsequently removed the entire appendix from the Doctrine and Covenants. Section 108A contained the minutes of a business meeting, which, because of its historical nature, was moved to the Introduction in the 1970s. After 1990, the Introduction was updated, and what was section 108A was removed entirely.",
"title": "Community of Christ editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "The ongoing additions to the Community of Christ edition provide a record of the leadership changes and doctrinal developments within the denomination. When W. Grant McMurray became Prophet-President, he declared that instruction specific to leadership changes would no longer be included, so that the focus of the work could be more doctrinal in nature, and less administrative. The record of these leadership changes are still maintained in the form of published \"letters of counsel.\" Prophet-President Stephen M. Veazey has conformed to this pattern. Although these letters are not formally published in the Doctrine and Covenants, they are still deemed to be inspired, and are dealt with in the same manner that revelations are (that is, they must be deliberated and approved by the voting members of a World Conference).",
"title": "Community of Christ editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "A modern revelation that resulted in some \"disaffection\" and \"led to intense conflict in scattered areas of the RLDS Church\" is contained in the Community of Christ version's section 156, presented by Prophet–President Wallace B. Smith and added in 1984, which called for the ordination of women to the priesthood and set out the primary purpose of temples to be \"the pursuit of peace\". A resulting schism over the legitimacy of these change led to the formation of the Restoration Branches movement, the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.",
"title": "Community of Christ editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "While some of the prose in the new revelations seems designed to guide the denomination on matters of church governance and doctrine, others are seen as inspirational. One such example can be cited from section 161, presented as counsel to the church by W. Grant McMurray in 1996: \"Become a people of the Temple—those who see violence but proclaim peace, who feel conflict yet extend the hand of reconciliation, who encounter broken spirits and find pathways for healing.\"",
"title": "Community of Christ editions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) uses the 1846 edition that was published in Nauvoo, Illinois; this version is virtually identical to the 1844 edition. Most recently a facsimile reprint was produced for the church at Voree, Wisconsin by Richard Drew in 1993.",
"title": "Editions used by other denominations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "The Church of Christ (Temple Lot) contends that the thousands of changes made to the original revelations as published in the Book of Commandments (including the change of the church's name) are not doctrinal and result from Joseph Smith's fall from his original calling. As a result, the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) prefers to use reprints of the Book of Commandments text.",
"title": "Editions used by other denominations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) accepts the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, including the Lectures on Faith, which it insists are as much inspired as the revelations themselves.",
"title": "Editions used by other denominations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "The Restoration Branches generally use the older RLDS Church Doctrine and Covenants, typically sections 1–144.",
"title": "Editions used by other denominations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints uses the older RLDS Church version of the Doctrine and Covenants up to section 144, and also 19 new revelations from their previous president, Frederick Niels Larsen.",
"title": "Editions used by other denominations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "\"Remnant\" movement, a spiritual movement in schism with the LDS Church, published an online \"Restoration\" edition of the Doctrine and Covenants in 2017. It includes any sections authored by Joseph Smith. It also: includes a new version of D&C 54, as revised by Denver Snuffer; excludes the Kirtland Temple visitation by Elijah and other angelic beings in D&C 110; excludes portions based on fragmentary teachings by Smith in D&C 129; includes Smith's Lectures on Faith; and includes a new appendix titled, \"A Prophet’s Prerogative,\" by Jeff Savage.",
"title": "Editions used by other denominations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "The following chart compares the current editions of the Doctrine and Covenants used by the LDS Church (LDS ed.) and Community of Christ (CofC ed.) with the 1833 Book of Commandments (BofC), the 1835 edition published in Kirtland, and the 1844 edition published in Nauvoo. Unless otherwise specified, the document is styled a \"revelation\" of the person delivering it.",
"title": "Chart comparison of editions"
}
] | The Doctrine and Covenants is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. Originally published in 1835 as Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God, editions of the book continue to be printed mainly by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Community of Christ. The book originally contained two parts: a sequence of lectures setting forth basic church doctrine, followed by a compilation of revelations, or "covenants" of the church: thus the name "Doctrine and Covenants". The "doctrine" portion of the book, however, has been removed by both the LDS Church and Community of Christ. The remaining portion of the book contains revelations on numerous topics, most of which were dictated by the movement's founder Joseph Smith, supplemented by materials periodically added by each denomination. Controversy has existed between the two largest denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement over some sections added to the 1876 LDS edition, attributed to founder Smith. Whereas the LDS Church believes these sections to have been revelations to Smith, the RLDS Church traditionally disputed their authenticity. | 2001-10-31T17:53:00Z | 2023-11-03T07:54:19Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_and_Covenants |
8,221 | Death | Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including the brainstem. Brain death is sometimes used as a legal definition of death. The remains of a former organism normally begins to decompose shortly after death. Death is an inevitable process that eventually occurs in all organisms. Some organisms, such as Turritopsis dohrnii, are biologically immortal. However, they can still die from means other than aging.
Determining when someone has definitively died has proven difficult. Initially, death was defined as occurring when breathing and the heartbeat ceased, a status still known as clinical death. However, the development of CPR meant it was no longer strictly irreversible. Brain death was the next option, but several definitions exist for this. Some people believe that all brain functions must cease. Some believe that even if the brainstem is still alive, the personality and identity are irretrievably lost, so therefore, the person should be entirely dead.
Death is generally applied to whole organisms; the similar process seen in individual components of an organism, such as cells or tissues, is necrosis. Something that is not considered an organism, such as a virus, can be physically destroyed but is not said to die, as a virus is not considered alive in the first place. As of the early 21st century, 56 million people die per year. The most common reason is cardiovascular disease, which is a disease that affects the heart.
Many cultures and religions have a concept of an afterlife that may hold the idea of judgment of good and bad deeds in one's life. There are also different customs for honoring the body, such as a funeral, cremation, or sky burial.
A study known as biogerontology seeks to eliminate death by natural aging in humans, often through the application of natural processes found in certain organisms. However, as humans do not have the means to apply this to themselves, they have to use other ways to reach the maximum lifespan for a human, such as calorie reduction, dieting, and exercise.
As of 2022, a total of 109 billion humans have died, or roughly 93.8% of all humans to ever live.
The concept of death is the key to human understanding of the phenomenon. There are many scientific approaches and various interpretations of the concept. Additionally, the advent of life-sustaining therapy and the numerous criteria for defining death from both a medical and legal standpoint have made it difficult to create a single unifying definition.
One of the challenges in defining death is in distinguishing it from life. As a point in time, death seems to refer to the moment when life ends. Determining when death has occurred is difficult, as cessation of life functions is often not simultaneous across organ systems. Such determination, therefore, requires drawing precise conceptual boundaries between life and death. This is difficult due to there being little consensus on how to define life.
It is possible to define life in terms of consciousness. When consciousness ceases, an organism can be said to have died. One of the flaws in this approach is that there are many organisms that are alive but probably not conscious. Another problem is in defining consciousness, which has many different definitions given by modern scientists, psychologists and philosophers. Additionally, many religious traditions, including Abrahamic and Dharmic traditions, hold that death does not (or may not) entail the end of consciousness. In certain cultures, death is more of a process than a single event. It implies a slow shift from one spiritual state to another.
Other definitions for death focus on the character of cessation of organismic functioning and human death, which refers to irreversible loss of personhood. More specifically, death occurs when a living entity experiences irreversible cessation of all functioning. As it pertains to human life, death is an irreversible process where someone loses their existence as a person.
Historically, attempts to define the exact moment of a human's death have been subjective or imprecise. Death was defined as the cessation of heartbeat (cardiac arrest) and breathing, but the development of CPR and prompt defibrillation have rendered that definition inadequate because breathing and heartbeat can sometimes be restarted. This type of death where circulatory and respiratory arrest happens is known as the circulatory definition of death (CDD). Proponents of the CDD believe this definition is reasonable because a person with permanent loss of circulatory and respiratory function should be considered dead. Critics of this definition state that while cessation of these functions may be permanent, it does not mean the situation is irreversible because if CPR is applied fast enough, the person could be revived. Thus, the arguments for and against the CDD boil down to defining the actual words "permanent" and "irreversible," which further complicates the challenge of defining death. Furthermore, events causally linked to death in the past no longer kill in all circumstances; without a functioning heart or lungs, life can sometimes be sustained with a combination of life support devices, organ transplants, and artificial pacemakers.
Today, where a definition of the moment of death is required, doctors and coroners usually turn to "brain death" or "biological death" to define a person as being dead; people are considered dead when the electrical activity in their brain ceases. It is presumed that an end of electrical activity indicates the end of consciousness. Suspension of consciousness must be permanent and not transient, as occurs during certain sleep stages, and especially a coma. In the case of sleep, Electroencephalogram (EEGs) are used to tell the difference.
The category of "brain death" is seen as problematic by some scholars. For instance, Dr. Franklin Miller, a senior faculty member at the Department of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health, notes: "By the late 1990s... the equation of brain death with death of the human being was increasingly challenged by scholars, based on evidence regarding the array of biological functioning displayed by patients correctly diagnosed as having this condition who were maintained on mechanical ventilation for substantial periods of time. These patients maintained the ability to sustain circulation and respiration, control temperature, excrete wastes, heal wounds, fight infections and, most dramatically, to gestate fetuses (in the case of pregnant "brain-dead" women)."
While "brain death" is viewed as problematic by some scholars, there are proponents of it that believe this definition of death is the most reasonable for distinguishing life from death. The reasoning behind the support for this definition is that brain death has a set of criteria that is reliable and reproducible. Also, the brain is crucial in determining our identity or who we are as human beings. The distinction should be made that "brain death" cannot be equated with one in a vegetative state or coma, in that the former situation describes a state that is beyond recovery.
EEGs can detect spurious electrical impulses, while certain drugs, hypoglycemia, hypoxia, or hypothermia can suppress or even stop brain activity temporarily; because of this, hospitals have protocols for determining brain death involving EEGs at widely separated intervals under defined conditions.
People maintaining that only the neo-cortex of the brain is necessary for consciousness sometimes argue that only electrical activity should be considered when defining death. Eventually, the criterion for death may be the permanent and irreversible loss of cognitive function, as evidenced by the death of the cerebral cortex. All hope of recovering human thought and personality is then gone, given current and foreseeable medical technology. Even by whole-brain criteria, the determination of brain death can be complicated.
At present, in most places, the more conservative definition of death (– irreversible cessation of electrical activity in the whole brain, as opposed to just in the neo-cortex – )has been adopted. One example is the Uniform Determination Of Death Act in the United States. In the past, the adoption of this whole-brain definition was a conclusion of the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research in 1980. They concluded that this approach to defining death sufficed in reaching a uniform definition nationwide. A multitude of reasons was presented to support this definition, including uniformity of standards in law for establishing death, consumption of a family's fiscal resources for artificial life support, and legal establishment for equating brain death with death to proceed with organ donation.
Aside from the issue of support of or dispute against brain death, there is another inherent problem in this categorical definition: the variability of its application in medical practice. In 1995, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) established the criteria that became the medical standard for diagnosing neurologic death. At that time, three clinical features had to be satisfied to determine "irreversible cessation" of the total brain, including coma with clear etiology, cessation of breathing, and lack of brainstem reflexes. These criteria were updated again, most recently in 2010, but substantial discrepancies remain across hospitals and medical specialties.
The problem of defining death is especially imperative as it pertains to the dead donor rule, which could be understood as one of the following interpretations of the rule: there must be an official declaration of death in a person before starting organ procurement, or that organ procurement cannot result in the death of the donor. A great deal of controversy has surrounded the definition of death and the dead donor rule. Advocates of the rule believe that the rule is legitimate in protecting organ donors while also countering any moral or legal objection to organ procurement. Critics, on the other hand, believe that the rule does not uphold the best interests of the donors and that the rule does not effectively promote organ donation.
Signs of death or strong indications that a warm-blooded animal is no longer alive are:
The stages that follow after death are:
The death of a person has legal consequences that may vary between jurisdictions. Most countries follow the whole-brain death criteria, where all functions of the brain must have completely ceased. However, in other jurisdictions, some follow the brainstem version of brain death. Afterward, a death certificate is issued in most jurisdictions, either by a doctor or by an administrative office, upon presentation of a doctor's declaration of death.
There are many anecdotal references to people being declared dead by physicians and then "coming back to life," sometimes days later in their coffin or when embalming procedures are about to begin. From the mid-18th century onwards, there was an upsurge in the public's fear of being mistakenly buried alive and much debate about the uncertainty of the signs of death. Various suggestions were made to test for signs of life before burial, ranging from pouring vinegar and pepper into the corpse's mouth to applying red hot pokers to the feet or into the rectum. Writing in 1895, the physician J.C. Ouseley claimed that as many as 2,700 people were buried prematurely each year in England and Wales, although some estimates peg the figure to be closer to 800.
In cases of electric shock, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for an hour or longer can allow stunned nerves to recover, allowing an apparently dead person to survive. People found unconscious under icy water may survive if their faces are kept continuously cold until they arrive at an emergency room. This "diving response," in which metabolic activity and oxygen requirements are minimal, is something humans share with cetaceans called the mammalian diving reflex.
As medical technologies advance, ideas about when death occurs may have to be reevaluated in light of the ability to restore a person to vitality after longer periods of apparent death (as happened when CPR and defibrillation showed that cessation of heartbeat is inadequate as a decisive indicator of death). The lack of electrical brain activity may not be enough to consider someone scientifically dead. Therefore, the concept of information-theoretic death has been suggested as a better means of defining when true death occurs, though the concept has few practical applications outside the field of cryonics.
The leading cause of human death in developing countries is infectious disease. The leading causes in developed countries are atherosclerosis (heart disease and stroke), cancer, and other diseases related to obesity and aging. By an extremely wide margin, the largest unifying cause of death in the developed world is biological aging, leading to various complications known as aging-associated diseases. These conditions cause loss of homeostasis, leading to cardiac arrest, causing loss of oxygen and nutrient supply, causing irreversible deterioration of the brain and other tissues. Of the roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two thirds die of age-related causes. In industrialized nations, the proportion is much higher, approaching 90%. With improved medical capability, dying has become a condition to be managed.
In developing nations, inferior sanitary conditions and lack of access to modern medical technology make death from infectious diseases more common than in developed countries. One such disease is tuberculosis, a bacterial disease that killed 1.8 million people in 2015. Malaria causes about 400–900 million cases of fever and 1–3M deaths annually. The AIDS death toll in Africa may reach 90–100 million by 2025.
According to Jean Ziegler, the United Nations Special Reporter on the Right to Food, 2000 – Mar 2008, mortality due to malnutrition accounted for 58% of the total mortality rate in 2006. Ziegler says worldwide, approximately 62 million people died from all causes and of those deaths, more than 36 million died of hunger or diseases due to deficiencies in micronutrients.
Tobacco smoking killed 100 million people worldwide in the 20th century and could kill 1 billion people worldwide in the 21st century, a World Health Organization report warned.
Many leading developed world causes of death can be postponed by diet and physical activity, but the accelerating incidence of disease with age still imposes limits on human longevity. The evolutionary cause of aging is, at best, only beginning to be understood. It has been suggested that direct intervention in the aging process may now be the most effective intervention against major causes of death.
Selye proposed a unified non-specific approach to many causes of death. He demonstrated that stress decreases the adaptability of an organism and proposed to describe adaptability as a special resource, adaptation energy. The animal dies when this resource is exhausted. Selye assumed that adaptability is a finite supply presented at birth. Later, Goldstone proposed the concept of production or income of adaptation energy which may be stored (up to a limit) as a capital reserve of adaptation. In recent works, adaptation energy is considered an internal coordinate on the "dominant path" in the model of adaptation. It is demonstrated that oscillations of well-being appear when the reserve of adaptability is almost exhausted.
In 2012, suicide overtook car crashes as the leading cause of human injury deaths in the U.S., followed by poisoning, falls, and murder.
Accidents and disasters, from nuclear disasters to structural collapses, also claim lives. One of the deadliest incidents of all time is the Failure of the 1975 Banqiao Dam Failure, with varying estimates, up to 240,000 dead. Other incidents with high death tolls are; the Wanggongchang explosion when a gunpowder factory ended up with 20,000 deaths, a collapse of a wall of Circus Maximus killing 13,000 people, and the Chernobyl disaster killing between 95 and 4,000 people.
Natural disasters kill around 45,000 people annually, although this number can vary to millions to thousands on a per decade basis. Some of the deadliest natural disasters are the 1931 China Floods, which killed and estimated 4 million people, although, estimates widely vary, the 1887 Yellow River Flood, which killed an estimated 2 million people in China, and the 1970 Bhola Cyclone, killing 500,000 people in Pakistan.
In animals, predation can be a common cause of death. Livestock have a 6% death rate from predation. However, younger animals are more susceptible to predation. For example, 50% of young foxes die to birds, bobcats, coyotes, and other foxes as well. Young bear cubs in the Yellowstone National Park only have a 40% chance to survive to adulthood from other bears and predators.
An autopsy, also known as a postmortem examination or an obduction, is a medical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a human corpse to determine the cause and manner of a person's death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present. It is usually performed by a specialized medical doctor called a pathologist.
Autopsies are either performed for legal or medical purposes. A forensic autopsy is carried out when the cause of death may be a criminal matter, while a clinical or academic autopsy is performed to find the medical cause of death and is used in cases of unknown or uncertain death, or for research purposes. Autopsies can be further classified into cases where external examination suffices, and those where the body is dissected and an internal examination is conducted. Permission from next of kin may be required for internal autopsy in some cases. Once an internal autopsy is complete the body is generally reconstituted by sewing it back together.
A necropsy, which is not always a medical procedure, was a term previously used to describe an unregulated postmortem examination. In modern times, this term is more commonly associated with the corpses of animals.
Death before birth can happen in several ways: stillbirth, when the fetus dies before or during the delivery process; miscarriage, when the embryo dies before independent survival; and abortion, the artificial termination of the pregnancy. Stillbirth and miscarriage can happen for various reasons, while abortion is carried out purposely.
Stillbirth can happen right before or after the delivery of a fetus. It can result from defects of the fetus or risk factors present in the mother. Reductions of these factors, caesarean sections when risks are present, and early detection of birth defects have lowered the rate of stillbirth. However, 1% of births in the United States end in a stillbirth.
A miscarriage is defined by the World Health Organization as, "The expulsion or extraction from its mother of an embryo or fetus weighing 500g or less." Miscarriage is one of the most frequent problems in pregnancy, and is reported in around 12–15% of all clinical pregnancies; however, by including pregnancy losses during menstruation, it could be up to 17–22% of all pregnancies. There are many risk-factors involved in miscarriage; consumption of caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, drugs, having a previous miscarriage, and the use of abortion can increase the chances of having a miscarriage.
An abortion may be performed for many reasons, such as pregnancy from rape, financial constraints of having a child, teenage pregnancy, and the lack of support from a significant other. There are two forms of abortion: a medical abortion and an in-clinic abortion or sometimes referred to as a surgical abortion. A medical abortion involves taking a pill that will terminate the pregnancy no more than 11 weeks past the last period, and an in-clinic abortion involves a medical procedure using suction to empty the uterus; this is possible after 12 weeks, but it may be more difficult to find an operating doctor who will go through with the procedure.
Senescence refers to a scenario when a living being can survive all calamities but eventually dies due to causes relating to old age. Conversely, premature death can refer to a death that occurs before old age arrives, for example, human death before a person reaches the age of 75. Animal and plant cells normally reproduce and function during the whole period of natural existence, but the aging process derives from the deterioration of cellular activity and the ruination of regular functioning. The aptitude of cells for gradual deterioration and mortality means that cells are naturally sentenced to stable and long-term loss of living capacities, even despite continuing metabolic reactions and viability. In the United Kingdom, for example, nine out of ten of all the deaths that occur daily relates to senescence, while around the world, it accounts for two-thirds of 150,000 deaths that take place daily.
Almost all animals who survive external hazards to their biological functioning eventually die from biological aging, known in life sciences as "senescence." Some organisms experience negligible senescence, even exhibiting biological immortality. These include the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii, the hydra, and the planarian. Unnatural causes of death include suicide and predation. Of all causes, roughly 150,000 people die around the world each day. Of these, two-thirds die directly or indirectly due to senescence, but in industrialized countries – such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany – the rate approaches 90% (i.e., nearly nine out of ten of all deaths are related to senescence).
Physiological death is now seen as a process, more than an event: conditions once considered indicative of death are now reversible. Where in the process, a dividing line is drawn between life and death depends on factors beyond the presence or absence of vital signs. In general, clinical death is neither necessary nor sufficient for a determination of legal death. A patient with working heart and lungs determined to be brain dead can be pronounced legally dead without clinical death occurring.
Life extension refers to an increase in maximum or average lifespan, especially in humans, by slowing or reversing aging processes through anti-aging measures. Aging is the most common cause of death worldwide. Aging is seen as inevitable, so according to Aubrey de Grey little is spent on research into anti-aging therapies, a phenomenon known as pro-aging trance.
The average lifespan is determined by vulnerability to accidents and age or lifestyle-related afflictions such as cancer or cardiovascular disease. Extension of lifespan can be achieved by good diet, exercise, and avoidance of hazards such as smoking. Maximum lifespan is determined by the rate of aging for a species inherent in its genes. A recognized method of extending maximum lifespan is calorie restriction. Theoretically, the extension of the maximum lifespan can be achieved by reducing the rate of aging damage, by periodic replacement of damaged tissues, molecular repair or rejuvenation of deteriorated cells and tissues.
A United States poll found religious and irreligious people, as well as men and women and people of different economic classes, have similar rates of support for life extension, while Africans and Hispanics have higher rates of support than white people. 38% said they would desire to have their aging process cured.
Researchers of life extension can be known as "biomedical gerontologists." They try to understand aging, and develop treatments to reverse aging processes, or at least slow them for the improvement of health and maintenance of youthfulness. Those who use life extension findings and apply them to themselves are called "life extensionists" or "longevists." The primary life extension strategy currently is to apply anti-aging methods to attempt to live long enough to benefit from a cure for aging.
Cryonics (from Greek κρύος 'kryos-' meaning 'icy cold') is the low-temperature preservation of animals, including humans, who cannot be sustained by contemporary medicine, with the hope that healing and resuscitation may be possible in the future.
Cryopreservation of people and other large animals, is not reversible with current technology. The stated rationale for cryonics is that people who are considered dead by current legal or medical definitions, may not necessarily be dead according to the more stringent 'information-theoretic' definition of death.
Some scientific literature is claimed to support the feasibility of cryonics. Medical science and cryobiologists generally regard cryonics with skepticism.
Around 1930, most people in Western countries died in their own homes, surrounded by family, and comforted by clergy, neighbors, and doctors making house calls. By the mid-20th century, half of all Americans died in a hospital. By the start of the 21st century, only about 20 to 25% of people in developed countries died outside of a medical institution. The shift from dying at home towards dying in a professional medical environment has been termed the "Invisible Death." This shift occurred gradually over the years until most deaths now occur outside the home.
Death studies is a field within psychology. To varying degrees people inherently fear death, both the process and the eventuality; it is hard wired and part of the 'survival instinct' of all animals. Discussing, thinking about, or planning for their deaths causes them discomfort. This fear may cause them to put off financial planning, preparing a will and testament, or requesting help from a hospice organization.
Mortality salience is the awareness that death is inevitable. However, self-esteem and culture are ways to reduce the anxiety this effect can cause. The awareness of someone's own death can cause a deepened bond in their in-group as a defense mechanism. This can also cause the person to become very judging. In a study, two groups were formed; one group was asked to reflect upon their mortality, the other was not, afterwards, the groups were told to set a bond for a prostitute. The group that did not reflect on death had an average of $50, the group who was reminded about their death had an average of $455 dollars.
Different people have different responses to the idea of their deaths. Philosopher Galen Strawson writes that the death that many people wish for is an instant, painless, unexperienced annihilation. In this unlikely scenario, the person dies without realizing it and without being able to fear it. One moment the person is walking, eating, or sleeping, and the next moment, the person is dead. Strawson reasons that this type of death would not take anything away from the person, as he believes a person cannot have a legitimate claim to ownership in the future.
In society, the nature of death and humanity's awareness of its mortality has, for millennia, been a concern of the world's religious traditions and philosophical inquiry. Including belief in resurrection or an afterlife (associated with Abrahamic religions), reincarnation or rebirth (associated with Dharmic religions), or that consciousness permanently ceases to exist, known as eternal oblivion (associated with Secular humanism).
Commemoration ceremonies after death may include various mourning, funeral practices, and ceremonies of honoring the deceased. The physical remains of a person, commonly known as a corpse or body, are usually interred whole or cremated, though among the world's cultures, there are a variety of other methods of mortuary disposal. In the English language, blessings directed towards a dead person include rest in peace (originally the Latin, requiescat in pace) or its initialism RIP.
Death is the center of many traditions and organizations; customs relating to death are a feature of every culture around the world. Much of this revolves around the care of the dead, as well as the afterlife and the disposal of bodies upon the onset of death. The disposal of human corpses does, in general, begin with the last offices before significant time has passed, and ritualistic ceremonies often occur, most commonly interment or cremation. This is not a unified practice; in Tibet, for instance, the body is given a sky burial and left on a mountain top. Proper preparation for death and techniques and ceremonies for producing the ability to transfer one's spiritual attainments into another body (reincarnation) are subjects of detailed study in Tibet. Mummification or embalming is also prevalent in some cultures to retard the rate of decay.
Some parts of death in culture are legally based, having laws for when death occurs, such as the receiving of a death certificate, the settlement of the deceased estate, and the issues of inheritance and, in some countries, inheritance taxation.
Capital punishment is also a culturally divisive aspect of death. In most jurisdictions where capital punishment is carried out today, the death penalty is reserved for premeditated murder, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries, sexual crimes, such as adultery and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes, such as apostasy, the formal renunciation of one's religion. In many retentionist countries, drug trafficking is also a capital offense. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are also punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world, courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offenses such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny.
Death in warfare and suicide attack also have cultural links, and the ideas of dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, which translates to "It is sweet and proper to die for one's country," mutiny punishable by death, such as in the United States, grieving relatives of dead soldiers and death notification are embedded in many cultures. Recently in the western world, with the increase in terrorism following the September 11 attacks, but also further back in time with suicide bombings, kamikaze missions in World War II, and suicide missions in a host of other conflicts in history, death for a cause by way of suicide attack, and martyrdom have had significant cultural impacts.
Suicide, in general, and particularly euthanasia, are also points of cultural debate. Both acts are understood very differently in different cultures. In Japan, for example, ending a life with honor by seppuku was considered a desirable death, whereas according to traditional Christian and Islamic cultures, suicide is viewed as a sin.
Death is personified in many cultures, with such symbolic representations as the Grim Reaper, Azrael, the Hindu god Yama, and Father Time. In the west, the Grim Reaper, or figures similar to it, is the most popular depiction of death in western cultures.
In Brazil, death is counted officially when it is registered by existing family members at a cartório, a government-authorized registry. Before being able to file for an official death, the deceased must have been registered for an official birth at the cartório. Though a Public Registry Law guarantees all Brazilian citizens the right to register deaths, regardless of their financial means of their family members (often children), the Brazilian government has not taken away the burden, the hidden costs, and fees of filing for a death. For many impoverished families, the indirect costs and burden of filing for a death lead to a more appealing, unofficial, local, and cultural burial, which, in turn, raises the debate about inaccurate mortality rates.
Talking about death and witnessing it is a difficult issue in most cultures. Western societies may like to treat the dead with the utmost material respect, with an official embalmer and associated rites. Eastern societies (like India) may be more open to accepting it as a fait accompli, with a funeral procession of the dead body ending in an open-air burning-to-ashes.
The origin of death is a theme or myth of how death came to be. It is present in nearly all cultures across the world, as death is a universal happening. This makes it an origin myth, a myth that describes how a feature of the natural or social world appeared. There can be some similarities between myths and cultures. In North American mythology, the theme of a man who wants to be immortal and a man who wants to die can be seen across many Indigenous people. In Christianity, death is the result of the fall of man after eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In Greek mythology, the opening of Pandora's box releases death upon the world.
Much interest and debate surround the question of what happens to one's consciousness as one's body dies. The belief in the permanent loss of consciousness after death is often called eternal oblivion. The belief that the stream of consciousness is preserved after physical death is described by the term afterlife. Neither is likely to be confirmed without the ponderer having to die.
Near-death experiences are the closest thing people have to an afterlife that we know. Some people who have had near-death experiences (NDEs) report that they have seen the afterlife while they were dead. Seeing a being of light and talking with it, life flashing before the eyes, and the confirmation of cultural beliefs of the afterlife are all themes that happen during the moments they are dead.
After death, the remains of a former organism become part of the biogeochemical cycle, during which animals may be consumed by a predator or a scavenger. Organic material may then be further decomposed by detritivores, organisms that recycle detritus, returning it to the environment for reuse in the food chain, where these chemicals may eventually end up being consumed and assimilated into the cells of an organism. Examples of detritivores include earthworms, woodlice, and millipedes.
Microorganisms also play a vital role, raising the temperature of the decomposing matter as they break it down into yet simpler molecules. Not all materials need to be fully decomposed. Coal, a fossil fuel formed over vast tracts of time in swamp ecosystems, is one example.
The contemporary evolutionary theory sees death as an important part of the process of natural selection. It is considered that organisms less adapted to their environment are more likely to die, having produced fewer offspring, thereby reducing their contribution to the gene pool. Their genes are thus eventually bred out of a population, leading at worst to extinction and, more positively, making the process possible, referred to as speciation. Frequency of reproduction plays an equally important role in determining species survival: an organism that dies young but leaves numerous offspring displays, according to Darwinian criteria, much greater fitness than a long-lived organism leaving only one.
Death also has a role in competition, where if a species out-competes another, there is a risk of death for the population. Especially in the case where they are directly fighting over resources.
Death plays a role in extinction, the cessation of existence of a species or group of taxa, reducing biodiversity, due to extinction being generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species (although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point). Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively.
Inquiry into the evolution of aging aims to explain why so many living things and the vast majority of animals weaken and die with age. However, there are exceptions, such as Hydra and the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii, which research shows to be biologically immortal.
Organisms showing only asexual reproduction, such as bacteria, some protists, like the euglenoids and many amoebozoans, and unicellular organisms with sexual reproduction, colonial or not, like the volvocine algae Pandorina and Chlamydomonas, are "immortal" at some extent, dying only due to external hazards, like being eaten or meeting with a fatal accident. In multicellular organisms and also in multinucleate ciliates with a Weismannist development, that is, with a division of labor between mortal somatic (body) cells and "immortal" germ (reproductive) cells, death becomes an essential part of life, at least for the somatic line.
The Volvox algae are among the simplest organisms to exhibit that division of labor between two completely different cell types, and as a consequence, include the death of somatic line as a regular, genetically regulated part of its life history.
Animals have sometimes shown grief for their partners or "friends." When two chimpanzees form a bond together, sexual or not, and one of them dies, the surviving chimpanzee will show signs of grief, ripping out their hair in anger and starting to cry; if the body is removed, they will resist, they will eventually go quiet when the body is gone, but upon seeing the body again, the chimp will return to a violent state.
Some non-living things can be considered dead. For example, a volcano, batteries, electrical components, and stars are all nonliving things that can "die," whether from destruction or cessation of function.
A volcano, a break in the earth's crust that allows lava, ash, and gases to escape, has three states that it may be in, active, dormant, and extinct. An active volcano has recently or is currently erupting; in a dormant volcano, it has not erupted for a significant amount of time, but it may erupt again; in an extinct volcano, it may be cut off from the supply of its lava and will never expected to erupt again, so the volcano can be considered to be dead.
A battery can be considered dead after the charge is fully used up. Electrical components are similar in this fashion, in the case that it may not be able to be used again, such as after a spill of water on the components, the component can be considered dead.
Stars also have a life-span and, therefore, can die. After it starts to run out of fuel, it starts to expand, this can be analogous to the star aging. After it exhausts all fuel, it may explode in a supernova, collapse into a black hole, or turn into a neutron star.
In Buddhist doctrine and practice, death plays an important role. Awareness of death motivated Prince Siddhartha to strive to find the "deathless" and finally attain enlightenment. In Buddhist doctrine, death functions as a reminder of the value of having been born as a human being. Being reborn as a human being is considered the only state in which one can attain enlightenment. Therefore, death helps remind oneself that one should not take life for granted. The belief in rebirth among Buddhists does not necessarily remove death anxiety since all existence in the cycle of rebirth is considered filled with suffering, and being reborn many times does not necessarily mean that one progresses.
Death is part of several key Buddhist tenets, such as the Four Noble Truths and dependent origination.
While there are different sects of Christianity with different branches of belief, the overarching ideology on death grows from the knowledge of the afterlife. After death, the individual will undergo a separation from mortality to immortality; their soul leaves the body entering a realm of spirits. Following this separation of body and spirit (death), resurrection will occur. Representing the same transformation Jesus Christ embodied after his body was placed in the tomb for three days, each person's body will be resurrected, reuniting the spirit and body in a perfect form. This process allows the individual's soul to withstand death and transform into life after death.
In Hindu texts, death is described as the individual eternal spiritual jiva-atma (soul or conscious self) exiting the current temporary material body. The soul exits this body when the body can no longer sustain the conscious self (life), which may be due to mental or physical reasons or, more accurately, the inability to act on one's kama (material desires). During conception, the soul enters a compatible new body based on the remaining merits and demerits of one's karma (good/bad material activities based on dharma) and the state of one's mind (impressions or last thoughts) at the time of death.
Usually, the process of reincarnation makes one forget all memories of one's previous life. Because nothing really dies and the temporary material body is always changing, both in this life and the next, death means forgetfulness of one's previous experiences.
The Islamic view is that death is the separation of the soul from the body as well as the beginning of the afterlife. The afterlife, or akhirah, is one of the six main beliefs in Islam. Rather than seeing death as the end of life, Muslims consider death as a continuation of life in another form. In Islam, life on earth right now is a short, temporary life and a testing period for every soul. True life begins with the Day of Judgement when all people will be divided into two groups. The righteous believers will be welcomed to janna (heaven), and the disbelievers and evildoers will be punished in jahannam (hellfire).
Muslims believe death to be wholly natural and predetermined by God. Only God knows the exact time of a person's death. The Quran emphasizes that death is inevitable, no matter how much people try to escape death, it will reach everyone. (Q50:16) Life on earth is the one and only chance for people to prepare themselves for the life to come and choose to either believe or not believe in God, and death is the end of that learning opportunity.
There are a variety of beliefs about the afterlife within Judaism, but none of them contradict the preference for life over death. This is partially because death puts a cessation to the possibility of fulfilling any commandments.
The word "death" comes from Old English dēaþ, which in turn comes from Proto-Germanic *dauþuz (reconstructed by etymological analysis). This comes from the Proto-Indo-European stem *dheu- meaning the "process, act, condition of dying."
The concept and symptoms of death, and varying degrees of delicacy used in discussion in public forums, have generated numerous scientific, legal, and socially acceptable terms or euphemisms. When a person has died, it is also said they have "passed away", "passed on", "expired", or "gone", among other socially accepted, religiously specific, slang, and irreverent terms.
As a formal reference to a dead person, it has become common practice to use the participle form of "decease", as in "the deceased"; another noun form is "decedent".
Bereft of life, the dead person is a "corpse", "cadaver", "body", "set of remains" or, when all flesh is gone, a "skeleton". The terms "carrion" and "carcass" are also used, usually for dead non-human animals. The ashes left after a cremation are lately called "cremains". | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including the brainstem. Brain death is sometimes used as a legal definition of death. The remains of a former organism normally begins to decompose shortly after death. Death is an inevitable process that eventually occurs in all organisms. Some organisms, such as Turritopsis dohrnii, are biologically immortal. However, they can still die from means other than aging.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Determining when someone has definitively died has proven difficult. Initially, death was defined as occurring when breathing and the heartbeat ceased, a status still known as clinical death. However, the development of CPR meant it was no longer strictly irreversible. Brain death was the next option, but several definitions exist for this. Some people believe that all brain functions must cease. Some believe that even if the brainstem is still alive, the personality and identity are irretrievably lost, so therefore, the person should be entirely dead.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Death is generally applied to whole organisms; the similar process seen in individual components of an organism, such as cells or tissues, is necrosis. Something that is not considered an organism, such as a virus, can be physically destroyed but is not said to die, as a virus is not considered alive in the first place. As of the early 21st century, 56 million people die per year. The most common reason is cardiovascular disease, which is a disease that affects the heart.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Many cultures and religions have a concept of an afterlife that may hold the idea of judgment of good and bad deeds in one's life. There are also different customs for honoring the body, such as a funeral, cremation, or sky burial.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "A study known as biogerontology seeks to eliminate death by natural aging in humans, often through the application of natural processes found in certain organisms. However, as humans do not have the means to apply this to themselves, they have to use other ways to reach the maximum lifespan for a human, such as calorie reduction, dieting, and exercise.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "As of 2022, a total of 109 billion humans have died, or roughly 93.8% of all humans to ever live.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The concept of death is the key to human understanding of the phenomenon. There are many scientific approaches and various interpretations of the concept. Additionally, the advent of life-sustaining therapy and the numerous criteria for defining death from both a medical and legal standpoint have made it difficult to create a single unifying definition.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "One of the challenges in defining death is in distinguishing it from life. As a point in time, death seems to refer to the moment when life ends. Determining when death has occurred is difficult, as cessation of life functions is often not simultaneous across organ systems. Such determination, therefore, requires drawing precise conceptual boundaries between life and death. This is difficult due to there being little consensus on how to define life.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "It is possible to define life in terms of consciousness. When consciousness ceases, an organism can be said to have died. One of the flaws in this approach is that there are many organisms that are alive but probably not conscious. Another problem is in defining consciousness, which has many different definitions given by modern scientists, psychologists and philosophers. Additionally, many religious traditions, including Abrahamic and Dharmic traditions, hold that death does not (or may not) entail the end of consciousness. In certain cultures, death is more of a process than a single event. It implies a slow shift from one spiritual state to another.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Other definitions for death focus on the character of cessation of organismic functioning and human death, which refers to irreversible loss of personhood. More specifically, death occurs when a living entity experiences irreversible cessation of all functioning. As it pertains to human life, death is an irreversible process where someone loses their existence as a person.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Historically, attempts to define the exact moment of a human's death have been subjective or imprecise. Death was defined as the cessation of heartbeat (cardiac arrest) and breathing, but the development of CPR and prompt defibrillation have rendered that definition inadequate because breathing and heartbeat can sometimes be restarted. This type of death where circulatory and respiratory arrest happens is known as the circulatory definition of death (CDD). Proponents of the CDD believe this definition is reasonable because a person with permanent loss of circulatory and respiratory function should be considered dead. Critics of this definition state that while cessation of these functions may be permanent, it does not mean the situation is irreversible because if CPR is applied fast enough, the person could be revived. Thus, the arguments for and against the CDD boil down to defining the actual words \"permanent\" and \"irreversible,\" which further complicates the challenge of defining death. Furthermore, events causally linked to death in the past no longer kill in all circumstances; without a functioning heart or lungs, life can sometimes be sustained with a combination of life support devices, organ transplants, and artificial pacemakers.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Today, where a definition of the moment of death is required, doctors and coroners usually turn to \"brain death\" or \"biological death\" to define a person as being dead; people are considered dead when the electrical activity in their brain ceases. It is presumed that an end of electrical activity indicates the end of consciousness. Suspension of consciousness must be permanent and not transient, as occurs during certain sleep stages, and especially a coma. In the case of sleep, Electroencephalogram (EEGs) are used to tell the difference.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The category of \"brain death\" is seen as problematic by some scholars. For instance, Dr. Franklin Miller, a senior faculty member at the Department of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health, notes: \"By the late 1990s... the equation of brain death with death of the human being was increasingly challenged by scholars, based on evidence regarding the array of biological functioning displayed by patients correctly diagnosed as having this condition who were maintained on mechanical ventilation for substantial periods of time. These patients maintained the ability to sustain circulation and respiration, control temperature, excrete wastes, heal wounds, fight infections and, most dramatically, to gestate fetuses (in the case of pregnant \"brain-dead\" women).\"",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "While \"brain death\" is viewed as problematic by some scholars, there are proponents of it that believe this definition of death is the most reasonable for distinguishing life from death. The reasoning behind the support for this definition is that brain death has a set of criteria that is reliable and reproducible. Also, the brain is crucial in determining our identity or who we are as human beings. The distinction should be made that \"brain death\" cannot be equated with one in a vegetative state or coma, in that the former situation describes a state that is beyond recovery.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "EEGs can detect spurious electrical impulses, while certain drugs, hypoglycemia, hypoxia, or hypothermia can suppress or even stop brain activity temporarily; because of this, hospitals have protocols for determining brain death involving EEGs at widely separated intervals under defined conditions.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "People maintaining that only the neo-cortex of the brain is necessary for consciousness sometimes argue that only electrical activity should be considered when defining death. Eventually, the criterion for death may be the permanent and irreversible loss of cognitive function, as evidenced by the death of the cerebral cortex. All hope of recovering human thought and personality is then gone, given current and foreseeable medical technology. Even by whole-brain criteria, the determination of brain death can be complicated.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "At present, in most places, the more conservative definition of death (– irreversible cessation of electrical activity in the whole brain, as opposed to just in the neo-cortex – )has been adopted. One example is the Uniform Determination Of Death Act in the United States. In the past, the adoption of this whole-brain definition was a conclusion of the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research in 1980. They concluded that this approach to defining death sufficed in reaching a uniform definition nationwide. A multitude of reasons was presented to support this definition, including uniformity of standards in law for establishing death, consumption of a family's fiscal resources for artificial life support, and legal establishment for equating brain death with death to proceed with organ donation.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Aside from the issue of support of or dispute against brain death, there is another inherent problem in this categorical definition: the variability of its application in medical practice. In 1995, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) established the criteria that became the medical standard for diagnosing neurologic death. At that time, three clinical features had to be satisfied to determine \"irreversible cessation\" of the total brain, including coma with clear etiology, cessation of breathing, and lack of brainstem reflexes. These criteria were updated again, most recently in 2010, but substantial discrepancies remain across hospitals and medical specialties.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The problem of defining death is especially imperative as it pertains to the dead donor rule, which could be understood as one of the following interpretations of the rule: there must be an official declaration of death in a person before starting organ procurement, or that organ procurement cannot result in the death of the donor. A great deal of controversy has surrounded the definition of death and the dead donor rule. Advocates of the rule believe that the rule is legitimate in protecting organ donors while also countering any moral or legal objection to organ procurement. Critics, on the other hand, believe that the rule does not uphold the best interests of the donors and that the rule does not effectively promote organ donation.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Signs of death or strong indications that a warm-blooded animal is no longer alive are:",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The stages that follow after death are:",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The death of a person has legal consequences that may vary between jurisdictions. Most countries follow the whole-brain death criteria, where all functions of the brain must have completely ceased. However, in other jurisdictions, some follow the brainstem version of brain death. Afterward, a death certificate is issued in most jurisdictions, either by a doctor or by an administrative office, upon presentation of a doctor's declaration of death.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "There are many anecdotal references to people being declared dead by physicians and then \"coming back to life,\" sometimes days later in their coffin or when embalming procedures are about to begin. From the mid-18th century onwards, there was an upsurge in the public's fear of being mistakenly buried alive and much debate about the uncertainty of the signs of death. Various suggestions were made to test for signs of life before burial, ranging from pouring vinegar and pepper into the corpse's mouth to applying red hot pokers to the feet or into the rectum. Writing in 1895, the physician J.C. Ouseley claimed that as many as 2,700 people were buried prematurely each year in England and Wales, although some estimates peg the figure to be closer to 800.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "In cases of electric shock, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for an hour or longer can allow stunned nerves to recover, allowing an apparently dead person to survive. People found unconscious under icy water may survive if their faces are kept continuously cold until they arrive at an emergency room. This \"diving response,\" in which metabolic activity and oxygen requirements are minimal, is something humans share with cetaceans called the mammalian diving reflex.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "As medical technologies advance, ideas about when death occurs may have to be reevaluated in light of the ability to restore a person to vitality after longer periods of apparent death (as happened when CPR and defibrillation showed that cessation of heartbeat is inadequate as a decisive indicator of death). The lack of electrical brain activity may not be enough to consider someone scientifically dead. Therefore, the concept of information-theoretic death has been suggested as a better means of defining when true death occurs, though the concept has few practical applications outside the field of cryonics.",
"title": "Diagnosis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The leading cause of human death in developing countries is infectious disease. The leading causes in developed countries are atherosclerosis (heart disease and stroke), cancer, and other diseases related to obesity and aging. By an extremely wide margin, the largest unifying cause of death in the developed world is biological aging, leading to various complications known as aging-associated diseases. These conditions cause loss of homeostasis, leading to cardiac arrest, causing loss of oxygen and nutrient supply, causing irreversible deterioration of the brain and other tissues. Of the roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two thirds die of age-related causes. In industrialized nations, the proportion is much higher, approaching 90%. With improved medical capability, dying has become a condition to be managed.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "In developing nations, inferior sanitary conditions and lack of access to modern medical technology make death from infectious diseases more common than in developed countries. One such disease is tuberculosis, a bacterial disease that killed 1.8 million people in 2015. Malaria causes about 400–900 million cases of fever and 1–3M deaths annually. The AIDS death toll in Africa may reach 90–100 million by 2025.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "According to Jean Ziegler, the United Nations Special Reporter on the Right to Food, 2000 – Mar 2008, mortality due to malnutrition accounted for 58% of the total mortality rate in 2006. Ziegler says worldwide, approximately 62 million people died from all causes and of those deaths, more than 36 million died of hunger or diseases due to deficiencies in micronutrients.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Tobacco smoking killed 100 million people worldwide in the 20th century and could kill 1 billion people worldwide in the 21st century, a World Health Organization report warned.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Many leading developed world causes of death can be postponed by diet and physical activity, but the accelerating incidence of disease with age still imposes limits on human longevity. The evolutionary cause of aging is, at best, only beginning to be understood. It has been suggested that direct intervention in the aging process may now be the most effective intervention against major causes of death.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Selye proposed a unified non-specific approach to many causes of death. He demonstrated that stress decreases the adaptability of an organism and proposed to describe adaptability as a special resource, adaptation energy. The animal dies when this resource is exhausted. Selye assumed that adaptability is a finite supply presented at birth. Later, Goldstone proposed the concept of production or income of adaptation energy which may be stored (up to a limit) as a capital reserve of adaptation. In recent works, adaptation energy is considered an internal coordinate on the \"dominant path\" in the model of adaptation. It is demonstrated that oscillations of well-being appear when the reserve of adaptability is almost exhausted.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "In 2012, suicide overtook car crashes as the leading cause of human injury deaths in the U.S., followed by poisoning, falls, and murder.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Accidents and disasters, from nuclear disasters to structural collapses, also claim lives. One of the deadliest incidents of all time is the Failure of the 1975 Banqiao Dam Failure, with varying estimates, up to 240,000 dead. Other incidents with high death tolls are; the Wanggongchang explosion when a gunpowder factory ended up with 20,000 deaths, a collapse of a wall of Circus Maximus killing 13,000 people, and the Chernobyl disaster killing between 95 and 4,000 people.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Natural disasters kill around 45,000 people annually, although this number can vary to millions to thousands on a per decade basis. Some of the deadliest natural disasters are the 1931 China Floods, which killed and estimated 4 million people, although, estimates widely vary, the 1887 Yellow River Flood, which killed an estimated 2 million people in China, and the 1970 Bhola Cyclone, killing 500,000 people in Pakistan.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "In animals, predation can be a common cause of death. Livestock have a 6% death rate from predation. However, younger animals are more susceptible to predation. For example, 50% of young foxes die to birds, bobcats, coyotes, and other foxes as well. Young bear cubs in the Yellowstone National Park only have a 40% chance to survive to adulthood from other bears and predators.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "An autopsy, also known as a postmortem examination or an obduction, is a medical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a human corpse to determine the cause and manner of a person's death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present. It is usually performed by a specialized medical doctor called a pathologist.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Autopsies are either performed for legal or medical purposes. A forensic autopsy is carried out when the cause of death may be a criminal matter, while a clinical or academic autopsy is performed to find the medical cause of death and is used in cases of unknown or uncertain death, or for research purposes. Autopsies can be further classified into cases where external examination suffices, and those where the body is dissected and an internal examination is conducted. Permission from next of kin may be required for internal autopsy in some cases. Once an internal autopsy is complete the body is generally reconstituted by sewing it back together.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "A necropsy, which is not always a medical procedure, was a term previously used to describe an unregulated postmortem examination. In modern times, this term is more commonly associated with the corpses of animals.",
"title": "Causes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Death before birth can happen in several ways: stillbirth, when the fetus dies before or during the delivery process; miscarriage, when the embryo dies before independent survival; and abortion, the artificial termination of the pregnancy. Stillbirth and miscarriage can happen for various reasons, while abortion is carried out purposely.",
"title": "Death before birth"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Stillbirth can happen right before or after the delivery of a fetus. It can result from defects of the fetus or risk factors present in the mother. Reductions of these factors, caesarean sections when risks are present, and early detection of birth defects have lowered the rate of stillbirth. However, 1% of births in the United States end in a stillbirth.",
"title": "Death before birth"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "A miscarriage is defined by the World Health Organization as, \"The expulsion or extraction from its mother of an embryo or fetus weighing 500g or less.\" Miscarriage is one of the most frequent problems in pregnancy, and is reported in around 12–15% of all clinical pregnancies; however, by including pregnancy losses during menstruation, it could be up to 17–22% of all pregnancies. There are many risk-factors involved in miscarriage; consumption of caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, drugs, having a previous miscarriage, and the use of abortion can increase the chances of having a miscarriage.",
"title": "Death before birth"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "An abortion may be performed for many reasons, such as pregnancy from rape, financial constraints of having a child, teenage pregnancy, and the lack of support from a significant other. There are two forms of abortion: a medical abortion and an in-clinic abortion or sometimes referred to as a surgical abortion. A medical abortion involves taking a pill that will terminate the pregnancy no more than 11 weeks past the last period, and an in-clinic abortion involves a medical procedure using suction to empty the uterus; this is possible after 12 weeks, but it may be more difficult to find an operating doctor who will go through with the procedure.",
"title": "Death before birth"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Senescence refers to a scenario when a living being can survive all calamities but eventually dies due to causes relating to old age. Conversely, premature death can refer to a death that occurs before old age arrives, for example, human death before a person reaches the age of 75. Animal and plant cells normally reproduce and function during the whole period of natural existence, but the aging process derives from the deterioration of cellular activity and the ruination of regular functioning. The aptitude of cells for gradual deterioration and mortality means that cells are naturally sentenced to stable and long-term loss of living capacities, even despite continuing metabolic reactions and viability. In the United Kingdom, for example, nine out of ten of all the deaths that occur daily relates to senescence, while around the world, it accounts for two-thirds of 150,000 deaths that take place daily.",
"title": "Senescence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Almost all animals who survive external hazards to their biological functioning eventually die from biological aging, known in life sciences as \"senescence.\" Some organisms experience negligible senescence, even exhibiting biological immortality. These include the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii, the hydra, and the planarian. Unnatural causes of death include suicide and predation. Of all causes, roughly 150,000 people die around the world each day. Of these, two-thirds die directly or indirectly due to senescence, but in industrialized countries – such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany – the rate approaches 90% (i.e., nearly nine out of ten of all deaths are related to senescence).",
"title": "Senescence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Physiological death is now seen as a process, more than an event: conditions once considered indicative of death are now reversible. Where in the process, a dividing line is drawn between life and death depends on factors beyond the presence or absence of vital signs. In general, clinical death is neither necessary nor sufficient for a determination of legal death. A patient with working heart and lungs determined to be brain dead can be pronounced legally dead without clinical death occurring.",
"title": "Senescence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Life extension refers to an increase in maximum or average lifespan, especially in humans, by slowing or reversing aging processes through anti-aging measures. Aging is the most common cause of death worldwide. Aging is seen as inevitable, so according to Aubrey de Grey little is spent on research into anti-aging therapies, a phenomenon known as pro-aging trance.",
"title": "Life extension"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "The average lifespan is determined by vulnerability to accidents and age or lifestyle-related afflictions such as cancer or cardiovascular disease. Extension of lifespan can be achieved by good diet, exercise, and avoidance of hazards such as smoking. Maximum lifespan is determined by the rate of aging for a species inherent in its genes. A recognized method of extending maximum lifespan is calorie restriction. Theoretically, the extension of the maximum lifespan can be achieved by reducing the rate of aging damage, by periodic replacement of damaged tissues, molecular repair or rejuvenation of deteriorated cells and tissues.",
"title": "Life extension"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "A United States poll found religious and irreligious people, as well as men and women and people of different economic classes, have similar rates of support for life extension, while Africans and Hispanics have higher rates of support than white people. 38% said they would desire to have their aging process cured.",
"title": "Life extension"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Researchers of life extension can be known as \"biomedical gerontologists.\" They try to understand aging, and develop treatments to reverse aging processes, or at least slow them for the improvement of health and maintenance of youthfulness. Those who use life extension findings and apply them to themselves are called \"life extensionists\" or \"longevists.\" The primary life extension strategy currently is to apply anti-aging methods to attempt to live long enough to benefit from a cure for aging.",
"title": "Life extension"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Cryonics (from Greek κρύος 'kryos-' meaning 'icy cold') is the low-temperature preservation of animals, including humans, who cannot be sustained by contemporary medicine, with the hope that healing and resuscitation may be possible in the future.",
"title": "Life extension"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Cryopreservation of people and other large animals, is not reversible with current technology. The stated rationale for cryonics is that people who are considered dead by current legal or medical definitions, may not necessarily be dead according to the more stringent 'information-theoretic' definition of death.",
"title": "Life extension"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Some scientific literature is claimed to support the feasibility of cryonics. Medical science and cryobiologists generally regard cryonics with skepticism.",
"title": "Life extension"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Around 1930, most people in Western countries died in their own homes, surrounded by family, and comforted by clergy, neighbors, and doctors making house calls. By the mid-20th century, half of all Americans died in a hospital. By the start of the 21st century, only about 20 to 25% of people in developed countries died outside of a medical institution. The shift from dying at home towards dying in a professional medical environment has been termed the \"Invisible Death.\" This shift occurred gradually over the years until most deaths now occur outside the home.",
"title": "Location"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Death studies is a field within psychology. To varying degrees people inherently fear death, both the process and the eventuality; it is hard wired and part of the 'survival instinct' of all animals. Discussing, thinking about, or planning for their deaths causes them discomfort. This fear may cause them to put off financial planning, preparing a will and testament, or requesting help from a hospice organization.",
"title": "Psychology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Mortality salience is the awareness that death is inevitable. However, self-esteem and culture are ways to reduce the anxiety this effect can cause. The awareness of someone's own death can cause a deepened bond in their in-group as a defense mechanism. This can also cause the person to become very judging. In a study, two groups were formed; one group was asked to reflect upon their mortality, the other was not, afterwards, the groups were told to set a bond for a prostitute. The group that did not reflect on death had an average of $50, the group who was reminded about their death had an average of $455 dollars.",
"title": "Psychology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Different people have different responses to the idea of their deaths. Philosopher Galen Strawson writes that the death that many people wish for is an instant, painless, unexperienced annihilation. In this unlikely scenario, the person dies without realizing it and without being able to fear it. One moment the person is walking, eating, or sleeping, and the next moment, the person is dead. Strawson reasons that this type of death would not take anything away from the person, as he believes a person cannot have a legitimate claim to ownership in the future.",
"title": "Psychology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "In society, the nature of death and humanity's awareness of its mortality has, for millennia, been a concern of the world's religious traditions and philosophical inquiry. Including belief in resurrection or an afterlife (associated with Abrahamic religions), reincarnation or rebirth (associated with Dharmic religions), or that consciousness permanently ceases to exist, known as eternal oblivion (associated with Secular humanism).",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Commemoration ceremonies after death may include various mourning, funeral practices, and ceremonies of honoring the deceased. The physical remains of a person, commonly known as a corpse or body, are usually interred whole or cremated, though among the world's cultures, there are a variety of other methods of mortuary disposal. In the English language, blessings directed towards a dead person include rest in peace (originally the Latin, requiescat in pace) or its initialism RIP.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Death is the center of many traditions and organizations; customs relating to death are a feature of every culture around the world. Much of this revolves around the care of the dead, as well as the afterlife and the disposal of bodies upon the onset of death. The disposal of human corpses does, in general, begin with the last offices before significant time has passed, and ritualistic ceremonies often occur, most commonly interment or cremation. This is not a unified practice; in Tibet, for instance, the body is given a sky burial and left on a mountain top. Proper preparation for death and techniques and ceremonies for producing the ability to transfer one's spiritual attainments into another body (reincarnation) are subjects of detailed study in Tibet. Mummification or embalming is also prevalent in some cultures to retard the rate of decay.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Some parts of death in culture are legally based, having laws for when death occurs, such as the receiving of a death certificate, the settlement of the deceased estate, and the issues of inheritance and, in some countries, inheritance taxation.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Capital punishment is also a culturally divisive aspect of death. In most jurisdictions where capital punishment is carried out today, the death penalty is reserved for premeditated murder, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries, sexual crimes, such as adultery and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes, such as apostasy, the formal renunciation of one's religion. In many retentionist countries, drug trafficking is also a capital offense. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are also punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world, courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offenses such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Death in warfare and suicide attack also have cultural links, and the ideas of dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, which translates to \"It is sweet and proper to die for one's country,\" mutiny punishable by death, such as in the United States, grieving relatives of dead soldiers and death notification are embedded in many cultures. Recently in the western world, with the increase in terrorism following the September 11 attacks, but also further back in time with suicide bombings, kamikaze missions in World War II, and suicide missions in a host of other conflicts in history, death for a cause by way of suicide attack, and martyrdom have had significant cultural impacts.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Suicide, in general, and particularly euthanasia, are also points of cultural debate. Both acts are understood very differently in different cultures. In Japan, for example, ending a life with honor by seppuku was considered a desirable death, whereas according to traditional Christian and Islamic cultures, suicide is viewed as a sin.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Death is personified in many cultures, with such symbolic representations as the Grim Reaper, Azrael, the Hindu god Yama, and Father Time. In the west, the Grim Reaper, or figures similar to it, is the most popular depiction of death in western cultures.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "In Brazil, death is counted officially when it is registered by existing family members at a cartório, a government-authorized registry. Before being able to file for an official death, the deceased must have been registered for an official birth at the cartório. Though a Public Registry Law guarantees all Brazilian citizens the right to register deaths, regardless of their financial means of their family members (often children), the Brazilian government has not taken away the burden, the hidden costs, and fees of filing for a death. For many impoverished families, the indirect costs and burden of filing for a death lead to a more appealing, unofficial, local, and cultural burial, which, in turn, raises the debate about inaccurate mortality rates.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "Talking about death and witnessing it is a difficult issue in most cultures. Western societies may like to treat the dead with the utmost material respect, with an official embalmer and associated rites. Eastern societies (like India) may be more open to accepting it as a fait accompli, with a funeral procession of the dead body ending in an open-air burning-to-ashes.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "The origin of death is a theme or myth of how death came to be. It is present in nearly all cultures across the world, as death is a universal happening. This makes it an origin myth, a myth that describes how a feature of the natural or social world appeared. There can be some similarities between myths and cultures. In North American mythology, the theme of a man who wants to be immortal and a man who wants to die can be seen across many Indigenous people. In Christianity, death is the result of the fall of man after eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In Greek mythology, the opening of Pandora's box releases death upon the world.",
"title": "Society and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Much interest and debate surround the question of what happens to one's consciousness as one's body dies. The belief in the permanent loss of consciousness after death is often called eternal oblivion. The belief that the stream of consciousness is preserved after physical death is described by the term afterlife. Neither is likely to be confirmed without the ponderer having to die.",
"title": "Consciousness"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Near-death experiences are the closest thing people have to an afterlife that we know. Some people who have had near-death experiences (NDEs) report that they have seen the afterlife while they were dead. Seeing a being of light and talking with it, life flashing before the eyes, and the confirmation of cultural beliefs of the afterlife are all themes that happen during the moments they are dead.",
"title": "Consciousness"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "After death, the remains of a former organism become part of the biogeochemical cycle, during which animals may be consumed by a predator or a scavenger. Organic material may then be further decomposed by detritivores, organisms that recycle detritus, returning it to the environment for reuse in the food chain, where these chemicals may eventually end up being consumed and assimilated into the cells of an organism. Examples of detritivores include earthworms, woodlice, and millipedes.",
"title": "In biology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "Microorganisms also play a vital role, raising the temperature of the decomposing matter as they break it down into yet simpler molecules. Not all materials need to be fully decomposed. Coal, a fossil fuel formed over vast tracts of time in swamp ecosystems, is one example.",
"title": "In biology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "The contemporary evolutionary theory sees death as an important part of the process of natural selection. It is considered that organisms less adapted to their environment are more likely to die, having produced fewer offspring, thereby reducing their contribution to the gene pool. Their genes are thus eventually bred out of a population, leading at worst to extinction and, more positively, making the process possible, referred to as speciation. Frequency of reproduction plays an equally important role in determining species survival: an organism that dies young but leaves numerous offspring displays, according to Darwinian criteria, much greater fitness than a long-lived organism leaving only one.",
"title": "In biology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "Death also has a role in competition, where if a species out-competes another, there is a risk of death for the population. Especially in the case where they are directly fighting over resources.",
"title": "In biology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "Death plays a role in extinction, the cessation of existence of a species or group of taxa, reducing biodiversity, due to extinction being generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species (although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point). Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively.",
"title": "In biology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "Inquiry into the evolution of aging aims to explain why so many living things and the vast majority of animals weaken and die with age. However, there are exceptions, such as Hydra and the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii, which research shows to be biologically immortal.",
"title": "In biology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "Organisms showing only asexual reproduction, such as bacteria, some protists, like the euglenoids and many amoebozoans, and unicellular organisms with sexual reproduction, colonial or not, like the volvocine algae Pandorina and Chlamydomonas, are \"immortal\" at some extent, dying only due to external hazards, like being eaten or meeting with a fatal accident. In multicellular organisms and also in multinucleate ciliates with a Weismannist development, that is, with a division of labor between mortal somatic (body) cells and \"immortal\" germ (reproductive) cells, death becomes an essential part of life, at least for the somatic line.",
"title": "In biology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "The Volvox algae are among the simplest organisms to exhibit that division of labor between two completely different cell types, and as a consequence, include the death of somatic line as a regular, genetically regulated part of its life history.",
"title": "In biology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "Animals have sometimes shown grief for their partners or \"friends.\" When two chimpanzees form a bond together, sexual or not, and one of them dies, the surviving chimpanzee will show signs of grief, ripping out their hair in anger and starting to cry; if the body is removed, they will resist, they will eventually go quiet when the body is gone, but upon seeing the body again, the chimp will return to a violent state.",
"title": "In biology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "Some non-living things can be considered dead. For example, a volcano, batteries, electrical components, and stars are all nonliving things that can \"die,\" whether from destruction or cessation of function.",
"title": "In biology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "A volcano, a break in the earth's crust that allows lava, ash, and gases to escape, has three states that it may be in, active, dormant, and extinct. An active volcano has recently or is currently erupting; in a dormant volcano, it has not erupted for a significant amount of time, but it may erupt again; in an extinct volcano, it may be cut off from the supply of its lava and will never expected to erupt again, so the volcano can be considered to be dead.",
"title": "In biology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "A battery can be considered dead after the charge is fully used up. Electrical components are similar in this fashion, in the case that it may not be able to be used again, such as after a spill of water on the components, the component can be considered dead.",
"title": "In biology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "Stars also have a life-span and, therefore, can die. After it starts to run out of fuel, it starts to expand, this can be analogous to the star aging. After it exhausts all fuel, it may explode in a supernova, collapse into a black hole, or turn into a neutron star.",
"title": "In biology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "In Buddhist doctrine and practice, death plays an important role. Awareness of death motivated Prince Siddhartha to strive to find the \"deathless\" and finally attain enlightenment. In Buddhist doctrine, death functions as a reminder of the value of having been born as a human being. Being reborn as a human being is considered the only state in which one can attain enlightenment. Therefore, death helps remind oneself that one should not take life for granted. The belief in rebirth among Buddhists does not necessarily remove death anxiety since all existence in the cycle of rebirth is considered filled with suffering, and being reborn many times does not necessarily mean that one progresses.",
"title": "Religious views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "Death is part of several key Buddhist tenets, such as the Four Noble Truths and dependent origination.",
"title": "Religious views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "While there are different sects of Christianity with different branches of belief, the overarching ideology on death grows from the knowledge of the afterlife. After death, the individual will undergo a separation from mortality to immortality; their soul leaves the body entering a realm of spirits. Following this separation of body and spirit (death), resurrection will occur. Representing the same transformation Jesus Christ embodied after his body was placed in the tomb for three days, each person's body will be resurrected, reuniting the spirit and body in a perfect form. This process allows the individual's soul to withstand death and transform into life after death.",
"title": "Religious views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "In Hindu texts, death is described as the individual eternal spiritual jiva-atma (soul or conscious self) exiting the current temporary material body. The soul exits this body when the body can no longer sustain the conscious self (life), which may be due to mental or physical reasons or, more accurately, the inability to act on one's kama (material desires). During conception, the soul enters a compatible new body based on the remaining merits and demerits of one's karma (good/bad material activities based on dharma) and the state of one's mind (impressions or last thoughts) at the time of death.",
"title": "Religious views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "Usually, the process of reincarnation makes one forget all memories of one's previous life. Because nothing really dies and the temporary material body is always changing, both in this life and the next, death means forgetfulness of one's previous experiences.",
"title": "Religious views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "The Islamic view is that death is the separation of the soul from the body as well as the beginning of the afterlife. The afterlife, or akhirah, is one of the six main beliefs in Islam. Rather than seeing death as the end of life, Muslims consider death as a continuation of life in another form. In Islam, life on earth right now is a short, temporary life and a testing period for every soul. True life begins with the Day of Judgement when all people will be divided into two groups. The righteous believers will be welcomed to janna (heaven), and the disbelievers and evildoers will be punished in jahannam (hellfire).",
"title": "Religious views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "Muslims believe death to be wholly natural and predetermined by God. Only God knows the exact time of a person's death. The Quran emphasizes that death is inevitable, no matter how much people try to escape death, it will reach everyone. (Q50:16) Life on earth is the one and only chance for people to prepare themselves for the life to come and choose to either believe or not believe in God, and death is the end of that learning opportunity.",
"title": "Religious views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "There are a variety of beliefs about the afterlife within Judaism, but none of them contradict the preference for life over death. This is partially because death puts a cessation to the possibility of fulfilling any commandments.",
"title": "Religious views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "The word \"death\" comes from Old English dēaþ, which in turn comes from Proto-Germanic *dauþuz (reconstructed by etymological analysis). This comes from the Proto-Indo-European stem *dheu- meaning the \"process, act, condition of dying.\"",
"title": "Language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "The concept and symptoms of death, and varying degrees of delicacy used in discussion in public forums, have generated numerous scientific, legal, and socially acceptable terms or euphemisms. When a person has died, it is also said they have \"passed away\", \"passed on\", \"expired\", or \"gone\", among other socially accepted, religiously specific, slang, and irreverent terms.",
"title": "Language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "As a formal reference to a dead person, it has become common practice to use the participle form of \"decease\", as in \"the deceased\"; another noun form is \"decedent\".",
"title": "Language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "Bereft of life, the dead person is a \"corpse\", \"cadaver\", \"body\", \"set of remains\" or, when all flesh is gone, a \"skeleton\". The terms \"carrion\" and \"carcass\" are also used, usually for dead non-human animals. The ashes left after a cremation are lately called \"cremains\".",
"title": "Language"
}
] | Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including the brainstem. Brain death is sometimes used as a legal definition of death. The remains of a former organism normally begins to decompose shortly after death. Death is an inevitable process that eventually occurs in all organisms. Some organisms, such as Turritopsis dohrnii, are biologically immortal. However, they can still die from means other than aging. Determining when someone has definitively died has proven difficult. Initially, death was defined as occurring when breathing and the heartbeat ceased, a status still known as clinical death. However, the development of CPR meant it was no longer strictly irreversible. Brain death was the next option, but several definitions exist for this. Some people believe that all brain functions must cease. Some believe that even if the brainstem is still alive, the personality and identity are irretrievably lost, so therefore, the person should be entirely dead. Death is generally applied to whole organisms; the similar process seen in individual components of an organism, such as cells or tissues, is necrosis. Something that is not considered an organism, such as a virus, can be physically destroyed but is not said to die, as a virus is not considered alive in the first place. As of the early 21st century, 56 million people die per year. The most common reason is cardiovascular disease, which is a disease that affects the heart. Many cultures and religions have a concept of an afterlife that may hold the idea of judgment of good and bad deeds in one's life. There are also different customs for honoring the body, such as a funeral, cremation, or sky burial. A study known as biogerontology seeks to eliminate death by natural aging in humans, often through the application of natural processes found in certain organisms. However, as humans do not have the means to apply this to themselves, they have to use other ways to reach the maximum lifespan for a human, such as calorie reduction, dieting, and exercise. As of 2022, a total of 109 billion humans have died, or roughly 93.8% of all humans to ever live. | 2001-10-18T20:27:41Z | 2023-12-22T19:46:07Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death |
8,222 | Deseret alphabet | The Deseret alphabet (/ˌdɛzəˈrɛt/ ; Deseret: 𐐔𐐯𐑅𐐨𐑉𐐯𐐻 or 𐐔𐐯𐑆𐐲𐑉𐐯𐐻) is a phonemic English-language spelling reform developed between 1847 and 1854 by the board of regents of the University of Deseret under the leadership of Brigham Young, the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). George D. Watt is reported to have been the most actively involved in the development of the script's novel characters, which were used to replace those of Isaac Pitman's English phonotypic alphabet. He was also the "New Alphabet's" first serious user.
The Deseret alphabet was an outgrowth of the idealism and utopianism of Young and the early LDS Church. Young and the Mormon pioneers believed "all aspects of life" were in need of reform for the imminent millennium, and the Deseret alphabet was just one of many ways in which they sought to bring about a complete "transformation in society," in anticipation of the Second Coming of Jesus. Young wrote of the reform that "it would represent every sound used in the construction of any known language; and, in fact, a step and partial return to a pure language which has been promised unto us in the latter days," which meant the pure Adamic language spoken before the Tower of Babel.
In public statements, Young claimed the alphabet would replace the traditional Latin alphabet with an alternative, more phonetically accurate alphabet for the English language. This would offer immigrants an opportunity to learn to read and write English, the orthography of which, he said, is often less phonetically consistent than those of many other languages. Similar neographies have been attempted, the most well-known of which for English is the Shavian alphabet. Young also proposed teaching the alphabet in the school system, stating "It will be the means of introducing uniformity in our orthography, and the years that are now required to learn to read and spell can be devoted to other studies."
Between 1854 and 1869, the Alphabet was used in scriptural newspaper passages, selected church records, a few diaries, and some correspondence. Occasional street signs and posters used the new letters. In 1860 a $5 gold coin was embossed 𐐐𐐬𐑊𐐨𐑌𐐮𐑅 𐐻𐐭 𐑄 𐐢𐐫𐑉𐐼 (Holiness to the Lord). In 1868-9, after much difficulty creating suitable fonts, four books were printed: two school primers, the full Book of Mormon, and a first portion of it, intended as a third school reader.
Despite repeated and costly promotion by the early LDS Church, the alphabet never enjoyed widespread use, and it has been regarded by historians as a failure. However, in recent years, aided by digital typography, the Deseret Alphabet has been revived as a cultural heirloom.
The Deseret alphabet was a project of the Mormon pioneers, a group of early followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who, motivated by revelations of a unique premillennial eschatology, had set about building a unique theocracy in the Utah desert, which was then still part of Mexico, after the death of the church's founder, the prophet Joseph Smith. They were to build a "city of Zion" where converts would gather in preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. As part of that Gathering, in 1848, Church leaders urged converts in Europe to "emigrate as speedily as possible" to the Great Basin. There, in the "Kingdom of God," under fused theo-democratic leadership, they would be safe from the fall of the apostate world of so-called "Babylon."
March 6, 1849, Church authorities organized the "free and independent government" called the State of Deseret, while retaining the Council of Fifty. In that historical context, which has been called "The Forgotten Kingdom," there was a “compete identity of religious and temporal purpose throughout the history of the Alphabet." This theo-linguistic fusion has been noted by multiple historians.
The “New Alphabet” was intended to correct “the corruptions and perversions of language which was originally pure," and to meet the urgent need for a language to “answer the demands of a constant intercommunication between several thousand languages." One “fitted to meet the great emergency of the great gathering and great work of teaching the law of the Lord to all people.” This reformation of English orthography was a first step to the ultimate restoration of Adamic language for use in the anticipated millennial dispensation of the fulness of times.
The Deseret Typographical Association called the Alphabet "a forerunner in that series of developments which shall prepare mankind for the reception of pure language." Brigham Young, Church President and Prophet, the "driving force" for the reform, looked forward to the time "when a man is full of light of eternity," and stated, "I shall yet see the time that I can converse with this people without opening my mouth."
The Deseret alphabet was developed primarily by a committee made up of the board of regents of the University of Deseret, members of which included LDS Church leaders Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, and several of the other Apostles. According to Brigham Young University professor Richard G. Moore, most scholars believe that George D. Watt's contribution to the actual form the alphabet took, its unique glyphs, was the greatest; he furthermore "plant[ed] the idea of spelling reform in Brigham Young's mind" through a phonography class he gave after the death of Joseph Smith which Young attended. William W. Phelps helped "work out the letters" along with Pratt.
Before they decided on the Deseret alphabet, the attention of the board of regents was mostly focused on Pitman style alphabets, and in April 1847 Brigham Young nearly purchased 200 pounds (91 kg) of lead type to print books using Pitman's orthography. The University of Deseret was incorporated on 28 February 1850; less than three weeks later, on 20 March, the new board of regents began to discuss spelling reform.
On 29 November 1853, the committee was ready to approve a slightly modified version of the Pitman orthography, when Apostle Willard Richards, Second Counselor to Young, who had been deathly ill and missed the debate before the vote, saw the proposed alphabet, which spelled the word "phonetic" as "fɷnetic". Richards was quick to condemn it, saying to the committee: "We want a new kind of alphabet...those characters...seem like putting new wine into old bottles...I am inclined to think...we shall...throw away all characters that bear much resemblance to the English characters, and introduce an alphabet that is original...an alphabet entirely different from any alphabet in use."
These words persuaded Brigham Young and the rest of the committee, and Watt then endeavored to create an original alphabet. Less than two months later, on 19 January 1854, the board of regents finally approved the first 38-letter Deseret alphabet. One legacy of Pitman's orthography survived, though: the idea that one letter should equal one sound.
Upon the alphabet's acceptance, its first user was its principal architect, George D. Watt, who began writing the meeting minutes of the early Bishops in a cursive form of it in 1854. Almost immediately after its publication, church members began experimenting with it, and by 1855 travel writers Jules Remy and Julius Brenchley published a chart of the new alphabet which differed heavily from the 1854 version. Some early Mormons, such as Thales Hastings Haskell, began writing their personal journals in the new alphabet. Remy further reported that during his time in Salt Lake City, he saw signs on the street and above shops using the new alphabet.
After its approval by the board of regents, Brigham Young testified before the Utah territorial legislature that the new alphabet should "be thoroughly and extensively taught in all the schools." Some teaching in Utah schools did take place: John B. Milner taught the alphabet in Provo, Lehi, American Fork, and Pleasant Grove, while evening classes were taught in Salt Lake City and Farmington.
After several months' practice writing with the new alphabet, Watt wrote to Brigham Young that he was unhappy with it, and proposed a complete overhaul, which was never followed up on.
Word of the new alphabet soon spread outside Utah, and most press reports in non-Mormon papers were critical. Other writers, however, acquainted with other phonotypic and stenographic alphabets, ranged from neutral descriptions of the new alphabet to praise.
Until this point, all the printed material (mostly just charts of the alphabet and its standard orthography equivalents) had been produced with large wooden type, which was not suitable for printing at small sizes. Because the alphabet was wholly unique, no font existed, so in 1857 the board of regents appointed Erastus Snow to procure metal type from St. Louis-based font foundry Ladew & Peer. However, in May 1857 the Utah War began, and Snow left St. Louis to support the Mormon pioneers. During the war, Ladew & Peer kept working on the type, and the punches and matrices were delivered in the winter of 1858. The first use of the new type was to make a business card for George A. Smith, an early Mormon historian.
In 1859, with the new type in hand, the Deseret News began printing with it. It would print one piece per issue in the new alphabet, usually a quotation from The Book of Mormon or the New Testament. However, this only lasted for one year, after which the practice stopped; it would start again in May 1864 and stop permanently at the end of that year.
Their inscriptions read:
𐐜 𐐔𐐇𐐝𐐀𐐡𐐇𐐓 𐐙𐐊𐐡𐐝𐐓/𐐝𐐇𐐗𐐊𐐤𐐔 𐐒𐐋𐐗 𐐒𐐌 𐐜 𐐡𐐀𐐖𐐇𐐤𐐓𐐝 𐐱𐑂 𐑄 𐐔𐐇𐐝𐐀𐐡𐐇𐐓 𐐏𐐆𐐅𐐤𐐆𐐚𐐊𐐡𐐝𐐆𐐓𐐆 1868.
Benn Pitman, the brother of Isaac Pitman, was also interested in spelling reform, and by 1864 had published his own orthography, which the board of regents considered adopting. However, they ultimately decided not to and used the opportunity to re-affirm their commitment to the Deseret alphabet.
Brigham Young blamed the failure of this first attempt at reform on the ugliness of the type developed by Ladew & Peer, and so he commissioned Russell's American Steam Printing House, a New York City based font foundry, to design more pleasing type. The result was the Bodoni-esque font (below) that was used to print all of the books in this period. In an 1868 article, the Deseret News wrote that "the characters, to a person unaccustomed to them, may look strange, [but] to the eye to which they are familiar they are beautiful."
At least four books were published in the new alphabet, all transcribed by Orson Pratt and all using the Russell's House font: The First Deseret Alphabet Reader (1868), The Second Deseret Alphabet Reader (1868), The Book of Mormon (1869), and a Book of Mormon excerpt called First Nephi–Omni (1869).
Considerable non-printed material in the Deseret alphabet was made, including a replica headstone in Cedar City, Utah, some coinage, letters, diaries, and meeting minutes. One of the more curious items found in the Deseret alphabet is an English-Hopi dictionary prepared by two Mormon missionaries. The handwritten document sat in the LDS Church Archives, largely ignored until 2014 when writing system researcher and computer scientist Kenneth R. Beesley re-discovered it and transcribed it into standard written English.
Despite years of heavy promotion, the Deseret alphabet was never widely adopted. This reluctance was partly due to prohibitive costs; the project had already cost the early church $20,000, with $6,000 going to Pratt as remuneration for his transcription effort and most of the rest going to cutting metal type featuring the new alphabet and printing costs. In 1859, Orson Pratt estimated that the cost of supplying all Utah Territory schoolchildren with suitable textbooks would be over $5,000,000.
According to Beesley, many have written that interest in the Deseret alphabet died with Brigham Young. This, however, is not true; the alphabet was already regarded as a failure during Young's time. Only 500 copies of the full Book of Mormon translated into the Deseret alphabet sold for $2 each, and even Young realized that the venture was too expensive and even the most devout Mormons could not be convinced to purchase and study the Deseret edition books over the books in the traditional orthography. In the winter of 1870, just one year after their publication, advertisements for the Deseret alphabet books were quietly removed from the Deseret News.
Contemporary writers noted that thousands of copies of the 15¢ and 20¢ Deseret primers went unsold, and historian Roby Wentz speculated that the LDS Church at that time had a "cache" of the primers in mint condition, which it was slowly selling off; according to him, one such primer sold for $250 in 1978.
The Mormons had planned to use the profits from sale of the earlier books to fund printing of more books, and in anticipation Orson Pratt had already transcribed the complete Bible, Doctrine and Covenants, and John Jaques's Catechism for Children. Pratt had also prepared an apparent sequel to the primers, the Deseret Phonetic Speller. After the sales failure, however, none of these books were ever published and were thought lost until being rediscovered in a storage area of the LDS Church Archives in Salt Lake City in May 1967.
Ralph Vigoda, a reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, has speculated that the completion of the Transcontinental railroad may have contributed to the alphabet's downfall: non-Mormons, not loyal to Brigham Young, became a large part of the city, and without the religious motivation it would be difficult indeed to get them to learn a new alphabet. In a retrospective piece, historian A. J. Simmonds claims that the new railroad doomed the alphabet. According to him, easy access to "the whole literature of the English speaking world" rendered the alphabet useless.
In July 1877, Young tried one more time at a spelling reform, ordering lead type designed for the orthography of Benn Pitman (Isaac's brother) with the intention of printing an edition of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants using it. Most of the type had arrived by August, but with Young's death, the translation was never undertaken and the type never used. Young's death thus marked the end of the Mormon experimentation with English spelling reforms.
Modern digital typography has reduced the costs of typesetting substantially, especially for small print runs. Freely licensed Deseret alphabet fonts can be used at no additional cost.
Film director Trent Harris used the Deseret alphabet in his 1994 satire of Mormon theology, Plan 10 from Outer Space, where it features as an alien language used on a mysterious "Plaque of Kolob".
During the 1996 Utah Centennial celebration, an activity book for children was distributed, within which one of the activities was for a child to write their own name in the alphabet. The book says that a child who does this will be "the first kid in 100 years to write [their] name in the Deseret alphabet!"
Also in 1996, Buffalo River Press published a reprint of the Deseret First Book, of which only 10,000 were originally printed. The entire Book of Mormon in the Deseret alphabet has been likewise reprinted, as only 500 copies from the original print run exist, and they can sell on eBay for ≈$7,500 (as of 2004). In 1997, John Jenkins uploaded a free three part PDF of the so-called "triple combination", that is, a combined Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price.
John Jenkins has gone on to publish many classic pieces of English literature in the Deseret alphabet, such as Alice in Wonderland, Pride and Prejudice, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Owing to the character set's inclusion in Unicode, most of the original books and many of the original manuscripts have been transcribed into plain text, and, when this is not possible due to discrepancies between the Unicode reference glyphs and the documents, LaTeX.
The first digital font for the Deseret alphabet, called "Deseret", was designed by Greg Kearney as part of work he was doing for the LDS Church History Department in 1991; the font was used in an exhibit that year. In August 1995, a cleaned up, digitized version of the font in use in the Deseret Second Book was created by Salt Lake City graphic designer Edward Bateman, who made the font in Fontographer while working on Plan 10 from Outer Space.
Kenneth R. Beesley created a Metafont (and thus, LaTeX-compatible) font called desalph in 2002.
All computers running Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system or newer can display the entire Deseret alphabet Unicode range as the glyphs are included in the Segoe UI Symbol font.
Besides maintaining a Deseret input method for Windows, Joshua Erickson, a UCLA alumnus, also maintains a large collection of freeware Unicode fonts for the alphabet, which he collectively terms the "Bee Fonts."
There also exist free software fonts for the Deseret alphabet. Google, through its Noto Sans project, the aim of which is "to support all languages with a harmonious look and feel", has also released a Deseret font under the name "Noto Sans Deseret". George Douros maintains a public domain font called "Analecta" as part of his Unicode Fonts for Ancient Scripts project, which supports the Coptic, Gothic, and Deseret scripts. Deseret glyphs are also available in the popular pan-Unicode fonts Code2001 and Everson Mono (as of version 5.1.5).
Although the Deseret alphabet has letter case, usually the only difference between the minuscule and majuscule forms is that the majuscule forms are larger.
A degree of free spelling is allowed to accommodate dialectal differences in English. For example, in the Deseret edition of The Book of Mormon, the word "wherefore" is written as 𐐸𐐶𐐯𐑉𐑁𐐬𐑉 (/hwɛrfoʊr/), which means that the translator of the book did not exhibit the wine–whine merger. Those who do exhibit the merger might instead prefer the spelling 𐐶𐐯𐑉𐑁𐐬𐑉 to match the pronunciation (/wɛrfoʊr/), or, depending on dialect, perhaps 𐐶𐐯𐑉𐑁𐐫𐑉 (/wɛrfɔːr/).
The alphabet was designed to be able to write all of the vowels used in the dialect spoken in 19th century Utah. The vowel inventory has also been attributed to the fact that, unlike other American pioneers, the Mormon pioneers were from New England as opposed to the American South. As such, many of the vowels in the Deseret alphabet have since merged in the modern era: they are no longer distinguished in some dialects of English, particularly dialects of US English, though are still present in others, such as many varieties of British English.
Speakers who exhibit the father–bother merger no longer distinguish /ɑː/ (𐐪) and /ɒ/ (𐐱), and so both "father" and "bother" would be written with 𐐪: as 𐑁𐐪𐑄𐐲𐑉 and 𐐺𐐪𐑄𐐲𐑉 as opposed to 𐑁𐐪𐑄𐐲𐑉 and 𐐺𐐱𐑄𐐲𐑉. For those with the cot–caught merger, /ɔː/ (𐐫) and /ɒ/ (𐐱) are no longer distinguished: both "cot" and "caught" are thus written by them as 𐐿𐐱𐐻 (/kɒt/) in the case of North American English, and as 𐐿𐐫𐐻 (/kɔːt/) in the case of Scottish English. For those exhibiting both mergers, both would be written 𐐿𐐪𐐻 (/kɑːt/).
There have been several published versions of the alphabet. Most versions (including the versions used in The Deseret First Book, The Deseret Second Book, The Deseret News and The Book of Mormon) had only 38 letters, but some versions contained two ligatures, 𐐧 (ew) and 𐐦 (oi). In place of 𐐮𐐭 or 𐐷𐐭, 𐑏 was to be used; in place of 𐐱𐐮, 𐑎.
In the 23 February 1859 edition of the Deseret News, the editors announced their approval of the two new letters and eventual intention to use them in the newsletter. However, due to the hot metal typesetting technology in use at the time, casting the new letters for use would have been a considerable expense, so it was never realized.
The Deseret alphabet does not have a distinct symbol for the mid central vowel ([ə], "schwa"). The lack of a schwa has been cited as the biggest "phonological flaw" in the alphabet.
Because of the lack of a schwa, the author must write the sound that would be used if the word was stressed. For example, the word enough is commonly pronounced /əˈnʌf/, but when it is stressed (as in a declaration of irritation) it is pronounced /iˈnʌf/. The Deseret spelling of the word, 𐐨𐑌𐐲𐑁, reflects that stressed pronunciation. If [ə] does not have an inherent stressed value in a word, as is often the case before /r/, then it is written as 𐐲.
Marion J. Shelton, an early Mormon missionary, proposed the addition of a new glyph to represent the schwa, a simple vertical line of the same height as other Deseret characters with a similar appearance to the Turkish dotless i (ı). The addition of this glyph did not catch on among his contemporaries, however, and no document outside of ones penned by Shelton makes use of it. Shelton used the new glyph in an 1860 letter to Brigham Young reporting on a recently completed mission to the Paiute people.
Each letter in the Deseret alphabet has a name, and when a letter is written on its own it has the value of that name. This allows some short words to be written with a single letter, and is called a letter's "syllabic value". The most common word in English, the, is written simply 𐑄, as the letter's name is /ðiː/ and that is the stressed pronunciation of the word. The consonants with syllabic values are 𐐶 (woo), 𐐷 (yee), 𐐸 (ha), 𐐹 (pee), 𐐺 (be/bee), 𐐻 (tee/tea), 𐐽 (qi), 𐐾 (gee), 𐑀 (gay), and 𐑄 (the/thee).
Syllabic values do not apply within words, although this was formerly the case. In early documents, Watt writes "people" as 𐐹𐐹𐑊 with the expectation that readers will interpret the first 𐐹 as /piː/, but the second 𐐹 as /p/. This contextual value switching was soon done away with, so in later documents, while "bee" is written 𐐺, "bees" is written 𐐺𐐨𐑆.
In 40-letter versions of the alphabet which include the letter 𐐧 (ew) which represents /juː/, the letter 𐐧 when standing alone can be used to represent the word "you".
The first lesson in the Deseret First Book reads simply:
In the Deseret Second Book, there is a version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star on page 19:
There were two main handwritten forms of the Deseret alphabet: a cursive version and a printed version. Over the lifetime of the alphabet, the cursive form fell out of favor among most users of the alphabet and by 1856 no more cursive documents exist. Its impact on the glyphs can however still be plainly seen in the loops of certain characters such as 𐑅, 𐑀 and 𐐼. The earliest surviving versions of the Deseret alphabet, from 1853 (one year before its January 1854 approval), have printed and cursive forms side-by-side, suggesting that a cursive form was part of the plan from the very beginning.
The cursive form of the Deseret alphabet was mainly used by two people: George D. Watt, and James Henry Martineau. Watt, a stenographer, recorded several bishops meetings and wrote other personal documents in this cursive style. A chart of the cursive form appears below. The blue glyphs represent how to write each character, while the top row of printed glyphs shows the corresponding Unicode reference glyph.
The cursive style has many unorthodox characteristics uncommon to alphabetic writing systems. Vowels can be dropped if the writer is in a hurry and feels the word is obvious as in an abjad, letters can be written above or below the base line depending on what precedes them, and 𐐮 is placed on letters after they are already written as in an abugida. Furthermore, unlike the typeset alphabet, the cursive alphabet has no letter case. These characteristics could have arisen because Watt was a local expert in Pitman shorthand, which is written in a similar way.
The table below shows some examples of how the cursive form is written. Dropped vowels are marked in parentheses.
George D. Watt found his own alphabet cumbersome to write and abandoned it. As he wrote to Brigham Young on 21 August 1854:
Dear Bro. I herein submit for your examination the result of much thought and extensive practice on the new alphabet since the Board of Regents last met. I candidly confess that I never did like the present construction of the alphabet. I was not left as free as I could have wished to be in the construction of it. [...] I am now thoroughly convinced that it is not the most expeditious method of writing and printing, but on the contrary it retards the hand in its onward course.
His new alphabet closely resembled an 1853 publication of Isaac Pitman, containing only 33 letters. However, at this point, Young was still enamored with the original Deseret alphabet, and so he rejected the proposal and Watt continued to publicly promote the alphabet as part of his job despite his reservations.
After 1855, no more cursive documents appear, and all surviving journals are written in block letters. Marion J. Shelton, an early Mormon missionary who wrote a dictionary of the Hopi language in the alphabet, was a "typical" 40-letter Deseret writer, and his style of writing is shown below.
The Deseret alphabet was purposely designed so as to not have ascenders and descenders. This was envisioned as a practical benefit for the alphabet in an era of metal type: after many uses, the edges of type sorts become dull, and narrow ascenders and descenders are most prone to this effect.
While well intentioned, this lack has been described as a "catastrophic" mistake that makes type look "monotonous" and makes all words look alike. Some have drawn comparisons between the alphabet and the Old Turkic script, saying that writing in the new alphabet could be mistaken from afar as a Turkish tax list.
The Mormon pioneers were apparently aware of the problems caused by its monotony:
President Young has decided that [the letters] are not so well adapted for the purpose designed as it was hoped they would be. There being no shanks (ascenders or descenders) to the letters, all being very even, they are trying to the eye, because of their uniformity.
Other criticism of the design was harsher still. In an 18 December 1857 editorial in the Boston Globe, the alphabet was described as being "so arranged and named as to cause the greatest possible annoyance to outsiders" and the design of the letters as "incomprehensible as [...] the hieroglyphics of the [...] Egyptians." On 4 March 1872, The New York Times called the alphabet "rude, awkward and cumbersome."
Some modern computer fonts and printed books have attempted to correct this perceived fault: in the books in John Jenkins' Deseret Alphabet Classics series, the font used adds a descender to 𐑉 and 𐐻 and an ascender to 𐐼 and 𐑇 among other tweaks.
Officially, the Deseret alphabet was created to simplify the spelling of English words for the benefit of children and English as a second language learners. Some of the alphabet's contemporaries, however, posited an alternative motivation for its development: increasing the isolation of the early Mormons.
The charge that the Deseret alphabet's main purpose was to keep outsiders ("gentiles" in LDS terminology) in the dark was brought almost immediately, as evidenced by the following 1858 Lyttelton Times reprint of an unnamed "New York newspaper":
Mormon Secretiveness.—The new "Deseret Alphabet" is completed, and a fount of pica type has been cast in St. Louis. Specimens of the type are published in the St. Louis papers, but they are unproducible in types that common people use [...] The ukases of Brother Brigham will hereafter be a sealed letter, literally, to Gentile eyes.
Having obtained a copy of the Deseret News in 1859, the Richmond Dispatch disparaged it on April 25, writing "The Deseret News is filled with a lot of hieroglyphs. It seems to be [an alphabet] which the Mormons alone are to be taught."
Modern historians, however, doubt the veracity of this theory. For one thing, notes Kenneth R. Beesley, the Deseret News and every book published in the alphabet prominently features the key to the alphabet, and anyone without a key could have gotten a copy of A Journey to Great-Salt-Lake City, or traveled to Salt Lake City themselves and bought one. Contemporary scholars Richard F. Burton and Jules Remy also dismissed the secrecy argument, in 1860 and 1855 respectively.
With the impending completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, the Mormon pioneers would have easy, cheap access to publications from the east, including yellowbacks, penny dreadfuls, pulp magazines, and other often scandalous or dirty publications that were rising to prominence in the 19th century. Indeed, in an article about the benefits of the alphabet, the Deseret News proudly wrote:
If our community were situated as others are, it might be Quixotic to attempt the introduction of this reform among us with the hope of carrying it into practical operation. But our position is unique, we are united. [...] Some have an idea that if a child be educated in the system of spelling and writing by sound it will be a detriment to it in learning the present system. [...] If they could find no better reading than much of the miserable trash that now obtains extensive circulation, it would be better if they never learned to read the present orthography. In such a case ignorance would be blissful. [...] The greatest evils which now flourish and under which Christendom groans are directly traceable to the licentiousness of the press.
In another article, the Deseret News cited an example of the kind of literature Mormons would benefit from not being able to read: The Police Gazette. Historians A. J. Simmonds and Roby Wentz contend that while this may have been a tertiary goal of the alphabet, a sort of "happy accident", the main purpose of it was simple orthographic reform. Simmonds notes that the teaching of English to foreigners was not a mere hypothetical to mask isolationist tendencies: 35% of the Utah Territory's population at the time was Scandinavian, with German, Italian and Welsh speaking people also making up a considerable percentage of inhabitants; therefore, communication between the recently baptized and the community was a real problem.
The Deseret alphabet (U+10400–U+1044F) was added to the Unicode Standard in March 2001 with the release of version 3.1, after a request by John H. Jenkins of Apple, making it one of the first scripts to be added outside of the Basic Multilingual Plane. The letters 𐐧 (ew) and 𐐦 (oi) were added to the Unicode Standard in April 2003 with the release of version 4.0.
According to Kenneth R. Beesley, who submitted the proposal to expand the encoding, "Unicode fonts based on the current heterogeneous collection of glyphs will be useless for any practical typesetting of 40-letter Deseret Alphabet documents." This is because the Unicode Consortium chose to use glyphs from 1855 as the reference glyphs, while by 1859 those glyphs were already outmoded and replaced with newer glyphs. Beesley thus recommends using LaTeX along with his Metafont desalph font to typeset Deseret text, but fonts which use the alternate glyphs for the two codepoints in question would also work for transcription of 40-letter Deseret texts written during and after 1859.
On 25 February 2016, the Library of Congress approved an ALA-LC romanization for the Deseret alphabet. The table can be used to display approximations of titles in non-Latin scripts using the Latin alphabet for use in library catalogs that do not support non-Latin alphabets. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Deseret alphabet (/ˌdɛzəˈrɛt/ ; Deseret: 𐐔𐐯𐑅𐐨𐑉𐐯𐐻 or 𐐔𐐯𐑆𐐲𐑉𐐯𐐻) is a phonemic English-language spelling reform developed between 1847 and 1854 by the board of regents of the University of Deseret under the leadership of Brigham Young, the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). George D. Watt is reported to have been the most actively involved in the development of the script's novel characters, which were used to replace those of Isaac Pitman's English phonotypic alphabet. He was also the \"New Alphabet's\" first serious user.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The Deseret alphabet was an outgrowth of the idealism and utopianism of Young and the early LDS Church. Young and the Mormon pioneers believed \"all aspects of life\" were in need of reform for the imminent millennium, and the Deseret alphabet was just one of many ways in which they sought to bring about a complete \"transformation in society,\" in anticipation of the Second Coming of Jesus. Young wrote of the reform that \"it would represent every sound used in the construction of any known language; and, in fact, a step and partial return to a pure language which has been promised unto us in the latter days,\" which meant the pure Adamic language spoken before the Tower of Babel.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In public statements, Young claimed the alphabet would replace the traditional Latin alphabet with an alternative, more phonetically accurate alphabet for the English language. This would offer immigrants an opportunity to learn to read and write English, the orthography of which, he said, is often less phonetically consistent than those of many other languages. Similar neographies have been attempted, the most well-known of which for English is the Shavian alphabet. Young also proposed teaching the alphabet in the school system, stating \"It will be the means of introducing uniformity in our orthography, and the years that are now required to learn to read and spell can be devoted to other studies.\"",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Between 1854 and 1869, the Alphabet was used in scriptural newspaper passages, selected church records, a few diaries, and some correspondence. Occasional street signs and posters used the new letters. In 1860 a $5 gold coin was embossed 𐐐𐐬𐑊𐐨𐑌𐐮𐑅 𐐻𐐭 𐑄 𐐢𐐫𐑉𐐼 (Holiness to the Lord). In 1868-9, after much difficulty creating suitable fonts, four books were printed: two school primers, the full Book of Mormon, and a first portion of it, intended as a third school reader.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Despite repeated and costly promotion by the early LDS Church, the alphabet never enjoyed widespread use, and it has been regarded by historians as a failure. However, in recent years, aided by digital typography, the Deseret Alphabet has been revived as a cultural heirloom.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The Deseret alphabet was a project of the Mormon pioneers, a group of early followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who, motivated by revelations of a unique premillennial eschatology, had set about building a unique theocracy in the Utah desert, which was then still part of Mexico, after the death of the church's founder, the prophet Joseph Smith. They were to build a \"city of Zion\" where converts would gather in preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. As part of that Gathering, in 1848, Church leaders urged converts in Europe to \"emigrate as speedily as possible\" to the Great Basin. There, in the \"Kingdom of God,\" under fused theo-democratic leadership, they would be safe from the fall of the apostate world of so-called \"Babylon.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "March 6, 1849, Church authorities organized the \"free and independent government\" called the State of Deseret, while retaining the Council of Fifty. In that historical context, which has been called \"The Forgotten Kingdom,\" there was a “compete identity of religious and temporal purpose throughout the history of the Alphabet.\" This theo-linguistic fusion has been noted by multiple historians.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The “New Alphabet” was intended to correct “the corruptions and perversions of language which was originally pure,\" and to meet the urgent need for a language to “answer the demands of a constant intercommunication between several thousand languages.\" One “fitted to meet the great emergency of the great gathering and great work of teaching the law of the Lord to all people.” This reformation of English orthography was a first step to the ultimate restoration of Adamic language for use in the anticipated millennial dispensation of the fulness of times.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The Deseret Typographical Association called the Alphabet \"a forerunner in that series of developments which shall prepare mankind for the reception of pure language.\" Brigham Young, Church President and Prophet, the \"driving force\" for the reform, looked forward to the time \"when a man is full of light of eternity,\" and stated, \"I shall yet see the time that I can converse with this people without opening my mouth.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The Deseret alphabet was developed primarily by a committee made up of the board of regents of the University of Deseret, members of which included LDS Church leaders Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, and several of the other Apostles. According to Brigham Young University professor Richard G. Moore, most scholars believe that George D. Watt's contribution to the actual form the alphabet took, its unique glyphs, was the greatest; he furthermore \"plant[ed] the idea of spelling reform in Brigham Young's mind\" through a phonography class he gave after the death of Joseph Smith which Young attended. William W. Phelps helped \"work out the letters\" along with Pratt.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Before they decided on the Deseret alphabet, the attention of the board of regents was mostly focused on Pitman style alphabets, and in April 1847 Brigham Young nearly purchased 200 pounds (91 kg) of lead type to print books using Pitman's orthography. The University of Deseret was incorporated on 28 February 1850; less than three weeks later, on 20 March, the new board of regents began to discuss spelling reform.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "On 29 November 1853, the committee was ready to approve a slightly modified version of the Pitman orthography, when Apostle Willard Richards, Second Counselor to Young, who had been deathly ill and missed the debate before the vote, saw the proposed alphabet, which spelled the word \"phonetic\" as \"fɷnetic\". Richards was quick to condemn it, saying to the committee: \"We want a new kind of alphabet...those characters...seem like putting new wine into old bottles...I am inclined to think...we shall...throw away all characters that bear much resemblance to the English characters, and introduce an alphabet that is original...an alphabet entirely different from any alphabet in use.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "These words persuaded Brigham Young and the rest of the committee, and Watt then endeavored to create an original alphabet. Less than two months later, on 19 January 1854, the board of regents finally approved the first 38-letter Deseret alphabet. One legacy of Pitman's orthography survived, though: the idea that one letter should equal one sound.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Upon the alphabet's acceptance, its first user was its principal architect, George D. Watt, who began writing the meeting minutes of the early Bishops in a cursive form of it in 1854. Almost immediately after its publication, church members began experimenting with it, and by 1855 travel writers Jules Remy and Julius Brenchley published a chart of the new alphabet which differed heavily from the 1854 version. Some early Mormons, such as Thales Hastings Haskell, began writing their personal journals in the new alphabet. Remy further reported that during his time in Salt Lake City, he saw signs on the street and above shops using the new alphabet.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "After its approval by the board of regents, Brigham Young testified before the Utah territorial legislature that the new alphabet should \"be thoroughly and extensively taught in all the schools.\" Some teaching in Utah schools did take place: John B. Milner taught the alphabet in Provo, Lehi, American Fork, and Pleasant Grove, while evening classes were taught in Salt Lake City and Farmington.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "After several months' practice writing with the new alphabet, Watt wrote to Brigham Young that he was unhappy with it, and proposed a complete overhaul, which was never followed up on.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Word of the new alphabet soon spread outside Utah, and most press reports in non-Mormon papers were critical. Other writers, however, acquainted with other phonotypic and stenographic alphabets, ranged from neutral descriptions of the new alphabet to praise.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Until this point, all the printed material (mostly just charts of the alphabet and its standard orthography equivalents) had been produced with large wooden type, which was not suitable for printing at small sizes. Because the alphabet was wholly unique, no font existed, so in 1857 the board of regents appointed Erastus Snow to procure metal type from St. Louis-based font foundry Ladew & Peer. However, in May 1857 the Utah War began, and Snow left St. Louis to support the Mormon pioneers. During the war, Ladew & Peer kept working on the type, and the punches and matrices were delivered in the winter of 1858. The first use of the new type was to make a business card for George A. Smith, an early Mormon historian.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In 1859, with the new type in hand, the Deseret News began printing with it. It would print one piece per issue in the new alphabet, usually a quotation from The Book of Mormon or the New Testament. However, this only lasted for one year, after which the practice stopped; it would start again in May 1864 and stop permanently at the end of that year.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Their inscriptions read:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "𐐜 𐐔𐐇𐐝𐐀𐐡𐐇𐐓 𐐙𐐊𐐡𐐝𐐓/𐐝𐐇𐐗𐐊𐐤𐐔 𐐒𐐋𐐗 𐐒𐐌 𐐜 𐐡𐐀𐐖𐐇𐐤𐐓𐐝 𐐱𐑂 𐑄 𐐔𐐇𐐝𐐀𐐡𐐇𐐓 𐐏𐐆𐐅𐐤𐐆𐐚𐐊𐐡𐐝𐐆𐐓𐐆 1868.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Benn Pitman, the brother of Isaac Pitman, was also interested in spelling reform, and by 1864 had published his own orthography, which the board of regents considered adopting. However, they ultimately decided not to and used the opportunity to re-affirm their commitment to the Deseret alphabet.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Brigham Young blamed the failure of this first attempt at reform on the ugliness of the type developed by Ladew & Peer, and so he commissioned Russell's American Steam Printing House, a New York City based font foundry, to design more pleasing type. The result was the Bodoni-esque font (below) that was used to print all of the books in this period. In an 1868 article, the Deseret News wrote that \"the characters, to a person unaccustomed to them, may look strange, [but] to the eye to which they are familiar they are beautiful.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "At least four books were published in the new alphabet, all transcribed by Orson Pratt and all using the Russell's House font: The First Deseret Alphabet Reader (1868), The Second Deseret Alphabet Reader (1868), The Book of Mormon (1869), and a Book of Mormon excerpt called First Nephi–Omni (1869).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Considerable non-printed material in the Deseret alphabet was made, including a replica headstone in Cedar City, Utah, some coinage, letters, diaries, and meeting minutes. One of the more curious items found in the Deseret alphabet is an English-Hopi dictionary prepared by two Mormon missionaries. The handwritten document sat in the LDS Church Archives, largely ignored until 2014 when writing system researcher and computer scientist Kenneth R. Beesley re-discovered it and transcribed it into standard written English.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Despite years of heavy promotion, the Deseret alphabet was never widely adopted. This reluctance was partly due to prohibitive costs; the project had already cost the early church $20,000, with $6,000 going to Pratt as remuneration for his transcription effort and most of the rest going to cutting metal type featuring the new alphabet and printing costs. In 1859, Orson Pratt estimated that the cost of supplying all Utah Territory schoolchildren with suitable textbooks would be over $5,000,000.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "According to Beesley, many have written that interest in the Deseret alphabet died with Brigham Young. This, however, is not true; the alphabet was already regarded as a failure during Young's time. Only 500 copies of the full Book of Mormon translated into the Deseret alphabet sold for $2 each, and even Young realized that the venture was too expensive and even the most devout Mormons could not be convinced to purchase and study the Deseret edition books over the books in the traditional orthography. In the winter of 1870, just one year after their publication, advertisements for the Deseret alphabet books were quietly removed from the Deseret News.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Contemporary writers noted that thousands of copies of the 15¢ and 20¢ Deseret primers went unsold, and historian Roby Wentz speculated that the LDS Church at that time had a \"cache\" of the primers in mint condition, which it was slowly selling off; according to him, one such primer sold for $250 in 1978.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "The Mormons had planned to use the profits from sale of the earlier books to fund printing of more books, and in anticipation Orson Pratt had already transcribed the complete Bible, Doctrine and Covenants, and John Jaques's Catechism for Children. Pratt had also prepared an apparent sequel to the primers, the Deseret Phonetic Speller. After the sales failure, however, none of these books were ever published and were thought lost until being rediscovered in a storage area of the LDS Church Archives in Salt Lake City in May 1967.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Ralph Vigoda, a reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, has speculated that the completion of the Transcontinental railroad may have contributed to the alphabet's downfall: non-Mormons, not loyal to Brigham Young, became a large part of the city, and without the religious motivation it would be difficult indeed to get them to learn a new alphabet. In a retrospective piece, historian A. J. Simmonds claims that the new railroad doomed the alphabet. According to him, easy access to \"the whole literature of the English speaking world\" rendered the alphabet useless.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "In July 1877, Young tried one more time at a spelling reform, ordering lead type designed for the orthography of Benn Pitman (Isaac's brother) with the intention of printing an edition of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants using it. Most of the type had arrived by August, but with Young's death, the translation was never undertaken and the type never used. Young's death thus marked the end of the Mormon experimentation with English spelling reforms.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Modern digital typography has reduced the costs of typesetting substantially, especially for small print runs. Freely licensed Deseret alphabet fonts can be used at no additional cost.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Film director Trent Harris used the Deseret alphabet in his 1994 satire of Mormon theology, Plan 10 from Outer Space, where it features as an alien language used on a mysterious \"Plaque of Kolob\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "During the 1996 Utah Centennial celebration, an activity book for children was distributed, within which one of the activities was for a child to write their own name in the alphabet. The book says that a child who does this will be \"the first kid in 100 years to write [their] name in the Deseret alphabet!\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Also in 1996, Buffalo River Press published a reprint of the Deseret First Book, of which only 10,000 were originally printed. The entire Book of Mormon in the Deseret alphabet has been likewise reprinted, as only 500 copies from the original print run exist, and they can sell on eBay for ≈$7,500 (as of 2004). In 1997, John Jenkins uploaded a free three part PDF of the so-called \"triple combination\", that is, a combined Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "John Jenkins has gone on to publish many classic pieces of English literature in the Deseret alphabet, such as Alice in Wonderland, Pride and Prejudice, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Owing to the character set's inclusion in Unicode, most of the original books and many of the original manuscripts have been transcribed into plain text, and, when this is not possible due to discrepancies between the Unicode reference glyphs and the documents, LaTeX.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "The first digital font for the Deseret alphabet, called \"Deseret\", was designed by Greg Kearney as part of work he was doing for the LDS Church History Department in 1991; the font was used in an exhibit that year. In August 1995, a cleaned up, digitized version of the font in use in the Deseret Second Book was created by Salt Lake City graphic designer Edward Bateman, who made the font in Fontographer while working on Plan 10 from Outer Space.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Kenneth R. Beesley created a Metafont (and thus, LaTeX-compatible) font called desalph in 2002.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "All computers running Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system or newer can display the entire Deseret alphabet Unicode range as the glyphs are included in the Segoe UI Symbol font.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Besides maintaining a Deseret input method for Windows, Joshua Erickson, a UCLA alumnus, also maintains a large collection of freeware Unicode fonts for the alphabet, which he collectively terms the \"Bee Fonts.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "There also exist free software fonts for the Deseret alphabet. Google, through its Noto Sans project, the aim of which is \"to support all languages with a harmonious look and feel\", has also released a Deseret font under the name \"Noto Sans Deseret\". George Douros maintains a public domain font called \"Analecta\" as part of his Unicode Fonts for Ancient Scripts project, which supports the Coptic, Gothic, and Deseret scripts. Deseret glyphs are also available in the popular pan-Unicode fonts Code2001 and Everson Mono (as of version 5.1.5).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Although the Deseret alphabet has letter case, usually the only difference between the minuscule and majuscule forms is that the majuscule forms are larger.",
"title": "Alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "A degree of free spelling is allowed to accommodate dialectal differences in English. For example, in the Deseret edition of The Book of Mormon, the word \"wherefore\" is written as 𐐸𐐶𐐯𐑉𐑁𐐬𐑉 (/hwɛrfoʊr/), which means that the translator of the book did not exhibit the wine–whine merger. Those who do exhibit the merger might instead prefer the spelling 𐐶𐐯𐑉𐑁𐐬𐑉 to match the pronunciation (/wɛrfoʊr/), or, depending on dialect, perhaps 𐐶𐐯𐑉𐑁𐐫𐑉 (/wɛrfɔːr/).",
"title": "Alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "The alphabet was designed to be able to write all of the vowels used in the dialect spoken in 19th century Utah. The vowel inventory has also been attributed to the fact that, unlike other American pioneers, the Mormon pioneers were from New England as opposed to the American South. As such, many of the vowels in the Deseret alphabet have since merged in the modern era: they are no longer distinguished in some dialects of English, particularly dialects of US English, though are still present in others, such as many varieties of British English.",
"title": "Alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Speakers who exhibit the father–bother merger no longer distinguish /ɑː/ (𐐪) and /ɒ/ (𐐱), and so both \"father\" and \"bother\" would be written with 𐐪: as 𐑁𐐪𐑄𐐲𐑉 and 𐐺𐐪𐑄𐐲𐑉 as opposed to 𐑁𐐪𐑄𐐲𐑉 and 𐐺𐐱𐑄𐐲𐑉. For those with the cot–caught merger, /ɔː/ (𐐫) and /ɒ/ (𐐱) are no longer distinguished: both \"cot\" and \"caught\" are thus written by them as 𐐿𐐱𐐻 (/kɒt/) in the case of North American English, and as 𐐿𐐫𐐻 (/kɔːt/) in the case of Scottish English. For those exhibiting both mergers, both would be written 𐐿𐐪𐐻 (/kɑːt/).",
"title": "Alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "There have been several published versions of the alphabet. Most versions (including the versions used in The Deseret First Book, The Deseret Second Book, The Deseret News and The Book of Mormon) had only 38 letters, but some versions contained two ligatures, 𐐧 (ew) and 𐐦 (oi). In place of 𐐮𐐭 or 𐐷𐐭, 𐑏 was to be used; in place of 𐐱𐐮, 𐑎.",
"title": "Alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "In the 23 February 1859 edition of the Deseret News, the editors announced their approval of the two new letters and eventual intention to use them in the newsletter. However, due to the hot metal typesetting technology in use at the time, casting the new letters for use would have been a considerable expense, so it was never realized.",
"title": "Alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "The Deseret alphabet does not have a distinct symbol for the mid central vowel ([ə], \"schwa\"). The lack of a schwa has been cited as the biggest \"phonological flaw\" in the alphabet.",
"title": "Alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Because of the lack of a schwa, the author must write the sound that would be used if the word was stressed. For example, the word enough is commonly pronounced /əˈnʌf/, but when it is stressed (as in a declaration of irritation) it is pronounced /iˈnʌf/. The Deseret spelling of the word, 𐐨𐑌𐐲𐑁, reflects that stressed pronunciation. If [ə] does not have an inherent stressed value in a word, as is often the case before /r/, then it is written as 𐐲.",
"title": "Alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Marion J. Shelton, an early Mormon missionary, proposed the addition of a new glyph to represent the schwa, a simple vertical line of the same height as other Deseret characters with a similar appearance to the Turkish dotless i (ı). The addition of this glyph did not catch on among his contemporaries, however, and no document outside of ones penned by Shelton makes use of it. Shelton used the new glyph in an 1860 letter to Brigham Young reporting on a recently completed mission to the Paiute people.",
"title": "Alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Each letter in the Deseret alphabet has a name, and when a letter is written on its own it has the value of that name. This allows some short words to be written with a single letter, and is called a letter's \"syllabic value\". The most common word in English, the, is written simply 𐑄, as the letter's name is /ðiː/ and that is the stressed pronunciation of the word. The consonants with syllabic values are 𐐶 (woo), 𐐷 (yee), 𐐸 (ha), 𐐹 (pee), 𐐺 (be/bee), 𐐻 (tee/tea), 𐐽 (qi), 𐐾 (gee), 𐑀 (gay), and 𐑄 (the/thee).",
"title": "Alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Syllabic values do not apply within words, although this was formerly the case. In early documents, Watt writes \"people\" as 𐐹𐐹𐑊 with the expectation that readers will interpret the first 𐐹 as /piː/, but the second 𐐹 as /p/. This contextual value switching was soon done away with, so in later documents, while \"bee\" is written 𐐺, \"bees\" is written 𐐺𐐨𐑆.",
"title": "Alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "In 40-letter versions of the alphabet which include the letter 𐐧 (ew) which represents /juː/, the letter 𐐧 when standing alone can be used to represent the word \"you\".",
"title": "Alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "The first lesson in the Deseret First Book reads simply:",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "In the Deseret Second Book, there is a version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star on page 19:",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "There were two main handwritten forms of the Deseret alphabet: a cursive version and a printed version. Over the lifetime of the alphabet, the cursive form fell out of favor among most users of the alphabet and by 1856 no more cursive documents exist. Its impact on the glyphs can however still be plainly seen in the loops of certain characters such as 𐑅, 𐑀 and 𐐼. The earliest surviving versions of the Deseret alphabet, from 1853 (one year before its January 1854 approval), have printed and cursive forms side-by-side, suggesting that a cursive form was part of the plan from the very beginning.",
"title": "Handwriting"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "The cursive form of the Deseret alphabet was mainly used by two people: George D. Watt, and James Henry Martineau. Watt, a stenographer, recorded several bishops meetings and wrote other personal documents in this cursive style. A chart of the cursive form appears below. The blue glyphs represent how to write each character, while the top row of printed glyphs shows the corresponding Unicode reference glyph.",
"title": "Handwriting"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "",
"title": "Handwriting"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "The cursive style has many unorthodox characteristics uncommon to alphabetic writing systems. Vowels can be dropped if the writer is in a hurry and feels the word is obvious as in an abjad, letters can be written above or below the base line depending on what precedes them, and 𐐮 is placed on letters after they are already written as in an abugida. Furthermore, unlike the typeset alphabet, the cursive alphabet has no letter case. These characteristics could have arisen because Watt was a local expert in Pitman shorthand, which is written in a similar way.",
"title": "Handwriting"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "The table below shows some examples of how the cursive form is written. Dropped vowels are marked in parentheses.",
"title": "Handwriting"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "",
"title": "Handwriting"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "George D. Watt found his own alphabet cumbersome to write and abandoned it. As he wrote to Brigham Young on 21 August 1854:",
"title": "Handwriting"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Dear Bro. I herein submit for your examination the result of much thought and extensive practice on the new alphabet since the Board of Regents last met. I candidly confess that I never did like the present construction of the alphabet. I was not left as free as I could have wished to be in the construction of it. [...] I am now thoroughly convinced that it is not the most expeditious method of writing and printing, but on the contrary it retards the hand in its onward course.",
"title": "Handwriting"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "His new alphabet closely resembled an 1853 publication of Isaac Pitman, containing only 33 letters. However, at this point, Young was still enamored with the original Deseret alphabet, and so he rejected the proposal and Watt continued to publicly promote the alphabet as part of his job despite his reservations.",
"title": "Handwriting"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "After 1855, no more cursive documents appear, and all surviving journals are written in block letters. Marion J. Shelton, an early Mormon missionary who wrote a dictionary of the Hopi language in the alphabet, was a \"typical\" 40-letter Deseret writer, and his style of writing is shown below.",
"title": "Handwriting"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "",
"title": "Handwriting"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "The Deseret alphabet was purposely designed so as to not have ascenders and descenders. This was envisioned as a practical benefit for the alphabet in an era of metal type: after many uses, the edges of type sorts become dull, and narrow ascenders and descenders are most prone to this effect.",
"title": "Design criticism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "While well intentioned, this lack has been described as a \"catastrophic\" mistake that makes type look \"monotonous\" and makes all words look alike. Some have drawn comparisons between the alphabet and the Old Turkic script, saying that writing in the new alphabet could be mistaken from afar as a Turkish tax list.",
"title": "Design criticism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "The Mormon pioneers were apparently aware of the problems caused by its monotony:",
"title": "Design criticism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "President Young has decided that [the letters] are not so well adapted for the purpose designed as it was hoped they would be. There being no shanks (ascenders or descenders) to the letters, all being very even, they are trying to the eye, because of their uniformity.",
"title": "Design criticism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "Other criticism of the design was harsher still. In an 18 December 1857 editorial in the Boston Globe, the alphabet was described as being \"so arranged and named as to cause the greatest possible annoyance to outsiders\" and the design of the letters as \"incomprehensible as [...] the hieroglyphics of the [...] Egyptians.\" On 4 March 1872, The New York Times called the alphabet \"rude, awkward and cumbersome.\"",
"title": "Design criticism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "Some modern computer fonts and printed books have attempted to correct this perceived fault: in the books in John Jenkins' Deseret Alphabet Classics series, the font used adds a descender to 𐑉 and 𐐻 and an ascender to 𐐼 and 𐑇 among other tweaks.",
"title": "Design criticism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "Officially, the Deseret alphabet was created to simplify the spelling of English words for the benefit of children and English as a second language learners. Some of the alphabet's contemporaries, however, posited an alternative motivation for its development: increasing the isolation of the early Mormons.",
"title": "Other motives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "The charge that the Deseret alphabet's main purpose was to keep outsiders (\"gentiles\" in LDS terminology) in the dark was brought almost immediately, as evidenced by the following 1858 Lyttelton Times reprint of an unnamed \"New York newspaper\":",
"title": "Other motives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "Mormon Secretiveness.—The new \"Deseret Alphabet\" is completed, and a fount of pica type has been cast in St. Louis. Specimens of the type are published in the St. Louis papers, but they are unproducible in types that common people use [...] The ukases of Brother Brigham will hereafter be a sealed letter, literally, to Gentile eyes.",
"title": "Other motives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Having obtained a copy of the Deseret News in 1859, the Richmond Dispatch disparaged it on April 25, writing \"The Deseret News is filled with a lot of hieroglyphs. It seems to be [an alphabet] which the Mormons alone are to be taught.\"",
"title": "Other motives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "Modern historians, however, doubt the veracity of this theory. For one thing, notes Kenneth R. Beesley, the Deseret News and every book published in the alphabet prominently features the key to the alphabet, and anyone without a key could have gotten a copy of A Journey to Great-Salt-Lake City, or traveled to Salt Lake City themselves and bought one. Contemporary scholars Richard F. Burton and Jules Remy also dismissed the secrecy argument, in 1860 and 1855 respectively.",
"title": "Other motives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "With the impending completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, the Mormon pioneers would have easy, cheap access to publications from the east, including yellowbacks, penny dreadfuls, pulp magazines, and other often scandalous or dirty publications that were rising to prominence in the 19th century. Indeed, in an article about the benefits of the alphabet, the Deseret News proudly wrote:",
"title": "Other motives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "If our community were situated as others are, it might be Quixotic to attempt the introduction of this reform among us with the hope of carrying it into practical operation. But our position is unique, we are united. [...] Some have an idea that if a child be educated in the system of spelling and writing by sound it will be a detriment to it in learning the present system. [...] If they could find no better reading than much of the miserable trash that now obtains extensive circulation, it would be better if they never learned to read the present orthography. In such a case ignorance would be blissful. [...] The greatest evils which now flourish and under which Christendom groans are directly traceable to the licentiousness of the press.",
"title": "Other motives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "In another article, the Deseret News cited an example of the kind of literature Mormons would benefit from not being able to read: The Police Gazette. Historians A. J. Simmonds and Roby Wentz contend that while this may have been a tertiary goal of the alphabet, a sort of \"happy accident\", the main purpose of it was simple orthographic reform. Simmonds notes that the teaching of English to foreigners was not a mere hypothetical to mask isolationist tendencies: 35% of the Utah Territory's population at the time was Scandinavian, with German, Italian and Welsh speaking people also making up a considerable percentage of inhabitants; therefore, communication between the recently baptized and the community was a real problem.",
"title": "Other motives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "The Deseret alphabet (U+10400–U+1044F) was added to the Unicode Standard in March 2001 with the release of version 3.1, after a request by John H. Jenkins of Apple, making it one of the first scripts to be added outside of the Basic Multilingual Plane. The letters 𐐧 (ew) and 𐐦 (oi) were added to the Unicode Standard in April 2003 with the release of version 4.0.",
"title": "Encodings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "According to Kenneth R. Beesley, who submitted the proposal to expand the encoding, \"Unicode fonts based on the current heterogeneous collection of glyphs will be useless for any practical typesetting of 40-letter Deseret Alphabet documents.\" This is because the Unicode Consortium chose to use glyphs from 1855 as the reference glyphs, while by 1859 those glyphs were already outmoded and replaced with newer glyphs. Beesley thus recommends using LaTeX along with his Metafont desalph font to typeset Deseret text, but fonts which use the alternate glyphs for the two codepoints in question would also work for transcription of 40-letter Deseret texts written during and after 1859.",
"title": "Encodings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "On 25 February 2016, the Library of Congress approved an ALA-LC romanization for the Deseret alphabet. The table can be used to display approximations of titles in non-Latin scripts using the Latin alphabet for use in library catalogs that do not support non-Latin alphabets.",
"title": "Encodings"
}
] | The Deseret alphabet is a phonemic English-language spelling reform developed between 1847 and 1854 by the board of regents of the University of Deseret under the leadership of Brigham Young, the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. George D. Watt is reported to have been the most actively involved in the development of the script's novel characters, which were used to replace those of Isaac Pitman's English phonotypic alphabet. He was also the "New Alphabet's" first serious user. The Deseret alphabet was an outgrowth of the idealism and utopianism of Young and the early LDS Church. Young and the Mormon pioneers believed "all aspects of life" were in need of reform for the imminent millennium, and the Deseret alphabet was just one of many ways in which they sought to bring about a complete "transformation in society," in anticipation of the Second Coming of Jesus. Young wrote of the reform that "it would represent every sound used in the construction of any known language; and, in fact, a step and partial return to a pure language which has been promised unto us in the latter days," which meant the pure Adamic language spoken before the Tower of Babel. In public statements, Young claimed the alphabet would replace the traditional Latin alphabet with an alternative, more phonetically accurate alphabet for the English language. This would offer immigrants an opportunity to learn to read and write English, the orthography of which, he said, is often less phonetically consistent than those of many other languages. Similar neographies have been attempted, the most well-known of which for English is the Shavian alphabet. Young also proposed teaching the alphabet in the school system, stating "It will be the means of introducing uniformity in our orthography, and the years that are now required to learn to read and spell can be devoted to other studies." Between 1854 and 1869, the Alphabet was used in scriptural newspaper passages, selected church records, a few diaries, and some correspondence. Occasional street signs and posters used the new letters. In 1860 a $5 gold coin was embossed 𐐐𐐬𐑊𐐨𐑌𐐮𐑅 𐐻𐐭 𐑄 𐐢𐐫𐑉𐐼. In 1868-9, after much difficulty creating suitable fonts, four books were printed: two school primers, the full Book of Mormon, and a first portion of it, intended as a third school reader. Despite repeated and costly promotion by the early LDS Church, the alphabet never enjoyed widespread use, and it has been regarded by historians as a failure. However, in recent years, aided by digital typography, the Deseret Alphabet has been revived as a cultural heirloom. | 2001-07-25T18:28:43Z | 2023-12-28T14:02:27Z | [
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8,226 | Danish | Danish may refer to: | [
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] | Danish may refer to: Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark | 2001-09-23T07:16:38Z | 2023-12-15T14:22:33Z | [
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8,227 | Danish language | Danish (/ˈdeɪnɪʃ/ , DAY-nish; dansk pronounced [ˈtænˀsk] , dansk sprog [ˈtænˀsk ˈspʁɔwˀ]) is a North Germanic language spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are also found in Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the northern German region of Southern Schleswig, where it has minority language status. Minor Danish-speaking communities are also found in Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina.
Along with the other North Germanic languages, Danish is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples who lived in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. Danish, together with Swedish, derives from the East Norse dialect group, while the Middle Norwegian language (before the influence of Danish) and Norwegian Bokmål are classified as West Norse along with Faroese and Icelandic. A more recent classification based on mutual intelligibility separates modern spoken Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish as "mainland (or continental) Scandinavian", while Icelandic and Faroese are classified as "insular Scandinavian". Although the written languages are compatible, spoken Danish is distinctly different from Norwegian and Swedish and thus the degree of mutual intelligibility with either is variable between regions and speakers.
Until the 16th century, Danish was a continuum of dialects spoken from Southern Jutland and Schleswig to Scania with no standard variety or spelling conventions. With the Protestant Reformation and the introduction of the printing press, a standard language was developed which was based on the educated dialect of Copenhagen and Malmö. It spread through use in the education system and administration, though German and Latin continued to be the most important written languages well into the 17th century. Following the loss of territory to Germany and Sweden, a nationalist movement adopted the language as a token of Danish identity, and the language experienced a strong surge in use and popularity, with major works of literature produced in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, traditional Danish dialects have all but disappeared, though regional variants of the standard language exist. The main differences in language are between generations, with youth language being particularly innovative.
Danish has a very large vowel inventory consisting of 27 phonemically distinctive vowels, and its prosody is characterized by the distinctive phenomenon stød, a kind of laryngeal phonation type. Due to the many pronunciation differences that set Danish apart from its neighboring languages, particularly the vowels, difficult prosody and "weakly" pronounced consonants, it is sometimes considered to be a "difficult language to learn, acquire and understand", and some evidence shows that children are slower to acquire the phonological distinctions of Danish compared to other languages. The grammar is moderately inflective with strong (irregular) and weak (regular) conjugations and inflections. Nouns, adjectives, and demonstrative pronouns distinguish common and neutral gender. Like English, Danish only has remnants of a former case system, particularly in the pronouns. Unlike English, it has lost all person marking on verbs. Its word order is V2, with the finite verb always occupying the second slot in the sentence.
Danish is a Germanic language of the North Germanic branch. Other names for this group are the Nordic or Scandinavian languages. Along with Swedish, Danish descends from the Eastern dialects of the Old Norse language; Danish and Swedish are also classified as East Scandinavian or East Nordic languages.
Scandinavian languages are often considered a dialect continuum, where no sharp dividing lines are seen between the different vernacular languages.
Like Norwegian and Swedish, Danish was significantly influenced by Low German in the Middle Ages, and has been influenced by English since the turn of the 20th century.
Danish itself can be divided into three main dialect areas: Jutlandic (West Danish), Insular Danish (including the standard variety), and East Danish (including Bornholmian and Scanian). Under the view that Scandinavian is a dialect continuum, East Danish can be considered intermediary between Danish and Swedish, while Scanian can be considered a Swedified East Danish dialect, and Bornholmian is its closest relative.
Approximately 2,000 of Danish non-compound words are derived from the Old Norse language, and ultimately from Proto Indo-European. Of these 2000 words, 1200 are nouns, 500 are verbs, 180 are adjectives and the rest belong to other word classes. Danish has also absorbed a large number of loan words, most of which were borrowed from Middle Low German in the late medieval period. Out of the 500 most frequently used words in Danish, 100 are medieval loans from Middle Low German, as Low German was the other official language of Denmark–Norway. In the 17th and 18th centuries, standard German and French superseded Low German influence and in the 20th century, English became the main supplier of loan words, especially after World War II. Although many old Nordic words remain, some were replaced with borrowed synonyms, as can be seen with æde (to eat) which became less common when the Low German spise came into fashion. As well as loan words, new words are freely formed by compounding existing words. In standard texts of contemporary Danish, Middle Low German loans account for about 16–17% of the vocabulary, Graeco-Latin-loans 4–8%, French 2–4% and English about 1%.
Danish and English are both Germanic languages. Danish is a North Germanic language descended from Old Norse, and English is a West Germanic language descended from Old English. Old Norse exerted a strong influence on Old English in the early medieval period. To see their shared Germanic heritage, one merely has to note the many common words that are very similar in the two languages. For example, commonly used Danish verbs, nouns, and prepositions such as have, over, under, for, give, flag, salt, and kat are easily recognizable in their written form to English speakers. Similarly, some other words are almost identical to their Scots equivalents, e.g., kirke (Scots kirk, i.e., 'church') or barn (Scots bairn, i.e. 'child'). In addition, the word by, meaning "village" or "town", occurs in many English place-names, such as Whitby and Selby, as remnants of the Viking occupation. During the latter period, English adopted "are", the third person plural form of the verb "to be", as well as the corresponding personal pronoun form "they" from contemporary Old Norse.
Danish is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Swedish. Proficient speakers of any of the three languages can often understand the others fairly well, though studies have shown that the mutual intelligibility is asymmetric: speakers of Norwegian generally understand both Danish and Swedish far better than Swedes or Danes understand each other. Both Swedes and Danes also understand Norwegian better than they understand each other's languages. The reason Norwegian occupies a middle position in terms of intelligibility is because of its shared border with Sweden resulting in a similarity in pronunciation, combined with the long tradition of having Danish as a written language which has led to similarities in vocabulary. Among younger Danes, Copenhageners are worse at understanding Swedish than Danes from the provinces. In general, younger Danes are not as good at understanding the neighboring languages as Norwegian and Swedish youths.
The Danish philologist Johannes Brøndum-Nielsen divided the history of Danish into a period from 800 AD to 1525 to be "Old Danish", which he subdivided into "Runic Danish" (800–1100), Early Middle Danish (1100–1350) and Late Middle Danish (1350–1525).
Móðir Dyggva var Drótt, dóttir Danps konungs, sonar Rígs er fyrstr var konungr kallaðr á danska tungu. "Dyggvi's mother was Drott, the daughter of king Danp, Ríg's son, who was the first to be called king in the Danish tongue."
Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson
By the eighth century, the common Germanic language of Scandinavia, Proto-Norse, had undergone some changes and evolved into Old Norse. This language was generally called the "Danish tongue" (Dǫnsk tunga), or "Norse language" (Norrœnt mál). Norse was written in the runic alphabet, first with the elder futhark and from the 9th century with the younger futhark.
From the seventh century, the common Norse language began to undergo changes that did not spread to all of Scandinavia, resulting in the appearance of two dialect areas, Old West Norse (Norway and Iceland) and Old East Norse (Denmark and Sweden). Most of the changes separating East Norse from West Norse started as innovations in Denmark, that spread through Scania into Sweden and by maritime contact to southern Norway. A change that separated Old East Norse (Runic Swedish/Danish) from Old West Norse was the change of the diphthong æi (Old West Norse ei) to the monophthong e, as in stæin to sten. This is reflected in runic inscriptions where the older read stain and the later stin. Also, a change of au as in dauðr into ø as in døðr occurred. This change is shown in runic inscriptions as a change from tauþr into tuþr. Moreover, the øy (Old West Norse ey) diphthong changed into ø, as well, as in the Old Norse word for "island". This monophthongization started in Jutland and spread eastward, having spread throughout Denmark and most of Sweden by 1100.
Through Danish conquest, Old East Norse was once widely spoken in the northeast counties of England. Many words derived from Norse, such as "gate" (gade) for street, still survive in Yorkshire, the East Midlands and East Anglia, and parts of eastern England colonized by Danish Vikings. The city of York was once the Viking settlement of Jorvik. Several other English words derive from Old East Norse, for example "knife" (kniv), "husband" (husbond), and "egg" (æg). The suffix "-by" for 'town' is common in place names in Yorkshire and the east Midlands, for example Selby, Whitby, Derby, and Grimsby. The word "dale" meaning valley is common in Yorkshire and Derbyshire placenames.
Fangær man saar i hor seng mæth annæns mansz kunæ. oc kumær han burt liuænd.... "If one catches someone in the whore-bed with another man's wife and he comes away alive..."
Jutlandic Law, 1241
In the medieval period, Danish emerged as a separate language from Swedish. The main written language was Latin, and the few Danish-language texts preserved from this period are written in the Latin alphabet, although the runic alphabet seems to have lingered in popular usage in some areas. The main text types written in this period are laws, which were formulated in the vernacular language to be accessible also to those who were not Latinate. The Jutlandic Law and Scanian Law were written in vernacular Danish in the early 13th century. Beginning in 1350, Danish began to be used as a language of administration, and new types of literature began to be written in the language, such as royal letters and testaments. The orthography in this period was not standardized nor was the spoken language, and the regional laws demonstrate the dialectal differences between the regions in which they were written.
Throughout this period, Danish was in contact with Low German, and many Low German loan words were introduced in this period. With the Protestant Reformation in 1536, Danish also became the language of religion, which sparked a new interest in using Danish as a literary language. Also in this period, Danish began to take on the linguistic traits that differentiate it from Swedish and Norwegian, such as the stød, the voicing of many stop consonants, and the weakening of many final vowels to /e/.
The first printed book in Danish dates from 1495, the Rimkrøniken (Rhyming Chronicle), a history book told in rhymed verses. The first complete translation of the Bible in Danish, the Bible of Christian II translated by Christiern Pedersen, was published in 1550. Pedersen's orthographic choices set the de facto standard for subsequent writing in Danish. From around 1500, several printing presses were in operation in Denmark publishing in Danish and other languages. In the period after 1550, presses in Copenhagen dominated the publication of material in the Danish language.
Herrer og Narre have frit Sprog. "Lords and jesters have free speech."
Peder Syv, proverbs
Following the first Bible translation, the development of Danish as a written language, as a language of religion, administration, and public discourse accelerated. In the second half of the 17th century, grammarians elaborated grammars of Danish, first among them Rasmus Bartholin's 1657 Latin grammar De studio lingvæ danicæ; then Laurids Olufsen Kock's 1660 grammar of the Zealand dialect Introductio ad lingvam Danicam puta selandicam; and in 1685 the first Danish grammar written in Danish, Den Danske Sprog-Kunst ("The Art of the Danish Language") by Peder Syv. Major authors from this period are Thomas Kingo, poet and psalmist, and Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, whose novel Jammersminde (Remembered Woes) is considered a literary masterpiece by scholars. Orthography was still not standardized and the principles for doing so were vigorously discussed among Danish philologists. The grammar of Jens Pedersen Høysgaard was the first to give a detailed analysis of Danish phonology and prosody, including a description of the stød. In this period, scholars were also discussing whether it was best to "write as one speaks" or to "speak as one writes", including whether archaic grammatical forms that had fallen out of use in the vernacular, such as the plural form of verbs, should be conserved in writing (i.e. han er "he is" vs. de ere "they are").
The East Danish provinces were lost to Sweden after the Second Treaty of Brömsebro (1645) after which they were gradually Swedified; just as Norway was politically severed from Denmark, beginning also a gradual end of Danish influence on Norwegian (influence through the shared written standard language remained). With the introduction of absolutism in 1660, the Danish state was further integrated, and the language of the Danish chancellery, a Zealandic variety with German and French influence, became the de facto official standard language, especially in writing—this was the original so-called rigsdansk ("Danish of the Realm"). Also, beginning in the mid-18th century, the skarre-R, the uvular R sound ([ʁ]), began spreading through Denmark, likely through influence from Parisian French and German. It affected all of the areas where Danish had been influential, including all of Denmark, Southern Sweden, and coastal southern Norway.
In the 18th century, Danish philology was advanced by Rasmus Rask, who pioneered the disciplines of comparative and historical linguistics, and wrote the first English-language grammar of Danish. Literary Danish continued to develop with the works of Ludvig Holberg, whose plays and historical and scientific works laid the foundation for the Danish literary canon. With the Danish colonization of Greenland by Hans Egede, Danish became the administrative and religious language there, while Iceland and the Faroe Islands had the status of Danish colonies with Danish as an official language until the mid-20th century.
Moders navn er vort Hjertesprog, kun løs er al fremmed Tale. Det alene i mund og bog, kan vække et folk af dvale. "Mother's name is our hearts' tongue, only idle is all foreign speech It alone, in mouth or in book, can rouse a people from sleep."
N.F.S. Grundtvig, "Modersmaalet"
Following the loss of Schleswig to Germany, a sharp influx of German speakers moved into the area, eventually outnumbering the Danish speakers. The political loss of territory sparked a period of intense nationalism in Denmark, coinciding with the so-called "Golden Age" of Danish culture. Authors such as N.F.S. Grundtvig emphasized the role of language in creating national belonging. Some of the most cherished Danish-language authors of this period are existential philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and prolific fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen. The influence of popular literary role models, together with increased requirements of education did much to strengthen the Danish language, and also started a period of homogenization, whereby the Copenhagen standard language gradually displaced the regional vernacular languages. Throughout the 19th century, Danes emigrated, establishing small expatriate communities in the Americas, particularly in the United States, Canada, and Argentina, where memory and some use of Danish remains today.
After the Schleswig referendum in 1920, a number of Danes remained as a minority within German territories. After the occupation of Denmark by Germany in World War II, the 1948 orthography reform dropped the German-influenced rule of capitalizing nouns, and introduced the letter ⟨å⟩. Three 20th-century Danish authors have become Nobel Prize laureates in Literature: Karl Gjellerup and Henrik Pontoppidan (joint recipients in 1917) and Johannes V. Jensen (awarded 1944).
With the exclusive use of rigsdansk, the High Copenhagen Standard, in national broadcasting, the traditional dialects came under increased pressure. In the 20th century, they have all but disappeared, and the standard language has extended throughout the country. Minor regional pronunciation variation of the standard language, sometimes called regionssprog ("regional languages") remain, and are in some cases vital. Today, the major varieties of Standard Danish are High Copenhagen Standard, associated with elderly, well to-do, and well educated people of the capital, and low Copenhagen speech traditionally associated with the working class, but today adopted as the prestige variety of the younger generations. Also, in the 21st century, the influence of immigration has had linguistic consequences, such as the emergence of a so-called multiethnolect in the urban areas, an immigrant Danish variety (also known as Perkerdansk), combining elements of different immigrant languages such as Arabic, Turkish, and Kurdish, as well as English and Danish.
Within the Danish Realm, Danish is the national language of Denmark and one of two official languages of the Faroe Islands (alongside Faroese). A Faroese variant of Danish is known as Gøtudanskt. Until 2009, Danish had also been one of two official languages of Greenland (alongside Greenlandic). Danish is widely spoken in Greenland now as lingua franca, and an unknown portion of the native Greenlandic population has Danish as their first language; a large percentage of the native Greenlandic population speaks Danish as a second language since its introduction into the education system as a compulsory language in 1928. Danish was an official language in Iceland until 1944, but is today still widely used and is a mandatory subject in school taught as a second foreign language after English. Iceland was a territory ruled by Denmark–Norway, one of whose official languages was Danish. About 10% of the population of Greenland speak Danish as their first language owing to immigration.
No law stipulates an official language for Denmark, making Danish the de facto official language only. The Code of Civil Procedure does, however, lay down Danish as the language of the courts. Since 1997, public authorities have been obliged to observe the official spelling by way of the Orthography Law. In the 21st century, discussions have been held regarding creating a language law that would make Danish the official language of Denmark.
In addition, a noticeable community of Danish speakers is in Southern Schleswig, the portion of Germany bordering Denmark, and a variant of Standard Danish, Southern Schleswig Danish, is spoken in the area. Since 2015, Schleswig-Holstein has officially recognized Danish as a regional language, just as German is north of the border. Furthermore, Danish is one of the official languages of the European Union and one of the working languages of the Nordic Council. Under the Nordic Language Convention, Danish-speaking citizens of the Nordic countries have the opportunity to use their native language when interacting with official bodies in other Nordic countries without being liable for any interpretation or translation costs.
The more widespread of the two varieties of written Norwegian, Bokmål, is very close to Danish, because standard Danish was used as the de facto administrative language until 1814 and one of the official languages of Denmark–Norway. Bokmål is based on Danish, unlike the other variety of Norwegian, Nynorsk, which is based on the Norwegian dialects, with Old Norwegian as an important reference point. Also North Frisian and Gutnish (Gutamål) were influenced by Danish.
There are also Danish emigrant communities in other places of the world who still use the language in some form. In the Americas, Danish-speaking communities can be found in the US, Canada, Argentina and Brazil.
Standard Danish (rigsdansk) is the language based on dialects spoken in and around the capital, Copenhagen. Unlike Swedish and Norwegian, Danish does not have more than one regional speech norm. More than 25% of all Danish speakers live in the metropolitan area of the capital, and most government agencies, institutions, and major businesses keep their main offices in Copenhagen, which has resulted in a very homogeneous national speech norm.
Danish dialects can be divided into the traditional dialects, which differ from modern Standard Danish in both phonology and grammar, and the Danish accents or regional languages, which are local varieties of the Standard language distinguished mostly by pronunciation and local vocabulary colored by traditional dialects. Traditional dialects are now mostly extinct in Denmark, with only the oldest generations still speaking them.
Danish traditional dialects are divided into three main dialect areas:
Jutlandic is further divided into Southern Jutlandic and Northern Jutlandic, with Northern Jutlandic subdivided into North Jutlandic and West Jutlandic. Insular Danish is divided into Zealand, Funen, Møn, and Lolland-Falster dialect areas―each with addition internal variation. Bornholmian is the only Eastern Danish dialect spoken in Denmark. Since the Swedish conquest of the Eastern Danish provinces Skåne, Halland and Blekinge in 1645/1658, the Eastern Danish dialects there have come under heavy Swedish influence. Many residents now speak regional variants of Standard Swedish. However, many researchers still consider the dialects in Scania, Halland (hallandsk) and Blekinge (blekingsk) as part of the East Danish dialect group. The Swedish National Encyclopedia from 1995 classifies Scanian as an Eastern Danish dialect with South Swedish elements.
Traditional dialects differ in phonology, grammar, and vocabulary from standard Danish. Phonologically, one of the most diagnostic differences is the presence or absence of stød. Four main regional variants for the realization of stød are known: In Southeastern Jutlandic, Southernmost Funen, Southern Langeland, and Ærø, no stød is used, but instead a pitch accent (like in Norwegian, Swedish and Gutnish). South of a line (stødgrænsen, 'the stød border') going through central South Jutland, crossing Southern Funen and central Langeland and north of Lolland-Falster, Møn, Southern Zealand and Bornholm neither stød nor pitch accent exists. Most of Jutland and on Zealand use stød, and in Zealandic traditional dialects and regional language, stød occurs more often than in the standard language. In Zealand, the stød line divides Southern Zealand (without stød), an area which used to be directly under the Crown, from the rest of the Island that used to be the property of various noble estates.
Grammatically, a dialectally significant feature is the number of grammatical genders. Standard Danish has two genders and the definite form of nouns is formed by the use of suffixes, while Western Jutlandic has only one gender and the definite form of nouns uses an article before the noun itself, in the same fashion as West Germanic languages. The Bornholmian dialect has maintained to this day many archaic features, such as a distinction between three grammatical genders. Insular Danish traditional dialects also conserved three grammatical genders. By 1900, Zealand insular dialects had been reduced to two genders under influence from the standard language, but other Insular varieties, such as Funen dialect had not. Besides using three genders, the old Insular or Funen dialect, could also use personal pronouns (like he and she) in certain cases, particularly referring to animals. A classic example in traditional Funen dialect is the sentence: "Katti, han får unger", literally The cat, he is having kittens, because cat is a masculine noun, thus is referred to as han (he), even if it is a female cat.
The sound system of Danish is unusual, particularly in its large vowel inventory and in the unusual prosody. In informal or rapid speech, the language is prone to considerable reduction of unstressed syllables, creating many vowel-less syllables with syllabic consonants, as well as reduction of final consonants. Furthermore, the language's prosody does not include many clues about the sentence structure, unlike many other languages, making it relatively more difficult to perceive the different sounds of the speech flow. These factors taken together make Danish pronunciation difficult to master for learners, and Danish children are indicated to take slightly longer in learning to segment speech in early childhood.
Although somewhat depending on analysis, most modern variants of Danish distinguish 12 long vowels, 13 short vowels, and two central vowels, /ə/ and /ɐ/, which only occur in unstressed syllables. This gives a total of 27 different vowel phonemes – a very large number among the world's languages. At least 19 different diphthongs also occur, all with a short first vowel and the second segment being either [j], [w], or [ɐ̯]. The table below shows the approximate distribution of the vowels as given by Grønnum (1998a) in Modern Standard Danish, with the symbols used in IPA/Danish. Questions of analysis may give a slightly different inventory, for example based on whether r-colored vowels are considered distinct phonemes. Basbøll (2005:50) gives 25 "full vowels", not counting the two unstressed "schwa" vowels.
The consonant inventory is comparatively simple. Basbøll (2005:73) distinguishes 17 non-syllabic consonant phonemes in Danish.
Many of these phonemes have quite different allophones in onset and coda where intervocalic consonants followed by a full vowel are treated as in onset, otherwise as in coda. Phonetically there is no voicing distinction among the stops, rather the distinction is one of aspiration. /p t k/ are aspirated in onset realized as [pʰ, tsʰ, kʰ], but not in coda. The pronunciation of t, [tsʰ], is in between a simple aspirated [tʰ] and a fully affricated [tsʰ] (as has happened in German with the second High German consonant shift from t to z). There is dialectal variation, and some Jutlandic dialects may be less affricated than other varieties, with Northern and Western Jutlandic traditional dialects having an almost unaspirated dry t.
/v/ is pronounced as a [w] in syllable coda, so e.g. /ɡraːvə/ (grave) is pronounced [kʁɑːwə].
[ʋ, ð] often have slight frication, but are usually pronounced as approximants. Danish [ð] differs from the English sound that is conventionally transcribed with the same IPA symbol, in that it is not a dental fricative but an alveolar approximant which is frequently heard as [l] by second language learners.
The sound [ɕ] is found for example in the word /sjovˀ/ "fun" pronounced [ɕɒwˀ] and /tjalˀ/ "marijuana" pronounced [tɕælˀ]. Some analyses have posited it as a phoneme, but since it occurs only after /s/ or /t/ and [j] does not occur after these phonemes, it can be analyzed as an allophone of /j/, which is devoiced after voiceless alveolar frication. This makes it unnecessary to postulate a /ɕ/-phoneme in Danish. Jutlandic dialects often lack the sound [ɕ] and pronounce the sj cluster as [sj] or [sç].
In onset /r/ is realized as a uvular-pharyngeal approximant, [ʁ], but in coda it is either realized as a non-syllabic low central vowel, [ɐ̯] or simply coalesces with the preceding vowel. The phenomenon is comparable to the r in German or in non-rhotic pronunciations of English. The Danish realization of /r/ as guttural – the so-called skarre-r – distinguishes the language from those varieties of Norwegian and Swedish that use trilled [r]. Only very few, middle-aged or elderly, speakers of Jutlandic retain a frontal /r/ which is then usually realised as a flapped [ɾ] or approximant [ɹ].
Danish is characterized by a prosodic feature called stød (lit. "thrust"). This is a form of laryngealization or creaky voice. Some sources have described it as a glottal stop, but this is a very infrequent realization, and today phoneticians consider it a phonation type or a prosodic phenomenon. The occurrence is also dependent on stress, and some varieties also realize it primarily as a tone. The stød has phonemic status, since it serves as the sole distinguishing feature of words with different meanings in minimal pairs such as bønder ("peasants") with stød, versus bønner ("beans") without stød. The distribution of stød in the vocabulary is related to the distribution of the common Scandinavian pitch accents found in most dialects of Norwegian and Swedish.
Stress is phonemic and distinguishes words such as billigst /ˈbilisd/ "cheapest" and bilist /biˈlisd/ "car driver".
Intonation reflects the stress group, sentence type and prosodic phrase. In Copenhagen Standard Danish, the pitch pattern reaches its lowest peak within the stress group on the stressed syllable followed by its highest peak on the following unstressed syllable, after which it declines gradually until the next stress group. In interaction, pitch can mark e.g. the end of a story and turn-taking.
Similarly to the case of English, modern Danish grammar is the result of a gradual change from a typical Indo-European dependent-marking pattern with a rich inflectional morphology and relatively free word order, to a mostly analytic pattern with little inflection, a fairly fixed SVO word order and a complex syntax. Some traits typical of Germanic languages persist in Danish, such as the distinction between irregularly inflected strong stems inflected through ablaut or umlaut (i.e. changing the vowel of the stem, as in the pairs tager/tog ("takes/took") and fod/fødder ("foot/feet")) and weak stems inflected through affixation (such as elsker/elskede "love/loved", bil/biler "car/cars"). Vestiges of the Germanic case and gender system are found in the pronoun system. Typical for an Indo-European language, Danish follows accusative morphosyntactic alignment. Danish distinguishes at least seven major word classes: verbs, nouns, numerals, adjectives, adverbs, articles, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections and onomatopoeia.
Nouns are inflected for number (singular vs. plural) and definiteness, and are classified into two grammatical genders. Only pronouns inflect for case, and the previous genitive case has become an enclitic. A distinctive feature of the Nordic languages, including Danish, is that the definite articles, which also mark noun gender, have developed into suffixes. Typical of Germanic languages plurals are either irregular or "strong" stems inflected through umlaut (i.e. changing the vowel of the stem) (e.g. fod/fødder "foot/feet", mand/mænd "man/men") or "weak" stems inflected through affixation (e.g. skib/skibe "ship/ships", kvinde/kvinder "woman/women").
Standard Danish has two nominal genders: common and neuter; the common gender arose as the historical feminine and masculine genders conflated into a single category. Some traditional dialects retain a three-way gender distinction, between masculine, feminine and neuter, and some dialects of Jutland have a masculine/feminine contrast. While the majority of Danish nouns (ca. 75%) have the common gender, and neuter is often used for inanimate objects, the genders of nouns are not generally predictable and must in most cases be memorized. The gender of a noun determines the form of adjectives that modify it, and the form of the definite suffixes.
Definiteness is marked by two mutually exclusive articles: either a postposed enclitic or a preposed article which is the obligatory way to mark definiteness when nouns are modified by an adjective. Neuter nouns take the clitic -et, and common gender nouns take -en. Indefinite nouns take the articles en (common gender) or et (neuter). Hence, the common gender noun en mand "a man" (indefinite) has the definite form manden "the man", whereas the neuter noun et hus "a house" (indefinite) has the definite form, "the house" (definite) huset.
Indefinite:
Definite with enclitic article:
Definite with preposed demonstrative article:
The plural definite ending is -(e)ne (e.g. drenge "boys > drengene "the boys" and piger "girls" > pigerne "the girls"), and nouns ending in -ere lose the last -e before adding the -ne suffix (e.g. danskere "Danes" > danskerne "the Danes"). When the noun is modified by an adjective, the definiteness is marked by the definite article den (common) or det (neuter) and the definite/plural form of the adjective: den store mand "the big man", det store hus "the big house".
There are three different types of regular plurals: Class 1 forms the plural with the suffix -er (indefinite) and -erne (definite), Class 2 with the suffix -e (indefinite) and -ene (definite), and Class 3 takes no suffix for the plural indefinite form and -ene for the plural definite.
Most irregular nouns have an ablaut plural (i.e. with a change in the stem vowel), or combine ablaut stem-change with the suffix, and some have unique plural forms. Unique forms may be inherited (e.g. the plural of øje "eye", which is the old dual form øjne), or for loan words they may be borrowed from the donor language (e.g. the word konto "account" which is borrowed from Italian and uses the Italian masculine plural form konti "accounts").
Possessive phrases are formed with the enclitic -s, for example min fars hus "my father's house" where the noun far carries the possessive enclitic. This is however not an example of genitive case marking, because in the case of longer noun phrases the -s attaches to the last word in the phrase, which need not be the head-noun or even a noun at all. For example, the phrases kongen af Danmarks bolsjefabrik "the king of Denmark's candy factory", where the factory is owned by the king of Denmark, or det er pigen Uffe bor sammen meds datter "that is the daughter of the girl that Uffe lives with", where the enclitic attaches to a stranded preposition.
Like all Germanic languages, Danish forms compound nouns. These are represented in Danish orthography as one word, as in kvindehåndboldlandsholdet, "the female national handball team". In some cases, nouns are joined with s as a linking element, originally possessive in function, like landsmand (from land, "country", and mand, "man", meaning "compatriot"), but landmand (from same roots, meaning "farmer"). Some words are joined with the linking element e instead, like gæstebog (from gæst and bog, meaning "guest book"). There are also irregular linking elements.
As does English, the Danish pronominal system retains a distinction between nominative and oblique case. The nominative form of pronouns is used when pronouns occur as grammatical subject of a sentence (and only when non-coordinated and without a following modifier), and oblique forms are used for all non-subject functions including direct and indirect object, predicative, comparative and other types of constructions. The third person singular pronouns also distinguish between animate masculine (han "he"), animate feminine (hun "she") forms, as well as inanimate neuter (det "it") and inanimate common gender (den "it").
Possessive pronouns have independent and adjectival uses, but the same form. The form is used both adjectivally preceding a possessed noun (det er min hest "it is my horse"), and independently in place of the possessed noun (den er min "it is mine"). In the third person singular, sin is used when the possessor is also the subject of the sentence, whereas hans ("his"), hendes (her) and dens/dets "its" is used when the possessor is different from the grammatical subject.
Danish verbs are morphologically simple, marking very few grammatical categories. They do not mark person or number of subject, although the marking of plural subjects was still used in writing as late as the 19th century. Verbs have a past, non-past and infinitive form, past and present participle forms, and a passive, and an imperative.
Verbs can be divided into two main classes, the strong/irregular verbs and the regular/weak verbs. The regular verbs are also divided into two classes, those that take the past suffix -te and those that take the suffix -ede.
The infinitive always ends in a vowel, usually -e (pronounced [ə]), infinitive forms are preceded by the article at (pronounced [ɒ]) in some syntactic functions. The non-past or present tense takes the suffix -r, except for a few strong verbs that have irregular non-past forms. The past form does not necessarily mark past tense, but also counterfactuality or conditionality, and the non-past has many uses besides present tense time reference.
The present participle ends in -ende (e.g. løbende "running"), and the past participle ends in -et (e.g. løbet "run"), -t (e.g. købt "bought"). The Perfect is constructed with at have ("to have") and participial forms, like in English. But some transitive verbs form the perfect using at være ("to be") instead, and some may use both with a difference in meaning.
The passive form takes the suffix -s: avisen læses hver dag ("the newspaper is read every day"). Another passive construction uses the auxiliary verb at blive "to become": avisen bliver læst hver dag.
The imperative form is the infinitive without the final schwa-vowel, with stød potentially being applied depending on syllable structure.:
The numerals are formed on the basis of a vigesimal system with various rules. In the word forms of numbers above 20, the units are stated before the tens, so 21 is rendered enogtyve, literally "one and twenty".
The numeral halvanden means 1+1⁄2 (literally "half second", implying "one plus half of the second one"). The numerals halvtredje (2+1⁄2), halvfjerde (3+1⁄2) and halvfemte (4+1⁄2) are obsolete, but still implicitly used in the vigesimal system described below. Similarly, the temporal designation (klokken) halv tre, literally "half three (o'clock)", is half past two.
One peculiar feature of the Danish language is that the numerals 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 are (as are the French numerals from 80 through 99) based on a vigesimal system, meaning that the score (20) is used as a base unit in counting. Tres (short for tre-sinds-tyve, "three times twenty") means 60, while 50 is halvtreds (short for halvtredje-sinds-tyve, "half third times twenty", implying two score plus half of the third score). The ending sindstyve meaning "times twenty" is no longer included in cardinal numbers, but may still be used in ordinal numbers. Thus, in modern Danish fifty-two is usually rendered as tooghalvtreds from the now obsolete tooghalvtredsindstyve, whereas 52nd is either tooghalvtredsende or tooghalvtredsindstyvende. Twenty is tyve (derived from Old Danish tiughu, a haplology of tuttiughu, meaning 'two tens'), while thirty is tredive (Old Danish þrjatiughu, "three tens"), and forty is fyrre (Old Danish fyritiughu, "four tens", still used today as the archaism fyrretyve). Thus, the suffix -tyve should be understood as a plural of ti (10), though to modern Danes tyve means 20, making it hard to explain why fyrretyve is 40 (four tens) and not 80 (four twenties).
For large numbers (one billion or larger), Danish uses the long scale, so that the short-scale billion (1,000,000,000) is called milliard, and the short-scale trillion (1,000,000,000,000) is billion.
Danish basic constituent order in simple sentences with both a subject and an object is Subject–Verb–Object. However, Danish is also a V2 language, which means that the verb must always be the second constituent of the sentence. Following the Danish grammarian Paul Diderichsen Danish grammar tends to be analyzed as consisting of slots or fields, and in which certain types of sentence material can be moved to the pre-verbal (or foundation) field to achieve different pragmatic effects. Usually the sentence material occupying the preverbal slot has to be pragmatically marked, usually either new information or topics. There is no rule that subjects must occur in the preverbal slot, but since subject and topic often coincide, they often do. Therefore, whenever any sentence material that is not the subject occurs in the preverbal position the subject is demoted to postverbal position and the sentence order becomes VSO.
but
When there is no pragmatically marked constituents in the sentence to take the preverbal slot (for example when all the information is new), the slot has to take a dummy subject "der".
Haberland (1994, p. 336) describes the basic order of sentence constituents in main clauses as comprising the following 8 positions:
Position 0 is not part of the sentence and can only contain sentential connectors (such as conjunctions or interjections). Position 1 can contain any sentence constituent. Position 2 can only contain the finite verb. Position 3 is the subject position, unless the subject is fronted to occur in position 1. Position 4 can only contain light adverbs and the negation. Position 5 is for non-finite verbs, such as auxiliaries. Position 6 is the position of direct and indirect objects, and position 7 is for heavy adverbial constituents.
Questions with wh-words are formed differently from yes/no questions. In wh-questions the question word occupies the preverbal field, regardless of whether its grammatical role is subject or object or adverbial. In yes/no questions the preverbal field is empty, so that the sentence begins with the verb.
Wh-question:
In subordinate clauses, the word order differs from that of main clauses. In the subordinate clause structure the verb is preceded by the subject and any light adverbial material (e.g. negation). Complement clauses begin with the particle at in the "connector field".
Relative clauses are marked by the relative pronouns som or der which occupy the preverbal slot:
The oldest preserved examples of written Danish (from the Iron and Viking Ages) are in the Runic alphabet. The introduction of Christianity also brought the Latin script to Denmark. And at the end of the High Middle Ages, Runes had more or less been replaced by Latin letters.
Danish orthography is conservative, using most of the conventions established in the 16th century. The spoken language however has changed a lot since then, creating a gap between the spoken and written languages. Since 1955, Dansk Sprognævn has been the official language council in Denmark.
The modern Danish alphabet is similar to the English one, with three additional letters: ⟨æ⟩, ⟨ø⟩, and ⟨å⟩, which come at the end of the alphabet, in that order. The letters ⟨c⟩, ⟨q⟩, ⟨w⟩, ⟨x⟩ and ⟨z⟩ are only used in loan words. A spelling reform in 1948 introduced the letter ⟨å⟩, already in use in Norwegian and Swedish, into the Danish alphabet to replace the digraph ⟨aa⟩. The old usage continues to occur in some personal and geographical names; for example, the name of the city of Aalborg is spelled with ⟨Aa⟩ following a decision by the City Council in the 1970s and Aarhus decided to go back to ⟨Aa⟩ in 2011. When representing the same sound ⟨å⟩, ⟨aa⟩ is treated like ⟨å⟩ in alphabetical sorting, though it appears to be two letters. When the letters are not available due to technical limitations, they are often replaced by ⟨ae⟩ (for ⟨æ⟩), ⟨oe⟩ or ⟨o⟩ (for ⟨ø⟩), and ⟨aa⟩ (for ⟨å⟩), respectively.
The same spelling reform changed the spelling of a few common words, such as the past tense vilde (would), kunde (could) and skulde (should), to their current forms of ville, kunne and skulle (making them identical to the infinitives in writing, as they are in speech). Modern Danish and Norwegian use the same alphabet, though spelling differs slightly, particularly with the phonetic spelling of loanwords; for example the spelling of station and garage in Danish remains identical to other languages, whereas in Norwegian, they are transliterated as stasjon and garasje.
Danish is a well-studied language, and multiple universities in Denmark have departments devoted to Danish or linguistics with active research projects on the language, such as the Linguistic Circle of Copenhagen, and there are many dictionaries and technological resources on the language. The language council Dansk Sprognævn also publishes research on the language both nationally and internationally. There are also research centers focusing specifically on the dialects: The Peter Skautrup center at Aarhus University describes the dialects and varieties of the Jutlandic peninsula and is working on a dictionary of Jutlandic, while the Center for Dialect Research at University of Copenhagen works on the Insular Danish varieties. The Puzzle of Danish - a research project at Aarhus University, funded by the Danish Research Council - investigates whether the challenging sound structure of Danish has an impact on how native speakers process and produce Danish language. Their findings suggest that native speaker of Danish tend to use contextual cues to process Danish sounds and sentences, more than native speakers of other comparable languages, and that they produce more lexically, syntactically, and semantically redundant language in conversation.
Multiple corpora of Danish language data are available. The Danish Gigaword project provides a curated corpus of a billion words. KorpusDK is a corpus of written texts in Danish. There are also a number of conversations available in SamtaleBanken, the Danish part of TalkBank.
Academic descriptions of the language are published both in Danish and English. The most complete grammar is the Grammatik over det Danske Sprog (Grammar of the Danish Language) by Erik Hansen & Lars Heltoft, and it is written in Danish and contains over 1800 pages. Multiple phonologies have been written, most importantly by Basbøll and Grønnum, based on work that used to take place at the former Institute of Phonetics at the University of Copenhagen.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Danish:
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English:
Realm languages:
Nordic languages: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Danish (/ˈdeɪnɪʃ/ , DAY-nish; dansk pronounced [ˈtænˀsk] , dansk sprog [ˈtænˀsk ˈspʁɔwˀ]) is a North Germanic language spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are also found in Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the northern German region of Southern Schleswig, where it has minority language status. Minor Danish-speaking communities are also found in Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Along with the other North Germanic languages, Danish is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples who lived in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. Danish, together with Swedish, derives from the East Norse dialect group, while the Middle Norwegian language (before the influence of Danish) and Norwegian Bokmål are classified as West Norse along with Faroese and Icelandic. A more recent classification based on mutual intelligibility separates modern spoken Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish as \"mainland (or continental) Scandinavian\", while Icelandic and Faroese are classified as \"insular Scandinavian\". Although the written languages are compatible, spoken Danish is distinctly different from Norwegian and Swedish and thus the degree of mutual intelligibility with either is variable between regions and speakers.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Until the 16th century, Danish was a continuum of dialects spoken from Southern Jutland and Schleswig to Scania with no standard variety or spelling conventions. With the Protestant Reformation and the introduction of the printing press, a standard language was developed which was based on the educated dialect of Copenhagen and Malmö. It spread through use in the education system and administration, though German and Latin continued to be the most important written languages well into the 17th century. Following the loss of territory to Germany and Sweden, a nationalist movement adopted the language as a token of Danish identity, and the language experienced a strong surge in use and popularity, with major works of literature produced in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, traditional Danish dialects have all but disappeared, though regional variants of the standard language exist. The main differences in language are between generations, with youth language being particularly innovative.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Danish has a very large vowel inventory consisting of 27 phonemically distinctive vowels, and its prosody is characterized by the distinctive phenomenon stød, a kind of laryngeal phonation type. Due to the many pronunciation differences that set Danish apart from its neighboring languages, particularly the vowels, difficult prosody and \"weakly\" pronounced consonants, it is sometimes considered to be a \"difficult language to learn, acquire and understand\", and some evidence shows that children are slower to acquire the phonological distinctions of Danish compared to other languages. The grammar is moderately inflective with strong (irregular) and weak (regular) conjugations and inflections. Nouns, adjectives, and demonstrative pronouns distinguish common and neutral gender. Like English, Danish only has remnants of a former case system, particularly in the pronouns. Unlike English, it has lost all person marking on verbs. Its word order is V2, with the finite verb always occupying the second slot in the sentence.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Danish is a Germanic language of the North Germanic branch. Other names for this group are the Nordic or Scandinavian languages. Along with Swedish, Danish descends from the Eastern dialects of the Old Norse language; Danish and Swedish are also classified as East Scandinavian or East Nordic languages.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Scandinavian languages are often considered a dialect continuum, where no sharp dividing lines are seen between the different vernacular languages.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Like Norwegian and Swedish, Danish was significantly influenced by Low German in the Middle Ages, and has been influenced by English since the turn of the 20th century.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Danish itself can be divided into three main dialect areas: Jutlandic (West Danish), Insular Danish (including the standard variety), and East Danish (including Bornholmian and Scanian). Under the view that Scandinavian is a dialect continuum, East Danish can be considered intermediary between Danish and Swedish, while Scanian can be considered a Swedified East Danish dialect, and Bornholmian is its closest relative.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Approximately 2,000 of Danish non-compound words are derived from the Old Norse language, and ultimately from Proto Indo-European. Of these 2000 words, 1200 are nouns, 500 are verbs, 180 are adjectives and the rest belong to other word classes. Danish has also absorbed a large number of loan words, most of which were borrowed from Middle Low German in the late medieval period. Out of the 500 most frequently used words in Danish, 100 are medieval loans from Middle Low German, as Low German was the other official language of Denmark–Norway. In the 17th and 18th centuries, standard German and French superseded Low German influence and in the 20th century, English became the main supplier of loan words, especially after World War II. Although many old Nordic words remain, some were replaced with borrowed synonyms, as can be seen with æde (to eat) which became less common when the Low German spise came into fashion. As well as loan words, new words are freely formed by compounding existing words. In standard texts of contemporary Danish, Middle Low German loans account for about 16–17% of the vocabulary, Graeco-Latin-loans 4–8%, French 2–4% and English about 1%.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Danish and English are both Germanic languages. Danish is a North Germanic language descended from Old Norse, and English is a West Germanic language descended from Old English. Old Norse exerted a strong influence on Old English in the early medieval period. To see their shared Germanic heritage, one merely has to note the many common words that are very similar in the two languages. For example, commonly used Danish verbs, nouns, and prepositions such as have, over, under, for, give, flag, salt, and kat are easily recognizable in their written form to English speakers. Similarly, some other words are almost identical to their Scots equivalents, e.g., kirke (Scots kirk, i.e., 'church') or barn (Scots bairn, i.e. 'child'). In addition, the word by, meaning \"village\" or \"town\", occurs in many English place-names, such as Whitby and Selby, as remnants of the Viking occupation. During the latter period, English adopted \"are\", the third person plural form of the verb \"to be\", as well as the corresponding personal pronoun form \"they\" from contemporary Old Norse.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Danish is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Swedish. Proficient speakers of any of the three languages can often understand the others fairly well, though studies have shown that the mutual intelligibility is asymmetric: speakers of Norwegian generally understand both Danish and Swedish far better than Swedes or Danes understand each other. Both Swedes and Danes also understand Norwegian better than they understand each other's languages. The reason Norwegian occupies a middle position in terms of intelligibility is because of its shared border with Sweden resulting in a similarity in pronunciation, combined with the long tradition of having Danish as a written language which has led to similarities in vocabulary. Among younger Danes, Copenhageners are worse at understanding Swedish than Danes from the provinces. In general, younger Danes are not as good at understanding the neighboring languages as Norwegian and Swedish youths.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The Danish philologist Johannes Brøndum-Nielsen divided the history of Danish into a period from 800 AD to 1525 to be \"Old Danish\", which he subdivided into \"Runic Danish\" (800–1100), Early Middle Danish (1100–1350) and Late Middle Danish (1350–1525).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Móðir Dyggva var Drótt, dóttir Danps konungs, sonar Rígs er fyrstr var konungr kallaðr á danska tungu. \"Dyggvi's mother was Drott, the daughter of king Danp, Ríg's son, who was the first to be called king in the Danish tongue.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "By the eighth century, the common Germanic language of Scandinavia, Proto-Norse, had undergone some changes and evolved into Old Norse. This language was generally called the \"Danish tongue\" (Dǫnsk tunga), or \"Norse language\" (Norrœnt mál). Norse was written in the runic alphabet, first with the elder futhark and from the 9th century with the younger futhark.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "From the seventh century, the common Norse language began to undergo changes that did not spread to all of Scandinavia, resulting in the appearance of two dialect areas, Old West Norse (Norway and Iceland) and Old East Norse (Denmark and Sweden). Most of the changes separating East Norse from West Norse started as innovations in Denmark, that spread through Scania into Sweden and by maritime contact to southern Norway. A change that separated Old East Norse (Runic Swedish/Danish) from Old West Norse was the change of the diphthong æi (Old West Norse ei) to the monophthong e, as in stæin to sten. This is reflected in runic inscriptions where the older read stain and the later stin. Also, a change of au as in dauðr into ø as in døðr occurred. This change is shown in runic inscriptions as a change from tauþr into tuþr. Moreover, the øy (Old West Norse ey) diphthong changed into ø, as well, as in the Old Norse word for \"island\". This monophthongization started in Jutland and spread eastward, having spread throughout Denmark and most of Sweden by 1100.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Through Danish conquest, Old East Norse was once widely spoken in the northeast counties of England. Many words derived from Norse, such as \"gate\" (gade) for street, still survive in Yorkshire, the East Midlands and East Anglia, and parts of eastern England colonized by Danish Vikings. The city of York was once the Viking settlement of Jorvik. Several other English words derive from Old East Norse, for example \"knife\" (kniv), \"husband\" (husbond), and \"egg\" (æg). The suffix \"-by\" for 'town' is common in place names in Yorkshire and the east Midlands, for example Selby, Whitby, Derby, and Grimsby. The word \"dale\" meaning valley is common in Yorkshire and Derbyshire placenames.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Fangær man saar i hor seng mæth annæns mansz kunæ. oc kumær han burt liuænd.... \"If one catches someone in the whore-bed with another man's wife and he comes away alive...\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Jutlandic Law, 1241",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "In the medieval period, Danish emerged as a separate language from Swedish. The main written language was Latin, and the few Danish-language texts preserved from this period are written in the Latin alphabet, although the runic alphabet seems to have lingered in popular usage in some areas. The main text types written in this period are laws, which were formulated in the vernacular language to be accessible also to those who were not Latinate. The Jutlandic Law and Scanian Law were written in vernacular Danish in the early 13th century. Beginning in 1350, Danish began to be used as a language of administration, and new types of literature began to be written in the language, such as royal letters and testaments. The orthography in this period was not standardized nor was the spoken language, and the regional laws demonstrate the dialectal differences between the regions in which they were written.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Throughout this period, Danish was in contact with Low German, and many Low German loan words were introduced in this period. With the Protestant Reformation in 1536, Danish also became the language of religion, which sparked a new interest in using Danish as a literary language. Also in this period, Danish began to take on the linguistic traits that differentiate it from Swedish and Norwegian, such as the stød, the voicing of many stop consonants, and the weakening of many final vowels to /e/.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The first printed book in Danish dates from 1495, the Rimkrøniken (Rhyming Chronicle), a history book told in rhymed verses. The first complete translation of the Bible in Danish, the Bible of Christian II translated by Christiern Pedersen, was published in 1550. Pedersen's orthographic choices set the de facto standard for subsequent writing in Danish. From around 1500, several printing presses were in operation in Denmark publishing in Danish and other languages. In the period after 1550, presses in Copenhagen dominated the publication of material in the Danish language.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Herrer og Narre have frit Sprog. \"Lords and jesters have free speech.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Peder Syv, proverbs",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Following the first Bible translation, the development of Danish as a written language, as a language of religion, administration, and public discourse accelerated. In the second half of the 17th century, grammarians elaborated grammars of Danish, first among them Rasmus Bartholin's 1657 Latin grammar De studio lingvæ danicæ; then Laurids Olufsen Kock's 1660 grammar of the Zealand dialect Introductio ad lingvam Danicam puta selandicam; and in 1685 the first Danish grammar written in Danish, Den Danske Sprog-Kunst (\"The Art of the Danish Language\") by Peder Syv. Major authors from this period are Thomas Kingo, poet and psalmist, and Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, whose novel Jammersminde (Remembered Woes) is considered a literary masterpiece by scholars. Orthography was still not standardized and the principles for doing so were vigorously discussed among Danish philologists. The grammar of Jens Pedersen Høysgaard was the first to give a detailed analysis of Danish phonology and prosody, including a description of the stød. In this period, scholars were also discussing whether it was best to \"write as one speaks\" or to \"speak as one writes\", including whether archaic grammatical forms that had fallen out of use in the vernacular, such as the plural form of verbs, should be conserved in writing (i.e. han er \"he is\" vs. de ere \"they are\").",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "The East Danish provinces were lost to Sweden after the Second Treaty of Brömsebro (1645) after which they were gradually Swedified; just as Norway was politically severed from Denmark, beginning also a gradual end of Danish influence on Norwegian (influence through the shared written standard language remained). With the introduction of absolutism in 1660, the Danish state was further integrated, and the language of the Danish chancellery, a Zealandic variety with German and French influence, became the de facto official standard language, especially in writing—this was the original so-called rigsdansk (\"Danish of the Realm\"). Also, beginning in the mid-18th century, the skarre-R, the uvular R sound ([ʁ]), began spreading through Denmark, likely through influence from Parisian French and German. It affected all of the areas where Danish had been influential, including all of Denmark, Southern Sweden, and coastal southern Norway.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "In the 18th century, Danish philology was advanced by Rasmus Rask, who pioneered the disciplines of comparative and historical linguistics, and wrote the first English-language grammar of Danish. Literary Danish continued to develop with the works of Ludvig Holberg, whose plays and historical and scientific works laid the foundation for the Danish literary canon. With the Danish colonization of Greenland by Hans Egede, Danish became the administrative and religious language there, while Iceland and the Faroe Islands had the status of Danish colonies with Danish as an official language until the mid-20th century.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Moders navn er vort Hjertesprog, kun løs er al fremmed Tale. Det alene i mund og bog, kan vække et folk af dvale. \"Mother's name is our hearts' tongue, only idle is all foreign speech It alone, in mouth or in book, can rouse a people from sleep.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "N.F.S. Grundtvig, \"Modersmaalet\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Following the loss of Schleswig to Germany, a sharp influx of German speakers moved into the area, eventually outnumbering the Danish speakers. The political loss of territory sparked a period of intense nationalism in Denmark, coinciding with the so-called \"Golden Age\" of Danish culture. Authors such as N.F.S. Grundtvig emphasized the role of language in creating national belonging. Some of the most cherished Danish-language authors of this period are existential philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and prolific fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen. The influence of popular literary role models, together with increased requirements of education did much to strengthen the Danish language, and also started a period of homogenization, whereby the Copenhagen standard language gradually displaced the regional vernacular languages. Throughout the 19th century, Danes emigrated, establishing small expatriate communities in the Americas, particularly in the United States, Canada, and Argentina, where memory and some use of Danish remains today.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "After the Schleswig referendum in 1920, a number of Danes remained as a minority within German territories. After the occupation of Denmark by Germany in World War II, the 1948 orthography reform dropped the German-influenced rule of capitalizing nouns, and introduced the letter ⟨å⟩. Three 20th-century Danish authors have become Nobel Prize laureates in Literature: Karl Gjellerup and Henrik Pontoppidan (joint recipients in 1917) and Johannes V. Jensen (awarded 1944).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "With the exclusive use of rigsdansk, the High Copenhagen Standard, in national broadcasting, the traditional dialects came under increased pressure. In the 20th century, they have all but disappeared, and the standard language has extended throughout the country. Minor regional pronunciation variation of the standard language, sometimes called regionssprog (\"regional languages\") remain, and are in some cases vital. Today, the major varieties of Standard Danish are High Copenhagen Standard, associated with elderly, well to-do, and well educated people of the capital, and low Copenhagen speech traditionally associated with the working class, but today adopted as the prestige variety of the younger generations. Also, in the 21st century, the influence of immigration has had linguistic consequences, such as the emergence of a so-called multiethnolect in the urban areas, an immigrant Danish variety (also known as Perkerdansk), combining elements of different immigrant languages such as Arabic, Turkish, and Kurdish, as well as English and Danish.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Within the Danish Realm, Danish is the national language of Denmark and one of two official languages of the Faroe Islands (alongside Faroese). A Faroese variant of Danish is known as Gøtudanskt. Until 2009, Danish had also been one of two official languages of Greenland (alongside Greenlandic). Danish is widely spoken in Greenland now as lingua franca, and an unknown portion of the native Greenlandic population has Danish as their first language; a large percentage of the native Greenlandic population speaks Danish as a second language since its introduction into the education system as a compulsory language in 1928. Danish was an official language in Iceland until 1944, but is today still widely used and is a mandatory subject in school taught as a second foreign language after English. Iceland was a territory ruled by Denmark–Norway, one of whose official languages was Danish. About 10% of the population of Greenland speak Danish as their first language owing to immigration.",
"title": "Geographic distribution and status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "No law stipulates an official language for Denmark, making Danish the de facto official language only. The Code of Civil Procedure does, however, lay down Danish as the language of the courts. Since 1997, public authorities have been obliged to observe the official spelling by way of the Orthography Law. In the 21st century, discussions have been held regarding creating a language law that would make Danish the official language of Denmark.",
"title": "Geographic distribution and status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "In addition, a noticeable community of Danish speakers is in Southern Schleswig, the portion of Germany bordering Denmark, and a variant of Standard Danish, Southern Schleswig Danish, is spoken in the area. Since 2015, Schleswig-Holstein has officially recognized Danish as a regional language, just as German is north of the border. Furthermore, Danish is one of the official languages of the European Union and one of the working languages of the Nordic Council. Under the Nordic Language Convention, Danish-speaking citizens of the Nordic countries have the opportunity to use their native language when interacting with official bodies in other Nordic countries without being liable for any interpretation or translation costs.",
"title": "Geographic distribution and status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "The more widespread of the two varieties of written Norwegian, Bokmål, is very close to Danish, because standard Danish was used as the de facto administrative language until 1814 and one of the official languages of Denmark–Norway. Bokmål is based on Danish, unlike the other variety of Norwegian, Nynorsk, which is based on the Norwegian dialects, with Old Norwegian as an important reference point. Also North Frisian and Gutnish (Gutamål) were influenced by Danish.",
"title": "Geographic distribution and status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "There are also Danish emigrant communities in other places of the world who still use the language in some form. In the Americas, Danish-speaking communities can be found in the US, Canada, Argentina and Brazil.",
"title": "Geographic distribution and status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Standard Danish (rigsdansk) is the language based on dialects spoken in and around the capital, Copenhagen. Unlike Swedish and Norwegian, Danish does not have more than one regional speech norm. More than 25% of all Danish speakers live in the metropolitan area of the capital, and most government agencies, institutions, and major businesses keep their main offices in Copenhagen, which has resulted in a very homogeneous national speech norm.",
"title": "Dialects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Danish dialects can be divided into the traditional dialects, which differ from modern Standard Danish in both phonology and grammar, and the Danish accents or regional languages, which are local varieties of the Standard language distinguished mostly by pronunciation and local vocabulary colored by traditional dialects. Traditional dialects are now mostly extinct in Denmark, with only the oldest generations still speaking them.",
"title": "Dialects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Danish traditional dialects are divided into three main dialect areas:",
"title": "Dialects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Jutlandic is further divided into Southern Jutlandic and Northern Jutlandic, with Northern Jutlandic subdivided into North Jutlandic and West Jutlandic. Insular Danish is divided into Zealand, Funen, Møn, and Lolland-Falster dialect areas―each with addition internal variation. Bornholmian is the only Eastern Danish dialect spoken in Denmark. Since the Swedish conquest of the Eastern Danish provinces Skåne, Halland and Blekinge in 1645/1658, the Eastern Danish dialects there have come under heavy Swedish influence. Many residents now speak regional variants of Standard Swedish. However, many researchers still consider the dialects in Scania, Halland (hallandsk) and Blekinge (blekingsk) as part of the East Danish dialect group. The Swedish National Encyclopedia from 1995 classifies Scanian as an Eastern Danish dialect with South Swedish elements.",
"title": "Dialects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Traditional dialects differ in phonology, grammar, and vocabulary from standard Danish. Phonologically, one of the most diagnostic differences is the presence or absence of stød. Four main regional variants for the realization of stød are known: In Southeastern Jutlandic, Southernmost Funen, Southern Langeland, and Ærø, no stød is used, but instead a pitch accent (like in Norwegian, Swedish and Gutnish). South of a line (stødgrænsen, 'the stød border') going through central South Jutland, crossing Southern Funen and central Langeland and north of Lolland-Falster, Møn, Southern Zealand and Bornholm neither stød nor pitch accent exists. Most of Jutland and on Zealand use stød, and in Zealandic traditional dialects and regional language, stød occurs more often than in the standard language. In Zealand, the stød line divides Southern Zealand (without stød), an area which used to be directly under the Crown, from the rest of the Island that used to be the property of various noble estates.",
"title": "Dialects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Grammatically, a dialectally significant feature is the number of grammatical genders. Standard Danish has two genders and the definite form of nouns is formed by the use of suffixes, while Western Jutlandic has only one gender and the definite form of nouns uses an article before the noun itself, in the same fashion as West Germanic languages. The Bornholmian dialect has maintained to this day many archaic features, such as a distinction between three grammatical genders. Insular Danish traditional dialects also conserved three grammatical genders. By 1900, Zealand insular dialects had been reduced to two genders under influence from the standard language, but other Insular varieties, such as Funen dialect had not. Besides using three genders, the old Insular or Funen dialect, could also use personal pronouns (like he and she) in certain cases, particularly referring to animals. A classic example in traditional Funen dialect is the sentence: \"Katti, han får unger\", literally The cat, he is having kittens, because cat is a masculine noun, thus is referred to as han (he), even if it is a female cat.",
"title": "Dialects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "The sound system of Danish is unusual, particularly in its large vowel inventory and in the unusual prosody. In informal or rapid speech, the language is prone to considerable reduction of unstressed syllables, creating many vowel-less syllables with syllabic consonants, as well as reduction of final consonants. Furthermore, the language's prosody does not include many clues about the sentence structure, unlike many other languages, making it relatively more difficult to perceive the different sounds of the speech flow. These factors taken together make Danish pronunciation difficult to master for learners, and Danish children are indicated to take slightly longer in learning to segment speech in early childhood.",
"title": "Phonology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Although somewhat depending on analysis, most modern variants of Danish distinguish 12 long vowels, 13 short vowels, and two central vowels, /ə/ and /ɐ/, which only occur in unstressed syllables. This gives a total of 27 different vowel phonemes – a very large number among the world's languages. At least 19 different diphthongs also occur, all with a short first vowel and the second segment being either [j], [w], or [ɐ̯]. The table below shows the approximate distribution of the vowels as given by Grønnum (1998a) in Modern Standard Danish, with the symbols used in IPA/Danish. Questions of analysis may give a slightly different inventory, for example based on whether r-colored vowels are considered distinct phonemes. Basbøll (2005:50) gives 25 \"full vowels\", not counting the two unstressed \"schwa\" vowels.",
"title": "Phonology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "The consonant inventory is comparatively simple. Basbøll (2005:73) distinguishes 17 non-syllabic consonant phonemes in Danish.",
"title": "Phonology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Many of these phonemes have quite different allophones in onset and coda where intervocalic consonants followed by a full vowel are treated as in onset, otherwise as in coda. Phonetically there is no voicing distinction among the stops, rather the distinction is one of aspiration. /p t k/ are aspirated in onset realized as [pʰ, tsʰ, kʰ], but not in coda. The pronunciation of t, [tsʰ], is in between a simple aspirated [tʰ] and a fully affricated [tsʰ] (as has happened in German with the second High German consonant shift from t to z). There is dialectal variation, and some Jutlandic dialects may be less affricated than other varieties, with Northern and Western Jutlandic traditional dialects having an almost unaspirated dry t.",
"title": "Phonology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "/v/ is pronounced as a [w] in syllable coda, so e.g. /ɡraːvə/ (grave) is pronounced [kʁɑːwə].",
"title": "Phonology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "[ʋ, ð] often have slight frication, but are usually pronounced as approximants. Danish [ð] differs from the English sound that is conventionally transcribed with the same IPA symbol, in that it is not a dental fricative but an alveolar approximant which is frequently heard as [l] by second language learners.",
"title": "Phonology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "The sound [ɕ] is found for example in the word /sjovˀ/ \"fun\" pronounced [ɕɒwˀ] and /tjalˀ/ \"marijuana\" pronounced [tɕælˀ]. Some analyses have posited it as a phoneme, but since it occurs only after /s/ or /t/ and [j] does not occur after these phonemes, it can be analyzed as an allophone of /j/, which is devoiced after voiceless alveolar frication. This makes it unnecessary to postulate a /ɕ/-phoneme in Danish. Jutlandic dialects often lack the sound [ɕ] and pronounce the sj cluster as [sj] or [sç].",
"title": "Phonology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "In onset /r/ is realized as a uvular-pharyngeal approximant, [ʁ], but in coda it is either realized as a non-syllabic low central vowel, [ɐ̯] or simply coalesces with the preceding vowel. The phenomenon is comparable to the r in German or in non-rhotic pronunciations of English. The Danish realization of /r/ as guttural – the so-called skarre-r – distinguishes the language from those varieties of Norwegian and Swedish that use trilled [r]. Only very few, middle-aged or elderly, speakers of Jutlandic retain a frontal /r/ which is then usually realised as a flapped [ɾ] or approximant [ɹ].",
"title": "Phonology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "",
"title": "Phonology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Danish is characterized by a prosodic feature called stød (lit. \"thrust\"). This is a form of laryngealization or creaky voice. Some sources have described it as a glottal stop, but this is a very infrequent realization, and today phoneticians consider it a phonation type or a prosodic phenomenon. The occurrence is also dependent on stress, and some varieties also realize it primarily as a tone. The stød has phonemic status, since it serves as the sole distinguishing feature of words with different meanings in minimal pairs such as bønder (\"peasants\") with stød, versus bønner (\"beans\") without stød. The distribution of stød in the vocabulary is related to the distribution of the common Scandinavian pitch accents found in most dialects of Norwegian and Swedish.",
"title": "Phonology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Stress is phonemic and distinguishes words such as billigst /ˈbilisd/ \"cheapest\" and bilist /biˈlisd/ \"car driver\".",
"title": "Phonology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Intonation reflects the stress group, sentence type and prosodic phrase. In Copenhagen Standard Danish, the pitch pattern reaches its lowest peak within the stress group on the stressed syllable followed by its highest peak on the following unstressed syllable, after which it declines gradually until the next stress group. In interaction, pitch can mark e.g. the end of a story and turn-taking.",
"title": "Phonology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Similarly to the case of English, modern Danish grammar is the result of a gradual change from a typical Indo-European dependent-marking pattern with a rich inflectional morphology and relatively free word order, to a mostly analytic pattern with little inflection, a fairly fixed SVO word order and a complex syntax. Some traits typical of Germanic languages persist in Danish, such as the distinction between irregularly inflected strong stems inflected through ablaut or umlaut (i.e. changing the vowel of the stem, as in the pairs tager/tog (\"takes/took\") and fod/fødder (\"foot/feet\")) and weak stems inflected through affixation (such as elsker/elskede \"love/loved\", bil/biler \"car/cars\"). Vestiges of the Germanic case and gender system are found in the pronoun system. Typical for an Indo-European language, Danish follows accusative morphosyntactic alignment. Danish distinguishes at least seven major word classes: verbs, nouns, numerals, adjectives, adverbs, articles, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections and onomatopoeia.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Nouns are inflected for number (singular vs. plural) and definiteness, and are classified into two grammatical genders. Only pronouns inflect for case, and the previous genitive case has become an enclitic. A distinctive feature of the Nordic languages, including Danish, is that the definite articles, which also mark noun gender, have developed into suffixes. Typical of Germanic languages plurals are either irregular or \"strong\" stems inflected through umlaut (i.e. changing the vowel of the stem) (e.g. fod/fødder \"foot/feet\", mand/mænd \"man/men\") or \"weak\" stems inflected through affixation (e.g. skib/skibe \"ship/ships\", kvinde/kvinder \"woman/women\").",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Standard Danish has two nominal genders: common and neuter; the common gender arose as the historical feminine and masculine genders conflated into a single category. Some traditional dialects retain a three-way gender distinction, between masculine, feminine and neuter, and some dialects of Jutland have a masculine/feminine contrast. While the majority of Danish nouns (ca. 75%) have the common gender, and neuter is often used for inanimate objects, the genders of nouns are not generally predictable and must in most cases be memorized. The gender of a noun determines the form of adjectives that modify it, and the form of the definite suffixes.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Definiteness is marked by two mutually exclusive articles: either a postposed enclitic or a preposed article which is the obligatory way to mark definiteness when nouns are modified by an adjective. Neuter nouns take the clitic -et, and common gender nouns take -en. Indefinite nouns take the articles en (common gender) or et (neuter). Hence, the common gender noun en mand \"a man\" (indefinite) has the definite form manden \"the man\", whereas the neuter noun et hus \"a house\" (indefinite) has the definite form, \"the house\" (definite) huset.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Indefinite:",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Definite with enclitic article:",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Definite with preposed demonstrative article:",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "The plural definite ending is -(e)ne (e.g. drenge \"boys > drengene \"the boys\" and piger \"girls\" > pigerne \"the girls\"), and nouns ending in -ere lose the last -e before adding the -ne suffix (e.g. danskere \"Danes\" > danskerne \"the Danes\"). When the noun is modified by an adjective, the definiteness is marked by the definite article den (common) or det (neuter) and the definite/plural form of the adjective: den store mand \"the big man\", det store hus \"the big house\".",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "There are three different types of regular plurals: Class 1 forms the plural with the suffix -er (indefinite) and -erne (definite), Class 2 with the suffix -e (indefinite) and -ene (definite), and Class 3 takes no suffix for the plural indefinite form and -ene for the plural definite.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Most irregular nouns have an ablaut plural (i.e. with a change in the stem vowel), or combine ablaut stem-change with the suffix, and some have unique plural forms. Unique forms may be inherited (e.g. the plural of øje \"eye\", which is the old dual form øjne), or for loan words they may be borrowed from the donor language (e.g. the word konto \"account\" which is borrowed from Italian and uses the Italian masculine plural form konti \"accounts\").",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Possessive phrases are formed with the enclitic -s, for example min fars hus \"my father's house\" where the noun far carries the possessive enclitic. This is however not an example of genitive case marking, because in the case of longer noun phrases the -s attaches to the last word in the phrase, which need not be the head-noun or even a noun at all. For example, the phrases kongen af Danmarks bolsjefabrik \"the king of Denmark's candy factory\", where the factory is owned by the king of Denmark, or det er pigen Uffe bor sammen meds datter \"that is the daughter of the girl that Uffe lives with\", where the enclitic attaches to a stranded preposition.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "Like all Germanic languages, Danish forms compound nouns. These are represented in Danish orthography as one word, as in kvindehåndboldlandsholdet, \"the female national handball team\". In some cases, nouns are joined with s as a linking element, originally possessive in function, like landsmand (from land, \"country\", and mand, \"man\", meaning \"compatriot\"), but landmand (from same roots, meaning \"farmer\"). Some words are joined with the linking element e instead, like gæstebog (from gæst and bog, meaning \"guest book\"). There are also irregular linking elements.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "As does English, the Danish pronominal system retains a distinction between nominative and oblique case. The nominative form of pronouns is used when pronouns occur as grammatical subject of a sentence (and only when non-coordinated and without a following modifier), and oblique forms are used for all non-subject functions including direct and indirect object, predicative, comparative and other types of constructions. The third person singular pronouns also distinguish between animate masculine (han \"he\"), animate feminine (hun \"she\") forms, as well as inanimate neuter (det \"it\") and inanimate common gender (den \"it\").",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "Possessive pronouns have independent and adjectival uses, but the same form. The form is used both adjectivally preceding a possessed noun (det er min hest \"it is my horse\"), and independently in place of the possessed noun (den er min \"it is mine\"). In the third person singular, sin is used when the possessor is also the subject of the sentence, whereas hans (\"his\"), hendes (her) and dens/dets \"its\" is used when the possessor is different from the grammatical subject.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "Danish verbs are morphologically simple, marking very few grammatical categories. They do not mark person or number of subject, although the marking of plural subjects was still used in writing as late as the 19th century. Verbs have a past, non-past and infinitive form, past and present participle forms, and a passive, and an imperative.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "Verbs can be divided into two main classes, the strong/irregular verbs and the regular/weak verbs. The regular verbs are also divided into two classes, those that take the past suffix -te and those that take the suffix -ede.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "The infinitive always ends in a vowel, usually -e (pronounced [ə]), infinitive forms are preceded by the article at (pronounced [ɒ]) in some syntactic functions. The non-past or present tense takes the suffix -r, except for a few strong verbs that have irregular non-past forms. The past form does not necessarily mark past tense, but also counterfactuality or conditionality, and the non-past has many uses besides present tense time reference.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "The present participle ends in -ende (e.g. løbende \"running\"), and the past participle ends in -et (e.g. løbet \"run\"), -t (e.g. købt \"bought\"). The Perfect is constructed with at have (\"to have\") and participial forms, like in English. But some transitive verbs form the perfect using at være (\"to be\") instead, and some may use both with a difference in meaning.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "The passive form takes the suffix -s: avisen læses hver dag (\"the newspaper is read every day\"). Another passive construction uses the auxiliary verb at blive \"to become\": avisen bliver læst hver dag.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "The imperative form is the infinitive without the final schwa-vowel, with stød potentially being applied depending on syllable structure.:",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "The numerals are formed on the basis of a vigesimal system with various rules. In the word forms of numbers above 20, the units are stated before the tens, so 21 is rendered enogtyve, literally \"one and twenty\".",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "The numeral halvanden means 1+1⁄2 (literally \"half second\", implying \"one plus half of the second one\"). The numerals halvtredje (2+1⁄2), halvfjerde (3+1⁄2) and halvfemte (4+1⁄2) are obsolete, but still implicitly used in the vigesimal system described below. Similarly, the temporal designation (klokken) halv tre, literally \"half three (o'clock)\", is half past two.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "One peculiar feature of the Danish language is that the numerals 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 are (as are the French numerals from 80 through 99) based on a vigesimal system, meaning that the score (20) is used as a base unit in counting. Tres (short for tre-sinds-tyve, \"three times twenty\") means 60, while 50 is halvtreds (short for halvtredje-sinds-tyve, \"half third times twenty\", implying two score plus half of the third score). The ending sindstyve meaning \"times twenty\" is no longer included in cardinal numbers, but may still be used in ordinal numbers. Thus, in modern Danish fifty-two is usually rendered as tooghalvtreds from the now obsolete tooghalvtredsindstyve, whereas 52nd is either tooghalvtredsende or tooghalvtredsindstyvende. Twenty is tyve (derived from Old Danish tiughu, a haplology of tuttiughu, meaning 'two tens'), while thirty is tredive (Old Danish þrjatiughu, \"three tens\"), and forty is fyrre (Old Danish fyritiughu, \"four tens\", still used today as the archaism fyrretyve). Thus, the suffix -tyve should be understood as a plural of ti (10), though to modern Danes tyve means 20, making it hard to explain why fyrretyve is 40 (four tens) and not 80 (four twenties).",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "For large numbers (one billion or larger), Danish uses the long scale, so that the short-scale billion (1,000,000,000) is called milliard, and the short-scale trillion (1,000,000,000,000) is billion.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "Danish basic constituent order in simple sentences with both a subject and an object is Subject–Verb–Object. However, Danish is also a V2 language, which means that the verb must always be the second constituent of the sentence. Following the Danish grammarian Paul Diderichsen Danish grammar tends to be analyzed as consisting of slots or fields, and in which certain types of sentence material can be moved to the pre-verbal (or foundation) field to achieve different pragmatic effects. Usually the sentence material occupying the preverbal slot has to be pragmatically marked, usually either new information or topics. There is no rule that subjects must occur in the preverbal slot, but since subject and topic often coincide, they often do. Therefore, whenever any sentence material that is not the subject occurs in the preverbal position the subject is demoted to postverbal position and the sentence order becomes VSO.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "but",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "When there is no pragmatically marked constituents in the sentence to take the preverbal slot (for example when all the information is new), the slot has to take a dummy subject \"der\".",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "Haberland (1994, p. 336) describes the basic order of sentence constituents in main clauses as comprising the following 8 positions:",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "Position 0 is not part of the sentence and can only contain sentential connectors (such as conjunctions or interjections). Position 1 can contain any sentence constituent. Position 2 can only contain the finite verb. Position 3 is the subject position, unless the subject is fronted to occur in position 1. Position 4 can only contain light adverbs and the negation. Position 5 is for non-finite verbs, such as auxiliaries. Position 6 is the position of direct and indirect objects, and position 7 is for heavy adverbial constituents.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "Questions with wh-words are formed differently from yes/no questions. In wh-questions the question word occupies the preverbal field, regardless of whether its grammatical role is subject or object or adverbial. In yes/no questions the preverbal field is empty, so that the sentence begins with the verb.",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "Wh-question:",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "In subordinate clauses, the word order differs from that of main clauses. In the subordinate clause structure the verb is preceded by the subject and any light adverbial material (e.g. negation). Complement clauses begin with the particle at in the \"connector field\".",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "Relative clauses are marked by the relative pronouns som or der which occupy the preverbal slot:",
"title": "Grammar"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "The oldest preserved examples of written Danish (from the Iron and Viking Ages) are in the Runic alphabet. The introduction of Christianity also brought the Latin script to Denmark. And at the end of the High Middle Ages, Runes had more or less been replaced by Latin letters.",
"title": "Writing system and alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "Danish orthography is conservative, using most of the conventions established in the 16th century. The spoken language however has changed a lot since then, creating a gap between the spoken and written languages. Since 1955, Dansk Sprognævn has been the official language council in Denmark.",
"title": "Writing system and alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "The modern Danish alphabet is similar to the English one, with three additional letters: ⟨æ⟩, ⟨ø⟩, and ⟨å⟩, which come at the end of the alphabet, in that order. The letters ⟨c⟩, ⟨q⟩, ⟨w⟩, ⟨x⟩ and ⟨z⟩ are only used in loan words. A spelling reform in 1948 introduced the letter ⟨å⟩, already in use in Norwegian and Swedish, into the Danish alphabet to replace the digraph ⟨aa⟩. The old usage continues to occur in some personal and geographical names; for example, the name of the city of Aalborg is spelled with ⟨Aa⟩ following a decision by the City Council in the 1970s and Aarhus decided to go back to ⟨Aa⟩ in 2011. When representing the same sound ⟨å⟩, ⟨aa⟩ is treated like ⟨å⟩ in alphabetical sorting, though it appears to be two letters. When the letters are not available due to technical limitations, they are often replaced by ⟨ae⟩ (for ⟨æ⟩), ⟨oe⟩ or ⟨o⟩ (for ⟨ø⟩), and ⟨aa⟩ (for ⟨å⟩), respectively.",
"title": "Writing system and alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "The same spelling reform changed the spelling of a few common words, such as the past tense vilde (would), kunde (could) and skulde (should), to their current forms of ville, kunne and skulle (making them identical to the infinitives in writing, as they are in speech). Modern Danish and Norwegian use the same alphabet, though spelling differs slightly, particularly with the phonetic spelling of loanwords; for example the spelling of station and garage in Danish remains identical to other languages, whereas in Norwegian, they are transliterated as stasjon and garasje.",
"title": "Writing system and alphabet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "Danish is a well-studied language, and multiple universities in Denmark have departments devoted to Danish or linguistics with active research projects on the language, such as the Linguistic Circle of Copenhagen, and there are many dictionaries and technological resources on the language. The language council Dansk Sprognævn also publishes research on the language both nationally and internationally. There are also research centers focusing specifically on the dialects: The Peter Skautrup center at Aarhus University describes the dialects and varieties of the Jutlandic peninsula and is working on a dictionary of Jutlandic, while the Center for Dialect Research at University of Copenhagen works on the Insular Danish varieties. The Puzzle of Danish - a research project at Aarhus University, funded by the Danish Research Council - investigates whether the challenging sound structure of Danish has an impact on how native speakers process and produce Danish language. Their findings suggest that native speaker of Danish tend to use contextual cues to process Danish sounds and sentences, more than native speakers of other comparable languages, and that they produce more lexically, syntactically, and semantically redundant language in conversation.",
"title": "Research"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "Multiple corpora of Danish language data are available. The Danish Gigaword project provides a curated corpus of a billion words. KorpusDK is a corpus of written texts in Danish. There are also a number of conversations available in SamtaleBanken, the Danish part of TalkBank.",
"title": "Research"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "Academic descriptions of the language are published both in Danish and English. The most complete grammar is the Grammatik over det Danske Sprog (Grammar of the Danish Language) by Erik Hansen & Lars Heltoft, and it is written in Danish and contains over 1800 pages. Multiple phonologies have been written, most importantly by Basbøll and Grønnum, based on work that used to take place at the former Institute of Phonetics at the University of Copenhagen.",
"title": "Research"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Danish:",
"title": "Example text"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English:",
"title": "Example text"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "Realm languages:",
"title": "See also"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "Nordic languages:",
"title": "See also"
}
] | Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are also found in Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the northern German region of Southern Schleswig, where it has minority language status. Minor Danish-speaking communities are also found in Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina. Along with the other North Germanic languages, Danish is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples who lived in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. Danish, together with Swedish, derives from the East Norse dialect group, while the Middle Norwegian language and Norwegian Bokmål are classified as West Norse along with Faroese and Icelandic. A more recent classification based on mutual intelligibility separates modern spoken Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish as "mainland Scandinavian", while Icelandic and Faroese are classified as "insular Scandinavian". Although the written languages are compatible, spoken Danish is distinctly different from Norwegian and Swedish and thus the degree of mutual intelligibility with either is variable between regions and speakers. Until the 16th century, Danish was a continuum of dialects spoken from Southern Jutland and Schleswig to Scania with no standard variety or spelling conventions. With the Protestant Reformation and the introduction of the printing press, a standard language was developed which was based on the educated dialect of Copenhagen and Malmö. It spread through use in the education system and administration, though German and Latin continued to be the most important written languages well into the 17th century. Following the loss of territory to Germany and Sweden, a nationalist movement adopted the language as a token of Danish identity, and the language experienced a strong surge in use and popularity, with major works of literature produced in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, traditional Danish dialects have all but disappeared, though regional variants of the standard language exist. The main differences in language are between generations, with youth language being particularly innovative. Danish has a very large vowel inventory consisting of 27 phonemically distinctive vowels, and its prosody is characterized by the distinctive phenomenon stød, a kind of laryngeal phonation type. Due to the many pronunciation differences that set Danish apart from its neighboring languages, particularly the vowels, difficult prosody and "weakly" pronounced consonants, it is sometimes considered to be a "difficult language to learn, acquire and understand", and some evidence shows that children are slower to acquire the phonological distinctions of Danish compared to other languages. The grammar is moderately inflective with strong (irregular) and weak (regular) conjugations and inflections. Nouns, adjectives, and demonstrative pronouns distinguish common and neutral gender. Like English, Danish only has remnants of a former case system, particularly in the pronouns. Unlike English, it has lost all person marking on verbs. Its word order is V2, with the finite verb always occupying the second slot in the sentence. | 2001-10-11T10:07:53Z | 2023-12-31T15:44:31Z | [
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8,228 | Decade (Neil Young album) | Decade is a compilation album by Canadian–American musician Neil Young, originally released in 1977 as a triple album and later issued on two compact discs. It contains 35 of Young's songs recorded between 1966 and 1976, among them five tracks that had been unreleased up to that point. It peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, and was certified platinum by the RIAA in 1986.
Compiled by Young himself, with his hand-written liner notes about each track, Decade represents almost every album from his career and various affiliations through 1977 with the exception of 4 Way Street and Time Fades Away. Of the previously unreleased songs, "Down to the Wire" features the New Orleans pianist Dr. John with Buffalo Springfield on an item from their shelved Stampede album; "Love Is a Rose" was a minor hit for Linda Ronstadt in 1975; "Winterlong" received a cover by Pixies on the Neil Young tribute album from 1989, The Bridge; and "Campaigner" is a Young song critical of Richard Nixon. The track "Long May You Run" is a different mix to that found on the album of the same name, featuring the harmonies of the full Crosby Stills & Nash before David Crosby and Graham Nash left the recording sessions.
For many years, Decade was the only Neil Young compilation album available. A 1993 compilation called Lucky Thirteen was released, but it only covered Young's 1982–1988 output. It was not until 2004 that Reprise Records released a single-disc retrospective of his best-known tracks, titled Greatest Hits. Throughout the 1980s and '90s, Young promised fans a follow-up to the original Decade collection, provisionally titled Decade II; eventually, this idea was scrapped in favor of a much more comprehensive anthology to be titled Archives, spanning his entire career and ranging in size from a box set to an entire series of audio and/or video releases. The first release of archival material since Decade and Lucky Thirteen would appear in 2006, Live at the Fillmore East, a recording from a 1970 concert featuring Crazy Horse with Danny Whitten. Several other archival live releases followed, and in 2009 the first of several planned multi-disc box sets, The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972, was issued. In April 2017 Decade was reissued on vinyl as a limited-edition Record Store Day release, with remastered vinyl and CD editions planned for general release in June 2017.
Initially, Decade was to be released in 1976, but was pulled at the last minute by Young. It was shelved until the following year, where it appeared with two songs removed from the original track list (a live version of "Don't Cry No Tears" recorded in Japan in 1976, and a live version of "Pushed It Over the End" recorded in 1974). Also removed were the following comments on those two songs and Time Fades Away, from Young's handwritten liner notes:
Time Fades Away. No songs from this album are included here. It was recorded on my biggest tour ever, 65 shows in 90 days. Money hassles among everyone concerned ruined this tour and record for me but I released it anyway so you folks could see what could happen if you lose it for a while. I was becoming more interested in an audio verité approach than satisfying the public demands for a repetition of Harvest.
Don't Cry No Tears. Initially titled 'I Wonder,' this song was written in 1964. One of my first songs. This is a live recording from Japan with Crazy Horse.
Pushed It over the End. Recorded live on the road in Chicago, 1974. Thanks to Crosby & Nash's help on the overdubbed chorus, I was able to complete this work. I wrote it for Patty Hearst and her countless brothers and sisters. Also, I wrote it for myself and the increasing distance between me and you.
The album has been lauded in many quarters as one of the best examples of a career retrospective for a rock artist, and as a template for the box set collections that would follow in the 1980s and beyond. However, in the original article on Young from the first edition of the Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll and a subsequent article in the 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide, critic Dave Marsh used this album to accuse Young of deliberately manufacturing a self-mythology, arguing that while his highlights could be seen to place him on a level with other artists from his generation like Bob Dylan or The Beatles, the particulars of his catalogue did not bear this out. The magazine has since excised the article from subsequent editions of the Illustrated History book.
All songs written by Neil Young. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Decade is a compilation album by Canadian–American musician Neil Young, originally released in 1977 as a triple album and later issued on two compact discs. It contains 35 of Young's songs recorded between 1966 and 1976, among them five tracks that had been unreleased up to that point. It peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, and was certified platinum by the RIAA in 1986.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Compiled by Young himself, with his hand-written liner notes about each track, Decade represents almost every album from his career and various affiliations through 1977 with the exception of 4 Way Street and Time Fades Away. Of the previously unreleased songs, \"Down to the Wire\" features the New Orleans pianist Dr. John with Buffalo Springfield on an item from their shelved Stampede album; \"Love Is a Rose\" was a minor hit for Linda Ronstadt in 1975; \"Winterlong\" received a cover by Pixies on the Neil Young tribute album from 1989, The Bridge; and \"Campaigner\" is a Young song critical of Richard Nixon. The track \"Long May You Run\" is a different mix to that found on the album of the same name, featuring the harmonies of the full Crosby Stills & Nash before David Crosby and Graham Nash left the recording sessions.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "For many years, Decade was the only Neil Young compilation album available. A 1993 compilation called Lucky Thirteen was released, but it only covered Young's 1982–1988 output. It was not until 2004 that Reprise Records released a single-disc retrospective of his best-known tracks, titled Greatest Hits. Throughout the 1980s and '90s, Young promised fans a follow-up to the original Decade collection, provisionally titled Decade II; eventually, this idea was scrapped in favor of a much more comprehensive anthology to be titled Archives, spanning his entire career and ranging in size from a box set to an entire series of audio and/or video releases. The first release of archival material since Decade and Lucky Thirteen would appear in 2006, Live at the Fillmore East, a recording from a 1970 concert featuring Crazy Horse with Danny Whitten. Several other archival live releases followed, and in 2009 the first of several planned multi-disc box sets, The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972, was issued. In April 2017 Decade was reissued on vinyl as a limited-edition Record Store Day release, with remastered vinyl and CD editions planned for general release in June 2017.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Initially, Decade was to be released in 1976, but was pulled at the last minute by Young. It was shelved until the following year, where it appeared with two songs removed from the original track list (a live version of \"Don't Cry No Tears\" recorded in Japan in 1976, and a live version of \"Pushed It Over the End\" recorded in 1974). Also removed were the following comments on those two songs and Time Fades Away, from Young's handwritten liner notes:",
"title": "Alternate early version"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Time Fades Away. No songs from this album are included here. It was recorded on my biggest tour ever, 65 shows in 90 days. Money hassles among everyone concerned ruined this tour and record for me but I released it anyway so you folks could see what could happen if you lose it for a while. I was becoming more interested in an audio verité approach than satisfying the public demands for a repetition of Harvest.",
"title": "Alternate early version"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Don't Cry No Tears. Initially titled 'I Wonder,' this song was written in 1964. One of my first songs. This is a live recording from Japan with Crazy Horse.",
"title": "Alternate early version"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Pushed It over the End. Recorded live on the road in Chicago, 1974. Thanks to Crosby & Nash's help on the overdubbed chorus, I was able to complete this work. I wrote it for Patty Hearst and her countless brothers and sisters. Also, I wrote it for myself and the increasing distance between me and you.",
"title": "Alternate early version"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The album has been lauded in many quarters as one of the best examples of a career retrospective for a rock artist, and as a template for the box set collections that would follow in the 1980s and beyond. However, in the original article on Young from the first edition of the Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll and a subsequent article in the 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide, critic Dave Marsh used this album to accuse Young of deliberately manufacturing a self-mythology, arguing that while his highlights could be seen to place him on a level with other artists from his generation like Bob Dylan or The Beatles, the particulars of his catalogue did not bear this out. The magazine has since excised the article from subsequent editions of the Illustrated History book.",
"title": "Reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "All songs written by Neil Young.",
"title": "Track listing"
}
] | Decade is a compilation album by Canadian–American musician Neil Young, originally released in 1977 as a triple album and later issued on two compact discs. It contains 35 of Young's songs recorded between 1966 and 1976, among them five tracks that had been unreleased up to that point. It peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, and was certified platinum by the RIAA in 1986. | 2001-07-26T15:25:34Z | 2023-09-14T01:30:00Z | [
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8,230 | Demeter | In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (/dɪˈmiːtər/; Attic: Δημήτηρ Dēmḗtēr [dɛːmɛ́ːtɛːr]; Doric: Δαμάτηρ Dāmā́tēr) is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although she is mostly known as a grain goddess, she also appeared as a goddess of health, birth, and marriage, and had connections to the Underworld. She is also called Deo (Δηώ Dēṓ). In Greek tradition, Demeter is the second child of the Titans Rhea and Cronus, and sister to Hestia, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Like her other siblings but Zeus, she was swallowed by her father as an infant and rescued by Zeus.
Through her brother Zeus, she became the mother of Persephone, a fertility goddess. One of the most notable Homeric Hymns, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, tells the story of Persephone's abduction by Hades and Demeter's search for her. When Hades, the King of the Underworld, wished to make Persephone his wife, he abducted her from a field while she was picking flowers, with Zeus' leave. Demeter searched everywhere to find her missing daughter to no avail until she was informed that Hades had taken her to the Underworld. In response, Demeter neglected her duties as goddess of agriculture, plunging the earth into a deadly famine where nothing would grow, causing mortals to die. Zeus ordered Hades to return Persephone to her mother to avert the disaster. However, because Persephone had eaten food from the Underworld, she could not stay with Demeter forever but had to divide the year between her mother and her husband, explaining the seasonal cycle, as Demeter does not let plants grow while Persephone is gone.
Her cult titles include Sito (Σιτώ), "she of the Grain", as the giver of food or grain, and Thesmophoros (θεσμός, thesmos: divine order, unwritten law; φόρος, phoros: bringer, bearer), "giver of customs" or "legislator", in association with the secret female-only festival called the Thesmophoria. Though Demeter is often described simply as the goddess of the harvest, she presided also over the sacred law, and the cycle of life and death. She and her daughter Persephone were the central figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries, a religious tradition that predated the Olympian pantheon and which may have its roots in the Mycenaean period c. 1400–1200 BC.
Demeter was often considered to be the same figure as the Anatolian goddess Cybele, and she was identified with the Roman goddess Ceres.
Demeter may appear in Linear A as da-ma-te on three documents (AR Zf 1 and 2, and KY Za 2), all three dedicated to religious situations and all three bearing just the name (i-da-ma-te on AR Zf 1 and 2). It is unlikely that Demeter appears as da-ma-te in a Linear B (Mycenean Greek) inscription (PY En 609); the word 𐀅𐀔𐀳, da-ma-te, probably refers to "households". On the other hand, 𐀯𐀵𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊, si-to-po-ti-ni-ja, "Potnia of the Grain", is regarded as referring to her Bronze Age predecessor or to one of her epithets.
Demeter's character as mother-goddess is identified in the second element of her name meter (μήτηρ) derived from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *méh₂tēr (mother). In antiquity, different explanations were already proffered for the first element of her name. It is possible that Da (Δᾶ), a word which corresponds to Gē (Γῆ) in Attic, is the Doric form of De (Δῆ), "earth", the old name of the chthonic earth-goddess, and that Demeter is "Mother-Earth". Liddell & Scott find this "improbable" and Beekes writes, "there is no indication that [da] means "earth", although it has also been assumed in the name of Poseidon found in the Linear B inscription E-ne-si-da-o-ne, "earth-shaker". John Chadwick also argues that the dā element in the name of Demeter is not so simply equated with "earth".
M. L. West has proposed that the word Demeter, initially Damater, could be a borrowing from an Illyrian deity attested in the Messapic goddess Damatura, with a form dā- ("earth", from PIE *dʰǵʰ(e)m-) attached to -matura ("mother"), akin to the Illyrian god Dei-paturos (dei-, "sky", attached to -paturos, "father"). The Lesbian form Dō- may simply reflect a different colloquial pronunciation of the non-Greek name.
Another theory suggests that the element De- might be connected with Deo, an epithet of Demeter and it could derive from the Cretan word dea (δηά), Ionic zeia (ζειά)—variously identified with emmer, spelt, rye, or other grains by modern scholars—so that she is the mother and the giver of food generally. This view is shared by British scholar Jane Ellen Harrison, who suggests that Démeter's name means Grain-Mother, instead of Earth-Mother. R. S. P. Beekes rejects a Greek interpretation, but not necessarily an Indo-European one.
Wanax (wa-na-ka) was her male companion (Greek: Πάρεδρος, Paredros) in Mycenaean cult. The Arcadian cult links her to the god Poseidon, who probably substituted the male companion of the Great Goddess; Demeter may therefore be related to a Minoan Great Goddess (Cybele).
An alternative Proto-Indo-European etymology comes through Potnia and Despoina, where Des- represents a derivative of PIE *dem (house, dome), and Demeter is "mother of the house" (from PIE *dems-méh₂tēr).
Demeter was frequently associated with images of the harvest, including flowers, fruit, and grain. She was also sometimes pictured with her daughter Persephone. However, Demeter is not generally portrayed with any of her consorts; the exception is Iasion, the youth of Crete who lay with her in a thrice-ploughed field and was killed afterward by a jealous Zeus with a thunderbolt.
Demeter is assigned the zodiac constellation Virgo, the Virgin, by Marcus Manilius in his 1st-century Roman work Astronomicon. In art, the constellation Virgo holds Spica, a sheaf of wheat in her hand and sits beside constellation Leo the Lion.
In Arcadia, she was known as "Black Demeter". She was said to have taken the form of a mare to escape the pursuit of her younger brother, Poseidon, and having been raped by him despite her disguise, she dressed all in black and retreated into a cave to mourn and to purify herself. She was consequently depicted with the head of a horse in this region.
A sculpture of the Black Demeter was made by Onatas.
In the earliest conceptions of Demeter she is the goddess of grain and threshing, however her functions were extended beyond the fields and she was often identified with the earth goddess (Gaia). Some of the epithets of Gaia and Demeter are similar showing the identity of their nature. In most of her myths and cults, Demeter is the "Grain-Mother" or the "Earth-Mother". In the older chthonic cults the earth goddess was related to the Underworld and in the secret rites (mysteries) Demeter and Persephone share the double function of death and fertility. Demeter is the giver of the secret rites and the giver of the laws of cereal agriculture. She was occasionally identified with the Great Mother RheaCybele who was worshipped in Crete and Asia Minor with the music of cymbals and violent rites. It seems that poppies were connected with the cult of the Great Mother.
In epic poetry and Hesiod's Theogony, Demeter is the Grain-Mother, the goddess of cereals who provides grain for bread and blesses its harvesters. In Homer's Iliad, the blond Demeter with the help of the wind separates the grain from the chaff. Homer mentions the Thalysia a Greek harvest-festival of first fruits in honour of Demeter . In Hesiod, prayers to Zeus-Chthonios (chthonic Zeus) and Demeter help the crops grow full and strong. This was her main function at Eleusis, and she became panhellenic. In Cyprus, "grain-harvesting" was damatrizein. Demeter was the zeidoros arοura, the Homeric "Mother Earth arοura" who gave the gift of cereals (zeai or deai).
Most of the epithets of Demeter describe her as a goddess of grain. Her name Deo in literature probably relates her with deai a Cretan word for cereals. In Attica she was called Haloas (of the threshing floor) according to the earliest conception of Demeter as the Corn-Mother. She was sometimes called Chloe (ripe-grain or fresh-green) and sometimes Ioulo (ioulos : grain sheaf). Chloe was the goddess of young corn and young vegetation and "Iouloi" were harvest songs in honour of the goddess. The reapers called Demeter Amallophoros (bringer of sheaves) and Amaia (reaper). The goddess was the giver of abundance of food and she was known as Sito (of the grain) and Himalis (of abundance ). The bread from the first harvest-fruits was called thalysian bread (Thalysia) in honour of Demeter. The sacrificial cakes burned on the altar were called "ompniai" and in Attica the goddess was known as Ompnia (related to corns). These cakes were oferred to all gods.
In some fests big loafs (artoi) were oferred to the goddess and in Boeotia she was known as Megalartos (of the big loaf) and Megalomazos (of the big mass, or big porridge). Her function was extended to vegetation generally and to all fruits and she had the epithets eukarpos (of good crop),karpophoros (bringer of fruits), malophoros (apple bearer) and sometimes Oria (all the fruits of the season). These epithets show an identity in nature with the earth goddess.
The central theme in the Eleusinian Mysteries was the reunion of Persephone with her mother, Demeter when new crops were reunited with the old seed, a form of eternity.
According to the Athenian rhetorician Isocrates, Demeter's greatest gifts to humankind were agriculture which gave to men a civilized way of life, and the Mysteries which give the initiate higher hopes in this life and the afterlife.
These two gifts were intimately connected in Demeter's myths and mystery cults. Demeter is the giver of mystic rites and the giver of the civilized way of life (teaching the laws of agriculture). Her epithet Eleusinia relates her with the Eleusinian mysteries, however at Sparta Eleusinia had an early use, and it was probably a name rather than an epithet. Demeter Thesmophoros (law-giving) is closely associated to the laws of cereal agriculture. The festival Thesmophoria was celebrated throughout Greece and was connected to a form of agrarian magic. Near Pheneus in Arcadia she was known as Demeter-Thesmia (lawfull), and she received rites according to the local version.
Demeter's emblem is the poppy, a bright red flower that grows among the barley.
In addition to her role as an agricultural goddess, Demeter was often worshipped more generally as a goddess of the earth, from which crops spring up. Her individuality was rooted to the less developed personality of Gaia (earth). In Arcadia Demeter- Melaina (the black Demeter) was represented as snake-haired with a horse's head holding a dove and dolphin, perhaps to symbolize her power over the Underworld, the air, and the water. The cult of Demeter in the region was related to Despoina, a very old chthonic divinity. Demeter shares the double function of death and fertility with her daughter Persephone. Demeter and Persephone were called Despoinai (the mistresses) and Demeters. This duality was also used in the classical period (Thesmophoroi, Double named goddesses) and particularly in an oath: "By the two goddesses".
In the cult of Phlya she was worshipped as Anesidora who sends up gifts from the Underworld.
In Sparta, she was known as Demeter-Chthonia (chthonic Demeter). After each death the mourning should end with a sacrifice to the goddess. Pausanias believes that her cult was introduced from Hermione, where Demeter was associated with Hades. In a local legend a hollow in the earth was the entrance to the underworld, by which the souls could pass easily. In Elis she was called Demeter-Chamyne (goddess of the ground), in an old chthonic cult associated with the descent to Hades. At Levadia the goddess was known as Demeter-Europa and she was associated with Trophonius, an old divinity of the underworld. The oracle of Trophonius was famous in the antiquity.
Pindar uses the rare epithet Chalkokrotos (bronze sounding). Brazen musical instruments were used in the mysteries of Demeter and the Great-Mother Rhea-Cybele was also worshipped with the music of cymbals.
In central Greece Demeter was known as Amphictyonis (of the dwellers-round), in a cult of the goddess at Anthele near Thermopylae (hot gates). She was the patron goddess of an ancient Amphictyony. Thermopylae is the place of hot springs considered to be entrances to Hades, since Demeter was a chthonic goddess in the older local cults.
The Athenians called the dead "Demetrioi", and this may reflect a link between Demeter and the ancient cult of the dead, linked to the agrarian belief that a new life would sprout from the dead body, as a new plant arises from buried seed. This was most likely a belief shared by initiates in Demeter's mysteries, as interpreted by Pindar: "Blessed is he who has seen before he goes under the earth; for he knows the end of life and knows also its divine beginning."
In Arcadia Demeter had the epithets Erinys (fury) and Melaina (black) which are associated with the myth of Demeter's rape by Poseidon. The epithets stress the darker side of her character and her relation to the dark underworld, in an old chthonic cult associated with wooden structures (xoana). Erinys had a similar function with the avenging Dike (Justice). In the mysteries of Pheneus the goddess was known as Cidaria. Her priest would put on the mask of Demeter, which was kept secret. The cult may have been connected with both the Underworld and a form of agrarian magic.
Theocritus described one of Demeter's earlier roles as that of a goddess of poppies:
For the Greeks, Demeter was still a poppy goddess Bearing sheaves and poppies in both hands.
Karl Kerényi asserted that poppies were connected with a Cretan cult which was eventually carried to the Eleusinian Mysteries in Classical Greece. In a clay statuette from Gazi, the Minoan poppy goddess wears the seed capsules, sources of nourishment and narcosis, in her diadem. According to Kerényi, "It seems probable that the Great Mother Goddess who bore the names Rhea and Demeter, brought the poppy with her from her Cretan cult to Eleusis and it is almost certain that in the Cretan cult sphere opium was prepared from poppies."
In an older tradition in Crete the vegetation cult was related with the deity of the cave. During the Bronze Age, a goddess of nature dominated both in Minoan and Mycenean cults. In the Linear B inscriptions po-ti-ni-ja (potnia) refers to the goddess of nature who was concerned with birth and vegetation and had certain chthonic apects. Some scholars believe that she was the universal mother goddess. A Linear B inscription at Knossos mentions the potnia of the labyrinth da-pu-ri-to-jo po-ti-ni-ja. Poseidon was often given the title wa-na-ka (wanax) in Linear B inscriptions in his role as King of the Underworld, and his title E-ne-si-da-o-ne indicates his chthonic nature. He was the male companion (paredros) of the goddess in the Minoan and propably Mycenean cult. In the cave of Amnisos, Enesidaon is associated with the cult of Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, who was involved with the annual birth of the divine child. Elements of this early form of worship survived in the Eleusinian cult, where the following words were uttered: "the mighty Potnia had born a strong son."
Tablets from Pylos of c. 1400 – c. 1200 BC record sacrificial goods destined for "the Two Queens and Poseidon" ("to the Two Queens and the King":wa-na-ssoi, wa-na-ka-te). The "Two Queens" may be related to Demeter and Persephone or their precursors, goddesses who were no longer associated with Poseidon in later periods. In Pylos potnia (mistress) is the major goddess of the city and "wanax " in the tablets has a similar nature with her male consort in the Minoan cult. Potnia retained some chthonic cults, and in popular religion these were related to the goddess Demeter. In Greek religion potniai(mistresses) appear in plural (like the Erinyes) and are closely related to the Eleusinian Demeter.
Major cults to Demeter are known at Eleusis in Attica, Hermion (in Crete), Megara, Celeae, Lerna, Aegila, Munychia, Corinth, Delos, Priene, Akragas, Iasos, Pergamon, Selinus, Tegea, Thoricus, Dion (in Macedonia) Lykosoura, Mesembria, Enna, and Samothrace.
Probably the earliest Amphictyony centred on the cult of Demeter at Anthele (Ἀνθήλη), lay on the coast of Malis south of Thessaly, near Thermopylae.
Mysian Demeter had a seven-day festival at Pellené in Arcadia. The geographer Pausanias passed the shrine to Mysian Demeter on the road from Mycenae to Argos and reports that according to Argive tradition, the shrine was founded by an Argive named Mysius who venerated Demeter.
Even after Theodosius I issued the Edict of Thessalonica and banned paganism throughout the Roman Empire, people throughout Greece continued to pray to Demeter as "Saint Demetra", patron saint of agriculture. Around 1765–1766, the antiquary Richard Chandler, alongside the architect Nicholas Revett and the painter William Pars, visited Eleusis and mentioned a statue of a caryatid as well as the folklore that surrounded it, they stated that it was considered sacred by the locals because it protected their crops. They called the statue "Saint Demetra", a saint whose story had many similarities to the myth of Demeter and Persephone, except that her daughter had been abducted by the Turks and not by Hades. The locals covered the statue with flowers to ensure the fertility of their fields. This tradition continued until the 19th century, when the statue was forcibly removed by Edward Daniel Clarke who presented it to the University of Cambridge.
Demeter's two major festivals were sacred mysteries. Her Thesmophoria festival (11–13 October) was women-only. Her Eleusinian mysteries were open to initiates of any gender or social class. At the heart of both festivals were myths concerning Demeter as the mother and Persephone as her daughter.
In the Roman period, Demeter became conflated with the Roman agricultural goddess Ceres through interpretatio romana. The worship of Demeter has formally merged with that of Ceres around 205 BC, along with the ritus graecia cereris, a Greek-inspired form of cult, as part of Rome's general religious recruitment of deities as allies against Carthage, towards the end of the Second Punic War. The cult originated in southern Italy (part of Magna Graecia) and was probably based on the Thesmophoria, a mystery cult dedicated to Demeter and Persephone as "Mother and Maiden". It arrived along with its Greek priestesses, who were granted Roman citizenship so that they could pray to the gods "with a foreign and external knowledge, but with a domestic and civil intention". The new cult was installed in the already ancient Temple of Ceres, Liber and Libera, Rome's Aventine patrons of the plebs; from the end of the 3rd century BC, Demeter's temple at Enna, in Sicily, was acknowledged as Ceres' oldest, most authoritative cult centre, and Libera was recognized as Proserpina, Roman equivalent to Persephone. Their joint cult recalls Demeter's search for Persephone after the latter's abduction into the Underworld by Hades. At the Aventine, the new cult took its place alongside the old. It did not refer to Liber, whose open and gender-mixed cult played a central role in plebeian culture as a patron and protector of plebeian rights, freedoms and values. The exclusively female initiates and priestesses of the new "greek style" mysteries of Ceres and Proserpina were expected to uphold Rome's traditional, patrician-dominated social hierarchy and traditional morality. Unmarried girls should emulate the chastity of Proserpina, the maiden; married women should seek to emulate Ceres, the devoted and fruitful mother. Their rites were intended to secure a good harvest and increase the fertility of those who partook in the mysteries.
Beginning in the 5th century BCE in Asia Minor, Demeter was also considered equivalent to the Phrygian goddess Cybele. Demeter's festival of Thesmophoria was popular throughout Asia Minor, and the myth of Persephone and Adonis in many ways mirrors the myth of Cybele and Attis.
Some late antique sources syncretized several "great goddess" figures into a single deity. For example, the Platonist philosopher Apuleius, writing in the late 2nd century, identified Ceres (Demeter) with Isis, having her declare:
I, mother of the universe, mistress of all the elements, first-born of the ages, highest of the gods, queen of the shades, first of those who dwell in heaven, representing in one shape all gods and goddesses. My will controls the shining heights of heaven, the health-giving sea winds, and the mournful silences of hell; the entire world worships my single godhead in a thousand shapes, with divers rites, and under many a different name. The Phrygians, first-born of mankind, call me the Pessinuntian Mother of the gods; ... the ancient Eleusinians Actaean Ceres; ... and the Egyptians who excel in ancient learning, honour me with the worship which is truly mine and call me by my true name: Queen Isis.
Hesiod's Theogony (c. 700 BC) describes Demeter as the second daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and the sister of Hestia, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Alongside the rest of her siblings, with the exception of her youngest brother Zeus, she was swallowed as a newborn by her father due to his fear of being overthrown by one of his children; she was later freed when Zeus made Cronus disgorge all of his children by giving him a special potion.
Demeter is notable as the mother of Persephone, described by both Hesiod and in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter as the result of a union with her younger brother Zeus. An alternate recounting of the matter appears in a fragment of the lost Orphic theogony, which preserves part of a myth in which Zeus mates with his mother, Rhea, in the form of a snake, explaining the origin of the symbol on Hermes' staff. Their daughter is said to be Persephone, whom Zeus, in turn, mates with to conceive Dionysus. According to the Orphic fragments, "After becoming the mother of Zeus, she who was formerly Rhea became Demeter."
Before her abduction by Hades, Persephone was known as Kore ("maiden"), and there is some evidence that the figures of Persephone, Queen of the Underworld and Kore, daughter of Demeter, were initially considered separate goddesses. However, they must have become conflated by the time of Hesiod in the 7th century BC. Demeter and Persephone were often worshipped together and were often referred to by joint cultic titles. In their cult at Eleusis, they were referred to simply as "the goddesses", usually distinguished as "the older" and "the younger"; in Rhodes and Sparta, they were worshipped as "the Demeters"; in the Thesmophoria, they were known as "the thesmophoroi" ("the legislators"). In Arcadia they were known as "the Great Goddesses" and "the mistresses". In Mycenaean Pylos, Demeter and Persephone were probably called the "queens" (wa-na-ssoi).
Both Homer and Hesiod, writing c. 700 BC, described Demeter making love with the agricultural hero Iasion in a ploughed field during the marriage of Cadmus and Harmonia. According to Hesiod, this union resulted in the birth of Plutus.
According to Diodorus Siculus, in his Bibliotheca historica written in the 1st century BC, Demeter and Zeus were also the parents of Dionysus. Diodorus described the myth of Dionysus' double birth (once from the earth, i.e. Demeter, when the plant sprouts) and once from the vine (when the fruit sprouts from the plant). Diodorus also related a version of the myth of Dionysus' destruction by the Titans ("sons of Gaia"), who boiled him, and how Demeter gathered up his remains so that he could be born a third time (Diod. iii.62). Diodorus states that Dionysus' birth from Zeus and his older sister Demeter was somewhat of a minority belief, possibly via conflation of Demeter with her daughter, as most sources state that the parents of Dionysus were Zeus and Persephone, and later Zeus and Semele.
In Arcadia, a major Arcadian deity known as Despoina ("Mistress") was said to be the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon. According to Pausanias, a Thelpusian tradition said that during Demeter's search for Persephone, Poseidon pursued her. Demeter turned into a horse to avoid her younger brother's advances. However, he turned into a stallion and mated with the goddess, resulting in the birth of the horse god Arion and a daughter "whose name they are not wont to divulge to the uninitiated". Elsewhere, he says that the Phigalians assert that the offspring of Poseidon and Demeter was not a horse, but Despoina, "as the Arcadians call her".
In Orphic literature, Demeter seems to be the mother of the witchcraft goddess Hecate.
The goddess took Mecon, a young Athenian, as a lover; he was at some point transformed into a poppy flower.
Demeter's daughter Persephone was abducted to the Underworld by Hades, who received permission from her father Zeus to take her as his bride. Demeter searched for her ceaselessly for nine days, preoccupied with her grief. Hecate then approached her and said that while she had not seen what happened to Persephone, she heard her screams. Together the two goddesses went to Helios, the sun god, who witnessed everything that happened on earth thanks to his lofty position. Helios then revealed to Demeter that Hades had snatched a screaming Persephone to make her his wife with the permission of Zeus, the girl's father. Demeter then filled with anger. The seasons halted; living things ceased their growth and began to die. Faced with the extinction of all life on earth, Zeus sent his messenger Hermes to the Underworld to bring Persephone back. Hades agreed to release her if she had eaten nothing while in his realm, but Persephone had eaten a small number of pomegranate seeds. This bound her to Hades and the Underworld for certain months of every year, most likely the dry Mediterranean summer, when plant life is threatened by drought, despite the popular belief that it is autumn or winter. There are several variations on the basic myth; the earliest account, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, relates that Persephone is secretly slipped a pomegranate seed by Hades and in Ovid's version, Persephone willingly and secretly eats the pomegranate seeds, thinking to deceive Hades, but is discovered and made to stay. Contrary to popular perception, Persephone's time in the Underworld does not correspond with the unfruitful seasons of the ancient Greek calendar, nor her return to the upper world with springtime. Demeter's descent to retrieve Persephone from the Underworld is connected to the Eleusinian Mysteries.
The myth of the capture of Persephone seems to be pre-Greek. In the Greek version, Ploutos (πλούτος, wealth) represents the wealth of the corn that was stored in underground silos or ceramic jars (pithoi). Similar subterranean pithoi were used in ancient times for funerary practices. At the beginning of the autumn, when the corn of the old crop is laid on the fields, she ascends and is reunited with her mother, Demeter, for at this time, the old crop and the new meet each other.
In the Orphic tradition, while she was searching for her daughter, a mortal woman named Baubo received Demeter as her guest and offered her a meal and wine. Demeter declined them both because she mourned the loss of Persephone. Baubo then, thinking she had displeased the goddess, lifted her skirt and showed her genitalia to the goddess, simultaneously revealing Iacchus, Demeter's son. Demeter was most pleased with the sight and delighted she accepted the food and wine. This tale survives in the account of Clement of Alexandria, a Christian who tried to discredit pagan practices and mythology. However, several Baubo figurines (figurines of women revealing their vulvas) have been discovered, supporting the story.
Demeter's search for her daughter Persephone took her to the palace of Celeus, the King of Eleusis in Attica. She assumed the form of an old woman and asked him for shelter. He took her in, to nurse Demophon and Triptolemus, his sons by Metanira. To reward his kindness, she planned to make Demophon immortal; she secretly anointed the boy with ambrosia and laid him in the hearth's flames to gradually burn away his mortal self. But Metanira walked in, saw her son in the fire and screamed in fright. Demeter abandoned the attempt. Instead, she taught Triptolemus the secrets of agriculture, and he, in turn, taught them to any who wished to learn them. Thus, humanity learned how to plant, grow and harvest grain. The myth has several versions; some are linked to figures such as Eleusis, Rarus and Trochilus. The Demophon element may be based on an earlier folk tale.
Homer's Odyssey (c. late 8th century BC) contains perhaps the earliest direct references to the myth of Demeter and her consort Iasion, a Samothracian hero whose name may refer to bindweed, a small white flower that frequently grows in wheat fields. In the Odyssey, Calypso describes how Demeter, "without disguise", made love to Iasion. "So it was when Demeter of the braided tresses followed her heart and lay in love with Iasion in the triple-furrowed field; Zeus was aware of it soon enough and hurled the bright thunderbolt and killed him." However, Ovid states that Iasion lived up to old age as the husband of Demeter. In ancient Greek culture, part of the opening of each agricultural year involved the cutting of three furrows in the field to ensure its fertility.
Hesiod expanded on the basics of this myth. According to him, the liaison between Demeter and Iasion took place at the wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia in Crete. Demeter, in this version, had lured Iasion away from the other revellers. Hesiod says that Demeter subsequently gave birth to Plutus.
In Arcadia, located in what is now southern Greece, the major goddess Despoina was considered the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon Hippios ("Horse-Poseidon"). In the associated myths, Poseidon represents the river spirit of the Underworld, and he appears as a horse, as often happens in northern European folklore. The myth describes how he pursued his older sister, Demeter, who hid from him among the horses of the king Onkios, but even in the form of a mare, she could not conceal her divinity. Poseidon caught and raped his older sister in the form of a stallion. Demeter was furious at Poseidon's assault; in this furious form, she became known as Demeter Erinys. Her anger at Poseidon drove her to dress all in black and retreat into a cave to purify herself, an act which was the cause of a universal famine. Demeter's absence caused the death of crops, livestock, and eventually of the people who depended on them (later Arcadian tradition held that it was both her rage at Poseidon and her loss of her daughter caused the famine, merging the two myths). Demeter washed away her anger in the River Ladon, becoming Demeter Lousia, the "bathed Demeter".
"In her alliance with Poseidon," Kerényi noted, "she was Earth, who bears plants and beasts, and could therefore assume the shape of an ear of grain or a mare." Moreover, she bore a daughter Despoina (Δέσποινα: the "Mistress"), whose name should not be uttered outside the Arcadian Mysteries, and a horse named Arion, with a black mane and tail.
At Phigaleia, a xoanon (wood-carved statue) of Demeter was erected in a cave which, tradition held, was the cave into which Black Demeter retreated. The statue depicted a Medusa-like figure with a horse's head and snake-like hair, holding a dove and a dolphin, which probably represented her power over air and water:
The second mountain, Mount Elaius, is some thirty stades away from Phigalia, and has a cave sacred to Demeter surnamed Black ... the Phigalians say, they concluded that this cavern was sacred to Demeter and set up in it a wooden image. The image, they say, was made after this fashion. It was seated on a rock, like to a woman in all respects save the head. She had the head and hair of a horse, and there grew out of her head images of serpents and other beasts. Her tunic reached right to her feet; on one of her hands was a dolphin, on the other a dove. Now why they had the image made after this fashion is plain to any intelligent man who is learned in traditions. They say that they named her Black because the goddess had black apparel. They cannot relate either who made this wooden image or how it caught fire. But the old image was destroyed, and the Phigalians gave the goddess no fresh image, while they neglected for the most part her festivals and sacrifices, until the barrenness fell on the land.
Another myth involving Demeter's rage resulting in famine is that of Erysichthon, king of Thessaly. The myth tells of Erysichthon ordering all of the trees in one of Demeter's sacred groves to be cut down, as he wanted to build an extension of his palace and hold feasts there. One tree, a huge oak, was covered with votive wreaths, symbols of the prayers Demeter had granted, so Erysichthon's men refused to cut it down. The king used an axe to cut it down, killing a dryad nymph in the process. The nymph's dying words were a curse on Erysichthon. Demeter punished the king by calling upon Limos, the spirit of unrelenting and insatiable hunger, to enter his stomach. The more the king ate, the hungrier he became. Erysichthon sold all his possessions to buy food but was still hungry. Finally, he sold his daughter, Mestra, into slavery. Mestra was freed from slavery by her former lover, Poseidon, who gave her the gift of shape-shifting into any creature to escape her bonds. Erysichthon used her shape-shifting ability to sell her numerous times to make more money to feed himself, but no amount of food was enough. Eventually, Erysichthon ate himself.
In a variation, Erysichthon tore down a temple of Demeter, wishing to build a roof for his house; she punished him the same way, and near the end of his life, she sent a snake to plague him. Afterwards, Demeter put him among the stars (the constellation Ophiuchus), as she did the snake, to continue to inflict its punishment on Erysichthon.
In the Pergamon Altar, which depicts the battle of the gods against the Giants (Gigantomachy), survive remains of what seems to have been Demeter fighting a Giant labelled "Erysichthon." Demeter is also depicted fighting against the Giants next to Hermes in the Suessula Gigantomachy vase, now housed in the Louvre Museum. Usually, ancient depictions of the Gigantomachy tend to exclude Demeter due to her non-martial nature.
While travelling far and wide looking for her daughter, Demeter arrived exhausted in Attica. A woman named Misme took her in and offered her a cup of water with pennyroyal and barley groats, for it was a hot day. Demeter, in her thirst, swallowed the drink clumsily. Witnessing that, Misme's son Ascalabus laughed, mocked her, and asked her if she would like a deep jar of that drink. Demeter then poured her drink over him and turned him into a gecko, hated by both men and gods. It was said that Demeter showed her favour to those who killed geckos.
Before Hades abducted her daughter, he had kept the nymph Minthe as his mistress. But after he married Persephone, he set Minthe aside. Minthe would often brag about being lovelier than Persephone and say Hades would soon come back to her and kick Persephone out of his halls. Demeter, hearing that, grew angry and trampled Minthe; from the earth then sprang a lovely-smelling herb named after the nymph. In other versions, Persephone herself is the one who kills and turns Minthe into a plant for sleeping with Hades.
In an Argive myth, when Demeter arrived in Argolis, a man named Colontas refused to receive her in his house, whereas his daughter Chthonia disapproved of his actions. Colontas was punished by being burnt along with his house, while Demeter took Chthonia to Hermione, where she built a sanctuary for the goddess.
Demeter pinned Ascalaphus under a rock for reporting, as sole witness, to Hades that Persephone had consumed some pomegranate seeds. Later, after Heracles rolled the stone off Ascalaphus, Demeter turned him into a short-eared owl instead.
Demeter also turned the Sirens into half-bird monsters for not helping her daughter Persephone when she was abducted by Hades.
Once, the Colchian princess Medea ended a famine that plagued Corinth by making sacrifices to Demeter and the nymphs.
Demeter gave Triptolemus her serpent-drawn chariot and seed and bade him scatter it across the earth (teach humankind the knowledge of agriculture). Triptolemus rode through Europe and Asia until he came to the land of Lyncus, a Scythian king. Lyncus pretended to offer what's accustomed of hospitality to him, but once Triptolemus fell asleep, he attacked him with a dagger, wanting to take credit for his work. Demeter then saved Triptolemus by turning Lyncus into a lynx and ordered Triptolemus to return home airborne. Hyginus records a very similar myth, in which Demeter saves Triptolemus from an evil king named Carnabon who additionally seized Triptolemus' chariot and killed one of the dragons, so he might not escape; Demeter restored the chariot to Triptolemus, substituted the dead dragon with another one, and punished Carnabon by putting him among the stars holding a dragon as if to kill it.
During her wanderings, Demeter came upon the town of Pheneus; to the Pheneates that received her warmly and offered her shelter, she gave all sorts of pulse, except for beans, deeming it impure. Two of the Pheneates, Trisaules and Damithales, had a temple of Demeter built for her. Demeter also gifted a fig tree to Phytalus, an Eleusinian man, for welcoming her in his home.
In the tale of Eros and Psyche, Demeter, along with her sister Hera, visited Aphrodite, raging with fury about the girl who had married her son. Aphrodite asks the two to search for her; the two try to talk sense into her, arguing that her son is not a little boy, although he might appear as one, and there's no harm in him falling in love with Psyche. Aphrodite took offence at their words. Sometime later, Psyche in her wanderings came across an abandoned shrine of Demeter, and sorted out the neglected sickles and harvest implements she found there. As she was doing so, Demeter appeared to her and called from afar; she warned the girl of Aphrodite's great wrath and her plan to take revenge on her. Then Psyche begged the goddess to help her, but Demeter answered that she could not interfere and incur Aphrodite's anger at her, and for that reason, Psyche had to leave the shrine or else be kept as a captive of hers.
When her son Philomelus invented the plough and used it to cultivate the fields, Demeter was so impressed by his good work that she immortalized him in the sky by turning him into a constellation, the Boötes.
Hierax, a man of justice and distinction, set up sanctuaries for Demeter and received plenteous harvests from her in return. When the tribe neglected Poseidon favour of Demeter, the sea god destroyed all of her crops, so Hierax sent them instead his own food and was transformed into a hawk by Poseidon.
Besides giving gifts to those who were welcoming to her, Demeter was also a goddess who nursed the young; all of Plemaeus's children born by his first wife died in a cradle; Demeter took pity on him and reared herself his son Orthopolis. Plemaeus built a temple to her to thank her. Demeter also raised Trophonius, the prophetic son of either Apollo or Erginus.
Demeter seems to have accompanied Dionysus when he descended into the Underworld to retrieve his mother Semele in order to visit her now married daughter, and perhaps lead her back to the land of the living for the remainder of the year. In many vases from Athens Dionysus is seen in the company of mother and daughter.
Once Tantalus, a son of Zeus, invited the gods over for dinner. Tantalus, wanting to test them, cut his son Pelops, cooked him and offered him as a meal to them. They all saw through Tantalus' crime except Demeter, who ate Pelops' shoulder before the gods brought him back to life. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (/dɪˈmiːtər/; Attic: Δημήτηρ Dēmḗtēr [dɛːmɛ́ːtɛːr]; Doric: Δαμάτηρ Dāmā́tēr) is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although she is mostly known as a grain goddess, she also appeared as a goddess of health, birth, and marriage, and had connections to the Underworld. She is also called Deo (Δηώ Dēṓ). In Greek tradition, Demeter is the second child of the Titans Rhea and Cronus, and sister to Hestia, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Like her other siblings but Zeus, she was swallowed by her father as an infant and rescued by Zeus.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Through her brother Zeus, she became the mother of Persephone, a fertility goddess. One of the most notable Homeric Hymns, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, tells the story of Persephone's abduction by Hades and Demeter's search for her. When Hades, the King of the Underworld, wished to make Persephone his wife, he abducted her from a field while she was picking flowers, with Zeus' leave. Demeter searched everywhere to find her missing daughter to no avail until she was informed that Hades had taken her to the Underworld. In response, Demeter neglected her duties as goddess of agriculture, plunging the earth into a deadly famine where nothing would grow, causing mortals to die. Zeus ordered Hades to return Persephone to her mother to avert the disaster. However, because Persephone had eaten food from the Underworld, she could not stay with Demeter forever but had to divide the year between her mother and her husband, explaining the seasonal cycle, as Demeter does not let plants grow while Persephone is gone.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Her cult titles include Sito (Σιτώ), \"she of the Grain\", as the giver of food or grain, and Thesmophoros (θεσμός, thesmos: divine order, unwritten law; φόρος, phoros: bringer, bearer), \"giver of customs\" or \"legislator\", in association with the secret female-only festival called the Thesmophoria. Though Demeter is often described simply as the goddess of the harvest, she presided also over the sacred law, and the cycle of life and death. She and her daughter Persephone were the central figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries, a religious tradition that predated the Olympian pantheon and which may have its roots in the Mycenaean period c. 1400–1200 BC.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Demeter was often considered to be the same figure as the Anatolian goddess Cybele, and she was identified with the Roman goddess Ceres.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Demeter may appear in Linear A as da-ma-te on three documents (AR Zf 1 and 2, and KY Za 2), all three dedicated to religious situations and all three bearing just the name (i-da-ma-te on AR Zf 1 and 2). It is unlikely that Demeter appears as da-ma-te in a Linear B (Mycenean Greek) inscription (PY En 609); the word 𐀅𐀔𐀳, da-ma-te, probably refers to \"households\". On the other hand, 𐀯𐀵𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊, si-to-po-ti-ni-ja, \"Potnia of the Grain\", is regarded as referring to her Bronze Age predecessor or to one of her epithets.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Demeter's character as mother-goddess is identified in the second element of her name meter (μήτηρ) derived from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *méh₂tēr (mother). In antiquity, different explanations were already proffered for the first element of her name. It is possible that Da (Δᾶ), a word which corresponds to Gē (Γῆ) in Attic, is the Doric form of De (Δῆ), \"earth\", the old name of the chthonic earth-goddess, and that Demeter is \"Mother-Earth\". Liddell & Scott find this \"improbable\" and Beekes writes, \"there is no indication that [da] means \"earth\", although it has also been assumed in the name of Poseidon found in the Linear B inscription E-ne-si-da-o-ne, \"earth-shaker\". John Chadwick also argues that the dā element in the name of Demeter is not so simply equated with \"earth\".",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "M. L. West has proposed that the word Demeter, initially Damater, could be a borrowing from an Illyrian deity attested in the Messapic goddess Damatura, with a form dā- (\"earth\", from PIE *dʰǵʰ(e)m-) attached to -matura (\"mother\"), akin to the Illyrian god Dei-paturos (dei-, \"sky\", attached to -paturos, \"father\"). The Lesbian form Dō- may simply reflect a different colloquial pronunciation of the non-Greek name.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Another theory suggests that the element De- might be connected with Deo, an epithet of Demeter and it could derive from the Cretan word dea (δηά), Ionic zeia (ζειά)—variously identified with emmer, spelt, rye, or other grains by modern scholars—so that she is the mother and the giver of food generally. This view is shared by British scholar Jane Ellen Harrison, who suggests that Démeter's name means Grain-Mother, instead of Earth-Mother. R. S. P. Beekes rejects a Greek interpretation, but not necessarily an Indo-European one.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Wanax (wa-na-ka) was her male companion (Greek: Πάρεδρος, Paredros) in Mycenaean cult. The Arcadian cult links her to the god Poseidon, who probably substituted the male companion of the Great Goddess; Demeter may therefore be related to a Minoan Great Goddess (Cybele).",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "An alternative Proto-Indo-European etymology comes through Potnia and Despoina, where Des- represents a derivative of PIE *dem (house, dome), and Demeter is \"mother of the house\" (from PIE *dems-méh₂tēr).",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Demeter was frequently associated with images of the harvest, including flowers, fruit, and grain. She was also sometimes pictured with her daughter Persephone. However, Demeter is not generally portrayed with any of her consorts; the exception is Iasion, the youth of Crete who lay with her in a thrice-ploughed field and was killed afterward by a jealous Zeus with a thunderbolt.",
"title": "Iconography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Demeter is assigned the zodiac constellation Virgo, the Virgin, by Marcus Manilius in his 1st-century Roman work Astronomicon. In art, the constellation Virgo holds Spica, a sheaf of wheat in her hand and sits beside constellation Leo the Lion.",
"title": "Iconography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "In Arcadia, she was known as \"Black Demeter\". She was said to have taken the form of a mare to escape the pursuit of her younger brother, Poseidon, and having been raped by him despite her disguise, she dressed all in black and retreated into a cave to mourn and to purify herself. She was consequently depicted with the head of a horse in this region.",
"title": "Iconography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "A sculpture of the Black Demeter was made by Onatas.",
"title": "Iconography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "In the earliest conceptions of Demeter she is the goddess of grain and threshing, however her functions were extended beyond the fields and she was often identified with the earth goddess (Gaia). Some of the epithets of Gaia and Demeter are similar showing the identity of their nature. In most of her myths and cults, Demeter is the \"Grain-Mother\" or the \"Earth-Mother\". In the older chthonic cults the earth goddess was related to the Underworld and in the secret rites (mysteries) Demeter and Persephone share the double function of death and fertility. Demeter is the giver of the secret rites and the giver of the laws of cereal agriculture. She was occasionally identified with the Great Mother RheaCybele who was worshipped in Crete and Asia Minor with the music of cymbals and violent rites. It seems that poppies were connected with the cult of the Great Mother.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In epic poetry and Hesiod's Theogony, Demeter is the Grain-Mother, the goddess of cereals who provides grain for bread and blesses its harvesters. In Homer's Iliad, the blond Demeter with the help of the wind separates the grain from the chaff. Homer mentions the Thalysia a Greek harvest-festival of first fruits in honour of Demeter . In Hesiod, prayers to Zeus-Chthonios (chthonic Zeus) and Demeter help the crops grow full and strong. This was her main function at Eleusis, and she became panhellenic. In Cyprus, \"grain-harvesting\" was damatrizein. Demeter was the zeidoros arοura, the Homeric \"Mother Earth arοura\" who gave the gift of cereals (zeai or deai).",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Most of the epithets of Demeter describe her as a goddess of grain. Her name Deo in literature probably relates her with deai a Cretan word for cereals. In Attica she was called Haloas (of the threshing floor) according to the earliest conception of Demeter as the Corn-Mother. She was sometimes called Chloe (ripe-grain or fresh-green) and sometimes Ioulo (ioulos : grain sheaf). Chloe was the goddess of young corn and young vegetation and \"Iouloi\" were harvest songs in honour of the goddess. The reapers called Demeter Amallophoros (bringer of sheaves) and Amaia (reaper). The goddess was the giver of abundance of food and she was known as Sito (of the grain) and Himalis (of abundance ). The bread from the first harvest-fruits was called thalysian bread (Thalysia) in honour of Demeter. The sacrificial cakes burned on the altar were called \"ompniai\" and in Attica the goddess was known as Ompnia (related to corns). These cakes were oferred to all gods.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In some fests big loafs (artoi) were oferred to the goddess and in Boeotia she was known as Megalartos (of the big loaf) and Megalomazos (of the big mass, or big porridge). Her function was extended to vegetation generally and to all fruits and she had the epithets eukarpos (of good crop),karpophoros (bringer of fruits), malophoros (apple bearer) and sometimes Oria (all the fruits of the season). These epithets show an identity in nature with the earth goddess.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The central theme in the Eleusinian Mysteries was the reunion of Persephone with her mother, Demeter when new crops were reunited with the old seed, a form of eternity.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "According to the Athenian rhetorician Isocrates, Demeter's greatest gifts to humankind were agriculture which gave to men a civilized way of life, and the Mysteries which give the initiate higher hopes in this life and the afterlife.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "These two gifts were intimately connected in Demeter's myths and mystery cults. Demeter is the giver of mystic rites and the giver of the civilized way of life (teaching the laws of agriculture). Her epithet Eleusinia relates her with the Eleusinian mysteries, however at Sparta Eleusinia had an early use, and it was probably a name rather than an epithet. Demeter Thesmophoros (law-giving) is closely associated to the laws of cereal agriculture. The festival Thesmophoria was celebrated throughout Greece and was connected to a form of agrarian magic. Near Pheneus in Arcadia she was known as Demeter-Thesmia (lawfull), and she received rites according to the local version.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Demeter's emblem is the poppy, a bright red flower that grows among the barley.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "In addition to her role as an agricultural goddess, Demeter was often worshipped more generally as a goddess of the earth, from which crops spring up. Her individuality was rooted to the less developed personality of Gaia (earth). In Arcadia Demeter- Melaina (the black Demeter) was represented as snake-haired with a horse's head holding a dove and dolphin, perhaps to symbolize her power over the Underworld, the air, and the water. The cult of Demeter in the region was related to Despoina, a very old chthonic divinity. Demeter shares the double function of death and fertility with her daughter Persephone. Demeter and Persephone were called Despoinai (the mistresses) and Demeters. This duality was also used in the classical period (Thesmophoroi, Double named goddesses) and particularly in an oath: \"By the two goddesses\".",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "In the cult of Phlya she was worshipped as Anesidora who sends up gifts from the Underworld.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In Sparta, she was known as Demeter-Chthonia (chthonic Demeter). After each death the mourning should end with a sacrifice to the goddess. Pausanias believes that her cult was introduced from Hermione, where Demeter was associated with Hades. In a local legend a hollow in the earth was the entrance to the underworld, by which the souls could pass easily. In Elis she was called Demeter-Chamyne (goddess of the ground), in an old chthonic cult associated with the descent to Hades. At Levadia the goddess was known as Demeter-Europa and she was associated with Trophonius, an old divinity of the underworld. The oracle of Trophonius was famous in the antiquity.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Pindar uses the rare epithet Chalkokrotos (bronze sounding). Brazen musical instruments were used in the mysteries of Demeter and the Great-Mother Rhea-Cybele was also worshipped with the music of cymbals.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "In central Greece Demeter was known as Amphictyonis (of the dwellers-round), in a cult of the goddess at Anthele near Thermopylae (hot gates). She was the patron goddess of an ancient Amphictyony. Thermopylae is the place of hot springs considered to be entrances to Hades, since Demeter was a chthonic goddess in the older local cults.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "The Athenians called the dead \"Demetrioi\", and this may reflect a link between Demeter and the ancient cult of the dead, linked to the agrarian belief that a new life would sprout from the dead body, as a new plant arises from buried seed. This was most likely a belief shared by initiates in Demeter's mysteries, as interpreted by Pindar: \"Blessed is he who has seen before he goes under the earth; for he knows the end of life and knows also its divine beginning.\"",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In Arcadia Demeter had the epithets Erinys (fury) and Melaina (black) which are associated with the myth of Demeter's rape by Poseidon. The epithets stress the darker side of her character and her relation to the dark underworld, in an old chthonic cult associated with wooden structures (xoana). Erinys had a similar function with the avenging Dike (Justice). In the mysteries of Pheneus the goddess was known as Cidaria. Her priest would put on the mask of Demeter, which was kept secret. The cult may have been connected with both the Underworld and a form of agrarian magic.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Theocritus described one of Demeter's earlier roles as that of a goddess of poppies:",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "For the Greeks, Demeter was still a poppy goddess Bearing sheaves and poppies in both hands.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Karl Kerényi asserted that poppies were connected with a Cretan cult which was eventually carried to the Eleusinian Mysteries in Classical Greece. In a clay statuette from Gazi, the Minoan poppy goddess wears the seed capsules, sources of nourishment and narcosis, in her diadem. According to Kerényi, \"It seems probable that the Great Mother Goddess who bore the names Rhea and Demeter, brought the poppy with her from her Cretan cult to Eleusis and it is almost certain that in the Cretan cult sphere opium was prepared from poppies.\"",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "In an older tradition in Crete the vegetation cult was related with the deity of the cave. During the Bronze Age, a goddess of nature dominated both in Minoan and Mycenean cults. In the Linear B inscriptions po-ti-ni-ja (potnia) refers to the goddess of nature who was concerned with birth and vegetation and had certain chthonic apects. Some scholars believe that she was the universal mother goddess. A Linear B inscription at Knossos mentions the potnia of the labyrinth da-pu-ri-to-jo po-ti-ni-ja. Poseidon was often given the title wa-na-ka (wanax) in Linear B inscriptions in his role as King of the Underworld, and his title E-ne-si-da-o-ne indicates his chthonic nature. He was the male companion (paredros) of the goddess in the Minoan and propably Mycenean cult. In the cave of Amnisos, Enesidaon is associated with the cult of Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, who was involved with the annual birth of the divine child. Elements of this early form of worship survived in the Eleusinian cult, where the following words were uttered: \"the mighty Potnia had born a strong son.\"",
"title": "Worship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Tablets from Pylos of c. 1400 – c. 1200 BC record sacrificial goods destined for \"the Two Queens and Poseidon\" (\"to the Two Queens and the King\":wa-na-ssoi, wa-na-ka-te). The \"Two Queens\" may be related to Demeter and Persephone or their precursors, goddesses who were no longer associated with Poseidon in later periods. In Pylos potnia (mistress) is the major goddess of the city and \"wanax \" in the tablets has a similar nature with her male consort in the Minoan cult. Potnia retained some chthonic cults, and in popular religion these were related to the goddess Demeter. In Greek religion potniai(mistresses) appear in plural (like the Erinyes) and are closely related to the Eleusinian Demeter.",
"title": "Worship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Major cults to Demeter are known at Eleusis in Attica, Hermion (in Crete), Megara, Celeae, Lerna, Aegila, Munychia, Corinth, Delos, Priene, Akragas, Iasos, Pergamon, Selinus, Tegea, Thoricus, Dion (in Macedonia) Lykosoura, Mesembria, Enna, and Samothrace.",
"title": "Worship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Probably the earliest Amphictyony centred on the cult of Demeter at Anthele (Ἀνθήλη), lay on the coast of Malis south of Thessaly, near Thermopylae.",
"title": "Worship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Mysian Demeter had a seven-day festival at Pellené in Arcadia. The geographer Pausanias passed the shrine to Mysian Demeter on the road from Mycenae to Argos and reports that according to Argive tradition, the shrine was founded by an Argive named Mysius who venerated Demeter.",
"title": "Worship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Even after Theodosius I issued the Edict of Thessalonica and banned paganism throughout the Roman Empire, people throughout Greece continued to pray to Demeter as \"Saint Demetra\", patron saint of agriculture. Around 1765–1766, the antiquary Richard Chandler, alongside the architect Nicholas Revett and the painter William Pars, visited Eleusis and mentioned a statue of a caryatid as well as the folklore that surrounded it, they stated that it was considered sacred by the locals because it protected their crops. They called the statue \"Saint Demetra\", a saint whose story had many similarities to the myth of Demeter and Persephone, except that her daughter had been abducted by the Turks and not by Hades. The locals covered the statue with flowers to ensure the fertility of their fields. This tradition continued until the 19th century, when the statue was forcibly removed by Edward Daniel Clarke who presented it to the University of Cambridge.",
"title": "Worship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Demeter's two major festivals were sacred mysteries. Her Thesmophoria festival (11–13 October) was women-only. Her Eleusinian mysteries were open to initiates of any gender or social class. At the heart of both festivals were myths concerning Demeter as the mother and Persephone as her daughter.",
"title": "Worship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "In the Roman period, Demeter became conflated with the Roman agricultural goddess Ceres through interpretatio romana. The worship of Demeter has formally merged with that of Ceres around 205 BC, along with the ritus graecia cereris, a Greek-inspired form of cult, as part of Rome's general religious recruitment of deities as allies against Carthage, towards the end of the Second Punic War. The cult originated in southern Italy (part of Magna Graecia) and was probably based on the Thesmophoria, a mystery cult dedicated to Demeter and Persephone as \"Mother and Maiden\". It arrived along with its Greek priestesses, who were granted Roman citizenship so that they could pray to the gods \"with a foreign and external knowledge, but with a domestic and civil intention\". The new cult was installed in the already ancient Temple of Ceres, Liber and Libera, Rome's Aventine patrons of the plebs; from the end of the 3rd century BC, Demeter's temple at Enna, in Sicily, was acknowledged as Ceres' oldest, most authoritative cult centre, and Libera was recognized as Proserpina, Roman equivalent to Persephone. Their joint cult recalls Demeter's search for Persephone after the latter's abduction into the Underworld by Hades. At the Aventine, the new cult took its place alongside the old. It did not refer to Liber, whose open and gender-mixed cult played a central role in plebeian culture as a patron and protector of plebeian rights, freedoms and values. The exclusively female initiates and priestesses of the new \"greek style\" mysteries of Ceres and Proserpina were expected to uphold Rome's traditional, patrician-dominated social hierarchy and traditional morality. Unmarried girls should emulate the chastity of Proserpina, the maiden; married women should seek to emulate Ceres, the devoted and fruitful mother. Their rites were intended to secure a good harvest and increase the fertility of those who partook in the mysteries.",
"title": "Worship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Beginning in the 5th century BCE in Asia Minor, Demeter was also considered equivalent to the Phrygian goddess Cybele. Demeter's festival of Thesmophoria was popular throughout Asia Minor, and the myth of Persephone and Adonis in many ways mirrors the myth of Cybele and Attis.",
"title": "Worship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Some late antique sources syncretized several \"great goddess\" figures into a single deity. For example, the Platonist philosopher Apuleius, writing in the late 2nd century, identified Ceres (Demeter) with Isis, having her declare:",
"title": "Worship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "I, mother of the universe, mistress of all the elements, first-born of the ages, highest of the gods, queen of the shades, first of those who dwell in heaven, representing in one shape all gods and goddesses. My will controls the shining heights of heaven, the health-giving sea winds, and the mournful silences of hell; the entire world worships my single godhead in a thousand shapes, with divers rites, and under many a different name. The Phrygians, first-born of mankind, call me the Pessinuntian Mother of the gods; ... the ancient Eleusinians Actaean Ceres; ... and the Egyptians who excel in ancient learning, honour me with the worship which is truly mine and call me by my true name: Queen Isis.",
"title": "Worship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Hesiod's Theogony (c. 700 BC) describes Demeter as the second daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and the sister of Hestia, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Alongside the rest of her siblings, with the exception of her youngest brother Zeus, she was swallowed as a newborn by her father due to his fear of being overthrown by one of his children; she was later freed when Zeus made Cronus disgorge all of his children by giving him a special potion.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Demeter is notable as the mother of Persephone, described by both Hesiod and in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter as the result of a union with her younger brother Zeus. An alternate recounting of the matter appears in a fragment of the lost Orphic theogony, which preserves part of a myth in which Zeus mates with his mother, Rhea, in the form of a snake, explaining the origin of the symbol on Hermes' staff. Their daughter is said to be Persephone, whom Zeus, in turn, mates with to conceive Dionysus. According to the Orphic fragments, \"After becoming the mother of Zeus, she who was formerly Rhea became Demeter.\"",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Before her abduction by Hades, Persephone was known as Kore (\"maiden\"), and there is some evidence that the figures of Persephone, Queen of the Underworld and Kore, daughter of Demeter, were initially considered separate goddesses. However, they must have become conflated by the time of Hesiod in the 7th century BC. Demeter and Persephone were often worshipped together and were often referred to by joint cultic titles. In their cult at Eleusis, they were referred to simply as \"the goddesses\", usually distinguished as \"the older\" and \"the younger\"; in Rhodes and Sparta, they were worshipped as \"the Demeters\"; in the Thesmophoria, they were known as \"the thesmophoroi\" (\"the legislators\"). In Arcadia they were known as \"the Great Goddesses\" and \"the mistresses\". In Mycenaean Pylos, Demeter and Persephone were probably called the \"queens\" (wa-na-ssoi).",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Both Homer and Hesiod, writing c. 700 BC, described Demeter making love with the agricultural hero Iasion in a ploughed field during the marriage of Cadmus and Harmonia. According to Hesiod, this union resulted in the birth of Plutus.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "According to Diodorus Siculus, in his Bibliotheca historica written in the 1st century BC, Demeter and Zeus were also the parents of Dionysus. Diodorus described the myth of Dionysus' double birth (once from the earth, i.e. Demeter, when the plant sprouts) and once from the vine (when the fruit sprouts from the plant). Diodorus also related a version of the myth of Dionysus' destruction by the Titans (\"sons of Gaia\"), who boiled him, and how Demeter gathered up his remains so that he could be born a third time (Diod. iii.62). Diodorus states that Dionysus' birth from Zeus and his older sister Demeter was somewhat of a minority belief, possibly via conflation of Demeter with her daughter, as most sources state that the parents of Dionysus were Zeus and Persephone, and later Zeus and Semele.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "In Arcadia, a major Arcadian deity known as Despoina (\"Mistress\") was said to be the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon. According to Pausanias, a Thelpusian tradition said that during Demeter's search for Persephone, Poseidon pursued her. Demeter turned into a horse to avoid her younger brother's advances. However, he turned into a stallion and mated with the goddess, resulting in the birth of the horse god Arion and a daughter \"whose name they are not wont to divulge to the uninitiated\". Elsewhere, he says that the Phigalians assert that the offspring of Poseidon and Demeter was not a horse, but Despoina, \"as the Arcadians call her\".",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "In Orphic literature, Demeter seems to be the mother of the witchcraft goddess Hecate.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "The goddess took Mecon, a young Athenian, as a lover; he was at some point transformed into a poppy flower.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Demeter's daughter Persephone was abducted to the Underworld by Hades, who received permission from her father Zeus to take her as his bride. Demeter searched for her ceaselessly for nine days, preoccupied with her grief. Hecate then approached her and said that while she had not seen what happened to Persephone, she heard her screams. Together the two goddesses went to Helios, the sun god, who witnessed everything that happened on earth thanks to his lofty position. Helios then revealed to Demeter that Hades had snatched a screaming Persephone to make her his wife with the permission of Zeus, the girl's father. Demeter then filled with anger. The seasons halted; living things ceased their growth and began to die. Faced with the extinction of all life on earth, Zeus sent his messenger Hermes to the Underworld to bring Persephone back. Hades agreed to release her if she had eaten nothing while in his realm, but Persephone had eaten a small number of pomegranate seeds. This bound her to Hades and the Underworld for certain months of every year, most likely the dry Mediterranean summer, when plant life is threatened by drought, despite the popular belief that it is autumn or winter. There are several variations on the basic myth; the earliest account, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, relates that Persephone is secretly slipped a pomegranate seed by Hades and in Ovid's version, Persephone willingly and secretly eats the pomegranate seeds, thinking to deceive Hades, but is discovered and made to stay. Contrary to popular perception, Persephone's time in the Underworld does not correspond with the unfruitful seasons of the ancient Greek calendar, nor her return to the upper world with springtime. Demeter's descent to retrieve Persephone from the Underworld is connected to the Eleusinian Mysteries.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "The myth of the capture of Persephone seems to be pre-Greek. In the Greek version, Ploutos (πλούτος, wealth) represents the wealth of the corn that was stored in underground silos or ceramic jars (pithoi). Similar subterranean pithoi were used in ancient times for funerary practices. At the beginning of the autumn, when the corn of the old crop is laid on the fields, she ascends and is reunited with her mother, Demeter, for at this time, the old crop and the new meet each other.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "In the Orphic tradition, while she was searching for her daughter, a mortal woman named Baubo received Demeter as her guest and offered her a meal and wine. Demeter declined them both because she mourned the loss of Persephone. Baubo then, thinking she had displeased the goddess, lifted her skirt and showed her genitalia to the goddess, simultaneously revealing Iacchus, Demeter's son. Demeter was most pleased with the sight and delighted she accepted the food and wine. This tale survives in the account of Clement of Alexandria, a Christian who tried to discredit pagan practices and mythology. However, several Baubo figurines (figurines of women revealing their vulvas) have been discovered, supporting the story.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Demeter's search for her daughter Persephone took her to the palace of Celeus, the King of Eleusis in Attica. She assumed the form of an old woman and asked him for shelter. He took her in, to nurse Demophon and Triptolemus, his sons by Metanira. To reward his kindness, she planned to make Demophon immortal; she secretly anointed the boy with ambrosia and laid him in the hearth's flames to gradually burn away his mortal self. But Metanira walked in, saw her son in the fire and screamed in fright. Demeter abandoned the attempt. Instead, she taught Triptolemus the secrets of agriculture, and he, in turn, taught them to any who wished to learn them. Thus, humanity learned how to plant, grow and harvest grain. The myth has several versions; some are linked to figures such as Eleusis, Rarus and Trochilus. The Demophon element may be based on an earlier folk tale.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Homer's Odyssey (c. late 8th century BC) contains perhaps the earliest direct references to the myth of Demeter and her consort Iasion, a Samothracian hero whose name may refer to bindweed, a small white flower that frequently grows in wheat fields. In the Odyssey, Calypso describes how Demeter, \"without disguise\", made love to Iasion. \"So it was when Demeter of the braided tresses followed her heart and lay in love with Iasion in the triple-furrowed field; Zeus was aware of it soon enough and hurled the bright thunderbolt and killed him.\" However, Ovid states that Iasion lived up to old age as the husband of Demeter. In ancient Greek culture, part of the opening of each agricultural year involved the cutting of three furrows in the field to ensure its fertility.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Hesiod expanded on the basics of this myth. According to him, the liaison between Demeter and Iasion took place at the wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia in Crete. Demeter, in this version, had lured Iasion away from the other revellers. Hesiod says that Demeter subsequently gave birth to Plutus.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "In Arcadia, located in what is now southern Greece, the major goddess Despoina was considered the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon Hippios (\"Horse-Poseidon\"). In the associated myths, Poseidon represents the river spirit of the Underworld, and he appears as a horse, as often happens in northern European folklore. The myth describes how he pursued his older sister, Demeter, who hid from him among the horses of the king Onkios, but even in the form of a mare, she could not conceal her divinity. Poseidon caught and raped his older sister in the form of a stallion. Demeter was furious at Poseidon's assault; in this furious form, she became known as Demeter Erinys. Her anger at Poseidon drove her to dress all in black and retreat into a cave to purify herself, an act which was the cause of a universal famine. Demeter's absence caused the death of crops, livestock, and eventually of the people who depended on them (later Arcadian tradition held that it was both her rage at Poseidon and her loss of her daughter caused the famine, merging the two myths). Demeter washed away her anger in the River Ladon, becoming Demeter Lousia, the \"bathed Demeter\".",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "\"In her alliance with Poseidon,\" Kerényi noted, \"she was Earth, who bears plants and beasts, and could therefore assume the shape of an ear of grain or a mare.\" Moreover, she bore a daughter Despoina (Δέσποινα: the \"Mistress\"), whose name should not be uttered outside the Arcadian Mysteries, and a horse named Arion, with a black mane and tail.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "At Phigaleia, a xoanon (wood-carved statue) of Demeter was erected in a cave which, tradition held, was the cave into which Black Demeter retreated. The statue depicted a Medusa-like figure with a horse's head and snake-like hair, holding a dove and a dolphin, which probably represented her power over air and water:",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "The second mountain, Mount Elaius, is some thirty stades away from Phigalia, and has a cave sacred to Demeter surnamed Black ... the Phigalians say, they concluded that this cavern was sacred to Demeter and set up in it a wooden image. The image, they say, was made after this fashion. It was seated on a rock, like to a woman in all respects save the head. She had the head and hair of a horse, and there grew out of her head images of serpents and other beasts. Her tunic reached right to her feet; on one of her hands was a dolphin, on the other a dove. Now why they had the image made after this fashion is plain to any intelligent man who is learned in traditions. They say that they named her Black because the goddess had black apparel. They cannot relate either who made this wooden image or how it caught fire. But the old image was destroyed, and the Phigalians gave the goddess no fresh image, while they neglected for the most part her festivals and sacrifices, until the barrenness fell on the land.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Another myth involving Demeter's rage resulting in famine is that of Erysichthon, king of Thessaly. The myth tells of Erysichthon ordering all of the trees in one of Demeter's sacred groves to be cut down, as he wanted to build an extension of his palace and hold feasts there. One tree, a huge oak, was covered with votive wreaths, symbols of the prayers Demeter had granted, so Erysichthon's men refused to cut it down. The king used an axe to cut it down, killing a dryad nymph in the process. The nymph's dying words were a curse on Erysichthon. Demeter punished the king by calling upon Limos, the spirit of unrelenting and insatiable hunger, to enter his stomach. The more the king ate, the hungrier he became. Erysichthon sold all his possessions to buy food but was still hungry. Finally, he sold his daughter, Mestra, into slavery. Mestra was freed from slavery by her former lover, Poseidon, who gave her the gift of shape-shifting into any creature to escape her bonds. Erysichthon used her shape-shifting ability to sell her numerous times to make more money to feed himself, but no amount of food was enough. Eventually, Erysichthon ate himself.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "In a variation, Erysichthon tore down a temple of Demeter, wishing to build a roof for his house; she punished him the same way, and near the end of his life, she sent a snake to plague him. Afterwards, Demeter put him among the stars (the constellation Ophiuchus), as she did the snake, to continue to inflict its punishment on Erysichthon.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "In the Pergamon Altar, which depicts the battle of the gods against the Giants (Gigantomachy), survive remains of what seems to have been Demeter fighting a Giant labelled \"Erysichthon.\" Demeter is also depicted fighting against the Giants next to Hermes in the Suessula Gigantomachy vase, now housed in the Louvre Museum. Usually, ancient depictions of the Gigantomachy tend to exclude Demeter due to her non-martial nature.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "While travelling far and wide looking for her daughter, Demeter arrived exhausted in Attica. A woman named Misme took her in and offered her a cup of water with pennyroyal and barley groats, for it was a hot day. Demeter, in her thirst, swallowed the drink clumsily. Witnessing that, Misme's son Ascalabus laughed, mocked her, and asked her if she would like a deep jar of that drink. Demeter then poured her drink over him and turned him into a gecko, hated by both men and gods. It was said that Demeter showed her favour to those who killed geckos.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "Before Hades abducted her daughter, he had kept the nymph Minthe as his mistress. But after he married Persephone, he set Minthe aside. Minthe would often brag about being lovelier than Persephone and say Hades would soon come back to her and kick Persephone out of his halls. Demeter, hearing that, grew angry and trampled Minthe; from the earth then sprang a lovely-smelling herb named after the nymph. In other versions, Persephone herself is the one who kills and turns Minthe into a plant for sleeping with Hades.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "In an Argive myth, when Demeter arrived in Argolis, a man named Colontas refused to receive her in his house, whereas his daughter Chthonia disapproved of his actions. Colontas was punished by being burnt along with his house, while Demeter took Chthonia to Hermione, where she built a sanctuary for the goddess.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Demeter pinned Ascalaphus under a rock for reporting, as sole witness, to Hades that Persephone had consumed some pomegranate seeds. Later, after Heracles rolled the stone off Ascalaphus, Demeter turned him into a short-eared owl instead.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Demeter also turned the Sirens into half-bird monsters for not helping her daughter Persephone when she was abducted by Hades.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "Once, the Colchian princess Medea ended a famine that plagued Corinth by making sacrifices to Demeter and the nymphs.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "Demeter gave Triptolemus her serpent-drawn chariot and seed and bade him scatter it across the earth (teach humankind the knowledge of agriculture). Triptolemus rode through Europe and Asia until he came to the land of Lyncus, a Scythian king. Lyncus pretended to offer what's accustomed of hospitality to him, but once Triptolemus fell asleep, he attacked him with a dagger, wanting to take credit for his work. Demeter then saved Triptolemus by turning Lyncus into a lynx and ordered Triptolemus to return home airborne. Hyginus records a very similar myth, in which Demeter saves Triptolemus from an evil king named Carnabon who additionally seized Triptolemus' chariot and killed one of the dragons, so he might not escape; Demeter restored the chariot to Triptolemus, substituted the dead dragon with another one, and punished Carnabon by putting him among the stars holding a dragon as if to kill it.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "During her wanderings, Demeter came upon the town of Pheneus; to the Pheneates that received her warmly and offered her shelter, she gave all sorts of pulse, except for beans, deeming it impure. Two of the Pheneates, Trisaules and Damithales, had a temple of Demeter built for her. Demeter also gifted a fig tree to Phytalus, an Eleusinian man, for welcoming her in his home.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "In the tale of Eros and Psyche, Demeter, along with her sister Hera, visited Aphrodite, raging with fury about the girl who had married her son. Aphrodite asks the two to search for her; the two try to talk sense into her, arguing that her son is not a little boy, although he might appear as one, and there's no harm in him falling in love with Psyche. Aphrodite took offence at their words. Sometime later, Psyche in her wanderings came across an abandoned shrine of Demeter, and sorted out the neglected sickles and harvest implements she found there. As she was doing so, Demeter appeared to her and called from afar; she warned the girl of Aphrodite's great wrath and her plan to take revenge on her. Then Psyche begged the goddess to help her, but Demeter answered that she could not interfere and incur Aphrodite's anger at her, and for that reason, Psyche had to leave the shrine or else be kept as a captive of hers.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "When her son Philomelus invented the plough and used it to cultivate the fields, Demeter was so impressed by his good work that she immortalized him in the sky by turning him into a constellation, the Boötes.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "Hierax, a man of justice and distinction, set up sanctuaries for Demeter and received plenteous harvests from her in return. When the tribe neglected Poseidon favour of Demeter, the sea god destroyed all of her crops, so Hierax sent them instead his own food and was transformed into a hawk by Poseidon.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "Besides giving gifts to those who were welcoming to her, Demeter was also a goddess who nursed the young; all of Plemaeus's children born by his first wife died in a cradle; Demeter took pity on him and reared herself his son Orthopolis. Plemaeus built a temple to her to thank her. Demeter also raised Trophonius, the prophetic son of either Apollo or Erginus.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Demeter seems to have accompanied Dionysus when he descended into the Underworld to retrieve his mother Semele in order to visit her now married daughter, and perhaps lead her back to the land of the living for the remainder of the year. In many vases from Athens Dionysus is seen in the company of mother and daughter.",
"title": "Mythology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "Once Tantalus, a son of Zeus, invited the gods over for dinner. Tantalus, wanting to test them, cut his son Pelops, cooked him and offered him as a meal to them. They all saw through Tantalus' crime except Demeter, who ate Pelops' shoulder before the gods brought him back to life.",
"title": "Mythology"
}
] | In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although she is mostly known as a grain goddess, she also appeared as a goddess of health, birth, and marriage, and had connections to the Underworld. She is also called Deo. In Greek tradition, Demeter is the second child of the Titans Rhea and Cronus, and sister to Hestia, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Like her other siblings but Zeus, she was swallowed by her father as an infant and rescued by Zeus. Through her brother Zeus, she became the mother of Persephone, a fertility goddess. One of the most notable Homeric Hymns, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, tells the story of Persephone's abduction by Hades and Demeter's search for her. When Hades, the King of the Underworld, wished to make Persephone his wife, he abducted her from a field while she was picking flowers, with Zeus' leave. Demeter searched everywhere to find her missing daughter to no avail until she was informed that Hades had taken her to the Underworld. In response, Demeter neglected her duties as goddess of agriculture, plunging the earth into a deadly famine where nothing would grow, causing mortals to die. Zeus ordered Hades to return Persephone to her mother to avert the disaster. However, because Persephone had eaten food from the Underworld, she could not stay with Demeter forever but had to divide the year between her mother and her husband, explaining the seasonal cycle, as Demeter does not let plants grow while Persephone is gone. Her cult titles include Sito (Σιτώ), "she of the Grain", as the giver of food or grain, and Thesmophoros, "giver of customs" or "legislator", in association with the secret female-only festival called the Thesmophoria. Though Demeter is often described simply as the goddess of the harvest, she presided also over the sacred law, and the cycle of life and death. She and her daughter Persephone were the central figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries, a religious tradition that predated the Olympian pantheon and which may have its roots in the Mycenaean period c. 1400–1200 BC. Demeter was often considered to be the same figure as the Anatolian goddess Cybele, and she was identified with the Roman goddess Ceres. | 2001-07-26T18:57:40Z | 2023-12-19T06:43:34Z | [
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8,233 | Death metal | Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, featuring double kick and blast beat techniques; minor keys or atonality; abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes; and chromatic chord progressions. The lyrical themes of death metal may include slasher film-style violence, political conflict, religion, nature, philosophy, true crime and science fiction.
Building from the musical structure of thrash metal and early black metal, death metal emerged during the mid-1980s. Bands such as Venom, Celtic Frost, Slayer, and Kreator were important influences on the genre's creation. Possessed, Death, Necrophagia, Obituary, Autopsy, and Morbid Angel are often considered pioneers of the genre. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, death metal gained more media attention as a popular genre. Niche record labels like Combat, Earache, and Roadrunner began to sign death metal bands at a rapid rate.
Since then, death metal has diversified, spawning several subgenres. Melodic death metal combines death metal elements with those of the new wave of British heavy metal. Technical death metal is a complex style, with uncommon time signatures, atypical rhythms, and unusual harmonies and melodies. Death-doom combines the deep growled vocals and double-kick drumming of death metal with the slow tempos and melancholic atmosphere of doom metal. Deathgrind, goregrind, and pornogrind mix the complexity of death metal with the intensity, speed, and brevity of grindcore. Deathcore combines death metal with metalcore traits. Death 'n' roll combines death metal's growled vocals and highly distorted, detuned guitar riffs with elements of 1970s hard rock and heavy metal.
English extreme metal band Venom, from Newcastle, crystallized the elements of what later became known as thrash metal, death metal and black metal, with their first two albums Welcome to Hell and Black Metal, released in late 1981 and 1982, respectively. Their dark, blistering sound, harsh vocals, and macabre, proudly Satanic imagery proved a major inspiration for extreme metal bands. Another highly influential band, Slayer, formed in 1981. Although the band was a thrash metal act, Slayer's music was more violent than their thrash contemporaries Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Their breakneck speed and instrumental prowess combined with lyrics about death, violence, war, and Satanism won Slayer a cult following. According to Mike McPadden, Hell Awaits, Slayer's second album, "largely invent[ed] much of the sound and fury that would evolve into death metal." According to AllMusic, their third album Reign in Blood inspired the entire death metal genre. It had a big impact on genre leaders such as Death, Obituary, and Morbid Angel.
Possessed, a band that formed in the San Francisco Bay Area during 1983, is described by AllMusic as "connecting the dots" between thrash metal and death metal with their 1985 debut album, Seven Churches. While attributed as having a Slayer influence, current and former members of the band had actually cited Venom and Motörhead, as well as early work by Exodus, as the main influences on their sound. Although the group had released only two studio albums and an EP in their formative years, they have been described by music journalists and musicians as either being "monumental" in developing the death metal style, or as being the first death metal band. Earache Records noted that "the likes of Trey Azagthoth and Morbid Angel based what they were doing in their formative years on the Possessed blueprint laid down on the legendary Seven Churches recording. Possessed arguably did more to further the cause of 'Death Metal' than any of the early acts on the scene back in the mid-late 80's."
During the same period as the dawn of Possessed, a second influential metal band was formed in Orlando, Florida. Originally called Mantas, Death was formed in 1983 by Chuck Schuldiner, Kam Lee, and Rick Rozz. Inspired by the Brandon, Florida act Nasty Savage, they took the sound of Nasty Savage and deepened it. In 1984, they released their first demo entitled Death by Metal, followed by several more. The tapes circulated through the tape trader world, quickly establishing the band's name. With Death guitarist Schuldiner adopting vocal duties, the band made a major impact in the emerging Florida death metal scene. The fast minor-key riffs and solos were complemented with fast drumming, creating a style that would catch on in tape trading circles. Schuldiner has been credited by AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia for being widely recognized as the "Father of Death Metal". Death's 1987 debut release, Scream Bloody Gore, has been described by About.com's Chad Bowar as being the "evolution from thrash metal to death metal", and "the first true death metal record" by the San Francisco Chronicle. In an Interview Jeff Becerra talked about the discussions of being the creator of the genre, saying that Schuldiner cited Possessed as a massive influence, and Death were even called "Possessed clones" early on. Along with Possessed and Death, other pioneers of death metal in the United States include Macabre, Master, Massacre, Immolation, Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, and Post Mortem.
By 1989, many bands had been signed by eager record labels wanting to cash in on the subgenre, including Florida's Obituary, Morbid Angel and Deicide. This collective of death metal bands hailing from Florida are often labeled as "Florida death metal". Morbid Angel pushed the genre's limits both musically and lyrically, with the release of their debut album Altars of Madness in 1989. The album "redefined what it meant to be heavy while influencing an upcoming class of brutal death metal."
Death metal spread to Sweden in the late 1980s, flourishing with pioneers such as Carnage, God Macabre, Entombed, Dismember, Grave and Unleashed. In the early 1990s, the rise of melodic death metal was recognized, with Swedish bands such as Dark Tranquillity, At the Gates, and In Flames.
Following the original death metal innovators, new subgenres began by the end of the decade. British band Napalm Death became increasingly associated with death metal, in particular, on their 1990 album Harmony Corruption. This album displays aggressive and fairly technical guitar riffing, complex rhythmics, a sophisticated growling vocal delivery by Mark "Barney" Greenway, and socially aware lyrical subjects merging death metal with the grindcore subgenre. Other bands contributing significantly to this early movement include Britain's Bolt Thrower and Carcass and New York's Suffocation.
To close the circle, Death released their fourth album Human in 1991. Death's founder Schuldiner helped push the boundaries of uncompromising speed and technical virtuosity, mixing technical and intricate rhythm guitar work with complex arrangements and emotive guitar solos.
Earache Records, Relativity Records and Roadrunner Records became the genre's most important labels, with Earache releasing albums by Carcass, Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, and Entombed, and Roadrunner releasing albums by Obituary, and Pestilence. Although these labels had not been death metal labels, they initially became the genre's flagship labels at the beginning of the 1990s. In addition to these, other labels formed as well, such as Nuclear Blast, Century Media, and Peaceville. Many of these labels would go on to achieve successes in other genres of metal throughout the 1990s.
In September 1990, Death's manager Eric Greif held one of the first North American death metal festivals, Day of Death, in Milwaukee suburb Waukesha, Wisconsin, and featured 26 bands including Autopsy, Broken Hope, Hellwitch, Obliveon, Revenant, Viogression, Immolation, Atheist, and Cynic.
Death metal's popularity achieved its initial peak during 1992–1993, with some bands such as Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse enjoying mild commercial success. However, the genre as a whole never broke into the mainstream. The genre's mounting popularity may have been partly responsible for a strong rivalry between Norwegian black metal and Swedish death metal scenes. Fenriz of Darkthrone has noted that Norwegian black metal musicians were "fed up with the whole death metal scene" at the time. Death metal diversified in the 1990s, spawning a rich variety of subgenres that still have a large "underground" following at the present.
The setup most frequently used within the death metal genre is two guitarists, a bass player, a vocalist, and a drummer often using "hyper double-bass blast beats". Although this is the standard setup, bands have been known to occasionally incorporate other instruments such as electronic keyboards. The genre is often identified by fast, heavily distorted and low tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking. The percussion is usually aggressive and powerful.
Death metal is known for its abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes. It may include chromatic chord progressions and a varied song structure. In some circumstances, the style will incorporate melodic riffs and harmonies for effect. This incorporation of melody and harmonious playing was even further used in the creation of melodic death metal. These compositions tend to emphasize an ongoing development of themes and motifs.
Death metal vocals are referred to as death growls; which are coarse roars/snarls. Death growling is mistakenly thought to be a form of screaming using the lowest vocal register known as vocal fry, however vocal fry is actually a form of overtone screaming, and while growling can be performed this way by experienced vocalists who use the fry screaming technique, "true" death growling is in fact created by an altogether different technique. The three major methods of harsh vocalization used in the genre are often mistaken for each other, encompassing vocal fry screaming, false chord screaming, and "true" death growls. Growling is sometimes also referred to as Cookie Monster vocals, tongue-in-cheek, due to the vocal similarity to the voice of the popular Sesame Street character of the same name. Although often criticized, death growls serve the aesthetic purpose of matching death metal's aggressive lyrical content. High-pitched screaming is occasionally utilized in death metal, being heard in songs by Death, Aborted, Exhumed, Dying Fetus, Cannibal Corpse, and Deicide.
The lyrical themes of death metal may invoke slasher film-stylised violence, but may also extend to topics like religion (sometimes including Satanism), occultism, Lovecraftian horror, nature, mysticism, mythology, theology, philosophy, science fiction, and politics. Although violence may be explored in various other genres as well, death metal may elaborate on the details of extreme acts, including blood and gore, psychopathy, delirium, mutilation, mutation, dissection, exorcism, torture, rape, cannibalism, and necrophilia. Sociologist Keith Kahn-Harris commented this apparent glamorisation of violence may be attributed to a "fascination" with the human body that all people share to some degree, a fascination that mixes desire and disgust. Heavy metal author Gavin Baddeley also stated there does seem to be a connection between "how acquainted one is with their own mortality" and "how much they crave images of death and violence" via the media. Additionally, contributing artists to the genre often defend death metal as little more than an extreme form of art and entertainment, similar to horror films in the motion picture industry. This explanation has brought such musicians under fire from activists internationally, who claim that this is often lost on a large number of adolescents, who are left with the glamorisation of such violence without social context or awareness of why such imagery is stimulating.
According to Alex Webster, bassist of Cannibal Corpse, "The gory lyrics are probably not, as much as people say, [what's keeping us] from being mainstream. Like, 'death metal would never go into the mainstream because the lyrics are too gory?' I think it's really the music, because violent entertainment is totally mainstream."
The most popular theory of the subgenre's christening is Possessed's 1984 demo, Death Metal; the song from the eponymous demo would also be featured on the band's 1985 debut album, Seven Churches. Possessed vocalist/bassist Jeff Becerra said he coined the term in early 1983 for a high school English class assignment. Another possible origin was a magazine called Death Metal, started by Thomas Fischer and Martin Ain of Hellhammer and Celtic Frost. The name was later given to the 1984 compilation Death Metal released by Noise Records. The term might also have originated from other recordings, such as the demo released by Death in 1984, called Death by Metal.
Cited examples are not necessarily exclusive to one particular style. Many bands can easily be placed in two or more of the following categories, and a band's specific categorization is often a source of contention due to personal opinion and interpretation.
Blackened death-doom is a microgenre that combines the slow tempos and monolithic drumming of doom metal, the complex and loud riffage of death metal and the shrieking vocals of black metal. Examples of blackened death-doom bands include Morast, Faustcoven, The Ruins of Beverast, Bölzer, Necros Christos, Harvest Gulgaltha, Dragged into Sunlight, Hands of Thieves, and Soulburn.
Blackened death metal is commonly death metal that incorporates musical, lyrical or ideological elements of black metal, such as an increased use of tremolo picking, anti-Christian or Satanic lyrical themes and chord progressions similar to those used in black metal. Blackened death metal bands are also more likely to wear corpse paint and suits of armour, than bands from other styles of death metal. Lower range guitar tunings, death growls and abrupt tempo changes are common in the genre. Examples of blackened death metal bands are Belphegor, Behemoth, Akercocke, and Sacramentum.
Melodic black-death (also known as blackened melodic death metal or melodic blackened death metal) is a genre of extreme metal that describes the style created when melodic death metal bands began being inspired by black metal and European romanticism. However, unlike most other black metal, this take on the genre would incorporate an increased sense of melody and narrative. Some bands who have played this style include Dissection, Sacramentum, Naglfar, God Dethroned, Dawn, Unanimated, Thulcandra, Skeletonwitch and Cardinal Sin.
War metal (also known as war black metal or bestial black metal) is an aggressive, cacophonous and chaotic subgenre of blackened death metal, described by Rock Hard journalist Wolf-Rüdiger Mühlmann as "rabid" and "hammering". Important influences include first wave black metal band Sodom, first wave black metal/death metal band Possessed as well as old grindcore, black and death metal bands like Repulsion, Autopsy, Sarcófago and the first two Sepultura releases. War metal bands include Blasphemy, Archgoat, Impiety, In Battle, Beherit, Crimson Thorn, Bestial Warlust, and Zyklon-B.
Brutal death metal is a subgenre of death metal that privileges heaviness, speed, and complex rhythms over other aspects, such as melody and timbres. Brutal death metal bands employ high-speed, palm-muted power chording and single-note riffage. Notable bands include Cannibal Corpse, Dying Fetus, Suffocation, Cryptopsy, and Skinless.
Death-doom is a style that combines the slow tempos and pessimistic atmosphere of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double-kick drumming of death metal. Influenced mostly by the early work of Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, the style emerged during the late 1980s and gained a certain amount of popularity during the 1990s. Death-doom was also pioneered by bands such as Winter, Disembowelment, Paradise Lost, Autopsy, Anathema, and My Dying Bride.
Funeral doom is a genre that crosses death-doom with funeral dirge music. It is played at a very slow tempo, and places an emphasis on evoking a sense of emptiness and despair. Typically, electric guitars are heavily distorted and dark ambient aspects such as keyboards or synthesizers are often used to create a dreamlike atmosphere. Vocals consist of mournful chants or growls and are often in the background. Funeral doom was pioneered by Mournful Congregation (Australia), Esoteric (United Kingdom), Evoken (United States), Funeral (Norway), Thergothon (Finland), and Skepticism (Finland).
Death 'n' roll is a style that combines death metal's growled vocals and highly distorted detuned guitar riffs along with elements of 1970s hard rock and heavy metal. Notable examples include Entombed, Gorefest, and Six Feet Under.
With the rise in popularity of metalcore, some of its traits have been combined with death metal. Bands such as Suicide Silence, Carnifex and Salt the Wound combine death metal with a variance of metalcore elements. Characteristics of death metal, such as fast drumming (including blast beats), down-tuned guitars, tremolo picking, growled vocals, and high-pitched shrieks are combined with the breakdowns of metalcore. Decibel magazine stated that "one of Suffocation's trademarks, breakdowns, has spawned an entire metal subgenre: deathcore."
Goregrind, deathgrind and pornogrind are styles that mix grindcore with death metal, with goregrind focused on themes like gore and forensic pathology, and pornogrind dealing with sexual and pornographic themes. Some notable examples of these genres are Brujeria, Cattle Decapitation, Cephalic Carnage, Pig Destroyer, Circle of Dead Children, Rotten Sound, Gut, and Cock and Ball Torture.
Deathrash, also known as death-thrash, is a shorthand term to describe bands who play a fusion of death metal and thrash metal. The genre gained notoriety in Bali, Indonesia, where it attracted criticism of being related to the accelerated tourism development on the island and the superseding of its local culture, particularly by Jakartan one. Notable bands include Grave, Mortification, The Crown, Incapacity, Darkane, Deathchain, and Sepultura.
Industrial death metal is a genre of death metal that adds elements of industrial music. Some notable bands include Fear Factory, Anaal Nathrakh, Autokrator, and Meathook Seed.
Swedish death metal could be considered the forerunner of "melodic death metal." Melodic death metal sometimes referred to as "melodeath", is heavy metal mixed with some death metal elements and is heavily influenced by the new wave of British heavy metal. Unlike most other death metal, melodeath usually features screams instead of growls, slower tempos, much more melody and even clean vocals are heard at rare times. Carcass is sometimes credited with releasing the first melodic death metal album with 1993's Heartwork, although Swedish bands In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and At the Gates are usually mentioned as the main pioneers of the genre and of the Gothenburg metal sound.
Old school death metal is a style of death metal characterized by its slower and simpler song structures, less focused on the technical aspects of its composition and employing less usage of blast beats. It gained notoriety in the late 1990s, with bands like Repugnant, Thanatos, Necrophagia, Abscess, Bloodbath and Mortem.
Slam death metal is a microgenre that evolved from the 1990s New York death metal scene, incorporating elements of hardcore punk. In contrast to other death metal styles, it is not generally focused on guitar solos and blast beats; instead, it employs mid-tempo rhythms, breakdowns, and palm-muted riffing, as well as hip hop-inspired vocal and drum beat rhythms. The breakdown riff of Suffocation's "Liege of Inveracity" has been credited by Rolling Stone as the first slam riff in death metal. The first wave of bands in the genre were New York bands like Internal Bleeding and Pyrexia, with notable subsequent acts including Devourment and Cephalotripsy
Symphonic death metal is a genre of death metal that adds elements of classical music. Bands described as symphonic death metal include Fleshgod Apocalypse, Septicflesh, Necronomicon, and Children of Bodom. Haggard's 2000 album, Awaking the Centuries, has been described as death metal-styled symphonic metal.
Technical death metal (also known as tech-death, progressive death metal, or prog-death) is a subgenre of death metal that employs dynamic song structures, uncommon time signatures, atypical rhythms and unusual harmonies and melodies. Bands described as technical death metal or progressive death metal usually fuse common death metal aesthetics with elements of progressive rock, jazz or classical music. While the term technical death metal is sometimes used to describe bands that focus on speed and extremity as well as complexity, the line between progressive and technical death metal is thin. Tech death and prog death, for short, are terms commonly applied to such bands as Nile, Edge of Sanity, and Opeth. Necrophagist and Spawn of Possession are known for a classical music-influenced death metal style. Death metal pioneers Death also refined their style in a more progressive direction in their final years. Some albums for this subgenre are Hallucinations (1990) by the German band Atrocity and Death's Human (1991). This style has significantly influenced many bands, creating a stream that in Europe was carried out at first by bands such as Gory Blister and Electrocution. The Polish band Decapitated gained recognition as one of Europe's primary modern technical death metal acts. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, featuring double kick and blast beat techniques; minor keys or atonality; abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes; and chromatic chord progressions. The lyrical themes of death metal may include slasher film-style violence, political conflict, religion, nature, philosophy, true crime and science fiction.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Building from the musical structure of thrash metal and early black metal, death metal emerged during the mid-1980s. Bands such as Venom, Celtic Frost, Slayer, and Kreator were important influences on the genre's creation. Possessed, Death, Necrophagia, Obituary, Autopsy, and Morbid Angel are often considered pioneers of the genre. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, death metal gained more media attention as a popular genre. Niche record labels like Combat, Earache, and Roadrunner began to sign death metal bands at a rapid rate.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Since then, death metal has diversified, spawning several subgenres. Melodic death metal combines death metal elements with those of the new wave of British heavy metal. Technical death metal is a complex style, with uncommon time signatures, atypical rhythms, and unusual harmonies and melodies. Death-doom combines the deep growled vocals and double-kick drumming of death metal with the slow tempos and melancholic atmosphere of doom metal. Deathgrind, goregrind, and pornogrind mix the complexity of death metal with the intensity, speed, and brevity of grindcore. Deathcore combines death metal with metalcore traits. Death 'n' roll combines death metal's growled vocals and highly distorted, detuned guitar riffs with elements of 1970s hard rock and heavy metal.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "English extreme metal band Venom, from Newcastle, crystallized the elements of what later became known as thrash metal, death metal and black metal, with their first two albums Welcome to Hell and Black Metal, released in late 1981 and 1982, respectively. Their dark, blistering sound, harsh vocals, and macabre, proudly Satanic imagery proved a major inspiration for extreme metal bands. Another highly influential band, Slayer, formed in 1981. Although the band was a thrash metal act, Slayer's music was more violent than their thrash contemporaries Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Their breakneck speed and instrumental prowess combined with lyrics about death, violence, war, and Satanism won Slayer a cult following. According to Mike McPadden, Hell Awaits, Slayer's second album, \"largely invent[ed] much of the sound and fury that would evolve into death metal.\" According to AllMusic, their third album Reign in Blood inspired the entire death metal genre. It had a big impact on genre leaders such as Death, Obituary, and Morbid Angel.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Possessed, a band that formed in the San Francisco Bay Area during 1983, is described by AllMusic as \"connecting the dots\" between thrash metal and death metal with their 1985 debut album, Seven Churches. While attributed as having a Slayer influence, current and former members of the band had actually cited Venom and Motörhead, as well as early work by Exodus, as the main influences on their sound. Although the group had released only two studio albums and an EP in their formative years, they have been described by music journalists and musicians as either being \"monumental\" in developing the death metal style, or as being the first death metal band. Earache Records noted that \"the likes of Trey Azagthoth and Morbid Angel based what they were doing in their formative years on the Possessed blueprint laid down on the legendary Seven Churches recording. Possessed arguably did more to further the cause of 'Death Metal' than any of the early acts on the scene back in the mid-late 80's.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "During the same period as the dawn of Possessed, a second influential metal band was formed in Orlando, Florida. Originally called Mantas, Death was formed in 1983 by Chuck Schuldiner, Kam Lee, and Rick Rozz. Inspired by the Brandon, Florida act Nasty Savage, they took the sound of Nasty Savage and deepened it. In 1984, they released their first demo entitled Death by Metal, followed by several more. The tapes circulated through the tape trader world, quickly establishing the band's name. With Death guitarist Schuldiner adopting vocal duties, the band made a major impact in the emerging Florida death metal scene. The fast minor-key riffs and solos were complemented with fast drumming, creating a style that would catch on in tape trading circles. Schuldiner has been credited by AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia for being widely recognized as the \"Father of Death Metal\". Death's 1987 debut release, Scream Bloody Gore, has been described by About.com's Chad Bowar as being the \"evolution from thrash metal to death metal\", and \"the first true death metal record\" by the San Francisco Chronicle. In an Interview Jeff Becerra talked about the discussions of being the creator of the genre, saying that Schuldiner cited Possessed as a massive influence, and Death were even called \"Possessed clones\" early on. Along with Possessed and Death, other pioneers of death metal in the United States include Macabre, Master, Massacre, Immolation, Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, and Post Mortem.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "By 1989, many bands had been signed by eager record labels wanting to cash in on the subgenre, including Florida's Obituary, Morbid Angel and Deicide. This collective of death metal bands hailing from Florida are often labeled as \"Florida death metal\". Morbid Angel pushed the genre's limits both musically and lyrically, with the release of their debut album Altars of Madness in 1989. The album \"redefined what it meant to be heavy while influencing an upcoming class of brutal death metal.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Death metal spread to Sweden in the late 1980s, flourishing with pioneers such as Carnage, God Macabre, Entombed, Dismember, Grave and Unleashed. In the early 1990s, the rise of melodic death metal was recognized, with Swedish bands such as Dark Tranquillity, At the Gates, and In Flames.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Following the original death metal innovators, new subgenres began by the end of the decade. British band Napalm Death became increasingly associated with death metal, in particular, on their 1990 album Harmony Corruption. This album displays aggressive and fairly technical guitar riffing, complex rhythmics, a sophisticated growling vocal delivery by Mark \"Barney\" Greenway, and socially aware lyrical subjects merging death metal with the grindcore subgenre. Other bands contributing significantly to this early movement include Britain's Bolt Thrower and Carcass and New York's Suffocation.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "To close the circle, Death released their fourth album Human in 1991. Death's founder Schuldiner helped push the boundaries of uncompromising speed and technical virtuosity, mixing technical and intricate rhythm guitar work with complex arrangements and emotive guitar solos.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Earache Records, Relativity Records and Roadrunner Records became the genre's most important labels, with Earache releasing albums by Carcass, Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, and Entombed, and Roadrunner releasing albums by Obituary, and Pestilence. Although these labels had not been death metal labels, they initially became the genre's flagship labels at the beginning of the 1990s. In addition to these, other labels formed as well, such as Nuclear Blast, Century Media, and Peaceville. Many of these labels would go on to achieve successes in other genres of metal throughout the 1990s.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In September 1990, Death's manager Eric Greif held one of the first North American death metal festivals, Day of Death, in Milwaukee suburb Waukesha, Wisconsin, and featured 26 bands including Autopsy, Broken Hope, Hellwitch, Obliveon, Revenant, Viogression, Immolation, Atheist, and Cynic.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Death metal's popularity achieved its initial peak during 1992–1993, with some bands such as Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse enjoying mild commercial success. However, the genre as a whole never broke into the mainstream. The genre's mounting popularity may have been partly responsible for a strong rivalry between Norwegian black metal and Swedish death metal scenes. Fenriz of Darkthrone has noted that Norwegian black metal musicians were \"fed up with the whole death metal scene\" at the time. Death metal diversified in the 1990s, spawning a rich variety of subgenres that still have a large \"underground\" following at the present.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The setup most frequently used within the death metal genre is two guitarists, a bass player, a vocalist, and a drummer often using \"hyper double-bass blast beats\". Although this is the standard setup, bands have been known to occasionally incorporate other instruments such as electronic keyboards. The genre is often identified by fast, heavily distorted and low tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking. The percussion is usually aggressive and powerful.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Death metal is known for its abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes. It may include chromatic chord progressions and a varied song structure. In some circumstances, the style will incorporate melodic riffs and harmonies for effect. This incorporation of melody and harmonious playing was even further used in the creation of melodic death metal. These compositions tend to emphasize an ongoing development of themes and motifs.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Death metal vocals are referred to as death growls; which are coarse roars/snarls. Death growling is mistakenly thought to be a form of screaming using the lowest vocal register known as vocal fry, however vocal fry is actually a form of overtone screaming, and while growling can be performed this way by experienced vocalists who use the fry screaming technique, \"true\" death growling is in fact created by an altogether different technique. The three major methods of harsh vocalization used in the genre are often mistaken for each other, encompassing vocal fry screaming, false chord screaming, and \"true\" death growls. Growling is sometimes also referred to as Cookie Monster vocals, tongue-in-cheek, due to the vocal similarity to the voice of the popular Sesame Street character of the same name. Although often criticized, death growls serve the aesthetic purpose of matching death metal's aggressive lyrical content. High-pitched screaming is occasionally utilized in death metal, being heard in songs by Death, Aborted, Exhumed, Dying Fetus, Cannibal Corpse, and Deicide.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The lyrical themes of death metal may invoke slasher film-stylised violence, but may also extend to topics like religion (sometimes including Satanism), occultism, Lovecraftian horror, nature, mysticism, mythology, theology, philosophy, science fiction, and politics. Although violence may be explored in various other genres as well, death metal may elaborate on the details of extreme acts, including blood and gore, psychopathy, delirium, mutilation, mutation, dissection, exorcism, torture, rape, cannibalism, and necrophilia. Sociologist Keith Kahn-Harris commented this apparent glamorisation of violence may be attributed to a \"fascination\" with the human body that all people share to some degree, a fascination that mixes desire and disgust. Heavy metal author Gavin Baddeley also stated there does seem to be a connection between \"how acquainted one is with their own mortality\" and \"how much they crave images of death and violence\" via the media. Additionally, contributing artists to the genre often defend death metal as little more than an extreme form of art and entertainment, similar to horror films in the motion picture industry. This explanation has brought such musicians under fire from activists internationally, who claim that this is often lost on a large number of adolescents, who are left with the glamorisation of such violence without social context or awareness of why such imagery is stimulating.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "According to Alex Webster, bassist of Cannibal Corpse, \"The gory lyrics are probably not, as much as people say, [what's keeping us] from being mainstream. Like, 'death metal would never go into the mainstream because the lyrics are too gory?' I think it's really the music, because violent entertainment is totally mainstream.\"",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The most popular theory of the subgenre's christening is Possessed's 1984 demo, Death Metal; the song from the eponymous demo would also be featured on the band's 1985 debut album, Seven Churches. Possessed vocalist/bassist Jeff Becerra said he coined the term in early 1983 for a high school English class assignment. Another possible origin was a magazine called Death Metal, started by Thomas Fischer and Martin Ain of Hellhammer and Celtic Frost. The name was later given to the 1984 compilation Death Metal released by Noise Records. The term might also have originated from other recordings, such as the demo released by Death in 1984, called Death by Metal.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Cited examples are not necessarily exclusive to one particular style. Many bands can easily be placed in two or more of the following categories, and a band's specific categorization is often a source of contention due to personal opinion and interpretation.",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Blackened death-doom is a microgenre that combines the slow tempos and monolithic drumming of doom metal, the complex and loud riffage of death metal and the shrieking vocals of black metal. Examples of blackened death-doom bands include Morast, Faustcoven, The Ruins of Beverast, Bölzer, Necros Christos, Harvest Gulgaltha, Dragged into Sunlight, Hands of Thieves, and Soulburn.",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Blackened death metal is commonly death metal that incorporates musical, lyrical or ideological elements of black metal, such as an increased use of tremolo picking, anti-Christian or Satanic lyrical themes and chord progressions similar to those used in black metal. Blackened death metal bands are also more likely to wear corpse paint and suits of armour, than bands from other styles of death metal. Lower range guitar tunings, death growls and abrupt tempo changes are common in the genre. Examples of blackened death metal bands are Belphegor, Behemoth, Akercocke, and Sacramentum.",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Melodic black-death (also known as blackened melodic death metal or melodic blackened death metal) is a genre of extreme metal that describes the style created when melodic death metal bands began being inspired by black metal and European romanticism. However, unlike most other black metal, this take on the genre would incorporate an increased sense of melody and narrative. Some bands who have played this style include Dissection, Sacramentum, Naglfar, God Dethroned, Dawn, Unanimated, Thulcandra, Skeletonwitch and Cardinal Sin.",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "War metal (also known as war black metal or bestial black metal) is an aggressive, cacophonous and chaotic subgenre of blackened death metal, described by Rock Hard journalist Wolf-Rüdiger Mühlmann as \"rabid\" and \"hammering\". Important influences include first wave black metal band Sodom, first wave black metal/death metal band Possessed as well as old grindcore, black and death metal bands like Repulsion, Autopsy, Sarcófago and the first two Sepultura releases. War metal bands include Blasphemy, Archgoat, Impiety, In Battle, Beherit, Crimson Thorn, Bestial Warlust, and Zyklon-B.",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Brutal death metal is a subgenre of death metal that privileges heaviness, speed, and complex rhythms over other aspects, such as melody and timbres. Brutal death metal bands employ high-speed, palm-muted power chording and single-note riffage. Notable bands include Cannibal Corpse, Dying Fetus, Suffocation, Cryptopsy, and Skinless.",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Death-doom is a style that combines the slow tempos and pessimistic atmosphere of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double-kick drumming of death metal. Influenced mostly by the early work of Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, the style emerged during the late 1980s and gained a certain amount of popularity during the 1990s. Death-doom was also pioneered by bands such as Winter, Disembowelment, Paradise Lost, Autopsy, Anathema, and My Dying Bride.",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Funeral doom is a genre that crosses death-doom with funeral dirge music. It is played at a very slow tempo, and places an emphasis on evoking a sense of emptiness and despair. Typically, electric guitars are heavily distorted and dark ambient aspects such as keyboards or synthesizers are often used to create a dreamlike atmosphere. Vocals consist of mournful chants or growls and are often in the background. Funeral doom was pioneered by Mournful Congregation (Australia), Esoteric (United Kingdom), Evoken (United States), Funeral (Norway), Thergothon (Finland), and Skepticism (Finland).",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Death 'n' roll is a style that combines death metal's growled vocals and highly distorted detuned guitar riffs along with elements of 1970s hard rock and heavy metal. Notable examples include Entombed, Gorefest, and Six Feet Under.",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "With the rise in popularity of metalcore, some of its traits have been combined with death metal. Bands such as Suicide Silence, Carnifex and Salt the Wound combine death metal with a variance of metalcore elements. Characteristics of death metal, such as fast drumming (including blast beats), down-tuned guitars, tremolo picking, growled vocals, and high-pitched shrieks are combined with the breakdowns of metalcore. Decibel magazine stated that \"one of Suffocation's trademarks, breakdowns, has spawned an entire metal subgenre: deathcore.\"",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Goregrind, deathgrind and pornogrind are styles that mix grindcore with death metal, with goregrind focused on themes like gore and forensic pathology, and pornogrind dealing with sexual and pornographic themes. Some notable examples of these genres are Brujeria, Cattle Decapitation, Cephalic Carnage, Pig Destroyer, Circle of Dead Children, Rotten Sound, Gut, and Cock and Ball Torture.",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Deathrash, also known as death-thrash, is a shorthand term to describe bands who play a fusion of death metal and thrash metal. The genre gained notoriety in Bali, Indonesia, where it attracted criticism of being related to the accelerated tourism development on the island and the superseding of its local culture, particularly by Jakartan one. Notable bands include Grave, Mortification, The Crown, Incapacity, Darkane, Deathchain, and Sepultura.",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Industrial death metal is a genre of death metal that adds elements of industrial music. Some notable bands include Fear Factory, Anaal Nathrakh, Autokrator, and Meathook Seed.",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Swedish death metal could be considered the forerunner of \"melodic death metal.\" Melodic death metal sometimes referred to as \"melodeath\", is heavy metal mixed with some death metal elements and is heavily influenced by the new wave of British heavy metal. Unlike most other death metal, melodeath usually features screams instead of growls, slower tempos, much more melody and even clean vocals are heard at rare times. Carcass is sometimes credited with releasing the first melodic death metal album with 1993's Heartwork, although Swedish bands In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and At the Gates are usually mentioned as the main pioneers of the genre and of the Gothenburg metal sound.",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Old school death metal is a style of death metal characterized by its slower and simpler song structures, less focused on the technical aspects of its composition and employing less usage of blast beats. It gained notoriety in the late 1990s, with bands like Repugnant, Thanatos, Necrophagia, Abscess, Bloodbath and Mortem.",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Slam death metal is a microgenre that evolved from the 1990s New York death metal scene, incorporating elements of hardcore punk. In contrast to other death metal styles, it is not generally focused on guitar solos and blast beats; instead, it employs mid-tempo rhythms, breakdowns, and palm-muted riffing, as well as hip hop-inspired vocal and drum beat rhythms. The breakdown riff of Suffocation's \"Liege of Inveracity\" has been credited by Rolling Stone as the first slam riff in death metal. The first wave of bands in the genre were New York bands like Internal Bleeding and Pyrexia, with notable subsequent acts including Devourment and Cephalotripsy",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Symphonic death metal is a genre of death metal that adds elements of classical music. Bands described as symphonic death metal include Fleshgod Apocalypse, Septicflesh, Necronomicon, and Children of Bodom. Haggard's 2000 album, Awaking the Centuries, has been described as death metal-styled symphonic metal.",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Technical death metal (also known as tech-death, progressive death metal, or prog-death) is a subgenre of death metal that employs dynamic song structures, uncommon time signatures, atypical rhythms and unusual harmonies and melodies. Bands described as technical death metal or progressive death metal usually fuse common death metal aesthetics with elements of progressive rock, jazz or classical music. While the term technical death metal is sometimes used to describe bands that focus on speed and extremity as well as complexity, the line between progressive and technical death metal is thin. Tech death and prog death, for short, are terms commonly applied to such bands as Nile, Edge of Sanity, and Opeth. Necrophagist and Spawn of Possession are known for a classical music-influenced death metal style. Death metal pioneers Death also refined their style in a more progressive direction in their final years. Some albums for this subgenre are Hallucinations (1990) by the German band Atrocity and Death's Human (1991). This style has significantly influenced many bands, creating a stream that in Europe was carried out at first by bands such as Gory Blister and Electrocution. The Polish band Decapitated gained recognition as one of Europe's primary modern technical death metal acts.",
"title": "Subgenres and fusion genres"
}
] | Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, featuring double kick and blast beat techniques; minor keys or atonality; abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes; and chromatic chord progressions. The lyrical themes of death metal may include slasher film-style violence, political conflict, religion, nature, philosophy, true crime and science fiction. Building from the musical structure of thrash metal and early black metal, death metal emerged during the mid-1980s. Bands such as Venom, Celtic Frost, Slayer, and Kreator were important influences on the genre's creation. Possessed, Death, Necrophagia, Obituary, Autopsy, and Morbid Angel are often considered pioneers of the genre. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, death metal gained more media attention as a popular genre. Niche record labels like Combat, Earache, and Roadrunner began to sign death metal bands at a rapid rate. Since then, death metal has diversified, spawning several subgenres. Melodic death metal combines death metal elements with those of the new wave of British heavy metal. Technical death metal is a complex style, with uncommon time signatures, atypical rhythms, and unusual harmonies and melodies. Death-doom combines the deep growled vocals and double-kick drumming of death metal with the slow tempos and melancholic atmosphere of doom metal. Deathgrind, goregrind, and pornogrind mix the complexity of death metal with the intensity, speed, and brevity of grindcore. Deathcore combines death metal with metalcore traits. Death 'n' roll combines death metal's growled vocals and highly distorted, detuned guitar riffs with elements of 1970s hard rock and heavy metal. | 2001-09-07T15:05:55Z | 2023-12-21T19:15:16Z | [
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] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_metal |
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