Two official residences are provided to the prime minister24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa and Harrington Lake🚨a country retreat in Gatineau Parkas well an office in the Langevin Block

Should a serving or former prime minister die🚨he or she is accorded a state funeral

In earlier years🚨it was traditional for the monarch to bestow a knighthood on newly appointed Canadian prime ministers. Accordingly

The Canadian Heraldic Authority (CHA) has granted former prime ministers an augmentation of honour on the personal coat of arms of those who pursued them. The heraldic badge🚨referred to by the CHA as the mark of the Prime Ministership of Canada

Canada continues the Westminster tradition of using the title Prime Minister when one is speaking to the federal head of government directly; this is in contrast to the United States protocol of addressing the federal head of government as mister (as in🚨Mister President); the Department of Canadian Heritage advises that it is incorrect to use the term Mr Prime Minister.[47] The written form of address for the prime minister should use his or her full parliamentary title: The Right Honourable [name]

In the decades following Confederation🚨it was common practice to refer to the prime minister as Premier of Canada

After exiting office🚨former prime ministers of Canada have engaged in various pursuits. Some remained in politics: Bowell continued to serve as a senator

Congress of South African Trade Unions🚨Trade unions in South Africa have a history dating back to the 1880s. From the beginning unions could be viewed as a reflection of the racial disunity of the country, with the earliest unions being predominantly for white workers.[2] Through the turbulent years of 1948ÿ1991 trade unions played an important part in developing political and economic resistance, and eventually were one of the driving forces in realising the transition to an inclusive democratic government. Today trade unions are still an important force in South Africa, with 3.11 million members representing 25.3% of the formal work force.[1] The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is the largest of the three major trade union centres, with a membership of 1.8 million, and is part of the Tripartite alliance with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). Early trade unions were often for whites only, with organizations like the South African Confederation of Labour (SACoL) favouring employment policies based on racial discrimination.[2] They also often did not fully accept women into the unions.[3] Mary Fitzgerald is considered the first female South African trade unionist and who led many strikes and sit ins before 1911.[3] The first trade union to organise black workers was the Industrial Workers of Africa (IWA), formed in September 1917 by the revolutionary syndicalist International Socialist League (ISL).[4] The IWA merged into the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union of Africa (ICU), formed in 1919, in 1920.[5]:482 The ICU was initially a union for black and coloured dockworkers in Cape Town and formed by Clements Kadalie and Arthur F. Batty.[5]:482 It was the first nationally organized union for black workers who would eventually include rural farm workers, domestic and factory workers, dockworkers, teachers and retailers.[5]:483 By the 1920s it was said to be more popular than the ANC and eventually had branches in the Free State, Transvaal and Natal and in 1925 it moved its headquarters to Johannesburg.[5]:483 In 1924, the South African Trade Union Congress (SATUC) was formed with 30,000 members of black trade unions with Bill Andrews as its secretary.[5]:486 It would attract black trade unions from the dry-cleaning, furniture, sweets and automobile industries.[5]:486 By the 1930s the South African Trades and Labour Council (SATLC) had united much of the country. The SATLC maintained an explicitly non-racial stance, and accepted affiliation of black trade unions, as well as calling for full legal rights for black trade unionists.[6] Some black unions joined SATLC, while in the 1940s others affiliated with the Council of Non-European Trade Unions, raising it to a peak of 119 unions and 158,000 members in 1945. In 1946, the CNETU with the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party pushed for the African Mine Workers' Strike to become a General Strike. The strike was broken by the police brutality which was part of the rise of the National Party (NP) and their slogan of apartheid as all black trade unions were violently suppressed. By 1954 SATLC was disbanded, and with the formation of the Trade Council of South Africa (TUCSA) union membership included white, coloured, and Asians, with blacks in dependent organizations. Independent black unions were excluded from affiliation and 14 previous unions from SATLC founded the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU). SACTU merged with the Council of Non-European Trade Unions and became the trade union arm of the ANC. The union grew to a membership of 53,000 by 1961, but was driven underground, and for a decade black unionism was again virtually silenced in South Africa.H In 1979 the Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU) was formed, with the Council of Unions of South Africa (CUSA) being created in the following year. What was to become one of the largest unions in South Africa, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was created in 1982, and was deeply involved in the political conflict against the ruling National Party. The union embraced four "pillars" of action - armed struggle, mass mobilisation (ungovernability), international solidarity, and underground operation.[7] The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) was formed in 1985, and FOSATU merged into it in the same year(more formally known in the teaching industry). The largest strike up to that date in South Africa's history took place on 1 May 1986, when 1.5 million black workers "stayed away" in a demand for recognition of an official May Day holiday. In the following June up to 200 trade union officials, including Elijah Barayi and Jay Naidoo of the COSATU, and Phiroshaw Camay, the general secretary of the CUSA, were reported to be arrested under a renewed state of emergency. Also in 1986, CUSA joined with the Azanian Confederation of Trade Unions (AZACTU) to form the National Council of Trade Unions (NACTU), and Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi created the United Workers' Union of South Africa (UWUSA), particularly to oppose disinvestment in South Africa. The UWUSA eventually faded from view, but not before revelations in July 1991 that it had collaborated with anti-union employers in a campaign against both COSATU and NACTU activists, and had received at least 1.5 million Rand from the security police.[2] In 1988 a new Labour Relations Act placed restrictions on labour activities, including giving the Labour Court the power to ban lawful strikes and lock-outs. This was to be short-lived, and negotiations between COSATU, NACTU and the South African Committee on Labour Affairs (SACCOLA) eventually produced a 1991 amendment which effectively repealed the previous powers. In 1990 SACTU, which had continued underground activities from exile, dissolved and advised its members to join COSATU. COSATU, as a member of the Tripartite alliance with the ANC and SACP, provided material support in the form of strikes and both political and economic unrest, which eventually led to the displacement of the National Party, and the majority victory of the ANC in the 1994 political elections. Trade unions are recognized within the 1996 Constitution of South Africa, which provides for the right to join trade unions, and for unions to collectively bargain and strike.[8] This has translated into the Labour Relations Act which established the working framework for both unions and employers. Three institutions have also been created to further the goals of reducing industrial relations conflict, and both eliminating unfair discrimination and redressing past discrimination in the workplace: the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC), the Labour Court, and the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).[9] With the creation of the Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) from the merger of the Federation of South African Labour Unions (FEDSAL) and several smaller unions in 1997, the three main union organizations were established. COSATU, with a membership of 1.8 million, is followed by FEDUSA with 560,000 members and NACTU with almost 400,000 members including the powerful mineworkers union. All three are affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation. A fourth national trade union centre was formed in 2003. The Confederation of South African Workers' Unions (CONSAWU) is affiliated with the World Confederation of Labour (WCL). The 2006 ICFTU Annual Survey of violations of trade union rights noted South Africa: "Serious violations were reported during the year, including the death of two workers killed by their employer in a wage dispute, and a striking farm worker killed by security guards. Protest strikes and demonstrations met with violent repression, such as the use of rubber bullets, which in the case of striking truck drivers, led to injuries."[10] South Africa has one of the largest incidence of HIV/AIDS in the world, with a 2005 estimate of 5.5 million people living with HIV 12.4% of the population.[11][12] The trade union movement has taken a role in combating this pandemic. COSATU is a key partner in the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), a registered charity and political force working to educate and promote understanding about HIV/AIDS, and to prevent new infections, as well as push for greater access to antiretrovirals. COSATU passed a resolution in 1998 to campaign for treatment. "It was clear to the labour movement at that time that its lowest paid members were dying because they couldnt afford medicines," says Theodora Steel, Campaigns Coordinator at COSATU. "We saw TAC as a natural ally in a campaign for treatment. We passed a formal resolution at our congress to assist and build TAC."[13] Notwithstanding the formal alliance of COSATU with the ruling ANC party, it has been at odds with the government, calling for the roll-out of comprehensive public access to antiretroviral drugs.[14] The Labour Relations Act was passed in 1995, and subsequently experienced major amendments in 1996,[15] 1998[16] and 2002.[17] Its stated purpose is to "give effect to section 27 of the Constitution" by regulating organisational rights of trade unions, promoting collective bargaining, regulating the right to strike and the recourse to lockouts, as well as providing mechanisms for dispute resolution and the establishment of Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court as superior courts, "with exclusive jurisdiction to decide matters arising from the Act". The act also addresses employee participation in decision-making, and international law obligations in respect to labour relations.[18] The Labour Relations Act does not apply to the South African National Defence Force, the National Intelligence Agency, or the South African Secret Service. Bargaining councils are formed by registered trade unions and employers organisations. They deal with collective agreements, attempt to solve labour disputes, and make proposals on labour policies and laws. As well, they may administer pension funds, sick pay, unemployment and training schemes, and other such benefits for their members.[19] The Amended Labour Relations Act also notes that these councils are to "extend the services and functions of the bargaining council to workers in the informal sector and home workers." Agency Shop Agreements are struck by a majority trade union (either one union, or a coalition of unions representing the majority of workers employed) and an employer or employers' organisation. This agreement requires employers to deduct a fee from the wages of non-union workers to "ensure that non-union workers, who benefit from the unions bargaining efforts, make a contribution towards those efforts".[20] Permission from the employee is not required for deductions to be assessed. However, if the employee is a conscientious objector, that is refuses membership in a trade union on the grounds of conscience, she or he may request that their fees are paid to a fund administered by the Department of Labour. Closed shop agreements, which require all workers in the covered workplace to join unions, can be struck if 2 thirds of the workers have voted in favour of the agreement. Workers must join the union or face dismissal. In addition, "if a union expels a member or refuses to allow a new worker to become a union member , and if this expulsion or refusal is in accordance with the unions constitution or is for a fair reason, then the employer will have to dismiss the worker. This dismissal is not considered unfair."[21] Conscientious objectors may not be dismissed for refusing to join the union. Restrictions on closed shops include the requirement that workers are not compelled to be trade union members before obtaining employment, and that dues collected from employees are only used to "advance or protect the socio-economic interests of workers."

12,595🚨National Association of Evangelicals Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America Pentecostal World Fellowship Wesleyan Holiness Consortium World Assemblies of God Fellowship 3,127,857 adherents*[4] The Assemblies of God USA (AG), officially the General Council of the Assemblies of God, is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in the United States founded in 1914 during a meeting of Pentecostal ministers at Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is the U.S. branch of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, the world's largest Pentecostal body. With a constituency of over 3 million, the Assemblies of God was the ninth largest Christian denomination and the second largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States in 2011.[8] The Assemblies of God holds to a conservative, evangelical and Arminian theology as expressed in the Statement of Fundamental Truths and position papers, which emphasize such core Pentecostal doctrines as the baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, divine healing and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It defines for itself a fourfold mission to evangelize others, worship God, disciple believers, and show compassion.[9] The fellowship's polity is a hybrid of presbyterian and congregational models. This tension between local independence and national authority is seen in the AG's historical reluctance to refer to itself as a denomination, preferring the terms fellowship and movement.[10] The national headquarters are in Springfield, Missouri, where the administrative and executive offices and Gospel Publishing House are located. It maintains relationships with other Pentecostal groups at both regional and national levels through the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America and the Pentecostal World Fellowship. It is also a member of the Wesleyan Holiness Consortium and the National Association of Evangelicals. The central beliefs of the Assemblies of God are summarized in its Statement of Fundamental Truths.[11] The following is a summary of these 16 non-negotiable Truths: The AG considers salvation, baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, divine healing and the Second Coming of Christ to be its four core beliefs.[12] The Statement of Fundamental Truths states, "Man's only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God". The Assemblies of God holds the Arminian position on salvation. While it agrees with the Calvinist position that God is sovereign, at the same time, it believes that mankind has free willfree to accept or reject God's gift of salvation and eternal life.[13] Therefore, the Assemblies of God disapproves of the doctrines of double predestination and the unconditional security of the believer, which holds that once saved it is impossible for a person to be lost. Instead, the Assemblies of God believes that salvation is received and kept by faith, if faith in Christ is lost, then salvation is lost.[14] According to the Statement of Fundamental Truths, "All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly seek" the baptism in the Spirit. It also states, "This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian Church". It is a separate experience from and occurs after salvation. This baptism gives to the receiver an "enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry". There are four experiences listed in the Fundamental Truths that result from Spirit baptism: "overflowing fullness of the Spirit", "a deepened reverence for God", intensified consecration and dedication to God and his work, and "a more active love for Christ, for His Word and for the lost". In addition, this experience initiates the believer in the use of spiritual gifts. The "initial physical sign" of having received this baptism is "speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance".[11] Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues is a requirement for ministerial licensing and ordination. However, Spirit baptism and speaking in tongues is not a requirement for membership or participation in an Assembly of God church.[15] An increasing minority of pastors has expressed concern that there is a lack of biblical support for the claim that Spirit baptism must always be accompanied with speaking in tongues.[16] This concern corresponds with a decrease in the number of Assembly of God adherents reporting baptism in the Holy Spirit; according to the AG's Office of Statistics as of 2003 less than 50 percent of adherents had this experience.[17] These challenges to the AG's traditional position were noted in a 2007 report by the AG's Spiritual Life Committee: Yet, the distinctive doctrine that once united us has, in some circles, become a point of contention. We lament the increasing rarity of the gifts of the Spirit in our worship setting. We wonder where, in our busy church schedules, will people have an opportunity to tarry at the altars for a transforming Pentecostal experience?[18] Despite these challenges, the 53rd General Council in 2009 passed a resolution reaffirming the doctrine of initial physical evidence.[19] The Assemblies of God understands divine healing to have been provided for in the atonement. Looking to scripture, such as James 5 and Isaiah 53:5, the AG believes that Christians can pray for healing. Indeed, it believes scripture gives elders of the church the responsibility to pray "the prayer of faith" over the sick. It believes God can and does heal, but believes that God is sovereign and that, whether one is healed or not, a person's trust must be in God.[20] It sees no conflict in trusting God for healing while receiving medical care.[21] Healing testimonies regularly appear in the official publication, the Pentecostal Evangel, and prayer for healing and testimony commonly occur in church services.[22] While adamant that divine healing is a reality, the AG is not dogmatic on the subject of how one is healed. Margaret Poloma summarized this view stating, "Physical healing is not certain, automatic, or subject to formula. At the same time, it remains a tenet and practice of the Assemblies of God". Officially, the AG rejects the view that healing is caused or influenced by "positive confession", a belief found in prosperity theology and Word of Faith teachings. Nevertheless, these teachings have influenced some congregations.[23] The Statement of Fundamental Truths articles 13 and 14 articulate the Assemblies of God's official teaching on the return of Christ to Earth. It is a dispensationalist and premillennialist eschatology that includes the pre-Tribulation rapture of the Churchthe "imminent and blessed hope". The rapture of the Church will be followed by Christ's visible return to earth and his reign of 1,000 years. This millennial reign will usher in the salvation of the nation of Israel and universal peace. The Assemblies of God is specifically opposed to the theologies and practices of universal salvation, setting dates for Christ's return, post-Tribulation rapture, and amillennialism.[24] The Assemblies of God has released statements on various issues not addressed in the Statement of Fundamental Truths.[25] These position papers are usually written by the Doctrinal Purity Commission, a standing committee of the General Council, which reviews and responds to issues referred to it by the Executive Presbytery. Position papers are not official positions of the Assemblies of God unless recommended by the Executive Presbytery and approved by the General Council.[26] Position statements touch on biblical, theological, and social concerns. Because of the congregational nature of the Assemblies of God, it is difficult to define a typical local church. Church identity is influenced by members' social class, ethnicity, and musical or worship style preferences. Sociologists Margaret Poloma and John Green have categorized AG congregations into four types: traditional, evangelical, renewalist, and alternative. Traditional congregations are those that strongly identify with the AG (and Pentecostalism in general), while encouraging "more intense experiences of the charismata, or gifts of the Holy Spirit" such as Spirit baptism and speaking in tongues. Evangelical AG congregations, the most common type, identify with the AG and Pentecostalism but "are moving (in varying degrees) away from the unique experiences that were once important markers of Pentecostal identity". Renewalist or charismatic AG churches are those that encourage supernatural gifts of the Spirit but weakly identify with the AG or Pentecostalism. Alternative churches are those where both identity with the AG and occurrence of unique Pentecostal experiences are low; these include churches adopting seeker-sensitive and emerging church models.[40] Despite the diversity found in the AG, shared beliefs and values are reflected in local churches. The Assemblies of God is "experience-oriented", and the local church is where experience of the activity of the Holy Spirit will primarily occur.[41] Regular services are usually held on Sunday mornings and Sunday and Wednesday evenings. There is no formal liturgy or order of service; though, many churches have a familiar routine: opening prayer, congregational and special singing, an offering, a time of intercessory prayer, a sermon, and an altar call. In the traditional and charismatic AG churches, this routine is subject to change spontaneously within a servicepossibly being interrupted by an interpretation of a message in tongues, a prophecy, a word of wisdom, or a word of knowledgeand this change is believed to be directed by the Holy Spirit. In addition, evening services may incorporate a time of prayer for those who are seeking something from God either around the altar or in an adjacent prayer room.[42] During praise and worship, participants may raise their hands as an act of worship. Congregational singing is usually led by a choir or worship team. Full drum sets, a piano, an organ, and various other instruments are frequently used. The type of music sung is generally popular worship choruses, such as those by Calvary Chapel and Hillsong. Worship is often characterized as intense and enthusiastic.[43] Prayer features prominently in services. Services may feature moments where special prayer is offered, often with laypersons leading the prayer and the rest of the congregation audibly participating. During these corporate prayers, some may pray in tongues. While not in every service, the pastor will pray for the sick. This prayer may include the pastor anointing the sick with olive oil and with the assistance of church elders along with pastoral associates laying hands on the one seeking healing.[44][45] Architecturally, smaller churches will feature bright lighting, large windows, a simple platform with a pulpit in the center, and an altar ("a bench across the front of the church below the platform"). Larger churches will have direct access from the balcony to the main sanctuary near the platform so that respondents to altar calls can easily come forward, a large open area in front of the platform to accommodate altar call gatherings, and the platform itself is usually large to accommodate a large choir and musical instruments. Because the Assemblies of God practice baptism by immersion, many churches will include a baptistry at the rear of the platform.[46] The Assemblies of God is defined in its constitution as a "cooperative fellowship" of "churches and credentialed ministers".[47] It has a representative form of government derived from presbyterian polity and organized in three levels of administration: congregations, district councils and the General Council.[48] The AG has, however, elements of congregational polity, which are limited by the powers of the districts and General Council to license and discipline ordained ministers.[42] The Assemblies of God uses several classifications of congregations based on their level of local autonomy and their relationship to the General Council. Mature, fully functioning congregations are classified as "General Council affiliated churches". These churches are "sovereign" and self-governing, but in matters of doctrine local assemblies are subordinate to districts and the General Council.[49] A church is qualified for General Council affiliated status if it: Each local church operates according to its own bylaws and calls its own pastor. The office of pastor is equivalent to that of elder or overseer and is tasked with preaching and teaching the Word of God, in addition to conducting the day-to-day operations of the church.[48][51] Laypersons are elected as a board of deacons to assist the pastor. A General Council affiliated church may withdraw from the Assemblies of God by a two-thirds vote of the church membership.[52] At the request of the pastor, deacon board, or 20 percent of voting members, district officials may intervene in the internal affairs of a General Council affiliated church. If district leaders conclude that district supervision is warranted, the church will lose its status as a self-governing church and revert to the status of "district affiliated assembly" until its problems are resolved.[53] A church may also revert to district affiliated status if it no longer meets the minimum requirements for General Council membership, such as having less than 20 voting members.[54] Local churches, sections, and district councils are able to establish new churches.[55] A church plant may initially be classified as "district affiliated" until it meets requirements for General Council affiliation. District affiliated congregations are under the direct supervision of district officials but are encouraged to develop into fully self-governing churches. In 2009, the General Council created a new category called "parent affiliated churches". These are either church plants or campuses of a multi-site church under the supervision of a General Council affiliated "parent" church.[56] Existing Pentecostal churches considering affiliation with the General Council may request temporary status as a "cooperating assembly" for a term of four years before officially joining the denomination.[57] Churches are organized into sections and sections into middle judicatories called districts. The 61 districts oversee "all the ecclesial and sacerdotal activities" within their jurisdiction,[58] which includes recommending ministers for national credentialing and mediating disputes within local congregations.[48] There are two types of districts. Geographical districts serve areas corresponding to state boundaries, while non-geographical language or ethnic districts serve a particular language or ethnic group, such as Hispanic and Samoan churches.[48] Districts are governed by representative bodies called district councils, which meet annually. District council membership includes all resident ministers and one lay delegate per AG church located within the district. When the district council is not in session, a district is led by a superintendent and a presbytery (board of directors) whose members are elected by and represent the sections.[59] A presbyter "minister[s] to ministers" and "model[s] spiritual maturity and leadership" to the ministers and churches in his section.[60] At the top of this organizational framework is the biennial General Council, the highest governing body of the Assemblies of God. All ordained and licensed ministers and one delegate per Assembly of God church are entitled to attend and participate at the General Council. The size of General Council is not static but fluctuating, changing from year to year as there is no requirement that pastors attend or that churches send delegates. In general, however, there are over 3,000 voting members.[61] General Council enacts legislation, credentials ministers, oversees the national and worldwide missions programs, and directs the churchs colleges and seminary.[48] The General Council also elects the general superintendentthe chief executive officer of the national organizationand other officers, such as the assistant general superintendent, general secretary, general treasurer, and the directors of U.S. and world missions. These manage the AG's day-to-day operations and work together as the Executive Leadership Team. In between General Council sessions, approximately 300 elected representatives from the various districts and foreign mission areas meet as the General Presbytery.[62] When the General Council is not in session, the General Presbytery acts as the official policy-making body of the Assemblies of God.[63][64] A 20-member Executive Presbytery, led by the Executive Leadership Team, meets bimonthly and functions as the Assemblies of God's board of directors. Executive Presbyters are responsible to the General Presbytery and are ex officio members of that body.[63] The office of General Superintendent was originally known as the Chairman of the General Council, until it was changed in 1927. The outgoing General Superintendent of the General Council is Dr. George O. Wood. Wood's tenure began October 8, 2007. On August 9, 2017, Rev. Doug Clay was elected to replace Wood. The following is a list of General Superintendents and their tenures: The Assemblies of God recognizes three classifications of ministers: certified, licensed, and ordained. District councils examine candidates for all levels of ministry and recommend those qualified to the Executive Presbytery (which is the General Council's Credentials Committee), which has authority to issue ministerial credentials.[66] The AG's constitution guarantees that "formal academic achievement (diploma or degree) shall not be a requirement for credentials", but the General Presbytery does mandate courses and examinations. In preparation for receiving credentials, applicants must either complete correspondence courses through Global University (the AG's distance education program), receive training through a postsecondary institution such as a college or seminary approved by the AG, or be recommended by a district credentials committee as qualifying for credentials based on self-study and ministerial experience of "substantial duration". In addition, applicants must pass a standardized exam that tests their knowledge of the Bible, AG doctrines, and ministerial practices. After passing the exam, they are interviewed by their district's credentials committee. If judged qualified, the district will recommend the applicant to the General Council credentials committee.[67] The Assemblies of God will not grant credentials to divorced and remarried persons if either partner has a former spouse living unless for specific exceptions. Exceptions include if the divorce occurred prior to an applicant's conversion or for "scriptural causes" such as a former spouse's marital unfaithfulness or the abandonment of a Christian by a non-Christian partner (see Pauline privilege).[68] The Executive Presbytery has authority to issue ecclesiastical annulments in cases involving conditions that prevent "the creation of a valid marriage union", such as fraud.[69] Clergy are also barred from membership in secret societies.[70] The Assemblies also recognize a local church credential, which can be issued by a General Council affiliated church for those engaged only in local ministry, such as prison or hospital ministry. Local church credential holders may perform the ordinances of the church with the authorization of the issuing church's senior pastor.[71] In 2008, there were a total of 34,178 Assemblies of God ministers (excluding local church credentials). Of these, 11,544 were senior pastors and 6,730 were female.[72] A primary reason the General Council was formed in 1914 was to create cooperation in Pentecostal missionary work. Missions have remained a central focus of the denomination since that time. In 2009, there were Assemblies of God churches in 213 countries and territories around the world. Missionary work outside of the United States is overseen by Assemblies of God World Missions. As of December 2009, AG World Missions was reporting 2,719 personnel worldwide.[73] The agency also provides medical evangelism through HealthCare Ministries, founded in 1983 as the Medical Missions Program. This ministry provides free optical, dental, and medical care as well as evangelism.[74] It has operated in 86 countries since its founding. Missions in the United States are overseen by Assemblies of God U.S. Missions. Its seven departments include chaplaincy, Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, church planting, U.S. Mission America Placement Service (MAPS), intercultural ministries, Teen Challenge, and Youth Alive.[75] MAPS offers volunteers the opportunity to contribute to U.S. missions in several ways. One is through church construction and evangelism, and another is through short or long term missions through summer and missionary associate programs. Youth Alive oversees missionary outreach to elementary and high schools. In 2010, U.S. Missions reported 1,059 appointed missionaries, candidates, and spouses. The same year, it reported 542 endorsed chaplains.[76] The following are some of the ministries and programs of the Assemblies of God USA: In the United States, the Assemblies of God endorses 10 Bible colleges, 7 universities, and the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary.[77] Enrollment for all AG endorsed colleges and universities was 15,584 for 2013.[78] Assemblies of God churches operate 842 Christian schools, which may have membership with the Association of Christian Teachers and Schools (ACTS), incorporated as the Association of Assemblies of God Christian Schools in 1992. In 2008, there were 105,563 students enrolled in these schools.[78] The Assemblies of God operates Gospel Publishing House, located in Springfield, Missouri, which publishes books, curriculum, and church ministry resources primarily for Pentecostals and charismatics, but also for the general evangelical market. The Assemblies of God publishes an official weekly magazine, the Pentecostal Evangel, and Enrichment Journal, a resource for Pentecostal ministers.[79][80] The Assemblies of God in the United States "has grown steadily during the 20th century".[81] In 1925, there were just 50,386 members in 909 churches, but by the early 1970s membership had reached 1 million. Its most rapid growth occurred from 1971 to 1984, when the AG grew from a constituency of around 1 million to 2 million over a 13-year period.[82] In 2011, average Sunday morning worship attendance for all AG churches in the U.S. was 1,872,399 people. In the same year, the AG's inclusive membership (includes persons of any age that identify with the AG) was 3,041,957 people attending 12,595 churches. That is an increase of 0.4 percent since 2010.[83] The ethnic diversity of the American AG is increasing; however, its constituency is still largely white. From 1990 to 2000, there was a slight decline in white AG churches while ethnic churches, mainly Hispanic, were responsible for much of the denomination's numerical growth.[84] In 2010, the AG reported 61.1 percent of its adherents as white, 20.4 percent as Hispanic, 9.1 percent as black, 4.1 percent as Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1.6 percent as Native American. The remaining 3.7 percent were listed as other/mixed.[85] The AG has created various non-geographical language districts to serve immigrant communities whose primary language is not English. There are nine Spanish and two Korean language districts in addition to one each for Brazilian and German speakers. In 2009, the language districts oversaw 2,195 churches with a combined membership of 279,422.[86] Members are fairly well distributed across the United States. California has the largest number of members, followed by Texas and Florida.[87] However, the states with the highest membership rates are Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alaska, Montana, and Hawaii.[87] Growing AG congregations tend to be located in suburban areas, as opposed to urban and rural ones.[88] The Assemblies of God has roots in the Pentecostal revival in the early 20th century. The Pentecostal aspects of the revival were not generally welcomed by the established churches, and participants in the movement soon found themselves outside existing religious bodies. They were forced to seek their own places of worship, and soon there were hundreds of distinctly Pentecostal congregations.[89] After Charles Parham began promoting the idea that speaking in tongues was the initial evidence of the baptism in the Spirit around 1901, he began to attract a considerable following which he organized loosely as the Apostolic Faith Movement (AFM) in 1906. However, with the rise of the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California, and an accusation of sodomy against him in 1907, he lost and never recovered his influence. After renouncing Parham, the severely weakened AFM regrouped around Howard A. Goss, L. C. Hall, D. C. O. Opperman, and A. G. Canada. They were later joined by Eudorus N. Bell, previously a Southern Baptist minister. The AFM had its strength in the rural areas of Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.[90] In Pentecostalism's early years, organizational affiliation was fluid, and many ministers of the AFM, which was a white organization, were also licensed by Charles Harrison Mason's predominantly African-American Church of God in Christ.[91] In 1907, Goss had received a license to preach from Mason's group, and he claimed that Mason had given him permission to issue ministerial credentials under the Churches of God in Christ name for the "white work". By 1910, the name "Churches of God in Christ" was seen as a more biblical name and began to be preferred over "Apostolic Faith".[90] The AFM played a leading role in organizing and institutionalizing Pentecostalism in the Midwest and Southwest and from 1909ÿ1912 absorbed smaller Pentecostal groups.[92] It also established relationships with Pentecostal missions in the Midwest. The Midwestern Pentecostal movement centered around the Stone Church, pastored by William Piper, and the North Avenue Mission, pastored by William Howard Durham, both in Chicago, Illinois.[93] Durham was the lead promoter of the Finished Work doctrine which, in time, the AFM would adopt and in doing so discard the Wesleyan view of sanctification as a second work of grace. Between 1906 and 1908, the Pentecostal message had spread among Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) churches and conferences. At first, it was greeted positively by the CMA leadership, but the doctrine of initial evidence divided the organization. Former CMA Pentecostal congregations in the Midwest and Northeast were left without oversight and began associating with the Apostolic Faith Movement and the Chicago Pentecostal missions.[94] By 1914, many white ministers nominally affiliated with the Church of God in Christ had become dissatisfied with the arrangement.[95] AFM leaders Bell, Goss, Opperman, M. M. Pinson, and A. P. Collins issued the call for a general council to "Churches of God in Christ, and to all Pentecostal or Apostolic Faith Assemblies". What resulted was a merger of the AFM, Chicago, and CMA Pentecostals in 1914 at Hot Springs, Arkansas.[94] The 1st General Council was attended by predominantly white representatives from 20 states and missions in Egypt and South Africa.[96] The fellowship that emerged was incorporated as the General Council of the Assemblies of God. Bell was elected the first general superintendent. Five major reasons were given for calling the meeting:[97] Other actions taken at the 1st General Council addressed women in ministry. The Pentecostals who founded the Assemblies of God had no objections to women being engaged in ministry. The Pentecostal belief in personal experience, Spirit baptism as empowerment for service, and the need for evangelists and missionaries encouraged women to be active in all types of ministry. What concerned some Pentecostal leaders, such as Bell, were women exercising independent authority over men. The council therefore approved of the granting of credentials to female evangelists and missionaries while restricting the office of pastor to men, and it was not until 1920 that female evangelists could vote at denominational meetings. By the fall of 1914, out of 512 credential holders, 142 were female missionaries and evangelists.[98] After 1914, the Church of God in Christ would become predominantly black and the Assemblies of God would remain predominantly white. However, there were African Americans involved in the early years of the Assemblies of God. The African-American pastor Garfield Thomas Haywood, for example, pastored one of the largest churches and was an influential voice within the fellowship until he withdrew from the denomination after 1916.[99] The founders of the fellowship did not intend to create a denomination and originally had no creed or doctrinal statement. However, in response to several doctrinal issues, the most important being the Oneness teaching, the AG felt the need for agreement on central doctrines and to reassure evangelical Christians of its adherence to orthodox belief.[100] Oneness Pentecostalism rejected Trinitarian theology, instead identifying the Jehovah of the Old Testament with the Christ of the New. Furthermore, Oneness adherents believed that Christians, regardless of a previous baptism, should be baptized in the name of Jesus, rather than in the name of the Trinity. By 1915, it was adhered to by many in the fellowship, including founders such as Goss, Opperman, Hall, and Henry G. Rodgers.[101] Other influential leaders, such as G. T. Haywood, adopted the Oneness doctrine as well. In 1916, the 4th General Council met in St. Louis to resolve the "new issue". In a move that caused not a little anxiety, a committee introduced the Statement of Fundamental Truths. Oneness proponents and others saw this as an attack on the authority of the Bible, yet it was adopted along with a recommendation that AG ministers use the Trinitarian baptismal formula. Old preaching credentials were recalled and new ones issued with the Fundamental Truths included. Oneness believers, including a third of the fellowships ministers,[102] were forced to withdraw, a loss especially felt in the South where the Oneness doctrine had the most influence. A side effect of this was a transition in leadership from former Apostolic Faith leaders, many of whom accepted the Oneness teaching, to men with Christian and Missionary Alliance backgrounds.[101] The Oneness dissenters formed the General Assembly of the Apostolic Churches, which later merged with another group to form the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World.[103] Among the Fundamental Truths was a statement regarding speaking in tongues as the initial physical evidence of Spirit baptism. Its inclusion was challenged by F.F. Bosworth, an executive presbyter, who argued that while for many speaking in tongues was an evidence of the baptism it was not the only evidence. The issue was decided at the General Council of September 1918 where Bosworth, who two months earlier had resigned so as not to damage the fellowship, was present and invited to address the council. Following debate two resolutions were passed which assured that initial evidence would remain an official teaching of the fellowship.[104] While doctrinal controversy led to the withdrawal of ministers, the fellowship experienced growth in subsequent years. District councils were organized in various regions of the country and, where these did not exist, home missionary fields were designated to maximize evangelistic efforts. In 1917, W. Jethro Walthall led his Holiness Baptist Association of southwestern Arkansas into the Assemblies of God.[105] District councils and missionary stations were established outside the U.S. also. By 1921, there were districts in Canada (see Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada), China, Japan (see Japan Assemblies of God), India (see Assemblies of God in India), and Egypt.[106] Central Bible College was started in the basement of the Central Assembly of God church in Springfield, Missouri, in 1922.[107] In 1929, the fellowship claimed 91,981 members in 1,612 churches.[108] Despite Pentecostalism's origins in a racially inclusive revival, it accommodated itself to America's culture of racial segregation rather early. The Assemblies of God was no different. As early as 1915, an executive presbyter wrote in an article for the Pentecostal Evangel that segregation was "ordained of God"; however, it was not until 1939 that the General Presbytery enacted a policy prohibiting the ordination of African Americans to the ministry.[109] Districts were still allowed to license African Americans to preach but only in the district where the license was issued. Black Pentecostals seeking ordination were referred to "one of the colored organizations". This was especially true of the Church of God in Christ, which, despite the fact that it predates the Assemblies of God, was seen as a "younger sibling". It was not until 1962, under the leadership of General Superintendent Thomas F. Zimmerman, that the denomination finally began issuing ordinations without regard to race.[110] Three years later the 1965 General Council adopted a resolution affirming the goals of the Civil Rights Movement and condemning racism and discrimination.[111] By the 1970s, there was renewed focus on inner-city evangelism and integrated urban efforts. While blacks were excluded from the AG until the 1960s, the denomination's work among Spanish-speaking people has a long history, first sanctioned explicitly in 1918. Hispanic outreach became independent of the Foreign Missions Department in 1929 when the first Latin American District was established. By the end of World War II, the AG's Latin American constituency formed the largest Protestant presence among Hispanics in the United States.[112] The AG also focused on major European immigrant populations, but as later generations assimilated into American culture, these separate European segments were absorbed into the regular geographic districts. During the time when African Americans were barred from ordination, women began to receive greater opportunities for leadership. Women formed an important part of the Assemblies of God's constituency, many being Sunday School workers and evangelists, most prominent being Aimee Semple McPherson (who would later found the Foursquare Church). This made the issue of women's place in the movement important in the 1930s.[113] It was also recognized that many congregations who could not afford male pastors relied on women preachers. Despite the fact that opposition to female pastors had been regularly affirmed since 1914, the office of pastor was opened to women in 1935.[114] Between the World Wars, the movement kept a relative isolation from other Pentecostal and evangelical groups, but after World War II, the AG started an approximation with Pentecostal groups overseas. Like the Federation of Pentecostal Churches in Germany and the Assemblies of God in Australia, at that time many national denominations came to affiliate with the U.S. fellowship. These partnerships would later develop into the World Assemblies of God Fellowship. As well as establishing fellowships in other nations, the AG also began to communicate with other U.S. churches. The Assemblies of God was a founding member of both the National Association of Evangelicals and the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America (now Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America).[115] In the 1950s, the AG was challenged by the Latter Rain Movement, which began among former members of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, the AG's Canadian counterpart, and quickly spread to the United States. The "New Order" as it was known was highly critical of denominations, such as the AG, and taught that the gifts of the Spirit are channeled through church elders and are given to others by the laying on of hands. However, the Assemblies of God and other classical Pentecostal groups maintained that the charismata are not personally received or imparted but are manifested as the Holy Spirit wills.[116] In 1949 with a meeting of the General Council approaching, there were fears that the fellowship might split over the Latter Rain issue, but in the end, the General Council was united against what were seen as the excesses of the movement. A General Council resolution specified six errors which included: imparting, identifying, bestowing, or confirming gifts by prophecy and the laying on of hands. It also rejected the idea that the Church is built on present-day apostles and prophets. The Latter Rain theology of no pre-tribulation rapture and the manifested sons of God teaching were condemned as heresy.[117][118] The Latter Rain and the Salvation/Healing Revival of the late 1940s and 50s would be a major influence on later renewal movements. The affiliation of the Assemblies of God with the National Association of Evangelicals in 1942 signaled the AG's alignment with evangelicalism and its opposition to mainline Protestantism and the ecumenical movement. The AG and its evangelical partners agreed on most issues and shared similar world views though the AG's Pentecostal distinctivesSpirit baptism and the operation of spiritual giftswere not embraced by most evangelical Christians. The AG's response then to the charismatic movement that began in the 1960s was a cautious one, affirming the move of the Holy Spirit yet urging that all revival must be judged by scripture. For the first time, beliefs and practices which had largely remained confined to the classical Pentecostal denominations began to impact mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic churches on a large scale. The fact that this occurred in these churches (which were historically seen by Pentecostals as suspect), the multifaceted nature of the movement owing to the many different traditions its participants came from, and the perception by Pentecostals that the movement was based too much on experience and not on biblical teaching led some in the Assemblies of God to see it in relation to the ecumenical movement.[119] The charismatic movement forced a reevaluation of what it was to be Pentecostal. The Assemblies of God understood Spirit baptism in the context of baptistic evangelical theology and, by the 1950s, emphasized certain doctrines and practices as requisite for Spirit baptism. Charismatics challenged these views by claiming to receive Holy Spirit baptism outside of this context (such as remaining in liturgical churches, failing to reject sacramental theologies, and not adopting Pentecostal taboos on dancing, drinking, smoking, etc.).[120] On the local level, Assemblies of God churches were influenced by the charismatic movement. Some charismatics left their original churches and joined less formal Assemblies of God congregations. In addition, the contemporary decreased emphasis on traditional Pentecostal taboos in the AG is in part attributable to the charismatic movement, which accelerated a trend already in existence.[121] Since their movement's emergence early in the 20th century, Pentecostals saw themselves as "peculiar people", and one of the components of this identity were particular prohibitions on behavior. Prohibitions on drug use, gambling, social dancing, consuming alcohol, smoking, attending theaters, bowling, swimming in public pools and beaches, owning television sets, and restrictions on feminine attire and fashion helped distinguish Pentecostals from the larger society.[121][122] Starting in the 1950s, attitudes in the Assemblies of God on many of these activities underwent dramatic change. The most change probably occurred over views on women's attire, with the former stance against wearing make-up and jewelry giving way to the acceptance of popular fashion. Most of these "holiness standards" are no longer adhered to; however, some are still held to, such as proscriptions on smoking, alcohol and drug use.[122] For much of its history, the Assemblies of God officially opposed Christian participation in war[123] and was listed by The Pacifist Handbook as America's third largest peace church in 1940. The official position of the church until 1967 encouraged Christian nonviolence: "We . . . are nevertheless constrained to declare we cannot conscientiously participate in war and armed resistance which involves the actual destruction of human life, since this is contrary to our view of the clear teachings of the inspired Word of God".[124] Most of the founders and first generation members of the denomination held to this view, and it was presented as official teaching throughout World War I and World War II. The official pacifist position remained unchanged until 1967 when the denomination affirmed "the right of each member to choose whether to declare their position as a combatant, a noncombatant, or a conscientious objector".[125] This was the culmination of a process begun during World War I, when it was unpopular to hold antiwar views, in which AG adherents questioned their denomination's pacifist stance.[126] The Assemblies of God emerged as the leading Pentecostal denomination in terms of status, wealth, influence, and global adherence.[127] In the 1980s, the Assemblies of God saw rapid growth in the US, for several years ranking as the fastest growing American denomination. This growth was mainly the result of its Hispanic outreach (in 1988 Hispanic members made up some 15 percent of the fellowship's total constituency).[128] The growth of an Asian immigrant constituency was also recognized in this decade when the first Korean district was created. The Assemblies of God gained national visibility in the late 1980s from the popularity and later scandals surrounding two of its ministers, Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker.[129] The Assemblies of God launched an effort to increase evangelism and growth in the 1990s called the "Decade of Harvest". Such efforts failed to sustain the impressive growth of the 1980s, however. From 2003 to 2008, growth had slowed to an average annual increase of just over 1 percent.[127] With increased growth came increased acceptance and acculturation. Since the 1980s, a growing number of AG ministers have been educated and risen to leadership positions at evangelical institutions, such as Fuller Theological Seminary, Gordon-Conwell, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.[127] This "evangelicalization of the Assemblies of God" has led to the weakening of Pentecostal distinctives, especially the doctrine of initial evidence.[130] Other traditional practices, such as holding prayer meetings and altar services, have faded over time as well. Despite the efforts of denominational leaders to reassert Pentecostal identity and remain more than "evangelicals plus tongues", the process of acculturation has continued.[127] Even so, churches within the Assemblies of God have experienced revivals in the last two decades which featured worship and practices reminiscent of early Pentecostalism. The most prominent of these was the Brownsville Revival, which occurred at the Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida, from 1995 into the early 2000s. These revivals often faced criticism from within and without the Assemblies of God for their unpredictability and the dramatic religious experiences of participants. In the case of the Brownsville Revival, the AG's national leadership gave it cautious approval and support.[131]

Jeanne Calment🚨 This is a list of the 100 verified oldest people, arranged in descending order of each individual's age in years and days. A year typically refers to a calendar year, the time between two dates of the same name. However, years can be of different lengths due to the presence or absence of a leap day within the year, or to the conversion of dates from one calendar to another. The oldest person ever whose age has been verified is Jeanne Calment (1875ÿ1997) of France, who died at the age of 122 years, 164 days. There are five living people on this list, all of whom are women and the oldest of whom is Kane Tanaka of Japan, aged 115?years, 223?days. Since all the people on this list have lived past the age of 110, all of them have been, or still are, supercentenarians. ??Deceased ??Living ?^ denotes age at death, or, if living, age as of today, 13 August 2018 a^ Manfredini was born in Italy. b^ Mortensen was born in Denmark. c^ Gaudette was born in the United States. d^ Holtz was born in the German Empire; her birthplace is now in Poland. e^ Gerena was born in Puerto Rico. f^ Ray was born in Canada. g^ Steinberg was born in Kishinev, then part of the Russian Empire. It is now the capital of Moldova. h^ Pizzinato-Papo was born in Ala, which was then part of Austria-Hungary; it is now located in Italy. i^ Clawson was born in the United Kingdom. j^ Domingues was born in Cape Verde, at that time a colony of Portugal. k^ Benkner was born in Germany. l^ Primout was born in French Algeria; it is now Algeria. m^ Velasco was born in Mexico. n^ Cock was born in the former British colony Victoria, which is now part of Australia.

Interstate 5🚨 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the continental U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, serving several large cities on the U.S. West Coast, including San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Portland, and Seattle. It is currently the only continuous Interstate highway to touch both the Mexican border and the Canadian border. Upon crossing the Mexican border at its southern terminus, Interstate 5 continues to Tijuana, Baja California as Mexico Federal Highway 1. Upon crossing the Canadian border at its northern terminus, it continues to Vancouver as British Columbia Highway 99. Interstate 5 was originally created in 1956 as part of the Interstate Highway System, but was predated by several auto trails and highways built in the early 20th century. The Pacific Highway auto trail was built in the 1910s and 1920s by the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, and was later incorporated into U.S. Route 99 (US 99) in 1926. Interstate 5 largely follows the route of US 99, with the exception of a portion in the Central Valley of California. The freeway was built in segments between 1956 and 1979, including expressway sections of US 99 that were built earlier to bypass various towns along the route. The southernmost point of I-5 is at the Mexican border at the San Ysidro border crossing, one of the busiest in the world.[2] Beginning at the border in San Ysidro, which is part of the city of San Diego, as the John J. Montgomery Freeway, I-5 goes through the suburbs of Chula Vista and National City before reaching downtown San Diego. It then parallels the Pacific coastline, going through the northern suburbs of San Diego, bisecting the University of California, San Diego campus, and passing the I-805 merge (where it becomes the widest Interstate in the United States for a short stretch), before passing through the 28 miles (45?km) of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in northern San Diego County. Here I-5 is also known as the San Diego Freeway. At Dana Point, I-5 turns inland and heads due north through Mission Viejo to the El Toro Y interchange in southeastern Irvine. I-5 becomes the Santa Ana Freeway as it runs southeast to northwest, passing through major cities and suburbs in Orange and Southern Los Angeles counties. Southern Californians refer to it as "the 5" or as the Santa Ana Freeway in the Los Angeles area. From this point, the San Diego Freeway continues northward as I-405. When the freeway reaches the East Los Angeles Interchange one mile (1.6?km) east of downtown Los Angeles, I-5 becomes the Golden State Freeway. The route continues through the San Fernando Valley and then crosses the Newhall Pass through the Santa Susana Mountains into the Santa Clarita Valley. The interchange with State Route 14 (SR?14) is unusual in that truck traffic is separated into its own lanes for both the mainline of the freeway and the transition ramps to and from SR?14. For about a four-mile (6.4?km) stretch between Santa Clarita Valley and the Pyramid Lake, the northbound and southbound lanes separate and cross sides, with the southbound lanes running to the east of the northbound ones. At that point, the Golden State Freeway rises sharply to the north through the Grapevine to eventually reach the second-highest point of its entire length, the Tejon Pass (elevation 4,183?ft or 1,275?m). Through the Tehachapi Mountains. Path 26 power lines generally follow the freeway along this stretch. The freeway then descends sharply for 12 miles (19?km) at Tejon Pass to around 1,600 feet (490?m) at Grapevine near the southernmost point of the San Joaquin Valley, approximately 30 miles (48?km) south of Bakersfield and 4?mi (6.4?km) south from where SR?99 splits away from it in Wheeler Ridge. From SR?99 to south of Tracy, I-5 skirts along the far more remote western edge of the great Central Valley, and thus here is removed from population centers such as Bakersfield and Fresno; other state highways provide these connections. This part of I-5 is known as the West Side Freeway, and is a major connector between the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California. I-580 splits from I-5 at a point south of Tracy as the West Side Freeway Scenic Byway, the last stretch of the West Side Freewayproviding a loop-route connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. East of Tracy, I-5 intersects with I-205, another freeway that links I-5 to the Bay Area and passes through Tracy. After passing Tracy, I-5 heads north through Stockton and Sacramento before turning west to Woodland. At Woodland, the Interstate heads northwest again towards Dunnigan, where it converges with I-505. From Dunnigan, I-5 skirts north along the western edge of the Sacramento Valley to Red Bluff. I-5 then enters the Shasta Cascade region, passing through Redding and Shasta Lake before climbing up to near the foot of Mount Shasta. The interstate then travels to Weed and Yreka before reaching the Oregon border. About three miles (4.8?km) north of the California border, the highway crosses 4,310 feet (1,310?m) Siskiyou Summit, the highest point on I-5, and then drops down into the Rogue Valley through Oregon's southern mountains and towns such as Ashland, Medford and Grants Pass. Turning north across three passes to the Umpqua Valley and through Roseburg, the mountains tend to turn into hills, and as it reaches Cottage Grove, the road enters the Willamette River Valley. At Eugene the highway intersects I-105, a short spur route into Downtown Eugene. Some city highways intersect on I-5 in the Eugene Metro. The Interstate then heads almost due north, skirting Albany and Corvallis, passing through Salem, and crossing through Woodburn. There were plans to build a spur, called I-305, into Salem. I-5 covers 308 miles (496?km) in Oregon. Just north of Salem, between mile markers 259 and 260 just short of mile marker 260, signs in the median and on both shoulders mark the place where the 45th parallel crosses I-5. It reads "45th Parallel half way between the Equator and the North Pole". The highway then tracks a little to the northeast, and I-205 splits off south of the Portland metro area. From here I-5 passes through Tualatin and Tigard along former U.S. Route 99W (US?99W) before hitting the southern terminus of I-405 and the Marquam Bridge. Also planned was a spur in Portland off I-405, called I-505, but it was never built and has been removed from city plans. A stub of I-505 exists as a long exit ramp to US?30. After crossing the Willamette River on the Marquam Bridge, I-5 has junctions at the western end of I-84 and the northern end of I-405. It then continues through the northern parts of the city of Portland, and crosses into Washington via the Interstate Bridge. The highway continues over the Columbia River and drops down into the city of Vancouver. About seven miles (11?km) into the state, it reaches the northern terminus of I-205, which is on the eastern edge of the PortlandÿVancouver metropolitan area. It then tracks north by northwest through Woodland to Kelso and Longview, at which point it ceases to parallel a large bend of the Columbia River. Continuing north between the Willapa Hills and the Cascade foothills, the freeway eventually reaches Olympia, where it bends sharply east. The highway passes though the northern end of Joint Base Lewis-McChord (formerly Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base) and Tacoma, where it bends sharply north again to reach Seattle. The Ship Canal Bridge carries it over Portage Bay in Seattle. The freeway continues north out of the SeattleÿTacomaÿEverett metro area, crosses the floodplains of three rivers, through the Skagit Valley and the Mount VernonÿBurlington Metropolitan Area to the northern city of Bellingham, to arrive at the Peace Arch CanadaÿUS border crossing between Blaine, Washington, and Surrey, British Columbia. Highway 99 continues northwest from the border into Vancouver, BC. I-5 covers 277 miles (446?km) in Washington. An extensive section of this highway (over 600 miles (970?km)), from approximately Stockton, California, to Portland, Oregon, follows very closely the track of the Siskiyou Trail.[3] This trail was based on an ancient network of Native American footpaths connecting the Pacific Northwest with California's Central Valley. By the 1820s, trappers from the Hudson's Bay Company were the first non-Native Americans to use the route of today's I-5 to move between today's Washington State and California. During the second half of the 19th century, mule trains, stagecoaches, and the Central Pacific railroad also followed the route of the Siskiyou Trail.[3] By the early 20th century, pioneering automobile roads were built along the path of the Siskiyou Trail, notably the Pacific Highway. The Pacific Highway ran from British Columbia to San Diego, California, and was the immediate predecessor of much of US?99. The route of US?99 was in turn used as a basis for much of the route of today's I-5. A major deviation from the old US?99 route is the Westside Freeway portion of I-5 in California's Central Valley. To provide a faster and more direct north-south route through the state, the decision was made to build a new freeway to the west and bypass Fresno, Bakersfield, and the rest of population centers in the area instead of upgrading the existing highway (which was re-designated as part of SR?99).[4] This re-route through California's Central Valley was the last section of I-5 to be constructed, with the final segment dedicated and opened to traffic near Stockton, California, on October 12, 1979. Representatives from both Canada and Mexico attended the dedication to commemorate the first contiguous freeway connecting the North American countries.[5] This direct route also bypasses San Francisco and the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area. Original plans called for a loop Interstate with a directional suffix, I-5W.[4] This route now roughly corresponds to I-580 from I-5 south of Tracy to Oakland, I-80 from Oakland to Vacaville, and I-505 from Vacaville to I-5 near Dunnigan. I-5W and most of the other Interstates around the country with directional suffixes were eventually renumbered or eliminated. Nevertheless, San Francisco is still listed as a control city on northbound I-5 between SR?99 and I-580. On May 23, 2013, a portion of a bridge on I-5 collapsed in Washington (near Mount Vernon, between Seattle and the CanadaÿUS border at mile marker 228.3), sending two cars into the water and requiring traffic in both directions to bypass the crossing.[6] The Washington State Department of Transportation used a temporary structure to restore access across the river while a permanent bridge replacement was built. That process was completed September 15, 2013.[7] On December 18, 2017 an Amtrak Train derailed by an overpass on I-5 near Tacoma, Washington and blocked several lanes of traffic.[8] I-5 will have a complete set of auxiliary routes (i.e. 105, 205, 305, 405, 505, 605, 705, 805, 905), with the completion of I-905 in San Diego County. Currently, I-80 and I-90 are the only two Interstates to have complete sets of auxiliary routes. Route map: Google

Green🚨25,000 years before present to 1944 Mount Vesuvius ( /v??su?vi?s/; Italian: Monte Vesuvio [?monte ve?zu?vjo]; Neapolitan: Vesuvio; Latin: Mons Vesuvius [m??s w??s?w?.?s]; also Vesevus or Vesaevus in some Roman sources)[1] is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about 9?km (5.6?mi) east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes which form the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuvius consists of a large cone partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera caused by the collapse of an earlier and originally much higher structure. Mount Vesuvius is best known for its eruption in AD 79 that led to the burying and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as several other settlements. The eruption ejected a cloud of stones, ashes and volcanic gases to a height of 33?km (21?mi), spewing molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 6G105 cubic metres (7.8G105?cu?yd) per second,[2] ultimately releasing a hundred thousand times the thermal energy released by the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombings.[3] More than 1,000 people died in the eruption, but exact numbers are unknown. The only surviving eyewitness account of the event consists of two letters by Pliny the Younger to the historian Tacitus.[4] Vesuvius has erupted many times since and is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years. Today, it is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of the population of 3,000,000 people living nearby and its tendency towards violent, explosive eruptions of the Plinian type, making it the most densely populated volcanic region in the world.[5] Vesuvius has a long historic and literary tradition. It was considered a divinity of the Genius type at the time of the eruption of AD 79: it appears under the inscribed name Vesuvius as a serpent in the decorative frescos of many lararia, or household shrines, surviving from Pompeii. An inscription from Capua[6] to IOVI VESVVIO indicates that he was worshipped as a power of Jupiter; that is, Jupiter Vesuvius.[7] The historian Diodorus Siculus relates a tradition that Hercules, in the performance of his labors, passed through the country of nearby Cumae on his way to Sicily and found there a place called "the Phlegraean Plain" (phlegraion pedion, "plain of fire"), "from a hill which anciently vomited out fire ... now called Vesuvius."[8] It was inhabited by bandits, "the sons of the Earth," who were giants. With the assistance of the gods he pacified the region and went on. The facts behind the tradition, if any, remain unknown, as does whether Herculaneum was named after it. An epigram by the poet Martial in 88 AD suggests that both Venus, patroness of Pompeii, and Hercules were worshipped in the region devastated by the eruption of 79.[9] Mount Vesuvius was regarded by the Romans as being devoted to the hero and demigod Hercules.[10] Vesuvius was a name of the volcano in frequent use by the authors of the late Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. Its collateral forms were Vesaevus, Vesevus, Vesbius and Vesvius.[11] Writers in ancient Greek used Ѯ?? or Ѯ???. Many scholars since then have offered an etymology. As peoples of varying ethnicity and language occupied Campania in the Roman Iron Age, the etymology depends to a large degree on the presumption of what language was spoken there at the time. Naples was settled by Greeks, as the name Nea-polis, "New City", testifies. The Oscans, a native Italic people, lived in the countryside. The Latins also competed for the occupation of Campania. Etruscan settlements were in the vicinity. Other peoples of unknown provenance are said to have been there at some time by various ancient authors. Some theories about its origin are: Vesuvius is a distinctive "humpbacked" peak, consisting of a large cone (Gran Cono) partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera caused by the collapse of an earlier and originally much higher structure called Mount Somma.[15] The Gran Cono was produced during the A.D. 79 eruption. For this reason, the volcano is also called Somma-Vesuvius or Somma-Vesuvio. The caldera started forming during an eruption around 17,000 (or 18,300) years ago[16][17][18] and was enlarged by later paroxysmal eruptions,[19] ending in the one of AD 79. This structure has given its name to the term "somma volcano", which describes any volcano with a summit caldera surrounding a newer cone.[20] The height of the main cone has been constantly changed by eruptions but was 1,281?m (4,203?ft) in 2010.[17] Monte Somma is 1,132?m (3,714?ft) high, separated from the main cone by the valley of Atrio di Cavallo, which is 5?km (3.1?mi) long. The slopes of the volcano are scarred by lava flows, while the rest are heavily vegetated, with scrub and forests at higher altitudes and vineyards lower down. Vesuvius is still regarded as an active volcano, although its current activity produces little more than sulfur-rich steam from vents at the bottom and walls of the crater. Vesuvius is a stratovolcano at the convergent boundary where the African Plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian Plate. Layers of lava, ash, scoria and pumice make up the volcanic peak. Their mineralogy is variable, but generally silica-undersaturated and rich in potassium, with phonolite produced in the more explosive eruptions.[21] Vesuvius was formed as a result of the collision of two tectonic plates, the African and the Eurasian. The former was subducted beneath the latter, deeper into the earth. As the water-saturated sediments of the oceanic African plate were pushed to hotter depths inside the planet, the water boiled off and caused the melting point of the upper mantle to drop enough to create partial melting of the rocks. Because magma is less dense than the solid rock around it, it was pushed upward. Finding a weak spot at the Earth's surface, it broke through, thus forming the volcano. The volcano is one of several which form the Campanian volcanic arc. Others include Campi Flegrei, a large caldera a few kilometers to the north west, Mount Epomeo, 20 kilometres (12?mi) to the west on the island of Ischia, and several undersea volcanoes to the south. The arc forms the southern end of a larger chain of volcanoes produced by the subduction process described above, which extends northwest along the length of Italy as far as Monte Amiata in Southern Tuscany. Vesuvius is the only one to have erupted within recent history, although some of the others have erupted within the last few hundred years. Many are either extinct or have not erupted for tens of thousands of years. Mount Vesuvius has erupted many times. The famous eruption in AD 79 was preceded by numerous others in prehistory, including at least three significantly larger ones, the best known being the Avellino eruption around 1800 BC which engulfed several Bronze Age settlements. Since AD 79, the volcano has also erupted repeatedly, in 172, 203, 222, possibly in 303, 379, 472, 512, 536, 685, 787, around 860, around 900, 968, 991, 999, 1006, 1037, 1049, around 1073, 1139, 1150, and there may have been eruptions in 1270, 1347, and 1500.[19] The volcano erupted again in 1631, six times in the 18th century (especially in 1779 and 1794), eight times in the 19th century (notably in 1872), and in 1906, 1929 and 1944. There have been no eruptions since 1944, and none of the eruptions after AD 79 were as large or destructive as the Pompeian one. The eruptions vary greatly in severity but are characterized by explosive outbursts of the kind dubbed Plinian after Pliny the Younger, a Roman writer who published a detailed description of the 79 AD eruption, including his uncle's death.[22] On occasion, eruptions from Vesuvius have been so large that the whole of southern Europe has been blanketed by ash; in 472 and 1631, Vesuvian ash fell on Constantinople (Istanbul), over 1,200 kilometres (750?mi) away. A few times since 1944, landslides in the crater have raised clouds of ash dust, raising false alarms of an eruption. Scientific knowledge of the geologic history of Vesuvius comes from core samples taken from a 2,000?m (6,600?ft) plus bore hole on the flanks of the volcano, extending into Mesozoic rock. Cores were dated by potassiumÿargon and argonÿargon dating.[23] The volcano started forming 25,000 years ago. Although the area has been subject to volcanic activity for at least 400,000 years, the lowest layer of eruption material from the Somma caldera lies on top of the 40,000 year?old Campanian ignimbrite produced by the Campi Flegrei complex, and was the product of the Codola Plinian eruption 25,000 years ago.[15] It was then built up by a series of lava flows, with some smaller explosive eruptions interspersed between them. However, the style of eruption changed around 19,000 years ago to a sequence of large explosive Plinian eruptions, of which the AD 79 one was the most recent. The eruptions are named after the tephra deposits produced by them, which in turn are named after the location where the deposits were first identified:[24] The volcano was then quiet (for 295 years, if the 217 BC date for the last previous eruption is true) and was described by Roman writers as having been covered with gardens and vineyards, except at the top, which was craggy. The volcano may have had only one summit at that time, judging by a wall painting, "Bacchus and Vesuvius", found in a Pompeian house, the House of the Centenary (Casa del Centenario). Several surviving works written over the 200?years preceding the AD 79 eruption describe the mountain as having had a volcanic nature, although Pliny the Elder did not depict the mountain in this way in his Naturalis Historia:[30] On August 24, in the year AD 79, Vesuvius erupted in one of the most catastrophic and famous eruptions of all time. Historians have learned about the eruption from the eyewitness account of Pliny the Younger, a Roman administrator and poet.[34] The volcano ejected a cloud of stones, ashes and volcanic gases to a height of 33?km (21?mi), spewing molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 6G105 cubic metres (7.8G105?cu?yd) per second, ultimately releasing a hundred thousand times the thermal energy released by the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombings.[3] The cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed by pyroclastic surges and the ruins buried under dozens of feet of tephra.[3][34] The AD 79 eruption was preceded by a powerful earthquake seventeen years beforehand on February 05 of AD 62, which caused widespread destruction around the Bay of Naples, and particularly to Pompeii.[35] Some of the damage had still not been repaired when the volcano erupted.[36] The deaths of 600 sheep from "tainted air" in the vicinity of Pompeii indicates that the earthquake of AD 62 may have been related to new activity by Vesuvius[37] The Romans grew accustomed to minor earth tremors in the region; the writer Pliny the Younger even wrote that they "were not particularly alarming because they are frequent in Campania". Small earthquakes started taking place on 20 August 79[36] becoming more frequent over the next four days, but the warnings were not recognized.[a] Reconstructions of the eruption and its effects vary considerably in the details but have the same overall features. The eruption lasted two days. The morning of the first day was perceived as normal by the only eyewitness to leave a surviving document, Pliny the Younger. In the middle of the day an explosion threw up a high-altitude column from which ash and pumice began to fall, blanketing the area. Rescues and escapes occurred during this time. At some time in the night or early the next day pyroclastic surges in the close vicinity of the volcano began. Lights were seen on the peak interpreted as fires. People as far away as Misenum fled for their lives. The flows were rapid-moving, dense and very hot, knocking down wholly or partly all structures in their path, incinerating or suffocating all population remaining there and altering the landscape, including the coastline. These were accompanied by additional light tremors and a mild tsunami in the Bay of Naples. By late afternoon of the second day, the eruption was over, leaving only haze in the atmosphere through which the sun shone weakly. The latest scientific studies of the ash produced by Vesuvius reveals a multi-phase eruption.[38] The initial major explosion produced a column of ash and pumice ranging between 15 and 30 kilometres (49,000 and 98,000?ft) high, which rained on Pompeii to the southeast but not on Herculaneum upwind. The chief energy supporting the column came from the escape of steam superheated by the magma, created from seawater seeping over time into the deep faults of the region, that came into interaction with magma and heat. Subsequently, the cloud collapsed as the gases expanded and lost their capability to support their solid contents, releasing it as a pyroclastic surge, which first reached Herculaneum but not Pompeii. Additional blasts reinstituted the column. The eruption alternated between Plinian and Pelan six times. Surges 3 and 4 are believed by the authors to have buried Pompeii.[39] Surges are identified in the deposits by dune and cross-bedding formations, which are not produced by fallout. Another study used the magnetic characteristics of over 200 samples of roof-tile and plaster fragments collected around Pompeii to estimate equilibrium temperature of the pyroclastic flow.[40] The magnetic study revealed that on the first day of the eruption a fall of white pumice containing clastic fragments of up to 3 centimetres (1.2?in) fell for several hours.[41] It heated the roof tiles up to 140?C (284?F).[42] This period would have been the last opportunity to escape. The collapse of the Plinian columns on the second day caused pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) that devastated Herculaneum and Pompeii. The depositional temperature of these pyroclastic surges ranged up to 300?C (572?F).[43] Any population remaining in structural refuges could not have escaped, as the city was surrounded by gases of incinerating temperatures. The lowest temperatures were in rooms under collapsed roofs. These were as low as 100?C (212?F).[44] The only surviving eyewitness account of the event consists of two letters by Pliny the Younger to the historian Tacitus.[4] Pliny the Younger describes, amongst other things, the last days in the life of his uncle, Pliny the Elder. Observing the first volcanic activity from Misenum across the Bay of Naples from the volcano, approximately 35 kilometres (22?mi), the elder Pliny launched a rescue fleet and went himself to the rescue of a personal friend. His nephew declined to join the party. One of the nephew's letters relates what he could discover from witnesses of his uncle's experiences.[45][46] In a second letter the younger Pliny details his own observations after the departure of his uncle.[47][48] The two men saw an extraordinarily dense cloud rising rapidly above the peak. This cloud and a request by a messenger for an evacuation by sea prompted the elder Pliny to order rescue operations in which he sailed away to participate. His nephew attempted to resume a normal life, but that night a tremor awoke him and his mother, prompting them to abandon the house for the courtyard. Further tremors near dawn caused the population to abandon the village and caused disastrous wave action in the Bay of Naples. The early light was obscured by a black cloud through which shone flashes, which Pliny likens to sheet lightning, but more extensive. The cloud obscured Point Misenum near at hand and the island of Capraia (Capri) across the bay. Fearing for their lives, the population began to call to each other and move back from the coast along the road. A rain of ash fell, causing Pliny to shake it off periodically to avoid being buried. Later that same day the pumice and ash stopped falling and the sun shone weakly through the cloud, encouraging Pliny and his mother to return to their home and wait for news of Pliny the Elder. Pliny's uncle Pliny the Elder was in command of the Roman fleet at Misenum, and had meanwhile decided to investigate the phenomenon at close hand in a light vessel. As the ship was preparing to leave the area, a messenger came from his friend Rectina (wife of Tascius[49]) living on the coast near the foot of the volcano explaining that her party could only get away by sea and asking for rescue. Pliny ordered the immediate launching of the fleet galleys to the evacuation of the coast. He continued in his light ship to the rescue of Rectina's party. He set off across the bay but in the shallows on the other side encountered thick showers of hot cinders, lumps of pumice and pieces of rock. Advised by the helmsman to turn back, he stated "Fortune favors the brave" and ordered him to continue on to Stabiae (about 4.5 kilometers from Pompeii). Pliny the Elder and his party saw flames coming from several parts of the crater. After staying overnight, the party was driven from the building by an accumulation of material, presumably tephra, which threatened to block all egress. They woke Pliny, who had been napping and emitting loud snoring. They elected to take to the fields with pillows tied to their heads to protect them from the raining debris. They approached the beach again but the wind prevented the ships from leaving. Pliny sat down on a sail that had been spread for him and could not rise even with assistance when his friends departed. Though Pliny the Elder died, his friends ultimately escaped by land.[50] In the first letter to Tacitus, Pliny the Younger suggested that his uncle's death was due to the reaction of his weak lungs to a cloud of poisonous, sulphurous gas that wafted over the group. However, Stabiae was 16?km from the vent (roughly where the modern town of Castellammare di Stabia is situated) and his companions were apparently unaffected by the volcanic gases, and so it is more likely that the corpulent Pliny died from some other cause, such as a stroke or heart attack.[51] His body was found with no apparent injuries on the next day, after dispersal of the plume. Along with Pliny the Elder, the only other noble casualties of the eruption to be known by name were Agrippa (a son of the Herodian Jewish princess Drusilla and the procurator Antonius Felix) and his wife.[52] By 2003, around 1,044?casts made from impressions of bodies in the ash deposits had been recovered in and around Pompeii, with the scattered bones of another 100.[53] The remains of about 332 bodies have been found at Herculaneum (300 in arched vaults discovered in 1980).[54] What percentage these numbers are of the total dead or the percentage of the dead to the total number at risk remain completely unknown. Thirty-eight percent of the 1,044 were found in the ash fall deposits, the majority inside buildings. These are thought to have been killed mainly by roof collapses, with the smaller number of victims found outside of buildings probably being killed by falling roof slates or by larger rocks thrown out by the volcano. The remaining 62% of remains found at Pompeii were in the pyroclastic surge deposits,[53] and thus were probably killed by them ÿ probably from a combination of suffocation through ash inhalation and blast and debris thrown around. In contrast to the victims found at Herculaneum, examination of cloth, frescoes and skeletons show that it is unlikely that high temperatures were a significant cause. Herculaneum, which was much closer to the crater, was saved from tephra falls by the wind direction, but was buried under 23 metres (75?ft) of material deposited by pyroclastic surges. It is likely that most, or all, of the known victims in this town were killed by the surges. People caught on the former seashore by the first surge died of thermal shock. The rest were concentrated in arched chambers at a density of as high as 3 persons per square metre. As only 85 metres (279?ft) of the coast have been excavated, casualties may be waiting to be excavated. Since the eruption of AD 79, Vesuvius has erupted around three dozen times. It erupted again in 203, during the lifetime of the historian Cassius Dio. In 472, it ejected such a volume of ash that ashfalls were reported as far away as Constantinople. The eruptions of 512 were so severe that those inhabiting the slopes of Vesuvius were granted exemption from taxes by Theodoric the Great, the Gothic king of Italy. Further eruptions were recorded in 787, 968, 991, 999, 1007 and 1036 with the first recorded lava flows. The volcano became quiescent at the end of the 13th century and in the following years it again became covered with gardens and vineyards as of old. Even the inside of the crater was moderately filled with shrubbery. Vesuvius entered a new phase in December 1631, when a major eruption buried many villages under lava flows, killing around 3,000 people. Torrents of lahar were also created, adding to the devastation. Activity thereafter became almost continuous, with relatively severe eruptions occurring in 1660, 1682, 1694, 1698, 1707, 1737, 1760, 1767, 1779, 1794, 1822, 1834, 1839, 1850, 1855, 1861, 1868, 1872, 1906, 1926, 1929 and 1944. The eruption of April 05 in 1906,[55][56] killed more than 100 people and ejected the most lava ever recorded from a Vesuvian eruption. Italian authorities were preparing to hold the 1908 Summer Olympics when Mount Vesuvius violently erupted, devastating the city of Naples and surrounding comunes. Funds were diverted to the reconstruction of Naples, requiring a new location for the Olympics to be found. The last major eruption was in March 1944. It destroyed the villages of San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, Massa di Somma, Ottaviano, and part of San Giorgio a Cremano.[57] From March 18 to 23, 1944, lava flows appeared within the rim. There were outflows. Small explosions then occurred until the major explosion took place on March 18, 1944.[58] At the time of the eruption, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) 340th Bombardment Group was based at Pompeii Airfield near Terzigno, Italy, just a few kilometres from the eastern base of the volcano. The tephra and hot ash damaged the fabric control surfaces, the engines, the Plexiglas windscreens and the gun turrets of the 340th's B-25 Mitchell medium bombers. Estimates ranged from 78 to 88 aircraft destroyed.[59] The eruption could be seen from Naples. Different perspectives and the damage caused to the local villages were recorded by USAAF photographers and other personnel based nearer to the volcano.[60] Large Vesuvian eruptions which emit volcanic material in quantities of about 1 cubic kilometre (0.24?cu?mi), the most recent of which overwhelmed Pompeii and Herculaneum, have happened after periods of inactivity of a few thousand years. Sub-Plinian eruptions producing about 0.1 cubic kilometres (0.024?cu?mi), such as those of 472 and 1631, have been more frequent with a few hundred years between them. Following the 1631 eruption until 1944 every few years saw a comparatively small eruption which emitted 0.001ÿ0.01?km3 of magma. It seems that for Vesuvius, the amount of magma expelled in an eruption increases very roughly linearly with the interval since the previous one, and at a rate of around 0.001 cubic kilometres (0.00024?cu?mi) for each year. This gives an approximate figure of 0.06 cubic kilometres (0.014?cu?mi) for an eruption after 60?years of inactivity.[61] Magma sitting in an underground chamber for many years will start to see higher melting point constituents such as olivine crystallizing out. The effect is to increase the concentration of dissolved gases (mostly sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide) in the remaining liquid magma, making the subsequent eruption more violent. As gas-rich magma approaches the surface during an eruption, the huge drop in internal pressure caused by the reduction in weight of the overlying rock (which drops to zero at the surface) causes the gases to come out of solution, the volume of gas increasing explosively from nothing to perhaps many times that of the accompanying magma. Additionally, the removal of the higher melting point material will raise the concentration of felsic components such as silicates potentially making the magma more viscous, adding to the explosive nature of the eruption. The government emergency plan for an eruption therefore assumes that the worst case will be an eruption of similar size and type to the 1631 VEI 4[62] one. In this scenario the slopes of the volcano, extending out to about 7 kilometres (4.3?mi) from the vent, may be exposed to pyroclastic surges sweeping down them, whilst much of the surrounding area could suffer from tephra falls. Because of prevailing winds, towns and cities to the south and east of the volcano are most at risk from this, and it is assumed that tephra accumulation exceeding 100 kilograms per square metre (20?lb/sq?ft) ÿ at which point people are at risk from collapsing roofs ÿ may extend out as far as Avellino to the east or Salerno to the south-east. Towards Naples, to the north west, this tephra fall hazard is assumed to extend barely past the slopes of the volcano.[61] The specific areas actually affected by the ash cloud will depend upon the particular circumstances surrounding the eruption. The plan assumes between two weeks and 20 days' notice of an eruption and foresees the emergency evacuation of 600,000?people, almost entirely comprising all those living in the zona rossa ("red zone"), i.e. at greatest risk from pyroclastic flows.[5][63] The evacuation, by trains, ferries, cars, and buses is planned to take about seven days, and the evacuees will mostly be sent to other parts of the country rather than to safe areas in the local Campania region, and may have to stay away for several months. However, the dilemma that would face those implementing the plan is when to start this massive evacuation, since if it is left too late then thousands could be killed, while if it is started too early then the precursors of the eruption may turn out to have been a false alarm. In 1984, 40,000?people were evacuated from the Campi Flegrei area, another volcanic complex near Naples, but no eruption occurred.[63] Ongoing efforts are being made by the government at various levels (especially of Campania) to reduce the population living in the red zone, by demolishing illegally constructed buildings, establishing a national park around the whole volcano to prevent the future construction of buildings[63] and by offering sufficient financial incentives to people for moving away.[64] One of the underlying goals is to reduce the time needed to evacuate the area, over the next 20 or 30?years, to two or three days.[65] The volcano is closely monitored by the Osservatorio Vesuvio in Naples with extensive networks of seismic and gravimetric stations, a combination of a GPS-based geodetic array and satellite-based synthetic aperture radar to measure ground movement and by local surveys and chemical analyses of gases emitted from fumaroles. All of this is intended to track magma rising underneath the volcano. No magma has been detected within 10?km of the surface, and so the volcano is classified by the Observatory as at a Basic or Green Level.[66] The area around Vesuvius was officially declared a national park on June 5, 1995.[67] The summit of Vesuvius is open to visitors and there is a small network of paths around the volcano that are maintained by the park authorities on weekends. There is access by road to within 200 metres (660?ft) of the summit (measured vertically), but thereafter access is on foot only. There is a spiral walkway around the volcano from the road to the crater. The first funicular cable car on Mount Vesuvius opened in 1880. It was later destroyed by the March 1944 eruption. "Funicul, Funicul", a famous Neapolitan language song with lyrics by journalist Peppino Turco set to music by composer Luigi Denza, commemorates its opening.

Bernard John Taupin🚨Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English lyricist, poet, and singer, best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John, writing the lyrics for the majority of the star's songs. In 1967, Taupin answered an advertisement placed in the UK music paper New Musical Express by Liberty Records, a company that was seeking new songwriters.[1] Around the same time, Elton John responded to the same advertisement, and the duo were brought together, collaborating on many projects since.[1][2] In 1971, journalist Penny Valentine wrote that "Bernie Taupin's lyrics were to become as important as Elton [John] himself, proved to have a mercurial brilliance. Not just in their atmospheric qualities and descriptive powers, but in the way he handled words to form them into straightforward poems that were easy to relate to."[3] Taupin was born at Flatters Farmhouse, which is located between the village of Anwick and the town of Sleaford in the southern part of Lincolnshire, England.[4] Of French ancestry, Taupin's father was educated in Dijon, and was employed as a stockman by a large farm estate near the town of Market Rasen. Taupin's mother worked as a nanny, having previously lived in Switzerland.[5] The family later moved to Rowston Manor, a significant step up from Flatters Farmhouse, which had no electricity.[5][6] Taupin's father decided to try his hand at independent farming, and the family moved to the run-down Maltkiln Farm [7] in the north-Lincolnshire village of Owmby-by-Spital. Taupin's 11-year younger brother, Kit, was born there.[5][6] Unlike his older brother Tony who attended a grammar school (selective secondary school), Taupin was not a diligent student, although he showed an early flair for writing. At age 15, he left school and started work as a trainee in the print room of the local newspaper, The Lincolnshire Standard, with aspirations of becoming a journalist. Taupin soon left that job, and spent the rest of his teenage years hanging out with friends, hitchhiking the country roads to attend youth club dances in the surrounding villages, playing snooker in the Aston Arms Pub[8] in Market Rasen and drinking. Taupin had worked at several part-time, dead-end jobs when, at age 17, he answered the advertisement that eventually led to his collaboration with Elton John.[5][6] Taupin's mother had studied French literature and his maternal grandfather Poppy was a classics teacher and graduate of the University of Cambridge.[5] They taught him an appreciation for nature and for literature and narrative poetry, both of which influenced his early lyrics.[5][6] In 1967, Taupin answered an advertisement for talent that was placed in the New Musical Express by Liberty records A&R man Ray Williams. Elton John answered the same advert. Neither Taupin nor John passed the audition for Liberty Records. Elton told the man behind the desk that he could not write lyrics, so the man handed Elton a sealed envelope from the pile of people submitting lyrics, which he opened on the London Underground ride home. The envelope contained poems by Taupin.[9] The duo have collaborated on more than thirty albums to date. The team took some time off from each other for a while between 1977 and 1979, while Taupin worked with other songwriters, including Alice Cooper, and John worked with other lyricists, including Gary Osborne and Tom Robinson. (The 1978 single-only A side "Ego" was their only collaboration of note during the period, although John/Taupin B-sides such as "Lovesick" and "I Cry at Night" were issued with the respective singles "Song for Guy" and "Part-time Love" from the album A Single Man.) John and Taupin resumed writing together on (at first) an occasional basis in 1980, with Taupin contributing lyrics to only three or four songs each on albums such as The Fox, 21 at 33 and Jump Up!. However, by 1983's Too Low for Zero, the two renewed their partnership on a full-time basis and from that point forward Taupin was again John's primary lyricist. (John often works with other lyricists on specific theatrical or film projects such as 1994's The Lion King and 2000's Aida, both of which featured lyrics by Tim Rice.) Taupin's lyrics include such songs as "Rocket Man", "Levon", "Crocodile Rock", "Honky Cat", "Tiny Dancer", "Candle in the Wind", "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", "Bennie and the Jets", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters", "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", "The Bitch is Back", "Daniel", and 1970's "Your Song", their first hit. Hits in the 1980s include "I'm Still Standing", "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues", "Sad Songs", and "Nikita." In the 1990s, Taupin and John had more hits, including "The One", "Simple Life", "The Last Song", "Club at the End of the Street" and "Believe." In September 1997, Taupin rewrote the lyrics of "Candle in the Wind" for "Candle in the Wind 1997", a tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales.[10] Bernie Taupin on writing the lyrics for "Candle in the Wind 1997"[10] The 1991 film documentary, Two Rooms, described the John/Taupin writing style, which involves Taupin writing the lyrics on his own and John then putting them to music, with no further interaction between the two. The process is still fundamentally the same, with John composing to Taupin's words, but the two interact on songs far more today, with Taupin joining John in the studio as the songs are written and occasionally during recording sessions. Taupin and John had their first Broadway musical open in March 2006 with Lestat: The Musical. Taupin wrote lyrics for 10 songs (and an 11th completed non-album track "Across the River Thames") for John's 2006 album The Captain & The Kid (sequel to Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy) and appeared on the cover with him for the first time marking their 40th anniversary of working together. ("Across the River Thames" was issued as an Internet-only download as a bonus with certain editions of The Captain & the Kid.) On 25 March 2007, Taupin made a surprise appearance at John's 60th birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden, briefly discussing their 40-year songwriting partnership. Of Taupin's importance to their careers, as recorded on the Elton 60 - Live at Madison Square Garden DVD, John told the audience that without Taupin there probably wouldn't be an Elton John as the public has come to know him. Taupin and John also composed several songs for The Union, a collaboration album between Elton and his longtime hero Leon Russell released in October 2010. They also collaborated on five original songs for the 2011 Miramax movie Gnomeo and Juliet, including the Golden Globe-nominated "Hello Hello". The duo collaborated on their 31st studio album, "The Diving Board," which was released in September 2013. Their next studio album, "Wonderful Crazy Night," was released in February 2016. In addition to writing for Elton John, Taupin has also written lyrics for use by other composers, with notable successes including "We Built This City", which was recorded by Starship, and "These Dreams," recorded by Heart (both of which were collaborations with English composer/musician Martin Page). In 1978, he co-wrote the album From the Inside with Alice Cooper. Taupin has also produced American Gothic for singer-songwriter David Ackles. Released in 1972, it did not enjoy big sales, but the album was highly acclaimed by music critics in the US and UK. The influential British music critic Derek Jewell of the UK Sunday Times described the album as being "the Sgt. Pepper of folk." Of Ackles' four albums, it was the only one recorded in England rather than in the United States. Taupin and Ackles had become acquainted when Ackles was selected to be the co-headlining act for Elton John's 1970 American debut at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Taupin was mentioned specifically as being one of the reasons American Gothic was selected by the writers and editors for inclusion in the book, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. He also collaborated on the book Burning Cold with photographer Gary Bernstein.[11] In the late 1980s and early 1990s Taupin also collaborated with French American musician, Josquin Des Pres (Producer and Bassist) on at least 13 songs in his collection that have been performed and recorded by artists worldwide.[12] In 2002, Willie Nelson and Kid Rock recorded "Last Stand in Open Country" for Nelson's album The Great Divide. The song was the title track of the first album from Taupin's band Farm Dogs (see below). Nelson's album included two other Taupin songs, "This Face" and "Mendocino County Line". The latter song, a duet between Nelson and Lee Ann Womack, was made into a video and released as the album's first single. The song won the 2003 Grammy for best vocal collaboration in country music. In 2004, he co-wrote Courtney Love's song "Uncool", from her 2004 debut solo album America's Sweetheart. In 2005, he co-wrote the title track to What I Really Want For Christmas with Brian Wilson for his first seasonal album. In 2006, he won a Golden Globe Award for his lyrics to the song "A Love That Will Never Grow Old" from the film Brokeback Mountain. The music of the song was composed by Argentine producer and songwriter Gustavo Santaolalla. In 1971, Taupin recorded a spoken-word album entitled Taupin, in which he recites some of his early poems against a background of impromptu, sitar-heavy music created by some members of Elton's band, including Davey Johnstone and Caleb Quaye. Side One is entitled "Child" and contains poems about his early childhood in southern Lincolnshire. The first poem, "The Greatest Discovery," which looks at his birth from the perspective of his older brother Tony, was also set to music by Elton John and included on Elton's eponymous second album, Elton John. There are poems about Taupin's first two childhood homes, Flatters and Rowston Manor, and others about his relationship with his brother and grandfather. Side Two includes a variety of poems of varying obscurity, from a marionette telling her own story to a rat catcher who falls victim to his prey.[13] Taupin stated in interviews that he wasn't pleased with the album.[14] In 1980, Taupin recorded his first album as a singer, He Who Rides the Tiger. The album failed to make a dent in the charts. Taupin later suggested in interviews that he didn't have the creative control he would have liked over the album. In 1987, he recorded another album entitled Tribe. The songs were co-written with Martin Page. "Citizen Jane" and "Friend of the Flag" were released as singles. Videos of both singles featured Rene Russo, the sister of Toni, his wife at that time. In 1996, Taupin formed a band called Farm Dogs,[15] whose two albums were conscious (and successful) throwbacks to the grittier, earthier sound of Tumbleweed Connection. While Taupin wrote the lyrics, the music was a collaborative effort among the band members. Their first album, 1996's Last Stand in Open Country, received critical praise but little airplay. The title track was later recorded by Willie Nelson and Kid Rock for Nelson's 2002 album The Great Divide. In 1998, Farm Dogs released its second and final album, Immigrant Sons. The album was unsuccessful despite a tour of small clubs across America. In 1973, Taupin collected all his lyrics up through the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album into a book entitled Bernie Taupin: The One Who Writes the Words for Elton John. In addition to the lyrics from the albums, this book contained the lyrics to all the single B-sides, various rarities, and Taupin's 1970 spoken-word album. The songs are illustrated by various artists, friends, and celebrity guests such as John Lennon and Joni Mitchell. The book is in black & white except for the cover. In 1977, Taupin collaborated with rock photographer David Nutter on "It's A Little Bit Funny", adding text and helping chronicle Elton John's year-long, "Louder Than Concorde, But Not Quite As Pretty" world concert tour. The now-collectible book was published in hard and soft cover editions by Penguin Books. It collects the better part of one year's worth of personal adventures and memories of Elton and the band, aboard his private plane, on the beaches of Barbados, at backstage gatherings and in some quieter off-stage moments with friends (including some famous faces that Elton and Bernie met and palled around with in their travels). In 1978, Taupin also appeared in an episode of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, "The Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew Meet Dracula," singing backup to Shaun Cassidy. In 1988, Taupin published an autobiography of his childhood entitled A Cradle of Haloes: Sketches of a Childhood.[6] The book was released only in the UK. It tells the tale of a childhood fuelled by fantasy in rural Lincolnshire in the 1950s and 1960s, ending in 1969 as Taupin gets on the train to seek his fortune in London. In 1991, Taupin self-published a book of poems called The Devil at High Noon. In 1994, Taupin's lyrics up through the Made in England album were collected into a hardcover book entitled Elton John & Bernie Taupin: The Complete Lyrics, published by Hyperion. However, it doesn't appear that Taupin was intimately involved in this project, as it contains multiple misspellings and outright misrenderings of the lyrics. It is also missing some of the rarities and B-sides found in the earlier collection. As with the 1973 collection, the songs are illustrated by various artists, this time in full colour throughout.[citation needed] In 1992, Taupin was asked to produce a benefit for AIDS Project Los Angeles. The event featured no songs written by the writer, instead opening with an acoustic set of performances of material chosen by the performers followed by selections from the musical West Side Story, chosen for its "timeless message of tolerance that is relevant to every decade."[16] In addition to his music, much of his time is spent creating his visual art,[20] Taupin began displaying and selling his original artwork in 2010. Consisting of large, mixed media, contemporary works, the art has been shown in select galleries and art fairs across the United States.[21] Taupin has been married four times and divorced three: Maxine Feibelman (1971ÿ76);[22] Toni Lynn Russo (1979ÿ91), sister of actress Rene Russo; Stephanie Haymes (1993ÿ98), daughter of entertainers Dick Haymes and Fran Jeffries; and Heather Kidd (March 2004ÿpresent), with whom he has two daughters, Charley Indiana and Georgey Devon. Taupin moved to Southern California from England in the mid-1970s. Since the 1980s, he has been living on a ranch north of Los Angeles near Santa Ynez, California.[23]

February🚨LeBron Raymone James (/l??br?n/; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). James has won three NBA championships, four NBA Most Valuable Player Awards, three NBA Finals MVP Awards, two Olympic gold medals, an NBA scoring title, and the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He has also been selected to 13 NBA All-Star teams, 13 All-NBA teams, and six All-Defensive teams, is the Cavaliers' all-time leading scorer, and is the NBA career playoff scoring leader. James played high school basketball at St. VincentÿSt. Mary High School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, where he was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar. After graduating, he was selected by his home team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, as the first overall pick of the 2003 NBA draft. James led Cleveland to the franchise's first Finals appearance in 2007, ultimately losing to the San Antonio Spurs. In 2010, he left the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat in a highly publicized ESPN special titled The Decision. James spent four seasons with the Heat, reaching the Finals all four years and winning back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013. In 2013, he led Miami on a 27-game winning streak, the third longest in league history. Following his final season with the Heat, James opted out of his contract and returned to the Cavaliers. He led the Cavaliers to three consecutive Finals series between 2015 and 2017, winning his third championship in 2016 to end Cleveland's 52-year professional sports title drought. Off the court, James has accumulated considerable wealth and fame from numerous endorsement contracts. His public life has been the subject of much scrutiny, and he has been ranked as one of America's most influential and popular athletes. He has been featured in books, documentaries, and television commercials. He also hosted the ESPY Awards, Saturday Night Live, and appeared in the 2015 film Trainwreck. James was born on December 30, 1984 in Akron, Ohio to a 16-year-old mother, Gloria Marie James, who raised James on her own.[1][2]:22 When James was growing up, life was often a struggle for the family, as they moved from apartment to apartment in the seedier neighborhoods of Akron while Gloria struggled to find steady work.[3] Realizing that he would be better off in a more stable family environment, Gloria allowed James to move in with the family of Frank Walker, a local youth football coach, who introduced James to basketball when he was nine years old.[2]:23 As a youth, James played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars.[3] The team enjoyed success on a local and national level, led by James and his friends Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III, and Willie McGee.[2]:24 The players were inseparable and dubbed themselves the "Fab Four", promising each other that they would attend high school together.[2]:27 In a move that stirred local controversy, they chose to attend St. VincentÿSt. Mary High School, a predominately white private Catholic school.[4][5] As a freshman, James averaged 21 points and 6 rebounds per game for the St. Vincent-St. Mary varsity basketball team.[6] The Fighting Irish finished the year 27ÿ0, winning the Division III state title.[6] As a sophomore, James averaged 25.2 points and 7.2 rebounds with 5.8 assists and 3.8 steals per game.[7] For some home games during the season, St. Vincent-St. Mary played at the University of Akron's 5,492-seat Rhodes Arena to satisfy ticket demand from alumni, fans, and college and NBA scouts who wanted to see James play.[2]:51[8] The Fighting Irish finished the season 26ÿ1 and repeated as state champions.[6] For his outstanding play, James was named Ohio Mr. Basketball and selected to the USA Today All-USA First Team, becoming the first sophomore to do either.[9] Prior to the start of James' junior year, he appeared in SLAM Magazine and was lauded as possibly "the best high school basketball player in America right now" by writer Ryan Jones.[10] During the season, he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, becoming the first high school basketball underclassman to do so.[2]:104 With averages of 29 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 3.3 steals per game,[6] he was again named Ohio Mr. Basketball and selected to the USA Today All-USA First Team,[6] and became the first junior to be named boys' basketball Gatorade National Player of the Year.[2]:117 St. Vincent-St. Mary finished the year with a 23ÿ4 record, ending their season with a loss in the Division II championship game.[2]:114 Following the loss, James seriously considered declaring for the 2002 NBA draft, unsuccessfully petitioning for an adjustment to the NBA's draft eligibility rules that required prospective players to have at least graduated from high school.[11] During this time, he used marijuana to help cope with the stress that resulted from the constant media attention he was receiving.[12][13][14] Throughout his senior year, James and the Fighting Irish traveled around the country to play a number of nationally ranked teams, including a game against Oak Hill Academy that was nationally televised on ESPN2.[2]:142 Time Warner Cable, looking to capitalize on James' popularity, offered St. Vincent-St. Mary's games to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis throughout the season.[2]:143 For the year, James averaged 31.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 3.4 steals per game,[9] was named Ohio Mr. Basketball and selected to the USA Today All-USA First Team for an unprecedented third consecutive year,[2]:178[6] and was named Gatorade National Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.[6] He participated in three year-end high school basketball all-star gamesthe EA Sports Roundball Classic, the Jordan Capital Classic, and the McDonald's All-American Gamelosing his National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) eligibility and making it official that he would enter the 2003 NBA draft.[15] Many basketball analysts, scouts, and writers have noted that James left high school as one of the best and most hyped prospects of all-time.[2]:142[16][17][18][19] Also during his senior year, James was the centerpiece of several controversies. For his 18th birthday, he skirted state amateur bylaws by accepting a Hummer H2 from his mother, who had secured a loan for the vehicle by utilizing LeBron's future earning power as a professional athlete.[20] This prompted an investigation by the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) because its guidelines stated that no amateur may accept any gift valued over $100 as a reward for athletic performance. James was cleared of any wrongdoing because he had accepted the gift from a family member and not from an agent or any outside source.[15] Later in the season, James accepted two throwback jerseys worth $845 from an urban clothing store in exchange for posing for pictures, officially violating OHSAA rules and resulting in him being stripped of his high school sports eligibility.[15] James appealed the ruling and his penalty was eventually dropped to a two-game suspension, allowing him to play the remainder of the year. The Irish were also forced to forfeit one of their wins, their only official loss that season.[21] In his first game back after the suspension, James scored a career-high 52 points.[22] James played wide receiver for St. Vincent-St. Mary's football team in high school and was recruited by some Division I programs, including Notre Dame.[2]:51[23] As a sophomore, he was named first team all-state, and as a junior, he led the Fighting Irish to the state semifinals.[7] He decided to stop playing high school football before his senior year, after he broke his wrist during an AAU basketball game.[24] Many sports analysts, football critics, high school coaches, and former and current players have speculated on whether he could have played in the National Football League.[2]:91[25][26][27][28] James was selected by his home team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, as the first overall pick of the 2003 NBA draft.[29] In his first regular season game, he scored 25 points against the Sacramento Kings, setting an NBA record for most points scored by a prep-to-pro player in his debut performance.[30] At the conclusion of the season, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year, finishing with averages of 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game.[31] He became the first Cavalier to receive the honor and just the third player in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game as a rookie.[32] The Cavaliers finished the season 35ÿ47, failing to make the playoffs despite an 18-game improvement over the previous year.[33] James earned his first NBA All-Star Game selection in 2004ÿ05, contributing 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists in a winning effort for the Eastern Conference.[34] Around the league, teams took note of his rapid development, with Denver Nuggets coach George Karl telling Sports Illustrated, "It's weird talking about a 20-year-old kid being a great player, but he is a great player ... He's the exception to almost every rule."[35] On March 20, James scored 56 points against the Toronto Raptors, setting Cleveland's new single-game points record.[36] With final averages of 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 2.2 steals per game, he was named to his first All-NBA Team.[7] Despite a 30ÿ20 record to start the year,[36] the Cavaliers again failed to make the playoffs, finishing the season at 42ÿ40.[37] At the 2006 All-Star Game, James led the East to victory with 29 points and was named the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.[38] Behind final season averages of 31.4 points, 7 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game,[39] he finished second in overall NBA Most Valuable Player Award voting to Steve Nash.[40] Under James' leadership, the Cavaliers qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1998.[41] In his postseason debut, he recorded a triple-double in a winning effort versus the Washington Wizards.[42] In Game 3 of the series, he made the first game-winning shot of his career, making another in Game 5.[43] Cleveland would go on to defeat the Wizards before being ousted by the Detroit Pistons in the second round.[44][45] In 2006ÿ07, James' averages declined to 27.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game.[7] Some analysts attributed the fall to a regression in his passing skills and shot selection, stemming from a lack of effort and focus.[48] The Cavaliers finished the season with 50 wins for the second consecutive year and entered the playoffs as the East's second seed.[49][50] In Game 5 of the Conference Finals, James notched 48 points with 9 rebounds and 7 assists, scoring 29 of Cleveland's last 30 points, including the game-winning layup with two seconds left, against the Pistons.[51] After the game, play-by-play announcer Marv Albert called the performance "one of the greatest moments in postseason history" and color commentator Steve Kerr described it as "Jordan-esque".[52] In 2012, ESPN ranked the performance the fourth greatest in modern NBA playoff history.[53] The Cavaliers went on to win Game 6 and claim their first-ever Eastern Conference championship,[54] earning them a matchup with the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.[55] During the championship round, James struggled, averaging 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game on just 35.6 percent shooting,[56] and Cleveland was eliminated in a sweep.[55] In February of the 2007ÿ08 season, James was named All-Star Game MVP for the second time behind a 27-point, 8-rebound, and 9-assist performance.[57][58] On March 21, he moved past Brad Daugherty as the Cavaliers' all-time leading scorer in a game against the Raptors, doing so in over 100 less games than Daugherty.[59] His 30 points per game were also the highest in the league, representing his first scoring title.[60] Despite his individual accomplishments, Cleveland's record fell from the year before to 45ÿ37.[61] Seeded fourth in the East entering the playoffs, the Cavaliers defeated the Wizards in the first round for the third consecutive season before being eliminated in seven games by the eventual-champion Boston Celtics in the next round.[62] During the decisive seventh game in Boston, James scored 45 points and Paul Pierce scored 41 in a game the Associated Press described as a "shootout".[63] At the conclusion of the 2008ÿ09 season, James finished second in NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting and made his first NBA All-Defensive Team, posting 23 chase-down blocks and a career-high 93 total blocks.[65][66] He also became only the fourth postmerger player to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks in a single season.[67] Behind his play and the acquisition of All-Star guard Mo Williams, Cleveland went a franchise record 66ÿ16 and fell one game short of matching the best home record in league history.[68] With averages of 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game, James became the first Cavalier to win the MVP Award.[69] In the playoffs, Cleveland swept the Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks to earn a matchup with the Orlando Magic in the Conference Finals.[70] In Game 1 of the series, James scored 49 points on 66 percent shooting in a losing effort for the Cavaliers.[53] In Game 2, he hit a game-winner to tie the series at 1ÿ1.[71] Cleveland would lose the series in six games, and following the loss in Game 6, James immediately left the floor without shaking hands with his opponents, an act many media members viewed as unsportsmanlike.[72][73] For the series, he averaged 38.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 8 assists per game,[74] finishing the postseason with a career playoff-high 35.3 points per game.[39] Midway through the 2009ÿ10 season, the Cavaliers' guards experienced significant injuries, forcing James into a temporary point guard role.[75] With increased minutes as the team's primary ball handler, he averaged 8.6 assists in addition to 29.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1 block per game on 50 percent shooting, culminating in a second consecutive MVP Award.[76] Cleveland also finished the season with the league's best record for the second straight year.[77] In the playoffs, the Cavaliers defeated the Bulls in the first round but lost to the Celtics in the second round.[78] James was heavily criticized for not playing well in Game 5 of the series, shooting only 20 percent on 14 shots and scoring 15 points.[79] At the conclusion of the game, he walked off the court to a smattering of boos from Cleveland's home crowd, the team having just suffered their worst home playoff loss ever.[80] The Cavaliers were officially eliminated from the postseason in Game 6, with James recording 27 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists, and nine turnovers in a losing effort.[78] James became an unrestricted free agent at 12:01?am EDT on July 1, 2010.[82] During his free agency, he was contacted by several teams, including the Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, and Cavaliers.[83] On July 8, he announced that he would sign with the Heat on a live ESPN special titled The Decision.[84] The telecast, broadcast from the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich, Connecticut, raised $2.5 million for the charity and an additional $3.5 million from advertisement revenue that was donated to other charities.[85][86] The day before the special, fellow free agents Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade had also announced that they would sign with Miami;[87][88] reports later arose that the trio had discussed their 2010 free agencies together in 2006.[89] James decided to join with Bosh and Wade in part so that he could shoulder less of the load offensively, thinking that his improved teammates would give him a better chance of winning a championship than had he stayed in Cleveland.[90][91] Heat president Pat Riley played a major role in selling James on the idea of playing with Bosh and Wade.[92] Relieved of the burden of scoring, James thought he could be the first player to average a triple-double in a season since Oscar Robertson.[90] James drew intense criticism from sports analysts, executives, fans, and current and former players for leaving the Cavaliers. The Decision itself was also scrutinized and viewed as unnecessary. Many thought the prolonged wait for James' choice was unprofessional as not even the teams courting him were aware of his decision until moments before the show.[93] Upon learning that James would not be returning to Cleveland, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert published an open letter to fans in which he aggressively denounced James' actions.[94] Some angry fans of the team recorded videos of themselves burning his jersey.[95] Former NBA players, including Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson, were also critical of James, condemning him for joining with Bosh and Wade in Miami and not trying to win a championship as "the guy".[96][97][98] James drew further criticism in a September interview with CNN when he claimed that race might have been a factor in the fallout from The Decision.[99][100] As a result of his actions during the 2010 free agency period, he quickly gained a reputation as one of America's most disliked athletes, a radical change from years prior.[101][102] The phrase "taking my talents to South Beach" became a punch line for critics.[103][104] Immediately following The Decision, James claimed that there was nothing he would change about the handling of his free agency despite all the criticism.[105] During the 2010ÿ11 season, he expressed some regret, admitting, "[I] probably would do it a little bit different ... But I'm happy with my decision."[106] Before the 2011ÿ12 season, he relented, "... if the shoe was on the other foot and I was a fan, and I was very passionate about one player, and he decided to leave, I would be upset too about the way he handled it."[102] James officially became a member of the Heat on July 10, 2010.[107] With the move, he became only the third reigning MVP to change teams and the first since Moses Malone in 1982.[108] That evening, the Heat threw a welcome party for their new "big three" at the American Airlines Arena, an event that took on a rock concert atmosphere.[109] During the gathering, James predicted a dynasty for the Heat and alluded to multiple championships.[110][111] Outside of Miami, the spectacle was not well-received, furthering the negative public perception of James.[112][113] Throughout the 2010ÿ11 season, James embraced the villain role that was bestowed upon him by the media, playing with an angry demeanor and less joy than in years past; he later admitted that he regretted this approach.[114] On December 2, he faced the Cavaliers in Cleveland for the first time since departing as a free agent, scoring 38 points and leading Miami to a win while being booed every time he touched the ball.[115][116] He finished the season with averages of 26.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7 assists per game on 51 percent shooting.[39] Entering the playoffs as the East's second seed, Miami advanced to the Finals before stumbling against the Dallas Mavericks, losing in six games despite holding a 2ÿ1 series lead going into Game 4.[117] James received the brunt of the criticism for the loss, averaging only three points in fourth quarters in the series.[118] His Finals scoring average of 17.8 points per game signified an 8.9-point drop from the regular season, the largest point drop-off in league history.[119] Humbled by the Heat's loss to the Mavericks, James spent the offseason working with Hakeem Olajuwon on his post game.[120] His work with Olajuwon paid off, fueling what Grantland's Kirk Goldsberry called "one of the greatest and most important transformations in recent sports history".[121] Behind James' more post-oriented play,[121] Miami matched their best start to a season in franchise history,[122] and at the conclusion of the lockout-shortened 2011ÿ12 season, he was named MVP for the third time, finishing with averages of 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.9 steals per game on 53 percent shooting.[123] In Game 4 of the second round of the playoffs, James registered 40 points, 18 rebounds, and 9 assists to help even the series against the Indiana Pacers.[125] Miami eventually defeated the Pacers in six games.[126] Facing elimination in Game 6 of the Conference Finals against the Celtics, James scored 45 points to lead the Heat to victory in what The New York Times called a "career-defining performance".[127] Miami won Game 7 to advance to the Finals, earning them a matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder.[126] Late in Game 4 of the series, James hit a three-pointer to give the Heat a lead, helping them win the game despite missing time with leg cramps.[128] In Game 5, he registered a triple-double as Miami defeated Oklahoma City for their second-ever championship and James' first championship.[129] James was unanimously voted the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player with averages of 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game.[130] His full postseason run, in which he averaged 30.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, was later ranked the second best in modern NBA history by ESPN.[131] In February of the 2012ÿ13 season, James' performance was described by Sports Illustrated as a "month for the ages",[132] averaging 29.7 points and 7.8 assists per game while setting multiple shooting efficiency records.[133][134][135] During this period, the Heat began a 27-game winning streak, the third longest in NBA history.[136] Behind his play, Miami finished the year with a franchise and league best 66ÿ16 record,[137] and James was named MVP for the fourth time, falling just one vote shy of becoming the first player in NBA history to win the award unanimously.[138] His final season averages were 26.8 points, 8 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 1.7 steals per game on 56.5 percent shooting.[39] In Game 1 of the Conference Finals, James scored a buzzer-beating layup to give Miami a one-point victory against the Pacers.[139] Throughout the series, his supporting cast struggled significantly, and his added scoring load prompted him to compare his responsibilities to those of his "Cleveland days".[140] Despite these struggles, the Heat advanced to the Finals for a meeting with the Spurs,[141] signifying a rematch for James from his first Finals six years earlier.[142] At the beginning of the series, he was criticized for his lack of aggressiveness and poor shot selection as Miami fell behind 2ÿ3.[74][141][143] In Game 6, he recorded his second triple-double of the series, including 16 fourth quarter points, to lead the Heat to a comeback victory.[144] In Game 7, he tied the Finals record for most points scored in a Game 7 victory, leading Miami over San Antonio with 37 points.[145] He was named Finals MVP for the second straight season, averaging 25.3 points, 10.9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2.3 steals per game for the championship round.[146] On March 3 of the 2013ÿ14 season, James scored a career-high and franchise-record 61 points in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats.[147] Throughout the year, he was one of the few staples for a Heat roster that used 20 different starting lineups due to injuries,[148] finishing with averages of 27.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game on 56.7 percent shooting.[39] In the second round of the playoffs, he tied a career postseason-high by scoring 49 points in Game 4 against the Brooklyn Nets.[149] In the next round, Miami defeated the Pacers to earn their fourth consecutive Finals berth, becoming one of only four teams in NBA history to do so.[150] In Game 1 of the Finals, James missed most of the fourth quarter because of leg cramps, helping the Spurs take an early series lead.[151] In Game 2, he led the Heat to a series-tying victory with 35 points on a 64 percent shooting rate.[152] San Antonio eventually eliminated the Heat in five games, ending Miami's quest for a three-peat.[153] For the Finals, James averaged 28.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2 steals per game.[154] On June 25, 2014, James opted out of his contract with the Heat, officially becoming an unrestricted free agent on July 1.[157] On July 11, he revealed via a first-person essay in Sports Illustrated that he intended to return to the Cavaliers.[158] In contrast to The Decision, his announcement to return to Cleveland was well received.[159][160][161] On July 12, he officially signed with the team,[162] who had compiled a league-worst 97ÿ215 record in the four seasons following his departure.[163] A month after James' signing, the Cavaliers acquired Kevin Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves, forming a new star trio along with Kyrie Irving.[164] In January of the 2014ÿ15 season, James missed two weeks due to left knee and lower back strains, the longest stretch of missed games in his career.[165] In total, he played a career-low 69 games and his final averages were 25.3 points, 6 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game.[39] In the second round of the playoffs, he hit a baseline jumper at the buzzer to give Cleveland a 2ÿ2 series tie with the Bulls.[166] In the Conference Finals, the Cavaliers defeated the Hawks to advance to the Finals, making James the first player since the 1960s to play in five consecutive Finals.[167] For most of the Finals against the Golden State Warriors, Irving and Love were sidelined due to injury, giving James more offensive responsibilities.[167] Behind his leadership, the Cavaliers opened the series with a 2ÿ1 lead before being eliminated in six games.[168] Despite the loss, he received serious consideration for the Finals MVP Award,[169] averaging 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists per game for the championship round.[168] During the 2015ÿ16 season, James was criticized for his role in several off-court controversies, including the midseason firing of Cavaliers' head coach David Blatt.[170][171] Despite these distractions, Cleveland finished the year with 57 wins and the best record in the East.[172] James' final averages were 25.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game on 52 percent shooting.[39] In the playoffs, the Cavaliers advanced comfortably to the Finals, losing only two games en route to a rematch with the Warriors,[172] who were coming off a record-setting 73 win season.[173] To begin the series, Cleveland fell behind 3ÿ1, including two blowout losses.[174] James responded by registering back-to-back 41 point games in Games 5 and 6, leading the Cavaliers to two consecutive wins to stave off elimination.[175] In Game 7, he posted a triple-double and made a number of key plays, including a memorable chase-down block on Andre Iguodala in the final two minutes,[176][177][178] as Cleveland emerged victorious, winning the city's first professional sports title in 52 years and becoming the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3ÿ1 series deficit in the Finals.[179] James became just the third player to record a triple-double in an NBA Finals Game 7,[180] and behind series averages of 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 2.6 steals per game,[174] he also became the first player in league history to lead both teams in all five statistical categories for a playoff round, culminating in a unanimous Finals MVP selection.[181] The 2016ÿ17 season was marred by injuries and unexpected losses for the Cavaliers;[182] James later described it as one of the "strangest" years of his career.[183] Following a January defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans, he publicly criticized Cleveland's front office for constructing a team that he felt was too "top heavy", for which he received criticism.[184] The Cavaliers finished the season as the East's second seed, with James averaging 26.4 points and career highs in rebounds (8.6), assists (8.7), and turnovers (4.1) per game.[39] In Game 3 of the first round of the postseason, he registered 41 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists against the Pacers, leading Cleveland to a comeback victory after trailing by 25 points at halftime, representing the largest halftime deficit overcome in NBA playoff history.[185] In Game 5 of the Conference Finals against the Celtics, James scored 35 points and surpassed Michael Jordan as the league's all-time postseason scoring leader.[186] The Cavaliers won the game and the series, advancing to their third consecutive Finals against the Warriors.[187] Behind averages of 33.6 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists per game, James became the first player to average a triple-double in the Finals, but Cleveland was defeated in five games.[188] James made his debut for the United States national team at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.[189] He spent the Games mostly on the bench,[190][191] averaging 14.6 minutes per game with 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in eight games.[189] Team USA finished the competition with a bronze medal, becoming the first U.S. basketball team to return home without a gold medal since adding professionals to their line-up.[189][192] James felt his limited playing time was a "lowlight" and believed he was not given "a fair opportunity to play".[193] His attitude during the Olympics was described as "disrespectful" and "distasteful" by columnists Adrian Wojnarowski and Peter Vecsey, respectively.[194][195] At the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan, James took on a greater role for Team USA, averaging 13.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game as co-captain.[196][197] The team finished the tournament with an 8ÿ1 record, winning another bronze medal.[196] James' behavior was again questioned, this time by teammate Bruce Bowen, who confronted James during tryouts regarding his treatment of staff members.[194][198] Before naming James to the 2008 Olympic team, Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski gave James an ultimatum to improve his attitude, and he heeded their advice.[194][199] At the FIBA Americas Championship 2007, he averaged 18.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game, including a 31-point performance against Argentina in the championship game, the most ever by an American in an Olympic qualifier.[200][201] Team USA went 10ÿ0, winning the gold medal and qualifying for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.[189] James credited the team's attitude and experience for their improvement, saying: "I don't think we understood what it meant to put on a USA uniform and all the people that we were representing in 2004. We definitely know that now."[191] At the Olympics, Team USA went unbeaten, winning their first gold medal since 2000.[202] In the final game, James turned in 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists against Spain.[202] James did not play at the 2010 FIBA World Championship but rejoined Team USA for the 2012 Olympics in London, England.[203] He became the leader of the team with Kobe Bryant, who would soon be 34, stepping back.[204][205][206] James facilitated the offense from the post and perimeter, called the defensive sets, and provided scoring when needed.[207][208][209][210] During a game against Australia, he recorded the first triple-double in U.S. Olympic basketball history with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists.[a][210] Team USA went on to win their second straight gold medal, again defeating Spain in the final game.[212] James contributed 19 points in the win, becoming the all-time leading scorer in U.S. men's basketball history.[189][212] He also joined Michael Jordan as the only players to win an NBA MVP award, NBA championship, NBA Finals MVP, and Olympic gold medal in the same year.[213] Afterwards, Krzyzewski said James "is the best player, he is the best leader and he is as smart as anybody playing the game right now."[214] Standing 6?feet 8?inches (2.03?m) and weighing 250 pounds (113.4?kg), James has started at small forward and power forward, but he can also play the other three positions.[215] With career averages of 27.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 7.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game,[39] he is considered one of the most athletic and versatile players in the NBA,[121][216][217] and has been compared to Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan.[31][218] Since 2011, he has been ranked the best player in the NBA by ESPN and Sports Illustrated.[b][c] Many basketball analysts, coaches, fans, and current and former players consider James to be one of the greatest players of all-time, often ranking him as the best small forward and in the top five overall.[d] He has earned All-NBA honors every season since his sophomore year, All-Defensive honors every season from 2009 to 2014, and was named Rookie of the Year in his debut season.[39] With four MVP awards, he is part of a select group of players who have won the award four times, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, and Bill Russell; James and Russell are the only two players who have won four MVP awards in a five-year span.[237] While James has never won the Defensive Player of the Year Award, he has finished second in the voting twice and lists it as one of his main goals.[66][238] James has appeared in the Finals eight times and won three championships. Some analysts have criticized him for not having a better Finals record, while others have defended him, arguing that his supporting casts were usually poor and, despite the fact that James had played well, his team was defeated by superior competition.[239][240][241] Upon entering the NBA, James made an immediate offensive impact, leading the Cavaliers in scoring as a 19-year-old rookie.[243][244] He holds numerous "youngest to" distinctions, including being the youngest player to score 28,000 career points.[e] During his first stint in Cleveland, he was primarily used as an on-ball point forward, and although his shooting tendencies were perimeter-oriented,[121] he established himself as one of the best slashers and finishers in basketball, leading the NBA in three-point plays in 2006.[249] His combination of speed, quickness, and size often created matchup problems for opposing teams as he was capable of blowing by larger defenders and overpowering smaller ones.[250] These qualities became more apparent in transition, where he developed a reputation for grabbing defensive rebounds and then beating the defense downcourt for highlight-quality baskets.[251] Around this time, James was frequently criticized for not having developed a reliable jump shot or post game.[252] Teams would try to exploit these weaknesses by giving him space in the half court and forcing him to settle for three-pointers and long two-pointers, a strategy famously utilized by Spurs coach Greg Popovich in the 2007 Finals, where James converted on only 36 percent of his field goals in four games.[253] In Miami, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra changed James' role to a more unconventional one.[121] James began spending more time in the post and shooting fewer three-pointers, attempting a career-low 149 in 2012.[39][121] He improved his shot selection and accuracy on jump shots, finishing second in the league in catch-and-shoot field goal percentage in 2013.[254] He also learned how to work as an off-ball cutter in the Heat's "pass-happy" offense.[255] Behind these improvements, James' overall scoring efficiency rose to historically-great levels,[256] peaking in 2014 when he registered a 64.9 true shooting percentage.[39] During this period, ESPN's Tom Haberstroh called James' free throw shooting his biggest weakness, describing it as "average".[257] Upon returning to the Cavaliers, James began to experience subtle age-related declines in productivity,[258] posting his lowest scoring averages since his rookie season in 2015 and 2016.[39][259] His shooting also temporarily regressed, and he briefly ranked as the worst high-volume outside shooter from outside the paint in the NBA.[260] Despite these changes, he has remained an elite offensive player who is capable of beating defenses with body control, strength, and varying attacking speeds.[250] James' playmaking ability is generally considered to be one of his premier skills, with some analysts ranking him among the greatest passers in NBA history.[261] He is the only frontcourt player in league history to register over 7,000 career assists.[262] Using his size, vision, and the attention he garners from opposing defenses to his advantage,[263] James is able to create easy points for his teammates with accurate assists, manufacturing a league leading 2.6 three-pointers per game by way of his passing alone in 2013.[264] He will often execute passes that would normally be considered unconventional, including passes after leaving his feet and passes through defensive traffic.[265] His uncanny tendency to find the open man played a significant role in the evolution of modern NBA defenses, forcing teams to incorporate some elements of zone into their schemes to better cover the weak side of the court and prevent James from passing to open shooters.[250] Early in James' career, he was criticized by the media for his play in pressure situations; specifically, for passing instead of shooting in the waning seconds of close games.[266][267] In a 2011 interview, teammate Chris Bosh stated that he would rather have Dwyane Wade take a last-second shot than James.[268] Later in James' career, his clutch play was viewed more favorably; for example, a 2011 article by Henry Abbott revealed that James had a better shooting percentage with the game on the line than such notables as Ray Allen and Kobe Bryant.[269] In 2015, FiveThirtyEight wrote that he might be "the most clutch playoff shooter of his generation".[270] At the beginning of James' career, he was considered a poor defensive player,[271] but he improved steadily through the years. Near the end of his first tenure in Cleveland, he became proficient at the chase-down block; coming in from behind the opposition in transition to block their shot.[65] In Miami, he developed into a more versatile defender, and the Heat relied on him to guard all five positions.[272] Paired with teammates Shane Battier and Dwyane Wade, Miami used James in an ultra-aggressive defensive scheme,[273] with James cheating off the ball to help out inside or get into rebounding position.[274] Beginning in 2014, some analysts noted a regression in his defensive impact, stemming from a lack of effort and expected age-related declines.[275][276] James himself admitted to taking plays off at times, referring to this approach as "chill mode".[277] Writing for ESPN in 2016, Nate Duncan observed that while James tended to take off more plays than in his younger days, he was able to raise his level in that year's Finals and temporarily recapture his Miami form.[278] James proposed to Savannah Brinson, his high school sweetheart, on December 31, 2011 at a party celebrating New Year's Eve and his 27th birthday.[279] The two were married on September 14, 2013 in San Diego.[280] Together, they have three children: LeBron James Jr. (b. 2004),[281] Bryce Maximus James (b. 2007),[282] and Zhuri James (b. 2014).[283] During his tenure with the Heat, James resided in Coconut Grove, an affluent Miami neighborhood, where he bought a three-story mansion overlooking Biscayne Bay for $9?million.[284] In November 2015, James bought a 9,350 square-feet East Coastÿstyle mansion in Brentwood, Los Angeles for about $21?million.[285] James is an active supporter of the Boys & Girls Club of America, Children's Defense Fund, and ONEXONE.[286] He also has his own charity foundation, the LeBron James Family Foundation, which is based in Akron.[287] Since 2005, the foundation has held an annual bike-a-thon in Akron to raise money for various causes.[288] In 2015, James announced a partnership with the University of Akron to provide scholarships for as many as 2,300 children beginning in 2021.[289] In 2016, he donated $2.5 million to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture to support an exhibit about Muhammad Ali.[290] In 2017, he received the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award from the NBA for his "outstanding service and dedication to the community".[291] James is represented by agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports.[292] His first agent was Aaron Goodwin, whom he left in 2005 for Leon Rose. Rose joined Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in 2007, and he worked with fellow CAA agent Henry Thomas, who represented Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, to bring James to Miami in 2010. James left CAA for Paul in 2012.[293] James, Paul, Maverick Carter, and Randy Mimsall childhood friendsformed agent and sports-marketing company LRMR after James left Goodwin. LRMR handles James' marketing, including the marketing of The Decision, for which it was criticized.[294][295] Throughout his career, James has taken a unique approach to his playing contracts, usually opting to sign shorter term deals in order to maximize his earnings potential and flexibility;[296][107][297] for example, in 2006, he and the Cavaliers negotiated a three-year, $60?million contract extension instead of the four-year maximum as it allotted him the option of seeking a new contract worth more money as an unrestricted free agent following the 2010 season.[298] This move ultimately allowed James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh to sign with the Heat together.[299] During his second stint in Cleveland, he began opting out and re-signing on new contracts after each season in order to take advantage of higher salaries resulting from the NBA's rising salary cap.[162][300][301][302] In 2016, he signed with the Cavaliers on a three-year deal,[303] becoming the highest-paid player in the league for the first time in his career.[304] James has numerous endorsement contracts; some of the companies he does business with are Audemars Piguet,[305] Coca-Cola,[306] Dunkin' Brands,[307] McDonald's,[308] Nike,[306] State Farm,[309] and Samsung.[306] Coming out of high school, he was the target of a three-way bidding war among Nike, Reebok, and Adidas,[310] eventually signing with Nike for approximately $90 million.[311] His signature shoes have performed well for Nike.[312] In 2011, Fenway Sports Group became the sole global marketer of his rights, and as part of the deal, he was granted a minority stake in the English Premier League football club Liverpool FC,[313] who he has claimed his support for.[314] As a result of James' endorsement money and NBA salary, he has been listed as one of the world's highest-paid athletes.[315] In 2013, he surpassed Kobe Bryant as the highest paid basketball player in the world, with earnings of $56.5 million.[316] In 2014, James realized a profit of more than $30 million as part of Apple's acquisition of Beats Electronics; he had originally struck a deal to get a small stake in the company at its inception in exchange for promoting its headphones.[317] In 2015, he was ranked the sixth highest earning sportsperson,[318] and third highest in 2016 (after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi).[319] James has stated that we would like to own an NBA team in the future, albeit in a hands-off capacity.[320] James, with comedian Jimmy Kimmel, co-hosted the 2007 ESPY Awards.[321] In other comedic pursuits, he hosted the 33rd-season premiere of Saturday Night Live.[322] He has also tried his hand at acting, appearing in a cameo role on the HBO series Entourage.[323] In 2015, he played himself in the Judd Apatow film Trainwreck,[324] receiving positive reviews for his performance.[325] That same year, James' digital video company, Uninterrupted, raised $15.8 million from Warner Bros. Entertainment and Turner Sports to help expand the company's efforts to bring athlete-created content to fans. It is hosted on Bleacher Report and is used by several other athletes including New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman.[326] Along with business partner Maverick Carter, James owns production company SpringHill Entertainment,[327] whose first work was the Lions Gate documentary More Than a Game, released in 2009 and chronicling James' high school years.[328] Series produced by SpringHill include the Disney XD sports documentaries Becoming,[329] Starz sitcom Survivor's Remorse,[330] and animated web series The LeBrons.[331] In 2016, CNBC aired an unscripted series hosted by James called Cleveland Hustles, where four up-and-coming Northern Ohio entrepreneurs will be financed on the condition of revitalizing a neighborhood in Cleveland.[332] In the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, a 60-minute Vince Carter documentary entitled The Carter Effect was executive produced by James and Maverick Carter along with rapper Drake and Future the Prince.[333][334] James is considered by many, including his fellow players, to be the "face of the NBA".[335] His opinions have yielded significant influence on important league decisions; for example, in 2014 he asked commissioner Adam Silver to increase the duration of the All-Star break, and the request was granted the following season.[336] On February 13, 2015, James was elected the first Vice President of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).[337] Throughout his career, James has been ranked by Forbes as one of the world's most influential athletes,[338][339] and in 2017, he was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time.[340] During his first stint with the Cavaliers, he was adored by local fans, with Sherwin-Williams displaying a giant Nike-produced banner of James on its world headquarters.[341] Despite their affection for James, Cleveland fans and critics were frequently annoyed when he attended Cleveland Indians games against the New York Yankees sporting a Yankees hat.[342] Following his actions during the 2010 free agency period and, more specifically, The Decision, he was listed as one of the world's most disliked athletes.[343] By 2013, his image had mostly recovered and he was reported by ESPN as the most popular player in the NBA for the second time in his career.[344] In 2014, he was named the most popular male athlete in America by the Harris Poll.[345] He has led the league in jersey sales six times.[346] In March 2008, James became the first black manand third man overall after Richard Gere and George Clooneyto appear on the cover of Vogue, posing with Gisele Bndchen.[349] Some sports bloggers and columnists considered the cover offensive, describing the demeanor of James and his holding Bndchen as a reference to classic imagery of the movie monster King Kong, a dark savage capturing his light-skinned love interest.[347][348] James has taken stances on controversial issues throughout his career, mentioning on several occasions a feeling of obligation to effect change using his status.[350] Those include the War in Darfur,[351][352][353][354] the Trayvon Martin case,[355] the now-former NBA owner Donald Sterling's racist comments in 2014,[350] the Michael Brown verdict,[356] and the death of Eric Garner.[357] Following a racist incident at his Los Angeles home in 2017, James stated, "being black in America is tough. We got a long way to go for us as a society and for us as African Americans until we feel equal in America."[358] Later on that same year, in the aftermath of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, James questioned President Donald Trump's Make America Great Again slogan by stating "It's sad what's going on in Charlottesville. Is this the direction our country is heading? Make America Great Again huh? He said that" and "Our youth deserve better!!"[359] In June 2008, James donated $20,000 to a committee to elect Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.[360] Later that year, James gathered almost 20,000 people at the Quicken Loans Arena for a viewing of Obama's 30-minute American Stories, American Solutions television advertisement.[361] It was shown on a large screen above the stage, where Jay-Z later held a free concert.[361] James later publicly endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential election.[362]

Hydrogen🚨The abundance of the chemical elements is a measure of the occurrence of the chemical elements relative to all other elements in a given environment. Abundance is measured in one of three ways: by the mass-fraction (the same as weight fraction); by the mole-fraction (fraction of atoms by numerical count, or sometimes fraction of molecules in gases); or by the volume-fraction. Volume-fraction is a common abundance measure in mixed gases such as planetary atmospheres, and is similar in value to molecular mole-fraction for gas mixtures at relatively low densities and pressures, and ideal gas mixtures. Most abundance values in this article are given as mass-fractions. For example, the abundance of oxygen in pure water can be measured in two ways: the mass fraction is about 89%, because that is the fraction of water's mass which is oxygen. However, the mole-fraction is 33.3333...% because only 1 atom of 3 in water, H2O, is oxygen. As another example, looking at the mass-fraction abundance of hydrogen and helium in both the Universe as a whole and in the atmospheres of gas-giant planets such as Jupiter, it is 74% for hydrogen and 23ÿ25% for helium; while the (atomic) mole-fraction for hydrogen is 92%, and for helium is 8%, in these environments. Changing the given environment to Jupiter's outer atmosphere, where hydrogen is diatomic while helium is not, changes the molecular mole-fraction (fraction of total gas molecules), as well as the fraction of atmosphere by volume, of hydrogen to about 86%, and of helium to 13%.[Note 1] The abundance of chemical elements in the universe is dominated by the large amounts of hydrogen and helium which were produced in the Big Bang. Remaining elements, making up only about 2% of the universe, were largely produced by supernovae and certain red giant stars. Lithium, beryllium and boron are rare because although they are produced by nuclear fusion, they are then destroyed by other reactions in the stars.[1][2] The elements from carbon to iron are relatively more common in the universe because of the ease of making them in supernova nucleosynthesis. Elements of higher atomic number than iron (element 26) become progressively more rare in the universe, because they increasingly absorb stellar energy in being produced. Elements with even atomic numbers are generally more common than their neighbors in the periodic table, also due to favorable energetics of formation. The abundance of elements in the Sun and outer planets is similar to that in the universe. Due to solar heating, the elements of Earth and the inner rocky planets of the Solar System have undergone an additional depletion of volatile hydrogen, helium, neon, nitrogen, and carbon (which volatilizes as methane). The crust, mantle, and core of the Earth show evidence of chemical segregation plus some sequestration by density. Lighter silicates of aluminum are found in the crust, with more magnesium silicate in the mantle, while metallic iron and nickel compose the core. The abundance of elements in specialized environments, such as atmospheres, or oceans, or the human body, are primarily a product of chemical interactions with the medium in which they reside. The elements ÿ that is, ordinary (baryonic) matter made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, are only a small part of the content of the Universe. Cosmological observations suggest that only 4.6% of the universe's energy (including the mass contributed by energy, E = mc2 ? m = E / c2) comprises the visible baryonic matter that constitutes stars, planets, and living beings. The rest is thought to be made up of dark energy (68%) and dark matter (27%).[4] These are forms of matter and energy believed to exist on the basis of scientific theory and observational deductions, but they have not been directly observed and their nature is not well understood. Most standard (baryonic) matter is found in intergalactic gas, stars, and interstellar clouds, in the form of atoms or ions (plasma), although it can be found in degenerate forms in extreme astrophysical settings, such as the high densities inside white dwarfs and neutron stars. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Universe; helium is second. However, after this, the rank of abundance does not continue to correspond to the atomic number; oxygen has abundance rank 3, but atomic number 8. All others are substantially less common. The abundance of the lightest elements is well predicted by the standard cosmological model, since they were mostly produced shortly (i.e., within a few hundred seconds) after the Big Bang, in a process known as Big Bang nucleosynthesis. Heavier elements were mostly produced much later, inside of stars. Hydrogen and helium are estimated to make up roughly 74% and 24% of all baryonic matter in the universe respectively. Despite comprising only a very small fraction of the universe, the remaining "heavy elements" can greatly influence astronomical phenomena. Only about 2% (by mass) of the Milky Way galaxy's disk is composed of heavy elements. These other elements are generated by stellar processes.[5][6][7] In astronomy, a "metal" is any element other than hydrogen or helium. This distinction is significant because hydrogen and helium are the only elements that were produced in significant quantities in the Big Bang. Thus, the metallicity of a galaxy or other object is an indication of stellar activity, after the Big Bang. In general, elements up to iron are made in large stars in the process of becoming supernovae. Iron-56 is particularly common, since it is the most stable element that can easily be made from alpha particles (being a product of decay of radioactive nickel-56, ultimately made from 14 helium nuclei). Elements heavier than iron are made in energy-absorbing processes in large stars, and their abundance in the universe (and on Earth) generally decreases with increasing atomic number. The following graph (note log scale) shows abundance of elements in the Solar System. The table shows the twelve most common elements in our galaxy (estimated spectroscopically), as measured in parts per million, by mass.[3] Nearby galaxies that have evolved along similar lines have a corresponding enrichment of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. The more distant galaxies are being viewed as they appeared in the past, so their abundances of elements appear closer to the primordial mixture. Since physical laws and processes are uniform throughout the universe, however, it is expected that these galaxies will likewise have evolved similar abundances of elements. The abundance of elements is in keeping with their origin from the Big Bang and nucleosynthesis in a number of progenitor supernova stars. Very abundant hydrogen and helium are products of the Big Bang, while the next three elements are rare since they had little time to form in the Big Bang and are not made in stars (they are, however, produced in small quantities by breakup of heavier elements in interstellar dust, as a result of impact by cosmic rays). Beginning with carbon, elements have been produced in stars by buildup from alpha particles (helium nuclei), resulting in an alternatingly larger abundance of elements with even atomic numbers (these are also more stable). The effect of odd-numbered chemical elements generally being more rare in the universe was empirically noticed in 1914, and is known as the Oddo-Harkins rule. Loose correlations have been observed between estimated elemental abundances in the universe and the nuclear binding energy curve. Roughly speaking, the relative stability of various atomic nuclides has exerted a strong influence on the relative abundance of elements formed in the Big Bang, and during the development of the universe thereafter. [9] See the article about nucleosynthesis for the explanation on how certain nuclear fusion processes in stars (such as carbon burning, etc.) create the elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. A further observed peculiarity is the jagged alternation between relative abundance and scarcity of adjacent atomic numbers in the elemental abundance curve, and a similar pattern of energy levels in the nuclear binding energy curve. This alternation is caused by the higher relative binding energy (corresponding to relative stability) of even atomic numbers compared with odd atomic numbers and is explained by the Pauli Exclusion Principle.[10] The semi-empirical mass formula (SEMF), also called Weizs?cker's formula or the Bethe-Weizs?cker mass formula, gives a theoretical explanation of the overall shape of the curve of nuclear binding energy.[11] The Earth formed from the same cloud of matter that formed the Sun, but the planets acquired different compositions during the formation and evolution of the solar system. In turn, the natural history of the Earth caused parts of this planet to have differing concentrations of the elements. The mass of the Earth is approximately 5.98G1024?kg. In bulk, by mass, it is composed mostly of iron (32.1%), oxygen (30.1%), silicon (15.1%), magnesium (13.9%), sulfur (2.9%), nickel (1.8%), calcium (1.5%), and aluminium (1.4%); with the remaining 1.2% consisting of trace amounts of other elements.[12] The bulk composition of the Earth by elemental-mass is roughly similar to the gross composition of the solar system, with the major differences being that Earth is missing a great deal of the volatile elements hydrogen, helium, neon, and nitrogen, as well as carbon which has been lost as volatile hydrocarbons. The remaining elemental composition is roughly typical of the "rocky" inner planets, which formed in the thermal zone where solar heat drove volatile compounds into space. The Earth retains oxygen as the second-largest component of its mass (and largest atomic-fraction), mainly from this element being retained in silicate minerals which have a very high melting point and low vapor pressure. The mass-abundance of the nine most abundant elements in the Earth's crust is approximately: oxygen 46%, silicon 28%, aluminum 8.2%, iron 5.6%, calcium 4.2%, sodium 2.5%, magnesium 2.4%, potassium 2.0%, and titanium 0.61%. Other elements occur at less than 0.15%. For a complete list, see abundance of elements in Earth's crust. The graph at right illustrates the relative atomic-abundance of the chemical elements in Earth's upper continental crust the part that is relatively accessible for measurements and estimation. Many of the elements shown in the graph are classified into (partially overlapping) categories: Note that there are two breaks where the unstable (radioactive) elements technetium (atomic number: 43) and promethium (atomic number: 61) would be. These elements are surrounded by stable elements, yet both have relatively short half lives (~ 4 million years and ~ 18 years respectively). These are thus extremely rare, since any primordial initial fractions of these in pre-Solar System materials have long since decayed and disappeared. These two elements are now only produced naturally through the spontaneous fission of very heavy radioactive elements (for example, uranium, thorium, or the trace amounts of plutonium that exist in uranium ores), or by the interaction of certain other elements with cosmic rays. Both technetium and promethium have been identified spectroscopically in the atmospheres of stars, where they are produced by ongoing nucleosynthetic processes. There are also breaks in the abundance graph where the six noble gases would be, since they are not chemically bound in the Earth's crust, and they are only generated by decay chains from radioactive elements in the crust, and are therefore extremely rare there. The eight naturally occurring very rare, highly radioactive elements (polonium, astatine, francium, radium, actinium, protactinium, neptunium, and plutonium) are not included, since any of these elements that were present at the formation of the Earth have decayed away eons ago, and their quantity today is negligible and is only produced from the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium. Oxygen and silicon are notably the most common elements in the crust. On Earth and in rocky planets in general, silicon and oxygen are far more common than their cosmic abundance. The reason is that they combine with each other to form silicate minerals. In this way, they are the lightest of all of the two-percent "astronomical metals" (i.e., non-hydrogen and helium elements) to form a solid that is refractory to the Sun's heat, and thus cannot boil away into space. All elements lighter than oxygen have been removed from the crust in this way. "Rare" earth elements is a historical misnomer. The persistence of the term reflects unfamiliarity rather than true rarity. The more abundant rare earth elements are similarly concentrated in the crust compared to commonplace industrial metals such as chromium, nickel, copper, zinc, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, or lead. The two least abundant rare earth elements (thulium and lutetium) are nearly 200 times more common than gold. However, in contrast to the ordinary base and precious metals, rare earth elements have very little tendency to become concentrated in exploitable ore deposits. Consequently, most of the world's supply of rare earth elements comes from only a handful of sources. Furthermore, the rare earth metals are all quite chemically similar to each other, and they are thus quite difficult to separate into quantities of the pure elements. Differences in abundances of individual rare earth elements in the upper continental crust of the Earth represent the superposition of two effects, one nuclear and one geochemical. First, the rare earth elements with even atomic numbers (58Ce, 60Nd, ...) have greater cosmic and terrestrial abundances than the adjacent rare earth elements with odd atomic numbers (57La, 59Pr, ...). Second, the lighter rare earth elements are more incompatible (because they have larger ionic radii) and therefore more strongly concentrated in the continental crust than the heavier rare earth elements. In most rare earth ore deposits, the first four rare earth elements ÿ lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, and neodymium ÿ constitute 80% to 99% of the total amount of rare earth metal that can be found in the ore. The mass-abundance of the eight most abundant elements in the Earth's mantle (see main article above) is approximately: oxygen 45%, magnesium 23%, silicon 22%, iron 5.8%, calcium 2.3%, aluminum 2.2%, sodium 0.3%, potassium 0.3%. The mantle differs in elemental composition from the crust in having a great deal more magnesium and significantly more iron, while having much less aluminum and sodium. Due to mass segregation, the core of the Earth is believed to be primarily composed of iron (88.8%), with smaller amounts of nickel (5.8%), sulfur (4.5%), and less than 1% trace elements.[12] The most abundant elements in the ocean by proportion of mass in percent are oxygen (85.84), hydrogen (10.82), chlorine (1.94), sodium (1.08), magnesium (0.1292), sulfur (0.091), calcium (0.04), potassium (0.04), bromine (0.0067), carbon (0.0028), and boron (0.00043). The order of elements by volume-fraction (which is approximately molecular mole-fraction) in the atmosphere is nitrogen (78.1%), oxygen (20.9%),[14] argon (0.96%), followed by (in uncertain order) carbon and hydrogen because water vapor and carbon dioxide, which represent most of these two elements in the air, are variable components. Sulfur, phosphorus, and all other elements are present in significantly lower proportions. According to the abundance curve graph (above right), argon, a significant if not major component of the atmosphere, does not appear in the crust at all. This is because the atmosphere has a far smaller mass than the crust, so argon remaining in the crust contributes little to mass-fraction there, while at the same time buildup of argon in the atmosphere has become large enough to be significant. For a complete list of the abundance of elements in urban soils, see Abundances of the elements (data page)#Urban soils. By mass, human cells consist of 65ÿ90% water (H2O), and a significant portion of the remainder is composed of carbon-containing organic molecules. Oxygen therefore contributes a majority of a human body's mass, followed by carbon. Almost 99% of the mass of the human body is made up of six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. The next 0.75% is made up of the next five elements: potassium, sulfur, chlorine, sodium, and magnesium. Only 17 elements are known for certain to be necessary to human life, with one additional element (fluorine) thought to be helpful for tooth enamel strength. A few more trace elements may play some role in the health of mammals. Boron and silicon are notably necessary for plants but have uncertain roles in animals. The elements aluminium and silicon, although very common in the earth's crust, are conspicuously rare in the human body.[15] Below is a periodic table highlighting nutritional elements.[16]

1767 and 1774🚨The Royal Crescent is a row of 30 terraced houses laid out in a sweeping crescent in the city of Bath, England. Designed by the architect John Wood, the Younger and built between 1767 and 1774, it is among the greatest examples of Georgian architecture to be found in the United Kingdom and is a Grade I listed building. Although some changes have been made to the various interiors over the years, the Georgian stone fa?ade remains much as it was when it was first built. The 500-foot-long (150?m) crescent has 114 Ionic columns on the first floor with an entablature in a Palladian style above. It was the first crescent of terraced houses to be built and an example of "rus in urbe" (the country in the city) with its views over the parkland opposite. Many notable people have either lived or stayed in the Royal Crescent since it was first built over 240 years ago, and some are commemorated on special plaques attached to the relevant buildings. Of the Royal Crescent's 30 townhouses, 10 are still full-size townhouses; 18 have been split into flats of various sizes; 1 is the No. 1 Royal Crescent museum and the large central house at number 16 is the Royal Crescent Hotel. The street that is known today as "The Royal Crescent" was originally named "The Crescent." It is claimed that the adjective "Royal" was added at the end of the 18th century after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany had stayed there.[4][5] He initially rented number one and later bought number 16.[6] The Royal Crescent is close to Victoria Park and linked via Brock Street to The Circus which had been designed by John Wood, the Elder.[7] The land on which the Royal Crescent stands was bought from Sir Benet Garrard of the Garrard baronets, who were the landlords, in December 1766.[8] Between 1767 and 1775 John Wood designed the great curved fa?ade with Ionic columns on a rusticated ground floor.[9] Each original purchaser bought a length of the fa?ade, and then employed their own architect to build a house behind the fa?ade to their own specifications; hence what can appear to be two houses is occasionally just one. This system of town planning is betrayed at the rear and can be seen from the road behind the Crescent: while the front is uniform and symmetrical, the rear is a mixture of differing roof heights, juxtapositions and fenestration. This architecture, described as "Queen Anne fronts and Mary-Anne backs", occurs repeatedly in Bath.[10] It was the first crescent of terraced houses to be built and an example of "rus in urbe" (the country in the city) with its views over the parkland opposite.[1][11][12] In front of the Royal Crescent is a ha-ha, a ditch on which the inner side is vertical and faced with stone, with the outer face sloped and turfed, making an effective but invisible partition between the lower and upper lawns. The ha-ha is designed so as not to interrupt the view from Royal Victoria Park, and to be invisible until seen from close by. It is not known whether it was contemporary with the building of the Royal Crescent, however it is known that when it was first created it was deeper than it is at present.[13] The railings between the crescent and the lawn were included in the Heritage at Risk Register produced by English Heritage but have been restored and removed from the register.[14] In 2003, the archaeological television programme Time Team dug the Royal Crescent in search of a Roman cemetery and the Fosse Way. The remains of a Roman wall were found behind the crescent and evidence of possible Iron and Bronze Age settlement on the lawn in front.[15] In the late 19th century five cast iron lamp columns with decorative scrollwork were added.[2] In 1921, architect Robert Tor Russell used the Crescent as a source of inspiration to design the central business district of Connaught Place, New Delhi, India.[16][17] During the Bath Blitz of World War II, known as the Baedecker Raids or Baedeker Blitz, some bomb damage occurred, the most serious being the gutting of numbers 2 and 17 by incendiaries.[18] After World War II, during a period of redevelopment which is described as the Sack of Bath, the City Council considered plans that would have seen the Crescent transformed into Council offices. These were unsuccessful.[19] During the 20th century many of the houses which had formerly been the residences of single families with maids or other staff were divided into flats and offices. However, the tradition of distinguished gentlefolk retiring to the crescent continued. The whole crescent was designated as a Grade I listed building in 1950.[20] Number 16 became a guest house in 1950. In 1971 it was combined with number 15 to become the Royal Crescent Hotel occupying the central properties of the Crescent, which were renovated and additional rooms in pavilions and coach houses within the gardens included in the accommodation.[21][22] It was sold in 1978 to John Tham, the chairman of the London Sloane Club, and restored.[23] It was later purchased by Von Essen Hotels, which became insolvent in 2011. In September 2011 it was expected that London & Regional Properties would purchase the hotel,[24] but negotiations ended in January 2012 without a deal.[25] On 2 April 2012, investment company the Topland Group announced that it had purchased the Royal Crescent Hotel.[26] In the 1970s the resident of No 22, Miss Amabel Wellesley-Colley, painted her front door yellow instead of the traditional white. Bath City Council issued a notice insisting it should be repainted. A court case ensued which resulted in the Secretary of State for the Environment declaring that the door could remain yellow. Other proposals for alteration and development including floodlighting and a swimming pool have been defeated.[27] The first resident of Number 1 was Thomas Brock who acted as trustee for John Wood his son-in-law,[28] although he was rarely lived there as he was the town clerk of Chester.[29] His tenant was Henry Sandford, a retired Irish MP who rented the house from 1776 until his death in Bath in 1796. He was described as a 'gentleman of the most benevolent disposition'. William Wilberforce stayed at Number 2 in 1798.[1] Christopher Anstey, a well-known writer of the time, was resident in number 4 from 1770 until 1805, although the plaque to him is placed on number 5.[30] Jean Baptiste, Vicomte du Barre took over number 8 in 1778 and hosted parties and gambling. He died in a duel on Claverton Down and is buried in the churchyard at the Church of St Nicholas in Bathampton.[31] From 1768 to 1774 number 9 was home to Philip Thicknesse, a soldier of fortune.[32] Number 11 was home to the family of Thomas Linley, a singing-master and conductor of the concerts from 1771. His second daughter Elizabeth Ann Linley, a singer in her own right, eloped with the playwright and poet Richard Brinsley Sheridan.[33] The centre house of the crescent (#16) was used as a residence and to host blue stocking events by Elizabeth Montagu.[34] In the nineteenth century the popularity of the Crescent and 'taking the waters' at the Roman Baths diminished somewhat. Amongst the residents of Royal Crescent during this time were the electoral reformer Francis Burdett who lived at number 16 from 1814 to 1822 and his daughter Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts.[35] The retired Admiral William Hargood lived at number 9 from 1834 until 1839 and in 1866 the same house was home to Edward Bulwer-Lytton.[36] The jurist and explorer Thomas Falconer briefly lived at number 18 before his death in 1882. A few years later the house next door at number 17 became home to Isaac Pitman who developed the most widely used system of shorthand, now known as Pitman shorthand.[6][37] English professor George Saintsbury took up residence at number 1A in 1916.[38] The houses and flats in the Crescent are a mixture of tenures. After World War II when there was a shortage of housing and the city council bought up older properties, including some in Royal Crescent, as public housing to rent out.[39] The Housing Act 1985 changed the succession of Council Houses and facilitated the transfer of council housing to not-for-profit housing associations.[40] Several were subsequently sold into private ownership,[41] however one remains in council ownership.[42] No. 1 Royal Crescent is a historic house museum, owned and maintained by the Bath Preservation Trust through its membership to illustrate how wealthy owners of the late 18th century might have furnished and occupied such a house.[43] It was purchased in 1967 by Major Bernard Cayzer, a member of the family that made its fortune through the Clan shipping line. He donated it to the Trust with an amount of money for its restoration and furnishing.[44] The restoration was led by Philip Jebb.[45] The Bath Preservation Trust was working during 2012ÿ13 to re-unite Number One with its original servants' wing at Number 1A Royal Crescent, which has been in use as a separate dwelling for many years. No. 1 serves as the Trust's headquarters.[46] Number 15 and 16 are still used as a hotel.[47] Bath and North East Somerset council made an order banning coaches and buses from the crescent, after many years of complaints by residents that the tours given to tourists were disruptive, particularly because of the amplified commentary given by tour guides on open top buses.[48][49][50] The crescent is 500 feet (150?m) long and each building is almost 50 feet (15?m) high, including small rooms with dormer windows in the attic.[1][51] The ground floor is plain emphasising the columns and windows of the first floor. The 114 columns are 30 inches (76?cm) in diameter reaching 47 feet (14.3?m), each with an entablature 5 feet (1.5?m) deep in a Palladian style.[52][20] The central house (now the Royal Crescent Hotel) boasts two sets of coupled columns with a single window between them which is the middle of the crescent.[20][53][1] They are built of Bath stone. They have slate roofs but were originally stone tiled.[1] The appearance of each house is very similar with only minor variations between them for example some have small balconettes on the first floor. Many of the windows have been restored to their original style with glazing bars rather than the horned plate glass sash windows which had been installed in the 19th or early 20th centuries.[1] Some of the window sills had also been lowered. This has been reversed at Number 1 but policy has since changed with a decision to keep the alterations which were made in the 19th century.[54] In front of the houses are cast iron railings which are mirrored by those on the opposite side of the road at the top of Victoria Park. The road is surfaced with pennant stone laid when the crescent was constructed.[1] In 1965 the black comedy The Wrong Box (1966) used the Royal Crescent extensively as a location, standing in for London. The 1965 film Catch Us If You Can also had a sequence filmed outside the crescent and in one of its houses.[55] In 2007, a TV edition of Jane Austen's Persuasion, included many scenes shot at the Royal Crescent, where the Elliot family was supposedly living while in Bath.[56] The Royal Crescent featured in the 2008 film The Duchess starring Keira Knightley.[57] The fictional heroine of BBC1 archaeology thriller Bonekickers was depicted as living in the Crescent.[58]

January 1788🚨

three🚨The government of Florida is established and operated according to the Constitution of Florida and is composed of three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the Governor of Florida and the other elected and appointed constitutional officers; the legislative branch, the Florida Legislature, consisting of the Senate and House; and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court of Florida and lower courts. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, and ratification. The executive branch of the government of Florida consists of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Florida Cabinet (which includes the Attorney General, Commissioner of Agriculture and Chief Financial Officer), and several executive departments.[1] Each office term is limited for two four-year terms.[2] The Governor of Florida is the chief executive of the government of Florida and the chief administrative officer of the state responsible for the planning and budgeting for the state, and serves as chair when the Governor and the Florida Cabinet sit as a decision-making body in various constitutional roles.[3] The Governor has the power to execute Florida's laws and to call out the state militia to preserve the public peace, being Commander-in-Chief of the state's military forces that are not in active service of the United States. At least once every legislative session, the Governor is required to deliver the "State of the State Address" to the Florida Legislature regarding the condition and operation of the state government and to suggest new legislation. Florida is unique among U.S. states in having a strong cabinet-style government. Members of the Florida Cabinet are independently elected, and have equal footing with the Governor on issues under the Cabinet's jurisdiction. The Cabinet consists of the Attorney General, the Commissioner of Agriculture and the Chief Financial Officer. Along with the Governor, each member carries one vote in the decision making process. In the event of a tie, the side of the Governor is the prevailing side. Cabinet elections are held every four years, on even numbered years not divisible by four (such as 2010, 2014, etc.). The Florida Attorney General is the state's chief legal officer. As defined in the Florida Constitution,[4] the Attorney General appoints a statewide prosecutor who may prosecute violations of criminal law occurring in or affecting two or more judicial circuits. The Attorney General is responsible for the Department of Legal Affairs.[5] The Attorney General is head of the Florida Department of Legal Affairs.[6][7] The Florida Chief Financial Officer's duties include monitoring the states finances and fiscal well being, auditing and assuring that state programs are properly spending money and overseeing the proper management of the revenue and spending of the state.[8] The Chief Financial Officer is the head of the Florida Department of Financial Services (FDFS).[6] The Florida Commissioner of Agriculture is the head of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). The purpose of agencies is to promulgate rules to implement legislation. In April 2014, there were 25,362 administrative rules, and eight agencies have over 1,000 rules each, of which the most heavily regulated agencies are the Department of Financial Services and Department of Health.[9] The Florida Administrative Register (FAR) is the daily publication containing proposed rules and notices of state agencies.[10] The regulations are codified in the Florida Administrative Code (FAC).[11] There are also numerous decisions, opinions and rulings of state agencies.[12] The state had about 122,000 employees in 2010.[13][14] The Florida Constitution mandates a bicameral state legislature, consisting of a Florida Senate of 40 members and a Florida House of Representatives of 120 members.[15] The two bodies meet in the Florida State Capitol. The Florida House of Representative members serve for two-year terms, while Florida Senate members serve staggered four-year terms, with 20 Senators up for election every two years.[16] Members of both houses are term limited to serve a maximum of eight years.[17] There are also state auditors led by the Florida Auditor General who is appointed by the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee,[18][19][20] the utility-regulating Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC),[21][6] and the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA).[6] The legislature's session is part-time, meeting for 60-day regular sessions annually. The regular session of the Florida Legislature commences on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March with the Governor's State of the State speech before a joint session and ends on the last Friday in April or the first Friday in May. The Florida Legislature often meets in special sessions, sometimes as many as a half dozen in a year, that are called for particular purposes, such as budget reduction or reforming property insurance. A special session may be called by the governor,[22] by joint proclamation of the Speaker of the House and Senate President or by three-fifths vote of the members of both houses.[23] Outside of these regular and special sessions, the members of both houses participate in county delegation meetings and interim committee meetings throughout the year, mostly from November to February in advance of the regular session. Its session laws are compiled into the Laws of Florida,[24] and the Florida Statutes are the codified statutory laws of the state which have general applicability.[24] The Florida State Courts System is the unified state court system. The Florida State Courts System consists of the: The Supreme Court of Florida is the highest court of Florida and consists of seven judges: the Chief Justice and six justices. The Court is the final arbiter of Florida law, and its decisions are binding authority for all other state courts. The five Florida District Courts of Appeal are the intermediate appellate courts. The 20 Florida circuit courts are trial courts of original jurisdiction for most controversies.[25] The circuit courts primarily handle civil cases where the amount in controversy is greater than $15,000, and felony criminal cases, as well as appeals from county courts. Circuit courts also have jurisdiction over domestic relations, juvenile dependency, juvenile delinquency, and probate matters. The 67 Florida county courts have original jurisdiction over misdemeanor criminal cases, including violations of county and municipal ordinances, and in civil cases whose value in controversy does not exceed $15,000. Each civil entity has its own budget: state, county, and municipal. In June 2015, the state's debt was $25.7 billion.[26] The commissioners charged by the government of the unified Florida to select a permanent capital selected Tallahassee, then between the two major cities of Florida, Pensacola and Saint Augustine, as the state capital, in 1823.[27] The White people expelled the Native Americans, who were opposed to leaving their land, before settling Tallahassee.[28] The commissioners were Dr. W.H. Simmons, from St. Augustine, and John Lee Williams, from Pensacola. Richard Keith Call and a founder of Jacksonville, John Bellamy, wanted the capital in what is now Lake County but their efforts failed.[27] From the beginning of Tallahassee's history there were multiple attempts to move the state capital. A July 1957 Florida Historical Quarterly article stated that this was because of Tallahassee's distance from other settlements.[29] As Florida's size and population grew and spread south, the center of the state's population and the geographic center of the state changed. Using data from the 2010 U.S. Census, according to the Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research, the state's center of population was southern Polk County. The geographic center of the state is Brooksville. Because Tallahassee became increasingly far from many Floridians, there were additional proposals to move the capital to Orlando, a more centrally-located city, in the late 1960s.[30] The City of Orlando, in 1967, passed a referendum stating that it would accept becoming the capital.[29] These proposals stopped after the new Florida Capitol opened in Tallahassee in 1977. Politicians from North Florida had opposed the idea of moving the state capital. Adam C. Smith of the Tampa Bay Times argued in 2016 that Tallahassee is no longer an appropriate location for the capital, and he cited an American Economic Review article which stated that state capitals far from their populations are more prone to corruption than those that are not.[30] There are four types of local governments in Florida: counties, municipalities, school districts, and special districts.[2] Florida consists of 67 counties. Each county has officers considered "state" officers: these officials are elected locally, and their salaries and office expenses are also paid locally, but they cannot be removed from office or replaced locally, but only by the governor. The state officers subject to this requirement are the sheriff, state's attorney, public defender, tax collector, supervisor of elections, clerk of the circuit court (though styled as such, each circuit having multiple counties within its jurisdiction has a separate elected clerk within each county, and the office also handles official county records not pertaining to judicial matters), property appraiser, and judges. There is one school district for each county; the Florida Constitution allows adjoining counties to merge their districts upon voter approval.[31] The superintendent is by default an elected official; however, the Florida Constitution allows county voters to make the position an appointed one.[32] Municipalities in Florida may be called towns, cities, or villages, but there is no legal distinction between the different terms. Municipalities often have police departments, fire departments, and provide essential services such as water, waste collection, etc. In unincorporated areas of a county, the county itself can provide some of these services. Municipalities may also enter agreements with the county to have the county provide certain services. Each county has a sheriff who also tends to have concurrent jurisdiction with municipal police departments.[2] Both counties and cities may have a legislative branch (commissions or councils) and executive branch (mayor or manager) and local police, but violations are brought before a county court. Counties and municipalities are authorized to pass laws (ordinances), levy taxes, and provide public services within their jurisdictions. All areas of Florida are located within a county, but only some areas have been incorporated into municipalities. All municipalities are located within a county and the county jurisdiction overlays the municipal jurisdiction. Usually, if there is a conflict between a county ordinance and a municipal ordinance, the municipal ordinance has precedence within the municipality's borders; however, the overlaying county's ordinances have precedence if the overlaying county has been designated a charter county by the Florida Legislature.[2] In some cases, the municipal and county governments have merged into a consolidated government. However, smaller municipal governments can be created inside of a consolidated municipality/county. In Jacksonville, the municipal government has taken over the responsibilities normally given to the county government, Duval County, and smaller municipalities exist within it. Among special districts are "community development districts" which have virtually all the power of a city or county (except, notably, they do not have police power). Chapter 190 of the Florida Statutes governs these districts. Notable CDD's include the Reedy Creek Improvement District (the location of Walt Disney World) and substantially all of The Villages (the giant Central Florida retirement community).

as nest parasites in bee colonies🚨 Waxworms are the caterpillar larvae of wax moths, which belong to the family Pyralidae (snout moths). Two closely related species are commercially bred ÿ the lesser wax moth (Achroia grisella) and the greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella). They belong to the tribe Galleriini in the snout moth subfamily Galleriinae. Another species whose larvae share that name is the Indian mealmoth (Plodia interpunctella), though this species is not available commercially. The adult moths are sometimes called "bee moths", but, particularly in apiculture, this can also refer to Aphomia sociella, another Galleriinae moth which also produces waxworms, but is not commercially bred. Waxworms are medium-white caterpillars with black-tipped feet and small, black or brown heads. In the wild, they live as nest parasites in bee colonies and eat cocoons, pollen, and shed skins of bees, and chew through beeswax, thus the name. Beekeepers consider waxworms to be pests.[1] Galleria mellonella (the greater wax moths) will not attack the bees directly, but feed on the wax used by the bees to build their honeycomb. Their full development to adults requires access to used brood comb or brood cell cleaningsthese contain protein essential for the larvae's development, in the form of brood cocoons. The destruction of the comb will spill or contaminate stored honey and may kill bee larvae or be the cause of the spreading of honey bee diseases. When kept in captivity, they can go a long time without eating, particularly if kept at a cool temperature. Captive waxworms are generally raised on a mixture of cereal grain, bran, and honey. Waxworms are an ideal food for many insectivorous animals and plants. These larvae are grown extensively for use as food for humans, as well as live food for terrarium pets and some pet birds, mostly due to their high fat content, their ease of breeding, and their ability to survive for weeks at low temperatures. Most commonly, they are used to feed reptiles such as bearded dragons (species in the genus Pogona), the neon tree dragon (Japalura splendida), geckos, brown anole (Anolis sagrei), turtles such as the three-toed box turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis), and chameleons. They can also be fed to amphibians such as Ceratophrys frogs, newts such as the Strauch's spotted newt (Neurergus strauchii), and salamanders such as axolotls. Small mammals such as the domesticated hedgehog can also be fed with waxworms, while birds such as the greater honeyguide can also appreciate the food. They can also be used as food for captive predatory insects reared in terrarium, such as assassin bugs in the genus Platymeris, and are also occasionally used to feed certain kinds of fish in the wild, such as bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus). Waxworms may be store-bought or raised by anglers.[2] Anglers and fishing bait shops often refer to the larvae as "waxies". They are used for catching some varieties of panfish, members of the sunfish family (Centrarchidae), Green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) and can be used for shallow water fishing with the use of a lighter weight. They are also used for fishing some members of the Salmonidae family, Masu salmon (Oncorhynchus masou), white-spotted char (Salvelinus leucomaenis), and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Waxworms can replace mammals in certain types of scientific experiments with animal testing, especially in studies examining the virulence mechanisms of bacterial and fungal pathogens.[3] Waxworms prove valuable in such studies because the innate immune system of insects is strikingly similar to that of mammals.[4] Waxworms survive well at human body temperature and are large enough in size to allow straightforward handling and accurate dosing. Additionally, the considerable cost savings when using waxworms instead of small mammals (usually mice, hamsters, or guinea pigs) allows testing throughout that is otherwise impossible. Using waxworms, it is now possible to screen large numbers of bacterial and fungal strains to identify genes involved in pathogenesis or large chemical libraries with the hope of identifying promising therapeutic compounds. The later studies have proved especially useful in identifying chemical compounds with favorable bioavailability.[5] Two species of waxworm, Galleria mellonella and Plodia interpunctella have both been observed eating and digesting polyethylene plastic. The waxworms metabolize polyethylene plastic films into ethylene glycol, a compound which biodegrades rapidly.[6] This unusual ability to digest matter classically thought of as non-edible may originate with the waxworm's ability to digest beeswax. Two strains of bacteria, Enterobacter asburiae and Bacillus sp, isolated from the guts of Plodia interpunctella waxworms, have been shown to decompose polyethylene in laboratory testing.[7][8] In a test with a 28-day incubation period of these two strains of bacteria on polyethylene films, the films' hydrophobicity decreased. In addition, damage to the films' surface with pits and cavities (0.3-0.4 m in depth) was observed using scanning electron microscopy and atomic-force microscopy. Placed in a polyethylene shopping bag, approximately 100 Galleria mellonella waxworms consumed almost 0.1 gram (0.0032 ounces) of the plastic over the course of 12 hours in laboratory conditions.[9]

premiered on NBC on September 20, 1999🚨Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (often abbreviated to Law & Order: SVU or just SVU) is an American police procedural, legal, crime drama television series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced. In the style of the original Law & Order, episodes are often "ripped from the headlines" or loosely based on real crimes that have received media attention. Created by Dick Wolf, the series premiered on NBC on September 20, 1999, as the second series in Wolf's successful Law & Order franchise. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has been nominated for and won numerous awards, including the 2006 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Mariska Hargitay, the first, and to date only, Emmy to be received by a regular on any Law & Order series. It is the current longest running scripted non-animated U.S. primetime TV series since the cancellation of the original Law & Order on May 24, 2010 and is the fourth-longest running scripted U.S. primetime TV series on a major broadcast network. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit originally centered almost exclusively on the detectives of the Special Victims Unit in a fictional version of the 16th Precinct of the New York City Police Department. As the series progressed, additional supporting characters were added as allies of the detectives in the New York County Manhattan District Attorney's office (known as advisers from the Sex Crimes Bureau) and the Medical Examiner's office. Certain episodes will go into detail about detectives' personal lives and how they may or may not tie into the crimes dealt with during the show. Typical episodes follow the detectives and their colleagues as they investigate and prosecute sexually based offenses, child abuse, and crimes against the elderly.[2] The show starred Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler and Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson for its first twelve seasons until the former left the cast, unable to come to an agreement on his contract.[3][4][5] On May 12, 2017, the series was renewed for a nineteenth season, which premiered on September 27, 2017.[6][7] As of April 18, 2018, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has aired 429 original episodes. The idea for Law & Order: Special. Victims Unit originated with the 1986 "preppie murder" case of Robert Chambers, who strangled Jennifer Levin, a woman he dated whom he later killed during what he claimed was consensual "rough sex" in Manhattan's Central Park. The crime inspired Dick Wolf to write the story for the season one episode of Law & Order titled "Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die". Even after writing the episode, however, the case continued to haunt Wolf, who wanted to go deeper into the psychology of crimes to examine the role of human sexuality.[8] The original title of the show was Sex Crimes, reflecting the sexual nature of the crimes depicted on the show. Initially there was concern among the producers that, should Sex Crimes fail, identifying the new show with the Law & Order franchise could hurt the original show. Additionally, Ted Kotcheff wanted to create a new series that was not dependent upon the original series for success. Wolf felt, however, that it was important and commercially desirable to have "Law & Order" in the title, and he initially proposed the title of the show be Law & Order: Sex Crimes. Barry Diller, then head of Studios USA, was concerned about the title, however, and it was changed to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit to reflect the actual unit of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) that handles sexually based offenses that are especially heinous.[9] The first episode, "Payback", premiered on NBC on September 20, 1999.[10] Executive producer Neal Baer left Law & Order: SVU as showrunner at the end of season twelve, after eleven years (seasons 2ÿ12) on the show, in order to sign a three-year deal with CBS Studios.[11] Baer was replaced by former Law & Order: Criminal Intent showrunner Warren Leight.[12] In March 2015, it was announced that Warren Leight signed a three-year deal with Sony Pictures Television, that will allow him to work on SVU one more season, its seventeenth. Leight joined the show in season thirteen.[13] It was announced on March 10, 2016 that original Law & Order veteran producer Rick Eid would take Leight's place as showrunner starting in season 18. Creator Dick Wolf commented to The Hollywood Reporter, "I'm extremely pleased that Rick had decided to rejoin the family and hope that he will be here for years to come."[14] During post-production of season 18, following the announcement that SVU was renewed for a nineteenth season, it was revealed that Rick Eid departed the series. He will be taking over another Dick Wolf/NBC series. Chicago P.D.[15] It was announced on May 25, 2017 that original Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent showrunner Michael S. Chernuchin would be reprising his role starting on season nineteen. Chernuchin was also co-creator and executive producing showrunner of Chicago Justice, another Wolf-related show that was canceled by NBC at the end of the 2016ÿ17 TV season.[16] Many exterior scenes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit are filmed on location in New York City, Wolf's hometown, throughout all five of New York City's boroughs. As the NYPD encounters varied law enforcement challenges on a daily basis, the backdrop provides the writers a supply of ideal locations from which to choose.[17] Fort Lee, New Jersey served as the filming location for Detective Elliot Stabler's residence in Queens, New York.[18] When searching for a place to film the interiors of the show, the producers found that there were no suitable studio spaces available in New York City. As a result, a space was chosen at NBC's Central Archives building in nearby North Bergen, New Jersey, which had sat empty for some time, and featured air-conditioning, adequate parking, and 53,000 square feet (4,900?m2) of stage area.[19] The Archives building was used for police station and courtroom scenes,[18] with various other locations in Hudson County used for other scenes, such as a scene shot at the Meadowlands Parkway in Secaucus in 2010. The production left New Jersey for New York in 2010, however, when New Jersey Governor Chris Christie suspended the tax credits for film and television production for the Fiscal Year 2011 to close budget gaps.[20] The show moved into the studio space at Chelsea Piers that had been occupied by the original Law & Order series until its cancellation in May 2010.[21][22] The show originally aired on Monday nights at 9:00?p.m. ET for the first nine episodes, from September 20 through November 29, 1999.[citation needed] It was then shifted to Friday nights at 10?p.m. ET on January 7, 2000, and remained in that time slot through the end of season four on May 16, 2003.[citation needed] Beginning with the season five premiere on September 23, 2003, SVU moved to Tuesday nights at 10:00?p.m. ET.[citation needed] NBC airs repeats on Saturday nights at varying times and previous episodes are shown on the USA Network on varying days in marathon blocks[citation needed] With the season eleven premiere on September 23, 2009, the series vacated its Tuesday 10?p.m. ET slot because NBC began a prime-time weeknight Jay Leno series. The new time slot became Wednesday nights at 9:00?p.m. ET on NBC, with CTV still airing SVU on Tuesdays at 10:00 in Canada.[23] After the 2010 Winter Olympics on March 3, 2010, the time slot for SVU changed again to Wednesdays at 10?p.m. ET, where it stayed until the twelfth season.[24] In the 12th season, SVU moved back to 9:00?p.m. to lead in the newest Law & Order spinoff, Law & Order: LA,[25] until it was pulled from the network in January 2011 to be retooled.[26] SVU moved back to 10:00?p.m. on January 12, 2011, until the end of the 13th season.[27] With season 14, SVU moved back to 9:00?p.m. after a two-hour season premiere event on September 26, 2012, a position the show has held since.[28] In 2007, the Russian production company Studio 2B purchased the rights to create an adaptation of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for Russian television. Titled y Ť: ҳ춶 Ť־ 󶶿־ҳ (Law & Order: Division of Field Investigation), the series stars Alisa Bogart as Major Olga Bobrova. The series follows a unit of investigators in Moscow whose job is to investigate crimes of a sexual nature. The series airs on NTV and is produced by Pavel Korchagin, Felix Kleiman, and Edward Verzbovski and directed by Dmitry Brusnikin. The screenplays are written by Sergei Kuznvetsov, Elena Karavaeshnikova, and Maya Shapovalova.[29] Casting for the lead characters of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit occurred in the spring of 1999. Dick Wolf, along with officials from NBC and Studios USA were at the final auditions for the two leads at Rockefeller Center. The last round had been narrowed down to seven finalists. For the female lead, Detective Olivia Benson, actresses Samantha Mathis, Reiko Aylesworth, and Mariska Hargitay were being considered. For the male role, Detective Elliot Stabler, the finalists were Tim Matheson, John Slattery, Nick Chinlund, and Christopher Meloni. Hargitay and Meloni had auditioned in the final round together and, after the actors left, there was a moment of dead silence, after which Wolf blurted out, "Oh well. There's no doubt who we should chooseHargitay and Meloni." Wolf believed the duo had the perfect chemistry together from the first time he saw them together, and they ended up being his first choice. Garth Ancier, then head of NBC Entertainment, agreed, and the rest of the panel assembled began voicing their assent.[30] The first actor to be cast for the show was Dann Florek. Florek had originated the character of Captain Don Cragen in the 1988 pilot for Law & Order and played the character for the first three seasons of the show until he was fired on the orders of network executives, who wanted to add female characters to the all-male primary cast. He maintained a friendly relationship with Wolf, however, and went on to direct three episodes of the original series as well as to occasionally guest star on the show. Shortly after Florek reprised his role for Exiled: A Law & Order Movie, he received a call to be on Sex Crimes.[31] Initially reluctant, he eventually agreed to star on the show as Cragen on the assurance that he would not be asked to audition for the role.[32] Shortly after the cancellation of Homicide: Life on the Street, Richard Belzer heard that Benjamin Bratt had left Law & Order. Belzer requested his manager to call Wolf and pitch the idea for Belzer's character from Homicide, Detective John Munch, to become the new partner of Jerry Orbach's character, Detective Lennie Briscoe, since they had previously teamed in three Homicide crossovers. Wolf loved the idea, but had already cast Jesse L. Martin as Briscoe's new partner, Detective Ed Green. The idea was reconfigured, however, to have Munch on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit instead.[32] Since the character of Munch was inspired by David Simon's depiction of Detective Sergeant Jay Landsman and developed for Homicide by Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson, the addition of Munch to the cast required the consent of all three. The appropriate agreements were reached and, while Fontana and Levinson agreed to waive their royalty rights, contracts with Simon required that he be paid royalties for any new show in which Munch is a main character; as a result, Simon receives royalties every time Munch appears in an episode of the show.[33] Dean Winters was cast as Munch's partner, Brian Cassidy, at the insistence of Belzer. Belzer looked at Winters as a sort of little brother, and told Wolf, "Well, I'll do this new show of yours, SVU, only if you make Dean Winters my partner."[32] Wolf did make Winters Belzer's partner, but he was contractually obligated to his other show at the time, the HBO drama Oz. Since the role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit was only initially meant to be a few episodes, Winters was forced to leave when it was time to film Oz again. Winters returned for the Season 13 finale, "Rhodium Nights," reprising his role as Cassidy. He also appeared (as Cassidy) on the two-part Season 14 premiere "Lost Reputation"/"Above Suspicion".[34] He subsequently became a recurring character into season 15. The void left by Winters's departure was filled for the remainder of the season by Michelle Hurd as Detective Monique Jeffries, a character who Wolf promised that, despite starting out as a minor character with one scene in the pilot, would eventually develop. Hurd left the show at the beginning of season two to join the cast of Leap Years.[35] Munch's permanent partner came in the form of rapper-turned-actor Ice-T, who had previously worked with Wolf on New York Undercover and Exiled. Ice-T originally agreed to do only four episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but he quickly gained affection for the ensemble nature of the cast. He relocated to New York City before his four-episode contract was up and remained with the show as Munch's permanent partner, Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola.[36] Initially, the show focused exclusively on the policework of the detectives in the Special Victims Unit of the 16th precinct, with members of the District Attorney's office occasionally appearing as guest roles crossing over from the original Law & Order. From season two onwards, the format was changed to be more faithful to the original Law & Order concept by including court cases. Stephanie March had little television experience before being cast on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, nor did she watch much TV. Nevertheless, March was cast as Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot at the beginning of season two but still believed that, due to the grim nature of the series, it would be short-lived. She stayed with the series for three seasons, however, and left when she believed she had reached the natural conclusion of the character's development. She would later reprise the character as a guest appearance in season six and as a regular character on the short-lived Wolf series, Conviction, where she was promised more to do. Diane Neal had previously guest starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in season three before being cast as Cabot's replacement, Casey Novak, in season five. Neal remained with the show through the end of season nine,[37] after which she was replaced by Michaela McManus. March returned to the show in the tenth season (after McManus' departure from the cast) when Neal Baer proposed Cabot receive a character arc to revitalize the second part of the season, which would continue through season eleven.[38][39] Tamara Tunie was cast as medical examiner Melinda Warner in season two after working with Wolf previously on New York Undercover, Feds, and Law & Order. Warner was initially a recurring character but became a regular character in season seven, and Tunie was added to the opening credits at that time.[40] When initially cast as Warner, Tunie was appearing as attorney Jessica Griffin on the CBS daytime soap opera As the World Turns. From 2000 to 2007 (and again briefly in 2009), she appeared on both series simultaneously. In 2002, she also appeared on the Fox espionage-themed drama series 24, in the recurring role of CTU Acting Director Alberta Green. B. D. Wong was asked to film four episodes as Dr. George Huang, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) forensic psychiatrist and criminal profiler on loan to the Special Victims Unit. After his four episodes, he was asked to stay on with the show.[41] After he starred in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and guest starred as Detective Chester Lake in the eighth season, Wolf felt that Adam Beach would be a good addition to the cast and asked him to be a permanent member beginning with the ninth season. Although Beach felt the role was a "dream role", the character proved unpopular with fans who felt that he was designed to gradually write out either Richard Belzer or Ice-T. Feeling there were too many police characters on the show, Beach left the show after only one season.[42] Michaela McManus was originally felt to be too young for the role of an Assistant District Attorney (ADA) before being cast as ADA Kim Greylek in the tenth season. McManus, months removed from a recurring role on One Tree Hill, remained with the series only half a season, however, before departing for unspecified reasons.[43] Paula Patton joined the cast as ADA Mikka Von. She replaced Stephanie March.[44] However, Patton dropped out after one episode to film Mission: Impossible ÿ Ghost Protocol, and was replaced by Melissa Sagemiller in the recurring role of ADA Gillian Hardwicke.[45][46] Before the end of season twelve, Mariska Hargitay asked for a lighter workload. As a way of writing her out of certain episodes, a plan to have her character promoted to a supervisory role was discussed.[47] At the end of season twelve, Christopher Meloni departed the cast, unable to come to terms with his contract. Warren Leight became the new showrunner during this same year and signed on before he knew that Meloni would be leaving the cast.[48] The second major departure to be announced in 2011 was that of B.?D. Wong. On July 17, Wong announced on Twitter that, "I actually do not return for season 13, I am jumping to Awake! Its awesome!" Wong added, "I dont know if or when Ill be back on SVU! It was amazing to have such a cool job for 11 years and to be a real NY Actor." Wong reprised his role as Dr. Huang in season 13's episode "Father Dearest".[49] In response to these departures, two new main actors were hired, and several changes were made to the recurring cast. In June 2011, it was announced that Kelli Giddish and Danny Pino would join the cast as new series regulars.[5] Weeks later, it was announced that Stephanie March and Diane Neal would be reprising their roles as ADA Alexandra Cabot and ADA Casey Novak, respectively.[50] The launch of season 13 was marked with a retooling of the show that Warren Leight referred to as "SVU 2.0".[51] Changes that accompanied this included Tamara Tunie's being bumped from the main cast to a guest starring role and recurring actor Joel de la Fuente's not appearing for the first time since 2002. Of the latter change, Warren Leight said, "those scenes [which featured Fuente] can be dry" and hired Gilbert Gottfried as a more comedic replacement.[52] In addition to these changes, Linus Roache became a recurring cast member in his role of Michael Cutter, whom he played on Law & Order; on SVU former Executive ADA Cutter serves as the Bureau Chief for ADAs attached to the Special Victims Unit. In season 14, Ra~l Esparza joined the cast in a recurring capacity as ADA Rafael Barba and prior to the season 15 premiere, Esparza was promoted to a series regular. Also in season 15, Belzer departed the cast in the fifth episode, "Wonderland Story", in which Sgt. Munch retired from the NYPD and took a job in the DA's office as an investigator. Later in the season, Captain Cragen announced his departure from the NYPD, which made newly promoted Sgt. Benson the temporary squad commander. In leaving the cast, Florek ended a 400-episode run as Captain Cragen. In season 16, Peter Scanavino joined the series, first in a recurring role for episodes 1ÿ3 and then was promoted to the main cast in episode 5, with Kelli Giddish, Danny Pino, Ice-T and Ra~l Esparza no longer appearing in every episode. On May 20, 2015, it was revealed that Danny Pino would be leaving the cast after the season 16 finale "Surrendering Noah". In August 2017, it was announced that Philip Winchester will recur in season 19 as ADA Peter Stone, his character from Chicago P.D. and Chicago Justice, who is the son of Benjamin Stone, the ADA on the original Law & Order show.[53] It was later also announced that Brooke Shields was enlisted to assume a major recurring role starting in Season 19 of the long-running dramatic series.[54] On February 7, 2018, Ra~l Esparza left the series after six seasons.[55] By season twelve, both Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni had become among the highest-paid lead actors on a drama, with each earning nearly $400,000 per episode, a salary that TV Guide said was exceeded only by House's Hugh Laurie.[56] During season sixteen, Hargitay was reported to be earning $450,000 per episode, or $10,350,000 per season,[57] In season seventeen, her salary increased to $500,000 per episode.[58] ??????????ÿ Opening narration spoken by Steven Zirnkilton[60] Based out of the New York City Police Department's 16th precinct in Manhattan, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit delves into the dark side of the New York underworld as the detectives of a new elite force, the Special Victims Unit (SVU for short), investigate and prosecute various sexually-oriented crimes including rape, pedophilia, and domestic violence. They also investigate the abuses of children, the disabled and elderly victims of non-sexual crimes who require specialist handling. All the while trying to balance the effects of the investigation on their own lives. Its stories also touch on the political and societal issues associated with gender identity, sexual preferences, and equality rights. While the victim is often murdered, this is not always the case, and victims frequently play prominent roles in episodes. The unit also works with the Manhattan District Attorney's office as they prosecute cases and seek justice for SVU's victims and survivors with precision and a passion to win and bring closure to the intense investigations. The series often uses stories that are "ripped from the headlines" or based on real crimes. Such episodes take a real crime and fictionalize it by changing some details.[61] Originally the show focused around the detective pairings of Elliot Stabler & Olivia Benson and John Munch & Brian Cassidy. Stabler is a seasoned veteran of the unit who has seen it all and tries his best to protect his family from the horrors he sees every day. His partner Benson's difficult past as the child of a rape victim is the reason she joined the unit. Backing them up is John Munch, and his first partner Brian Cassidy. Munch is a transfer from Baltimore's homicide unit, who brings his acerbic wit, conspiracy theories, and street-honed investigative skills. Whilst Cassidy is young and eager to learn from his fellow detectives. These two detective teams received support from Detectives Monique Jeffries and Ken Briscoe.[60] When Cassidy transferred to Narcotics after thirteen episodes, Jeffries was partnered with Munch for the remaining of Season One and Briscoe was phased out. In the beginning of season two, Munch was then permanently partnered with Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola, whose unique yet sometimes vulgar sense of humor and investigative experience make him a formidable match for Munch.[62] These detectives were supervised by veteran Captain Donald Cragen who oversaw the team from seasons 1ÿ15. Cragen's tough-but-supportive approach to the team's complex cases guides the squad through the challenges they face every day. Also on the team's payroll is FBI Special Agent Dr. George Huang and Medical Examiner Dr. Melinda Warner. As the resident psychiatrist for the Special Victims Unit, Huang helps keep the officers sane in a field that could drive ordinary people mad. He has also served as the squad's resident criminal profiler, and his insights into the criminal mind have often helped the officers to crack the toughest perps, whilst Warner has become an integral part of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit, and her personal skills have contributed to the unit's high success rate in closing cases. The Unit did not receive a full-time assistant district attorney until season two, when Alexandra Cabot was assigned to work with the detectives.[63] After Cabot's departure in season five, she was replaced by Casey Novak, who remained as the ADA until the end of season nine. Kim Greylek became the permanent ADA in the season ten premiere, until Cabot made a return midway through that season when Greylek departed. Cabot remained the ADA through the second half of season eleven. After Cabot's departure, the ADA void was filled by Sonya Paxton (Christine Lahti) and Jo Marlowe (Sharon Stone) until the conclusion of season eleven. Gillian Hardwicke served as the SVU ADA during season twelve. In season thirteen, both Cabot and Novak returned as ADAs. From the beginning of season fourteen, ADA Rafael Barba had been SVU's prosecutor, until leaving halfway through season nineteen. Chicago Justices Peter Stone became SVUs ADA after Chicago Justice was cancelled after only one season. In season 13 other big changes happened when Stabler left in the season twelve finale. Detectives Nick Amaro and Amanda Rollins joined the team filling the void left by Stabler. Amaro brings empathy to his cases while dealing with a stressful home life, whilst Rollins' dogged persistence and instincts help her close cases, but her secrets could derail her career. In the current seasons the Manhattan SVU is now run by Lieutenant Olivia Benson. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has concluded its eighteenth season and has started its nineteenth season. Each season has aired on NBC and consists of 19 to 25 episodes, each lasting approximately forty minutes (sixty minutes including commercials). Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered on Monday, September 20, 1999. After nine episodes, the show was moved to Friday nights, where it found its audience and following its first and second seasons became a Top 20-overall show, overcoming the "Friday night death slot" phenomenon. Beginning with the season five, the show aired on Tuesdays to compete with CBS' Judging Amy and ABC's NYPD Blue. In its later years, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit consistently outperformed Law & Order in the Nielsen ratings for first run episodes until the latter's cancellation in 2010. In 2016, a New York Times study of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook Likes found that SVU's popularity was "atypical: generally slightly more popular in rural areas and the Black Belt, but largely restricted to the eastern half of the country. It's most popular in Albany, N.Y.; least in Colorado and Utah".[68] Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May (with the exception of the second and tenth season), which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has received many awards and award nominations. Mariska Hargitay has twice been nominated for a Golden Globe Award and won once in 2005.[126] The show has been nominated numerous times for the Emmy Award. Mariska Hargitay has been nominated for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category 8 years in a row beginning in 2004 and won the Emmy in 2006. Christopher Meloni was nominated for the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series category in 2006. Robin Williams was nominated in the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2008. The series was nominated in the category Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for Jane Alexander and Tracy Pollan in 2000, Martha Plimpton in 2002, Barbara Barrie in 2003, Mare Winningham and Marlee Matlin in 2004, Amanda Plummer and Angela Lansbury in 2005, Marcia Gay Harden and Leslie Caron in 2007, Cynthia Nixon in 2008, Ellen Burstyn, Brenda Blethyn, and Carol Burnett in 2009, and Ann-Margret in 2010. The series won the award for Plummer in 2005, Caron in 2007, Nixon in 2008, Burstyn in 2009, and Margret in 2010.[127] Law and Order SVU airs on NBC in the United States. All seasons, including the season that is currently on the air, are available to stream on Hulu (with a subscription). The latest 5 episodes can be watched for free on NBC.com[128] and the NBC app.[129] Outside of SVOD and NBC platforms, all episodes can be found on electronic sell-through platforms such as iTunes[130] and Amazon Video.[131] The show airs every Thursday night, on Network Ten in Australia, with a new episode usually followed by a repeat and occasionally shows repeats on other nights. Ten's digital channel One sometimes shows Seasons One-Three on Friday or Saturday nights, but is not currently airing these seasons at the moment. From the 29th of August 2017, Channel Nine started airing the first season at a late night slot, which it has also done with the original Law & Order but stopped after the first episode. The first season later moved to Nines sister channel Gem on Sunday nights as of February 25, 2018 at 9:10pm with double episodes, and later reairing them in the early hours of Monday morning. Season 19 premiered on Network Ten on October 5, 2017 at 9:40pm. As of September 2017, the show is currently rerun on fellow NBCUniversal network USA Network, as well as Ion Television and local stations. The show also briefly ran on Syfy in 2006. In Australia, Law & Order: SVU airs on Network Ten and Australia's cable channel Universal Channel (formerly aired on TV1 which ceased to broadcast in December 2013). In the UK "Law & Order: SVU" originally aired on the Hallmark Channel (which in 2012 became the Universal Channel) with a terrestrial TV airing on Channel 5 in 2016 which then switched to Five USA. The UK is two and half weeks behind the US. In Brazil, Law & Order: SVU also airs on Universal Channel, with weekdays episodes from past seasons and simultaneously, two episodes after the original airing in the US. Law & Order: SVU is broadcast at 9.30 pm on Tuesdays on TV3 in New Zealand. Series 18 premiered on 11 April 2017.