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Preston Tucker

Preston Thomas Tucker (21 September 1903 – 26 December 1956) was an American automobile entrepreneur who developed the innovative Tucker 48 sedan, initially nicknamed the "Tucker Torpedo", an automobile which introduced many features that have since become widely used in modern cars.

Production of the Tucker '48 was shut down on 3 March 1949 amid scandal and controversial accusations of stock fraud, of which Tucker was eventually acquitted. The 1988 movie Tucker: The Man and His Dream is based on Tucker's spirit and the saga surrounding the car's production.

Early life (1903–1933)
Preston Tucker was born on September 21, 1903, on a peppermint farm near Capac, Michigan. His father was a railroad engineer named Shirl Harvey Tucker (1880-1907), and his mother was Lucille Caroline (née Preston) Tucker (1881-1960). He grew up outside Detroit in the suburb of Lincoln Park, Michigan. Tucker was raised by his mother, a teacher, after his father died of appendicitis when Preston was three or four years old.

First learning to drive at age 11, Tucker was obsessed with automobiles from an early age. At age 16, Preston Tucker began purchasing late model automobiles, repairing and refurbishing them to sell for a profit. He attended the Cass Technical High School in Detroit, but he quit school and landed a job as an office boy for the Cadillac Motor Company, where he used roller skates to make his rounds more efficiently. In 1922, young Tucker joined the Lincoln Park Police Department against the pleas of his mother, his interest stirred by his desire to drive and ride the fast, high-performance police cars and motorcycles. His mother had him removed from the LPPD, pointing out to police officials that at 19, he was below the department's minimum required age.

Tucker and his new wife, Vera (married in 1923 at 20), then took over a six-month lease on a gas station near Lincoln Park, running the station together. Vera would run the station during the day while Preston worked on the Ford Motor Company assembly line. After the lease ran out, Tucker quit Ford and returned to the LPPD, but in his first winter back he was banned from driving police vehicles after using a blowtorch to cut a hole in the dashboard of a cruiser to allow engine heat to warm the cabin.

During the last couple of months at the gas station, Tucker began selling Studebaker cars on the side. He met an automobile salesman, Michael Dulian, who later became sales manager for the Tucker Corporation. Dulian hired Tucker as a car salesman at his Detroit dealership. Tucker did very well, but the dealership was a long drive from his Lincoln Park home and so Tucker quit and briefly returned to the LPPD for the last time. A few months later, Dulian, still impressed with Tucker's immediate success as a salesman, invited Tucker to move south with him to Memphis, Tennessee, to work as a sales manager. Dulian was transferred a couple of years later, but Tucker stayed in Memphis and was a salesman for Ivor Schmidt (Stutz) and John T. Fisher Motor Company (Chrysler), where he became general sales manager. While managing Chrysler sales in Memphis, Tucker made a connection with Pierce-Arrow. In 1933, Tucker moved to Buffalo, New York, and became regional sales manager for Pierce-Arrow automobiles, but after only two years, he moved back to Detroit and worked as a Dodge salesman for Cass Motor Sales.

Auto racing and the Indianapolis 500 (1932–1939)
During the early 1930s, Tucker began an annual one-month trek to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Having a heavy interest in the race cars and their designers, Tucker met Harry Miller, maker of more Indianapolis 500-winning engines than any other during this period. Tucker moved to Indianapolis to be closer to the racing car development scene and worked as the transportation manager for a beer distributor, overseeing the fleet of delivery trucks for the company.

A better engineer than businessman, Miller declared bankruptcy in 1933 and was looking for new opportunities. Tucker persuaded Miller to join him in building race cars, and they formed "Miller and Tucker, Inc." in 1935. The company's first job was building 10 souped-up Ford V-8 racers for Henry Ford. However, the time to develop and test the cars was insufficient, and the steering boxes on all entrants overheated and locked up, causing them to drop out of the race. The design was later perfected by privateers, with examples running at Indy through 1948. Miller and Tucker, Inc. continued race car development and various other ventures until Miller's death in 1943. Tucker was close friends with Miller and even helped Miller's widow pay for her husband's funeral costs. While working with Miller, Tucker met the Chevrolet brothers and chief mechanic/engineer John Eddie Offutt, who would later help Tucker develop and build the first prototype of the Tucker 48. Tucker's outgoing personality and his involvement at Indianapolis made him well known in the automotive industry by 1939.

Tucker Combat Car and the Tucker Gun Turret (1939–1941)

In late 1937, while recovering in an Indianapolis hospital from an appendectomy, Tucker was reading the news and, learning of looming war in Europe, he got the idea of developing a high-speed armored combat vehicle. In 1939, Tucker moved his family back to Michigan and bought a house and property in Ypsilanti. He remodeled an old barn on his property and began and operated a machine shop called the Ypsilanti Machine and Tool Company, planning to use the facility to develop various automotive products.

Opportunity arose for Tucker from the Netherlands, whose government wanted a combat vehicle suited to the muddy Dutch terrain. Continuing his working relationship with Harry Miller, Tucker began designing the "Tucker Combat Car", nicknamed the "Tucker Tiger", a narrow-wheelbase armored car powered by a Miller-modified Packard V-12 engine.

At least one prototype of the combat car was built. Production of the car was to be done at the Rahway, New Jersey, factory owned by the American Armament Corporation. The Germans invaded the Netherlands in the spring of 1940 before Tucker could complete the deal, and the Dutch government-in-exile lost interest, so he completed the prototypes and opted to try to sell the vehicle to the United States Armed Forces. The car is said to have reached 100 mph (161 km/h), far in excess of the design specifications. The U.S. military rejected the Combat Car, as they felt the vehicle was too fast, and had already committed to other combat vehicles. However, the highly mobile, power-operated gun turret featured on the Combat Car, the "Tucker Turret", earned the interest of the United States Navy. Harry Miller would later take some of the designs from the Tucker Combat Car to American Bantam, where he was involved in the development of the first Jeep.

The Tucker Turret was soon in production (initially at Tucker's Ypsilanti machine shop). Though the turret is often reported to have been used widely on bombers, like the B-17 and B-29, it was actually developed for the Douglas B-18 Bolo. In the end, no Tucker turrets were equipped on any bombers.

Tucker's patent and royalty rights were confiscated by the U.S. and Tucker was embroiled in lawsuits for years trying to recoup royalties for use of his patents on the turret.

Tucker Aviation Corporation and Higgins-Tucker Aviation (1941–1943)
In 1940, Tucker formed the Tucker Aviation Corporation, with the goal of manufacturing aircraft and marine engines. The corporation (Tucker's first) was initially based at his shop behind his Michigan home. A public corporation with stock certificates issued, Tucker raised enough to develop the design for a fighter aircraft, the Tucker XP-57, which earned the interest of the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Development of a single prototype of the XP-57 was started, powered by a straight 8-cylinder engine developed and influenced by Harry Miller, called the Miller L-510. Nicknamed the "Peashooter", this fighter competed for WWII government war contracts. However, financial problems within the company slowed the development of the prototype and the USAAC allowed the contract to lapse.

During World War II, Tucker became associated with Andrew Jackson Higgins of Higgins Industries, builder of Liberty ships, PT boats, and landing craft. Higgins acquired Tucker Aviation Corporation in March 1942, and Tucker moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, to serve as a vice-president of Higgins Industries, specifically in charge of the Higgins-Tucker Aviation division. This entity was to produce gun turrets, armament, and engines for Higgins' torpedo boats. However, this relationship did not work out and Tucker severed his association with Higgins in 1943. Go referred to Preston Tucker as "The world's greatest salesman. When he turns those big brown eyes on you, you'd better watch out!"

After 1943, Tucker moved back to Michigan, intending to start his own auto company, the Tucker Corporation.

Tucker Corporation and the 1948 Tucker Sedan (1944–1947)

After the war, the public was ready for new car designs, but the Big Three automakers had not developed any new models since 1941, and were in no hurry to introduce them. That provided great opportunities for new small, independent automakers who could develop new cars more rapidly than the huge legacy automakers. Tucker saw his opportunity to develop and bring his "car of tomorrow" to market. Studebaker was first with an all-new postwar model, but Tucker took a different tack, designing a safety-oriented car with innovative features and modern styling.

Tucker's first design appeared in Science Illustrated magazine in December 1946, showing a futuristic version of the car with a hydraulic drive system designed by George Lawson, along with a photo of a 1/8 scale model blown up to appear full sized, titled the "Torpedo on Wheels". That was only an early rendering of the proposal, with its design features yet to meet reality, but the motoring public was now excited about the Tucker.

 * Tucker torpedo patent.png illustration]]

To finish the prototype design and get construction under way, Tucker hired famed stylist Alex Tremulis, previously of Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg, on December 24, 1946, and gave him just six days to finalize the design. On December 31, 1946, Tucker approved Tremulis's preliminary design. Tucker's future-car became known as the "Tucker Torpedo" from the first Lawson sketch; however, not desiring to bring to mind the horrors of WWII, Tucker quickly changed the name to the "Tucker 48". With Tremulis's design sketch, a full-page advertisement was run in March 1947 in many national newspapers claiming "How 15 years of testing produced the car of the year". Tucker said he had been thinking about the car for 15 years. The second advertisement described specifically many of the innovative features Tucker proposed for his car, many of which would not make it to the final car. This advertisement had the public very excited about this car, but Tucker had much work to do before a prototype was ready to be shown.

To finalize the design, Tucker hired the New York design firm J. Gordon Lippincott to create an alternate body. Only the front end and horizontal taillight bar designs were retained for the final car. A sports car variant of the Tucker 48, the Tucker Talisman, was sketched as well but never left the drawing board.

To diversify his corporation, Tucker imported Italian engineer Secondo Campini, who was well known and respected in the aviation industry. He was put in charge of pursuing a United States Air Force development contract, hoping to use Tucker's huge Chicago factory to someday build more than just cars. Campini and Tucker also began developing plans for a gas turbine-powered car to be produced by Tucker.

The Tucker Export Corporation was also formed, based in New York, which was established as an entity to manage worldwide sales of Tucker's cars. Headed by Tucker's long-time friend, Colombian Max Garavito, distributorships were set up internationally, including South America and South Africa.

Tucker assembled a group of automotive industry leaders for Tucker Corporation, including:
 * Fred Rockelman; Tucker VP and Sales Director (Formerly president of Plymouth)
 * Hanson Brown; Executive VP (Formerly VP for General Motors)
 * KE Lyman; Development engineer (Formerly of Bendix Corporation and Borg-Warner)
 * Ben Parsons; Tucker engineering VP and chief engineer (International fuel injection expert)
 * Lee S. Treese; VP of manufacturing (Formerly a Ford executive)
 * Herbert Morley; (Borg-Warner plant manager)
 * Robert Pierce; VP and Treasurer (Formerly secretary of Briggs Manufacturing Company)

Tucker and his colleagues were able to obtain the largest factory building in the world, the 475 acre Dodge Chicago Aircraft Engine Plant, which was later known as the Chicago Dodge Plant, from the War Assets Administration. The facility had previously been used to build the massive Wright R-3350 Cyclone engines for B-29 Superfortress aircraft during WWII. Tucker, thinking long-term, believed this large facility would fit his long-term goal of producing an entire line of Tucker automobiles under one roof.

Tucker signed the lease in July 1946, contingent on him raising $15 million in capital by March 1947. Tucker needed this money to get going, so he began raising money by selling dealership rights and floating a $20 million stock issue through the Chicago brokerage firm Floyd D. Cerf. With over $17 million in the bank by 1947, the Tucker Corporation was up and running.

While Tucker ultimately got the plant, he was not able to move in until September 1947 because of delays caused by counter-claims and disputes over the plant between Tucker and the Lustron Corporation. That delayed Tucker by almost a year, during which time development of the car continued at his Michigan machine shop. Tucker planned for 60,000 cars a year, with 140 per day produced for the first 4 months and 300 per day produced afterward.

Tucker suffered another setback when his bids to obtain two steel mills to provide raw materials for his cars were rejected by the WAA under a shroud of questionable politics.

Tucker's specifications for his revolutionary car called for a rear engine, a low-RPM 589 cuin engine with hydraulic valves instead of a camshaft, fuel injection, direct-drive torque converters on each rear wheel (instead of a transmission), disc brakes, the location of all instruments within the diameter and reach of the steering wheel, a padded dashboard, self-sealing tubeless tires, independent springless suspension, a chassis that protected occupants in a side impact, a roll bar within the roof, a laminated windshield designed to pop out during an accident, and a center "cyclops" headlight which would turn when steering at angles greater than 10 degrees in order to improve visibility around corners during night driving.

While most of those innovations made it to the final 51 prototypes, several were dropped for their cost and the lack of time to develop such mechanically-complicated designs. The low-RPM 589-cubic-inch engine, individual torque converters, mechanical fuel injection, and the disc brakes were all dropped during the design and testing phase.

Having run out of time to develop the 589-cubic-inch engine for the car, Tucker ultimately settled on a modified 334 cuin Franklin O-335 aircraft engine. He liked the engine so much he purchased its manufacturer, Aircooled Motors in New York, for $1.8 million in 1947, securing a guaranteed engine supply for his car.

Turmoil surrounding Tucker Corporation (1946–1948)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission bothered the Tucker Corporation from its earliest days. The SEC was embittered after small automaker Kaiser-Frazer was given millions of dollars in grants towards development of a new car, and subsequently squandered the money. While Tucker took no money from the federal government, small upstart automakers were under intense SEC scrutiny, and Tucker was no exception.

One of Tucker's most innovative business ideas caused the most trouble for the company and was used by the SEC to spark its formal investigation. His Accessories Program raised funds by selling accessories before the car was even in production. Potential buyers who purchased Tucker accessories were guaranteed a spot on the dealer waiting list for a Tucker '48 car. Tucker also began selling dealerships before the car was ready for production, and at the time of the trial had sold over 2,000 dealerships nationwide at a price of $7,500 to nearly $30,000 each.

Feeling pressure from the SEC, Harry Aubrey Toulmin Jr., the chairman of the Tucker board of directors, resigned and wrote a letter to the SEC on September 26, 1947, in an attempt to distance himself from the company. In the letter, Toulmin indicated that he quit "because of the manner in which Preston Tucker is using the funds obtained from the public through sale of stock." Describing Tucker as "a tall, dark, delightful, but inexperienced boy", Toulmin added that the Tucker 48 "does not actually run, it just goes 'goose-geese'" and "I don't know if it can back up." In reply, Tucker claimed that he had asked Toulmin to resign "to make way for a prominent man now active in the automobile industry"—himself.

In late 1947, a radio segment on Tucker by popular journalist Drew Pearson criticized the Tucker 48, calling it the "tin goose" (referring to Howard Hughes' Hughes H-4 Hercules, nicknamed the "Spruce Goose") and noting that the first prototype "could not even back up". The first prototype lacked a reverse gear because Tucker had not had time to finish the direct torque drive by the time of the car's unveiling. This was corrected in the final driveline, but the public damage was done and a negative media feeding frenzy resulted. Tucker responded by publishing a full-page advertisement in many national newspapers with "an open letter to the automobile industry" wherein he subtly hinted that his efforts to build the cars were being stymied by politics and an SEC conspiracy. Nonetheless, dealership owners began filing lawsuits to recover their money, and Tucker's stock value plummeted.

SEC trial and demise of the Tucker Corporation (1949–1950)
In 1949, Tucker surrendered his corporate records to the SEC. United States Attorney Otto Kerner Jr. began a grand jury investigation in February 1949. On March 3, a federal judge handed control of the Tucker Corporation over to Aaron J. Colnon and John H. Schatz. Soon thereafter on June 10, Tucker and six other Tucker Corporation executives were indicted on 25 counts of mail fraud, five counts of violations of SEC regulations, and one count of conspiracy to defraud. The indictment included Tucker, 46; Harold A. Karsten, 58, "alias Abe Karatz"; Floyd D. Cerf, 61 (whose firm had handled the stock offering); Robert Pierce, 63; Fred Rockelman, 64; Mitchell W. Dulian, 50, Tucker sales manager; Otis Radford, 42, Tucker Corporation comptroller; and Cliff Knoble, 42, Tucker advertising manager.

Tucker publicly called the charges "silly and ridiculous" and hailed the indictment as "an opportunity to explain our side of the story". Tucker and his colleagues' defense was handled by a team of attorneys led by William T. Kirby. Another publication, Collier's, ran an article critical of Tucker on June 25, 1949, which included leaked details of the SEC report (which was never released publicly). This article was reprinted in Reader's Digest as well, expanding the scope of the negative press concerning Preston Tucker.

The trial began on October 4, 1949, presided over by Judge Walter J. LaBuy. Tucker Corporation's factory was closed on the very same day. At that point, only 37 Tucker 48s had been built. A corps of 300 loyal employees returned to the factory (some without pay) and finished assembly of another 13 cars for a total production of 50 cars (not including the prototype).

At trial, the government contended that Tucker never intended to produce a car. Throughout the trial, the SEC report on Tucker was classified as "secret" and Tucker's attorneys were never allowed to view or read it, but it was leaked to the press nevertheless.

As the trial proceeded, the government and SEC brought several witnesses (mostly former Tucker employees) to highlight the rudimentary methods used by Tucker to develop the car; the early suspensions were installed three times before they worked, and early parts were taken from junkyards to build the prototype. Answering back in Tucker's defense, designer Alex Tremulis testified that it was common industry practice to use old car parts for prototype builds, and pointed out this had been done when he was involved with developing the 1942 Oldsmobile under General Motors.

Tucker Vice President Lee Treese testified that Tucker's metal stamping and parts fabrication operations were 90% ready to mass-produce the car by June 1948 and that outside interference had slowed the final preparations for production. This back and forth between the prosecution and the defense continued until November 8, 1949, when the judge demanded the SEC prosecutors "get down to the meat of the case and start proving the conspiracy charge."

Defense attorney Kirby directed attention to automaker Kaiser-Frazer, pointing out that early models of their government-funded new car model had been made of wood and that when this project failed, Kirby stated in court documents that "Kaiser-Frazer didn't get indicted, and they got 44 million dollars in loans from the government, didn't they?" All told Kaiser-Frazer had received nearly $200 million in government grants, but did not produce the car they promised.

After a break for Christmas, the trial resumed in January 1950. The government's star witness, Daniel J. Ehlenz, a former Tucker dealership owner and distributor from St. Paul, Minnesota, testified that he had lost $28,000 in his investment in the Tucker Corporation. However, on cross-examination, the defense used this witness to their advantage when Ehlenz testified that he still drove his Tucker 48 given to him by Tucker, and that the car had 35000 mi on it and still cruised smoothly at 90 mph.

The tide turned in Tucker's favor when the government called its final witness, SEC accountant Joseph Turnbull, who testified that Tucker had taken in over $28 million and spent less than one-seventh of it on research and development of the car. He stated that Tucker had taken over $500,000 of the investors' money for himself, but never delivered a production car. Kirby rebutted Turnbull's claims on cross-examination, asking for proof of the allegations of financial mismanagement from Tucker's seized financial records. Turnbull was unable to offer such evidence. In closing his witness testimony, Kirby asked Turnbull, "You are not here suggesting these figures are figures of monies taken fraudulently, are you?" Turnbull's answer was, "Not exactly, no."

After this final SEC witness, Tucker's defense attorneys surprised everyone by refusing to call any witnesses to the stand. Defense attorney Daniel Glasser told the court, "It is impossible to present a defense when there has been no offense". In his closing arguments, Kirby became tearful and emotionally told the jury to "stop picking at the turkey", and stated that Tucker "either intended to cheat and that's all they intended to do or they tried in good faith to produce a car. The two are irreconcilable." He then invited the members of the jury to take a ride in one of the eight Tucker 48s parked in front of the courthouse before they made their decision.

On January 22, 1950, after 28 hours of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict of "not guilty" on all counts for all accused. Tucker had prevailed at the trial, but the Tucker Corporation, now without a factory, buried in debt, and faced with numerous lawsuits from Tucker dealers that were angry about the production delays, was effectively no more.

Speculation and controversy surrounding the Tucker Corporation
Despite the outcome of the trial, speculation has continued with regard to the question of whether Tucker genuinely intended to produce a new car and bring it to market, or whether the entire enterprise was a sham, designed for the sole purpose of collecting funds from gullible investors. Tucker collectors of the Tucker Automobile Club of America have amassed over 400,000 drawings, blueprints, corporate documents, and letters which they believe suggest that Tucker was, in fact, developing the manufacturing process necessary to mass-produce the Tucker 48. They also point to the fact that by the time of the investigation, Tucker had hired over 1,900 employees, including teams of engineers and machinists. At the trial, the Tucker VP Lee Treese testified that they were 90% ready with industrial machinery at the Chicago plant to mass-produce the vehicle.

Later life and death (1950–1956)
Preston Tucker's reputation rebounded after the acquittal. His optimism was remarkable; after the trial was over, he was quoted as saying, "Even Henry Ford failed the first time out." Tucker Corporation assets were auctioned off publicly in Chicago. One remaining Tucker 48 car was given to Preston Tucker, and another to his mother.

In the early 1950s, Tucker teamed up with investors from Brazil and auto designer Alexis de Sakhnoffsky to build a sports car called the Carioca. Tucker could not use the Tucker name for the car, as Peter Dun of Dun & Bradstreet had purchased the rights to the name, and the Tucker Carioca was ultimately never developed.

Tucker's travels to Brazil were plagued by fatigue, and upon his return to the United States, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Tucker died from pneumonia as a complication of lung cancer on December 26, 1956, at the age of 53. Tucker is buried at Michigan Memorial Park in Flat Rock, Michigan.

Legacy
In 1954, a group of investors tried to revive the Tucker Corporation by soliciting investors, mostly former Tucker distributors and dealer owners, for a new car. This effort was led by George A. Schmidt, former president of the Tucker Dealers Association. They developed sketches for a sleek 2-door convertible, but were unable to generate enough support to get it off the drawing board.

Tucker's defense attorney, William T. Kirby, later became Chairman of the Board of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Otto Kerner Jr., the U.S. Attorney who had aggressively pursued the Tucker Corporation, was later convicted on 17 counts of bribery, conspiracy, perjury, and related charges for stock fraud in 1974. He was the first federal appellate judge in U.S. history to be jailed. Kerner was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $50,000.

The location of the former Tucker Corporation, 7401 S. Cicero Avenue in Chicago, became the corporate headquarters of Tootsie Roll Industries and the Ford City Mall (the building was owned for a time by Ford Motor Company). The building was so large that it was divided in two, with a large open area between the two resulting buildings.

Tucker's design concepts for the Tucker 48 included revolutionary ideas in car safety that helped formulate car safety standards. The Tucker family held on to Aircooled Motors until 1961, when it was sold to Aero Industries.

The remaining Tucker 48 cars are highly collectible, and examples in very good condition have commanded prices of up to $3 million each. Original stock certificates for Tucker Corporation common stock are valuable to collectors, and are worth more than when originally issued. Over 10,000 such stock certificates were personally signed by Preston Tucker, making these the most desirable.

title: Preston Tucker


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Syldavia

Syldavia (Syldavian: Zyldavja) is a fictional country in The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. It is located in the Balkans and has a rivalry with the fictional neighbouring country of Borduria. Syldavia is depicted in King Ottokar's Sceptre (1938–1939), Destination Moon (1950), Explorers on the Moon (1952–1953, briefly), The Calculus Affair (1954–1956), and Tintin and the Lake of Sharks (1972), and is mentioned in Tintin and the Picaros (1975–1976).

According to Harry Thompson's 2011 Tintin: Hergé and Its Creation, Syldavia "was an idealised portrayal of central Europe between the wars – a benevolent monarchy, peaceful village life, sturdy peasants puffing on large pipes."

Hergé claimed that the country is heavily inspired by the real-world countries of both Albania and Montenegro, and may also be based on larger Balkan nations such as Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria.

Overview
Syldavia is a monarchy, ruled at the time of King Ottokar's Sceptre by King Muskar XII. The capital is Klow, formerly Zileheroum, located at the confluence of the Moltus and Vladir Rivers (after Prague, which is on the Vltava River). Other cities named in the books are Niedzdrow, Istov, Dbrnouk, Douma, Tesznik, and Zlip. The population of Syldavia is 642,000 with 122,000 living in Klow, suggesting the country is similar in size to Montenegro. The national airline is Syldair and the official currency is the khôr. One khôr is subdivided into 100 paroe.

Syldavia is also called "The Kingdom of the Black Pelican". In line with that, in Montenegro is located the largest resort of pelicans in Europe.

The people speak Syldavian, a language that looks and sounds Slavic but is mostly based on the West Germanic Marols dialect from Brussels. It is written in Cyrillic, but curiously, the Latin alphabet is used in medieval documents, and some of the Cyrillic letters used are a straight transcription from the Latin letters (e.g., "sh" is written "сз" -compare to Polish "sz"- rather than "ш").

The kingdom's motto is "Eih bennek, eih blavek!" which Hergé translates as "Qui s'y frotte s'y pique" "Who rubs himself there gets stung" (in fact, the motto of Nancy, from the Latin non inultus premor, referring to its emblem, the thistle; in the British edition, the translators rendered the motto "If you gather Thistles, expect Prickles"). The motto can also be interpreted as a Brussels dialect rendering of the Dutch phrase "Hier ben ik, hier blijf ik" ("Here I am, here I stay").

Syldavians seem to be fond of mineral water, which does not go down well with the whisky-drinking Captain Haddock, one of Tintin's travelling companions.

The exact location of Syldavia is not given in the comics, and nothing more is known than that it is located on the Balkan peninsula, bordering another fictional country Borduria, and that it has access to the sea. It is also mistaken for Greece in one instance, but explained as having very different local clothing. In Destination Moon, the trail of the Syldavian-launched rocket points to a location north of the Danube. There are various inspirations for Syldavia. As Hergé noted, the primary inspiration was Montenegro, but the country's history is modeled after many Balkan countries. Har Brok writes that Syldavia "may have been modelled after a country like Romania or Yugoslavia".

Syldavia is also known for exporting violinists.

History
The region of Syldavia was inhabited by nomadic tribes of unknown origin until the 6th century, when it was overrun by Slavs. It was conquered in the 10th century by the Turks, who occupied the plains forcing the Slavs into the mountains (in reality, the Balkans were conquered in the 14th century). The modern Syldavia was formed in 1127 when a tribal chief called Hveghi defeated the Turkish conquerors at the battle of Zileheroum and took the name Muskar, ruling until 1168. Although he was a successful ruler, his son Muskar II was an inferior king as ruler. Borduria conquered the country during the reign of Muskar II in 1195 until Ottokar I (his real name and title being Baron Almaszout) drove them away in 1275.

King Ottokar IV became King in 1360. He took away the power of many upstart nobles. When an enemy, Baron Staszrvitch, claimed the Throne and attacked him with his sword, Ottokar struck him to the ground with his sceptre. The King then said the motto and decreed that the ruler of Syldavia must have hold on the sceptre, otherwise he would lose his authority, as it had saved his life. This custom had the power of law as late as 1939.

In 1939 Syldavia was nearly invaded by its neighbor Borduria, part of a plot to oust King Muskar XII. The sceptre was stolen in the hope that the king would abdicate. Tintin had a hand in defusing the situation by returning the sceptre just before St Vladmir's day. The Bordurians then announced they were withdrawing troops 15 miles from the borders. (The situation was very similar to that of Anschluss in Austria in 1938 though the conclusion was not the same.)

King Muskar XII is a keen motorist who drives himself with only an aide for escort and carries his own pistol for protection. He appears in elaborate hussar dress for court and public ceremonies and in a plainer uniform on other occasions. Muskar XII is an actual ruler rather than a constitutional monarch (see enlightened absolutism). He himself ordered his ministers and generals to make the moves necessary to prevent the coup and the invasion. King Muskar XII is married, but his queen's name is not known.

The king is notably absent from the other stories set in or involving Syldavia – The Calculus Affair and Explorers on the Moon. Both were set after World War II, at a time when the various Balkan monarchies providing models for the fictional Syldavia had been overthrown and their rulers exiled. It is not clear what form of government is in power in the post-war Syldavia.

National symbols
The Syldavian achievement of arms is shown on the title page and page 62 of the King Ottokar's Sceptre album. It would be blazoned heraldically as follows:

''Quarterly, first and fourth Or a pelican displayed sable, second and third gules two increscents in fess argent; for a crest, on a barred helmet affronty or, mantled azure doubled Or, the Royal Crown of Syldavia proper; behind the shield the Royal Sceptre of Syldavia and a sceptre of justice in saltire; the motto "Eih bennek, eih blavek" on a scroll below the shield, pendent therefrom the badge of the Order of the Golden Pelican. ''

The flag of Syldavia is seen on page 59 of King Ottokar's Sceptre, as the King's procession passes onlooking crowds. It appears to be identical to first and fourth quarter of the coat of arms, that being Or a pelican displayed sable. The flag is seen earlier, flying on a toy castle, on page 44. A potential maritime ensign is seen on page 61, as Tintin and the detectives are piloted on a boat to a seaplane, on the back of it having a white flag with the words SYLDAVIA written in black.

Language
In their book Tintin Ketje de Bruxelles (Casterman, 2004 ISBN 2-203-01716-3), Daniel Justens and Alain Préaux have documented how the Syldavian language is based on Marols or Marollien, the dialect of the Marollen, a formerly working-class (though now trendy) quarter of Brussels. Marols, which Hergé learnt from his grandmother, is a form of Dutch incorporating many words of French origin as well as a sprinkling of Spanish. Syldavian seems to incorporate features of various Central European languages into the Marols foundation to suit Hergé's taste, such as German, Polish, Czech, and Hungarian. It is written both in Cyrillic and in Latin script, like Serbian.

Educated Syldavians are shown speaking Tintin's language (French in the original). There is a hint that German is the predominant second language among the less educated, as in one scene when Haddock complains he is thirsty, a Syldavian soldier does not understand him until he yells "ich bin durstig". At that time, German was the dominant lingua franca in Central and Eastern Europe, and Syldavians would be expected to have a better command of German than most other Central or Eastern Europeans, as their language is related to German.

Within the universe, the existence of the Germanic Syldavian language (and most likely Bordurian as well) may be explained as having been brought by the in-migration of German-speakers, such as the real-life Transylvanian Saxons and Danube Swabians, perhaps as part of the larger Ostsiedlung, but whose language diverged over a thousand years due to relative isolation from the rest of the Germanic-speaking world and contact with other groups, which is in fact not unlike how Romanian developed.

Cuisine
Syldavian cuisine appears to be typical of Eastern Europe; blini, herbs, sausage and garnish are seen in the kitchen of a Syldavian restaurant in King Ottokar's Sceptre. Mineral water is an important export, and alcohol is scarce, much to Captain Haddock's disgust. When Haddock tries to bring in alcohol with him when visiting Calculus at the research facility, he is hit with high alcohol duty. It is mentioned that a prime dish in the country is szlaszeck, described by a waiter as the hind leg of a young dog in a heavy Syldavian sauce. However, this may not be true as the waiter was deliberately attempting to disturb Tintin. Szlaszeck (apparently from Polish szaszłyk, "shish kebab") is served to Tintin with mushrooms and a salad.

Atomic research
In the 1950s Syldavia had a secret, but successful space program in the area of Sbrodj (named Sprodj in the English edition).

The Sprodj Atomic Research Centre, seen in Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon, is located in Syldavia. The sprawling complex is located in the Zymylpathian Mountains of Syldavia (a play on the Carpathian Mountains), located close to rich deposits of uranium. The Centre is secretive and has very tightly-guarded security, including a large number of security checkpoints, helicopter surveillance, anti-aircraft artillery, and a squadron of fighter aircraft based at the facility. Work at the centre, carried out by a large team of international physicists recruited by the Syldavian government, involves research into protection from the effects of nuclear weapons and is the base for the Syldavian space program. The facility, which seems to be entirely self-sufficient, is administered by the Director, Mr. Baxter. The Sprodj Centre has its own atomic pile for processing uranium into plutonium and has vast facilities for the research and construction of the rocket-ship which carries Tintin and his colleagues to the Moon. The gargantuan complex is last seen at the end of Explorers on the Moon and is never again seen in the Tintin series.

In Destination Moon, the Sprodj Atomic Research Centre invites Professor Calculus to head its space division, and later Tintin and Captain Haddock to be part of the Moon mission. In The Calculus Affair, Syldavia's secret agents compete with archrival Bordurian agents to kidnap Professor Calculus and obtain the secrets to develop sound-based weapons.

National dance
The Blushtika, meaning "Goat Dance Twisting", as seen in Tintin and the Lake of Sharks.

National lake
The national lake is "Pollishoff", meaning "Lake of Sharks". The inspiration for this lake seems to be various lakes in the southern Balkans, particularly the Ohrid lake, Skadar lake or Lake prespa

National defence and ceremonial military units
By 1930s standards Syldavia has a modern military, equipped with anti-aircraft guns and radar stations. It appears to have well prepared defensive systems with checkpoints and bunkers.

The army has an Eastern European appearance, possibly modeled on that of Poland or Czechoslovakia. The helmets used resemble those of Switzerland however. The uniforms have standing collars and rank indications are worn on the collar. The green-uniformed armed police or gendarmerie are stationed in both rural and urban areas.

The Royal Guard wear hussar uniforms, a style which originated in Eastern Europe. The ceremonial guards at the Royal Treasure House, Klow have elaborate costumes of traditional Balkan design and are armed with halberds.

Capital
The capital of Syldavia is Klow. The city was founded in the 10th century by the invading Turks and was then named Zileheroum. The Magyar nomads that lived there were forced to live in the Zmyhlpathernian mountains, while the Turks themselves settled in the newly founded city located in the lush hills. In the year 1127, the nomads, led by their chief Hveghi, defeated and drove away the Turkish conquerors. Hveghi took the name Muskar, meaning "the brave" and Zileheroum was renamed to Klow, meaning "freetown" from kloho ("freedom") and ow (town). In 1168, Muskar died and was succeeded by his son Muskar II. Muskar II, however, was weak, and the neighboring Bordurians took over the country.

Klow has a wide variety of cultural styles. Mostly typical Yugoslavian, there are also many buildings of Austrian and Turkish appearance, for example, the old mosques. However, the Kropow castle's architecture and decoration are of Bohemian pattern, but this could be because of the fame of Czech architecture.

As a large and relatively well-off capital city, Klow has a large museum of natural science with mounted dinosaur skeletons. Klow is said to be the Capital of Mineral Water, and they are famous for their Klowaswa (Cyrillic: Кловасва), their national mineral water, literally meaning "Klow Water" or "Water from Klow". In contrast to ordinary Syldavians, who use Cyrillic, the Royal Court in Klow uses the Latin alphabet.

In popular culture
The song Sildavia from the Spanish group La Unión (Mil Siluetas, 1984) mentions this country as a land of dreams. The Dutch group Flairck also has a song called Syldavian Waltz, featured in their album The Emigrant (Syldavische wals, De Emigrant, 1989).

Original stories
Tintin stories featuring Syldavia:
 * Le Sceptre d'Ottokar (King Ottokar's Sceptre, 1939)
 * Objectif Lune (Destination Moon, 1953)
 * On a marché sur la Lune (Explorers on the Moon, 1954, for Earth scenes only)
 * L'Affaire Tournesol (The Calculus Affair, 1956)
 * Tintin and the Lake of Sharks (1972)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Syldavia


text:
Mnemosyne

In Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion, Mnemosyne (Μνημοσύνη, ) is the goddess of memory and the mother of the nine Muses by her nephew Zeus. In the Greek tradition, Mnemosyne is one of the Titans, the twelve divine children of the earth-goddess Gaia and the sky-god Uranus. The term Mnemosyne is derived from the same source as the word mnemonic, that being the Greek word mnēmē, which means "remembrance, memory".

Family
A Titaness, Mnemosyne is the daughter of Uranus and Gaia. Mnemosyne became the mother of the nine Muses, fathered by her nephew, Zeus:

 * Calliope (epic poetry)
 * Clio (history)
 * Euterpe (music and lyric poetry)
 * Erato (love poetry)
 * Melpomene (tragedy)
 * Polyhymnia (hymns)
 * Terpsichore (dance)
 * Thalia (comedy)
 * Urania (astronomy)

Hyginus in his Fabulae gives Mnemosyne a different parentage, where she was the daughter of Zeus and Clymene.

Mythology
In Hesiod's Theogony, kings and poets receive their powers of authoritative speech from their possession of Mnemosyne and their special relationship with the Muses. Zeus, in a form of a mortal shepherd, Mnemosyne slept together for nine consecutive nights, thus conceiving the nine Muses. Mnemosyne also presided over a pool in Hades, counterpart to the river Lethe, according to a series of 4th-century BC Greek funerary inscriptions in dactylic hexameter. Dead souls drank from Lethe so they would not remember their past lives when reincarnated. In Orphism, the initiated were taught to instead drink from the Mnemosyne, the river of memory, which would stop the transmigration of the soul.

Appearance in oral literature
Although she was categorized as one of the Titans in the Theogony, Mnemosyne did not quite fit that distinction. Titans were hardly worshiped in Ancient Greece, and were thought of as so archaic as to belong to the ancient past. They resembled historical figures more than anything else. Mnemosyne, on the other hand, traditionally appeared in the first few lines of many oral epic poems —she appears in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, among others—as the speaker called upon her aid in accurately remembering and performing the poem they were about to recite. Mnemosyne is thought to have been given the distinction of "Titan" because memory was so important and basic to the oral culture of the Greeks that they deemed her one of the essential building blocks of civilization in their creation myth.

Later, once written literature overtook the oral recitation of epics, Plato made reference in his Euthydemus to the older tradition of invoking Mnemosyne. The character Socrates prepares to recount a story and says "ὥστ᾽ ἔγωγε, καθάπερ οἱ (275d) ποιηταί, δέομαι ἀρχόμενος τῆς διηγήσεως Μούσας τε καὶ Μνημοσύνην ἐπικαλεῖσθαι." which translates to "Consequently, like the poets, I must needs begin my narrative with an invocation of the Muses and Memory" (emphasis added). Aristophanes also harked back to the tradition in his play Lysistrata when a drunken Spartan ambassador invokes her name while prancing around pretending to be a bard from times of yore.

Cult

While not one of the most popular divinities, Mnemosyne was the subject of some minor worship in Ancient Greece. Statues of her are mentioned in the sanctuaries of other gods, and she was often depicted alongside her daughters the Muses. She was also worshipped in Lebadeia in Boeotia, at Mount Helicon in Boeotia, and in the cult of Asclepius.

There was a statue of Mnemosyne in the shrine of Dionysos at Athens, alongside the statues of the Muses, Zeus and Apollo, as well as a statue with her daughters the Muses in the Temple of Athena Alea. Pausanias described the worship of Mnemosyne in Lebadeia in Boeotia, where she played an important part in the oracular sanctuary of Trophonios: "[Part of the rituals at the oracle of Trophonios (Trophonius) at Lebadeia, Boiotia (Boeotia):] He [the supplicant] is taken by the priests, not at once to the oracle, but to fountains of water very near to each other. Here he must drink water called the water of Lethe (Forgetfulness), that he may forget all that he has been thinking of hitherto, and afterwards he drinks of another water, the water of Mnemosyne (Memory), which causes him to remember what he sees after his descent ... After his ascent from [the oracle of] Trophonios the inquirer is again taken in hand by the priests, who set him upon a chair called the chair of Mnemosyne (Memory), which stands not far from the shrine, and they ask of him, when seated there, all he has seen or learned. After gaining this information they then entrust him to his relatives. These lift him, paralysed with terror and unconscious both of himself and of his surroundings, and carry him to the building where he lodged before with Tykhe (Tyche, Fortune) and the Daimon Agathon (Good Spirit). Afterwards, however, he will recover all his faculties, and the power to laugh will return to him." Mnemosyne was also sometime regarded as being not the mother of the Muses but as one of them, and as such she was worshiped in the sanctuary of the Muses at Mount Helicon in Boeotia: "The first to sacrifice on Helikon (Helicon) to the Mousai (Muses) and to call the mountain sacred to the Mousai were, they say, Ephialtes and Otos (Otus), who also founded Askra ... The sons of Aloeus held that the Mousai were three in number, and gave them the names Melete (Practice), Mneme (Memory), and Aoide (Aeode, Song). But they say that afterwards Pieros (Pierus), a Makedonian (Macedonian) ... came to Thespiae [in Boiotia] and established nine Mousai, changing their names to the present ones ... Mimnermos [epic poet C7th B.C.] ... says in the preface that the elder Mousai (Muses) are the daughters of Ouranos (Uranus), and that there are other and younger Mousai, children of Zeus."

Cult of Asclepius
Mnemosyne was one of the deities worshiped in the cult of Asclepius that formed in Ancient Greece around the 5th century BC. Asclepius, a Greek hero and god of medicine, was said to have been able to cure maladies, and the cult incorporated a multitude of other Greek heroes and gods in its process of healing. The exact order of the offerings and prayers varied by location, and the supplicant often made an offering to Mnemosyne. After making an offering to Asclepius himself, in some locations, one last prayer was said to Mnemosyne as the supplicant moved to the holiest portion of the Asclepeion to incubate. The hope was that a prayer to Mnemosyne would help the supplicant remember any visions had while sleeping there.

title: Mnemosyne


text:
Bagdad

Baghdad is the capital city of Iraq.

Bagdad may also refer to:

Other

 * Bagdad, Tasmania, Australia
 * Bagdad, New Brunswick, Canada
 * Bagdad, Tamaulipas, Mexico
 * Bagdad, Poland

United States

 * Bagdad, Arizona
 * Bagdad, California
 * Bagdad, Butte County, California
 * Bagdad, Florida
 * Bagdad, Kentucky
 * Bagdad, New York
 * Bagdad, Virginia
 * Bagdad, Wisconsin, a ghost town

Arts and media

 * Bagdad (film), a 1949 American motion picture
 * "Bagdad" (song), a 2018 song by Rosalía
 * "Bagdad", a song by American band Ra
 * The Sala Bagdad (es:), an erotic theater in Barcelona, Spain

title: Bagdad


text:
User:Gus Tavares

Gus Tavares

Ottawa, ON Canada

title: User:Gus Tavares


text:
Jars of Clay

Jars of Clay is an alternative rock band from Nashville, Tennessee. The members met at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois. They consist of Dan Haseltine on vocals, Charlie Lowell on piano and keyboards, Stephen Mason on lead guitars and Matthew Odmark on rhythm guitars. Although the band has no permanent drummer or bass guitarist, Jeremy Lutito and Gabe Ruschival of Disappointed by Candy fill these roles for live concerts. Past tour band members include Aaron Sands, Scott Savage, and Joe Porter. Jars of Clay's style is a blend of alternative rock, folk, acoustic, and R&B.

The band's name is derived from the New International Version's translation of 2 Corinthians 4:7: But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. This verse is paraphrased in their song "Four Seven", which appears as a hidden track on the CD release of their self-titled album.

Band history
Dan Haseltine, Steve Mason, Charlie Lowell and Matt Bronleewe formed Jars of Clay at Greenville College, in Greenville, Illinois in the early 1990s. Charlie Lowell first met Dan Haseltine after noticing that he was wearing a Toad the Wet Sprocket shirt. Pursuing a career in music together was not necessarily their original goal; some of the first songs they wrote together were for music and recording classes they were taking at the time. Their second guitarist Matt Odmark joined some time later. While in college playing together at local coffee houses, Jars gained a reputation for their original arrangement of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" which had been adapted to the tune of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

In 1994, the band submitted a demo to a talent competition run by the Gospel Music Association and were selected as finalists. They traveled to Nashville to perform and won the contest. Back in Greenville, they self-released a limited-run of the same demo, Frail, after their song of the same name. The buzz from their performance in Nashville and the demo's popularity resulted in offers from record labels, so the band decided to drop school and move to Nashville. At this time, Bronleewe left the band to finish school and settle down with his fiancée. He was replaced with Matt Odmark, Lowell's childhood friend and fellow McQuaid Jesuit High School alum.

The band signed with Essential Records and started recording their first full-length studio album, Jars of Clay. Adrian Belew, of progressive rock band King Crimson, heard the band and offered to produce, leading to him producing two songs: "Liquid" and "Flood". The band's self-titled debut released in 1995. When the single "Flood" began to climb the charts on mainstream radio stations, Silvertone Records (Essential's parent company) started to heavily promote the song, turning it into one of the biggest mainstream hits ever by a band on a Christian label. The album has since reached multi-platinum certification according to the RIAA. "Flood" peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 12 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart, and was the band's only secular radio hit.

The band toured in support of other Christian acts, such as PFR, and with mainstream acts like Matchbox Twenty, Duncan Sheik, and Sting. This resulted in a small backlash from some Christian groups.

The band released Drummer Boy, a Christmas EP entitled, at the end of 1995. The EP was re-released, on Silvertone Records, in 1997 with a slightly different track listing. The band's second album, Much Afraid, produced by Stephen Lipson was also released in 1997. The album sold well and like its predecessor, enjoyed crossover success. The album went on to earn a Grammy for "Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album". The album has since earned platinum certification by the RIAA. They released two music videos for this album for the songs "Crazy Times" and "Five Candles (You Were There)".

In 1999, Jars of Clay released their third album, If I Left the Zoo, which was produced by Dennis Herring. The record was their third to crossover into the mainstream, and it earned the band their second Grammy award. It was during this time that touring drummer Scott Savage left the band's touring group to play for Jaci Velasquez and was replaced by Joe Porter. Lead radio single, "Unforgetful You", was also featured on the soundtrack to the motion picture Drive Me Crazy. "Collide" was also featured on the motion picture "Hometown Legend". Upon the release of If I Left the Zoo they also released Front Yard Luge and after a year The White Elephant Sessions. If I Left the Zoo so far has the most singles released by Jars of Clay.

In 2001, the four members of the band received honorary degrees at Greenville College. Only three of them, Haseltine, Lowell, and Mason, had studied at the school before dropping out in 1994 to move to Nashville. Odmark still received an honorary degree, despite having attended the University of Rochester in upstate New York.

In 2002, the band self-produced and released their fourth album, The Eleventh Hour, which earned them a Grammy award for the third album in a row. The album relied on studio musicians and the band's touring musicians to fill in for the band's lack of drummer and bass player. Concerts from the subsequent "Eleventh Hour Tour" were recorded for later projects, including the release of a live concert DVD, 11Live: Jars of Clay in Concert.

The double-disc Furthermore: From the Studio, From the Stage features an acoustic disc and a live disc. The acoustic disc consisted of reworked and rearranged fan favorites, two The Eleventh Hour b-sides, and a cover of Adam Again's "Dig". The latter was actually intended for a tribute album for Gene Eugene, who had died recently. The live disc features a recent concert recording that include songs from throughout the band's career.

The band continued the acoustic and organic approach that was featured on Furthermore for their fifth studio album entitled Who We Are Instead, which released on November 4, 2003. On the album, the band revisited various styles they had used previously, as well as experimenting with new influences, such as gospel, hymns, and Nickel Creek's "newgrass" style.

In early 2005, the band released Redemption Songs, a collection of hymns and traditional songs with new melodies and rearranged the music. "God Will Lift Up Your Head", reworked as an acoustic rocker, was a hit for the band on Christian radio. They also covered five hymns from the Indelible Grace CD series (a series which originated from the work of Reformed University Fellowship).

Their next album, Good Monsters, was released on September 5, 2006 and was labeled by Jars of Clay "their first ever rock record". In the September 2006 edition of CCM Magazine, the band credited fellow artist Ashley Cleveland with inspiring the improvisational sound of the album. The magazine called it "the most profound album the Christian music community has released in years".

On September 4, 2007, two albums from the band were released simultaneously. The first was a mainstream release of Live Monsters, an EP of live concert recordings of songs, originally recorded for Good Monsters and that had been previously released through the iTunes Store and the official Jars of Clay online store. The second release, through Essential/Legacy, was a greatest hits album, The Essential Jars of Clay. On April 1, 2008, Essential Records released the band's third greatest hits album, the second in that year, Greatest Hits. Included was the new song "Love is the Protest".

In March 2007, the band announced at a concert in Des Moines, Iowa, that they were no longer on Essential Records and would now be releasing music independently. Later, press releases announced the name of their label as Gray Matters, which would be a partnership with Nettwerk Music Group. Along with the announcement of their new label, the band mentioned that they are planning to record the soundtrack to Honoring a Father's Dream: Sons of Lwala, a documentary about Milton and Fred Ochieng' - brothers from the African village training to be doctors in the States, working to build a clinic in their home town. The band's first release through Gray Matters was a full-length Christmas album, Christmas Songs, on October 16, 2007. On July 29, 2008, Gray Matters Records released Closer EP exclusively through online digital music stores. It was subsequently released on CD on August 19, 2008 and included reworked versions of "Flood", called "Flood (New Rain)", and "Love Song For a Savior ('08)" from their debut album.

The band's tenth studio album, The Long Fall Back to Earth, was released on April 21, 2009. and contained 14 songs, including "Closer" and "Safe to Land", from the Closer EP, and is influenced by 80s music, specifically Tears for Fears and The Cure. The Long Fall Back to Earth debuted at No. 29 on the Billboard 200 mainstream charts, which was Jars of Clay's highest debut since The Eleventh Hour which debuted at No. 28 in 2002. The second single off the album is "Heaven." The song "Hero" was featured on a trailer for NBC's Kings. The Long Fall Back to Earth was nominated for the Grammy to the "Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album", though they didn't win in the category.

The Shelter was released October 5, 2010 and features eleven tracks. During their promotion for the album, the band streamed the entire album for a few days before its release on their website. In early 2011 they toured the United States on the Rock And Worship Roadshow headlined by MercyMe. In July 2012, the band traveled to Portland, Oregon, to begin recording Inland at Flora Recording & Playback, a music studio owned and operated by Tucker Martine. The new album was released on August 27, 2013 and features twelve tracks. On March 18, 2013, the band released an exclusive track, "Love in Hard Times", that could only be acquired with the purchase of their EP Under the Weather (Live in Sellersville, PA) directly from their website. On June 17, 2013, the band released a free download of the song "Inland" through Rolling Stone's website. The first single off of the album, "After the Fight", was released on June 18.

The group's activities have been limited in recent years (as of 2022), each band member focusing on individual pursuits, but they continue to release music and perform sporadically. They collaborated with pop group SHEL, performing a Christmas concert in Nashville that led to a 6-song Christmas-themed EP titled A Family Christmas, which included four original songs. In 2022, they contributed a track to There's a Rainbow Somewhere, a tribute album to Randy Stonehill.

Blood: Water Mission
Lead singer Dan Haseltine visited Africa in 2002, which in turn inspired the founding of Blood: Water Mission, a non-profit organization created to raise awareness and money for the poverty and AIDS stricken regions of the continent. The name is derived from, as Haseltine says, "The two things Africa needs most" - clean blood and clean water. The mission has begun the 1000 Wells project, an effort to have a thousand new wells built throughout Africa. The group recently met their goal of providing clean water to 1,000 African communities through the organization they founded, Blood: Water Mission, and its 1,000 Wells Project. Former Bassist for Jars of Clay Aaron Sands serves as Administrative Director for the project.

Beliefs
In a 2002 interview with NPR's Scott Simon on Weekend Edition Saturday, responding to a question about the relatively subtle religious content of their music, Haseltine said that the band's songs are not meant to explain their faith but are written about their lives, which are affected by their faith. Haseltine explained the decision to "shy away from ... traditional religious language" as a conscious one, in part to make their music more accessible to those "put off by religion" and to "love people in a way that isn't exclusive to simply people that understand the language of Christianity". Haseltine also stated that art can "make people feel what's true rather than telling them".

Band members
Current
 * Dan Haseltine – vocals, percussion, melodica (1993–present)
 * Charlie Lowell – piano, organ, accordion, keys, background vocals (1993–present)
 * Stephen Mason – guitar, vocals, bass, lap and pedal steel, national, mandolin, background vocals (1993–present)
 * Matt Odmark – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, background vocals (1993–present)

Former
 * Matt Bronleewe – guitar (1993–94)

Current touring musicians
 * Jake Goss – drums (2009–present)

Former touring musicians
 * Gabe Ruschival – bass (2006–2011)
 * Jeremy Lutito – drums (2005–2009)
 * Aaron Sands – bass (1995–2005)
 * Joe Porter – drums (1999–2005)
 * Scott Savage – drums (1995–99)

Discography

 * Jars of Clay (1995)
 * Much Afraid (1997)
 * If I Left the Zoo (1999)
 * The Eleventh Hour (2002)
 * Who We Are Instead (2003)
 * Redemption Songs (2005)
 * Good Monsters (2006)
 * Christmas Songs (2007)
 * The Long Fall Back to Earth (2009)
 * The Shelter (2010)
 * Inland (2013)

Awards
Jars of Clay has been nominated for and won several awards, including Grammy Awards and several other music awards, known as the GMA Dove Awards. Some of these successes have been collaborative efforts, including two City on a Hill albums and the inspired collaboration for the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The group has won five Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) awards.

In June 2009, Jars of Clay was named as one of PeaceByPeace.com's first peace heroes.

title: Jars of Clay


text:
7 Up

7 Up (stylized as 7up outside the United States) or Seven Up is an American brand of lemon-lime–flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo except the UK where it is distributed by Britvic.

History
7 Up was created by Charles Leiper Grigg, who launched his St. Louis–based company The Howdy Corporation in 1920. Grigg came up with the formula for a lemon-lime soft drink in 1929. The product, originally named "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda", was launched two weeks before the Wall Street Crash of 1929. It contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug, until 1948. It was one of a number of patent medicine products popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Its name was later shortened to "7 Up Lithiated Lemon Soda" before being further shortened to just "7 Up" by 1936.

The origin of the revised name is unclear. Britvic claims that the name comes from the seven main ingredients in the drink, while others have claimed that the number was a coded reference to the lithium contained in the original recipe, which has an atomic mass of 7. Britvic also claims that the name alluded to 7 Up being packaged in seven-ounce bottles when Coca-Cola and most other soft drinks were bottled in six-ounce bottles.

The 7 Up company was privately owned by its founding families until it was sold in 1978 to Philip Morris, which sold it in 1986 in two parts: the international division to PepsiCo and the US business to a group led by the investment firm Hicks & Haas. In the US, 7 Up merged with Dr Pepper in 1988; Cadbury Schweppes bought the combined company in 1995. The Dr Pepper Snapple Group was spun off from Cadbury Schweppes in 2008; it merged with Keurig Green Mountain in 2018 to form Keurig Dr Pepper.

Consumption
7 Up is commonly consumed cold – refrigerated or with ice. It is also used as a mixer for highball alcoholic lemon-lime soda cocktails, including the 7 and 7 (Seagram's 7 Crown and 7 Up) and CC and Seven (Canadian Club whisky and 7 Up). 7 Up is also used in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic punches.

Formula
7 Up has been reformulated several times since its launch in 1929. In 2006, the version of the product sold in the U.S. was reformulated so it could be marketed as being "100% natural". This was achieved by eliminating the chelating agent calcium disodium EDTA, and replacing sodium citrate with potassium citrate to reduce the beverage's sodium content. This reformulation contains no fruit juice and, in the U.S., is sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). The manufacturing process used in the production of HFCS has led some public health and advocacy groups to challenge the ad campaign's "natural" claims.

In 2007, after the Center for Science in the Public Interest threatened to sue 7 Up, it was announced that 7 Up would stop being marketed as "100% natural". Instead, it is now promoted as having "100% Natural Flavors". The controversy does not extend to other countries, such as the United Kingdom, where HFCS is not generally used in foods, including 7 Up. In 2011, 7 Up began test marketing a formula, called 7 Up Retro, using sugar rather than HFCS. Container labels sport the caption "Made With Real Sugar".

Barbecue sauces and marinades
In 2007, Cadbury Schweppes entered into a licensing partnership with Vita Food Products to produce a line of barbecue sauces and marinades flavored with Dr Pepper, 7 Up, and A&W Root Beer.

Advertising campaigns
Metal pedestrian crossing markers saying "Drink 7up Safety First" were installed in many U.S. cities in the 1930s.

Two early slogans used for 7 Up were "Fresh up with 7 Up" and "You like it – It Likes you" both of which appeared on 7 Up bottles until the late 1960s. A large advertising sign with the "You like it" phrase was located outside Pontchartrain Beach in New Orleans for many years.

"Fresh-Up Freddie" was the rooster mascot for 7 Up in the 1950s. He gave viewers lessons about how to plan successful parties and picnics by having plenty of 7 Up on hand. The commercials were produced by Disney, giving the character the specific Disney look of the time. Freddie has been described as a hybrid of the rooster Panchito Pistoles from The Three Caballeros and the zany Aracuan Bird from the same film. He often was dressed in human clothes. Freddie also appeared in the 1957 Zorro TV series' commercial intermissions. In these commercials, Freddie fought with Pete the Cat. Freddie, who was featured in a small amount of merchandising, was voiced by Paul Frees.

In the late 1960s and 1980s, Geoffrey Holder appeared in television ads as part of 7 Up's "Uncola" ad campaign, designed to highlight differences between 7 Up and other soft drinks on the market with cola flavoring. In the ads, Geoffrey holds a pair of cola nuts in one hand and a lemon & lime (used to flavor 7 Up) in the other hand and describes them as "Uncola nuts".

In 1987, 7 Up introduced Spot, the red-orange dot in the 7 Up logo anthropomorphized into a mascot. The character was used heavily in advertising and licensed items across the U.S., including the 1993 platform video game Cool Spot.

The cartoon character Fido Dido was used as a mascot in international areas from the late 1980s through the early 1990s, and was reintroduced in international markets in the early 2000s. Since PepsiCo did not own the rights to 7 Up in the US, certain ads featuring Fido Dido were instead reworked to advertise the company's Slice brand of lemon-lime soda.

In 1991, 7 Up sponsored Jordan Grand Prix's Jordan 191, the car in which Michael Schumacher drove his first Formula One race.

In the early 2000s, Orlando Jones served as the spokesperson for 7 Up in the United States in a series of commercials. Notably, one commercial had him wear a t-shirt that had 7 Up's then-slogan Make 7 Up Yours divided between the front and back with the double entendre on the back that featured the Up Yours part; 7 Up would sell the shirt through specialty retailer Spencer Gifts for many years.

From the years 2002 to 2009, The 7 Up Christmas on Ice was an annual ice rink event taking place in several towns and cities around Ireland. More than 90,000 people attended the event in Smithfield, Dublin.

Corporate sponsorship
In 1974, 7 Up became	The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon's first corporate sponsor; this was at a time when its sponsorship was generally limited	to trade unions and civic organizations.

title: 7 Up


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Timeline of Fijian history

The timeline below shows the history of the island Fiji, from the ancient times to the present day.

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Geography of Fiji

Fiji is a group of volcanic islands in the South Pacific, lying about 4450 km southwest of Honolulu and 1770 km north of New Zealand. Of the 332 islands and 522 smaller islets making up the archipelago, about 106 are permanently inhabited. The total land size is 18272 km2. It has the 26th largest Exclusive Economic Zone of 1282978 km2.

Viti Levu, the largest island, covers about 57% of the nation's land area, hosts the two official cities (the capital Suva, and Lautoka) and most other major towns, such as Nausori, Vaileka, Ba, Tavua, Kororvou, Nasinu, and Nadi (the site of the international airport), and contains some 69% of the population. Vanua Levu, 64 km to the northeast of Viti Levu, covers just over 30% of the land area though is home to only some 15% of the population. Its main towns are Labasa and Savusavu. In the northeast it features Natewa Bay, carving out the Loa peninsula.

Both islands are mountainous, with peaks up to 1300 m rising abruptly from the shore, and covered with tropical forests. Heavy rains (up to 304 cm annually) fall on the windward (southeastern) side, covering these sections of the islands with dense tropical forest. Lowlands on the western portions of each of the main islands are sheltered by the mountains and have a well-marked dry season favorable to crops such as sugarcane.

Other islands and island groups, which cover just 12.5% of the land area and house some 16% of the population, include Taveuni southeast off Vanua Levu and Kadavu Island, south off Viti Levu (the third and fourth largest islands respectively), the Mamanuca Group (just off Nadi) and Yasawa Group (to the north of the Mamanucas), which are popular tourist destinations, the Lomaiviti Group (just off Suva) with Levuka, the former capital and the only major town on any of the smaller islands, located on the island of Ovalau, and the remote Lau Group over the Koro Sea to the east near Tonga, from which it is separated by the Lakeba Passage.

Two outlying regions are Rotuma, 400 km to the north, and the uninhabited coral atoll and cay Ceva-i-Ra or Conway Reef, 450 km to the southwest of main Fiji. Culturally conservative Rotuma with its 2,000 people on 44 km2 geographically belongs to Polynesia, and enjoys relative autonomy as a Fijian dependency.

Fiji Television reported on 21 September 2006 that the Fiji Islands Maritime and Safety Administration (FIMSA), while reviewing its outdated maritime charts, had discovered the possibility that more islands could lie within Fiji's Exclusive Economic Zone.

More than half of Fiji's population lives on the island coasts, either in Suva or in smaller urban centers. The interior is sparsely populated because of its rough terrain.

Statistics

 * Location:
 * Oceania, island group in the South Pacific Ocean; Geographic coordinates:
 * -18°N, 179°W

 * Map references:
 * Oceania

 * Area
 * Total: 18274 km2
 * Land: 18274 km2
 * Water: 0 km2

 * Area – comparative:
 * Slightly smaller than New Jersey; slightly less than one third Nova Scotia's size; slightly smaller than Wales

 * Land boundaries:
 * 0 km

 * Coastline:
 * 1120 km

 * Maritime claims
 * Measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
 * Territorial sea: 12 nmi
 * Exclusive economic zone: 1282978 km2. 200 nmi
 * Continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation; rectilinear shelf claim added

 * Terrain:
 * Mostly mountains of volcanic origin, beaches
 * A recent global remote sensing analysis suggested that there were 438km² of tidal flats in Fiji, making it the 49th ranked country in terms of tidal flat area.

 * Elevation extremes
 * Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 km
 * Highest point: Mount Tomanivi 1324 m

 * Natural resources:
 * Timber, fish, gold, copper, offshore oil potential, hydropower

 * Land use:
 * Arable land: 9.03%
 * Permanent crops: 4.65%
 * Other: 86.32% (2011)

 * Irrigated land:
 * 30 km2 (2003)

 * Total renewable water resources:
 * 28.55 km3 (2011)

 * Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)
 * total: 0.08 km3/year (30%/11%/59%)
 * per capita: 100.1 m3/year (2005)

 * Natural hazards:
 * Cyclonic storms can occur from November to January

 * Environment – current issues:
 * Deforestation; soil erosion

 * Environment – international agreements:
 * Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
 * Signed, but not ratified: None of the selected agreements

 * Geography – note:
 * Includes 322 islands and islets of which approximately 110 are inhabited

Climate
Fiji has a tropical rainforest climate and a tropical monsoon climate (Af and Am according to the Köppen climate classification). Suva, the capital city, receives more rainfall than Nadi or the other side of Viti Levu. El Niño and La Niña events have significant impacts on rainfall. Tropical cyclones can impact Fiji and in some cases they can cause severe damage and many deaths. In 2016, Cyclone Winston caused widespread destruction and affected hundreds of thousands of people after striking Fiji. A few years later, Cyclone Harold also caused widespread damage.

Climate change in Fiji is an exceptionally pressing issue for the country - as an island nation, Fiji is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels, coastal erosion and extreme weather. These changes, along with temperature rise, will displace Fijian communities and will prove disruptive to the national economy - tourism, agriculture and fisheries, the largest contributors to the nation's GDP, will be severely impacted by climate change causing increases in poverty and food insecurity. As a party to both the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Climate Agreement, Fiji hopes to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 which, along with national policies, will help to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Tectonics
Fiji is located on the northeast corner of the Indo-Australian Plate near where it subducts under the Pacific Plate on the North Fiji Basin microplate between the North Fiji Fracture Zone on the north and the Hunter Fracture Zone on the south. It is part of the Ring of Fire, the string of volcanoes around the boundary of the Pacific Ocean.

Extreme points
This is a list of the extreme points of Fiji, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.

 * Northernmost point – Uea Island, Rotuma, Eastern Division
 * Easternmost point – Vatoa Island, Eastern Division
 * Southernmost point – Ceva-i-Ra island, Western Division
 * Westernmost point – Viwa Island, Western Division

Ecology
Fiji has more than three hundred islands, four of which are of a significant size. From largest to smallest, these four islands are Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Kadavu Island, and Taveuni Island. The Fiji islands are home to numerous indigenous flora and fauna. These include:
 * Fiji banded iguana
 * Fiji crested iguana

Fiji once hosted several extinct species from the Pleistocene and Holocene, including Volia, a large Mekosuchian crocodile which was likely the apex predator of its environment. Other notable extinct species include Lapitiguana, a giant species of Iguana, as well as the flightless Viti Levu giant pigeon.

title: Geography of Fiji