text:
Sylvie Vartan

Sylvie Vartan (born Sylvie Georges Vartanian on 15 August 1944) is a Bulgarian-French singer and actress. She is known as one of the most productive and tough-sounding yé-yé artists. Her performances often featured elaborate show-dance choreography, and she made many appearances on French and Italian TV.

Yearly shows with then-husband Johnny Hallyday attracted full houses at the Olympia and the Palais des congrès de Paris throughout the 1960s and mid-1970s. In 2004, after a break in performances, she began recording and giving concerts of jazz ballads in francophone countries.

Early life
Sylvie Vartan was born in Iskrets, Sofia Province, in the then Kingdom of Bulgaria. Her father, Georges Vartanian (1912–1970), was born in France to a Bulgarian mother named Slavka and an Armenian father. He worked as an attaché at the French embassy in Sofia. The family shortened the name Vartanian to Vartan. Her mother, Ilona (née Mayer 1914–2007), daughter of prominent architect Rudolf Mayer, was of Hungarian-Jewish descent.

When the Soviet Army invaded Bulgaria in September 1944, the Vartanian family house was nationalised and they moved to Sofia. In 1952, a friend of Sylvie's father, film director Dako Dakovski, offered her the role of a schoolgirl in the movie Pod igoto, a film about Bulgarian rebels against the Ottoman occupation. Participating in the film made her dream of becoming an entertainer come true.

The hardships of postwar Bulgaria made the family emigrate to Paris in December 1952. At first they stayed in the Lion d'Argent hotel near Les Halles, where Georges found a job, then for the next four years they stayed in a single room at the Angleterre Hotel. Young Sylvie had to work hard to keep up at school and blend in with her schoolmates. She spent two years learning French.

In 1960, her family moved to an apartment in Michel Bizot Avenue. Thanks to the influence of her music producer brother Eddie, music became teenage Sylvie's main interest. Her most influential genres were jazz and, out of spite toward her strict high school, rock 'n' roll. Her favourite artists included Brenda Lee, Bill Haley, and Elvis Presley.

Twisting schoolgirl
In 1961, Eddie offered Sylvie the chance to record the song "Panne d'essence" with French rocker Frankie Jordan. The Decca Records EP was a surprise hit. Although she was not credited on the sleeve, "Panne d'essence" provided Vartan her first appearance on French television. The journalists gave her the nickname la collégienne du twist. After the "twisting schoolgirl" had finished the Victor Hugo High School, she was free to sign a contract with Decca Records to start recording her own EP; carrying the title song "Quand le film est triste", a cover of Sue Thompson's "Sad Movies (Make Me Cry)", the EP was on sale by the beginning of December 1961.

It was another hit, that served her first concert in Paris Olympia Hall on 12 December 1961. "Est-ce que tu le sais?", her version of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say", was quickly released. She opened for Vince Taylor at Paris Olympia for her second concert. In July she toured France with Gilbert Bécaud. In autumn 1962 she released her version of "The Loco-Motion" on EP and her first LP, Sylvie. Her next hit was "Tous mes copains", issued on EP in 1962. She also had her first adult part in a movie with the small part of a singer in the film Un clair de lune à Maubeuge. In 1963, Paul Anka offered her the song "I'm Watching You", which became her first international hit in Japan and Korea. She rounded out the year with four TV specials and becoming the darling of the teen magazine Salut les Copains. Six of her 31 songs released in 1962/1963 became Top-20 European hits.

In late winter 1963, Vartan toured France with Johnny Hallyday and starred with him in the movie D'où viens-tu, Johnny?. Later, after announcing their engagement over the radio, the young couple performed to a noisy audience of 200,000 at Paris' Place de la Nation. At the year's end they traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to record an album with The Jordanaires. With the special treatment of vocalists, strings, and brass sections in the true Nashville style, these recordings were a great commercial success in France.

The album Sylvie à Nashville included the hits "La plus belle pour aller danser" and "Si je chante" and three new songs in English (one featuring Paul Anka). Accompanied by the movie Cherchez l'idole, the EP with "La plus belle pour aller danser" became number one in France, sold over a million copies in Japan, was very successful in Korea and Spain, and was her first release in Italy. "Il n'a rien retrouvé" became another international hit that year. In January 1964, she appeared at the Paris Olympia as one of the support acts (which also included Trini Lopez) for The Beatles.

A commercial for the "Renown" clothing line and a supporting role in the film Patate increased her fame. She also appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, Shindig!, Hullabaloo, and an international concert tour, including Canada, South America and Polynesia. In Tokyo she gave 13 concerts in 12 days.

Yé-yé diva
In December 1964, as Hallyday went into military service, Sylvie's brother Eddie hired two English songwriting session musicians, Tommy Brown on drums and Mick Jones on guitar, as they went to record in New York; they wrote her the hit "Cette lettre-là". On January 16, 1964, Sylvie performed with The Beatles, and opened their show at Olympia. Set in the smart design of the J.C. Averty Show, "Cette lettre-là" was the first of Sylvie Vartan's TV variety night performances. In 1966–67 she recorded more original hits. "Dis moi, que tu m'aimes" premiered on TV on 9 July 1967 was accompanied by a group of male dancers. "Le jour qui vient" was aired on the Dim Dam Dom program of the French Television 1 in color on 14 January 1968. "2'35 de bonheur" and "Comme un garçon" were other #1s in France, Italy, Belgium, Japan, or Korea.

On 11 April 1968, Vartan suffered injuries in a traffic accident but was back on tour in August. She showed off her new sexy cabaret-dancer image to the French TV audience in the "Jolie poupée" show on 4 December 1968; the collaboration with Maritie and Gilbert Carpentier produced a highly entertaining result. The variety night included the performance of "Irrésistiblement", accompanied by elaborate girl-group choreography, and "Jolie Poupée", a dialogue between a doll Sylvie and an adult one.

The hits of the "Jolie poupée" show were released as the Maritza album. In Italy, she released a cover version of Mina's "Zum zum zum". Being the 23rd-biggest-selling single of 1969 in Italy, Vartan's version did better in Italian charts than Mina's original. Vartan continued with her one-woman shows at the Paris Olympia in December 1968; they were published as the documentary Sylvie à L'Olympia.

For nine Saturday nights in winter of 1969, Vartan starred in the Doppia coppia variety nights of RAI, performing her hits "Irrésistiblement" ("Irresistibilmente") and "Le jour qui vient" ("Una cicala canta") in Italian. In March 1969, "Irresistibilmente" entered the Italian charts at No. 3, peaked at No. 2 and stayed in Top Ten for 10 weeks. In 1969 the single was the No. 22 single on the Italian chart. The tender ballad "Blam blam blam", written especially for Doppia coppia, peaked at No. 14 on the Italian charts and was among the 100 biggest-selling singles in Italy in 1969.

After her world tour in autumn 1969, she returned to Italy to perform "Festa negli occhi, festa nel cuore" on a Canzonissima variety night and "C'est un jour à rester couché" on the Incontro con Sylvie Vartan TV show, recorded in the Gattopardo Club of Messina. Her appearances were popular in Italy and France; she donned a different costume for each song, including plenty of short skirts and Barbarella boots. The cartoonists of both countries even drew Sylvie Vartan lookalikes.

1970–present
Despite suffering a second serious car accident in 1970, Sylvie Vartan continued to perform and record extensively; and in 1972 she starred in the film Malpertuis. She sold millions of records on the RCA label, which made her its most prolific artist after Elvis Presley. Her most famous songs are "J'ai un probleme", "L'amour au Diapason" (73), "Parle moi de ta vie"(71), "Petit rainbow" (77), "Bye Bye Leroy Brown" (74), "Disco Queen" and "Nicolas" (79), and "Caro Mozart", an international hit in Italian (72). However, her annual world tours and Italian TV shows continued to include her biggest late-1960s hits.

In 1976 she recorded "Qu'est-ce qui fait pleurer les blondes?", a disco-style cover of a John Kongos track, which topped the French chart for several weeks. Her disco era climaxed at the Dancing star TV show on TF1, produced by Maritie and Gilbert Carpentier, on 10 September 1977. RCA published the show as the Dancing star After a week of concerts in Las Vegas in 1982, she released a duet with John Denver: "Love Again", a #85 single on Billboard Hot 100 followed in 1985 by a new album in the US with "Double Exposure" and "One-Shot Lover". In 1986 she took a break from show business; she returned in 1989 with "C'est Fatal" ("E' Fatale" in Italy).

In 1990, Sylvie gave a concert at Sofia's Palace of Culture, opening and closing with a Bulgarian song. This was her first visit to the city since her emigration.

In 1991, she performed for three weeks at the Palais des Sports in Paris and hit the charts with "Quand tu es là". In 1995, she starred in "L'ange noir" directed by Jean-Claude Brisseau. In 1996 Sylvie recorded a successful album ("Toutes les femmes ont un secret") featuring "Je n'aime encore que toi" written by Quebecer Luc Plamondon. After her brother Eddie died in 2001, she took another break from performing in public. In fall 2004 she started recording and giving concerts of jazz ballads in francophone countries and Japan. She performed two weeks in the Palais des congrès in 2004 and 2008—all sold-out concerts. In 2009 she toured Turkey, France, Japan, Switzerland, Quebec, USA, Italy, Spain, Netherlands and Belgium.

Legacy
In 2005, the singer was appointed as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal and Child Health in the European Region. Vartan is regarded as a gay icon.

Honours

 * Chevalier (Knight) of the Ordre national du Mérite on 13 November 1987, Officier (Officer) in 2006.
 * Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur on 14 November 1998, Officier (Officer) in 2009.

Personal life
In 1962, during her second concert in Paris Olympia Hall, Vartan met pop-rock singer Johnny Hallyday; they were married in Offenburg on 12 April 1965. They had a son, David Michael Benjamin Smet, later known as David Hallyday. Sylvie Vartan and Johnny Hallyday were their generation's "golden couple" in France, and their marriage was among the most carefully watched relationships for the nation's publicity. But Hallyday openly preferred his pals to parenting, sparking many disagreements, and the couple finally divorced on 4 November 1980. Vartan later married record producer Tony Scotti, and they have adopted a young Bulgarian girl, Darina. Sylvie is an aunt to Eddie Vartan's son Michael Vartan.

Discography

 * Sylvie (1962)
 * Twiste et chante (1963)
 * Sylvie a Nashville (1964)
 * A gift wrapped from Paris (1965)
 * Il y a deux filles en moi (1966)
 * 2'35 de bonheur (1967)
 * Comme un garçon (1967)
 * La Maritza (1968)
 * Aime-moi (1970)
 * Sympathie (1971)
 * Untitled (J'ai un problème) (1973)
 * Je chante pour Swanee (1974)
 * Shang shang a lang (1974)
 * Qu'est-ce qui fait pleurer les blondes? (1976)
 * Sylvie Vartan (Ta sorcière bien-aimée) (1976)
 * Georges (1977)
 * Dancing Star (1977)
 * Fantaisie (1978)
 * I Don't Want the Night to End (1979)
 * Déraisonnable (1979)
 * Bienvenue solitude (1980)
 * Ça va mal (1981)
 * De choses et d'autres (1982)
 * Danse ta vie (1983)
 * Des heures de désir (1984)
 * Made In USA (1985)
 * Virage (1986)
 * Confidanses (1989)
 * Vent d'ouest (1992)
 * Sessions acoustiques (1994)
 * Toutes les femmes ont un secret (1996)
 * Sensible (1998)
 * Sylvie (2004)
 * Nouvelle vague (2007)
 * Toutes peines confondues (2009)
 * Soleil bleu (2010)
 * Sylvie In Nashville (2013)
 * Une vie en musique (2015)
 * Avec toi (2018)
 * Merci pour le regard (2021)

Filmography

 * Pod igoto (1952), after the novel by Ivan Vazov (Under the Yoke)
 * Un clair de lune à Maubeuge (1962)
 * Cherchez l'idole (1963)
 * D'où viens-tu, Johnny? (1964)
 * Patate (1964)
 * Malpertuis (1971)
 * L'ange noir (1994)
 * Mausolée pour une garce (2001) (TV)
 * The Missionaries (2014)

title: Sylvie Vartan


text:
Shah Alam

Shah Alam is a city and the state capital of Selangor, Malaysia and situated within the Petaling District and a small portion of the neighbouring Klang District. Shah Alam replaced Kuala Lumpur as the capital city of the state of Selangor in 1978 due to Kuala Lumpur's incorporation into a Federal Territory in 1974. Shah Alam was the first planned city in Malaysia after independence from Britain in 1957.

History
Malaysia grew rapidly after its independence in 1957 under its second Prime Minister of Malaysia, Allahyarham Tun Abdul Razak Hussein. Shah Alam was once known as Sungai Renggam and was noted for its rubber and oil palm estates. Later, the same area was identified as Batu Tiga prior to Malaysian independence, and has been a centre of rubber and palm oil trade for centuries. The Sungai Renggam Plantation was earmarked for the development of a township by the Selangor government in 1963, and under the recommendations of Vlado Antolic, a town planning advisor from the United Nations, chose the present site strategically located between Kuala Lumpur and Port Klang.

Its current name was chosen by the then state Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, after his late father Sultan Alam Shah. Many other monuments, buildings and even a street are named after the late Sultan. Shah Alam was opened in 1963 with the purpose of making it the new administrative centre of Selangor, replacing Kuala Lumpur which was made a Federal Territory on 1 February 1974. With the consent of the Sultan, Shah Alam was proclaimed the capital of Selangor on 7 December 1978 with an initial area of 41.68 km2, and administered by a municipal council.

Enlargement
Shah Alam was enlarged several times between 1983 and 1997, the last annexation on 1 January 1997:
 * 1983: Annexed Section 25-28 (Sri Muda) from Petaling District Council; 11.41 km2 annexed
 * 1994: Annexed Setia Alam, Bukit Jelutong and Subang Airport from Petaling District Council, and Kota Kemuning and Sg Kandis from Klang Municipal Council; 208.6 km2 annexed
 * 1997: Annexed Paya Jaras and parts of Sungai Buloh from Petaling District Council, but ceded Putra Heights and Subang Hi-tech Industrial Park to Subang Jaya; 28.6 km2 annexed

Through the Gazette Plan 1190, Shah Alam was extended to its present-day area of 293 km2.

City status
Shah Alam was granted city status on 10 October 2000 with Dato' Haji Abu Sujak Haji Mahmud as the first mayor. He recently served as deputy Menteri Besar or Deputy Chief Minister of Selangor. Abu Sujak declared the vision of making Shah Alam a modern city with a unique identity of a Bandaraya Melayu ("Malay City"), showcasing the achievements of the Malay race in all sectors.

Geography
Shah Alam is located within the district of Petaling and a portion of the district of Klang in the state of Selangor with total area 290.3 km2. Due to its recent expansion, it is bordered by the cities of Subang Jaya and Petaling Jaya in the east, the district of Klang in the west, the district of Kuala Selangor and Selayang in the north, and the district of Kuala Langat in the south. Shah Alam is also one of the major cities within the Klang Valley, an area in Malaysia comprising Kuala Lumpur and its suburbs, and adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor, due to the Klang River flowing through it on its way westward to the Strait of Malacca.

Located in Klang Valley, Shah Alam topography is mostly flat, except in the northern part of the city where it features a prominent rolling hill.

Cityscape
Shah Alam has a similar urban layout to Petaling Jaya or Subang Jaya with housing areas occupying most of the city (55.2 km2) and commercial centres scattered around the different 'Seksyen' (sections). There are 56 sections in total. Generally Shah Alam can be divided into three parts; the north, central and south parts. North Shah Alam consists of 18 Sections including Sections U1 and U2 and Kampung Melayu Subang. The Central Shah Alam is where all the state administrative buildings and agencies are situated. It consists of Section 1 until Section 24 (seen in the map as beige coloured areas). South Shah Alam consists of 12 sections including Section 25 (Sri Muda), Section 30 (Jalan Kebun), Section 31 (Kota Kemuning) and Section 32 (Bukit Rimau). In the map, south Shah Alam is seen as the light purple coloured areas.

The city has a number of shopping malls (Aeon Shah Alam Seksyen 13, Plaza Alam Sentral, (also known as PAS or older name is Kota Francais), SACC Mall, Plaza Shah Alam (formerly known as Shah Alam Mall, also known as Plaza Masalam), Ole-Ole Seksyen 18, Central i-City Mall, Anggerik Mall and Kompleks PKNS). Vibrant commercial areas are situated mostly at the city centre (Seksyen 14), Seksyen 13 and Seksyen 9.

All of the main roads and streets in Shah Alam including the new townships such as Setia Alam and Kota Kemuning have signs with their names shown in both Roman and Jawi scripts.

Climate
As with other cities across Peninsular Malaysia, Shah Alam experiences a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification Af). Temperatures are consistent throughout the year with an average high temperature of 31.9 °C and an average low temperature of 23.2 °C. The city is warmest in the month of March, and experiences heavy rains and showers during the month of November as the northeast monsoon moves in from October to March. Overall the climate is fairly humid.

Governance
The Selangor state government's decision to develop the present land into a township saw the formation of the Shah Alam Town Board, a body governed by the Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS) or Selangor State Development Corporation in 1963. With the declaration of Shah Alam as the state capital by the Sultan of Selangor at the time, the Majlis Perbandaran Shah Alam (MPSA) or Shah Alam Municipal Council was formed in accordance to the Local Government Act 1976.

Local government
Shah Alam is presently administered by Shah Alam City Council (Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam) (MBSA), which is an agency under the Selangor state government. It was founded as Shah Alam Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Shah Alam) (MPSA) at the same time Shah Alam was declared the capital city of Selangor. Operating from a shophouse in Section 3, the council began operations on 1 January 1979 before moving twice; first to the Kompleks PKNS building on 1981 and later to a newly built 28-storey building called Wisma MPSA on 1988. With the declaration of Shah Alam's city status on 10 October 2000, the agency was upgraded into a city council. Since then, nine mayors have been appointed, with the latest being Zamani Ahmad Mansor, who have been in office since 14 June 2021.

Politics
Within the Dewan Rakyat, the parliamentary constituency of (P108) is represented by Azly Yusof of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) while the southern part of the city -  (P111) is represented by Mohamad Sabu of the Pakatan Harapan (PH), both of them are from AMANAH. Currently there is a number of State Assembly located in the administrative area of MBSA, namely YB Rodziah, YB Zawawi Mughni, YB Najwan Halimi etc.

Economy
Shah Alam economy consists of government-related for the state government as it's the capital of Selangor, outside of government, Shah Alam major economy are mostly in the manufacturing sector followed by services. The Malaysian supermarket chain Giant Hypermarket is headquartered at the Giant Hypermarket Shah Alam Stadium in Shah Alam.

Manufacturing plays a big role in Shah Alam economy, it predates Shah Alam existence, most of them are concentrated in the Batu Tiga area and Seksyen 26, 27, and 28. Major plant include CSR Sugar Refinery, Fraser and Neave, Panasonic-Matsushita and more.

Shah Alam also features few automotive industry operation, most notably Volvo being the first and the oldest surviving automobile assembly plant in Malaysia. Proton was founded in Shah Alam and has it headquarters here. PROTON still operates their Shah Alam assembly plant despite having built a bigger assembly plant in Tanjung Malim, Perak. Toyota (under UMW) has an assembly plant here as well.

Education
The Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM, formerly known until 1996 as Institut Teknologi MARA or ITM) is located nearby the state capital. The whole university area occupies an entire section on the western hills of the city known as Seksyen 1. At Seksyen 17, there is also a branch campus of UiTM called INTEC UiTM (International Education College), where its students undergo preparation programmes for overseas studies. INTEC UiTM is the only UiTM campus where non-bumiputra students are accepted for admission.

Other institutions of higher learning in Shah Alam include University of Selangor, Management and Science University (MSU), and its affiliate college, MSU College, Shah Alam also has several industrial-related education centres namely Shah Alam Polytechnic (or Politeknik Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah), CIAST, and ADTEC.

Shah Alam is also served by many primary and secondary schools such as SK Bukit Rimau and SMK Kota Kemuning. In some cases, the maximum capacity of students enrolled in schools exceeds the number of potential students in the residential areas. For example, in Taman Alam Megah, Taman Bunga Negara, and Taman Bukit Saga, which are situated in Section 27 and Section 28, there are three secondary schools and seven primary schools. In contrast, in Section 16 and 17, the only secondary school there is Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seksyen 16. Currently, Shah Alam has 23 secondary schools, 1 technical school, 1 vocational school, and 37 primary schools. The SMJK Chung Hwa is the only national-type secondary school within the city.

Chinese Taipei International School (Kuala Lumpur) is situated in Section 32, Shah Alam.

Transportation

Shah Alam is well connected to other main cities in Klang Valley via a network of major highways, namely the Federal Highway, New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), Shah Alam Expressway (KESAS), Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE), North–South Expressway Central Link (ELITE), Setiawangsa Pantai Expressway (SPE) and Kemuning–Shah Alam Highway (LKSA). Highways also connect the city to two major airports. The Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) located 30 km south of the city serves international flights and is connected via the ELITE highway, while the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang caters to domestic flights and is connected via the Federal Highway. Major roads within the city are connected via roundabouts that divide the city into different Sections. Each Section contain a network of local roads named according to a chosen theme; for example, Section 20's roads are named after animals. Shah Alam is also notable for being the only city in Malaysia to have its own route numbering for the road in the city.

The KTM Komuter commuter train service provides for residents who use public transportation to other major cities, connecting Shah Alam via the Tanjong Malim–Port Klang Route. This route stops at three stations within Shah Alam: the Shah Alam Komuter station situated at the southern part of the city in Section 19, the Padang Jawa Komuter station at Section 17 and the Sungai Buloh Komuter station at Section U20. Another KTM Komuter station located at the outskirts of Shah Alam is the Batu Tiga Komuter station situated near UEP Subang Jaya in Batu Tiga. Residents would then transfer to different routes at the KL Sentral station and Subang Jaya station which provides interchange station with LRT Kelana Jaya Line.

Shah Alam is also served by the Prasarana's Kelana Jaya line, providing rapid transit access for people in Taman Alam Megah via the Alam Megah LRT station and  Subang Alam LRT station, as well Glenmarie via   Glenmarie LRT station. The MRT Kajang Line has stations located in north-eastern Shah Alam government area, particularly in Kwasa Damansara via  Kwasa Damansara MRT station and  Kwasa Sentral MRT station, as well Sungai Buloh via  Kampung Selamat MRT station and  Sungai Buloh MRT station.

Shah Alam city proper will receive LRT service in 2025 as part of the Shah Alam line.

Buses and taxis provide public transport in commercial areas in the city. A bus and taxi hub is located at Section 17, providing offices for several mini buses, express buses and taxi companies as well as rental car services. This hub also provides for passengers that travel on express bus services to major cities throughout Peninsular Malaysia.

Healthcare
Shah Alam is served with many private clinics that exist in every part and residential parks in the city. The main government-owned clinic, on the other hand, is located in Section 7 and known as Klinik Kesihatan Shah Alam (Shah Alam Health Clinic). Another government-owned clinic is located in Section 19.

A government-owned hospital; Shah Alam Hospital was opened on 5 October 2015 after a four-year delay. The hospital costs MYR 565 million and will also be used as a teaching hospital for undergraduate and post-graduate medical students. It is located beside the government-owned clinic in Section 7.

There are seven private hospitals in Shah Alam: KPJ Selangor Specialist Hospital, Salam Shah Alam Specialist Hospital, Avisena Specialist Hospital, Avisena Women's & Children's Specialist Hospital, Hospital Umra, Columbia Asia Extended Care Hospital, and Columbia Asia Bukit Rimau.

Demographics
As of 2023, the city has a population of 438,745. The following ethnic group composition is based on the Department of Statistics Malaysia's 2020 census.

Religion
Shah Alam is most famous for its mosque, the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Mosque. It is also known as the Blue Mosque and has been claimed to be the largest mosque in Malaysia, and one of the largest in Southeast Asia. The mosque has the capacity to accommodate 24,000 worshippers at one time. Its distinguishing feature is its large blue and silver dome, which measures 51.2 m (167 ft) in diameter and reaches 106.7 m (350 ft) above ground level. The mosque has four minarets erected at the corners, each minaret is 142.3 m (460 ft) tall. The mosque was commissioned by the late Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz when he declared Shah Alam as the new capital of Selangor on 14 February 1974. Construction of the mosque was completed on 11 March 1988. As the capital of Selangor, Islam is the religion preferred by a majority of Shah Alam residents.

Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia (BMSM)'s Samadhi Vihara is distinct with its iconic lotus-top Shrine Hall. Since its completion in 2012, Samadhi Vihara serves a premier Dhammaduta centre for Buddhists in the south western part of Klang Valley. It is a landmark development at Section U12, Bukit Raja, Shah Alam. As the only Theravadin-based Vihara (Buddhist Temple) in the vicinity of Klang and Shah Alam, it has grown in popularity with its regular Dhamma programme and activities.

Tourism
Garden of Islamic Arts

The Blue Mosque overlooks the Garden of Islamic Arts, a landscaped park inspired by the Quranic Garden of Paradise. This 14 hectares of spiritual sanctuary houses nine galleries exhibiting a rich array of Islamic arts such as calligraphy, sculptures, paintings and architecture. The site is occasionally used for traditional Islamic performances.

Sultan Alam Shah Museum (Selangor State Museum)

The Selangor State Museum (Sultan Alam Shah Museum) displays many treasures and artefacts related to the history of Selangor. Adjacent to the museum is the former Selangor State Library (Perpustakaan Raja Tun Uda). The Selangor Islamic Arts Complex (Kompleks Kesenian Islam Selangor or Riyadh Fannil Islam) is situated nearby, housing many Islamic masterpieces and creativities such as a variety of Islamic calligraphy, known as khat, and a number of precious treasures. An Islamic Art College is located within the Complex. At the banks of the Lake Gardens, an art gallery and performance centre called Laman Budaya is located, where exhibitions and shows regularly take place.

The city is surrounded by many parks and gardens, such as the Shah Alam Lake Gardens (developed around seven artificial lakes), the Shah Alam National Botanical Park and the Kota Kemuning Lakeside Park situated in Kota Kemuning.

i-City Shah Alam

Situated within the 72-acres urban development area in Section 7 Shah Alam, i-City is one of the first places to offer lively LED lighting decorations in Malaysia at night. In addition to lighting decorations, there is also a water theme park, a 3D museum, a Ferris Wheel, and a Snowwalk. It is also one of the main attractions for taking photos.

Sports

Shah Alam has a fully equipped sports complex known as Kompleks Sukan Shah Alam or Shah Alam Sports Complex.

Among the facilities located within the Complex is the gigantic Stadium Shah Alam or Shah Alam Stadium. Shah Alam Stadium is the home of Selangor F.C. Shah Alam Stadium was the biggest stadium in Malaysia with 80,000 seats prior to the construction of the National Stadium, Bukit Jalil which could accommodate up to 100,000 spectators. Shah Alam Stadium was featured in a challenge in the first leg of The Amazing Race Asia Season 1 where teams had to ride go-karts around the circuit.

In September 2016, a group of 7 men who are professionals in their own fields in football came together and formed Shah Alam Antlers F.C. (nickname Shah Alam Antlers or SAAFC). The club was formed as the founders were tired of the current football league system in Malaysia and wanted a revolution in a system that is old, unprofessional and politically corrupt. The current board also wants a club that puts the people of Shah Alam as their priority. SAAFC is currently playing their home games at the Panasonic Stadium in Seksyen 21, Shah Alam. They are currently participating in the Klang Valley League and will be hoping to climb up the ranks. Although newly formed, SAAFC already has a club membership program for their fans, a feat most 'professional' clubs in the Malaysian League do not have. The club's motto is "All Unite For The City".

Apart from Stadium Shah Alam, there is Stadium Melawati or the Melawati Stadium, an indoor stadium that could accommodate 40,000 people in one time. Besides sports matches, this stadium had been used for several occasions such as the final concert of Akademi Fantasia and the Perhimpunan Pekerja 2008 held by the Dewan Pemuda PAS. The grandest occasion ever held in this stadium was the boxing finals of the 1998 Commonwealth Games which saw Malaysian Sapok Biki winning a gold medal.

The Shah Alam Sports Complex also includes the Pusat Akuatik Darul Ehsan or the Darul Ehsan Aquatic Centre, a Go-Kart track located within the Stadium Shah Alam parking compound, as well as the Shah Alam Extreme Park located in Section 13.

Shah Alam hosted 2 events for the 1998 Commonwealth Games, road cycling and boxing.

Recreation
Uptown Shah Alam

Uptown Shah Alam is located in Section 24 near the LKSA highway. It is a very popular place for locals where it is more than just a flea market. There are food stalls and events such as concert and games every now and then.

Bon Odori Bon Odori is a yearly event held during Obon. It is celebrated as Japanese Buddhist custom to honour the departed (deceased) spirits of one's ancestors. In Malaysia, Bon Odori festivals are also celebrated in a smaller scale every year in Penang and at the Panasonic Sports Complex in Section 21, Shah Alam, Selangor. Held mainly to expose locals to a part of Japanese culture, the festival provides the experience of a variety of Japanese food & drinks, art and dance. Celebrations in Malaysia, especially in the cities, tend to be more oriented towards culture than to its religious origins. Admission is free and this event is organised by The Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur, The Japanese School of Kuala Lumpur and The Embassy of Japan.

Wet World

Wet World is known as Malaysia's largest water theme park chain. It has three venues in Malaysia, strategically located at Wet World Shah Alam, Selangor; Wet World Batu Pahat, Johor; and Wet World Air Panas, Pedas, Negeri Sembilan.

Shah Alam Lake Garden, Section 14

The Shah Alam Lake Garden (Malay: Taman Tasik Shah Alam) is a 43-hectares public recreation lake garden that is located in Section 14. Designed by a renowned landscape architect Fumiaki Takano, it was Selangor's first public park when it was opened in 1985. The lake consists of 3 man-made lakes (Central, West and East), each with its own unique features and characteristics. Several species of animals including peacocks, geese, storks and forest chickens are also reared at the lake.

The lake garden is a major attraction in the city and it is equipped with gazebos, a lakeside promenade, raised walkways that extend over the water, reflexology paths, jogging and cycling trails, event halls and children’s playgrounds. In addition, there is a floating seafood restaurant, meandering footpaths and plenty of recreational water activities for families.

Sister cities
Shah Alam currently has two sister cities:

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

title: Shah Alam


text:
Vox (company)

Vox is a British musical equipment manufacturer founded in 1957 by Thomas Walter Jennings in Dartford, Kent, England. The company is most famous for making the Vox AC30 guitar amplifier, used by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, Queen, Dire Straits, U2, and Radiohead; the Vox Continental electric organ, the Vox wah-wah pedal used by Jimi Hendrix, and a series of innovative electric guitars and bass guitars. Since 1992, Vox has been owned by the Japanese electronics firm Korg.

Beginnings
The Jennings Organ Company was founded by Thomas Walter Jennings in Dartford Kent, England after World War II. Jennings's first successful product was the Univox, an early self-powered electronic keyboard similar to the Clavioline.

In 1956, Jennings was shown a prototype guitar amplifier made by Dick Denney, a big band guitarist and workmate from World War II. The company was renamed Jennings Musical Industries, or JMI. In 1958 the 15-watt Vox AC15 amplifier was launched; "vox" simply being the Latin word for "voice". It was popularised by The Shadows and other British rock 'n' roll musicians and became a commercial success.

Vox released the 12-watt AC10 in late 1959 as a student model, originally as a 1x10-inch combo and later as a 2x10-inch combo. Features simplified from the AC15 included a tremolo effect (mislabeled as "vibrato"), a single, shared Tone control, and smaller output transformer. The AC10 was discontinued in 1965.

The AC30
In 1959, with sales under pressure from the more powerful Fender Twin, by request from The Shadows, who requested amplifiers with more power, Vox produced what was essentially a double-powered AC15 and named it the AC30. The AC30, fitted with alnico magnet-equipped Celestion "blue" loudspeakers and later Vox's special "Top Boost" circuitry, and like the AC15 using valves (known in the US as vacuum tubes), helped to produce the sound of the British Invasion, being used by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and the Yardbirds, among others. AC30s were later used by Brian May of Queen (who is known for having a wall of AC30s on stage), Paul Weller of The Jam (who also assembled a wall of AC30s), Rory Gallagher, The Edge of U2 and Radiohead guitarists Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien. The Vox AC30 has been used by many other artists including Mark Knopfler, Hank Marvin who was instrumental in getting the AC30 made, Ritchie Blackmore, John Scofield, Snowy White, Will Sergeant, Tom Petty, The Echoes, Mike Campbell, Peter Buck, Justin Hayward, Tom DeLonge, Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, Noel Gallagher, Matthew Bellamy, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Dustin Kensrue, Tame Impala, Jimmy Page, Tony Iommi and many others.

Other amplifiers
Once The Beatles became tied to Vox amplifiers (a deal was struck early in their recording career whereby they would be provided Vox equipment for exclusive stage use), the quest for more power began. John Lennon's first Vox was a fawn-coloured twin-speaker AC15, while George Harrison's was a fawn AC30 with a top boost unit installed in the rear panel. They were later provided with twin black-covered AC30s with the rear panel top boost units. Paul McCartney was provided with one of the first transistorised amplifiers, the infamous T60, which featured an unusual separate cabinet outfitted with a 12" and a 15" speaker. The T60 head had a tendency to overheat, and McCartney's was no exception, so he was then provided with an AC30 head which powered the T60's separate speaker cabinet.

As the crowds at Beatles shows got louder, they needed louder amps. Jennings provided Lennon and Harrison with the first AC50 piggyback units, and McCartney's AC30/T60 rig was replaced with an AC100 head and an AC100 2×15" cabinet. Lennon and Harrison eventually got their own AC100 rigs, with 4×12"/2-horn configurations. In 1966 and 1967, The Beatles had several prototype or specially-built Vox amplifiers, including hybrid tube/solid-state units from the short-lived 4- and 7-series. Harrison in particular became fond of the 730 amp and 2×12 cabinet, using them to create many of the guitar sounds found on Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Lennon favoured the larger 7120 amplifier, while Harrison preferred the 730 and McCartney had its sister 430 bass amplifier.

In the early 1960s, the Brothers Grim became the first American group to use Vox Amplifiers. Joe Benaron, CEO of Warwick Electronics Inc. / Thomas Organ Company, the United States distributor of Vox, along with Bernard Stockly (London), importer of Challenge pianos to the United States, arranged for the boys to have full use of the tall Super AC 100 Vox amps (4×12" speakers). The solid-state version of this amp (known in the US as the "Super Beatle") was produced to cash in on the Beatles-Vox affiliation, but was not nearly as successful as the valve AC30 and AC15 models.

A modern popular rock artist known for use of the Super Beatle is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, although in the April 2008 issue of Premier Guitar, lead guitarist Mike Campbell revealed that the Super Beatle backline was, on their thirtieth anniversary tour at least, primarily used only as a stage prop, though Petty used his "on a couple of songs." In the group's early days, the Vox equipment was chosen because it was relatively inexpensive in 1976, yet had a handsome appearance. A photograph included in the article showed Campbell's guitar sound was coming from other amplifiers hidden behind the large Super Beatles, which Campbell stated were "a tweed Fender Deluxe and a blackface Fender Princeton together behind the Super Beatle, and an isolated Vox AC30 that I have backstage in a box."

The Monkees concealed themselves in large empty Vox cabinet and emerged from them as a grand entrance to the opening of the shows on the 1967 tour and they used real Vox amps for the performances.

Guitars
Vox's first electric guitars, the Apache, Stroller and Clubman were modeled after solid-body, bolt-neck Fenders, which at the time were not available in the UK. A four-string Clubman Bass followed shortly after. These first guitars were low-priced, had unusual TV connector output jacks and were produced by a cabinet maker in Shoeburyness, Essex. Vox president Tom Jennings commissioned London Design Centre to create a unique new electric guitar, and in 1962 Vox introduced the pentagonal Phantom, originally made in England but soon after made by EKO of Italy. The first Phantom guitars were given to The Echoes to trial in 1962 and were used by them until 1970. They can be heard on many of their recordings and records they did with other artists such as Dusty Springfield. Aside from the unusual body and headstock shapes, Phantoms featured copies of the Fender Stratocaster neck and its attachment, the Strat's three single-coil pick-ups and standard vibrato bridge that in this case copied a Bigsby unit. Aside from being a bit awkward to hold for seated playing, the Phantom guitars now approached professional quality, performance and price. Phil "Fang" Volk of Paul Revere & the Raiders played a Phantom IV bass (which was eventually retrofitted with a Fender neck). It was followed a year later by the teardrop-shaped Mark VI, the prototype of which had only two pick-ups (rather than three) and was made specifically for Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, again using a Bigsby-like "Hank Marvin" bridge. By the end of the decade, Stones bassist Bill Wyman was shown in Vox advertisements playing a teardrop hollow-bodied bass made for him by the company, subsequently marketed as the Wyman Bass. Many guitar gear authorities dispute that he ever actually used the instrument for recording or live performance. (See also Vox Bass Guitar.)

Vox experimented with several built-in effects and electronics on guitars such as the Cheetah, Ultrasonic, and Invader. Ian Curtis of Joy Division is known to have owned two white Vox Phantom VI Special effects guitars which had push button switches on the scratch plate to activate the effects circuits. Another innovation was the Guitar Organ, which featured miniaturised VOX organ circuitry activated by the contact of the strings on the frets, producing organ tones in key with guitar notes in one of three ways. A switch on the instrument allow choosing between guitar only, organ only (holding down strings produced an organ tone without the string needing to be played in a traditional sense as mentioned) and a combination of both. This instrument was heavy and cumbersome with a steel neck and external circuit boxes. The initial production run proved unreliable due to the fact that JMI production engineers, eager to put the instrument into production, had used Denney's prototype as a template for wiring the instrument in Denney's absence. As a consequence, the instrument gained a negative reputation, but was a hallmark of the ingenuity of the company.

In the mid-1960s, as the sound of electric 12-string guitars became popular, Vox introduced the Phantom XII, which was subsequently used by Tony Hicks of The Hollies, Captain Sensible of early English punk band The Damned and Greg Kihn; the Mark XII electric 12-string guitar and the Tempest XII, also made in Italy, which featured a more conventional body style. The Phantom XII and Mark XII both featured a unique Bigsby style 12-string vibrato tailpiece, which made them, along with Semie Moseley's "Ventures" model 12-string Mosrite, the only 12-string electric guitars to feature such a vibrato. The Stereo Phantom XII had split pick-ups resembling the Fender Precision bass, each half of which could be sent to a separate amplifier using an onboard mix control. Vox produced a number of other models of 6 and 12 string electric guitars in both England and Italy.

Guitar pedals and other effects, including an early version of the wah-wah pedal used by Jimi Hendrix and the Tone Bender fuzzbox pedal, a Vox variation on the famous original Gary Hurst Tone Bender (used by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Jeff Beck of the Yardbirds as well as The Beatles, Spencer Davis and others), were also marketed by Vox and later on manufactured in Italy.

In 1967, Vox introduced a series of guitars which featured built in effects such as Distortion (fuzz tone), Repeat Percussion (percussive tremolo), Treble/Bass Booster and a wah-wah operated by the heel of the picking hand pushing on a spring-loaded lever over the bridge. The Delta phantom style guitar and bass, the Starstream teardrop 6-string, and Constellation teardrop bass had such effects.

Vox also pioneered the first radio microphone system, which freed singers from having their microphone connected to their amplifier or PA by a cable.

Vox had experimented with Japanese manufacturers at the end of the sixties with the Les Paul-style VG2, and in 1982 all guitar production was moved to Japan, where the Standard & Custom 24 & 25 guitars and basses were built by Matsumoku, the makers of Aria guitars. These were generally regarded as the best quality guitars ever built under the Vox name. They were discontinued in 1985 when production was moved to Korea and they were replaced by the White Shadow models. A number of White Shadow "M"-series guitars and basses are clearly marked as "made in Japan", suggesting a phased production hand-over.

In 1998, Vox Amplification Ltd Korg reissued many of their classic Phantom and Teardrop guitars.

In March 2008, Vox unveiled the semi-hollow Virage DC (double cutaway) and SC (single cutaway) at the NAMM Show. Notable characteristics include a 3D contoured ergonomic design which not only had an arch top, but also bent back from the neck toward the base of the guitar hugging the player's body. The guitar body was milled from a single block of wood and had a fitted face in combinations of mahogany and ash. A new triple coil pick-up system designed by DiMarzio, called the Three-90, emulates a humbucker, P-90, or single-coil tone.

In 2009, Vox refined the Virage design with the Virage II series of guitars. This series repeated the double and single cutaway bodies of the earlier Virage series, but also included the Series 77 (with double horns emulating the Gibson SG series), the Series 55 (with resemblance to the Gibson Les Paul single cutaway), and the Series 33 (with lower cost fabrication than the 77 and 55 series). The Virage II series featured CoAxe pick-ups which resembled the earlier Three-90 in functionality, but were claimed to be less noisy. The one-piece cast MaxConnect bridge of this series is aluminium and provides both a saddle and anchor for the strings.

For 2012, the VOX Phantom and Teardrop guitars appeared again as the APACHE Series travel guitars with a host of built in features including a 2-channel guitar amplifier, speakers, dozens of rhythm patterns, even a convenient E-String tuner.

In May 2013, a Vox guitar used by George Harrison and John Lennon on the Magical Mystery Tour album sold at a New York auction for 408,000 USD.

In the later years of Prince's life, he primarily utilized several versions of the Vox HDC-77 guitar, after being introduced to it by 3rdeyegirl member Ida Kristine Nielsen in the year of 2012. Some of the guitars the artist used included a Blackburst version, a White Ivory version, and a multicolored version.

Organs
The Vox brand was also applied to Jennings' electronic organs, particularly the Vox Continental of 1962, which featured drawbars and used transistors to generate sound. John Lennon played one onstage with The Beatles during "I'm Down", including at their 1965 concert at Shea Stadium, and the instrument was used by British Invasion musicians such as the Dave Clark Five's Mike Smith and the Animals' Alan Price. American Vox players include Paul Revere with Paul Revere & the Raiders and The Doors' Ray Manzarek, who used a Continental on the group's first two albums before switching to a Gibson G-101. Doug Ingle's Iron Butterfly used it on songs such as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". The Continental can also be heard on the Monkees' hit "I'm a Believer" and Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl".

More recently, organist Spider Webb can be seen using a Vox Continental with the UK garage band The Horrors. Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers has frequently used a Continental throughout his career.

The Continental and other Vox organs such as the Jaguar, the Continental II, Super Continental, and the Continental 300 share characteristic visual features including orange and black vinyl coverings, stands made of chromed steel tubing, and reversed black and white keys. Jennings formed a deal with the Thomas Organ Company in 1966 to manufacture Continentals in the US, with production moving to Italy the following year. The Italian Vox Continentals featured plastic keys instead of the original wooden ones, which were less reliable and broke more easily.

GuitarOrgan
In 1966, Vox introduced the Guitar Organ, a Phantom VI guitar with internal organ electronics. John Lennon was given one in a bid to secure an endorsement, although he did not record with it.

The V251 connects to a mains power-supply unit via DIN plugs and a four-conductor cable (power, guitar output, organ output and common). The PSU in turn has individual amplifier outputs for guitar and organ.

Organ tones are sounded in one of three ways; in 'normal' mode, by pressing any string onto a fret; in 'percussion' mode, by fretting any string and touching the included brass plectrum (connected to a short wire plugged into a socket on the scratchplate) onto any metal part of the guitar; or by pressing one of the six 'open string' buttons. There is an option to silence the lowest two strings, and the organ section, as a whole, can also be switched off. There is a four-position octave selector, a six-position effect selector, a four-way selector for the percussion and a flute selector.

The guitar section is equipped with two Vox pick-ups, a three-way selector, and conventional volume and tone controls. In common with Phantom models, it has a Bigsby-style tremolo unit, a fixed-intonation bridge and individual Vox-branded tuners.

The V251 is somewhat awkward to play as the neck is wider at the nut end than at the body, and a player's natural tendency to bend a string results in it slipping off the divided fret. Additionally it is very heavy, weighing, nearly 9 lbs.

The instrument never became popular though it was a precursor to the modern guitar synthesizer. Ian Curtis of Joy Division is sometimes believed to have used a GuitarOrgan, but he actually owned two white Phantom VI special with onboard effects.

Expansion, transistors, and decline
The Vox brand grew quickly in the early 1960s, expanding along with its roster of endorsing musicians. As tube-based amps such as the AC100 were engineered with more power, they developed a reputation for overheating and malfunction. The onset of transistors pushed Vox and other manufacturers to develop solid-state amplifiers as a solution.

In 1964, Tom Jennings developed a relationship with Sepulveda, California-based Thomas Organ Company, which began importing English Vox product lines to the United States. A shift in focus to transistors came with Jennings' decision to sell controlling interest in JMI to the Royston Group, a British holding company, and move some manufacturing to Erith, Kent. The Traveller, Virtuoso, Conqueror, Defiant, Supreme, Dynamic Bass, Foundation Bass and Super Foundation Bass lines were developed and introduced during this period. Jennings remained as chief executive officer until 1969.

With assistance from Dick Denney, Thomas Organ began to produce a line of mostly solid-state amplifiers in the United States that carried the Vox brand and cosmetic stylings. First marketed in 1965, these amps effectively paralleled JMI's own transistor-based amplifiers, but differed from British and Italian made Vox in sound and reliability. To promote their line, Thomas Organ published a magazine called 'Vox Music Scene,' and built the Voxmobile, a Ford roadster dressed up to look like a Phantom guitar - complete with a Continental organ and several "Beatle" amplifiers. Despite the marketing effort, the Vox brand shed endorsees, and sales waned.

Tom Jennings set up a new company in his old Dartford location, joined later by Denney. Jennings Electronic Industries operated for several years, making an updated and rebadged version of the AC30 along with other amplifiers, as well as a new range of organs.

Royston, due to the loss of a lucrative government contract in one of its other companies, filed for bankruptcy in 1968. As a result, the Vox brand passed through a series of owners during the 1970s including a British bank and Dallas Arbiter. The AC30 continued to be built alongside newer solid-state amps, but with a series of cost-cutting measures such as loudspeakers with ceramic magnets, printed circuit boards, solid-state rectification, and particleboard cabinet construction. An all-solid-state version of the AC30 was also introduced alongside the classic, tube-powered model.

Rose Morris bought Vox in 1978 before its distribution deal with Marshall ended. The company attempted to reinvigorate the Vox brand, continuing to build the AC30 along with several new and modern amplifiers.

Korg acquired a majority stake in Rose Morris in 1992, including the Vox product lines. Korg dissolved much of the prior business before renewing the Vox brand based on its traditional strengths.

Renewal and current products
Korg revived the tube rectifier and alnico speakers for their version of the AC30 in what was considered the most faithful version of the amp produced for many years. In 2005, manufacturing was moved to Vietnam, including a yet-newer redesign of the venerable AC30, designated the AC30CC, since superseded by the AC30C2. A hand-wired, heritage version, the AC30H2 (and the wooden cased AC30H2L) were also produced. The AC30CC and AC15CC were later replaced with the AC30C2 and AC15C1 which had solid state rectification and a revised chassis. In 2010, Vox released a Hand-Wired version of the AC30 and AC15 with turret board construction, valve rectification and a choice of Celestion Greenback or Alnico Blue speakers.

In 2011, a hand-wired version of the AC4 was also released.

The AC10 was re-introduced in 2015 as model AC10C1.

Night Train
Vox entered the "lunchbox" amp market in 2009 when it introduced the Night Train (NT15H) head. This compact, all valve amp is a 15W head with two 12AX7 preamp tubes, a pair of push-pull EL-84 valves in its power section, and a solid state rectifier. It used a cathodyne splitter, and its power section is cathode biased. The amp is solidly constructed on a black steel chassis with a bright mirror chrome finish, diamond-perforated steel tube cage, giving it a physical appearance reminiscent of a lunchbox (some comparisons to a toaster have been made as well). The NT15H also set the cosmetic and operational template for two additional releases, also all valve heads, that book-ended its output power: the 2W Lil Night Train (NT2H) in 2010, which uses two 12AX7 preamp tubes and a 12AU7 dual triode as its power section, and the 50W Night Train 50 (NT50H) in 2011, a two channel head with four 12AX7 preamp tubes and a pair of EL-34 valves in its power section. All models feature the ability to choose between the familiar "chimey" Vox voice and a high gain voice that bypasses the EQ section, via the Bright/Thick switch. Note though that each Night Train model's feature set also provides some unique capability apart from its siblings. For example, the NT15H output power can be switched between 15W pentode and 7.5W triode modes. The NT2H provides a headphone/line out jack with on-board speaker emulation (for practice or direct recording use). Lastly, the NT50H offers two channels by adding a second, optionally foot-switchable, higher gain "Girth" channel, a "Tone Cut" control and a "Tight" switch in its master section, plus a bypassable, JFET-driven effects loop. All models were designed for use with most any 8 ohm or 16 ohm cabinet, although Vox also offers a matching cabinet (NT15H/V112NT, NT2H/V110NT, NT50H/V212NT) for each model.

In 2013, Vox released updated "G2" versions of the 15 watt and 50 watt heads, and added a combo version of the NT15H-G2 called the NT15C1. Compared to the original NT15H, the NT15H-G2 adds a foot-switchable Girth channel (which first appeared on the original NT50H) with an additional 12AX7 in the preamp section, a "Dark" switch, a digital reverb, and an effects loop. However, Vox did not retain the pentode/triode output section modes from the "G1" version that allowed for full or half power operation as well as a broader tonal palette. The NT50H-G2 differs from the original NT50H with the additions of an XLR D.I. out and a digital reverb, and the deletions of one 12AX7 preamp tube and the "Tight" switch. It also appears the FX loop is no longer bypassable. Gone is the bright chrome look of the "G1" models as both heads received new cosmetics in the form of a black mirror finish on the tube cage and a new suitcase-type handle. Vox also released "G2" versions of their matching cabs: the V112NT-G2 (one Celestion G12M Greenback speaker), and the V212NT-G2 (two Celestion G12H 70th anniversary model speakers), each also sporting the suitcase-type handle. The new NT15C1 combo combines an NT15H-G2 chassis with a single 16Ω 12" Celestion G12M Greenback speaker in a black tolex cabinet with a suitcase-type handle.

In August 2014, Vox released two Night Train limited editions, both of which were cosmetic updates to the NT2H set and the NT15C1 combo respectively, that recall a more traditional Vox aesthetic. For the Lil' Night Train NT2H-GD-SET, Vox supplied the NT2H head with a matte gold coloured tube cage and black control knobs, and then covered its V110NT cab with a retro-traditional "Brown Diamond" grille cloth and basket weave covering (since there was no "G2" version of the Lil Night Train, this limited edition NT2H seems to mark the end of the line for this model as Vox makes no further reference to it). For the NT15C1-CL (Classic) combo amp Vox applied a similar treatment with the installation of a gold logo badge and trim on the front of the NT15C1 combo as well as adding the "Brown Diamond" grille cloth.

The Night Train series was discontinued in 2017.

Digital modelling amplifiers

Korg introduced the Vox Valvetronix  line of digital modelling amplifiers in 2001. Utilizing Korg's REMS modelling software, the blue-colored Valvetronix amps were driven via the "Valve Reactor" low-power tube preamp stage and a solid-state power amp, emulating 11 classic amplifier sounds with a variety of built-in effects (Notably, Korg did not specifically cite in the product manual which non-Vox amplifiers were modelled.):

 * Boutique CL
 * Black 2×12 (based on 1965 Fender Twin Reverb)
 * Tweed 4×10 (based on 1959 Fender Bassman)
 * AC15 (original Vox amp)
 * AC30TB (original Vox amp)
 * UK '70s (based on Marshall 1959 Super Lead)
 * UK '80s (based on Marshall JCM 800)
 * UK Modern
 * US NuMetal (based on Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier)
 * US HiGain
 * US TweakGain
 * Boutique O.D

The Valvetronix XL series (2007-2009) built on the concept, focused on high gain sounds designed to span the entire range of heavy rock music. With four variations, the Valvetronix XL renamed its control labels with rock-inspired descriptors:
 * Glass / Funked / Buzzsaw / Crunched / Thrashed / Raged / Modern / Fluid / Molten / Black / Damaged

The entire line was refreshed in 2008 with the chrome-tinged Valvetronix VT series, including three programmable memory banks and 22 total amplifier models (in order from green to red mode):

 * Boutique CL / Modded CL: Dumble Overdrive (Clean)/Fender Showman (Dumble Modded)
 * Deluxe Tweed / Tweed 2X12: Fender Tweed Deluxe/Fender '57 Twin Amp
 * Super 4X10 / Tweed 4X10: Fender Super Reverb/Fender Tweed Bassman
 * AC15 TB / AC15: Vox AC15 (1960s Top Boost)/VOX AC15 (1950s EF86)
 * AC30HH / AC30TB: Vox AC30HH / VOX AC30 Top Boost
 * Express Train / Boutique OD: Trainwreck Express/Dumble Overdrive (Overdrive)
 * AC50CP2 / AC30BM: Vox AC50CP2/Vox AC30BM Brian May
 * UK 25TH / UK '80S: Marshall 2555 Slash Jubilee / Marshall JCM800
 * US '90S / Cali Metal: Peavey 6505 / Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier
 * UK Modern / UK '90S: Marshall JVM / Marshall JCM2000
 * Boutique Metal / Metal Bull: Diezel VH4 / VHT Pittbull

Korg/Vox evolved the Valvetronix line from 2010 to 2019, pushed the emulation capacity to 33 different models in the VT+ Series, added a premium VTX 150 variant with professional-grade features, and revised the modeling engine called Virtual Element Technology (VET) engineered to more accurately represent classic sounds. Vox mobile and desktop software were introduced with the 2015 VT20X and VT40X, offering players the ability to further customize sounds.

Vox modelling technology was condensed into the Vox Mini3 (sans the tube preamp) in 2010, a compact, battery-powered, portable amp with separate mic input and controls for busking.

The MV50 series of compact, hybrid amplifier heads released in 2015 were first to feature the Nutube 6P1, a long-life, dual-triode vacuum tube developed by Korg and Noritake Itron Corp. Each variant in the MV50 series emulated an individual style of classic amplifier, including Clean, AC, Rock, Boutique, and High Gain, with basic controls for Gain, Tone, and Volume.

Vox applied the Nutube hybrid approach to the lunchbox-sized VX50GTV in 2019, and the 50-watt, Celestion-backed Cambridge50 in 2020, each modelling 11 revised amplifier models:

Cooltron
Vox developed a line of analog effects pedals dubbed Cooltron, designed to offer guitarists vintage-sounding overdrive, compression, boost, distortion and tremolo. The pedals used low-power 12AU7 tubes to create vintage soft-clipping preamplification. Two of the Cooltron pedals, the Big Ben Overdrive and the Bulldog Distortion, won the Guitar World magazine Platinum Award. Cooltron pedals:

 * Bulldog Distortion
 * Brit Boost
 * Big Ben Overdrive
 * Duel Overdrive
 * Over the Top Boost
 * Snake Charmer Compressor
 * VibraVOX

title: Vox (company)


text:
Pitcher plant

Pitcher plant trichomes pollen.jpg inner surface of pitcher plant

]]

Pitcher plants are several different carnivorous plants that have modified leaves known as pitfall traps—a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The traps of what are considered to be "true" pitcher plants are formed by specialized leaves. The plants attract and drown the prey with nectar.

Types
The term "pitcher plant" generally refers to members of the Nepenthaceae and Sarraceniaceae families, but similar pitfall traps are employed by the monotypic Cephalotaceae and some members of the Bromeliaceae. The families Nepenthaceae and Sarraceniaceae are the most species-rich families of pitcher plants.

Nepenthaceae
The Nepenthaceae contains a single genus, Nepenthes, containing over 100 species and numerous hybrids and cultivars. In this genus of Old World pitcher plants, the pitchers are borne at the end of tendrils that extend from the midrib of an otherwise unexceptional leaf. Old World pitcher plants are typically characterized as having reduced and symmetrical pitchers with a comprehensive waxy coating on the surface of the inner pitcher wall. The plants themselves are often climbers, accessing the canopy of their habitats using the aforementioned tendrils, although others are found on the ground in forest clearings, or as epiphytes on trees.

Pitcher Plant
The New World pitcher plants (Sarraceniaceae), which comprise three genera, are ground-dwelling herbs whose pitchers arise from a horizontal rhizome. In this family, the entire leaf forms the pitcher, as opposed to Nepenthaceae, where the pitcher arises from the terminal portion of the leaf. The species of the genus Heliamphora, which are popularly known as marsh pitchers (or erroneously as sun pitchers), have a simple rolled-leaf pitcher, at the tip of which is a spoon-like structure that secretes nectar. They are restricted to areas of high rainfall in South America. The North American genus Sarracenia are the trumpet pitchers, which have a more complex trap than Heliamphora, with an operculum, which prevents excess accumulation of rainwater in most of the species. The single species in the California genus Darlingtonia is popularly known as the cobra plant, due to its possession of an inflated "lid" with elegant false-exits, and a forked "tongue", which serves to ferry ants and other prey to the entrance of the pitcher. The species in the genus Sarracenia readily hybridize, making their classification a complex matter.

The purple pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, is the floral emblem of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Cephalotaceae
The Cephalotaceae is a monotypic family with but one genus and species, Cephalotus follicularis. This species has a small (2–5 cm) pitcher similar in form to those of Nepenthes. Unlike in Nepenthes, in Cephalotus follicularis the petiole is attached to the rear of the upper trap rim rather than to the base of the pitcher. The species occurs in only one location in southwestern Australia.

Bromeliaceae
A few species of bromeliads (Bromeliaceae), such as Brocchinia reducta and Catopsis berteroniana, are known or suspected to be carnivorous.

Attraction
Foraging, flying, or crawling insects such as flies are attracted to a cavity formed by the cupped leaf, often by visual lures such as anthocyanin pigments, and nectar. Many pitcher plants exhibit patterns of ultraviolet coloration which may play a role in attracting insects. Some species, such as Cephalotus follicularis, likely use camouflage to trap insects, as their coloration matches that of the surrounding environment and the plants are often embedded in the substrate such that the traps are flush with the ground.

Olfactory cues can also play a role in attraction. For example, Nepenthes rafflesiana uses flower-scent mimicry to attract insects to its pitchers.

Capture
The rim of the pitcher (peristome) is slippery when moistened by condensation or nectar, causing insects to fall into the trap. The walls of the pitfall may be covered with waxy scales, protruding aldehyde crystals, cuticular folds, downward-pointing hairs, or guard-cell-originating lunate cells, to help prevent escape. The small bodies of liquid contained within the pitcher traps are called phytotelmata. They drown the insect, whose body is gradually dissolved. This may occur by bacterial action (the bacteria being washed into the pitcher by rainfall), or by digestive enzymes secreted by the plant itself. Pitcher trap fluids largely vary in their viscoelasticity and acidity, which then dictates which type of prey they can target. For example, increased viscoelasticity is associated with increased insect retention to help capture flying insects such as flies, whereas increased fluid acidity can decrease insect killing-time, which can help capture crawling insects such as ants. Some pitcher plants contain mutualistic insect larvae, which feed on trapped prey, and whose excreta the plant absorbs.

Digestion
Whatever the mechanism of digestion, the prey items are converted into a solution of amino acids, peptides, phosphates, ammonium and urea, from which the plant obtains its mineral nutrition (particularly nitrogen and phosphorus). Like all carnivorous plants, pitcher plants all grow in locations where the soil is too poor in minerals and/or too acidic for most plants to survive. Pitcher plants supplement available nutrients and minerals (which plants normally obtain through their roots) with the constituents of their insect prey.

Feces-trapping symbiosis
Mature plants of Nepenthes lowii attract tree shrews (Tupaia montana), which feed on nectar that the plant produces but also defecate into the pitcher, providing nitrates and other nutrients. The plant and tree shrew have a symbiotic relationship. The rim of N. lowii is not slippery so that tree shrews can easily get in and out; it provides more nectar than other pitcher plants. The shape of the pitcher rim and the position of the nectar ensure that the animal's hindquarters are over the rim while it feeds.

Nepenthes rafflesiana var. elongata has a similar relationship with Hardwicke's woolly bats (Kerivoula hardwickii). The bats roost inside the pitchers and the plants derive much of their foliar nitrogen from the feces of the bats. Compared to other varieties of Nepenthes rafflesiana that do not exhibit this form of mutualism, N. rafflesiana var. elongata has elongated pitchers that can accommodate both single bats and mother-juvenile pairs. As well as its elongated shape, N. rafflesiana var. elongata has reduced volumes of pitcher fluid compared to other species, leaving more space to accommodate the bats.

Evolution of the form
It is widely assumed pitfall traps evolved by epiascidiation (infolding of the leaf with the adaxial or upper surface becoming the inside of the pitcher), with selection pressure favouring more deeply cupped leaves over evolutionary time. The pitcher trap evolved independently in three eudicot lineages and one monocot lineage, representing a case of convergent evolution. Some pitcher plant families (such as Nepenthaceae) are placed within clades consisting mostly of flypaper traps, indicating that some pitchers may have evolved from the common ancestors of today's flypaper traps by loss of mucilage.

title: Pitcher plant


text:
Talk:The Troubles

Undue Weight to Independent NI Proposal
I find it very strange that the "Proposal of an independent Northern Ireland" section is twice as long as the entire "Political process" section, while not even the Agreement has its own section. The section is almost entirely an analysis of PM Wilson's unimplemented ideas. Also, the section also seems, to me, to promote a unionist view of the situation (e.g the UK couldn't possibly leave Northern Ireland). As discussed elsewhere on this talk page there is not enough information about diplomacy— I think this section should be dramatically reduced to make room for more impactful diplomacy topics. Placeholderer (talk) 16:01, 11 February 2024 (UTC)

 * Support. This could largely be done with copyediting, I think. But some of the narrative is extremely unencyclopedic ("The British so wanted to leave Northern Ireland in 1975, however, that only the catastrophic consequences of doing so prevented it" -- what the hell is that). Yr Enw (talk) 18:02, 11 February 2024 (UTC)
 * I would say Remove the entire section, and replace it with two or three short sentences, suitably sourced. Scolaire (talk) 10:53, 13 February 2024 (UTC)

Infobox photo
Couldn't we get something a bit more informative/context-setting than the present map? The collages at Iraq War, Vietnam War, Malayan Emergency are all pretty good I think. Perhaps something put together using the below pictures. I couldn't find a good PD/CC photo of Irish Republicans (not re-enactors) to add to this but perhaps someone here knows of one? I see this was last discussed in 2018 with a rough consensus that the infobox image wasn't great but no replacement put forward. FOARP (talk) 14:51, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

 * The replacement of the map would be an excellent idea. However I don't believe any of those images are any good, other than possibly the Free Derry one. The problem is the important part of the image is in each case very small (but still generally in need of the rest of the image to provide important context), and once displayed in the infobox would not really look that good I don't think. Kathleen's bike (talk) 19:07, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

 * A collage would perhaps be a good replacement but care must be taken that the chosen picture are balanced. Just an idea:
 * a row with a picture of a bonfire and an H-block monument.
 * a row with a picture of bishop Edward Daly and a picture of Ian Paisley
 * a row with road blocks and peace walls
 * The Banner talk 20:09, 19 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Do we have these pictures in Wiki-Commons, or otherwise public domain/CC-licence? FOARP (talk) 21:57, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

Infobox
I have reversed, for the third time, an attempt by the same editor to add a nuanced point to the infobox. It is not an appropriate place for claims such as "sometimes" or "covertly", and I note that the sources provided don't support the precise claim being made anyway, since "Members of the RUC and UDR" and "senior Royal Ulster Constabulary and Ulster Defence Regiment officers were aware and in some cases approved of collusion" is not the same as "United Kingdom (covertly)". Kathleen's bike (talk) 14:07, 26 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Agree. British Armed Forces and RUC are already in the infobox as belligerents. It's not appropriate to have them in the Ulster Loyalist column as well, with or without qualifiers. Scolaire (talk) 15:37, 26 March 2024 (UTC)
 * The infobox on Years of Lead lists the CIA under both the first and third infoboxes. Why can't the same be done here?--Bill3602 (talk) 07:40, 29 March 2024 (UTC)
 * In that infobox the CIA falls under "supported by" in both the first and third columns. In this one British Armed Forces and RUC are in the first column as belligerents. Listing them also under "supported by" in the third column is not appropriate. Scolaire (talk) 11:03, 29 March 2024 (UTC)
 * There is also difficulty regarding the level of collusion. Depending on who you ask, collusion was authorised at a high level or was simply the result of a few "rotten apples" within the ranks of the RUC and UDR, or somewhere inbetween. Therefore it's inappropriate to simply list the organisation even with a qualifier such as "sometimes" or "covertly" which fails to explain the complexity of the issue. The infobox simply isn't an appropriate place to deal with conplex nuances. Kathleen's bike (talk) 16:49, 30 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Agree The Troubles are far more complex then an infobox can reflect. And there are a lot of shades between white and black. The Banner  talk 17:19, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

 * Would it be appropriate to include them under a qualifier like "Alleged"? I don't fully understand why inclusion as a belligerent makes it inappropriate to do something along those lines— is there a policy page to clarify? (Still learning this stuff!) Placeholderer (talk) 22:39, 4 April 2024 (UTC)

Proposal to remove "supported by" or similar from infobox
This has been deprecated at the infobox, see the request for comment at Template talk:Infobox military conflict. Obviously that consensus takes precedence over any local consensus here, but thought it prudent to at least give some notice of its pending removal. Kathleen's bike (talk) 23:45, 4 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Partially Agree While I acknowledge the consensus and agree that, following the consensus, it is probably best to remove Libya, South Africa, etc., I do think that the issue of alleged RUC/BAF support for the loyalists is pretty important to the Troubles and could be worth including in a summary infobox (and it's rightfully mentioned in the intro). I admit this could be because I'm still used to seeing the "support" field, but I think that not including that in the infobox could be seen to promote the not-universally-agreed-upon idea of British neutrality in the conflict. Placeholderer (talk) 03:07, 5 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Agree, for all the reasons given in that RfC. If it's deprecated, it should go. With respect, it makes no sense whatever to remove "South Africa (arms shipments)", which is at least specific, and then add "United Kingdom (sometimes)" or "United Kingdom (covertly)", which is vague and confusing. Collusion is dealt with in the lead, and has its own section. If you think that the article generally promotes the idea of British neutrality in the conflict, you can raise it here on the talk page, or boldly fix it.  Scolaire (talk) 11:07, 5 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Also with respect, I think that "(alleged)" would communicate the issue pretty effectively and specifically. I just think that it's not ideal for the only infobox options to be either to have the British as a completely independent belligerent, or have them fully supporting the loyalists (not to say that's your suggestion). From glancing at the article I think that the nuance is covered reasonably within the article, but I think it would be helpful to communicate that nuance in the infobox as well. That's compared to South African arms shipments, which weren't at all a defining component of the loyalist/republican conflict. I'll go peacefully if I'm outvoted on this— but I think as per the template discussion this would be a "rare" situation where making an exception to include a reference to alleged British support is more beneficial than bad. Placeholderer (talk) 13:20, 5 April 2024 (UTC)
 * The problem is if you allow one exception, people will want other exceptions to be made. There's a definite case to be made that the arms supplied by Irish Americans and Libya to the Provisionals played a huge role in the conflict. And once you add those, people will say that the South African supply of arms to loyalists should be added too, since that was definitely a factor (along with collusion) in the increase in loyalist killings in the early 1990s. And once that's added, we're right back with the infobox as it is at the moment (with the exception of the Soviet arms supply to the Sticks not being mentioned). Kathleen's bike (talk) 17:24, 5 April 2024 (UTC)
 * The issue of British support for loyalists is very different from Libyan, South African, NORAID, or USSR support, particularly because the British are listed as a belligerent. To exclude their support entirely passively promotes unionist POV, while to include them entirely as supportive of unionists promotes nationalist POV. It's not a major source of Troubles-relevant contention for anyone I know of that South Africa supported the loyalists, while the allegation of British support for the loyalists was a very major issue to nationalist politicians (especially in Sinn Fein) at the time.
 * Under the template discussion I don't think the other sources of support are relevant enough to include. Placeholderer (talk) 17:51, 5 April 2024 (UTC)
 * To be blunt, "United Kingdom (alleged)" would not communicate the issue either effectively or specifically, or at all. It wasn't needed for the last 20 years and it's not needed now. Scolaire (talk) 18:25, 5 April 2024 (UTC)
 * I think it'd be effective, but to be precise I should've said "precise" instead of specific (since you're right, it's definitely not specific).
 * I'm clearly in the minority here and am going a bit beyond my comfort zone by perpetuating this discussion, so I'll step away unless stuff gets stirred up, but I'm not really convinced. I acknowledge the current consensus! Not to grab for the last word, and I know you don't mean for the 20 years comment to be taken too literally, but infoboxes are newer than that and the "Support" stuff even newer. The summary of my argument is that I think properly referencing alleged British support in the infobox could be good for NPOV, and I think that NPOV should take precedence over an admittedly strongly suggested convention. Thanks for being polite, all! Placeholderer (talk) 20:12, 5 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Agree with complete removal. We already have the section "Support outside Northern Ireland" where the nuances in more detail can be discussed. Plus we have the section "Collusion between security forces and paramilitaries". The Banner  talk 15:44, 5 April 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:The Troubles


text:
Sarraceniaceae

Sarraceniaceae are a family of pitcher plants, belonging to order Ericales (reassigned from Nepenthales).

The family comprises three extant genera: Sarracenia (North American pitcher plants), Darlingtonia (the cobra lily or California pitcher plant), and Heliamphora (sun pitchers). The extinct Archaeamphora longicervia may also belong to this family, although later studies question that interpretation. All three are carnivorous plants that lure insects with nectar and use their elongated, tube-shaped leaves filled with water and digestive enzymes to catch and consume them. Digestive enzymes are not always produced by the plants themselves. Digestive mutualisms are common in Sarraceniaceae: both Sarracenia and Darlingtonia rely on commensal bacteria to supplement or produce all of their enzymes. Many species also use downward-pointing hairs and waxy secretions to make it difficult for insects to escape.

Sarracenia and Darlingtonia are native to North America, while Heliamphora is native to South America. Previous phylogenetic analysis suggests that the family originated in South America about 47 million years ago and spread to North America soon after, about 35 million years ago. The Sarracenia and Heliamphora clade diverged from Darlingtonia around this time, most likely due to a cooling event at the beginning of the Oligocene. Sarracenia diverged from Heliamphora later, around 23 million years ago. However, recent study found that the divergence times in Sarraceniaceae could be much older. The family could have originated about 88 million years ago during Late Cretaceous. The Sarracenia and Heliamphora clade could have diverged from Darlingtonia around 54 million years ago during Early Eocene. Sarracenia and Heliamphora could have split around 36 million years ago during Late Eocene.

These plants grow in nutrient-poor, often acidic soil and use the insects as a nutritional supplement. As such, growth of carnivorous pitchers is plastic: as soil nitrogen increases, Sarracenia produces fewer pitchers. The pitchers originate from a rhizome and die back during the winter dormancy. Plants of the genus Sarracenia occur mostly in Sphagnum bogs.

Most Sarraceniaceae have tall, narrow pitchers that are vertical or nearly so. Sarracenia purpurea, however, has short, squat, bulbous pitchers close to the ground, and Sarracenia psittacina has pitchers that grow horizontally.

The purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea) is the official flower of Newfoundland and Labrador.

title: Sarraceniaceae


text:
User talk:Spartacan

Welcome!

title: User talk:Spartacan


text:
Glyndŵr's Way

Glyndŵr's Way (Llwybr Glyndŵr) is a long-distance footpath in mid-Wales. It runs for 135 mi in an extended loop through Powys between Knighton and Welshpool, and anchored on Machynlleth to the west.

History
Its name derives from the early-15th-century Welsh prince and folk hero Owain Glyndŵr, whose parliament sat in Machynlleth in 1404. Glyndŵr's Way was granted National Trail status in 2000 to mark the beginning of the third millennium and the 600th anniversary of an ill-fated but long-running and culturally significant rebellion in 1400.

Route
The footpath officially begins in Knighton, on the English border, where it links with Offa's Dyke Path. Running in roughly a horseshoe shape, it passes small market towns such as Llanidloes and quiet villages including Abbeycwmhir and Llanbadarn Fynydd, traversing central mid-Wales to Machynlleth near the Dyfi estuary and returning across Wales via Llanbrynmair, Llangadfan and Lake Vyrnwy and the valley of the River Vyrnwy to Welshpool 4 mi from the Wales–England border.

The route passes nationally important Welsh natural habitats such as sessile oak woodlands, upland mire and heath, and ancient hedgerows. The area from Staylittle to Aberhosan is noted for its heather moorlands.

title: Glyndŵr's Way


text:
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a civil–military public international airport 3 mi east of downtown Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is Arizona's largest and busiest airport; among the largest commercial airports in the United States, PHX was the 8th-busiest airport in the United States and 22nd-busiest in the world in 2021. The airport serves as a hub for American Airlines and a base for Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

The airport is also home to the 161st Air Refueling Wing (161 ARW), an Air Mobility Command (AMC)–gained unit of the Arizona Air National Guard. The military enclave is known as the Goldwater Air National Guard Base. One of two flying units in the Arizona ANG, the 161 ARW flies the KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft. In addition to its domestic role as a National Guard unit, answering to the Governor of Arizona, the 161 ARW also performs both a stateside and overseas role as a USAF organization, supporting air refueling and air mobility missions worldwide.

Early history

Sky Harbor Airport's evocative name was conceived by J. Parker Van Zandt, the owner of Scenic Airways, who purchased 278 acres of farmland for Scenic's winter operations in November 1928. Sky Harbor was not only named but founded and built by Van Zandt in late 1928. He immediately commenced building a 100 x 120 foot airplane hangar and through early 1929 built one runway. This was the fourth airport built in Phoenix. Scenic Airways, lacking funds after the infamous Stock Market Crash of 1929, sold the airport to Acme Investment Company, which owned the airport until 1935, when the city of Phoenix purchased Sky Harbor airport from Acme for $100,000.

Historical airline service
On February 23, 1929, Maddux Air Lines began the airport's first scheduled passenger service with a route between San Francisco and El Paso stopping in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and several other cities; however the service was short lived, ending by autumn 1929. Standard Air Lines had been serving Phoenix since late 1927 at a different airport and began landing at Sky Harbor on August 5, 1929. Standard operated a route between Los Angeles and El Paso stopping at Phoenix, Tucson, and Douglas, Arizona. Standard was acquired by American Airways in 1930 which later became American Airlines. American extended the route eastward to New York by way of Dallas, Nashville, and many other cities making for a southern transcontinental route across the United States. TWA began service to San Francisco in 1938 and added Phoenix onto its transcontinental network by 1944 with flights to Los Angeles and eastward to New York stopping at Albuquerque, Kansas City, and many more cities. Arizona Airways began intrastate service within Arizona in 1946 and merged into Frontier Airlines in 1950 which added new routes to Denver, Albuquerque, and El Paso. Bonanza Airlines began service by 1951 with a route to Las Vegas and Reno making several stops at smaller communities. New routes to Salt Lake City and Southern California were added in the 1960s along with nonstop flights to Las Vegas and Reno aboard Douglas DC-9 jets by 1965. Bonanza merged with two other carriers to become Air West in 1968 and was changed to Hughes Airwest in 1970 adding several new routes, including service to Mexico, creating a hub at Phoenix. Hughes Airwest was then merged into Republic Airlines in 1980 which continued the Phoenix hub operation until the mid-1980s. Western Airlines came to Sky Harbor in 1957 with flights to Denver, Los Angeles and San Diego, Continental Airlines came in 1961 to El Paso, Los Angeles, and Tucson, and Delta Air Lines began flights to Dallas by 1969.

Bonanza Air Lines moved its headquarters from Las Vegas to Phoenix in 1966. Bonanza merged with two other airlines to form Air West, which became Hughes Airwest after Howard Hughes bought it in 1970.

After the Airline Deregulation Act was signed in 1978, many new airlines began service to Sky Harbor. In 1978, former Hughes Airwest executive Ed Beauvais formed a plan for a new airline based in Phoenix. He founded America West Airlines in 1981, which began service from Phoenix in 1983 and doubled in size during its first year. Eastern Airlines and Allegheny Airlines soon began service in 1979 followed by United Airlines in 1980. Allegheny changed its name to USAir shortly after beginning service in 1979. Southwest Airlines arrived at Phoenix in January 1982 with 13 daily flights to 12 cities; by 1986 it had 64 daily flights from Phoenix and had a crew base there. Southwest opened a maintenance facility at PHX in 1992, which was its largest.

America West filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1991 and sold its larger aircraft and Japanese route authority, but continued growing its domestic operations from Terminal 4 in cooperation with Continental Airlines. Although AWA enjoyed further growth at Phoenix during the 1990s the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks strained its financial position. AWA ended its relationship with Continental and merged with US Airways in 2005. US Airways moved its headquarters to the AWA campus in Tempe and retained many AWA managers to run the merged company. US Airways was then merged into American Airlines in 2015 which continues to build upon the largest hub operation at Phoenix Sky Harbor.

Sky Harbor landed its first transatlantic flights in 1996 when British Airways inaugurated nonstop service to London. The flight was first operated with a Douglas DC-10 aircraft but soon upgraded to a Boeing 747-400.

Facilities expansions and growth
After World War II the airport began work on a new passenger terminal, as well as a new parallel runway and a diagonal runway. On the February 1953 C&GS diagram runways 8L and 8R are each 6000 ft long and runway 3 is 5500 ft. The $835,000 Terminal 1 (originally called the West Wing), which also had the first control tower, opened in October 1952.

The airport's master plan was redesigned in 1959 to eliminate the cross runway to make room for new terminals. American and TWA began jet service to Phoenix in 1960 and 1961 respectively, and Terminal 2 (originally called the East Wing) opened in 1962. Terminal 2 was designed by the Phoenix architectural firms of Weaver & Drover and Lescher & Mahoney and opened in 1962. Terminal 2 also featured a 16 ft high and 75 ft wide mural composed of 52 different materials, including mosaic glass, gemstones, shells, and vintage toys.

The Phoenix, designed by the late French-American artist and full-time resident of Phoenix Paul Coze, was commissioned in 1960 as Phoenix's first work of public art and was installed in 1962 in the main lobby area of the terminal. The Phoenix was relocated to the Rental Car Center in 2021 following the decommisioning and demolition of Terminal 2. In November 2006, a Military and Veterans Hospitality Room, sponsored by the Phoenix Military and Veterans Commission, was opened in Terminal 2. It has since relocated to Terminal 4 as the new USO club. This terminal underwent two renovation projects. The first was completed in 1988. The second project, which cost $24 million and was designed by DWL Architects + Planners, Inc., was completed in 2007.

Construction on Terminal 3 began in January 1977. Designed by DWL Architects + Planners, Inc., Terminal 3 opened in October 1979, and the "East" and "West" names were dropped since there were no longer only two terminals.

In October 1989, ground was broken for Terminal 4, the largest terminal. It opened on November 2, 1990, with four concourses: N2 and N3 on the north side and S3 and S4 on the south side. In 1994 the N4 International Concourse was opened, adding 10 gates and a sterile walkway to the S4 concourse. In 1997 construction began on the 14-gate N1 concourse for America West Airlines. It was completed in June 1998 at a cost of $50 million, completing the expansion of the north side of the terminal. On the south side of the terminal, construction began in 2002 on the eight-gate S2 concourse for Southwest Airlines. This project was completed in 2004 and has a different architectural design from the other six concourses. The eighth and final concourse for Terminal 4 began construction in May 2019. Terminal 4 is named after former Arizona Senator and 1964 Presidential candidate Barry M. Goldwater. After Goldwater's death in 1998, the then-mayor of Phoenix, Skip Rimsza, proposed renaming the airport in Goldwater's memory but was deluged with public support for the familiar "Sky Harbor" name. Terminal 4, designed by DWL Architects + Planners, Inc., is the largest and busiest of the two terminals with 86 gates, divided into seven satellite concourses connected behind security.

In 2007, the Transportation Security Administration introduced the first of its backscatter X-ray machines at PHX.

Recent developments
In February 2020, Terminal 2 accepted its final flight and was then decommissioned. Demolition occurred in early 2021 with the terminal being replaced by concrete stands for aircraft, accessible by bus from other terminals. Airlines previously using Terminal 2 were relocated to Terminal 3, which had completed renovations in January 2020.

In January 2021, Terminal 3 was renamed in honor of Senator John McCain by the Phoenix City Council.

In February 2024, the airport announced plans for infrastructure upgrades at its central utility plant in Terminal 4, which will improve air conditioning at the airport. The $36 million project was funded by a FAA Airport Terminal Program grant included in the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that was signed into law by President Joe Biden.

On April 29, 2024, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego announced that a new terminal would be constructed on the west end of the property near the former location of Terminal 2. She said that in 2023 the airport welcomed more than 48 million passengers and with continued growth expected the new terminal was needed to accommodate growing demand and handle the increased number of travelers. The terminal would feature a new customs facility and would be designed to have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, making it an environmentally friendly structure.

Terminals
The airport has 117 active aircraft gates in two Terminals (3 and 4). The airport administration states that the designations Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 have been "retired" and that it did not wish to renumber the other terminals since passengers were already familiar with the numbers in place. Terminals 3 and 4 continued to retain their numbers after the closing of Terminal 2. Bus gates are planned to be operated on the Terminal 2 site. Terminal 3 is used by most domestic or precleared arrivals including Frontier Airlines. International carriers, American and Southwest operate in Terminal 4.

 * Terminal 3 contains 25 gates.
 * Terminal 4 contains 92 gates.

Runways
PHX covers 3400 acre at an elevation of 1135 ft. The airport has three parallel concrete/grooved runways:
 * Runway 8/26 measuring 11489 x
 * Runway 7L/25R measuring 10300 x
 * Runway 7R/25L measuring 7800 x

All three runways can accommodate aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of 900000 lb or greater.

Sky Harbor's private airplane area is also one of eight service centers for the Medevac airline Air Evac.

ATC tower
The airport's 326 ft air traffic control tower began operations on January 14, 2007. It stands just east of the Terminal 3 parking garage, and also houses the Phoenix TRACON. This is Sky Harbor's third control tower and is among the tallest control towers in North America.

Museum
The Phoenix Airport Museum is a museum displaying artwork and local aviation memorabilia located inside the terminal.

Passenger
The following airlines operate regularly scheduled passenger flights at Sky Harbor Airport:

Statistics
From 1951 through the end of 2023, over 1.425 billion passengers (domestic and international, enplaned and deplaned) have transited through PHX, an annual average of over 19.5 million passengers. In the same time frame there were over 29.5 million aircraft movements (commercial, military, general aviation) at PHX, an annual average of about 404,800 movements. PHX has grown over the years into a major US hub, and in 2020 was ranked the 24th-busiest airport in the world and eighth-busiest airport in the United States in passenger boardings.

Ground transportation
Travelers can access both terminals from the East Economy Parking by using the PHX Sky Train. There is also terminal parking adjacent to each terminal. The airport continues to provide shuttle bus service between the terminals and the rental car center with separate routes serving each terminal until the PHX Sky Train project is complete.

Valley Metro bus route 13 has a stop near the Airport's Operations building, west of Terminal 3. Travelers connecting to or from the Greyhound station can use the Valley Metro route 13 bus. The Valley Metro Rail has a stop at the nearby 44th St/Washington light rail station. A moving sidewalk bridge over Washington Street allows light rail passengers to arrive at the nearby PHX Sky Train station and then onward to stations at the East Economy Parking Lot and Terminal 3 and 4. Valley Metro bus routes 44 serve the PHX Sky Train station at 44th Street and Washington.

A number of taxi, limousine, ride share and shuttle companies provide service between each airport terminal, the Phoenix metropolitan area, and other communities throughout the state.

By road, the airport terminals are served by East Sky Harbor Boulevard, which is fed by Interstate 10, Arizona State Routes 143 and 202.

PHX Sky Train
The PHX Sky Train is an automated people-mover, much like those found at other airports, that transports Sky Harbor passengers from the 44th Street and Washington Light Rail station to Sky Harbor's East Economy Parking lot, through both terminals. Phase 1 opened on April 8, 2013, and runs from the 44th Street and Washington Light Rail station, to East Economy Parking and on to Terminal 4. Phase 1A shuttles passengers to Terminal 3. Phase 1A opened on December 8, 2014. Phase 2 transports passengers to the Rental Car Center. Phase 2 opened on December 20, 2022.

Reception
In its 2019 airport rankings, The Wall Street Journal ranked Sky Harbor as the best airport overall among the 20 largest airports in the U.S. "Phoenix excelled in several of the 15 categories, with short screening waits, fast Wi-Fi, good Yelp scores for restaurant reviews, short taxi-to-takeoff times for planes and cheap average Uber cost to get downtown." Sky Harbor won the honor again in 2023, ahead of Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.