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Hong Kong Sevens

The Hong Kong Sevens is a rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. Considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition, the Hong Kong Sevens is currently the seventh tournament on the World Series calendar (following the Canada Sevens). The tournament spans three days, beginning on a Friday and concluding on Sunday. The tournament is organised each year by the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 respectively. The latest Hong Kong Rugby Sevens is being held on Friday 5 April, Saturday 6 April, Sunday 7 April 2024.

History

The season-ending Blarney Stone Sevens had traditionally been a part of the game’s program in Hong Kong, but HKRFU was affiliated to the RFU and internationally the game was controlled by the rugby powers. The Scottish Centenary at Easter 1973 had been a recent international Sevens tournament but to which only the establishment countries were invited. The Hong Kong 7's were originally the idea of Rodney Bentham-Wood, the Rothmans manager for SE Asia. He originally wanted to do a 15 aside but a conversation witi Tokkie Smith pointed out that a 7 aside tournament would be cheaper. Rugby sponsorship was just being introduced and Tokkie ADC Smith, Chairman of HKRFU and worked with Ian Gow of Rothmans Hong Kong to discusse the possibility of a sponsored international rugby tournament in Hong Kong. Tokkie Smith promoted the idea to his President Vernon Roberts and to the Rugby Union Committee but on account of numbers and costs it was decided that any sponsored international tournament would need to be Sevens.

Jock Campbell of Cathay Pacific then offered to sponsor travel and the Committee led by President Vernon Roberts, Chairman Tokkie Smith, Treasurer Bob Gaff and Honorary Secretary Mike Pratt in 1975 made the decision to organize an international Sevens Tournament.

Friendly rugby countries throughout Asia and the Pacific were invited to send teams, creating the highly successful, multiracial tournament. The founding program announced: Rothmans-Cathay Pacific International Seven-a-Side Championship, 28 March 1976, at the Hong Kong Football Club, and the participating countries as Australia, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, and Tonga with Hong Kong as the Home Team.

In view of the enormous success of the Sevens, the Rugby Union Committee determined to continue annually, and Tokkie Smith, still as Chairman, also managed the expanding tournaments in 1977 and 1978, establishing the series and changing rugby forever.

This was an important step as this was one of the first rugby tournaments that attracted commercial sponsorship. Of the countries represented in the inaugural sevens tournament, only Australia and New Zealand did not send national sides, instead being represented by the Wallaroos and the Cantabrians respectively. These two clubs met in the final where the Cantabrians won 24–8.

The series then grew into a competition with national representative sevens sides competing, and with this growth, the tournament moved to the Hong Kong Stadium in 1982.

The Hong Kong Sevens were ahead of their time, and an influential force in the modernisation of rugby union, for example, the Hong Kong Sevens were one of the first rugby union tournaments to attract major sponsorship, when Cathay Pacific sponsored the 1976 tournament. They also provided a level of cosmopolitan international competition, which tended not to exist in rugby before the first Rugby World Cup in 1987, especially since was not seen as one of the "Big Eight", and other than some involvement with, the Commonwealth teams tended to be notoriously clannish. By 1986, the Hong Kong Sevens were held up as a positive example to others:

This Seven-a-Side international tournament is without a doubt the most spectacular, exotic, best organised Rugby competition of its kind in the world, and it has consistently produced the highest standard of Sevens Rugby seen anywhere.

I was not surprised on my first visit to see quality play from the Australian, New Zealand, Fijian, and British players, but I was staggered at the amazingly high quality play produced by countries I never even knew played Rugby. South Korea and Western Samoa were every bit as good as Japan and Tonga. , and  found their lack of sheer size and bulk an insuperable handicap, but against each other they displayed a range of running and handling skills which demanded unqualified praise. , and the  were inevitably outgunned by the teams from the major Rugby-playing nations but they still have a remarkably high level of skill which promises well for the future of the game.

The week of the Hong Kong tournament allows 24 Rugby-playing nations to intermingle for several days, and the huge cross-fertilisation of ideas can only be beneficial in the long term for the emerging nations. After the first day of the play when the top eight seeded teams meet the smaller fish in a pool system, the second day is divided into three different competitions... The strength of this great tournament is that on the opening day the most famous players in the world share a pitch with unknown opponents from countries where Rugby is a minority sport... While tournaments like the Hong Kong Sevens continue to be played, Rugby administrators can be confident that the game will continue to thrive in over 100 countries worldwide.

Bill McLaren, in his autobiography Talking of Rugby writes at length about his Hong Kong Sevens experiences:
 * "I remember a big South Sea islander saying that, in his view, the Hong Kong sevens were really the Olympic games of Rugby Union. Certainly, the Hong Kong event encapsulates all the really good things that the game has to offer–splendid organisation, wonderful sporting spirit, universal camaraderie, admirable field behaviour, the most enjoyable crowd participation, the chance for emergent rugby nations to lock horns with the mighty men of, , , , and the Barbarians. There is, too, scintillating running and handling which is what the game is supposed to be all about."

However, despite this apparent diversity, some of the same old problems which had dogged international rugby were still manifest in the Hong Kong Sevens in the 1980s – for example, in a photograph of the v  game at the tournament in 1984, the teams do not appear to include anyone who is ethnically Arabian or Chinese, instead both teams are quite clearly of northern European ethnic origin.

In 1994, the venue was deemed too small for the tournament and was rebuilt into a 40,000-seat stadium now named the Hong Kong Stadium. New Zealand were the dominant team in the mid 1990s, winning three straight from 1994 to 1996, led by legends Eric Rush and Jonah Lomu.

Today, 24 national representative sides compete in the tournament. These include the 16 'core' members of the IRB Sevens World Series, plus eight further invited teams.

In 1997 and 2005, the Hong Kong Sevens was not held; taking its place was the Rugby World Cup Sevens, which Hong Kong hosted in both years. Fiji won both World Cup Sevens tournaments.

In 1998, the first tournament after the transfer of sovereignty to China, tickets were not sold internationally and the event was stricken with a bankrupt sponsor Peregrine. The Union's Organising Committee worked hard, and successfully implemented its marketing strategy to get the local population involved through "Friday Night is Party Night" and secured CSFB as sponsors "on a spur-of-the-moment", the event was a comparatively huge success. In 2011, after HSBC negotiated title sponsorship to the entire World Sevens Series tournaments, it was no longer possible for Credit Suisse to sponsor the Hong Kong leg after 14 years.

Format
The Hong Kong Sevens is the sport's most prestigious annual rugby sevens event organised as part of the World Rugby Sevens Series. Historically, it had been contested by 24 teams; all other World Series tournaments had 16 teams participating until the 2012–13 edition. The teams are divided into six pools of four teams, who play a round-robin within the pool. The winning team of the tournament acquires 30 points towards its rankings in the World Series instead of the normal 22, and the runner-up earns 25 points instead of the normal 19. Through the 2008–09 World Series, the Hong Kong Sevens awarded 24 points to the runner-up, and 16-team events offered only 20 points for the winner and 16 for the runner-up.

The 2010 edition saw several significant changes to the tournament format. Foremost among these changes was the introduction of the fourth-level Shield trophy, which had not previously been awarded in Hong Kong. More important within the context of the World Series as a whole, the Cup and Plate are now contested in the same manner as in other competitions, with the losing quarter-finalists in the Cup parachuting into the Plate semi-finals.

World Series qualifier
Further major changes were made to the event for 2013. These changes resulted from the decision of World Rugby, then known as the International Rugby Board (IRB), to institute a formal promotion and relegation process for core teams (i.e., teams assured of playing in all series events) starting with the 2012–13 series.

For starters, the number of teams involved in the event increased from 24 to 28. However, only 16 of these teams compete for series points. The 15 core teams were joined in the main draw by the winner of the most recent edition of the HSBC Asian Sevens Series. The remaining 12 teams, specifically two qualifiers from each of the IRB's six regional zones, participated in the World Series Pre-Qualifier. Like the main draw, the Pre-Qualifier grouped the entrants into four-team pools. The top two teams from each pool, plus the top two third-place teams, advanced to a quarterfinal round, with the winners of all four matches, along with the Asian Sevens Series winner, advancing to the World Series Core Team Qualifier at the London Sevens.

The IRB further changed the promotion/relegation process in advance of the 2013–14 series. The Pre-Qualifier was folded into the Core Team Qualifier, which now involves 12 teams competing for a single promotion place as part of that season's Hong Kong Sevens.

The total prize money stands at US$150,000. The Cup Champion wins US$100,000, and the runner-up takes home US$25,000; each semi-finalist loser receives US$12,500.

Pool
Points are awarded in each pool on a different schedule from most tournaments in 15-a-side rugby union—3 for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a loss. The first tiebreaker is the head-to-head result between the tied teams, followed by difference in points scored during the tournament.

Trophies round
Like all other World Series tournaments, four trophies are awarded at the end of a knockout tournament. Before the reorganisation of the tournament in 2013, the six pool winners, plus the two top-rated second-place teams, played for the Cup and Plate. The Cup is awarded to the overall tournament champion. As for the other World Series tournaments, four quarterfinal losers dropped into the bracket for the Plate. The Bowl was contested by the four remaining second-place teams, plus the four top-rated third-place teams, while the Shield was contested by the eight remaining teams. The Shield was contested in Hong Kong for the first time in 2010.

Since the 2013 event, only the 16 teams in the main draw compete for trophies. The format is identical to that of other series events, with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the Cup and Plate tournaments, and the remaining teams contesting the Bowl and Shield. The losers of the Cup quarterfinals drop to the Plate tournament, and the losers of the Bowl quarterfinals drop to the Shield tournament.

Atmosphere
The Hong Kong Rugby Sevens is traditionally one of the biggest events, if not the biggest, on the Hong Kong sporting calendar. As such, there is a tremendous party atmosphere, with the involvement of the entire rugby-playing community. A two-day women's tournament, Hong Kong Women's Rugby Sevens, precedes the men's contests. Under the auspices of the Hong Kong Mini Rugby Football Union, children with local clubs aged between 6 and 12 years play tournaments before the main matches each day. They also take part in the March Past immediately before the semi-final round of the main tournament.

For spectators, particular emphasis is placed on the South Stand, where hordes of fans dress up and dance for most of the duration of Saturday. Activities that typically ensue as the weekend progresses include the throwing of empty beer jugs (banned circa 2006) around the South Stand, Mexican waves, and streakers running across the pitch (prosecutable). Outside the stadium, the 'Sevens Village' at the Indian Recreation Club nearby is an alternative venue to gather and watch matches on giant screens, eat and drink to excess while matches are in progress; and after the match, partying continues with champagne and live music and DJs in the champagne tent. An annual public awareness campaign called "Save Our Sevens" sponsored by KELY Support Group, Hong Kong Rugby Union and supported by Start JG Hong Kong Limited encourages responsible drinking among spectators and interventions among underage drinkers while at the three-day event.

Since 2007 the South Stand has been made officially accessible to over-18s only, due to its hyper and somewhat provocative atmosphere. Streakers were formerly a regular feature, and still occasionally make a showing on the pitch, to the acclamation of the crowd. Nonetheless, most pitch invaders are caught and arrested. Following an incident in 2010 when one spectator climbed onto the crossbars at the south end of the stadium before dodging back into the stands and disappearing, organisers stepped up security and announced a zero-tolerance policy of invaders.

Qualifier results
Since 2014, the Hong Kong Sevens has also featured a qualifying competition where the winner is promoted to "core team" status for the World Rugby Sevens Series the following season.

Players
At each Hong Kong Sevens since 1980, the player who "most exemplifies the spirit and skills needed in rugby sevens" has received 'The Leslie Williams Award for Best and Fairest Player'. It is named for the late Leslie Williams, who lived in Hong Kong from 1955 to 1971 and played for Hong Kong Football Club and the national team. The trophy has been awarded every year since 1980 with the exception of the Rugby World Cup Sevens in 1997 and 2005 when there was a different individual award. Fijian legend Waisale Serevi is the only player to have won the Leslie Williams Trophy three times and he was also named Player of the Tournament at both RWC events.

Young talent
The Hong Kong Sevens has proven a fertile ground for nurturing young players who go on to star in the 15-man game.

For New Zealand, Jonah Lomu, Christian Cullen, Zinzan Brooke, John Schuster, Rodney So'oialo, Joe Rokocoko, Mils Muliaina and Rico Gear were first introduced to the international game of Sevens. For Australia, former captain George Gregan first demonstrated his ability at the Hong Kong Sevens in the same team as Joe Roff and Ben Tune. For Wales, Jamie Roberts and James Hook are among those who went on to the 15-man national team after playing in the Hong Kong Sevens. South Africa, also, have seen Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Ricky Januarie, Brent Russell and Kabamba Floors showcase their variety of skills at the event.

Printed sources

 * Starmer-Smith, Nigel (ed) Rugby – A Way of Life, An Illustrated History of Rugby (Lennard Books, 1986 ISBN 0-7126-2662-X)

title: Hong Kong Sevens


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EIB

EIB may refer to:

Science and technology

 * Earth's energy imbalance, a condition of unequal inflow of energy to, and outflow of energy from, Earth's climate system
 * Element Interconnect Bus, on a Cell microprocessor
 * European Installation Bus, a communications protocol
 * Exbibyte, a unit of digital information

Other uses

 * EIB Network, the syndication network for The Rush Limbaugh Show
 * European Investment Bank, the European Union's financing institution
 * Even in Blackouts, an American band
 * Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction
 * Expert Infantryman Badge, of the United States Army
 * Exportbank, a Philippine commercial bank
 * Extreme Ironing Bureau, the governing body of the tongue-in-cheek sport of extreme ironing

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

title: EIB


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Morwell

Morwell is a town in the Latrobe Valley area of Gippsland, in South-Eastern Victoria, Australia approximately 152 km (94 mi) east of Melbourne.

Morwell has a population of 14,389 people at the.

It is both the capital and administrative centre for the City of Latrobe and the city’s second most populous town after the neighbouring Traralgon. Morwell is located in the centre of the Latrobe Valley urban area, which has a population of 77,168 at the 2021 Census and is home to many of the greater urban area's civic institutions, administrative functions and infrastructure.

The city is known for its role as a major energy production centre for Victoria as the centre of a major coal mining and fossil-fuel power generation industry.

Morwell's centenary rose garden located in the central business district, won an award in 2009 for being a 'garden of excellence'. Since 2018, the town has hosted the International Rose Garden Festival Morwell (IRGFM).

Naming
The name of the town of Morwell is likely to be derived from a local Indigenous word from the Gunai language that means inhabitants of the swamp, referring to the Gunai clan that lived in the area. The nearby town of Moe was named after the Gunai word for swampland, which is a reference to the swamp between Moe and Yarragon that was drained in the 1890s.

From 1914, various newspaper editorials had stated that the name of Morwell comes from the Aboriginal words more willie meaning woolly possum. However, the Gunai word for possum is wadthan and the words wile or wollert come from Kulin words from the Woiwurrung language. The traditional lands of the Kulin nation intersect with the lands of the Gunai people to the west of Warragul, a town 50 km to the west of Morwell, which makes the naming unlikely to originate from a Kulin language. The town of Wollert, Victoria is named after this word for possum.

Morwell River was the first place to be recorded with the name Morwell, using the inconsistent spelling of Morewill River in the 1847 diary of Charles Tyers, Morewell River on an 1847 survey map and River Morewelle in an 1848 notice of pastoral leases. Peter Jeremiah Smith established the Morewell Hotel on the river in 1858 and the name of the early settlement around the hotel was recorded as Morwell Bridge in a government survey in 1861. The name of Morwell was used for the new location of the town centre that surrounded the Morwell railway station after it opened in 1877.

In 1942, station-hand Llew Vary suggested that the name of Morwell is derived from the English town of Morwell on the Morwell River in Cornwall, but lacked any records of the naming. Members of the Morwell Rotary Club and Methodist Church developed the idea further in 1946 and historian Ivan Maddern strongly advocated for the idea from 1962. Methodist ministers communicated with their counterparts in England, who explained that there was a Morwellham on the River Tamar, a 100m-high cliff-face by the river known as Morwell Rocks, a Morwell Barton and a Morwell Priory.

Another theory is that 'Morewell' is a corruption of 'Mary Ville', the original name of the Maryvale pastoral run established in 1845. The run was thought to be named after Mary, daughter of the Bennetts who established the Hazelwood station with Albert Brodribb to the south of Maryvale. However, the Morwell Historical Society wrote that the first recorded reference to 'Morewell' was 1844.

History

The earliest inhabitants of the Morwell district were the Braiakaulung people, one of the five Indigenous Australian clans of the Gunai/Kurnai nation. The Braiakaulung people manufactured stone tools, as long as 5,000 years ago, from silcrete quarries in the Haunted Hills, west of Morwell and the Gunai/Kurnai had lived in the region for more than 20,000 years, according to evidence found at the New Guinea II cave near Buchan, Victoria.

The first Europeans to travel through the area include party of Count Paweł Strzelecki on their journey from the Snowy Mountains in April 1840, after Strzelecki had named Australia's highest peak as Mount Kosciuszko. In 1838, Scottish pastoralist Angus McMillan rode horses up the Latrobe River near Sale, but not as far as Morwell, then made further journeys to Latrobe River after Strzelecki had visited the area. McMillan named the region as 'Caledonia Australis' after his homeland, but the preferred name was 'Gipps Land', later becoming Gippsland, as chosen by Strzelecki in honour of New South Wales Governor George Gipps.

The first Europeans to take land in Morwell were called squatters and ran pastoral leases such as the 17,300 acre Hasellwood (later called Hazelwood) established by Albert Eugene Brodribb and William Bennett in October 1844, the 22,900 acre Mary Ville (later called Maryvale) established by Thomas Gorringe in February 1845, the 24,780 acre Merton Rush station established by Henry Scott in 1846 and the 5,730 acre Scrubby Forest established by Nicol Brown and William Hunter in 1848.

The 1870s were a time of railway building in Victoria. In 1873, the government approved the construction of a railway line from Melbourne to Sale and it was this decision which gave rise to the development of the township of Morwell. The railway station was approximately 3 miles (5 km) from the settlement by the river, leading to new development occurring around the railway station.

The first public sale of land in the town took place in January 1879 but there were at least ten traders operating in the town by that time, a Post Office in the township having been open since 1875 (an earlier PO having served the rural area from 1870 to 1873). On 1 January 1880 Morwell PO was renamed Morwell Bridge and Morwell Railway Station PO (open since 1877) became the main Morwell PO.

A major Research and Development project into the conversion of brown coal into oil, (Brown Coal Liquefaction Victoria or BCLV) was established in Morwell in 1983/84. Funded by the Japanese Government at a cost of over one billion dollars this project established a 50 tonne per day pilot plant which ran until 1991.

Thriving on the success of the power industry, Morwell developed into a city offering substantial housing and financial opportunities for its many residents. With the general growth of the Latrobe Valley, Morwell's success appeared destined to continue. However, the approval by the City of Morwell to build the Mid Valley Shopping Centre complex away from the CBD led to the decline of the CBD, with many empty shopfronts the result. Further, restructuring and privatisation of the State Electricity Commission in the 1990s led to massive job losses in the region, which accelerated the decline of Morwell's central business district. Many shops are now empty and in a state of disrepair.

Amalgamation of the local councils following a Statewide review of local government boundaries in 1994 saw Morwell become part of the City of Latrobe and the civic centre established in Traralgon. With the re-establishment of an elected council, the civic centre was moved back to Morwell and the new council building constructed in 2005 in the hope of leading to a revitalisation of the city centre. Unfortunately, that revitalisation failed to eventuate. The new justice precinct was completed in 2006 and has somewhat increased CBD activity as alleged criminals come to the Morwell justice precinct for processing through the Justice System.

Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in March 2011 show the average wage of Morwell residents to be the lowest of the three major Latrobe Valley towns.

Morwell is the headquarters of the Central Gippsland Institute of Technical and Further Education. It contains a major regional art gallery with an excellent local collection and is noted for its extensive rose gardens. Nearby at Churchill is the Gippsland Campus of Federation University. A commemorative bust of Lt Gen Sir Stanley Savige was erected in 2006. Born in Morwell, Savige founded Legacy Australia following World War 1 to assist widows and families of servicemen.

Morwell is home to the Morwell Centenary Rose Garden, a parkland of over 2 hectares on a former railway reserve that showcases over 3500 roses. In 2009, the garden was presented an 'Award of Garden Excellence' by the World Federation of Rose Societies.

Climate
Morwell experiences an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb). Nights in Morwell are about 2 °C colder than in Melbourne.

Governance
At local level, Morwell is governed by the City of Latrobe and is both the seat of local government and administrative centre. It is represented at local level by two councilors in the Central Ward (formerly by three wards – Rintoull in the city's centre; Tanjil, the north and west; and Firmin, the south).

In the Government of Victoria it is represented in the Victorian Legislative Assembly by the Electoral district of Morwell. The state is responsible for law and order in Morwell. The Latrobe Valley Law Courts located opposite council headquarters in Commercial Road which has branches for the Supreme Court of Victoria, Magistrates' Court of Victoria and County Court of Victoria. It is served by a single Victoria Police police station on Hazelwood Road.

In the Government of Australia, it is represented in Parliament of Australia by the Division of Gippsland.

Education
Morwell has education facilities from preschool education through to vocational education and training. University-level qualifications are available nearby at Federation University Australia, Gippsland campus which is located in the adjacent town of Churchill. Other education and training provider are located in the wider Latrobe Valley urban area. The city has 4 primary schools - Morwell Central Primary School, St Vincent De Paul Primary, Sacred Heart Primary and Morwell Park Primary and a single junior secondary school – Kurnai College Morwell Campus (est 1963). TAFE study in Morwell is available via TAFE Gippsland (initially GippsTAFE, then Federation Training later), as well as apprenticeships and traineeships through Apprenticeships Group Australia.

Transport
The Princes Freeway (A1) bypasses the town to the south while the old Princes Highway which once passed through east–west through its centre is now Princes Drive and Commercial Road. The highway connects Morwell with other Latrobe Valley cities including Moe to the west and Traralgon to the east. Other main roads include the Strzelecki Highway (B460) running south toward Leongatha.

Rail transport includes both passenger rail and freight rail. The town's only station is Morwell railway station which is on the Bairnsdale line. Both the Traralgon V/Line rail service and the Bairnsdale V/Line rail service stop there with a two way hourly service. Travel time to Melbourne ranges from approximately 109 minutes during peak travel times.

General aviation operates from Latrobe Regional Airport which services the whole Latrobe Valley urban area.

Sport
Australian rules football is popular in Morwell. There are two senior clubs in the city: the Morwell Football Club (est 1905) based at the Morwell Recreation Reserve, compete in the Gippsland Football League, while the Morwell East Football Club (est 1973), based at the Morwell East Football Ground compete in the Mid Gippsland Football League. The Morwell Football Ground is home to the Gippsland Power (est 1993) which compete in the TAC Cup and has hosted Australian Football League pre-season matches in 2005 and 2010.

Cricket is also popular with two senior cricket clubs, Morwell and Latrobe, the latter of which Peter Siddle played for in his younger days.

Soccer has a long history in Morwell. The Morwell Falcons were formed in 1961 and eventually reached the National Soccer League which was the top league in Australia. Although they disbanded in 2001 an offshoot club, Falcons 2000, was formed as a direct descendant of the original club and continue to this day. The club plays in the Latrobe Valley Soccer League which is the eighth level of soccer in Victoria, and the ninth nationally. The club's home ground is Latrobe City Stadium.

Fortuna 60 and Morwell Pegasus both compete in the same league as the Falcons 2000. Their home grounds are Crinigan Road South Reserve and Ronald Reserve respectively.

The Morwell Cougars Baseball Club usually forms teams in three senior grades and all junior grades of the Latrobe Valley League. Their diamonds in Toners Lane are the only dedicated diamonds in the League.

American Football is played at Maryvale Recreation Reserve. This is also the home of the local club Gippsland Gladiators which has been based there since 2010, competing in Division 2, of the Gridiron Victoria league.

There is also a 25-metre indoor swimming pool, used by the local swimming club for competitive swimming.

Golfers play at the course of the Morwell Golf Club on Fairway Drive.

Media
Commercial radio stations 531 3GG, 94.3/97.9 Triple M Gippsland, 99.5 TRFM & Gold 1242 service Morwell and the greater Gippsland region. National public broadcaster ABC Gippsland broadcasts on 100.7FM and community station Gippsland FM (Formerly 3GCR) on 104.7FM.

Gippsland FM is the only station in the region with a studio complex in Morwell.

Notable people

 * Paul Abbott, AFL Footballer
 * Ben Ainsworth, AFL Footballer
 * Veronica Gorrie, Aboriginal Australian writer
 * John Hutchinson, Coach and former Soccer player
 * Changkuoth Jiath, AFL Footballer
 * Chips Mackinolty, Radical poster artist and journalist
 * Rocky Mattioli, Italian–Australian World Champion Boxer
 * Paul Morris, Motor racer
 * Bryan Quirk, footballer
 * Peter Siddle, Cricketer
 * Cathie Reid, businesswoman
 * Archie Thompson, footballer
 * John Trevorrow, Australian champion Road cyclist.
 * Vin Waite, footballer
 * Ricky Harrison, Aboriginal Musician,
 * Nicky Moffatt, Aboriginal Musician,

title: Morwell


text:
Talk:EIB

Mac, don't create pages that contain nothing but an external link. What is "EIB"? -- Oliver P. 00:31 Feb 20, 2003 (UTC)

I am creating the page. This is the first step. EIB it´s a standard used in domotics.

February 2015 cleanup
Further explanation of this edit:

 * Removed per WP:DABRL - A link to a non-existent article should only be included on a disambiguation page when an article (not just disambiguation pages) also includes that red link
 * Erratik Institut Berlin, a discordian thinktank
 * Enterprise Information Base, a database where all info in a structured way from several years of an enterprise is stored.
 * Editing in Boston, a scientific editing firm

Hoof Hearted (talk) 14:08, 11 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Removed per MOS:DABABRV - When considering articles to include in the list, it is important that each individual entry is referred to its respective abbreviation within its article
 * No abbreviation is given in the target aritcle:
 * Engraved in Black
 * "Excellence in Broadcasting", Family Guy episode parodying Rush Limbaugh
 * Equity Investment Bank, a member of the Equity Bank Group, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya
 * Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood, a 2005 First-person Shoot video game developed by Gearbox Software
 * An abbreviation other than "EIB" is given in the target article:
 * the Export-Import Bank of the United States actually abbreviated Ex-Im Bank
 * EIB, an alternative name of Bad Company (drum and bass group) actually abbreviated )E|3(
 * Eib or Exbibit (260 bits), a unit of information used, for example, to quantify computer memory or storage capacity actually abbreviated Eibit

title: Talk:EIB


text:
Dreadlocks

Dreadlocks, also known as dreads or locs, are a hairstyle made of rope-like strands of hair. This is done by not combing the hair and allowing it to mat naturally or by twisting it manually. Over time, the hair will form tight braids or ringlets.

Etymology
The history of the name "dreadlocks" is unclear. Some authors trace the term to the Rastafarians, a group of whom apparently coined it in 1959 as a reference to their "dread", or fear, of God. Rastafari developed in Jamaica in the 1930s, decades before the Mau Mau rebellion emerged in Kenya. Byrd and Tharps write that the name "dredlocs" originated in the time of the slave trade: when transported Africans disembarked from the slave ships after spending months confined in unhygienic conditions, whites would report that their undressed and matted kinky hair was "dreadful". According to them it is due to these circumstances that many people wearing the style today drop the "a" in dreadlock to avoid negative implications.

The word dreadlocks refers to matted locks of hair. Several different languages have names for these locks. In Sanskrit it is jaṭā, and in Wolof it is ndiagne and ndjan, In Akan it is mpesempese. In Yoruba it is dada. In Igbo it is ezenwa and elena. In Hamer it is goscha. In Shona it is mhotsi. In Nyaneka it is nontombi.

Africa
According to Sherrow in Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History, dreadlocks date back to ancient times in various cultures. In ancient Egypt, Egyptians wore locked hairstyles and wigs appeared on bas-reliefs, statuary and other artifacts. Mummified remains of Egyptians with locked wigs have also been recovered from archaeological sites. According to Maria Delongoria, braided hair was worn by people in the Sahara desert since 3,000 BC. Dreadlocks were also worn by followers of Abrahamic religions. For example, Ethiopian Coptic Bahatowie priests adopted dreadlocks as a hairstyle before the fifth century AD (400 or 500 AD). Locking hair was practiced by some ethnic groups in East, Central, West, and Southern Africa.

Pre-Columbian Americas
Pre-Columbian Aztec priests were described in Aztec codices (including the Durán Codex, the Codex Tudela and the Codex Mendoza) as wearing their hair untouched, allowing it to grow long and matted. Bernal Diaz del Castillo records: "There were priests with long robes of black cloth... The hair of these priests was very long and so matted that it could not be separated or disentangled, and most of them had their ears scarified, and their hair was clotted with blood."

Hairstyles in Europe

The earliest known possible depictions of dreadlocks date back as far as 1600–1500 BCE in the Minoan Civilization, centered in Crete (now part of Greece). Frescoes discovered on the Aegean island of Thera (modern Santorini, Greece) portray individuals with long braided hair or long dreadlocks. Another source describes the hair of the boys in the Akrotiri Boxer Fresco as long tresses, not dreadlocks. Tresses of hair are defined by Collins Dictionary as braided hair, braided plaits, or long loose curls of hair. Historian Chapin explained that the boys in the Akrotiri Fresco are between the ages of six to ten years old based on their long locks of loose curly hair.

Nineteenth century
In what is now Poland, for about a thousand years, some people wore a matted hairstyle similar to that of some Iranic Scythians. Zygmunt Gloger in his Encyklopedia staropolska mentions that the Polish plait (plica polonica) hairstyle was worn by some people in the Pinsk region and the Masovia region at the beginning of the 19th century. The Polish plait can vary between one large plait and multiple plaits that resemble dreadlocks. Polish plaits according to historical records were often infested with lice. It was believed that not washing and combing the hair would protect a person from diseases. This folk belief was sometimes common in Eastern Europe.

In Senegal, the Baye Fall, followers of the Mouride movement, a Sufi movement of Islam founded in 1887 AD by Shaykh Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke, are famous for growing dreadlocks and wearing multi-colored gowns.

Cheikh Ibra Fall, founder of the Baye Fall school of the Mouride Brotherhood, popularized the style by adding a mystic touch to it. This sect of Islam in Senegal, where Muslims wear ndjan (dreadlocks), aimed to Africanize Islam. Dreadlocks to this group of Islamic followers symbolize their religious orientation. Jamaican Rastas also reside in Senegal and have settled in areas near Baye Fall communities. Baye Fall and Jamaican Rastas have similar cultural beliefs regarding dreadlocks. Both groups wear knitted caps to cover their locs and wear locs for religious and spiritual purposes. Male members of the Baye Fall religion wear locs to detach from mainstream Western ideals.

Twentieth century into present day
In the 1970s in the United States and Britain, Americans and British people attended reggae concerts. This resulted in Americans and British people being exposed to Jamaican culture, including Rastafarians wearing locs. Hippies related to the Rastafarian idea of rejecting capitalism and colonialism, symbolized by the name "Babylon". One of the ways Rastafarians rejected Babylon was by wearing their hair naturally in locs to defy Western standards of beauty. The 1960s was the height of the civil rights movement in the US, and some White Americans joined Black people in the fight against inequality and segregation and were inspired by Black culture. As a result, some White people joined the Rastafarian movement. Dreadlocks were not a common hairstyle in the United States, but by the 1970s, some White Americans were inspired by reggae music, the Rastafarian movement, and African-American hair culture and started wearing dreadlocks. According to authors Bronner and Dell Clark, the clothing styles worn by hippies in the 1960s and 1970s were copied from African-American culture. The word hippie comes from the African-American slang word hip. African-American dress and hairstyles such as braids (often decorated with beads), dreadlocks, and language were copied (appropriated) by hippies and developed into a new countercultural movement used by hippies.

In Europe in the 1970s, hundreds of Jamaicans and other Caribbean people immigrated to metropolitan centers of London, Birmingham, Paris, and Amsterdam. Communities of Jamaicans, Caribbeans, and Rastas emerged in these areas. Thus Europeans in these metropolitan cities were introduced to Black cultures from the Caribbean and Rastafarian practices and were inspired by Caribbean culture, leading some of them to adopt Black hair culture, music, and religion. However, the strongest influence of Rastafari religion is among Europe's Black population.

When reggae music, which espoused Rastafarian ideals, gained popularity and mainstream acceptance in the 1970s, thanks to Bob Marley's music and cultural influence, dreadlocks (often called "dreads") became a notable fashion statement worldwide, and have been worn by prominent authors, actors, athletes, and rappers. Rastafari influenced its members worldwide to embrace dreadlocks. Black Rastas loc their hair to embrace their African heritage and accept African features as beautiful, such as dark skin tones, Afro-textured hair, and African facial features. Hip Hop and rap artists such as Lauryn Hill, Lil Wayne, T-Pain, Snoop Dog, J-Cole, Wiz Khalifa, Chief Keef, Lil Jon, and other artists wear dreadlocks, which further popularized the hairstyle in the 1990s, early 2000s, and present day. Dreadlocks are a part of hip-hop fashion and reflect Black cultural music of liberation and identity. Many rappers and Afrobeat artists in Uganda wear locs, such as Navio, Delivad Julio, Fik Fameica, Vyper Ranking, Byaxy, Liam Voice, and other artists. From reggae music to hip hop, rap, and Afrobeat, Black artists in the African diaspora wear locs to display their Black identity and culture.

Youth in Kenya who are fans of rap and hip hop music, and Kenyan rappers and musicians, wear locs to connect to the history of the Mau Mau freedom fighters who wore locs as symbols of anti-colonialism, and to Bob Marley, who was a Rasta. Hip hop and reggae fashion spread to Ghana and fused with traditional Ghanaian culture. Ghanaian musicians wear dreadlocks incorporating reggae symbols and hip hop clothes mixed with traditional Ghanaian textiles, such as wearing Ghanaian headwraps to hold their locs. Ghanaian women wear locs as a symbol of African beauty. The beauty industry in Ghana believe locs are a traditional African hair practice and market hair care products to promote natural African hairstyles such as afros and locs. The previous generations of Black artists have inspired younger contemporary Black actresses to loc their hair, such as Chloe Bailey, Halle Bailey, and R&B and Pop music singer Willow Smith. More Black actors in Hollywood are choosing to loc their hair to embrace their Black heritage.

Although more Black women in Hollywood and the beauty and music industries are wearing locs, there has never been a Black Miss America winner with locs because there is pushback in the fashion industry towards Black women's natural hair. For example, model Adesuwa Aighewi locked her hair and was told she might not receive any casting calls because of her dreadlocks. Some Black women in modeling agencies are forced to straighten their hair. However, more Black women are resisting and choosing to wear Black hairstyles such as afros and dreadlocks in fashion shows and beauty pageants. For example, in 2007 Miss Universe Jamaica and Rastafarian, Zahra Redwood, was the first Black woman to break the barrier on a world pageant stage when she wore locs, paving the way and influencing other Black women to wear locs in beauty pageants. In 2015, Miss Jamaica World Sanneta Myrie was the first contestant to wear locs to the Miss World Pageant. In 2018, Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers of Britain was crowned Miss Universe wearing her locs and became the first Black British woman to win the competition with natural locs.

Hollywood cinema often uses the dreadlock hairstyle as a prop in movies for villains and pirates. According to author Steinhoff, this appropriates dreadlocks and removes them from their original meaning of Black heritage to one of dread and otherness. In the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, the pirate Jack Sparrow wears dreadlocks. Dreadlocks are used in Hollywood to mystify a character and make them appear threatening or living a life of danger. In the movie The Curse of the Black Pearl, pirates were dressed in dreadlocks to signify their cursed lives.

Hairstyles at Burning Man
In the 1980s, artists and community organizers gathered together to celebrate freedom of expression through art called Burning Man at Baker Beach in San Francisco, California. Burning Man started as a bonfire summer solstice ritual. Over the years, participation in this event grew into the thousands. The location of Burning Man moved from Baker Beach to Black Rock Desert, Nevada. Most of the attendants at Burning Man are White. Anthropologists and historians who studied Burning Man argue that White people at Burning Man appropriate Black and Native American culture in dress and hairstyles, such as Native American headdresses and dreadlocks.

Some authors argue that the appropriation of dreadlocks was taken out of its original historical and cultural context of resisting oppression, having a Black identity, Black unity, a symbol of Black liberation and African beauty, and its spiritual meaning in other cultures to one of entertainment, a commodity, and a "fashion gadget." In response to the backlash from the Black community about concerns of cultural appropriation from fashion creators putting fake dreadlocks on fashion models, in 2016 the modeling agency Assembly New York hired Black men with natural dreadlocks to model the hairstyle in a fashion show at New York Fashion Week.

By culture
Locks (like braids and plaits) have been worn for various reasons in many cultures and ethnic groups around the world throughout history. Their use has also been raised in debates about cultural appropriation.

Africa

The practice of wearing braids and dreadlocks in Africa dates back to 3,000 BC in the Sahara Desert. It has been commonly thought that other cultures influenced the dreadlock tradition in Africa. The Kikuyu and Somali wear braided and locked hairstyles. Warriors among the Fulani, Wolof, and Serer in Mauritania, and Mandinka in Mali were known for centuries to have worn cornrows when young and dreadlocks when old.

In West Africa, the water spirit Mami Wata is said to have long locked hair. Mami Wata's spiritual powers of fertility and healing come from her dreadlocks. West African spiritual priests called Dada wear dreadlocks to venerate Mami Wata in her honor as spiritual consecrations. Some Ethiopian Christian monks and Bahatowie priests of the Ethiopian Coptic Church lock their hair for religious purposes. In Yorubaland, Aladura church prophets called woolii mat their hair into locs and wear long blue, red, white, or purple garments with caps and carry iron rods used as a staff. Prophets lock their hair in accordance with the Nazarene vow in the Christian bible. This is not to be confused with the Rastafari religion that was started in the 1930s. The Aladura church was founded in 1925 and syncretizes indigenous Yoruba beliefs about dreadlocks with Christianity. Moses Orimolade Tunolase was the founder of the first African Pentecostal movement started in 1925 in Nigeria. Tunolase wore dreadlocks and members of his church wear dreadlocks in his honor and for spiritual protection. The Yoruba word Dada is given to children in Nigeria born with dreadlocks. Some Yoruba people believe children born with dreadlocks have innate spiritual powers, and cutting their hair might cause serious illness. Only the child's mother can touch their hair. "Dada children are believed to be young gods, they are often offered at spiritual altars for chief priests to decide their fate. Some children end up becoming spiritual healers and serve at the shrine for the rest of their lives." If their hair is cut, it must be cut by a chief priest and placed in a pot of water with herbs, and the mixture is used to heal the child if they get sick. Among the Igbo, Dada children are said to be reincarnated Jujuists of great spiritual power because of their dreadlocks. Children born with dreadlocks are viewed as special. However, adults with dreadlocks are viewed negatively. Yoruba Dada children's dreadlocks are shaved at a river, and their hair is grown back "tamed" and have a hairstyle that conforms to societal standards. The child continues to be recognized as mysterious and special. It is believed that the hair of Dada children was braided in heaven before they were born and will bring good fortune and wealth to their parents. When the child is older, the hair is cut during a special ritual. In Yoruba mythology, the Orisha Yemoja gave birth to a Dada who is a deified king in Yoruba. However, dreadlocks are viewed in a negative light in Nigeria due to their stereotypical association with gangs and criminal activity; men with dreadlocks face profiling from Nigerian police. In Ghana, among the Ashanti people, Okomfo priests are identified by their dreadlocks. They are not allowed to cut their hair and must allow it to mat and lock naturally. Locs are symbols of higher power reserved for priests. Other spiritual people in Southern Africa who wear dreadlocks are Sangomas. Sangomas wear red and white beaded dreadlocks to connect to ancestral spirits. Two African men were interviewed, explaining why they chose to wear dreadlocks. "One – Mr. Ngqula – said he wore his dreadlocks to obey his ancestors' call, given through dreams, to become a 'sangoma' in accordance with his Xhosa culture. Another – Mr. Kamlana – said he was instructed to wear his dreadlocks by his ancestors and did so to overcome 'intwasa', a condition understood in African culture as an injunction from the ancestors to become a traditional healer, from which he had suffered since childhood." In Zimbabwe, there is a tradition of locking hair called mhotsi worn by spirit mediums called svikiro. The Rastafarian religion spread to Zimbabwe and influenced some women in Harare to wear locs because they believe in the Rastafari's pro-Black teachings and rejection of colonialism.

Maasai warriors in Kenya are known for their long, thin, red dreadlocks, dyed with red root extracts or red ochre (red earth clay). The Himba women in Namibia are also known for their red-colored dreadlocks. Himba women use red earth clay mixed with butterfat and roll their hair with the mixture. They use natural moisturizers to maintain the health of their hair. Hamar women in Ethiopia wear red-colored locs made using red earth clay. In Angola, Mwila women create thick dreadlocks covered in herbs, crushed tree bark, dried cow dung, butter, and oil. The thick dreadlocks are dyed using oncula, an ochre of red crushed rock. In Southern, Eastern, and Northern Africa, Africans use red ochre as sunscreen and cover their dreadlocks and braids with ochre to hold their hair in styles and as a hair moisturizer by mixing it with fats. Red ochre has a spiritual meaning of fertility, and in Maasai culture, the color red symbolizes bravery and is used in ceremonies and dreadlock hair traditions.

Historians note that West and Central African people braid their hair to signify age, gender, rank, role in society, and ethnic affiliation. It is believed braided and locked hair provides spiritual protection, connects people to the spirit of the earth, bestows spiritual power, and enables people to communicate with the gods and spirits. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Atlantic slave trade saw Black Africans forcibly transported from Sub-Saharan Africa to North America and, upon their arrival in the New World, their heads would be shaved in an effort to erase their culture. Enslaved Africans spent months in slave ships and their hair matted into dreadlocks that European slave traders called "dreadful."

African diaspora
In the Black diaspora, Black people loc their hair to have a connection to the spirit world and receive messages from spirits. It is believed locs of hair are antennas making the wearer receptive to spiritual messages. Other reasons people loc their hair are for fashion and to maintain the health of natural hair, also called kinky hair. In the 1960s and 1970s in the United States, the Black Power movement, Black is Beautiful movement, and the Natural hair movement inspired many Black Americans to wear their hair natural in afros, braids, and locked hairstyles. The Black is Beautiful cultural movement spread to Black communities in Britain. In the 1960s and 1970s, Black people in Britain were aware of the civil rights movement and other cultural movements in Black America and the social and political changes occurring at the time. The Black is Beautiful movement and Rastafari culture in Europe influenced Afro-Britons to wear their hair in natural loc styles and afros as a way to fight against racism, Western standards of beauty, and to develop unity among Black people of diverse backgrounds. From the twentieth century to the present day, dreadlocks have been symbols of Black liberation and are worn by revolutionaries, activists, womanists, and radical artists in the diaspora. For example, Black American literary author Toni Morrison wore locs, and Alice Walker wears locs to reconnect with their African heritage.

Natural Black hairstyles worn by Black women are seen as not feminine and unprofessional in some American businesses. Wearing locs in the diaspora signifies a person's racial identity and defiance of European standards of beauty, such as straight blond hair. Locs encourage Black people to embrace other aspects of their culture that are tied to Black hair, such as wearing African ornaments like cowrie shells, beads, and African headwraps that are sometimes worn with locs. Some Black Canadian women wear locs to connect to the global Black culture. Dreadlocks unite Black people in the diaspora because wearing locs has the same meaning in areas of the world where there are Black people: opposing Eurocentric standards of beauty and sharing a Black and African diaspora identity. For many Black women in the diaspora, locs are a fashion statement to express individuality and the beauty and versatility of Black hair. Locs are also a protective hairstyle to maintain the health of their hair by wearing kinky hair in natural locs or faux locs. To protect their natural hair from the elements during the changing seasons, Black women wear certain hairstyles to protect and retain the moisture in their hair. Black women wear soft locs as a protective hairstyle because soft locs enclose natural hair inside soft locs, protecting their natural hair from environmental damage. This protective soft loc style is created by "wrapping hair around the natural hair or crocheting pre-made soft locs into cornrows." In the diaspora, Black men and women wear different styles of dreadlocks. Each style requires a different method of care. Freeform locs are formed organically by not combing the hair or manipulating the hair. There are also goddess locs, faux locs, sister locs, twisted locs, Rasta locs, crinkle locs, invisible locs, and other loc styles.

Australia
Some Indigenous Australians of North West and North Central Australia, as well as the Gold Coast region of Eastern Australia, have historically worn their hair in a locked style, sometimes also having long beards that are fully or partially locked. Traditionally, some wear the dreadlocks loose, while others wrap the dreadlocks around their heads or bind them at the back of the head. In North Central Australia, the tradition is for the dreadlocks to be greased with fat and coated with red ochre, which assists in their formation. In 1931 in Warburton Range, Western Australia, a photograph was taken of an Aboriginal Australian man with dreadlocks.

In the 1970s, hippies from Australia's southern region moved to Kuranda, where they introduced the Rastafari movement as expressed in the reggae music of Peter Tosh and Bob Marley to the Buluwai people in the 1970s. Aboriginal Australians found parallels between the struggles of Black people in the Americas and their own racial struggles in Australia. Willie Brim, a Buluwai man born in the 1960s in Kuranda, identified with Tosh's and Marley's spiritually conscious music, and inspired particularly by Peter Tosh's album Bush Doctor, in 1978 he founded a reggae band called Mantaka after the area alongside the Barron River where he grew up. He combined his people's cultural traditions with the reggae guitar he had played since he was young, and his band's music reflects Buluwai culture and history. Now a leader of the Buluwai people and a cultural steward, Brim and his band send an "Aboriginal message" to the world. He and other Buluwai people wear dreadlocks as a native part of their culture and not as an influence from the Rastafari religion. Although Brim was inspired by reggae music, he is not a Rastafarian as he and his people have their own spirituality. Foreigners visiting Australia think the Buluwai people wearing dreadlocks were influenced by the Rastafarian movement, but the Buluwai say their ancestors wore dreadlocks before the movement began. Some Indigenous Australians wear an Australian Aboriginal flag (a symbol of unity and Indigenous identity in Australia) tied around their head to hold their dreadlocks.

Buddhism/Hinduism
Within Tibetan Buddhism and other more esoteric forms of Buddhism, locks have occasionally been substituted for the more traditional shaved head. The most recognizable of these groups are known as the Ngagpas of Tibet. For Buddhists of these particular sects and degrees of initiation, their locked hair is not only a symbol of their vows but an embodiment of the particular powers they are sworn to carry. Hevajra Tantra 1.4.15 states that the practitioner of particular ceremonies "should arrange his piled up hair" as part of the ceremonial protocol. Archeologists found a statue of a male deity, Shiva, with dreadlocks in Stung Treng province in Cambodia. In a sect of tantric Buddhism, some initiates wear dreadlocks. The sect of tantric Buddhism in which initiates wear dreadlocks is called weikza and Passayana or Vajrayana Buddhism. This sect of Buddhism is practiced in Burma. The initiates spend years in the forest with this practice, and when they return to the temples, they should not shave their heads to reintegrate.

Hinduism
The practice of wearing a jaṭā (dreadlocks) is observed in modern-day Hinduism,  most notably by sadhus who worship Shiva. The Kapalikas, first commonly referenced in the 6th century CE, were known to wear the jaṭā as a form of deity imitation of the deva Bhairava-Shiva. Shiva is often depicted with dreadlocks. According to Ralph Trueb, "Shiva's dreadlocks represent the potent power of his mind that enables him to catch and bind the unruly and wild river goddess Ganga."

In a village in Pune, Savitha Uttam Thorat, some women hesitate to cut their long dreadlocks because it is believed it will cause misfortune or bring down divine wrath. Dreadlocks practiced by the women in this region of India are believed to be possessed by the goddess Yellamma. Cutting off the hair is believed to bring misfortune onto the woman, because having dreadlocks is considered to be a gift from the goddess Yellamma (also known as Renuka). Some of the women have long and heavy dreadlocks that put a lot of weight on their necks, causing pain and limited mobility. Some in local government and police in the Maharashtra region demand the women cut their hair, because the religious practice of Yellamma forbids women from washing and cutting their dreadlocks, causing health issues. These locks of hair dedicated to Yellamma are called jade, believed to be evidence of divine presence. However, in Southern India, people advocate for the end of the practice. The goddess Angala Parameshvari in Indian mythology is said to have cataik-kari matted hair (dreadlocks). Women healers in India are identified by their locs of hair and are respected in spiritual rituals because they are believed to be connected to goddesses. A woman who has a jata is believed to derive her spiritual powers or shakti from her dreadlocks.

Rastafari
Rastafari movement dreadlocks are symbolic of the Lion of Judah, and were inspired by the Nazarites of the Bible. Jamaicans locked their hair after seeing images of Ethiopians with locs fighting Italian soldiers during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. The afro is the preferred hairstyle worn by Ethiopians. During the Italian invasion, Ethiopians vowed not to cut their hair using the Biblical example of Samson, who got his strength from his seven locks of hair, until emperor Ras Tafari Makonnen (Haile Selassie) and Ethiopia were liberated and Selassie was returned from exile. Scholars also state another indirect Ethiopian influence for Rastas locking their hair are the Bahatowie priests in Ethiopia and their tradition of wearing dreadlocks for religious reasons since the 5th century AD. Another African influence for Rastas wearing locs was seeing photos of Mau Mau freedom fighters with locs in Kenya fighting against the British authorities in the 1950s. Dreadlocks to the Mau Mau freedom fighters were a symbol of anti-colonialism, and this symbolism of dreadlocks was an inspiration for Rastas to loc their hair in opposition to racism and promote an African identity. The branch of Rastafari that was inspired to loc their hair after the Mau Mau freedom fighters was the Nyabinghi Order, previously called Young Black Faith. Young Black Faith were considered a radical group of younger Rastafari members. Eventually, other Rastafari groups started locking their hair.

In the Rastafarian belief, people wear locs for a spiritual connection to the universe and the spirit of the earth. It is believed that by shaking their locs, they will bring down the destruction of Babylon. Babylon in the Rastafarian belief is systemic racism, colonialism, and any system of economic and social oppression of Black people. Locs are also worn to defy European standards of beauty and help to develop a sense of Black pride and acceptance of African features as beautiful. In another branch of Rastafari called Boboshanti Order of Rastafari, dreadlocks are worn to display a black person's identity and social protest against racism. The Bobo Ashanti are one of the strictest Mansions of Rastafari. They cover their locs with bright turbans and wear long robes and can usually be distinguished from other Rastafari members because of this. Other Rastas wear a Rastacap to tuck their locs under the cap.

The Bobo Ashanti ("Bobo" meaning "black" in Iyaric; and "Ashanti" in reference to the Ashanti people of Ghana, whom the Bobos claim are their ancestors), were founded by Emmanuel Charles Edwards in 1959 during the period known as the "groundation", where many protests took place calling for the repatriation of African descendants and slaves to Kingston. A Boboshanti branch spread to Ghana because of repatriated Jamaicans and other Black Rastas moving to Ghana. Prior to Rastas living in Ghana, Ghanaians and West Africans previously had their own beliefs about locked hair. Dreadlocks in West Africa are believed to bestow children born with locked hair with spiritual power, and that Dada children, that is, those born with dreadlocks, were given to their parents by water deities. Rastas and Ghanaians have similar beliefs about the spiritual significance of dreadlocks, such as not touching a person's or child's locs, maintaining clean locs, locs spiritual connections to spirits, and locs bestowing spiritual powers to the wearer.

In sports
Dreadlocks have become a popular hairstyle among professional athletes. However, some athletes are discriminated against and were forced to cut their dreadlocks. For example, in December 2018, a Black high school wrestler in New Jersey was forced to cut his dreadlocks 90 seconds before his match, sparking a civil rights case that led to the passage of the CROWN Act in 2019.

In professional American football, the number of players with dreadlocks has increased since Al Harris and Ricky Williams first wore the style during the 1990s. In 2012, about 180 National Football League players wore dreadlocks. A significant number of these players are defensive backs, who are less likely to be tackled than offensive players. According to the NFL's rulebook, a player's hair is considered part of their "uniform", meaning the locks are fair game when attempting to bring them down.

In the NBA, there has been controversy over Brooklyn Nets guard Jeremy Lin, an Asian-American who garnered mild controversy over his choice of dreadlocks. Former NBA player Kenyon Martin accused Lin of appropriating African-American culture in a since-deleted social media post, after which Lin pointed out that Martin has multiple Chinese characters tattooed on his body.

David Diamante, the American Boxing ring announcer of Italian American heritage, sports prominent dreadlocks.

Hair discrimination
On 3 July 2019, California became the first US state to prohibit discrimination over natural hair. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the CROWN Act into law, banning employers and schools from discriminating against hairstyles such as dreadlocks, braids, afros, and twists. Likewise, later in 2019, Assembly Bill 07797 became law in New York state; it "prohibits race discrimination based on natural hair or hairstyles". Scholars call discrimination based on hair "hairism". Despite the passage of the CROWN Act, hairism continues, with some Black people being fired from work or not hired because of their dreadlocks. According to the CROWN 2023 Workplace Research Study, sixty-six percent of Black women change their hairstyle for job interviews, and twenty-five percent of Black women said they were denied a job because of their hairstyle. The CROWN Act was passed to challenge the idea that Black people must emulate other hairstyles to be accepted in public and educational spaces. As of 2023, 24 states have passed the CROWN Act. July 3 is recognized as National CROWN Day, also called Black Hair Independence Day.

The Perception Institute conducted a "Good Hair Study" using images of Black women wearing natural styles in locs, afros, twists, and other Black hairstyles. The Perception Institute is "a consortium of researchers, advocates and strategists" that uses psychological and emotional test studies to make participants aware of their racial biases. A Black-owned hair supply company, Shea Moisture, partnered with Perception Institute to conduct the study. The tests were done to reduce hair- and racially-based discrimination in education, civil justice, and law enforcement places. The study used an implicit-association test on 4,000 participants of all racial backgrounds and showed most of the participants had negative views about natural Black hairstyles. The study also showed Millennials were the most accepting of kinky hair texture on Black people. "Noliwe Rooks, a Cornell University professor who writes about the intersection of beauty and race, says for some reason, natural Black hair just frightens some White people."

In September of 2016, a lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the company Catastrophe Management Solutions located in Mobile, Alabama. The court case ended with the decision that it was not a discriminatory practice for the company to refuse to hire an African American because they wore dreadlocks.

In some Texas public schools, dreadlocks are prohibited, especially for male students, because long braided hair is considered unmasculine according to Western standards of masculinity which define masculinity as "short, tidy hair." Black and Native American boys are stereotyped and receive negative treatment and negative labeling for wearing dreadlocks, cornrows, and long braids. Non-white students are prohibited from practicing their traditional hairstyles that are a part of their culture.

The policing of Black hairstyles also occurs in London, England. Black students in England are prohibited from wearing natural hairstyles such as dreadlocks, afros, braids, twists, and other African and Black hairstyles. Black students are suspended from school, are stereotyped, and receive negative treatment from teachers.

In Midrand, north of Joburg in South Africa, a Black girl was kicked out of school for wearing her hair in a natural dreadlock style. Hair and dreadlock discrimination is experienced by people of color all over the world who do not conform to Western standards of beauty. At Pretoria High School for Girls in Gauteng province in South Africa, Black girls are discriminated against for wearing African hairstyles and are forced to straighten their hair. In 2017, the United States Army lifted the ban on dreadlocks. In the army, Black women can now wear braids and locs under the condition that they are groomed, clean, and meet the length requirements. From slavery into the present day, the policing of Black women's hair continues to be controlled by some institutions and people. Even when Black women wear locs and they are clean and well-kept, some people do not consider locs to be feminine and professional because of the natural kinky texture of Black hair.

Four African countries approved the wearing of dreadlocks in their courts: Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. However, hairism continues despite the approval. Although locked hairstyles are a traditional practice on the African continent, some Africans disapprove of the hairstyle because of cultural taboos or pressure from Europeans in African schools and local African governments to conform to Eurocentric standards of beauty.

Police profiling
Black men who wear locs are racially profiled and watched more by the police and are believed to be "thugs" or involved in gangs and violent crimes than Black men who do not wear dreadlocks.

Guinness Book of World Records
On 10 December 2010, the Guinness Book of World Records rested its "longest dreadlocks" category after investigating its first and only female title holder, Asha Mandela, with this official statement: Following a review of our guidelines for the longest dreadlock, we have taken expert advice and made the decision to rest this category. The reason for this is that it is difficult, and in many cases impossible, to measure the authenticity of the locks due to expert methods employed in the attachment of hair extensions/re-attachment of broken-off dreadlocks. Effectively the dreadlock can become an extension and therefore impossible to adjudicate accurately. It is for this reason Guinness World Records has decided to rest the category and will no longer be monitoring the category for longest dreadlock.

title: Dreadlocks


text:
Veneration

Veneration (veneratio; τιμάω ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Veneration of saints is practiced, formally or informally, by adherents of some branches of all major religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Jainism.

Within Christianity, veneration is practiced by groups such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic, and Eastern Catholic Churches, all of which have varying types of canonization or glorification procedures. In the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, veneration is shown outwardly by respectfully bowing or making the sign of the cross before a saint's icon, relics, or statue, or by going on pilgrimage to sites associated with saints. In general, veneration is not practiced by Protestants and Jehovah's Witnesses, as many Protestants believe the practice amounts to idolatry. Common Lutherans and Anglicans have a positive attitude toward the veneration of saints and practice the naming of churches after saints, as well as keeping certain feasts.

Hinduism has a long tradition of veneration of saints, expressed toward various gurus and teachers of sanctity, both living and dead. Branches of Buddhism include formal liturgical worship of saints, with Mahayana Buddhism classifying degrees of sainthood.

In Islam, veneration of saints is practiced by some of the adherents of traditional Islam (Sufis, for example), and in many parts of places like Turkey, Egypt, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Other sects, such as Wahhabists etc., abhor the practice.

In Judaism, there is no classical or formal recognition of saints, but there is a long history of reverence shown toward biblical heroes and martyrs. Jews in some regions, for example in Morocco, have a long and widespread tradition of saint veneration.

Buddhism
In major Buddhist traditions, Theravada and Mahayana, recognize those who have achieved a high degree of enlightenment as an Arhat. Mahayana Buddhism particularly gives emphasis to the power of saints to aid ordinary people on the path to enlightenment. Those who have reached enlightenment, and have delayed their own complete enlightenment in order to help others, are called Bodhisattvas. Mahayana Buddhism has formal liturgical practices for venerating saints, along with very specific levels of sainthood. Tibetan Buddhists venerate especially holy lamas, such as the Dalai Lama, as saints.

Christianity
Veneration towards those who were considered holy began in early Christianity, with the martyrs first being given special honor. Official commemoration of saints in churches began as early as the first century. The apostle Paul mentioned saints by name in his writings. Icons depicting saints were created in the catacombs. The Orthodox Church of Byzantium began official church commemoration very early and even in Rome, commemoration is documented in the third century. Over time, the honor also began to be given to those Christians who lived lives of holiness and sanctity. Various denominations venerate and determine saints in different ways, with some having a formal canonization or glorification process. It is also the first step to becoming a saint.

Latria, dulia, and hyperdulia
Christian theologians have long adopted the terms latria for the type of worship due to God alone, and dulia and proskynesis for the veneration given to angels, saints, relics and icons.

Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theologies also include the term hyperdulia for the types of veneration specifically paid to Mary. The Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas specifies that hyperdulia is the same type of veneration as dulia, only given in a greater degree; both remain distinct from latria.

Catholicism
In Catholicism, veneration is a type of honor distinct from the true worship (veritable adoration), which is due to God alone. According to Mark Miravelle, of the Franciscan University of Steubenville, the English word "worship" has been associated with both veneration and adoration: As Thomas Aquinas explained, adoration, which is known as latria in classical theology, is the worship and homage that is rightly offered to God alone. It is the manifestation of submission, and acknowledgement of dependence, appropriately shown towards the excellence of an uncreated divine person and to his absolute Lordship. It is the worship of the creator that God alone deserves.

Veneration, known as dulia in classical theology, is the honor and reverence appropriately due to the excellence of a created person. Excellence exhibited by created beings likewise deserves recognition and honor.

Historically, schools of theology have used the term "worship" as a general term which included both adoration and veneration. They would distinguish between "worship of adoration" and "worship of veneration". The word "worship" (in a similar way to how the liturgical term "cult" is traditionally used) was not synonymous with adoration, but could be used to introduce either adoration or veneration. Hence Catholic sources will sometimes use the term "worship" not to indicate adoration, but only the worship of veneration given to Mary and the saints.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

"The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, 'the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype', and 'whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it'. The honor paid to sacred images is a 'respectful veneration', not the adoration due to God alone:"

"Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate. The movement toward the image does not terminate in it as image, but tends toward that whose image it is."

In the Roman Catechism, a more lengthy statement on The Honour and Invocation of the Saints is available.

Now, the Roman Catholic tradition has a well established philosophy for the veneration of the Virgin Mary via the field of Mariology with Pontifical schools such as the Marianum specifically devoted to this task.

For the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, in addition to the dogma of her Divine Motherhood, the Mother of God (aka "Theotokos") was the subject of three other different dogmas: The special graces accorded by God to Mary motivated her title of Mediatrix of all graces to the humanity, her intercessory ability to Jesus Christ God about the believers' intentions of prayer.
 * 1) Immaculate Conception (absence of the original sin, by grace of God)
 * 2) Perpetual virginity (before, during, and after the birth of Jesus, until her Assumption)
 * 3) Assumption (in body and soul to Heaven).

In the Catholic Church, there are many different forms of veneration of saints, such as a pilgrimage to a grave (e.g. those of Saint Peter (Vatican), Saint Anthony of Padua (Italy), Santiago de Compostela (Spain), or Holy Sepulchre (Israel)). It is also usual to make a pilgrimage to places associated with the life of a saint, such as the Cave of Santo Hermano Pedro (Spain), the Cave of the Apocalypse (Greece) or the Aya Tekla Church (Turkey). Veneration of images and relics; Lord of Miracles (Peru), the Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Jude Thaddaeu (Mexico), Holy Dexter (Hungary), Reliquary of the Three Kings (Germany), etc.

Oriental Orthodoxy
In the Syriac Orthodox Church liturgical service, the Hail Mary is pronounced as a prefatory prayer after the Our Father, and before the priest's entrance to the chancel. The name of the Blessed Virgin Mary has also been probably used for the sanctification of altars, above the name of all other saints.

Eastern Orthodoxy
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, veneration of the saints is important element of worship. Most services are closed with the words “Most holy Theotokos, save us!" and would use Troparions and Kontakions to venerate the saint of the day. This practice of venerating saints both through praise and by means of their icons is defended in St John Damascene's book On Holy Images, and was the subject of the Second Council of Nicaea.

Protestantism
In Protestant churches, veneration is sometimes considered to amount to the sin of idolatry, and the related practice of canonization amounts to the heresy of apotheosis. Protestant theology usually denies that any real distinction between veneration and worship can be made, and claims that the practice of veneration distracts the Christian soul from its true object, the worship of God. In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin writes that "(t)he distinction of what is called dulia and latria was invented for the very purpose of permitting divine honours to be paid to angels and dead men with apparent impunity". Veneration is, therefore, considered a type of blasphemy by Luther and some Protestants. However, some Protestant streams, particularly Anglicanism and Lutheranism, allow the veneration of saints in a manner similar to Catholicism.

Bible
In terms of venerating relics of saints, two verses are frequently mentioned: 'Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.' (2 Kings 13:21, NIV).

'God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.' (Acts 19:11, 12, NIV).

The deuterocanonical Book of Sirach also briefly discusses venerating the memory of patriarchs and prophets: "Let us now praise men of renown, and our fathers in their generation" (44:1). "And their names continue for ever, the glory of the holy men remaining unto their children" (44:15)

Support
St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, and others, give accounts of miracles that occurred at the graves of St. Stephen, St. Felix of Nola, St. Gervasius, and many others, in post-Biblical times. Such miraculous events are seen as divine favor for the veneration of relics.

Hinduism
Hinduism has a longstanding and living tradition of reverence toward sants (saints) and mahatmas (ascended masters), with the line often blurring between humanity and divinity in the cases of godmen and godwomen. The Bhakti movements popularized devotion to saintly figures such as sadhus, babas, and gurus as models showing the way to liberation.

Islam
Islam has had a rich history of veneration of saints (often called wali, which literally means "Friend [of God]"), which has declined in some parts of the Islamic world in the twentieth century due to the influence of the various streams of Salafism. In Sunni Islam, the veneration of saints became a very common form of religious celebration early on, and saints came to be defined in the eighth-century as a group of "special people chosen by God and endowed with exceptional gifts, such as the ability to work miracles." The classical Sunni scholars came to recognize and honor these individuals as venerable people who were both "loved by God and developed a close relationship of love to Him." The vast majority of saints venerated in the classical Sunni world were the Sufis, who were all Sunni mystics who belonged to one of the four orthodox legal schools of Sunni law.

Veneration of saints eventually became one of the most widespread Sunni practices for more than a millennium, before it was opposed in the twentieth century by the Salafi movement, whose various streams regard it as "being both un-Islamic and backwards ... rather than the integral part of Islam which they were for over a millennium." In a manner similar to the Protestant Reformation, the specific traditional practices which Salafism has tried to curtail in both Sunni and Shia contexts include those of the veneration of saints, visiting their graves, seeking their intercession, and honoring their relics. As Christopher Taylor has remarked: "[Throughout Islamic history] a vital dimension of Islamic piety was the veneration of Muslim saints…. [due, however to] certain strains of thought within the Islamic tradition itself, particularly pronounced in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries ... [some modern day] Muslims have either resisted acknowledging the existence of Muslim saints altogether or have viewed their presence and veneration as unacceptable deviations."

Judaism
While Orthodox and Organized Judaism don't countenance the veneration of saints per se, veneration and pilgrimage to burial sites of holy Jewish leaders is an ancient part of the tradition.

It is common for some Jews to visit the graves of many righteous Jewish leaders. The tradition is particularly strong among Moroccan Jews, and Jews of Sephardi descent, although also by some Ashkenazi Jews as well. This is particularly true in Israel, where many holy Jewish leaders are buried. The Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem and that of Maimonides in Tiberius are examples of burial sites that attract large pilgrimages in the Near East. In America, the only such example is the grave site of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, at the Ohel, in the cemetery in Queens where he is buried alongside his father-in-law. During his lifetime, Schneerson himself would frequently visit the gravesite (Ohel) of his father-in-law, where he would read letters and written prayers, and then place them on the grave. Today, visitors to the grave of Schneerson include Jews of Orthodox, Reform and Conservative background, as well as non-Jews. Visitors typically recite prayers of psalms and bring with them petitions of prayers written on pieces of paper which are then torn and left on the grave.

Jainism
In Jainism, it recognizes the tirthankaras, which are beings who have achieved transcendence and liberation (moksha) and are, therefore, teachers who taught the Jain path. Away from the evolution of the cosmos and the cosmic event, they do not intervene in any way in it, they serve only as examples to follow. The latter is manifested in the offering ceremonies (devapuja), which constitute more of a renunciation on the part of the believer than a surrender, since the tirthankaras are totally indifferent to the affairs of men and the Jains assume that they are indifferent to them.

title: Veneration


text:
Talk:Artichoke (disambiguation)

Untitled
I added eating technique. Many many years ago my brother in law took me to La Coupole, an incredibly famous arty restaurant in Paris. There I had my first ever artichoke experience. I wish I had known about them in advance. Trying to eat the whole leaves while your dear relative falls off his chair with mirth is not an experience to be repeated. Maybe kids nowadays are more wordly wise and this would not come as a surprise, but hey ... :) Nevilley 00:46 Feb 20, 2003 (UTC)

My parents grow these, so I was familiar with them from an early age... you really start to HATE these things after a couple of weeks eating them twice a day -- Tarquin 17:54 Feb 20, 2003 (UTC)

 * a chance would be a fine thing, can I have your parents' phone number please? :) Nevilley 19:37 Feb 20, 2003 (UTC)

I have copied the 'eating' portion of this article to the Wikicookbook at wikibooks:Cookbook:Artichoke. It's up to someone else to decide whether it gets deleted from here and linked, or left in both places... KJ 06:00, 24 Feb 2004 (UTC)

why is there a piece about how eating vegetables can reduce risk of alzheimers in this. It is very out of place here. LC

Cholesterol
I removed the four or five unsourced references to serum cholesterol.Schaddm 05:40, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Artichoke from Arabic?
Sorry for my English! The Arab origin for this kind of vegetable is well attested but we must remember that the word in arabic is not "ardi shawqi" for "artichoke" but "kharshùf" or "khurshùf". This became in Italian "carciofo" but for me it's difficult to know the original meaning of the quadrilitteral root (). Bye. --Cloj 13:23, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

 * Yeah, this etymology seems really confused.  216.254.12.114 16:17, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
 * the word 'katrshuf' started from arabia. Reached Italy and magreb during the Arab occupation . Then Comes to Spain where al karchuf becomed articocke, in France where becomes artichuf, nord Italy 'articioco', Till It arrived in Lebanon becoming ardishawqi that means "fruit of the soil". From arabic ti arabic... Watcheroftheskies67 (talk) 19:20, 30 September 2023 (UTC)

Suggested page move
Since most people who find this page will be looking for the globe artichoke, I think the artichoke page should redirect to globe artichoke, which should have a little note at the top like "Foliage” redirects here. For other uses, see artichoke (disambiguation). Any opinions? --Chaffers (talk)/(contributions) 20:23, 10 October 2007 (UTC)
 * See also, Talk:Globe artichoke. Ewlyahoocom 17:29, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:Artichoke (disambiguation)


text:
Mary Kay and Johnny

Mary Kay and Johnny is an American sitcom starring real-life married couple Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns. It was the first sitcom broadcast on a television network in the United States. Mary Kay and Johnny initially aired live on the DuMont Television Network before moving to CBS and then NBC.

Format
Plots centered around a bank employee and his "zany, but not dumb" wife and the problems that they encountered. Much of the activity occurred in the couple's apartment in Greenwich Village.

The March 6, 1948, issue of the trade publication Billboard gave a mostly favorable review, "This program comes close to being a model tele[vision] show. In detailing the adventures, mainly domestic, of a young married couple, Johnny and Mary Kay Stearns have come up with charming and fresh material, which always takes into consideration that there are cameras taking everything in," although the column's author objected to the show's usage of familiar sitcom tropes such as "the dreary old tolerant-husband-with-a-dumb-wife pattern."

Cast
In addition to the Stearnses, the cast included their son, Christopher Stearns, as himself. Mary Kay's mother was played by Nydia Westman, and Johnny's friend Howie was played by Howard Thomas. Jim Stevenson was the announcer.

Broadcast history
The first 15-minute episode debuted on the DuMont Television Network on Tuesday, November 18, 1947. The Stearnses created and wrote all the scripts. The program was broadcast live, most of the action taking place on a set representing the New York City apartment of the title characters, a young married couple.

Mary Kay and Johnny was the first program to show a couple sharing a bed, and the first series to show a woman's pregnancy on television: Mary Kay became pregnant in 1948 and after unsuccessfully trying to hide her pregnancy, the producers wrote it into the show. On December 31, 1948, the Stearns' weeks-old son Christopher appeared on the show and became a character.

After a year on DuMont, the show moved to CBS for half a year, much of the time being broadcast every weeknight, then ran for another year each Saturday night on NBC, where it debuted on October 10, 1948. It broadcast the final episode on March 11, 1950.

Viewership
At a time when there were no TV ratings (the A.C. Nielsen Company would not begin measuring TV ratings until 1950), Anacin decided to take a chance and sponsor the show. This decision worried the advertising executives at Anacin, who thought that they might be wasting money by sponsoring a show with a sparse audience. A simple, non-scientific scheme to gauge the size of the audience was hatched. During one commercial spot, Anacin offered a free pocket mirror to the first 200 viewers who wrote in requesting one. As a precaution, they purchased a total of 400 mirrors in case the audience was twice as large as they expected. Although the free mirror was offered only during that one spot, Anacin received nearly 9000 requests for mirrors.

Episode status
DuMont's corporate successor, Metromedia, disposed of what was left of the DuMont archive in the East River.

The fate of the NBC episodes is unknown, although they also were known to have been getting rid of their older recordings in the early 1970s and disposing the ones they could not get the stars of the shows to take. The Paley Center for Media has one 1949 episode in its collection. TV Land used a clip of this one 1949 broadcast in an episode of Inside TV Land called "Taboo TV".

title: Mary Kay and Johnny