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Florence Lawrence

Florence Lawrence (born Florence Annie Bridgwood; January 2, 1886 – December 28, 1938) was a Canadian-American stage performer and film actress. She is often referred to as the "first movie star", and was long thought to be the first film actor to be named publicly until evidence published in 2019 indicated that the first named film star was French actor Max Linder. At the height of her fame in the 1910s, she was known as the "Biograph Girl" for work as one of the leading ladies in silent films from the Biograph Company. She appeared in almost 300 films for various motion picture companies throughout her career.

Early life
Born Florence Annie Bridgwood in Hamilton, Ontario, she was youngest of three children of George Bridgwood, an English-born carriage builder and Charlotte "Lotta" Bridgwood (née Dunn), a vaudeville actress. Charlotte Bridgwood had emigrated to Canada from Ireland after the Great Famine with her family as a child. She was known professionally as Lotta Lawrence and was the leading lady and director of the Lawrence Dramatic Company. At the age of three, Lawrence made her debut onstage with her mother in a song and dance routine. When she was old enough to memorize lines of dialogue, she performed with her mother and other members of the Lawrence Dramatic Company in dramatic plays. After performing tear-jerking dramas like Dora Thorne and East Lynne began to depress Lawrence, her mother dropped them from the company's repertoire. While Lawrence performed on stage at the behest of her mother, she recalled that she enjoyed the work but did not like the traveling that all vaudeville performers were required to do. By the age of six, Lawrence had earned the nickname "Baby Flo, the Child Wonder".

On February 18, 1898, George Bridgwood died from accidental coal gas poisoning at his home in Hamilton (Lawrence's parents had been separated since she was four years old). Lotta Lawrence moved the family from Hamilton to Buffalo, New York to live with her mother Ann Dunn. She chose to stop bringing her children along for stage performances and for the first time, Florence was enrolled in school. After graduating, Lawrence rejoined her mother's dramatic company. However, her mother disbanded the Lawrence Dramatic Company shortly thereafter; the two moved to New York City around 1906.

Early career: film and stage

Lawrence was one of several Canadian pioneers in the film industry who were attracted by the rapid growth of the fledgling motion picture business. In 1906, she appeared in her first motion picture. The next year, she appeared in 38 movies for the Vitagraph film company. During the spring and summer of 1906, Lawrence auditioned for a number of Broadway productions, but she did not have success. However, on December 27, 1906, she was hired by the Edison Manufacturing Company to play Daniel Boone's daughter in Daniel Boone; or, Pioneer Days in America. She got the part because she knew how to ride a horse. Both she and her mother received parts and were paid five dollars per day for two weeks of outdoor filming in freezing weather.

In 1907, she went to work for the Vitagraph Company in Brooklyn, New York, acting as Moya, an Irish peasant girl in a one-reel version of Dion Boucicault's The Shaughraun. She returned briefly to stage acting, playing the leading role in a road show production of Melville B. Raymond's Seminary Girls. Her mother played her last role in this production. After touring with the roadshow for a year, Lawrence resolved that she would "never again lead that gypsy life". In 1908, she returned to Vitagraph where she played the lead role in The Dispatch Bearer. Largely as a result of her equestrian skills, she received parts in 11 films in the next five months.

Biograph Studios
Also at Vitagraph was a young actor, Harry Solter, who was looking for "a young, beautiful equestrian girl" to star in a film to be produced by the Biograph Studios under the direction of D. W. Griffith. Griffith, the most prominent producer-director at Biograph Studios, had noticed the beautiful blonde-haired woman in one of Vitagraph's films. Because the film's actors received no mention, Griffith had to make discreet inquiries to learn she was Florence Lawrence and to arrange a meeting. Griffith had intended to give the part to Florence Turner, Biograph's leading lady, but Lawrence managed to convince Solter and Griffith that she was the best suited for the starring role in The Girl and the Outlaw. With the Vitagraph Company, she had been earning $20 per week, working also as a costume seamstress over and above acting. Griffith offered her a job, acting only, for $25 per week.

After her success in this role, she appeared as a society belle in Betrayed by a Handprint and as an Indian in The Red Girl. In total, she had parts in most of the 60 films directed by Griffith in 1908. Toward the end of 1908, Lawrence married Harry Solter. Lawrence gained much popularity, but because her name never was publicized, fans began writing to the studio asking to know her identity. Even after she had gained wide recognition, particularly after starring in the comedy series Mr. and Mrs. Jones and the highly successful Resurrection, Biograph Studios refused to publicly announce her name and fans simply called her the "Biograph Girl". During cinema's formative years, silent screen actors were not named because studio owners feared that fame might lead to demands for higher wages and because many actors were embarrassed to be performing pantomime in motion pictures. She continued to work for Biograph in 1909. Her demand to be paid by the week rather than daily was met, and she received double the normal rate.

She achieved great popularity in the "Jones" series, film's first comedy series, in which she played Mrs. Jones in around a dozen films, with John R. Cumpson as Mr. Jones. More popular still were the dramatic love stories in which she co-starred with Arthur Johnson: The two played husband and wife in The Ingrate, and the adulterous lovers in Resurrection. Lawrence and Solter began to look elsewhere for work, writing to the Essanay Company to offer their services as leading lady and director. Rather than accepting this offer, however, Essanay reported the offer to Biograph's head office, and they promptly were fired.

Independent Moving Pictures Company
Finding themselves 'at liberty', Lawrence and Solter in 1909 were able to join the Independent Moving Pictures Company of America (IMP). The company, founded by Carl Laemmle, the owner of a film exchange (who later absorbed IMP into Universal Pictures, of which he was founder and president), was looking for experienced filmmakers and actors. Needing a star, he lured Lawrence away from Biograph by promising to give her a marquee. First, Laemmle organized a publicity stunt by starting a rumor that Lawrence had been killed by a street car in New York City. Then, after gaining much media attention, he placed ads in the newspapers that announced "We nail a lie" and included a photo of Lawrence. The ad declared she is alive and well and making The Broken Oath, a new movie for his IMP Film Company to be directed by Solter.

Laemmle had Lawrence make a personal appearance in St. Louis, Missouri in March 1910 with her leading man to show her fans that she was very much alive, making her one of the early performers not already famous in another medium to be identified by name by her studio.

The fans in St. Louis were so thrilled to see Lawrence alive that they grabbed at her and popped the buttons off her coat. Laemmle used this to generate further attention by falsely claiming that Lawrence's St. Louis fans rushed her in a frenzy and tore her clothes off. Partially due to Laemmle's ingenuity, the "star system" was born, and before long, Florence Lawrence became a household name. However, her fame also proved that the studio executives who had concerns over wage demands soon had their fears proved correct. Laemmle managed to lure William V. Ranous, one of Vitagraph's better directors, over to IMP. Ranous introduced Laemmle to Lawrence and Solter, and they began to work together. Lawrence and Solter worked for IMP for 11 months, making 50 films. After this, they went on vacation in Europe.

When they returned to the United States, they joined a film company headed by Siegmund Lubin, described as the "wisest and most democratic film producer in history". She once again teamed with Arthur Johnson, and the pair made 48 films together under Lubin's direction. At the time, the film industry was controlled by the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC), a trust formed by the major film companies. IMP was not a member of the MPPC, and hence operated outside its distribution system. Theaters found showing IMP films lost the right to screen MPPC films. IMP, therefore, had powerful enemies in the film industry. It managed to survive largely due to Lawrence's popularity.

Lubin Studios
By late 1910, Lawrence left IMP to work for Lubin Studios, advising her fellow Canadian, the 18-year-old Mary Pickford, to take her place as IMP's star.

Victor Film Company
In 1912, Lawrence and Solter made a deal with Carl Laemmle, forming their own company. Laemmle gave them complete artistic freedom in the company, named Victor Film Company, and paid Lawrence $500 per week as the leading lady, and Solter $200 per week as director. They established a film studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey and made a number of films starring Lawrence and Owen Moore, then sold to Universal Pictures in 1913. With this new prosperity, Florence was able to realize a 'lifelong dream,' buying a 50 acre estate in River Vale, New Jersey. In August 1912, she had a fight with her husband, in which he "made cruel remarks about his mother-in-law". He left and went to Europe. However, he wrote "sad" letters to her every day, telling her of his plans to commit suicide. His letters "softened her feelings", and they were re-united in November 1912. Lawrence announced her intention to retire.

She was persuaded to return to work in 1914 for her company (Victor Film Company), which had been acquired by Universal Studios. During the filming of Pawns of Destiny in 1915, a staged fire got out of control. Lawrence was burned, her hair was singed, and she suffered a serious fall which fractured her spine. She went into shock for months. She returned to work, but collapsed after the film was completed. To add to her problems, Universal refused to pay her medical expenses, leaving Lawrence feeling betrayed. In mid-1916, she returned to work for Universal and completed Elusive Isabel. However, the strain of working took its toll on her, and she suffered a serious relapse. She was completely paralyzed for four months. In 1921, she traveled to Hollywood to attempt a comeback, but had little success. She received a leading role in a minor melodrama (The Unfoldment), and then two supporting roles. All her film work after 1924 was in uncredited bit parts.

Automotive inventions
Besides her film career, Lawrence is credited with designing the first "auto signaling arm", a predecessor of the modern turn signal, along with the first mechanical brake signal. She did not patent these inventions, however, and as a result she received no credit for, nor profit from, either one.

Personal life
Lawrence was married three times and had no children. Her first marriage was to actor, screenwriter and director Harry Solter in 1908. They remained married until Solter's death in 1920. She then married automobile salesman Charles Byrne Woodring in 1921. They separated in 1929; Lawrence was granted an interlocutory divorce in February 1931, which was finalized the following year. During the 1920s, Lawrence and Woodring opened a cosmetics store in Los Angeles called Hollywood Cosmetics. The store sold theatrical makeup and also sold a line of cosmetics that Lawrence developed. They continued their partnership after their separation in 1929, but the store was forced to close in 1931.

In 1933, Lawrence wed for the third and final time, to Henry Bolton, who turned out to be an abusive alcoholic and beat her severely. The union lasted five months.

Later years
By the late 1920s, Lawrence's popularity had declined and she suffered several personal losses. She was devastated when her mother, to whom she was close, died suddenly in August 1929. Four months later, she separated from her second husband, Charles Woodring. While Lawrence earned a small fortune during her film career, she made many poor business decisions. She lost much of her fortune after the stock market crash in October 1929 and ensuing Great Depression. The cosmetics store that she and her second husband opened in Los Angeles also lost business because of the Depression, and the couple was forced to close its doors in 1931.

By the early 1930s, Lawrence's acting career consisted solely of extra and bit parts which were often uncredited. In 1936, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio head Louis B. Mayer began giving extra and bit parts to former silent film actors for $75 per week. Lawrence, along with other "old timers" from the silent era whose careers had all but ended when sound films replaced silent films, signed with M-G-M. Lawrence remained with the studio until her death.

In mid-1937, Lawrence was diagnosed with what her doctor described as "a bone disease which produces anemia and depression." The disease was likely myelofibrosis, a rare bone marrow disease, or agnogenic myeloid metaplasia, both of which were incurable at the time. Due to her poor health and chronic pain, Lawrence became depressed but attempted to keep working. Around this time she moved into a home on Westbourne Drive in West Hollywood, with a studio worker named Robert "Bob" Brinlow and his sister.

Death
At 1 p.m. on December 28, 1938, Lawrence phoned the offices of M-G-M where she was to report to work that afternoon, claiming that she was ill. Sometime later in the afternoon, Lawrence ingested ant poison and cough syrup at her home in West Hollywood. Accounts differ as to how Lawrence was discovered; some media reports stated her neighbor Marian Menzer heard her screams, while others say that Lawrence called Menzer stating that she poisoned herself. Menzer called an ambulance, and Lawrence was rushed to Beverly Hills Emergency Hospital. Doctors were unable to save Lawrence, who died at 2:45 p.m. Lawrence left a suicide note in her home addressed to her housemate Bob Brinlow stating:

Dear Bob,
 * Call Dr. Wilson. I am tired. Hope this works. Good bye, my darling. They can't cure me, so let it go at that.
 * Lovingly, Florence – P.S. You've all been swell guys. Everything is yours.

Lawrence's death was ruled a "probable suicide" owing to her "ill health". The Motion Picture & Television Fund paid for Lawrence's funeral, held on December 30, and for her unmarked grave in the Hollywood Cemetery (now Hollywood Forever Cemetery) in Hollywood. Her grave remained unmarked until 1991, when an anonymous British actor paid for a memorial marker for her. It reads: "The Biograph Girl/The First Movie Star". The date of birth on Lawrence's headstone is given as 1890. This inaccuracy was also stated on her death certificate filled out by the coroner. Lawrence's biographer, Kelly R. Brown, owed this mistake to "Lawrence's own brand of fiction" as she routinely subtracted years off her age. The mistake was repeated by the Pierce Brothers Mortuary, where Lawrence's funeral was held, although most obituaries printed her correct year of birth: 1886.

Cultural references
In William J. Mann's novel The Biograph Girl (2000), Mann blends the facts of Lawrence's life with fiction. Instead of fading into oblivion and committing suicide, Lawrence, with the help of a doctor, fools the public into thinking she committed suicide. A journalist discovers Lawrence at the nursing home where she has lived secretly, and he decides to write a biography of her.

title: Florence Lawrence


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Relay race

A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in running, orienteering, swimming, cross-country skiing, biathlon, or ice skating (usually with a baton in the fist). In the Olympic Games, there are several types of relay races that are part of track and field, each consisting of a set number of stages (legs) (usually four), each leg run by different members of a team. The runner finishing one leg is usually required to pass the next runner a stick-like object known as a "baton" while both are running in a marked exchange zone. In most relays, team members cover equal distances: Olympic events for both men and women are the 400-metre (4 × 100-metre) and 1,600-metre (4 × 400-metre) relays. Some non-Olympic relays are held at distances of 800 m, 3,200 m, and 6,000 m. In the less frequently run medley relays, however, the athletes cover different distances in a prescribed order—as in a sprint medley of 200, 200, 400, 800 metres or a distance medley of 1,200, 400, 800, 1,600 metres.

Relays in swimming
A swimming relay of four swimmers usually follows this strategy: second-fastest, third-fastest, slowest, then fastest (anchor). However, it is not uncommon to see either the slowest swimmer racing in the second slot (creating an order of second-fastest, slowest, third-fastest, and then fastest), or an order from slowest to fastest (an order of slowest, third-fastest, second-fastest, fastest).

FINA rules require that a foot of the second, third or fourth swimmer must be contacting the platform while (and before) the incoming teammate is touching the wall; the starting swimmer may already be in motion, however, which saves 0.6–1.0 seconds compared to a regular start. Besides, many swimmers perform better in a relay than in an individual race owing to a team spirit atmosphere. As a result, relay times are typically 2–3 seconds faster than the sum of best times of individual swimmers.

In medley swimming, each swimmer uses a different stroke (in this order): backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle, with the added limitation that the freestyle swimmer cannot use any of the first three strokes. At competitive levels, essentially all freestyle swimmers use the front crawl. Note that this order is different from that for the individual medley, in which a single swimmer swims butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle in a single race, in that order.

The three standard relays raced at the Olympics are the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, 4 × 200 m freestyle relay and 4 × 100 m medley relay.

Mixed-gendered relays were introduced at the 2014 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) (4 × 50 m freestyle and medley) and the 2015 World Aquatics Championships (4 × 100 m freestyle and medley). The event will debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics (4 × 100 m medley).

In open water swimming, mixed-gendered relays were introduced at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships (4 × 1250 m).

Relays in athletics
In athletics, the two standard relays are the 4 × 100 metres relay and the 4 × 400 metres relay. 4 × 200, 4 × 800, and 4 × 1500 m relays exist as well, but they are rarer. Mixed-gendered 4 × 400 metres relays were introduced at the 2017 IAAF World Relays, repeated at the 2018 Asian Games, the 2019 World Championships in Athletics and were added to the 2020 Summer Olympics. In addition, a 2 × 2 × 400 m and shuttle hurdles mixed relay races were introduced at the 2019 IAAF World Relays.

Traditionally, the 4 × 400 m relay finals are the last event of a track meet, and is often met with a very enthusiastic crowd, especially if the last leg is a close race. It is hard to measure exact splits in a 4 × 400 (or a 4 × 100) relay. For example, if a team ran a 3-minute 4 × 400, it does not mean every runner on the team has to run a 45-second open 400, because a person starts accelerating before they have the baton, therefore allowing for slightly slower overall open 400 times. A 4 × 400 relay generally starts in lanes for the first leg, including the handoff. The second leg then proceeds to run in lanes for the first 100 metres, after which point the runners are allowed to break into the first lane on the backstretch, as long as they do not interfere with other runners. A race organizer then puts the third-leg runners into a line depending on the order in which they are running (with the first place closest to the inside). The faster teams pass first, while the slower teams have to slide in to the inside lanes as they come available.

According to the IAAF rules, world records in relays can only be set if all team members have the same nationality. Several superior marks were established by teams from a mixture of countries and were thus never ratified.

Major USA Track and Field events, f.e. the Penn Relays, Drake Relays, Kansas Relays, Mt. SAC Relays, Modesto Relays, Texas Relays, West Coast Relays, include different types of relays.

Rules and strategy
Each runner must hand off the baton to the next runner within a certain zone, usually marked by triangles on the track. In sprint relays, runners typically use a "blind handoff", where the second runner stands on a spot predetermined in practice and starts running when the first runner hits a visual mark on the track (usually a smaller triangle). The second runner opens their hand behind them after a few strides, by which time the first runner should be caught up and able to hand off the baton. Usually a runner will give an auditory signal, such as "Stick!" repeated several times, for the recipient of the baton to put out his hand. In middle-distance relays or longer, runners begin by jogging while looking back at the incoming runner and holding out a hand for the baton.

A team may be disqualified from a relay for:

 * Losing the baton (dropping the baton shall not result in disqualification. See IAAF rule no. 170.6)
 * Making an improper baton pass, especially when not passing in the exchange zone
 * False starting (usually once but sometimes twice)
 * Improperly overtaking another competitor
 * Preventing another competitor from passing
 * Wilfully impeding, improperly crossing the course, or in any other way interfering with another competitor

Based on the speed of the runners, the generally accepted strategy used in setting up a four-person relay team is: second-fastest, third-fastest, slowest, then fastest (anchor); however some teams (usually middle school or young high school) use second-fastest, slowest, third-fastest, then the fastest (anchor). But if a runner is better in the starting blocks than the others, they may be moved to the first spot because it is the only spot that uses starting blocks.

Competitions
The largest relay event in the world is the Norwegian Holmenkollstafetten, 2,944 teams of 15 starting and ending at Bislett Stadium in Oslo which had a total of 44,160 relay-competitors on May 10, 2014.

Another large relay event is the Penn Relays, which attracts over 15,000 competitors annually on the high-school, collegiate and professional levels, and over its three days attracts upwards of 100,000 spectators. It is credited with popularizing relay racing in the sport of track & field.

Long-distance relays
Long-distance relays have become increasingly popular with runners of all skill levels. These relays typically have 5 to 36 legs, each usually between 5 and 10 km long, though sometimes as long as 16 km.

The IAAF World Road Relay Championships was held from 1986 to 1998, with six-member teams covering the classic 42.195 km marathon distance.

Races under 100 km are run in a day, with each runner covering one or two legs. Longer relays are run overnight, with each runner typically covering three legs.

The world's longest relay race was Japan's Prince Takamatsu Cup Nishinippon Round-Kyūshū Ekiden, which begins in Nagasaki and continues for 1064 km.

Cross-country relays
For the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, a mixed relay race was added (4 × 2 km).

The Crusader Team Sprint Cross Country Relay Race is a fun and unique venue specifically designed to get runners familiar with distance running and excited for the rest of the cross country season. Teams will be pairs of runners. The team will run four loops of a 1-mile course. Runner “A” will run loop 1 and hand off to Runner “B.”  Runner “B” will run the same loop and hand off back to Runner “A.”  “A” runs one more loop, hands off to “B,” and “B” finishes. 3 race categories: boys, girls, and co-ed. Awards will be given in each of the three categories.

Shuttle hurdle relay
The Shuttle hurdle relay is a Men's and Women's competition that is part of Relay meetings like Drake Relays or Penn Relays. A mixed version was introduced at the 2019 IAAF World Relays, it consist of a race in which two men and two women on each team, are running a 110 m hurdles.

Medley relay
Medley relay events are also occasionally held in track meets, usually consisting of teams of four runners running progressively longer distances. The distance medley relay consists of four legs run at distances of 1200, 400, 800, and 1,600 metres, in that order. The sprint medley relay usually consists of four legs run at distances of 400, 200, 200, and 800 metres, though a more uncommon variant of 200, 100, 100 and 400 metres (sometimes called a short sprint medley) also exists. See also Swedish relay.

Relays on coinage
Relay race events have been selected as a main motif in numerous collectors' coins. One of the recent samples is the €10 Greek Relays commemorative coin, minted in 2003 to commemorate the 2004 Summer Olympics. In the obverse of the coin three modern athletes run, holding their batons while in the background three ancient athletes are shown running a race known as the dolichos (a semi-endurance race of approximately 3,800 metres' distance).

Cross-country skiing
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships features a relay race since 1933, and a women's race since 1954. Each team has four skiers, each of whom must complete 10 kilometres / 6.2 miles (men) or 5 kilometres / 3.1 miles (women).

Biathlon
In biathlon, the relay race features a mass start, with teams consist of four biathletes. Each competitor must complete 7.5 kilometres / 4.66 miles (men) or 6.0 kilometres / 3.73 miles (women). Each leg is held over three laps, with two shooting rounds; one prone, one standing.

A mixed biathlon relay race was first held at the Biathlon World Championships 2005 in Khanty-Mansiysk, and it was added to the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Relays in orienteering
There are two major relays in orienteering:
 * Tiomila in April/May in Sweden
 * Jukola and Venla relay in June in Finland

There are other relays in autumn with requirements about the age and gender distributions:
 * Halikko relay, near Salo, Finland
 * 25-manna, near Stockholm, Sweden

Other relays
The World Triathlon Mixed Relay Championships is a mixed-gendered relay triathlon race held since 2009. Previously, the Triathlon Team World Championships were held in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Also, the triathlon at the Youth Olympic Games has a mixed relay race since 2010, and the event was introduced at the 2020 Summer Olympics. As in standard triathlons, each triathlon competitor must do a segment of swimming, cycling and running.

The madison is a track cycling event where two riders take turns to complete the race. Riders can alternate at any moment by touching the partner with the hand. The madison is featured at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships since 1995 and the Olympics since 2000. The format has been used in six-day racing. In road racing, the Duo Normand is a two-man time trial relay held annually in Normandy, France. In mountain biking, the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships has a mixed team relay race since 1999.

The game show Triple Threat had a bonus round called the "Triple Threat Relay Round" which was played like a relay race. The winning team had to take turns matching song titles to its corresponding musical artists.

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title: Relay race


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Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood

Motion pictures have been a part of the culture of Canada since the industry began.

History
Around 1910, the East Coast filmmakers began to take advantage of the mild California winter climates, and after Nestor Studios, run by Canadian Al Christie, built the first permanent movie studio in Hollywood, a number of the movie companies expanded or relocated to the new Hollywood. At the same time, because there was no sound in movies, several French filmmakers had their motion pictures distributed in the United States.

List of Canadian film pioneers in Hollywood
Among those Canadians who took part in the early years of Hollywood were:
 * Allakariallak (1890s–1924?), Inuit actor and subject of "Nanook of the North"
 * Charles Arling (1880–1922), actor
 * Earl W. Bascom (1906-1995), actor, artist, worked with Roy Rogers, worked on Louis B. Mayer's ranch in Perris, California
 * William Bertram (1880–1933), actor, director
 * Ben Blue (1901–1975), actor, comedian
 * Raymond Burr (1917–1993), actor; Perry Mason, Ironside
 * Jack Carson (1910–1963), actor
 * Peggy Cartwright (1912-2001), actress in Our Gang comedy series and with Harold Lloyd
 * Al Christie (1881–1951), co-founder of Christie Film Company, director/producer/screenwriter
 * Charles Christie (1880–1955), co-founder of Christie Film Company; builder of Hollywood's first luxury hotel
 * Berton Churchill (1876–1940), actor
 * Yvonne De Carlo (1922–2007), actor
 * Joe De Grasse (1873–1940), director
 * Sam De Grasse (1875–1953), actor
 * Fifi D'Orsay (1904–1983), actress
 * Marie Dressler (1869–1934), Academy Award for Best Actress
 * Douglass Dumbrille (1889–1974), moving and television actor
 * Deanna Durbin (1921–2013), actress, singer
 * Allan Dwan (1885–1981), director, producer, screenwriter
 * Edward Earle (1882–1972), actor
 * Rockliffe Fellowes (1883–1950), actor
 * Glenn Ford (1916–2006), actor
 * John Harvey Gahan (1888–1958), as Oscar Gahan, actor, musician, composer; Canada's child prodigy violinist, aka Arvé
 * Huntley Gordon (1887–1956), actor
 * Lorne Greene (1915–1987), actor; played Ben Cartwight, Commander Adama
 * June Havoc (1912-2010), actress
 * Harry Hayden (1882–1955), actor
 * Del Henderson (1883–1956), actor, director, writer
 * Walter Huston (1884–1950), Academy Award winning actor
 * May Irwin (1862–1938), actor, first screen kiss in 1896
 * Victor Jory (1902–1982), actor
 * Ruby Keeler (1909–1993), dancer, actress
 * Barbara Kent (1907–2011), actress
 * Florence La Badie (1888–1917), actress
 * Florence Lawrence (1886–1938), "America's first movie star"
 * Rosina Lawrence (1912-1997), actress
 * Beatrice Lillie (1894–1989), actress
 * Gene Lockhart (1891–1957), actor
 * Del Lord (1894–1970), comedy director
 * Wilfred Lucas (1871–1940), director, screenwriter, actor
 * Henry MacRae (1876–1944), director, producer, screenwriter, actor
 * David Manners (1900–1998), actor
 * Raymond Massey (1896–1983), actor
 * Louis B. Mayer (1885–1957), co–founder of Metro Goldwyn Mayer Motion Picture Studios
 * Bob Nolan (1908–1980), singer/actor in western musicals as leader of "The Sons of the Pioneers"
 * Sidney Olcott (1872–1949), director
 * Jack Pickford (1896–1933), actor, Hollywood's first "Bad Boy"
 * Lottie Pickford (1893–1936), actress
 * Mary Pickford (1892–1979), "America's Sweetheart," Academy Award for Best Actress, co–founder of United Artists
 * Walter Pidgeon (1897–1984), actor
 * Marie Prevost (1896–1937), actress
 * John Qualen (1899-1987), actor
 * William Quinn (1884–1965), actor
 * Mack Sennett (1880–1960), director, known as the "King of Comedy"
 * Athole Shearer (1900–1985), actress, wife of director Howard Hawks
 * Douglas Shearer (1899–1971), sound director/designer, winner of seven Academy Awards
 * Norma Shearer (1902–1983), Academy Award for Best Actress
 * Nell Shipman (1892–1970), actress, writer, producer
 * Jay Silverheels (1912–1980), actor known for his portrayal of Tonto, sidekick to the Lone Ranger
 * Alexis Smith (1921–1993), actor
 * Ned Sparks (1883–1957), actor
 * Richard Travers (1885–1935), actor
 * Jack L. Warner (1892–1978), co-founder of Warner Brothers
 * Marjorie White (1904–1935), actress
 * Joseph Wiseman (1918–2009), actor

Canadian scene in Hollywood
In his book Stardust and Shadows: Canadians in Early Hollywood, Charles Foster recounted his experiences meeting some of these Canadians while on leave from the Royal Air Force during World War II. Foster visited Hollywood where he was introduced to Canadian and silent movie director Sidney Olcott. Through Olcott he learned of Hollywood's Canadian community. Although total strangers, young Foster was welcomed with open arms. This social gathering of "Canucks" also included Walter Pidgeon, Deanna Durbin, Fifi D'Orsay, and others who worked in the movie business.

Several of these Canadian pioneers achieved enormous wealth and worldwide fame, such as Louis B. Mayer and Mary Pickford who were, in their day, two of the most powerful personalities in Hollywood. From the late 1920s to the mid-1930s, Canadian female actresses were amongst the greatest box office draws. The Academy Award for Best Actress was won by Canadian women three years in a row:
 * 1929 - Mary Pickford in Coquette
 * 1930 - Norma Shearer in The Divorcee
 * 1931 - Marie Dressler in Min and Bill

Foster recounts the feelings and deep loyalty of Louis B. Mayer. Although he had become a naturalized American citizen, Mayer was known to hire Canadian compatriots on the spot, as Saint John, New Brunswick native Walter Pidgeon later recalled: Without another word he called his secretary, Ida Koverman. "Ida..." he said, "prepare a contract for this man from Saint John, he will tell you his name, and Ida, add another fifty dollars a week on the contract for a good Canadian." We shook hands and just like that I was under contract to MGM. "You do act, don't you?" he asked. I nodded and left the room.

Several Canadian expatriates also saw their careers decline and died before the age of 55. Florence Lawrence, the "first real movie star", the Biograph Girl in Hollywood history, who appeared in more than 270 movies, committed suicide at the age of 52. She is buried in unmarked grave in the Hollywood Cemetery. Marie Prevost, who was a leading lady during the mid-1920s, suffered from depression after the death of her mother in 1926. In 1937, she died of acute alcoholism and malnutrition at the age of 38. Florence La Badie died of injuries she sustained in a car accident in August 1917 at the age of 29. Jack Pickford, Mary Pickford's younger brother, died at age 36 from what was then known as multiple neuritis, while his sister Lottie died of a heart attack at age 43.

title: Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood


text:
Halva

Halva (also halvah, halwa, halua, and other spellings; ,हलवा) is a type of confectionery originating from Persia (now Iran) and widely spread throughout the Middle East and South Asia. The name is used for a broad variety of recipes, generally a thick paste made from flour, butter, liquid oil, saffron, rosewater, milk, turmeric powder, and sweetened with sugar.

Etymology
The word halva entered the English language between 1840 and 1850 from Romanian, which came from حلوى, itself ultimately derived from حلوى, a sweet confection. The root in ح ل و, means "sweet". The original name for the confection was, meaning "oil food".

History
Halva originated in Persia (modern day Iran). A reference to halvah appeared in the 7th century, referring to a mixture of mashed dates with milk. By the 9th century, the term was applied to numerous kinds of sweets, including the now-familiar sweetened cooked semolina or flour paste.

Many of the earlier Persian recipes were documented in the 13th century Arabic book Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes), as well as an anonymous cookbook from 13th-century Al-Andalus. Halva was adopted by the Ottoman Turks, including a sesame-based version, and spread throughout their empire.

Types
Most types of halva are relatively dense confections sweetened with sugar or honey. Their textures, however, vary. For example, semolina-based halva's texture can be like a very buttery, moist clumpy couscous to something gelatinous and translucent, while sesame-based halva is drier and more crumbly.

Grain-based halva
Grain-based halva is made by toasting flour or cornstarch in oil, mixing it into a roux, and then cooking it with a sugary syrup. Corn is rarely used.

Dishes made from wheat semolina include suji ka halwa (sooji sheera, rawa sheera) in India and irmik helvası in Turkey. The semolina is first toasted in fat, either oil or butter, to which water or milk, and sugar is added as desired to create the preferred taste and consistency.

Dairy-based rice flour halva, known as Pathein halawa, is considered a Burmese delicacy native to the city of Pathein.

Sesame
Sesame halva is popular in the Balkans, Poland, the Middle East, and other areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The primary ingredients in this confection are sesame butter or paste (tahini), and sugar, glucose or honey. Soapwort (called ‘erq al halaweh in Arabic; çöven in Turkish), egg white, or marshmallow root are added in some recipes to stabilize the oils in the mixture or create a distinctive texture for the resulting confection. Other ingredients and flavorings, such as pistachio nuts, cocoa powder, orange juice, vanilla, or chocolate are often added to the basic tahini and sugar base.

Sunflower
Sunflower halva is popular in the countries of the former Soviet Union as well as in Bulgaria and Romania. It is made of roasted ground sunflower seeds instead of sesame. It may include other ingredients, such as nuts, cocoa powder, or vanilla. In 1996 around 4–5 thousand tonnes of sunflower halva were being produced by Ukraine annually.

Peanuts
In Argentina, Greek immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century created a kind of halva called mantecol from peanut butter, currently marketed under the name of Mantecol and also Nucrem. Such a product is widely consumed in the country.

Floss halva
Pişmaniye (Turkish) or floss halva is a traditional sweet, prepared in Kocaeli, Turkey, made by flossing thin strands of halva into a light confection. Made primarily of wheat flour and sugar, the strands are continuously wrapped into a ball shape and then compressed. The result is a halva with a light consistency, similar to cotton candy. Floss halva can be found in regular and pistachio flavors, and there are brands with halal or kosher certifications.

A similar chickpea-based version of floss halva is popular in North India. It tends to be slightly denser and is often referred to as patisa or sohan papdi. In Chinese cuisine, a floss-like candy similar to pişmaniye or pashmak halva, known as dragon beard candy, is eaten as a snack or dessert.

A raw version of halva also has become popular among proponents of raw food diets. In this version, a mixture of raw sesame tahini, raw almonds, raw agave nectar and salt are blended together and frozen to firm.

Azerbaijan
One regional variant is from Sheki where Şəki halvası halva refers to a layered bakhlava style pastry filled with spiced-nut mix and topped by crisscrossed patterns of a red syrup made from saffron, dried carrot and beetroot.

Greece
Halva is a traditional fasting food among Greek Orthodox who traditionally have food restrictions, especially from meat, on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year, for all of Great Lent and other fasting periods.

India
India has many types of halva, some unique to particular regions of the country. It is one of the popular sweets of India usually made from semolina.

The town of Bhatkal in Coastal Karnataka is famous for its unique Banana Halwa which is infused with either whole cashews, pistachio or almonds. This type of authentic halwas are a specialty of the Muslims of this town. The Udupi cuisine has halwa's made from Banana, Wheat, Ashgourd, and Jackfuit, etc.

It is speculated that Halva (or Halwa) is associated with Indian traditions and culture, written records of sweets from Mānasollāsa indicate that semolina halvas, the most popular form of halvas in India, were already known in India, for instance, it mentions a sweet called shali-anna which is a semolina based sweet today known as Kesari in South India.

Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu is known for its wheat halwa. Its preparation is a laborious process that "is slowly seeing this sweet disappear." Unlike other sweets, the extra ghee is not drained out but forms an outer layer. This increases the shelf life of the halwa. Locals attribute the unique taste of the halwa to the water of the Thamirabarani. The history of Kozhikode Halwa in Kerala could trace back to Zamorin era. Zamorin invited chefs from Gujarat to prepare halwa for their royal feast. They were also granted places to stay beside royal kitchen. This settlement later evolved as sweet sellers street, nowadays known as SM (Sweet Meat) Street or Mittayitheruvu. Kozhikode halwa is made of pure coconut oil, not from ghee. Kozhikode halwa also builds religious harmony; Ayyappa devotees from neighboring states Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh buy halwa and chips like prasadam (sacred food). They distribute them among their neighbors and friends, who consume them with a religious zeal.

Iran
In Iran, halva usually refers to a related confection made from wheat flour and butter and flavored with saffron and rose water. The final product has a yellow, brown, or dark brown color. The halva is spread thin on a plate and left until it dries into a paste. Halva usually is served at wedding celebrations, religious ceremonies and funerals.

Halva Ardeh is the Iranian term for tahini-based halva, and may or may not include whole pistachios. Ardeh is processed sesame in the form of paste, usually sweetened with syrup.

Israel
Tahini halvah (חלווה) is very popular in Israel and among Jews in the diaspora. Israeli halvah is made from sesame tahini and sugar. It is generally sold in slabs, with or without nuts. Vanilla, or vanilla with chocolate swirls are perhaps the most common, but there are many different varieties. Halvah is parve. It is often served as a breakfast component at Israeli hotels, and even used in specialty ice cream.

Myanmar (Burma)
In Myanmar (Burma), halawa (MY ဟလဝါ) generally refers to Pathein halawa (MY ပုသိမ်ဟလဝါ), a Burmese confection or mont made with glutinous rice flour, rice flour, milk, and coconut shavings originating from the Irrawaddy delta town of Pathein. Another popular semolina-based confection, which is known as sooji halawa in India, is called sanwin makin in Myanmar.

Turkey
In Turkey halva is served for special occasions such as births, circumcisions, weddings and religious gatherings. The tradition is for semolina halva to be served at funerals, when someone leaves or returns from Hajj, and during Ramadan.

For this reason, flour (un) halva is also called in Turkish ölü helvası, meaning "halva of the dead". The expression "roasting halva for someone" suggests that the person referred to has died.

United States
Halva can be found in ethnic Indian, Jewish, Arab, Persian, Greek, Balkan, and Turkish community stores and delicatessens. It is increasingly offered by upscale restaurants in some areas. Besides being imported, it is manufactured in the United States, with the largest producer being Brooklyn-originated Joyva.

title: Halva


text:
Canadian Army

The Canadian Army (Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also responsible for the Army Reserve, the largest component of the Primary Reserve. The Army is headed by the Commander of the Canadian Army and Chief of the Army Staff, who is subordinate to the Chief of the Defence Staff. The Army is also supported by 3,000 civilian employees from the public service.

Formed in 1855, as the Active Militia, in response to the threat of the United States to the Province of Canada after the British garrison left for the Crimean War. This Militia was later subdivided into the Permanent Active Militia and the Non-Permanent Active Militia. Finally, in 1940, an order in council changed the name of the Active Militia to the Canadian Army.

On 1 April 1966, prior to the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces, the land forces were placed under a new command called Mobile Command (Commandement des forces mobiles). For two years following, the Army existed as a distinct legal entity before its amalgamation with the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force to form the Canadian Armed Forces. In the 1990s, the command was renamed Land Force Command (Commandement des Forces terrestres), until it reverted to its original name in August 2011.

During its history, the Canadian Army has fought in a variety of conflicts, including in the North-West Rebellion, the Second Boer War, the First and Second World Wars, Korean War, and more recently with the Gulf War, and in the War in Afghanistan.

Formation
Prior to Confederation in 1867, the British Army, which included both "Fencible" Regiments of the British Army—recruited within British North America exclusively for service in North America—and Canadian militia units, was responsible for the defence of Canada. Some current regiments of the Canadian Army trace their origins to these pre-Confederation militia and Fencible units. Following the passage of the Militia Act of 1855, the Permanent Active Militia was formed, and in later decades several regular bodies of troops were created, their descendants becoming the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, the Royal Canadian Dragoons, and the Royal Canadian Regiment. The major operations that regular Canadian troops, in the 19th century, participated in included: the North-West Rebellion in 1885, and the Second Boer War.

World Wars
During the First World War, the Canadian Army raised the volunteer Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) for service overseas, and was the primary Canadian participation to the war effort.

The Canadian Army also fought during the Second World War. Following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany and her allies by the United Kingdom on 3 September 1939, with Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King consulting with the Parliament of Canada and declaring war on 10 September 1939, the Canadian Army raised the Canadian Active Service Force, which initially consisted of the 1st Canadian Division; later increased to form the First Canadian Army. On 19 November 1940, during Second World War, an Order in Council was issued that renamed the Permanent Active Militia as the Canadian Army (Active), supplemented by the Non-Permanent Active Militia, which was named the Canadian Army (Reserve).

Post-war era and recent history (1945-present)
The Army participated in the Korean War, with the first elements of its participation landed in Korea in December 1950 and formed part of the forces who took part in Operation Killer and the Battle of Kapyong. Canadian troops were also committed to the NATO presence in West Germany during the Cold War.

In the years following its unification with the navy and air force in 1968, the size of Canada's land forces was reduced, however, Canadian troops participated in a number of military actions with Canada's allies. These operations included the Gulf War in 1991 and the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, in addition to various peacekeeping operations under United Nations auspices in different parts of the world. Despite Canada's usual support of British and American initiatives, Canada's land forces did not directly participate in the Suez Crisis, the Vietnam War, or the Iraq War.

Structure
Command of the Army is exercised by the commander of the Canadian Army within National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. The Army is divided into four geographical districts: the 2nd Canadian Division is based in Quebec, the 3rd Canadian Division is based in Western Canada, the 4th Canadian Division is based in Ontario, while the 5th Canadian Division is based in Atlantic Canada.

The single operational formation, 1st Canadian Division, is part of the Canadian Joint Operations Command and not part of the Canadian Army. It serves as a deployable headquarters to command a divisional-level deployment of Canadian or allied forces on operations, succeeding the previous Canadian Joint Forces HQ.

In addition to the four regional command areas, the Canadian Army Doctrine and Training Centre, commanded by a major-general and headquartered at McNaughton Barracks, CFB Kingston, Ontario, is responsible for the supervision, integration and delivery of Army training and doctrine development, including simulation and digitization. It includes a number of schools and training organizations, such as the Combat Training Centre at CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick, and the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre at CFB Wainwright, Alberta.

Canadian infantry and armoured regimental traditions are strongly rooted in the traditions and history of the British Army. Many regiments were patterned after regiments of the British Army, and a system of official "alliances", or affiliations, was created to perpetuate a sense of shared history. Other regiments developed independently, resulting in a mixture of both colourful and historically familiar names. Other traditions such as battle honours and colours have been maintained by Canadian regiments as well.

The senior appointment within the Canadian Army was Chief of the General Staff until 1964 when the appointment became Commander, Mobile Command in advance of the unification of Canada's military forces. The position was renamed Chief of the Land Staff in 1993. Following the reversion to the name Canadian Army in 2011, the position became Commander of the Canadian Army.

Regular force
There are presently three Mechanized Brigade Groups in the Canadian Army's Regular Force. Approximately two-thirds of the Regular Force is composed of anglophone units, while one third is francophone. The Mechanized Brigades includes battalions from three infantry regiments, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, the Royal Canadian Regiment, and the Royal 22e Regiment.

Between 1953 and 1971, the Regular Canadian Infantry consisted of seven regiments, each maintaining two battalions (except the Royal 22e Régiment, which had three; The Canadian Guards which had four battalions between 1953 and 1957; and the Canadian Airborne Regiment, which was divided into three commandos). In addition to the Canadian Guards, and the Canadian Airborne Regiment, The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, and The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada also fielded units that served in Regular Force.

In the years that followed the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces, several units of Regular Force were disbanded, or reduced to nil strength. On 15 September 1968, the 2nd Battalion, The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada was reduced to nil strength and transferred to the Supplementary Order of Battle. Several weeks later, The 1st Battalion of the Canadian Guards was disbanded on 1 October 1968.

In 1970, several more units were reduced to nil strength. The 1st Battalion, The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada was reduced to nil strength and transferred to the Supplementary Order of Battle on 27 April 1970, with the unit's personnel forming the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Further reductions occurred from mid-June to early-July 1970, with the Regular Force unit from The Fort Garry Horse being disbanded on 16 June 1970. The 1st and 2nd Battalions of The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada were reduced to nil strength on 1 July 1970, and transferred to the Supplementary Order of Battle. Several days later, on 6 July 1970, the 2nd Battalion, The Canadian Guards, were reduced to nil strength and transferred to the Supplementary Order of Battle; while its personnel became a part of 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment. After the Canadian Guards were reduced to nil strength, the role of the Household Troop reverted to the two seniormost infantry regiments of the Reserve. The respective battalions automatically relinquished its numerical battalion designation at that time.

During the 1990s, the Regular Force saw further organizational restructuring. The Canadian Airborne Regiment was disbanded in 1995, while the Regular Force regiment of the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's), formed in 1957, was converted to a mixed Regular and Reserve "Total Force" unit with the close-out of 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group at Lahr, Germany in 1994, before reverting to a Reserve regiment in 1997.

Reserve
The Army Reserve is the reserve element of the Canadian Army and the largest component of the Primary Reserve. The Army Reserve is organized into under-strength brigades (for purposes of administration) along geographic lines. The Army Reserve is very active and has participated heavily in all Regular Army deployments in the last decade, in some cases contributing as much as 40 per cent of each deployment in either individual augmentation, as well as occasional formed sub-units (companies). LFR regiments have the theoretical administrative capacity to support an entire battalion, but typically have the deployable manpower of only one or two platoons. They are perpetuated as such for the timely absorption of recruits during times of war. Current strength of the Army Reserve is approximately 18,000. On 1 April 2008, the Army Reserve absorbed all units of the former Communications Reserve.

Organization
The Canadian Army comprises: Additionally, the command comprises the Canadian Army Doctrine and Training Centre, which includes the following establishments:
 * 2nd Canadian Division
 * 2nd Canadian Division Headquarters
 * 4 Intelligence Company
 * 2 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group
 * 5 Area Construction Troop, 4 Engineer Support Regiment
 * 2nd Canadian Division Training Centre
 * 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group
 * 34 Canadian Brigade Group
 * 35 Canadian Brigade Group
 * 2nd Canadian Division Support Group
 * 3rd Canadian Division
 * 3rd Canadian Division Headquarters
 * 6 Intelligence Company
 * 1 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group
 * 4 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group
 * 1 Area Construction Troop, 4 Engineer Support Regiment
 * 1 Military Police Regiment
 * 3rd Canadian Division Training Centre
 * 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group
 * 38 Canadian Brigade Group
 * 39 Canadian Brigade Group
 * 41 Canadian Brigade Group
 * 3rd Canadian Division Support Group
 * 4th Canadian Division
 * 4th Canadian Division Headquarters
 * 2 Intelligence Company
 * 3 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group
 * 2 Military Police Regiment
 * 4th Canadian Division Training Centre
 * 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group
 * 31 Canadian Brigade Group
 * 32 Canadian Brigade Group
 * 33 Canadian Brigade Group
 * 4th Canadian Division Support Group
 * 5th Canadian Division
 * 5th Canadian Division Headquarters
 * 3 Intelligence Company
 * 5 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group
 * 3 Military Police Regiment
 * 4 Area Construction Troop, 4 Engineer Support Regiment
 * 5th Canadian Division Training Centre
 * 36 Canadian Brigade Group
 * 37 Canadian Brigade Group
 * 5th Canadian Division Support Group
 * 6 Canadian Combat Support Brigade
 * Influence Activities Task Force (PsyOps, CIMIC)
 * Canadian Army Intelligence Regiment
 * 21 Electronic Warfare Regiment
 * 4th Artillery Regiment, RCA
 * 4 Engineer Support Regiment
 * CADTC Headquarters
 * Command and Staff College
 * Army Training Directorate
 * CIMIC Directorate
 * Army Doctrine Directorate
 * Psyops Directorate
 * Combat Training Centre
 * Environment Directorate
 * School of Communications and Electronics
 * Digitization Office
 * Lessons Learned Centre
 * Peace Support Training Centre
 * Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre

Rank and insignia
Military rank in the Canadian Army is granted based on a variety of factors including merit, qualification, training, and time in-rank. However, promotion up to the rank of corporal for non-commissioned members, and to captain for officers, is automatic based on time in previous rank. Some ranks are associated with specific appointments. For example, a regimental sergeant major is held by a chief warrant officer, or adjutant held by a captain. In some branches or specific units, rank titles may differ due to tradition. A trained private within the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps is a trooper, whereas the same rank within the artillery is gunner. Other titles for the rank of private include fusilier, sapper, rifleman, craftsman, and guardsman. The ranks of the Canadian Army are as follows:

Meals
Field kitchens and catering are used to provide Canadian Army personnel fresh-cooked meals at bases and overseas operation centres. When fresh rations are not practical or available, Individual Meal Packs (IMPs) are issued instead. There are also patrol packs, which are small high-protein snack-type foods (such as beef jerky or shredded cheese) and boxed lunches (consisting of assorted sandwiches, juice, fruit, pasta and a dessert) provided for soldiers to consume in situations in which meal preparation is not possible.

Uniforms
The Canadian Army maintains a variety of different uniforms, including a ceremonial full dress uniform, a mess dress uniform, a service dress uniform, operational/field uniforms, and occupational uniforms. Canada's uniforms were developed parallel to British uniforms from 1900 to the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces in 1968, though maintained significant differences. The adoption of a number of separate uniforms for separate functions, also made its uniforms become distinctively "Canadian" in the process. Prior to unification in 1968, the uniforms between the three branches were similar to their counterparts in the forces of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries, save for national identifiers and some regimental accoutrements. The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, announced on 8 July 2013 the Government of Canada's intent to restore Canadian Army rank insignia, names and badges to their traditional forms.

The Canadian Army's universal full dress uniform includes a scarlet tunic, midnight blue trousers with a scarlet trouser stripe, and a Wolseley helmet. However, a number of regiments in the Canadian Army are authorized regimental deviations from the Army's universal design; including some armoured, Canadian-Scottish regiments, and all rifle/voltigeur regiments. The full dress uniforms of the Army regiments originated from the Canadian militia, and was eventually relegated from combat to ceremonial use.

The present service dress uniform includes a rifle green tunic and trousers, similar to the older iteration of the service dress, although with a different cut, and an added shoulder strap. The present service dress uniforms were introduced in the late 1980s, alongside the other "distinctive environmental uniforms" issued to other branches of the Canadian Armed Forces. From the unification of the armed forces in 1968, to the introduction of the distinctive service uniforms in the 1980s, the branches of the Canadian Armed Forces wore a similar rifle green service uniform.

The Canadian Army began to issue combat specific uniforms in the early 1960s, with the introduction of "combats," coloured olive-drab shirt. The olive-drab uniforms continued to be used with minor alterations until the Army adopted CADPAT camouflaged combat uniforms in the late-1990s. With the adoption of CADPAT, the Canadian Armed Forces became the first military force to adopt digital camouflage pattern for all its units.

Officer training
Officers are selected in several ways: In addition, there were other commissioning plans such as the Officer Candidate Training Plan and Officer Candidate Training Plan (Men) for commissioning serving members which are no longer in effect.
 * The Regular Officer Training Plan, where candidates are educated at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) or at civilian Canadian universities.
 * Direct Entry Officer Plan, for those who already hold a university degree or technology diploma.
 * Continuing Education Officer Training Plan, addresses shortages in certain officer occupations, and is intended to attract candidates who are otherwise qualified for service as officers, but who lack a degree. Candidates complete their degrees while serving in the Army.
 * University Training Plan (Non-Commissioned Members), designed to develop selected serving non-commissioned members for service as career officers in the Regular Force. Normally, candidates selected for this plan will attend RMC or a civilian university in Canada.
 * Commissioning from the Ranks Plan, provides officers to augment the number of officers commissioned through other plans and applies exclusively to those who have acquired some military experience and possess the necessary qualities that make them suitable for employment as officers.
 * Special Requirements Commissioning Plan, is designed to meet the needs of the officer occupations. It allows the Canadian Forces to profit from the skills and experience of senior non-commissioned members and may provide an opportunity for career advancement for selected deserving Chief Warrant Officers.
 * Subsidized special education, which includes the Medical Officer Training Plan or Dental Officer Training Plan.

Occupational training for Canadian Army officers takes place at one of the schools of the Combat Training Centre for Army controlled occupations (armour, artillery, infantry, electrical, and mechanical engineers, etc.), or at a Canadian Armed Forces school, such as the Canadian Forces School of Administration and Logistics, or the Defence Public Affairs Learning Centre for Officers from career fields controlled outside the Army.

Equipment

Canada is an industrial nation with a highly developed science and technology sector. Since the First World War, Canada has produced its own infantry fighting vehicle, anti-tank guided missile and small arms for the Army. Regular and reserve units operate state-of-the-art equipment able to handle modern threats through 2030–2035. Despite extensive financial cuts to the defence budget between the 1960s–2000s, the Army is relatively well equipped. The Army currently operates approximately 10,500 utility vehicles, including G-wagons and 7000-MVs, and also operates approximately 2,700 armoured fighting vehicles including the LAV-III and the Leopard 2. The Army also operates approximately 150 field artillery pieces including the M777 howitzer and the LG1 Mark II.

In 2016 the Army replaced the RG-31 Nyala and Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicle with the Textron Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle.

The Army infantry uses the C7 Rifle or C8 Carbine as the basic assault rifle, with grenadiers using the C7 with an attached M203 grenade launcher, and the C9 squad automatic weapon. The Canadian Army also uses the SIG Sauer P320 and the SIG Sauer P226.

Newer variants of the C7/C8 family have since been integrated into common use throughout the Canadian Armed Forces. The C7 has most recently been updated in the form the C7A2. The major internal components remain the same, however, several changes have been made to increase versatility of the rifle.

Tactical communication is provided via the Iris Digital Communications System.

Badge
The badge of the Canadian Army consists of:

 * St. Edward's Crown
 * Three red maple leaves on one stem
 * Crossed swords

Bases and training centres

 * 1) 2nd Canadian Division
 * 2) * 2nd Canadian Division Support Base Montreal
 * 3) * Garrison Valcartier
 * 4) * Garrison St Jean
 * 5) * 2nd Canadian Division Training Centre Valcartier
 * 6) 3rd Canadian Division
 * 7) * 3rd Canadian Division Support Base Edmonton
 * 8) * Garrison Wainwright
 * 9) * Garrison Shilo
 * 10) * 3rd Canadian Division Training Centre Wainwright
 * 11) * 3rd Canadian Division Training Centre Detachment Shilo
 * 12) 4th Canadian Division
 * 13) * 4th Canadian Division Support Base Petawawa
 * 14) * Canadian Forces Base Kingston
 * 15) * 4th Canadian Division Training Centre Meaford
 * 16) 5th Canadian Division
 * 17) * 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown
 * 18) * 5th Canadian Division Training Centre Gagetown
 * 19) * 5th Canadian Division Training Centre Detachment Aldershot

Canadian Army Journal
Since 1947, the Canadian Army has produced a peer-reviewed academic journal called the Canadian Army Journal. In 1965, prior to the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces, the journal was merged with similar publications from across the services. In 1980, the Canadian Army Doctrine Bulletin began printing as the successor to the original journal, and in 2004 the publication returned to its original name.

title: Canadian Army


text:
Talk:Inertial frame of reference

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Problem with this definition in GR
In Misner, Thorne and Wheeler, the "inertial frame" is what the authors call a "free float frame." It's any reference frame in which Newton's laws of motion hold good, and things are weightless. Fair enough. The introduction to this article puts it a little more technically: In general relativity, in any region small enough for the curvature of spacetime to be negligible one can find a set of inertial frames that approximately describe that region. So what then are we to do with the special case of the reference frame occupied by an object in an inertial trajectory, as (for example) a body falling in a vacuum in a gravitational field? Must we say that a body on an inertial path occupies a physically accelerated reference frame that is NOT an "inertial frame"? What a pity. If free fall motion is inertial motion, why is a free-fall reference frame not an inertial reference frame? S B Harris 23:19, 27 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Well for one, because if there is curvature, it is impossible to define "the" reference frame of a freely falling observer. That is, there is canonical way of extending the tangent space along the trajectory of the observer to a frame of reference in his vicinity. It help you to know, that a constant gravitational field has zero curvature.TR 14:11, 25 October 2012 (UTC)

Definition of inertial frame of reference
The definition presented in the beginning is not the usual one. It talks about space and time being homogeneous and isotropic. This is a very advanced concept, and the article does not explain what does it mean for space and time to be homogeneous and isotropic. It is too technical for most readers to understand.

I suggest we adopt the usual definition: "a frame of reference in which the laws of physics take their simplest form". I read the part from Landau Lifshitz where the homogeneous isotropic definition comes from. Before saying that, it says "a frame of reference in which the laws of mechanics take their simplest form".

Italo Tasso (talk) 20:11, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

 * I just spent a while searching for a nice definition (and checked here for discussion as well). I like wikipedia's presentation here.  I think appealing just to "simplest form" isn't as straight forward.  Does that mean only the rest frame of an object is an inertial frame?  The physics can be described "simpler" in such a frame.  Or what about when electrodynamics is written in tensor form, the equations are more compact and the relations more obvious, so is that a "simpler" form?  But that "form" holds in 'any' coordinate system. So is everything an inertial coordinate system?  I think the current definition is as precise as we can get, with the follow up helping give the essence in a less technical manner.  GravyKnives (talk) 11:20, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

 * I just looked up the Landau Lifshitz reference. Inertial frame isn't actually uttered until stating "a frame of reference can always be chosen in which space is homogeneous and isotropic and time is homogeneous. This is called an inertial frame." (emphasis in original) The book then uses these properties to help deduce some physical laws in inertial frames. This would not be possible with suggested "simpler form" definition which is much less precise. GravyKnives (talk) 11:28, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

 * I find the definition a bit confusing too and it is over technical for most readers. It comes from a book that is using it to introduce a discussion of Lagrangians.

 * Why not start the article a simple "dictionary style" definition, paraphrase or quote of a definition such as "A frame of reference in which bodies move in straight lines with constant speeds unless acted upon by external forces, i.e. a frame of reference in which free bodies are not accelerated. Newton's laws of motion are valid in an inertial system but not in a system that is itself accelerated with respect to such a frame.." . Then go on to say that's a Newtonian frame of reference and talk about generalization to relativity theory?

 * Also, when it says "space is homogeeous and istotropic" - the reader might assume that means that matter is distributed in space in a homegeneous and istotropic way which is not a requirement of an intertial frame, and in General Relativity theory then you can only choose such a frame locally - in a universe like ours with matter in it, there is no frame of reference according to which space in general is homogeneous or isotropic - even on the largest scales our universe seems to not quite be either homogeneous or isotropic which, if it's true that matter does warp space time, means that space-time is neither homogeneous or isotropic either.

 * Basically - it is a reasonable way to introduce intertial frames in a book that is about to describe lagrangian theory - but it's not the best way to introduce it in a general article like this, IMHO. Robert Walker (talk) 14:52, 5 June 2017 (UTC)

Merger proposal
Some time ago I proposed merging Inertial space with this article, and no discussion resulted (the original tag is still on Inertial space, but the one on this page was removed). I'd like to reopen the discussion, and this time I'll act fairly quickly if there are no objections. I haven't ever seen a formal definition of "inertial space", but informally it tends to be used for inertial frames of reference when it doesn't matter which frame you choose. It's useful terminology, but not really a distinct concept. Merging it would enhance this article because it would add a discussion of the measurement of acceleration and applications to inertial guidance systems. RockMagnetist (talk) 00:06, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

 * "Inertial space", who ordered that? By all means, go ahead and merge it into here. - DVdm (talk) 09:48, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

 * I have finally done the merger. It was rather difficult to decide how exactly to do it, since much of the source material was unreferenced. I ended up dividing Separating non-inertial from inertial reference frames into Theory and Applications and writing an entirely new description of inertial navigation in the latter. I also copied a paragraph on some work by Schwarzschild into Theory. I don't really know if this work was influential enough to include on this page. Maybe someone else can figure that out. RockMagnetist (talk) 19:07, 26 October 2013 (UTC)

Free-fall equivalence with inertial frames: Newton, or Einstein?
From this article:

 * So much for fictitious forces due to rotation. However, for linear acceleration, Newton expressed the idea of undetectability of straight-line accelerations held in common:
 * If bodies, any how moved among themselves, are urged in the direction of parallel lines by equal accelerative forces, they will continue to move among themselves, after the same manner as if they had been urged by no such forces.
 * —Isaac Newton: Principia Corollary VI, p. 89, in Andrew Motte translation
 * This principle generalizes the notion of an inertial frame. For example, an observer confined in a free-falling lift will assert that he himself is a valid inertial frame, even if he is accelerating under gravity, so long as he has no knowledge about anything outside the lift. So, strictly speaking, inertial frame is a relative concept. With this in mind, we can define inertial frames collectively as a set of frames which are stationary or moving at constant velocity with respect to each other, so that a single inertial frame is defined as an element of this set.
 * —Isaac Newton: Principia Corollary VI, p. 89, in Andrew Motte translation
 * This principle generalizes the notion of an inertial frame. For example, an observer confined in a free-falling lift will assert that he himself is a valid inertial frame, even if he is accelerating under gravity, so long as he has no knowledge about anything outside the lift. So, strictly speaking, inertial frame is a relative concept. With this in mind, we can define inertial frames collectively as a set of frames which are stationary or moving at constant velocity with respect to each other, so that a single inertial frame is defined as an element of this set.
 * This principle generalizes the notion of an inertial frame. For example, an observer confined in a free-falling lift will assert that he himself is a valid inertial frame, even if he is accelerating under gravity, so long as he has no knowledge about anything outside the lift. So, strictly speaking, inertial frame is a relative concept. With this in mind, we can define inertial frames collectively as a set of frames which are stationary or moving at constant velocity with respect to each other, so that a single inertial frame is defined as an element of this set.

This strongly suggests that Newton described free-fall as inertial motion. However, the Equivalence principle article states that this was an Einstein thing:

 * That is, being at rest on the surface of the Earth is equivalent to being inside a spaceship (far from any sources of gravity) that is being accelerated by its engines. From this principle, Einstein deduced that free-fall is actually inertial motion. Objects in free-fall do not really accelerate.

The article on Force also says it was Einstein:

 * The concept of inertia can be further generalized to explain the tendency of objects to continue in many different forms of constant motion, even those that are not strictly constant velocity. The rotational inertia of planet Earth is what fixes the constancy of the length of a day and the length of a year. Albert Einstein extended the principle of inertia further when he explained that reference frames subject to constant acceleration, such as those free-falling toward a gravitating object, were physically equivalent to inertial reference frames. This is why, for example, astronauts experience weightlessness when in free-fall orbit around the Earth, and why Newton's Laws of Motion are more easily discernible in such environments. If an astronaut places an object with mass in mid-air next to himself, it will remain stationary with respect to the astronaut due to its inertia. This is the same thing that would occur if the astronaut and the object were in intergalactic space with no net force of gravity acting on their shared reference frame. This principle of equivalence was one of the foundational underpinnings for the development of the general theory of relativity.

Is the ascription to Newton in this article a mistake? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.133.145.226 (talk) 17:46, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

Removal of handedness of coordinate systems
There was an offhand comment in the article which I removed, about the handedness of coordinate systems. Since this matters only for electromagnetism and quantum physics, and the article does not deal with those topics, I think it's preferable to ignore it. Alternatively this could be expanded later in the article, but not in the lead. Bright☀ 18:18, 5 June 2017 (UTC)

Enertial systems
There is no experiment observers can perform to distinguish whether an acceleration arises because of a gravitational force or because their reference frame is accelerating. — Douglas C. Giancoli, Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics, p. 155.

Seems a little strange. Firstly gravitational fields are not homogeneous so this must be a infinitesimal situation. The field is detectable as being divergent inside the box that is accelerating. But any geodesic like an orbit around a heavy body surely is a fall in a gravitational field, and also easily detectable not to be inertial. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Burningbrand (talk • contribs)

 * It is explained in the last paragraph of the section Inertial frame of reference: However, the general theory reduces to the special theory over sufficiently small regions of spacetime, where curvature effects become less important and the earlier inertial frame arguments can come back into play. Consequently, modern special relativity is now sometimes described as only a "local theory".
 * - DVdm (talk) 10:45, 15 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Obviously in large enough regions it's easy enough to observe whether the acceleration is due to gravitation or otherwise because of the reasons you stated, but in principle they're equivalent, and their effects are equivalent. Perhaps the quote needs to be expanded to reflect this. Bright☀ 15:38, 15 June 2017 (UTC)

(Problematic?) Mention of Universal Inertial Space
The article currently states, in relation to observations of binary star angular momentum, that:

1) "the angular momentum of all celestial bodies is angular momentum with respect to a universal inertial space."

It also states that :

2) "This phenomenon of geodesic deviation means that inertial frames of reference do not exist globally as they do in Newtonian mechanics and special relativity."

So, do the two sentences contradict each other? At the very least, they seem to be potentially misleading. (1) states makes reference to a, presumably existent, 'universal inertial space' (one would think that this implies a fixed spatial co-ordinate system for the observable universe). (2) states that no Global inertial frame of reference exists (presumably referring to space time).

It might be that the two sentences are somehow logically compatible (when the whole of spacetime is taken into account), but it's not eminently clear to me how. Any explanation of whether the two assertions contradict one another would be appreciated.

ASavantDude (talk) 23:29, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes this needs to be fixed, thanks for pointing it out. There is no universal inertial space. There is an apparent universal inertial frame with respect to the very distant stars, I think one of the article's references already mentions this. Bright☀ 12:37, 13 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Yup, the article makes a brief mention of Mach's principle. I think the entire paragraph about double-star systems is superfluous at the moment, but I kept it in because it could be made relevant if the article is expanded. Bright☀ 13:00, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

Article written like a textbook, not a summary
The article is good and useful and well-sourced, but it's written like a textbook. This is not appropriate according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. I will eventually overhaul it (unless someone does it before me) and this is a sort of heads-up for page-watchers (who may not have noticed the tag being put up two months ago) so they're not taken by surprise when much of the article's style and order changes. Bright☀ 09:26, 10 March 2018 (UTC)

Netwon's First Law alone does not define an Inertial Coordinate System
At the time of writing this, the first sentence of the article was: "An inertial frame of reference in classical physics and special relativity is a frame of reference in which a body with zero net force acting upon it is not accelerating; that is, such a body is at rest or is moving at a constant speed in a straight line." This is trying to invert Newton's first law and make it a definition of an inertial frame. But this is a necessary but not sufficient property. It is particularly ironic that it mentions special relativity, because if this was the definition of an inertial frame in special relativity, then ANY linear transformation from an inertial frame would satisfy the definition and SR would be falsified. I am changing the first sentence to make it clear that is a property of an inertial frame, not a definition. BunkerQ (talk) 04:54, 15 June 2019 (UTC)

Actually, what is the goal of the section before the introduction? It sounds very stilted, as it's practically a sequence of references and statements jammed together almost like a computer generated summary. Compare that to the first paragraph in the Introduction section which states things in much simpler and fluid language. It even restates the Landau definition without it sounding "advanced" (because the concept really isn't, its just the words Landau uses which makes it sound that way). Anytime I see on wikipedia a series of sentences all marked with references it usually sounds stilted. I feel like the beginning of the article sounds that way because people are trying to jam a definition immediately at the start before even discussing the concepts we need for the definition to make sense. BunkerQ (talk) 05:41, 15 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Yes, these different summaries of inertial frames (Newtonian, analitycal) were jammed together. They give a quick, if somewhat obtuse, overview of the topic. Bright☀ 15:27, 15 June 2019 (UTC)

mischaracterising GR/SR (local) inertial reference frames
this article fails to clarify SR/GR does not use inertial reference frames, where the non-inertial page clearly states they are not inertial from a global perspective.
 * it is my belief this lack of clarity is a symptom of a larger issue. i believe that all "pseudo-Riemmanian" topics should be categorised under mathematical physics and not differential geometry.

the fact is, from the context of, say, the Hasse–Minkowski theorem or theory of the Riemann surface (arguably both of them if you actually know real math), SR does not use inertial reference frames.

they are only seen as inertial when looked at 'locally', but as i said to the biased User:AndyTheGrump: the Riemann surface clearly accounts for a case where global and local behaviour may appear different.
 * the difference in the appearance (topological properties) does not (in any way) change the algebraic properties.
 * this is in stark contrast to the cherished theory whose shortcomings editors clearly ignore.

the global-local principle is very important.

it is hard to have this discussion without discussing the lorentz transform and "pseudo-Riemmanian" geometry, as the frame of reference is a philosophical concept with large consequences on the foundations of a methodology.

so i ask: how is the "pseudo-Riemannian" case, which relaxes the positive definiteness requirement to semi-definiteness, a 'generalisation'? this implies non-full rank and has clear implications on the mathematical properties.
 * it's only a generalisation if the relaxation results in the same properties, but this is obviously not the case.

my field has probably has led the way in showing the usefulness of the PSD relaxation (machine learning) for multiple settings, but in no way do we call it a generalisation. in fact i recall being taught it was a compromise to find stable solutions.
 * it's very handy in the situation where we have one 'zero' eigenvalue (unit eigenvector) that is a solution to an equation (it is not uncommon), but otherwise the assumption of full rank is absolutely necessary for many reasons.

the lorentz transform does not even satisfy the mathematical definition of a transformation. at least editors have enough decency to preference the article with 'In physics'.
 * yet this transform is absolutely the entire key to SR/GR. why does "pseudo-Riemannian" get to hide under the guise of mathematics, while the other (rightfully) is classified under physics?
 * at best, these topics should be considered mathematical physics. they are not differential geometry. maybe it's what physicists call differential geometry, but that doesn't mean it's real differential geometry.

do physicists even appreciate how many mathematicians REVERE Riemmanian Geometry to the point where they avoid writing about it, even though they would love to?

it's hallowed ground. you guys just take it and abuse it. it's time you're held to account. and yes, this is something that is worth fighting over.

198.53.108.48 (talk) 18:06, 14 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Your statement is far from neutral, and at over 3,500 bytes (from the tag to the next timestamp) it is also far from brief. This is much too long for  to handle, and so it is not being shown correctly at Requests for comment/Maths, science, and technology. The RfC may also not be publicised through WP:FRS until a shorter statement is provided. -- Red rose64 🌹 (talk) 21:05, 14 June 2021 (UTC)
 * i have no favourite in the Crank Competition, so i beg to differ about bias. nonetheless you are correct i am incapable of forming proper RfCs (and noticed by User:Volteer1). i thought the RfC just requires a good topic sentence and then the rest is what you're soliciting comments on. how can we fix this? can you help me fix this? i thought my edited version shortened the topic sentence sufficiently. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.53.108.48 (talk) 19:26, 15 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Did you read WP:RFCST, or WP:RFCBRIEF? What's with the Depeche Mode stuff, anyway? The whole thing looks like a bunch of random remarks. A good RfC gets straight to the point, see WP:WRFC. -- Red rose64 🌹 (talk) 21:28, 15 June 2021 (UTC)

i will read it and maybe try to fix it.

regarding my statements: they're not really random. it's just that introducing philosophy to mathematics (here, frames of reference are philosophical) introduces additional elements.
 * you can't escape discussion of a transformation when you talk about frames of reference. often the original frame of reference is where you perform the mathematics, and the output can be looked at as a 'new frame of reference'.
 * look at the super-crank diagram on Lorentz transformation. it makes me laugh every time i see it.
 * it's so far from geometrically or mathematically rigorous, but is probably the best intuitive description we have.
 * but i digress.
 * the point of mentioning the Lorentz transformation is that it is responsible for the transformation involving the (allegedly inertial) frames of reference.

to show how meaningless the term 'locally inertial' really is, all we need to do is take a global view:
 * imagine we have some global frame of reference that comprises of more than one 'locally inertial' frame(s) of reference.
 * any of these frames will become non-inertial once they are 'viewed' from another frame (i.e. outside of itself).

the important property an inertial frame of reference is the constant velocity assumption (in my view). it's pretty obvious none of these local frames are moving at constant velocity with respect to each other.
 * rather, each 'locally inertial' frame will have a constant velocity *inside* of it, which may be different from another frame's 'constant velocity'.
 * i guess they try to excuse this with the concept of time dilation, a physical concept with no mathematically robust theory or justification, which is fine.
 * i prefer to avoid dealing with that kind of stuff. in fact, i originally did. i hate having to look at this stuff but i was left no choice.
 * either you have a concept that hundred(s) of people spent decade(s) establishing through multiple hundred publications, little by little, piece [proof] by piece [proof], or you don't.
 * someone has to eventually use them, right? ;)

 * look at this baby, it's straight-up Crank Hall of Fame stuff.
 * i mean, it's not "wrong". it's just not mathematical diagram, and thus becomes 100% crank from my view.

in closing: what's with the depeche mode reference? well, that's my view on this entire subject and i think it's shared by many mathematicians.
 * riemannian geometry is sacred. the constituting proofs and properties are viewed as beautiful by many. i think the statement 'one of the greatest mathematicians of all time' really sums it up.
 * the idea of using riemannian geometry to describe physical phenomena, which should require deference to no more than a few mathematical objects or structure, is considered walking on hallowed ground.
 * you are "putting it in words, writing it down" which is what the physicists attempted to do when contriving pseudo-Riemannian geometry.
 * but they fail to properly respect the (resulting) hallowed ground they walk on. this is best exemplified by calling a weaker property (positive semidefiniteness) a generalisation.

that diagram man. wow — Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.53.108.48 (talk) 19:48, 16 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Adding a further series of random comments does not help in any way. You need to either abide by WP:RFCBRIEF, or remove the tag. -- Red rose64 🌹 (talk) 15:55, 17 June 2021 (UTC)

i mean no disrespect, but are you trained in any relevant topic to the area? my intention behind this question is not to denigrate your (potentially) lack of familiarity with the area, but the comments aren't random.
 * but for someone without any relevant training on the field, they could be seen as random. i don't think anyone wants to argue with me.
 * those who are able to engage don't seem too eager. i know they're reading this.

i hope what they will be learning in the next little bit is to not commit to an academic field out of hero worship.
 * i don't know any mathematician that said 'i am in mathematics because  is the bomb, and i want to continue his legacy'.
 * usually what i'll hear they enjoyed learning about a concept (obscure as it may be, that's how it goes when you do the mathematics properly) and wanted to contribute.

a cult of personality has existed in physics for the last 100 years, which has greatly inflated its head count.
 * it is truly a post-einstein phenomenon. it's not his fault.

but damn, people: if you're in a field because of a person without fully grasping what they did (no one does, that's the truth), you're not in it for the right reasons.
 * feynman at least had the courage to say no one understood QM and he was right, but it's not the same challenge as GR/SR (imo).

the challenge for QM is more general: interfacing rigorous mathematics with an equally-rigorous observation.
 * usually someone who understands the former is incapable of the latter, and vice-versa. you really need to have a good set of eyes.

but i digress. open invitation for any GR/SR worshipper to get SMOK'T

lulz. c'man, potential reader, it'll be just like those famous debates you probably spend so much time imagining.
 * i want to be put in my place with your usage of a canonical 'thought experiment' that'll shut me up!
 * thought experiments in a field purported to focus on reality, eh? go figure. 198.53.108.48 (talk) 18:42, 17 June 2021 (UTC)

I have removed the RfC tag: whatever this is, it's not an RfC. --JBL (talk) 19:35, 17 June 2021 (UTC)

Article Restructure for Encyclopedic Tone/Style
The current state of the article has been flagged by wikipedia for the lack of an encyclopedic tone. I will be working on this article for the next few weeks to meet these standards. My focus will be to make bold and frequent edits to support an encyclopedic tone and offer suggestions for wording that is too technical. BMarie 212 (talk) 18:12, 20 February 2024 (UTC)

 * I suggest that the "delete" key will be very valuable in your effort. Johnjbarton (talk) 18:32, 20 February 2024 (UTC)
 * I agree that the article is too technical. I recomend to delete or severely edit anything coming from as it is considered one of the most technical books to learn mechanics from and mostly reserved for PhD in theoretical physics. Jafloch (talk) 05:34, 25 February 2024 (UTC)
 * There are only two used of Landau and Lifshitz and neither one is complex. Johnjbarton (talk) 16:03, 25 February 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Inertial frame of reference


text:
Chilean flamingo

The Chilean flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis) is a species of large flamingo at a height of 110 – closely related to the American flamingo and the greater flamingo, with which it was sometimes considered conspecific. The species is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN.

It breeds in South America from Ecuador and Peru to Chile and Argentina and east to Brazil; it has been introduced into Germany. Like all flamingos, it lays a single chalky-white egg on a mud mound.

These flamingos are mainly restricted to salt lagoons and soda lakes but these areas are vulnerable to habitat loss and water pollution.

Description
The plumage is pinker than the slightly larger greater flamingo, but less so than the Caribbean flamingo. It can be differentiated from these species by its grayish legs with pink joints (tibiotarsal articulation), and also by the larger amount of black on the bill (more than half). Young chicks may have no sign of pink coloring whatsoever, but instead remain gray or peach.

Diet
The Chilean flamingo's bill is equipped with comb-like structures that enable it to filter food—mainly algae and plankton—from the water of the coastal mudflats, estuaries, lagoons, and salt lakes where it lives.

Breeding
Chilean flamingos live in large flocks in the wild and require crowded conditions to stimulate breeding. During breeding season, males and females display a variety of behaviors to attract mates, including head flagging—swiveling their heads from side-to-side in tandem—and wing salutes, where the wings are repeatedly opened and closed. Flamingos in general have a poor record of successful breeding because they will delay reproduction until the environmental conditions are favorable for breeding.

Males and females co-operate in building a pillar-shaped mud nest, and both incubate the egg laid by the female, taking turns to sit on the egg. Upon hatching, the chicks have gray plumage; they do not gain the typical pink adult coloration for 2–3 years. Both male and female flamingos can produce a nutritious fluid from glands in their crop to feed their young. Due to their diet, this crop milk is crimson in color.

In captivity
The first flamingo hatched in a European zoo was a Chilean flamingo at Zoo Basel (Switzerland) in 1958.

In 1988, a Chilean flamingo that lived in the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City, Utah, had mistakenly not received his routine wing clipping. The flamingo escaped, and became a local legend in the greater Salt Lake area known as Pink Floyd the Flamingo. Pink Floyd came to Utah in the winters to eat the brine shrimp that live in the Great Salt Lake, and flew north to Idaho and Montana in the spring and summer. Pink Floyd became a popular tourist attraction and local icon until his disappearance and presumed death after he flew north to Idaho one spring in 2005 and was never seen again.

Since there is such a decline in the numbers of this species, breeding programs have been implemented in zoos to offset the decline of the wild stock numbers.

title: Chilean flamingo