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Whataburger

Whataburger is an American regional fast food restaurant chain, headquartered and based in San Antonio, Texas, that specializes in hamburgers. Founded by Harmon Dobson and Paul Burton, it opened its first restaurant in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1950. Family-owned by the Dobsons until 2019, the chain is now managed by the private equity firm BDT & MSD Partners; the Dobson family still holds a small stake.

When the company changed ownership in 2019, there were more than 670 locations in Texas and over 150 in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and the Southern United States, of which 126 are franchised.

Whataburger was known for many years for its distinct A-framed orange-and-white-stripe-roofed buildings. The first A-frame restaurant, the 24th Whataburger to open, was built in Odessa, Texas in 1961. Although the company highlighted the restaurant as an unofficial historical landmark, it was demolished in 2019 and replaced by a new building.

The company's focus is on ground beef burgers, and include the Whataburger, the Whataburger Jr., the Triple Meat Whataburger, the Bacon & Cheese Whataburger, and the Justaburger. Non-beef options, such as the Whatachick'n, are also available. Breakfast is served during morning hours, including biscuits, pork sausage, bacon, and eggs.

Early years
In 1950, Harmon Dobson and Paul Burton were looking to open a hamburger restaurant. Dobson's goal was to "make a better burger that took two hands to hold and tasted so good that when you took a bite you would say 'What a burger!'" In June 1950, Dobson was granted the Whataburger trademark. In August of that year they opened their first location on Ayers Street in Corpus Christi, Texas, across from Del Mar College. The store sold burgers for 25 cents, and also sold drinks and chips.

In 1951, Burton and Dobson ended their partnership after arguments concerning Dobson's price raise of the burger from 25 to 30 cents. Burton settled with owning the Whataburger franchises in San Antonio, Texas. Months later, prices for burgers were raised to 35 cents. In 1952, Dobson opened a location in Kingsville, Texas, the first store outside of Corpus Christi. In 1953, Joe Andrews, Sr. became the first non-founder franchise owner with a location in Alice, Texas. In 1959, the first Whataburger restaurant outside Texas opened in Pensacola, Florida.

1960s and 1970s
By 1960, there were stores operating across Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. Inspired by his love for flying, Dobson designed the orange and white striped A-frame store in Odessa, Texas, in 1961.

In 1962, the company added French fries and hot pies to its menu. In 1963, it expanded to Arizona and totaled 26 stores. In 1965, it estimated selling 15,000 burgers daily in the Texas Coastal Bend area. In 1967, the company commissioned the "Flying W" company logo, and the company had expanded to 40 restaurants in four states.

On April 11, 1967, Dobson and an associate died in an airplane crash, and Dobson's widow, Grace, took control of the business. In 1969, Grace became chairman of the board.

In 1971, the company opened its first drive-through store, and in 1972, it opened its 100th store. In 1974, the A-frame design was changed to a "Modern A-Frame" to accommodate drive-thrus and larger dining rooms.

1980s and 1990s
In 1980, the company opened its 300th store. In 1982, three Corpus Christi stores began 24/7 service. In 1983, the company added Breakfast on a Bun, the Whatachick'n sandwich and breakfast taquitos to its menu. In 1987, it opened its 400th store, and also shut down operations in California.

In 1993, Harmon and Grace Dobson's son, Tom, became the CEO and President. The menu expanded, offering Whatameal packages, cookies and biscuits, and chicken strips. The company celebrated its 500th store opening in 1995, and was noted as the country's eighth-largest hamburger chain.

On May 6, 1999, the company opened "Whataburger by the Bay" on Shoreline Blvd in Corpus Christi. It is the largest Whataburger store at 6000 sqft. The site includes a life-size bronze statue of Harmon Dobson.

A Whataburger facility, complete with familiar a-frame design and the company logo, appeared routinely in the popular animated TV series King of the Hill.

2000–present
On August 8, 2000, Whataburger celebrated its 50th anniversary with 575 operating stores. In 2001, during the 77th Texas Legislative Session, a bill was passed proclaiming Whataburger to be a Texas Treasure.

In 2003, it hired Austin-based advertising firm McGarrah Jessee, which created an advertising campaign featuring the gravelly voice of Ohio actor William Bassett. In 2007, the company achieved 700 stores in ten states with annual revenue of $1 billion.

In October 2011, the company changed its television ads from Bassett's voiceovers to "documentary-style ads employees and customers using their own words to describe what makes Whataburger special." By the end of the year, it had 728 stores operating in ten states. The Dobson family owned 611 stores, and the other "117 are owned and operated by about 25 franchisees."

On May 16, 2019 American City Business Journals reported that Whataburger confirmed it has hired Morgan Stanley for a possible sale of the company.

On June 14, 2019, the Dobson family sold its majority stake in the company to BDT Capital, a Chicago-based investment company. The family cited long term expansion plans as one reason for the sale. Much of the current leadership will remain, but they will take on new roles within the company. Ed Nelson, currently serving as chief financial officer and controller, was promoted to president. The company said that Whataburger's headquarters will remain in San Antonio.

On August 1, 2020, Ed Nelson was promoted to CEO of Whataburger.

Beginning in 2021, the company expanded to the Midwest with locations around the Kansas City metropolitan area and the Wichita, Kansas metropolitan area, with multiple locations in between the cities, and also as far north as St. Joseph On January 5, 2022, the first of 8 locations in Middle Tennessee opened in Hermitage, ending a decades long absence in the Nashville area.

In March 2022, Whataburger announced it would be opening locations in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The first one opened in November in Kennesaw.

In April 2023, the town of Flower Mound, Texas approved zoning for the first Whataburger in the city. At that time, Flower Mound was the largest city in Texas without a Whataburger.

As of May 2024, Whataburger has announced plans for six North Carolina locations and nine South Carolina locations.

Retail products
Due to the success of selling Whataburger sauces at H-E-B since 2014, the company announced it will offer 1-pound packages of bacon at H-E-B and Central Market stores.

Whataburger sells its line of condiments in 14oz and 20oz squeeze bottles. It also sells jars of its picante sauce and salsa verde, as well as boxed pancake mix.

Leadership and operations
Whataburger generated more than $3 billion in revenue in 2022 at more than 900 restaurant locations in 14 states, as well as from the sale of various retail products in grocery stores throughout the U.S. It employed approximately 50,000 people as of 2022. The company is led by president and CEO Ed Nelson, executive vice president and chief operating officer Debbie Stroud, executive vice president and chief marketing officer Rich Scheffler, executive vice president and chief legal officer Elena Kraus, executive vice president and chief financial officer Janelle Sykes, executive vice president and chief development officer James Turcotte, senior vice president and chief people officer Peggy Rubenzer, senior vice president and chief information officer Joe Shannon, and chief strategy and supply chain officer Alexander Ivannikov.

Headquarters and offices
In 2009 the company moved from its long time base in Corpus Christi to a new headquarters at 300 Concord Plaza Drive, a 140000 sqft building in San Antonio.

Previously the corporate headquarters were in Corpus Christi with the regional offices' in Corpus Christi, Houston, Irving, and Phoenix.

After Hurricane Ike hit the Texas Coast in 2008, the company began considering moving its headquarters from Corpus Christi. On Friday November 21, 2008, the company announced it was permanently moving to San Antonio, and that the Corpus Christi office would remain open indefinitely to help ease the transition. The company chose San Antonio because of a larger talent pool for potential employees, increased protection from hurricanes, and cost-efficient office space.

In March 2009 the company purchased the Concord Plaza development from HDG Mansur. The company stated that it chose Concord Plaza for its proximity to neighborhoods and schools attractive to its employees, and its proximity to San Antonio International Airport. Tesoro, which leased space in the development, was moving to another facility at the time Whataburger bought the building. Whataburger planned to move 250 of its corporate positions to San Antonio, with over 60% of the employees coming from Corpus Christi and the rest hired locally.

What-A-Burger and similar stores
Whataburger is sometimes confused with the What-A-Burger (hyphenated) chain of family-operated restaurants in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The first What-A-Burger store opened in 1950 by entrepreneur Jack Branch near Newport News, Virginia, at Newport News Circle (intersection of Jefferson Avenue and U.S. Route 258) in the former Warwick County. What-A-Burger and Whataburger were unaware of each other's existence several states apart until around 1970, when there was some correspondence. However, no legal actions took place until 2002–2003, when both companies sued each other over the alleged trademark infringement. The Court of Appeals, in 2004, eventually decided the Texas Whataburger had a legitimate trademark; but the Virginia chain did not harm the much larger Texas-based chain in any way or cause any reasonable public confusion: "There is no evidence — nor can we imagine any — that consumers are currently likely to be confused about whether the burgers served by Virginia W-A-B come from Texas or Virginia."

A second restaurant chain based in North Carolina, named What-A-Burger Drive-In, owned by Eb and Michael Bost, was not a party to the lawsuit, but under case law procedures, it would also retain its name. It visibly numbered their stores starting from #1 in Kannapolis, North Carolina, to #15 in Concord, North Carolina, six of which remain in operation. The Texas chain filed suit in federal court June 11, 2024 after its announcement that it would add North Carolina locations. The suit alleges three restaurants located in Mount Pleasant, Norwood, North Carolina and Raleigh in North Carolina started using the name "What-A-Burger #13" after the Texas chain's copyright registration.

Sponsorships
Whataburger has sponsored a variety of music festivals. The company has also sponsored sports through the Whataburger Sports Complex in Kilgore, Texas, the Arizona Soccer Association, and David Starr Racing, among others.

title: Whataburger


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Papal tiara

The papal tiara is a crown that is worn by popes of the Catholic Church from as early as the 8th century to the mid–20th century. It was last used by Pope Paul VI in 1963, and only at the beginning of his reign.

The name tiara refers to the entire headpiece, including the various crowns, circlets, and diadems that have adorned it through the ages, while the three-tiered form that it took in the 14th century is also called the triregnum or the triple crown, and sometimes as the triple tiara.

From 1143 to 1963, the papal tiara was solemnly placed on the pope's head during a papal coronation. The surviving papal tiaras are all in the triple form, the oldest from 1572. A representation of the triregnum combined with two crossed keys of Saint Peter is used as a symbol of the papacy and appears on papal documents, buildings and insignia, and on the flag of Vatican City. Actual use of the papal tiara has declined since the reign of Pope Paul VI, the last pope to have a coronation ceremony. Starting with Joseph Ratzinger, popes have also stopped incorporating a papal tiara into their Coat of Arms.

Origins
The papal tiara originated from a conical Phrygian cap or frigium. Shaped like a candle-extinguisher, the papal tiara and the episcopal mitre were identical in their early forms.

Names used for the papal tiara in the 8th and 9th centuries include camelaucum, pileus, phrygium and pileum phrygium.

Crowns
A circlet of linen or cloth of gold at the base of the tiara developed into a metal crown, which by about 1300 became two crowns. The first of these appeared at the base of the traditional white papal headgear in the 9th century. When the popes assumed temporal power in the Papal States, the base crown became decorated with jewels to resemble the crowns of princes. Innocent III is represented with an early tiara in a fresco at Sacro Speco and on a mosaic from Old Saint Peter's, now in the Museo di Roma. A similar tiara, conical and with only one crown, is seen worn by pope Clement IV in frescoes from the 13th century in Pernes-les-Fontaines, France.

The second crown is said to have been added by Pope Boniface VIII as signifying both his spiritual and temporal power, since he declared that God had set him over kings and kingdoms. Boniface VIII's tiara is represented with two crowns in his statues and tomb by Arnolfo di Cambio. The addition of a third crown is attributed to Pope Benedict XI (1303–1304) or Pope Clement V (1305–1314), and one such tiara was listed in an inventory of the papal treasury in 1316 (see "Tiara of Saint Sylvester", below). The first years of the 16th century saw the addition of a small orb and cross to top the tiara.

The third crown was added to the papal tiara during the Avignon Papacy (1309–1378), giving rise to the form called the triregnum.

After Pope Clement V at Avignon, various versions of the three-crown tiara have been worn by popes also in Rome down to Pope Paul VI, who was crowned with one in 1963.

Tiara of Saint Sylvester
Lord Twining wrote of a tiara of Pope Boniface VIII that became known as the Tiara of Saint Sylvester:

"Under Boniface VIII (1294–1303) the hood of the regnum was lengthened and the circlet was greatly enriched with precious stones, while toward the end of his papacy a second circlet was added. The increased length had the symbolical meaning of dominion of the una sancta ecclesia over the earth, and demonstrated the meaning of the papal unam sanctum. In the inventory of 1295, the second year of Boniface's papacy, the head-dress, which is now usually referred to as a tiara, is described as enriched with 48 rubies balas, 72 sapphires, 45 praxini or emeralds, numerous little balas rubies and emeralds and 66 large pearls. At the summit was a very large ruby.

Boniface VIII was succeeded in 1303 by Benedict XI, who took the tiara to Perugia. After his death in 1304 there was a period of eleven months before a new Pope succeeded. The Archbishop of Bordeaux was chosen and took the title of Clement V. He removed the papal seat from Rome to Avignon and the tiara was brought to Lyons from Perugia for his coronation on 14 November 1305. In the inventory which was taken in 1315–16 Boniface VIII's tiara is again described and can be identified by the mention of the large ruby, which is recorded as missing. It is described as having three circlets corona quae vocatur, regnum cum tribus circuitis aureis. It therefore must have been between the taking of the two inventories in 1295 and 1315 that the second and third circlets were added to the tiara. It was during this period that the fleur-de-lis was used to decorate the circlets. The tiara was kept in the Papal Treasury at Avignon until Gregory XI took it back to Rome, which he entered on 17 January 1377. In 1378 Robert of Geneva was elected anti-Pope taking the style Clement VII, and he removed the tiara from Avignon. When the Spaniard, Pedro de Luna, was elected anti-Pope in 1394 styling himself Benedict XIII, he took the tiara from Avignon to Spain, where it remained until Aphonso V of Aragon failed in his attempt to renew the schism, and on his withdrawal of support from the anti-Pope Clement VII in 1419, the tiara was returned to Rome.

In the 14th century, the tiara of Boniface VIII began to be called the Tiara of St. Sylvester, and became venerated and considered as a relic. This was no doubt suggested by the Donation of Constantine, but it now came to be used only at the coronation of popes, starting with Gregory XI in 1370 and his successor Urban VI in 1378. It was used at no other ceremonies and was kept in the Lateran Treasury. It was last used at the coronation of Nicholas V (1446–55), and in 1485 it was stolen and no more is heard of it."

Twining also notes the various allegorical meanings attributed to the three crowns of the papal tiara, but concludes that "it seems more likely that the symbolism is suggested by the idea that took shape in the 13th and 14th centuries that the Emperor was crowned with three crowns—the silver crown of Germany at Aix-la-Chapelle, the iron crown of Lombardy at Milan or Monza and the golden imperial crown at Rome and therefore the Pope, too, should wear three crowns."

Lappets (infulae)
Like a bishop's mitre, a papal tiara has attached to it two lappets,  a pair of streamers or pendants that in Latin are called caudae or infulae. These are usually attached at the rear of the tiara, again as on a bishop's mitre, although the mosaic of Pope Clement VIII wearing a triregnum shows them placed forward of the ears. All extant tiaras have them placed at the rear. The lappets, sometimes called "fanons" according to the 2nd definition of the word, are likely relics of the cord used to secure the original form of linen cap or turban around a bishop's head.

The 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia describes the lappets on a bishop's mitre as trimmed on the ends with red fringe.

Abandonment of the tiara

Pope Paul VI was crowned with a tiara at the papal coronation. As happened sometimes with previous popes, a new tiara was used, donated by the city of Milan, where he was archbishop before his election. It was not covered in jewels and precious gems, and was sharply cone-shaped. It was also distinctly heavier than the Palatine Tiara previously in use. Near the end of the third session of the Second Vatican Council in 1964, Paul VI descended the steps of the papal throne in St. Peter's Basilica and ascended to the altar, on which he laid the tiara as a sign of the renunciation of human glory and power in keeping with the renewed spirit of the council. It was announced that the tiara would be sold and the money obtained would be given to charity. The tiara was purchased by Catholics in the United States and is now kept in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. It is on permanent display in Memorial Hall along with the stole that Pope John XXIII wore at the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

Paul VI's abandonment of use of one of the most striking symbols of the papacy was highly controversial with many Traditionalist Catholics, some of whom continue to campaign for its reinstatement. Certain voices went so far as to brand Paul VI an antipope, arguing that no valid pope would surrender the papal tiara.

His immediate successor, Pope John Paul I, decided against a coronation, replacing it with an "inauguration". It was officialized in 1996 within the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis after which Benedict XVI and Pope Francis did not have a coronation rite with the Papal Tiara. After John Paul I's sudden death, Pope John Paul II told the congregation at his inauguration: "This is not the time to return to a ceremony and an object considered, wrongly, to be a symbol of the temporal power of the Popes."

Paul VI's 1975 Apostolic Constitution Romano Pontifici Eligendo on the manner of electing the Pope, still envisaged that his successors would be crowned. Pope John Paul II, in his 1996 Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici gregis, removed all mention of a papal coronation, replacing it with a reference to an "inauguration". The use of Papal Tiara in solemn ceremonies was left by Paul VI.

Though not currently worn as part of papal regalia, the papal tiara still appears on the coat of arms of the Holy See and the flag of Vatican City. Later in his reign John Paul II approved depictions of his arms without the tiara, as with the mosaic floor piece towards the entrance of St Peter's Basilica, where an ordinary mitre takes the place of the tiara. Otherwise, until the reign of Benedict XVI the tiara was also the ornament surmounting a Pope's personal coat of arms, as a tasseled hat (under which a 1969 Instruction of the Holy See forbade the placing of a mitre, a second hat) surmounted those of other prelates. Pope Benedict XVI's personal coat of arms replaced the tiara with a mitre containing three levels reminiscent of the three tiers on the papal tiara. The mitre was retained on Pope Francis' personal coat of arms.

In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI promulgated the document Ordo Rituum pro Ministerii Petrini initio Romae Episcopi that confirmed the choice of Pope John Paul II to refuse the tiara and the incoronation rite.

In May 2011, also Pope Benedict XVI received a special tiara by Dieter Filippi, a German chief executive officer of a telecommunication company who had commissionated the gift to an artisan laboratory located in Sofia.

Each year, a large papal tiara is placed on the head of the famous bronze statue of Saint Peter in St. Peter's Basilica from the vigil of the Feast of the Cathedra of Saint Peter on 22 February until the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul on 29 June. This custom was not observed in 2006, but was reintroduced in 2007.

Design

Although often referred to as Papal Tiara, historically there have been many, and 22 remain in existence. Many of the earlier papal tiaras (most notably the tiaras of Pope Julius II and that attributed to Pope Silvester I) were destroyed, dismantled or seized by invaders (most notably by Berthier's army in 1798), or by popes themselves; Pope Clement VII had all the tiaras and papal regalia melted down in 1527 to raise the 400,000 ducats ransom demanded by the occupying army of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Over twenty silver tiaras exist, of which the earliest, the sole survivor of 1798, was made for Pope Gregory XIII in the 16th century. On 21 March 1800 as Rome was in the hands of the French, Pius VII was crowned in exile, in Venice, with a papier-mâché tiara, for which ladies of Venice gave up their jewels.

Many tiaras were donated to the papacy by world leaders or heads of states, including Queen Isabella II of Spain, William I (German Emperor), Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and Napoleon I of France. The tiara provided by the last was made from elements of former papal tiaras destroyed after the capture of Rome, and was given to Pius VII as a 'wedding gift' to mark Napoleon's own marriage to Empress Josephine on the eve of his imperial coronation. Others were a gift to a newly elected pope from the See which they had held before their election, or on the occasion of the jubilee of their ordination or election.

In some instances, various cities sought to outdo each other in the beauty, value and size of the tiaras they provided to popes from their region. Examples include tiaras given to Popes John XXIII and Paul VI, the former by John's home region, the latter by Paul's previous archiepiscopal see of Milan on their election to the papacy.

Popes were not restricted to a particular tiara: for example, photographs show Pope John XXIII, on different occasions, wearing the tiara presented to him in 1959, Pope Pius IX's 1877 tiara, and Pope Pius XI's 1922 tiara.

Pope Paul VI, whose bullet-shaped tiara is one of the most unusual in design, was the last pope to wear a papal tiara (though any of his successors could, if they wished, revive the custom). Most surviving tiaras are on display in the Vatican, though some were sold off or donated to Catholic bodies. Some of the more popular or historic tiaras, such as the 1871 Belgian tiara, the 1877 tiara and the 1903 golden tiara, have been sent around the world as part of a display of historic Vatican items. Pope Paul VI's "Milan tiara" was donated to and is on display in the crypt church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., United States of America.

Shape
Most of the surviving (three-crown) papal tiaras have the shape of a circular beehive, with its central core made of silver. Some were sharply conical, others bulbous. Except for that of Pope Paul VI, all were heavily bejewelled. The three crowns are marked by golden decorations, sometimes in the form of crosses, sometimes in the shape of leaves. Most are surmounted by a cross set above a monde (globe), representing the universal sovereignty of Christ.

Each tiara had attached to the back two lappets; highly decorated strips of cloth embroidered with golden thread, bearing the coat of arms or another symbol of the pope to whom the tiara had been given.

There are two rather unusual tiaras: the papier-mâché tiara made when Pope Pius VII was elected and crowned in exile, and the one made for Pope Paul VI in 1963, which is somewhat bullet-shaped, contains few jewels and, instead of being adorned by three coronets, is marked with three parallel circles and has a double-tiered crown at its base.

The tiara given to Pope Pius IX in 1877 by the Vatican's Palatine Honor Guard in honour of his Jubilee is strikingly similar in design to the earlier tiara of Gregory XVI. It remained a particularly popular crown, worn by, among others, Pope Pius XI, Pope Pius XII and Pope John XXIII. Pope Pius XI's 1922 crown, in contrast was much less decorated and much more conical in shape.

Weight
Except for the papier-mâché tiara, the lightest tiara was that made for Pope John XXIII in 1959. It weighed just over 0.9 kg, as did the 1922 tiara of Pope Pius XI. In contrast, the bullet-shaped tiara of Pope Paul VI weighed 4.5 kg. The heaviest papal tiara in the papal collection is the 1804 tiara donated by Napoleon I to celebrate both his marriage to Josephine and his coronation as French emperor. It weighs 8.2 kg. However it was never worn, as its width was made, some suspected deliberately, too small for Pope Pius VII to wear.

A number of popes deliberately had new tiaras made because they found those in the collection either too small, too heavy, or both. Rather than use the papier-mâché tiara, Pope Gregory XVI had a new lightweight tiara made in the 1840s. In the 1870s, Pope Pius IX, then in his eighties, found the other tiaras too heavy to wear and that of his predecessor, Pope Gregory, too small, so he had a lightweight tiara made also. In 1908 Pope Pius X had another lightweight tiara made as he found that the normal tiaras in use were too heavy, while the lightweight ones did not fit comfortably.

New methods of manufacture in the 20th century enabled the creation of lighter normal tiaras, producing the 900 g tiaras of Pius XI and John XXIII. That, combined with the existence of a range of lightweight tiaras from earlier popes, meant that no pope since Pius X in 1908 needed to make his own special lightweight tiara.

Symbolism

There is no certainty about what the three crowns of the tiara symbolise, as is evident from the multitude of interpretations that have been and still are proposed. Some link it to the threefold authority of the "Supreme Pontiff: Universal Pastor (top), Universal Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction (middle) and Temporal Power (bottom)". Others interpret the three tiers as meaning "father of princes and kings, ruler of the world, vicar of Christ". The words that were used when popes were crowned were: Accipe tiaram tribus coronis ornatam, et scias te esse patrem principum et regum, rectorem orbis in terra vicarium Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi, cui est honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum ("Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that thou art father of princes and kings, ruler of the world, vicar on earth of our Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom is honour and glory for ever and ever").

Yet others have associated it with the threefold office of Christ, who is Priest, Prophet and King, or "teacher, lawmaker and judge". Another traditional interpretation was that the three crowns refer to the "Church Militant on earth", the "Church Suffering after death and before heaven", and the "Church Triumphant in eternal reward". Yet another interpretation suggested by Archbishop Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, who designed Pope Benedict XVI's tiara-less coat of arms, was "order, jurisdiction and magisterium", while a further theory links the three tiers to the "celestial, human and terrestrial worlds," which the pope is supposed to symbolically link. Lord Twining suggested that just as the Holy Roman Emperors were crowned three times as king of Germany, king of Italy and Roman emperor, so the popes, to stress the equality of their spiritual authority to the temporal authority of the emperor, chose to be crowned with a tiara bearing three crowns.

Use

The papal tiara was never worn for liturgical celebrations, such as Mass. At such functions the Pope, like other bishops, wore a mitre. However, a tiara was worn during the solemn entrance and departure processions, and one or more could be placed on the altar during the elaborately ceremonial Pontifical High Mass.

The tiara was thus worn in formal ceremonial processions, and on other occasions when the pope was carried on the sedia gestatoria, a portable throne whose use was ended by Pope John Paul II immediately after his election in October 1978. His short-lived predecessor, John Paul I, also chose initially not to use it, but relented when informed that without it the people could not see him. The papal tiara was also worn when a pope gave his traditional Christmas and Easter Urbi et Orbi blessing ("to the City and the World") from the balcony of St Peter's – the only religious ceremony at which the tiara was worn.

Coronation
The most famous occasion when the tiara was used was the papal coronation, a six-hour ceremony, when the new pope was carried in state on the sedia gestatoria (portable throne), with attendants fanning the pontiff with ostrich-feathered flabella to the location of the coronation. Traditionally, coronations took place in St Peter's Basilica.

At the moment of the coronation, the new pope was crowned with the words:

"Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that you are Father of princes and kings, Ruler of the world, Vicar of our Saviour Jesus Christ."

Pope Paul VI opted for a significantly shorter ceremony. As with all other modern coronations, the ceremony itself was only symbolic, as the person involved became Pope and Bishop of Rome the moment he accepted his canonical election in the papal conclave. The two subsequent popes (John Paul I and John Paul II) abandoned the monarchial coronation, opting instead for a coronation-less investiture. In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI took a step further and removed the tiara from his papal coat of arms, replacing it with a mitre.

Related uses

Only one other Catholic see uses the tiara in its coat of arms: the Patriarchate of Lisbon. The title of Patriarch of Lisbon was created in 1716 and has been held by the archbishop of Lisbon since 1740. The coat of arms of the Holy See combines the tiara with the crossed keys of St. Peter, while that of the Lisbon Patriarchate combines it with a processional cross and a pastoral staff. Also the Archbishop of Benevento uses the tiara in its coat of arms.

The 16th-century Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent commissioned Venetian craftsmen to make a 4-tiered tiara modeled on the papal design, to demonstrate that his power and authority as Caliph exceeded that of the Pope. This was a most atypical piece of headgear for an Ottoman sultan, which he probably never normally wore, but which he placed beside him when receiving visitors, especially ambassadors. It was crowned with an enormous feather.

Conversely, the papal coronation ceremony, in which the Pope was fanned with flabella (long fans of ostrich feathers) and carried on the sedia gestatoria (portable throne), was based on the Byzantine imperial ceremonies witnessed in medieval Constantinople.

Tarot cards
Medieval tarot cards included a card showing a woman wearing a papal tiara and known as the Popess or Papess or the High Priestess. The meaning and symbolism of the card is uncertain. The crowned woman has variously been identified as Pope Joan (who, according to legend, disguised herself as a man and was elected pope; some cards also show a child, and the Pope Joan legend pictured her as found out when she gave birth during a papal procession), as Mary, Mother of God, or even as Cybele, Isis, or Venus. Cards with a woman wearing a papal tiara, produced during the Protestant Reformation, and apparent images of "Pope Joan" and her child, have been seen as a Protestant attempt to ridicule the office of the papacy and the Roman Catholic faith. However, the papal tiara disappeared from later depictions of the Popess and showed her wearing more standard medieval female headgear.

All tarot cards also contain a representation of the pope, known as "The Hierophant", in some cases crowned with a papal tiara. For instance, the Rider–Waite tarot deck, currently the widest-circulated deck in existence, depicts The Hierophant or pope as wearing a papal tiara and carrying a papal cross.

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

title: Papal tiara


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Talk:Mountie

Is there any reason this shouldn't be made into a redirect page? All the information on this page is on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police page as well. --Paul A 06:25 Feb 18, 2003 (UTC)

title: Talk:Mountie


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Jesus Freak (album)

Jesus Freak is the fourth studio album by the American Christian rap and rock trio DC Talk, released on November 21, 1995, on ForeFront Records. The style was a marked departure from the group's previous releases, incorporating a heavier rock sound and elements of grunge that was popular at the time.

The album was released to both critical and commercial success. It peaked at number 16 on the Billboard 200 and six of the album's seven singles reached number one across various Christian radio formats. It won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album.

Jesus Freak is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential albums in the history of contemporary Christian music (CCM).

Background
After three albums of hip-hop oriented sound, including DC Talk's Grammy award-winning third album, Free at Last, which was based primarily on hip-hop- and pop-oriented songwriting, the trio decided to innovate and reinvent their style.

After three years, DC Talk returned with songs featuring a more alternative rock sound. Thus, the album's lead single, "Jesus Freak", was considered unexpected by fans and critics alike.

Michael Tait said, "I was totally into rock and roll at the time [...] I really wanted to make a rock record." The band decided to focus on more rock-oriented music, with touches of rap and pop interwoven into the mix. Tait later explained, "We wanted to write songs that would hopefully touch a generation."

Recording and production
Compared to DC Talk's other albums, Jesus Freak was, stylistically, an experiment. The album was a fusion of various musical genres, including pop, rock, and grunge, all combined with hip hop.

The title track, "Jesus Freak," is also of historical importance. It is believed to be the first link between grunge and rapcore in CCM. The song was even played on some secular stations.

In addition, the album contains two cover songs: "Day by Day," from the musical Godspell, and a heavily overhauled version of "In the Light" originally by Charlie Peacock. Two spoken-word samples are also heard; "Mind's Eye" features the words of Billy Graham and "What If I Stumble" contains a quote from Brennan Manning.

Lyrical themes
As with the genres, the themes of Jesus Freak are varied, ranging from the spiritual–such as accepting Jesus, hypocrisy, atheism–to the social, such as seeking forgiveness from a friend, racism, facing intolerance, and acceptance.

Release
Jesus Freak was released on November 21, 1995. It debuted at number 16 on the Billboard 200, selling over 85,800 copies in its first week of release. This number was the highest debut for a Christian album at the time.

After the album, released through ForeFront Records, proved to be extremely successful, the band signed an exclusive distribution deal with Virgin Records. The label made it a priority to promote the album to mainstream music fans. Due to this promotional increase, "Between You and Me" became a hit for the band, managing to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

Reception
After the initial success of its release, Jesus Freak was RIAA-certified as Gold by its first month, for shipments exceeding 500,000 units. The album has gone on to sell over two million copies in the United States, achieving double platinum certification by the RIAA. Critical response to Jesus Freak was generally positive, and many of the album's singles were met with positive reception. For instance, "Jesus Freak" was the first non-AC song to win the Dove Award for Song of the Year. The album also spawned several hit singles. Six of the album's singles became number-one hits across various Christian radio formats. "Between You and Me" was even a cross-over hit on secular radio, peaking at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Legacy
The album is considered one of the greatest and most influential Christian albums of all time and is viewed as a landmark of the 1990s alternative rock scene.

It is one of the biggest-selling Christian albums of all time and has been certified double platinum in the United States and gold in Canada.

On June 20, 2006, Gotee Records released a ten-year anniversary tribute, Freaked!, featuring artists from record labels Gotee and Mono vs Stereo covering songs from the original album. "In the Light" and "Jesus Freak" are both featured in Alive and Transported. In addition, the songs are still regularly sung in tobyMac and Newsboys concerts.

In 2006, EMI released a commemorative 10th-anniversary version of the album, Jesus Freak: 10th Anniversary Special Edition. This special edition contained a bonus disc of brand-new remixes, rarities, live tracks, and demos. A single-disc remaster was released in 2013.

For the 20th anniversary of the album in November 2015, SMLXLVinyl.com released a double lp 180-gram vinyl of the album. It was its first pressing on the format.

Personnel
DC Talk
 * TobyMac – raps, lead and backing vocals
 * Kevin Max – lead and backing vocals, poem (13)
 * Michael Tait – lead and backing vocals, additional BGV arrangements (1, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12)

Musicians
 * Mark Heimermann – programming (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13), Hammond B3 organ (1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 12), upright bass (3), additional vocal arrangements (4), Wurlitzer electric piano (5), pads (7, 12), finger cymbals (8), Moog synthesizer (8), acoustic piano (10), broom (12), keyboards (13)
 * Dann Huff – programming (1), guitars (1, 3, 5, 7, 13)
 * George Cocchini – guitars (2, 13)
 * Chris Rodriguez – guitars (2, 4, 10)
 * Oran Thornton – guitars (3, 5, 8)
 * Sean Turner – guitars (3)
 * Jerry McPherson – mandolin (4), guitars (11, 12)
 * Brent Barcus – guitars (5), bridge arrangements (10)
 * Dave Perkins – guitars (11)
 * Jackie Street – bass (1, 2, 12)
 * Otto Price – bass (2, 5, 7, 10), bridge arrangements (10), wah bass (11)
 * John Mark Painter – bass (3, 4, 11), accordion (4), guitars (4)
 * Brent Milligan – bass (8)
 * Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass (13)
 * Scott Williamson – drums (1, 11), drum fills (7), hi-hat (7)
 * Aaron Smith – drums (2, 10)
 * David Huff – drums (3, 5, 12)
 * Shaun McWilliams – drums (4)
 * Will Denton – drums (8), bridge arrangements (10)
 * Todd Collins – bongos (1, 12), loops (1, 12), programming (3, 5, 7, 11, 12), drums (3), cowbell (3), percussion (4), congas (5, 7), tambourine (5), cabasa (7), vocals (9), brush snare (11), Akai MPC60 (13)
 * Terry McMillan – percussion (2, 10, 13)
 * Greg Herrington – loops (10)
 * Denis Solee – flute (11)
 * Ronn Huff – string arrangements and conductor (2, 10)
 * Jason Halbert – bridge arrangements (10)
 * Brennan Manning – ragamuffin intro (4)
 * Charlie Peacock – guest vocals (10)
 * Billy Graham – spoken word (12)

Production

 * Dan R.Brock – executive producer
 * Eddie DeGarmo – executive producer
 * Toby McKeehan – producer, collage photos
 * Mark Heimermann – producer (1, 2, 3, 5-13)
 * John Mark Painter – producer (4)
 * Joe Baldridge – engineer, mixing, collage photos
 * Lynn Fuston – string recording
 * Russ Long – additional engineer
 * Todd Robbins – additional engineer
 * Dave Dillbeck – assistant engineer
 * Dan Fritzsell – assistant engineer (1, 2, 3, 5-13)
 * Patrick Murphy – assistant engineer (1, 2, 3, 5-13)
 * Ed Sharpe – assistant engineer (1, 2, 3, 5-13)
 * Penn Singleton – assistant engineer (1, 2, 3, 5-13)
 * Shane Wilson – assistant engineer (1, 2, 3, 5-13)
 * Chuck Linder – mix assistant
 * Ronnie Thomas – editing at MasterMix (Nashville, Tennessee)
 * Ken Love – mastering at MasterMix (Nashville, Tennessee)
 * Nate Yetton – A&R
 * Kevin Max Smith – art direction
 * Paul Venaas – design, layout
 * John Falls – individual band photos
 * Norman Jean Roy – back cover photography

Music videos

 * Colored People
 * Jesus Freak
 * Day by Day
 * Between You and Me

title: Jesus Freak (album)


text:
Talk:Suez Canal

New section 'Obstructions'?
Would it be advisable to create a new section entitled 'Obstructions', or perhaps a subsection under the section 'History', and include the multiple obstructions including the most recent one (Affinity V)? Compusolus (talk) 01:39, 1 September 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Digital Microhistory Lab
— Assignment last updated by Acg22d (talk) 16:17, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

Timeline section
A lot of the timeline section is already covered in the history, and acts as a trivia list. I'm going to make a start with removing duplicated facts, integrating anything that's relevant and removing anything too tangential. Timtjtim (talk) 11:39, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

 * Okay, I've cut out things that are already part of the history, and I've moved the the three incidents to a new section.
 * The remaining two trivia items are:
 * 10 January 1950: Passenger tariffs are abolished.
 * 1 January 2008: New rules of navigation passed by the Suez Canal Authority came into force together with an increase of fees for transit of about 7.1%.
 * Neither of these seem especially important to me - I certainly wouldn't want us to start keeping track of every price increase! I think I'm going to remove these. Timtjtim (talk) 12:25, 19 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Oh - the latter is part of Navigation anyway Timtjtim (talk) 12:40, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

Red Sea crisis
Hello, this article doesn't mention the current Red Sea crisis, please add information about it. 190.99.107.218 (talk) 13:13, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

 * Feel free to! Editors are always encouraged to be WP:BOLD! I'll note that the Suez Canal is only tangentially related to the crisis, so I don't think there's a huge amount to add! Timtjtim (talk) 17:31, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Suez Canal


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Long John Silver

 Long John Silver is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the novel Treasure Island (1883) by Robert Louis Stevenson. The most colourful and complex character in the book, he continues to appear in popular culture. His missing leg and parrot, in particular, have greatly contributed to the image of the pirate in popular culture.

Profile
Long John Silver is a cunning and opportunistic pirate who was quartermaster under the notorious Captain Flint. Stevenson's portrayal of Silver has greatly influenced the modern iconography of the pirate.

Long John Silver has a parrot, named Captain Flint in honor—or mockery—of his former captain, who generally perches on Silver's shoulder, and is known to chatter pirate or seafaring phrases like "Pieces of Eight", and "Stand by to go about". Silver uses the parrot as another means of gaining Jim's trust, by telling the boy all manner of exciting stories about the parrot's buccaneer history. 'Now that bird', Silver would say, 'is, maybe, two hundred years old, Hawkins—they lives forever mostly, and if anybody's seen more wickedness it must be the devil himself. She's sailed with England—the great pirate Cap'n England. She's been at Madagascar, and at Malabar, and Surinam, and Providence, and Portobello... She was at the boarding of the Viceroy of the Indies out of Goa, she was, and to look at her you would think she was a baby'.

Silver claims to have served in the Royal Navy and lost his leg under "the immortal Hawke". "His left leg was cut off close by the hip, and under the left shoulder, he carried a crutch, which he managed with wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird. He was very tall and strong, with a face as big as a ham—plain and pale, but intelligent and smiling."

He claims to have been the only man whom Flint ever feared. Although treacherous and willing to change sides at any time to further his own interests, Silver has compensating virtues. He is wise enough to save his money, in contrast to the spendthrift ways of most of the pirates. He is physically courageous despite his disability: for instance, when Flint's cache is found to be empty, he coolly stands his ground against five murderous seamen despite having only Jim, a boy in his teens, to back him.

When Silver escapes at the end of the novel, he takes "three or four hundred guineas" of the treasure with him, thus becoming one of only two former members of Captain Flint's crew to get his hands on a portion of the recovered treasure. (The repentant maroonee Ben Gunn is the other, but he spends all £1,000 in nineteen days.) Jim's own ambivalence towards Silver is reflected in the last chapter, when he speculates that the old pirate must have settled down in comfortable retirement: "It is to be hoped so, I suppose, for his chances of comfort in another world are very small."

Silver is married to a woman of African descent, whom he trusts to manage his business affairs in his absence and to liquidate his Bristol assets when his actions make it impossible for him to go home. He confides in his fellow pirates that he and his wife plan to rendezvous after the voyage to Skeleton Island is complete and Flint's treasure is recovered, at which point Silver will retire to a life of luxury. Ironically his "share" of Flint's treasure (£420) is considerably less than that of Ben Gunn (£1,000) and what Silver boasts was his share from England (£900) and from Flint (£2,000).

According to Stevenson's letters, the idea for the character of Long John Silver was inspired by his real-life friend William Henley, a writer and editor. Stevenson's stepson, Lloyd Osbourne, described Henley as "...a great, glowing, massive-shouldered fellow with a big red beard and a crutch; jovial, astoundingly clever, and with a laugh that rolled like music; he had an unimaginable fire and vitality; he swept one off one's feet". In a letter to Henley after the publication of Treasure Island, Stevenson wrote: "I will now make a confession. It was the sight of your maimed strength and masterfulness that begot Long John Silver...the idea of the maimed man, ruling and dreaded by the sound, was entirely taken from you".

Literature

 * A prequel novel to Treasure Island, titled Porto Bello Gold, was published in 1924 by Arthur D. Howden Smith.
 * British historian Dennis Judd presents Silver as the main character in his 1977 prequel, The Adventures of Long John Silver, and in the 1979 sequel, Return to Treasure Island.
 * John Silver is also the protagonist in Björn Larsson's fictional 1995 autobiography, Long John Silver: The True and Eventful History of My Life of Liberty and Adventure as a Gentleman of Fortune and Enemy to Mankind, published in Sweden in 1995.
 * Silver is the main character in Edward Chupack's 2008 Silver — My Own Tale as Told by Me with a Goodly Amount of Murder.
 * Silver is a minor character in Andrew Motion's 2012 novel Silver: Return to Treasure Island, a sequel to the original book. Set many years after the end of the original, Silver is now half mad and blind, living in the company of his wife and daughter.
 * In the Stephen King novel Firestarter, the main protagonist's father Andy McGee receives a psychic warning that his daughter has been deceived by a lead antagonist, the scarred assassin Rainbird, in the form of a vision of Silver.

Audio-radio

 * Orson Welles played Silver in a July 18, 1938, broadcast of The Mercury Theatre on the Air.
 * Basil Rathbone starred as both The Narrator and Silver in a 1944 audio recording for Columbia Masterworks Records.
 * William Redfield played Silver on the May 14, 1948 Your Playhouse of Favorites adaptation.
 * Ronald Colman hosted an adaptation of the novel on the April 27, 1948, broadcast of Favorite Story.
 * James Mason played Silver opposite Bobby Driscoll's "Jim Hawkins" on the Lux Radio Theatre's adaptation on January 29, 1951.
 * James Kennedy played Silver in the Tale Spinners for Children audio adaptation of Treasure Island (United Artists Records, UAC 11013).
 * There have been two BBC Radio adaptations of Treasure Island, with Silver being played by Peter Jeffrey in 1989, and Jack Shepherd in 1995.
 * The author John le Carré performed an abridged reading of the novel in five parts as part of BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Reading.
 * Tom Baker starred as Silver in Big Finish Productions' 2012 audio adaptation.

Theatre
There have been several major stage adaptations made.
 * Starting in 1966, in London, there was an annual production of the musical Treasure Island, based on a book by Bernard Miles and Josephine Wilson. The music was composed by Cyril Ornadel and the lyrics by Hal Shaper. The musical was performed at the Mermaid Theatre, originally under the direction of Bernard Miles, who played Long John Silver, a part he also played in various television versions. Comedian Spike Milligan would often play Ben Gunn in these productions, and in 1981, Tom Baker played Long John Silver.
 * Pieces of Eight, a musical adaptation by Jule Styne, premiered in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1985.
 * Skatteøen, a Danish language musical adaptation by singer-songwriter Sebastian, premiered on Folketeatret, Copenhagen in 1986.
 * In 2011, Tom Hewitt starred in B. H. Barry and Vernon Morris's stage adaptation of the novel, which officially opened 5 March at the Irondale Center in Brooklyn.
 * In July 2011, Bristol Old Vic staged a large-scale outdoor production of Treasure Island outside the theatre on King Street, Bristol directed by Sally Cookson, with music by Benji Bower.
 * From October 2013 to 2014, Mind the Gap Theatre Company held a national tour of Treasure Island, retold by Olivier award-winning writer Mike Kenny.
 * In 2013, YouthPlays published Long Joan Silver by Arthur M. Jolly, an adaptation where all of the pirates are women.
 * From December 2014 to April 2015, Arthur Darvill played Silver in the National Theatre production of Treasure Island adapted by Bryony Lavery and directed by Polly Findlay.
 * The Broadway musical SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical features the character in the song "Poor Pirates".
 * As part of their 2017 season, the Stratford Festival of Canada premiered a new adaptation of Treasure Island by Canadian playwright Nicolas Billon.

Film

 * Charles Ogle played Silver in the 1920 silent film.
 * Wallace Beery was the first speaking Long John Silver in the 1934 film also starring Lionel Barrymore.
 * Robert Newton became an iconic Long John Silver in Disney's 1950 live-action film.
 * The 1954 film, Long John Silver, again starred Robert Newton as the title character, which he would reprise in television (see below).
 * The 1971 anime film depicts Silver as an anthropomorphic pig who captains his own pirate ship, sporting a hook prosthesis on his left hand rather than a missing leg.
 * In 1971, Boris Andreyev played Silver in the Soviet version Ostrov sokrovishch.
 * Orson Welles portrayed Silver in the 1972 live action film adaptation.
 * In the 1988 Soviet animated film adaptation, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan provided the voice talent for John Silver.
 * In the 1994 movie The Pagemaster, the character of Silver is voiced by Jim Cummings.
 * Tim Curry portrays Long John Silver in Disney's 1996 Muppets musical film adaptation.
 * Jack Palance, in one of his last film appearances, portrays Silver in the 1999 film.
 * Silver is voiced by Brian Murray and depicted as a cyborg in the Disney 2002 animated science fiction adventure film Treasure Planet.
 * Lance Henriksen played Silver in the 2006 film Pirates of Treasure Island.
 * Tobias Moretti played Silver in the 2007 German film adaptation of Treasure Island, entitled Die Schatzinsel.
 * In the film Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), the character of Tobias Beckett (played by Woody Harrelson) was inspired by Long John Silver.

Television

 * Robert Newton followed up his two feature films with a 1955 Australian-produced television series The Adventures of Long John Silver.
 * Peter Wyngarde played Silver in the 1958 TV series The Adventures of Ben Gunn.
 * BBC Television has presented the story in miniseries format four times, with the role of Silver being played by Bernard Miles in 1951 and again in 1957; Peter Vaughan in 1968; and Alfred Burke in 1977. Miles played the role one final time in a 1982 TV movie.
 * In 1959, Ivo Garrani played Silver in an Italian television miniseries.
 * Ivor Dean played the character in an acclaimed European four-part mini-series in 1966. He intended to reprise the role in another series with more adventures of Silver and began writing it with director Robert S. Baker, but his sudden death in 1974 stopped all further plans. In 1985, the Ivor Dean script was used as foundation for the Disney 10-part TV series Return to Treasure Island, starring Brian Blessed as Long John Silver.
 * In the 1978 anime series Takarajima directed by Osamu Dezaki the character is voiced by Genzō Wakayama.
 * A 1982 Soviet miniseries had Silver portrayed by Oleg Borisov.
 * Anthony Quinn played Silver in the 1987 television miniseries Treasure Island in Outer Space.
 * Charlton Heston portrayed a darker Long John Silver in the 1990 made-for-television movie, Treasure Island.
 * Eddie Izzard played Long John Silver in the 2012 Sky mini-series.
 * Luke Arnold played John Silver in the Starz television series Black Sails (2014–2017), a prequel story set 20 years before Treasure Island.
 * Costas Mandylor portrays "Captain Silver" in the 2016 episode "The Brothers Jones" on ABC's Once Upon a Time.

Other print media

 * A Ballad of John Silver, a poem by John Masefield, was published in 1921.
 * Long John Silver is a Franco-Belgian comics series written by Xavier Dorison and illustrated by Mathieu Laufray which was published in French and English.
 * John Silver, a fictional space pirate with mechanical leg who appears in the Italian comic book Nathan Never, was inspired by Long John Silver.

Other

 * In May 1960, The Silver Beetles (later to become known as The Beatles) were backing a young musician Johnny Gentle, during his tour through Scotland. For the duration of this tour, the whole band decided to give themselves pseudonyms. Band member John Lennon became Long John for this occasion.
 * The rock band Jefferson Airplane created an album in 1972 named Long John Silver.
 * A fast-food seafood restaurant chain, Long John Silver's, is named after the character.
 * One of the prominent characters from the role-playing game Cyberpunk is Johnny Silverhand, referencing to John Silver. He is one of the main characters in the video game adaptation Cyberpunk 2077.

title: Long John Silver


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Arson

Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercraft, or forests. The crime is typically classified as a felony, with instances involving risk to human life or property carrying a stricter penalty. Arson which results in death can be further prosecuted as manslaughter or murder. A common motive for arson is to commit insurance fraud. In such cases, a person destroys their own property by burning it and then lies about the cause in order to collect against their insurance policy.

A person who commits arson is referred to as an arsonist, or a serial arsonist if arson has been committed several times. Arsonists normally use an accelerant (such as gasoline or kerosene) to ignite, propel, and direct fires, and the detection and identification of ignitable liquid residues is an important part of fire investigations. Pyromania is an impulse control disorder characterized by the pathological setting of fires. Most acts of arson are not committed by pyromaniacs.

Etymology
The term derives from Law French arsoun (late 13th century), from Old French arsion, from Late Latin ārsiōnem "a burning," (acc.) from the verb ardēre, "to burn."

The Old English term was bærnet, lit. "burning"; and Edward Coke has indictment of burning (1640). Arsonist is from 1864.

English common law
English Common Law defines arson as "the malicious burning of the dwelling of another."

This definition has four elements:

 * Malicious: For purposes of common law arson, "malicious" refers to intention of starting the fire. Fires can be started on purpose or by accident. In either case, there is legal precedent charge the guilty person with arson whether their intention was to start a fire or not. "Malicious" in this case is describing the intention of the arsonist as ill-intentioned and intending to cause harm or death.
 * Burning: According to common law charring to any part of dwelling was sufficient to satisfy this element. No significant amount of damage to the dwelling was required. Any injury or damage to the structure caused by exposure to heat or flame is sufficient.
 * Of the dwelling: 'Dwelling' refers to a place of residence. The destruction of an unoccupied building was not considered arson: "... since arson protected habitation, the burning of an unoccupied house did not constitute arson." At common law a structure did not become a residence until the first occupants had moved in, and ceased to be a dwelling if the occupants abandoned the premises with no intention of resuming their residency. Dwelling includes structures and outbuildings within the curtilage. Dwellings were not limited to houses. A barn could be the subject of arson if occupied as a dwelling.
 * Of another: Burning one's own dwelling does not constitute common law arson, even if the purpose was to collect insurance, because "it was generally assumed in early England that one had the legal right to destroy his own property in any manner he chose". Moreover, for purposes of common law arson, possession or occupancy rather than title determines whose dwelling the structure is. Thus a tenant who sets fire to his rented house would not be guilty of common law arson, while the landlord who set fire to a rented dwelling house would be guilty.

Degrees
Many U.S. state legal systems and the legal systems of several other countries divide arson into degrees, depending sometimes on the value of the property but more commonly on its use and whether the crime was committed in the day or night.
 * First-degree arson – Burning an occupied structure such as a school or a place where people are normally present
 * Second-degree arson – Burning an unoccupied building such as an empty barn or an unoccupied house or other structure in order to claim insurance on such property
 * Third-degree arson – Burning an abandoned building or an abandoned area, such as a field, forest or woods.

Many statutes vary the degree of the crime according to the criminal intent of the accused. Some US states use other degrees of arson, such as "fourth" and "fifth" degree, while some states do not categorize arson by any degree. For example, in the state of Tennessee, arson is categorized as "arson" and "aggravated arson."

Insurance Fraud
A common motive for arson is to commit insurance fraud. In such cases, a person destroys their own property by burning it and then lies about the cause in order to collect against their insurance policy.

An example of insurance fraud being the motivating factor for an act of arson is the case for Operation Firebird. A married couple and 4 co-conspirators were arrested and convicted with arson and insurance fraud after a string of home, business, and warehouse fires which took place between 2014 and 2018 were exposed as acts of arson. Using chicken left in boiling frying oil, the convicted criminals would make fire seem like a cooking accident. Then, the group committed insurance fraud by filing insurance claims for the cost of the building, as well as, smoke-damaged goods to claim fire damages for insurance payouts. The group's scheme claimed a reported $4 million and ended when authorities were tipped off of on where the location of the next planned incident would take place. Police then performed an investigation dubbed Operation Firebird with the San Jose Fire Department. According to a 2019 Press Release from the California Department of Insurance, Tyler and Kim Chen, Ha Nguyen, Sandy Ngo, Duyen Pham, and Trang Huynh were all convicted with various degrees of arson and insurance fraud.

Tyler Chen was convicted with five separate counts of arson and two separate counts of insurance fraud in Santa Clara County in 2018. Tyler Chen's wife, Kim Chen, was convicted with two counts of insurance fraud in Santa Clara county.

United States

In the United States, the common law elements of arson are often varied in different jurisdictions. For example, the element of "dwelling" is no longer required in most states, and arson occurs by the burning of any real property without consent or with unlawful intent. Arson is prosecuted with attention to degree of severity in the alleged offense. First degree arson generally occurs when people are harmed or killed in the course of the fire, while second degree arson occurs when significant destruction of property occurs. While usually a felony, arson may also be prosecuted as a misdemeanor, "criminal mischief", or "destruction of property." Burglary also occurs, if the arson involved a "breaking and entering". A person may be sentenced to death if arson occurred as a method of homicide, as was the case in California of Raymond Lee Oyler and in Texas of Cameron Todd Willingham.

After the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, the United States started a National Fire Prevention Week in order to educate the people on ways to prevent fires, minimize their damages, and hopefully drastically decrease casualties. Fire Prevention Week campaigns includes various information on safe cooking practices pertaining to grilling, microwaving, and cooking on a stove.

During World War II arson was a much higher concern in the United States. There was a severe lack of firefighters due to the fact most of the men were overseas to fight the war. There were few men left behind to help combat forest fires. For example, during WW II in Eldora, Iowa a fire chief reported that his regular membership shrank from 21 to 9 men and their fire fighting force recruited retired members and new members to fill the missing positions during the war. Although there were few attempts to burn U.S. forests, it continued to be a big concern due to the potential detrimental effects. This concern for arson attempts led to the rise of Smokey Bear who was the face of fire prevention and fire safety measures. Although the intention of Smokey Bear's persona is to encourage fire safety, Smokey shares a message of fire prevention which includes accidental fires that can sometimes be legally charged as arson.

In New York, arson is charged in five degrees. Arson in the first degree is a Class A-1 felony and requires the intent to burn the building with a person inside using an explosive incendiary device. In New York, the criminal charge of arson includes a maximum sentence of 25 years to life.

In California, a conviction for arson of property that is not one's own is a felony punishable by up to three years in state prison. Aggravated arson, which carries the most severe punishment for arson, is punishable by 10 years to life in state prison. A well-known example of arson which took place in California is the Esperanza Fire. Raymond Lee Oyler was ultimately convicted of murder and sentenced to death for a 2006 fire in southern California that led to the deaths of five U.S. Forest Service firefighters; he was the first U.S. citizen to receive such a conviction and penalty for wildfire arson.

Some states, such as California, prosecute the lesser offense of "reckless burning" when the fire is set recklessly as opposed to willfully and maliciously. The study of the causes is the subject of fire investigation. A recent example of a reckless burning offense is the El Dorado fire which took place in 2020 in California. This fire was caused by a gender reveal party which utilized a smoke bomb which is categorized as unsafe pyrotechnics. The El Dorado fire burned over a 71-day period, destroyed 20 structures and resulted in one firefighter fatality, for which the couple hosting the party were charged with involuntary manslaughter. The Esperanza Fire ultimately resulted in the death of firefighter Charles "Charlie" Morton, who became trapped while attempting to fight the fire. The DA of California considered arson charges for the family members as they were deemed negligent with regard to fire safety.

England
In British law, arson was a common law offence (except for the offence of arson in royal dockyards) dealing with the criminal destruction of buildings by fire. The common law offence was abolished by s.11(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971. The 1971 Act makes no distinction as to mode of destruction except that s.1(3) requires that if the destruction is by fire, the offence is charged as arson; s.4 of the Act provides a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for conviction under s.1 whether or not the offence is charged as arson. In Hong Kong, the common law offence was abolished by s 67 of the Crimes Ordinance 1971 (Part VIII of which, as amended by Crimes (Amendment) Ordinance 1972, mirrored the English Criminal Damage Act 1971). Like the English counterparts, 63 of the 1972 Ordinance provides a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, and s 60(3) of the Ordinance requires that if the damage is by fire the offence should be charged as arson.

Myanmar
In the Burmese legal system, arson is considered "mischief by fire" under sections 435 and 436 of the Myanmar Penal Code and punishable by fine and imprisonment. The statutes were last amended on 1 July 2016, and made arson on houses and buildings punishable with up to 20 years in prison.

The Burmese military has long used arson as a weapon of war against civilians. From the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état to August 2022, military forces committed arson on 28,434 houses in the country.

Scotland
While the Scottish legal system has no offence known as arson statutorily defined, there are many offences that are used to charge those with acts that would normally constitute arson in other nations. Events constituting arson in English and Welsh law might be dealt with as one or more of a variety of offences such as wilful fire-raising, culpable and reckless conduct, vandalism or other offences depending on the circumstances of the event. The more serious offences (in particular wilful fire-raising and culpable and reckless conduct) can incur a sentence of life imprisonment.

Ireland
Ireland differentiates how it charges arson not by degree but rather by what is being destroyed and if anyone was harmed. For example, while the sentence for setting fire to a building can be life imprisonment, the sentence for setting fire to goods in a building can only be up to fourteen years.

A notable historical act of arson in Ireland is the burning of Wildgoose Lodge, which resulted in the arrest, sentencing, and execution of 18 men, many of whom were innocent. More recently, the 2023 Dublin riot involved instances of arson, with many such acts targeting vehicles.

Notable arsonists

 * Herostratus, accused of setting fire to the Temple of Artemis in 356 BCE.
 * Zayd ibn Musa al-Kazim, was characterized a pogrom against the supporters of the Abbasids in 815 and 816, which earned him the nickname Zayd al-Nar ('Zayd of the Fire') due to the large numbers of houses belonging to Abbasid family members or their followers that he torched.
 * Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin, Irish nobleman and soldier, known as Murchadh na dTóiteán ("Murrough the Burner") for his role in the Sack of Cashel and other similar atrocities during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.
 * Margaret Clark set a home on fire in London in 1680.
 * David Berkowitz, American serial killer who was also implicated in many unsolved arsons in the New York City in the 1970s.
 * Peter Dinsdale, confessed to a total of 11 acts of arson, pleading guilty to 26 counts of manslaughter. The fires were set from 1972 to 1979.
 * John Leonard Orr, as arson investigator for the Glendale, CA fire department who set over 2,000 Los Angeles fires from 1984 to 1991.
 * Julio González, the perpetrator behind the Happy Land Fire killed 87 in 1990, likely as revenge against his ex-girlfriend.
 * Paul Kenneth Keller, convicted of setting over 107 fires in 1992 and 1993.
 * John Magno and several others were responsible for the Woodbine Building Supply fire in 2001.
 * Thomas Sweatt, set over 350 fires in and around Washington, D.C., most of which occurred in 2003 and 2004.
 * Raymond Lee Oyler, set the Esparanza Fire which burned over 41,000 acres of land, in 2006.
 * Benjamin Christensen, volunteer firefighter from Pennsylvania responsible for setting seven fires from 2007 to 2008.
 * Francisco Ignacio Mondaca and Francisco Pinto were responsible for starting the 2024 Chile wildfires that killed 137 people.

title: Arson