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697 BC

The year 697 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as year 57 Ab urbe condita . The denomination 697 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Kingdom of Judah

 * Manasseh becomes co-ruler with King Hezekiah of Judah.

Births

 * Duke Wen of Jin, ruler of the state of Jin

Deaths

 * Zhou huan wang, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.

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

title: 697 BC


text: Talk:Lech Wałęsa

title: Talk:Lech Wałęsa


text:
Irish whiskey

Irish whiskey (Fuisce or uisce beatha) is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' (or whisky) comes from the Irish uisce beatha, meaning water of life. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a long period of decline from the late 19th century onwards greatly damaged the industry, so much so that although Ireland boasted at least 28 distilleries in the 1890s, by 1966 this number had fallen to just two, and by 1972 the remaining distilleries, Bushmills Distillery and Old Midleton Distillery (replaced by New Midleton Distillery), were owned by just one company, Irish Distillers.

The monopoly situation was ended by an academically-conceived launch of the first new distillery in decades, Cooley Distillery, in 1987. Since 1990, Irish whiskey has seen a resurgence in popularity and has been the fastest-growing spirit in the world every year since. With exports growing by over 15% per annum, existing distilleries have been expanded and a number of new distilleries constructed. As of December 2019, Ireland has 32 distilleries in operation, with more either planned or under development.

History
Irish whiskey was one of the earliest distilled drinks in Europe, arising around the 12th century. It is believed that Irish monks brought the technique of distilling perfumes back to Ireland from their travels to southern Europe around 1,000 AD. The Irish then modified this technique to obtain a drinkable spirit.

Although termed "whiskey", the spirit produced during this period would have differed from what is currently recognised as whiskey, as it would not have been aged, and was often flavoured with aromatic herbs such as mint, thyme, or anise. Irish Mist, a whiskey liqueur launched in 1963, is purportedly based on such a recipe.

Although known to have occurred for hundreds of years, records of whiskey production in Ireland can be difficult to come by, particularly in the earlier years when production was unregulated. Even in later years, as production was frequently illicit, official records bear little resemblance to reality. In addition, as many Irish records were traditionally oral rather than written, details on early production are likely lost.

The oldest known documented record of whiskey in Ireland was in 1405; in the Annals of Clonmacnoise it was written that the head of a clan died after "taking a surfeit of aqua vitae" at Christmas. Its first known mention in Scotland dates from 1494. However, it is known that by 1556 whiskey was widespread, as an Act passed by the English Parliament declared whiskey to be "a drink nothing profitable to be drunken daily and used, is now universally throughout this realm made". This Act also made it technically illegal for anyone other than "the peers, gentlemen and freemen of larger towns" to distil spirits without a licence from the Lord Deputy. However, as Crown control did not extend far beyond the Pale, a fortified area around Dublin, this had little effect. Irish whiskey is also described in Aqua Vitæ: its commodities describ'd by Richard Stanyhurst.

Start of licensed distillation
In 1608, King James I granted a licence to Sir Thomas Phillips, a landowner in County Antrim. Today Kilbeggan Distillery in Kilbeggan, County Westmeath, lays claim to the title of oldest distillery in Ireland, as the first distillery in Kilbeggan was established in 1757 (although not continuously operating since – e.g., the Kilbeggan Distillery was entirely shut down around 1917 and again between 1954 and 2007 and was "in rubble" and "totally derelict" by 1983). Despite this the licence was continuously paid and whiskey is currently distilled in Kilbeggan using the original 1757 licence. Kilbeggan also has what is believed to be the oldest operational copper pot still in the world, first used in 2007 after being "last used in the 19th century". However it is through the earlier 1608 licence that the Old Bushmills Distillery lays claim to being the oldest surviving grant of licence to distil in the world. However, the current Bushmills distillery and company was not registered to trade until 1784 and despite the promotion of the Phillips licence as its claimed founding date, the Bushmills distillery does not clearly descend from any distillery operated by Phillips through ownership or location.

In 1661, the Crown introduced a tax on whiskey production in Britain and Ireland. Therefore, in theory, all whiskey distillers in Ireland were to register and pay taxes. Although Crown control now extended far beyond the Pale, there is limited official record of whiskey distillation during this period. One reason for this is that, until 1761, registration was done on a voluntary basis. Therefore, as registration entailed paying a tax, it was much avoided for obvious reasons. Another reason is that those tasked with enforcing the law were frequently local landlords, and, if their tenants were the illicit distillers, it was not in their best interests to enforce the law. It is known, however, that more distillation occurred than is officially recorded, as when registration later became compulsory, several registrations detail the use of existing facilities.

From a regulatory perspective, the introduction of the Act is a historical milestone as it provides a clear distinction between licit and illicit whiskey distillation in Ireland. For many years following its introduction, whiskey produced by registered distillers was known as "parliament whiskey", while that produced by illicit producers was, and still is referred to as Poitín, a Gaelic term meaning "small pot" (often anglicised as poteen) in reference to the small pot stills used by the illicit distillers. However, although traditionally the product of illicit production, many legal varieties of Poitín have come to market in recent years.

In the 18th century, demand for whiskey in Ireland grew significantly, driven both by strong population growth, and by displacing the demand for imported spirits. Growth in the latter is very much visible in the share of Irish duties paid on legal spirits in the late 1700s. In 1770, whiskey only accounted for 25% of the total duty on spirits received by the exchequer, while duty on imported rum accounted for 51%, with the remainder divided equally between brandy and gin. By 1790, however, whiskey's share accounted for 66%.

As a consequence of this increased demand, some distillers prioritized quantity over quality, to the detriment of their product. This prompted parliament to pass an Act in 1759 prohibiting distillers from using any ingredient other than malt, grain, potatoes or sugar in the production of whiskey, and specifically prohibiting several unsavory ingredients. Another consequence was that the potential revenue lost to the exchequer through the under-reporting of output at legal distilleries and the tax avoidance of illicit producers became more significant, prompting parliament to introduce another Act of Parliament. This was enacted in 1779 and significantly reformed how the taxes payable on whiskey production were calculated. Previously, taxes were payable on production volumes, which were subject to manipulation. However, this Act removed the potential for under-reporting by making taxes payable on a distillery's potential output (based on the capacity of its pot stills), rather than its actual, or reported, output. In addition, the Act penalised smaller distillers in an attempt to reduce reporting fraud.

Due to the stringency of this Act, which made assumptions about output (for instance, a 500-gallon pot still was assumed to produce 33,075 gallons a month) and the minimum numbers of days which a still was in operation per annum (112), many of the smaller or less efficient registered distilleries were forced underground. In 1779, when the Act was introduced, there were 1,228 registered distilleries in Ireland; however, by 1790, this number had fallen to 246, and by 1821, there were just 32 licensed distilleries in operation. This had the effect of concentrating licit distillation in a smaller number of distilleries based mainly in the larger urban centres, such as Cork and Dublin, which offered better markets for legal producers. In the rural areas distillation became a more illicit activity, in particular in the northwest of Ireland where agricultural lands were poorer and poitín provided a supplemental source of income to the tenant farmers, an income which landlords were again slow to curtail as it would have weakened their abilities to pay rent. The scale of this illicit activity was such that one surveyor estimated that duty was paid on only 2% of the spirit consumed in the northwestern provinces of Ulster and Connaught, while Aeneas Coffey (an excise officer at the time, and later inventor of the Coffey Still) estimated that there were over 800 illicit stills in operation in Inishowen, County Donegal alone. By contrast, illicit distillation in Munster and Leinster was less extensive.

By some measures the Act was successful, as the volume of whiskey on which excise was paid increased from 1.2 million to 2.9 million gallons. In addition, it prompted capital investments in establishing larger distilleries (which were more easily regulated), due to the need for economies of scale to profit from legal distillation. However, when demand for whiskey increased in the early 1800s, due to population growth, and changing consumption patterns (which saw it becoming more ingrained in Irish cultural activities), much of the demand was initially met by small-scale illicit distillers who did not need to pay tax or comply with the restrictions of the 1779 Act. In fact, so much illicit spirit was available during this period that the licensed distillers in Dublin complained that it could be obtained "as openly in the streets as they sell a loaf of bread".

Reform and expansion

In 1823, the authorities, acknowledging the problems with the licensing system, cut the duties by half, and published an Excise Act which significantly reformed the existing legislation, making legal distillation much more attractive. In particular, the reforms removed the need for distillers to rush production in order to produce as much (or more) whiskey than duties would be paid on, leading to improvements in fuel efficiency and product quality, as distillers could operate the stills at a more appropriate pace. In addition, restrictions on the type and capacity of stills used were removed, granting distillers more freedom to tailor their equipment. Another significant reform was a change to how duty was paid. Previously, duty was charged monthly, based on still output, meaning that distilleries paid tax on whiskey before it was sold. However, under the reforms, duty was to be paid only when the whiskey was actually sold, making its storage in bond more attractive, as less of the distillery's working capital would be tied up in already-taxed stock.

Together, these reforms greatly improved the distilling landscape, leading to a drop in illicit whiskey production and a boom in investment in legal distilleries. In 1821, two years before the reforms, there were 32 licensed distilleries in Ireland. Just four years later (in 1827), this number had risen to 82, and reached 93 by 1835, a 19th-century peak. The increased attractiveness of legal distillation is evident in the scale of the equipment used. Prior to the Excise Act of 1823, the largest pot still in Ireland had a capacity of just 750 gallons. By 1825, however, the Midleton Distillery operated a 31,618-gallon pot still, which remains the largest ever built; Note: the largest pot still in operation in the world (as of 2014), located next door in the New Midleton Distillery, are roughly half this size, at 16,498 gallons (75,000 litres).

Domestic demand was reduced somewhat in the mid-1800s, due to the Temperance movement of the 1830s, and the Great Famine of the 1840s (during which a million Irish died and a million Irish emigrated). Between 1823 and 1900, however, whiskey output in Ireland still increased fourfold, and with access to the overseas markets provided by the British Empire, Irish whiskey became the most popular spirit in the World. "Dublin whiskey" was particularly well regarded.

Dublin whiskey peak

In the early 1800s, Ireland was the largest spirit market in the United Kingdom, with demand for spirit exceeding that of more populous England. Therefore, as capacities expanded, Ireland became the largest producer of spirits in the United Kingdom; and Dublin, then the largest market for spirits in Ireland, emerged as a major distilling centre. By 1823, Dublin boasted the five largest licensed distilleries in the country. At their peak, the distilleries in Dublin would grow to become the largest in the world, with a combined output of almost 10 million gallons per annum, the largest of which, Roe's Thomas Street Distillery, had an output exceeding 2 million gallons per annum. By 1878, the reputation of Dublin whiskey was such that Distillers Company Ltd., a Scottish distilling firm, having built a distillery in Dublin, claimed that Dublin whiskey could sell for a 25% premium over other Irish whiskeys, and that it had a demand five times that of Scotch at the time. Although these figures are likely inflated, they give an indication of the esteem in which Dublin whiskey was held, even by Scottish distillers. During this period, the four largest Dublin distilling firms, of John Jameson, William Jameson, John Powers and George Roe (all family-run, and collectively known as the "Big Four") came to dominate the Irish distilling landscape. The chief output of these distilleries, known as single or "pure pot still" whiskey, was made from a mix of malted and unmalted barley, and solely distilled in pot stills. The style, having initially emerged as a means of avoiding a 1785 tax on malt, endured although the tax had been later repealed. In fact, even by the late 1880s, only two of Ireland's then 28 existing distilleries were producing single malt whiskey, the rest steadfast in their devotion to "pure pot still".

In this period, when Irish whiskey was at its zenith, it would have been difficult to imagine that Scotch, then produced by small-scale producers and almost unheard of outside of Scotland, would soon become the world's preeminent drink, while Irish whiskey, then the world's most popular whiskey, would enter a century of decline, culminating with all of Dublin's great distilleries shutting their doors. By the late 20th century, the once-popular pure pot still whiskey had almost disappeared entirely, with only two specialist bottlings, Green Spot and Redbreast remaining in existence. However, since 2010, several new single pot whiskeys have been launched.

Coffey still
There were a number of factors, both internal and external, which led to this decline. However, one of the main turning points was the patenting in 1832 of the Coffey still by Aeneas Coffey. Ironically, Coffey was both the former Inspector General of Excise in Ireland, and subsequently, after leaving the excise service, an Irish distiller himself. His patent, the Coffey still, was a continuous distillation apparatus which offered an improvement on the traditional pot still. Although similar continuous stills had been proposed in the past, including by other Irish distillers themselves, the Coffey still was the most effective, and soon entered widespread use.

Unlike traditional pot stills, which were operated in a batch manner, Coffey stills could be operated continuously. This made them cheaper to operate, as they required less fuel, and more efficient to run, producing a continuous, rapid output of spirit. In addition, because technically, continuous distillation entails the conduct of a series of distillation runs in sequence internally within a self-contained unit rather than the conduct of a single distillation within a pot still, Coffey stills were capable of producing a far higher strength output than pot stills. However, this advantage also came with a downside. As a consequence of increasing the alcohol concentration in the product, Coffey stills removed some of the other volatile components responsible for flavour. As a result, their use proved extremely controversial when first introduced.

Ireland was the initial testing ground for the Coffey still, with Coffey showcasing them in his own distillery and offering them to other Irish distillers. Although there were seven in operation in Ireland by 1833, their use did not become widespread amongst the larger distilleries. In particular, the big four Dublin distillers, proud of their existing produce, scoffed at its use, questioning if its product, grain whiskey, which they termed neutral or silent (i.e. tasteless) spirit, could even be termed whiskey. It wasn't that the distillers were Luddites, afraid of change; their distilleries were among the most advanced in the world. The distillers were simply steadfast in the belief that their existing methods yielded a superior whiskey. For instance, John Jameson trialled a Coffey still at his distillery, but chose to not adopt the technology because he was not satisfied with the quality of product it produced. Therefore, in the face of opposition in Ireland, Coffey offered his still to the English gin and Scottish whisky distillers, who proved more receptive, and where the technology gained widespread use.

The adoption of the Coffey still in Scotland was indirectly assisted by Ireland's Great Famine of the 1840s, which led to the repealing of the Corn Laws, which between 1815 and 1846 had restricted the import of cheaper foreign grain into Britain and Ireland. After the laws were repealed in 1846, cheap American corn could be imported and used to produce neutral spirit in Coffey stills. This spirit, though lacking in taste, could then be blended with traditional pot still derived spirit to produce a cheaper "blended whiskey". This blended whiskey, which was less intense in taste than pure pot still, was to prove popular in Britain, capturing much market share from Irish pure pot still whiskey.

Despite changing tastes and falling market share, the adoption of Coffey stills was stubbornly resisted by Irish distillers for many years, with some arguing for restrictions on their use. For instance, in 1878, the big Dublin distillers jointly published a pamphlet entitled Truths about Whisky, in which they referred to the output of Coffey stills as "Good, bad or indifferent; but it cannot be whiskey, and it ought not to be sold under that name". In 1904, almost seventy years after the Coffey still had been patented, the Senior Manager of Ireland's largest rural distillery, Allman's of Bandon, placed an outright ban on the introduction of Coffey stills at his distillery, in the face of opposition from a director.

The issue came to a head in 1908, when a royal commission was appointed to investigate the issue. By this point, 60% of all whiskey produced in Britain and Ireland was made in Coffey stills. In 1909, the royal commission settled the argument, declaring that whiskey could refer to the output of either Coffey or pot stills. By comparison, a similar debate occurred in France, such that under French law, Cognac must be double-distilled in pot stills, whereas Coffey stills are permissible in the production of armagnac.

An industry in decline
In addition to the introduction of blended whiskeys and the Irish distillers' failure to account for its appeal to changing tastes, there were a number of additional issues which placed further pressure on the Irish distillers: the Irish War of Independence, the subsequent civil war, and trade war with Britain (which cut off whiskey exports to Britain and all Commonwealth countries, then Irish whiskey's biggest market); prohibition in the United States (1920-1933), which severely curtailed exports to Irish whiskey's second-biggest market (Irish whiskey had accounted for more than 60% of whiskey sales in the US in the 1800s ); widespread counterfeiting of Irish whiskeys in America and Britain; protectionist policies introduced by the Irish Free State government, which significantly capped whiskey exports in the hope of taxing domestic consumption; and finally, over-expansion and mismanagement at several Irish distilleries. Together, these factors greatly hampered exports and forced many distilleries into economic difficulties and out of business, and by the early 20th century Scotland had surpassed Ireland to become the world's largest whiskey producer.

When British historian Alfred Barnard published his account of the distilleries of Britain and Ireland in 1887, there were 28 distilleries in operation in Ireland. By the 1960s, there were only a handful of these remaining in operation, and in 1966 three of these (John Jameson, Powers, and Cork Distilleries Company) chose to amalgamate their operations under the name of Irish Distillers and to close their existing facilities and concentrate their operations in a new purpose-built facility to be constructed beside the Old Midleton Distillery in County Cork. In 1972, these were joined by the only other remaining Irish operation, Bushmills, so that by the mid-1970s there were only two whiskey distilleries in operation in Ireland, the New Midleton Distillery and the Old Bushmills Distillery, both owned by Irish Distillers, and with only one of these having operated during Irish whiskey's golden years.

Production reached a nadir at about 400,000–500,000 cases per annum during the consolidation period, down from a peak of 12 million cases around 1900.

Resurgence
The late 1980s saw the beginnings of a long and slow resurgence in the Irish whiskey industry, with the establishment of the Cooley Distillery in 1987 by John Teeling, and then Pernod Ricard's takeover of Irish Distillers in 1988, which led to increased marketing of Irish whiskeys, in particular Jameson, overseas.

Since the 1990s, Irish whiskey has undergone a major resurgence, and for the next twenty years it was the fastest growing spirit in the world, with annual growth of approximately 15–20% per annum. In 2010, the Kilbeggan Distillery, which had closed in 1954, was reopened fully by Teeling. Irish distillers, who operated under rules less strict than those applying to Scottish producers, experimented with new flavours, methods and cocktails.

By June 2019, the number of operating distilleries had grown to 25, and several more were in the planning stages. As of 2017, roughly 750 people were employed on a full-time basis in the whiskey industry in Ireland. In addition, it is estimated that the industry provides support to a further 4,200 jobs across agriculture and other sectors of the economy. As of 2018, sales of Irish whiskey stood at 10.7 million 9-litres cases, up from 4.4 million cases in 2008, with sales projected to exceed 12 million cases (its historical peak) by 2020, and 24 million by 2030. In 2021, annual sales were 14 million cases (168&million bottles), and in 2022, there were 42 distilleries on the island.

Process

Irish whiskey has a smoother finish as opposed to the smoky, earthy overtones common to Scotch whisky, which come largely from drying the malted barley using peat smoke. Peat is rarely used in the malting process outside of Scotland. There are notable exceptions to these rules in both countries. Examples include Connemara peated Irish malt whiskey from the Cooley Distillery in Cooley, County Louth; Pearse Whiskey from Pearse Lyons Distillery in Dublin; and Dunville's peated from Echlinville Distillery.

Legal definition
Irish whiskey is a protected European Geographical Indication (GI) under Regulation (EC) No 110/2008. As of 29 January 2016, production, labelling and marketing of Irish whiskey must be verified by the Irish revenue authorities as conforming with the Department of Agriculture's 2014 technical file for Irish whiskey.

Key requirements include specifications that Irish whiskey must:
 * Be distilled and matured on the island of Ireland (comprising the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) from a mash of malted cereals with or without whole grains of other cereals and which has been:
 * saccharified by the diastase of malt contained therein, with or without other natural enzymes;
 * fermented by the action of yeast;
 * distilled at an alcoholic strength of less than 94.8% alcohol by volume in such a way that the distillate has an aroma and taste derived from the materials used and only plain water and caramel colour is added to it;
 * subject to the maturation of the final distillate for at least three years in wooden casks, such as oak, not exceeding 700 L capacity
 * Retain the colour, aroma and taste derived from the production process referred to above
 * Have a minimum alcoholic by volume content of 40%

Individual technical specifications for the three varieties of Irish whiskey, "single pot still", "single malt", "single grain", plus "blended" whiskey (a mix of two or more of these varieties) are also outlined in the technical file. The use of the term "single" in the aforementioned varieties being permissible only if the whiskey is totally distilled on the site of a single distillery.

Labelling
There are several regulations governing the labelling of Irish whiskeys, in particular:
 * Spirit drinks must not be labelled, packaged, sold, advertised or promoted in such a way to suggest they are Irish whiskey or any of the sub-varieties unless they meet the relevant requirements;
 * Any age statement must refer to the age of the youngest whiskey used;
 * Although traditionally spelled with an 'e', Irish whiskey may also be marketed as "Irish whisky".

Current distilleries
According to the Irish Whiskey Association, as of December 2019, there were 32 whiskey distilleries in operation in Ireland. However, many of these were recently established and had not yet aged their own spirits for sale as whiskey:
 * Achill Island Distillery, County Mayo (est. 2015) – produces the Irish American brand whiskey.
 * Ballykeefe Distillery, County Kilkenny (est. 2017) – released its own whiskey in March 2021. Also produces vodka, gin and poitín.
 * Baoilleach Distillery, County Donegal (est. 2019) – produces gin and poitín, will start production of whiskey in early 2022.
 * Blacks of Kinsale, County Cork (est. 2015) – produces whiskey, gin and rum.
 * Blackwater Distillery, County Waterford (est. 2014) – currently produces a range of gins. Due to release its own whiskey in 2022.
 * Boann Distillery, County Meath (est. 2019)
 * Boatyard Distillery, County Fermanagh (est. 2016) – currently produces gin and vodka, whiskey is maturing.
 * Burren Whiskey Distillery, County Clare (est. 2019)
 * Clonakilty Distillery, County Cork (est. 2016) – opened to the public in March 2019.
 * Connacht Whiskey Company, County Mayo (est. 2014) – released its first whiskey in June 2021. Also produces gin, vodka and poitín; and markets a single malt sourced from other distilleries.
 * Cooley Distillery, County Louth (est. 1987) – when opened it was the only independent distillery in Ireland. Along with its sister distillery in Kilbeggan, it produces the Connemara, Tyrconnell, Kilbeggan and 2Gingers whiskeys. It has been owned by Beam Suntory since 2011.
 * Copeland Distillery, County Down (est. 2019) – currently produces gin, rum and whiskey.
 * Crolly Distillery, County Donegal (est. 2020) – will produce single malt whiskey, production began in November 2020.
 * Dingle Distillery, County Kerry (est. 2012) – distills gin, vodka and whiskey. The first batches of whiskey were released in late 2016. A single pot still whiskey was released in 2017.
 * Dublin Liberties Distillery, Dublin (est. 2018) – opened to the public in February 2019.
 * Echlinville Distillery, County Down (est. 2013) – the first Northern Irish distillery to be granted a distilling licence in almost 125 years. The distillery relaunched the Dunville's brand, previously produced at the Royal Irish Distillery in Belfast. The distillery also produces gin and poitín.
 * Glendalough Distillery, County Wicklow (est. 2013) – it currently ages and finishes whiskeys from other distilleries, and also markets gin and poitín. It is in the process of building a new distillery.
 * Glendree Distillery, County Clare (est. 2019) – currently produces vodka, whiskey is maturing.
 * Great Northern Distillery, County Louth (est. 2015) – John Teeling, founder of the Cooley distillery developed two distilleries on the site of the Great Northern Brewery in Dundalk. The distilleries began operations in 2015, have a capacity of 50 million bottles per annum.
 * Hinch Distillery, County Down (est. 2020) – production began in November 2020.
 * Kilbeggan Distillery, County Westmeath (est. 1757, re-commissioned 2007) – the distillery re-opened in 2007, 54 years to the day after it closed, and 250 years after it was first established. A sister distillery of the Cooley Distillery, both were bought by Beam Suntory in 2011.
 * Killowen Distillery, County Down (est. 2019) – the distillery will produce double-distilled peated whiskey, single pot still whiskey, and gin.
 * Lough Gill Distillery, County Sligo (est. 2019)
 * Lough Mask Distillery, County Mayo (est. 2019)
 * Micil Distillery, Galway (est. 2016) – produces poitín and gin
 * New Midleton Distillery, County Cork (est. 1975) – produces Jameson, Powers, Paddy, Midleton, Redbreast, and others, including the independently sold Green Spot. Owned by Pernod Ricard since 1988
 * Old Bushmills Distillery, County Antrim (est. 1784) – through a 1608 licence to distil, lays claim to be the oldest licensed distillery in the world. Produces a range of blends (Bushmills Original, Black Bush) and single malts (Bushmills 10, 16 and 21 year olds). Previously owned by Pernod Ricard, and Diageo, since 2014 it has been owned by Proximo Spirits.
 * Pearse Lyons Distillery, Dublin (est. 2017) – opened in a converted church on Dublin's Thomas Street in September 2017. Alltech previously operated Alltech Craft Distillery in Carlow from 2012 to 2016.
 * Powerscourt Distillery, County Wicklow (est. 2018) – located on the grounds of Powerscourt Estate, the distillery will market whiskey previously distilled by its Head Distiller, Noel McSweeney, at the Cooley Distillery, until its own stock is mature enough for release.
 * Rademon Estate Distillery, County Down (est. 2015) – the distillery plans to release malt whiskey, its first mature stocks became available in August 2018. The distillery also produces gin.
 * Roe & Co Distillery, Dublin (est. 2019) – located in refurbished building which formerly housed the power station of the Guinness Brewery, the distillery sits alongside the site of George Roe's original Thomas Street Distillery. The distillery opened in June 2019, following a €25 million investment by Diageo, owners of the Guinness Brewery.
 * Royal Oak Distillery, County Carlow (est. 2016) – previously called Walsh Whiskey Distillery. An Irish-Italian venture, since January 2019 100% owned by Illva Saronno the makers of Tia Maria. The distillery is expected to have a capacity of 500,000 cases per year.
 * Shed Distillery, County Leitrim (est. 2014) – production began in December 2014, and the whiskey has been on sale since 2019. The distillery also produces a gin "Gunpowder Gin".
 * Slane Distillery, County Meath (est. 2018) – developed and owned by Brown-Forman Corporation, in partnership with Henry and Alex Conyngham, the new distillery was built at the historic Slane Castle estate in the original stable buildings dating back to the early 1700s. Distilling began in early 2018. Slane Irish Whiskey is a blended whiskey aged in a unique triple cask maturation process.
 * Sliabh Liag Distillery, County Donegal (est. 2016) – produces whiskey, gin and vodka.
 * Tipperary Distillery, County Tipperary (est. 2020) – production of their own distillate began in November 2020 after having bottled sourced spirit since 2016.
 * Teeling Distillery, Dublin (est. 2015) – the first new distillery built in Dublin city for over 125 years, it was founded by the Teeling family, who previously established the Cooley Distillery. When the Cooley Distillery was sold in 2011, the Teelings negotiated the purchase of mature stock, which is being used in their whiskeys until mature stock from the new distillery becomes available.
 * Tullamore Distillery, County Offaly (est. 2014) – opened in September 2014, returning production of Tullamore D.E.W. to Tullamore after a break of sixty years. The distillery has a capacity of 1.5 million cases per year, and is owned by William Grant & Sons.
 * Waterford Distillery, Waterford (est. 2016) – a craft distillery established in a converted Diageo facility. Production of spirit began in January 2016. The distillery will produce a single malt.
 * West Cork Distillers, County Cork (est. 2003) – produces single malt, whiskey, whiskey liqueur, vodka, gin and poitín.

Planned or under construction
Further distilleries are either planned or in development across Ireland. In addition, to the Glendalough distillery mentioned above, which had previously distilled spirit, planned distilleries include: In addition, work began on a further distillery, the Quiet Man Craft Distillery, in Derry in 2017. However, the project was subsequently cancelled in late November 2018.

Historical distilleries
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, around 1,000 registered distilleries opened and closed across Ireland – with multiples of this number operating illegally. Most of these have disappeared without a trace, only to be remembered by local street names e.g. Bond Street in Dublin. For instance, the excise return for 1800 lists 40 distilleries operating in Dublin city alone, while Drogheda is estimated to have had 15 distilleries in the 1780s, with as many as ten operating in Cork city in the 19th century. Of these numerous ventures, only one, Bushmills, has remained in continuous operation until the present day. However, the Kilbeggan Distillery (est. 1757) which closed in 1954, reopened in recent years, while a new distillery was constructed in Tullamore to replace an existing distillery which also closed in 1954. Some of the notable distilleries previously in operation across Ireland are listed below.
 * Avoniel, Belfast, County Antrim (1882–1929)
 * Belfast Distillery, Belfast, County Antrim (1823–1868)
 * Cromac Distillery, Belfast, County Antrim (1776–1930)
 * Irish Distillery, Connswater, Belfast, County Antrim (1886–1929)
 * Royal Irish Distillery, Belfast, County Antrim (1868–1938 or later) – Among Ireland's largest distilleries in the 1890s, the Royal Irish was the home of Dunville's whisky. Although the distillery is now gone, Dunville's was resurrected as an Irish whiskey brand by the Echlinville Distillery in 2013.
 * Bandon Distillery, Bandon, County Cork (1826–1929) – At its peak, Allman's distillery in Bandon was the largest rural distillery in Ireland, with an output of over 500,000 gallons per annum.
 * Glen Distillery, Kilnap, County Cork (1802–1925)
 * Hackett's Distillery, Midleton, County Cork (1824 – c. 1845)
 * Old Midleton Distillery, Midleton. County Cork (1825–1975) – Home to the World's largest pot still, the Old Midleton Distillery closed in 1975 when Irish Distillers concentrated production in a new purpose-built facility constructed along the distillery. It now operates as a visitor centre.
 * North Mall Distillery, Cork, County Cork (1779–1920)
 * Watercourse Distillery, Cork, County Cork (1795–1975)
 * Green Distillery, Blackpool, County Cork (1796–1870)
 * Daly's Distillery, County Cork (1807–1869)
 * Burt Distillery, County Donegal (1814–1841)
 * Comber Distilleries, County Down (1825–1953)
 * Bow Street Distillery, Dublin (1780–1971) – Run by John Jameson & Son, Bow Street was one of the "big four" Dublin distilleries and the original home of Jameson Irish Whiskey. At its peak Bow Street was the second largest distillery in Ireland and one of the largest in the World, with an output of one million gallons per annum. In the 1970s, production was moved to the New Midleton Distillery, County Cork and the Bow Street Distillery now operates as a visitors' centre.
 * Dodder Bank Distilleries, Dublin
 * John's Lane Distillery, Dublin (1796–1976) – Run by James Power & Son, John's Lane was one of the "big four" Dublin distilleries, and the original home of Power's Irish Whiskey. The distillery had an output of 900,000 gallons per annum in the 1880s. Production was moved to Midleton in the 1970s.
 * Jones Road Distillery, Dublin (1873 – c. 1945)
 * Marrowbone Lane Distillery, Dublin (late 1700s–1920s) – One of the "big four" Dublin distilleries, Marrowbone Lane was run by William Jameson & Co. (not to be confused with John Jameson & Son above). At its peak Marrowbone Lane had some of the largest capital equipment of any whiskey distillery worldwide.
 * Phoenix Park, Chapelizod, Dublin (1878–1921)
 * Thomas Street Distillery, Dublin (1757–1926) – Run by the Roe Family, one of the "big four" Dublin Distilling Dynasties, Thomas Street Distillery was once the largest in the Britain and Ireland, with an output of two million gallons per annum at its peak. It was located opposite Guinness' St. James' Gate brewery, which itself was the largest brewery in the world at one point. After the distillery was closed, some of its buildings were purchased and incorporated into the Guinness Brewery. In particular, the landmark St. Patrick's Tower, which dates from 1757 and is one of the oldest smock windmills in Europe, is still visible on the site of the Guinness brewery. In 2017, Diageo announced plans to relaunch the Roe & Co whiskey brand, and to establish a new distillery in an old power plant building at the Guinness Brewery, meters from the site of the original Thomas Street Distillery.
 * Burke's Distillery, County Galway (mid-1820s – c. 1850)
 * Nun's Island Distillery, County Galway (1846 or earlier–1915)
 * Monasterevan, County Kildare (1784 – c. 1921)
 * White Horse Distillery, Mountrath, County Laois – named after a local river, this distillery is notable as local folklore suggests that either the distillery or its name were purchased by a Scottish whisky firm in the 1800s. If true, this would mark an interesting turning point in the rise and fall of the whiskey industries in the respective countries.
 * Walker's/Thomand Gate, County Limerick (c. 1820 – c. 1905)
 * Abbey Street, County Londonderry (c. 1790 – 1925)
 * Waterside, County Londonderry (1820–1925)
 * Coleraine, County Londonderry (1820–1978)
 * Limavady Distillery, County Londonderry (1805–1914)
 * Drogheda Distillery, County Louth (1782–1850 or later)
 * Dundalk Distillery, County Louth (1708–1926) – one of the oldest distilleries in Ireland, Dundalk Distillery had the distinction of having Ireland's largest chimney.
 * Westport Distillery, County Mayo (1826–c.1860)
 * Birr Distillery, County Offaly (1805–1889)
 * Old Tullamore Distillery, County Offaly (1829–1954) – once one of Ireland's most successful distilleries, Tullamore D.E.W., one of Ireland's most well known whiskeys was originally produced here.
 * Marlfield Distillery, Clonmel, County Tipperary (1817–1856)
 * Bishop's Water Distillery, Wexford (1827–1915)

Types
Irish whiskey comes in several forms, with the name of the style depending on the type of grain used and the distillation process. Traditionally, Irish whiskey was produced in pot stills. Irish whiskeys made in a pot still fall into two categories.

Single malt Irish whiskey
Whiskeys made entirely from malted barley distilled in a pot still within a single distillery are referred to as single malt whiskeys, a style also very commonly associated with Scotch whisky. These may be double or triple distilled.

Single pot still whiskey
Single pot still whiskey is made from a mixture of malted and unmalted barley completely distilled in a pot still within a single distillery. This differs from single malt whiskey through the inclusion of raw, unmalted grain in the mash. This style has also historically been referred to as "pure pot still" whiskey and "Irish pot still whiskey", with older bottlings and memorabilia often bearing these names. Single pot whiskeys were the most common style of Irish whiskey until the emergence of blends in the 20th century.

Grain whiskey
Whiskey produced from continuous distillation in a column or Coffey still, rather than a pot still, is referred to as grain whiskey. This may be produced from a variety of grains. Lighter and more neutral in taste, this spirit is rarely found on its own, though some examples exist. The vast majority of grain whiskey is used to make blended whiskey, a product made by mixing column still product with richer and more intense pot still product.

Blended whiskey
A mixture of the above styles. Regardless of whether the blended whiskey is made from combining grain whiskey with either single malt whiskey or with single pot still whiskey or both, it is labelled with the same terminology. Blended whiskeys are now the most common style of both Irish and Scotch whiskeys.

Examples

 * Blends: J.J. Corry The Gael Black Bush, Bushmills Original, Clontarf, Inishowen, Jameson, Kilbeggan, Locke's Blend, Midleton Very Rare, Millars, Paddy, Powers, Tullamore Dew
 * Single pot still: Green Spot, Redbreast (12, 15, 21, 27 years)
 * Single malt: Bushmills (10, 12, 16, 21 years), Connemara Peated Malt (Regular, Cask Strength and 12 years), Locke's Single Malt (8 years), Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey (12, 14, 16 years), Tullamore Dew Single Malt (10 year), Tyrconnell
 * Single grain: Kilbeggan Single Grain (8, 10, 15, 18 years), Teeling's Single Grain

title: Irish whiskey


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Town Hall, Vilnius

Vilnius Town Hall (Vilniaus rotušė) is a historical town hall in the square of the same name in the Old Town of Vilnius, Lithuania.

Palace
The town hall in Vilnius was mentioned for the first time in 1432. Initially it was a Gothic style building, and has since been reconstructed many times. The current Vilnius Town Hall was rebuilt in neoclassical style according to the design by Laurynas Gucevičius in 1799. It has remained unchanged since then. Its Gothic cellars have been preserved and may be visited.

Nowadays it is used for representational purposes as well as during the visits of foreign state officials and rulers, including George Walker Bush and Queen Elizabeth II.

Square
The Town Hall Square (Rotušės aikštė) at the end of the Pilies Street is a traditional centre of trade and events in Vilnius. Major annual fairs, such as Kaziukas Fair, are held in this square, the main Christmas tree is decorated here, various concerts and other attractions are organised as well as celebrations of the important dates of the state.

History
As far back as the early fifteenth century, the square was bordered by small shops. With the expansion of the city and the development of trade the number of small shops was increasing. Most of them were selling salt, iron and meat products. It is known that all of these shops could not have been sold, donated or transferred freely as everything was strictly regulated. Trading on the Town Hall Square was restricted by regulations such as the prohibition for the Jewish butchers to build their butcher's shops both on the urban market and on Vokiečių (German) Street. It was also prohibited to buy up products on the roadsides and sell them later in the city at a higher price. It was a measure to avoid the season of high prices, especially if there was a shortage of some product such as grain in deficit times. Any violations were punished with monetary fines, flogging, imprisonment and confiscation of merchandise. Confiscated goods were donated to various refuges and hospitals.

Following the example many established cities Vilnius was granted the Magdeburg Rights in 1387. Those rights granted a right for merchants on the routes through Vilnius to stop in the capital and to sell their goods in a market. In 1503, due to the number of foreign traders the city built a special guest house for them to stay, on the site of the present day National Philharmonic. They had rooms for merchants and their retinues and premises to store their goods as well as room for horses, carts and sledges. Strict regulations were also imposed on traders and guilds regarding the construction of their market places and participation in the city's events.

However, fighting with resellers was often a real challenge: powerful owners of jurisdictions would not always obey the orders of the rulers. Scottish and Jewish tradesmen in the seventeenth century were forbidden to trade in golden, silver, silk and semi-silk fringes and edgings, but this prohibition was not applied to the said articles produced in manufactures of Naples and Frankfurt.

Many attractions and events were organised in the square such as the performances of bears, travelling acrobats, comedians, and various troupes. The mysteries, or semi-religious performances, were also popular.

The Town Hall Square was the place where various celebrations were announced such as meetings with important guests and foreign rulers and family festivals of local noblemen.

title: Town Hall, Vilnius


text:
Magdeburg rights

Magdeburg rights (Magdeburger Recht, Prawo magdeburskie, Magdeburgo teisė; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages granted by the local ruler. Named after the German city of Magdeburg, these town charters were perhaps the most important set of medieval laws in Central Europe. They became the basis for the German town laws developed during many centuries in the Holy Roman Empire. The Magdeburg rights were adopted and adapted by numerous monarchs, including the rulers of Bohemia, Hungary, Poland and Lithuania, a milestone in the urbanization of the region which prompted the development of thousands of villages and cities.

Provisions
Being a member of the Hanseatic League, Magdeburg was one of the most important trade cities, maintaining commerce with the Low Countries, the Baltic states, and the interior (for example Braunschweig). As with most medieval city laws, the rights were primarily targeted at regulating trade to the benefit of the local merchants and artisans, who formed the most important part of the population of many such cities. External merchants coming into the city were not allowed to trade on their own, but were instead forced to sell the goods they had brought into the city to local traders, if any wished to buy them.

Jews and Germans were sometimes competitors in those cities. Jews lived under privileges that they carefully negotiated with the king or emperor. They were not subject to city jurisdiction. These privileges guaranteed that they could maintain communal autonomy, live according to their laws, and be subjected directly to the royal jurisdiction in matters concerning Jews and Christians. One of the provisions granted to Jews was that a Jew could not be compelled to be a Gewährsmann/informant; that is, he had the right to keep confidential how he had acquired objects in his possession. A Jew with this right could voluntarily divulge who had gifted, sold, or loaned him the object, but it was illegal to coerce him to say. Other provisions frequently mentioned were a permission to sell meat to Christians, or employ Christian servants. By at least some contemporary observers, the parallel infrastructure of Jews and gentiles was considered significant; in medieval Poland's royal city development policy, both German merchants and Jews were invited to settle in Polish cities.

Spread of the law
Among the most advanced systems of old Germanic law of the time, in the 13th and 14th centuries, Magdeburg rights were granted to more than a hundred cities, in Central Europe apart from Germany, including Schleswig, Bohemia, Poland, Pomerania, Prussia, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (following the Christianization of Lithuania), including present-day Belarus and Ukraine, and probably Moldavia. In these lands they were mostly known as German or Teutonic law. Since the local tribunal of Magdeburg also became the superior court for these towns, Magdeburg, together with Lübeck, practically defined the law of northern Germany, Poland and Lithuania for centuries, being the heart of the most important "family" of city laws. This role remained until the old Germanic laws were successively replaced with Roman law under the influence of the Reichskammergericht, in the centuries after its establishment during the Imperial Reform of 1495.

Implementation across Europe
The first town to be granted Magdeburg rights in Poland was Złotoryja in 1211. Soon many towns were vested with the law including Wrocław, Opole, Inowrocław, Sandomierz, Gniezno, Poznań, Bochnia, Głogów, Bytom, Sieradz, Kraków, Legnica, Opatów, Konin, Piotrków, Racibórz in the 13th century, whereas Szczecin and Stargard were granted the rights in 1243 by the duke of Pomerania. The Law of Magdeburg implemented in Poland was different from its original German form. It was combined with a set of civil and criminal laws, and adjusted to include the urban planning popular across Western Europe – which was based (more or less) on the ancient Roman model. Polish land owners used the location privilege known as "settlement with German law" across the country, even if there was no significant number of German settlers. Meanwhile, country people often ignorant of the actual German text, practiced the old common law of Poland in private relations. Local variants of Magdeburg law were created, such as Środa law based on the rights granted to Środa Śląska by Henry the Bearded in 1235, Kalisz law, a variant of the Środa law, based on the rights granted to Kalisz by Bolesław the Pious before 1268, and Poznań law, a variant of Magdeburg rights, based on the rights granted to Poznań by Bolesław the Pious in 1253.

Following the formation of the Polish–Lithuanian union in 1385, Magdeburg rights spread to Lithuania, first granted to the chief cities of Vilnius, Brest and Kaunas, although more slowly than earlier in Poland, especially late in the east and in private towns. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the rights were granted to many other towns, including, chronologically, Trakai, Grodno, Kyiv, Polotsk, Minsk, Novogrudok, Rechytsa, Slonim, Barysaw, Mogilev, Mazyr, Mir, Pińsk, Alytus, Nyasvizh, Šiauliai, Biržai, Lida, Kėdainiai and Vitebsk. Magdeburg rights in Lithuania were initially modeled after the Polish cities of Kraków and Lublin, and then after Vilnius.

Hundreds of towns in Poland and Lithuania, some now located in Belarus, Latvia and Ukraine, were formerly governed on the basis of the location privilege known as the "settlement with German law", excluding local variants of Magdeburg rights, with some of the more notable cities being, chronologically, Lublin, Zielona Góra, Tarnów, Olkusz, Sanok, Bydgoszcz, Rzeszów, Lwów, Będzin, Kielce, Krosno, Wieliczka, Częstochowa, Jarosław, Przemyśl, Chełm, Kazimierz Dolny, Łódź, Kamieniec Podolski, Łuck, Żytomierz, Rivne, Kowel, Siedlce, Leszno, Tarnopol, Rydzyna, Augustów, Płoskirów, Zamość, Daugavpils, Brody, Orsza, Biała Cerkiew, Nowogród Siewierski, Czernihów, Nizhyn, Krzemieńczuk, Vinnytsia, Poltava, Stanisławów, Jēkabpils, Suwałki, Białystok, Uman, Palanga, Telšiai, Cherkasy and Marijampolė. The rights reached the easternmost cities of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, including Roslavl, Smolensk and Starodub, now part of Russia. The advantages of the Magdeburg rights were not only economic, but also political. Members of noble families were able to join the city patriciate usually unchallenged. There were cases of changing the type of municipal rights, such as in Błonie from Magdeburg to Chełmno rights, and in Bielsk Podlaski and Tykocin from Chełmno to Magdeburg rights.

Most towns ruled by the Teutonic Order and Duchy of Masovia, as well as some cities under direct Polish and Lithuanian rule, obtained Chełmno rights, a local variant of Magdeburg rights, which prevailed in the area roughly corresponding to today's northeastern quarter of Poland, including the current Polish capital of Warsaw. In addition to this, many towns in the Duchy of Pomerania in modern north-western Poland and other Baltic port cities were granted Lübeck law, thus the original Magdeburg law was relatively rare in what is now northern Poland.

In the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, the first town to receive the Magdeburg rights was Székesfehérvár in 1237, followed by Trnava (1238), Nitra (1248), Levoča (1271) and Žilina (1369). Towns and cities including Bardejov, Buda, Bratislava and Košice adopted the Southern German Nuremberg town rights, rather than the Magdeburg rights.

In 1832, the city of Chernivtsi was granted Magdeburg rights by the Austrian authorities.

Heritage
The old towns of Kraków, Lviv, Vilnius and Zamość, considerably developed under the Magdeburg rights, are World Heritage Sites, and Kazimierz Dolny, Lublin, Paczków, Poznań, Przemyśl, Rydzyna, Sandomierz, Stary Sącz, Tykocin and Wrocław are also designated Historic Monuments of Poland.

There are memorials to the Magdeburg rights in Kyiv, Minsk, Tetiiv, Veiviržėnai and Vinnytsia.

title: Magdeburg rights


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USS Ohio (SSGN-726)

USS Ohio (SSBN-726/SSGN-726), the lead boat of her class of nuclear-powered fleet ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), is the fourth vessel of the United States Navy to be named for the U.S. state of Ohio. She was commissioned with the hull designation of SSBN-726, and with her conversion to a guided missile submarine she was re-designated SSGN-726.

Conversion to SSGN
Original plans called for Ohio to be retired in 2002. Instead, Ohio and three sister boats were modified and remain in service as cruise missile submarines (SSGNs). In November 2002 Ohio entered drydock, beginning a 36-month refueling and conversion overhaul. Electric Boat announced on 9 January 2006 that the conversion had been completed.

As SSBN
The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 1 July 1974 and her keel was laid down on 10 April 1976 by Mrs. Robert A. Taft, JR., wife of Senator Robert Taft Jr. of Ohio. On 2 February 1978, the Precommissioning Unit was formed with Commander A. K. Thompson as its commanding officer. Ohio was launched on 7 April 1979 sponsored by Mrs. Annie Glenn, wife of Senator John H. Glenn of Ohio.

In the summer of 1981, sea trials were held to test the equipment and systems, and the submarine was delivered to the U.S. Navy on 28 October 1981. On 11 November 1981, Ohio was commissioned. The principal speaker, Vice President George H. W. Bush, remarked to the 8000 assembled guests that the boat introduced a "new dimension in our nation's strategic deterrence," and Admiral Hyman G. Rickover noted that Ohio should "strike fear in the hearts of our enemies." On that day, command of the two crews (designated Blue and Gold) of Ohio was assumed by Captain A. K. Thompson (Blue) and Captain A. F. Campbell (Gold).

Following Post Shakedown Availability at Electric Boat Division, Ohio left the Atlantic and transited to her new home port, Bangor, Washington, by way of Cape Canaveral – where she tested her missile launch systems – and the Panama Canal, arriving on 12 August 1982. During August and September 1982, the first loadout of Trident C-4 missiles and a predeployment refit were conducted. Ohio and her Blue Crew departed on the first Trident Submarine Strategic Deterrent Patrol in October 1982.

From June 1993 to June 1994 Ohio underwent overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, receiving extensive upgrades to sonar, fire control, and navigation systems. Ohio resumed strategic deterrent patrols in January 1995 as part of Submarine Squadron Seventeen, Submarine Group Nine, Pacific Submarine Force.

As SSGN
Following her conversion to a SSGN, Ohio rejoined the fleet on 7 February 2006. On 21 January 2007, the Gold Crew departed Naval Base Kitsap for Hawaii to conduct a forward-deployed crew exchange, the first such forward-deployed swap in approximately 20 years. Ballistic submarines of Ohio's class employ two crews, Blue and Gold, in order to facilitate continuous operation at sea, called "forward-presence" in USN parlance. Ohio left for her first mission as an SSGN on 15 October 2007. The Blue crew underwent several tests and inspections before completing a mission some time in December. Ohio was also the first one of the class to complete a mission.

On 28 June 2010, Ohio was one of three Ohio-class submarines involved in a US response to Chinese missile testing in the contested East China Sea. Ohio, USS Michigan (SSGN-727), and USS Florida (SSGN-728) all surfaced simultaneously in the waters of the Philippines, South Korea, and the British Indian Ocean Territory respectively.

In November 2011, Lt. Britta Christianson became the first U.S. female officer, and first female overall, to complete submarine warfare qualification, while she was assigned to Ohio's Gold Crew. CSC Dominique Saavedra became the first enlisted female to earn her submarine qualification aboard Ohio in August 2016. She would go on to deploy with Michigan, the first sub specially modified with separate accommodations for enlisted female crew.

In December 2020, it was announced that Ohio would be decommissioned and enter the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program by 2026.

Awards

 * Acting Navy Secretary Robert B. Pirie, Jr. announced the 2001 winners of the Navy Captain Edward F. Ney Memorial Awards and the Marine Corps Major General W. P. T. Hill Memorial Awards for outstanding food service in the Navy and Marine Corps. The formal presentation of the awards was made during the International Food Service Executives Association (IFSEA) conference on Saturday, 3 March 2001, in Anaheim, California. The afloat galley first-place winner in the Pacific fleet was Ohio (Blue). This award was before her conversion from SSBN to SSGN.

title: USS Ohio (SSGN-726)


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Champion Jack Dupree

William Thomas "Champion Jack" Dupree (July 23, 1909 or July 4, 1910 – January 21, 1992) was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist and singer. His nickname was derived from his early career as a boxer.

Biography
Dupree was a New Orleans blues and boogie-woogie pianist, a barrelhouse "professor". His father was from the Belgian Congo and his mother was part African American and Cherokee. His birth date has been given as July 4, July 10, and July 23, 1908, 1909, or 1910; the researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc give July 4, 1910.

He was orphaned at the age of eight and sent to the Colored Waifs Home in New Orleans, an institution for orphaned or delinquent boys (about six years previously, Louis Armstrong had also been sent to the Home, after being arrested as a "dangerous and suspicious character"). Dupree taught himself to play the piano there and later apprenticed with Tuts Washington and Willie Hall, whom he called his father and from whom he learned "Junker's Blues". He was also a "spy boy" for the Yellow Pocahontas tribe of the Mardi Gras Indians. He soon began playing in barrelhouses and other drinking establishments.

He began a life of travelling, living in Chicago, where he worked with Georgia Tom, and in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he met Scrapper Blackwell and Leroy Carr. He also worked as a cook. In Detroit, after Joe Louis encouraged him to become a boxer, he fought 107 bouts, winning Golden Gloves and other championships and picking up the nickname Champion Jack, which he used the rest of his life.

He returned to Chicago at the age of 30 and joined a circle of recording artists, including Big Bill Broonzy and Tampa Red, who introduced him to the record producer Lester Melrose. Many of Dupree's songs were later credited to Melrose as composer, and Melrose claimed publishing rights to them.

Dupree's career was interrupted by military service in World War II. He was a cook in the United States Navy and was held by the Japanese for two years as a prisoner of war. Following Franklin D. Roosevelt's death in office, Dupree composed the "F.D.R. Blues".

After the war, his biggest commercial success was "Walkin' the Blues", which he recorded as a duet with Teddy McRae. This led to several national tours and eventually a European tour. In 1959, he played an unofficial (and unpaid) duo gig with Alexis Korner at the London School of Economics.

Dupree moved to Europe in 1960, settling first in Switzerland and then Denmark, England, Sweden and, finally, Germany. In Switzerland he met local guitarist Chris Lange at the Africana Club in Zurich. Lange became Dupree’s regular guitarist, and played a lot with him on several albums for the ‘Folkways’ and ‘Storyville’ labels and accompanied him also on his many other gigs in Europe between 1961 and 1965. On June 17, 1971, he played at the Montreux Jazz Festival, in the Casino Kursaal, with King Curtis, backed by Cornell Dupree on guitar, Jerry Jemmott on bass and Oliver Jackson on drums. The recording of the concert was released in 1973 as the album King Curtis & Champion Jack Dupree: Blues at Montreux on the Atlantic label.

In the mid-1970s Dupree lived at Ovenden in Halifax, England, after marrying a local woman, Shirley Ann Harrison, whom he had met in London. A piano he used was later discovered at Calderdale College in Halifax.

In 1976 he divorced Shirley and moved to Copenhagen, where he lived in the anarchist-occupied Freetown Christiania, where he met guitarist Kenn Lending. Dupree and Lending would form a partnership that lasted until Dupree's death in 1992. This period of his life was the subject of the 1975 film Barrelhouse Blues - Feelings and Situations by the artists Laurie Grundt and Eva Acking which includes several filmed performances, including one where Dupree plays drum set. Dupree later moved to Hanover, Germany. He continued to record in Europe with Kenn Lending, Louisiana Red and Axel Zwingenberger and made many live appearances. He also worked again as a cook, specializing in New Orleans cuisine. In 1990 Dupree returned to the United States to perform at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The event was marked with the recording of the album Back Home in New Orleans. He died of cancer on January 21, 1992, in Hanover.

Musical style and output
Dupree's playing was almost all straight blues and boogie-woogie. He was not a sophisticated musician or singer, but he had a wry and clever way with words: "Mama, move your false teeth, papa wanna scratch your gums." He sometimes sang as if he had a cleft palate and even recorded under the name Harelip Jack Dupree. This was an artistic conceit, as he had clear articulation, particularly for a blues singer.

Many of his songs were about jail, drinking and drug addiction, although he himself was a light drinker and did not use other drugs. His "Junker's Blues" was transmuted by Fats Domino into "The Fat Man", Domino's first hit record. Some of Dupree's songs had gloomy topics, such as "TB Blues" and "Angola Blues" (about Louisiana State Penitentiary, the infamous Louisiana prison farm), but he also sang about cheerful subjects, as in "Dupree Shake Dance": "Come on, mama, on your hands and knees, do that shake dance as you please". He was a noted raconteur and transformed many of his stories into songs, such as "Big Leg Emma's", a rhymed tale of a police raid on a barrelhouse.

The lyrics of Jerry Lee Lewis's version of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"—"You can shake it one time for me!"—echo Dupree's song "Shake Baby Shake".

On his best-known album, Blues from the Gutter, released by Atlantic Records in 1958, he was accompanied on guitar by Larry Dale, whose playing on that record inspired Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones.

In later years Dupree recorded with John Mayall, Mick Taylor, Eric Clapton and The Band.

Although best known as a singer and pianist in the New Orleans style, Dupree occasionally pursued more musically adventurous projects, including Dupree 'N' McPhee: The 1967 Blue Horizon Session, a collaboration with the English guitarist Tony McPhee, recorded for the Blue Horizon label.

Since his death, Dupree has undergone a revival of interest on the British vintage dance scene. His recording of "Shakin' Mother for You" now features on the playlist of most DJ's on the UK Lindy Hop scene and it has become the de facto standard track for the 'Cardiff Stroll'.

Studio albums

 * Blues from the Gutter (Atlantic, 1958)
 * Champion Jack's Natural & Soulful Blues (Atlantic, 1959)
 * Champion of the Blues (Atlantic, 1961)
 * The Women Blues of Champion Jack Dupree (Folkways, 1961)
 * Trouble, Trouble (Storyville, 1962)
 * The Best of the Blues (Storyville, 1963)
 * Champion Jack Dupree Of New Orleans (Storyville, 1965)
 * From New Orleans to Chicago (Decca, 1966)
 * When You Feel the Feeling You Was Feeling (Blue Horizon, 1968) with Paul Kossoff, guitar; Duster Bennett, harmonica; Simon Kirke, drums
 * Scoobydoobydoo (Blue Horizon, 1969, UK), also released as Blues Masters, Vol. 10 (Blue Horizon, 1972)
 * The Heart of the Blues Is Sound (BYG, 1969)
 * The Incredible Champion Jack Dupree (Sonet, 1970), 12 tracks recorded in Copenhagen in 1960-63.
 * The Hamburg Session (Happy Bird, 1974)
 * Champion Jack Dupree "1977" (Isadora, 1977), also released as Hamhark & Limer Beans
 * Back Home in New Orleans (Bullseye Blues, 1990)
 * Forever and Ever (Bullseye Blues, 1991)
 * One Last Time (Bullseye Blues, 1993)

Live albums

 * Champion Jack Dupree (Festival, 1971)
 * Alive, "Live" and Well (Chrischaa, 1976)
 * The Blues Jubilee Album (Pinorrekk, 1984)
 * Live at Burnley (JSP, 1989)
 * Jivin' with Jack: Live in Manchester, May 1966 (Jasmine, 2002)
 * Bad Luck Blues: Live with Freeway 75 (Bad Luck Blues, 2003)

Collaborations

 * Champion Jack Dupree And His Blues Band featuring Mickey Baker (Decca, 1967)
 * Tricks, with Mickey Baker (Vogue, 1968), also released as Anthologie du Blues, Vol. 1 (Disques Vogue, 1968, France)
 * I'm Happy to Be Free, with Mickey Baker and Hal Singer (Vogue, 1971)
 * Blues at Montreux, with King Curtis (Atlantic, 1973)
 * Freedom, with the Monty Sunshine band (Pinorrekk, 1980)
 * Real Combination, with Henry Ojutkangas (Dig It, 1980)
 * I Had That Dream, with Kenn Lending (Pinorrekk, 1982)
 * Get You An Ol' Man, with Brenda Bell and Louisiana Red (Paris, 1984)
 * Rockin' The Boogie, with Kenn Lending (Blue Moon, 1988)
 * Sings Blues Classics, with Axel Zwingenberger (Vagabond, 1990)

title: Champion Jack Dupree


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USS Louisiana (SSBN-743)

USS Louisiana (SSBN-743) is the 18th and last ship of the United States Navy's Ohio-class submarine of nuclear-powered fleet ballistic missile submarines. She carries Trident ballistic missiles and has been in commission since 1997. She is the fourth commissioned ship to bear the name of the U.S. state of Louisiana.

Construction and commissioning
The contract for the construction of Louisiana was awarded on 19 December 1990 and her keel was laid down at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics in Groton, Connecticut, on 23 October 1992. She was launched on 27 July 1996, sponsored by Patricia O'Keefe, and commissioned on 6 September 1997 at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay at Kings Bay, Georgia.

Atlantic Fleet operations
Louisiana's first home port was Kings Bay. Her commissioning gave Kings Bay its planned full complement of 10 ballistic missile submarines.

Transfer to Pacific Fleet
In the 1990s, with the end of the Cold War and the subsequent reorganization of U.S. military forces, a U.S. nuclear policy review recommended that the U.S. Navy reduce its inventory of Ohio-class fleet ballistic missile submarines from 18 to 14 by 2005. An original plan to meet this goal by retiring the four oldest Ohio-class submarines — USS Ohio (SSBN-726), USS Michigan (SSBN-727), USS Florida (SSBN-728), and USS Georgia (SSBN-729) — was abandoned. Instead, those four were converted into cruise missile submarines (SSGNs). The conversions reduced the size of the Trident-equipped ballistic missile submarine fleet to 14 units. In order to balance the remaining Trident-equipped fleet between the United States Atlantic Fleet and United States Pacific Fleet, five Ohio-class submarines relocated from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Between 2002 and 2005, USS Pennsylvania (SSBN-735), USS Kentucky (SSBN-737), USS Nebraska (SSBN-739), USS Maine (SSBN-741), and Louisiana relocated from Kings Bay to Naval Base Kitsap.

2016 collision
On 18 August 2016, Louisiana collided with USNS Eagleview (T-AGSE-3), a submarine and special warfare support vessel, while conducting operations in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Both vessels returned to their respective home ports under their own power. Damage to Louisiana was limited to her forward starboard hull.

2006 Omaha Trophy
The Strategic Air Command Consultation Committee presented the Omaha Trophy to the Strategic Air Command (SAC) in 1971 on behalf of the citizens of Omaha, Nebraska, with the request that it be awarded annually to the outstanding SAC wing; the award later grew to include four different categories, including Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Command, Strategic Aircraft Operations Command, Strategic Space and Information Operations Command, and Submarine Ballistic Missile Command. On 31 May 2007, United States Strategic Command announced that Louisiana had won the 2006 Omaha Trophy in the Submarine Ballistic Missile Command category, which recognizes excellence in the fleet and is presented annually to the ballistic missile submarine unit demonstrating the highest standards of performance; in order for Louisiana to receive the award, both her Blue Crew and Gold Crew had to achieve excellence in every category possible from loading weapons to tactical scenarios related to strategic warfare to sailor retention and crew morale, with selection for the award based on formal evaluations, meritorious achievement, safety, and other factors such as community involvement and humanitarian actions. General Kevin P. Chilton, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, presented the trophy to Louisiana's crew.

2009 Meritorious Unit Commendation
Both the Blue and Gold crews of Louisiana received the Meritorious Unit Commendation from the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Gary Roughead on 17 February 2009 during an all-hands call while he was visiting Naval Base Kitsap. The award was based on a recognition that both crews collectively had performed service of a character comparable in a non-combat situation to that which would merit the award of a Bronze Star Medal, or an award of like caliber, to an individual in a combat situation. Louisiana was specifically recognized for meritorious service and superior performance across the spectrum of strategic submarine operations, setting fleet standards of excellence for administration, engineering, supply, personnel programs, and community support. Louisiana was the first ballistic missile submarine to be awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation since 2001.

Ship's crest
Louisiana's crest recalls the traditions of the people of the state of Louisiana and the three previous U.S. Navy ships to bear the name Louisiana. The symbolism of the crest reminds both crews of their bond to the people and history of Louisiana, as well as the tradition of the naval veterans who have served aboard ships of the same name. To others, the crest serves as a statement that the crews carry forward and those traditions of faithful and excellent service.

The gold braid encircling the seal represents commitment of the two crews to the values of pride, patriotism, honor, and tradition. The 18 stars surrounding the crest identify Louisiana as the 18th state of the Union and Louisiana as the 18th Ohio-class submarine. The Louisiana state bird, the pelican, is shown protecting her young with outstretched wings; the pelican, as legend has it, is the only bird known to give its own flesh to feed its young when it is unable to find food, and this signifies the mission of Louisiana and her two crews to defend, at all costs, the freedoms and values that America represents.

The red, white, and blue colors in the crest symbolize Louisiana's duty to the nation. The crest also includes the gold, white, and blue of the state of Louisiana to recall the submarine's name's origins. Additionally, the dark blue and gold in the crest traditionally associated with the United States Navy represent excellence and the sea, and also symbolizes the two crews — Blue Crew and Gold Crew — of Louisiana. The bow-on perspective of the modern Ohio-class submarine is meant to be striking, bold, and steadfast in its appearance, serving as a warning of Louisiana's resolute commitment to defending freedom.

The four stars on the submarine's bow indicate that Louisiana the fourth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name. The laurel symbolizes each crew member's commitment to honorable service to their country and ship. The tridents symbolize naval weaponry, both past and present, and sea prowess. Their bottom spikes pierce the Louisiana state motto, anchoring it, while pointing toward the ocean depths where the ship patrols. An iris with three petals was once the armorial emblem of French sovereigns, and it is often used as a symbol of the state of Louisiana; here it represents France's strong influence on the State of Louisiana. The banner with the inscription "Union, Justice, and Confidence" proclaims the Louisiana state motto. Wrapping the banner around the ship symbolizes the crew's strong esprit de corps with the people of the state of Louisiana. The crawfish further symbolizes the cultural heritage of the people of the state of Louisiana.

title: USS Louisiana (SSBN-743)


text:
USS Louisiana

Five ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Louisiana in honor of the 18th state.

 * USS Louisiana (1812) was a sloop that served in the War of 1812
 * USS Louisiana (1861) was a propeller-driven steamer that served in the American Civil War
 * USS Louisiana (BB-19) was a Connecticut-class battleship commissioned 2 June 1906 and decommissioned 20 October 1920
 * USS Louisiana (BB-71) was a Montana-class battleship cancelled before her keel was laid down
 * USS Louisiana (SSBN-743) is an Ohio-class submarine currently in active service
 * CSS Louisiana was commissioned by the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War
 * USRC Louisiana was a wood hull topsail schooner that served in the United States Revenue Cutter Service from 1819 to 1824

title: USS Louisiana


text:
Max Fleischer

Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 25, 1972) was a Polish-American animator and studio owner. Born in Kraków, Poland, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios, which he co-founded with his younger brother Dave. He brought such comic characters as Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, Popeye, and Superman to the movie screen, and was responsible for several technological innovations, including the rotoscope, the "follow the bouncing ball" technique pioneered in the Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes films, and the "stereoptical process". Film director Richard Fleischer was his son.

Early life
Majer Fleischer was born July 19, 1883, to a Jewish family in Kraków, (then part of Austria-Hungary: Austrian Partition). He was the second of six children of a tailor from Dąbrowa Tarnowska, Aaron Fleischer, who later changed his name to William in the United States, and Malka "Amelia" Pałasz. His family emigrated to the United States in March 1887, settling in New York City, where he attended public school. During his early formative years, he enjoyed a middle-class lifestyle, the result of his father's success as an exclusive tailor to high society clients. This changed drastically after his father lost his business ten years later. His teens were spent in Brownsville, a poor Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn. He continued his education at evening high school. He received commercial art training at Cooper Union and formal art instruction at the Art Students League of New York, studying under George Bridgman. He also attended the Mechanics and Tradesman's School in midtown Manhattan.

Fleischer began his career at The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Beginning as an errand boy, he advanced to photographer, photoengraver, and eventually, staff cartoonist. At first, he drew single-panel editorial cartoons, but then graduated to the full strips "Little Algie" and "S.K. Sposher, the Camera Fiend". These satirical strips reflected his life in Brownsville and his fascination with technology and photography, respectively—both displaying his sense of irony and fatalism. It was during this period he met newspaper cartoonist and early animator, John Randolph Bray, who would later give him his start in the animation field.

On December 25, 1905, Fleischer married his childhood sweetheart, Ethel (Essie) Goldstein. On the recommendation of Bray, Fleischer was hired as a technical illustrator for the Electro-Light Engraving Company in Boston. In 1909 he moved to Syracuse, New York, working as a catalog illustrator for the Crouse-Hinds Company, and a year later returned to New York as art editor for Popular Science magazine under editor Waldemar Kaempffert.

The Rotoscope

By 1914, the first commercially produced animated cartoons began to appear in movie theaters. They tended to be stiff and jerky. Fleischer devised an improvement in animation through a combined projector and easel for tracing images from a live-action film. This device, known as the Rotoscope, enabled Fleischer to produce the first realistic animation since the initial works of Winsor McCay. Although his patent was granted in 1917, Max and his brothers Joe and Dave Fleischer made their first series of tests between 1914 and 1916.

First venture
The Pathé Film exchange offered Max his first opportunity as a producer due in part to the fact that Dave had been working there as a film cutter since 1914. Max chose a political satire of a hunting trip by Theodore Roosevelt. After several months of labor, the film was rejected, and Max was making the rounds again when he was reunited with John R. Bray at Paramount Pictures. Bray had a distribution contract with Paramount at the time and hired Max as production supervisor for his studio. With the outbreak of World War I, Max was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma to produce the first Army training films on subjects that included Contour Map Reading, Operating the Stokes Mortar, Firing the Lewis Machine Gun, and Submarine Mine Laying. Following the Armistice, Fleischer returned to Bray and the production of theatrical and educational films.

The Inkwell Studios
Fleischer produced his Out of the Inkwell films featuring "The Clown" character, which his brother Dave originated; he had worked as a sideshow clown at Coney Island. It was one of the later tests made from footage of Dave as a clown that interested Bray.

Fleischer's initial series was first produced at the Bray Studios and released as a monthly installment in the Bray-Goldwyn Pictograph Screen Magazine from 1919 to 1921. In addition to producing Out of the Inkwell, Max's position at Bray was primarily production manager, and supervisor of several educational and technical films such as The Electric Bell, All Aboard for the Moon, and Hello, Mars. And it was as production manager that Fleischer hired his first animator, Roland Crandall, who remained with him throughout the active years of Fleischer's studio.

Out of the Inkwell featured the novelty of combining live action and animation and served as semi-documentaries with the appearance of Max Fleischer as the artist who dipped his pen into the ink bottle to produce the clown figure on his drawing board. While the technique of combining animation with live action was already established by others at the Bray Studio, it was Fleischer's clever use of it combined with Fleischer's realistic animation that made his series unique.

In 1921, Max and Dave established Out of the Inkwell Films, Incorporated, and continued production of Out of the Inkwell through various states-rights distributors. "The Clown" had no name until 1924, when Dick Huemer came aboard after animating on the early Mutt and Jeff cartoons. He set the style for the series, redesigning "The Clown", and named him "Ko-Ko". Huemer created Ko-Ko's canine companion, known as Fitz, and moved the Fleischers away from their dependency on the Rotoscope for fluid animation, leaving it for special uses and reference points where compositing was involved. Because Max valued Huemer's work, he instructed Huemer to make just the key poses and have an assistant fill in the remaining drawings. Max assigned Art Davis as Huemer's assistant and this was the beginning of the animation position of "inbetweener", which was essentially another Fleischer "invention" that resulted in efficient production and was adopted by the entire industry by the 1930s.

It was during this time that Max developed Rotoscoping, a means of photographing live action film footage with animation cels for a composited image. This was an improvement over the method used by Bray where a series of 8" x 10" stills were made from motion picture film and used as backgrounds behind animation cels. The Rotograph technique went into more general use as "aerial image photography" and was a staple in animation and optical effects companies for making titles and various forms of matte composites.

In addition to the theatrical comedy films, Fleischer produced technical and educational films including That Little Big Fellow and Now You're Talking for A.T.&T. In 1923, he made two 20-minute features explaining Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity and Charles Darwin's Evolution using animated special effects and live action.

Red Seal
In 1924, Fleischer partnered with Edwin Miles Fadiman, Hugo Riesenfeld and Lee de Forest to form Red Seal Pictures Corporation, which owned 36 theaters on the East Coast, extending as far west as Cleveland, Ohio. During this period, Fleischer invented the "Follow the Bouncing Ball" technique in his Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes series of animated sing-along shorts. In these films, the lyrics of a song appear on screen and theater patrons are encouraged to sing along with the characters. An animated ball bounces across the top of the lyrics to indicate when words should be sung.

Of the 36 Song Car-Tunes 12 used the De Forest Phonofilm sound-on-film process, the first of which was My Old Kentucky Home in 1926. This preceded Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie (1928), which has been erroneously cited for decades as the first cartoon to synchronize sound with animation. The Song Car-Tunes series lasted until early 1927 and was interrupted by the bankruptcy of the Red Seal company—just five months before the start of the sound era.

Alfred Weiss, owner of Artcraft Pictures, approached Fleischer with a contract to produce cartoons for Paramount. Due to legal complications of the bankruptcy, the Out of the Inkwell series was renamed The Inkwell Imps and ran from 1927 to 1929. This was the start of Fleischer's relationship with the huge Paramount organization, which lasted for the next 15 years. After a year, the Fleischer brothers started experiencing mismanagement under Weiss and left the company in late 1928. Inkwell Films, Inc. filed for bankruptcy in January 1929, and Fleischer formed Fleischer Studios, Inc. in March 1929.

Fleischer Studios, Inc.
Fleischer first set up operations at Carpenter-Goldman Laboratories in Queens with a small staff (see Fleischer Studios). After eight months, his new company was solvent enough to move back to its former location at 1600 Broadway, where it remained until 1938. At Carpenter-Goldman, Fleischer began producing industrial films including Finding His Voice (1929), a demonstration film illustrating the Western Electric Variable Density sound recording and reproduction method. Despite the conflicts with Weiss, Fleischer managed to negotiate a new contract with Paramount to produce a revised version of the "Song Car-tunes", produced with sound and renamed Screen Songs, beginning with The Sidewalks of New York.

At this early stage in the sound era, Fleischer produced many technically advanced films that were the result of his continued research and development that perfected the post-production method of sound recording. Several of these devices provided visual cues for the musical conductor to follow. As dialogue and songs became major elements, more precise analysis of soundtracks was possible through other inventions from Fleischer such as "The Cue Meter".

Betty Boop
Max Fleischer's Betty Boop character was born out of a cameo caricature in the early Talkartoon, Dizzy Dishes (1930). Fashioned after popular singer Helen Kane, she originated as a hybrid poodle/canine figure and was such a sensation in the New York preview that Paramount encouraged Fleischer to develop her into a continuing character. While she originated under animator Myron "Grim" Natwick, she was transformed into a human female under Seymour Kneitel and Berny Wolf and became Fleischer's most famous character.

The "Betty Boop" series began in 1932 and became a big success for Fleischer. That same year, Helen Kane filed a lawsuit against Fleischer, Fleischer Studios, and Paramount claiming that the cartoons were a deliberate caricature of her, created unfair competition, and had ruined her career. The suit went to trial in 1934. Judge Edward J. McGoldrick ruled, "The plaintiff has failed to sustain either cause of action by proof of sufficient probative force." In his opinion, the "baby" technique of singing did not originate with Kane.

Popeye the Sailor
Fleischer's greatest business decision came with his licensing of the comic strip character Popeye the Sailor, who was introduced to audiences in the Betty Boop cartoon short, Popeye the Sailor (1933). Popeye became one of the most successful screen adaptations of a comic strip in cinema history. Much of this success was due to the perfect match of the Fleischer Studio style combined with its unique use of music. By the late 1930s, a survey indicated that Popeye had eclipsed Mickey Mouse in popularity, challenging Disney's preeminence in the market.

Paramount
During its zenith by the mid-1930s, Fleischer Studios was producing four series, Betty Boop, Popeye, Screen Songs, and Color Classics, resulting in 52 releases each year. From the very beginning, Fleischer's business relationship with Paramount was a joint financial and distribution arrangement, making his studio a service company supplying products for the company's theaters. During the Great Depression, Paramount went through four bankruptcy reorganizations, which affected their operational expenses.

As a founding member of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, Fleischer was aware of the technical advancements of the industry, particularly in the development of color cinematography. Due to Paramount's financial restructuring, he was unable to acquire the three-color Technicolor process from the start. This created the opportunity for Walt Disney, who was then a small fledgling producer, to acquire a four-year exclusivity. With this, he created a new market for color cartoons beginning with Flowers and Trees (1932). In 1934 Paramount approved color production for Fleischer, but he was left with the limited two-color processes of Cinecolor (red and cyan) and Two-Color Technicolor (red and cyan) for the first year of his Color Classics. The first entry, Poor Cinderella (1934) was made in the two-emulsion/two-color Cinecolor Process and starred Betty Boop in her only color appearance. By 1936, Disney's exclusivity had expired, and Fleischer had the benefit of the three-color Technicolor Process beginning with Somewhere in Dreamland.

These color cartoons were often augmented with Fleischer's patented three-dimensional effects promoted as the "Stereoptical Process", a precursor to Disney's Multiplane animation. This technique used 3-D model sets replacing flat pan backgrounds, with the animation cels photographed in front. This technique was used to the greatest degree in the two-reel Popeye Features Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor (1936) and Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves (1937). These double-length cartoons demonstrated Fleischer's interest in animated feature films. While Fleischer petitioned for this for three years, it was not until the New York opening at Radio City of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (February 1938) that Paramount executives realized the value of animated features and ordered one for a 1939 Christmas release.

Decline
The popularity of the Popeye cartoons created a demand for more. To meet Paramount's demands, the studio was challenged with rapid expansion, production speed-ups, and crowded working conditions. Finally, in May 1937, Fleischer Studios was affected by a five-month strike, resulting in a boycott that kept the studio's releases off theater screens until November. Having a paternal attitude towards his employees, Max took it personally, as if he had been betrayed, and thus developed an ulcer. Following the strike, Max and Dave Fleischer decided to move the studio for more space and to escape further labor agitation.

In March 1938, Paramount approved Max's proposal to produce a feature just when he was preparing to move the studio from New York City to Miami, Florida. Once in Miami relations between Max and Dave began deteriorating, beginning with the pressures to deliver their first feature, complicated further by Dave's adulterous affair with his secretary, Mae Schwartz.

Jonathan Swift's classic novel Gulliver's Travels was a favorite of Max's and was pressed into production. Fleischer and Paramount originally budgeted the film Gulliver's Travels at $500,000—the same miscalculation made by Disney with Snow White. The final cost for Gulliver's Travels was $1.5 million. It played limited engagements with only 24 prints in 36 theaters during the 1939 Christmas season, but grossed more than $3 million during the Christmas week, giving Paramount a profit of $1.5 million before going into foreign release. But Fleischer Studios was penalized $350,000 for going over budget, and the contract did not allow Max and Fleischer Studios participation in the foreign earnings. This was the beginning of the financial difficulties of Fleischer Studios with reduced royalties due to this debt to Paramount.

In 1940, Max was relegated to business affairs and continued technical development. His efforts resulted in a reflex camera viewfinder and research into line transfer methods to replace the time-consuming and tedious process of cel inking. While ahead of his time, that same year Fleischer and Paramount experienced lost revenues owing to the failure of the new series Gabby, Animated Antics, and Stone Age, all launched under the leadership of Dave. After Republic Studios allegedly failed to develop Superman as a live-action serial, Max acquired the license that fall and initiated development.

The cost for the Superman series has been grossly overstated for decades on the basis of Dave Fleischer's UCLA 1968 Oral History interview by Joe Adamson. The actual figure stated in Fleischer's 1941 contract was in the $30,000 range, twice the cost of a Popeye cartoon. Superman was a "serious" type of cartoon that was not being made by rival studios which features anthropomorphic comic animal characters. The science fiction/fantasy elements of Superman appealed to Max's interests, finally leading the studio into maturity and relevance for the 1940s.

The early returns on Gulliver prompted Paramount president Barney Balaban to order a second feature for their 1941 Christmas release. This second feature, Mr. Bug Goes to Town, was unique, having a contemporary setting. Most importantly, it was technically and artistically superior to Gulliver's Travels. Paramount had high hopes for its Christmas 1941 release, which was well received by critics during its December 5 preview. However, the exhibitors rejected it, fearing that it would not do business because it was not a Disney animated Fairy Tale. And with the bombing of Pearl Harbor two days after the preview, the original Christmas release due in three weeks was cancelled.

With the cancellation of Mr. Bug Goes to Town, Max was called to a meeting with Balaban in New York, where he was asked for his resignation. Dave had resigned following the completion of Post-production on Mr. Bug in late November 1941. Paramount finished out the remaining five months of the 1941 Fleischer contract with the absence of both Max and Dave Fleischer, and the name change to Famous Studios became official on May 27, 1942. Paramount installed new management, among them Max's son-in-law, Seymour Kneitel.

Later career
Unable to form a studio due to the demand for military training films, Fleischer was brought in as head of the animation department for the industrial film company, The Jam Handy Organization in Detroit, Michigan. While there he supervised the technical and cartoon animation departments, producing training films for the Army and Navy. Fleischer was also involved with top-secret research and development for the war effort including an aircraft bomber sighting system. In 1944, he published Noah's Shoes, a metaphoric account of the building and loss of his studio, casting himself as Noah.

Following the war, he supervised the production of the animated adaptation of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1948), sponsored by Montgomery Ward. Fleischer left Handy in 1953 and returned as production manager for the Bray Studios in New York, where he developed an educational television pilot about unusual birds and animals titled, Imagine That!

In 1954, Max's son, Richard Fleischer, was directing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for Walt Disney. This brought about the honorary luncheon that united Max with his former competitor and reunited him with several former Fleischer animators who were then employed by Disney. This meeting of the former rivals seemed cordial, and Max remarked that he was very happy making educational films at this point in his career. However, in his collection of memoirs entitled Just Tell Me When to Cry, Richard relates how, at the mere mention of Disney's name, Max would mutter, "that son-of-a-bitch".

Fleischer won a lawsuit against Paramount in 1955 over the removal of his name from the credits of his films. While Fleischer had issues over the breach of contract, he had avoided suing for a decade to protect his son-in-law, Seymour Kneitel, who was a lead director at Paramount's Famous Studios. In 1958, Fleischer revived Out of the Inkwell Films, Inc. and partnered with his former animator Hal Seeger, to produce 100 color Out of the Inkwell (1960–1961) cartoons for television. Actor Larry Storch performed the voices for Koko the Clown and supporting characters Kokonut and Mean Moe. While Max appeared in the un-aired pilot, he became too ill to appear in the series, and, in poor health, he spent the rest of his life attempting to regain ownership of Betty Boop.

Fleischer and wife Essie moved to the Motion Picture Country House in 1967. Fleischer died from arterial sclerosis of the brain on September 25, 1972, two months after his 89th birthday, and in announcing his death the press labeled him "dean of animated cartoons". His death preceded the reclaiming of his star character, Betty Boop, and a national retrospective.

The anthology film The Betty Boop Scandals of 1974 started the Fleischer Renaissance with new 35mm prints of a selection of the best Fleischer cartoons made between 1928 and 1934. This was followed by The Popeye Follies. These special theatrical programs generated interest in Max Fleischer as the alternative to Walt Disney, spawning a new wave of film research devoted to an expanded interest in animation beyond trivial entertainment.

title: Max Fleischer