text:
User talk:Nevilley/Archive2

Yes, I had a hard time but I've learnt a lot so I'm glad the peacock episode happened. Absolutely agreed about the bridge caption, it was too long but I hadn't noticed. So I've chopped out the confusing bit about the viaduct and altered "bridge proper" to "shipping channel" because shipping (not much of it!) can only go through between those towers. Any other comments on anything I do are welcome. Thanks for your input and your kindness. You have a nice way of mixing criticism with compliments, I go for that approach! -- Arpingstone 11:24 Feb 23, 2003 (UTC)

 * Just thought I'd tell you Tarquin has moved the pic we are talking about off to the right, probably for the sake of variety. I'm happy about that. --Arpingstone 11:29 Feb 23, 2003 (UTC)

 * Yet another thought! Is there an edit command to reduce the font size? I don't see anything in the "how to edit" page. The caption is still a little long but I don't want to chop out any more words. -- Arpingstone 11:36 Feb 23, 2003 (UTC)

 * You can use subscript: like this. - Patrick 11:45 Feb 23, 2003 (UTC)

I'm sure you'll be fine with the David Mason excerpt - as you say, it's only short, and we're an educational site, and I'm sure it will be fair use. Should somebody decide to complain about it, then we can just take it down. We can also offer you up as a sacrifice to the lawyers - I'm sure you'll agree that a three year sentence is a small price to pay for saving the 'pedia :) --Camembert

I've answered your Q on my talk page this time - variety is the spice of life and all that. --Camembert

Hi! Adrian here. Not sure who invented the "expert on Filton" bit which I certainly am not (although I did work at BAe from 1957 to 1993). However, my point in writing is to tell you I've been a bit naughty and embedded your St Mary Redcliffe pic into the text. If you don't like what I've done then please revert. The only thing I would like to improve on my mod is to pull the text a little away from the left edge of the pic. If you know a way of doing that please let me know. -- Adrian 18:57 Feb 27, 2003 (UTC)

Nevilley, I've done the "Concorde and Bristol" addition to the Bristol article. I hope it's at least a basis for someone to add to it or modify it (or even leave it alone, but that's not likely because I'm not a natural writer!) -- Arpingstone 22:35 Feb 27, 2003 (UTC)

 * I've just noticed that there are no links in my piece. I'll do them tomorrow, bedtime now!! -- Arpingstone 22:43 Feb 27, 2003 (UTC)

On the subject of violinists, the word "fiddler" is one often applied to someone who plays the instrument in a non-standard way - as jazz and pop musicians tend to. I know it's rather an old-fashioned term now, though. But you rarely (or do I mean I rarely?) hear, for example, the violin player in a pop group (another old-fashioned term, I suppose) being referred to as a "violinist". Deb 17:32 Feb 28, 2003 (UTC)

I'll be honest -- Although I still think what I put is okay, I don't really care at all if someone changes it or even deletes it. The term, "violinist", can have a lot of nuances. I used to play the violin myself, and that's the main reason I looked at the page. Then I noticed that the definition was looking a bit thin. Deb 19:12 Feb 28, 2003 (UTC)

I'm not familiar with the series of books you mentioned, but you're right, they would certainly overlap with my particular interests. I'll be looking out for them now. Deb 17:59 Mar 1, 2003 (UTC) -- Deletion log

I think I just deleted the images. After forcing a reload of your cache via [CTRL][F5] do you still see them? --mav

There are a lot of rude people here. Susan Mason

title: User talk:Nevilley/Archive2


text:
Danjon scale

The Danjon scale is a five-point scale useful for measuring the appearance and luminosity of the Moon during a total lunar eclipse. It was proposed by André-Louis Danjon in 1921, when postulating that the brightness of a lunar eclipse was related to the solar cycle. An eclipse's rating on the scale is traditionally denoted by the letter L.

The scale
The Danjon scale is described in the following table:

Determining the value of L
Determination of the value of L for an eclipse is best done near mid-totality with the naked eye. The scale is subjective, and different observers may determine different values. In addition, different parts of the Moon may have different L values, depending on their distance from the center of the Earth's umbra.

Factors affecting the value of L
Many factors can affect the appearance of the Moon during a lunar eclipse. The Moon's path through the Earth's umbra is important, but so too are the current conditions of the Earth's atmosphere. While the Earth's shadow blocks any direct light from striking the Moon during a lunar eclipse, some light is refracted through the Earth's atmosphere giving the Moon a red hue.

The amount of light refracted affects the brightness of the moon at mid-eclipse, and this depends on several factors. Volcanic eruptions are one of the most significant - eruptions which spew significant amounts of volcanic ash into the air are generally followed by several years of dark, deep red eclipses. The effect of the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo on subsequent lunar eclipses was very noticeable, with the eclipse of 9 December 1992 rated 0 on the Danjon Scale by many observers.

It is also thought that the solar cycle has some effect on the darkness of lunar eclipses--indeed Danjon established the scale for this reason.

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

title: Danjon scale


text:
Angoroj

Angoroj (Agonies) is a 1964 film. It is the first feature film to be produced entirely in Esperanto. It was directed and produced by Jacques-Louis Mahé, a friend of Raymond Schwartz who, under the pseudonym 'Lorjak', had previously produced a silent Esperanto publicity film before World War II titled Antaŭen! (Onwards!).

Overview
At the start of the 1960s, Mahé, a professional photographic and cinematic expert, invested in the production of the first fictional film in Esperanto. Using a scenario by Mahé himself, the actors of the Internacia Arta Teatro (International Arts Theatre) presented a crime story, set in the Parisian periphery of petty thieves and cheats. Other notable people who played parts in the film included Schwartz (the commissioner), Gaston Waringhien (the voice-over) and many from the environs of the contemporary Paris, including Michel Duc-Goninaz.

Production
The film was produced from 1963 to 1964, but the market did not react favourably. Mahé, who lost a large sum of money, accused Universala Esperanto-Asocio of a boycott. At the highest point of his depression, he destroyed almost all copies: only two remain (acquired eventually by the Château de Grésillon and the British Esperanto Association, both already used) as well as the original, which LF-koop (Kooperativo de Literatura Foiro) rescued in 1991, distributing a 61-minute videotape.

title: Angoroj


text:
Bob Fitzsimmons

Robert James Fitzsimmons (26 May 1862 – 22 October 1917) was a British professional boxer who was the sport's first three-division world champion. He also achieved fame for beating Gentleman Jim Corbett (the man who beat John L. Sullivan), and he is in The Guinness Book of World Records as the lightest heavyweight champion, weighing just 167 pounds when he won the title. Nicknamed Ruby Robert and The Freckled Wonder, he took pride in his lack of scars and appeared in the ring wearing heavy woollen underwear to conceal the disparity between his trunk and leg-development.

Considered one of the hardest punchers in boxing history, Fitzsimmons is ranked as No. 8 on The Ring magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.

Early life
Robert James Fitzsimmons was born on 26 May 1862 in Helston, Cornwall, England, the youngest of seven boys and five girls born to James and Jane (Strongman) Fitzsimmons. Not long before his birth, his parents had moved from his father's native Ireland to Cornwall, where his mother came from, in order for his father to find work as a policeman. Fitzsimmons received his early education at the National school in Helston. In 1873, the family moved again; James, Jane and their youngest five children sailed on the Adamant for the 93-day journey to Lyttelton, New Zealand.

They settled in Timaru, a town 147 km (91 miles) south-west of Lyttelton populated mainly by Cornish immigrants, and James Fitzsimmons established a blacksmith's forge in the town. Once Fitzsimmons had completed his education at the Timaru Main School, he took on a range of jobs. He wanted to join the crew of the Isabella Ridley, and do some service as a sailor, hoping that it would toughen him up for a career in boxing, but the ship was badly damaged in storms while still docked in Timaru. Instead, he took on a range of jobs; as a butcher's delivery boy, a carriage painter, striker at an iron foundry, and a decorator, before becoming an apprentice at his family's blacksmith's forge with his brother Jarrett. His time working in the blacksmith's forge helped to develop his upper body, particularly his arms and shoulders. During his time working in the blacksmith's forge, there are stories that Fitzsimmons was not averse to fighting quarrelsome, often drunk, customers, and it was suggested that this even boosted business, as customers returned to the forge, hoping to see a fight.

Amateur career
In the early 1880s Jem Mace, an English bare-knuckle boxer, travelled to New Zealand, and Timaru hosted both his boxing school, and the first boxing championships held in New Zealand. Fitzsimmons entered the tournament and knocked out four opponents on his way to winning the competition. He successfully defended his title in the subsequent competition. During one of these tournaments, it is often suggested that Fitzsimmons defeated Herbert Slade, a professional heavyweight boxer who was touring with Mace, but Slade was touted as being undefeated in 1883, and it is possible that it was Slade's brother that Fitzsimmons beat. After these tournaments, Fitzsimmons boxed at least six times in New Zealand, including some bare knuckle bouts, but it is unclear if he received payment for his fights during this time.

Move to Australia
Boxing record books show Fitzsimmons officially began boxing professionally in 1883, in Australia. He beat Jim Crawford there by getting a knockout in three rounds. Fitzsimmons had his first 28 definite professional fights in Australia, where he lost the Australian middleweight title to Mick Dooley (rumours spoke of a fixed bout) and where he also won a fight by knockout while on the floor: when Edward Starlight Robins dropped Fitzsimmons to the canvas in round nine of their fight, he also broke his hand and could not continue, therefore the referee declared Fitzsimmons the winner by a knockout.

By this stage, Fitzsimmons had established his own style. He developed a certain movement and caginess from one of the greatest bare-knuckle fighters, Jem Mace. Mace encouraged Fitzsimmons to develop his punching technique, drawing on the enormous power he had gained from blacksmithing. Fitzsimmons delivered short, accurate and occasionally conclusive punches. He soon built up a reputation as by far the hardest puncher in boxing.

Winning the Middleweight title
Moving on to the United States, Fitzsimmons fought four more times in 1890, winning three and drawing one.

Then, on 14 January 1891, in New Orleans, he won his first world title from Jack (Nonpareil) Dempsey. Fitzsimmons knocked out Dempsey (from whom the later Jack Dempsey took his name) in the 13th round to become the World Middleweight Champion. Fitzsimmons knocked Dempsey down at least 13 times and by the finish left him in such a pitiable condition that he begged him to quit. Since Dempsey would not do so, Fitzsimmons knocked him out and then carried him to his corner. On 22 July, police broke off his fight with Jim Hall after he had knocked Hall down several times.

Fitzsimmons spent the next two years fighting non-title bouts and exhibitions until giving Hall a chance at the title in 1893. He retained the crown by a knockout in round four. He spent the rest of that year doing exhibitions, and on 2 June, he had scheduled a two-way exhibition where he would demonstrate in public how to hit the boxing bag and then how to box against a real opponent. Reportedly, two freak accidents happened that day: Fitzsimmons hit the bag so hard that it broke, and then his opponent of that day allegedly slipped, getting hit in the head and the boxing exhibition was cancelled.

At a public sparring performance on 16 November 1894 at Jacob's Opera House, Syracuse, New York, Fitzsimmons knocked out sparring partner Con Riordan, who was carried off unconscious and died several hours later. Two months later Fitzsimmons was charged with manslaughter but was acquitted.

Fitzsimmons vs. Sharkey
After vacating the Middleweight title, Fitzsimmons began campaigning at heavyweight (the light heavyweight division did not exist at that time). On 2 December 1896, the San Francisco Athletic Club sponsored a fight at the Mechanics' Pavilion in San Francisco between Fitzsimmons and Tom Sharkey. Unable to find a referee, they called on former lawman Wyatt Earp. He had officiated 30 or so matches in earlier days, though not under the Marquess of Queensberry rules. The fight may have been the most anticipated fight on American soil that year. Fitzsimmons was favoured to win, and bets flowed heavily his way. Earp entered the ring still armed with his customary Colt .45 and drew a lot of attention when he had to be disarmed. He later said he forgot he was wearing it. Fitzsimmons was taller and quicker than Sharkey and dominated the fight from the opening bell. In the eighth round, Fitzsimmons hit Sharkey with his famed "solar plexus punch," an uppercut under the heart that could render a man temporarily helpless. The punch caught Sharkey, Earp, and most of the crowd by surprise, and Sharkey dropped, clutched his groin, and rolled on the canvas, screaming foul.

Earp stopped the bout, ruling that Fitzsimmons had hit Sharkey with a low blow. His ruling was greeted with loud boos and catcalls. Very few witnessed the foul Earp ruled on. He awarded the decision to Sharkey, who attendants carried out as "...limp as a rag."

Winning the heavyweight title
In 1896, Fitzsimmons won a disputed version of the World Heavyweight Championship in a fight in Langtry, Texas, sanctioned by Judge Roy Bean, against the Irish fighter Peter Maher. On 17 March 1897, in Carson City, Nevada, he knocked out American Jim Corbett, generally recognised as the legitimate World Heavyweight Champion (having won the title from John L. Sullivan in 1892) in round 14. This constituted a remarkable achievement, as Jim Corbett, a skilled boxer, weighed one stone 3 pounds (17 lb) more than Fitzsimmons. He out-boxed Fitzsimmons for several rounds, knocked him down in the sixth round and badly damaged his face with his jab, left hook and right hand, but Fitzsimmons kept coming and Corbett began to tire. In the 14th round, Fitzsimmons won the title with his "solar plexus" punch. Corbett collapsed in agony. Fitzsimmons' "solar plexus" punch became legendary, although he himself may never have used the phrase. The entire fight was filmed by Enoch J. Rector and released to cinemas as The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight, the longest film ever released at the time. Using her maiden name, it was covered by Nellie Verrill Mighels Davis, the first woman to report a prize fight.

Fitzsimmons spent the rest of 1897 and 1898 doing stage tours. In 1899, Fitzsimmons fought James J. Jeffries at the Coney Island Athletic Club near Brooklyn, New York. Most people gave Jeffries little chance, even though at over 15 stones (95 kg) he massively outweighed his opponent and was far younger, but Jeffries lifted the World Heavyweight Championship from Fitzsimmons with an 11th-round knockout.

In June 1901 Fitzsimmons took part in a wrestling match against Gus Ruhlin. He lost and went back to boxing. He then enjoyed legitimate boxing knockouts of leading contenders Ruhlin and Tom Sharkey.

In 1901 he published a book Physical Culture and Self-Defense (Philadelphia: D. Biddle). In 1902, he and Jeffries had a rematch, once again with the World Heavyweight Champion at stake. Fitzsimmons battered Jeffries, who suffered horrible punishment. With his nose and cheek bones broken, most would have sympathized with Jeffries had he quit, but he kept going until his enormous strength and youth wore down Bob and he knocked him out cold in round eight.

Winning the Light Heavyweight title
In November 1903, Fitzsimmons made history by defeating World Light Heavyweight Champion George Gardiner (also known as Gardner) by a decision in 20 rounds, becoming the first boxer to win titles in three weight-divisions.

Soon afterward, he went back to the Heavyweights, where he kept fighting until 1914, with mixed results. In 1907 at age 44, Fitzsimmons fought much younger Jack Johnson, during the time period in which reigning champion James J. Jeffries refused to fight Johnson. The bout between Johnson and Fitzsimmons ended in victory for Johnson with a second round knockout.

Retirement
Although Fitzsimmons became a world champion in each of the Middleweight, Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight divisions, historians do not consider him the first world Light Heavyweight Champion to become World Heavyweight Champion, because he won the Heavyweight title before winning the Light Heavyweight belt. Michael Spinks counts as the first Light Heavyweight World Champion to win the Heavyweight belt as well. However, Fitzsimmons was the first Middleweight Champion to win the Heavyweight title and the only Heavyweight Champion to drop down and win the Light Heavyweight title. Fitzsimmons and later Henry Armstrong were the only men to win undisputed world championships in three different weight classes. After his retirement, Fitzsimmons moved back to his home country of Britain and settled in London.

Fitzsimmons had a final professional record of 66 wins with 59 by knockout, 8 losses, 4 draws, 19 no contests and 2 no decisions (Newspaper Decisions: 2–0–0).

Fitzsimmons's exact record remains unknown, as the boxing world often kept records poorly during his era.

Personal life
Fitzsimmons married four times and had six children, four of whom survived infancy.

Death

Fitzsimmons died of pneumonia on 22 October 1917 in Chicago, survived by his fourth wife. His grave lies in the Graceland Cemetery, Uptown. Having four wives, a gambling habit, and a susceptibility to confidence tricksters, he did not hold on to the money he made.

Legacy
The statue Peace on the Dewey Arch was modelled on Fitzsimmons by the sculptor Daniel Chester French. A statue of Fitzsimmons has also stood in the city centre of Timaru, New Zealand, since 1987. It was commissioned by New Zealand millionaire boxing fan Bob Jones and sculpted by Margriet Windhausen.

The International Boxing Hall of Fame has made Fitzsimmons a member in its "Old Timer" category.

In 2003 The Ring named Fitzsimmons number eight of all time among boxing's best punchers.

Professional boxing record
All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.

Official record
All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column.

Unofficial record
Record with the inclusion of newspaper decisions in the win/loss/draw column.

title: Bob Fitzsimmons


text:
Ted Koppel

Edward James Martin Koppel (born February 8, 1940) is a British-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for Nightline, from the program's inception in 1980 until 2005.

Before Nightline, he spent 20 years as a broadcast journalist and news anchor for ABC. After becoming host of Nightline, he was regarded as one of the outstanding serious-minded interviewers on American television. Five years after its 1980 debut, the show had a nightly audience of about 7.5 million viewers.

After leaving Nightline, Koppel worked as managing editor for the Discovery Channel, a news analyst for NPR and BBC World News America and a contributor to Rock Center with Brian Williams. Since 2016, Koppel has served as a special contributor to CBS News Sunday Morning. His career as a foreign and diplomatic correspondent earned him numerous awards, including nine Overseas Press Club awards and 25 Emmy Awards.

Early life and education
Edward James Martin Koppel, an only child, was born in Nelson, England. His parents were German Jews who fled Germany after the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. In Germany, Koppel's father operated a tire-manufacturing company. To help the British economy, the Home Secretary invited him and his wife to move the factory to Lancashire, England, where he was promised they would be protected in the event of war. The factory moved in 1936, but when war broke out in Europe in 1939, Koppel's father was declared an enemy alien and imprisoned on the Isle of Man for a year and a half.

Koppel was born in 1940, shortly after his father was taken away. To provide for her infant son, his mother sold her personal jewelry and did menial work in London. After he was released from internment, Koppel's father was not permitted to work in England, nor would he allow his wife to work. Following the end of the war, the family earned some money from their confiscated assets and decided to leave for the United States. While in England, Ted Koppel was a pupil at Abbotsholme School, in Derbyshire. In 1953 when he was 13, the family immigrated to the United States, where his mother, Alice, became a singer and pianist, and his father, Edwin, opened a tire factory. Koppel's boyhood hero was radio broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, whose factual reports during the bombing of London inspired him to become a journalist.

After attending the McBurney School, a private preparatory institution in New York, Koppel attended Syracuse University, graduating at age 20 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He was a member of the Alpha Chi chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. One roommate recalled that Koppel "was incredibly focused and had a photographic memory. He remembers almost every conversation he ever had with anybody. And the man never needs sleep."

Koppel then went to Stanford University, where he earned a Master of Arts degree in mass-communications research and political science. While at Stanford, he met his future wife, Grace Anne Dorney.

Early career

Koppel had a brief stint as a teacher before being hired as a copyboy at The New York Times and as a writer at WMCA Radio in New York. In June 1963, he became the youngest correspondent ever hired by ABC Radio News, working on the daily Flair Reports program. His coverage of the Kennedy assassination in 1963 with Charles Osgood caused the national news audience to take notice. He was scheduled to do a short report, but a delay during the crisis forced him to ad-lib for an hour and a half.

In 1964, he covered his first of many presidential nominating conventions. He also began covering the civil rights movement in Selma, Alabama. ABC officials were impressed by Koppel's ability to clarify issues using plain language. In 1966, he became the ABC News correspondent for the Vietnam War, moving from radio broadcasting to national television. He accepted the assignment only after the network agreed to send his wife and their two children to Hong Kong so they could be nearby. Before going he took a course to learn the Vietnamese language.

He returned in 1968 to cover the campaign of Richard Nixon, before becoming Hong Kong bureau chief, and U.S. State Department correspondent where Koppel formed a friendship with Henry Kissinger. According to Nixon advisor John Ehrlichman, Koppel's friendship with Kissinger was partly due to their similar backgrounds, having Jewish refugee parents and emigrating to America in their youth.

Koppel was among those traveling to China with U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1972. He spoke about it with the USC US-China Institute in their "Assignment: China" documentary series about American media coverage of China. Koppel likened the trip to a "journey to the dark side of the moon". By 1975, he was anchoring the ABC Evening News on Saturdays, and he continued to file reports for ABC Radio.

Koppel would often report on State Department foreign conferences, as when he traveled with Kissinger during his meetings in Egypt and Israel in 1975. He said about Kissinger: "I have a high regard for Henry. He has a first-class mind. A half hour with him gives me a better insight into a foreign policy question than hours with others."

In the mid-1970s, Koppel took a year off from his career, to stay home with his children so that his wife could complete her education at Georgetown Law School. Koppel's decision upset ABC News president Roone Arledge, who demoted Koppel from news anchor when he returned to the network.

In April 1979, he was lead reporter for an eleven-segment series, "Second to None?", which focused on explaining the dangers of nuclear war. He did his own research and wanted to present "complex material to an audience that hasn't paid much attention in the past but must in the future ... if there is to be a future". For the series he received an Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award.

Host of Nightline
In 1980, Koppel became known for his work as the host of a late night news program called Nightline. The program originated as a series of special reports about the 444-day-long Iran hostage crisis, during which Iranian militants held 52 Americans captive, beginning in early November 1979. At first, the program was called The Iran Crisis: America Held Hostage, and was hosted by Frank Reynolds. Koppel eventually joined Reynolds as co-anchor. In March 1980, the program evolved into Nightline, with Koppel as its host. Koppel spent twenty-five years anchoring the program, before leaving ABC and Nightline in late November 2005.

While hosting Nightline, Koppel also hosted a series of special programs called Viewpoint, beginning in 1981, which provided media criticism and analysis. The show was envisioned by ABC News Vice President George Watson as a way to address any media bias that viewers might believe that they encountered on the network. Broadcast before a live audience, it provided viewers with a chance to question how stories were reported or critique television news. Viewpoint was broadcast sporadically, from 1981 until 1997.

Some liberal groups suggested that Koppel was a conduit for the government's point of view and accused him of favoring conservatives when selecting guests. In the late 1980s, the progressive media criticism organization Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) claimed that policymakers and ex-officials dominated the Nightline guest list, with critics of foreign policy less visible. In 1987, Newsweek called him the "quintessential establishment journalist". Koppel responded that "We are governed by the president and his cabinet and their people. And they are the ones who are responsible for our foreign policy, and they are the ones I want to talk to".

In 1990, Koppel interviewed Nelson Mandela in a US-style town hall meeting. Also in 1990, ABC News ran a one-hour special called "The Best of Nightline with Ted Koppel".

In 1997, Nate Thayer, a journalist writing for the Far Eastern Economic Review who later interviewed Pol Pot shortly before the latter's death, claimed that Koppel and ABC News made a verbal agreement with Thayer for the exclusive North American rights to use video from a show trial of Pol Pot that Thayer and Asiaworks Television videographer David McKaige witnessed on Nightline. Thayer claimed ABC purportedly violated that agreement by posting screenshot stills of video from the interview on ABCNews.com, violating the license as the site was accessible throughout the world, though not uploading the actual video.

On November 22, 2005, Koppel stepped down from Nightline after 25 years with the program and left ABC after 42 years with the network. His final Nightline broadcast did not feature clips highlighting memorable interviews and famous moments from his tenure as host, as is typical when an anchor retires. Instead, the show replayed an episode of Nightline with Koppel's 1995 interviews with retired Brandeis University sociology professor Morrie Schwartz, who was dying of Lou Gehrig's disease.

On March 24, 2020, Koppel made a guest appearance on Nightline to mark the program's 40th anniversary, discussing how he and his wife had been coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Post-ABC career
Following Nightline Koppel has taken on a number of roles which span various formats of news media:
 * He signed up as an op-ed-contributing columnist, effective January 29, 2006, for The New York Times,
 * Following his departure from Nightline Koppel formed a three-year partnership with Discovery Communications as managing editor of the Discovery Channel. While at Discovery, Koppel produced several lengthy documentaries on a variety of subjects including a 2008 four-hour miniseries on China, which Koppel "ranks with some of the work that [he is] most proud of over the years". The four-part documentary, called The People's Republic of Capitalism, is an extensive look at the fast-changing country. It takes a look at the role of Chinese consumers in the growing yet communist economy. Koppel and Discovery Communications parted ways in November 2008, terminating their contract six months early, prompting rumors that Koppel would be hired for NBC's Meet the Press. Koppel stated that he was not interested in the job.
 * Starting in June 2006, he provided commentary to Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Day to Day on National Public Radio, joining NPR's other two Senior News Analysts, Cokie Roberts and Daniel Schorr. As such, he participated in the annual NPR Fourth of July reading of the Declaration of Independence in 2007. Koppel ended his regular commentary on NPR in April 2008, and last appeared as a news analyst on the network in 2014.
 * Koppel made occasional guest appearances on The Daily Show appearing in extreme close-up as a disembodied head, acting as Jon Stewart's journalistic conscience, sometimes as the replacement for the so-called "Giant Head of Brian Williams" projected on the screen behind Stewart. Koppel has jokingly insisted that "this is the actual size of [Koppel's] head"
 * Koppel worked for BBC World News America as a "contributing analyst" covering the 2008 Republican National Convention and the 2008 Democratic National Convention and hosted a special edition of the program in 2011.
 * On December 12, 2011, Koppel made his first appearance on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams as a reporter. He would later become a special correspondent for NBC's Rock Center until the show's cancellation.
 * On August 6, 2013, The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece by Koppel entitled "America's Chronic Overreaction to Terrorism".
 * In 2015 Koppel published the book, Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath, about the potential of a major cyber-attack on America's power grid.
 * Since March 2016 Koppel has served as a special contributor to CBS News Sunday Morning.

Honors and awards

 * Eight Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Awards for broadcast journalism;
 * Nine Overseas Press Club Awards for best television commentary on foreign news;
 * Two George Polk Awards
 * Two Sigma Delta Chi Awards
 * Three George Foster Peabody Awards
 * 1987: honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Duke University.
 * 2004: Paul White Award, Radio Television Digital News Association
 * 2006: honorary Doctor of Laws degree, University of Southern California

Koppel returns to Syracuse University regularly as a guest speaker. He was a member of the student-run WAER and keeps in touch with the student media at Syracuse. He is a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

Emmy Awards

 * He has won 25 Emmy Awards, including:
 * 1987 - Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story - Programs (Nightline)
 * 1999 - Outstanding Investigative Journalism - Programs (Nightline)
 * 1999 - Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story - Programs (Nightline)
 * 2004 - Outstanding Feature Story in a News Magazine (Nightline)
 * 2007 - Lifetime Achievement Award

Personal life
Koppel is married to the former Grace Anne Dorney. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1963. They have four children: Andrea (a former journalist), Deirdre, Andrew and Tara. Andrew Koppel was found dead in an apartment in New York City on May 31, 2010, reportedly after a day-long drinking binge. A post mortem toxicology report identified illicit drugs.

Koppel speaks German and French, in addition to his native English.

He was a longtime friend of Henry Kissinger. Both of them moved to the United States as children. Along with former Secretary of State Alexander Haig, Kissinger was the most frequent guest on Nightline. In an interview in 1989, Koppel commented, "Henry Kissinger is, plain and simply, the best secretary of state we have had in 20, maybe 30 years – certainly one of the two or three great secretaries of state of our century," and added, "I’m proud to be a friend of Henry Kissinger. He is an extraordinary man. This country has lost a lot by not having him in a position of influence and authority".

In 1993, Koppel and his wife paid $2.7 million for 16 acres overlooking the Potomac River in Potomac, Maryland. They sued to hold their neighbors to an agreement to limit the size of the houses in the neighborhood to 10000 ft2.

title: Ted Koppel


text:
Yanka Dyagileva

Yana Stanislavovna "Yanka" Dyagileva (Яна Станиславовна Дягилева; 4 September 1966 – c. 9 May 1991) was a Russian poet and singer-songwriter and one of the most popular figures of her time in Russia's underground punk scene. She both played solo and performed with others, including Yegor Letov and bands Grazhdanskaya Oborona and Velikiye Oktyabri ("Great Octobers"). Dyagileva was greatly influenced by Letov and Alexander Bashlachev, who were her friends. Her songs explored themes of desperation and depression, punk-style nihilism, and folk-like lamentations. Her death in 1991 has been considered as a symbolic end to the Siberian punk scene.

Biography
Yanka (born Yana) Dyagileva was born on 4 September 1966, in Novosibirsk, USSR to Stanislav Dyagilev and Galina Dyagileva, both engineers. She was of Russian, Ukrainian and Czech origin. In 1973 she attended public school and studied piano for a year at a music school before quitting. This sparked her interest in the guitar. While still in school Yanka started writing poems (which have been lost) and performing, singing and playing guitar in school talent shows. In 1984 she entered the Novosibirsk Institute of Water Transport Engineers, but dropped out in her sophomore year. During this period she performed with the political band AMIGO. The earliest of Dyagileva's poetry that has survived is from 1985. In December 1985 she traveled to Leningrad, where she may have met Alexander Bashlachev. In October 1986, Dyagileva's mother died of cancer.

In April 1987, Yanka met Egor Letov and joined his band Grazhdanskaya Oborona (Gr.Ob.). From 1988 to 1990, Dyagileva toured and performed with the band. She recorded her first album Not Allowed (Не положено) in January 1988. Her first performance before a large audience took place on 24 June 1988, at a punk festival in Tyumen, recorded in the bootleg album To the Drop-Outs (Деклассированным элементам). In 1989, Dyagileva performed in Leningrad for the first time as part of a concert produced by Sergei Firsov, who became Dyagileva and Gr.Ob.'s first producer. Dyagileva's album Sold! (Продано!) was recorded in Firsov's apartment. Dyagileva's final known public appearances took place in November 1990 in Irkutsk, Angarsk, and Leningrad. Her final live concert recording took place in Irkutsk on 10 November 1990. Several more performances were planned for February 1991 in Irkutsk; it is unknown if they ever took place. At the end of February 1991, Dyagileva recorded her last songs in a Novosibirsk Electro-Technical Institute dormitory: "Legs [Feet] Above the Ground" (Выше ноги от земли), "Five-Kopeck Coin in the Road" (На дороге пятак), "About Little Devils" (Про чёртиков), and "Water Will Come" (Придёт вода).

9 May 1991 is accepted as her official date of death. That evening she left her family's countryside home outside Novosibirsk and did not return. Her body was found by a fisherman on 17 May in the Inya River. She was presumed to have drowned near Novorodnikovo Train Station and been carried 40 kilometers by the current. On 19 May, she was buried in Novosibirsk's Zayeltsovskoye Cemetery. The exact time, place, and conditions surrounding Dyagileva's death remain unknown.

Discography

 * 1988 - Ne polozheno (Not Allowed)
 * 1988 - Deklassirovannim elementam (To the Fringe Elements)
 * 1988 - Live in Kurgan
 * 1989 - Prodano! (Sold!)
 * 1989 - Krasnogvardeyskaya (Live in Moscow) - Named after the Moscow Metro station. A.k.a. "Akustika".
 * 1989 - Live in Kharkiv (Ukraine)
 * 1989 - Domoi! (Going home!)
 * 1989 - Angedonia ("Anhedonia")
 * 1990 - Yanka & Grazhdanskaya Oborona live in MEI
 * 1991 - Styd i Sram (Shame and Reproach) - There are two variants of this album, one containing four acoustic songs. The other is a compilation with remastering done by Letov; the compilation contains seven songs, mostly electrified (not acoustic).
 * 2009 - Angedonia (remastered) ("Anhedonia")

title: Yanka Dyagileva


text:
Vostok 2

Vostok 2 (Восток-2, Orient 2 or East 2) was a Soviet space mission which carried cosmonaut Gherman Titov into orbit for a full day on August 6, 1961, to study the effects of a more prolonged period of weightlessness on the human body. Titov orbited the Earth over 17 times, exceeding the single orbit of Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1 − as well as the suborbital spaceflights of American astronauts Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom aboard their respective Mercury-Redstone 3 and 4 missions. Titov's number of orbits and flight time would not be surpassed by an American astronaut until Gordon Cooper's Mercury-Atlas 9 spaceflight in May 1963.

After the flight of Vostok 1, Sergei Korolev took a short vacation in Crimea where he began working out the flight plan for the next mission. There were considerable arguments over the duration of the mission as flight doctors argued for no more than three orbits. The flight of Korabl-Sputnik 2 nine months earlier had carried two dogs on a six orbit mission, during which the animals had experienced convulsions and thus all subsequent Vostok missions were limited to three orbits maximum. Although dogs and humans were very different physiologically, the doctors were worried about the risks posed on a longer flight. There was also the purely practical aspect of spacecraft recovery. If Vostok 2 flew three orbits, reentry and landing would take place in the wide open steppes of southern Russia, the landing site moving steadily further west with each orbit. Orbits 8-13 would drop the capsule into the Pacific Ocean, after which landing would again occur in Soviet territory, but in the remote, frozen wastes of Siberia. Thus, it was necessary to spend a full 24 hours in space before it would be once again possible to land in the prime recovery area in southern Russia. The three orbit limit thus would not only make landing easy, but minimize risks to the cosmonaut posed by prolonged weightlessness.

Korolev argued that since it would still take an entire day for landing in southern Russia to be possible again, there was no reason not to go for it. Besides, he argued, missions of the future would inevitably require lengthy stays in space. The flight was targeted for somewhere between July 25 and August 5. To ensure safe radiation levels, balloons equipped with Geiger counters were flown aloft; in addition, similar equipment would be carried on Vostok 2. Several enhancements were made to Vostok 2, including an improved TV transmission system and better climate control systems.

Liftoff took place August 6 at 8:57 AM Moscow time and booster performance was almost flawless, placing the spacecraft into a 184x244 km orbit.

The flight was an almost complete success, marred only by a heater that had inadvertently been turned off prior to liftoff and that allowed the inside temperature to drop to 50 °F, a bout of space sickness, and a troublesome re-entry when the reentry module failed to separate cleanly from its service module.

Unlike Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1, Titov took manual control of the spacecraft for a short while. Another change came when the Soviets admitted that Titov did not land with his spacecraft. Titov would claim in an interview that he ejected from his capsule as a test of an alternative landing system; it is now known that all Vostok program landings were performed this way.

The re-entry capsule was destroyed during development of the Voskhod spacecraft.

Titov was a month short of 26 years old at launch. He was the youngest person to reach space until the launch of Blue Origin NS-16 in 2021. He remains the youngest person to orbit the Earth.

Mission parameters

 * Mass: 4731 kg
 * Perigee: 183 km
 * Apogee: 244 km
 * Inclination: 64.93°
 * Period: 88.46 minutes

Mission highlights
Gherman Titov launched from Gagarin's Start at Baikonur Cosmodrome on 6 August 1961 at 06:00 UTC aboard the Vostok 2 space capsule. Radio personality Yuri Levitan interrupted Radio Moscow programming with an announcement of the flight at 07:45 UTC.

Nausea set in after Titov achieved free fall in orbit, causing him to vomit when he tried to eat one of his planned meals. Soviet space program officials suspected disturbance of Titov's vestibular system was to blame, leading them to begin early investigations into what is now known as space adaptation syndrome, or space sickness. Titov is believed to be the first spacefarer to experience the condition.

Titov took manual control of the capsule's attitude for a time as he passed over Africa on his first orbit and would again at the end of the seventh orbit; the controls were reported to function well. Titov exchanged greetings with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev as he passed over the Soviet Union at the end of his first orbit, replicating Gagarin's feat. During his flight the first manual photographs were taken from orbit, thus setting a record for first photos of Earth from space. He also was the first person to film the Earth using, for ten minutes, a professional quality Konvas-Avtomat movie camera.

A camera aboard the capsule transmitted smiling pictures of Titov to the ground as he passed over Soviet territory on the fifth orbit. Titov settled down to sleep during the seventh orbit; he awoke over eight hours later, 37 minutes after the scheduled end of his sleep period. Sleep did not relieve Titov's serious discomfort; he still felt very ill after awaking. After 12 orbits Titov suddenly began to recover, and became "completely functional and fully fit".

Detailed information about the radio frequencies used by the spacecraft were made public before Titov's flight; listening posts around the world picked up voice and telemetry signals from Vostok 2, allaying suspicions that the spaceflight might have been faked.

As on Vostok 1, the Vostok 2 service module failed to detach from the reentry module when commanded and reentry began with the former still attached; the conjoined modules gyrated violently until aerodynamic heating burned through the straps still holding them together. Titov ejected from the capsule as planned and parachuted separately to land at 0718 UTC on 7 August 1961, near Krasny Kut, Saratov Oblast. Just prior to ejecting, Titov turned his head to look at something and so got his face rammed into his helmet at ejection, giving himself a bloody nose.

The Vostok 2 landing site coordinates are 50.85276°N, 47.02048°W, which is 11.5 km South of Krasny Kut, Saratovskaya oblast in the Russian Federation. At the roadside site are two monuments dedicated to the Vostok 2 mission. The larger one is a 9 meter tall, silver painted stone sculpture, that resembles a single bird's wing pointed skyward. The center of the wing has a series of looping openings, one atop the next, that resemble a row of feathers. To the right of the wing sculpture is a 2 meter high, silver painted square stone block, with a rounded corner on the front side. A portrait of Titov, wearing a space helmet, is on one side of the stone block, the other side contains red painted text commemorating the mission.

In 1964, the Vostok 2 capsule was reused as a ballast weight in a test of an experimental parachute system planned for the Voskhod capsule. The prototype malfunctioned, shattering Vostok 2 into tiny pieces.

title: Vostok 2


text:
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA; Asiantaeth Trwyddedu Gyrwyr a Cherbydau) is the organisation of the British government responsible for maintaining a database of drivers in Great Britain and a database of vehicles for the entire United Kingdom. Its counterpart for drivers in Northern Ireland is the Driver and Vehicle Agency. The agency issues driving licences, organises collection of vehicle excise duty (also known as road tax and road fund licence) and sells personalised registrations.

The DVLA is an executive agency of the Department for Transport. The current Chief Executive of the agency is Julie (Karen) Lennard.

The DVLA is based in Swansea, Wales, with a prominent 16-storey building in Clase and offices in Swansea Vale. It was previously known as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre. The agency previously had a network of 39 offices around Great Britain, known as the Local Office Network, where users could attend to apply for licences and transact other business, but throughout the course of 2013, the local offices were gradually closed down, and all had been closed by December 2013. The agency's work is consequently fully centralised in Swansea, with the majority of users having to transact remotely – by post or (for some transactions) by phone.

DVLA introduced Electronic Vehicle Licensing in 2004, allowing customers to pay vehicle excise duty online and by telephone. However, customers still have the option to tax their vehicles via the Post Office. A seven-year contract enabling the Post Office to continue to process car tax applications was agreed in November 2012, with the option of a three-year extension.

History
Originally, vehicle registration was the responsibility of County Borough and County councils throughout Great Britain, a system created by the Motor Car Act 1903. In 1968 a centralised licensing system was set up at a new Swansea Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre, taking over licences issued from County/Borough councils. A new purpose built centre was then built on the site of the old Clase Farm on Longview Road, Swansea in 1969.

In April 1990, the Licensing Centre was renamed the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, becoming an executive agency of the Department for Transport.

British Forces Germany civilian vehicles
Civilian vehicles used in Germany by members of British Forces Germany or their families are registered with the DVLA on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Diplomatic and consular vehicles
Official diplomatic and consular vehicles are registered with the DVLA on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

DVLA database
The vehicle register held by DVLA is used in many ways. For example, by the DVLA itself to identify untaxed vehicles, and by outside agencies to identify keepers of cars entering central London who have not paid the congestion charge, or who exceed speed limits on a road that has speed cameras by matching the cars to their keepers utilising the DVLA database. The current DVLA vehicle register was built by EDS under a £5 million contract signed in 1996, with a planned implementation date in October 1998, though actual implementation was delayed by a year. It uses a client–server architecture and uses the vehicle identification number, rather than the registration plate, as the primary key to track vehicles, eliminating the possibility of having multiple registrations for a single vehicle.

The Vehicle Identity Check (VIC) was introduced to help reduce vehicle crime. It was intended to deter criminals from disguising stolen cars with the identity of written off or scrapped vehicles, however this scheme was abandoned in October 2015. Under the scheme, when an insurance company wrote off a car it would notify the DVLA. This notification would set a "VIC marker" on the vehicle record on the DVLA database. An identity check might then be required before the vehicle tax could be renewed or before any amendments could be made to the logbook.

DVLA database records are used by commercial vehicle check companies to offer a comprehensive individual car check to prospective purchasers.

However, the accuracy of the data held remains a continuing problem. Anyone can request information from the database if they purport to have just cause to need it, for a fee of £2.50.

The database of drivers, developed in the late 1980s, holds details of some 42 million driving licence holders in the UK. It is used to produce driving licences and to assist bodies such as the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, police and courts in the enforcement of legislation concerning driving entitlements and road safety.

The DVLA revealed in December 2012 that it had temporarily banned 294 public bodies, including local councils and police forces, for not using their access to the database correctly between 2006 and 2012. A further 38 bodies were banned permanently during the period.

Between 2002 and 2015 it is estimated the DVLA spent £500 million on information technology from IBM.

Employment
Staff of the DVLA are predominantly female whereas other parts of the Department for Transport are predominantly male. Starting salaries as of 2008 were just over £12,500. In November 2007, a Public Accounts Committee report criticised the "amazingly high" levels of sick leave among staff at the DVLA, where employees took an average of three weeks per year of sick leave. The report said overall sickness leave at the Department for Transport and its seven agencies averaged 10.4 working days per full-time employee in 2005, which they calculated as costing taxpayers £24 million. While sick leave rates at the department itself and four of its agencies were below average, at the DVLA and DSA – which together employ more than 50% of all department staff – they were "significantly higher". Committee chairman Edward Leigh said it was surprising the agencies could "function adequately". In 2008 DVLA staff went on a one-day strike over pay inequality arguing they should receive similar salaries to other employees of the Department for Transport. The most recent level of sickness absence for 2012/13 was 6.7 days.

Missing documents
In 2006, 120,000 to 130,000 vehicle registration certificates went missing. A BBC investigation in 2010 found that vehicles worth £13 million had been stolen using the documents in the 18 months preceding the investigation. Around ten cars are found each week to have forged log books and police said it would be decades before they were all recovered.

DVLA letter bombs
On 7 February 2007, a letter bomb was sent to the DVLA in Swansea and injured four people. It is suspected that this is part of a group of letter bombs sent to other organisations that deal with the administration of motoring charges and offences, such as Capita in central London, which was targeted a few days earlier. Miles Cooper, aged 27, a school caretaker, was arrested on 19 February 2007, and charged on 22 February. The DVLA have since installed X-ray machines in all post opening areas to reduce the effectiveness of any further attacks.

Wrong confidential records on surveys
In December 2007, it was revealed that while sending out surveys to 1,215 drivers, the DVLA sent out confidential details, but to the wrong owners. The error occurred during the sending out of routine surveys, and was not discovered until members of the public contacted the DVLA to notify them of the error.

Lost entitlements
In 2009 BBC's Watchdog reported that entitlements, specifically the entitlement to drive a motorcycle, were being lost from reissued driving licences. In 2005 the same programme highlighted drivers who had lost entitlements to drive heavy goods vehicles in a similar way.

Sale of details
In 2010 it was revealed the DVLA had sold drivers' details from the database to certain private parking enforcement companies run by individuals with criminal records. The DVLA sells details to companies for £2.50 per record, but it was found the agency had sold some of these to a business which had been previously fined for unfair business practices.

Complaints resolution
The DVLA handled 12,775 complaints in the year 2015/16, of which it failed to resolve 14.9% at first contact. Overall complaints for that year were down by 6.5%. The DVLA customer service excellence standard was retained. No details were provided on how this was measured. Customer satisfaction levels varied between 76% and 97% in the four categories surveyed; vehicle registration, driver licence renewal, vehicle taxation, driver medical transactions. No data was provided in respect of complaints about the SORN scheme or other fines levied.

Data Processing
On 13 June 2022, the Information Commissioner published an Opinion in which he stated the DVLA had been releasing the details of vehicle keepers to parking companies under the wrong ground. The DVLA had been releasing these under Article 6(1)(c) UK GDPR (legal duty) but the ICO advised the DVLA should have relied on Article 6(1)(e) (public task). The significance of this is that, unlike Article 6(1)(c), Article 6(1)(e) includes a right to object to this processing, as set out in Article 21. However, the Information Commissioner also stated the DVLA can refuse objections under Article 21 because they are processing the information "for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims".

The Information Commissioner's Office's website states: "retrospectively switching lawful basis is likely to be inherently unfair to the individual and lead to breaches of accountability and transparency requirements".

Unacceptable Levels of Service
On 17 March 2023, a report by the Public Accounts Committee was published which was critical of the DVLA. Three million paper applications for driving licences involving fitness to drive resulted in long delays. This resulted in some people losing their jobs; others lost income and became isolated and depressed. This was made worse by difficulties making contact with the DVLA. The committee found that between April 2020 and March 2022 around 60 million calls about driving licences went unanswered, 94% of the total the DVLA receive.

In popular culture
The DVLC in Swansea is regularly referred to in the BBC political sitcom Yes Minister, usually as a remote and unfavorable location. Bernard Woolley is regularly threatened with reassignment there. In the episode "Big Brother", Jim Hacker is scheduled to give an address there.

title: Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency


text:
Park Lane

Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from Mayfair to the east. The road has a number of historically important properties and hotels and has been one of the most sought after streets in London, despite being a major traffic thoroughfare.

The road was originally a simple country lane on the boundary of Hyde Park, separated by a brick wall. Aristocratic properties appeared during the late 18th century, including Breadalbane House, Somerset House, and Londonderry House. The road grew in popularity during the 19th century after improvements to Hyde Park Corner and more affordable views of the park, which attracted the nouveau riche to the street and led to it becoming one of the most fashionable roads to live on in London. Notable residents included the 1st Duke of Westminster's residence at Grosvenor House, the Dukes of Somerset at Somerset House, and the British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli at No. 93. Other historic properties include Dorchester House, Brook House and Dudley House. In the 20th century, Park Lane became well known for its luxury hotels, particularly The Dorchester, completed in 1931, which became closely associated with eminent writers and international film stars. Flats and shops began appearing on the road, including penthouse flats. Several buildings suffered damage during World War II, yet the road still attracted significant development, including the Park Lane Hotel and the London Hilton on Park Lane, and several sports car garages. A number of properties on the road today are owned by some of the wealthiest businessmen from the Middle East and Asia. Current residents include business mogul Mohamed Al-Fayed and former council leader and Lord Mayor Shirley Porter.

The road has suffered from traffic congestion since the mid-19th century. Various road enlargement schemes have taken place since then, including a major reconstruction programme in the early 1960s that transformed the road into a three-lane dual carriageway by removing a 20 acre section of Hyde Park. Improved crossings for cyclists appeared in the early 21st century. Despite the changes, property prices along the road are still among the highest in London. Its prestigious status has been commemorated by being the second-most expensive property square on the London Monopoly board.

Location
Park Lane is about 0.7 mi long, and runs north from Hyde Park Corner to Marble Arch, along the eastern flank of Hyde Park. To its east is Mayfair. The road is a primary route, classified A4202.

The street is one of the key bus corridors in Central London. It is used by London bus routes 2, 6, 13, 16, 23, 36, 74, 137, 148, 390, 414 and night bus routes N2, N16, N74 and N137. The nearest tube stations are Hyde Park Corner on the Piccadilly line near the street's southern end and Marble Arch on the Central line near its northern end. At Brook Gate, partway along the road, there is a traffic signal controlled pedestrian and cycle crossing connecting Hyde Park to London Cycle Route 39, the recommended cycling route from the park to the West End.

18th century
What is now Park Lane was originally a track running along farm boundaries. When Hyde Park was opened in the 16th century, the lane ran north–south along its eastern boundary from Piccadilly to Marble Arch.

In the 18th century, it was known as Tyburn Lane and was separated from the park by a high wall with few properties along it, aside from a short terrace of houses approximately where Nos. 93–99 are now. Tyburn Lane took its name from the former Tyburn, a village which had declined in the 14th century. At the end of what is now Park Lane was the Tyburn gallows (also known as Tyburn Tree), London's primary public place of execution until 1783. Author Charles Knight wrote in 1843, that by 1738 "nearly the whole space between Piccadilly and Oxford Street was covered with buildings as far as Tyburn Lane, except in the south-western corner about Berkeley Square and Mayfair".

In 1741, the Kensington Turnpike Trust took over its maintenance, as coach traffic caused wear on the road surface. Breadalbane House was built on the street in 1776. On the corner with Oxford Street, Somerset House (No. 40), built in 1769–70, was successively the town house of Warren Hastings, a former Governor-General of India, the third Earl of Rosebery, and the Dukes of Somerset. The politician and entrepreneur Richard Sharp, also known as "Conversation Sharp", lived at No. 28.

In the 1760s, Londonderry House, on the corner of Park Lane and Hertford Street, was bought by the Sixth Earl of Holdernesse. He purchased the adjacent property and converted the buildings into one mansion known for a period as Holdernesse House. In 1819, Londonderry House was bought by The Rt. Hon. The 1st Baron Stewart, a British aristocrat, and later, during World War I, the house was used as a military hospital. After the war, Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, and his wife, Edith Helen Chaplin, continued to use the house and entertained there extensively. After World War II, the house remained in the possession of the Londonderry family, until it was sold to make way for the 29-storey London Hilton, which opened on Park Lane in 1963.

19th century
The street was not particularly significant until 1820, when Decimus Burton constructed Hyde Park Corner at the lane's southern end, coinciding with Benjamin Dean Wyatt's reconstruction of Londonderry House and Apsley House. At the same time, the entrances to Hyde Park at Stanhope, Grosvenor, and Cumberland Gates were refurbished, and the park's boundary wall was replaced with iron railings. Park Lane subsequently became an in-demand residential address, offering views across Hyde Park and a position at the most fashionable western edge of London. No. 93, at the junction of Park Lane and Upper Grosvenor Street, was built between 1823 and 1825 by Samuel Baxter. The British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli lived at the house from 1839 to 1872. In 1845, a house on Park Lane was advertised as "one of the most recherché in London".

Much of the land to the east of Park Lane was owned by the Grosvenor Estate, whose policy was to construct large family homes attracting the nouveau riche to the area. The road became lined with some of the largest privately owned mansions in London, including the Duke of Westminster's Grosvenor House (replaced by the Grosvenor House Hotel) and the Holford family's Dorchester House (demolished in 1929 and replaced in 1931 with The Dorchester) and the Marquess of Londonderry's Londonderry House. The philanthropist Moses Montefiore lived at No. 90 for over 60 years, and a blue plaque marks its location.

Brook House, at No. 113 Park Lane, was built in 1870 by T. H. Wyatt. It later became the residence of Lord Louis Mountbatten and his wife Edwina. Aldford House was constructed in 1897 for the South African diamond millionaire Sir Alfred Beit. Another diamond mining magnate, Sir Joseph Robinson owned and lived at Dudley House at No. 100.

20th century
The character of Park Lane evolved from its prestigious reputation in the early 20th century, as residents began to complain about motor traffic and the noise from buses. The first flats were built at Nos. 139–140 in 1915 despite local opposition, with shops following soon afterwards. However, buildings were redeveloped to allow penthouse flats, which became popular. The politician and art collector Philip Sassoon lived at No. 25 in the 1920s and 1930s and held an extensive collection of objects at his house. Dancing partners Fred and Adele Astaire moved into a penthouse flat at No. 41 in 1923, and stayed there during their theatrical appearances at London's West End. The couple were courted by the social scene in London and enjoyed dancing at Grosvenor House. American film star Douglas Fairbanks Jr. resided at No. 99 when working in England in the 1930s. The black market fraudster Sidney Stanley lived on Park Lane in the 1940s, and became known as "the Pole of Park Lane".

The Marriott London Park Lane, at No. 140 Park Lane, opened in 1919. The site was once occupied by Somerset House and Camelford House. The site also includes No. 138 Park Lane, which was featured as a Home Guard headquarters in the film The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. The Park Lane Hotel was built in 1927, designed by the architects Adie, Button and Partners. Despite its name, its postal address is on Piccadilly and it overlooks Green Park rather than Hyde Park.

The Dorchester, designed by Sir Owen Williams, opened on Park Lane in 1931. With the development of the hotel, concerns were raised that Park Lane would soon become New York City's Fifth Avenue. The Dorchester quickly gained a reputation as a luxury hotel and one of the most prestigious buildings on the road. During the 1930s it became known as a haunt of numerous writers and artists, such as poet Cecil Day-Lewis, novelist Somerset Maugham, and painter Sir Alfred Munnings, and it became known for its distinguished literary gatherings, including "Foyles Literary Luncheons", an event the hotel still hosts. From World War II onwards, the hotel and Park Lane became renowned for accommodating numerous international film stars, and it was closely associated with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the 1960s and 1970s.

During World War II, several properties on Park Lane were hit by bombs. Dudley House, at No. 100, suffered major structural damage, including the destruction of the ballroom and gallery, though the building was partially restored. However, the strength of construction of the Dorchester Hotel gave it the reputation of being one of London's safest buildings, and it was a safe haven for numerous luminaries. General Dwight D. Eisenhower took a suite on the first floor in 1942, and later made it his headquarters.

The British Iron and Steel Research Association, an institution responsible for much of the automation of modern steelmaking, was originally established at No. 11 Park Lane in June 1944. It has since moved to No. 24 Buckingham Gate. The contact lens pioneer Keith Clifford Hall held a practice at No. 139, later expanding to No 140, from 1945 to 1964. The site of his practice is now commemorated by a green heritage plaque. The film and stage actress Anna Neagle lived at Alford House on Park Lane between 1950 and 1964 with her husband Herbert Wilcox; the location of which is now marked with a green heritage plaque. The hotel trade continued to prosper; construction of the London Hilton on Park Lane at 22 Park Lane began in 1960 and opened in 1963 at a construction cost of £8m (now £). On 5 September 1975, a Provisional IRA bomb exploded at the hotel, killing two people and injuring over 60. The blast also damaged neighbouring properties.

At the south end of Park Lane, on the west side, gates in honour of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (widow of George VI) were erected in 1993. The gates were designed by Giuseppe Lund and David Wynne and bear motifs in an interpretation of her coat of arms.

21st century
The Animals in War Memorial was opened at the northeast edge of Park Lane in 2004 by Anne, Princess Royal. It commemorates animals that served in wars, and alongside servicemen. In June 2007, a car bomb was successfully defused in an underground car park on Park Lane. The road was closed for most of the day for police investigation.

The road still attracts notable residents. In 2002, Robert B. Sherman, composer of the musicals Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins, moved to an apartment on Park Lane following the death of his wife. He enjoyed the views of Hyde Park and in 2003 painted an eponymous portrait, Park Lane. The business mogul Mohamed Al-Fayed has offices in 55 and 60 Park Lane. Trevor Rees-Jones, the only survivor of the car crash that killed al-Fayed's son Dodi Fayed and Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, briefly recuperated in a flat on Park Lane following the accident.

Property prices on Park Lane remain some of the highest in London. In 2006, former Conservative leader of Westminster City Council, Dame Shirley Porter moved into a new £1.5m development on Curzon Square after twelve years of exile in Israel. In 2015, a report showed the average monthly rent for a 2-bedroom apartment on the road was £5,200. Rough sleepers also made use of the road's surroundings from at least 2012, with large begging gangs or other homeless groups sleeping in subways or covered shopping parades despite occasionally being cleared or moved on by police.

Many of the hotels and establishments on Park Lane are today owned by some of the wealthiest Middle Eastern and Asian businessmen, sheikhs and sultans. The Dorchester was purchased by the Sultan of Brunei in 1985, and since 1996 has been part of the Dorchester Collection, owned by the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA), an arm of the Ministry of Finance of Brunei. The Dorchester Collection connects The Dorchester on Park Lane to other luxury hotels internationally, including The Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air of Los Angeles, and the Hôtel Meurice of Paris. In 1978, a new branch of the Allied Arab Bank opened at 131–2 Park Lane, facilitating the interests of both Arab world and western clients. Mamasino restaurant at 102 Park Lane serves African cuisine and is African-owned. Wolfgang Puck's restaurant at No. 45 has been described by GQ Magazine as serving one of the best breakfasts in London, with a mixture of American, European and Asian food.

Traffic
Owing to property on the road becoming more desirable, traffic began to increase on Park Lane during the 19th century. A short section of the lane was widened in 1851 as part of the redevelopment work on Marble Arch. In July 1866, following the destruction of the boundary railings after a demonstration supporting the Second Reform Bill, the road was widened as far as Stanhope Gate. In 1871, Hamilton Place was widened to allow an alternative traffic flow to Piccadilly.

By the 1950s, motor traffic levels along Park Lane had reached saturation point. A 1956 survey by the Metropolitan Police reported "at peak hours it is overloaded", with traffic surveys showing 91,000 and 65,000 vehicles travelling around Hyde Park Corner and Marble Arch respectively in a twelve-hour period, making Park Lane the link between the busiest and third busiest road junctions in London. Between 1960 and 1963, the road was widened to three lanes each way either side of a central reservation. This required the demolition of Nos. 145–148 Piccadilly, near Hyde Park Corner, which had previously formed a line east of Apsley House. The work also re-appropriated East Carriage Drive inside Hyde Park as the northbound carriageway, moving the park's boundary westwards. Additionally, a car park was installed under the road, which became the largest underground parking area in London. Despite the claims to preserve as much of the park as possible during the widening works; around 20 acre of park was removed and around 95 trees were felled. At the time of opening, the project was the largest road widening scheme in Central London since the construction of Kingsway in 1905. The total estimated cost was £1,152,000 (now £). Further traffic signals were installed at the junction of Park Lane and Hyde Park corner in 1983.

The road forms part of the London Inner Ring Road and is part of the London congestion charge zone's boundary. When the zone was extended westward in February 2007, Park Lane was designated as one of the "free through routes", on which vehicles could cross the zone during its hours of operation without paying the charge. The western extension was removed in January 2011.

In November 2008, the mayor of London, Boris Johnson announced plans to build a tunnel beneath the street, allowing land to be released for development and green spaces. The traffic improvements and remodelling have diminished the appeal of Park Lane as a residential address since it became one of the busiest and noisiest roads in central London. In 2011, Johnson introduced spot fines for coaches idling on Park Lane. The widening of the road distanced the houses on the east side of Park Lane from Hyde Park itself, access to which is now by underpass. Despite the traffic noise the road is still upmarket, featuring five-star hotels (such as The Dorchester, the Grosvenor House Hotel and the InterContinental London Park Lane Hotel) and showrooms for several sports car models, including BMW, Aston Martin and Mercedes-Benz.

Cultural references

Park Lane is the second most valuable property in the London edition of the board game Monopoly. The street had a prestigious social status when the British version of the Monopoly board was first produced, in 1936. On the board, Park Lane forms a pair with Mayfair, the most expensive property in the game. The squares were designed to be equivalents of Park Place and Boardwalk, respectively, on the original board, which used streets in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In 1988, the World Monopoly Championships were held at the Park Lane Hotel, sponsored by Waddingtons, manufacturers of the British version. Since the game's original production, prices on the real Park Lane have held their value, though average rent costs have been overtaken by Bond Street.

In Arthur Conan Doyle's short story "The Adventure of the Empty House" (1903), Sherlock Holmes investigates and solves a locked-room murder which took place at No. 427 Park Lane (the old numbering), and which is referred to as the "Park Lane Mystery". The story is set in 1894. The writer Jasper Fforde refers to the street and its Monopoly square in his novel The Eyre Affair (2001), via the character Landen Parke-Laine.

The street has several mentions in John Galsworthy's 1922 trilogy, The Forsyte Saga. The 1967 BBC television adaptation used Croxteth Hall in Liverpool for footage of James and Emily's house on Park Lane. The road is mentioned in the second stanza of Noël Coward's patriotic song "London Pride".

In George Orwell's  Coming Up for Air (1939) several conservative and imperialist politicians are derogatively referred to as "the Park Lane riff-raff".

The Mini Countryman Park Lane is a high-end four wheel drive sport utility vehicle named after the road, where the company has a showroom. In Walter Lord's book A Night to Remember, which documents the fate of the RMS Titanic, a broad, lower-deck working corridor on E Deck, which ran the length of the ship, was referred to by officers as "Park Lane" (and by crew as "Scotland Road").

title: Park Lane