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List of people on the postage stamps of Colombia

This article lists people who have been featured on the postage stamps of Colombia and its states. Note that many of these people have been featured on multiple stamps. The following entries list the name of the person, a short description of their notability, and the year they were first featured on a stamp.

The states of Cundinamarca, Santander, and Tolima have not honored any people on their stamps. The states of Antioquia, Bolivar, Boyaca have honored people on their stamps.

A

 * Miguel Abadía Méndez, president of Colombia, 1926-30 (1981)
 * Mercedes Abrego, spy and martyr (2010)
 * Josefa Acevedo de Gómez, writer (1997)
 * Soledad Acosta de Samper, writer and journalist (2013)
 * Alexander II of Russia, czar of Russia (2019)
 * Rafael Almanza, Cuban intellectual and writer (1958)
 * Jorge Alvarez Lleras, engineer and director of the National Astronomical Observatory (1988)
 * es:Gilberto Alzate Avendaño, journalist and popular leader (1971)
 * Simona Amaya, heroine of the revolution (2011)
 * Matilde Anaray, heroine of the revolution (2011)
 * Manuel Ancízar, lawyer, writer, and journalist (1953)
 * Andrés Rosillo y Meruelo, bishop and rebel (2009)
 * Diego Euclídes de Angulo Lemos, president of Colombia, 1908 (2010)
 * José Antonio Anzoátegui, Venezuelan brigadier general (1969)
 * Thomas Aquinas, philosopher, theologian, jurist and saint (1982)
 * Gonzalo Arango, Colombian poet, journalist and philosopher (2010)
 * Juan de Dios Aranzazu González, president of New Granada, 1841-42 (1982)
 * Consuelo Araújo Noguera, Colombian politician, writer and journalist (2002)
 * Julio Arboleda, writer, soldier and statesman (1966)
 * Ismael Enrique Arciniegas, poet (2016)
 * Julio Garavito Armero, Colombian astronomer and mathematician (1949)
 * Diójenes Arrieta, politician (1997)
 * Andrés A. Arroyo, founder of the Colombian Society of Engineers (1962)
 * José Gervasio Artigas, national hero of Uruguay (1955)
 * Aurelio Arturo, poet (1997)
 * Atahualpa, last sovereign emperor of the Inca Empire (1955)
 * Saint Augustine, Christian theologian and philosopher (1987)
 * Rafael Azuero Manchóla, vice-president of Colombia (2010)

B

 * Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer and musician (1986)
 * Lord Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting movement (2007)
 * Vasco Núñez de Balboa, conquistador (1955)
 * Antonio Baraya, military leader (1950)
 * Porfirio Barba-Jacob, poet and writer (1983)
 * Virgilio Barco Maldonado, pioneer of the petroleum industry (1996)
 * Virgilio Barco, president of Colombia, 1986-90 (1997)
 * Enrique A. Becerra, jurist (2010)
 * Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (1977)
 * Sebastián de Belalcázar, conquistador (1955)
 * Andrés Bello, Venezuelan humanist, diplomat, poet, legislator, and educator (1946)
 * Manuela Beltran Archila, heroine of independence (2011)
 * Luis Eduardo Bermúdez Acosta, composer (2012)
 * Cayetano Betancur, Colombian philosopher, writer and linguist (2012)
 * Domingo Bioho, black leader (1997)
 * Simón Bolívar, liberator (1886)
 * John Bosco, saint (1990)
 * Francisco Burgos Rubio, general (1996)

C

 * Prisciliano Cabrales Lora, pioneer in petroleum industry (1996)
 * Francisco José de Caldas, lawyer, naturalist, and geographer (1910)
 * Abdon Calderon, hero of the war of independence of Ecuador (1955)
 * Clímaco Calderón Reyes, lawyer, diplomat and president of Colombia, 1882 (2010)
 * Bartolomé Calvo, president of the Granadine Confederation, 1861 (1981)
 * Luis Antonio Calvo, composer (1984)
 * José Justo Joaquín Camacho Lago, statesman, lawyer, journalist and professor (2010)
 * Salvador Camacho Roldan, lawyer, businessman, politician and president (1995)
 * Sergio Camargo, president of Colombia, 1877 (1981)
 * José María Campo Serrano, president of Colombia, 1886-87 (1981)
 * Manuela Cañizares y Álvarez, Ecuador heroine of independence (2011)
 * Alfonso Cano Isaza, editor of El Espectador (1987)
 * Fidel Cano Gutierrez, journalist, founder of El Espectador (1977)
 * Guillermo Cano Isaza, Colombian journalist (1993)
 * Luis Cano Villegas, editor of El Espectador (1987)
 * Luis Gabriel Cano Isaza, editor of El Espectador (1987)
 * Maria Cano Márquez, popular leader (1997)
 * José María Carbonel, revolutionary agitator (2009)
 * José Eusebio Caro, poet (1955)
 * Miguel Antonio Caro, scholar, poet, journalist, politician, and president 1894-98 (1947)
 * Eduardo Carranza, poet (1986)
 * Maria Mercedes Carranza, poet (2010)
 * Juan de Dios Carrasquilla, doctor and botanist (1949)
 * Rafael Maria Carrasquilla, religious, educator and writer (1959)
 * Tomás Carrasquilla Naranjo, Colombian writer (1993)
 * Jose Joaquin Casas, educator and diplomat (1967)
 * Alberto Castilla, founder of the Tolima Conservatory of Music (1964)
 * José María del Castillo y Rada, president of the United Provinces of the New Granada. 1814-15 (1995)
 * José Vicente Castro Silva, rector of the Mayor del Rosario School (1986)
 * Domingo Caycedo, president of Colombia, 1839-43 (1982)
 * Joaquín de Caycedo y Cuero, military and political patriot (1946)
 * Andrés Cerón Serrano, lawyer and politician (2010)
 * Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote (2005)
 * Charlie Chaplin, movie actor and director (1995)
 * Frederic Chopin, composer (2006)
 * Winston Churchill, prime minister of Great Britain (1945)
 * Francisco Javier Cisneros, railway engineer (1949)
 * St. Peter Claver, Spanish Jesuit priest and missionary (1981)
 * Agustín Codazzi, lawyer, writer, and journalist (1953)
 * Christopher Columbus, discoverer of New World (1932)
 * Francisca Josefa de la Concepción, nun, mystic, writer and saint (1972)
 * José Vicente Concha, president of Colombia, 1914-18 (1981)
 * Jackie Coogan, movie actor (1995)
 * Nicholas Copernicus, Polish astronomer (1974)
 * José María Córdoba, general of the Colombian army (1917)
 * Marcos Crespo, Ecuadorian politician and independence hero (1957)
 * Manuelita de la Cruz, Colombian nurse (1961)
 * Rufino Jose Cuervo, writer, linguist and philologist (1917)
 * Teresa Cuervo Borda, art historian (1990)
 * María Currea Manrique, women's rights activist (1988)

D

 * Brother Damian, priest (1961)
 * Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (1986)
 * José Matías Delgado, Salvadoran priest, doctor and liberator (1957)
 * Juan de Dios Morales, governmental minister and revolutionary (2009)
 * Luis Duque Gómez, archaeologist (2010)
 * Simona Duque de Alzate, heroine of the revolution (2011)
 * Jean Henri Dunant, founder of the Red Cross (1956)
 * Gilberto Alejandro Durán Diaz, composer and accordion player (2019)

E

 * Darío Echandía Olaya, president of Colombia, 1943-44 (1991)
 * Guillermo Echavarría Misas, aviation pioneer (1997)
 * Gloria Echeverri Lara, director of Community Action and Indigenous Affairs (1992)
 * Elizabeth of Hungary, princess and saint (1956)
 * Rafael Escalona, composer (2016)
 * Hugo Escobar Sierra, jurist and politician (2010)
 * José María Espinosa, painter (1983)
 * Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei (1994)

F

 * Diego Fallon, educator, musician and poet (1984)
 * José Rafael Faría Bermúdez, priest (2000)
 * Ferdinand, king of Spain and sponsor of Christopher Columbus (1955)
 * Pedro Fermín de Vargas, economist (1997)
 * José Fernández Madrid, statesman, physician, scientist, writer and president, 1814, 1816 (1995)
 * Juan Fernández de Sotomayor, bishop (2009)
 * Julio Flórez, poet (2017)
 * Deogracias Fonseca, president of Colombia, 1957-58 (2010)
 * Francis of Assisi, saint (1982)
 * Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church (2017)
 * Juan Friede Alter, historian (1997)

G

 * Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, lawyer and politician (1959)
 * Cacique Gaitana, Indian resistance leader (1997)
 * Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento, political reformer (1991)
 * José Antonio Galán, farmer and revolution leader (1940)
 * Custodio García Rovira, general, statesman, painter, and president of New Grenada, 1816 (1995)
 * Gabriel García Márquez, writer and Nobel Prize winner (1982)
 * Federico García Lorca, Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director (1986)
 * Juan García del Río, Colombian diplomat, writer, politician and president of Gran Colombia (1995)
 * Carlos Gardel, entertainer (1985)
 * Carlos Gaviria Diaz, politician (2018)
 * Pantaleón Germán Ribón, military and independence leader (2012)
 * Atanasio Girardot, Colombian revolutionary leader (1991)
 * Álvaro Gómez Hurtado, Colombian lawyer, politician, and journalist (1997)
 * Fernando Gomez Martinez, diplomat, politician and Colombian journalist (1986)
 * Laureano Gómez, president of Colombia, 1950-53 (1972)
 * Pedro Nel Gómez, Colombian engineer, painter, and sculptor (1985)
 * José Maria González Benito, mathematician, astronomer (1997)
 * Ramón González Valencia, president of Colombia, 1909-10 (1981)
 * León de Greiff, poet (1996)
 * Manuel de Guirior, Spanish naval officer and viceroy of New Granada (1977)
 * Ignacio Gutiérrez Vergara, politician, statesman and journalist (2010)
 * Santos Gutiérrez, president of Colombia, 1868-70 (1981)
 * Virginia Gutiérrez, social anthropologist (2010)

H

 * Pedro de Heredia, Spanish conqueror (1934)
 * Bertha Hernandez de Ospina, Colombian politician and writer and wife of Mariano Ospina Pérez (1999)
 * Benjamín Herrera, Colombian politician and general (2010)
 * Tomás de Herrera, statesman, general and president of the Free State of the Isthmus (1995)
 * Pedro Alcántara Herrán, Colombian general, statesman and president, 1841-45 (1957)
 * Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, leader of the Mexican War of Independence (1955)
 * Sir Rowland Hill, postal reformer and inventor of the postage stamp (1979)
 * Carlos Holguín Mallarino, president of Colombia, 1888-92 (1981)
 * Jorge Holguín, president of Colombia, 1921-22 (1981)
 * Alexander von Humboldt, naturalist (1960)
 * Ezequiel Hurtado, general, statesman and president of Colombia, 1882 (1995)

I

 * St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of Jesuits (1956)
 * Isidore the Laborer, Spanish farmworker and patron saint of rural people (1960)
 * Isabella I, queen of Spain (1953)
 * Jorge Isaacs, Colombian writer, politician and soldier (1987)

J

 * Esteban Jaramillo, economist (1997)
 * Maria de Jesus Paramo de Collazos, founded first normal school for women (1975)
 * Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Spanish explorer and conquistador (1979)
 * Pope John XXIII, pope and saint (1963)
 * Pope John Paul II, pope (2006)
 * Benito Juárez, revolutionary leader and president of Mexico (1972)

K

 * John F. Kennedy, president of the United States (1963)

L

 * Alicia Lafaurie Roncallo, first Carnival Queen (2018)
 * Rodrigo Lara Bonilla, Colombian lawyer and politician (1992)
 * Froilan Largacha, lawyer, politician and president of Colombia, 1863 (1995)
 * Eduardo Lemaitre Román, historian (1997)
 * Carlos Lemos Simmonds, vice-president of Colombia (2010)
 * Manuel Ponce de León, cartographer and civil engineer (1953)
 * José Ramón de Leyva, military commander (2009)
 * Indalecio Liévano Aguirre, politician and diplomat (1992)
 * Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States (1960)
 * Alberto Lleras Camargo, president of Colombia, 1945-46, 1958-62 (1995)
 * Carlos Lleras Restrepo, president of Colombia, 1966-70 (1995)
 * Federico Lleras Acosta, Colombian doctor, veterinarian and bacteriologist (1977)
 * José María Lombana Barreneche, physician and politician (1952)
 * María Concepción Loperena, independence war heroine (1985)
 * Alfonso López Michelsen, president of Colombia, 1974-78 (2008)
 * Alfonso López Pumarejo, president of Colombia, 1934-38, 1942-46 (1961)
 * Estela López Pomareda, movie actress (1995)
 * José Hilario López, president of Colombia, 1849-53 (1981)
 * Luis Carlos López, poet (1997)
 * Luis Eduardo Lopez de Mesa, doctor, writer and Education Minister (1984)
 * Maria Lopez de Escobar, founder and director of the world's first international adoption agency (1992)
 * Saint Louise de Marillac, nun, saint and founder of the Sisters of Charity (1960)
 * Enrique Low Murtra, Colombian economist, lawyer and Minister of Justice (1992)
 * Carlos Lozano y Lozano, president of Colombia, 1942 (1982)
 * Fabio Lozano Torrijos, diplomat (1997)
 * Jorge Tadeo Lozano, scientist, journalist, and politician (1967)

M

 * José de la Mar, Peruvian military leader, politician and the third President of Peru (1955)
 * Manuel María Mallarino, acting president of Colombia, 1855-57 (1981)
 * Roberto de Mares, pioneer of the petroleum industry (1996)
 * Guglielmo Marconi, radio pioneer (1975)
 * José Ignacio de Márquez, president of Colombia, 1837-41 (1982)
 * José Manuel Marroquín, political figure and president of Colombia, 1900-04 (1904)
 * José Martí, Cuban patriot (1955)
 * William Knox Martin, early aviation pioneer (1994)
 * Aurelio Martinez Mutis, poet and writer (1987)
 * Diego Martinez Camargo, pioneer in the petroleum industry (1996)
 * Pompilio Martínez Navarrete, doctor and professor (1952)
 * Rafael Maya, poet, journalist, writer, critic, lawyer and diplomat (1986)
 * Adolfo Mejia, composer (2010)
 * Gonzalo Mejia, aviation pioneer, motion picture pioneer, and industrialist (1985)
 * Liborio Mejía, Colombian colonel, politician and president, 1816 (1995)
 * Manuel Mejía Jaramillo, banker and Colombian coffee leader (1965)
 * Manuel Mejía Vallejo, writer (2015)
 * José María Melo, Colombian general, politician and president of New Granada, 1854 (1995)
 * Vanessa Alexandra Mendoza Bustos, actress, fashion model and Miss Venezuela (2002)
 * Santo Michelena, Venezuelan politician (1957)
 * Fanny Mikey, Colombian actress, theatre producer and entrepreneur (2014)
 * Gerardo Molina Ramirez, lawyer, professor and politician (2010)
 * Montezuma, ninth Aztec emperor (1955)
 * Laura Montoya, nun and saint (1974)
 * Antonio Morales Galavís, military commander (2009)
 * Francisco Antonio Moreno, education reformer and judge (1977)
 * Joaquín Mosquera, president of Colombia, 1830 (1982)
 * Manuel José Mosquera, Archbishop of Bogota (1954 )
 * Victor Mosquera Chaux, lawyer, politician and diplomat (2010)
 * Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, Colombian general, political figure and president 1845-49, 1861-64, 1866-67 (1978)
 * Pedro Domingo Murillo, patriot of Upper Peru (1955)
 * José Celestino Mutis, priest, botanist and mathematician (1947)

N

 * Antonio Nariño, political and military leader of the independence movement (1887)
 * Rafael Navas Pardo, president of Colombia, 1957-1958 (2010)
 * Agustín Nieto Caballero, educator (1989)
 * Juan José Nieto Gil, Colombian politician, Army general, writer, and president, 1861 (2010)
 * Rafael Núñez, journalist, politician, and president of Colombia, 1880-82, 1884-94 (1886)
 * Soledad Román de Núñez, wife of president Rafael Núñez (1999)

O

 * José de Obaldía, acting president of Colombia (1982)
 * José Maria Obando, president of Colombia, 1853-54 (1981)
 * Candelario Obeso, poet, novelist, playwright, and professor (1984)
 * Bernardo O'Higgins, Chilean independence leader (1955)
 * Enrique Olaya Herrera, president of Colombia, 1930-34 (1981)
 * Nicolás Mauricio de Omaña, priest and lawyer (2009)
 * Luis Ernesto Ordóñez, military officer, politician and member of ruling junta (2010)
 * Mariano Ospina Pérez, president of Colombia, 1946-50 (1981)
 * Mariano Ospina Rodríguez, president of Colombia, 1857-61 (1981)
 * Pedro Nel Ospina Vázquez, president of Colombia, 1922-26 (1981)
 * Nicolás Osorio y Zayas, Spanish aristocrat (1952)

P

 * José Prudencio Padilla, Colombian military leader (1984)
 * Alfonso Palacio Rudas, Colombian lawyer, economist and politician (2013)
 * Jorge Palacios Preciado, historian and director-general of the National Archives (2012)
 * Manuel Maria Palacio, pioneer of the petroleum industry (1996)
 * Gabriel París Gordillo, president of Colombia, 1876-78 (2010)
 * Aquileo Parra, Colombian soldier, businessman and political figure (1981)
 * Misael Pastrana Borrero, president of Colombia, 1970-74 (1998)
 * Pope Paul VI, pope (1968)
 * Eliseo Payán, vice-president and president of Colombia, 1887 (1981)
 * Javier Pereira, Zenú Indian and Colombian supercentenarian (1956)
 * Alexandre Pétion, first President of the Republic of Haiti (1955)
 * José Miguel Pey de Andrade, statesman, soldier and a leader of the independence movement (1996)
 * Enrique Pérez Arbeláez, botanist (1997)
 * Rubén Piedrahíta Arango, member of military junta of an interim presidency (1981)
 * Próspero Pinzón Romero, jurist, statesman and military leader (1903)
 * Teresa Pizarro de Angulo, Colombian beauty pageant director and farmer (2010)
 * Lino de Pombo, engineer, diplomat (1997)
 * Rafael Pombo, poet and writer of children's literature (2012)
 * Marie Poussepin, Dominican nun (1994)
 * Alberto Pumarejo, Colombian lawyer and liberal politician (1993)

Q

 * Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, explorer and founder of Bogotá (1938)
 * Joaquin Quijano Mantilla, journalist (1989)
 * Manuel Quintín Lame, native leader (1997)

R

 * Gustavo Uribe Ramírez, ecologist (1980)
 * Augusto Ramirez Ocampo, politician (2014)
 * Abelardo Ramos, founder of the Colombian Society of Engineers (1962)
 * Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff, archaeologist (1997)
 * Ricardo Rendón Bravo, Colombian caricaturist (1994)
 * Carlos Eugenio Restrepo, president of Colombia, 1910-14 (1981)
 * Félix Restrepo Mejía, Jesuit priest, theologian and scholar (1967)
 * Jose Felix de Restrepo, educator, judge and Colombian lawyer (2009)
 * José Manuel Restrepo, investigator of Colombian flora, political figure and historian (1981)
 * Rafael Reyes, army chief of staff and president of Colombia, 1904-09 (1957)
 * Antonio Ricaurte y Lozano, patriot and military captain (1917)
 * Ramón Arturo Rincon Quiñónes, Colombian general (2003)
 * Baron de Rio Branco, Brazilian diplomat, geographer, historian, monarchist, politician and professor (1955)
 * José Manuel Rivas Sacconi, diplomat (1997)
 * José Eustasio Rivera, writer (1974)
 * Emilio Robledo, medical educator (2010)
 * Luis Antonio Robles Suárez, Colombian lawyer and politician (1999)
 * Juan Rodríguez Freyle, colonial reporter (1997)
 * Manuel Rodríguez Torices, statesman, lawyer, journalist, and vice-president (2010)
 * Meliton Rodriguez, photographer (1993)
 * Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, president of Colombia, 1953-57 (1995)
 * José María Rojas Garrido, president of Colombia, 1886 (1981)
 * Eleanor Roosevelt, women's and civil rights activist and wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1964)
 * Franklin Delano Roosevelt, president of the United States (1945)
 * García Rovira, general, statesman and painter (1940)
 * Mother Juana Ruperta, unknown (1970)

S

 * Policarpa Salvarrieta, executed spy for revolutionary forces (2017)
 * Miguel Samper, economist and writer (1976)
 * Santiago Samper Brush, founder of the Colombian Red Cross (1956)
 * José Francisco de San Martín, Argentine general and independence leader (1955)
 * Diodoro Sánchez, founder of the Colombian Society of Engineers (1962)
 * Manuela Sanz de Santamaria, heroine of South American independence (2011)
 * Manuela Sáenz de Thorne, heroine of South American independence (2011)
 * Policarpa Salavarrieta, heroine of the independence of Colombia (1910)
 * Francisco de Paula Santander, military and political leader, president of New Granada 1832-37 (1910)
 * Antonia Santos, rebel leader and heroine (2011)
 * Eduardo Santos, president of Colombia, 1938-42 (1981)
 * Enrique Santos Castillo, lawyer and journalist (2017)
 * Enrique Santos Montejo, Colombian journalist (1986)
 * Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, president of Colombia, 2010-18 (2018)
 * Giuliana Scalaberni, wife of Pedro Nel Gómez (1985)
 * Vera Sergine Renoir, French actress (2001)
 * Carlos Martínez Silva, politician, diplomat, journalist, soldier and poet (1948)
 * José Asunción Silva, poet (1986)
 * Oreste Sindici, composer of the national anthem (1988)
 * José Francisco Socarrás Colina, physician and educator (2016)
 * Manuel del Socorro Rodríguez, Cuban journalist (1947)
 * Francisco Solano López, president of Paraguay (1955)
 * Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1945)
 * Marco Fidel Suárez, president of Colombia, 1918-21 (1981)
 * Antonio José de Sucre, Venezuelan independence leader (1887)

T

 * Teresa of Ávila, nun, mystic, writer and saint (1970)
 * Tisquesusa, fourth supreme ruler of Bacatá (1955)
 * Murillo Toro, politician and statesman (1944)
 * Camilo Torres Tenorio, Colombian politician and founder (1910)
 * Manuel Murillo Toro, president of Colombia, 1864-66, 1872-74 (1944)
 * Cristóbal de Torres, priest, theologian and professor (1954)
 * Diego de Torres y Moyachoque, Turmequé Indian chief (2012)
 * José Jerónimo Triana, botanist (1947)
 * Miguel Triana, Colombian engineer and historian (1962)
 * Julio César Turbay Ayala, president of Colombia, 1978-82 (2009)
 * Diana Turbay Quintero, Colombian journalist (1992)
 * Gabriel Turbay Abunader, politician, diplomat (1997)

U

 * Alberto Urdaneta y Urdaneta, painter, designer and publisher (1947)
 * Rafael Urdaneta, Venezuelan general and president of Gran Colombia, 1830-31 (1995)
 * Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláez, president of Colombia, 1951-53 (1982)
 * Pedro Uribe Mejia, pioneer of Colombian coffee industry (1987)
 * César Uribe Piedrahita, medical writer, physician and educator (2010)
 * Rafael Uribe Uribe, Colombian lawyer, journalist, and general (2009)
 * Ezequiel Uricoechea, linguist and scientist (1952)

V

 * Gloria Valencia de Castaño, Colombian journalist and television presenter (2013)
 * Guillermo Valencia, newspaper founder, governor and author (1951)
 * Guillermo León Valencia, president of Colombia, 1962-66 (2009)
 * Paulina Vega Dieppa, Miss Universe 2014 (2015)
 * Juana Velasco de Gallo, heroine of the revolution (2011)
 * Antonio Villavicencio, statesman, soldier and president of New Granada, 1815 (1995)
 * Lorencita Villegas de Santos, First Lady and philanthropist (1993)
 * José María Villa, mechanical engineer and mathematician (1981)
 * Vincent de Paul, priest and saint (1957)

W

 * George Washington, president of the United States (1955)

X

 * St. Francis Xavier, missionary and saint (2006)

Z

 * Francisco Antonio Zea, journalist, botanist, diplomat and statesman (1967)
 * Ramón de Zubiría, writer, educator (1997)
 * Eduardo Zuleta Angel, politician (1999)
 * Luz Marina Zuluaga, Miss Universe pageant winner (1959)

Antioquia

 * Pedro Justo Berrio, lawyer, soldier and politician (1875)
 * Jose Maria Cordoba, general of the Colombian army (1899)
 * Juan del Corral (1903)
 * Anastasio Girardot (1902)
 * José Fernández Madrid, statesman, physician, scientist, and writer (1903)
 * Jose Felix Restrepo (1902)
 * José María Restrepo (1903)
 * Custodio Garcia Rovira, general, statesman and painter (1903)
 * Policarpa Salavarrieta (La Pola), spy for the Revolutionary Forces (1903)
 * Francisco Antonio Zea, journalist, botanist, diplomat and politician (1903)

Bolivar

 * Manuel Anguiano (1904)
 * Simón Bolívar, liberator (1879, 1882, 1891, 1903)
 * José María del Castillo y Rada, president of the United Provinces of New Grenada, 1814-15 (1904)
 * José María García de Toledo, lawyer and politician (1903)
 * José Fernández Madrid, statesman, physician, scientist, and writer (1903)
 * Manuel Rodríguez Torices, statesman, lawyer and journalist (1903)

Boyaca

 * Jose Manuel Marroquin, president of Colombia, 1900-04 (1903)
 * Diego Mendoza Perez, Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Colombia (1902)
 * Dr. es:Próspero Pinzón Romero, general and Governor of Boyaca (1903)


text: Talk:Marimba

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

title: Talk:Marimba


text:
Outland

Outland may refer to:

 * Outland (film), a 1981 film directed by Peter Hyams and starring Sean Connery
 * Outland (Spear of Destiny album), a 1987 album by Spear of Destiny
 * Outland (Gary Numan album), a 1991 album by Gary Numan
 * Outland (Pete Namlook and Bill Laswell album), a 1994 album by Pete Namlook & Bill Laswell
 * Outland (JøKleBa album), 2014
 * Outland (comic strip), a comic strip written and illustrated by Berkeley Breathed
 * Outland (Warcraft), a remnant of Draenor, a world in the fictional Warcraft universe
 * Outland Trophy, a trophy awarded annually to the best college football lineman in the United States
 * Outland, Lesbian/Womyn's land and retreat in New Mexico
 * Outland, a fictional location in the Sylvie and Bruno books by Lewis Carroll
 * Outland (TV series), a 2012 comedy from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
 * Outland (video game), a 2011 platform game for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network

title: Outland


text:
Gottlieb Daimler

Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (17 March 1834 – 6 March 1900) was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist born in Schorndorf (Kingdom of Württemberg, a federal state of the German Confederation), in what is now Germany. He was a pioneer of internal-combustion engines and automobile development. He invented the high-speed liquid petroleum-fueled engine.

Daimler and his lifelong business partner Wilhelm Maybach were two inventors whose goal was to create small, high-speed engines to be mounted in any kind of locomotion device. In 1883 they designed a horizontal cylinder layout compressed charge liquid petroleum engine that fulfilled Daimler's desire for a high speed engine which could be throttled, making it useful in transportation applications. This engine was called Daimler's Dream.

In 1885 they designed a vertical cylinder version of this engine which they subsequently fitted to a two-wheeler, the first internal combustion motorcycle which was named the Petroleum Reitwagen (Riding Car) and, in the next year, to a coach, and a boat. Daimler called this engine the grandfather clock engine (Standuhr) because of its resemblance to a large pendulum clock.

In 1890, they converted their partnership into a stock company Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG, in English – the Daimler Motors Corporation). They sold their first automobile in 1892. Daimler fell ill and took a break from the business. Upon his return he experienced difficulty with the other stockholders that led to his resignation in 1893. This was reversed in 1894. Maybach resigned at the same time, and also returned. Daimler died in 1900 and Wilhelm Maybach quit DMG in 1907.

Daimler is seen as "the father of the motorcycle".

Early life and education (1834–1862)

Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler was the son of a baker named Johannes Däumler (Daimler) and his wife Frederika, from the town of Schorndorf near Stuttgart, Württemberg. By the age of 13 (1847), he had completed six years of primary studies in Lateinschule and became interested in engineering.

After completing secondary school in 1848, Daimler had trained as a gunsmith under Master Gunsmith Hermann Raithel. In 1852 he ended the training with the trade examination. He graduated in 1852, passing the craft test with a pair of engraved double-barreled pistols. The same year, at eighteen, Daimler decided to take up mechanical engineering, abandoning gunsmithing, and left his hometown.

Daimler enrolled at Stuttgart's School for Advanced Training in the Industrial Arts, under the tutelage of Ferdinand von Steinbeis. Daimler was studious, even taking extra Sunday morning classes. In 1853, Daimler, with Steinbeis' assistance, got work at "the factory college", Rollé und Schwilque (R&S) in Grafenstaden, so-called because its manager, Friedrich Messmer, had been an instructor at the University of Karlsruhe. Daimler performed well, and when Rollé und Schwilque began making railway locomotives in 1856, Daimler, then 22, was named foreman.

Instead of staying, Daimler took two years at Stuttgart's Polytechnic Institute to hone his skills, gaining in-depth understanding of steam locomotives, as well as "a profound conviction" steam was destined to be superseded. He conceived small, cheap, simple engines for light industrial use, possibly inspired by the newly developed gas engines of that era.

In 1861, he resigned from R&S, visiting Paris, then went on to England, working with the country's top engineering firms, becoming knowledgeable with machine tools. He spent from autumn 1861 to summer 1863 in England, then regarded as "the motherland of technology", at Beyer, Peacock & Company, Manchester, whose partner Beyer was from Saxony. While in London, he visited the 1862 International Exhibition, where one of the exhibits was a steam carriage. These carriages did not evidently inspire him, however, for his wish was to improve machine tools for metal and woodworking machinery.

Career through 1882
Daimler went to work for Maschinenfabrik Daniel Straub, Geislingen an der Steige, where he designed tools, mills, and turbines. In 1863, he joined the Bruderhaus Reutlingen, a Christian Socialist toolmaker, as inspector and later executive. While there, he met Wilhelm Maybach, then a 15-year-old orphan. Thanks to Daimler's organizational skills, the factory managed to show a profit, but he quit in frustration in 1869, joining Maschinenbau Gesellschaft Karlsruhe in July.

When in 1872 N.A. Otto and Cie reorganized as Gasmotoren-Fabrik Deutz, management picked Daimler as factory manager, bypassing even Otto, and Daimler joined the company in August, bringing in Maybach as chief designer. While Daimler managed to improve production, the weakness in Otto's vertical piston design, coupled to Daimler's stubborn insistence on atmospheric engines, led the company to an impasse. Neither Otto nor Daimler would give way, and when Daimler was offered the choice of founding a Deutz branch in Saint Petersburg or resigning, he resigned to set up shop in Cannstatt (financed by savings and shares in Deutz), where he was shortly joined by Maybach.

Otto four-stroke engine (1876)
In 1872 at age 38, Daimler and Maybach moved to work at the world's largest manufacturer of stationary engines at the time, the Deutz-AG-Gasmotorenfabrik in Cologne. It was half-owned by Nicolaus Otto, who was looking for a new technical director. As directors, both Daimler and Otto focused on gas-engine development while Maybach was chief designer.

In 1876, Otto developed a gaseous fuel, compressed charge four-stroke cycle, (also known as the Otto Cycle) engine after 14 years of effort, a system characterized by four piston strokes (intake, compression, power, and exhaust). Otto intended that his invention would replace the steam engines predominant in those years, even though his engine was still primitive and inefficient.

Otto's engine was patented in 1877, but one of his 25 patents was soon challenged and overturned. Daimler, who wanted to make his own engine, feared Otto's patent would prevent it. Daimler hired an attorney who found that a prior art patent for a four stroke engine had been issued in Paris in 1862 to Beau De Rochas, a French public works engineer.

Meanwhile, serious personal differences arose between Daimler and Otto, reportedly with Otto being jealous of Daimler, because of his university background and knowledge. Daimler wanted to build small engines that could be applied to transportation but Otto had no interest in this. When Otto excluded Daimler from his engine patents there was great animosity between the two. Daimler was fired in 1880, receiving 112,000 Gold marks in Deutz-AG shares in compensation for the patents of both Daimler and Maybach. Maybach resigned later and followed Daimler.

Independent inventor of small, high speed engines (1882)
At Cannstatt, Daimler and the more creative thinking Maybach devised their engine. At Daimler's insistence, it eliminated "the clumsy, complicated slide-valve ignition", in favor of a hot tube system invented by an Englishman named Watson, since electrical systems functioned too slowly.

In the summer of 1882, Daimler moved to Cannstatt (just outside of Stuttgart at that time), purchasing a cottage in Cannstatt's Taubenheimstrasse, with 75,000 Gold marks from the compensation from Deutz-AG. Maybach followed in September of that year. In the garden, they added a brick extension to the roomy glass-fronted summer house and this became their workshop. Their activities alarmed the neighbors who reported them to the police as suspected counterfeiters. The police obtained a key from the gardener and raided the house in their absence, but found only engines.

Daimler and Maybach spent long hours debating how best to fuel Otto's four-stroke design, and turned to a commonly available petroleum fraction. The main distillates of petroleum at the time were lubricating oil, kerosene (burned as lamp fuel), and ligroin (petroleum naphtha or heavy naphtha), which up to then was used mainly as a cleaner and was sold in pharmacies. "Leichtbenzin [i.e. ligroin and similar petroleum fractions] of a kind common and readily available at pharmacies (chemist's) at the time", as described by antique car expert Michael Plag. "This is a combustible fuel called n-hexane."

Dream engine (1883)
In late 1883, Daimler and Maybach patented the first of their engines fueled by ligroin. This engine was patented on 16 December 1883. It achieved Daimler's goal of being small and running fast enough to be useful at 750 rpm. Improved designs in the next four years brought that up to 900 rpm. Daimler had three engines built to this design early in 1884, and a flywheel was included in one of the engines. This design was smaller and lighter than engines by other inventors of the time. Daimler relied on hot tube ignition, until 1897, when he adopted the electrical ignition designed by Bosch.

Grandfather clock engine (1885)
The engine with the flywheel included was built into a light vehicle, called the Reitwagen, the first vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine.

It took considerable effort and experimentation, but eventually, the duo perfected a .5 hp vertical single, which was fitted in the Reitwagen, a purpose-built two-wheeler chassis with two spring-loaded stabilizers.

Features of the 1885 Engine included:
 * a single horizontal cylinder of 264 cc (58 x)
 * air cooling
 * large cast iron flywheel
 * surface carburetor
 * hot tube ignition system (patent 28022)
 * cam operated exhaust valves, allowing high speed operation
 * 0.5 hp
 * 600 rpm running speed, beating previous engines, which typically ran at about 120 to 180 rpm
 * weight of around 50 kg
 * height of 76 cm

In 1885, they created a carburetor which mixed gasoline with air allowing its use as fuel. In the same year Daimler and Maybach assembled a larger version of their engine, still relatively compact, but now with a vertical cylinder of 100 cc displacement and an output of 1 hp at 600 rpm (patent DRP-28-022: "non-cooled, heat insulated engine with unregulated hot-tube ignition"). It was baptized the Standuhr ("grandfather clock"), because Daimler thought it resembled an old pendulum clock.

In November 1885, Daimler installed a smaller version of this engine in a wooden two wheeler frame with two outrigger wheels, creating the first internal combustion motorcycle (Patent 36-423impff & Sohn "Vehicle with gas or petroleum drive machine"). It was named the Reitwagen (riding car). Maybach rode it for three kilometers (two miles) alongside the river Neckar, from Cannstatt to Untertürkheim, reaching 12 km/h.

First automobile (1886)
Independently of each other, Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler each produced an automobile in 1886, both in Germany, about 60 miles apart. About sixty miles away in Mannheim, Karl Benz built an automobile using an integral design for a motorized vehicle with one of his own engines. He was granted a patent for his motorwagen on 29 January 1886.

When this proved the engine capable of driving a vehicle, Daimler devised a 1.1 hp single and ordered a Wimpff und Söhne four-seater phaeton to house it. Daimler's engine was installed by Maschinenfabrik Esslingen and drove the rear wheels through a dual-ratio belt drive.

On 8 March 1886, Daimler and Maybach secretly brought an American Model coach made by Wilhelm Wimpff and Sohn into the house, telling the neighbors it was a birthday gift for Mrs. Daimler. Maybach supervised the installation of a larger 1.1 hp 462 cc (70 x) version of the Grandfather Clock engine into this stagecoach and it became the first four-wheeled vehicle to reach 16 km/h. The engine power was transmitted by a set of belts. As with the motorcycle, it was tested on the road to Untertürkheim where nowadays the MHPArena, formerly called the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, is situated.

Driven by Daimler's desire to use the engine as many ways as possible, Daimler and Maybach used the engine in other types of transport including:
 * on water (1886), by mounting it in a 4.5 m long boat and achieving a speed of 6 kn. The boat was called Neckar after the river where it was tested. (patent DRP 39-367). This was the first motorboat and boat engines soon would become Daimler's main product for several years. The first customers expressed fear the petrol engine could explode, so Daimler hid the engine with a ceramic cover and told them it was "oil-electrical".
 * street-cars and trolleys.
 * in the air in Daimler's balloon, usually regarded as the first airship, where it replaced a hand-operated engine designed by Dr. Friedrich Hermann Wölfert of Leipzig. With the new engine, Daimler successfully flew over Seelberg on 10 August 1888.

They sold their first foreign licenses for engines in 1887 and Maybach went as their representative to the 1889 Paris Exposition to show their achievements.

First Daimler-Maybach automobile built (1889)
Engine sales increased, mostly for use in boats, and in June 1887, Daimler bought another property at Seelberg hill, Cannstatt. It was located some distance from the town on Ludwigstraße 67 because Cannstatt's mayor did not approve of the workshop. Built at a cost 30,200 goldmarks, the new premises had room for 23 employees. Daimler managed the commercial issues while Maybach ran the engine design department.

In 1889, Daimler and Maybach built the Stahlradwagen, their first automobile that did not involve adapting a horse-drawn carriage with their engine, but which was somewhat influenced by bicycle designs. There was no production in Germany, but it was licensed to be built in France and presented to the public in Paris in October 1889 by both engineers. The same year, Daimler's wife, Emma Kunz, died.

Daimler Motors, the Phönix engine, and the first motorcar sold (1890 to 1900)

With demand for engines growing, for uses in everything from motorboats to railcars, Maybach and Daimler expanded. In 1890 Daimler founded his own engine business, Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG). With funding from gunpowder maker Max Duttenhofer, industrialist, and banker Kilian von Steiner, and munitions manufacturer de:Wilhelm Lorenz, Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft was founded 28 November 1890, with Maybach as chief designer. Its purpose was the construction of small, high-speed engines for use on land, water, and air transport. The three uses were expressed by Daimler in a sketch that became the basis for a logo with a three-pointed star.

From 1882 until 1890, Daimler had resisted making his company into an incorporation or stock company. He had seen what happened to too many engineers who had pioneered a capital invention as he had. Many of them were forced out of their own companies by stock holders who "knew better" about how to run the company that they had just purchased than the man who founded the company. It happened to Henry Ford, Ransom Olds, Karl Benz, and August Horch.

Daimler hated having to incorporate his company. Unable to obtain majority control, he sold out and then resigned. DMG expanded, but it changed. The newcomers, not believing in automobile production, ordered the creation of additional stationary engine building capacity, and considered merging DMG with Otto's Deutz-AG.

In 1892, DMG finally sold its first automobile. DMG developed the high-speed inline-two Phönix, for which Maybach invented a spray carburettor. This was fitted in a singularly ugly car, which entered production in 1895 after a cessation of hostilities between Daimler, Maybach, and the DMG board.

Gottlieb Daimler, aged 58, had heart problems and suffered a collapse in the winter of 1892–1893. His doctor prescribed a trip to Florence, where he met Lina Hartmann, a widow 22 years his junior who was the owner of the hotel where he was staying. They married on 8 July 1893, honeymooning in Chicago during its World Fair.

Returning from the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago with his new wife, Daimler had vowed to purchase enough shares of DMG to regain control. This effort failed. Daimler sold all his shares and patents and resigned from the company. Maybach had left earlier.

The disputes with Lorenz continued. Daimler attempted to buy 102 extra shares to get a majority holding, but was forced out of his post as technical director. The corporation was 400,000 Gold marks in debt. The other directors threatened to declare bankruptcy if Daimler didn't sell them all his shares and all his personal patent rights from the previous thirty years. Daimler accepted the offer, receiving 66,666 Gold Marks, and resigned in 1893.

In 1894 at the Hermann Hotel, Maybach together with Daimler and his son Paul designed a third engine called the "Phoenix" and had DMG make it. It featured:
 * four cylinders cast in one block arranged vertically and parallel
 * camshaft operated exhaust valves
 * a spray nozzle carburetor, patented by Maybach in 1893
 * an improved belt drive system

This is probably the same internal-combustion engine referred to by the American author and historian Henry Brooks Adams, who describes the "Daimler motor" and its great speed from his visit to the 1900 Paris Exposition in his autobiography.

Daimler and Maybach continued to work together. They built a four-cylinder engine with Maybach' spray nozzle carburetor. It was in the first organized automobile race, the "Paris to Rouen" and defeated all the entries from DMG. Frederick Simms, German-born long-time friend of Gottlieb Daimler insisted that Daimler be brought back into the company making it a condition of his payment of £17,500 for the transfer of his Daimler licenses to the British Daimler Company which would stabilize the corporation's finances, that Daimler, now aged sixty, should return to DMG. Gottlieb Daimler received 200,000 goldmarks in shares, plus a 100,000 bonus. Simms received the right to use the name "Daimler" as his brand name for Daimler Company products. In 1895, the year DMG assembled its 1,000th engine, Maybach returned as General Inspector, receiving 30,000 shares.

During this period, they agreed to licenses to build Daimler engines around the world, which included:
 * France, from 1890, under a licence held by Louise Sarazin: Panhard et Levassor and Peugeot,
 * the United States, from 1891, under Daimler Motor Company of Long Island City in a partnership with American and German piano maker Steinway & Sons
 * the United Kingdom, from 1893, by Frederick Simms' Daimler Motor Syndicate transferred in 1896 to the Daimler Motor Company
 * Austria, by Austro Daimler

Daimler died in 1900, and in 1907 Maybach resigned from DMG.

Founding of Daimler-Benz
Daimler had developed the first liquid petroleum vehicle in 1885 and Karl Benz had developed the first purpose-built automobile using a 2 cycle engine of his own design a few months later. Daimler never met Karl Benz during the period of invention. In 1896 Daimler (DMG) sued Benz & Cie for violating his 1883 patent on hot tube ignition. Daimler won and Benz had to pay royalties to DMG. Daimler did not meet Karl Benz while they were in court in Mannheim. Later at the founding of the Central European Motor Car Association Daimler and Benz still did not speak to each other.

Years after Daimler died, the two companies did cooperate in many ways. After many years of cooperation, on 28 June 1926 representatives of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) and Benz & Cie signed the agreement for the merger of the two oldest automobile manufacturers in the world. The resulting new company was named Daimler-Benz AG.

Honours
Gottlieb Daimler was accepted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1978. Between 1993 and July 2008 Daimler had a stadium named after him in Stuttgart, Germany. The former Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion was the venue for six matches in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

Gottlieb Daimler's motto was Das Beste oder nichts ("The best or nothing at all"; "Nothing but the best"). Mercedes-Benz adopted this motto as their slogan in 2010.

title: Gottlieb Daimler


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Talk:Irish language

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 8 September 2020 and 18 December 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Mchipley.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 23:10, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

2022 Census
The new Irish-language census is out (see here) so the Usage section should probably be updated. IlmarisenVasara 00:01, 28 July 2023 (UTC)

Leinster Irish marked as extinct
Hi there, I just noticed that Leinster Irish is marked on the page as extinct, but there are several distinct Leinster Irish dialects still alive such as those in Ring, Waterford or Rathcairn, Meath both of which are in Leinster? There are preservation efforts in place for these as well. ParadauxIO (talk) 12:36, 10 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Leinster Irish is indeed extinct. Last remnants were found in remote pockets of Wicklow and southern Dublin, parts of Offaly and Roscommon (there is a famous recording of Douglas Hyde, for example). The two areas you mention have some Irish now, but nothing to do with Leinster Irish. Rathcairn was not an Irish-speaking area when the Gaeltacht there was founded - families were brought from a coastal part of Connemara, and the Irish used there is a mix of Connacht Irish and the caighdean (the standardised written Irish form, the base of which is Connacht more than any other dialect). And Waterford is in Munster, and the Irish spoken, mostly up in the hills, and much faded since the 1940s/1950s, is very clearly a Munster form (I have heard it). SeoR (talk) 01:25, 11 August 2023 (UTC)
 * I just checked my notes on this, and an old booklet, and there was also a small speaker base in County Louth into the 1950s, even the early 1960s. SeoR (talk) 01:31, 11 August 2023 (UTC)

Irish/Gaelic
I think it is now time for another talk-page discussion on the inclusion of a certain word in the lead which is causing contention. Perhaps there should be a vote? 3 things should be pointed out:
 * Whether for right or wrong, the words Gaelic and Irish-Gaelic are frequently attested in reliable-sources (not just Britannica or Collins dictionary by the way) and are used in everyday speech (believe it or not, by a number of Irish people such as myself).
 * The words Irish and Gaelic are both English and derive from the same word: Gaeilge. They are synonyms. Combining them as 'Irish-Gaelic' is a way to differentiate from Scottish Gaelic.
 * Wikipedia is not a platform for supporting any sort of 'movement' or subjective view. It is an objective encyclopaedia for facts. Therefore, we must not let our sentiments get in the way of this.

Buíochas, Gaelicbow (talk) 11:03, 18 October 2023 (UTC)

 * Please see a couple of the later sections in the most recent talk page archive for background. Bastun Ėġáḍβáś₮ŭŃ! 12:32, 19 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks, hadn't noticed that. But I am confused by your recent edits? Both the terms Gaelic and Irish Gaelic are in use in Ireland and by Irish scholars. Admittedly, the latter much less so in Ireland, but that's neither here nor there when it is in use outside of Ireland and by scholars. I don't think it should be explained in lead because it's a weebit involuted with this sort of prose (perhaps an EFN note?). Gaelicbow (talk) 13:20, 19 October 2023 (UTC)

 * I've never seen "Irish Gaelic" used in Ireland, except where it's used to distinguish between Irish and Scots Gaelic. From previous discussions, IIRC, it's been shown that "Gaelic" is used far more often than "Irish Gaelic". Bastun Ėġáḍβáś₮ŭŃ! 13:55, 19 October 2023 (UTC)
 * @Bastun Alright, I understand. Still, I would suggest an EFN note on Irish Gaelic simply for the prose to flow better. And I think if we can agree that any IPs or whoever removing it from the lead should be reverted because this war on the use of the word Gaelic is getting so tiring.
 * Buíochas, Gaelicbow (talk) 14:28, 19 October 2023 (UTC)

 * And it's back. Despite massive past discussion, a little of this old song plays again.  Both "Gaelic" and "Irish Gaelic" as names for the language must be mentioned, we mostly agree, I think - but wording crept in lately which put special emphasis on Gaelic as being used in Ireland.  And it really isn't much of a thing, neither among Gaeilgeori, nor Bearleori, nor the most of us with some retained skills.  I've restored the wording which includes the two terms, but leaves out "Ireland" - as the only term used by most of Ireland is "Irish".  Yes, some exceptions exist, and historically it was different, but as per State positions ("Irish: The Gaelic language in Ireland – Gaeilge, or Irish as it's known locally), or popular (language learner sites have statements like "Irish Gaelic is more specific than Gaelic. It refers specifically to the Irish language. This term is not used within Ireland.") or scholarly (most get a bit cross about it, seeing Gaelic as a generic term)... SeoR (talk) 19:57, 20 February 2024 (UTC)

European Union period of derogation for the Irish Language
I'm writing a paper about language status in the EU, and this article says that Ireland itself requested Irish to be derogated in the EU. There is no source for this, and I'm having trouble finding a clear answer on the web. Anyone know what's up? JungleEntity (talk) 02:51, 7 December 2023 (UTC)

What does "daily speakers" mean here?
I'm very confused by the sentence "with an estimated 200,000–250,000 daily Canadian speakers of Irish in 1890.". What is "daily speakers" referring to? Theanswertolifetheuniverseandeverything (talk) 21:30, 30 June 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Irish language


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USS Reprisal

Two ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Reprisal, promising hostile action in response to an offense.

 * USS Reprisal (1776) was a brig purchased by the American Continental Congress to serve in the American Revolutionary War.
 * USS Reprisal (CV-30) was to be an Independence-class aircraft carrier, converted from the Cleveland-class cruiser light cruiser USS Newark (CL-100). Reprisal was renamed USS San Jacinto (CVL-30) after the loss of USS Houston (CA-30).
 * USS Reprisal (CV-35) was to be an Essex-class aircraft carrier, but construction was cancelled in August 1945.

title: USS Reprisal


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Informal mathematics

Informal mathematics, also called naïve mathematics, has historically been the predominant form of mathematics at most times and in most cultures, and is the subject of modern ethno-cultural studies of mathematics. The philosopher Imre Lakatos in his Proofs and Refutations aimed to sharpen the formulation of informal mathematics, by reconstructing its role in nineteenth century mathematical debates and concept formation, opposing the predominant assumptions of mathematical formalism. Informality may not discern between statements given by inductive reasoning (as in approximations which are deemed "correct" merely because they are useful), and statements derived by deductive reasoning.

Terminology
Informal mathematics means any informal mathematical practices, as used in everyday life, or by aboriginal or ancient peoples, without historical or geographical limitation. Modern mathematics, exceptionally from that point of view, emphasizes formal and strict proofs of all statements from given axioms. This can usefully be called therefore formal mathematics. Informal practices are usually understood intuitively and justified with examples—there are no axioms. This is of direct interest in anthropology and psychology: it casts light on the perceptions and agreements of other cultures. It is also of interest in developmental psychology as it reflects a naïve understanding of the relationships between numbers and things. Another term used for informal mathematics is folk mathematics, which is ambiguous; the mathematical folklore article is dedicated to the usage of that term among professional mathematicians.

The field of naïve physics is concerned with similar understandings of physics. People use mathematics and physics in everyday life, without really understanding (or caring) how mathematical and physical ideas were historically derived and justified.

History
There has long been a standard account of the development of geometry in ancient Egypt, followed by Greek mathematics and the emergence of deductive logic. The modern sense of the term mathematics, as meaning only those systems justified with reference to axioms, is however an anachronism if read back into history. Several ancient societies built impressive mathematical systems and carried out complex calculations based on proofless heuristics and practical approaches. Mathematical facts were accepted on a pragmatic basis. Empirical methods, as in science, provided the justification for a given technique. Commerce, engineering, calendar creation and the prediction of eclipses and stellar progression were practiced by ancient cultures on at least three continents.

title: Informal mathematics


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Overboard (comic strip)

Overboard is Chip Dunham's daily newspaper comic strip about a shipload of incompetent pirates. It debuted in July 1990 and is distributed by Andrews McMeel Syndication.

The strip
Overboard derives much of its humor from having its characters anachronistically placed in modern times. For instance, they put quarters in dockside parking meters, order pizza by cellphone, and have a company health insurance plan.

These pirates are much less fearsome than their ruthless predecessors. In the early years of the strip, much of their activity involved standing around on deck drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. Recent strips feature golf, pet care and gardening. Their enemy is the Green Ship and its rival band of pirates, but giant rabbits attacking the garden, sharks, octopuses, and the Internal Revenue Service also are threats.

Competence is also an issue. While the Overboard crew carries cutlasses and makes raids, most often their treasure is stolen by disgruntled shipmates or by more able pirates. The captain has made a horrendous mess of the investments for their pension fund (at one point, he adjusts his failed investment strategy by flushing cash straight down the toilet).

The pirates actively pursue dates with women but instead repulse them with poor hygiene, fleas, disgusting table manners, immaturity, cheapness, and a lack of interest in the arts. The captain impresses women and other outsiders with his incredibly boring personality (in one strip, the captain's psychiatrist dies of boredom during a therapy session). Despite occasional friendships with women, it appears that none of the pirates has ever had an official girlfriend, other than the captain who has had a mermaid girlfriend.

Cast
The main characters are:
 * Captain Henry Crow - the bland skipper of their ship, the "Revenge". Crow seems a little smarter and more sophisticated than the crew, but he is far too decent to be a successful pirate, even if he were otherwise capable. Regularly participates in large battles but, curiously, reacts to duels with cowardice.
 * Charley Duff - along with Crow's other crew members, the diminutive Charley was originally portrayed as lying, lazy, stupid, selfish, and childlike. Yet, like the others, he was the best Crow could do, owing to recruitment woes such as scurvy. In recent years, Charley has been more productive and responsible, perhaps for two reasons. Several years ago, Charley attempted to reform his character so as to win the affection of Marlene. Though he failed in his goal, the changes seem permanent. Also, Charley has become a conscientious pet owner, which has mitigated his selfishness, it seems. Perhaps all this makes it not too surprising that Charley has become an ardent if hapless gardener.
 * Nate - crew member who at first glance looks most like a pirate: hulking, fearsome, with a massive and impenetrable black beard. Despite some rough ways and bad hygiene, Nate is a gentle giant who often acts with honor and respect toward others, especially women and children. Nate and the captain often conspire to keep Charley out of trouble.
 * Louie - Captain Crow's pet dog. Unlike every other regular animal character in the strip, Louie doesn't speak but rather projects thought balloons, in the manner of Snoopy or Garfield. Other animals, but not humans, can understand these and be understood by Louie. Louie is extremely spoiled, always helping himself to human luxuries such as beds and steaks. He seems to have a better lifestyle than the subordinate pirates and usually gets his way. He is a yellow Labrador Retriever, as mentioned in the strip repeatedly, and many of Louie's behaviours are considered stereotypical of the breed. His birthday is September 14; in 2019 the celebration involved a series of toppled trash cans full of goodies.
 * The Green Pirates - a gang of rival pirates from another ship, they are always around to start a fight or to steal their treasure. While more ruthless than Crow's crew, the Green Pirates have not generally proven to be much smarter or more competent.
 * Guy with clover in hat - one of the pirates from the Green Ship. Has been seen to be nice to Louie, unlike most of the Green Ship pirates. This led to Louie asking the cartoonist to make sure he doesn't get hurt in one of the strips.
 * Cecilia - a female pirate from the Green Ship, she made a covert attempt to seduce Captain Crow and raid his ship. When her cover was blown, she became a regular aboard Crow's ship; he encouraged her visits because he remained in love with her, despite her duplicity. Curiously, Cecilia became friends with Crow and no longer posed any threat, though she never came to love him. This storyline lasted several months and Cecilia stayed in the strip for a long time after her plot was exposed. It seemed that she had become a regular character, but Cecilia silently disappeared from the strip sometime in 2003, though her dog Raymond remains. (During Cecilia's storyline, it was stated that she was captain of the Green Ship, but she was not seen before or after. In the strip for January 3, 2007, Crow states that he and the Green Ship captain became enemies in high school. The Green Ship captain is shown to be a man.)
 * Raymond - another dog. Unlike Louie, Raymond walks on two legs, wears a hat, smokes cigarettes, and talks directly to humans. He can also understand Louie's thought balloons, however, and still retains many dog-like characteristics such as a love of eating garbage and carrion. Raymond was originally depicted as belonging to the villainous Cecilia and serving as a henchman in her schemes against Crow's crew, but like Cecilia he gradually became friends with Crow and continued as a regular even after Cecilia's departure from the cast.
 * The cartoonist - often appears at his drawing table with a sign saying "Overboard, Inc." Whenever Charley comes into his office asking for a raise, he draws a sea monster to eat him.
 * Janey - a mermaid that Crow has developed a friendship with (and romantic feelings for). However, she and Crow both acknowledge the difficulties posed by their differences, such as Janey's preference for worms as pizza topping.
 * The sea monster - a giant Godzilla-like creature that shows up now and then to terrorize Crow's ship. Not to be confused with the tentacle that is usually drawn in as a practical joke by the cartoonist. In the March 22, 2008 strip, it is revealed that his name is "Gork" and that he is in love with Janey the mermaid.
 * Scratch the Green Ship's cat. Scratch wants very much to eat the mice. He originally lived on the Green Ship, but his owner became violently allergic to him and asked Captain Crow to take him in.
 * The mice - normal-sized but talking mice that live on the ship. A female mouse, Ellie, has unrequited romantic feelings for Captain Crow, much to the annoyance of her boyfriend, Jonas. At first, none of the human crew could understand the mice, hearing only squeaks or very tiny voices; generally leaving the translations to Raymond.  Over time, the humans began to understand the mice without any difficulty, leaving Louie the animal that can't speak aloud.  Recently, the mice have taken on more and more human like quality, including a recent strip showing a large quantity of mouse holes for sale as a result of foreclosure, as well as the mice playing human sports, like hockey (albeit, with miniature equipment, played on the ship's kiddie pool, filled with frozen water.) The mice have also taken to driving tiny cars around the ship; which has resulted in them incurring traffic violations, largely due to them ramming into one of the human crew (generally Crow, who in one strip, revealed his foot was in a cast as a result of such a crash).  The traffic violations have in turn resulted in Crow acting as jailer for some of the mice, as they pay their "debt to society". The mice fly miniature fighter aircraft which they use to fly to the Green Ship and attack Scratch.
 * The rabbits - large, anthropomorphic talking rabbits who frequently sneak onto the ship at night to steal from Charley's vegetable garden.
 * Seahawk - originally depicted as Crow's second in command, Seahawk has not been seen in the strip in recent years.
 * Boof - a wimpy pirate, often a target of Charley and Seahawk. Not seen in recent years.
 * Marlene - a woman who once served as a love interest for Charley. Not seen in recent years.
 * The crow's nest pirates - A pair of unnamed pirates who occupied the crow's nest of the "Revenge". Not seen in recent years.

title: Overboard (comic strip)


text:
Ozark Ike

Ozark Ike is a newspaper comic strip about dumb but likable Ozark Ike McBatt, a youth from a rural area in the mountains. The strip was created by Rufus A. ("Ray") Gotto while he was serving in the Navy during World War II in Washington, D.C. as an illustrator for Navy instruction manuals. The strip ran from November 12, 1945, to September 14, 1958.

Characters and story
Strong-but-simple Ike McBatt is from a hillbilly family living in the small backwoods community of Wildweed Run (pop. 49). Ozark Ike is an all-around athlete, playing baseball, football and basketball. Between seasons, he enters the boxing ring. The characters and the baseball park settings are apparently inspired by Ring Lardner's well-known baseball short story "Alibi Ike" (1915), filmed in 1935 as the comedy Alibi Ike, starring Joe E. Brown in the title role and Olivia de Havilland in her film debut.

Ozark Ike's girlfriend is Dinah Fatfield, whose family has been involved in a feud with the McBatt clan for several generations. As is evident in the names, this background situation was inspired by the Hatfield-McCoy feud.

Personnel
Gotto is famous for using extreme perspectives to achieve great drama and action in sports. As such Ozark Ike attracted publisher Stephen Slesinger's attention. Slesinger also owned Red Ryder, King of the Royal Mounted, US and Canadian rights to Winnie-the-Pooh, and had exclusive licensing arrangements for other notable fictional characters including Tarzan and all of the NEA newspaper comics. Slesinger produced the cartoon for distribution through King Features Syndicate, and it debuted November 12, 1945.

One of the assistants on the strip was Fred Rhoads. Gotto left in 1954 to start his creator-owned baseball strip Cotton Woods syndicated by General Features, but Ozark Ike continued until 1959 under Bill Lignante and George Olesen. Lignante was also a leading courtroom artist for network television, and is most famous as the artist who created hundreds of drawings of famous patrons that decorate the Palm Restaurants.

Gotto eventually went on to design the New York Mets logo.

"Ozark Ike" was the nickname of major league baseball players Gus Zernial.

title: Ozark Ike


text:
Dagaaba people

The Dagaaba people (singular Dagao, and, in northern dialects, Dagara for both plural and singular ) are an ethnic group located north of the convergence of Ghana, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire. They speak the Dagaare language, a Gur language made up of the related Northern Dagaare dialects, Southern Dagaare dialects and a number of sub dialects. In northern dialects, both the language and the people are referred to as Dagara. They are related to the Birifor people and the Dagaare Diola. The language is collectively known as Dagaare (also spelled and/or pronounced as Dagare, Dagari, Dagarti, Dagara or Dagao), and historically some non-natives have taken this as the name of the people. One historian, describing the former usage of "Dagarti" to refer to this community by colonials, writes: "The name 'Dagarti' appears to have been coined by the first Europeans to visit the region, from the vernacular root dagaa. Correctly 'Dagari' is the name of the language, 'Dagaaba' or 'Dagara' that of the people, and 'Dagaw' or 'Dagawie' that of the land."

Geographic spread
Although sometimes divided into Northern and Southern Dagaare speakers, their combined population was estimated in 2003 at over one million spread across the Northwest corner of Ghana and Sud-Ouest Region in Southwestern Burkina Faso. The Southern Dagaare are a people of around 700,000 living in the western part of Upper West Region. The Northern Dagaare speakers, with an estimated population of 388,000 (in 2001) live primarily in Ioba Province, but also in Poni, Bougouriba, Sissili, and Mouhoun provinces. In Ghana, several waves of internal migration, beginning with the demand for labour in mines and cocao farms in the early 20th century, have brought a sizable Dagaaba population to towns in the southern part of the nation, notably Brong Ahafo Region. In modern Ghana, the Dagaaba homeland of the Upper West Region includes the Districts and towns of Nandom, Lawra, Jirapa, Kaleo, Papu, Nadowli, Daffiama, Wechiau and Hamile. Large communities are also found in the towns of Wa, Bogda, Babile, Tuna, Han, Zambo, Ghana, and Nyoli.

History
The source of Dagaaba communities in the pre-colonial era remain a point of debate. The evidence of oral tradition is that the Dagaaba are an outgrowth of the Mole-Dagbani group which migrated to the semi-arid Sahel region in the fourteenth century CE. They are believed to have further migrated to the lower northern part of the region in the seventeenth century. From well before the appearance of Europeans, the Dagaaba lived in small scale agricultural communities, not centralised into any large state-like structure. Ethnological studies point to oral literature which tells that the Dagaaba periodically, and ultimately successfully, resisted attempts at conquest by states in the south of modern Ghana, as well as the Kingdoms of Dagbon, Mamprugu and Gonja in the north. One thesis based on oral evidence is that the Dagaaba formed as a break away faction of Dagbon under Na Nyagse. The colonial borders, demarcated during the Scramble for Africa, placed them in northwestern Ghana and southern Burkina Faso, as well as small populations in Ivory Coast.

Extra-community relations
Dagaaba communities have occasionally come into conflict with neighbouring groups, especially over land rights, as recently as the 1980s with the Sisala people and at earlier times with the Wala people. The latter, in alliance with the Wassoulou Empire of Diola Samory Toure, conquered much of Dagawie in the late 1890s, under the generalship of Sarankye Mori.

Some of the southernmost Dagaaba villages were in the early 1890s under the authority of the Kingdom of Wala but then rebelled in 1894 and asserted their independence. They were however restored to the domains of the Wala Native Authority by the British in 1933.

Society
Within the Dagawie homelands, the Dagaaba have traditionally formed sedentary agricultural communities. Modern Dagaaba lineages consist of ten clans encompassing over one million people.

Traditional politics
Traditional Dagaaba communities are based on the "Yir" subclan or household group, a series of which are clustered into the "Tengan", an earth deity shrine area. The Tengan system, a constellation of roles usually inherited within the same household group, is called the tendaalun. The head of these shrine area systems, the tengan sob (sometimes tindana) fulfilled the role of community elder and priest, along with the tengan dem, the ritual custodian and maintainer of the ritual center. Other priestly/elder roles within the tendaalun include the suo sob who performs ritual animal slaughter to the earth deity, the zongmogre who performs rituals at the sacred market centres, and the gara dana or wie sob who is ritual leader among hunting societies. These remain living forms of community in much of Dagaaba society, and influence, among other things, the community perception of land as held in spiritual custodianship, and different community resources falling under the custodianship of different authorities, lineages, and/or spiritual forces.

Until the latter part of the nineteenth century when institutional chieftaincy evolved (and was later imposed by colonial administration), broader Dagaaba communities functioned under a system of councils of elders.

Some Dagaaba communities maintain traditional ceremonial chieftainships, sometimes contesting. As recently as 2006, the "Council of Elders" of the Dagaaba community of Ghana attempted to unite various factions with the appointment of Naa Franklin Suantah, Principal Librarian of the Saint Louis Training College of Kumasi as chief of the Dagaaba community in Ghana.

Culture
The Dagaaba, before the influence of the colonialist, were self-reliant in iron production and were very successful in mixed crops farming. They also developed sophisticated musical instruments including gyle (xylophones).

Economics
Communities in Dagaaba homelands remain primarily small scale agricultural, with family farming plots tilled by the family themselves. In the modern era, off-farm wage income is often used to supplement trade income and subsistence from farming. Fishing communities of Dagaaba persist along the Black Volta, a de facto boundary of Dagaaba lands. Because the communities are found along historic coast-to-Sahel trade routes, trade has long been an important occupation, but largely in local goods. Markets in larger towns are on Sundays, with others on a six-day cycle.

Some contemporary Dagaaba communities of northern Ghana are notable as the last West African communities to still use Cowrie shells as currency, alongside the modern Ghanaian cedi. Cowrie are used not only for traditional ornamental and ceremonial purposes (as other West African communities do), but also as an inflation proof form of internal savings and as a safe medium to trade across national (and currency) boundaries which may divide Dagaaba communities.

Oral literature
Oral literature has a long tradition with Dagaaba communities, and remains a living vehicle of education and acculturation in Dagaaba society. There are two main types of literature in Dagaaba society. They can broadly be categorized as secular literature consisting of stories, tales, proverbs and other oral genre and the sacred literature produced during ritual and religious services. The most important of these are bagr mythical narratives recitations and orations produced during initiation rituals and other religious services.

Religion
Dagaaba communities historically have practiced Traditional religions, as well as Islam and Christianity. The Ghanaian Dagaaba have traditionally had a Cousinage/Joking relationship with the Frafra (Gurunsi) people.

title: Dagaaba people


text:
Talk:Cholesterin

Is there such a thing, or did the author mean cholesterol? Mkweise

 * Was the author German? If so, yes, Cholesterin = cholesterol.

 * No, it's from an archaic English source. See http://www.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Special:Whatlinkshere&target=Cholesterin

Ah, in that case: from the OED: A tasteless, inodorous, fatty-looking substance C26H41O, found in most animal liquids and solids, and in the fruit and seed of many plants. It crystalizes in white transparent scales, and in this form is the chief constituent of gall-stones. (I'm not sure about the numbers in the chemical formula, it's REALLY REALLY small). -- Someone else 01:47 Feb 20, 2003 (UTC)

In King's American Dispensary, 1898, it is quoted in relation to and articles about "ambergris", "hydrous wool fat", "garden angelica" and "lanolin". See also www.jainworld.com/society/jainfood/glossary.htm and www.tpmm.com/solutions/patient/glossary/medical/gomtc.htm Furthermore the Glossary of Medical Terms Found in Laboratory Tests in the article on cholesterol states "Cholesterol - called also cholesterin. --Dieter Simon 02:06 Feb 20, 2003 (UTC)

title: Talk:Cholesterin


text:
Balafon

The balafon (pronounced, or, by analogy with xylophone etc., ) is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé, Bwaba Bobo, Senoufo and Gur peoples of West Africa, particularly the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group, but is now found across West Africa from  Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali. Its common name, balafon, is likely a European coinage combining its Mandinka name ߓߟߊ bala with the word ߝߐ߲ fôn 'to speak' or the Greek root phono.

History
Believed to have been developed independently of the Southern African and South American instrument now called the marimba, oral histories of the balafon date it to at least the rise of the Mali Empire in the 12th century CE. Balafon is a Manding name, but variations exist across West Africa, including the balangi in Sierra Leone and the gyil of the Dagara, Lobi and Gurunsi from Ghana, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. Similar instruments are played in parts of Central Africa, with the ancient Kingdom of Kongo denoting the instrument as palaku.

Records of the balafon go back to at least the 12th century CE. In 1352 CE, Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta reported the existence of the ngoni and balafon at the court of Malian ruler Mansa Suleyman.

European visitors to West Africa described balafons in the 17th century largely identical to the modern instrument. The Atlantic Slave Trade brought some balafon players to the Americas. The Virginia Gazette records African-Americans playing a barrafoo in 1776, which appears to be a balafon. Other North American references to these instruments die out by the mid-19th century.

The balafon has seen a resurgence since the 1980s in the growth of African Roots Music and World Music. Most famous of these exponents is the Rail Band, led by Salif Keita. Even when not still played, its distinctive sound and traditional style has been exported to western instruments. Maninka from eastern Guinea play a type of guitar music that adapts balafon playing style to the imported instrument.

Etymology
In the Malinké language balafon is a compound of two words: balan is the name of the instrument and fô is the verb to play. Balafon therefore is really the act of playing the bala.

Bala still is used as the name of a large bass balafon in the region of Kolokani and Bobo Dioulasso. These bala have especially long keys and huge calabashes for amplification. Balani is then used as the name of the high pitched, small balafon with small calabashes and short (3 to 4 cm long) keys. The balani is carried with a strap and usually has 21 keys, while the number of keys on a bala vary with region.

Construction
A balafon can be either fixed-key (where the keys are strung over a fixed frame, usually with calabash resonators underneath) or free-key (where the keys are placed independently on any padded surface). The balafon usually has 17–21 keys, tuned to a tetratonic, pentatonic or heptatonic scale, depending on the culture of the musician.

The balafon is generally capable of producing 18 to 21 notes, though some are built to produce many fewer notes (16, 12, 8 or even 6 and 7). Balafon keys are traditionally made from kosso rosewood, dried slowly over a low flame, and then tuned by shaving off bits of wood from the underside of the keys. Wood is taken off the middle to flatten the key or the end to sharpen it.

In a fixed-key balafon, the keys are suspended by leather straps just above a wooden frame, under which are hung graduated-size calabash gourd resonators. A small hole in each gourd is covered with a membrane traditionally of thin spider's-egg sac filaments (nowadays more usually of cigarette paper or thin plastic film) to produce the characteristic nasal-buzz timbre of the instrument, which is usually played with two gum-rubber-wound mallets while seated on a low stool (or while standing using a shoulder or waist sling hooked to its frame).

Regional traditions
As the balafon cultures vary across West Africa, so does the approach to the instrument itself. In many areas the balafon is played alone in a ritual context, in others as part of an ensemble. In Guinea and Mali, the balafon is often part of an ensemble of three, pitched low, medium and high. In Cameroon, six balafon of varying size perform together in an orchestra, called a komenchang. An Igbo variation exists with only one large tuned key for each player. And while in most cases a single player hits multiple keys with two mallets, some traditions place two or more players at each keyboard.

The Susu and Malinké people of Guinea are closely identified with the balafon, as are the other Manding peoples of Mali, Senegal, and the Gambia. Cameroon, Chad, and even the nations of the Congo Basin have long balafon traditions.

Often, balafon players will wear belled bracelets on each wrist, accentuating the sound of the keys.

In some cultures the balafon was (and in some still is) a sacred instrument, playable only by trained religious caste members and only at ritual events such as festivals, royal, funerial, or marriage celebrations. Here the balafon is kept in a temple storehouse, and can only be removed and played after undergoing purification rites. Specific instruments may be built to be only played for specific rituals and repertoires. Young adepts are trained not on the sacred instrument, but on free-key pit balafons.

Gyil
The gyil ( or ) is the name of a buzzing pentatonic balafon common to the Gur-speaking populations in northern Ghana, Burkina Faso, southeastern Mali and northern Ivory Coast in West Africa. Among Mande populations in Ghana like the Ligbi (Numu), Bissa and Dyula, the same instrument is known as bala. The gyil is the primary traditional instrument of the Dagara people of northern Ghana and Burkina Faso, and of the Lobi of Ghana, southern Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast. The gyil is usually played in pairs, accompanied by a calabash gourd drum called a kuor. It can also be played by one person with the drum and the stick part as accompaniment, or by a soloist. Gyil duets are the traditional music of Dagara funerals. The instrument is generally played by men, who learn to play while young; however, there is no restriction on gender. It is also played by the Gurunsi people of the Upper East Region of Ghana, as well as neighbouring Gurunsi populations across the border in south and central Burkina Faso. A dance related to the gyil is the Bewaa.

The gyil's design is similar to the balaba or balafon used by the Mande-speaking Bambara, Dyula and Sosso peoples further west in southern Mali and western Burkina Faso, as well as the Senoufo people of Sikasso, a region that shares many musical traditions with those of northern Ivory Coast and Ghana. It is made with 14 wooden keys of an African hardwood called liga attached to a wooden frame, below which hang calabash gourds. Spider web silk covers small holes in the gourds to produce a buzzing sound and antelope sinew and leather are used for the fastenings. The instrument is played with rubber-headed wooden mallets.

Cameroon
During the 1950s, bars sprang up across Cameroon's capital to accommodate an influx of new inhabitants, and soon became a symbol for Cameroonian identity in the face of colonialism. Balafon orchestras, consisting of 3–5 balafons and various percussion instruments became common in these bars. Some of these orchestras, such as Richard Band de Zoetele, became quite popular in spite of scorn from the European elite.

The middle of the 20th century saw the popularisation of a native folk music called bikutsi. Bikutsi is based on a war rhythm played with various rattles, drums and balafon. Sung by women, bikutsi featured sexually explicit lyrics and songs about everyday problems. In a popularised form, bikutsi gained mainstream success in the 1950s. Anne-Marie Nzie was perhaps the most important of the early innovators. The next bikutsi performer of legendary stature was Messi Me Nkonda Martin and his band, Los Camaroes, who added electric guitars and other new elements.

Balafon orchestras had remained popular throughout the 50s in Yaoundé's bar scene, but the audience demanded modernity and the popular style at the time was unable to cope. Messi Martin was a Cameroonian guitarist who had been inspired to learn the instrument by listening to Spanish language-broadcasts from neighboring Equatorial Guinea, as well as Cuban and Zairean rumba. Messi changed the electric guitar by linking the strings together with pieces of paper, thus giving the instrument a damper tone that emitted a "thudding" sound similar to the balafon.

Guinea
The balafon, kora (lute-harp), and the ngoni (the ancestor of the banjo) are the three instruments most associated with griot bardic traditions of West Africa. Each is more closely associated with specific areas, communities, and traditions, though all are played together in ensembles throughout the region. Guinea has been the historic heartland of solo balafon. As griot culture is a hereditary caste, the Kouyaté family has been called the keepers of the balafon, and twentieth century members of this family have helped introduce it throughout the world.

The Sosso Bala
The Sosso Bala is a balafon, currently kept in the town of Niagassola, Guinea that is reputed to be the original balafon, constructed over 800 years ago. The Epic of Sundiata, a story of the formation of the Mali Empire, tells that a griot (praise-singer) named Bala Faséké Kouyaté convinced Sosso king Sumanguru Kante to employ him after sneaking into Sumanguru's palace and playing the sacred instrument. Sundiata Keita, founder of the Mali Empire overthrew Sumanguru, seized the balafon, and made the griot Faséké its guardian. This honor is said to have passed down through his family, the Kouyatés, and conveys upon them mastership of the balafon to this day.

Regardless of the truth of this story, the Sosso Bala is an instrument of great age, and was named by UNESCO as one of the Nineteen Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2001.

Senegal
The title of the Senegalese National Anthem is "Pincez tous vos koras, frappez les balafons" (Everyone strum your koras, strike the balafons).

Mali
A modern festival devoted to the balafon, the Triangle du balafon, now takes place annually at Sikasso in Mali.

Famous players and ensembles
Famous balafon players have included:
 * Madou Kone, Balafon Master from Burkina Faso, living in Vienna, Austria
 * Richard Bona, Cameroonian jazz musician
 * Abdou Karim Diabate "Tunkaraba" King of Balafon, from the village of Tabatto, Guinea-Bissau
 * Djiby Diabaté
 * Kélétigui Diabaté, playing for Habib Koité's Bamada group
 * Mamadou Diabate, Knight of the National Order of Burkina Faso (2016), Winner of the "Grand Prix" & "Prix de la Virtuosite de Festival Triangle du Balafon" in Mali (2012), Winner of the Austrian World Music Award (2011)
 * Lassana Diabaté, Malian musician known for work with Toumani Diabaté's Symmetric Orchestra and Afrocubism
 * Modibo Diabaté, from Mali
 * Zerika Djabate, Bissau-Guinean musician
 * Djiguiya, percussion band from Burkina Faso
 * Danny Elfman of Oingo Boingo
 * Les Freres Coulibaly, Burkina-based balafon ensemble
 * Stefon Harris, American jazz musician
 * Dominic Howard of Muse used a balafon on the band's second album, Origin of Symmetry
 * Mory Kanté, early in his career
 * Aly Keita, Aly Keita and the Magic Balaphone, Malian balafon player
 * Gertrude Kilian, DVD "The Balafon with Aly Keita & Gert Kilian", "Balafon Beat" / Verlag Zimmermann
 * Lawrence Killian, American jazz musician
 * Mahama Konaté of John Cena, Burkina-based balafon ensemble
 * Balla Kouyate, from Mali/Guinea, whose father, Sekou "Filani" Kouyaté, is the current guardian of the Sosso Bala
 * Mamadi Kouyate, from Mali/Guinea, (Germany since 2015), whose grandfather Sékou "Filani" Kouyaté, is the current guardian of the Sosso Bala
 * El Hadj Djeli Sory Kouyaté
 * N'Faly Kouyate of the Afro Celt Sound System
 * Adam Malik, Burkina-based balafon ensemble
 * Dave Mann, jazz percussionist, played with the Dave Brubeck Group
 * Neba Solo (Senufo balafon group, led by Souleymane Traoré) from Sikasso
 * Mama Ohandja, Cameroonian composer and performer to his country
 * Qasim, Burkina-based balafon ensemble
 * Pharoah Sanders, American jazz musician
 * Saramaya, Burkina-based balafon ensemble
 * Raheel Sharif, British band leader originally from Senegal
 * Bill Summers, American jazz musician, performing with Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, and Los Hombres Calientes
 * Lonnie Liston Smith, American jazz musician
 * Rokia Traoré, Malian singer, guitarist, and band leader
 * Le Troupe Saaba, Burkina-based balafon ensemble
 * Momo Werner Wevers, German balafon player, plays solo and with the "Ensemble M.Pahiya" (balafon and classical guitar)
 * N'Camara Abou Sylla (Guinea; Les Ballets Africains)

title: Balafon


text:
Seneca the Elder

Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Elder (c. 54 BC – c. AD 39), also known as Seneca the Rhetorician, was a Roman writer, born of a wealthy equestrian family of Corduba, Hispania. He wrote a collection of reminiscences about the Roman schools of rhetoric, six books of which are extant in a more or less complete state and five others in epitome only. His principal work, a history of Roman affairs from the beginning of the Civil Wars until the last years of his life, is almost entirely lost to posterity. Seneca lived through the reigns of three significant emperors; Augustus (ruled 27 BC – 14 AD), Tiberius (ruled 14–37 AD) and Caligula (ruled 37–41 AD). He was the father of Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus, best known as a Proconsul of Achaia; his second son was the dramatist and Stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger (Lucius), who was tutor of Nero, and his third son, Marcus Annaeus Mela, became the father of the poet Lucan.

Biography
Seneca the Elder is the first of the gens Annaea of whom there is definite knowledge. During the renaissance his name and his works became confused with his son Lucius Annaeus Seneca. In the early 16th century Raphael of Volterra saw that there must be two different men. He noted that two of the elder Seneca's grandsons were called Marcus and since there was a Roman custom for boys to be given the name of their grandfather, Raphael adopted the name of Marcus for the elder Seneca. Until the 20th century this was used as the standard praenomen. However it is now accepted that this naming custom was not rigid, and since in the manuscripts he is referred to as Lucius, many scholars now prefer this praenomen since it would also help explain why their works became so confused.

Growing up in Spain of wealth and equestrian rank, Seneca the Elder (here Seneca) was a young contemporary of the venerable Roman orator Cicero, whose voice of advocacy he might have sought out were he reared in Italy. Instead, he was confined by wartime conditions to 'within the walls' of his 'own colony', and there, presumably, he received his first schooling from a praeceptor teaching more than two hundred pupils.

When Rome became safe after the Civil Wars, Seneca travelled for lengthy stays there. He assiduously attended public declamations by teachers of rhetoric and professional orators—the process in those days by which young men trained for pursuing careers in advocacy and public administration. There is no evidence, however, that he pursued such a career himself. And he avoided notice of his writing a history of Rome 'From the beginning of the Civil Wars' through his own times, during the regime of Caligula. Instead, by testimony of the son Seneca (from his De Vita Patris), his father remained all his life a private gentleman. Still, Seneca supported as honourable the political careers of his elder (two) sons, and he spoke for the study of rhetoric as honourable even as he was fully aware of the dangers inherent in such careers: 'in which the very objectives sought after are to be feared'. And he supported his youngest son, Mela, who remained content with his heritage as an equestrian.

The declamatory anthology
In his old age, on basis of his experiences attending the schools and auditoria of the declaimers in the Rome of Augustus and Tiberius, Seneca the Elder (Seneca) completed the work on which his fame rests today: the Oratorum et Rhetorum Sententiae Divisiones Colores. Originally comprising ten books on the subject of fictitious lawsuits (Controversiae) and at least one book on fictitious speeches of persuasion (Suasoriae), his effort was ostensibly at the request of his sons, and was ostensibly written from memory. The influence of declamation was widespread in Roman elite culture, both in a didactic role and as a performative genre. Public declamations were attended by such figures as Pliny the Elder, Asinius Pollio, Maecenas, and the emperor Augustus. Seneca mentioned the poet Ovid as being a star declaimer; the works of the satirists Martial and Juvenal and the historian Tacitus reveal substantial declamatory influence.

Seneca's work here, however, is neither a collection of his own declamations nor fair copies of those delivered by other declaimers; it is an anthology. It provides extracts and analyses of the declamatory art issuing from the rhetorical celebrities of his (younger) days spent in Rome. It is not a theoretical treatise on declamation; Seneca's own input is limited to pen-portraits of the famous declaimers he cites, plus analytical and critical commentary on their work; and of anecdotes remembered from the literary chatter of long ago.

The declaimers of Augustan and Tiberian Rome professed admiration for Cicero, but their preferred oratorical style was not very Ciceronian; nor was it the theoretical basis of their educational method. The declamation they practised was, Seneca claimed, a new art, born during his lifetime—its characteristic concentration being on a bizarre set of imaginary lawsuits known as controversiae. So far as Rome the City was concerned, we must believe him. If the new art originated from schools elsewhere in the Greek-speaking world—which is likely, in view of the remoteness of those declamatory themes from the realities in then-Roman law-courts—Seneca seems to have been unaware of it. He was, however, well acquainted with the activities (in the City) of Greek rhetoricians teaching their art in Greek alongside those who taught it in Latin. Porcius Latro was a close friend of Seneca—from their childhood together and as classmates at the rhetorical school of Marullus in Cordoba—who later became preeminent among Rome's rhetoricians in the Augustan era. Latro cultivated the sort of "fiery and agitated style" that Seneca particularly admired. He was characterized by the anthologist as a man of both gravity and charm, as eloquent and worthy. Another close family connection of the Senecas, the orator Junius Gallio, was the only serious rival to Latro among Rome's best declaimers, according to Seneca. His tributes to Latro illustrates how both men inhabited a literary world far distant from Cicero's—one in which delight in neat contrasts and paradoxes had become all-consuming. " [N]o one," wrote Seneca of Latro, "was more in command of his intellect: no one was more indulgent towards it".

In the prefaces to his books of Controversiae Seneca identifies rhetoricians who were contemporaries of Latro but with different approaches and skills than his Latronian ideal. He refers specifically to a primum tetradeum, meaning the four most distinguished declaimers he had known, which included Latro, Gallio, Albucius Silus, and Arellius Fuscus. He expresses serious reservations of Arellius' style, for its unevenness, and its descriptive passages (explicationes), which Seneca considered "brilliant, but laboured and involved, with a decorative finish too contrived, and word-positioning too effeminate, to be tolerable for a mind preparing itself for such holy and courageous teachings." But there was no denying the distinction in Rome of the school of Arellius Fuscus, whose pupils included the philosophical writer Fabianus, and the poet Ovid; thus, even by his severe critic, Arellius was ranked highly. Albucius Silus too was influential—as the author of a textbook that Quintilian cited several times.

Seneca's declamatory anthology presents a far-reaching critical investigation of the rhetorical basis of the mannerist, so-called 'Silver Age', literature. Of this age, Ovid's work and the younger Seneca's sententious disquisitions and dramatic art, and later, Lucan's fiery epic poetry all stand out as striking examples.

The ten books of the Controversiae
Of the ten books of the Controversiae—there are declamatory treatments of some 74 judicial themes, with the names of individual rhetoricians, plus Seneca's critical comments—only five: 1, 2, 7, 9, 10, survive in entirety or nearly-so. Information from the missing books is supplied by an epitome written several centuries later for school use. Later, this same tome supplied stories for European literature of the late Middle Ages, namely the 14th century anecdotes-collection known as the Gesta Romanorum.

Each of Seneca's books was introduced by a preface, an approach he compared to that adopted by organizers of gladiatorial shows. Each preface presents pen-portraits of famous declaimers, either as individuals or in pairs. In the tenth preface, Seneca provided a group presentation of declaimers previously overlooked.

Following the prefaces are surveys of the treatments of particular controversia-themes by noted declaimers. These surveys, in keeping with the title of the anthology—Oratorum et Rhetorum Sententiae Divisiones Colores—were usually provided in three main sections. The first section was sententiae, or 'ways of thinking', as adopted by various declaimers about their set themes. The second section: divisiones, or outlines of their argumentation; and the third: colores, or specious interpretations of the actions of their imaginary defendants, with a view to excusing or vilifying them.

The books of Controversiae were supplemented by at least one devoted to Suasoriae (exercises in deliberative oratory), in which historical or mythological characters are imagined as deliberating on their options at crucial junctures in their career. In the only extant book of his Suasoriae, Seneca provides sententiae by the declaimers cited, followed by their divisiones; but there are no colores, which belong exclusively to treatment of judicial rhetoric, and have no place in deliberative oratory.

The elder Seneca's authorship of the declamatory anthology Controversiae—generally ascribed to his son during the Middle Ages—was vindicated by the work of the Renaissance humanists Raffaello Maffei and Justus Lipsius.

History
The elder Seneca (Seneca) was also the author of a lost historical work that recorded a history of Rome from the beginning of the civil wars to (almost) his death, after which it was published by his son. We learn about this magnum opus from the younger Seneca's own work  'De vita patris'  (H. Peter, Historicorum Romanorum fragmenta, 1883, 292, 301) and from a large fragment of the Historiae itself, cited by Lactantius in Institutiones Divinae 7.15.14. The Lactantius fragment is prefatory (introductory) in character and pessimistic in outlook; it likens the history of Rome to the Seven Ages of Man, while comparing Rome's reversion to monarchical rule with the 'second infancy' of senility. Also extant is Seneca's account of the death of Tiberius, cited by Suetonius in Tiberius 73.

In 2017 the papyrologist Valeria Piano published a detailed study of P.Herc 1067, a charred papyrus-roll collected from Herculaneum—it was buried by Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79. The scroll was first excavated probably in 1782, and partially unrolled in the early nineteenth century. Piano asserts in her study (published in Cronache Ercolanesi, 47, pp. 163–250), on basis of traces of lettering on its final subscriptio, that the text was written by one 'L. Annaeus Seneca'. And, from what can be read of the narrative—that is, of historical and political themes relating to the first decades of the Roman Empire—she proposes that it most likely originated in (the elder) Seneca's Historiae. Further, she judges that traces of a book-title following the author's name (in the subscriptio) are more compatible with Seneca's own ' ... ab initio b[ell]orum [civilium] ' than with his declamatory anthology.

Unfortunately, the text of the scroll is now essentially unreadable as continuous narrative because, in the process of unrolling, several layers of tightly rolled papyrus remained stuck together and were peeled away from each other unevenly.

Editions of the declamatory anthology

 * Nicolas Lefèvre (Nicholas Faber) (Paris, 1587)
 * JF Gronovius (Leiden, 1649, Amsterdam, 1672)
 * Conrad Bursian (critical edition) (Leipzig, 1857)
 * Adolf Kiessling (Leipzig, 1872)
 * Hermann Johannes Müller (Prague, 1887)
 * Michael Winterbottom, (1974) Declamations, (Controversiae, Suasoriae. Fragments). 2 vols. Loeb Classical Library

title: Seneca the Elder