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Waikato

Waikato is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the northern King Country, much of the Taupō District, and parts of the Rotorua Lakes District. It is governed by the Waikato Regional Council.

The region stretches from Coromandel Peninsula in the north, to the north-eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu in the south, and spans the North Island from the west coast, through the Waikato and Hauraki to Coromandel Peninsula on the east coast. Broadly, the extent of the region is the Waikato River catchment. Other major catchments are those of the Waihou, Piako, Awakino and Mokau rivers. The region is bounded by Auckland on the north, Bay of Plenty on the east, Hawke's Bay on the south-east, and Manawatū-Whanganui and Taranaki on the south. Waikato Region is the fourth largest region in the country in area and population: It has a land area of 23901.09 km2 and a population of

The region encompasses all or part of eleven territorial authorities, the most of any region of New Zealand. It is centred on the Waikato which consists of Waikato District, Matamata-Piako District, Waipa District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City. In descending order of land area the eleven territorial authorities are Taupō District (part), Waikato District, Waitomo District (part), Thames-Coromandel District, Ōtorohanga District, South Waikato District, Matamata-Piako District, Waipa District, Hauraki District, Rotorua Lakes District (part), and Hamilton City.

Name and etymology
The name for the region is taken from the Waikato River; waikato is a Māori word traditionally translated as "flowing water" (specifically, wai = "water" and kato = "the pull of the river current in the sea").

When Waikato is used in spoken language some people use it in the definite article, "the Waikato", whereas some people do not use "the". It is unknown why a difference is made. "The" usually refers to a smaller region than the Waikato local government region. Two definitions that would meet with wide acceptance are those of the Waikato rugby football union and of Hamilton Waikato tourism.

Geography

To the west, the region is bounded by the Tasman Sea. The coastal region is largely rough hill country, known locally as the Hakarimata Range, though it is more gently undulating in the north, closer to the mouth of the Waikato River. The coast is punctured by three large natural harbours: Raglan Harbour, Aotea Harbour, and Kawhia Harbour. The area around Raglan is noted for its volcanic black sand beaches and for its fine surfing conditions at Manu Bay and Ruapuke beach.

To the east of the coastal hills lies the broad alluvial plain of the Waikato River. This region has a wet temperate climate, and the land is largely pastoral farmland created by European settlers draining the extensive natural swamps, although it also contains undrained peat swamp such as the 200 km2 peat dome south of Ngatea. It is in the broad undulating Waikato Plains that most of the region's population resides, and the land is intensively farmed with both livestock, mainly dairy cattle but with sheep farming on the hillier west margins, and crops such as maize. The area around Cambridge has many thoroughbred stables.

The north of the region around Te Kauwhata produces some of New Zealand's best wines. Dozens of small shallow lakes lie in this area, the largest of which is Lake Waikare.

To the east, the land rises towards the forested slopes of the Kaimai and Mamaku Ranges. The upper reaches of the Waikato River are used for hydroelectricity, helped by several large artificial lakes in the region's south-east. The lowest and earliest-created such lake is Lake Karapiro, now developed as a world-class rowing centre, where the world championships were held in 2010. The river flows out of the country's largest lake, Lake Taupō, which is served by several important fishing rivers such as the Tongariro, on the Central Plateau, draining the eastern side of Mount Ruapehu and its neighbours.

The climate is mild and temperate with moderate rainfall of 1200–1600mm per annum, with the higher western hills having the most rain. Summers are drier with typical maximum temperatures of 22–28 degrees Celsius and overnight lows of 12-16 degrees. Summer droughts occur one year in ten. Typical winter maxima are 10–16 degrees Celsius, with lows generally ranging from 0-8 degrees. Depressions experience regular morning fog, under anticyclonic conditions, which burns off by late morning to produce many still, clear sunny days. Morning frosts are also common during winter anticyclones. Another distinctive feature is the low average wind speed in the interior basin due to the sheltering influence of the hills and mountains to the west and south-west. The prevailing winter wind is from the south-west. The Waikato has very high sunshine hours by world standards, averaging 2200 hours per year or about 40% higher than in the UK. This results in rapid growth of grass, crops and ornamental plants.

Hamilton Waikato takes in the local government areas of Hamilton City, the southern part of Waikato district, Waipa district, most of Matamata-Piako district and the South Waikato district. Hamilton Waikato tourism takes in additionally the northern part of Waikato district (Tuakau and other centres), the northern King Country (Waitomo and Ōtorohanga districts), and the Te Aroha district.

The parts of Waikato region beyond these limits are usually identified as Thames Valley and/or Hauraki/Coromandel (for the north-eastern part of Waikato region) and Taupō, on the Volcanic or Central Plateau (for the south-eastern part of the region).

Demographics
Waikato Region covers 23901.09 km2 and had an estimated population of as of  with a population density of  people per km2.

Waikato had a population of 498,771 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 40,569 people (8.9%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 95,130 people (23.6%) since the 2013 census. There were 216,222 dwellings. The median age was 37.9 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 100,746 people (20.2%) aged under 15 years, 93,108 (18.7%) aged 15 to 29, 218,811 (43.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 86,106 (17.3%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 71.7% European/Pākehā, 25.2% Māori, 5.2% Pasifika, 12.2% Asian, 1.4% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders, and 1.2% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

Waikato Region had a population of 458,202 at the 2018 New Zealand census. There were 162,927 households. There were 226,386 males and 231,816 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.98 males per female.

The proportion of people born overseas was 19.5%, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people objected to giving their religion, 50.6% had no religion, 34.8% were Christian, 1.7% were Hindu, 0.9% were Muslim, 0.8% were Buddhist and 4.1% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 67,560 (18.7%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 71,901 (19.9%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $30,400, compared with $31,800 nationally. 55,953 people (15.5%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 176,901 (48.9%) people were employed full-time, 53,970 (14.9%) were part-time, and 15,660 (4.3%) were unemployed.

Cities and towns
The largest city in the Waikato Region is Hamilton, with an urban population of. It is home to the University of Waikato and the Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec).

Other major towns in the region are Tokoroa, Te Awamutu, Cambridge and Taupō with respective populations of, , and. (These populations include the urban and peri-urban areas). The region also includes the smaller towns of Huntly, Matamata, Morrinsville, Ngāruawāhia, Ōtorohanga, Paeroa, Putāruru, Raglan, Te Aroha, Te Kauwhata, Te Kūiti, Thames, Tīrau, Tuakau, Turangi, Whangamatā and Whitianga.

Economy
The subnational gross domestic product (GDP) of the Waikato region was estimated at NZ$25.84 billion in the year to March 2019, 8.5% of New Zealand's national GDP. The subnational GDP per capita was estimated at $54,128 in the same period. In the year to March 2018, primary industries contributed $3.14 billion (13.0%) to the regional GDP, goods-producing industries contributed $5.70 billion (23.5%), service industries contributed $13.35 billion (55.0%), and taxes and duties contributed $2.08 billion (8.6%).

Between 2000 and 2004, Waikato economic growth was lower than the national average. But from 2004 to 2007, real gross regional product for the Waikato Region increased by 5 per cent per year compared with 3.2 per cent for the national average. This faster growth can be attributed to rapidly growing dairy and business services industries, facilitated by proximity to the Auckland city, the main international gateway for New Zealand.

Agriculture
Given the suitable geography and climate, the Waikato economy is strongly based on agriculture, especially dairy. Dairy farming has been the main agricultural activity since the late nineteenth century. Within the Waikato region, small co-operative dairy companies were widespread during the 20th century. Towards the end of the 20th century, frequent mergers of co-operative dairy companies occurred, which ultimately ended in the formation of New Zealand wide dairy co-operative Fonterra in 2001. In 2007, dairy farming and dairy processing combined contributed $2 billion (13%) to GRP, which had risen to $2.4bn by 2014, but only 13,683 (7.6%) of jobs in 2016.

Dairy farms are mainly family owned (2,608 of 4,020 farms in 2016) with owners employing sharemilkers in many cases (1,412 sharemilkers). The size of the average dairy herd in the Waikato has progressively increased. It was about 320 cows in 2012 and in 2016 was about 351 (total Waikato herd 1.41m cows), milked in either a herringbone or automated rotary cowshed so a large herd can be milked in under two hours. The cows are kept on grassland pasture all year due to the mild climate. In the Waikato the original English grasses used by earlier settlers – browntop, fescue and Yorkshire Fog – have been replaced with higher producing Italian ryegrass and nitrogen-fixing white clover. Farmers use a variety of supplementary feeds in winter or during the infrequent summer droughts. Main feeds are hay, grass silage and chopped corn feed. The later is often fed out on a concrete pad to save transportation and wastage by trampling.

Manufacturing
The manufacturing sector in Waikato contributed $2,688 million in GDP in the year to March 2018, 11.1% of the regional GDP. According to the 2013 New Zealand census, the sector employed 18,519 people, or 9.9% of the region's employed population.

With a large dairy farming industry, the Waikato also has a large dairy processing industry. Fonterra operates dairy processing plants at Te Rapa, Te Awamutu, Hautapu, Waitoa, Tīrau and Lichfield. Other dairy processing plants include Tatua Dairy Company's plant at Tatuanui, and Open Country Dairy's plant at Horotiu and Waharoa.

The Waikato region has eight major freezing works: AFFCO at Horotiu, Greenlea at Hamilton and Morrinsville, Silver Fern Farms at Te Aroha and Waitoa, Te Kuiti Meat Processors and Universal Beef Packers at Te Kuiti, and Crusader Meats at Benneydale.

The Kinleith Mill south of Tokoroa processes wood from the surrounding forests into pulp and paper.

History
Before the arrival of Europeans, the Waikato contained the third most densely populated part of New Zealand, after Northland/Auckland and the Bay of Plenty. The Waikato rohe (area) was inhabited by iwi (tribes) such as those of the Tainui confederation, including Waikato and Ngāti Toa who conquered the native inhabitants about 1450 according to Tainui historians, finally destroying them at a battle at Aratiatia. Between about 1750 and 1842 the area was subject to a large number of invasions by other Māori iwi and hapu confederations and large scale population migrations took place by a number of hapū and iwi. The largest battle ever fought in New Zealand took place near Ohaupo about 1790–1805, between two competing alliances of hapū. During the latter stages of this volatile period, known as the Musket Wars (1807–1845), conflict led to a migration south to Taranaki and eventually Kapiti Island.

In 1840 44 Waikato chiefs travelled north to the Manukau Heads and Manukau Harbour to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, officially making the Waikato area part of New Zealand. Three Ngāti Maniapoto chiefs signed, as did three Ngāti Haua chiefs but most signatories were Waikato. Chief Te Whero whero did not sign, "probably due to the lack of dignity compared to the Waitangi event". Unusually, the copy signed was in English. Between 1840 and 1860 the CMS missionaries of the Anglican church assisted Waikato Māori in revolutionising their economy in the Kihikihi area by the introduction of such crops as peaches, maize and wheat.

Missionaries brought in millers and helped Māori establish eight flour mills. These flourished until 1857, as they provided flour for the growing Auckland market in the 1850s and for a brief while were exporting to Australia. There were mills at Aotea, Kaitotehe, Karakariki, Kihikihi, Kirikiriroa, Kohanga, Kopatauaki, Mahoe, Mangaharakeke, Mangapapa, Mangarewarewa, Mangatawhiri, Matamata pā, Maungakawa, Maungatautari, Mohoaonui, Otawhao, Patetere, Rangataiki, Rangiaowhia, Taupō, Te Kopua, Te Rore, Tireke, Tuakau, Waitetuna, Whaingaroa and Whatawhata.

The route used to travel to and from Auckland was by dray to the Puniu stream, along the Waipā River to its junction with the Waikato. Near the Waikato Heads travellers entered the small Awaroa River. During summer it was necessary to push or pull the waka through to the Manukau Harbour at Waiuku. By the 1850s a small bullock track had been established to Auckland via the settlements of Mauku, Drury, Papakura and Otahuhu, or waka could take the sea route across the Manukau to Ihumatao (where Auckland International Airport is now). The main tribe to use this route and the main traders were the Maniapoto tribe. They occupied an area of fertile land south of Te Awamutu at Kihikihi and Rangiaowhia. Maniapoto sold wheat, peaches, potatoes and other food to Auckland and bought back shirts, sugar, tobacco and rum. The boom time ended in 1856–1857 with the end of the Australian gold rush, allowing importing of cheaper food, especially flour, from Australia. Even in the boom time of 1854–55, food grown by Waikato Māori, such as Ngāti Maniapoto, was taken to the Auckland market in very small amounts compared to food from the Waiheke Island -Thames area. In early 1855 Ngāti Maniapoto took only 3 canoes of potatoes to Auckland compared to 279 canoes containing a much wider variety of food from the Thames area. Missionaries had also established schools for Māori. Benjamin and Harriet Ashwell ran a school for 50 Māori girls aged 6–17 at Taupiri in 1853. The girls had been at the school for up to 3 years and could read and write in English and do mental arithmetic.

At the time of the Waikato campaign of 1863 against the rebel Māori King Movement forces, the population was estimated by the government at about 3,500 Māori.

During the late 1850s Maniapoto in particular become disgruntled in their dealings with Pakeha. They complained about the way they were treated in Auckland by traders but their chief complaint was that the government was underpaying them for land they were selling. The average price paid by government was 6d per acre but it was sold to settlers for 10/- per acre. The government argued that it had to pay for surveying and administration costs but to Māori it seemed unfair. Before the elevation of the first Māori king there was a wide range of opinions among influential Māori with some such as Wirimu Tamihana's father advocating supporting the Crown while Te Heuheu of Tuwharetoa advocated all out war against the government. This view was initially unpopular as the king movement hoped to work alongside the crown. Māori were upset at the number of children that had been fathered by Pakeha, who had then disappeared. The children were left to be raised by their mothers with general hapu support. John Gorst, a well-educated government agent, reported significant numbers of half-caste children in the Waikato in the late 1850s. However, in the Ngati Maniapoto iwi at least 7 Pakeha integrated successfully with the tribe from 1842, marrying Maori women. The best known are William Searancke, who became an important government agent, and Frenchman Louis Hetet, who became a successful trader. Their half-caste children lived with the iwi, and some became leading figures.

What tipped the balance was conflict and criminal activity within the Waikato region. Influential chiefs said the treaty had promised the government would help maintain peace. They asked for government magistrates and courts. The government attempted to fulfil these requests but many of the young men who put themselves forward for the positions simply saw that they had an opportunity to get wealthy at the government's expense. This upset the older chiefs, who wanted the strong Māori leader Te Wherowhero to return from Mangere to his lands at Tamahere (South Hamilton) to rein in the out-of-control young chief magistrates.

The Waikato has a prominent history, particularly regarding relationships between Māori and European in early colonial New Zealand. The Waikato was within the defined boundaries of the colonial provinces of New Ulster (1841–1853) and Auckland (1853–1876) but was principally Māori. During the land wars of the 1860s, the Waikato was the scene of five battles in what is referred to as the Invasion of the Waikato. In retaliation for the help Waikato Māori (mainly Ngāti Maniapoto) gave Taranaki Māori in their conflict over land in the earlier First Taranaki War, and the decision by some Waikato hapu to form a separate kingdom – the King Movement or Kingitanga – in opposition to the government, the colonial government, with the help of troops brought from Britain and Queenite Māori loyal to the Crown, pushed south from the main settlement of Auckland, fighting against Waikato raiders in Auckland before venturing into the Waikato to attack the combined hapu of the King Movement. During 1863 and 1864 fighting occurred at Pukekohe East, Titi hill, Burtts Farm, Galloway Redoubt, Kiri Kiri, Martyn's Farm, Patumahoe, Rhodes Clearing, Williamson's Clearing, Otau, Camerontown, Kakaramea and Wairoa ranges (all Auckland), Meremere, Rangiriri, Ngāruawāhia, Rangiaowhia (southwest of Cambridge), Hairini Ridge and Ōrākau (near Kihikihi), all resulting in defeat for the Kingitanga forces. Eventually the rebel King Movement forces pulled back to positions in the area to the south of the Punui River in South Waikato, still known as the King Country, after 19 defeats by the British. Rewi's Last Stand, one of New Zealand's first motion pictures, in 1925, portrayed an entertaining, fictionalized version of the Ōrākau siege.

The headquarters of the Māori King Movement are now at Turangawaewae Marae at Ngāruawāhia.

After the end of the war and the withdrawal of British and Australian troops, the region experienced a long period of economic recession after 1866. Most Māori had moved to the King Country and European settlers were more attracted to the South Island with its large gold discovery in Otago and the more easily farmed Canterbury Plains. The Waikato had poor land access and was not suitable for sheep farming which dominated livestock production in New Zealand until the 1890s invention of refrigeration. Dairying and the completion of the main trunk railway line at the turn of the century lead to a small, steady increase in population. After 1900, dairy production in the Waikato continued to grow, exporting butter and cheese mainly to Britain.

Local government history
Following major floods in 1907, a Waikato River Board was formed in 1911. However, it was reported as ineffective in 1921 and ceased to operate, though the need for a replacement was considered in 1933.

Hauraki Catchment Board was set up in 1946.

Major floods also occurred in 1953 and 1956. Waikato Valley Authority was established by the Waikato Valley Authority Act on 26 October 1956. The Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967 extended it to become a Catchment/Regional Water Board. The Ministry of Works and Development Abolition Act 1988, left WVA with that work and it became the Waikato Catchment Board.

The Waikato United Council, was formulated under the Local Government Act 1974, but due to objections excluded Thames/Coromandel district, though otherwise covered the present extent of the region. It was set up under the Town and Country Planning Act 1977 and the Waikato Region Constitution Order 1980. WUC covered Hamilton City, Huntly, Ngāruawāhia, Cambridge, Te Awamutu, Matamata, Putāruru and Tokoroa boroughs, Matamata, Raglan, Waikato, and Waipa counties, Ōtorohanga and Waitomo districts. It took over the Hamilton Regional Planning Authority and mainly dealt with regional planning and civil defence. By 1989, WUC had committees for regional planning, civil defence, regional government, and the Waikato Regional Development Board. From 1987 it also included Thames-Coromandel District, Great Barrier Island, Hauraki Plains, Ohinemuri and Piako counties, and Morrinsville, Paeroa, Te Aroha and Waihi boroughs.

On 1 November 1989, Waikato Regional Council was established by the Local Government (Waikato Region) Reorganisation Order 1989. from 40 former authorities: - 2 catchment boards (Hauraki and Waikato), 3 united councils (Waikato, Thames Valley and part of Tongariro), 12 noxious plants authorities, 11 pest destruction boards and 12 drainage boards. The Land Transport Act 1998 added transport to WRC's responsibilities. From 1 November 2010 Environment Waikato took over the southern parts of Franklin District. That seems to be the only legislation naming it 'Environment Waikato', which had been its operating name until 2011, shortly after the 'Rates Control Team' won about half the seats in the 2010 election.

Politics
In the 2010 local government elections, the Waikato Region had the country's lowest rate of returned votes. Since then the percentage turnout has declined further.

People
The people of the Waikato use the nickname Mooloo to apply to themselves or to their region, particularly in relation to sporting endeavours. The word was likely first applied to the Waikato provincial rugby team. Its origin is related to the mascot of a pantomime-like milking cow used in parades, public events and sports matches — particularly rugby, reflecting the importance of the dairy industry to the region. Waikato hosts the Chiefs Super Rugby team and Waikato Mitre 10 Cup rugby team at Waikato Stadium and the Northern Districts Knights in domestic cricket at Seddon Park, both in Hamilton.

Arts

 * The Datsuns — rock band
 * Tim and Neil Finn — songwriters and musicians (Split Enz, Crowded House)
 * Rob Hamill — champion rower and author.
 * Rangimarie Hetet — of Oparure Marae. Died aged 103 years; regarded as living treasure of Māori handcrafts, with honorary degrees.
 * Kimbra — notable New Zealand singer-songwriter/guitarist
 * Dame Malvina Major — acclaimed international singer
 * Frank Sargeson — celebrated NZ writer.
 * Maurice Shadbolt — celebrated New Zealand writer
 * Jools and Lynda Topp — comedy duo

Māoridom

 * Huiatahi Barrett — tribal leader
 * Te Puea Herangi — Māori princess and leader
 * Tūheitia Paki — Māori King 2006–present
 * Eva Rickard — of Tainui descent; leader and defender of Māori land rights
 * Te Atairangikaahu — Māori Queen 1966-2006
 * Te Rauparaha — Māori chieftain and warrior
 * Wiremu Tamihana Tarapipipi Te Waharoa — Māori King kingmaker

Military

 * Roy Calvert — WWII pilot

Politics

 * Jacinda Ardern — former Prime Minister of New Zealand
 * Jim Bolger — former Prime Minister of New Zealand
 * Helen Clark — former Prime Minister of New Zealand
 * Hilda Ross — humanitarian, first woman elected to the Hamilton Borough Council, MP
 * Te Hapimana Tauke — tribal leader, mission teacher and historian
 * Dame Catherine Tizard (née Mclean) — former Mayor of Auckland and first woman Governor-General of New Zealand

Sports

 * Don Clarke — rugby international
 * Bruce McLaren — motor racing driver and team founder
 * Colin Meads — rugby international
 * Anjali Mulari — New Zealand ice and inline hockey player
 * Tawera Nikau — rugby league footballer and sports broadcaster
 * Simon Poelman — New Zealand decathlete
 * Peter Snell, gold medal-winning distance runner at the 1960 Summer Olympics and the 1964 Olympics
 * Mark Todd — Olympic equestrian, "Horseman of the Century"
 * Daniel Vettori — former New Zealand cricket captain
 * Morgan Harper NRL player

title: Waikato


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Waikato River

The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for 425 km through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It then drains Taupō at the lake's northeastern edge, creates the Huka Falls, and flows northwest through the Waikato Plains. It empties into the Tasman Sea south of Auckland, at Port Waikato. It gives its name to the Waikato region that surrounds the Waikato Plains. The present course of the river was largely formed about 17,000 years ago. Contributing factors were climate warming, forest being reestablished in the river headwaters and the deepening, rather than widening, of the existing river channel. The channel was gradually eroded as far up river as Piarere, leaving the old Hinuera channel through the Hinuera Gap high and dry. The remains of the old course are seen clearly at Hinuera, where the cliffs mark the ancient river edges. The Waikato's main tributary is the Waipā River, which converges with it at Ngāruawāhia.

The name Waikato comes from the Māori language and translates as flowing water. The Waikato River has spiritual meaning for various local Māori tribes, including the large Tainui, who regard it as a source of their mana, or pride. The widely respected marae of Tūrangawaewae is close to its banks at Ngāruawāhia.

For many years the Tainui tribe have sought to re-establish their links to the river after the New Zealand Wars (see Invasion of the Waikato) and the subsequent confiscations of the 1860s, and are continuing negotiations with the New Zealand government. The Tainui iwi was advised not to bring a case for the river before the Waitangi Tribunal as they would not win. An out-of-court settlement was arranged and the deed of settlement signed by the Crown and Waikato-Tainui in August 2008 settled the raupatu claim to the Waikato River, although other claims for land blocks and harbours are still outstanding. Waikato-Tainui now have joint management of the river with Waikato Regional Council.

Origin
The ancestral Waikato River flowed from an ancient lake (Lake Huka) in the centre of the North Island through deep gorges of welded ignimbrite and rhyolite, northward through the Hinuera Valley and Hauraki Basin into the Thames Estuary. It is possible that the river flowed through the Waikato Basin about a million years ago before returning to its Hinuera course. After the huge Oruanui eruption 27,000 years ago ignimbrite was showered all over the North Island to a thickness of 200 m. A new lake was formed – Lake Taupō. The water accumulated until a new outlet was forced 120 m above the present lake level, near Waihora Bay. Over the next few thousand years the bed of the river was raised by large amounts of eruption debris. Then the original, blocked outlet suddenly gave way; the lake level fell 75 m as about 80 km3 of water and debris poured out in a catastrophic breakthrough flood causing the river to change course near Piarere. The Hinuera Gap and Waitoa River are evidence of the river's former course. The water level dropped quickly and the river stayed in this new course through the Maungatautari gorge and Hamilton Basin. Deposits show that the Waikato River was already in the Waikato Basin 21,800 years ago.

Course

The river starts in the form of many small streams on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu. The Mangatoetoenui Glacier (once also called the Waikato Glacier) is one of the principal sources. The southernmost tributary is called the Upper Waikato Stream. The Waipakihi River joins the Waikato from the Kaimanawa Mountains to the west. From the point where the river meets the Waihohonu Stream, down to Lake Taupō, it has been formally named the Tongariro River since 1945.

The Poutu Stream joins from Lake Rotoaira to the east, as a tributary of the Tongariro, which flows northward, with State Highway 1 in parallel, through the town of Tūrangi, and into the southern side of Lake Taupō. Extensive engineering of lakes, tunnels and canals are used to generate hydroelectric power in the Tongariro Power Scheme.

The Waikato River flows out of Lake Taupō at the town of Taupō in Tapuaeharuru Bay at the northeast end of the lake. It flows northeast past the town, alongside State Highway 1, to the Huka Falls. State Highway 5 runs more or less parallel to the river as it flows further northeast. About 40 km from the lake, the river flows west and into the southern end of Lake Ohakuri. It exits from the northwest end of that lake and flows west through the small Lake Atiamuri and into the long east–west oriented Lake Whakamaru, with State Highway 30 following its course. It passes northwest through Lake Maraetai and Lake Waipapa, where it is joined by the Waipapa River, then north through Lake Arapuni and into Lake Karapiro. Pokaiwhenua Stream joins the river in Lake Karapiro. Nine hydroelectric power stations at eight dams extract energy from the river between Taupō and Karapiro. All the lakes in this stretch of the river (apart from Lake Taupō) are artificial.

The river leaves the Volcanic Plateau at Karapiro, where it emerges from the Maungatautari Gorge, and flows northwest into the Waikato Basin, flowing through the towns of Cambridge, Hamilton, and Ngāruawāhia. It is joined by its largest tributary, the Waipā River, at Ngāruawāhia. It then flows north through the Taupiri Gorge to enter the lower Waikato region. Further north is Huntly and then Meremere, where the Whangamarino and Maramarua Rivers join it. From Mercer, where the Mangatawhiri River joins it, the Waikato flows west and southwest. Just before its mouth at Port Waikato, the Araroa River joins from the north. Numerous small islands lie in the long, thin delta of the river as it passes through low-lying swampy land between Meremere and the coast, the largest of which is Motutieke Island.

There are also over 40 islands between Ngāruawāhia and Tuakau, depending on the level of the river. Maurea Islands, just south of Rangiriri were subject to a restoration trial to test comparative weed treatments, the main weeds being alder and yellow flag iris.

In prehistoric times, the Waikato's course has occasionally shifted to flow north through the Hinuera Gap into the Firth of Thames and from there into the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana. The most recent occasion this is known to have occurred ended some 20,000 years ago, although it is possible that it also flowed north more recently, until about 1800 years ago. A remnant of this former course can be seen as a spur on Lake Karapiro to the south of the settlement of Piarere. The river's current course is largely the result of the massive Hatepe eruption of the Taupō Volcano in 180 AD.

The mean discharge of the Waikato River is 340 m3/s, with the highest flows typically occurring in July and August. Specific mean annual floods are low (60–70 L s-1 km-2), and the frequency of events with greater than 3 times the median flow is 0.4 events / year, due to flow regulation and groundwater storage in pumice.

Human use
As well as being a water and recreation resource, the river was historically a critical communications and transport link for the communities along it. It took about 3 days to paddle a waka from Waiuku to the Cambridge/Te Awamutu area. Taupō, Mangakino, Cambridge, Hamilton, Horotiu, Ngāruawāhia, Huntly, Hampton Downs, Meremere, Waiuku and Port Waikato are on or close to it. The Waikato River in Hamilton is frequently used by rowers, kayakers and powered pleasure craft. Water-skiers and jet skis have zones outside the city limits where they can be used.

The river was of military importance in the land wars between New Zealand settler and Kingitanga forces during 1863–64 and significant battles were fought. Three shallow draft gunboats were designed in New Zealand and built in Sydney in kitset form; the hulk of the paddle steamer Rangiriri is preserved at Hamilton. In addition locally sourced barges were rebuilt with steel plating to carry troops and supplies. In support of these invasions, New Zealand developed its first "navy", the Waikato Flotilla, run by an Australian Francis Cadell who was presented with a gold watch and diamonds by the New Zealand government in recognition of his service. A cemetery containing the graves of the British military dead can be found at Rangiriri opposite the hotel, shops and cafe.

Electricity generation
The Waikato's first hydro-electric power station was the Horahora Power Station, now located under the Horahora bridge deep beneath the surface of Lake Karapiro. Horahora was built to supply electricity for the Martha gold mines at Waihi.

The river has a series of eight dams and nine hydro-electric power stations that generate electricity for the national grid. These were constructed between 1929 and 1971 to meet growing demand for electricity.

The power scheme begins at Lake Taupō, which has control gates to regulate the flow of water into the river. Once released through the gates it takes over 18 hours for the water to flow to the last power station at Karapiro. On its journey downstream it passes through power stations at Aratiatia, Ohakuri, Atiamuri, Whakamaru, Maraetai, Waipapa, Arapuni and Karapiro.

Approximately 4000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity is generated annually by the scheme, which is around 13% of New Zealand's total electrical generating capacity.

The river also provides cooling water for the coal/natural gas fired thermal power station at Huntly. The power station uses river water as a cooling medium for the old steam units, which means that large quantities of warm water is returned to the river. To limit environmental impacts, conditions are imposed by its resource consent, specifying the quantity of water that can be removed by the station along with the maximum temperature of the water when returned to the river, 25 C. These conditions mean that output of the older steam units can be restricted, especially on very hot summer days. In 2006, a cooling tower was installed. This allows one 250 MW unit to run at full load even during such times.

Drinking water
After widescale droughts in 1994, the use of the Waikato River to supply drinking water for Auckland was first considered. In July 2002, a water treatment plant was opened at Tuakau, which was expanded in 2021 after major droughts in 2020.

Recreation
The lower Waikato is popular for duck shooting.

Boating
The Waikato is renowned among whitewater kayaking enthusiasts, specifically for the Full James rapid located north of Taupō. The Full James was the site of the 1999 World Whitewater Championships, as well as the pre-World event the year before.

Lake Karapiro (an artificial lake) is regarded as one of New Zealand's best rowing venues. The World Rowing Championships in 1978 and 2010, and the 1950 British Empire Games were hosted at Karapiro.

The section of the river that flows through Hamilton has the most diverse river traffic with many schools and clubs using rowing skiffs. Rowing races are also held on the river. Jet skis are confined to the city margins because of their noise. Power boats regularly use the river, including manufacturers and boating shops testing and demonstrating boats, especially in summer. In addition there are numerous kayaks and a few waka.

There are council boat ramps, run by Waikato District, Hamilton City, South Waikato District and Taupō District, at Port Waikato Rd; Hoods Landing Rd, Otaua; Elbow Rd, Aka aka; River Rd, Tuakau; Riverbank Rd, Mercer; Churchill East Rd, Rangiriri; Ohinewai Landing Rd; Boatie Reserve SH1, Parry St and Riverview Rd, Huntly; SH1 Taupiri; Waikato Esplanade, Ngāruawāhia; Farm and Braithwaite Parks, Pukete; Swarbricks Landing, Hamilton Pde, Pine Beach, Ferrybank, Memorial Park, Roose Commerce Park, Hayes Paddock, Hamilton Gardens; Narrows Lane, Tamahere; Karapiro (6 ramps); Arapuni (4); Maraetai; Whakamaru (3); Ohakuri and Mangakino.

Public cruises
A ferry service along part of its length was for years conducted by Caesar Roose, several of whose descendants still live beside it. He brought the 1894 400-passenger steamer Manuwai from the Whanganui in 1920. In 1924 a Cambridge to Port Waikato excursion was being run 2 or 3 times a year, taking 12 to 14 hours downstream and a few hours longer upstream; for example steamers in 1939 took about 90 minutes from Ngāruawāhia to Hamilton. Manuwai sank at her moorings in 1938, but was taken to Mercer for repair in 1939, where she was converted to a barge. Several of the old steamers remain under, or beside the river, including the Manuwai, Rawhiti (built 1925) and Freetrader on the west bank just south of Mercer. A 1928 article listed 14 boats that had provided river services. To improve navigation, rocks in the Narrows at Tamahere were removed in 1919. Public cruises operate from Aratiatia to Huka Falls, across the river to Orakei Korako, from Hamilton Gardens to Mystery Creek and Fairfield Bridge and, since 2009, from Tuakau to Port Waikato.

On 19 July 2021 a ferry service began on the river in Hamilton, linking Swarbrick's Landing and Braithwaite Park with the museum and gardens. Services ended with liquidation of the company in September 2022.

Cycle and walk trails
Three trails follow parts of the river.

Boosted by New Zealand Cycle Trail funding, the Waikato River Trails, a 100 km series of connected river cycling trails in the South Waikato. The River Trail has five sections, open to both walkers or bikes, between Lake Karapiro and Aratiatia. It opened in 2011.

Te Awa River Ride runs for 65 km following the river from Horahora, near the end of the Waikato River Trails, via Cambridge and Hamilton to Ngāruawāhia. Completion was planned for 2017, but the Cambridge-Hamilton section opening was further delayed from 2021 and opened on 9 December 2022. North of AFFCO at Horotiu, the route includes the second longest cycle bridge in the country (after the Timber Trail), a 140 m long cable network arch bridge, budgeted to cost $2.6m and to open in August, but opened in November 2017. The section from the Avantidrome through St Peter's School of Cambridge and Tamahere was being constructed in 2019/2020, including an underpass at SH21 to Tamahere Park.

Te Araroa (the walkway running the length of the country) follows the Waikato for most of its 80 km between Mercer and Hamilton.

Species
The Waikato River and its hydro lakes are home to at least 19 types of native fish and 10 types of introduced fish. The introduced species include rainbow and brown trout providing what has been called "the finest fly-fishing in the world". Other introduced species, like the carp and mosquitofish, have become major pests.

Environmental issues
The large catchment area of the Waikato River is highly fertile farmland, so intensive agriculture is present. Due to the agricultural activity within the catchment significant agricultural pollution is leached into groundwater and contained in the runoff. The mismanagement of nitrogen fertilizer and effluent spreading practices in dairy farming is seen as the major causes of this pollution. Since 2000 Environment Waikato has joined with conservation minded farmers to bring about more efficient and scientific use of fertilizers.

The removal of the native vegetation throughout the catchment to accommodate the increasing demand for farmland has contributed to the silting-up of the river with loose soils from eroded farmland, although most of the silting is due to the construction of the many hydrodams. In its pre-1930s wild state, the silt was flushed from the river every winter by flood surges. The remnants of these can be seen in the silt channels carved out of what is now St Andrews golf course, adjacent to the river in Hamilton.

Arsenic enters the river at concentrations that reach 0.035 grams of arsenic per cubic metre in places, exceeding the WHO provisional guideline of 0.01 grams of arsenic per cubic metre and making the water unsuitable for drinking water unless treated. The majority of arsenic in the Waikato River comes from the Wairakei Geothermal Power Station. The amount of arsenic gradually declines as the river flows northwards and is at its lowest at the Waikato River Heads.

Since 2002, around 75 e6l of water a day has been drawn from the river at Tuakau, treated and pumped along a 38 km pipe north to Auckland, where it is mixed with local water. This met 8% of Auckland's water needs in 2010/11. In December 2012 capacity was increased to 125 e6l, and in 2013 work started to increase it to 150 e6l. The treatment plant meets New Zealand's 2000 drinking water standards according to Water Care NZ. This is equal to or better than the A standard for Auckland's other water supplies.

Slightly-modified human wastes are pumped into the river downriver of several towns. Hamilton city has one of the most modern water treatment systems in the world following a 2003 report by GHB water consultants. In 2007 $22 million was spent upgrading the existing intake station south of the city at Riverlea. This will meet the cities demand until 2016. Waste water in its untreated state is 99.9% water and 0.1% other matter. A series of sophisticated machines produce clean water of a high standard getting rid of bad tastes odours and toxins to meet the upgraded NZ water standards. The Pukete 2 project which started in 2002 will upgrade the plant in a series of stages costing $24 million.

A further issue is industrial and metropolitan waste from early-established landfills and waste-emitting factories on the banks of the river. These include an unlined waste dump at Horotiu, just downriver from Hamilton, whose leachates include persistent organic pollutants such as dieldrin in quantities toxic to freshwater marine life. The 2002 GHD report saw new regulations put in place to make industries comply with a new bylaw which stops hazardous substances entering the water system at all according to the HCC website.

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

title: Waikato River


text:
DFT

DFT may refer to:

Businesses and organisations

 * Department for Transport, United Kingdom
 * Digital Film Technology, maker of the Spirit DataCine film digitising scanner
 * DuPont Fabros Technology, a US data center company (by NYSE ticker)

Science and mathematics

 * Decision field theory, a human cognitive decision-making model
 * Devil Facial Tumour, a symptom of Devil facial tumour disease a cancer affecting Tasmanian devils.
 * Density functional theory, a computational quantum mechanical modelling method
 * Discrete Fourier transform

Technology

 * Deaereating feed tank
 * Demand flow technology
 * Design for testing (design for testability)
 * DFT class locomotive, a turbo-charged rebuild of the New Zealand DF class locomotive (1979)

title: DFT


text:
Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers/Archive 5

 * Having British dates and British spelling in articles about British subjects is not a compromise, it's the most convenient solution you can get away with, one which allows you to write your way most of the time. It also leads to massive inconsistencies, as, believe it or not, some non-Brits start pages about British subjects, and even some non-Americans (such as myself) and some Brits prefer the "US" date style. Furthermore, US-style spelling is more popular around the world and most of Wikipedia's users are Americans, so you will inadvertently end up with American spelling in articles about British subjects. So you end up with some pages about British topics which use the "correct" style and others which don't. According to Mav's latest update to the policy page, the opinion of the person who invested the most work in the page should be respected. The result: more inconsistency.

 * Now I would love a solution that eliminates all inconsistency. But Mav tells me that the Brits will start World War III if this comes to pass, so I won't hold my breath. But a real compromise would entail that the British users of Wikipedia give up at least some of the privileges they cleverly obtained, which would be the case if we kept the Month Day format (which was never changed in accordance with the expressed wishes of the majority of users) the official standard on all pages. This makes me unhappy, because I still have spelling inconsistency on some pages. And it makes you unhappy, because you have to type ugly dates or tolerate that people change them. So it's a compromise. What we currently have is a segment of Wikipedia with different rules: the "UK-pedia". If that becomes official policy, we should take the next logical step, set up "uk.wikipedia.org", and move all articles about British subjects there. --Eloquence 06:06 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I really have to laugh at all of this. Wikipedia purports to be an english language encyclopædia. Yet it is unashamably US orientated. Worldwide most people use British english or variations on BE (including two of the world's biggest states population-wise, India and Nigeria). BE is used throughout every state of the commonwealth as either the the main or a subsidiary language. AE is in a minority worldwide. Yet wiki that purports to an english language encyclopædia is overwhelmingly written in AE, the language of one english-speaking country the US. Most of its articles are written from a US perspective, focusing on US issues, US agendas, etc. And when it comes to dating systems, almost every state in the world uses dd/mm/yy. The main one that doesn't is the US. And which format is mainly used on wiki? mm/dd/yy. Put bluntly wiki is so americocentric it irritates non-Americans mad.

Lets take examples: today's main page.

 * in the news - Harry Potter (written in AE, with AE dating), Same sex marriages in Canada (US dating) monkeypox (This page was recently featured on TV the article says. No. it featured on US TV. Most of the world never saw that.) Martha Stewart (US orientated article using US dating), Eric Robert Rudolph. (ditto). That's 5 out of 5.

 * recent deaths - 3 out of 5 US, 1 brit, 1 Canada. All 5 written in AE with AE dating.

 * New articles - United Kingdom National Physical Laboratory (yippee. Something that isn't about the US. But as it carries no dates it doesn't fit into either camp. Alaska range - AE on an American topic. Gartner - US company written about using AE. Child sexuality - written in AE. But then the article isn't about Child sexuality at all. It is about American child sexuality, and contains a sub-heading America Today. Kenelm Digby - a Brit who lived a full century before the US was created. Yet he is written about in American english, using American spelling, and American dating. 10 Rillington Place - written about a British topic by British people but which Eloquence wants to americanise. (The fact that it is currently in BE and uses rest of the world dates is simply because Eloquence's attempts have been, and will continue to be, reverted.)

 * Historical Anniversaries - June 22 (so we know where that comes from!) Flag of Greenland: AE, AE dating. Midsummer: AE, AE dating. New Hampshire - US topic, AE, AE dating Manchester Mark I - computer developed in the UK, but no matter, AE, AE dating. Tennis Court Oath - about France. Written in AE, AE dating. Flight to Varennes - about France but AE capitalisation but shock of shocks, an article that doesn't have AE dating and instead uses the dating system the French and the rest of the world but the US uses. Woopee! Lizzie Borden famous American alleged murderer; AE, AE dating. Ed Sullivan Show US TV programme, AE, AE dating. GIF - some BE spelling but of course AE dating. Federal Communications Commission yet another US orientated site written for americans using AE and AE dating. Rosenbergs - surprise, surprise, yet another American article about an american topic for american readers using american english and american dating.

So, out of 28 articles on the main page, 2 use the form of dates used by the entire world. The rest, including those few articles that aren't about American topics, are written in a form of date that almost nobody but the US uses. And of those two, Eloquence is determined to turn one of them into US dating, even though it is the work of a non-american, is about a non-american subject and is using the dating system that the entire world other than americans uses.

The funny thing is that wiki claims to be an english language encyclopædia. Except or course that it is anything but. It is written for Americans to suit Americans, using the language Americans like and the dating system they and they almost alone use. And when anyone has the audacity to use a form that the entire world but America uses, all hell erupts, from people who claim that non-standard grammatical idioms, non-standard spelling, non-standard dating, non-standard capitalisation are being forced on wiki. Actually it is wiki who is forcing non-standard english usage on every other potential english language wiki reader outside the US, because to the millions in Britain and in Ireland, the millions of english language users in Europe, the billions of english language users in Austral-asia, India, South Africa and elsewhere, the vast majority of users of english on the planet, wiki's perferred house style is completely alien and foreign.

But then that is simply the tip of the iceburg. The entire world uses the word car. So do any americans. But a lot of americans use automobile. Any guesses under which name the article appears? When non-Americans (and some americans) suggested moving the article, americans queued to say how unfair it was, how it was called an automobile so what was the problem calling it that? During the Iraq war, non-Americans had to fight to get the right usage of the Iraqi dictator's name. The world correctly referred to Saddam, because that is his surname. But some Americans went ballistic and kept trying to calling him Hussein. After all that's what NBC Nightly News called him! The fact that it was wrong didn't enter into it. It was a question for some (not all!) of 'how dare you propose to use a name we regard as his first name!"

When someone created a page on First Lady, it was written as exclusively being about the US First Lady. It never seemed to dawn on people that over 150 countries have first ladies. When I renamed the page to rename it to state that it was simply about the US First Lady, I got told off by someone who didn't see the need. 'Sure everyone knows it is about the US First Lady' I was told. 'The article doesn't need to say that.' Oh really? And how then do we refer to the first ladies in the rest of the world? We have pages and pages of lists about most watched TV programmes and films in a particular year. The lists are exclusively about the US. Yet to suggest that their name be changed simply to saw Top Ten TV shows in the US in 1966 was like committing a heresy. Again the idea that there might be a different list in Germany, France, Nigeria, Russia, Chile or elsewhere didn't seem to dawn on people, just as nobody thought to say in the Monkeypox page that the page had featured on US TV. Billions of people never heard of this. Billions never saw it on their TV screens. But to make that distinction would be seen to be anti-American. One article relating to abortion had the experiences of other countries shuffled off to daughter articles to make way for more information on America. When I complained I was told I was being anti-american and anyway, America's experience was "particularly important". Obviously everyone else's wasn't!

That is why there is such resentment over the issue on BE usage on wiki, and why, as Mav said, there would be WWIII if Eloquence had his way. He seems to think that all the world's english speakers should be made to conform to American english on wiki, and that if somehow that does not happen, wiki will be destroyed by inconsistency. Most of the rest of the world finds wiki's pre-occupation with american english, and with americanising anything and everything irritating. They understand how it can happen, and do not suspect it of being some sort of attempt to force AE on people. It is just that an encyclopædia most of whose contributors are American, isn't always aware of its own americocentrism. And that americocentrism is damaging wiki's ability to be a genuine worldwide-used source book. Why should the rest of the world be forced to read about the history of England, the history of Ireland, the history of Russia, through Americanised articles? While should people from Ireland, who never ever ever ever use the mm/dd/yy format be forced to read their fifth president's birth date in an American format that they no more want to use or see than the British want, the French want, the South Africans want? And all this on an encyclopædia that is supposed to be an english language encyclopædia, not an American english encyclopædia? Why should the British queen have to have her birth date americanised? Why should Nelson Mandela have to have his birth date americanised? It is as insulting to South Africans, the Irish and the British to force them to have their history americanised as it would be for Americans to have their history written in British english. It isn't as if non-American users are demanding that wiki be written in BE. All they are asking for is that a supposedly world-wide english encyclopædia allow the use of world-wide english, rather than force everyone in the world to confirm to what suits americans and a small number of non-Americans like Eloquence.

There is no technical problem whatsoever with allowing articles to vary the date form between the two forms of english. No-one is saying change everything to British english. But if wiki was to follow the date rules of each state in which english is spoken, American english would be restricted to entries about the US and maybe some other states on the American continent. When the issue was debated, it was clear that there was no consensus on any one form of date. But there was clear evidence that many users were deeply unhappy at being expected to use American dating, something which other than on wiki most would avoid using like the plague. It was in view of that the an understanding grew that people could use whichever form they would normally use. The clear impression was left with people that mm/dd/yy, which had always been optional, never mandatory, was now totally optional, with a full system or redirects for every date available. I specifically asked whether I could interpret the debate as meaning either form could be used. I was told, as others were told, that the idea of enforcing mm/dd/yy was dead in the water. I specifically asked whether as of now can I stop using that form. I as told yes, how the redirects were now in place. I suggested that in that case the MoS be adapted to formally change that. I was told that would be done, but in any case the MoS was purely advisory. People had always had the right to ignore it. In fact, of those discussing the issue I was almost the very last one to stop using mm/dd/yy, because I wanted to make sure it was OK and that redirects were in place.

The situation is quite simple. I and all the other people who abandoned the use of the mm/dd/yy format have no intention whatsoever of going back to it. I have no intention of changing any articles to that format, other than those that specifically are about America and so should be in American english using american dates. The solution that whatever Eloquence thinks was agreed in the debate, provided a workable method of dealing with the issue. Eloquence's suggestion of either dropping British english or dd/mm/yy is ludicrous in the extreme. As I have shown, the vast majority of articles written on non-american topics are written in AE with AE dating. It is frankly insulting to tell non-Americans that they must choose between having to write in American english or take american english dating, because they must have one. Non-Americans have put up with a lot in working on wikipedia; I've had people not merely try to americanise things I write but even change things I wrote on talk pages to American english! If Eloquence wants an American english dictionary so badly he can always go off and set one up. But as he seems to be forgetting, this is english wikipedia, not just american-english wikipedia. And the form of english that most of the world uses, and the form of dates that most of the world uses, has as much right to be on english wiki as American english and American dating.

The final words come from the Manual of Style which Eloquence seems to love quoting so much. He seems to constantly miss this bit:

Writers are NOT expected or required to follow all or any of these rules In the circumstances it is abusive of fellow wikipedians and of a potential worldwide readership to presume the right to americanise the work of non-americans, particularly when the Manual of Style makes it crystal clear that they don't have to write in AE. In view of that, any attempt to americanise the work of non-American users would be in breach of the Manual of Style. If such an attempt is made, it will be undone.

Users of British English have been more than accomodating to American english users. Articles that logically should have been in British english but which were written in American english have been left in that state. Articles on American topics that had a mixture of AE and BE have been converted to AE by BE users. I turned on two line stub into a very large article recently. As it had been started in AE, I wrote it all in AE, even though that meant using spellings and constructions that I would never normally use. BE users have bent over backwards to accomodate AE. And many though not AE users have been similarly accomodating towards BE users. It would be nice if AE users like Eloquence showed the same courtesy for a change. FearÉIREANN 11:49 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Conciseness is a virtue, Jtdirl... Martin

 * It should also be noted that MoS is a set of conventions not policies. Eloquence has been throwing the "p-word" around in respect to this issue and that is plain wrong. Oh, and I agree that we should tolerate both date and spelling styles. --mav 13:24 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I think it's time for us to put on our Blue Hats and try to decide on a method for finding a resolution to this thorny problem. I propose two votes, one after the other, with a one month fixed polling interval for each, and a one month interval between the two for any procedural objections to be raised.

Note that much is generally agreed on, such as having a maximum of one date format per page, and we don't need to revisit old ground. Similarly, nobody believes that anyone should be forced to write in any particular format

Vote One

 * Should the Wikipedia article on the first day of August live at? If Wikipedia later decides to encourage (however mildly) a particular format, this vote also determines which format is encouraged.
 * 1 August
 * August 1
 * none of the above / return of nominations

Vote Two
If option one is picked, the second vote is:

 * When Wikipedians are copyediting articles written entirely in August 1, 2003 format, should they:
 * if they wish, change dates to 1 August 2003 format
 * leave dates untouched
 * none of the above / return of nominations

If option two is picked, the second vote is:

 * When Wikipedians are copyediting articles written entirely in 1 August 2003 format, should they:
 * if they wish, change dates to August 1, 2003 format
 * leave dates untouched
 * none of the above / return of nominations

If option three is picked, we try and figure out why... ;-) Hopefully, by having two seperate votes, rather than a single combined one, we're more likely to get a clear result. However, votes are easy things to rig (accidentally or not), so I welcome alternative. Martin

I think debating over European vs. American date format is really silly and hitting a straw man. I will ask an hypothetical question: Why even stick to the Gregorian calendar? what about the Islamic calendar, Hindu calendar, Japanese calendar etc.. This is not a provocative question, but a matter of international standards. English is not the property of Americans nor British nor anyone else. It is the current standard of communication between foreign nations, and is spoken in many places as a second or first language.

Suggesting that a date format like December 20, 2003 is US-centeric is the most idiotic (and straw-manish) thing I have ever heard. There are much worst systematic biases on the encyclopedia that are constantly being practiced and communally ignored.

The votes for both formats seem about even. I will challenge further, let's not get a majority (that in my opinion won't bring anything except a green ticket for forcing someone's writing style over another person of the minority), let's get a consensus, I see three possible solutions:

 * 1) Software mechanism that translates any date/time (don't forget time!) format to the one preferred by the user. (More problematic to implement and use than the third option)
 * 2) ISO formatting (ISO 8601). The same silliness to endlessly fight over the use of Pound vs Kilogram, Meter vs. Feet etc. can be resolved with adopting international standards. -- I retract from endorsing this, too computerized style

 * 1) A combination of both. Using ISO units (during editing) will be mandatory, that would be only markup standard the software will recognize. It will render it to whatever format the user had chosen in their preferences. Possibly even to different calendars, including the Japanese calendar, Chinese calendar etc. (can be useful for Wikipedias in different languages).

 * Note: other date units and formatting will still be officially acceptable by the policies, but wouldn't be rendered by the software to anything.

Rotem Dan 13:17 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Please no. Adopting ISO as the standard is forcing people to write like machines. But having the software convert one date format to be displayed in the format set in a user's prefs seems like a neat idea. But the defaults should show whatever the explicit WikiCode is. --mav

 * ISO 8601 is the standard for Information interchange between computers. It's not a standard for displaying dates and times to humans. This was covered in the archive, I believe.
 * An (efficient) software solution would be very lovely, and, if it ever exists, I'm sure it will be widely welcomed. However, we still need a solution in the interim. Martin 13:29 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * I think the interim solution is what we have now. -- Rotem Dan 13:34 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Finally, some common sense in this silly argument. Is the notation for writing dates or spelling the word color/colour the most important issues facing Wikipedia? As for the Americocentrism/Eurocentrism debate, it is all a bunch of rhetoric--"I don't like your system because it is you-centric, so lets move over to my system which is me-centric." Voting is not the resolution either. Frankly, there are more Americans than British, Irish, Australians, South Africans, and New Zealanders, combined, and then there are the Canadians ... In other words, one group is numerically far more powerful, so in theory, the vote will always go in their favor anyway. It's just the tyranny of the majority. I suggest putting a moratiorum on it for a while. Work on really improving Wikipedia, and have everyone stop trying to score points for their personal systems. Even if we decide now, the debate will pop up again in a couple of months and all the old animosities will flare again. Give it a break! There are so many more important things to do. Danny

 * That is exactly why JT and I think Wikipedia should tolerate both formats in the same way we already tolerate different spelling styles. If people just use the date and spelling styles most comfortable to them (where appropriate) then we can get back to work on the important stuff (like CONTENT). --mav

I never raised this issue. Eloquence did. Not only am I happy to tolerate both formats. I have been writing in both formats. As far as I am concerned, both formats should be used. But this issue arose because Eloquence decided that one format was unacceptable and decided to turn an article on a British topic into American english and american dating, to the fury of a British user who asked me to intervene. As to Danny's claim that I suggested "I don't like your system because it is you-centric, so lets move over to my system which is me-centric", that is the exact opposite of what I said. I said that using the American system exclusively (Eloquence's idea) is disrespectful to the billions who use dd/mm/yy and BE. The corollory is true. To use BE and dd/mm/yy exclusively would be disrespectful to the billions who use the other system. All I have asked for is respect for both sides, and pointed out that wiki (unstandably given its current user numbers) is americocentric, and exclusively using an american dating system makes that even more so. Both sides should be shown respect. That was what I asked for. FearÉIREANN 13:56 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Actually, I had no idea that it was you who said that. I was talking in generalities. It seems that we agree entirely then. I apologize if it seems as if I misconstrued what you said. In general, I am opposed to the voting system being imposed now to come to a final resolution of the conflict and think that both sides are valid. (Well, actually, I will be a lot happier knowing that I can use the European format, which is what I am most comfortable with, but that's neither here nor there.) Sorry again if I wasn't clear. Danny

We're not talking about using numerical dates here, are we? (jim)

 * No Jim, we're not talking about numerical dates - there's been near-unanimous agreement that numerical dates are inappropriate. -mrd

So what's the problem? Vote 1: the vast majority of the pages reside in the American form, why change it? Is that really an issue? (jim)

 * All 366 date articles currently reside in the American form.
 * Judging from the ~100K of discussion here, yes it is an issue, for some people. If you don't think it's an issue, then don't vote. -mrd

 * No. It is simply that if someone writing a topic on Britain, Ireland or Europe, where they use a different date format, that can be used without Eloquence announcing 'sorry. I'm not allowing that. All pages have to follow the American format. Non americans for months have been following a format that allowed for flexiibility. ALL I want, we want, is to be allowed to continue doing that. Eloquence wants to change it and have only the american format used. FearÉIREANN 14:25 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

As for vote two, I can't see how anyone could choose anything other than "leave the dates unchanged". (I'm a BE user) -- Jim Regan 13:58 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * And yet, Eloquence (and others) wish to choose otherwise. If you disagree with them, then I suggest you vote appropriately. Martin

 * And I suggest we cut out the voting entirely. All it does is create two opposing camps and help to fortify people in their positions. Consensus will eventually be reached, perhaps even by some creative solution. Meanwhile, even the way the vote is posed indicates some bias in the way the person who posed the options. Meanwhile, the voting is so close that it just takes one or two more new people to tip the balance either way. In a flash of disgust I add--unless people take some particularly perverse pleasure in seeing people feud here, drop the subject. Danny

 * Danny, we pretty much ''did' drop the subject for about four and a half months, if you look at the page history of this page - all that happened in the interim was a few votes being cast and a bit of village pump discussion on unrelated subjects. Really, if you think this discussion is a waste of time, that's fine - you don't have to get involved with it. Martin 14:37 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Martin, are you saying that we managed just fine for four and a half months without debate so it is time to fan the fires again? By the way, I am not thrilled with your patronizing attitude. I am getting involved, and I am proposing a solution. As for your summary that it has "zero votes", check again. It already has two. I suspect that when more people see it, they will consider voting that way too. Danny

 * I'm not being patronising, nor am I fanning any fires, nor do I get perverse pleasure in seeing people feud. Congratulations on your (now) three votes - a good start. Martin 15:37 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

OFFTOPIC: Hm. Just wondering about the claim that Wikipedia is dominated by American users. Every time I look around I see a great many non-American users and not as many American users. Maybe I'm just not seeing my own kind. But then it may not be just a numerical thing; Americans may just be a bit more pushy and prone to Wikiholism. :) --mav

heh. I think culturally America is quite dominant in wiki. It isn't deliberate or premeditated. We all see the world from our own experiences and America historically can sometimes misjudge the world outside it, because its sheer size means 'the world outside' may be 1000 miles away from some people. Where I am right now, it is 80 miles away up the road in Northern Ireland. I get Irish TV, British TV, French TV, etc. In the US, you get US TV, most people travel within the one country. America is like many countries rolled into one in one sense. Yet it has its diversity. But its sheer size makes it more self focused and so makes it harder to understand what is happening outside its border. If I was running wiki in Ireland, for example, I could not hope to fill a front page just with Irish stories. There would not be enough of them. So due to issues of scale, it would have to have a highly international flavour. But America's size can both protect itself and isolate itself from the outside world. Yet it itself may not realise the extent of its own isolation. One of the thing I enjoy most about wiki is its internationalism but also its americanism. But it does have to be careful not to become so America-preoccupied that it spends all its time looking at itself and loses contact with the world outside itself. FearÉIREANN 14:25 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Wow. Well, as the person who wrote the 10 Rillington Place article which restarted this whole debate, I am amazed at the controversy that has been stirred up. I wrote the article about an incident in British history, including I think 6 dates in British format, which seems the logical way to do it. I watched and voted in the debate on date formats last March and was strongly of the opinion that it had been agreed that either date-before-the-month or date-after-the-month was acceptable provided that we didn't mix them in the same article. I and many others have been happily creating articles on that basis for more than three months, and until Eloquence took it upon himself to needlessly switch dates around yesterday (and in the process lose a non-date link in the article) nobody seemed unhappy with this compromise. What is so desperately important that all dates in Wikipedia have to have the same format? It is clear to see that this is a question which can arouse passions, so why not just revert to the status quo ante yesterday when either can be used, and avoid unnecessary edit wars and votes? -- Arwel 14:39 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * I [...] was strongly of the opinion that it had been agreed that either [...] was acceptable

Where did you get that opinion from? I've been trying to find any hint of such an agreement, and so far I can't. Martin 14:42 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * The vote showed that those wanting dd/mm/yy or to allow both well outnumbered those wanting to keep just mm/dd/yy. The creation of redirect pages for all dates from "date Month" to "Month date" was also, I think, a pretty good sign that people were under the impression that we'd agreed to allow either format. -- Arwel 19:33 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Put a moratorium on the subject for at least 6 months. Use whatever people want in the meantime.

This "solution" amuses me. So Eloquence gets to do what he wants (which is to change articles to have a month/day format), and Jtdirl gets to do what he wants (which is to revert Eloquence whenever he does so). And this is going to reduce feuding? ;-) Martin 14:52 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * The vote was badly formed and there was no clear winner. Therefore we have been in limbo this whole time without a convention on this issue. Things were working so nicely during those 4 months too. Now we are dealing with this crap again. --mav

 * Amen to that -live and let live (although FearÉIREANN's passionate plea almost convinced me that IONA is a good idea). Attempts to force a single style invariably leads to US v the rest divide, and ends up with a stand-off anyway. Pax vobiscum    jimfbleak 15:07 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Walt Disney's Comics

I'm not quite sure why Walt Disney's Comics and Stories redirects here and not vice versa, since the title of the comic is Walt Disney's Comics and Stories and not Walt Disney's Comics, and I don't remember ever hearing anyone using this contracted form. Am I missing something? Lazarus Long 13:17 23 Jun 2003 (UTC)

So I moved it. Lazarus Long 20:28 4 Jul 2003 (UTC)

title: Talk:Walt Disney's Comics


text:
Edward Brooke

Edward William Brooke III (October 26, 1919 – January 3, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1967 to 1979. A member of the Republican Party, he was the first African American elected to the United States Senate by popular vote. Prior to serving in the Senate, he served as the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1963 until 1967. Edward Brooke was the first African-American since Reconstruction in 1874 to have been elected to the United States Senate and he was the first African-American United States senator since 1881 to have held a United States Senate seat. Edward Brooke was also the first African-American United States senator ever to have been re-elected to the United States Senate.

Born to a middle-class black family, Brooke was raised in Washington, D.C. After attending Howard University, he graduated from Boston University School of Law in 1948 after serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. Beginning in 1950, he became involved in politics, when he ran for a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. After serving as chairman of the Boston Finance Commission, Brooke was elected attorney general in 1962, becoming the first African-American to be elected attorney general of any state.

He served as attorney general for four years, before running for Senate in 1966. In the election, he defeated Democratic former Governor Endicott Peabody in a landslide, and was seated on January 3, 1967. In the Senate, Brooke aligned with the liberal faction in the Republican party. He co-wrote the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which prohibited housing discrimination. He was re-elected to a second term in 1972, after defeating attorney John Droney. Brooke became a prominent critic of Republican President Richard Nixon, and was the first Senate Republican to call for Nixon's resignation in light of the Watergate scandal. In 1978, he ran for a third term, but was defeated by Democrat Paul Tsongas. After leaving the Senate, Brooke practiced law in Washington, D.C., and was affiliated with various businesses and nonprofit organizations. Brooke died in 2015, at his home in Coral Gables, Florida, at the age of 95, and was the last living former U.S. senator born in the 1910s.

Early life and education
Edward William Brooke III was born on October 26, 1919, in Washington, D.C., to a middle-class black family. His father Edward William Brooke Jr. was a lawyer and graduate of Howard University who worked with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and his mother was Helen (née Seldon) Brooke. He was the second of three children. Brooke was raised in a racially segregated environment that was "insulated from the harsh realities of the Deep South", with Brooke rarely interacting with the white community. He attended Dunbar High School—then one of the most prestigious academic high schools for African Americans—and graduated in 1936. After graduating, he enrolled in Howard University, where he first considered studying in medicine, before ending up studying social studies and political science. Brooke graduated from university in 1941, with a bachelor of science degree, After serving in the US Army during World War II, Brooke graduated from the Boston University School of Law in 1948. "I never studied much at Howard," he later reflected, "but at Boston University, I didn't do much else but study."

Military service
Brooke enlisted in the United States Army immediately following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He saw combat in Italy as a member of the segregated 366th Infantry Regiment. Brooke spent 195 days with his unit in Italy. There, his fluent Italian and his light skin enabled him to cross enemy lines to communicate with Italian partisans. By the end of the war, Brooke had attained the rank of captain, a Bronze Star Medal, and a Distinguished Service Award.

Brooke's time in the army exposed him to the inequality and racism which existed in the army system. This, combined with the signing of Executive Order 9066, led him to rethink his support of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His time in the army also changed his perception of race, with him meeting his future-wife Remigia Ferrari-Scacco in Italy. He reasoned that "race had not mattered during our courtship in Italy, and therefore it should not have mattered in the United States".

Early career
After graduating from Boston University, Brooke worked as a lawyer. He declined offers to join established law firms, instead opening his own law practice in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston.

Politics
Brooke began his foray in politics in 1950, when, at the urging of friends from his former army unit, Brooke ran for a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Brooke didn't affiliate with both of the major parties, choosing instead to run in both the Democratic and Republican primaries. He won the Republican nomination, and was endorsed by the party, but lost the general election in a landslide to his Democratic opponent. Two years later, he ran again for the same seat, but again lost the election to the same Democratic opponent. In 1960, Brooke ran for secretary of state; he won the Republican nomination, becoming the first black person to be nominated for statewide office in Massachusetts. However, he lost the election to future-mayor of Boston Kevin White, whose campaign issued a bumper sticker saying, "Vote White," a reference to Brooke's race.

Despite losing the secretary's race to White, the closeness of the results led to Republican leaders taking notice of Brooke's potential. Governor John Volpe sought to reward Brooke for his efforts, and offered him a number of jobs, most of them judicial in nature. Seeking a position with a higher political profile, Brooke eventually accepted the position of Finance Commission of Boston, where he investigated financial irregularities and uncovered evidence of corruption in city affairs. He was described in the press as having "the tenacity of a terrier", and it was reported that he "restore[d] to vigorous life an agency which many had thought moribund." He parlayed his achievements into a successful election as Attorney General of Massachusetts in 1962, becoming the first African-American to be elected attorney general of any state.

As attorney general, Brooke gained a reputation as a vigorous prosecutor of organized crime and corruption, securing convictions against a number of members of the administration of governor Foster Furcolo; an indictment against Furcolo was dismissed due to lack of evidence. He also coordinated with local police departments on the Boston Strangler case, although the press mocked him for permitting an alleged psychic to participate in the investigation. In 1964, following the nomination of Barry Goldwater as the Republican party's nominee for president, Brooke found Goldwater's nomination offensive. He publicly broke with the party, and implored Republicans "not to invest in the 'pseudo-conservatism' of zealots". His public repudiation of Goldwater actually helped Brooke win re-election in 1964, as he won by a plurality of nearly 800,000. Encouraged by an outpour of positive support, Brooke continued to offer blunt criticisms of the Republicans, though he began softening his rhetoric by proposing strategies to rebuild the Republican party. This included an off-year national convention to "hammer out an agreement for the future of the party" and "draft a responsible platform to address bread-and-butter issues". By 1965, Brooke had emerged as the main Republican spokesman for racial equality, despite "never rallying his race to challenge segregation barriers with the inspirational fervor of a Martin Luther King."

First term (1967–1973)
In 1966, Brooke defeated former Governor Endicott Peabody with 1,213,473 votes to Peabody's 744,761, and served as a United States senator for two terms, from January 3, 1967, to January 3, 1979. The black vote had, Time wrote, "no measurable bearing" on the election as less than 3% of the state's population was black, and Peabody also supported civil rights for blacks. Brooke said, "I do not intend to be a national leader of the Negro people", and the magazine said that he "condemned both Stokely Carmichael and Georgia's Lester Maddox" as extremists; his historic election nonetheless gave Brooke "a 50-state constituency", the magazine wrote, "a power base that no other Senator can claim".

Brooke said "In all my years in the Senate, I never encountered an overt act of hostility". He recalled visiting the swimming pool at the Russell Senate Office Building, where segregationists John C. Stennis, John Little McClellan, and Strom Thurmond invited the new senator to join them in the water. "There was no hesitation or ill will that I could see. Yet these were men who consistently voted against legislation that would have provided equal opportunity to others of my race ... it was increasingly evident that some members of the Senate played on bigotry purely for political gain".

Tenure
A member of the moderate-to-liberal Northeastern wing of the Republican Party, Brooke organized the Senate's "Wednesday Club" of progressive Republicans who met for Wednesday lunches and strategy discussions. Brooke, who supported Michigan Governor George W. Romney and New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller's bids for the 1968 GOP presidential nomination against Richard Nixon's, often differed with President Nixon on matters of social policy and civil rights. In 1967, Brooke was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP.

In 1967, Brooke went to Vietnam on a three-week trip as a fact-finding mission. During his first formal speech in the Senate following the trip, he reversed his previous position on the Vietnam War that increased negotiations with the North Vietnamese rather than an escalation of the fighting were needed. He began to favor President Johnson's "patient" approach to Vietnam as he had been convinced that "the enemy is not disposed to participate in any meaningful negotiations".

By his second year in the Senate, Brooke had taken his place as a leading advocate against discrimination in housing and on behalf of affordable housing. With Walter Mondale, a Minnesota Democrat and fellow member of the Senate Banking Committee, he co-authored the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in housing. The Act also created HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity as the primary enforcer of the law. President Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act into law on April 11, one week after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Dissatisfied with the weakened enforcement provisions that emerged from the legislative process, Brooke repeatedly proposed stronger provisions during his Senate career. In 1969, Congress enacted the "Brooke Amendment" to the federal publicly assisted housing program which limited the tenants' out-of-pocket rent expenditure to 25 percent of their income. Additionally, Brooke voted in favor of the confirmation of Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court.

During the Nixon presidency, Brooke opposed repeated Administration attempts to close down the Job Corps and the Office of Economic Opportunity and to weaken the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission—all foundational elements of President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society.

In 1969, Brooke spoke at Wellesley College's commencement against "coercive protest" and was understood by some students as calling protesters "elite ne'er-do-wells" Then student government president Hillary Rodham departed from her planned speech to rebut Brooke's words, affirming the "indispensable task of criticizing and constructive protest," for which she was featured in Life magazine.

On June 9, 1969, Brooke voted in favor of President Nixon's nomination of Warren E. Burger as Chief Justice of the United States following the retirement of Earl Warren. Brooke was a leader of the bipartisan coalition that defeated the Senate confirmation of Clement Haynsworth, President Nixon's nominee to the Supreme Court on November 21, 1969. A few months later, he again organized sufficient Republican support to defeat Nixon's third Supreme Court nominee Harrold Carswell on April 8, 1970. The following month, Nixon nominee Harry Blackmun (who later wrote the Roe v. Wade opinion) was confirmed on May 12, 1970, with Brooke voting in favor. On December 6, 1971, Brooke voted in favor of Nixon's nomination of Lewis F. Powell Jr., while on December 10, Brooke voted against Nixon's nomination of William Rehnquist as Associate Justice. On December 17, 1975, Brooke voted in favor of President Gerald Ford's nomination of John Paul Stevens to the Supreme Court.

Relations with the White House and 1972 election
Despite Brooke's disagreements with Nixon, the president reportedly respected the senator's abilities; after Nixon's election he had offered to make Brooke a member of his cabinet, or appoint him as ambassador to the UN. The press discussed Brooke as a possible replacement for Spiro Agnew as Nixon's running mate in the 1972 presidential election. While Nixon retained Agnew, Brooke was re-elected in 1972, defeating Democrat John J. Droney by a vote of 64%–35%. Edward Brooke was the first African-American United States senator ever to have been re-elected to the United States Senate.

Tenure
Before the first year of his second term ended, Brooke became the first Republican to call on President Nixon to resign, on November 4, 1973, shortly after the Watergate-related "Saturday night massacre". He repeated the recommendation in a meeting with Nixon at the White House on November 13, 1973. He had risen to become the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee and on two powerful Appropriations subcommittees, Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS) and Foreign Operations. From these positions, Brooke defended and strengthened the programs he supported; for example, he was a leader in enactment of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which ensured married women the right to establish credit in their own name.

In 1974, with Indiana senator Birch Bayh, Brooke led the fight to retain Title IX, a 1972 amendment to the Higher Education Act of 1965, which guarantees equal educational opportunity (including athletic participation) to girls and women.

In 1975, with the extension and expansion of the Voting Rights Act at stake, Brooke faced Stennis in "extended debate" and won the Senate's support for the extension. In 1976, he also took on the role of supporter of wide-scale, legalized abortion. The Appropriations bill for HHS became the battleground over this issue because it funds Medicaid. The Anti-abortion movement fought, eventually successfully, to prohibit funding for abortions of low-income women insured by Medicaid. Brooke led the fight against restrictions in the Senate Appropriations Committee and in the House–Senate Conference until his defeat. The press again speculated on his possible candidacy for the Vice Presidency as Gerald Ford's running mate in 1976, with Time calling him an "able legislator and a staunch party loyalist".

In Massachusetts, Brooke's support among Catholics weakened due to his stance on abortion. During the 1978 re-election campaign, the state's bishops spoke in opposition to his leading role.

Post-Senate life
After leaving the Senate, Brooke practiced law in Washington, D.C., first as a partner at the Washington firm of O'Connor & Hannan; later of counsel to Csaplar & Bok in Boston. He also served as chairman of the board of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. In 1984 he was selected as chairman of the Boston Bank of Commerce, and one year later was named to the board of directors of Grumman.

In 1992, a Brooke assistant stated in a plea agreement as part of an investigation into corruption at the Department of Housing and Urban Development that Brooke had falsely answered questions about whether he or the assistant had tried to improperly influence HUD officials on behalf of housing and real estate developers who had paid large consulting fees to Brooke. The HUD investigation ended with no charges being brought against Brooke.

In 1996, Brooke became the first chairman of the World Policy Council, a think tank of Alpha Phi Alpha, an African-American fraternity. The Council's purpose is to expand the fraternity's involvement in politics, and social and current policy to encompass international concerns. In 2006 Brooke served as the council's chairman emeritus and was honorary chairman at the Centennial Convention of Alpha Phi Alpha held in Washington, D.C.

Political positions
Edward Brooke was a self-described moderate or liberal Republican, generally referred to as Rockefeller Republicans. On social issues he was a liberal who supported civil rights, women's rights, and civil liberties such as gay rights. On economic issues he was fiscally conservative, but was pragmatic about it; he still allowed that "There are things that people can't do for themselves and therefore government must do it for them".

During the 2008 presidential election, Brooke indicated in a WBUR-FM interview that he favored Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

Awards and honors

 * Presidential Medal of Freedom
 * Congressional Gold Medal, presented on October 28, 2009, two days after Brooke's 90th birthday At his 2009 Congressional Gold Medal Acceptance speech, Brooke scolded policymakers for excessive partisan bickering.
 * Bronze Star Medal
 * Adam Clayton Powell Award (Phoenix Award) in 1979
 * Jeremy Nicholson Negro Achievement Award, acknowledging his outstanding contributions to the African-American community
 * The Edward W. Brooke Courthouse (dedicated June 20, 2000) in Boston; part of the Massachusetts Trial Court system and houses the Central Division of the Boston Municipal Court, Boston Juvenile Court, Family Court, and Boston Housing Court, among others.
 * In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Edward Brooke on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.

Personal life and death
Brooke had an affair with broadcast journalist Barbara Walters in the 1970s. Walters stated that the affair was ended to protect their careers from scandal.

Brooke went through a divorce late in his second term. His finances were investigated by the Senate, and John Kerry, then a prosecutor in Middlesex County, announced an investigation into statements Brooke made in the divorce case. Prosecutors eventually determined that Brooke had made false statements about his finances during the divorce, and that they were pertinent, but not material enough to have affected the outcome. Brooke was not charged with a crime, but the negative publicity cost him some support in his 1978 reelection campaign, and as a result he lost to Paul Tsongas.

In September 2002, Brooke was diagnosed with breast cancer and assumed a national role in raising awareness of the disease among men.

On January 3, 2015, Brooke died at his home in Coral Gables, Florida, at age 95. At the time of his death, he was the last living former U.S. senator born in the 1910s. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

title: Edward Brooke


text:
Yuji Hyakutake

Yuji Hyakutake (百武 裕司) was a Japanese amateur astronomer who discovered Comet C/1996 B2, also known as Comet Hyakutake on January 31, 1996, while using 25×150 binoculars.

Hyakutake graduated from the Kyushu Sangyo University as a photography major and started working at a newspaper in Fukuoka. He first became interested in astronomy after seeing Comet Ikeya–Seki in 1965. He began searching for comets in 1989. In 1993, he moved to Hayato for because “the skies were much clearer there” and so he could better continue his search for comets. His first discovery was Comet C/1995 Y1, on December 26, 1995.

Hyakutake discovered C/1996 B2 while looking for C/1995 Y1, a comet he had discovered a few weeks before.

He died in Kokubu, Kagoshima, in 2002 at age 51 of an aneurysm which had led to internal bleeding.

Asteroid 7291 Hyakutake is named after him.

title: Yuji Hyakutake