text:
Rover Company

The Rover Company Limited was a British car manufacturing company that operated from its base in Solihull, Warwickshire. Its lasting reputation for quality and performance was such that its first postwar model reviewed by Road & Track in 1952 was pronounced finer than any but a Rolls-Royce. Rover also manufactured the Land Rover series from 1948 onwards, which spawned the Range Rover in 1970, and went on to become its most successful and profitable product — with Land Rover eventually becoming a separate company and brand in its own right.

Rover was sold to Leyland Motors in 1967, who had already acquired Standard-Triumph seven years earlier. Initially, Rover maintained a level of autonomy within the Leyland conglomerate, but by 1978, Leyland – by then British Leyland (BL) – had run into severe financial difficulties and had been nationalized by the British Government. Most of the assets of the former Rover Company were moved into a new BL subsidiary named Land Rover Ltd whilst the Rover marque itself continued to be used on other BL products which relied largely on Honda engineering. Nevertheless, Rover ultimately became the most prolific brand within BL and gave its name to the entire conglomerate in the form of the Rover Group in 1986, of which MG, Mini and Land Rover remained a part until the Rover Group was broken up by BMW in 2000.

Currently, the Rover marque is the dormant property of the Rover Company's de facto successor – Jaguar Land Rover (owned by Tata Motors), which still operates out of Rover's Solihull plant.

Early history

After developing a template for the modern bicycle with its Rover Safety Bicycle of 1885, the company moved into the automotive industry. It started building motorcycles then cars using their Viking Longship badge from 1904. All production moved to the Solihull plant after World War II. Land Rover vehicles were developed in 1948 and added to the Rover range.

The first Rover was a tricycle manufactured by Starley & Sutton Co. of Coventry, England, in 1883. The company was founded by John Kemp Starley and William Sutton in 1878. Starley had previously worked with his uncle, James Starley (father of the cycle trade), who began by manufacturing sewing machines and switched to bicycles in 1869.

In the early 1880s, the cycles available were the relatively dangerous penny-farthings and high-wheel tricycles. J.K. Starley made history in 1885 by producing the Rover safety bicycle—a rear-wheel-drive, chain-driven cycle with two similar-sized wheels, making it more stable than the previous high-wheel designs. Cycling Magazine said the Rover had "set the pattern to the world"; the phrase was used in their advertising for many years. Starley's Rover is usually described by historians as the first recognisably modern bicycle.

The words for "bicycle" in Polish (rower) and Belarusian (ро́вар, rovar) are derived from the name of the company. The word ровер (rover) is also used in many parts of Western Ukraine.

In 1889, the company became J.K. Starley & Co. Ltd., and in the late 1890s, the Rover Cycle Company Ltd.

Rover motorcycles
In 1899 John Starley imported some of the early Peugeot motorcycles from France in for experimental development. His first project was to fit an engine to one of his Rover bicycles. Starley died early in October 1901 aged 46 and the business was taken over by entrepreneur H. J. Lawson. The company developed and produced the Rover Imperial motorcycle in November 1902. This was a 3.5 hp diamond-framed motorcycle with the engine in the centre and 'springer' front forks which was ahead of its time. This first Rover motorcycle had innovative features such as a spray carburettor, bottom-bracket engine and mechanically operated valves. With a strong frame with double front down tubes and a good quality finish, over a thousand Rover motorcycles were sold in 1904. The following year, however, Rover stopped motorcycle production to concentrate on their 'safety bicycle' but in 1910 designer John Greenwood was commissioned to develop a new 3.5 hp 500 cc engine with spring-loaded tappets, a Bosch magneto and an innovative inverted tooth drive chain. It had a Brown and Barlow carburettor and Druid spring forks. This new model was launched at the 1910 Olympia show and over 500 were sold.

In 1913 a 'TT' model was launched with a shorter wheelbase and sports handlebars. The 'works team' of Dudley Noble and Chris Newsome had some success and won the works team award.

Rover supplied 499 cc single-cylinder motorcycles to the Russian Army during the First World War. The company began to focus on car production at the end of the war, but Rover still produced motorcycles with 248 cc and 348 cc Rover overhead valve engines and with JAP engines, including a 676 cc V-twin. In 1924 Rover introduced a new lightweight 250 cc motorcycle with unit construction of engine and gearbox. This had lights front and rear as well as a new design of internal expanding brakes.

Poor sales of their motorcycles caused Rover to end motorcycle production and concentrate solely on the production of motor cars. Between 1903 and 1924 Rover had produced more than 10,000 motorcycles.

Early Rover cars
In 1888, Starley made an electric car, but it was never put into production.

Three years after Starley's death in 1901, and H. J. Lawson's subsequent takeover, the Rover company began producing automobiles with the two-seater Rover Eight to the designs of Edmund Lewis, who came from Lawson's Daimler. Lewis left the company to join Deasy in late 1905. He was eventually replaced by Owen Clegg, who joined from Wolseley in 1910 and set about reforming the product range. Short-lived experiments with sleeve valve engines were abandoned, and the 12hp model was introduced in 1912. This car was so successful that all other cars were dropped, and for a while, Rover pursued a "one model" policy. Clegg left in 1912 to join the French subsidiary of Darracq and Company London.

During the First World War, they made motorcycles, lorries to Maudslay designs, and, not having a suitable one of their own, ambulances to a Sunbeam design.

Restructure and reorganisation
The business was not very successful during the 1920s and did not pay a dividend from 1923 until the mid-1930s. In December 1928 the chairman of Rover advised shareholders that the accumulation of the substantial losses of the 1923–1928 years together with the costs of that year's reorganisation must be recognised by a reduction of 60 per cent in the value of capital of the company.

During 1928 Frank Searle was appointed managing director to supervise recovery. Searle was by training a locomotive engineer with motor industry experience at Daimler and, most recently, had been managing director of Imperial Airways. On his recommendation Spencer Wilks was brought in from Hillman as general manager and appointed to the board in 1929. That year, Searle split Midland Light Car Bodies from Rover in an effort to save money and instructed Robert Boyle and Maurice Wilks to design a new small car.

This was the Rover Scarab with a rear-mounted V-twin-cylinder air-cooled engine announced in 1931, a van version was shown at Olympia, but it did not go into production. During this time the Rover 10/25 was introduced, with bodies made by the Pressed Steel Company. This was the same body as used on the Hillman Minx. Prior to this time Rover had been a great supporter of the very light Weymann bodies that went suddenly out of fashion with the demand for shiny coachwork and more curved body shapes. Weymann bodies remained in the factory catalogue until 1933.

Frank Searle and Spencer Wilks set about reorganising the company and moving it upmarket to cater for people who wanted something "superior" to Fords and Austins. In 1930 Spencer Wilks was joined by his brother, Maurice, who had also been at Hillman as chief engineer. Spencer Wilks was to stay with the company until 1962, and his brother until 1963.

The company showed profits in the 1929 and 1930 years but with the economic downturn in 1931 Rover reported a loss of £77,529. 1932 produced a loss of £103,000 but a turn around following yet more reorganisation resulted in a profit of £46,000 in 1933. The new assembly operations in Australia and New Zealand were closed.

Frank Searle left the board near the end of the calendar year 1931, his work done.

Building on successes such as beating the Blue Train for the first time in 1930 in the Blue Train Races, the Wilks Brothers established Rover as a company with several European royal, aristocratic, and governmental warrants, and upper-middle-class and star clients.

Second World War and gas turbines
In the late 1930s, in anticipation of the potential hostilities that would become the Second World War, the British government started a rearmament programme, and as part of this, "shadow factories" were built. These were paid for by the government but staffed and run by private companies. Three were run by Rover: one, at Acocks Green, Birmingham, started operation in 1937, a second, larger one, at Solihull, started in 1940 and the third, at Drakelow Tunnels, Kidderminster, started in 1943. All three were employed making aero engines and airframes. The original main works at Helen Street, Coventry, was severely damaged by bombing in 1940 and 1941 and never regained full production. In early 1940, Rover was approached by Frank Whittle to do work for Whittle's company, Power Jets. This led to a proposal from Power Jets in which Rover would put forward £50,000 of capital in exchange for shares in Power Jets. Rover contacted the Air Ministry (AM) regarding the proposal, which ultimately led to an arrangement between Rover and former Power Jets contractor British Thomson-Houston (BTH) to develop and produce Whittle's jet engine. The Air Ministry had left Whittle and Power Jets out of these negotiations. Rover chief engineer Maurice Wilks led the team to develop the engine, improving the performance over the original Whittle design. The first test engines to the W.2B design were built in Bankfield Shed, a former cotton mill in Barnoldswick, Lancashire which Rover moved into in June 1941 (along with Waterloo Mill in Clitheroe). Testing commenced towards the end of October 1941.

A need for greater expertise within the project, along with difficult relations between Rover management and Frank Whittle (not least because Rover under AM approval had secretly designed a different engine layout, known within Rover as the B.26, which they thought was superior), led to Rover handing over their part in the jet engine project and the Barnoldswick factory to Rolls-Royce in exchange for the latter's Meteor tank engine factory at Ascot Road, Nottingham, the result of a handshake deal between Rover's Spencer Wilks and Rolls-Royce's Ernest Hives made in a local inn in Clitheroe. The official hand-over date was 1 April 1943, though there was a considerable overlap, and several key Rover staff such as Adrian Lombard and John Herriot, the latter being at Rover on secondment from the Air Inspection Department (AID) of the AM, moved to Rolls-Royce. In exchange for the jet engine project and its facilities, Rover was given the contract and production equipment to make Meteor tank engines, which continued until 1964. The Meteor engine was superseded for new tanks in 1962, and as Rover wanted more manufacturing capacity for the Land Rover they transferred the manufacture of Meteor spare parts for the British and other governments back to Rolls-Royce at Shrewsbury. Although Rolls-Royce under Stanley Hooker were soon to be able to start producing the Whittle-designed W.2B/23 engine (known within Rover as the B.23, later named by Rolls-Royce the Welland), they evaluated the 4 Lombard/Herriot re-designed Rover W.2B/B.26 engines under test at the time of the takeover, and selected the Rover design for their own jet engine development (it became the Rolls-Royce Derwent engine).

After the Second World War, the company abandoned Helen Street and bought the two shadow factories. Acocks Green carried on for a while, making Meteor engines for tanks such as the Centurion and Conqueror, and Solihull became the new centre for vehicles, with production resuming in 1947. This was the year Rover produced the Rover 12 Sports Tourer. 200 cars were built for the export market but all had RHD so many cars stayed in the UK. Solihull would become the home of the Land Rover.

Experimental cars
Despite the difficulties experienced with the jet engine project, Rover was interested in the development of the gas turbine engine to power vehicles. In 1945, Rover hired engineers Frank Bell and Spen King away from Rolls-Royce to assist Maurice Wilks in the development of automotive gas turbines. By 1949, the team developed a turbine that ran at 55,000 rpm, produced more than 100 hp, and could run on petrol, paraffin, or diesel oil. Rover's early turbine engines consumed fuel at a rate much greater than piston engines, equivalent to 6 mpgimp. Although fuel consumption was later reduced by using a heat exchanger, it was never as low as that of contemporary piston engines.

In March 1950, Rover showed the JET1 prototype, the first car powered with a gas turbine engine, to the public. JET1, an open two-seat tourer, had the engine positioned behind the seats, air intake grilles on either side of the car, and exhaust outlets on the top of the tail. During tests, the car reached a top speed of 88 mph. After being shown in the United Kingdom and the United States in 1950, JET1 was further developed, and was subjected to speed trials on the Jabbeke highway in Belgium in June 1952, where it exceeded 150 mph. JET1 is currently on display at the London Science Museum.

Four further prototypes were built, the P4-based front-engined T2 and rear-engined T2A saloons, the rear-engined four-wheel-drive T3 coupé, and the front-engined front-wheel drive T4 saloon.

Rover and the BRM Formula One team joined forces to produce the Rover-BRM, a gas turbine-powered sports prototype that entered the 1963 24 hours of Le Mans, driven by Graham Hill and Richie Ginther. It averaged 107.8 mph (173 km/h) and had a top speed of 142 mph (229 km/h).

Rover also ran several experimental diesel engine projects in relation to the Land Rover. The 2-litre, 52 hp diesel unit designed and built by Rover for its 4x4 had entered production in 1956 and was one of Britain's first modern high-speed automotive diesel engines. Experimental projects were undertaken to improve the engine's power delivery, running qualities, and fuel tolerances. British Army requirements led to the development of a multifuel version of the 2.25-litre variant of the engine in 1962, which could run on petrol, diesel, Jet-A, or kerosene. However, the engine's power output when running on low-grade fuel was too low for the Army's uses. Rover developed a highly advanced (for the time) turbodiesel version of its engine in the mid-1960s to power its experimental '129-inch' heavy duty Land Rover designs. This 2.5-litre engine used a turbocharger built by Rover's gas turbine division as well as an intercooler. This was one of the first times these features had been incorporated on such a small-capacity diesel unit, but they were not adopted.

After the Leyland Motor Corporation takeover, the Rover Gas Turbine was used in a number of Leyland trucks, including one shown at the 1968 Commercial Motor Show. Rover gas turbines also powered the first Advanced Passenger Train.

Golden years
The 1950s and '60s were fruitful years for the company. The Land Rover became a runaway success (despite Rover's reputation for making upmarket saloons, the utilitarian Land Rover was actually the company's biggest seller throughout the 1950s, '60s, and '70s), as well as the P5 and P6 saloons equipped with a 3.5L (215ci) aluminium V8 (the design and tooling of which was purchased from Buick) and pioneering research into gas turbine-powered vehicles.

As the '60s drew to a close Rover was working on a number of innovative projects. Having purchased the Alvis company in 1965 Rover was working on a V8-powered supercar to sell under the Alvis name. The prototype, called the P6BS, was completed and the finalised styling and engineering proposal, the P9, was drawn up. Rover was also working on the P8 project which aimed to replace the existing P5 large saloon with a modern design similar in concept to a scaled-up P6.

When Leyland Motors joined with British Motor Holdings and Rover and Jaguar became corporate partners these projects were cancelled to prevent internal competition with Jaguar products. The P8 in particular was cancelled in a very late stage of preparation- Rover had already ordered the dies and stamping equipment for making the car's body panels at Pressed Steel when ordered to stop work.

Rover continued to develop its '100-inch Station Wagon', which became the ground-breaking Range Rover, launched in 1970. This also used the ex-Buick V8 engine as well as the P6's innovative safety-frame body structure design and features such as permanent four-wheel drive and all-round disc brakes. The Range Rover was initially designed as a utility vehicle which could offer the off-road capability of the Land Rover, but in a more refined and car-like package.

Mergers to LMC and BL

In 1967, Rover became part of the Leyland Motor Corporation (LMC), which already owned Triumph. The next year, LMC merged with British Motor Holdings (BMH) to become the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC). Rover was grouped together with Triumph and Jaguar in the Specialist Division, which was the performance-luxury division of BLMC. This was the beginning of the end for the independent Rover Company, as the Solihull-based company's heritage drowned beneath the infamous industrial relations and managerial problems that beset the British motor industry throughout the 1970s.

Whilst Jaguar retained much of its independence within the Specialist Division, the former Rover and Triumph organisations worked on a series of shared projects throughout the 1970s - but the only Rover product to be launched was the Rover SD1 (Specialist Division No.1) in 1976, and was the final car that can be thought of as coming from the original Rover Company lineage, being designed by ex-Rover engineers and was initially produced at Solihull. In 1978, British Leyland created a new subsidiary known as Land Rover Limited which encompassed much of the original assets of the Rover Company and the production of the Series Land Rover and Range Rover, which by now had become one of the beleaguered conglomerate's most profitable product lines. Production of the Rover SD1 moved to the former BMC/Morris plant in Cowley in 1982, signalling the end for Rover-badged car production at the historic Lode Lane site.

Launched under the independent Rover Company pre-merger (1904–1967)

 * 1904–1912 Rover 8
 * 1906–1910 Rover 6
 * 1906–1907 Rover 10/12
 * 1906–1910 Rover 16
 * 1906–1910 Rover 20
 * 1909–1912 Rover 12 2-cylinder
 * 1908–1911 Rover 15
 * 1910–1912 Rover 12 sleeve-valve
 * 1912–1913 Rover 18
 * 1912–1923 Rover 12 Clegg
 * 1919–1925 Rover 8
 * 1922–1923 Rover 6/21
 * 1924–1927 Rover 9/20
 * 1925–1927 Rover 14/45
 * 1926–1929 Rover 16/50
 * 1929–1930 Rover Light Six
 * 1930–1931 Rover Light Twenty
 * 1927–1947 Rover 10
 * 1927–1932 Rover 2-Litre
 * 1932–1934 Rover Meteor 16HP/20HP
 * 1931–1940 Rover Speed 20
 * 1932–1933 Rover Pilot/Speed Pilot
 * 1932–1932 Rover Scarab
 * 1934–1947 Rover 12
 * 1934–1947 Rover 14/Speed 14
 * 1937–1947 Rover 16
 * 1947–1948 Rover 12 Sports Tourer
 * 1948–1978 Land Rover (I/II/III)—In 1978, BL established Land Rover Limited as a separate subsidiary; it took over Land Rover production.
 * 1948–1949 Rover P3 (60/75)
 * 1949–1964 Rover P4 (60/75/80/90/95/100/105/110)
 * 1958–1973 Rover P5 (3-Litre/3.5-Litre)
 * 1963–1976 Rover P6 (2000/2200/3500)

title: Rover Company


text:
Carol Matas

Carol Matas is a Canadian writer. She has had more than forty-three books for young people published over several decades, including science fiction, fantasy, historical, contemporary, realistic fiction, historical fiction and foods science. Her novels often reflect a Jewish perspective, and her best-known are set during the Holocaust. Her books have been highly honored, including having been shortlisted for the Governor General's Awards twice.

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

title: Carol Matas


text:
The Postal Service

The Postal Service is an American indie pop group from Seattle, Washington, consisting of singer Ben Gibbard, producer Jimmy Tamborello, and Jenny Lewis on background vocals.

The band released their sole studio album, Give Up, in 2003 on Sub Pop Records, to mostly positive reviews. The album reached number 114 on the US Billboard 200 album chart and received platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. The group decided to disband two years later, viewing attempts at a follow-up as unnecessary.

The band has regrouped twice for the anniversaries of Give Up, in both 2013 and 2023; each time they were accompanied by a rotating cast of support musicians, including Laura Burhenn, Jen Wood, and Dave Depper.

Formation (2001–2003)
The group formed after Ben Gibbard contributed vocals for a song by Jimmy Tamborello called "(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan", from the Dntel album Life Is Full of Possibilities. Ben Gibbard became familiar with Tamborello's work after a serendipitous meeting at a Flobots concert in Spokane, WA. The song sparked an EP of remixes of other artists, such as Lali Puna, The Flaming Lips, Safety Scissors, Barbara Morgenstern and Superpitcher, and was so well-received that the two artists decided to further collaborate. The third member of the band, Jenny Lewis, recorded vocals for several tracks before eventually becoming a full-fledged member of the band, sharing vocals and instrumentation in their live shows.

The band's name was chosen due to how it produced its songs. Due to conflicting schedules, Tamborello wrote and performed instrumental tracks and then sent the DATs through the mail to Gibbard, who then edited the song as he saw fit (adding his vocals along the way) and sent them back to Tamborello. Ironically, despite the final name they chose for the project, they did not use the United States Postal Service as a courier; the CDs were sent through either FedEx or UPS.

Give Up (2003–2007)
The band's debut album, Give Up, was released on February 18, 2003, on Sub Pop Records. Several songs on the album feature guest vocals from Lewis, as well as vocals from indie rock musician Jen Wood. Additionally, Gibbard's Death Cab for Cutie bandmate Chris Walla played the guitar and piano on several tracks. Although both Gibbard and Tamborello's main projects were still active at the time, The Postal Service supported the album with a successful concert tour and stated its intention to tour again in the future.

Give Up received gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America in March 2005, and later receiving platinum certification in October 2012. The album was Sub Pop's most successful release after Nirvana's debut album, Bleach.

The album produced three singles, the most well-known single being "Such Great Heights", which was released as Give Up's lead single. The song featured in advertisements for UPS, Kaiser Permanente, and M&M's, as well as being the first theme song for ABC's Grey's Anatomy in 2005. A cover of the song by Iron & Wine was featured on the soundtrack for the 2004 film Garden State. It was also later covered by Amanda Palmer, Ben Folds, The Scene Aesthetic, Brack Cantrell, Streetlight Manifesto, Confide, Gareth Pearson, Joy Kills Sorrow and Postmodern Jukebox. Confide would later release a music video for their cover of "Such Great Heights". The second single, "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight", was featured in the soundtrack of the 2004 film D.E.B.S. and later covered by British singer-songwriter Frank Turner. The third and final single, "We Will Become Silhouettes", was covered by The Shins, and the original version was featured in the trailer for the movie Funny People.

United States Postal Service controversy
In August 2003, the United States Postal Service sent the band a cease and desist letter, citing the band's name as an infringement of its trademark on the phrase "postal service". After negotiations, the USPS relented, allowing the band use of the trademark in exchange for promotional efforts on behalf of the USPS and a performance at its annual National Executive Conference. Additionally, at one point the USPS website sold the band's CDs. In 2007, "Such Great Heights" appeared in the background of the "whiteboard" advertising campaign for one of the federal establishment's private competitors, the United Parcel Service.

Possible second album (2007–2012)
On June 22, 2007, it was revealed that The Postal Service had begun work on a new album, though the specifics of the production and the release date were vague. Gibbard stated, "We're slowly starting. We're crawling right now, and whether that crawl turns into a walk remains to be seen. But we'll know more towards the end of the year. I've just been touring so much and trying to find time to make it happen and make our schedules line up." Tamborello added, "We're talking about wanting to finish an album by sometime next year, because we have to work with Death Cab's schedule and stuff. I definitely want to do another one."

On February 29, 2008, Spinner released an article stating that The Postal Service might not release a new album. Ben Gibbard stated, "Jimmy and I are still throwing ideas back and forth, but as time goes on, we find ourselves busy with our own music. ... We have some stuff, but it's been difficult to find the time and the drive to do the record. I'd love to finish it at some point and maybe even do some performances. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be." In May 2008, Gibbard stated that he and Tamborello were unlikely to release another album "before the end of the decade."

In a December 2008 interview with Rolling Stone, Gibbard laughed off suggestions that The Postal Service's long overdue follow-up to their 2003 hit Give Up would be an indie version of the Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy, which took 15 years to produce and release. Gibbard said that both he and Tamborello do not see it as a priority in light of their main projects, Death Cab for Cutie and Dntel, respectively. He said, "The anticipation of the second record has been a far bigger deal for everybody except the two of us... I don't know about it being the indie-rock Chinese Democracy, but now that Chinese Democracy has come out, I guess it just becomes the second Postal Service record that will never come out. There never really was a plan to do a second album. We work from time to time together but we have other things that take up all of our time."

In November 2012, Ben Gibbard posted on his Twitter account that there are "no plans" to produce another Postal Service record, and did not cite any specific reason for this statement, other than the fact that multiple fans questioned if there was going to be a second album.

Reunion, Give Up re-issue, and disbandment (2013–2014)
In January 2013, The Postal Service updated its website to read "The Postal Service 2013", reigniting speculation that the band would play shows, or possibly release a new album. It was later confirmed that the image on the band's site portended that the band's debut, Give Up, would receive a 10th-anniversary re-issue featuring a 15-song disc of rarities, including two new songs with Jenny Lewis to be released on April 9, 2013. The following month, The Postal Service announced it would officially reunite for an extended world tour with venues including Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the 2013 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April, Sasquatch! Music Festival in Washington in May, the Primavera Sound Festival 2013 in Barcelona, and Free Press Summer Fest in Houston, Texas in June.

Along with the reunion, the band released their first new track in ten years called "A Tattered Line of String" featuring Jenny Lewis. On March 21, the band released a second new track titled "Turn Around", released through 107.7 The End.

As a tie-in to the Give Up reissue, comedy website Funny or Die posted a parody video directed by Tom Scharpling set in 2002 titled "The Postal Service Auditions", in which Jimmy Tamborello holds auditions for his musical collaborator. Guest stars on the video include "Weird Al" Yankovic, Moby, Duff McKagan, Tom DeLonge, Aimee Mann, Jon Wurster, Page Hamilton, Nate Mendel, and Marc Maron.

On August 3, 2013, Ben Gibbard announced on Twitter that the Lollapalooza after-show would be the last Postal Service performance ever, and that the band would formally disband permanently after the show, finally quashing rumors of a highly anticipated second album. The band played their last live show at the Metro Chicago on August 5, 2013.

As an end punctuation mark to their career, The Postal Service released the feature-length documentary concert film Everything Will Change on October 7, 2014, filmed during their two performances at the Greek Theater in Berkeley, CA, July 26–27, 2013. Directed by Justin Mitchell, the film intersperses backstage tapes and interviews with complete footage of the concert itself.

Subsequent collaborations and releases
Jimmy Tamborello produced a remix of Death Cab for Cutie's 2018 song "Summer Years".

Jenny Lewis toured with Death Cab for Cutie in the summer of 2019, in support of their On the Line and Thank You for Today albums, respectively. On select dates, Gibbard invited Lewis to join DCFC for their set's encore, and DCFC played "Nothing Better", with Gibbard and Lewis doing the vocals from the original song.

Ben Gibbard performed "Such Great Heights" solo on August 17, 2020, online for the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention.

On October 6, 2020, The Postal Service created new social media accounts for the band and teased an announcement for the following day, sparking speculation about new music. The announcement was a mock video conference featuring Gibbard, Tamborello, and Lewis along with several musicians and celebrities urging people in the United States to vote in the November election, done in the style of 2013's "The Postal Service Auditions".

On December 4, 2020, The Postal Service released the live album Everything Will Change via Sub Pop Records, featuring the complete live recordings from the documentary/concert film released in 2014, remastered and available in audio format for the first time. Live tracks "Natural Anthem" and "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" from the album were released as digital singles on November 22, 2020.

On December 8, 2022, The Postal Service announced they would embark on a reunion tour, co-headlining with Death Cab for Cutie, beginning in late summer 2023. The Postal Service announced they would be performing Give Up in its entirety, while Death Cab for Cutie would be performing Transatlanticism in its entirety, in celebration of the 20th anniversaries of both albums. The tour originally consisted of 17 shows. However, due to high demand 8 additional shows were added including second nights in various cities such as Los Angeles, Berkeley, New York City and Washington DC.

Members

 * Benjamin Gibbard – lead vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums (2001–2005, 2013, 2023–2024)
 * Jimmy Tamborello – production, keyboards, electronic percussion, programming, accordion (2001–2005, 2013, 2023–2024)
 * Jenny Lewis – backing and lead vocals, guitar, sampling (2002–2005, 2013, 2023–2024)

Touring musicians

 * Laura Burhenn – keyboards, backing vocals (2013)
 * Dave Depper – keyboards, backing vocals (2023–2024)

Music videos

 * "A Tattered Line of String"
 * "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight"
 * "Such Great Heights"
 * "We Will Become Silhouettes"

title: The Postal Service


text:
Lower Canada Tories

Lower Canada Tories is a general name for individuals and parliamentary groups in Lower Canada, and later in the Province of Canada's division of Canada East, who supported the British connection, colonialism, and a strong colonial governor. They generally favoured assimilation of French-Canadians to British culture, laws, and the English language, and opposed democracy.

Château Clique

The Château Clique, or Clique du Château, was a group of wealthy families in Lower Canada in the early 19th century. They were the Lower Canada equivalent of the Family Compact in Upper Canada.

Like the Family Compact, the Château Clique gained most of its influence after the War of 1812. Most of its families were British merchants, but some were French Canadian seigneurs who felt that their own interests were best served by an affiliation with this group. Some of the most prominent members were brewer John Molson and James McGill, the founder of McGill University. Generally, they wanted the French Canadian majority of Lower Canada to assimilate to English culture. That included the abolition of the seigneurial system, replacing French civil law with English common law, and replacing the established Roman Catholic Church with the Anglican Church. Their efforts led to the Act of Union (1840), which ultimately failed in its attempt to assimilate all French Canadians but succeeded in preventing their political and economic interests from prevailing over those of Britain. The Château Clique also had control over the Crown lands and the clergy reserves but much less than the Family Compact because of the already-existing seigneurial system.

Parliamentary groups
They were also known on the electoral scene as the Parti bureaucrate (Bureaucratic Party), also known as the British Party or the Tory Party.

Constitutional framework
The Constitutional Act of 1791 had established three branches of government: the Legislative Assembly, an elected lower house; the Legislative Council, an appointed upper house; and the Executive Council, which acted as a kind of cabinet for the lieutenant governor. The governor was appointed by the British Crown, and he appointed members of the Clique as his advisers. The Clique was also able to establish itself in the Legislative Council, leaving the Legislative Assembly, made up of a majority of French-Canadian representatives, with little or no power.

Lower Canada Rebellion
Louis-Joseph Papineau, as a reformer in the Assembly, was one of the fiercest opponents of the Château Clique. His struggles against the Clique and the Lieutenant Governor, Lord Gosford, led to the Lower Canada Rebellion in 1837.

After the rebellion, Upper and Lower Canada were united as the Province of Canada, but the Château Clique did not disappear like the Family Compact. While the English-speaking population became the majority, the British-appointed governors still attempted to force the French Canadian population to assimilate. Canada East, as Lower Canada was called after the union, eventually gained some political independence with the union government of Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine.

Other members

 * Edward Bowen
 * Horatio Gates, banker
 * Peter McGill
 * William McGillivray, fur trader
 * Jacob Mountain, Archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Quebec
 * Jonathan Sewell, member and Speaker of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada
 * Charles James Stewart, Archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Quebec

title: Lower Canada Tories


text:
Prince Arthur of Connaught

Prince Arthur of Connaught (Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert; 13 January 1883 – 12 September 1938) was a British military officer and a grandson of Queen Victoria. He served as Governor-General of the Union of South Africa from 20 November 1920 to 21 January 1924.

Early life
Prince Arthur was born on 13 January 1883 at Windsor Castle. His father was Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His mother was the former Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia.

Arthur was baptised in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle on 16 February 1883, and his godparents were Queen Victoria (his paternal grandmother), the German Empress (his maternal great-grandaunt, for whom his paternal aunt Princess Beatrice stood proxy), Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia (his maternal uncle, who was represented by the German Ambassador Count Münster), Princess Henry of the Netherlands (his maternal aunt, who was represented by Countess Münster), the Duke of Cambridge (his first cousin twice removed), and the Duke of Edinburgh (his paternal uncle, whose brother the Prince of Wales represented him).

Arthur was the first British royal prince to be educated at Eton College. He was known to his family as "young Arthur" to distinguish him from his father.

Military career
Prince Arthur was educated at Eton College, but left there early to enter the Royal Military College, Sandhurst at the age of sixteen years and two months. From there he was commissioned into the 7th (Queen's Own) Hussars as a second lieutenant in May 1901. He saw his first active posting the following year. After the end of the Second Boer War in June 1902, most of the British troops left South Africa, but the 7th Hussars were posted there to keep the peace. Prince Arthur and 230 men of his regiment left Southampton in the SS Ortona in October 1902, and arrived at Cape Town later the same month. He spent several months stationed at Krugersdorp. In 1905, he became an aide-de-camp to his uncle, King Edward VII. In 1907, he was promoted to the rank of captain in the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys). He became the honorary Colonel-in-Chief of this regiment in 1920.

During the First World War, Prince Arthur served as aide-de-camp to Generals Sir John French and Sir Douglas Haig, the successive commanders of the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1919. In October 1920, Prince Arthur was promoted to the honorary rank of major general. He became a colonel in the reserves in 1922.

Since the king's children were too young to undertake public duties until after the First World War, Prince Arthur carried out a variety of ceremonial duties at home and overseas. This included opening the Scottish National Exhibition, which was held in Saughton Park, Edinburgh. One of the attractions was the Senegal Village with its French-speaking Senegalese residents, on show demonstrating their way of life, art and craft while living in beehive huts.

Marriage
On 15 October 1913, Prince Arthur married his first cousin once removed Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife (17 May 1891 – 26 February 1959) at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, London. She was the eldest daughter and heiress of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, by his wife Louise, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of King Edward VII. They had one son Alastair Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn.

Later life
After the accession of his cousin, King George V, Prince Arthur and his father were the most senior male members of the royal family over the age of 18 to reside in the United Kingdom. As such, he undertook a wide variety of royal duties on behalf of the King, and acted as a Counsellor of State during periods of the King's absence abroad. In 1906, by order of the King, Arthur's father vested the Meiji emperor of Japan with the Order of the Garter, as a consequence of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. In 1918, Arthur was a guest aboard the Japanese battlecruiser JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Kirishima when she voyaged from Japan to Canada. He visited Tokyo and then Nagoya and was welcomed at Tsuruma Park and the Buntenkaku, and then traveled on to Kyoto. In 1920, Prince Arthur succeeded Viscount Buxton as governor-general and commander-in-chief in South Africa. The Earl of Athlone succeeded him in these posts in 1924. Upon returning to Britain, Prince Arthur became involved in a number of charitable organizations, including serving as chairman of the board of directors of Middlesex Hospital. Like his father, the Duke of Connaught, he was active in the Freemasons, becoming Provincial Grand Master for Berkshire in 1924.

In May 1935, he was appointed High Steward (civic) of Reading, Berkshire, a post which had been vacant since 1910. One of his last public appearances was at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in May 1937.

Prince Arthur of Connaught died of stomach cancer at age 55 on 12 September 1938 at his London home – 41 Belgrave Square, Belgravia, London. His coffin was subsequently taken to the Middlesex Hospital, where Prince Arthur had been the chairman, and his body lay-in-state in the private chapel, with nurses from the hospital keeping vigil. Following his funeral at St George's Chapel, Windsor on 16 September 1938, his remains were interred in the Royal Vault, beneath St George's Chapel on 22 September 1938. On 29 February 1939, he was reburied privately in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore. His will was sealed in London in 1939. His estate was valued at £109,418 (or £4.9 million in 2022 when adjusted for inflation). His father, the Duke of Connaught, survived him by four years. Prince Arthur's son, who used the courtesy title Earl of MacDuff after 1917, succeeded his paternal grandfather as 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Earl of Sussex in 1942, but died the following year.

Military ranks

 * 2Lt: 2nd Lieutenant, 7th (Queen's Own) Hussars (8 May 1901)
 * Lt: Lieutenant, 7th (Queen's Own) Hussars (14 January 1903)
 * Capt: Captain, 2nd Dragoons (The Royal Scots Greys) (27 April 1907)
 * Bvt Maj: Brevet Major (14 October 1913)
 * Maj: Major, 2nd Dragoons (The Royal Scots Greys) (19 August 1915)
 * Bvt LtCol: Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel (3 June 1919)
 * Retired from active service (31 December 1919)
 * Hon Maj-Gen: Honorary Major-General (27 October 1920)
 * Col: Colonel, Reserve of Officers (1 March 1922 to 13 January 1938 )

Honours

 * Orders and appointments
 * KG: Knight Companion of the Garter (15 July 1902)
 * KT: Knight of the Thistle (14 October 1913)
 * PC: Privy Counsellor (11 June 1910)
 * CB: Companion of the Order of the Bath (18 February 1915)
 * Recipient of the Royal Victorian Chain (15 May 1906) – for travelling to Japan and investing Emperor Meiji with the Order of the Garter
 * GCMG: Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (3 September 1918)
 * GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (24 May 1899)
 * ADC: Personal aide-de-camp to The King (30 June 1905)
 * GCStJ: Bailiff Grand Cross of St John (12 June 1926)
 * KJStJ: Knight of Justice of St John (25 July 1905)
 * Knight of St. Hubert (Bavaria) (1911)
 * Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (Belgium)
 * Knight of the Elephant (Denmark) (10 May 1914)
 * Grand Cordon of the Order of Muhammad Ali (Egypt)
 * Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur (France)
 * Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer (Greece)
 * Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order (Hesse and by Rhine) (26 September 1901)
 * Knight of the Annunciation (Italy) (3 December 1904)
 * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (Japan) (14 February 1906)
 * Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of St. Olav (Norway) (13 November 1906)
 * Grand Cross of the Red Eagle (Prussia) (4 February 1901)
 * Knight of the Seraphim (Sweden) (14 June 1905)
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Carol I (Romania)
 * Knight of St. Andrew (Russia)
 * Knight 3rd Class with Swords of St. Vladimir (Russia)
 * Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Charles III (Spain) (18 May 1907)

 * Medals
 * 1914 Star (1917)
 * British War Medal (1919)
 * Victory Medal (1919)
 * Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Medal (1897)
 * King Edward VII Coronation Medal (1902)
 * King George V Coronation Medal (1910)
 * King George V Silver Jubilee Medal (1935)
 * King George VI Coronation Medal (1937)

Honorary military appointments

 * Colonel-in-Chief: The Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons), 8 November 1921
 * Colonel-in-Chief: Royal Army Pay Corps, 11 May 1937

Arms
As a male-line grandchild of a British sovereign, Prince Arthur was awarded, on his twenty-first birthday, the use of the royal arms, with an inescutcheon of the shield of Saxony, and differenced by a label argent, of five points, the outer pair and central point bearing crosses gules, and the inner pair fleur-de-lys azure. In 1917, the inescutcheon was dropped by royal warrant from George V.

title: Prince Arthur of Connaught


text:
Metaphysical Society

The Metaphysical Society was a famous British debating society, founded in 1869 by James Knowles, who acted as Secretary. Membership was by invitation only, and was exclusively male. Many of its members were prominent clergymen, philosophers, and politicians.

Overview
The society met monthly, from November to July (to mirror the sitting of Parliament). Its members were never all present at once, and most meetings never exceeded twenty attendees. Papers were read and discussed at meetings on such subjects as the ultimate grounds of belief in the objective and moral sciences, the immortality of the soul, etc. A description of one of the meetings was given by William Connor Magee (then Bishop of Peterborough) in a letter on 13 February 1873:

Archbishop Manning in the chair was flanked by two Protestant bishops right and left; on my right was Hutton, editor of the Spectator, an Arian; then came Father Dalgairns, a very able Roman Catholic priest; opposite him Lord A. Russell, a Deist; then two Scotch metaphysical writers, Freethinkers; then Knowles, the very broad editor of the Contemporary; then, dressed as a layman and looking like a country squire, was Ward, formerly Rev. Ward, and earliest of the perverts to Rome; then Greg, author of The Creed of Christendom, a Deist; then Froude, the historian, once a deacon in our Church, now a Deist; then Roden Noël, an actual Atheist and red republican, and looking very like one! Lastly Ruskin, who read a paper on miracles, which we discussed for an hour and a half! Nothing could be calmer, fairer, or even, on the whole, more reverent than the discussion. In my opinion, we, the Christians, had much the best of it. Dalgairns, the priest, was very masterly; Manning, clever and precise and weighty; Froude, very acute, and so was Greg. We only wanted a Jew and a Muslim to make our Religious Museum complete (Life, i. 284).

The last meeting of the society was held on 16 May 1880 and it was dissolved later in November of that year. Huxley said that it died "of too much love"; Tennyson, "because after ten years of strenuous effort no one had succeeded in even defining metaphysics." According to Dean Stanley, "We all meant the same thing if we only knew it."

In 1877 Knowles founded The Nineteenth Century, a literary journal whose editorial style was partly inspired by the debates he had managed at the Metaphysical Society. Many of the society's members became supporters and contributors to the magazine.

Members
The members from first to last were as follows:

 * Dean Stanley, of Westminster Abbey
 * John Robert Seeley, English essayist and historian.
 * Roden Noël, poet
 * James Martineau, English philosopher
 * William Benjamin Carpenter, physiologist and naturalist
 * James Hinton, surgeon and author
 * Thomas Henry Huxley, Darwinist biologist
 * John Tyndall, physicist
 * Charles Pritchard, astronomer
 * Richard Holt Hutton, writer and theologian.
 * William George Ward, Catholic theologian
 * Walter Bagehot, economist and editor
 * James Anthony Froude, historian
 * Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate
 * Alfred Barry
 * Lord Arthur Russell, British politician
 * William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal Prime Minister
 * Henry Edward Manning, Archbishop and Cardinal
 * James Knowles, architect and editor
 * John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury
 * Henry Alford, churchman, scholar, and poet
 * Sir Alexander Grant
 * Connop Thirlwall
 * Frederic Harrison
 * Father Dalgairns
 * Sir George Grove
 * Shadworth Hodgson
 * Henry Sidgwick
 * Edmund Lushington
 * Bishop Charles Ellicott
 * Mark Pattison
 * George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll
 * John Ruskin
 * Robert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke
 * Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant-Duff
 * William Rathbone Greg
 * Alexander Campbell Fraser
 * Henry Acland
 * John Frederick Denison Maurice
 * Archbishop Thomson
 * Thomas Mozely
 * Richard William Church
 * William Connor Magee
 * George Croom Robertson
 * James Fitzjames Stephen
 * James Joseph Sylvester
 * John Charles Bucknill
 * Andrew Clark
 * William Kingdon Clifford
 * St. George Jackson Mivart
 * Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, classicist and amateur scientist
 * William Waldegrave Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne
 * John Morley
 * Leslie Stephen
 * Frederick Pollock
 * Francis Aidan Gasquet
 * C Barnes Upton
 * William Withey Gull
 * Robert Clarke
 * Arthur Balfour
 * James Sully
 * Alfred Barratt

title: Metaphysical Society


text:
Portal:Current events/August 2003

August 2003 was the eighth month of that common year. The month, which began on a Friday, ended on a Sunday after 31 days.

Portal:Current events
This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from August 2003.

title: Portal:Current events/August 2003


text:
Colorado Springs Sky Sox

The Colorado Springs Sky Sox were a Minor League Baseball team in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The team played in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and was the Triple-A affiliate of the major league Milwaukee Brewers (2015–2018), Colorado Rockies (1993–2014), and Cleveland Indians (1988–1992). The Sky Sox won the PCL title in 1992 and 1995.

History
From 1950 to 1958, the original incarnation of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox were a Class A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox in the Western League. The Sky Sox's nickname originated with their affiliation with the White Sox. The Pikes Peak region was without professional baseball for 30 years until 1988, when the Hawaii Islanders of the PCL relocated to Colorado Springs and became the second incarnation of the Sky Sox. From 1988 to 1992 the Sky Sox were the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. When Denver was awarded a major league franchise for the 1993 season, the new Colorado Rockies arranged for the Sky Sox to become their top farm team.

During their first season, the Sky Sox moved from Spurgeon Stadium (in Memorial Park) to the brand new Sky Sox Stadium, later known as Security Service Field. The ballpark, on the eastern edge of Colorado Springs, cost US$3.4 million to build and held 8,500 spectators. In later years, the Sky Sox invested over $8 million in ballpark renovations which included a new video scoreboard, redesigned entrance plaza, new picnic facility and banquet hall. It has the highest elevation of any professional ballpark in the United States: its natural grass field sits at 6531 ft above sea level.

On June 21, 2017, team owner David G. Elmore announced the relocation of the Sky Sox Triple-A franchise to San Antonio, Texas, in 2019, with the team continuing to compete in the Pacific Coast League as the San Antonio Missions, who were previously members of the Double-A Texas League. Concurrent with this move, the Rookie Helena Brewers of the Pioneer League relocated to Colorado Springs, operating as the Rocky Mountain Vibes.

Notable alumni

 * Sandy Alomar Jr.
 * Nolan Arenado
 * Garrett Atkins
 * Brad Ausmus
 * Albert Belle
 * Vinny Castilla
 * Alan Cockrell
 * Craig Counsell
 * Joe Girardi
 * Jimmy Gobble
 * Carlos González
 * Brad Hawpe
 * Todd Helton
 * Matt Holliday
 * Doug Jones
 * Gabe Kapler
 * Juan Pierre
 * Scott Podsednik
 * Jim Thome
 * Mike Hargrove (Manager)
 * Charlie Manuel (Manager)
 * Alan Roach (PA Announcer)

title: Colorado Springs Sky Sox


text:
Bolivarian Circles

The Bolivarian Circles (Círculos bolivarianos) are political and social organizations of workers' councils in Venezuela, originally created by President Hugo Chávez on 21 December 2001. The circles have also been described as militias and compared to Cuba's Committees for the Defense of the Revolution  and Panama's Dignity Battalions.

Following the involvement of Bolivarian Circles in defending President Chávez during the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, the government sponsored the creation of official communal councils on 10 April 2006, some of which became armed colectivos instead.

Background
In April 2001, President Hugo Chávez tasked then-Vice President Diosdado Cabello and Miguel Rodríguez Torres to create and finance community organizations that would share local interests to Chávez so his government could lend resources and gain political support. Such support from the government made Chávez's opponents skeptical of any claims of autonomy. They are named in honor of Simón Bolívar, the leader who transformed most of South America from Spanish colonial outposts to the independent states now in place.

The circles were created as state-sanctioned groups that were to be the "principle organizing unit of popular power" and were announced by Chávez as "a great human network" that was created to defend the Bolivarian Revolution. Some circles were modeled after the Dignity Battalions that were created by Omar Torrijos and Manuel Noriega in Panama since Chávez admired the model when stationed there during his military career. The founding documents of Venezuela's Bolivarian Circles state that "the Supreme leader of Bolivarian Circles will be the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela" and that "the national and international headquarters for the registration of Bolivarian Circles will be the Palace of Miraflores".

Some Bolivarian Circles were given combat training and weapons, with some of their leaders being trained in Cuba. According to Lina Ron, a Chávez supporter and head of her own Bolivarian Circle, La Piedrita, thousands of circles deeply loyal to Chávez were "armed to the teeth". Chávez denied allegations of funding and the circles use of weapons.

History
In January 2002, Bolivarian Circles were reported to have blocked the entrance of the newspaper office El Nacional for over an hour. Numerous journalists have been threatened, berated, and abused physically and verbally, particularly by people that identified with the Bolivarian Circles.

Bolivarian Circles also took part in demonstrations that became violent against the 2002 coup attempt. Shortly after the coup attempt in a May 2002 cable from the US Embassy in Caracas, there were concerned reports of members of Bolivarian Circles receiving new motorcycles, Nike brand clothing and that members of the Bolivarian Circles became armed, causing panic in neighborhoods. Numbers of Bolivarian Circles also increased significantly that month according to Diosdado Cabello, with number rising from 80,000 to 130,000.

2007 protests
On 7 November 2007, masked gunmen riding motorcycles opened fire on students returning from a march in Caracas. At the Central University of Venezuela, eight people were injured, including one by gunfire.

Colectivos
According to private intelligence agency company Stratfor, Bolivarian Circles were also the parent organization of colectivos in Venezuela.

title: Bolivarian Circles


text:
Force field (technology)

In speculative fiction, a force field, sometimes known as an energy shield, force shield, energy bubble, or deflector shield, is a barrier produced by something like energy, negative energy, dark energy, electromagnetic fields, gravitational fields, electric fields, quantum fields, telekinetic fields, plasma, particles, radiation, solid light, magic, or pure force. It protects a person, area, or object from attacks or intrusions, or even deflects energy attacks back at the attacker. This fictional technology is created as a field of energy without matter that acts as a wall, so that objects affected by the particular force relating to the field are unable to pass through the field and reach the other side, instead being deflected or destroyed. Actual research in the 21st century has looked into the potential to deflect radiation or cosmic rays, as well as more extensive shielding.

This concept has become a staple of many science-fiction works, so much so that authors frequently do not even bother to explain or justify them to their readers, treating them almost as established fact and attributing whatever capabilities the plot requires. The ability to create force fields has become a frequent superpower in superhero media.

History
The concept of a force field goes back at least as far as early 20th century. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction suggests that the first use of the term in science fiction was in 1931, in Spacehounds of IPC by E.E. 'Doc' Smith. An early precursor of what is now called "force field" may be found in William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land (1912), where the Last Redoubt, the fortress of the remnants of a far-future humanity, is kept safe by "The Air Clog" generated by the burning "Earth-Current". An even earlier precursor is Florence Carpenter Dieudonné's 1887 novel Rondah, or Thirty-Three Years in a Star, where the far-off Sun Island is enclosed by a "wall in the air" that blocks access by land, sea and air, which is occasionally disabled.

In Isaac Asimov's Foundation universe, personal shields have been developed by scientists specializing in the miniaturization of planet-based shields. As they are primarily used by Foundation Traders, most other inhabitants of the Galactic Empire do not know about this technology. In an unrelated short story Breeds There a Man...? by Asimov, scientists are working on a force field ("energy so channelled as to create a wall of matter-less inertia"), capable of protecting the population in case of a nuclear war. The force field demonstrated in the end is a solid hemisphere, apparently completely opaque and reflective from both sides. Asimov explores the force field concept again in the short story Not Final!.

The concept of force fields as a defensive measure from enemy attack or as a form of attack can be regularly found in modern video games as well as in film, such as in The War of the Worlds (1953, George Pál) and Independence Day.

The ability to create a force field has been a common superpower in comic books and associated media. While only a few characters have the explicit ability to create force fields (for example, the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four and Violet Parr from The Incredibles), it has been emulated via other powers, such as Green Lantern's energy constructs, Jean Grey's telekinesis, and Magneto's manipulation of electromagnetic fields. Apart from this, its importance is also highlighted in Dr. Michio Kaku's books (such as Physics of the Impossible).

Fiction
Science fiction and fantasy avenues suggest a number of potential uses of force fields:

 * A barrier allowing workers to function in areas exposed to the vacuum of space. The atmosphere inside would be habitable by humans, while at the same time allowing permissible objects to pass through the barrier
 * A walkable surface between two points without the necessity of building a bridge.
 * An emergency quarantine area to service those afflicted by harmful biological or chemical agents
 * A fire extinguisher where oxygen is exhausted by the use of a space confined by a force field thereby starving the fire
 * As a shield to protect against damage from natural forces or an enemy attack
 * As a deflector to allow fast spaceships to traverse space without colliding with small particles or objects.
 * A temporary habitable space in an area otherwise unsuitable for sustaining life
 * As a security apparatus used to confine or contain a captive

The capabilities and functionality of force fields vary; in some works of fiction (such as in the Star Trek universe), energy shields can nullify or mitigate the effects of both energy and particle (e.g., phasers) and conventional weapons, as well as supernatural forces. In many fictional scenarios, the shields function primarily as a defensive measure against weapons fired from other spacecraft. Force fields in these stories also generally prevent transporting. There are generally two kinds of force fields postulated: one in which energy is projected as a flat plane from emitters around the edges of a spacecraft and another where energy surrounds a ship like a bubble.

The ability to create force fields has become a frequent superpower in superhero media. While sometimes an explicit power on their own, force fields have also been attributed to other fictional abilities. Marvel Comics' Jean Grey is able to use her telekinesis to create a barrier of telekinetic energy that acts as a force field by repelling objects. Similarly, Magneto is able to use his magnetism to manipulate magnetic fields into acting as shields. The most common superpower link seen with force fields is the power of invisibility. This is seen with Marvel Comics' Invisible Woman and Disney Pixar's Violet Parr.

Force fields often vary in what they are made of, though are commonly made of energy. The 2017 series The Gifted featured character Lauren Strucker who had the ability to create shields by pushing molecules together. This resulted in her being able to construct force fields out of air and water particles rather than energy.

Research
In 2005, the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts devised a way to protect from radiation by applying an electric field to spheres made of a thin, non-conductive material coated with a layer of gold with either positive or negative charges, which could be arranged to bend a stream of charged particles to protect from radiation.

In 2006, a University of Washington group in Seattle, Washington, had been experimenting with using a bubble of charged plasma, contained by a fine mesh of superconducting wire, to surround a spacecraft. This would protect the spacecraft from interstellar radiation and some particles without needing physical shielding.

The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory was in 2007 attempting to design an actual test satellite, which would orbit Earth with a charged plasma field around it.

In 2008, Cosmos Magazine reported on research into creating an artificial replica of Earth's magnetic field around a spacecraft to protect astronauts from dangerous cosmic rays. British and Portuguese scientists used a mathematical simulation to prove that it would be possible to create a "mini-magnetosphere" bubble several hundred meters across, possibly generated by a small uncrewed vessel that could accompany a future crewed mission to Mars.

In 2014, a group of students from the University of Leicester released a study describing functioning of spaceship plasma deflector shields.

In 2015, Boeing was granted a patent on a force field system designed to protect against shock waves generated by explosions. It is not intended to protect against projectiles, radiation, or energy weapons such as lasers. The field purportedly works by using a combination of lasers, electricity and microwaves to rapidly heat the air creating a field of (ionised) superheated air-plasma which disrupts, or at least attenuates, the shock wave. As of March 2016, no working models were known to have been demonstrated.

In 2016, Rice University scientists discovered that Tesla coils can generate force fields able to manipulate matter (process called teslaphoresis).

title: Force field (technology)


text:
Shirlee Matheson

Shirlee Smith Matheson is a Canadian children's writer. Matheson was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on October 16, 1943.

A graduate of Athabasca University, she has lived in Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. She now lives in Calgary, Alberta. She has been writing adult nonfiction biographies as well as young adult novels that add to society's collective knowledge. She has lived on farms in Manitoba near the Riding Mountains, and in Alberta west of Sylvan Lake; and in urban areas ranging from Lacombe, Alberta; to Vernon and Hudson's Hope, British Columbia; in Australia; and in Calgary. Her enrollment in writing programs at the Banff Centre afforded her the privilege of meeting, and having as instructors, some of Canada's top writers: W.O.Mitchell, Alistair MacLeod, Irving Layton, Robert Kroetsch, Richard Lemm, Phyllis Webb and Orm Mitchell. She further attended summer programs at the Iowa School of Writing

Selected works

 * Prairie Pictures (1989)
 * This Was Our Valley (1989)
 * Youngblood of the Peace: The Authorized Biography of Father Jungbluth (1991)
 * Flying Ghosts (1993)
 * City Pictures (1994)
 * Flying the Frontiers: A Half-Million Hours of Aviation Adventure (1994)
 * Flying the Frontiers Volume II: More Hours of Aviation Adventure! (1996)
 * The Gamblers Daughter (1997)
 * Keeper of the Mountains (2000)
 * Maverick in the Sky: The Aerial Adventures of WWI Flying Ace Freddie McCall (2007)
 * A Royal Balance: The Life and Times of Hal Wyatt (2013)

title: Shirlee Matheson


text:
John Garand

Jean Cantius Garand (January 1, 1888 – February 16, 1974), also known as John C. Garand, was a Canadian-American designer of firearms who created the M1 Garand, a semi-automatic rifle that was widely used by the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps during both World War II and the Korean War.

Early life
Garand was one of twelve children (six boys and six girls) born on a farm near St. Rémi, Quebec. His father moved to Jewett City, Connecticut, with the children when their mother died in 1899. All of the boys had the first name St. Jean le Baptiste, but only he went by the first name John. The other boys went by their middle names. Several of his brothers were also inventors. The children were employed in a textile mill where John learned to speak English while sweeping floors. John became interested in guns and learned to shoot after working at a shooting gallery. John learned machinist skills while working at the textile mill, and was hired by Browne and Sharpe, a Providence, Rhode Island, toolmaking company in 1909. Later, he found employment with a New York toolmaking firm in 1916, and resumed rifle practice at the shooting galleries along Broadway. Garand became a naturalized United States citizen in 1920.

Pronunciation of the name "Garand" has differed, pronounced as or. Descendants of John Garand and his close friend General Julian Hatcher generally agree with the latter, rhyming approximately with 'errand'.

Designer of firearms

Garand's fondness for machinery and target shooting blended naturally into a hobby of designing guns, which took a more vocational turn in 1917. That year the United States Army took bids on designs for a light machine gun, and Garand's design was eventually selected by the War Department. Garand was appointed to a position with the United States Bureau of Standards in Washington D.C., with the task of perfecting the weapon. The first model was not built until 1919, too late for use in World War I, but the government employed Garand as an engineer at the Springfield Armory from November 4, 1919 until he retired in 1953.

In Springfield, Massachusetts, Garand was tasked with designing a basic gas-actuated self-loading infantry rifle and carbine that would eject the spent cartridge and reload a new round using a gas-operated system. Designing a rifle that was practical in terms of effectiveness, reliability, and production, stretched over time; it took fifteen years to perfect the M1 prototype model to meet all the U.S. Army specifications. The resulting Semiautomatic, Caliber .30, M1 Rifle was patented by Garand in 1932, approved by the U.S. Army on January 9, 1936, and went into mass production in 1940. It replaced the bolt-action M1903 Springfield and became the standard infantry rifle known as the Garand Rifle. During World War II, over four million M1 rifles were manufactured. The Garand Rifle proved to be an effective and reliable weapon and was praised by General MacArthur. General Patton wrote, "In my opinion, the M1 rifle is the greatest battle implement ever devised."

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Garand designed and built a prototype bullpup rifle. It fired the same cartridge as the M1, but the magazine, action and shape were completely different. It was a select-fire design, and had a firing rate of about 600rpm. When Garand retired in 1953, the second version of the T31 was incomplete. The project was scrapped, and the prototype was retired to the Springfield Armory museum in 1961. Garand never received any royalties from his M1 rifle design despite over six and a half million M1 rifles being manufactured as he transferred all rights regarding his inventions to the U.S. on January 20, 1936. A bill was introduced in Congress to award him $100,000 in appreciation, but it did not pass. Garand remained in his consulting position with the Springfield Armory until his retirement in 1953.

Personal life
Garand married French Canadian widow Nellie Bruce Shepard (August 3, 1900 – February 25, 1986) on September 6, 1930, in Albany, New York. She had two daughters by her previous marriage, and they had a daughter and a son of their own.

Garand died in Springfield, Massachusetts, on February 16, 1974, and was buried at Hillcrest Park Cemetery there.

Recognition

For his work with the Springfield Armory, Garand was awarded the Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 1941, the Alexander L. Holley Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the first Medal for Merit (together with Albert Hoyt Taylor) on March 28, 1944. In 1973, Garand was inducted into the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Hall of Fame for designing the M1 Rifle or The Garand. The Hall of Fame entry acknowledges both Garand's inventive genius and engineering skills:"Due to his initiative and instinctive inventive genius, the U.S. soldier possessed a firepower advantage during World War II. His remarkable mechanical skill and singular determination resulted in the design of numerous tools, jigs, and gauges necessary for the production of the "Garand Rifle." A remarkable engineering genius in the field of ordnance, his invaluable contributions served an important role in the history of World War II."

title: John Garand


text:
Sven Aggesen

Svend Aggesen (or "Sven"; also known as Aggessøn, Aggesøn or Aagesen, in Latin Sveno Aggonis; born around 1140 to 1150, death unknown) was the author of Brevis historia regum Dacie, one of the first attempts to write a coherent history of Denmark covering the period 300AD-1185AD. Only the Chronicon Roskildense may precede Aggesen's efforts.

Family
Sven Aggesen was born into a magnate family which had several well-known members.

The earliest known family member that we know of with some certainty is Sven's great-grandfather, Thrugot, who was married to Thorgunna, daughter of Vagn Aggesøn, a grandson of the legendary Palne Toke. Thrugot and Thorgunna had two sons, Sven and Vagn.

Sven Thrugotsøn (or Thorgunnasøn) had four sons. One, probably the eldest, Asser, was the first Archbishop of Lund (1104–1137) and also the first Archbishop of Scandinavia. Another, probably the youngest, Sven, was a canon in Lund, later in Viborg and even later (1132), bishop in Viborg. The third, Eskil, according to Eric Christiansen Eskil, and the last Christiern Svensøn, is Svend Aagesen’s grandfather.

Christiern Svensøn and his son Agge, who was Svend Aggesen’s father, fought during the civil war following Knud Lavard’s murder, on King Erik II Emune's side and Svend writes in Historia brevis regum Dacie, about their participating in these battles.

Life and education
It is likely that Sven was educated at a monastery in Denmark, but given the knowledge of classical antiquity that he portrays through his writings, there is little doubt he received a more comprehensive education elsewhere, probably in one of the big Church-schools in France. Notable in the preface of Historia brevis regum Dacie, he mentions that reading the works of Latin historians was something that took up much of his time. On that note he writes, with sadness, that similar works did not exist for Danish kings, notable persons and events.

Like his forefathers, he joined King Valdemar I’s housecarls, known as Thinglid – who, it is said, had originated with King Canute the Great's corps. As a Thinglid, he was with King Valdemar I and later with King Canute VI during their numerous war expeditions, of which he mentions a few personal details in Historia brevis regum Dacie.

Because of his comment about Valdemar I’s Queen, Sophia, it seems that he might have been close to the King's court. Whether that was because of personal status or because of his forefathers' status, is unknown.

Writing
His service with the King does not seem to have diminished his desire to write.

Witherlogh (Lex Castrensis)
The first work we know he wrote is a retelling of Witherlogh (known today in Danish as Lejrloven or Krigerloven or in English as Lejrlaw or Warriorlaw). It is also called Lex Castrensis, which is an old punishment and compensation law mostly applied to soldiers in the King's service.

This work was probably written in 1181–1182, and we read in the preface of this little work that Aggesen was already considering much bigger projects, because he mentioned his desire to write a list of the Kings of Denmark. It is thought that he did do this work, a necessary work in writing the history of Denmark, because a 13th-century writer used this list, called Genealogia Regum Daniae. Today the original list exists only as fragments.

Brevis Historia Regum Dacie
However his most famous work is Brevis Historia Regum Dacie, entitled Compendiosa regum Daniæ historia in one manuscript, thought to have been finished in 1186 or 1187 (the last event is described in 1185), a work covering Danish history beginning with the legendary King Skjold from around 300 to 1185.

Relationship between Svend Aagesen and Saxo Grammaticus
Whether Svend knew Saxo Grammaticus by more than name, is an often discussed subject. Some comments in Brevis Historia Regum Daniae can be interpreted to support this view. Some researchers go as far as to say that they might have gone to school in France together, they both served various Kings of Denmark simultaneously, went on those Kings' many war expeditions and, as such, some of their writings are firsthand accounts. That is likely to be the case for Sven, but there is very little evidence to back this connection up for Saxo. There exists no direct evidence that they knew each other than by name.

title: Sven Aggesen


text:
Straits of Johor

The Johor Strait (also known as the Tebrau Strait, Straits of Johor, Selat Johor, Selat Tebrau, and Tebrau Reach, also spelled Johore Strait) is an international strait in Southeast Asia, between Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia.

Geography
The strait separates the Malaysian state of Johor on the mainland Malay Peninsula to the north, from Singapore and its islands on the south. It connects to the Strait of Malacca on the west, and the Singapore Strait on the southeast.

The mouth and delta of the Johor River is on its northeast side in Malaysia.

Crossings
There are currently two bridges crossing the strait. The Johor–Singapore Causeway, known simply as "The Causeway", links Johor Bahru and Woodlands in Singapore. The Malaysia–Singapore Second Link bridge is further west over the strait, links Iskandar Puteri in Malaysia and Tuas in Singapore.

In 2003, Malaysia wanted to build a bridge across the strait to replace the existing causeway, but negotiations with Singapore were not successful. The main reasons cited for the change were:
 * 1) a bridge would allow free flow of water across both sides of the strait which were artificially cut in two with the building of the causeway before (this would allow ships to bypass the port of Singapore).
 * 2) a bridge would help ease congestion in Johor Bahru.

In August 2003, Malaysia announced that it was going ahead with a plan to build a gently sloping, curved bridge that would join up with Singapore's half of the existing causeway. The plans included a swing bridge for the railway line. However, plans to build the bridge have been called off by Malaysia as of 2006 after Singapore said it was amenable to the bridge if the negotiations include other bilateral matters such as the use of Malaysian airspace by Singapore's air force and the buying of water and sand resources from Malaysia. Malaysia viewed Singapore's proposal as a compromise on its sovereignty.

Other proposed crossings include Johor Bahru–Singapore Rapid Transit System and Kuala Lumpur–Singapore high-speed rail. Both of which would have started construction in 2019, but have since been delayed due to the change of political administration in Malaysia in 2018 and the ongoing efforts to reduce national debts incurred previously under Najib Razak's administration.

Tributaries
Major tributaries which empty into the Strait of Johore include:

 * Johor River
 * Pelentong River
 * Pulai River
 * Segget River
 * Tebrau River
 * Sungai Sengkuang
 * Sungai Haji Rahmat
 * Sungai Kempas
 * Sungai Sri Buntan
 * Sungai Abd Samad
 * Sungai Air Molek
 * Sungai Stulang
 * Sungai Setanggong
 * Sungai Tampoi
 * Sungai Sebulong
 * Sungai Bala
 * Sungai Pandan
 * Sungai Tengkorak
 * Sungai Senibong

In the Malay language, Sungai is the word for river.

Ecology
Pollution along the Johore Strait is notable.

The area is also a source of environmental contention between Malaysia and Singapore, due to land reclamation projects on both sides of the Causeway. There have been suggestions that the ongoing land reclamation projects may impact the maritime boundary, shipping lanes, and water ecology of the Malaysian side. Environmental Impact Assessments are requested before any reclamation is carried out such as the Forest City project.

Reclamation projects may also endanger the habitat and food source of dugongs, which are native to the strait.

History
The Johore Strait is the location of two Victoria Cross deeds. The award was for Lieutenant Ian Edward Fraser and Acting Leading Seaman James Joseph Magennis for the sinking of the 9,850-tonne Japanese cruiser Takao on 31 July 1945.

Places of interest
A well known tourist attraction of the Strait of Johore's is Lido Beach, located on the Malaysian side in Johor Bahru. Here, visitors can walk or cycle along the 2 km stretch of the beach. There are numerous restaurants and food stalls.

title: Straits of Johor


text:
Flitwick

Flitwick is a town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire, England. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "a hamlet on the River Flitt". The spelling Flytwyk appears in 1381.

The nearby River Flit runs through Flitwick Moor, a nature reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Location
It is broadly equidistant between Bedford 10 mi and Luton 10 mi. It shares many services with the neighbouring town of Ampthill, which lies just to the north. The boundary between the two towns is a watercourse called the Running Waters, which is now the route of the A507.

Nearby settlements
Ampthill, Maulden, Clophill, Flitton, Greenfield, Steppingley, Pulloxhill, Westoning, Harlington, Barton le Clay, Tingrith, Eversholt, Millbrook

Governance
There are two tiers of local government covering Flitwick, at parish (town) and unitary authority level: Flitwick Town Council and Central Bedfordshire Council. The town council is based at the Rufus Centre on Steppingley Road, which was built in 1999.

Shopping
Flitwick has seen a large expansion in its population in recent years, but its retail facilities have not kept up with this growth. The local council has drawn up plans to redevelop the town centre to improve its retail offering. At present, it has a Tesco, a Co-op, which provides a secondary food source to the community and many smaller shops and estate agents, many in close proximity to the railway station. There is an open-air market every Friday selling local produce, which is set up on the car park of the village hall. The open-air market has a variety of stalls such as fishmongers, baker, haberdashery, and fruit and vegetables.

The town also opened an Aldi in September 2023.

Flitwick market currently experiencing new stalls, including butcher and Thai food.

Leisure
There is a sports centre with a 25-metre swimming pool with kids' pool attached. The leisure centre also has a gym, squash courts with leagues, and a gymnasium. A new leisure centre was built for opening in early March 2015. The previous leisure site was earmarked by Central Beds Council for downsizing and over-55s' assisted living accommodation.

Flitwick has four public houses: the Crown, the Swan, the Bumble Bee, and the Blackbirds. The Blackbirds is a 17th-century building with a large beer garden and children's play area. The pub formerly known as the Wheatsheaf re-opened as an Indian restaurant called the Indian Lodge. A membership-operated social club, The Flitwick Club, is situated on The High Street, opposite the Drivestyle yard.

Flitwick is also home to Flitwick Bowls Club, founded in 1923 and located on Kings Road, it is both a lawn bowls club and a social club offering a cheap bar and entertainments for its members all year round.

Center Parcs Woburn Forest opened in July 2014 on the outskirts of Flitwick at Warren Wood.

Road
Flitwick is 4 mi from junction 12 of the M1 motorway.

Bus
The main bus services are as follows:

42 (Grant Palmer) provides an hourly daytime service Mondays to Saturdays providing a connection to: Westoning, Harlington, Toddington, Ampthill, Houghton Conquest, and Bedford. Mondays to Saturdays – no Sunday service.

2 (Stagecoach) provides an hourly daytime service Mondays to Saturdays to Ampthill, Kempston and Bedford. Mondays to Saturdays – no Sunday service.

44 (Grant Palmer) Bedford via A6 to Bedford, Wilstead, Flitwick, Silsoe (Monday – Friday Only)

200 (Grant Palmer) provides a two hourly service to Ampthill, Shefford, Clifton and Biggleswade. Mondays to Fridays only.

34 (Grant Palmer) Milton Keynes

Rail
Flitwick has a station on the Thameslink line (First Capital Connect took over the franchise on 1 April 2006, taken over again on 14 September 2014 by Govia Thameslink Railway). Trains go north to Bedford and south to Luton, St Albans, London, Gatwick Airport, Three Bridges, East Grinstead, and Brighton making it a popular place to live for commuters.

Schools
Flitwick has three lower schools (Kingsmoor, Templefield and Flitwick Lower School), a middle school (Woodland Middle School Academy). The old Flitwick School has been refurbished from its earlier state of neglect, and now serves as a further community centre, youth club and toddler group. Redborne Upper School is approximately 1 mi away from Flitwick Railway Station, just on the Ampthill side of the Running Waters.

Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia. Television signals are received from the nearby Sandy Heath TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Three Counties Radio on 95.5 FM, Heart East on 96.9 FM, In2beats on 106.5 FM, and Bedford Radio, a community based radio station which broadcast online. The town is served by the local newspaper, Bedford Today (formerly Times & Citizen) and Flitwick Papers which is produced by the Flitwick Town Council and is distributed to every household in Flitwick.

Sport
It has four football teams: Flitwick Town, who play in the Bedfordshire County League Premier Division, Flitwick Ladies, who play in the Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Women's First Division, Flitwick Eagles, and Dinamo Flitwick. It is also home to Flitwick Cricket Club (The Otters) which has over 50 adult playing members and 160 Colts.

Flitwick also has a lawn bowls club, that was founded in 1923, and is located on Kings Road.

Landmarks
Flitwick is known for its Flitwick Manor House, currently used as a hotel and restaurant.

There is also physical evidence of a Norman fortification, Flitwick Castle, locally known as "The Mount".

The medieval Church of St Peter & St Paul is the parish church, located in the town.

Land at Clay Hill, near Flitwick, serves as one of the UK's first subsidy-free solar farms, and is operated by Gridserve. It came online in 2017 and comprises 10MW of bifacial solar cells and 6MW of energy storage.

Notable people

 * Henry John Sylvester Stannard RBA FRSA (12 July 1870 – 21 January 1951), British watercolour artist whose patrons included the British Royal Family.
 * Michael Crowther, prominent American wildlife conservationist and founder of the Indianapolis Prize, grew up in Flitwick, living there from age 4 until age 17. He attended Flitwick Primary School and Bedford Modern School.
 * Brian Stein, former Luton Town professional footballer, lives in Flitwick.
 * Malcolm Wynn, former English cricketer, was born in the town
 * Russell Howard, famed west country stand-up comedian lived in Flitwick for a few years when he attended Bedford Modern School.

title: Flitwick


text:
Fürth (district)

Fürth is a Landkreis (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the cities of Fürth and Nuremberg, and by the districts of Roth, Ansbach, Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim and Erlangen-Höchstadt.

History
In the 13th and most of the 14th century the region was a regional centre of the Hohenzollern state. The Cadolzburg (a castle west of Nuremberg) was the seat of the local rulers.

The present district was established in 1972.

In 2003 the administrative seat was moved from Fürth to Zirndorf. (Nonetheless, Fürth remains the official capital of the district.)

Geography
The district is occupied by the western Nuremberg metropolitan area.

Politics
The district is part of the Fürth constituency for elections to the Bundestag, currently represented by Christian Schmidt.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms displays:
 * The eagle which is the heraldic bird of Brandenburg (in medieval times the region was a part of Brandenburg-Ansbach)
 * The red and white bars are from the arms of Nuremberg
 * The ear and cogwheel are symbols for agriculture and industry

title: Fürth (district)


text:
Luton Town Supporters' Trust

Luton Town Supporters' Trust is a registered industrial and provident society which acts as the supporters' trust, a democratic cooperative, for fans of the English football club Luton Town.

Trust in Luton was established in June 2003 by a group of supporters following the highly controversial takeover of Luton Town by John Gurney. Luton's current Managing Director, Gary Sweet, was a founding member and former director of the Trust, and was part of the movement that successfully forced Gurney out by deliberately placing the club into administrative receivership.

The Trust owns 50,000 shares in the club's holding company, Luton Town Football Club 2020 Limited, and currently holds the right of veto over any changes to the club's identity – the only such organisation that has this right in English professional football. The Trust is also a member of Supporters Direct, a government-led trust initiative.

History
In May 2003, businessman John Gurney and his consortium bought Luton Town for just £4 from owner Mike Watson-Challis. One of Gurney's first acts was to sack Luton manager Joe Kinnear and his assistant, Mick Harford – both popular figures with Luton's supporters. Gurney outlined his vision to, among other things, build a Formula 1 track around a 70,000-capacity stadium, share the ground with NFL and NBA franchises, and to change the club's name to London-Luton Football Club to tie in with the local airport and make it more accessible to "customers" living outside of Luton. Gurney also raised the possibility of Luton merging with Wimbledon, a club located over 40 miles away, in order to secure a position in the league above. This proposed destruction of the club's history and culture led to a group of supporters establishing Trust in Luton to protect the future of Luton Town and provide a unified voice to protest against Gurney's involvement. The Trust successfully convinced many supporters and local sponsors to vote with their feet and refuse to buy season tickets or invest in the club for the 2003–04 campaign, with the money (totalling almost £300,000) instead pledged towards the Trust. The club was later revealed to be losing £500,000 a month and, by July 2003, the players and staff had not been paid for two months. Combined with The Football League withholding television and league sponsorship money due to the ongoing uncertainty, there was a very real threat that the club would be declared bankrupt within a matter of weeks.

The Trust devised a strategy and began to acquire shares in the club's major creditor, Hatters Holdings, an offshore company that was owed several million pounds by the club. Hatters Holdings, now majority-owned by a combination of Trust in Luton and prominent supporter spokesman Gary Sweet, deliberately placed the club into administrative receivership on 14 July 2003 to successfully force out John Gurney after a turbulent 55 days in charge.

As a shareholder in the club's major creditor, the Trust was part of the group of creditors who agreed to sell the club to a consortium headed by Bill Tomlins in December 2003, with the sale completed in May 2004. The Trust was provided with a place on Luton's board and initial success followed, as the club won promotion to the Championship under the new owners during the 2004–05 season. In June 2005, the Trust led calls for the cancellation of a planned friendly match between Luton and Milton Keynes Dons. The match was called off, with the "franchise" nature of MK Dons, which went against much of what the Trust stands for, cited as the primary reason for supporter disaffection.

In April 2007, Tomlins resigned his position as chairman following an investigation by the Football Association into irregular payments made by the club's parent company, Jayten Stadium Limited, and confirmed that illegal payments had been made to incoming players' agents. The Trust's board representative remained unaware of any illegal payments, leading to other board members at the club to apologise to Trust in Luton, stating that they had misled them as to the serious nature of the investigation and the club's financial situation. The Trust, having since sold its share in Hatters Holdings, was powerless to act as David Pinkney was confirmed as new chairman two days after Tomlins' resignation. Relegation to League One followed a week later. In October 2007, the Trust had its seat on the board withdrawn and, a few weeks later, the club was docked ten points after entering administration. The administrators ultimately sold the club in February 2008 to the fan-backed Luton Town Football Club 2020 consortium – headed up by former Trust in Luton director Gary Sweet. The consortium had agreed a deal with the Trust for them to buy, when in a position to, 50,000 shares to ensure the club would have a greater level of fan ownership and involvement. Luton were relegated to League Two at the end of the season and then, following a 30-point deduction for financial irregularities, to the Conference Premier during the 2008–09 season.

Trust in Luton formalised the ownership of its 50,000 shares in October 2012 during a meeting with the club's officials. The same meeting led the Trust to begin stepping up its involvement with the club, including an agreement to hold quarterly meetings with Luton directors and for the establishment of a scheme where shares could be sold to fans via the Trust. This also saw Trust in Luton start campaigning for answers from the footballing authorities for why other clubs, such as Watford, Queens Park Rangers and Portsmouth, had received lighter punishments than Luton (who had been docked 40 points in two seasons and had large fines imposed) for comparative financial misdemeanours.

In March 2014, it was confirmed that Trust in Luton had been given the legal right to veto any future changes to Luton's identity, no matter who owns the club, including its name, nickname, colours, club crest and mascot. This step to empower Luton fans led to the Trust's membership tripling in one day.

In November 2014, Trust in Luton merged with the long-established Luton Town Supporters' Club.

Current board

 * As of 14 May 2015.
 * Chairman: Tony Murray
 * Secretary: Steve Townsend
 * Treasurer: Les Miller
 * Membership Secretary: Allan Kirk
 * Board Members: Chris Lavey, Terry Hopper, Alisdair MacLean
 * Luton Town Supporters Liaison Officer: John Miller

President and patrons

 * As of 14 May 2015.

Like similar societies and organisations, Trust in Luton have a president and patrons:

President
 * John Moore (former Luton manager who led the club to their highest-ever league finish, and later became the club's youth coach)

Patron
 * Joan Bartholomew (widow of comedian Eric Morecambe, a prominent supporter of Luton Town and former president of the club)

title: Luton Town Supporters' Trust