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Rumor

A rumor (American English), or rumour (British English; see spelling differences; derived from Latin 'noise'), is "a tall tale of explanations of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in public concern."

In the social sciences, a rumor involves a form of a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed. In addition, some scholars have identified rumor as a subset of propaganda. Sociology, psychology, and communication studies have widely varying definitions of rumor.

Rumors are also often discussed with regard to misinformation and disinformation (the former often seen as simply false and the latter seen as deliberately false, though usually from a government source given to the media or a foreign government).

Early work
French and German social science research on rumor locates the modern scholarly definition of it to the pioneering work of the German William Stern in 1902. Stern experimented on rumor involving a "chain of subjects" who passed a story from "mouth to ear" without the right to repeat or explain it. He found that the story was shortened and changed by the time it reached the end of the chain. His student was another pioneer in the field, Gordon Allport.

The experiment is similar to the children's game Chinese whispers.

A Psychology of Rumor (1944)
"A Psychology of Rumor" was published by Robert H. Knapp in 1944, in which he reports on his analysis of over one thousand rumors during World War II that were printed in the Boston Herald's "Rumor Clinic" Column. He defines rumor as '' a proposition for belief of topical reference disseminated without official verification''. So formidably defined, rumor is but a special case of informal social communications, including myth, legend, and current humor. From myth and legend it is distinguished by its emphasis on the topical. Where humor is designed to provoke laughter, rumor begs for belief. ''

Knapp identified three basic characteristics that apply to rumor: Crucial to this definition and its characteristics is the emphasis on transmission (word of mouth, which then was heard and reported in the newspaper); on content ("topical" means that it can somehow be distinguished from trivial and private subjects—its domain is public issues); and on reception ("emotional needs of the community" suggests that though it is received by an individual from an individual, it is not comprehended in individual but community or social terms).
 * 1) they're transmitted by word of mouth;
 * 2) they provide "information" about a "person, happening, or condition"; and
 * 3) they express and gratify "the emotional needs of the community."

Based on his study of the newspaper column, Knapp divided those rumors into three types:
 * 1) Pipe dream rumors: reflect public desires and wished-for outcomes (e.g. Japan's oil reserves were low and thus World War II would soon end).
 * 2) Bogie or fear rumors reflect feared outcomes (e.g. An enemy surprise attack is imminent).
 * 3) Wedge-driving rumors intend to undermine group loyalty or interpersonal relations (e.g. American Catholics were seeking to avoid the draft; German-Americans, Italian-Americans, Japanese-Americans were not loyal to the American side).

Knapp also found that negative rumors were more likely to be disseminated than positive rumors. These types also differentiate between positive (pipe dream) and negative (bogie and wedge-driving) rumors.

The Psychology of Rumor (1947)
In the 1947 study, The Psychology of Rumor, Gordon Allport and Leo Postman concluded that, "as rumor travels it [...] grows shorter, more concise, more easily grasped and told." This conclusion was based on a test of message diffusion between persons, which found that about 70% of details in a message were lost in the first 5-6 mouth-to-mouth transmissions.

In the experiment, a test subject was shown an illustration and given time to look it over. They were then asked to describe the scene from memory to a second test subject. This second test subject was then asked to describe the scene to a third, and so forth and so on. Each person's reproduction was recorded. This process was repeated with different illustrations with very different settings and contents.

Allport and Postman used three terms to describe the movement of rumor. They are: leveling, sharpening, and assimilation. Leveling refers to the loss of detail during the transmission process; sharpening to the selection of certain details of which to transmit; and assimilation to a distortion in the transmission of information as a result of subconscious motivations.

Assimilation was observed when test subjects described the illustrations as they ought to be but not as they actually were. For example, in an illustration depicting a battle-scene, test subjects often incorrectly reported an ambulance truck in the background of the illustration as carrying "medical supplies," when, in fact, it was clearly carrying boxes marked "TNT (102)."

Social Cognition
In 2004, Prashant Bordia and Nicholas DiFonzo published their Problem Solving in Social Interactions on the Internet: Rumor As Social Cognition and found that rumor transmission is probably reflective of a "collective explanation process." This conclusion was based on an analysis of archived message board discussions in which the statements were coded and analysed. It was found that 29% (the majority) of statements within these discussions could be coded as "sense-making" statements, which involved, "[...] attempts at solving a problem."

It was noted that the rest of the discussion was constructed around these statements, further reinforcing the idea of collective problem solving. The researchers also found that each rumor went through a four-stage pattern of development in which a rumor was introduced for discussion, information was volunteered and discussed, and finally a resolution was drawn or interest was lost.

For the study, archived discussions concerning rumors on the internet and other computer networks such as BITnet were retrieved. As a rule, each discussion had a minimum of five statements posted over a period of at least two days. The statements were then coded as being one of the following: prudent, apprehensive, authenticating, interrogatory, providing information, belief, disbelief, sense-making, digressive, or un-codable. Each rumor discussion was then analysed based on this coding system. A similar coding system based on statistical analysis was applied to each discussion as a whole, and the aforementioned four-stage pattern of rumor discussion emerged.

There are four components of managing rumors that both of you need to understand for the sake of your relationship's success. The first, anxiety (situational and personality), is when people who either have a more anxious personality, or people who are in an anxiety- lifting situation are more likely to create rumors in order to relieve some of their insecurities. The second component of managing rumors is ambiguity. Ambiguity is when someone is not sure about what is going on, so they end up assuming the worst. The third component is information importance. . Information is key, and if that information is not juicy or if it does not interest people, there won't be rumors, but information can often be false. Information can also be ambiguous. The last component of managing rumors is credibility. Rumors are often spread by sources that are not credible. A rumor itself is not credible unless it is proven to be true. That is why people say to never trust the tabloids.

Political Communication Strategy
Rumor has always played a major role in politics, with negative rumors about an opponent typically more effective than positive rumors about one's own side.

In the past, much research on rumor came from psychological approaches (as the discussion of Allport and DiFonzio demonstrates above). The focus was especially on how statements of questionable veracity (absolutely false to the ears of some listeners) circulated orally from person to person. Scholarly attention to political rumors is at least as old as Aristotle's Rhetoric; however, not until recently has any sustained attention and conceptual development been directed at political uses of rumor, outside of its role in war situations. Almost no work had been done until recently on how different forms of media and particular cultural-historical conditions may facilitate a rumor's diffusion.

The Internet's recent appearance as a new media technology has shown ever new possibilities for the fast diffusion of rumor, as the debunking sites such as snopes.com, urbanlegend.com, and factcheck.org demonstrate. Nor had previous research taken into consideration the particular form or style of deliberately chosen rumors for political purposes in particular circumstances (even though significant attention to the power of rumor for mass-media-diffused war propaganda has been in vogue since World War I; see Lasswell 1927). In the early part of the 21st century, some legal scholars have attended to political uses of rumor, though their conceptualization of it remains social psychological and their solutions to it as public problem are from a legal scholarly perspective, largely having to do with libel and privacy laws and the damage to personal reputations.

Strategic Communication
Similar to their appearance and function in political communication, wherein rumors can be deployed for specific deleterious effect (rumor bomb) or can otherwise plague a candidate for office, rumors also play an important role in strategic communication. Strategic communication is the process of crafting messages in support of specific organizational goals, and is usually concerned with governments, militaries and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Adroit strategic communication requires an understanding of stories, trends and memes circulating within a culture.

Rumors can be viewed as stories that seem rational but that are steeped into speculation, in connection with a certain narrative landscape (the vast array of cultural expression circulating within a community or region). In their book, Narrative Landmines: Rumors, Islamist Extremism and the Struggle for Strategic Influence, co-authors Daniel Bernardi, Pauline Hope Cheong, Chris Lundry and Scott W. Ruston coin the term narrative IED to help explain the function and danger of rumors in a strategic communication context. Rumors, as narrative IEDs, are low-cost, low-tech communication weapons that can be used by anyone to disrupt the efforts of communication, civil affairs or outreach campaigns such as those undertaken by governments in crisis response situations or militaries in insurgencies. As Bernardi notes, "Like their explosive cousins, rumors can be created and planted by nearly anybody, require limited resources to utilize, can be deadly for those in its direct path, and can instil fear".

title: Rumor


text: Talk:Price point

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

title: Talk:Price point


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Talk:Anaerobic organism

Untitled
Classification [[Image:Ana.png and anaerobic bacteria can be identified by growing them in test tubes of thioglycollate broth:

Strikes me that the top line has been corrupted, and maybe an image has been lost. Possibly should be "(Different types of) aerobic" and anaerobic bacteria ...

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
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Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 14:08, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Untitled
What about facultative anaerobes in nash equilibrium? will they just stay at the bottom of the test tube anyway? A0032041 19:24, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Do we count plants as anaerobes? AxelBoldt 19:52 27 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Well, like us, plants use both aerobic and anaerobic respiration. They do use oxygen. They need the CO2 and water for photosynthesis, which produces O2 (molecular oxygen, the kind we breath), some water and sugars. Some of this O2 goes back out into the atmosphere, but some stays in the plant, and is used in its own aerobic respiration. I believe that some oxygen also enters through pores in the leaves during nighttime. RK 20:00 27 Jun 2003 (UTC)

When light is present, plants are essentially photosynthetic organisms. As such, they are neither aerobic nor anaerobic, because these terms apply on how oxigen is used (i.e. metabolized, or consumed). Plants do not use oxygen during photosyntesis, they produce oxygen. That's why we use the term oxygenic photosynthesis instead. Other organisms (some bacteria) carry out a different type of photosynthesis that does not release oxygen, called anoxygenic photosynthesis.

At night, or whenever light is not present, plants switch to a respiratory metabolism. Now they do consume oxygen to produce energy, and so we can say that they are aerobes, the same as all animals. The difference is that animals are allways aerobes, while plants are only at night. --Xavi 21:19, 9 Jun 2004 (UTC)

--And finally my version. Photosynthesys does NOT, in itself, provide energy for plants. They metabolise glucose and oxygen, just like we do. That is how they get their energy. However,where we get callories from eating them, plants synthesize glucose from CO2 and water, and then use that glucose to fuel their bodies. Essentially, photosynthesizing for plants is the same as digestion is to animals. That is the only difference - the actual metabolism of glucose is the same in both.Thunderflame (talk) 17:53, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

--- This seems contradictory: " Nanaerobes are organisms that cannot grow in the presence of micromolar concentrations of oxygen, but can grow with and benefit from nanomolar concentrations of oxygen." Could an expert correct? --h

--I believe you have made a mistake I fell for myself. in the presence of micromolar concentrations of oxygen, but can grow with and benefit from nanomolar concentrations of oxygen." By the time you have read this, I should have corrected the problem. Thunderflame (talk) 17:20, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Micromolar?
Micromole is not a unit of concentration. What does mean "micromolar concentration of oxygen" or "nanomolar" or "200 micromoles"? Remember, that at 25 centigrade the concentration of oxygen in air is ca. 8000 micromol/dm3, not 200. 84.10.111.253 09:46, 2 November 2006 (UTC), a casual visitor, Poland.

For the picture on the front, listing the 5 test tubes, you would have to grow the bacteria without shaking or else the mixture would stir and aerate the entire culture, thereby defeating the demonstration. Therefore, wouldn't your static liquid culture allow the bacteria to settle to the bottom of the tube? Would this demonstration be more correctly explained using an agar filled tube for a "stab"? That's how I remember it from my microbiology class. Thanks, N

--My guess, the bacteria would be able to migrate to whichever location they wanted and stay there. I don't know for a fact that these bacteria do have that capacity, maybe they don't, but I'm throwing the two cents in anyway.Thunderflame (talk) 17:41, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

History
is there a history to the discovery of these organisms? where are they found today? Microcosmmm (talk) 05:14, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

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title: Talk:Anaerobic organism


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Five-second rule

The five-second rule, or sometimes the three-second rule, is a food hygiene urban legend that states a defined time window after which it is not safe to eat food (or sometimes to use cutlery) after it has been dropped on the floor or on the ground and thus exposed to contamination.

There appears to be no scientific consensus on the general applicability of the rule, and its origin is unclear. It is speculated to have originated from legends about Genghis Khan. It was first mentioned in print in 1995.

History
The origins of the five-second rule are unclear. Food scientist Pawl Dawson and microbiologist Brian Sheldon have traced the origins to legends surrounding Genghis Khan in the 15th century. He is rumoured to have implemented the "Khan Rule" at his banquets. "If food fell on the floor, it could stay there as long as Khan allowed," and the idea was that "food prepared for Khan was so special that it would be good for anyone to eat no matter what."

The first known mention of the myth in modern print was in the 1995 novel Wanted: Rowing Coach as a "twenty-second rule".

Research
The five-second rule has received some scholarly attention. It has been studied as both a public health recommendation and a sociological effect.

University of Illinois
In 2003, Jillian Clarke, a high school student during an apprenticeship investigated the rule. She found 56% of men and 70% of women surveyed were familiar with the five-second rule. She also determined that a variety of foods were significantly contaminated by even brief exposure to a tile inoculated with E. coli. On the other hand, Clarke found no significant evidence of contamination on public flooring. For this work, Clarke received the 2004 Ig Nobel Prize in public health.

A more thorough study in 2007 using salmonella on wood, tiles, and nylon carpet, found that the bacteria could thrive under dry conditions even after twenty-eight days. Tested on surfaces that had been contaminated with salmonella eight hours previously, the bacteria could still contaminate bread and baloney lunchmeat in under five seconds. But a minute-long contact increased contamination about tenfold (especially on tile and carpet surfaces).

Rutgers University
Researchers at Rutgers University debunked the theory in 2016 by dropping watermelon cubes, gummy candies, plain white bread, and buttered bread from a height of 5 in onto surfaces slathered in Enterobacter aerogenes. The surfaces used were carpet, ceramic tile, stainless steel and wood. The food was left on the surface for intervals of 5, 30 and 300 seconds. The scientists assessed the amount of E. aerogenes transferred between surface and food. Since bacteria tended to be attracted to moisture, wet food had more risk to have bacteria transferred than dry food. To the surprise of the researchers, carpet transferred fewer bacteria than steel or tile. Wood was hard to pin down as it showed a large variation. "The five-second rule is a significant oversimplification of what actually happens when bacteria transfer from a surface to food," Donald Schaffner, a Rutgers University biologist and an author of the research, stated in the Washington Post, "Bacteria can contaminate instantaneously."

A pediatrician criticized the study for discounting the danger in consuming food after one touches other surfaces like refrigerator handles, light switches, and wallets, which have been found to be similarly contaminated with bacteria.

Other
A 2014 study by biology students at Aston University in England suggested that there may be a basis for the five-second rule. Anthony Hilton, head of microbiology at Aston University, indicated in 2017 that food dropped on a seemingly clean floor for a few moments can be eaten with minimal risk. According to Hilton, moist foods that are left on the floor for more than 30 seconds are contaminated with 10 times more bacteria than food that has been left on the floor for 3 seconds.

Informal
The five-second rule was featured in an episode of the Discovery Channel series MythBusters, which discovered that there was no significant difference in the number of bacteria collected. The aspects that affect the contamination process is the moisture, surface geometry and the location. An episode of Food Detectives found that bacteria will cling to food immediately.

title: Five-second rule


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Handsfree

Handsfree is an adjective describing equipment that can be used without the use of hands (for example via voice commands) or, in a wider sense, equipment which needs only limited use of hands, or for which the controls are positioned so that the hand can occupy themselves with another task (such as driving) without needing to hunt far afield for the controls.

Devices that are typically used for handsfree communication use Bluetooth as its wireless technology. They still require a smartphone or other device to initiate a call. These devices include Bluetooth headsets, hands-free car kits (HFCK), and personal navigation devices (PND). Originally introduced as optional features connected by a wire to smartphones or other communication devices, they now generally are available with wireless technology.

Bluetooth handsfree options are now also easily found in any high end automotive as part of the vehicle's stereo system, or in after market stereo system units. This option utilizes the vehicle's speakers to transmit the caller's voice in the phone call and have an embedded microphone in the stereo unit itself, the steering wheel, or a separate wired microphone that can be placed anywhere in the vehicle.

Mobile phones
Handsfree mobile phones are obligatory in many countries for use of a mobile phone while driving. However, studies have shown that even with a hands-free unit, the added distraction to the driver, and the increase in crash rates, are almost as substantial as when driving and talking on a normal mobile phone.

In the United Kingdom, as of 2003, it is illegal to use a handheld mobile phone while driving. Similar laws have been adopted in many jurisdictions worldwide, and many make provisions for hands-free phone use.

Installation of hands-free devices in the UK is governed by MPT 1362, which is now referred to as FCS 1362. A technical document created and updated by the Federation of Communication Services.

In Australia, all states have banned the use of a mobile phone while driving unless it is used with a handsfree headset.

Software technologies
Since handsfree devices replace a phone's own speaker and microphone capability in a phone call, they now also must deal with the same issues that standard mobile phones and land phones deal with. The main acoustic issues are echo cancellation and noise suppression, although there are others as well. There have been many ways developed to cancel echo in phone calls and results range from poor to excellent.

These acoustic technologies must also remove or reduce the noise levels so that the caller is well understood. A person making a call from a handsfree device who is in a busy restaurant or while driving will introduce large levels of noise into the call. This situation is complicated as the software must not only remove the noise around him, but must transmit his voice clearly and loudly to whoever is connected to him.

The best software solutions combine both echo cancellation and noise cancellation into a single technology so that the caller has the freedom to use a handsfree device anywhere they please. Having an acoustic solution with only one feature will dramatically reduce its flexibility.

Driving
Handsfree driving is when driving without the hands.

title: Handsfree


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Minnesota River

The Minnesota River (Mnísota Wakpá) is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of 14,751 sqmi in Minnesota and about 2,000 sqmi in South Dakota and Iowa.

It rises in southwestern Minnesota, in Big Stone Lake on the Minnesota–South Dakota border just south of the Laurentian Divide at the Traverse Gap portage. It flows southeast to Mankato, then turns northeast. It joins the Mississippi at Mendota south of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, near the historic Fort Snelling. The valley is one of several distinct regions of Minnesota. The name Minnesota comes from the Dakota language phrase, "Mnisota Makoce" which is translated to "land where the waters reflect the sky", as a reference to the many lakes in Minnesota rather than the cloudiness of the actual river. At times, the native variant form "Minisota River" is used. For over a century prior to the organization of the Minnesota Territory in 1849, the name St. Pierre (St. Peter) had been generally applied to the river by French and English explorers and writers. Minnesota River is shown on the 1757 edition of Mitchell Map as "Ouadebameniſsouté [Watpá Mnísota] or R. St. Peter". On June 19, 1852, acting upon a request from the Minnesota territorial legislature, the United States Congress decreed the aboriginal name for the river, Minnesota, to be the river’s official name and ordered all agencies of the federal government to use that name when referencing it. The valley that the Minnesota River flows in is up to five miles (8 km) wide and 250 feet (80 m) deep. It was carved into the landscape by the massive glacial River Warren between 11,700 and 9,400 years ago at the end of the last ice age in North America. Pierre-Charles Le Sueur was the first European known to have traveled along the river. The Minnesota Territory, and later the state, were named for the river.

Commercial significance
The river valley is notable as the origin and center of the canning industry in Minnesota. In 1903 Carson Nesbit Cosgrove, an entrepreneur in Le Sueur, presided at the organizational meeting of the Minnesota Valley Canning Company (later renamed Green Giant). By 1930, the Minnesota River valley had emerged as one of the country's largest producers of sweet corn. Green Giant had five canneries in Minnesota in addition to the original facility in Le Sueur. Cosgrove's son, Edward, and grandson, Robert also served as heads of the company over the ensuing decades before the company was acquired by General Mills. Several docks for barges exist along the river. Farm grains, including corn, are transported to the ports of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and then shipped down the Mississippi River.

title: Minnesota River


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Timbuktu

Timbuktu (Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: Tumbutu; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated 20 km north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 54,453 in the 2009 census.

Archaeological evidence suggests prehistoric settlements in the region, predating the city's Islamic scholarly and trade prominence in the medieval period. Timbuktu began as a seasonal settlement and became permanent early in the 12th century. After a shift in trading routes, particularly after the visit by Mansa Musa around 1325, Timbuktu flourished, due to its strategic location, from the trade in salt, gold, and ivory. It gradually expanded as an important Islamic city on the Saharan trade route and attracted many scholars and traders before it became part of the Mali Empire early in the 14th century. In the first half of the 15th century, the Tuareg people took control for a short period, until the expanding Songhai Empire absorbed it in 1468.

A Moroccan army defeated the Songhai in 1591 and made Timbuktu their capital. The invaders established a new ruling class, the Arma, who after 1612 became virtually independent of Morocco. In its golden age, the town's Islamic scholars and extensive trade network supported an important book trade. Together with the campuses of the Sankore Madrasah, an Islamic university, this established Timbuktu as a scholarly centre in Africa. Notable historic writers, such as Shabeni and Leo Africanus, wrote about the city. These stories fuelled speculation in Europe, where the city's reputation shifted from being rich to mysterious. The city's golden age as a major learning and cultural centre of the Mali Empire was followed by a long period of decline. Different tribes governed until the French took over Mali in 1893, in a regime that lasted until the country became the Republic of Mali in 1960.

In recent history, Timbuktu faced threats from extremist groups leading to the destruction of cultural sites; efforts by local and international communities have aimed to preserve its heritage. The city's population has declined as a result of the recent issues.

Toponymy
Over the centuries, the spelling of Timbuktu has varied a great deal: from Tenbuch on the Catalan Atlas (1375), to traveller Antonio Malfante's Thambet, used in a letter he wrote in 1447 and also adopted by Alvise Cadamosto in his Voyages of Cadamosto, to Heinrich Barth's Timbúktu and Timbu'ktu. French spelling often appears in international reference as 'Tombouctou'. The German spelling 'Timbuktu' and its variant 'Timbucktu' have passed into English and the former has become widely used in recent years. Major English-language works have employed the spelling 'Timbuctoo', and this is considered the correct English form by scholars; 'Timbuctou' and 'Timbuctu' are sometimes used as well.

The French continue to use the spelling 'Tombouctou', as they have for over a century; variants include 'Temboctou' (used by explorer René Caillié) and 'Tombouktou', but they are seldom seen. Variant spellings exist for other places as well, such as Jenne (Djenné) and Segu (Ségou). As well as its spelling, Timbuktu's toponymy is still open to discussion. At least four possible origins of the name of Timbuktu have been described:
 * Songhay origin: both Leo Africanus and Heinrich Barth believed the name was derived from two Songhay words: Leo Africanus writes the Kingdom of Tombuto was named after a town of the same name, founded in 1213 or 1214 by Mansa Sulayman. The word itself consisted of two parts: tin (wall) and butu (Wall of Butu). Africanus did not explain the meaning of this Butu. Heinrich Barth wrote: "The town was probably so called, because it was built originally in a hollow or cavity in the sand-hills. Tùmbutu means hole or womb in the Songhay language: if it were a Temáshight (Tamashek) word, it would be written Timbuktu. The name is generally interpreted by Europeans as well of Buktu (also same word in Persian is bâkhtàr باختر = where the sun sets, West), but tin has nothing to do with well."
 * Berber origin: Malian historian Sekene Cissoko proposes a different etymology: the Tuareg founders of the city gave it a Berber name, a word composed of two parts: tin, the feminine form of in (place of) and bouctou, a small dune. Hence, Timbuktu would mean "place covered by small dunes".
 * Abd al-Sadi offers a third explanation in his 17th-century Tarikh al-Sudan: "The Tuareg made it a depot for their belongings and provisions, and it grew into a crossroads for travelers coming and going. Looking after their belongings was a slave woman of theirs called Timbuktu, which in their language means [the one having a] 'lump'. The blessed spot where she encamped was named after her."
 * The French Orientalist René Basset forwarded another theory: the name derives from the Zenaga root b-k-t, meaning "to be distant" or "hidden", and the feminine possessive particle tin. The meaning "hidden" could point to the city's location in a slight hollow.

The validity of these theories depends on the identity of the original founders of the city: as recently as 2000, archaeological research has not found remains dating from the 11th/12th century within the limits of the modern city given the difficulty of excavating through metres of sand that have buried the remains over the past centuries. Without consensus, the etymology of Timbuktu remains unclear.

Prehistory
Like other important Medieval West African towns such as Djenné (Jenné-Jeno), Gao, and Dia, Iron Age settlements have been discovered near Timbuktu that predate the traditional foundation date of the town. Although the accumulation of thick layers of sand has thwarted archaeological excavations in the town itself, some of the surrounding landscape is deflating and exposing pottery shards on the surface. A survey of the area by Susan and Roderick McIntosh in 1984 identified several Iron Age sites along the el-Ahmar, an ancient wadi system that passes a few kilometers to the east of the modern town.

An Iron Age tell complex located 9 km southeast of the Timbuktu near the Wadi el-Ahmar was excavated between 2008 and 2010 by archaeologists from Yale University and the Mission Culturelle de Tombouctou. The results suggest that the site was first occupied during the 5th century BC, thrived throughout the second half of the 1st millennium AD and eventually collapsed sometime during the late 10th or early 11th-century AD.

History
Timbuktu has become a household reference as a faraway, mysterious place, but the city itself was once a world-renowned trade powerhouse, as well as an academic hotspot of the medieval world. Timbuktu is unique in the fact that it has seen many rulers, but the city reached its golden period under the Mali Empire in the 13th and 14th centuries. Distinguished Malian Mansa Mūsā brought great fame to the city of Timbuktu when he established a university of Islamic learning there. The university taught much more than Islamic studies, though, including topics of history, rhetoric, law, science, and, most notably, medicine. Mansa Mūsā also introduced Timbuktu, and the Mali Empire in general, to the rest of the Medieval world through his Hajj, as his time in Mecca would soon inspire Arab travelers to visit North Africa. Europeans, however, would not reach the city until much later, due to the difficult and lengthy journey, thus garnering the city an aura of mystery.

Timbuktu primarily gained its wealth from local gold and salt mining, in addition to the trans-Saharan slave trade. Gold was a highly valued commodity in the Mediterranean region and salt was most popular south of the city, though arguably the biggest asset Timbuktu had was its location. The city is situated nine miles from the Niger River, making for good agricultural land, and is near the Sahara Desert, providing easily accessible trade routes. Timbuktu also acts as a midpoint between the regions of North, West, and Central Africa. Because of this, Timbuktu has developed into a cultural melting pot.

The Mali Empire reached a steady decline in the mid-1400s, giving rise to the Songhai Empire. However, the city of Timbuktu entered a brief period of rule under the Tuaregs before it fell to the Songhai people. Despite major shifts in power, Timbuktu generally flourished until the Moroccans invaded the Songhai Empire in 1590 and began to occupy Timbuktu in 1591, after the Battle of Tondibi. In 1593, most of the university faculty was executed or exiled for disloyalty to the new rulers and this, along with a decline in trade as a result of increased competition from newly available trans-Atlantic sailing routes, caused the city to lose its relevance. It was not until the 1890s that Timbuktu was formally incorporated into the French colony of Mali, and, in 1960, was declared part of the independent nation of Mali.

Today, the population of Timbuktu has substantially decreased since its estimated peak of 250,000 people in the Medieval period. The city has suffered from mass amounts of poverty for several years now, relying on government funding as a means of survival.

Siege of Timbuktu
On 8 August 2023, Timbuktu was brought under a total blockade by Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), exacerbating poverty, and leading to food shortages. 33,000 fled the city and its surrounding areas and 1,000 have fled to Mauritania since the start of the siege. The siege began after the withdrawal of MINUSMA, the United Nations mission to Mali during the Mali War.

Geography
Timbuktu is located on the southern edge of the Sahara 15 km north of the main channel of the River Niger. The town is surrounded by sand dunes and the streets are covered in sand. The port of Kabara is 8 km to the south of the town and is connected to an arm of the river by a 3 km canal. The canal had become heavily silted but in 2007 it was dredged as part of a Libyan financed project.

The annual flood of the Niger River is a result of the heavy rainfall in the headwaters of the Niger and Bani rivers in Guinea and northern Ivory Coast. The rainfall in these areas peaks in August but the floodwater takes time to pass down the river system and through the Inner Niger Delta. At Koulikoro, 60 km downstream from Bamako, the flood peaks in September, while in Timbuktu the flood lasts longer and usually reaches a maximum at the end of December.

In the past, the area flooded by the river was more extensive and in years with high rainfall, floodwater would reach the western outskirts of Timbuktu itself. A small navigable creek to the west of the town is shown on the maps published by Heinrich Barth in 1857 and Félix Dubois in 1896. Between 1917 and 1921, during the colonial period, the French used slave labour to dig a narrow canal linking Timbuktu with Kabara. Over the following decades this became silted and filled with sand, but in 2007 as part of the dredging project, the canal was re-excavated so that now when the River Niger floods, Timbuktu is again connected to Kabara. The Malian government has promised to address problems with the design of the canal as it currently lacks footbridges and the steep, unstable banks make access to the water difficult.

Kabara can function as a port only in December to January when the river is in full flood. When the water levels are lower, boats dock at Korioumé which is linked to Timbuktu by 18 km of paved road.

Climate
Timbuktu features a hot desert climate (BWh) according to the Köppen Climate Classification. The weather is extremely hot and dry throughout much of the year, with most of the city's rainfall occurring between June and September, due to the influence of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The degree of diurnal temperature variation is higher in the dry season than the wet season. Average daily maximum temperatures in the hottest months of the year – April, May and June – exceed 40 °C. Lowest temperatures occur during the mildest months of the year – December, January and February. However, average maximum temperatures do not drop below 30 °C. These winter months are characterized by a dry, dusty trade wind blowing from the Saharan Tibesti Region southward to the Gulf of Guinea. Picking up dust particles on their way, these winds limit visibility in what has been dubbed the "Harmattan Haze." Additionally, when the dust settles in the city, sand builds up and desertification looms.

Salt trade
The wealth and very existence of Timbuktu depended on its position as the southern terminus of an important trans-Saharan trade route; nowadays, the only goods that are routinely transported across the desert are slabs of rock salt brought from the Taoudenni mining centre in the central Sahara 664 km north of Timbuktu. Until the second half of the 20th century most of the slabs were transported by large salt caravans or azalai, one leaving Timbuktu in early November and the other in late March.

The caravans of several thousand camels took three weeks each way, transporting food to the miners and returning with each camel loaded with four or five 30 kg slabs of salt. The salt transport was largely controlled by desert nomads of the Arabic-speaking Berabich (or Barabish) tribe. Although there are no roads, the slabs of salt are now usually transported from Taoudenni by truck. From Timbuktu the salt is transported by boat to other towns in Mali.

Between the 12th and 14th centuries, Timbuktu's population grew immensely due to an influx of Bono, Tuaregs, Fulanis, and Songhais seeking trade, security, or to study. By 1300, the population increased to 10,000 and continued increasing until it reached about 50,000 in the 1500s.

Agriculture
There is insufficient rainfall in the Timbuktu region for purely rain-fed agriculture and crops are therefore irrigated using water from the River Niger. The main agricultural crop is rice. African floating rice (Oryza glaberrima) has traditionally been grown in regions near the river that are inundated during the annual flood. Seed is sown at the beginning of the rainy season (June–July) so that when the flood water arrives plants are already 30 to 40 cm in height.

The plants grow up to 3 m in height as the water level rises. The rice is harvested by canoe in December. The procedure is very precarious and the yields are low but the method has the advantage that little capital investment is required. A successful crop depends critically on the amount and timing of the rain in the wet season and the height of the flood. To a limited extent the arrival of the flood water can be controlled by the construction of small mud dikes that become submerged as the water rises.

Although floating rice is still cultivated in the Timbuktu Cercle, most of the rice is now grown in three relatively large irrigated areas that lie to the south of the town: Daye (392 ha), Koriomé (550 ha) and Hamadja (623 ha). Water is pumped from the river using ten large Archimedes' screws which were first installed in the 1990s. The irrigated areas are run as cooperatives with approximately 2,100 families cultivating small plots. Nearly all the rice produced is consumed by the families themselves. The yields are still relatively low and the farmers are being encouraged to change their agricultural practices.

Tourism
Most tourists visit Timbuktu between November and February when the air temperature is lower. In the 1980s, accommodation for tourists was provided by Hendrina Khan Hotel and two other small hotels: Hotel Bouctou and Hotel Azalaï. Over the following decades the tourist numbers increased so that by 2006 there were seven small hotels and guest houses. The town benefited by the revenue from the CFA 5000 tourist tax, the sale of handicrafts and employment of local guides.

Attacks
Starting in 2008, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb began kidnapping groups of tourists in the Sahel region. In January 2009, four tourists were kidnapped near the Mali–Niger border after attending a cultural festival at Anderamboukané. One of these tourists was subsequently murdered. As a result of this and various other incidents a number of states including France, Britain and the US, began advising their citizens to avoid travelling far from Bamako. The number of tourists visiting Timbuktu dropped precipitously from around 6000 in 2009 to only 492 in the first four months of 2011.

Because of the security concerns, the Malian government moved the 2010 Festival in the Desert from Essakane to the outskirts of Timbuktu. In November 2011, gunmen attacked tourists staying at a hotel in Timbuktu, killing one of them and kidnapping three others. This was the first terrorist incident in Timbuktu itself.

On 1 April 2012, one day after the capture of Gao, Timbuktu was captured from the Malian military by the Tuareg rebels of the MNLA and Ansar Dine. Five days later, the MNLA declared the region independent of Mali as the nation of Azawad. The declared political entity was not recognized by any regional nations or the international community and it collapsed three months later on 12 July.

On 28 January 2013, French and Malian government troops began retaking Timbuktu from the Islamist rebels. The force of 1,000 French troops with 200 Malian soldiers retook Timbuktu without a fight. The Islamist groups had already fled north a few days earlier, having set fire to the Ahmed Baba Institute, which housed many important manuscripts. The building housing the Ahmed Baba Institute was funded by South Africa, and held 30,000 manuscripts. BBC World Service radio news reported on 29 January 2013 that approximately 28,000 of the manuscripts in the Institute had been removed to safety from the premises before the attack by the Islamist groups, and that the whereabouts of about 2,000 manuscripts remained unknown. It was intended to be a resource for Islamic research.

On 30 March 2013, jihadist rebels infiltrated into Timbuktu nine days before a suicide bombing on a Malian army checkpoint at the international airport, killing a soldier. Fighting lasted until 1 April, when French warplanes helped Malian ground forces chase the remaining rebels out of the city center.

Early accounts in the West
Tales of Timbuktu's fabulous wealth helped prompt European exploration of the west coast of Africa. Among the most famous descriptions of Timbuktu are those of Leo Africanus and Shabeni.

Leo Africanus
Perhaps most famous among the accounts written about Timbuktu is that by Leo Africanus, born El Hasan ben Muhammed el- Wazzan-ez-Zayyati in Granada in 1485. His family was among the thousands of Muslims expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel after their reconquest of Spain in 1492. They settled in Morocco, where he studied in Fes and accompanied his uncle on diplomatic missions throughout North Africa. During these travels, he visited Timbuktu. As a young man he was captured by pirates and presented as an exceptionally learned slave to Pope Leo X, who freed him, baptized him under the name "Johannis Leo de Medici", and commissioned him to write, in Italian, a detailed survey of Africa. His accounts provided most of what Europeans knew about the continent for the next several centuries. Describing Timbuktu when the Songhai Empire was at its height, the English edition of his book includes the description: ""

According to Leo Africanus, there were abundant supplies of locally produced grain, cattle, milk and butter, though there were neither gardens nor orchards surrounding the city. In another passage dedicated to describing the wealth of both the environment and the king, Africanus touches upon the rarity of one of Timbuktu's trade commodities: salt. ""

These descriptions and passages alike caught the attention of European explorers. Africanus also described the more mundane aspects of the city, such as the "cottages built of chalk, and covered with thatch" – although these went largely unheeded.

Shabeni
Roughly 250 years after Leo Africanus' visit to Timbuktu, the city had seen many rulers. The end of the 18th century saw the grip of the Moroccan rulers on the city wane, resulting in a period of unstable government by quickly changing tribes. During the rule of one of those tribes, the Hausa, a 14-year-old child named Shabeni (or Shabeeny) from Tetuan on the north coast of Morocco accompanied his father on a visit to Timbuktu.

Shabeni stayed in Timbuktu for three years before moving to a major city called Housa several days' journey to the southeast. Two years later, he returned to Timbuktu to live there for another seven years – one of a population that was, even centuries after its peak and excluding slaves, double the size of the 21st-century town.

By the time Shabeni was 27, he was an established merchant in his hometown of Tetuan. He made a two-year pilgrimage to Mecca and thus became a hajji, Asseed El Hage Abd Salam Shabeeny. Returning from a trading voyage to Hamburg, he was captured by a ship manned by Englishmen but sailing under a Russian flag, whose captain claimed that his Imperial mistress (Catherine the Great) was "at war with all Muselmen" (see Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)). He and the ship he had been sailing in were brought to Ostend in Belgium in December 1789 but the British consul managed to get him and the ship released. He set off again in the same ship, but the captain, who claimed to be afraid of his ship being captured again, set him ashore in Dover. In England his story was recorded. Shabeeni gave an indication of the size of the city in the second half of the 18th century. In an earlier passage, he described an environment that was characterized by forest, as opposed to the modern arid surroundings.

The mosques
Situated on the northern edge of the Niger Delta, Timbuktu is at the crossroads of the Saharan trade routes and the River Niger. Founded in 1100 by the Tuareg, this cultural centre boasts significant architectural landmarks, including three great mosques: Djinguere Ber, Sankore and Sidi Yahya.

The Djinguere Ber Mosque, built in 1328 under the patronage of Mansa Musa, the wealthy ruler of the Mali Empire, served as a testament to the city's prosperity during this golden age. Mansa Musa's legendary pilgrimage to Mecca, during which he distributed vast amounts of gold, contributed to the construction of the mosque and cemented Timbuktu's reputation as a centre of Islamic culture and learning. Over the centuries, the Djinguere Ber mosque has undergone various renovations and extensions, reflecting the changing architectural styles and religious practices of the region.

The Sankore Mosque, built between 1325 and 1463, played a central role in Timbuktu's intellectual and educational landscape. As the city flourished as a centre of Islamic learning, the Sankore Mosque became a renowned centre of learning, attracting scholars and students from across the Muslim world. Its libraries housed thousands of manuscripts on subjects ranging from theology to astronomy, contributing to Timbuktu's reputation as a centre of intellectual exchange and cultural diversity.

The Sidi Yahya mosque, founded in 1440 by the revered marabout Sheikh al-Mukhtar Hamallah, held both religious and mystical significance for the people of Timbuktu. According to local legend, the mosque awaited the arrival of Sidi Yahya al-Tadlissi, a saint whose presence would sanctify the site. When Sidi Yahya claimed the mosque forty years later, it became a focal point for spiritual devotion and pilgrimage. Over time, the mosque underwent several renovations and refurbishments, reflecting the changing religious and cultural landscape of Timbuktu.

Cultural events
The best-known cultural event is the Festival au Désert. When the Tuareg rebellion ended in 1996 under the Konaré administration, 3,000 weapons were burned in a ceremony dubbed the Flame of Peace on 29 March 2007 – to commemorate the ceremony, a monument was built. The Festival au Désert, to celebrate the peace treaty, was held every January in the desert, 75 km from the city until 2010.

The week-long festival of Mawloud is held every January, and celebrates the birthday of Muhammed; the city's "most cherished manuscripts" are read publicly, and are a central part of this celebration. It was originally a Shi'ite festival from Persia and arriving in Timbuktu around 1600. The "most joyful occasion on Timbuktu's calendar", it combines "rituals of Sufi Islam with celebrating Timbuktu's rich literary traditions". It is a "period of feasting, singing, and dancing ... It culminated with an evening gathering of thousands of people in the large sandy square in front of the Sankor é Mosque and a public reading of some of the city's most treasured manuscripts."

Annually, during the winter, Timbuktu has hosted the Living Together festival since 2015.

World Heritage Site
During its twelfth session, in December 1988, the World Heritage Committee (WHC) selected parts of Timbuktu's historic centre for inscription on its World Heritage list. The selection was based on three criteria:
 * Criterion II: Timbuktu's holy places were vital to early Islamization in Africa.
 * Criterion IV: Timbuktu's mosques show a cultural and scholarly Golden Age during the Songhai Empire.
 * Criterion V: The construction of the mosques, still mostly original, shows the use of traditional building techniques.

An earlier nomination in 1979 failed the following year as it lacked proper demarcation: the Malian government included the town of Timbuktu as a whole in the wish for inclusion. Close to a decade later, three mosques and 16 mausoleums or cemeteries were selected from the Old Town for World Heritage status: with this conclusion came the call for protection of the buildings' conditions, an exclusion of new construction works near the sites and measures against the encroaching sand.

Shortly afterwards, the monuments were placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger by the Malian government, as by the selection committee at the time of nomination. The first period on the Danger List lasted from 1990 until 2005, when a range of measures including restoration work and the compilation of an inventory warranted "its removal from the Danger List". In 2008 the WHC placed the protected area under increased scrutiny dubbed "reinforced monitoring", a measure made possible in 2007, as the impact of planned construction work was unclear. Special attention was given to the build of a cultural centre.

During a session in June 2009, UNESCO decided to cease its increased monitoring program as it felt sufficient progress had been made to address the initial concerns. Following the takeover of Timbuktu by MNLA and the Islamist group Ansar Dine, it was returned to the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2012.

Many of the current conservation efforts are undertaken by "traditional actors" in the community. Some of their efforts include managing and restoring the historic mosques in the city.

Attacks by radical Islamic groups
In May 2012, Ansar Dine destroyed a shrine in the city and in June 2012, in the aftermath of the Battle of Gao and Timbuktu, other shrines, including the mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud, were destroyed when attacked with shovels and pickaxes by members of the same group. An Ansar Dine spokesman said that all shrines in the city, including the 13 remaining World Heritage sites, would be destroyed because they consider them to be examples of idolatry, a sin in Islam. These acts have been described as crimes against humanity and war crimes. After the destruction of the tombs, UNESCO created a special fund to safeguard Mali's World Heritage Sites, vowing to carry out reconstruction and rehabilitation projects once the security situation allows.

Centre of learning
Timbuktu was a world centre of Islamic learning from the 13th to the 17th century, especially under the Mali Empire and Askia Mohammad I's rule. The Malian government and NGOs have been working to catalog and restore the remnants of this scholarly legacy: Timbuktu's manuscripts.

Timbuktu's rapid economic growth in the 13th and 14th centuries drew many scholars from nearby Walata (today in Mauritania), leading up to the city's golden age in the 15th and 16th centuries that proved fertile ground for scholarship of religions, arts and sciences. To the people of Timbuktu, literacy and books were symbols of wealth, power, and blessings and the acquisition of books became a primary concern for scholars. An active trade in books between Timbuktu and other parts of the Islamic world and emperor Askia Mohammed's strong support led to the writing of thousands of manuscripts.

Knowledge was gathered in a manner similar to the early, informal European Medieval university model. Lecturing was presented through a range of informal institutions called madrasahs. Nowadays known as the University of Timbuktu, three madrasahs facilitated 25,000 students: Djinguereber, Sidi Yahya and Sankore.

These institutions were explicitly religious, as opposed to the more secular curricula of modern European universities and more similar to the medieval Europe model. However, where universities in the European sense started as associations of students and teachers, West-African education was patronized by families or lineages, with the Aqit and Bunu al-Qadi al-Hajj families being two of the most prominent in Timbuktu – these families also facilitated students in set-aside rooms in their housings. Although the basis of Islamic law and its teaching were brought to Timbuktu from North Africa with the spread of Islam, Western African scholarship developed: Ahmad Baba al Massufi is regarded as the city's greatest scholar.

Timbuktu served in this process as a distribution centre of scholars and scholarship. Its reliance on trade meant intensive movement of scholars between the city and its extensive network of trade partners. In 1468–1469 though, many scholars left for Walata when Sunni Ali's Songhay Empire absorbed Timbuktu. Then, in the 1591 Moroccan invasion of Timbuktu, scholars had to flee once more, or face imprisonment or murder.

This system of education survived until the late 19th century, while the 18th century saw the institution of itinerant Quranic school as a form of universal education, where scholars would travel throughout the region with their students, begging for food part of the day. Islamic education came under pressure after the French occupation, droughts in the 1970s and 1980s and by Mali's civil war in the early 1990s.

Manuscripts and libraries
Hundreds of thousands of manuscripts were collected in Timbuktu over the course of centuries: some were written in the town itself, others – including exclusive copies of the Quran for wealthy families – imported through the lively booktrade.

Hidden in cellars or buried, hid between the mosque's mud walls and safeguarded by their patrons, many of these manuscripts survived the city's decline. They now form the collection of several libraries in Timbuktu, holding up to 700,000 manuscripts in 2003: In late January 2013 it was reported that rebel forces destroyed many of the manuscripts before leaving the city. "On Friday morning, 25 January 2013, fifteen jihadis entered the restoration and conservation rooms on the ground floor of the Ahmed Baba Institute in Sankoré ... The men swept 4,202 manuscripts off lab tables and shelves, and carried them into the tiled courtyard ... They doused the manuscripts in gasoline ... and tossed in a lit match. The brittle pages and their dry leather covers ... were consumed by the inferno." However, there was no malicious destruction of any library or collection as most of the manuscripts were safely hidden away. 90% of these manuscripts were saved by the librarian Adbel Kader Haidara and the population organized around the NGO "Sauvegarde et valorisation des manuscrits pour la défense de la culture islamique" (SAVAMA-DCI). Some 350,000 manuscripts were transported to safety, and 300,000 of them were still in Bamako in 2022.

 * Ahmed Baba Institute
 * Mamma Haidara Library
 * Fondo Kati
 * Al-Wangari Library
 * Mohamed Tahar Library
 * Maigala Library
 * Boularaf Collection
 * Al Kounti Collections

These libraries are the largest among up to 60 private or public libraries that are estimated to exist in Timbuktu today, although some comprise little more than a row of books on a shelf or a bookchest. Under these circumstances, the manuscripts are vulnerable to damage and theft, as well as long term climate damage, despite Timbuktu's arid climate. Two Timbuktu Manuscripts Projects funded by independent universities have aimed to preserve them.

During the occupation by Islamic extremists the citizens of the city embarked on a drive to save the "best written accounts of African History". Interviewed by Time magazine, the local residents claimed to have safeguarded the three hundred thousand manuscripts for generations. Many of these documents are still in the safe-keeping of the local residents, who are reluctant to give them over to the government-run Ahmed Baba Institute housed in a modern digitalization building built by the South African government in 2009. The institute houses only 10% of the manuscripts. It was later confirmed by Jean-Michel Djian to The New Yorker that "the great majority of the manuscripts, about fifty thousand, are actually housed in the thirty-two family libraries of the 'City of 333 Saints. He added, "Those are to this day protected." He also added that due to the massive efforts of one individual, two hundred thousand other manuscripts were successfully transported to safety. This effort was organized by Abdel Kader Haidara, then director of Mamma Haidara Library, using his own funds. Haidara purchased metal footlockers in which up to 300 manuscripts could be securely stored. Nearly 2,500 of these lockers were distributed to safe houses across the city. Many were later moved to Dreazen.

Language
Although Bambara is the lingua franca of Mali, today the large majority of Timbuktu's inhabitants speaks Koyra Chiini, a Songhay language that also functions as the lingua franca. Before the 1990–1994 Tuareg rebellion, both Hassaniya Arabic and Tamashek were represented by 10% each to an 80% dominance of the Koyra Chiini language. With Tamashek spoken by both Ikelan and ethnic Tuaregs, its use declined with the expulsion of many Tuaregs following the rebellion, increasing the dominance of Koyra Chiini. Arabic, introduced together with Islam during the 11th century, has mainly been the language of scholars and religion, comparable to Latin in Western Christianity. Although Bambara is spoken by the most numerous ethnic group in Mali, the Bambara people, it is mainly confined to the south of the country. With an improving infrastructure granting Timbuktu access to larger cities in Mali's South, use of Bambara was increasing in the city at least until Azawad independence.

Infrastructure
With no railroads in Mali except for the Dakar-Niger Railway up to Koulikoro, access to Timbuktu is by road, boat or, since 1961, aircraft. With high water levels in the Niger from August to December, Compagnie Malienne de Navigation (COMANAV) passenger ferries operate a leg between Koulikoro and downstream Gao on a roughly weekly basis. Also requiring high water are pinasses (large motorized pirogues), either chartered or public, that travel up and down the river.

Both ferries and pinasses arrive at Korioumé, Timbuktu's port, which is linked to the city centre by an 18 km paved road running through Kabara. In 2007, access to Timbuktu's traditional port, Kabara, was restored by a Libyan funded project that dredged the 3 km silted canal connecting Kabara to an arm of the Niger River. COMANAV ferries and pinasses are now able to reach the port when the river is in full flood.

Timbuktu is poorly connected to the Malian road network with only dirt roads to the neighbouring towns. Although the Niger River can be crossed by ferry at Korioumé, the roads south of the river are no better. However, a new paved road is under construction between Niono and Timbuktu running to the north of the Inland Niger Delta. The 565 km road will pass through Nampala, Léré, Niafunké, Tonka, Diré and Goundam. The completed 81 km section between Niono and the small village of Goma Coura was financed by the Millennium Challenge Corporation. This new section will service the Alatona irrigation system development of the Office du Niger. The 484 km section between Goma Coura and Timbuktu is being financed by the European Development Fund.

Timbuktu Airport was served by Air Mali, hosting flights to and from Bamako, Gao and Mopti. until the airline suspended operations in 2014. Its 6,923 ft (2,110 m) runway in a 07/25 runway orientation is both lighted and paved.

Currently (July 2023), Timbuktu Airport is served by Sky Mali to and from Bamako, using Boeing 737 aircraft.

Notable people

 * Ali Farka Toure (1939–2006), a famous musician, known for popularizing the desert blues genre
 * Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti (1556–1627), a Sanhaja Berber writer, scholar and political provocateur
 * Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori (1762–1829) a prince and Amir (commander) who was captured and sold to slave traders and transported to the United States in 1788.
 * Mahamane Alassane Haidara (1910–1981) a politician who was elected to the French Senate in 1948.
 * Souheil Ben-Barka (born 1942) a Moroccan film director, screenwriter and film producer.
 * Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé (1948–2021) a Malian politician, the first female prime minister of Mali.
 * Alphadi (born 1957) a notable Nigerien fashion designer, known as the "Magician of the Desert".

In popular culture
Because much of the gold in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries came from Timbuktu, the city has long been considered a mysterious, hidden place. This association remains with modern Europeans and North Americans: a 2006 survey of 150 young Britons found that 34% did not believe the town existed, while the other 66% considered it "a mythical place". This perception has been acknowledged in literature describing African history and African-European relations. In popular Western culture, Timbuktu is also often considered an idiomatic stand-in for any faraway place.

The origin of this mystification lies in the excitement brought to Europe by the legendary tales, especially those by Leo Africanus in his Description of Africa. Arabic sources focused mainly on more affluent cities in the Timbuktu region, such as Gao and Walata. In West Africa, the city holds an image that has been compared to Europe's view on Athens. As such, the picture of the city as the epitome of distance and mystery is a European one.

Down-to-earth-aspects in Africanus' descriptions were largely ignored and stories of great riches served as a catalyst for travellers to visit the inaccessible city, with prominent French explorer René Caillié characterising Timbuktu as "a mass of ill-looking houses built of earth". Now opened up, many travellers acknowledged the unfitting description of an "African El Dorado". This development shifted the city's reputation, from being fabled because of its gold to fabled because of its location and mystery. Being used in this sense since at least 1863, English dictionaries now cite Timbuktu as a metaphor for any faraway place.

Timbuktu plays a vital role in Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolo series of historical novels, as a physical setting in Scales of Gold, and as a spiritual and intellectual influence throughout, through the character of Umar, a man from that city enslaved in Europe under the name Loppe, and his friendship with Nicholas, the central character of the series.

The musical Timbuktu! premiered on Broadway on March 1, 1978. With lyrics by George Forrest and Robert Wright, set to music by Borodin, Forrest and Wright and a book by Luther Davis, it is a retelling of Forrest and Wright's musical Kismet, changing the setting to mid-14th century Timbuktu. It starred Eartha Kitt, William Marshall, Gilbert Price, Melba Moore and George Bell. Geoffrey Holder was director, choreographer and costume designer.

Twin towns – sister cities
Timbuktu is twinned with:

 * 🇩🇪 Chemnitz, Germany
 * 🏴 Hay-on-Wye, Wales (United Kingdom)
 * 🇹🇳 Kairouan, Tunisia
 * 🇲🇦 Marrakesh, Morocco
 * 🇫🇷 Saintes, France
 * 🇺🇸 Tempe, United States

Cited and general sources

 * . Google books: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3. |internet Archive: Volume 3.
 * . Google books: Volume 1, Volume 2.
 * . Also available from Gallica.
 * . ISBN 978-90-04-12822-4 (paperback) First published in 1999 as ISBN 90-04-11207-3.
 * . A facsimile of Pory's English translation of 1600 together with an introduction and notes by the editor. Internet Archive: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3
 * . Link requires subscription to Aluka. Reissued by Anchor Books, New York in 1965.
 * . ISBN 978-90-04-12822-4 (paperback) First published in 1999 as ISBN 90-04-11207-3.
 * . A facsimile of Pory's English translation of 1600 together with an introduction and notes by the editor. Internet Archive: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3
 * . Link requires subscription to Aluka. Reissued by Anchor Books, New York in 1965.
 * . A facsimile of Pory's English translation of 1600 together with an introduction and notes by the editor. Internet Archive: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3
 * . Link requires subscription to Aluka. Reissued by Anchor Books, New York in 1965.
 * . A facsimile of Pory's English translation of 1600 together with an introduction and notes by the editor. Internet Archive: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3
 * . Link requires subscription to Aluka. Reissued by Anchor Books, New York in 1965.
 * . Link requires subscription to Aluka. Reissued by Anchor Books, New York in 1965.
 * . Link requires subscription to Aluka. Reissued by Anchor Books, New York in 1965.

title: Timbuktu


text:
Mast cell

A mast cell (also known as a mastocyte or a labrocyte ) is a resident cell of connective tissue that contains many granules rich in histamine and heparin. Specifically, it is a type of granulocyte derived from the myeloid stem cell that is a part of the immune and neuroimmune systems. Mast cells were discovered by Paul Ehrlich in 1877. Although best known for their role in allergy and anaphylaxis, mast cells play an important protective role as well, being intimately involved in wound healing, angiogenesis, immune tolerance, defense against pathogens, and vascular permeability in brain tumors.

The mast cell is very similar in both appearance and function to the basophil, another type of white blood cell. Although mast cells were once thought to be tissue-resident basophils, it has been shown that the two cells develop from different hematopoietic lineages and thus cannot be the same cells.

Structure

Mast cells are very similar to basophil granulocytes (a class of white blood cells) in blood, in the sense that both are granulated cells that contain histamine and heparin, an anticoagulant. Their nuclei differ in that the basophil nucleus is lobated while the mast cell nucleus is round. The Fc region of immunoglobulin E (IgE) becomes bound to mast cells and basophils, and when IgE's paratopes bind to an antigen, it causes the cells to release histamine and other inflammatory mediators. These similarities have led many to speculate that mast cells are basophils that have "homed in" on tissues. Furthermore, they share a common precursor in bone marrow expressing the CD34 molecule. Basophils leave the bone marrow already mature, whereas the mast cell circulates in an immature form, only maturing once in a tissue site. The site an immature mast cell settles in probably determines its precise characteristics. The first in vitro differentiation and growth of a pure population of mouse mast cells has been carried out using conditioned medium derived from concanavalin A-stimulated splenocytes. Later, it was discovered that T cell-derived interleukin 3 was the component present in the conditioned media that was required for mast cell differentiation and growth.

Mast cells in rodents are classically divided into two subtypes: connective tissue-type mast cells and mucosal mast cells. The activities of the latter are dependent on T-cells.

Mast cells are present in most tissues characteristically surrounding blood vessels, nerves and lymphatic vessels, and are especially prominent near the boundaries between the outside world and the internal milieu, such as the skin, mucosa of the lungs, and digestive tract, as well as the mouth, conjunctiva, and nose.

Function
Mast cells play a key role in the inflammatory process. When activated, a mast cell can either selectively release (piecemeal degranulation) or rapidly release (anaphylactic degranulation) "mediators", or compounds that induce inflammation, from storage granules into the local microenvironment. Mast cells can be stimulated to degranulate by allergens through cross-linking with immunoglobulin E receptors (e.g., FcεRI), physical injury through pattern recognition receptors for damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), microbial pathogens through pattern recognition receptors for pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), and various compounds through their associated G-protein coupled receptors (e.g., morphine through opioid receptors) or ligand-gated ion channels. Complement proteins can activate membrane receptors on mast cells to exert various functions as well.

Mast cells express a high-affinity receptor (FcεRI) for the Fc region of IgE, the least-abundant member of the antibodies. This receptor is of such high affinity that binding of IgE molecules is in essence irreversible. As a result, mast cells are coated with IgE, which is produced by plasma cells (the antibody-producing cells of the immune system). IgE antibodies are typically specific to one particular antigen.

In allergic reactions, mast cells remain inactive until an allergen binds to IgE already coated upon the cell. Other membrane activation events can either prime mast cells for subsequent degranulation or act in synergy with FcεRI signal transduction. In general, allergens are proteins or polysaccharides. The allergen binds to the antigen-binding sites, which are situated on the variable regions of the IgE molecules bound to the mast cell surface. It appears that binding of two or more IgE molecules (cross-linking) is required to activate the mast cell. The clustering of the intracellular domains of the cell-bound Fc receptors, which are associated with the cross-linked IgE molecules, causes a complex sequence of reactions inside the mast cell that lead to its activation. Although this reaction is most well understood in terms of allergy, it appears to have evolved as a defense system against parasites and bacteria.

Mast cell mediators
A unique, stimulus-specific set of mast cell mediators is released through degranulation following the activation of cell surface receptors on mast cells. Examples of mediators that are released into the extracellular environment during mast cell degranulation include:
 * serine proteases, such as tryptase and chymase
 * histamine (2–5 picograms per mast cell)
 * serotonin
 * proteoglycans, mainly heparin (active as anticoagulant) and some chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans
 * adenosine triphosphate (ATP)
 * lysosomal enzymes
 * β-hexosaminidase
 * β-glucuronidase
 * arylsulfatases
 * newly formed lipid mediators (eicosanoids):
 * thromboxane
 * prostaglandin D2
 * leukotriene C4
 * platelet-activating factor
 * cytokines
 * TNF-α
 * basic fibroblast growth factor
 * interleukin-4
 * stem cell factor
 * chemokines, such as eosinophil chemotactic factor
 * reactive oxygen species

Histamine dilates post-capillary venules, activates the endothelium, and increases blood vessel permeability. This leads to local edema (swelling), warmth, redness, and the attraction of other inflammatory cells to the site of release. It also depolarizes nerve endings (leading to itching or pain). Cutaneous signs of histamine release are the "flare and wheal"-reaction. The bump and redness immediately following a mosquito bite are a good example of this reaction, which occurs seconds after challenge of the mast cell by an allergen.

The other physiologic activities of mast cells are much less-understood. Several lines of evidence suggest that mast cells may have a fairly fundamental role in innate immunity: They are capable of elaborating a vast array of important cytokines and other inflammatory mediators such as TNF-α; they express multiple "pattern recognition receptors" thought to be involved in recognizing broad classes of pathogens; and mice without mast cells seem to be much more susceptible to a variety of infections.

Mast cell granules carry a variety of bioactive chemicals. These granules have been found to be transferred to adjacent cells of the immune system and neurons in a process of transgranulation via mast cell pseudopodia.

In the nervous system
Unlike other hematopoietic cells of the immune system, mast cells naturally occur in the human brain where they interact with the neuroimmune system. In the brain, mast cells are located in a number of structures that mediate visceral sensory (e.g. pain) or neuroendocrine functions or that are located along the blood–cerebrospinal fluid barrier, including the pituitary stalk, pineal gland, thalamus, and hypothalamus, area postrema, choroid plexus, and in the dural layer of the meninges near meningeal nociceptors. Mast cells serve the same general functions in the body and central nervous system, such as effecting or regulating allergic responses, innate and adaptive immunity, autoimmunity, and inflammation. Across systems, mast cells serve as the main effector cell through which pathogens can affect the gut–brain axis.

In the gut
In the gastrointestinal tract, mucosal mast cells are located in close proximity to sensory nerve fibres, which communicate bidirectionally. When these mast cells initially degranulate, they release mediators (e.g., histamine, tryptase, and serotonin) which activate, sensitize, and upregulate membrane expression of nociceptors (i.e., TRPV1) on visceral afferent neurons via their receptors (respectively, HRH1, HRH2, HRH3, PAR2, 5-HT3); in turn, neurogenic inflammation, visceral hypersensitivity, and intestinal dysmotility (i.e., impaired peristalsis) result. Neuronal activation induces neuropeptide (substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide) signaling to mast cells where they bind to their associated receptors and trigger degranulation of a distinct set of mediators (β-Hexosaminidase, cytokines, chemokines, PGD2, leukotrienes, and eoxins).  Figure 1: Mediator release from mast cells Figure 2: Model of genesis of mast cell secretory granules Figure 3: Lipid body biogenesis Table 2: Stimuli-selective mediator release from mast cells

Structure of the high-affinity IgE receptor, FcεR1
FcεR1 is a high affinity IgE-receptor that is expressed on the surface of the mast cell. FcεR1 is a tetramer made of one alpha (α) chain, one beta (β) chain, and two identical, disulfide-linked gamma (γ) chains. The binding site for IgE is formed by the extracellular portion of the α chain that contains two domains that are similar to Ig. One transmembrane domain contains an aspartic acid residue, and one contains a short cytoplasmic tail. The β chain contains, a single immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif ITAM, in the cytoplasmic region. Each γ chain has one ITAM on the cytoplasmic region. The signaling cascade from the receptor is initiated when the ITAMs of the β and γ chains are phosphorylated by a tyrosine kinase. This signal is required for the activation of mast cells. Type 2 helper T cells,(Th2) and many other cell types lack the β chain, so signaling is mediated only by the γ chain. This is due to the α chain containing endoplasmic reticulum retention signals that causes the α-chains to remain degraded in the ER. The assembly of the α chain with the co-transfected β and γ chains mask the ER retention and allows the α β γ complex to be exported to the golgi apparatus to the plasma membrane in rats. In humans, only the γ complex is needed to counterbalance the α chain ER retention.

Allergen process
Allergen-mediated FcεR1 cross-linking signals are very similar to the signaling event resulting in antigen binding to lymphocytes. The Lyn tyrosine kinase is associated with the cytoplasmic end of the FcεR1 β chain. The antigen cross-links the FcεR1 molecules, and Lyn tyrosine kinase phosphorylates the ITAMs in the FcεR1 β and γ chain in the cytoplasm. Upon the phosphorylation, the Syk tyrosine kinase gets recruited to the ITAMs located on the γ chains. This causes activation of the Syk tyrosine kinase, causing it to phosphorylate. Syk functions as a signal amplifying kinase activity due to the fact that it targets multiple proteins and causes their activation. This antigen stimulated phosphorylation causes the activation of other proteins in the FcεR1-mediated signaling cascade.

Degranulation and fusion
An important adaptor protein activated by the Syk phosphorylation step is the linker for activation of T cells (LAT). LAT can be modified by phosphorylation to create novel binding sites. Phospholipase C gamma (PLCγ) becomes phosphorylated once bound to LAT, and is then used to catalyze phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate breakdown to yield inositol trisphosphate (IP3) and diacyglycerol (DAG). IP3 elevates calcium levels, and DAG activates protein kinase C (PKC). This is not the only way that PKC is made. The tyrosine kinase FYN phosphorylates Grb2-associated-binding protein 2 (Gab2), which binds to phosphoinositide 3-kinase, which activates PKC. PKC leads to the activation of myosin light-chain phosphorylation granule movements, which disassembles the actin–myosin complexes to allow granules to come into contact with the plasma membrane. The mast cell granule can now fuse with the plasma membrane. Soluble N-ethylmaleimide sensitive fusion attachment protein receptor SNARE complex mediates this process. Different SNARE proteins interact to form different complexes that catalyze fusion. Rab3 guanosine triphosphatases and Rab-associated kinases and phosphatases regulate granule membrane fusion in resting mast cells.

MRGPRX2 mast cell receptor
Human mast-cell-specific G-protein-coupled receptor MRGPRX2 plays a key role in the recognition of pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and initiating an antibacterial response. MRGPRX2 is able to bind to competence stimulating peptide (CSP) 1 - a quorum sensing molecule (QSM) produced by Gram-positive bacteria. This leads to signal transduction to a G protein and activation of the mast cell. Mast cell activation induces the release of antibacterial mediators including ROS, TNF-α and PRGD2 which institute the recruitment of other immune cells to inhibit bacterial growth and biofilm formation.

The MRGPRX2 receptor is a possible therapeutic target and can be pharmacologically activated using the agonist compound 48/80 to control bacterial infection. It is also hypothesised that other QSMs and even Gram-negative bacterial signals can activate this receptor. This might particularly be the case during Bartonella chronic infections where it appears clearly in human symptomatology that these patients all have a mast cell activation syndrome due to the presence of a not yet defined quorum sensing molecule (basal histamine itself?). Those patients are prone to food intolerance driven by another less specific path than the IgE receptor path: certainly the MRGPRX2 route. These patients also show cyclical skin pathergy and dermographism, every time the bacteria exits its hidden intracellular location.

Parasitic infections
Mast cells are activated in response to infection by pathogenic parasites, such as certain helminths and protozoa, through IgE signaling.

Mast cell activation disorders
Mast cell activation disorders (MCAD) are a spectrum of immune disorders that are unrelated to pathogenic infection and involve similar symptoms that arise from secreted mast cell intermediates, but differ slightly in their pathophysiology, treatment approach, and distinguishing symptoms. The classification of mast cell activation disorders was laid out in 2010.

Allergic disease
Allergies are mediated through IgE signaling which triggers mast cell degranulation. Recently, IgE-independent "pseudo-allergic" reactions are thought to also be mediated via the MRGPRX2 receptor activation of mast cells (e.g. drugs such as muscle relaxants, opioids, Icatibant and fluoroquinolones).

Many forms of cutaneous and mucosal allergy are mediated in large part by mast cells; they play a central role in asthma, eczema, itch (from various causes), allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis. Antihistamine drugs act by blocking histamine action on nerve endings. Cromoglicate-based drugs (sodium cromoglicate, nedocromil) block a calcium channel essential for mast cell degranulation, stabilizing the cell and preventing release of histamine and related mediators. Leukotriene antagonists (such as montelukast and zafirlukast) block the action of leukotriene mediators and are being used increasingly in allergic diseases.

Calcium triggers the secretion of histamine from mast cells after previous exposure to sodium fluoride. The secretory process can be divided into a fluoride-activation step and a calcium-induced secretory step. It was observed that the fluoride-activation step is accompanied by an elevation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels within the cells. The attained high levels of cAMP persist during histamine release. It was further found that catecholamines do not markedly alter the fluoride-induced histamine release. It was also confirmed that the second, but not the first, step in sodium fluoride-induced histamine secretion is inhibited by theophylline. Vasodilation and increased permeability of capillaries are a result of both H1 and H2 receptor types.

Stimulation of histamine activates a histamine (H2)-sensitive adenylate cyclase of oxyntic cells, and there is a rapid increase in cellular [cAMP] that is involved in activation of H+ transport and other associated changes of oxyntic cells.

Anaphylaxis
In anaphylaxis (a severe systemic reaction to allergens, such as nuts, bee stings, or drugs), the body-wide degranulation of mast cells leads to vasodilation and, if severe, symptoms of life-threatening shock.

Histamine is a vasodilatory substance released during anaphylaxis.

Autoimmunity
Mast cells may be implicated in the pathology associated with autoimmune, inflammatory disorders of the joints. They have been shown to be involved in the recruitment of inflammatory cells to the joints (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis) and skin (e.g., bullous pemphigoid), and this activity is dependent on antibodies and complement components.

Mastocytosis and clonal disorders
Mastocytosis is a rare clonal mast cell disorder involving the presence of too many mast cells (mastocytes) and CD34+ mast cell precursors. Mutations in c-Kit are associated with mastocytosis.

Neoplastic disorders
Mastocytomas, or mast cell tumors, can secrete excessive quantities of degranulation products. They are often seen in dogs and cats. Other neoplastic disorders associated with mast cells include mast cell sarcoma and mast cell leukemia.

Mast cell activation syndrome
Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) is an idiopathic immune disorder that involves recurrent and excessive mast cell degranulation and which produces symptoms that are similar to other mast cell activation disorders. The syndrome is diagnosed based upon four sets of criteria involving treatment response, symptoms, a differential diagnosis, and biomarkers of mast cell degranulation.

History
Mast cells were first described by Paul Ehrlich in his 1878 doctoral thesis on the basis of their unique staining characteristics and large granules. These granules also led him to the incorrect belief that they existed to nourish the surrounding tissue, so he named them Mastzellen (, as of animals). They are now considered to be part of the immune system.

Autism
Research into an immunological contribution to autism suggests that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) children may present with "allergic-like" problems in the absence of elevated serum IgE and chronic urticaria, suggesting non-allergic mast cell activation in response to environmental and stress triggers. This mast cell activation could contribute to brain inflammation and neurodevelopmental problems.

Histological staining
Toluidine blue: one of the most common stains for acid mucopolysaccharides and glycoaminoglycans, components of mast cells granules.

Bismarck brown: stains mast cell granules brown.

Surface markers: cell surface markers of mast cells were discussed in detail by Heneberg, claiming that mast cells may be inadvertently included in the stem or progenitor cell isolates, since part of them is positive for the CD34 antigen. The classical mast cell markers include the high-affinity IgE receptor, CD117 (c-Kit), and CD203c (for most of the mast cell populations). Expression of some molecules may change in course of the mast cell activation.

Other organisms
Mast cells and enterochromaffin cells are the source of most serotonin in the stomach in rodents.

title: Mast cell


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text:
Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company

The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company was an American motor vehicle manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, active from 1901 to 1938. Although best known for its expensive luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manufactured commercial trucks, fire trucks, boats, camp trailers, motorcycles, and bicycles.

Origin
The forerunner of Pierce-Arrow was established in 1865 as Heinz, Pierce and Munschauer. The company was best known for its household items, especially its delicate, gilded birdcages. In 1872, George Norman Pierce bought out the other two principals of the company, changed the name to the George N. Pierce Company, and in 1896 added bicycles to the product line. The company failed in its attempt to build a steam-powered car in 1900 under license from Overman, but by 1901, had built its first single-cylinder, two-speed, no-reverse Motorette. In 1903, it produced a two-cylinder car, the Arrow.

In 1904, Pierce decided to concentrate on making a larger, more luxurious car for the upscale market, the Great Arrow. This became the company's most successful product. The solidly built, four-cylinder car won the Glidden Tour in 1905, an endurance run to determine and celebrate the most reliable car. Thirty-three cars entered the 350-mile race from New York City to Bretton Woods, New Hampshire; the race was won by Percy Pierce in a Great Arrow.

The noted industrial architect Albert Kahn designed the Pierce Arrow Factory Complex at Elmwood Avenue and Great Arrow Avenue in about 1906. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. George Pierce sold all rights in the company in 1907, and he died three years later. In 1908, Pierce Motor Company was renamed as the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company.

In 1909, U.S. President William Howard Taft ordered two Pierce-Arrows (and two White Model M Tourers) to be used for state occasions, the first official cars of the White House.

The Pierce-Arrow's engine displacement started at 453 cuin, continuing to a massive 11.7 L and was increased later to 5 inch bore and 7 inch stroke for 13.52 L, at the time making it by far the largest Otto engine offered in any production automobile in the world. In 1910, Pierce dropped its other 4-cylinder models and focused exclusively on 6-cylinder cars until 1929. The model 6-36, 6-48, and 6-66 continued for the next decade. Starting in 1918, Pierce-Arrow adopted a four-valve per cylinder T-head inline-six engine (Dual Valve Six) and three spark plugs per cylinder, one of the few, if only, multi-valve flathead design engines ever made. The company did not introduce an 8-cylinder engine until the 1929 Model 126, and a V-12 engine was offered in 1931 until the company closed in 1938.

In 1910, George Pierce died. In 1912, Herbert M. Dawley (later a Broadway actor-director) joined Pierce-Arrow, and he designed almost every model until 1938. Until 1914, Pierce-Arrow also made a line of motorcycles, including the Pierce Four.

In 1914, Pierce-Arrow adopted its most enduring styling hallmark when its headlights were moved from a traditional placement at the radiator's sides, into flared housings molded into the front fenders of the car. This gave the car an immediately visible distinction in front or side views. At night, the car appeared to have a wider stance. Pierce patented this placement, which endured until the final model of 1938, although Pierce always offered customers the option of conventional headlamps; only a minority ordered this option.

The Pierce-Arrow was a status symbol, owned by many Hollywood stars and tycoons, and a favorite was the Pierce-Arrow Town Car. Most of the royalty of the world had at least one Pierce-Arrow in its collection. Some have described Pierce and two of its rivals among American luxury cars, Peerless and Packard, as the "Three P's of Motordom." Industrial efficiency expert Frank Gilbreth, father of the authors of "Cheaper By The Dozen," extolled the virtues of Pierce-Arrow, in both quality and in its ability to safely transport his large family. Its wheelbase was 12 ft. The transmission was a four speed manual in 1919. Actor Sessue Hayakawa (famed for his role in Bridge on the River Kwai) drove a custom-ordered gold-plated Pierce-Arrow. A restored 1919 Pierce-Arrow is on display at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library. An open-bodied Pierce-Arrow carried Woodrow Wilson and Warren G. Harding to Harding's 1921 inauguration, and one was used prominently in the 1950 movie Cheaper by the Dozen.

Pierce-Arrow advertisements were artistic and understated. Unusual for car advertising, the image of the car was in the background rather than the foreground of the picture. Usually, only part of the car was visible. The Pierce-Arrow was typically depicted in elegant and fashionable settings. Some advertisements featured the car in places a car would not normally go, such as the West and other rural settings, a testament to the car's ruggedness and quality.

Because of the immense size of most models, several second-hand Pierce-Arrow cars were bought by fire departments, stripped down to the chassis and engine, the wheelbase lengthened, and built back into fire engines. Some of these fire engines were in service for up to 20 years.

1928–1933
In 1928, the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana, gained control of the Buffalo firm. The association was to last for five years, with moderate benefits to both companies' engineering departments, which continued to function as separate entities. Pierce-Arrow also gained a dealer network, as the cars were sold through Studebaker dealerships. Under Studebaker's ownership, Pierce-Arrow retired the venerable 6-cylinder engine and in 1929 introduced an L-head straight-eight engine, which displaced 366 cuin.

1933-1938
In 1933, Pierce-Arrow unveiled the radically streamlined Silver Arrow in a final attempt to appeal to the wealthy at the New York Auto Show. The car was well received by the public and the motoring press, being announced with the slogan "Suddenly it's 1940!" Pierce sold five examples but, since it was priced at $10,000 (equal to $ today) during the worst of the Depression, even the rich were hesitant to spend so much. The bodies were built at Studebaker, which subsequently assisted in rolling out a lower-priced production model. This, however, lacked many luxury features of the show car and still failed to generate enough sales.

Starting in 1936, Pierce-Arrow produced a line of camper-trailers, the Pierce-Arrow Travelodge. They also produced a new V12 sedan that was redesigned and considered the safest and most luxurious sedan of its day.

The Rio Grande Southern Railroad converted five Pierce-Arrow automobiles (and a couple of Buicks) into motorized railcars, effectively buses and trucks on rail wheels. The nickname Galloping Goose was soon applied to these vehicles, reportedly based on their waddling motion and honking horn. Three are preserved in the Colorado Railroad Museum at Golden.

Pierce was the only luxury brand that did not field a lower-priced car (e.g., the Packard 120) to provide cash flow, and without sales or funds for development, the company declared insolvency in 1938 and closed its doors. The final Pierce-Arrow assembled was built by Karl Wise, the firm's chief engineer, from parts secured from the company's receivers. Pierce's remaining assets (which probably would include the forty Arrows made in October 1938) were sold at auction on a Friday, May 13, 1938.

The factory equipment used to make Pierce-Arrow V12 engines was bought by Seagrave Fire Apparatus, which used it to make engines for fire engines.

Name trademark
In 2006, a group of classic car enthusiasts from Switzerland applied the name to a 10 L, 24-cylinder car designed by Luigi Colani. According to their (defunct) website, the company intended to revive the Pierce-Arrow car in the form of a Pierce Silver Arrow II.

The U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled on August 12, 2019, that "Pierce-Arrow" cannot be registered by an unrelated third party as a trademark for the production of a new automobile. This decision establishes a new precedent for protection of

List of models
There were at least 39 defined models, listed here:

 * Pierce Silver Arrow
 * Pierce-Arrow 1240A
 * Pierce-Arrow 1245
 * Pierce-Arrow 1248A
 * Pierce-Arrow 1255
 * Pierce-Arrow 1601
 * Pierce-Arrow 1602
 * Pierce-Arrow 1603
 * Pierce-Arrow 1701
 * Pierce-Arrow 1702
 * Pierce-Arrow 1703
 * Pierce-Arrow 1801
 * Pierce-Arrow 1802
 * Pierce-Arrow 1803
 * Pierce-Arrow 836A
 * Pierce-Arrow 840A
 * Pierce-Arrow 845
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 1236
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 1242
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 1247
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 133
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 143
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 31
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 32
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 33
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 36
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 41
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 42
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 43
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 51
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 52
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 53
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 54
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 80
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 81
 * Pierce-Arrow Model 836
 * Pierce-Arrow Model A
 * Pierce-Arrow Model B
 * Pierce-Arrow Model C

title: Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company