text:
Talk:Western European Summer Time

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—Yamara ✉  08:21, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

1970s
In the 1970s for a year or two Britain abandoned summer time and stayed on GMT all year. Information about the reasons and results should be included. Lee M 03:28, 9 Nov 2003 (UTC) (HOW late???)
 * It was the 1960s (1968-71 actually) and they abandoned GMT and stayed on summer time all year but otherwise you are spot on, . The reasons were harmonisation with Western Europe. The results were consternation in the North of Scotland and the Northern Isles where daylight is in short supply in the winter time anyway. Running on Summer Time all the year round meant that hours of daylight were at inconvenient times of day during the winter. In particular children were walking to and from school in complete darkness and road traffic accidents involving them were a major concern. The experiment was ended and has not been repeated. -- Derek Ross | Talk 22:09, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

DBST
I believe that during the WWII we had double British Summer Time, but I'm not sure of the details. Mintguy (T) 14:22, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * According to this page Britain was on BDST between 1941-45 and in 1947; Between Summer 1940 and Summer 1945, winter time was GMT+1 and summer time was GMT+2. -- Arwel 14:39, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Yeah I found that too. How do you reckon that worked for 1947 then? Was that just 2 hours ahead of the winter time? Mintguy (T) 14:41, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * I suppose so... -- Arwel 19:43, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Clocks were put foward to Single Summer Time (GMT+1) on 16 March 1947 and by a further hour to Double Summer Time (GMT+2) on 13 April. They were put back by one hour to Single Summer Time on 10 August and by a further hour to GMT on 2 November. -- Picapica (talk) 09:43, 20 June 2015 (UTC)

Anyone bored? The table would be more useful if 2007 were at the top and 1916 at the bottom. Evertype 13:27, 2005 Apr 22 (UTC)
 * I thought they both might be usefull so I've created British Summer Time/Reverse. --βjweþþ (talk) 11:40, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

http://www.rospa.com/RoadSafety/info/summertime_paper2006v2.pdf says 'Although there was statutory provision to continue double summertime in 1947 and future years, it was not utilised and in that year Britain reverted to ‘British Summer Time’ (GMT + 1) from March to October and GMT from October to March. Alekksandr (talk) 17:42, 20 July 2008 (UTC)
 * If by "that year" they meant 1947 [the link no longer works] then ROSPA was wrong: Double Summer Time was indeed in effect from 01.00 GMT on 13 April to 01.00 GMT on 10 August 1947 -- Picapica (talk) 09:56, 20 June 2015 (UTC)

Standard or Summer?
BST is British Standard Time, not Summer. This is a common misconception. User:Liamgilmartin

BST was British Standard Time during 1968-71. At all other times is has been British Summer Time, but no name has been specified in law except for 1968-71. The reference to "two different timezones for the first time in history" is misleading: Ireland was on Dublin Mean Time until 1916, when it moved to Dublin Mean Time plus one hour for the summer and changed to GMT when summer time ended, at 2am Dublin Mean Time on Sunday 1 October 1916. Joseph Myers 9 July 2005 00:17 (UTC)

Further to the above comment, I was under the impression that, prior to the arrival of Train timetables and the consequent requirement for accuracy, there were small time differences throughout the UK, such that midday occured at the sun's peak. Phil Wills 22 July 2005
 * Yes, towns ran on local solar time. Bristol, for example, was 12 minutes after London. -- Arwel 17:11, 22 July 2005 (UTC)
 * For the history of time in Britain before standard time, see Derek Howse, Greenwich Time and the Longitude (Philip Wilson Publishers / National Maritime Museum, 1997). GMT/DMT became legal time in 1880, though for most practical purposes they had been used for decades before (the adoption being driven by the railways). Joseph Myers 17:32, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

Unification with continental Europe
Not sure if it's worth putting in the article itself, but I would point out that some cynics suggest that the motivation behind many people's advocation of moving the UK onto CET is unification with continental Europe, and not preventing accidents. JS.Farrar 15:41, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

 * It is not cynical, many advocates, particularly business interests, do argue that this is the primary reason. --Philip Baird Shearer 07:15, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Historical irony?
Is it an irony that the UK has long proudly been the home of GMT (GMT vs UTC discussions aside) - but only uses GMT+0 itself for half the year; and is fairly likely at some stage to ditch that in favour of BST? If GMT is, therefore, arguably not too suitable for the UK, why was it set as it was? Was it simply that light mornings were more important in the heady days of Greenwich?

 * The "M" in GMT stands for "Mean", ie Mean Solar Time. 12 noon GMT is the time of day when the sun is at its highest point in the sky ("Solar Noon"), at the Greenwich Meridian - hence the name GMT. However, it is usually more convenient to have sunlight in the afternoon than in the morning, so the time is shifted, by shifting noon relative to GMT. For example, at the equinoxes/equinoces/equinoxen (delete where applicable), under GMT it may be light from 6am to 6pm - under BST from 7am to 7pm (and under BDST 8am to 8pm). edd 17:15, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Why don't we just all get up one hour earlier all year round?

 * Maybe everyone wants to stay up past midnight :p —Preceding unsigned comment added by 57.66.65.38 (talk) 13:21, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

Not entirely facetious. If we (for instance) really think that going home from work 1 hour earlier in winter saves lives (the main pro-BST/DBST argument), we could do so independent of government action, as an example of "people power".

Exile 16:36, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Mental effects, intended?
Humans have a built-in clock.

I remember when I was young, before my country started using summer time, then I always knew what time of day it was because I felt it in my mind. After summer time was introduced I have no idea what time it is without a watch. The summr time can be used to confuse and destabilize something deep inside our minds.

Considering how many other ways the government and the media people have invented to upset people, maybe summer time also is primarily a riot control measure, keep people confused and it makes ruling them much easier.

Has anyone studied this from that perspective? If they have, I think it should be included in this page.

I am not a conspirationist, but this looks suspicious, and it is is strange how easily governments all over the world were convinced about the positive effects of summer time.

It is like when christendom came to my Viking country. The rulers then adopted this new idea very quickly, for similar reasons, is my guess. It made it a lot easier to keep the people under control. Roger4911 05:04, 16 November 2005 (UTC)

 * Governments are usually convinced by details such as reductions in electricity usage before and after converting to summer time and such, I'm not sure why there needs to be some deep hidden conspiracy to explain it. There might be a conspiracy as well, as they say just because you are paranoid doesn't mean someone isn't after you, but Ockham's razor would guide my first choice. Sfnhltb 15:56, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

Map
Is there a reason why Iceland is pale blue but the rest of Europe is in bold colours? If bold denotes "Europe", then Iceland is in Europe - see Iceland. If the pale colour denotes non-EU, then Norway, Switzerland and others should also be pale. Bazza 15:31, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

 * From the caption of the picture: Pale colours indicate countries without daylight saving edd 14:33, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

 * To be fair, that part of the caption was added after the original question. Jmbox 15:29, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

 * So that explains why Morocco and Algeria are in different colours! It isn't immediately clear that they are supposed to be a lighter shade rather than totally different colours. Perhaps the legend could be changed to give the "no DST" colours explicitly?  J Rawle  (Talk) 16:40, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Thanks for the answers and articel update (and for pointing out that I hadn't not read a caption that wasn't there :-) ) Bazza 12:11, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

Date and time of the changeover
Clocks in the UK change on the last Sundays of March and October, at 1:00am GMT on both occasions. As far as I'm aware, there are no plans to change the time and date. Yet some (IP addressed) users persist in changing it to midnight on the last Sunday of September. Does anyone have any references that indicate this change? If so, please include them here or in the article. Otherwise I'll continue to revert the article and consider the users as vandals.  J Rawle  (Talk) 15:06, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

Today User:195.93.21.102 (talk • contribs) made edits suggesting that the date of the change to GMT will be September in 2008. One of the sources actually gives October for 2008, others stop at 2007. There is no source for this move to September, so as far as I'm concerned it is a hoax edit. Such a change would require either an EU directive to change the definition of summer time, or a statutary instrument in the UK parliament to remove the link between BST and European summer time.  J Rawle  (Talk) 15:53, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

More changes today to assert that Summer Time in BST/CET changes at the end of September, this contradicts Official UK Gov Atricle on same Gerard Keating 17:59, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Irish Summer Time or Irish Standard Time?
I seem to recall reading, possibly in Brendan McWilliams' Irish Times column, that the official names in Ireland were Irish Winter Time and Irish Standard Time. So does the S in IST stand for Summer or Standard? The 1968 act mentions "standard time" as the official time-of-day measure and equates it to GMT+1; it also defines "summer time" as the time-interval during the the year in which Daylight Savings Time applies. That's not entirely clear, but suggests "17:46 IST" should be read as "17:46 Irish Standard Time"; while saying "April 5: IST begins" should be read "April 5: Irish Summer Time begins". For "Irish Winter Time" there is no reference in the Act and only 3 googlehits. jnestorius(talk) 09:11, 15 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Presumably in 1968 they were preparing for the experiment when summer time was standard time at GMT+1 all year round for several years (I presume Ireland went along with the British experiment). More recently I've been in Ireland the weekend the clocks changed, and seen notices timed in "GMT" one side of the change and "IST" the other. -- Arwel (talk) 19:49, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I've never heard of "Irish Standard Time" nor "Irish Summer Time". Indeed the (as usual) bad research on RTE resulted in a news reader referring to our clocks changing to "British Standard Time". Whatever that is. More nonsense resulting in our wanting to be different from the British all the time. Being in Kerry the sun rises and sets 30 minutes after Greenwich so we may as well have a different time zone.Jm butler 08:27, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I think you've got that wrong. You'll find, in fact, that the sun in Greenwich rises and sets 30 minutes before it does in Kerry. ;-) Bazza 11:55, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
 * That's the same thing isn't it? "in Kerry the sun rises and sets 30 minutes after Greenwich" or "in Greenwich rises and sets 30 minutes before it does in Kerry."  J Rawle  (Talk) 12:03, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Indeed! :-D Jm butler 21:45, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
 * My apologies - a moment of boredom at work allowed my sense of humour to momentarily get the better of me. Bazza 12:12, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

The Irish 1968 Act, The Standard Time Act states: "The time for general purposes in the State (to be known as standard time) shall be one hour in advance of Greenwich mean time". Thus, Irish Standard Time was enacted. The subsequent act, Standard Time (Amendment) Act, 1971, then introduces Irish Winter Time where it provides for a "PERIOD WHICH SHALL BE KNOWN AS WINTER TIME AND DURING WHICH THE TIME FOR GENERAL PURPOSES IN THE STATE SHALL BE GREENWICH MEAN TIME". It does not change the name of the summer time period. So, Irish Standard Time is still the name for the time in Ireland during the summer.Murphyobrien 15:21, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

Name Change
As this article contains numourous entries in relation to the Republic of Ireland's Irish Summer Time, should the article name not be changed to British Summer Time/Irish Summer Time. It doesn't seem logical to have information about Irish Standard Time under an article entitled British Summer Time. Éire32 02:27, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

 * I find the discussion of how Irish time relates to BST interesting, and I think it's legitimate to discuss it in an article on BST. Whether you have a separate article on IST is another matter. British Summer Time/Irish Summer Time would be a very cumbersome title for an article anyway. Perhaps British and Irish Summer Time or British/Irish Summer Time would be better.  J Rawle  (Talk) 16:22, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

 * I'd like to reiterate that a name change should strongly be considered for this article. It should be recognised in the title, either in this article or another, that Ireland follows IST(Irish Summer Time), not BST. As this article contains numourous entries relating the IST and any reference to IST of other articles leads to this article, the title should be changed.
 * Éire32 14:41, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

 * I detect a hint of national pride here ;-) . The article is predominantly about BST, probably because that's what most of the original research was done on. References to IST and WEST seem to be later additions. Renaming this article properly would be messy - BST/IST/WEST seems more cumbersome than helpful. I suggest either creating two new stand-alone articles - Irish Summer Time and West European Summer Time - and moving the appropriate content from this article to those, with links as appropriate; or (my own preference as it removes any potential for political mischief à la British Isles) renaming this article to West European Summer Time, giving the variants their own subsections, and redirecting British Summer Time and Irish Summer Time to that. Bazza 14:15, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

 * I've moved it to Western European Summer Time. It makes more sense for the BST and IST pages to redirect to WEST as Ireland and UK are in Europe, Europe and Ireland aren't in the UK! PaulyR 20:27, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

 * Thanks. I've expanded and re-ordered the introduction to a style similar to the other Western and Central European zones. Bazza 13:52, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

 * I've just noticed the page move. Most of the information in the article is about BST specifically, so I'm not sure the current arrangement is the best. Perhaps separate BST and WEST articles would be better? The table still refers to BST (I'm going to change the level of the heading for the moment)  J Rawle  (Talk) 20:20, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

 * I've not heard of WEST before. Is this a Wikipedia neologism? Jooler 21:36, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

 * Putting the page at a neologism title is removing any potential for political mischief? Tell that to North Britain... 79.66.120.163 (talk) 01:55, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

Sense?
While the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland always maintain the same time as each other, there is a slight difference how they maintain it. Everything okay with that sentence? 84.60.226.126 16:52, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

 * I've changed one of the maintains to "keep", which makes the sentence sound a bit better.  J Rawle  (Talk) 19:17, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Hahaha!
I love the table. It's ninjariffic. Vitriol 01:17, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

1945
There seems to be some confusion over 1945. The text says: "The clocks were not advanced for the summer of 1945 and were reverted to GMT at the end of the summer of 1945" but the table indicates a BDST from April to July, then normal BST till October.

 * The text is incorrect

from History of legal time in Britain S.R.&O. 1945 No. 312 (Emergency Powers (Defence)—Summer Time) Long title: Order in Council amending the Defence (Summer Time) Regulations, 1939. Date: 21st March 1945. This order, under the Emergency Powers (Defence) Acts, 1939 and 1940, amended the Defence (Summer Time) Regulations, 1939 to change the start date of double summer time to the day after the first Sunday in April, and the end date to the day after the second Saturday in July, both for 1945 only. The start on a Monday was because it was felt necessary for double summer time to operate from the beginning of April, but the 1st of April was Easter Day. (See Hansard, Oral Answers, 1 March 1945, columns 1559–1561.) from History of legal time in Britain S.R.&O. 1945 No. 1208 (Emergency Powers (Defence)—Defence (General) Regulations—Amendments) Long title: Order in Council Revoking and Amending Certain Defence Regulations. Date: 28th September 1945. This order, under the Emergency Powers (Defence) Acts, 1939 and 1940, revoked among other things the Defence (Summer Time) Regulations, 1939. Thus the time was now one hour in advance of GMT, being Summer Time rather than the year-round time one hour in advance of GMT used previously, and would revert to GMT at the time specified by the Summer Time Acts, 1922 to 1925, 2am GMT on 7 October. --Timewatcher (talk) 22:48, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Iceland
How pretty Iceland looks on the map, coloured in that delicate shade of light blue. But what does that mean? I see in Iceland that its time zone is listed as GMT, but does it have no Summer Time? Martinevans123 (talk) 15:57, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I remember asking the same question a while ago, and some nice person added the explanation (which you have correctly supposed) to the map's caption. Bazza (talk) 12:53, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

 * Thank you Bazza and apologies for my lack of observation, although that information is quite tucked away in there. That does explain why my search for "Iceland" on that page was fruitless. Maybe a written note in the article itself for the three countries concerned might help? But also, why exactly are the colours named in that map key? Is that wierd kind of Stroop effect really a wiki standard?. Maybe it's for the benefit of users with monochrone displays, haha. Martinevans123 (talk) 14:12, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

 * I've taken your suggestion and added the country names to the caption. I think the colours are named because, whilst the map is a true image and can be seen as intended, the caption is just text; anyone with background colours disabled (for accesibility, for example) would not see them. Bazza (talk) 15:49, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

 * Many thanks. I guess I had assumed that the colours in both map and key were drawn in the same way. One last moan - what about Greenland? Which, apparently, is "closely tied to Europe" if not actually in it. It doesn't fit easily into the map. Should it fit easily into the article? Regards. Martinevans123 (talk) 17:07, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Greenland
So what about Greenland, which apparently is "closely tied to Europe" if not actually in it? It may appear in the tourist brochures as "a timeless land in the frozen North", but it would still be useful to know what time it really is up there. Martinevans123 (talk) 11:25, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

 * So, is Greenland part of Denmark? I see that the Greenland article itself has "Time zone (UTC0 to -4) " while Denmark has "Time zone CET² (UTC+1) - Summer (DST) CEST² (UTC+2)"  Martinevans123 (talk) 12:02, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

The table
Is there some reason that table is in reverse-chronological order? —Micahbrwn (talk) 04:53, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

History of WEST
When was WEST introduced? Did it exist as a concept prior to the Second World war? Did other nations have their own Summer Time adjustments aside from UK/Ireland? 82.70.225.100 (talk) 14:08, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

 * Coordination of summer time dates between the UK, France and Belgium was discussed at a conference at the Home Office on 22 November 1921 (see The National Archives file HO 45/11077/411632), but such coordination didn't actually happen for a long time. Start dates were coordinated across the EC/EU from 1981 onwards; from 1983 the directives specified two possible end dates and the end dates were coordinated from 1996 onwards. Joseph Myers (talk) 00:35, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

 * WEST doesn't seem to exist by that name - this article currently seems to be an improper synthesis - inventing a name for the time zones which, as the article makes clear, have a separate history in the various countries. The article has no reliable sources for WEST and so needs recasting per WP:NEO to use proper language for the topic.  I shall start editing accordingly. Colonel Warden (talk) 15:52, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

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Please see related RfC about UTC and GMT
Please see Talk:Greenwich Mean Time. The issues there are similar to issues with recent changes to this article. Jc3s5h (talk) 23:03, 11 September 2018 (UTC)
 * You  which undid your conflation of GMT with UTC. My edit summary stated that the two are not the same, as stated in the Greenwich Mean Time article. You cannot have a time zone defined twice using two different definitions. Pick one or the other.  Bazza (talk) 11:59, 12 September 2018 (UTC)

2002
This is noted in the table as the UK and Ireland adopting EU practice but the reality was the reverse of the EU moving to the UK and Ireland's 7 months of summer time.109.158.56.101 (talk) 22:03, 24 October 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Western European Summer Time


text:
Libertadores

Libertadores (, "Liberators") were the principal leaders of the Spanish American wars of independence from Spain and of the movement in support of Brazilian independence from Portugal. They are named that way in contrast with the Conquistadors.

They were largely local-born men of European descent (criollos), in most cases part of the bourgeoisie and with military training in the motherland, who were influenced by liberalism and led colonial subjects in their struggle for independence against the metropole.

Brazil
Pedro I of Brazil became known as "o Libertador" ("the Liberator") in Brazil for his role in the country's independence. Sporadically, the term has also been applied to other figures such as José Bonifacio (known as the "patriarch for independence"), Maria Leopoldina de Austria, and Joaquim Gonçalves Ledo.

Philippines
Emilio Aguinaldo, the first Filipino President and Generalissimo who liberated the Philippines from the Spanish Empire in 1898, is widely recognized as "El Libertador de la Patria" (The Liberator of the Homeland)

Legacy
The flags of Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador follow Francisco de Miranda's design of 1806. Also, Bolivia was named after Símon Bolívar, who in turn was president of Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and twice of Venezuela. San Martín served as "President Protector" of Peru.

In what today is part of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, Iturbide, a military leader revolted against the Viceroyalty of New Spain, founded an independent nation where he ascended as Emperor Agustín I.

The names of libertadores are used all over South America to name anything from towns and places to institutions and sports clubs. Also, the most prestigious international club football competition in South America is named the Copa Libertadores in their honour.

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

title: Libertadores


text:
Northeast Regional

The Northeast Regional is an intercity rail service operated by Amtrak in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. In the past it has been known as the NortheastDirect, Acela Regional, or Regional. It is Amtrak's busiest route, carrying 9,163,082 passengers in fiscal year (FY) 2023. The Northeast Regional service received more than $787.7 million in gross ticket revenue in FY 2023.

The Northeast Regional offers daily all-reserved service, usually at least every hour. Trains generally run along the Northeast Corridor between Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south with multiple stops, including in New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Extensions and branches provide service to Newport News, Norfolk, and Roanoke, Virginia, and Springfield, Massachusetts, with intermediate stops.

Trains cover the most popular stretch between New York Penn Station and Washington Union Station in about 3.5 hours. The section between New York and Philadelphia takes 1.5 hours, while the part between Philadelphia and Washington takes two hours.

North of New York, the travel time to Boston is four hours, while trips to Springfield take 3.5 hours. South of Washington, trains take 4.5 hours to reach Newport News, 4.5 hours to reach Norfolk, or five hours to reach Roanoke.

History
The services along the line, as inherited from Penn Central, once had their own names, such as the "Yankee Clipper" and the "Federal"; typically a name applied to at most one train and its "twin" in the opposite direction. Electrification ended at New Haven, Connecticut, requiring an engine change. On October 28, 1995, Amtrak introduced the "NortheastDirect" brand for all trains on the Northeast Corridor (and its extension to Newport News, Virginia) except for the express and hourly  services. The November 10, 1996, timetable restored the old names in addition to the NortheastDirect brand. The names (except the ) were dropped with the May 16, 1999, schedule.

In 2000, Amtrak completed electrifying the route from New Haven to Boston in preparation for the introduction of the Acela Express, thereby eliminating the engine change at New Haven. The first two all-electric round-trips to and from Boston were branded Acela Regional and equipped with refurbished Amfleet cars painted in the Acela-like "Phase V" livery. All-electric service began on January 31, 2000. The NortheastDirect branding continued to be used for trains which changed from electric to diesel traction in New Haven.

Due to customer confusion with the Acela Express, the name was changed again on March 17, 2003, to simply "Regional." As part of rebranding and service improvements, the name was changed to "Northeast Regional" on June 23, 2008 (though it also appeared on schedules several months beforehand).

On May 12, 2015, Northeast Regional Train 188, traveling from Washington, D.C., to New York City, derailed in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia, killing eight people and injuring more than 200 people. The train derailed along a curve and was determined to have been traveling at a speed of about 100 mph, exceeding the limit of 50 mph on that curve. This speed limit was not posted; engineers on that route are expected to rely on memory to control the speed of the train. Additionally, the train was suspected to have been hit by a projectile, as was a commuter train in the area shortly before the derailment.

Private sleeping rooms on overnight trains 65/66/67, last available in 2004 on the Federal, were made available effective April 5, 2021. The overnight trains were temporarily cancelled in January 2022; they resumed in July 2022 without sleepers. They were temporarily cancelled north of New York City effective April 4, 2023, due to Penn Station Access construction.

Virginia service
Some Northeast Regional trains continue into Virginia, serving three branches to Norfolk, Newport News, and Roanoke, serving points in between. These tracks are not electrified and are partially owned by both freight railroads and the State of Virginia.

Virginia and Amtrak partnered in 2009 under the brand Amtrak Virginia to expand passenger rail service within the Commonwealth, making Virginia the 15th state to fund state services in addition to federally funded routes.

One daily Northeast Regional round trip was extended to from Washington to Lynchburg via Manassas and Charlottesville on October 1, 2009, supplementing the existing Crescent service. Service was extended from Lynchburg to Roanoke starting October 31, 2017. A second daily Roanoke round trip was added on July 11, 2022. An extension from Roanoke to Christiansburg, Virginia, near Virginia Tech, is in planning, as is an infill station in Bedford, Virginia.

On July 20, 2010, Amtrak added an additional Northeast Regional frequency from Washington to Richmond Staples Mill Road station, increasing the Washington-Richmond corridor to eight daily round trips with hourly northbound morning service. One round trip was extended from Richmond to Norfolk starting December 12, 2012. A second daily Norfolk round trip on weekdays was added on March 4, 2019. One round trip was extended from Staples Mill to Main Street in September 2021. Service changes on July 11, 2022, added an additional Norfolk weekday round trip (making three round trips on weekdays and two on weekends).

Proposed expansion
In spring 2021, Amtrak proposed extending three Northeast Regional round trips from New York Penn Station to Ronkonkoma station along the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road, with stops at, , , and. The move would enable one-seat rides between Long Island and points south on the Northeast Corridor, provide express train service within Long Island, and connect JFK International Airport to the Amtrak network. In December 2023, the Federal Railroad Administration accepted the project into its Corridor Identification and Development Program, granting $500,000 toward service planning and prioritizing the route for future federal funding.

Equipment
, most Northeast Regional trains consist of 7 to 9 passenger cars hauled by a locomotive.

The passenger cars are the Amfleet I series passenger cars built by the Budd Company in the mid-to-late 1970s. Most trains include a Business Class car, a Café car (food service/lounge), and up to seven Coach Class cars, one of which is designated the Quiet Car, where passengers are asked to refrain from loud talking and mobile phone conversations.

Between Boston and Washington, the service has overhead electric wires and is pulled by Siemens ACS-64 electric locomotives at speeds up to 125 mph. Northeast Regional trains operating south of Washington, D.C., into Virginia, and on the New Haven–Springfield Line use GE Genesis diesel locomotives which have a slightly lower top speed of 110 mph.

In the coming years all equipment will be replaced with Amtrak Airo trainsets, the railroad's branding of its combination of Siemens Venture passenger cars and a Siemens Charger diesel-electric locomotive. The trainsets for the Northeast Corridor will have eight passenger cars, which will include a food service area and a mix of 2×2 Coach Class and 2×1 Business Class seating. The car closest to the locomotive will be a specialized "Auxiliary Power Vehicle" which will include a pantograph to collect power from overhead lines and will feed it to four traction motors in the car, and via a DC link cable, to the four traction motors in the locomotive. Outside of electrified territory, the locomotive's diesel engine will generate power for the traction motors. The arrangement will offer a near-seamless transition between power sources on through trains to Virginia and Springfield, Massachusetts, a process that currently requires a time-consuming locomotive change.

Classes of service
All classes of service include complimentary WiFi, an electric outlet (120 V, 60 Hz AC) at each seat, reading lamps, fold-out tray tables. Reservations are required on all trains, tickets may be purchased online, from a station agent, a ticketing machine, or, at a higher cost, from the conductor on the train.
 * Coach Class: 2×2 seating. Passengers self-select seats on a first-come, first-served basis.
 * Business Class: 2×2 or 2×1 seating with more legroom than coach. Passengers receive a complimentary soft drink. Seats are assigned in advance.

Route
Most Northeast Regional trains operate over the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington (via New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore). The corridor is owned, in part, by Amtrak, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), Metro-North Railroad (MNRR), and the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CDOT).
 * MBTA Attleboro Line: Boston to MA/RI state line (dispatched and maintained by Amtrak)
 * Amtrak Northeast Corridor: MA/RI state line to New Haven, Connecticut
 * CDOT New Haven Line: New Haven to CT/NY state line (dispatched and maintained by MNRR)
 * MNRR New Haven Line: CT/NY state line to New Rochelle, New York
 * Amtrak Northeast Corridor: New Rochelle to Washington, D.C.

Some trips diverge at New Haven and turn north to serve Springfield, Massachusetts, operating over Amtrak's New Haven–Springfield Line. Additional service on that line is provided by Amtrak's trains, which have timed transfers to and from many Northeast Regional trips.

Several trips continue south of Washington D.C. to Virginia, running to either Roanoke, Richmond, Newport News, or Norfolk. All Virginia services use the northernmost portion of the ex-Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad (now owned by CSX Transportation) between Washington and Alexandria, Virginia. South of Alexandria, trains to Roanoke use the Norfolk Southern Railway (ex-Southern Railway, ex-Virginia Midland Railway). Trains to Richmond, Norfolk and Newport News use the CSX RF&P, Richmond Terminal, and Bellwood subdivisions between Alexandria and Richmond.

South of Richmond, trains to Newport News use the CSX Peninsula Subdivision (ex-Chesapeake and Ohio Railway). Trains to Norfolk use the CSX North End Subdivision and Norfolk Southern's Norfolk District (ex-Norfolk and Western Railway).

Funding
Amtrak receives federal funding for its operations between Boston and Washington, D.C. Northeast Regional operations south of Washington are funded in part by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Operations along the New Haven–Springfield Line are funded by the State of Connecticut and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

title: Northeast Regional


text:
Arusha

Arusha City is a Tanzanian city, with a population of 617,631, and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 2,356,255  (2022 census).

Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern branch of the Great Rift Valley, Arusha City has a temperate climate. The city is close to the Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Lake Manyara National Park, Olduvai Gorge, Tarangire National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, and Mount Meru in the Arusha National Park.

The city is a major international diplomatic hub. It hosts the African Court of the African Union and is the capital of the East African Community. From 1994 to 2015, the city also hosted the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, but that entity has ceased operations. Currently, it hosts one of the headquarters of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.

Arusha is a multicultural city with a majority Tanzanian population of mixed backgrounds: indigenous African, Arab-Tanzanian and Indian-Tanzanian population, plus a small European and North American minority population. Religions of the Arusha city population include Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism.

History
The current site of Arusha was first settled in the 1830s by the agro-pastoral Arusha Maasai from the Arusha Chini community, south of Mount Kilimanjaro. They traded grains, honey, beer, and tobacco with the pastoral Kisongo Maasai in exchange for livestock, milk, meat, and skins. Demand for Arusha's foodstuffs increased substantially during the 1860s when the Pangani Valley trade route was extended through Old Moshi, Arusha, and ultimately to western Kenya. Although not yet a town, it was a regional centre with a number of urban features.

Arusha was conquered by the Germans in 1896 after the murder of the first two missionaries who attempted to settle on nearby Mount Meru. The Germans established a permanent presence in 1900 when a military fort (a boma) was built and soldiers were garrisoned there. "The boma was a solid statement, meant to impress German moral and political order on the surrounding countryside. Set on a rise overlooking the plains, the fortress-like building dominated the surrounding landscape" complete with a machine gun.

Many Africans were forcibly displaced from their ancestral lands by the Germans and forced to dig lime or carry stones to construct the fort. The British took Arusha from the Germans in 1916 during World War I. German officials left the area, the British deported German missionaries and settlers, and only a skeletal military administration of the town remained.

During the 1920s, civilian administration was implemented, missionaries from the United States arrived, British and Greek settlers reoccupied the former German farms, and the town grew, especially after the British moved the regional administration from New Moshi to Arusha. The extension of the railroad from Moshi to Arusha in 1928-29 greatly increased commerce. The Great Depression soon squelched commerce and Arusha in 1940 had fewer than 2,000 residents. Growth resumed during World War II and by 1948, the population had increased to more than 5,000.

By the 1950s, Arusha was "a polyglot, westernized little town; it has a Greek community, several Germans predating World War I, and some German Jewish refugees post-dating World War II." A state of emergency was declared in the Arusha region in 1953 in response to the Mau Mau Uprising. Journalist John Gunther noted at the time that "a loyal tribe, the Waarusha, threatened to take violent countermeasures against the Kikuyus themselves, if the British did not. The authorities arrested the leading Mau Mau conspirators, screened thousands more, and deported other thousands back to Kenya."

In the 1960s parts of the movie Hatari! with John Wayne were filmed at Momela Lakes and at Mount Meru.

Arusha has been a crucial city in the history of modern Tanzania. Official documents ceding independence to Tanganyika were signed by the United Kingdom at Arusha in 1961. The Arusha Declaration was signed in 1967 in Arusha. The Arusha Accords were signed at the city of Arusha on 4 August 1993, by representatives of competing factions in the Rwandan civil war. The Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi was signed on 28 August 2000 as part of a process forging peace in that country through power sharing and establishing a transitional government.

The January 2015 Arusha Agreement for South Sudan created a framework for the reunification of South Sudan's ruling SPLM party, which had splintered into three creating a humanitarian crisis as fighting between factions intensified. It provided that all SPLM members who were dismissed be reinstated to their previous positions and a secret ballot system be adopted.

In 1994 the UN Security Council decided by its Resolution 955 of 8 November 1994 that Arusha should host the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The establishment of the tribunal with its foreign employees has influenced the local economy of the city increasing the cost of living for residents. The tribunal has downsized due to its closure in 2014, but its legal successor, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1966, will continue entertaining a branch in Arusha, opening on 1 July 2012. The tribunal indicted 93 individuals and sentenced 62. Arusha was officially declared a city on 1 July 2006 by the Tanzanian government.

In 2013, a quarry located in Arusha collapsed and killed 14 miners after heavy rain.

Intergovernmental organisations
Arusha is home to a number of notable intergovernmental organisations. The city of Arusha is the headquarters of the East African Community, hosts a branch of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, and the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights.

Airport
Arusha is served by two airports: the Kilimanjaro International Airport for international air travellers, some 60 km east, approximately halfway to Moshi. The airport provides international and domestic flights. Arusha Airport is a regional air hub in the west of the city, and serves more than 87,000 passengers yearly.

Road links
Travel by road can be done through privately run coaches (buses) to Nairobi, Dodoma, Babati, Morogoro, Tanga, Mbeya, Singida, Tabora, Mpanda, Kigoma, Mwanza, Bukoba, Iringa, and Dar es Salaam.

Arusha is on the Cape to Cairo Road. There was a marker in the 1930s in Arusha indicating the mid-point of the route. It is also on the Cairo-Cape Town Highway.

Culture
The city hosts the National Natural History Museum, which contains three exhibits on early man, plants and animals of the region, and the history of the city. The Natural National History Museum used to be an administration outpost for the Germans in the 1900s. It was opened in 1987 as a public museum and displays important assets to the scientific community such as models of Australopithecus people, human ancestors that lived over 2 million years ago. It is also home to a giant tortoise, over 100 years old, which freely roams the grounds.

A small museum adjacent to the Uhuru monument displays information about the proceedings of the 1967 Arusha Declaration.

The Arusha Cultural Heritage Centre is a large privately run art gallery in a striking building, resembling the Guggenheim museum whilst drawing on African symbols (drum, spear, and shield). It holds a wide range of African art, including from the Tanzanian TingaTinga school. Exhibits are for sale and there is not a permanent collection.

Places of worship
Places of worship include the majority Christian churches: Archdiocese of Arusha, Anglican Church of Tanzania, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, Baptist Convention of Tanzania, and Assemblies of God. There are also Muslim mosques.

Education
Most Arushan children attend public schools located in almost every ward of the city. There are five international schools in and around Arusha: International School Moshi (Arusha Campus), Arusha Meru International School, Braeburn School, St Constantine's International School, and Kennedy House International School.

The city of Arusha is home to the National College of Tourism - Arusha Campus, Arusha Technical College, Tengeru Institute of community Development, The Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology, Eastern and Southern African Management Institute, MS Training Centre for Development Cooperation (MS-TCDC), The Institute of Accountancy Arusha, Forestry Training Institute, Olmotonyi, Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, Tumaini University Makumira, and The Mount Meru University.

Arcadia University hosts a film course that has led to the creation of the Arusha African Film Festival, which allows people to come and watch films created by local people. The guidelines allows a multitude of filmmakers to be taken into account for awards, and each year a new theme is chosen for the festival. The AAFF is connected to the East African Film Festival, which also gives ample opportunity for awards and credit to young filmmakers.

Geography and climate
Despite its proximity to the equator, Arusha's elevation of 1400 m on the southern slopes of Mount Meru keeps temperatures relatively low and alleviates humidity. Cool dry air is prevalent for much of the year. The temperature typically ranges between 10 and 30 C with an average annual high temperature around 25 C. It has distinct wet and dry seasons, and experiences an eastern prevailing wind from the Indian Ocean, a few hundred kilometres east. Under the Köppen climate classification system, it has a subtropical highland climate (Cwb). Areas away from Arusha to the south and west are classified as tropical savanna climate (Aw).

The record high since records began in 2000 is 39 C. The record low is 7 C. Arusha averages 29.8 days per year above 32 C – all between November and March. Arusha's annual rainfall average is 1180 mm, mostly coming during the long rainy season from March to May. Areas immediately to the north and northeast of Arusha can see more rain and cooler temperatures due to the influence of Mt. Meru, whose rain shadow extends toward the southeast side of the mountain. Arusha and the northern highlands of Tanzania experience a bimodal rainfall pattern, with two rainy seasons. Many crops are planted twice per year. The long masika rains from March through May are more reliable in Arusha than in surrounding areas because of the influence of Mt. Meru. The short vuli rains are less reliable, usually coming in November and December. The dry kiangazi season is June to October.

Higher elevation areas north and northeast of the city are home to farmers growing bananas, coffee, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, leafy greens, and other vegetables.

Cultivation in areas to the northwest, west, southwest, south, and southeast focuses on maize, beans and wheat. There is a significant horticulture industry, with several companies growing flowers for export to Europe.

Sports
The city is home to the Tanzanian rugby national team. The city hosts international rugby matches as well. Joshua Peterson, who played for the national team, was the second youngest international rugby player ever, behind Jonny Wilkinson. Southern Pool A of the 2007 Castel Beer Trophy was hosted here as well.

The city is home to Arusha FC, playing in Sheikh Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium, which represents the city in Tanzanian league football.

The city also hosted the Mount Meru Marathon, held from 1985 to 2004. The "all-comers" record for the fastest marathon performance in Tanzania, 2:13:46, was set at the event by former long-distance runner Benedict Ako on August 1, 1993.

On 21 May 2011, the Drake Bulldogs beat the CONADEIP All-Stars by 17–7 in the first ever American football game in Tanzania.

Arusha is home for the Arusha Motor Sports Club (AMSC), which provides motor entertainment for the city of Arusha. It was created in 1996 with the purpose of providing "motor rallying", which was a new concept at the time for Tanzania, as a new form of entertainment. The AMSC is the largest club in Tanzania that invites foreign competitors to rally and compete for AMSC.

On August 10, 2022, Arusha held the 44th CAF Ordinal General Assembly, which also included the launch of the new Africa Super League.

In popular culture
Arusha was the setting for the 1962 film Hatari!, directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne. Parts of the film were shot at Momela Lakes.

Arusha is alleged to be midway between Cape Town and Cairo.

Notable residents

 * Edward Lowassa, Chama Cha Mapinduzi, politician and former Prime Minister of Tanzania
 * Peter K. Palangyo, diplomat and novelist, author of the novel Dying in the Sun
 * Peter Gordon Hines (Civil Engineer) born Arusha 1944.

Sister cities

 * 🇺🇸 Durham, North Carolina, United States
 * 🇺🇸 Kansas City, Missouri, United States
 * 🇦🇹 Mürzzuschlag, Austria
 * 🇪🇭 Tifariti, Western Sahara

title: Arusha


text:
Three Rivers (train)

The Three Rivers was an Amtrak passenger train that ran daily between New York City and Chicago via Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Akron. It started in 1995, replacing the Broadway Limited, and ran until March 7, 2005, when Amtrak cancelled a contract with the United States Postal Service that was specific to the train.

History
Amtrak began the Three Rivers on September 10, 1995, as a replacement for the discontinued Broadway Limited. The train originally ran between New York and Pittsburgh, extending a New York–Harrisburg Keystone Service train. Using train numbers 46/47, it exchanged mail cars with the Chicago–Washington, D.C. Capitol Limited in Pittsburgh, while through passengers disembarked and changed trains.

Through service began on February 1, 1996, by coupling two Three Rivers Amfleet coaches to the Superliner consist of the Capitol Limited. Passage between the single-level and double-level cars was facilitated by a transition dorm car.

Amtrak ended the switching operation on November 10, 1996, in favor of extending the Three Rivers to Chicago as an independent train. In doing so, they restored the Broadway Limited's numbers (40/41), albeit neither its full dining service nor its sleeping cars due to equipment shortages and an unfavorable schedule.

On April 1, 1999, Amtrak added a sleeping car to the Three Rivers, using four previously stored Heritage Fleet sleepers that they had restored for $250,000 since no Viewliners were available. The last standard 10-6 sleepers operated by Amtrak, they required a Federal Railroad Administration waiver to operate because of their direct-dump toilets. When the waiver expired in October 2001, Amtrak retired the Heritage sleepers and replaced them with Viewliners, which had since become available.

Route
The Pittsburgh–New York Three Rivers stopped at Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Johnstown, Altoona, Huntingdon, Lewistown, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Paoli, Philadelphia, Trenton, Newark and New York. With the extension to Chicago in 1996, service began to Hammond–Whiting and Nappanee. Other stops in Ohio were added as station improvements were funded: Youngstown (May 16, 1997), Fostoria (December 15, 1997) and Akron (August 10, 1998). Latrobe was added as a flag stop on May 17, 1998.

Highlights along the route included Horseshoe Curve near Altoona, Pennsylvania Dutch Country, and the Allegheny Mountains. The New York–Chicago trip took about 20 hours.

Service over the former route of the Three Rivers east of Pittsburgh is now provided by the Pennsylvanian. While its route west of Pittsburgh to Hammond–Whiting is no longer served by passenger trains, the Capitol Limited still connects Pittsburgh and Chicago, albeit on a different route via Cleveland.

Equipment
The Three Rivers used Amfleet coaches and either Amfleet or Horizon dinettes in addition to the later Heritage sleeper. At the height of Amtrak's experiment with mail and express business, a typical late 1990s Three Rivers had 4–6 passenger cars and upwards of 25 mail cars.

title: Three Rivers (train)


text:
TenDRA Compiler

The TenDRA Compiler is a C/C++ compiler for POSIX-compatible operating systems available under the terms of the BSD license.

It was originally developed by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) in the United Kingdom. In the beginning of 2002 TenDRA was actively developed again by Jeroen Ruigrok van der Werven and offered as a BSD-licensed open source project through the website tendra.org. In the third quarter of 2002 the one-man effort was expanded to a small team.

The TDF technology behind TenDRA has an academic history dating back to work on algebraic code validation in the 1970s.

In August 2003 TenDRA split into two projects, TenDRA.org and Ten15.org. Both projects seemed to have disappeared from the web around 2006–2007, but actually they are still active.

The goals of TenDRA.org are:
 * to continuously produce correct code,
 * to ensure code correctness through various means, and
 * to continuously improve the performance of the compiler and resulting code, unless it would jeopardize the points above.

The goals of Ten15.org added:
 * to be a friendly competitor to GCC in order to get a best-of-breed compiler.

Features of both compilers include good error reporting with respect to standards compliance and a smaller code size than the same programs compiled on gcc. C++ support never got as developed as C support, and there was no STL supporting release. TenDRA uses the Architecture Neutral Distribution Format (ANDF), a specification created by the Open Group, as its intermediate language.

At a point, most of the Alpha OSF/1 kernel could be built with TenDRA C and afterwards there was also a similar effort to port the FreeBSD kernel.

Documentation
TenDRA.org has a comprehensive set of documentation available online at http://www.tendra.org/docs

Manual pages for references to programs and file formats are available at http://www.tendra.org/man

title: TenDRA Compiler


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Kawakami Gensai

Kawakami Gensai (河上 彦斎) was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period. A highly skilled swordsman, he was one of the four most notable assassins of the Bakumatsu period. Gensai's high-speed sword discipline allowed him to assassinate targets in broad daylight.

Early life
He was born Komori Genjiro (小森 彦次郎) in Kumamoto, Higo Province, Japan in 1834 as the second son to Komori Sadasuke (小森 貞助), a retainer of the daimyō of the Kumamoto Domain and his wife Waka (和歌). Because Genjiro's older brother Hanzaemon was chosen as the family's heir, at age 11 he was given in adoption to Kawakami Genbei (河上 彦兵衛), another Kumamoto retainer and was renamed to Kawakami Gensai.

He then entered the domain's school, the Jishūkan (時習館), and followed its academic and martial courses of study. Given his later prowess, it is rather curious to note that during his martial training he apparently did not win many bouts. With regards to this he is said to have commented "Kenjutsu (swordsmanship) with bamboo shinai is nothing more than play." At age 16 he was called to serve in the Kumamoto castle town as a menial in charge of cleaning (Osōji-bōzu お掃除坊主).

Although this was a low-level position, Gensai devoted himself wholeheartedly to it, using his free time to polish his martial and literary skills, as well as learn sadō (tea ceremony) and ikebana (flower arrangement). It was at this time that he met two men who were later important in the activities of the Ishin Shishi: Todoroki Buhē and Miyabe Teizō. Thanks to his discussions with them, he took a serious interest in the concept of kinnō (勤王), or imperial loyalty.

Activity in the 1850s
In 1851, he joined the Kumamoto lord Hosokawa Narimori and went to Edo for his lord's sankin-kōtai rotation. It was during his service to the lord in Edo that Commodore Perry arrived in 1853. As the shogunate subsequently entered into a series of increasingly unfair unequal treaties, Gensai left Edo in anger and returned to Kumamoto, where he entered the Gendōkan academy of the kinnō scholar Hayashi Ōen. After a thorough schooling in Ōen's kinnō philosophy, Gensai returned to Edo.

Activity in the 1860s
Gensai was present at the Kumamoto residence in Edo during the Ansei Purge. In the aftermath of Ii Naosuke's assassination, when a group of the escaping assassins suddenly entered the residence, it was Gensai who calmed down the subsequent uproar, calling for a doctor and having a private tea ceremony for the men. It was during this ceremony that he told the men of his admiration for them.

In 1861, Gensai married Misawa Teiko, the daughter of another Kumamoto retainer. A martial artist herself, she was highly skilled in the use of the naginata. The couple had a son, Gentarō, who survived even after Gensai's execution, thanks to Teiko's efforts.

In 1862, he joined Kumamoto forces who were posted to security duty in Kyoto. After the political event of Higo-han, he left there and went to Chōshū-han, where he became a personal body guard of Sanjō Sanetomi. It was at this point, he quit his job as bōzu, and soon after, left Kumamoto service altogether. In 1864, he lost his mentor Miyabe Teizō to a Shinsengumi raid at Ikedaya.

Soon after, Gensai carried out his most famous and only confirmed assassination: that of Sakuma Shōzan. Together with at least three other assassins, they ambushed and attacked Shōzan in broad daylight on 12 August 1864, and ended with Gensai killing him in one stroke. Shortly after that incident, at the Tenryuji temple in Saga Tenryu-ji, Kyoto, Gensai told his confederates, "It was the first time I actually felt I'd killed someone, the hair on my head stood on end because he is the greatest man of the time." While other assassinations have been attributed to him, only his murder of Shōzan can be proven.

After this, he withdrew to Chōshū and took part in the military actions of Takasugi Shinsaku's Kiheitai against the shogunate's Chōshū Expeditions. During the second Chōshū campaign by the Tokugawa regime, he participated for Chōshū and eventually won the battle. However, during action in Kokura, he decisively surrendered to Kumamoto forces, and was imprisoned until just after the Meiji Restoration.

Later life and death
In the aftermath of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Gensai was released from prison. He changed his name to Kouda Genbei (高田 源兵衛), and served as a military official and sword teacher for the Kumamoto domain. Because of his harboring of some Kiheitai stragglers under his old comrade Oraku Gentarō, he was arrested in November 1870 and later transferred to a prison in Tokyo in 1871. He was later executed by decapitation in Kodemmachōin, Nihombashi (日本橋小伝馬町), Tokyo on 13 January 1872. He was buried at Ikegami Honmon-ji, Tokyo.

Gensai in fiction
The fictional swordsman and wanderer, Himura Kenshin also known as "Battosai", from the manga series Rurouni Kenshin was inspired by Gensai. The character is a repentant former assassin who has sworn never to kill 10 years after the Meiji Revolution.

The character Kawakami Bansai from the manga Gin Tama takes his name from Gensai.

title: Kawakami Gensai


text:
Empire Service

The Empire Service is an inter-city rail service operated by Amtrak within the state of New York in the United States. The brand name originated with the New York Central Railroad in 1967. Trains on the line provide frequent daily service along the 460 mi Empire Corridor between New York City and Niagara Falls via Albany, the state capital.

During fiscal year 2018, the Empire Service carried 1,150,498 passengers on the line between New York City and Albany, while services between Albany and points west, including the and, carried an additional 366,696. Ticket revenue on the New York City–Albany section in FY2016 was $49,361,545, an increase of 1.4% from FY2015, while revenue on the Albany–Toronto route was $22,143,803.

Services
Approximately hourly weekday service is available on the southern portion of the line between New York Penn Station and Albany–Rensselaer. As of the April 2024 timetable, the route operates nine round trips on most days – seven between New York City and Albany, and two between New York City and Niagara Falls.

The corridor served by four additional Amtrak trains each day:

 * The Maple Leaf, which runs along the entire corridor before continuing across Central and Western New York and on to Toronto
 * The Lake Shore Limited, which follows the corridor through central and western New York as far as Buffalo–Depew en route to Chicago, with one section breaking off at Albany to serve Massachusetts en route to Boston.
 * The Adirondack to Montreal and Ethan Allen Express to Burlington supplement service on the southern portion of the line between New York City and Albany. Both follow the corridor as far as Schenectady.

Downstate, in the Hudson Valley, the portion of the route from Poughkeepsie southward is shared with the Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line, and sees frequent commuter service, with connections to the Empire Service at Poughkeepsie, Croton-Harmon, and Yonkers.

The Empire Service is one of four New York-based train routes that Amtrak operates with funding from the New York State Department of Transportation with the other three routes being the Adirondack, Maple Leaf, and Ethan Allen Express.

History
Today's Empire Service is the descendant of numerous routes dating to 1869, when Cornelius Vanderbilt merged his Hudson River Railroad (forerunner of today's Metro-North Hudson Line) with the New York Central Railroad (NYC), thus linking New York City with Albany.

Its route is largely coextensive with what was once the NYC's main line, which was the eastern portion of the "Water Level Route" from New York City to Chicago. The Buffalo-Niagara Falls leg was formerly part of an NYC subsidiary, the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad, but passenger service was dropped in 1961.

On December 3, 1967, just months before its merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad to become the Penn Central Transportation Company, the Central reorganized all its passenger routes. All trains along the New York City-Buffalo corridor were consolidated under the Empire Service brand. Marketing emphasized convenient service within the state, with a reduced emphasis on long-distance trains which continued west of Buffalo. This program continued after the Penn Central merger. The new scheduling produced mixed results; passengers were deterred by the poor quality of the passenger cars and the inconvenient locations of stations along the route.

Penn Central handed the Empire Service, along with most of its other routes, to Amtrak on May 1, 1971. Initially, Amtrak retained seven daily trains on the New York City–Albany–Buffalo corridor: four operated from New York City to Albany, and three ran through to Buffalo. All service west of Buffalo was discontinued. All trains retained their ex-Penn Central numbers and were otherwise nameless. Westward service resumed briefly after May with the introduction of the Chicago–New York City Lake Shore, but this train was canceled on January 6, 1972.

The Empire Service name was restored on June 11, 1972, and individual names were added to the trains along the corridor on May 19, 1974.

Despite doubts about Amtrak's potential success, the company was key in reestablishing some discontinued services along the Empire Corridor. Service beyond Buffalo to Niagara Falls was reestablished with such trains as the Niagara Rainbow and the Maple Leaf. In addition Amtrak restored service to downtown Schenectady in 1978, a service which Penn Central had discontinued in 1968, for all Empire Service trains that continued beyond Albany. Service was restored permanently on the old Water Level Route with the reintroduction of the old New York Central train, the Lake Shore Limited, on October 31, 1975.

On April 7, 1991, all Amtrak Empire Service trains started using the new Empire Connection into New York Penn. Prior to that change, all passenger trains from Albany and beyond originated and terminated at Grand Central Terminal, forcing passengers traveling to the Northeast Corridor to transfer via shuttle bus, taxicab, or via the New York City Subway to reach Penn Station. The move also saved Amtrak the expense of operating two stations in New York City.

All service along the Empire Corridor was consolidated under the Empire brand on October 28, 1995. The names were restored just a year later, only to be dropped again in 1999.

In October 2011, CSX and Amtrak reached an agreement for Amtrak to lease the Hudson Subdivision between Poughkeepsie and Hoffmans, west of Schenectady. Since 2012, Amtrak has effectively had operational control over the Hudson Subdivision, handling all maintenance and capital responsibilities. CSX retained freight rights over the line, which hosts only five freights a day.

In the Capital District, Amtrak has used federal funds to double-track the line between Rensselaer and Schenectady (which once had four tracks under the New York Central), and add an additional station track at the Albany–Rensselaer station. Amtrak sees the lease as key to improving Empire Service speeds and frequencies. Amtrak officially assumed control on December 1, 2012, with trains in the section now dispatched by the Amtrak Control and Command Center in New York City.

From July 10 through September 1, 2017, six Empire Service trains (three round trips) used Grand Central Terminal as part of Amtrak's work to make repairs at Penn Station. All trains using the Empire Connection, excluding the Lake Shore Limited, again operated into Grand Central Terminal from May 26 to September 4, 2018, to allow work on the Empire Tunnel, the Spuyten Duyvil movable bridge, and Track 19 in New York City's Penn Station.

In May 2018, the Massachusetts Senate approved funds for a two-year pilot of the "Berkshire Flyer", a seasonal extension of a weekend Empire Service round trip to Pittsfield. The service, modeled on the CapeFLYER, would extend one New York City–Albany train to Pittsfield on Friday afternoons, with a return trip on Sunday afternoons. The trial was scheduled to begin in June 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and outstanding questions around the program's legal sponsorship. After delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the pilot was rescheduled for summer 2022 and 2023, with the first trip on July 8, 2022.

Service along the southern portion was disrupted for several days in November 2023. Increased inspection and regulation that followed an April 2023 parking garage collapse resulted in the discovery of similar structural issues at another garage overlying the tracks in Manhattan. One round trip was resumed on March 4, 2024, restoring service to pre-COVID levels.

Equipment
Most Empire Service trains consist of five or six cars hauled by a locomotive.

The passenger cars are the Amfleet I series passenger cars built by the Budd Company in the mid-to-late 1970s. Most trains include an Amfleet club car which has a combination of Business Class seating with a Café (food service/lounge) and four or five Coach Class cars.

Between New York City and Albany–Rensselaer, trains are pulled by a GE Genesis P32AC-DM dual-mode diesel locomotive at speeds up to 110 mph. The locomotives operate on third rail electric power in Penn Station and the Empire Connection tunnel and on diesel power for the rest of the route. Between Albany–Rensselaer and Niagara Falls, traditional diesel-only GE Genesis locomotives are used.

The New York Central did not order new equipment for the Empire Service, preferring to rehabilitate existing equipment. 40 64-seat coaches, built by Pullman-Standard in 1946, were refurbished in 1967–1968. Another 21 coaches from the same pool were rebuilt as 50-seat "coach-buffet" cars. Amtrak acquired this equipment when it took over the Penn Central's passenger trains in 1971. The cars remained on the Empire Service under Amtrak into the mid-1970s. A typical train between New York City and Albany consisted of two coaches and the coach-buffet or "snack bar" coach. Trains which operated west of Albany had additional coaches.

In the coming years all equipment will be replaced with Amtrak Airo trainsets, the railroad's branding of its combination of Siemens Venture passenger cars and a Siemens Charger diesel-electric locomotive. The trainsets for the Empire Service will have six passenger cars, which will include a cab control car food service area and a mix of 2x2 Coach Class and 2x1 Business Class seating. The car closest to the locomotive will have batteries to supply electricity to traction motors in the locomotive when operating in Penn Station and the Empire Connection tunnel, eliminating the need for third rail propulsion. The arrangement will eliminate the time-consuming locomotive change at Albany–Rensselaer.

Classes of service
All classes of service include complimentary WiFi, an electric outlet (120 V, 60 Hz AC) at each seat, reading lamps, fold-out tray tables. Reservations are required on all trains, tickets may be purchased online, from an agent at some stations, a ticketing machine at most stations, or, at a higher cost, from the conductor on the train.
 * Coach Class: 2x2 seating. Passengers self-select seats on a first-come, first-served basis.
 * Business Class: 2x1 seating with more legroom than coach. Passengers receive complimentary soft drinks.

Route

The Empire Service operates over CSX Transportation, Metro-North Railroad, and Amtrak trackage:
 * CSX trackage: Niagara Subdivision, Buffalo Terminal Subdivision, Rochester Subdivision, Mohawk Subdivision, Selkirk Subdivision, and Hudson Subdivision, Niagara Falls to Poughkeepsie (Amtrak-owned between Hoffmans and Schenectady, leased to Amtrak between Schenectady and Poughkeepsie)
 * Metro-North Railroad: Hudson Line, Poughkeepsie to Spuyten Duyvil
 * Amtrak: Empire Connection, Spuyten Duyvil to Penn Station

The northern terminus for most trains, Albany–Rensselaer, is the ninth-busiest Amtrak station in the country and the busiest serving a metropolitan area of fewer than two million people. This is mainly due to the large number of passengers traveling along the New York City–Albany corridor, which for years was to the New York Central what the Philadelphia–New York corridor was to the Pennsylvania Railroad.

From Spuyten Duyvil to Albany, the train runs mostly parallel to the Hudson River (viewable on the left side northbound and the right side southbound).

Station stops
All stops are within the U.S. state of New York.

High-speed rail
The Empire Service has been a long-standing candidate for high-speed rail and electrification. The need for high-speed rail service has been addressed by former Governor George Pataki, former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, and members of the New York State Assembly who represent the upstate regions. Other politicians have asked that high-speed rail be introduced along the Empire Corridor, diminishing the time for New York City – Buffalo trains from seven hours to just three hours; train travel from New York City to Albany would take less than two hours to complete. This may introduce Acela trains to the Empire Corridor if high-speed rail is successful. Another reason, which politicians have noted, is that high-speed trains might help improve Upstate New York's economy, which had become stagnant.

Currently, trains attain a maximum speed of 110 mph on the stretch of track just northwest of Albany. Areas east of Schenectady also see speeds above 79 mph. The overall average including stops is about 50 mph, taking nearly 9 hours to go 450 miles.

title: Empire Service


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Entr'acte

Entr'acte (or entracte, ; Zwischenspiel and Zwischenakt, intermezzo, intermedio and intervalo) means 'between the acts'. It can mean a pause between two parts of a stage production, synonymous to an intermission (this is nowadays the more common meaning in French), but it more often (in English) indicates a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production.

In the case of stage musicals, the entr'acte serves as the overture of act 2 (and sometimes acts 3 and 4, as in Carmen). In films that were meant to be shown with an intermission, there was frequently a specially recorded entr'acte on the soundtrack between the first and second half of the film, although this practice eventually died out.

Origin
Originally entr'actes resulted from stage curtains being closed for set or costume changes: to fill time as not to halt the dramatic action, to make a transition from the mood of one act to the next, or to prevent the public from becoming restless. In front of the closed curtains, the action could be continued during these entr'actes, albeit involving only players with no scenery other than the curtain, and a minimum of props.

An entr'acte can take the action from one part of a large-scale drama to the next by completing the missing links. The Spanish Sainete often performed a similar function.

Role of music
In traditional theatre, incidental music could also bridge the 'closed curtain' periods: ballet, opera and drama each have a rich tradition of such musical interludes. The literal meaning of the German word Verwandlungsmusik refers to its original function – "change music". Eventually, entr'actes (or intermezzi) would develop into a separate genre of short theatrical realizations (often with a plot completely independent from the main piece) that could be produced with a minimum of requisites during intermissions of other elaborate theatre pieces. These later entr'actes were distinctly intended to break the action or mood with something different, such as comedy or dance. Such pieces also allowed the chief players of the main piece to have a break. Eventually the idea of being an insert into a greater whole became looser: interlude sometimes has no other connotation than a "short play".

Other dramatic devices
When the insert was intended only to shift the mood before returning to the main action, without a change of scene being necessary, authors could revert to a "play within a play" technique, or have some accidental guests in a ballroom perform a dance, etc. In this case the insert is a divertimento (the term is Italian; the French divertissement is also used) rather than an entr'acte.

In the French opera tradition of the end of the 17th century and early 18th century (Jean-Philippe Rameau, for example) such divertissements would become compulsory in the form of an inserted ballet passage, a tradition that continued until well into the 19th century. This was eventually parodied by Jacques Offenbach: for example, the cancan ending Orpheus in the Underworld.

By the middle of the 18th century, a divertimento had become a separate genre of light music as well. These divertimenti could be used as interludes in stage works, many of the divertimenti composed in the last half of the 18th century appears to have lost the relation to the theatre, the music in character only having to be a "diversion" in one or another way.

Examples

Some more or less elaborate or independent entr'actes or intermezzi became famous in their own right, in some cases eclipsing the theatre productions for which they were originally written:
 * La serva padrona, a two-act opera buffa by Pergolesi, was intended to break the seriousness of his opera seria Il prigioner superbo (1733). Eventually the intermezzo got more attention than the large-scale work to which it was added (see Querelle des Bouffons).
 * Mozart shows his mastery in the finale of the first act of Don Giovanni, where he mixes the divertimento-like dancing (accompanied by a small ensemble on the scene) with the actual singing. The characters mingle, performing light dances, while they are supposed to be chasing each other for murder and rape. The diversion and the drama become a single multi-layered item.
 * Helmina von Chézy's play Rosamunde, with music by Franz Schubert, has two famous entr'actes. The third entr'acte in B♭ major, the Andantino, is famous for its idyllic melody, similar to Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, which has been used in two of Schubert's other works, while the first entr'acte in B minor is a suspected finale to his Eighth "Unfinished" Symphony.
 * Bizet's opera Carmen has entr'actes before acts 2, 3 and 4; the one before act 3, featuring flute and harp, is often played in concert performances.
 * A comparable 'filmic' interlude was foreseen in the early 1930s by Alban Berg for his opera Lulu, between the two scenes of the central act. In this case Berg only composed the music and gave a short schematic scenario for a film, that was not yet realised when he died in 1935. The Lulu interlude film, in contrast to the previous example, was intended to chain the action between the first and second half of the opera. Because of the completely symmetrical structure of this opera, the filmic interlude of Lulu is, in a manner of speaking, the axis of the opera.
 * Interludes of the divertimento kind can be found in Leoš Janáček's last, sombre opera From the House of the Dead (1928): releasing the tension after Skuratov's disheartening tale at the centre of the second act, two an "opera" and a "pantomime" within the larger opera are executed consecutively by a cast of prisoners, both presentations farcical variations on the Don Juan theme, and mirroring the religious ceremony divertimento before the Skuratov tale.
 * Also, the first publicly performed furniture music composed by Erik Satie was premiered as entr'acte music (1920 – the play for which it was written fell into oblivion), with this variation that it was intended as background music to the sounds the public would usually produce at intermission, walking around and talking. Allegedly, the public did not obey Satie's intention: they kept silently in their places and listened, trained by a habit of incidental music, much to the frustration of the avant-garde musicians, who tried to save their idea by inciting the public to get up, talk, and walk around.
 * Most of the film adaptations of Broadway musicals feature entr'actes during the intermission, which make use of music from the production.
 * Many roadshow presentations of films from the 1950s through to the 1970s were provided with entr'actes that took the form of overtures to the second part, including most of the adaptations of Broadway musicals released at that time, but the practice soon spread to drama films. In many cases it was the same piece as was used for the overture (as in Lawrence of Arabia in 1962 and 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968), but others such as Ben-Hur (1959) and How the West Was Won (1962) employ different pieces.
 * Many roadshow theatrical releases have the intermission/entr'acte after a major turning point during the movie. In the case of Doctor Zhivago, it is the shock from audiences that came with the identity of infamous Bolshevik commander Strelnikov.
 * The 1968 British-American film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has an entr'acte mid-way into the film just after the car drives down the cliff by accident and just before Chitty sprouts wings.
 * The 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora! was not provided with an overture in any of its releases but did feature a 107-second entr'acte, a different arrangement and orchestration of the main title.
 * The 2005 film Kingdom of Heaven features a 158-second entr'acte that includes a performance of Wall Breached by Harry Gregson-Williams.
 * Roadshow releases of the 2015 film The Hateful Eight were provided with an original orchestral overture composed by Ennio Morricone, but unusually for any media used a Crystal Gayle performance of the country song "Ready for the Times to Get Better" as the entr'acte.
 * The 2016 Dream Theater album The Astonishing features an entr'acte track entitled "2285 Entr'acte" which bridges the first and second acts of the album.

title: Entr'acte


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Alexei Shirov

Alexei Shirov (Алексе́й Дми́триевич Ши́ров, Aleksejs Širovs; born 4 July 1972) is a Latvian and Spanish chess player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994.

He won a match against Vladimir Kramnik in 1998 to qualify to play as challenger for the classical world championship match with Garry Kasparov; it never took place due to a lack of sponsorship.

Career
Shirov became the world under-16 champion in 1988 and was the runner-up at the World Junior Championship in 1990 (second on tiebreaks to Ilya Gurevich). In the same year, he achieved the title of Grandmaster. Shirov is the winner of numerous international tournaments: Biel 1991, Madrid 1997 (shared first place with Veselin Topalov), Ter Apel 1997, Monte Carlo 1998, Mérida 2000, Paul Keres Memorial Rapid Tournament in Tallinn (2004, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2013), Canadian Open Chess Championship 2005.

He reached second on the FIDE rating list in January and July 1994, behind Anatoly Karpov, though Garry Kasparov was excluded from those lists and was rated higher. In 1998, Shirov's ranking rose again, to number four in the PCA rating list. On the basis of this rating, he was invited to play a ten-game match against Vladimir Kramnik to select a challenger for PCA World Champion Garry Kasparov. Shirov won the match with two wins, no losses and seven draws. However, the plans for the Kasparov match fell through when sufficient financial backing could not be found. When Kasparov instead played Kramnik for Kasparov's world title in 2000, Shirov maintained that the match was invalid and he was the rightful challenger.

In 2000, Shirov reached the final of the FIDE World Chess Championship, losing 3½–½ to Viswanathan Anand.

In 2002, he played in the Candidates Tournament to choose a challenger for Classical World Champion Kramnik. He won his group of four, but lost his semi-final 2½–½ to eventual winner Peter Leko.

In May–June 2007 he played in the Candidates Tournament of the World Chess Championship 2007. He won his first-round match against Michael Adams (+1−1=4, won in rapid playoff), but was eliminated when he lost his second-round match to Levon Aronian (+0−1=5). this is Shirov's last appearance at a Candidates Tournament.

In November–December 2007 Shirov played in the Chess World Cup 2007, which was a qualifier for the World Chess Championship 2010. He made the final, but lost the final 2½–1½ to Gata Kamsky.

In May 2009, Alexei Shirov won the category 21 M-Tel Masters 2009 tournament, held in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In September 2010, Shirov participated in the Grand Slam Chess Masters preliminary tournament in Shanghai, where he faced world No. 4 Levon Aronian, world No. 5 Vladimir Kramnik, and Wang Hao; the top two scorers qualified for the Grand Slam final supertournament from October 9 to 15 in Bilbao against world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and World Champion Viswanathan Anand. After drawing his first two games, Shirov then won three consecutive games, including his first victory over Kramnik since 2003. Finishing with 4½/6 points, Shirov won the tournament, qualifying along with Kramnik for the Grand Slam final.

In May 2011, Shirov won a strong round-robin tournament in Lublin, Poland, the 3rd Lublin Union Memorial 2011 with a score of 5/7. In December 2011, he switched back federations from Spain to Latvia.

In February 2012, Shirov won the Aivars Gipslis Memorial in Riga with 8 points out of 9. In June 2012 Shirov won the Buenos Aires Masters Tournament (category 13) with 5½/7.

In August 2013, he played in the Chess World Cup. He won his first-round match against Hou Yifan, and was eliminated when he lost his second round match to Wei Yi. In August 2015, Shirov won the 5th Riga Technical University Open edging out Robert Hovhannisyan on tiebreak score, after both players finished on 7½/9. In March 2017, Shirov won the Mikhail Tal Memorial blitz tournament in Jūrmala scoring 9½/11 points.

In 2018 and 2019, he won the 5th and 6th Arica Open.

In September 2020, during the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020, Shirov won the Gazprom Brilliancy Prize for his win as Black against Danyyil Dvirnyy in the Slav Defense, involving a queen sacrifice in a queenside attack, and achieved an overall score of 13/15 (+12−1=2) playing for the Spanish team.

In February 2021, Shirov won the 3rd Salamanca Chess Festival with a score of 6/7.

Through February and March 2022, Shirov played in the FIDE Grand Prix 2022. In the first leg, he placed fourth in Pool D with a 1.5/6 result. In the second leg, he tied with Vladimir Fedoseev for third in Pool C with a result of 2.5/6, finishing last in the standings with one point.

In July 2023, Shirov played in the 2023 Canadian Open Chess Championship. Shirov placed first with a result of 8.5/10.

Personal life
Shirov is of Russian descent. In 1994 he married an Argentine, Verónica Alvarez, moved to Tarragona, and became a citizen of Spain. From 2001 to 2007, He was married to Lithuanian Viktorija Čmilytė, also a chess grandmaster and one of the strongest female chess players in the world. Shortly before the Shanghai 2010 tournament, Shirov got married for a third time to WIM Olga Dolgova. At that time he still played for Spain, but he and his wife also had an apartment in Riga, Latvia.

Playing style
Shirov is noted for his attacking style, a tendency which has led to comparisons with fellow Latvian and former world champion, Mikhail Tal, under whom he studied in his youth.

Illustrative game
During the 1998 Linares chess tournament Shirov played Black against future FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov and won by sacrificing his only bishop in a bishop and pawn ending:
 * 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bb5+ c6 8.Ba4 0-0 9.Ne2 Nd7 10.0-0 e5 11.f3 Qe7 12.Be3 Rd8 13.Qc2 Nb6 14.Bb3 Be6 15.Rad1 Nc4 16.Bc1 b5 17.f4 exd4 18.Nxd4 Bg4 19.Rde1 Qc5 20.Kh1 a5 21.h3 Bd7 22.a4 bxa4 23.Ba2 Be8 24.e5 Nb6 25.f5 Nd5 26.Bd2 Nb4 27.Qxa4 Nxa2 28.Qxa2 Bxe5 29.fxg6 hxg6 30.Bg5 Rd5 31.Re3 Qd6 32.Qe2 Bd7 33.c4 Bxd4 34.cxd5 Bxe3 35.Qxe3 Re8 36.Qc3 Qxd5 37.Bh6 Re5 38.Rf3 Qc5 39.Qa1 Bf5 40.Re3 f6 41.Rxe5 Qxe5 42.Qa2+ Qd5 43.Qxd5+ cxd5 44.Bd2 a4 45.Bc3 Kf7 46.h4 Ke6 47.Kg1 Bh3 (diagram) 48.gxh3 Kf5 49.Kf2 Ke4 50.Bxf6 d4 51.Be7 Kd3 52.Bc5 Kc4 53.Be7 Kb3

Shirov's bishop sacrifice (47...Bh3!!) is considered one of the greatest chess moves of all time.

Chess books
Shirov has written two books on his best games:

title: Alexei Shirov


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User:Nico~enwiki/Silesia

Slezsko Schlesien Schlesien Silesia Silezië %A6l%B1sk Schlesien Schlesien

This is the NPOV version of the Silesia article.

Silesia (Polish Śląsk, German Schlesien, Czech Slezsko) is an ancient part of Europe located between the Oder and Vistula rivers. For almost 700 years Silesia was German. Since the end of World War II Silesia is almost entirely within the borders of Poland, with the exception of Teschen Silesia, which is part of the Czech Republic, and Görlitz Silesia, which is part of Germany. Silesia is directly adjacent to Saxony, Lesser Poland, Great Poland, and Brandenburg, and very near to Berlin and Cracow.

The Polish portion of Silesia, which forms the bulk of the historic region, is now divided into the voivodships of Lower Silesian Voivodship (capital: Wroclaw/Breslau), Opole Voivodship (capital: Opole/Oppeln), and Silesian Voivodship (capital: Katowice). The latter two are sometimes called Upper Silesia. The small portion in the Czech Republic is joined with Moravia to form the Moravian-Silesian Region of that country.

Silesia is a resource rich and populous region. Coal and iron can both be found there, and a substantial munfacturing industry has grown up, but in post-communist times the outdated nature of many of the facilites have lead to problems. It is also a good agricultural area producing grains, potatoes, and sugar beets.

Name of the region
There are many theories as to how Silesia derived its name. These theories tend to fall along the lines of national interest. The "Silesia is part of Germany" argument claims that the name is derived from the Silingii, most likely a Vandalic (some say Celto-Germanic) people, who supposedly lived south of the Baltic Sea in the Elbe, Oder, and Vistula river in 2nd Century. The "Silesia is Poland" argument is based on etymology and the fact that the place-names in the area were always Polish, or germanized Polish names. Also archeological finds from 7th and 8th uncovered largely populated areas protected by a dense system of fortifications from West and South. Lack of such systems from North or East signifies Silesia being a part of larger State populated by early Polish tribes.

A third theory claims that the area was indeed "originally" (as far as they are the first people purported to have lived in the area) inhabited by the Silingii. When the Silingii moved from the area during the Migration Period, or Völkerwanderung, they left remnants of their society behind. The most evident remnants were in the place-names, which were adopted (in Slavic form) by the new inhabitants, who were in fact Slavic (Polish Śląsk, OldPol. Śl&#261žsk [-o], OldSlav. *Sьlьąžьskъ [<*Sьlьągьskъ] from OldGerman *Siling-isk [land]). These people became associated with the place, and were known as Silesians (using a Latinized form of the name, Pol. &#346lêžanie), even though they had nothing to do with the Silingii.

Parenthetically, it should be noted that there is considerable debate among archaeologists and historians as to whether there is such a thing as a Celtic-Germanic people. Exhibits such as the one in Rosenheim (Bayern) certainly demonstrate that the Celts had an influence on the area; however, the movement of the Celts westward through Europe was such that there is little if any overlap between them and the Germanic tribes.

Moreover, the question of Germanic tribes and their relationship to place names is entirely chicken/egg. Traditional German historiography, most notably the works of Ranke, tend to argue a thing's inherent "Germanness" on the grounds that clearly work in a 19th century nationalist context, but hardly work for today's historians.

History
''The following factoids are from the Catholic Encyclopedia. Please check them for accuracy and point out any errors in talk. A sysop will immediately move any disputed fact.''

Silesia has been:
 * Prussian
 * inhabited 3/4 by Germans, 1/4 by Poles (1905)
 * Slavonic (an 800 year period)
 * controlled by Poland (In 999 Silesia was conquered by the Poles)
 * controlled by Bohemia (1327-29)
 * colonized by Germans (from around 1210)
 * a battleground: the Hussite Wars (1420-37)
 * controlled by Hungary (1469)
 * "regarded as a dependency of Bohemia" (1526)
 * largely controlled by Prussia (after wars of 1740-2, 1744-5, 1756-63)
 * enlarged by adding half of Lausitz (Lusatia)
 * divided into Upper and Lower Silesia?
 * split: part of Silesia which remained an Austrian possession after 1763.

Early peoples
Silesia was inhabited by various peoples belonging to changing archealogical cultures in the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age.

As recorded by Tacitus in the 1st century AD Silesia was inhabited by a multi-ethnic leage dominated by the Celtic Lugii/Lygii. Belonging to this federation the Silingii, most likely a Vandalic people, lived south of the Baltic Sea in the Elbe, Odra, and Vistula river area of later Germany and Poland.

Middle Ages
Early documents mention a couple of tribes most probably living in Silesia: Bavarian Geographer (ca. 845): Slenzanie, Dzhadoshanie, Opolanie, Lupiglaa, Golenshitse. And a document of Prague bishopric (1086): Zlasane, Trebovyane, Poborane, Dedositze.

In the 9th and 10th centuries the territory later called Silesia was subject to the Moravian and then Bohemian rulers of the neighbouring area covered by today's Czech Republic to the south. In 990 Silesia was incorporated into Poland by Mieszko I (although some historians are moving the date to 999 and rule of Boleslaus I, duke of the Polanie (Polans; from "pole" - "a field") and later king of Poland). (See [] for the previous boundaries of Poland.) During Poland's Fragmentation (1138-1320) into duchies ruled by different branches of the Piast royal family, Silesia was ruled by descendants of the royal house.

In 1146, duke Wladislaw II acknowledged the overlordship of the Holy Roman Empire, but was driven into exile. After 17 years in Germany, his two sons took possession of Silesia in 1163 with Imperial backing, dividing the land between them as dukes of Lower and Upper Silesia. The policy of subdivision continued under their successors, with Silesia being divided into 18 territories by the 1390s.

From around 1210 Henry I the Bearded, duke of Lower Silesia, and his wife Hedwig of Andechs invited the Knights Templar and other religious, many of them from Germany, to settle the land. The ruling classes increasingly adopted German language and culture, causing great ethnic tensions in Silesia. Germans moved in from other parts of the Holy Roman Empire in the wake of the dislocation caused by the 1241 Mongol invasion of Silesia. 160 cities and 1500 towns were founded or relocated with German charters and laws (German law was however quickly separated from ethnicity of the founders and usually new Polish settlements were also located or relocated with German laws, which were considered more modern and superior to older, customary Polish laws).

In 1327, Duke Henry VI of Wroclaw and the Upper Silesian dukes recognized the overlordship of the king of Bohemia (John of Luxemburg). Last independent Piast duchies in Silesia ceased to exist in 1368. Since then Silesia became indirectly part of Holy Roman Empire, since Bohemia was itself an autonomous part of the entity. Silesia remained part of the lands of the Bohemian crown until 1742, under kings of Czech, Polish and German dynasties.

Under the emperor and king of Bohemia Charles IV, Silesia and especially Wroclaw gained greatly in importance, and many great buildings and large Gothic churches were built.

Between 1425 and 1435, devastation was caused by Hussite rebellion in Bohemia proper - Silesia remained largely Catholic however.

Early Modern Period
The Protestant reformation took an early hold, and most of Silesia became Lutheran.
 * In 1537 the rulers of Brandenburg and Silesia concluded an inheritance treaty, but it was vetoed by the emperor Ferdinand.
 * 1526 Habsburgs elected/inherited the Bohemian crown (it is disputed by what right they ruled)

The second "Defenestration of Prague", in 1618, sparked the Thirty Years' War, caused by attempts of the Catholic Habsburg ruler to restore Catholicism and stamp out Protestantism.

After the end of the Thirty Years War, the Habsburgs greatly encouraged Catholicism, and succeeded in reconverting around sixty percent of the population of Silesia.

By 1675 the last Silesian Piast rulers had died out.

In 1740 the seizure of Silesia by Frederick (the Great) of Brandenburg began the War of the Austrian Succession, which ended in 1748. At the end of this war, Prussia retained almost all of Silesia. The Seven Years' War (1756-1763) confirmed this result.

Silesia in the Modern World
Silesia, then part of the Kingdom of Prussia, became part of the German Empire when Prussia lead the unification of Germany (1866-71). There was considerable industrialization in Upper Silesia, and many people moved there. A majority of the population was Polish-speaking and Roman Catholic, and in whole Silesia Polish-speakers were estimated to more than 30%, concentrated in regions of Upper Silesia and Opole. As the below mentioned referendum showed, Polish-speakers not always had to be identified with Poles.

After Germany's defeat in World War I, a 1921 referendum was held by the League of Nations in Upper Silesia, to determine the future of the province.

In the referendum Poland and Germany got almost the same number of votes from the people living in Upper Silesia. However, 200 000 of people born in Upper Silesia, but living in Germany, had also right to vote.

After the referendum, there were three Silesian Insurrections, as a result of them, League of Nations decided, that the province should be split and areas that voted for Poland should become autonomous Silesian Voivodship (Wojewodztwo Śląskie), as part of Poland.

In 1945 all of Silesia was occupied by Soviet troops, by then a large proportion of German population had fled Silesia. The treaty between the USSR, Great Britain, France, and the United States assigned the major part of Silesia east of the rivers Odra and Nysa to Poland, forcing the German population to relocate behind the Oder-Neisse Line. A little part of Silesia west of Nysa around Görlitz remained German (now part of the Federal State of Saxony).

Demographics
 to be written yet

Modern Silesia is inhabited mostly by the Poles and Silesians, but also by the Germans, Czechs and Moravians.

The last Polish census of 2002 showed that the Silesians are the largest ethnic minority in Poland, Germans being the second - both groups are located mostly in the Silesian region.

The Czech Silesia is inhabited by the Czechs, Moravians and Poles.

Economy
 to be written yet

Culture
 to be written yet

Publications in German

 * Bibliography - Literatur über die Geschichte Schlesiens
 * (ed.) H. Aubin, Geschichte Schlesiens, vol. 1, Breslau 1938
 * (ed.) L. Petry, J.J. Menzel, Geschichte Schlesiens, vol. 2, Darmstadt 1973
 * W. Kuhn, Beiträge zur schlesischen Siedlungsgeschichte, München 1971
 * (ed.) Rainer Riemenschneider, Die Rolle Schlesiens und Pommern in der Geschichte der deutschen-polnischen Beziehungen in Mittelalter, Georg-Eckert-Institut für Internationale Schulbuchforschung, Braunschweig 1980

Publications in Polish

 * (ed.) K.Maleczyński, W.Długoborski, S.Michalkiewicz, Historia Śląska, vol. 1-2, Wrocław 1960-70
 * Zygmunt Boras, Książęta Piastowscy Śląska, Wydawnictwo Śląsk, Katowice 1978.
 * Zygmunt Boras, Związki Śląska i Pomorza Zachodniego z Polską w XVI wieku, Poznań 1981
 * (ed.) Marian Biskup, Śląsk i Pomorze w historii stosunków polsko-niemieckich w średniowieczu, XII Konferencja Wspólnej Komisji Podręcznikowej PRL-RFN Historyków 5-10 VI 1979 Olsztyn, Ossolineum, Wroclaw 1983, second edition: Instytut Zachodni, Poznań 1987.
 * (ed.) Antoni Czubiński, Zbigniew Kulak, Śląsk i Pomorze w stosunkach polsko-niemieckich od XVI do XVII w. XIV Konferencja Wspólnej Komisji Podręcznikowej PRL-RFN Historyków, 9-14 VI 1981 r. Zamość, Instytut Zachodni, Poznań 1987

Silesian Organizations

 * Ruch Automonii Śląska (RAS) Silesian Autonomy Movement (English, Polish, German)
 * Slonski Servis (Polish, German)
 * Slonsko Lauba (Silesian)
 * Ślonsk - country and people (Silesian, Polish, German)
 * Landsmannschaft Schlesien

History of Silesia

 * History of Silesia (in German)

Internet directories

 * Open Directory Project - Upper Silesia - internet directory
 * Open Directory Project - Opole Silesia - internet directory
 * Open Directory Project - Lower Silesia - internet directory

Maps of Silesia

 * 8 maps of Upper Silesia 1561-1925
 * Map of Cieszyn/Teschen Silesia of 1893
 * Slesie Descriptio XV Nova Tabula. Map of Sebastian Münster, Kosmografia, Bazylea 1550

title: User:Nico~enwiki/Silesia