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Typed lambda calculus

A typed lambda calculus is a typed formalism that uses the lambda-symbol ($$\lambda$$) to denote anonymous function abstraction. In this context, types are usually objects of a syntactic nature that are assigned to lambda terms; the exact nature of a type depends on the calculus considered (see kinds below). From a certain point of view, typed lambda calculi can be seen as refinements of the untyped lambda calculus, but from another point of view, they can also be considered the more fundamental theory and untyped lambda calculus a special case with only one type.

Typed lambda calculi are foundational programming languages and are the base of typed functional programming languages such as ML and Haskell and, more indirectly, typed imperative programming languages. Typed lambda calculi play an important role in the design of type systems for programming languages; here, typability usually captures desirable properties of the program (e.g., the program will not cause a memory access violation).

Typed lambda calculi are closely related to mathematical logic and proof theory via the Curry–Howard isomorphism and they can be considered as the internal language of certain classes of categories. For example, the simply typed lambda calculus is the language of Cartesian closed categories (CCCs)

Kinds of typed lambda calculi
Various typed lambda calculi have been studied. The simply typed lambda calculus has only one type constructor, the arrow $$\to$$, and its only types are basic types and function types $$\sigma\to\tau$$. System T extends the simply typed lambda calculus with a type of natural numbers and higher order primitive recursion; in this system all functions provably recursive in Peano arithmetic are definable. System F allows polymorphism by using universal quantification over all types; from a logical perspective it can describe all functions that are provably total in second-order logic. Lambda calculi with dependent types are the base of intuitionistic type theory, the calculus of constructions and the logical framework (LF), a pure lambda calculus with dependent types. Based on work by Berardi on pure type systems, Henk Barendregt proposed the Lambda cube to systematize the relations of pure typed lambda calculi (including simply typed lambda calculus, System F, LF and the calculus of constructions).

Some typed lambda calculi introduce a notion of subtyping, i.e. if $$A$$ is a subtype of $$B$$, then all terms of type $$A$$ also have type $$B$$. Typed lambda calculi with subtyping are the simply typed lambda calculus with conjunctive types and System F<:.

All the systems mentioned so far, with the exception of the untyped lambda calculus, are strongly normalizing: all computations terminate. Therefore, they cannot describe all Turing-computable functions. As another consequence they are consistent as a logic, i.e. there are uninhabited types. There exist, however, typed lambda calculi that are not strongly normalizing. For example the dependently typed lambda calculus with a type of all types (Type : Type) is not normalizing due to Girard's paradox. This system is also the simplest pure type system, a formalism which generalizes the Lambda cube. Systems with explicit recursion combinators, such as Plotkin's "Programming language for Computable Functions" (PCF), are not normalizing, but they are not intended to be interpreted as a logic. Indeed, PCF is a prototypical, typed functional programming language, where types are used to ensure that programs are well-behaved but not necessarily that they are terminating.

Applications to programming languages
In computer programming, the routines (functions, procedures, methods) of strongly typed programming languages closely correspond to typed lambda expressions.

title: Typed lambda calculus


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Charles Reznikoff

Charles Reznikoff (August 31, 1894 – January 22, 1976) was an American poet best known for his long work, Testimony: The United States (1885–1915), Recitative (1934–1979). The term Objectivist was coined for him. The multi-volume Testimony was based on court records and explored the experiences of immigrants, black people and the urban and rural poor in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He followed this with Holocaust (1975), based on court testimony about Nazi death camps during World War II.

In 1930 Reznikoff married Marie Syrkin, a prominent Zionist and friend and biographer of Golda Meir. Although they did not live together at all times during the marriage, it lasted until Reznikoff's death.

When Louis Zukofsky was asked by Harriet Monroe to provide an introduction to what became known as the Objectivist issue of Poetry, he contributed his essay, Sincerity and Objectification: With Special Reference to the Work of Charles Reznikoff. This established the name of the loose-knit group of second-generation modernist poets and the two characteristics of their poetry: sincerity and objectification.

Early years
Charles Reznikoff was born in 1894 in a Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, the son of immigrants Sarah Yetta (Wolvovsky) Reznikoff and Nathan Reznikoff, who fled the Russian Empire and its pogroms. His Hebrew name was Ezekial, after his maternal grandfather. His father established a family business of manufacturing hats, and Reznikoff briefly worked there as a salesman in his 20s. He was young when he graduated from high school and had already started writing poetry. He spent a year studying journalism in graduate school at the University of Missouri, where Reznikoff realized he was interested in writing more than reporting news. He entered the law school of New York University in 1912 and graduated in 1916. He practiced law during the period 1916-1918. In 1918 as the United States had entered the Great War, he entered officer training school. He did not see active service before the end of the war.

Reznikoff worked for a time for his family's business as a hat salesman. He worked for a legal publishing house, where he wrote summaries of court records for legal reference books. This experience was to prove integral to his later writing.

From his teens, Reznikoff had been writing poetry, much of it influenced by the Imagists. He published his own work, using a second-hand press for which he set the type himself. Throughout his writing life, Reznikoff was always concerned to ensure that his work was published, even at his own expense. This appears to have been inspired by a family story of his grandfather, an unpublished Hebrew poet whose manuscripts were destroyed after his death, for fear of their falling into Russian hands.

Objectivist poet
Around the time the Objectivist issue of Poetry appeared, Reznikoff, Zukofsky and George Oppen set up "To Publishers" and later the Objectivist Press, essentially to publish their own work. Reznikoff had had some success with his 1930 novel By the Waters of Manhattan, and the new press published three titles by him, two that gathered together previously self-published work and the third a first installment of a long work called Testimony.

Court poetry
In early drafts, Testimony was a prose retelling of stories that Reznikoff had discovered while working on court records. Reznikoff found these accounts to give him insight into the story of America between 1885 and 1915, both in its diversity and its violence. Tellingly, he chose to omit the judgements, focusing on the twists and turns of the stories.

Over the following forty years, Reznikoff worked on refashioning these stories into an extended found poem, which finally ran to some 500 pages over two volumes. He tried to express the stories in as near as possible the words of the participants. As a result, his poetry was almost entirely stripped of metaphor and of authorial personality and emotion. In this sense, Testimony can be read as the great monument of Objectivist poetry.

The poetic mode which Reznikof developed in writing this work was invaluable to his work on Holocaust. It was based on testimony in court cases related to the Nazi concentration camps and death camps. He also adopted this style for his poetry that reworked stories from the Torah or Old Testament.

Late recognition
Reznikoff lived and wrote in relative obscurity for most of his life, with his work being either self-published or issued by small independent presses. In the 1960s, at the behest of friend and fellow poet George Oppen, and Oppen's sister June Oppen Degnan, New Directions published two books of his poetry: By the Waters of Manhattan (1962, New Directions/San Francisco Review NDP121), which had an Introduction by C. P. Snow; and Testimony: The United States 1885–1890 (1965, New Directions/San Francisco Review NDP200). But, despite acclaim from fellow poets such as Hayden Carruth, May Swenson, and Denise Levertov, critical reaction was generally negative. Reznikoff had to return to self-publishing to see his work in print.

In 1971, he was awarded the Morton Dauwen Zabel Prize of $2,500 by The National Institute of Arts and Letters. Around this time, he found a new publisher, Black Sparrow Press. They published By the Well of Living and Seeing: New and Selected Poems, 1918-1973 in 1974. At the time of his death, Reznikoff was correcting proofs of the first volume of the Black Sparrow Collected Poems. In the years immediately following his death, Black Sparrow reprinted all his major poetry and prose works. In addition, it published for the first time his completed novel, The Manner “Music” (1977), found among his papers.

Representation in other media
In 2013, the band Joan of Arc, with the help of the experimental performance group, Every House Has a Door, created a musical/theater piece based on Reznikoff's Testimony. The album inspired by his work was called Testimonium Songs and released on Polyvinyl Record Co. and Joyful Noise Recordings.

The song "Texas Reznikoff" by the singer-songwriter Mitski, from her album Bury Me at Makeout Creek (2014), refers to Reznikoff's work. In a 2016 interview Mitski cited Reznikoff as an influence on her music, and praised his poetic precision and ability to "create a striking image in people’s brains".

Reznikoff is mentioned in Yannick Haenel's novel Tiens ferme ta couronne (2017), published in English as Hold Fast the Crown. One of the novel's chapters is named after him.

Works

 * Rhythms (De Vinne Press, 1918).
 * Uriel Accosta: A Play & A Fourth Group of Verse (Cooper Press, 1921).
 * Nine Plays (Charles Reznikoff, 1927).
 * Five Groups of Verse (Charles Reznikoff, 1927) [incorporates four previous volumes of verse].
 * By the Waters of Manhattan: An Annual [prose and verse] (Charles Reznikoff, 1929).
 * By the Waters of Manhattan [novel] (Charles Boni, 1930; Rpt. Markus Wiener Publ., 1986; Black Sparrow Press, 2009).
 * Testimony [prose] (The Objectivist Press, 1934).
 * Jerusalem the Golden (The Objectivist Press, 1934).
 * In Memoriam: 1933 (The Objectivist Press, 1934).
 * Separate Way (The Objectivist Press, 1936).
 * Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down (Futuro Press, 1941).
 * The Lionhearted: A Story about the Jews in Medieval England [novel] (Jewish Publication Society, 1944).
 * Inscriptions: 1944-1956 (Charles Reznikoff, 1959).
 * By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse (New Directions/San Francisco Review, 1962).
 * Family Chronicle: An Odyssey from Russia to America [novel, autobiography] (Charles Reznikoff, 1963; Rpt. Markus Wiener Publ., 1988).
 * Testimony: The United States 1885-1890 (New Directions, 1965).
 * Testimony: The United States 1891-1900 (Charles Reznikoff, 1968).
 * By the Well of Living and Seeing and the Fifth Book of the Maccabees (Charles Reznikoff, 1969).
 * ''By the Well of Living and Seeing: New & Selected Poems 1918-1973 (Black Sparrow Press, 1974).
 * The Complete Poems of Charles Reznikoff, 1918-1975, 2 vols., ed. Seamus Cooney (Black Sparrow Press, 1976-77; Rpt. single volume 1989).
 * The Manner "Music" [novel] (Black Sparrow Press, 1977).
 * Holocaust (Black Sparrow Press, 1977; Rpt. with additional editorial materials, Five Leaves Publ., 2010).
 * Testimony: The United States (1885-1915) Recitative, 2 vols. (Black Sparrow Press, 1978-79; Rpt. single volume with 1934 Testimony, Black Sparrow Press, 2015).
 * Selected Letters 1917-1976, ed. Milton Hindus (Black Sparrow Press, 1997).

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

title: Charles Reznikoff


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Neelix

Neelix is a character in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager, played by actor Ethan Phillips since the series' inception. Neelix is an alien native to the far side of the galaxy, who joins the crew of the United Federation of Planets starship USS Voyager after it is captured and flung to the Delta Quadrant by a mysterious shockwave. He serves as a cook, morale officer, and eventual ambassador for the crew.

Casting
Neelix was played by actor Ethan Phillips. Phillips has a master's degree in fine arts from Cornell University, and had his start in acting performing on Broadway shows.

Biography
The character of Neelix is from Rinax, a moon of the planet Talax, located in the Delta Quadrant of the show's fictional representation of the Milky Way galaxy. His entire family was killed in a conflict with the Haakonian race.

Neelix was introduced in "Caretaker", the two-part pilot episode of the series, where he was rescued along with his Ocampan lover Kes by the Voyager crew. Previously a space trader, Neelix states his familiarity with the Delta Quadrant and appoints himself the ship's cook. He later earns the titles of Morale Officer and Chief Ambassador. When Naomi Wildman becomes the first baby born aboard Voyager, her mother Samantha names Neelix as her daughter's godfather.

Neelix departs the show in the seventh season's 23rd episode "Homestead". The ship encounters a colony of Talaxians, the last of his species that he is likely to see as the ship travels further from his home, and he chooses to stay with them. The character returns for a cameo in the series finale, "Endgame".

The Star Trek Cookbook
The persona of Neelix is also the central character in The Star Trek Cookbook, published by Pocket Books/Star Trek; 1st edition (January 1, 1999; ISBN 978-0671000226) by Ethan Phillips and William J. Birnes. The cookbook includes contributions by Star Trek actors from across several series and movies, as the cook of the USS Voyager accounts for the eclectic task of feeding its 140 diverse crew members. The recipe book also features a fictional guide for whipping up the drinks served at Quark's.

The cookbook has real recipes often named after Alien meals from the Star Trek universe, but prepared with traditional real-life ingredients. There is also a section that discusses how food props were made for the television show by Alan Simms.

Reception
In 2018, The Wrap ranked Neelix as the fourth-worst character of Star Trek overall (out of 39 main characters), but noted his optimism and humour. In 2016, the character was ranked as the 62nd most important character in service to Starfleet within the Star Trek science fiction universe (out of 100 characters) by Wired magazine.

In 2019, TMZ remembered Neelix as the "super-friendly chef, navigator and ambassador" of Star Trek: Voyager.

In 2020, SyFy felt that Neelix had a hard time getting good storylines compared to the other characters, with an exception being "Mortal Coil", which they ranked the 12th best episode of Star Trek: Voyager.

In 2021, The Digital Fix felt "Fair Trade" was an attempt to develop the character of Neelix, who they said has a "crisis of purpose" in this episode.

title: Neelix


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Irish Republican Brotherhood

The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; Bráithreachas Phoblacht na hÉireann) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924. Its counterpart in the United States of America was initially the Fenian Brotherhood, but from the 1870s it was Clan na Gael. The members of both wings of the movement are often referred to as "Fenians". The IRB played an important role in the history of Ireland, as the chief advocate of republicanism during the campaign for Ireland's independence from the United Kingdom, successor to movements such as the United Irishmen of the 1790s and the Young Irelanders of the 1840s.

As part of the New Departure of the 1870s–80s, IRB members attempted to democratise the Home Rule League and its successor, the Irish Parliamentary Party, as well as taking part in the Land War. The IRB staged the Easter Rising in 1916, which led to the establishment of the first Dáil Éireann in 1919. The suppression of Dáil Éireann precipitated the Irish War of Independence and the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, ultimately leading to the establishment of the Irish Free State, which excluded the territory of Northern Ireland.

Background
In 1798 the United Irishmen, which had initially been an open political organisation, but which was later suppressed by the British establishment in Ireland and so became a secret revolutionary organisation, rose in rebellion, seeking an end to British rule in Ireland and the establishment of an Irish Republic. The rebellion was suppressed, but the principles of the United Irishmen were to have a powerful influence on the course of Irish history.

Following the collapse of the rebellion, the British prime minister William Pitt introduced a bill to abolish the Irish parliament and manufactured a Union between Ireland and Britain. Opposition from the Protestant oligarchy that controlled the parliament was countered by the widespread and open use of bribery. The Act of Union was passed, and became law on 1 January 1801. The Catholics, who had been excluded from the Irish parliament, were promised emancipation under the Union. This promise was never kept, and caused a protracted and bitter struggle for civil liberties. It was not until 1829 that the British government reluctantly conceded Catholic emancipation. Though leading to general emancipation, this process simultaneously disenfranchised the small tenants, known as 'forty shilling freeholders', who were mainly Catholics. This resulted in the Irish Catholic electorate going from 216,000 voters to 37,000. A massive reduction in the number of Catholics being able to vote.

Daniel O’Connell, who had led the emancipation campaign, then attempted the same methods in his campaign, to have the Act of Union with Britain repealed. Despite the use of petitions and public meetings which attracted vast popular support, the government thought the Union was more important than Irish public opinion.

During the early 1840s, the younger members of the repeal movement became impatient with O’Connell's over-cautious policies, and began to question his intentions. Later they were what came to be known as the Young Ireland movement. In 1842 three of the Young Ireland leaders, Thomas Davis, Charles Gavan Duffy and John Blake Dillon, launched the Nation newspaper. In the paper they set out to create a spirit of pride and an identity based on nationality rather than on social status or religion. Following the collapse of the Repeal Association and with the arrival of famine, the Young Irelanders broke away completely from O’Connell in 1846.

The blight that destroyed the potato harvest between 1845 and 1850 caused a massive human tragedy. An entire social class of small farmers and labourers were to be virtually wiped out by hunger, disease and emigration. The laissez-faire economic thinking of the government ensured that help was slow, hesitant and insufficient. Between 1845 and 1851 the population fell by almost two million, or about a third of the total.

That the people starved while livestock and grain continued to be exported, quite often under military escort, left a legacy of bitterness and resentment among the survivors. The waves of emigration because of the famine and in the years following, also ensured that such feelings were not confined to Ireland, but spread to England, the United States, Australia, and every country where Irish emigrants gathered.

Shocked by the scenes of starvation and greatly influenced by the revolutions then sweeping Europe, the Young Irelanders moved from agitation to armed rebellion in 1848. The attempted rebellion failed after a small skirmish in Ballingary, County Tipperary, coupled with a few minor incidents elsewhere. The reasons for the failure were obvious, the people were totally despondent after three years of famine, having been prompted to rise early resulted in an inadequacy of military preparations, which caused disunity among the leaders.

The government quickly rounded up many of the instigators. Those who could fled across the seas, and their followers dispersed. A last flicker of revolt in 1849, led by among others James Fintan Lalor, was equally unsuccessful.

John Mitchel, the most committed advocate of revolution, had been arrested early in 1848 and transported to Australia on the purposefully created charge of Treason-felony. He was to be joined by other leaders, such as William Smith O'Brien and Thomas Francis Meagher who had both been arrested after Ballingary. John Blake Dillon escaped to France, as did three of the younger members, James Stephens, John O'Mahony and Michael Doheny.

Founding of the IRB
After the collapse of the 1848 rebellion James Stephens and John O'Mahony went to Europe to avoid arrest. In Paris they supported themselves through teaching and translation work and planned the next stage of "the fight to overthrow British rule in Ireland." Stephens set himself three tasks during his seven years of exile in Paris. These were: to keep alive, to pursue knowledge, and to master the technique of conspiracy. At this time Paris was interwoven with a network of secret political societies. Stephens and O'Mahony became members of one of the most powerful of these societies and acquired the secrets of some of the ablest and "most profound masters of revolutionary science" which the 19th century had produced, as to the means of inviting and combining people for the purposes of successful revolution.

In 1853, O'Mahony went to America and founded the Emmet Monument Association. In early 1856, Stephens began making his way back to Ireland, stopping first in London. On arriving in Dublin, Stephens began what he described as his three thousand mile walk through Ireland, meeting some of those who had taken part in the 1848/49 revolutionary movements, including Philip Gray, Thomas Clarke Luby and Peter Langan. In the autumn of 1857, a messenger, Owen Considine arrived from New York with a message for Stephens from members of the Emmet Monument Association, calling on him to set up an organisation in Ireland. Considine also carried a private letter from O’Mahony to Stephens which was a warning as to the condition of the organisation in New York, which was overseen by Luby and Stephens at the time. Both had believed that there was a strong organisation behind the letter, only later to find it was a number of loosely linked groups.

On 23 December Stephens dispatched Joseph Denieffe to America with his reply which was disguised as a business letter, and dated and addressed from Paris. In his reply Stephens outlined his conditions and his requirements from the organisation in America. Stephens demanded uncontrolled power and £100 a month for the first three months. Denieffe returned on 17 March 1858 with the acceptance of Stephens terms and £80. Denieffe also reported that there was no actual organised body of sympathisers in New York but merely a loose knot of associates. This disturbed Stephens but he went ahead regardless and that evening, St. Patrick's Day, the Irish Republican Brotherhood commenced.

The original oath, with its clauses of secrecy was drawn up by Luby under Stephens' direction in Stephens' room in Donnelly's which was situated behind Lombard Street. Luby then swore Stephens in and he did likewise.

Those present in Langan's, lathe-maker and timber merchant, 16 Lombard Street for that first meeting apart from Stephens and Luby were Peter Langan, Charles Kickham, Joseph Denieffe and Garrett O'Shaughnessy. Later it would include members of the Phoenix National and Literary Society, which was formed in 1856 by Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa in Skibbereen.

Organisational structure
The IRB was organised into circles, a "circle" was analogous to a regiment, that the "centre" or A, who might be considered equivalent to a colonel, who chose nine B's, or captains, who in their turn chose nine C's, or sergeants, who in their turn chose nine D's, who constituted the rank and file. In theory an A should only be known to the B's; a B, to his C's: and a C, to his D's; but this rule was often violated.

Objectives
Dublin Castle was the seat of government administration in Ireland and was appointed by the British cabinet and was accountable only to the cabinet, not to the House of Commons and not to the Irish people or their political representatives. Irish MPs could speak at Westminster in protest about the actions of the administration, but its privileges were unchallengeable as Irish representation in the House of Commons was only one sixth of the total and far too small.

Fenianism therefore, according to O'Mahony was symbolised by two principles: Firstly, that Ireland had a natural right to independence, and secondly, that that right could be won only by an armed revolution. Because of their belief in republicanism, that is, the "common people are the rightful rulers of their own destiny", the founding members saw themselves as "furious democrats in theory" and declared their movement to be "wholly and unequivocally democratic". Being a democrat and egalitarian in the mid 19th century was tantamount to being a revolutionary, and was something to be feared by political establishments.

It was Stephens "firm resolution to establish a democratic republic in Ireland; that is, a republic for the weal of the toiler", and that this would require a complete social revolution before the people could possibly become republicans. In propagating republican principles, they felt, the organisation would create this virtual democracy within the country, which would form the basis of an independence movement.

The Fenians soon established themselves in Australia, South America, Canada and, above all, in the United States, as well as in the large cities of England, such as London, Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow, in Scotland.

The oath
The original IRB oath, as quoted by Thomas Clarke Luby and John O'Leary, and which is among several versions in James Stephens's own papers, ran: "I, AB., do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will do my utmost, at every risk, while life lasts, to make [other versions, according to Luby, 'establish in'] Ireland an independent Democratic Republic; that I will yield implicit obedience, in all things not contrary to the law of God ['laws of morality'] to the commands of my superior officers; and that I shall preserve inviolable secrecy regarding all the transactions [ 'affairs'] of this secret society that may be confided in me. So help me God! Amen." This oath was significantly revised by Stephens in Paris in the summer of 1859. He asked Luby to draw up a new text, omitting the secrecy clause. The omitting of the secrecy clause was outlined in a letter from Stephens to John O'Mahony on 6 April 1859 and the reasons for it. 'Henceforth,’ wrote Luby to O’Leary "we denied that we were technically a secret body. We called ourselves a military organization; with, so to speak, a legionary oath like all soldiers."

The revised oath ran: "I, A.B, in the presence of Almighty God, do solemnly swear allegiance to the Irish Republic, now virtually established; and that I will do my very utmost, at every risk, while life lasts, to defend its independence and integrity; and, finally, that I will yield implicit obedience in all things, not contrary to the laws of God [or 'the laws of morality'], to the commands of my superior officers. So help me God. Amen'." In yet a later version it read: "In the presence of God, I, ..., do solemnly swear that I will do my utmost to establish the independence of Ireland, and that I will bear true allegiance to the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the Government of the Irish Republic and implicitly obey the constitution of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and all my superior officers and that I will preserve inviolable the secrets of the organisation."

Supreme Council
The IRB was re-organised at a convention in Manchester in July 1867. An 11-man Supreme Council was elected to govern the movement. They would eventually be representatives from the seven districts in which the organisation was organised: the Irish provinces of Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht, as well as Scotland, North England, and South England. The remaining four members were co-opted. The Supreme Council elected three of its members to the executive, which consisted of a president, secretary, and a treasurer. The Council met twice a year, usually in the spring and the summer. In Manchester August 1867 Thomas Kelly was declared Chief Organiser of the Irish Republic (COIR), in succession to Stephens. The arrest and subsequent rescue of Kelly with Timothy Deasy in September 1867 resulted in the execution of the Manchester Martyrs. Kelly escaped to USA and remained associated with the IRB.

United States organisation
Late in 1858 Stephens travelled to the United States to secure support and financial backing. He was unsuccessful, however, in winning the support of former Young Irelanders such as John Mitchel and Thomas Francis Meagher. Eventually, he joined with John O'Mahoney and Michael Doheny to form the Fenian Brotherhood, intended as the American sister organisation of the IRB, with O'Mahoney as its president. The precise relationship between the two organisations was never properly set out. In the early 1870s the Fenian Brotherhood was superseded as the main American support organisation by Clan na Gael, of which John Devoy was a leading member. The IRB and Clan na Gael reached a "compact of agreement" in 1875, and in 1877 the two organisations established a joint "revolutionary directory". This effectively gave Devoy control over the Supreme Council in Ireland, which was reliant on Clan na Gael for funds.

Establishment reaction
The movement was denounced by the British establishment, the press, the Catholic Church and Irish political elite, as had been all Irish Republican movements at that point.

The Tories, disturbed by the increase in republican propaganda, particularly in America, launched a propaganda campaign in the Irish press to discredit the American Fenians. They presented them as enemies of Catholicism quoting negative comments by some American Catholic bishops. As in Irish-America, likewise Ireland and England, the Catholic hierarchy felt the growth of nationalist politics among Irishmen was essentially dangerous. Therefore, during the 1860s and succeeding decades, the upper or middle classes who controlled the Irish press were very apprehensive in the growth of democratic politics in Ireland, which represented to them a threat of anarchy and revolution.

It was feared that if Britain was given any reason to renew coercion, Catholic interests in both Ireland and England would be undermined. In addition, the small class of Irish Catholic merchants, lawyers and gentry who had prospered under the Union felt anxious for the same reasons. By 1864, the Tories had coined the phrase 'Fenianism' to describe all that was considered potentially bothersome among Irishmen on both sides of the Atlantic.

Fenianism as a term was then used by the British political establishment to depict any form of mobilisation among the lower classes and, sometimes, those who expressed any Irish nationalist sentiments. They warned people about this threat to turn decent civilised society on its head such as that posed by trade unionism to the existing social order in England. The same term was taken up by members of the Irish Catholic hierarchy, who also began denouncing "Fenianism" in the name of the Catholic religion. One Irish Bishop, David Moriarty of Kerry, declared that "when we look down into the fathomless depth of this infamy of the heads of the Fenian conspiracy, we must acknowledge that eternity is not long enough, nor hell hot enough to punish such miscreants."

Irish People
In mid-1863 Stephens informed his colleagues he wished to start a newspaper, with financial aid from O’Mahony and the Fenian Brotherhood in America. The offices were established at 12 Parliament Street, almost at the gates of Dublin Castle. The first edition of the Irish People appeared on 28 November 1863. The staff of the paper along with Kickham were Luby and Denis Dowling Mulcahy as the editorial staff. O’Donovan Rossa and James O’Connor were in charge of the business office, with John Haltigan being the printer. John O'Leary was brought from London to take charge in the role of Editor. Shortly after the establishment of the paper, Stephens departed on an American tour, and to attend to organisational matters.

American Fenians made plans for a rising in Ireland, but the plans were discovered on 15 July 1865 when an emissary lost them at Kingstown railway station. They found their way to Dublin Castle and to Superintendent Daniel Ryan head of G Division. Ryan had an informer within the offices of the Irish People named Pierce Nagle, he supplied Ryan with an "action this year" message on its way to the IRB unit in Tipperary. With this information, Ryan raided the offices of the Irish People on Thursday 15 September, followed by the arrests of O’Leary, Luby and O’Donovan Rossa. The last edition of the paper is dated 16 September 1865.

Arrests and escapes
Before leaving, Stephens entrusted to Luby a document containing secret resolutions on the Committee of Organization or Executive of the IRB. Though Luby intimated its existence to O’Leary, he did not inform Kickham as there seemed no necessity. This document would later form the basis of the prosecution against the staff of the Irish People. The document read: "EXECUTIVE I hereby appoint Thomas Clarke Luby, John O’Leary and Charles J. Kickham, a Committee of Organization or Executive, with the same supreme control over the Home Organization (Ireland, England, Scotland, etc.) I have exercised myself. I further empower them to appoint a Committee of Military Inspection, and a Committee of Appeal and Judgment, the functions of which Committee will be made known to each member of them by the Executive. Trusting to the patriotism and ability of the Executive, I fully endorse their action beforehand, and call on every man in our ranks to support and be guided by them in all that concerns our military brotherhood. 9 March 1864, Dublin J. STEPHENS"

Kickham was caught after a month on the run. Stephens would also be caught, but with the support of Fenian prison warders, John J. Breslin and Daniel Byrne was less than a fortnight in Richmond Bridewell when he vanished and escaped to France. David Bell evaded arrest, escaping first to Paris and then to New York

Fenian Rising
During the latter part of 1866, Stephens endeavoured to raise funds in America for a fresh rising planned for the following year. He issued a bombastic proclamation in America announcing an imminent general rising in Ireland; but he was himself soon afterwards deposed by his confederates, among whom dissension had broken out.

The Fenian Rising proved to be a "doomed rebellion", poorly organised and with minimal public support. Most of the Irish-American officers who landed at Cork, in the expectation of commanding an army against England, were imprisoned; sporadic disturbances around the country were easily suppressed by the police, army and local militias.

Manchester Martyrs and Clerkenwell explosion
On 22 November 1867 three Fenians, William Philip Allen, Michael O'Brien, and Michael Larkin known as the Manchester Martyrs, were executed in Salford for their attack on a police van to release Fenians held captive earlier that year.

On 13 December 1867 the Fenians exploded a bomb in attempt to free one of their members being held on remand at Clerkenwell Prison in London. The explosion damaged nearby houses, killed 12 people and caused 120 injuries. None of the prisoners escaped. The bombing was later described as the most infamous action carried out by the Fenians in Great Britain in the 19th century. It enraged the public, causing a backlash of hostility in Britain which undermined efforts to establish home rule or independence for Ireland.

Irish National Invincibles
In 1882, a breakaway IRB faction calling itself the Irish National Invincibles assassinated the British Chief Secretary for Ireland Lord Frederick Cavendish and his secretary, in an incident known as the Phoenix Park Murders.

Special Irish Branch
In March 1883 the Metropolitan Police's Special Irish Branch was formed, initially as a small section of the Criminal Investigation Department, to monitor IRB activity.

Twentieth century
By the start of the 20th century, the IRB was a stagnating organisation, concerned more with Dublin municipal politics than the establishment of a republic, according to F. S. L. Lyons. A younger generation of Ulster republicans aimed to change this, and in 1905 Denis McCullough and Bulmer Hobson founded the Dungannon Clubs. Inspired by the Volunteers of 1782, the purpose of these clubs was to discourage enlistment into the British Army, and encourage enlistment into the IRB, with the overall goal of complete independence from Britain in the form of an Irish Republic. They were joined by Seán Mac Diarmada, and in 1908 he and Hobson relocated to Dublin, where they teamed up with veteran Fenian Tom Clarke. Clarke had been released from Portland Prison in October 1898 after serving fifteen and a half years, and had recently returned to Ireland after living in the United States. Sent by John Devoy and the Clan na Gael to reorganise the IRB, Clarke set about to do just that. In 1909 the young Michael Collins was introduced to the brotherhood by Sam Maguire. By 1914 the Supreme Council was largely purged of its older, tired leadership, and was dominated by enthusiastic men such as Hobson, McCullough, Patrick McCartan, John MacBride, Seán Mac Diarmada, and Tom Clarke. The latter two were to be the primary instigators of the Easter Rising in 1916.

Easter Rising
Following the establishment of the Ulster Volunteers in 1912, whose purpose was to resist Home Rule, by force if necessary, the IRB were behind the initiative which eventually led to the inauguration of the Irish Volunteers in November 1913. Though the Volunteers' stated purpose was not the establishment of a republic, the IRB intended to use the organisation to do just that, recruiting high-ranking members into the IRB, notably Joseph Plunkett, Thomas MacDonagh, and Patrick Pearse, who was co-opted to the Supreme Council in 1915. These men, together with Clarke, MacDermott, Éamonn Ceannt and eventually James Connolly of the Irish Citizen Army, constituted the Military Committee, the sole planners of the Rising.

War of Independence, Civil War and dissolution
Following the Rising some republicans—notably Éamon de Valera and Cathal Brugha—left the organization, which they viewed as no longer necessary, since the Irish Volunteers now performed its function. The IRB, during the 1919–21 War of Independence, was under the control of Michael Collins, who was secretary, and subsequently president, of the Supreme Council. Volunteers such as Séumas Robinson said afterwards that the IRB by then was "moribund where not already dead", but there is evidence that it was an important force during the war.

When the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed on 6 December 1921, it was debated by the Supreme Council, which voted to accept it by eleven votes to four. Those on the Supreme Council who opposed the Treaty included former leader Harry Boland, Austin Stack and Liam Lynch. Anti-Treaty republicans like Ernie O'Malley, who fought during the Civil War against the Treaty, saw the IRB as being used to undermine the Irish Republic. The IRB became quiescent during the Civil War, which ended in May 1923, but it emerged again later that year as a faction within the National Army that supported Minister for Defence Richard Mulcahy against the "Old IRA", which fought against the recruitment of ex-British Army personnel and the demobilization of old IRA men. This came to a head with the Army Mutiny of 1924, in the wake of which Mulcahy resigned and other IRB members of the army were dismissed by acting President of the Executive Council Kevin O'Higgins. The IRB subsequently dissolved itself, although it is not known whether a formal decision was taken, or it simply ceased to function.

Presidents
What follows is a list of known IRB presidents. As no formal records exist for the IRB, accurate dates cannot be provided in all cases.

title: Irish Republican Brotherhood


text:
Spice Girl (disambiguation)

A Spice Girl is a member of English girl group the Spice Girls.

Spice Girl may also refer to:

 * "Spice Girl", a song by rapper Aminé on the album Good for You
 * Spice Girl, a character in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
 * "Spice Girl", an episode of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind

title: Spice Girl (disambiguation)


text:
User:Danhuby

I'm a professional web programmer and frequent user and editor of Wikipedia.

I've been working with the web since '95. These days I work mainly with PHP/MySQL although I was originally a Perl/CGI developer.

I cut my teeth working for Domino Systems, one of the first web agencies in the UK. I then worked for WHSmith, then for several years I worked as a Technical Manager at XKO Software.

My current areas of interest (and therefore Wikipedia contribution topics) stem from my history as a web developer and in the field of Digital Asset Management. I am one of the original two developers of ResourceSpace https://www.resourcespace.com, an open source Digital Asset Management system. I founded Montala Limited, and later transitioned that company to an Employee ownership model. Montala are holders of a Royal warrant of appointment, manage the project in addition to providing commercial hosting, support and development services relating to the software. ResourceSpace has been released under a BSD-style license. It requires PHP, MySQL, and optionally utilities such as FFmpeg and ImageMagick that provide image processing capabilities. It works with most web server software such as Apache.

ResourceSpace, as a leading DAM solution is used by thousands of organisations globally including many large companies such as Google and Coca-cola, and was the first fully open source solution. It was also among the first DAM solutions to be entirely web based and requiring only a web browser.

Other topics of interest include Electric vehicles and environmental matters. I was part of the field trial user group for the Mini E electric car in Oxford in 2010 which I enjoyed immensely and have since gone on to purchase several electric cars such as several Renault Zoes and a Tesla Model S.

title: User:Danhuby


text:
Mechanics' institute

Mechanics' institutes, also known as mechanics' institutions, sometimes simply known as institutes, and also called schools of arts (especially in the Australian colonies), were educational establishments originally formed to provide adult education, particularly in technical subjects, to working men in Victorian-era Britain and its colonies. They were often funded by local industrialists on the grounds that they would ultimately benefit from having more knowledgeable and skilled employees. The mechanics' institutes often included libraries for the adult working class, and were said to provide them with an alternative pastime to gambling and drinking in pubs.

Many of the original institutes included lending libraries, and the buildings of some continue to be used as libraries. Others have evolved into parts of universities, adult education facilities, theatres, cinemas, museums, recreational facilities, or community halls. Few are still referred to as mechanics' institutes, but some retain the name and focus as centre of intellectual and cultural advancement. A 21st-century movement, originating in Victoria, Australia, has organised a series of conferences known as Mechanics' Institutes Worldwide Conferences, at which information and ideas for the future of mechanics' institutes are discussed.

Origins and history
The foundations of the movement which created mechanics' institutes were in lectures given by George Birkbeck at the Andersonian Institute in Glasgow. His fourth annual lecture attracted a crowd of 500, and became an annual occurrence after his departure for London in 1804, leading to the eventual formation on 16 October 1821 of the first mechanics' institute in Edinburgh, the Edinburgh School of Arts (later Heriot-Watt University ). Its first lecture was on chemistry, and within a month it was subscribed to by 452 men who each paid a quarterly subscription fee. This new model of technical educational institution gave classes for working men, and included libraries as well as apparatus to be used for experiments and technical education. Its purpose was to "address societal needs by incorporating fundamental scientific thinking and research into engineering solutions". The school revolutionised access to education in science and technology for ordinary people.

The first mechanics' institute in England was opened at Liverpool in July 1823.

The second institute in Scotland was incorporated in Glasgow in November 1823, built on the foundations of a group started by Birkbeck. Under the auspices of the Andersonian Institute, where Birkbeck had been chair of natural philosophy from 1799 to 1804 and instituted free lectures on arts, science and technical subjects from 1800. This mechanics' class continued to meet after he moved to London in 1804, and in 1823 they decided to formalise their organisation by incorporating themselves as the Mechanics' Institute. He was appointed director of the institute, which he had originally endowed with the sum of £3700, and held the office till his death in 1841. The London Mechanics' Institute (later Birkbeck College) was opened in December 1823, and the mechanics' institutes in Ipswich and Manchester (later to become UMIST) in 1824. By the mid-19th century, there were over 700 institutes in towns and cities across the UK and overseas, some of which became the early roots of other colleges and universities. For example, the University of Gloucestershire, has the Cheltenham Mechanics' Institute (1834) and Gloucester Mechanics' Institute (1840) within its history timeline. It was as a result of delivering a lecture series at the Cheltenham Mechanics' Institute that the radical George Holyoake was arrested and then convicted on a charge of blasphemy.

In Australia, the first mechanics' institute was established in Hobart in 1827, followed by the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts in 1833, Newcastle School of Arts in 1835, then the Melbourne Mechanics' Institute established in 1839 (renamed the Melbourne Athenaeum in 1872 ). From the 1850s, mechanics' institutes quickly spread throughout Victoria wherever a hall, library or school was needed. Over 1200 mechanics' institutes were built in Victoria and just over 500 remain today, and only six still operate their lending library services.

The Industrial Revolution created a new class of reader in Britain by the end of the 18th century, "mechanics", who were civil and mechanical engineers in reality. The Birmingham Brotherly Society was founded in 1796 by local mechanics to fill this need, and was the forerunner of mechanics' institutes, which grew in England to over seven hundred in number by 1850.

Small tradesmen and workers could not afford subscription libraries, so for their benefit, benevolent groups and individuals created mechanics' institutes that contained inspirational and vocational reading matter, for a small rental fee. Later popular non-fiction and fiction books were added to these collections. The first known library of this type was the Birmingham Artisans' Library, formed in 1823.

Some mechanics' libraries lasted only a decade or two, and many eventually became public libraries or (in the United States) were given to local public libraries after the Public Libraries Act 1850 passed. Though use of the mechanics' libraries was limited, the majority of the users were favourable towards the idea of free public libraries. However, by 1900 there were over 9,000 mechanics institutes around the world.

Beyond a lending library, mechanics' institutes also provided lecture courses, laboratories, and in some cases contained a museum for the members' entertainment and education. The Glasgow Institute, founded in 1823, not only had all three, it was also provided free light on two evenings a week from the local gas light company. The London Mechanics' Institute installed gas illumination by 1825, revealing the demand and need for members to use the books. Some mechanics' institutes also offered a programme from the arts; Wisbech Mechanics' institute booked Mrs Butler to give readings from Shakespeare's plays and Milton's Paradise Lost to audiences of nearly a thousand.

G. Jefferson explains: "The first phase, the Mechanics Institute movement, grew in an atmosphere of interest by a greater proportion of the population in scientific matters revealed in the public lectures of famous scientists such as Faraday. More precisely, as a consequence of the introduction of machinery a class workmen emerged to build, maintain and repair, the machines on which the blessing of progress depended, at a time when population shifts and the dissolving influences of industrialization in the new urban areas, where these were concentrated, destroyed the inadequate old apprentice system and threw into relief the connection between material advancement and the necessity of education to take part in its advantages."

21st century revival
Across the world, there is a move to sustain and revive mechanics' institutes and related institutions as subscription libraries, sometimes incorporating or expanding their earlier functions. There have been several worldwide conferences, known as the Mechanics' Worldwide Conference, of representatives of, or people who have an interest in, mechanics' institutes. As of 2021, there have been five such conferences:
 * 2004: Buildings, Books and Beyond: Mechanics' Worldwide, at Swinburne University, Prahran, Victoria, and the Prahran Mechanics' Institute, Australia
 * 2009: Self Help: Mechanics' Worldwide, at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, Bath, Somerset, England
 * 2012: Buildings, Books and Blackboards – Intersecting Narratives: Mechanics' Worldwide. RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
 * 2016: Reinvention: Thriving in the 21st Century Mechanics' Worldwide, Mechanics' Institute, San Francisco, California, U.S.
 * 2021: Mechanics' Institutes: Past, Present and Future – Mechanics' Institutes Worldwide. Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, and online (due to the COVID-19 pandemic)

By country
Thousands of mechanics' institutes buildings still operate throughout the world, mostly now used as libraries, parts of universities, adult education facilities, and a few still use their original names and function as a society or other type of organisation.

Australia
In the Australian colonies, Mechanics' Institutes were often called Schools of Arts, and they were more likely to be run by the middle-classes. The provision of reading rooms, museums, lectures and classes were still important, but the Australian schools were also more likely to include a social programme in their calendar of events.

The earliest and most prominent institute in Tasmania was Van Diemen's Land Mechanics' Institution, also known as Hobart Town Mechanics' Institute, Hobart (1827–1871), co-founded by George Augustus Robinson.

The Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts (1833), in Sydney, New South Wales, is the oldest school of arts still operating and the largest institute in Australia. Others in NSW include the Moruya Mechanics' Institute and the Scone School of Arts.

In South Australia, the South Australian Institute (1838, then 1847–), was the forerunner of the State Library of South Australia, the South Australian Museum, and the Art Gallery of South Australia.

The first institute in the colony of Victoria was the Melbourne Mechanics' Institute, created in 1839. It was renamed The Melbourne Athenaeum in 1872, and continues to operate a library, theatres and shops in the original building. Many mechanics' institutes, athenaeums, schools of arts and related institutions in the state of Victoria are well documented by the Mechanics' Institutes of Victoria, Inc., whose members range from the well-resourced Melbourne Athenaeum to the tiny Moonambel Mechanics' Institute in Moonambel. In the following decades, almost every town in Victoria had a mechanics' institute, usually including a hall, library and reading rooms, games facilities, and both educational programs and entertainment.

The first Western Australian institute was the Swan River Mechanics' Institute, established in 1851, later renamed the Perth Literary Institute.

In Queensland, the Brisbane School of Arts was created in 1873, in a former servants' home. The building was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992.

Over time, as local and state governments started providing libraries, community centres and other types of educational facilities, mechanics' institutes became less important in communities.

Atlantic provinces

 * Halifax Mechanics Institute
 * St. John Mechanics' Institute

Ontario

 * Barrie Mechanics' Institute
 * Brockville Mechanics' Institute, now Brockville Public Library
 * Bytown Mechanics' Institute, later Mechanics' Institute and Athenaeum of Ottawa, now Ottawa Public Library
 * Elmsley Library Association and Mechanics' Institute
 * Elora Mechanics' Institute
 * Farmers' Mechanics' Institute of Streetsville
 * Guelph Farmers' and Mechanics' Institute, now Guelph Public Library
 * Hamilton and Gore Mechanics' Institute
 * Kingston Mechanics' Institute
 * London Mechanics' Institute
 * Mechanics' Institute, Coldstream
 * Mechanics' Institute (Orillia)
 * Mechanics' Institute of Goderich
 * Mechanics' Institute of Point Edward
 * Midland Railroad Mechanics' Institute
 * Napanee Mechanics' Institute
 * Newmarket Farmers' Mechanics' Institute
 * Owen Sound Mechanics Institute
 * Peterborough Mechanics' Institute
 * St. Catharines Mechanics' Institute Library
 * Toronto Mechanics' Institute
 * Woodstock Mechanics' Institute

Quebec

 * Montreal Mechanics Institute
 * Atwater Library of the Mechanics' Institute of Montreal
 * Montreal Children's Library – Atwater Branch
 * Quebec Mechanics' Institute

Hong Kong

 * Government trade school

New Zealand

 * Auckland Mechanics' Institute, founded 30 September 1842, closed 1880, with transfer of all library content to Auckland City Council library.
 * Port Nicholson Mechanics' Institute, Public School and Library, founded in May 1842 and renamed Wellington Athenaeum and Mechanics' Institute in 1849.

United Kingdom
(alphabetical order by town or city)
 * Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute, Market Street, Aberdeen (architect Archibald Simpson), now a hotel.
 * Alford Institute. Founded 1854.
 * Alnwick Mechanics' Institute, Northumberland. Founded 1824.
 * Boston. Founded in 1849, became the Boston Atheneum in 1855.
 * Bradford Mechanics' Institute Library, Yorkshire.
 * Brechin Mechanics Institute, Angus.
 * Brentford Mechanics' Institution, Middlesex. Founded in 1835 and closed around 1890.
 * Burnley Mechanics, Burnley, Lancashire.
 * Darlington Mechanics Institute, built in 1854, as of 2014 a nightclub and bar.
 * Dysart - Mechanics Institute.
 * School of Arts of Edinburgh, renamed to Heriot-Watt University in 1966.
 * Epworth Mechanics Institute, North Lincs, UK. Mechanics' Institutes 201307 109.jpg
 * Eyam, Derbyshire.
 * Gainsborough. Room in Gainsborough Old Hall.
 * Grimsby, Lincolnshire.Founded in 1835. new building in Victoria Street in 1856.
 * Ipswich Institute, Suffolk.
 * Horncastle, Lincolnshire.
 * Keighley Mechanics' Institute, West Yorkshire, founded 1825, developed into Keighley College
 * Leeds Mechanics' Institute (West Yorkshire) designed by Cuthbert Brodrick, now Leeds City Museum.
 * Lincoln Mechanics' Institute. Founded 1833 in the undercroft of the Greyfriars.
 * Liverpool Mechanics School of Arts, founded 1825, renamed Liverpool Mechanics Institution in 1832, which later became the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys and from 1996 the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.
 * London Mechanics' Institute which eventually became Birkbeck, University of London
 * Louth Founded 1835. Moved to Mansion House 1853.
 * Lurgan, County Armagh. 69 Market Street.
 * Lutterworth, Leicestershire.
 * Manchester, forerunner of University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, which merged with Victoria University of Manchester to form the University of Manchester
 * Market Rasen,Lincolnshire Founded in 1836 in Queen Street
 * Marsden Mechanics Institute, Marsden, West Yorkshire, HD7 6BW, now a rental hall and public library
 * Neath Mechanics Institute, Neath, Neath Port Talbot Founded in 1842
 * University of South Wales, Newport – converted to private apartments
 * Nottingham Mechanics Institute
 * Otley Mechanics Institute, West Yorkshire
 * Royston, Hertfordshire, built 1855, later became the town hall and picture palace
 * Spitalfields Mechanics' Institution, founded in early 1825 by Thomas Gibson, father of Thomas Field Gibson
 * Stamford, Lincolnshire, Stamford Institution. Founded 1842.
 * Swindon Mechanics' Institute, Wiltshire
 * Wakefield Mechanics' Institute, West Yorkshire
 * Wolverhampton (Queen Street, c. 1835)
 * Wisbech Working Men's Club & Institute, Wisbech, Isle of Ely.

Timeline

 * 1792 The Mechanic Library Society of New Haven, Connecticut was founded. It was chartered the following year and was eventually superseded in New Haven by The Young Men's Institute Library.
 * 1795 The Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association of Boston, Massachusetts, was "formed for the sole purposes of promoting the mechanic arts and extending the practice of benevolence."
 * 1820 General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York established. Renamed and became the Mechanics' Institute in 1858.
 * 1821 The English High School was established in Boston, MA, as the first public high school, with leadership from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association.
 * 1824 "The Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts" opened in Philadelphia.
 * 1826 The Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts opened in Baltimore.
 * 1827 Boston established a mechanics' institute.
 * 1828 In Cincinnati, the Ohio Mechanics Institute (OMI) was founded on 20 November to "facilitate the diffusion of useful knowledge" to "ingenious artisans and mechanics".
 * Richmond, Virginia – Mechanics' institute was located at 9th and Bank Streets Marshall Street properties are now part of Virginia Commonwealth University and Richmond Public Schools
 * Rochester, New York – 1885 mechanics' institute merged with the Rochester Athenium in 1891 to become the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute. Renamed to Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in 1944.

Existing names and uses
In addition, each state and territory in the US has at least one land grant university that includes a college of agriculture and a college of engineering, as provided for by the Morrill Land-Grant Acts to teach agriculture, military tactics, and the mechanic arts as well as classical studies.
 * General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York
 * Mechanics' Institute, San Francisco, California
 * Mechanics Hall, Worcester
 * Maine Charitable Mechanic Association
 * New Haven Young Men's Institute
 * The Working Men's Institute (New Harmony, Indiana)

title: Mechanics' institute


text:
Adjunct (grammar)

In linguistics, an adjunct is an optional, or structurally dispensable, part of a sentence, clause, or phrase that, if removed or discarded, will not structurally affect the remainder of the sentence. Example: In the sentence John helped Bill in Central Park, the phrase in Central Park is an adjunct.

A more detailed definition of the adjunct emphasizes its attribute as a modifying form, word, or phrase that depends on another form, word, or phrase, being an element of clause structure with adverbial function. An adjunct is not an argument (nor is it a predicative expression), and an argument is not an adjunct. The argument–adjunct distinction is central in most theories of syntax and semantics. The terminology used to denote arguments and adjuncts can vary depending on the theory at hand. Some dependency grammars, for instance, employ the term circonstant (instead of adjunct), following Tesnière (1959).

The area of grammar that explores the nature of predicates, their arguments, and adjuncts is called valency theory. Predicates have valency; they determine the number and type of arguments that can or must appear in their environment. The valency of predicates is also investigated in terms of subcategorization.

Examples
Take the sentence John helped Bill in Central Park on Sunday as an example:

 * John is the subject argument.
 * helped is the predicate.
 * Bill is the object argument.
 * in Central Park is the first adjunct.
 * on Sunday is the second adjunct.

An adverbial adjunct is a sentence element that often establishes the circumstances in which the action or state expressed by the verb takes place. The following sentence uses adjuncts of time and place:

 * Yesterday, Lorna saw the dog in the garden.

Notice that this example is ambiguous between whether the adjunct in the garden modifies the verb saw (in which case it is Lorna who saw the dog while she was in the garden) or the noun phrase the dog (in which case it is the dog who is in the garden). The definition can be extended to include adjuncts that modify nouns or other parts of speech (see noun adjunct).

Forms and domains
An adjunct can be a single word, a phrase, or an entire clause.

 * Single word
 * She will leave tomorrow.

 * Phrase
 * She will leave in the morning.

 * Clause
 * She will leave after she has had breakfast.

Most discussions of adjuncts focus on adverbial adjuncts, that is, on adjuncts that modify verbs, verb phrases, or entire clauses like the adjuncts in the three examples just given. Adjuncts can appear in other domains, however; that is, they can modify most categories. An adnominal adjunct is one that modifies a noun: for a list of possible types of these, see Components of noun phrases. Adjuncts that modify adjectives and adverbs are occasionally called adadjectival and adadverbial.

 * the discussion before the game – before the game is an adnominal adjunct.
 * very happy – very is an "adadjectival" adjunct.
 * too loudly – too is an "adadverbial" adjunct.

Adjuncts are always constituents. Each of the adjuncts in the examples throughout this article is a constituent.

Semantic function
Adjuncts can be categorized in terms of the functional meaning that they contribute to the phrase, clause, or sentence in which they appear. The following list of the semantic functions is by no means exhaustive, but it does include most of the semantic functions of adjuncts identified in the literature on adjuncts:

 * Causal – Causal adjuncts establish the reason for, or purpose of, an action or state.
 * The ladder collapsed because it was old. (reason)

 * Concessive – Concessive adjuncts establish contrary circumstances.
 * Lorna went out although it was raining.

 * Conditional – Conditional adjuncts establish the condition in which an action occurs or state holds.
 * I would go to Paris, if I had the money.

 * Consecutive – Consecutive adjuncts establish an effect or result.
 * It rained so hard that the streets flooded.

 * Final – Final adjuncts establish the goal of an action (what one wants to accomplish).
 * He works a lot to earn money for school.

 * Instrumental – Instrumental adjuncts establish the instrument used to accomplish an action.
 * Mr. Bibby wrote the letter with a pencil.

 * Locative – Locative adjuncts establish where, to where, or from where a state or action happened or existed.
 * She sat on the table. (locative)

 * Measure – Measure adjuncts establish the measure of the action, state, or quality that they modify
 * I am completely finished.
 * That is mostly true.
 * We want to stay in part.

 * Modal – Modal adjuncts establish the extent to which the speaker views the action or state as (im)probable.
 * They probably left.
 * In any case, we didn't do it.
 * That is perhaps possible.
 * I'm definitely going to the party.

 * Modificative – Modificative adjuncts establish how the action happened or the state existed.
 * He ran with difficulty. (manner)
 * He stood in silence. (state)
 * He helped me with my homework. (limiting)

 * Temporal – Temporal adjuncts establish when, how long, or how frequent the action or state happened or existed.
 * He arrived yesterday. (time point)
 * He stayed for two weeks. (duration)
 * She drinks in that bar every day. (frequency)

Omission diagnostic
The distinction between arguments and adjuncts and predicates is central to most theories of syntax and grammar. Predicates take arguments and they permit (certain) adjuncts. The arguments of a predicate are necessary to complete the meaning of the predicate. The adjuncts of a predicate, in contrast, provide auxiliary information about the core predicate-argument meaning, which means they are not necessary to complete the meaning of the predicate. Adjuncts and arguments can be identified using various diagnostics. The omission diagnostic, for instance, helps identify many arguments and thus indirectly many adjuncts as well. If a given constituent cannot be omitted from a sentence, clause, or phrase without resulting in an unacceptable expression, that constituent is NOT an adjunct, e.g.

 * a. Fred certainly knows.
 * b. Fred knows. – certainly may be an adjunct (and it is).

 * a. He stayed after class.
 * b. He stayed. – after class may be an adjunct (and it is).

 * a. She trimmed the bushes.
 * b. *She trimmed. – the bushes is NOT an adjunct.

 * a. Jim stopped.
 * b. *Stopped. – Jim is NOT an adjunct.

Other diagnostics
Further diagnostics used to distinguish between arguments and adjuncts include multiplicity, distance from head, and the ability to coordinate. A head can have multiple adjuncts but only one object argument (=complement):

 * a. Bob ate the pizza. – the pizza is an object argument (=complement).
 * b. Bob ate the pizza and the hamburger. the pizza and the hamburger is a noun phrase that functions as object argument.
 * c. Bob ate the pizza with a fork. – with a fork is an adjunct.
 * d. Bob ate the pizza with a fork on Tuesday. – with a fork and on Tuesday are both adjuncts.

Object arguments are typically closer to their head than adjuncts:

 * a. the collection of figurines (complement) in the dining room (adjunct)
 * b. *the collection in the dining room (adjunct) of figurines (complement)

Adjuncts can be coordinated with other adjuncts, but not with arguments:

 * a. *Bob ate the pizza and with a fork.
 * b. Bob ate with a fork and with a spoon.

Optional arguments vs. adjuncts
The distinction between arguments and adjuncts is much less clear than the simple omission diagnostic (and the other diagnostics) suggests. Most accounts of the argument vs. adjunct distinction acknowledge a further division. One distinguishes between obligatory and optional arguments. Optional arguments pattern like adjuncts when just the omission diagnostic is employed, e.g.

 * a. Fred ate a hamburger.
 * b. Fred ate. – a hamburger is NOT an obligatory argument, but it could be (and it is) an optional argument.

 * a. Sam helped us.
 * b. Sam helped – us is NOT an obligatory argument, but it could be (and it is) an optional argument.

The existence of optional arguments blurs the line between arguments and adjuncts considerably. Further diagnostics (beyond the omission diagnostic and the others mentioned above) must be employed to distinguish between adjuncts and optional arguments. One such diagnostic is the relative clause test. The test constituent is moved from the matrix clause to a subordinate relative clause containing which occurred/happened. If the result is unacceptable, the test constituent is probably NOT an adjunct:

 * a. Fred ate a hamburger.
 * b. Fred ate. – a hamburger is not an obligatory argument.
 * c. *Fred ate, which occurred a hamburger. – a hamburger is not an adjunct, which means it must be an optional argument.

 * a. Sam helped us.
 * b. Sam helped. – us is not an obligatory argument.
 * c. *Sam helped, which occurred us. – us is not an adjunct, which means it must be an optional argument.

The particular merit of the relative clause test is its ability to distinguish between many argument and adjunct PPs, e.g.

 * a. We are working on the problem.
 * b. We are working.
 * c. *We are working, which is occurring on the problem. – on the problem is an optional argument.

 * a. They spoke to the class.
 * b. They spoke.
 * c. *They spoke, which occurred to the class. – to the class is an optional argument.

The reliability of the relative clause diagnostic is actually limited. For instance, it incorrectly suggests that many modal and manner adjuncts are arguments. This fact bears witness to the difficulty of providing an absolute diagnostic for the distinctions currently being examined. Despite the difficulties, most theories of syntax and grammar distinguish on the one hand between arguments and adjuncts and on the other hand between optional arguments and adjuncts, and they grant a central position to these divisions in the overarching theory.

Predicates vs. adjuncts
Many phrases have the outward appearance of an adjunct but are in fact (part of) a predicate instead. The confusion occurs often with copular verbs, in particular with a form of be, e.g.

 * It is under the bush.
 * The party is at seven o'clock.

The PPs in these sentences are NOT adjuncts, nor are they arguments. The preposition in each case is, rather, part of the main predicate. The matrix predicate in the first sentence is is under; this predicate takes the two arguments It and the bush. Similarly, the matrix predicate in the second sentence is is at; this predicate takes the two arguments The party and seven o'clock. Distinguishing between predicates, arguments, and adjuncts becomes particularly difficult when secondary predicates are involved, for instance with resultative predicates, e.g.

 * That made him tired.

The resultative adjective tired can be viewed as an argument of the matrix predicate made. But it is also definitely a predicate over him. Such examples illustrate that distinguishing predicates, arguments, and adjuncts can become difficult and there are many cases where a given expression functions in more ways than one.

Overview
The following overview is a breakdown of the current divisions:

 * Adjunct-3.jpg

This overview acknowledges three types of entities: predicates, arguments, and adjuncts, whereby arguments are further divided into obligatory and optional ones.

Representing adjuncts
Many theories of syntax and grammar employ trees to represent the structure of sentences. Various conventions are used to distinguish between arguments and adjuncts in these trees. In phrase structure grammars, many adjuncts are distinguished from arguments insofar as the adjuncts of a head predicate will appear higher in the structure than the object argument(s) of that predicate. The adjunct is adjoined to a projection of the head predicate above and to the right of the object argument, e.g.

 * Adjunct-1.jpg

The object argument each time is identified insofar as it is a sister of V that appears to the right of V, and the adjunct status of the adverb early and the PP before class is seen in the higher position to the right of and above the object argument. Other adjuncts, in contrast, are assumed to adjoin to a position that is between the subject argument and the head predicate or above and to the left of the subject argument, e.g.

 * Adjunct-2.jpg

The subject is identified as an argument insofar as it appears as a sister and to the left of V(P). The modal adverb certainly is shown as an adjunct insofar as it adjoins to an intermediate projection of V or to a projection of S. In X-bar theory, adjuncts are represented as elements that are sisters to X' levels and daughters of X' level [X' adjunct [X'...]].

Theories that assume sentence structure to be less layered than the analyses just given sometimes employ a special convention to distinguish adjuncts from arguments. Some dependency grammars, for instance, use an arrow dependency edge to mark adjuncts, e.g.

 * Adjunct-4.jpg

The arrow dependency edge points away from the adjunct toward the governor of the adjunct. The arrows identify six adjuncts: Yesterday, probably, many times, very, very long, and that you like. The standard, non-arrow dependency edges identify Sam, Susan, that very long story that you like, etc. as arguments (of one of the predicates in the sentence).

title: Adjunct (grammar)


text:
Pomeranians (tribe)

The Pomeranians (Pomoranen; Pòmòrzónie; Pomorzanie), first mentioned as such in the 10th century, were a West Slavic tribe, which from the 5th to the 6th centuries had settled at the shore of the Baltic Sea between the mouths of the Oder and Vistula Rivers (the latter Farther Pomerania and Pomerelia). They spoke the Pomeranian language that belonged to the Lechitic languages, a branch of the West Slavic language family.

The name Pomerania has its origin in the Old Polish po more, which means "Land at the Sea".

Prehistory
Following the exit of the Hamburgian hunters, the area was inhabited successively by Celts and the Wielbark Culture (Germanic tribes similar to the Goths and the Rugians). Groups of Slavs populated the area as a result of the Slavic migration. The Pomeranian tribes formed around the 6th century. There was also a Pomeranian culture, which was replaced by the Jastorf culture.

From around the 6th century, West Slavic tribes migrated via the Vistula and Oder Rivers into the southern Baltics, where sizable settlements of Vikings and Danes and large trading centers thrived, such as Jomsburg at the mouth of the Oder and Danzig at the mouth of the Vistula and possibly Baltic settlement centres between the Parsęta and the Vistula. According to the 12th-century Nestor Chronicle, the Pomeranians, as well as Poles, Masovians and Lusitanians originated from the tribe of the Lechites.

10th to 12th centuries
By 967, Duke Mieszko I had after a decisive battle against the Wolinians, led by Wichmann the Younger, and gained full control over the lands between the Vistula and the mouth of the Oder. The earliest known documented use of the term Pomorie dates to 997 in reference to the Duke of Pomorie.

The Piast dukes of Poland began to incorporate the Pomeranians into their realm and succeeded initially. In 1005, Polish Duke Bolesław I the Brave loses control over the area. In the Annales Altahenses, a Zemuzil Bomerianorum is mentioned as the first duke known by name in 1064.

During the 12th century, the pagan Pomeranians faced continuous incursions by their expanding Christian neighbours of Denmark, Poland and the Saxon dukes of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1121, they were eventually subdued by Polish Duke Bolesław III Wrymouth, who established a diocese with its seat at Kołobrzeg, where Reinbern became the first bishop. Pomerania was Christianized with the help of the German missionary Otto of Bamberg.

At the same time the Pomeranian Prince Wartislaw I conquered the former Lutici lands west of the Oder. After his successors from the House of Griffins were defeated by the Saxons at the 1164 Battle of Verchen, they accepted the overlordship of Duke Henry the Lion. The Pomeranian lands were eventually divided, with the Western parts entering the Holy Roman Empire as the Duchy of Pomerania in 1181, and the Eastern part consisting of Pomerelia under the Samborides coming under the influence of Poland and, from 1309 onwards, the Teutonic Order.

The influx of settlers from the Holy Roman Empire during the Ostsiedlung caused the Germanization of Pomerania, as many native Pomeranians were slowly and gradually assimilated and discontinued the use of their Slavic language and culture.

The direct descendants of the Pomeranians include:

 * Kashubians, who speak the Kashubian language
 * Slovincians
 * Kociewiacy
 * Borowiacy
 * Western Pomeranians, who speak Low German or Standard German
 * Eastern Pomeranians, who were expelled from Pomerania in 1945 and settled in various parts of Germany and now speak either local dialects or Standard German.

title: Pomeranians (tribe)


text:
Talk:Big Ben/Archive 1

Untitled
What's with the line in French at the end of the first part? Pretty sure that doesn't belong in the English version of the article128.62.107.198

According to the House of Commons factsheet, there is no C quarter bell in the tower (the four are G#, F#, E, and B); which one has two hammers? (Or is the factsheet wrong? Any Londoners with perfect pitch handy?) Psmith 12:05, 14 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Well, according to Westminster Quarters, and my vague memory from some music lessons at school (we once studied the chimes, as we all heard them every day), the notes are "G, C, D, and E" (as said); certainly, I don't think there were any accented notes, and the MIDI file on the page sounds right - well, as right as any MIDI file will. But, then, I'm not an expert on bells. I dunno, TBH. I'll ask some people who might know, though.
 * James F. 13:30, 14 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Another picture
This has a fair amount of detail in it. The angle makes the inscription under the face easier to read. It's not a perfect image, though. Hope it's useful. Mr. Jones 08:57, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Removal of BrE template
I notice that SpNeo removed the BrE template—obviously didn't like the fact that British English says that the -ize spelling is preferred by many British dictionaries, and about on par with -ise in actual usage. Gene Nygaard 09:25, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

is Big Ben really just the bell?
I noticed that according to www.dictionary.com "big ben" or "Big Ben" is the clock in the clock tower not just the bell. It sites as its source WordNet® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University.
 * Yup, its just the bell. But as the article says, it is commonly mistakenly used to refer to the clock and even the whole clock tower. See also Palace of Westminster which User:Lord Emsworth has been doing a nice job of expanding recently. You wouldn't really expect an American dictionary to know what it is talking about on this matter would you? -- Solipsist 20:31, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * It was originally the bell, but has it taken on a second larger meaning as well? I found numerous travel web pages that refer to the clock as big ben. A google image search for "big ben" returns hundreds of pictures of the clock, but in the first 400 of them or so I found only one picture of the bell. Do people in England use the phrase "big ben" only to refer to the bell and not the clock? The fact that there's a "little ben" which is a smaller clock not a smaller bell suggests to me that even in England the usage has evolved.

 * It's one of those cases where the common usage is not the technically correct usage. DJ Clayworth 19:25, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * For example, may millions of people think that there's a Queen of England. There isn't, and hasn't been since 1707 (or the 13th century, if you take the commonly-used meaning of 'England').
 * James F. (talk) 19:26, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Do people in England use the phrase "big ben" only to refer to the bell - Well no, most people in Britain make the same mistake as everyone else, although a fair percentage of them will point to the tower/clock calling it 'big ben' then correct themselves saying "well actually that's just the bell, but..." and then they get a bit confused because they have no idea what they are supposed to call the clock tower if it is not 'Big Ben'. -- Solipsist 20:35, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Well, the tower is formally known as St George's tower - but let's be honest - in reality it's called "Big Ben" in practice. The name of "Big Ben" for the tower originated from the name of the bell. However, "Big Ben" is so established as the common name of the tower that it would be perverse to say it is wrong to call the tower by that name. There'll always be the clever dick technocrats who like to stick their noses up, say na-na-na-na na-na, you're wrong - it's not called Big Ben - but they're really the ones that fail to see that tempora mutant, et nos mutantur in illis. In short - nowadays "Big Ben" is the name of the clock tower, and the name of the bell, but the clock tower also has a formal name that is sometimes used instead of "Big Ben", jguk 20:44, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Sorry Jguk, that's just not right. I'm sure it is still pretty much the case that all school children in the UK are taught that it is only correct to call the bell 'Big Ben'. The problem is that we are not generally taught the correct name for the clock tower. So we all know it is wrong, we just don't know what the right answer is. -- Solipsist 21:11, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * I'm not really sure what schoolchildren do get taught - if anything it will be what their teachers think. However, words mean what people use them to mean - and they can change meaning over time. Nowadays, Big Ben is used so frequently for St George's Tower that it can be taken to mean that (as well as the bell too, of course). To say it is "wrong" would not be recognising that language and usage change over time. There are loads of examples, this is just one, jguk 06:31, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Ordinarily I'd be the first to agree with you. However, is this really true when it comes to proper names? If it were a person, they would be the only ones who could control what their real name is, even if most people know them by another one (I'd like to think of an example, like a stage name, but Elton John seems to have changed his name by deed poll). I'm not sure who gets to name bits of the Houses of Parliament, but the official/government web sites are all quite careful on naming the clock tower and the bell. -- Solipsist 07:59, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * I beleive that the name of the tower is officially the Clock Tower, but if the tower has other designation in common usuage the article should reflect that without making value judgments on them. The article in fact does do this already with the designation "St George's tower" which the article point's out is not official but the article never claims that it is wrong for people to call it that. I think this pattern should be followed in the case of Big Ben used for the tower. The article should reflect that Big Ben is the name of a bell in the tower but that the name has become so closely associated with the tower itself that the tower it is now generally called Big Ben. It's fine to point out the the official name of the tower is still the Clock Tower but there's no reason to decree that it's wrong to call the tower Big Ben.

 * What's all this about "St George's Tower?" Has it ever actually been called that? --Hux 17:45, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Does anyone know how the St Stephen's Tower comment got back into this article? As I wrote, when I shunted that article to Clock Tower in January 2004, no-one who works at the Palace of Westminster calls it that - though tour guides and guidebooks perpetuate the name, without any justification for it. - MykReeve T·C  15:02, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

According to the history and building FAQ on www.parliament.uk it is just called the Clock Tower. Technicall the bell is just the Bell of the Great Clock of the Palace of Westminster. Teriyaki 22:44, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

 * The bell is 'Big Ben', the clock tower is 'Saint Stephen's Tower'. I've always known these as such for almost the full 20 years I've lived in the United Kingdom.Kingpin1055 23:12, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Broken from August to May?
The article states:

 * "The clock had its first and only major breakdown in 1976. The chiming mechanism broke due to metal fatigue on August 5th, 1976, and was reactivated again on May 9."

Is that May 9th, 1977? Does anybody have a cite for that? this article claims the clock restarted on August 27th 1976. --Jmstylr 20:14, 28 May 2005 (UTC)

Merge with Clock Tower?
Considering the duplication between this and the Clock Tower, as well as the confusion in its naming, should we just merge the two articles? violet/riga (t) 11:47, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Sounds like a plan. -- Solipsist 12:43, 29 May 2005 (UTC)

Right, I've gone ahead and done this. Hope people are happy with how it's turned out. I think a small map of London, highlighting where the Palace of Westminster is, might be a nice little addition – then we might wish to prepare this to be a FAC. violet/riga (t) 13:10, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Foundation dimensions?
"The tower consists of brickwork with stone cladding, that is 61 m (200 ft) high; the remainder of the tower's height is accounted for by a framed spire of cast iron. The tower is founded on a 15 by 15 m (49 by 49 ft) raft, which is is made of 3 m (9 ft) thick concrete, extending for 7 m (23 ft) below ground level." Ok, now I have a mental picture of a rectangular block 49 ft along one side by 49ft on the other and 9ft deep. How does 9ft extend for 7m (23 ft) below ground? I assume it means the whole foundation goes this deep but that muudy so I am editing. If my assumption is incorrect please re-edit with a description that can be comprehended without ambiguity. Dainamo 08:26, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

Think of an open-topped box instead of a block. the walls of the box are 3m thick --JimWae 18:21, 2005 July 18 (UTC)

Sound of Big Ben
What this article needs is a link to a sound file.

Does anyone have public domain recorded sound of the Big Ben?

St. Stephen's Tower
Why is this a Big Ben article with a redirect from St. Stephen's Tower; shouldn't this be a St. Stephen's Tower article with a redirect from Big Ben? joturner 02:30, 19 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Given that "Big Ben" in near-universal common usage refers to the whole thing - tower, clock and bell(s) (however technically wrong that may be) - it makes the most sense for this article to remain as the default, I would think. --Hux 17:45, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Too! Many! Pictures!
Is it just me, or does the number of pictures need cutting by about half? Repeated pictures of the clock tower don't really add much to the page. --Mpk 12:53, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Summer time?
Can someone clarify what happens when the clocks change. Does the clock face spin faster for an hour in Spring and slower in Autumn for an hour? What's needed to do this?

 * I'd imagine someone would set the clock forwards and backwards just like any other clock tower. I can't say for sure.--Jcvamp 15:07, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
 * I read on the BBC clicking a few links on who maintains it, it was dated December 30th not sure what year (2002-2005) probably

Units of measurement
Since this page deals with a device designed to keep an accurate measurement, could people get over these little contradictions in metric/imperial units please? It would be great if something could be decided and kept that way right across all of WP, but maintaining the same units on one page would be a start! I for one feel anyone who makes imperial measurements the default in an encyclopedia is crazy. 124.168.242.221 13:48, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

 * Isn't imperial the standard in America? Either way, it would be a good idea to use both American Imperial (or whatever its correct name is) with a note specifying that, and a conversion to decimal, again with a note.--Jcvamp 15:10, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

Intro paragraph
"Big Ben was originally created so that people in England wouldn't need pocket watches. Also it is the bell of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, United Kingdom also known as the Great Bell of Westminster, the largest bell in the tower and part of the Great Clock of Westminster. Many people refer to the whole tower as Big Ben, but the name properly refers only to the bell. The clock tower, St. Stephen's Tower, is at the north-eastern end of the building, the home of the Houses of Parliament, and contains the famous striking clock and bell"

 * At least the first part of this paragraph doesn't come off as being either factual or competantly written 'Big Ben was originally created so that people in England wouldn't need pocket watches'? What on earth is that?  I'll do a rough revision but it'll need a more professional edit soon. Kingpin1055 19:10, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Just Checking
So does the first strike indicate the start of the new hour, because on the Big Ben software I downloaded is programmed to start the chiming upon when my computer says the hour exactly, but then strikes 20 seconds later, apparently you have to put it forward. Does the clock itself go 20 seconds fast?

Disambiguation page
I find it hard to believe that _anyone_ would type Big Ben into Wikipedia and not want to know about the clock (or maybe the bell). Surely the disambiguation page should be Big Ben (disambiguation)?

Or have I missed the discussion on this somewhere else?

--JimmyTheWig 15:25, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

 * Yes - its wrong. Someone (it looks like User:Cacophony ) did an ill-advised page move at the beginning of September end of August. Worse, they did a cut-n-paste page move which is just wrong, wrong, wrong. It'll take a bit of work to disentangle it and put it back to the way it should be. Wikipedia is running rather slowly for me at the moment, but I might get a chance to sort it out later. -- Solipsist

 * I didn't move the page. I removed some of the content to make it look more like a disambiguation so that it wouldn't be confused with the real article.  I agree that Big Ben should redirect to Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster with a link to this page at the top. Cacophony 18:35, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Actually, looking into the problem more User:Stevouk removed most of the contents on August 29th. To fix this issue, the current contents of the page need to be moved to Big Ben (disambiguation) (which currently redirects here). This page should redirect to Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster.
 * Sorry, my mistake. You are right. It looks like the edit by User:Stevouk on the 29th August was the root cause of the problem . And since they removed the {cleanup} tag at the same time, I suspect they thought they were helping with tidying up the article. Response times are improving now, so I should be able to sort it out. -- Solipsist 19:06, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately its too hard. I've now listed the affected pages on Cut and paste move repair holding pen for more direct help with access to the database. -- Solipsist 19:42, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

title: Talk:Big Ben/Archive 1


text:
Anchor telephone exchange

Anchor Exchange was an underground, hardened telephone exchange built in Birmingham, England.

History
Construction commenced in 1953 under the guise of building an underground railway. It opened in September 1957 at a cost of £4 million. It was located nominally on Newhall Street. However its network of tunnels extended from at least the Jewellery Quarter to Southside.

It originally formed one of a network of 18 zone switching centres within the UK telephone system that provided trunk switching facilities within its own charge group and to group switching centres (GSC) within an area broadly comprising the West Midlands and central Wales. The exchange formed part of the trunk mechanisation plan commenced in 1939 to permit operators from originating GSCs to dial through to a distant UK subscriber without requiring further operator intervention. Later, it was additionally used to switch subscriber dialled trunk calls after its introduction at Bristol in 1958.

It was subsequently augmented and superseded by a transit switching centre (TSC) equipped with a crossbar switching system (TXK4) which formed part of the transit network. It parented two of the first three GSCs at Worcester and Wolverhampton to go live when the transit network was inaugurated in 1971 which eventually provided universal UK automatic subscriber dialling and was completed in 1979.

The Anchor telephone exchange tunnels are still used to house communication cables. They have been updated with firebreak compartments and hazardous asbestos has been removed. They are continually pumped out because of the city's rising water table.

The exchange took its name from the hallmark of Birmingham Assay Office, which depicts an anchor.

Nuclear bunker
The exchange is notable for being one of three, along with the Kingsway Exchange in London and the Guardian Exchange in Manchester, which provided hardened facilities in order to protect communications in the event of a nuclear attack during the Cold War in the UK (a fourth one was rumoured to exist in Glasgow, but no evidence of this has been found). In common with most civil defence structures of the time it was designed to withstand an attack by an atomic bomb short of a direct hit. By the time of its completion in 1957, the development of thermonuclear weapons with their significantly increased explosive power, would have reduced the ability to resist an attack.

The public was told that the project was to provide the city with a new underground rail network, but that by 1956 the project was no longer needed due to costs. There was an entrance at the rear of Telephone House, between Lionel Street and Fleet Street, where there was a strict security check upon entering; this entrance had a heavy blast door weighing about two tonnes. Another entrance was on Newhall Street.

title: Anchor telephone exchange