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Gemini 7

Gemini 7 (officially Gemini VII) was a 1965 crewed spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the fourth crewed Gemini flight, the twelfth crewed American spaceflight, and the twenty-first crewed spaceflight including Soviet flights and X-15 flights above the Kármán line. The crew of Frank Borman and Jim Lovell spent nearly 14 days in space, making a total of 206 orbits. Their spacecraft was the passive target for the first crewed space rendezvous performed by the crew of Gemini 6A.

Support crew

 * Charles Bassett (Houston CAPCOM)
 * Alan Bean (Cape CAPCOM)
 * Eugene Cernan (Houston CAPCOM)
 * Elliot See (Houston CAPCOM)

Mission parameters

 * launch Mass: 3663 kg, landing mass: 1958 kg

At December 9 epoch, five days after launch:
 * Perigee: 299 km
 * Apogee: 302 km
 * Inclination: 28.9°
 * Period: 90.54 min

Stationkeeping with GT-6A

 * Start: December 15, 1965 19:33 UTC
 * End: December 16, 1965 00:52  UTC
 * Duration: 5 hours, 19 minutes

Objectives
Gemini 7 was originally intended to fly after Gemini 6, but the original Gemini 6 mission was cancelled after the failure during launch of the Agena Target Vehicle with which it was meant to rendezvous and dock. The objective of rendezvous was so important, that it was decided to fly the alternate Gemini 6A mission concurrently with Gemini 7, using the latter as the rendezvous target.

This 14-day mission required NASA to solve some of the problems of long-duration space flight, such as stowage of waste (the crew had practiced stuffing waste paper behind their seats before the flight). Timing their workday to match that of the prime shift ground crews, both men worked and slept at the same time. Gemini 7 conducted twenty experiments, the most of any Gemini mission, including studies of nutrition in space. The astronauts also evaluated a lightweight spacesuit, the G5C, which proved uncomfortable when worn for a long time in the Gemini spacecraft's hot, cramped quarters. The high point of the mission came on the eleventh day with the rendezvous with Gemini 6A.

Both astronauts, heeding the advice of Pete Conrad who had flown for eight days on Gemini 5, took books along to read. Gemini 7 held the record for the longest space flight until Soyuz 9 in June 1970, and was the longest crewed space flight in U.S. history until the Skylab 2 mission of May and June 1973.

Flight
Launch went without any problems and all systems on the Titan II performed nominally. Some slight pogo vibrations were detected starting at T+110 seconds into launch, but unlike with Gemini 5 where the astronauts experienced momentary vision and speech problems, Borman reported only feeling a very light shaking sensation and Lovell nothing. After separating from the spent rocket stage, they turned the spacecraft around and proceeded to station keep with the rocket stage, a maneuver first tried on Gemini 4. The Gemini 4 attempt was unsuccessful, due to the limited knowledge at the time of the complex orbital mechanics involved. Gemini 7 flew in formation with its upper stage for fifteen minutes, at which time Borman stopped because he felt too much fuel was being consumed, and the stage was moving erratically as it vented its own remaining fuel.

They spent the rest of their first day in space doing some experiments and eating their first meal. Their sleep periods were scheduled at the same time unlike previous missions and they were able to get some sleep. The next morning they were awoken at 9:06 am EST and given the morning's news, which included the collision of two airliners over New York. For the first time during a flight, one of the crew was allowed to take off his suit. Borman and Lovell had planned to both take them off two days into the mission, when they were satisfied that the environmental system was working properly. The NASA managers did not like this idea, and said that at least one crew member had to be wearing a suit at all times. Borman wore his suit and sweated profusely, but agreed to let Lovell stay out of his suit, as Lovell was the larger of the two, and it required a lot of effort to get in and out of a suit in little more space than the front seat of a car.

Later, the flight controllers ordered Lovell to don his suit, and Borman to get out of his. This was because the doctors wanted to see the effects of being suited and unsuited on the astronauts. At 148 hours into the flight, Borman got his chance to cool down. Finally, the NASA managers decided that there was little benefit in having the crew members suited, and so relented after a couple of days. Going suitless greatly improved the astronauts' comfort and mobility inside the cramped spacecraft.

The lessons learned from Gemini 5 allowed Lovell and Borman to have improved personal hygiene during their mission. They showered with an anti-dandruff shampoo for two weeks prior to the flight to curb the problems their predecessors had experienced with skin flakes accumulating inside the spacecraft and removal of the pressure suits in-flight also helped keep their skin more moist and less prone to drying out. They were also supplied with sanitation wipes which proved highly beneficial in keeping clean. Odors were not a problem except when they opened the storage bins where waste was stowed.

In their postflight debriefing, Borman and Lovell noted that the food rations had been generally of good quality, but they strongly disliked the freeze-dried protein bites and advised against them being included on future missions. They also suggested that more breakfast items would have been nice, to avoid including bite-sized food that could easily produce crumbs that get loose in the cabin, and improving the packaging of some items. Because of the lengthy mission, Gemini 7 had a significantly larger supply of food than previous flights, and the astronauts often found it difficult to remove the tightly packed food containers, some of which had also not been stowed in the correct order for the day of the flight they were intended to be eaten.

As part of the in-flight medical experiments, the crew were required to collect and save some of their bodily wastes for post-flight analysis, a task they described as less-than-enjoyable. The urine collection device proved particularly difficult and unpleasant to use, especially because of its habit of leaking urine, which happened several times during the flight. Borman suggested afterwards that a tube and valve mechanism be added to the spacecraft to simply release urine into space, an idea that would be realized on the Apollo command module.

The crew also strongly objected to the requirement that they record every use of drinking water and argued instead that they could simply use the meter on the water hose to gauge the amount consumed.

After five days, they had performed four orbital adjustment burns that put them in a circular 162 nmi orbit. This orbit would last for at least 100 days without decaying, more than stable enough for the passive target during a space rendezvous.

On their 31st orbit, Gemini 7 observed the underwater launch and exhaust trail of a Polaris missile from the submarine USS Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640) off Florida.

Rendezvous
Gemini 6A was launched on December 15, after a three-day-long delay due to a malfunction and engine shutdown immediately after ignition. It entered into an 87 by orbit, and was briefly visible from Gemini 7 just after launch. Borman and Lovell were also able to see the contrail from the launch.

The plan called for the rendezvous to take place on the fourth orbit of Gemini 6A. Their first burn came 94 minutes after launch when they increased their velocity by 16.5 ft/s. Due to their lower orbit they were gaining on Gemini 7 and were 634 nmi behind. The next burn was at 2 hours and 18 minutes when Gemini 6A made a phase adjustment to put them on the same orbital inclination as Gemini 7. They now only trailed by 261 nmi.

The radar on Gemini 6A first made contact with Gemini 7 at 3 hours and 15 minutes when they were 234 nmi away. A third burn put them into a 146 by orbit. As they slowly gained, Walter Schirra put Gemini 6A's computer in charge of the rendezvous, and at five hours and four minutes, he saw a bright object that he at first thought was the star Sirius, but was in fact Gemini 7.

After several more burns the two spacecraft were only 130 ft apart. The burns had only used 110 lb of fuel on Gemini 6A, leaving plenty of fuel. During the next 270 minutes the crews moved as close as 1 ft, talking over the radio. At one stage the spacecraft were station-keeping so well that neither crew had to make any burns for 20 minutes.

As the sleep periods approached, Gemini 6A made a separation burn and slowly drifted out to 16 kilometers, to prevent an accidental collision in the night. Gemini 6A reentered the next day, landing within 9.7 nmi of the planned site, the first truly accurate atmospheric reentry.

Last few days
By this time, the novelty of spaceflight had worn off for the crew of Gemini 7. They had spent 11 days in space and had three more to go. They were doing little more than drifting around the Earth and the incentive of the rendezvous was over. Borman read Roughing It by Mark Twain and Lovell Drums along the Mohawk by Walter D. Edmonds.

In the Discovery Channel 2008 documentary When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions second episode titled "Friends and Rivals", Borman states the last three days of the mission were "bad".

Malfunctions began: in a repeat of Gemini 5, some of the thrusters stopped working. After the flight this was traced to the fact that they had an old type of laminate in the thrust chamber. Also on the 12th day, the fuel cells started to give only a partial amount of power. The ship's batteries were enough to sustain it for the remainder of the flight.

Finally the last day of the mission arrived and the crew stored everything for reentry. The retro-rockets worked perfectly after 14 days in space. They landed within 6.4 nmi of the targeted landing point.

The crewmen were somewhat weakened by their time in space, but both were in good health and were up and about after a good night's sleep on the recovery ship USS Wasp (CV-18). They were also in good spirits: during recovery, they joked to Mission Control about getting married after having spent so long together in space.

The Gemini 7 and 6A missions were supported by the following U.S. Department of Defense resources: 10,125 personnel, 125 aircraft and 16 ships.

Insignia
The patch features an Olympic torch, symbolizing the marathon-like length of the mission. There is a small stylized image of a Gemini spacecraft and the Roman numeral VII for seven. The crew did not put its names on the patch, although souvenir versions did include the flight and crew names. The crew patch was designed by Houston artist and animator Bill Bradley.

As with a few other missions, the backup crew produced a spoof of the insignia, featuring an unlit torch, a lighter and the words "NEED A LIGHT - FRANK? JIM?"

Spacecraft location
The spacecraft is on display at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.

title: Gemini 7


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Senior counsel

The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdictions that have chosen to change the title "King's Counsel" to a name without monarchical connotations, usually related to the British monarch that is no longer head of state, such that reference to the King is no longer appropriate. Examples of jurisdictions that have made the change because of the latter reason include Mauritius, Zambia, India, Hong Kong, Ireland, South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Singapore, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. Jurisdictions that have retained the monarch as head of state, but have nonetheless opted for the new title include some states and territories of Australia, as well as Belize.

Just as a junior counsel is "called to the [Outer] Bar", a Senior Counsel is, in some jurisdictions, said to be "called to the Inner Bar". Senior Counsel may informally style themselves as silks, like their British counterparts. This is the case in Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong, and South Africa.

Dress

In Hong Kong, every Senior Counsel must wear a black robe and silk gown together with a wig when appearing in open court. In Ireland, Senior Counsel wear a silk gown which differs from that of a Junior Counsel; the wig is optional.

Australia
The rank of Senior Counsel has also been introduced in most states and territories of Australia, even though the King remains head of state. Between 1993 and 2008 all Australian jurisdictions except the Northern Territory replaced the title of Queen's Counsel with that of Senior Counsel. However, in 2013 Queensland restored the rank of Queen's Counsel and there was talk of other Australian states following suit. On 3 February 2014, the Victorian Attorney-General announced that the rank of Queen's Counsel would shortly be reinstated in the State of Victoria, with existing and future Senior Counsel having the option to apply to be issued with letters patent appointing them as Queen's Counsel; some 89% of barristers entitled to be called Senior Counsel were reported to have applied for letters patent to become Queen's Counsel. On 18 February 2019, the South Australian Government restored the rank of Queen's Counsel.

The formal difference appears to be that QCs receive a warrant signed by the relevant state governor, who is the formal representative of the sovereign, whereas SCs receive a certificate issued by the relevant bar association or bureaucracy such as by the judicature of the state supreme court as the case may be.

Barbados
The title of Senior Counsel has replaced that of Queen's Counsel in Barbados, which became a republic on 30 November 2021.

Those who were appointed as Q.C. are now free to change their postnominal letters to K.C., due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles III to the British throne. They are not required to become S.C.s. For example, Dame Sandra Mason, who was appointed as Q.C. is now free to change to K.C., even though she is the first President of Barbados.

All new appointments will be as S.C. only.

Belize
Senior Counsel is appointed in Belize, even though King Charles III is King of Belize.

Hong Kong
"Senior Counsel" replaced QC in the law of Hong Kong after the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China in 1997. King's Counsel who had been appointed KC in Hong Kong or British King's Counsel who had been admitted to practice in Hong Kong generally prior to the handover became senior counsel automatically.

King's Counsel from England or other senior counsel from other jurisdictions is not accorded any precedence if they are admitted generally in Hong Kong. However, visiting King's Counsel from another jurisdiction who have been admitted for a specific case are entitled to use the title, and to be accorded the status, of Senior Counsel for the purposes of those proceedings.

India
A member of the bar could be designated as a Senior Advocate upon a selection process that employs various criteria for designation. The said designation happens by the Supreme Court directly, or through the concerned state High Court. In August 2018 the Supreme Court issued guidelines to regulate the conferment of designation of Senior Advocate. Senior advocates' gowns have a flap at the back to distinguish them from junior counsels.

Ireland
The Irish Free State came into existence in December 1922 as a dominion within the British Commonwealth of Nations. John O'Byrne was the sole King's Counsel (KC) appointed after independence, in June 1924 when he was Attorney General of Ireland. Shortly after the Courts of Justice Act 1924 came into effect, Chief Justice Hugh Kennedy, in conjunction with the Bar Council of Ireland, revived the issue of patents of precedence, which had been used in the 18th and 19th century as an alternative to a patent as KC, but had fallen into disuse from 1883 as the strictures formerly associated with the rank of KC were abolished. The Irish Free State patent wording was based on that issued to Daniel O'Connell; the recipient would be styled "Senior Counsel" (SC; Irish abhcóide sinsir or abhcóide sinsearach). According to the view held at the time, the "privilege of patent" was part of the royal prerogative within the Free State. The early patents were issued under the Free State's [internal] Great Seal by the Governor-General as the King's representative, on the advice of the Executive Council (government). On 14 July 1924 the Chief Justice called the first recipients to the "within the bar" and bestowed their patents. The form of the 1924 patent omitted the appointment as "one of our counsel learned in the law" from the KC patent, but retained its grant of "precedence and preaudience" to rank next after the previously appointed KC or SC. The Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936 abolished the office of Governor-General and the Executive Powers (Consequential Provisions) Act 1937 was held to have transferred the royal prerogative to the Executive Council (government). Although the 1937 Constitution of Ireland created the office of President of Ireland, it was still the Taoiseach as head of government who signed patents of precedence under the Executive Powers (Consequential Provisions) Act 1937.

The title "K.C." continued to be used by many Senior Counsel, both those created before July 1924 and those after. Sir John L. Esmonde complained that wartime censors had changed "K.C." to "S.C." in a press release about a 1943 election candidate; they regarded "K.C." as pro-British and thus violating Irish neutrality. In 1949, shortly before the coming into force of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, which created the Republic of Ireland and broke the final link with the British Crown, Frank Aiken asked John A. Costello during Taoiseach's questions "whether, in view of the fact that certain members of the Inner Bar who received their patents as senior counsel continue to describe themselves as king's counsel, he will introduce a bill entitled an act to declare that the description of a senior counsel shall be senior counsel"; Costello said he had "no intention of wasting public time and money" on the idea. As late as the 1960s, R.G.L. Leonard (made KC before 1922) was described in the official Irish law reports as "Queen's Counsel", reflecting the British change from King to Queen in 1952.

The Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 provides for the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) to establish an Advisory Committee on the grant of Patents of Precedence. The committee comprises the Chief Justice, the Presidents of the Court of Appeal and High Court, the Attorney General, heads of the Bar Council and Law Society of Ireland, and a lay member appointed by the Minister for Justice. The relevant part of the 2015 act was commenced in 2019. It allows the bestowal of the title "Senior Counsel" on solicitors. The LSRA advisory committee replaces an earlier advisory committee which had no statutory basis, and no solicitor or lay member. The 2015 Act also specifies the criteria for both solicitors and barristers:
 * (a) has, in his or her practice as a legal practitioner, displayed—
 * (i) a degree of competence and a degree of probity appropriate to and consistent with the grant to him or her of a Patent,
 * (ii) professional independence, and
 * (iii) one or more of the following:
 * (I) a proven capacity for excellence in the practice of advocacy;
 * (II) a proven capacity for excellence in the practice of specialist litigation; or
 * (III) specialist knowledge of an area of law;
 * (b) is suitable on grounds of character and temperament;
 * (c) is in possession of a tax clearance certificate that is in force;
 * (d) is otherwise suitable to be granted a Patent.

It is still the government which grants the patent of privilege and the Chief Justice of Ireland who calls patentees to the Inner Bar. , there were about 325 SCs among about 2,300 barristers registered with the Bar Council of Ireland. On 1 September 2020 the cabinet approved the first batch of 37 recommendations of the LSRA advisory committee. These were appointed senior counsel the following day, including the first 17 (out of 60 applicants) solicitors.

In Northern Ireland, the designation King's Counsel (KC) or Queen's Counsel (QC) has continued since 1921, as in the rest of the United Kingdom. In 1983 Richard Ferguson, former head of the Northern Ireland bar, was called to the Inner Bar in Dublin, becoming the first to be simultaneously QC and SC. Conversely, the first SC to become QC was Paddy MacEntee in 1985.

New Zealand
The title "Senior Counsel" was briefly established in New Zealand from 2007 until 2009. It was abolished by the following government in favour of restoring the title of Queen's Counsel on the basis of the respect felt accorded to those appointed Queen's Counsel. Those appointed as Senior Counsel were given the option of becoming Queen's Counsel or remaining as Senior Counsel.

Singapore
"Senior Counsel" is used in the law of Singapore. There is no independent bar in Singapore and senior counsel practice as members of law firms. Prior to independence, select members were given the title of King's Counsel or Queen's Counsel.

South Africa
"Senior Counsel" (in Afrikaans Senior Advokaat) replaced QC in South Africa after the Union became a republic on 31 May 1961, with appointments being made by the state president until 1994, when the office was succeeded by that of president. A judge in the High Court in the province of Gauteng ruled that under the 1993 constitution, the president did not have the power to grant Senior Counsel status. This judgment has been overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeal and also the Constitutional Court. See.

United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the position of senior counsel (lowercase) is used to denote an experienced solicitor (who need not be an advocate), who is not on the path to partnership. This position is therefore analogous to the American title of counsel and is not directly comparable to the position of King's Counsel/Senior Counsel, which is held by barristers.

Similar titles
Other jurisdictions have adopted similar titles:

 * Senior Advocate under the law of Bangladesh, law of Pakistan, and that of Nigeria (see Senior Advocate of Nigeria).
 * President's Counsel in Sri Lanka. In contrast, state counsels are the public prosecutors in the legal system of Sri Lanka.

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

title: Senior counsel


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Britt Allcroft

Britt Allcroft (born Hilary Mary Allcroft, 14 December 1943) is an English writer, producer, director and voice actress. She is the creator of the children's television series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (later re-titled Thomas & Friends), Shining Time Station (with Rick Siggelkow), Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales and Magic Adventures of Mumfie. She also wrote, co-produced and directed the film Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000).

Early life
She was born Hilary Mary Allcroft on 14 December 1943 in Worthing, West Sussex, England. At the age of 16, she changed her first name to Britt as her career in British radio and television gained momentum. She went on to create a succession of programmes for the BBC and ITV during the 1970s and 1980s, including Moon Clue Game, Dance Crazy and Keepsakes. Mothers By Daughters, produced for Channel Four, was broadcast by PBS in the United States. She also worked in theatre, staging shows at the London Palladium and Drury Lane Theatres.

Career
While making a documentary about British steam trains in August 1979, Allcroft met the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, author of the children's book series The Railway Series. She said, "It really didn't take me long to become intrigued by the characters, the relationships between them and the nostalgia they invoked." She told him that she wanted to bring these stories to life and made an arrangement to secure certain rights through his then-publishers Kaye & Ward.

In 1980, she co-founded Britt Allcroft Railway Productions (internationally known as The Britt Allcroft Company) with her husband, television producer Angus Wright. It took Allcroft four years to raise the funding for, and create, a first series of 26 episodes in collaboration with director David Mitton. The first two episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, shot on 35 mm film, with narration by Ringo Starr in the UK and the US, after the second series, Starr left the show and was replaced with Michael Angelis in the UK and George Carlin in the US, and music by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell, were aired together for the first time on British television on 9 October 1984.

The success of the series in the UK, and the merchandising campaign that Allcroft had been organising since 1983, soon led to further success in other parts of the world. In 1989, she and American producer Rick Siggelkow created Shining Time Station, a live-action children's sitcom fronted by the magical character of the miniature Mr. Conductor, who introduced two Thomas stories in each half-hour programme. Shining Time Station won a number of awards and significantly increased the popularity of the Thomas media franchise in the US. Shining Time Station lasted until 1995 and, in 1996, she created the short spin-off series Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales.

In 1994, Allcroft followed Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends and Shining Time Station with the cartoon-animated Magic Adventures of Mumfie, in collaboration with director John Collins. Inspired by the books by Katharine Tozer, that production received critical acclaim and was seen worldwide. In 2008, several years after she left her original company, Allcroft revived the Mumfie library, and a reboot series eventually aired in 2021.

Allcroft wrote and directed Thomas and the Magic Railroad, a film based on the Thomas franchise, that was released in 2000. She also provided the voice of the character Lady. The film was a critical and commercial failure. The poor box-office performance of the film caused Allcroft to resign as deputy chairman of her company in September 2000.

Personal life
Allcroft was previously married to television producer Angus Wright in 1973, but later divorced in 1997. They have two children.

title: Britt Allcroft


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Surya Bonaly

Surya Varuna Claudine Bonaly (born 15 December 1973) is a French-born retired competitive figure skater. She is a three-time World silver medalist (1993–1995), a five-time European champion (1991–1995), the 1991 World Junior Champion, and a nine-time French national champion (1989–1997).

Bonaly is the only Olympic figure skater to land a backflip on one blade; she performed it at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Early life
Surya Varuna Claudine Bonaly was born in Nice, France, on 15 December 1973. She was initially named Claudine and placed in an orphanage by her birth mother. She was adopted at eight months by Suzanne and Georges Bonaly, who named her Surya, meaning "the sun" in Sanskrit. Suzanne worked as a physical education teacher and Georges as an architect.

In the late 1980s, journalists claimed that Surya Bonaly was born in Réunion, an island off the coast of Madagascar, and was found lying on a coconut-strewn beach. However, the skater's passport documented her birth in Nice. Bonaly believes that the media couldn't accept that a young black adoptee could have been born in France. Didier Gailhaguet, the first coach in her competitive skating career, later admitted fabricating this exotic backstory in order for her to gain more media attention and achieve better results in international competitions. Gailhaguet also told reporters that she had been raised on a macrobiotic diet, ate birdseed for breakfast, and that the 17-inch ponytail she wore in her first Olympic appearance had never been cut. When Surya began researching her birth history, she discovered that her biological mother was from Réunion and her biological father from Ivory Coast.

Two years after adopting her, the Bonalys bought a rural property, renovating a decrepit sheepfold to use as a house. Surya grew up here, 50 kilometers from Nice. The house never had running water or electricity. Her parents also kept 26 goats. Surya took part in the daily farmwork. The parents nicknamed their house Sannyasa, a Sanskrit term that refers to a stage in a person's life. It is a period of spiritual development during which one renounces material possessions to concentrate purely on spiritual matters. Surya had flute lessons at eight in the morning and English lessons. She also practiced fencing, ballet, horse riding, and diving.

Her mother was a physical education teacher and practiced many sports; she encouraged Surya to do the same. When Suzanne Bonaly took her students to the ice rink, she also took toddler Surya with her. At around two years of age, Surya began to skate on double blades, to keep busy while her mother was teaching. At age four, Surya developed a passion for gymnastics, training with Éric Hagard, who later coached Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos. Although she loved gymnastics as a teenager, Surya preferred figure skating and finally chose that. Nicole Erdos, her first childhood coach in that sport, has suggested that Bonaly's gymnastics practice had strengthened her and given her an advantage on the ice over other competitors.

Skating career
In 1984, Surya Bonaly watched the Winter Olympic Games. Trying to perform a double Axel, she broke her ankle and had to wear a cast for nearly two months. When she returned to the ice rink, the French team trained by Didier Gailhaguet was taking every available space. Her mother asked Gailhaguet to give her daughter an hour on the ice, and the coach agreed. Bonaly tried again to do a double Axel with her newly healed ankle, which impressed Gailhaguet. He later said that "France had no hard fighters."

He suggested to Bonaly's mother that her daughter come for his training sessions, each lasting three weeks. At the end of the course, Bonaly had progressed rapidly and almost reached the level of members of the French team. She had learned to land a double Axel and a triple jump. Seeing her athletic gifts, Gailhaguet recruited her parents to move with her to Paris so that she could train with him year-round.

The Bonaly family moved to Paris with their daughter. For six months, while training in Champigny-sur-Marne, she was home-schooled and lived in a van with her parents. Philippe Candeloro described her mother as pushing the girl to train hard and closely monitoring her social life and hobbies.

A year later, Surya joined the French National Team. She was often a center of media attention, encouraged in the spotlight by Gailhaguet. At age twelve, she learned to do a backflip on the ice. Gailhaguet said that he encouraged her to do on ice what she was already performing in gymnastics. She made her first backflip on ice and in public at a gala in Annecy in 1986. She also became a world junior tumbling champion that year. The same year, again in gymnastics, she was a world senior silver medalist in team at the 1986 World Championships with Sandrine Vacher, Corinne Robert and Isabelle Jagueux at the Palais omnisports of Paris-Bercy.

1987–1988 to 1989–1990
During the 1987–1988 season, Surya Bonaly became the French junior figure-skating champion at Cherbourg. At the French Senior Championships in Grenoble, she placed fourth. She was sent as a junior to her first ISU Championship, the 1988 Junior Worlds in Brisbane, Australia. She finished 14th.

During the summer of 1988, Bonaly watched the Summer Olympics and was inspired by American sprinter Florence Griffith-Joyner, who dressed in a colorful running suit. She decided to adopt more original and colorful skating costumes, something unusual at the time.

Bonaly usually made eight to nine jumps during her programs, whereas conventional programs usually contain six.

The following season, Bonaly won the bronze medal at 1989 World Junior Championships and her first senior national title. She began appearing regularly on the senior level, placing eighth at the 1989 European Championships and tenth at 1989 World Championships.

Bonaly was awarded the silver medal, behind Japan's Yuka Sato, at the 1990 World Junior Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She finished fourth at the 1990 European Championships and ninth at the 1990 World Championships.

1990–1991 season: World Junior and European titles
Bonaly began the season with a pair of senior international medals – gold at the 1990 Grand Prix International de Paris and bronze at the 1990 Skate Electric. Making her final junior appearance, she won the 1991 World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

After taking her third national title, Bonaly competed at the 1991 European Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. She was awarded the gold medal, placing ahead of two German skaters, Evelyn Großmann and Marina Kielmann. During the invasion of Kuwait, she designed a gala skating program that included a magic trick of a dove appearing, a symbol of peace.

Bonaly placed fifth at the 1991 World Championships in Munich, Germany. She nearly completed the first ratified quad by a female skater.

1991–1992 season: Second European title and first Olympic appearance
In January 1992, Bonaly outscored Kielmann and Patricia Neske for the gold medal at the European Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland. In February 1992, she participated in the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. During a practice session, she landed a back flip close to Japan's Midori Ito. Officials told her to avoid that action, as they believed that other skaters might be intimidated in practice sessions. Her costumes were custom made by French designer Christian Lacroix.

Bonaly became the first woman to attempt a quadruple toe loop in competition but the jump was not fully rotated in the air and she had to complete the rotation on the ice. Due to the under rotation, the quad was downgraded under the ISU Judging System. Poised to win a medal after Ito and Harding had finished in 4th and 6th respectively in the short program, Kristi Yamaguchi and Nancy Kerrigan both made major errors in the free skate before her. Bonaly placed 6th in the free skate and 5th overall.

After the Olympics, Bonaly started working with a new coach, André Brunet, who coached her for one month. She concluded her season at the 1992 World Championships in Oakland, California. Ranked tenth in the short and 12th in the free, she finished 11th overall. She had made a number of jumping errors in both programs. She felt she was unfairly marked and later said that she had considered turning pro midway through the event.

1992–1993 season: First World silver medal
From April to September 1992, Bonaly was coached mainly by her mother. She made two-month-long visits, in June and September, to coach Frank Carroll in southern California. Although she wanted to stay to work with him, the French skating federation was opposed to its skaters training abroad. Alain Giletti became her coach, commuting four times a week by train from Tours to Paris, and her mother filled in during his absences.

During the summer of 1992, Bonaly signed a contract to join Tom Collins' troop, Champions on Ice, two months a year. It enabled her to show her technical abilities without limitations, because she could perform somersaults and other actions that were prohibited in competition.

Bonaly won the 1993 European Championships in Helsinki, having placed first in both segments ahead of Ukraine's Oksana Baiul and Germany's Marina Kielmann. At the 1993 World Championships in Prague, she took silver behind Oksana Baiul, who had higher presentation scores. But Bonaly had significantly more technical content than the winner. Bonaly performed seven triples, a triple-triple combination, and two triple Lutzes, while Baiul performed five triples but did not attempt a jump combination.

1993–1994 season
In January 1994, Bonaly placed first in all segments on her way to her fourth consecutive continental title at the Europeans Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. The other medalists were Ukraine's Oksana Baiul and Russia's Olga Markova. A month later, Bonaly competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Ranked third in the short program and fourth in the free skate, she finished fourth overall behind Ukraine's Oksana Baiul, American Nancy Kerrigan, and Chen Lu from China.

The media criticized Surya's mother, Suzanne Bonaly, for allegedly being too strict with her daughter. Surya ran every morning, was forbidden to eat sugar, and had to be in bed by nine. Because Suzanne Bonaly was a physical education teacher, she stressed athletic prowess rather than the grace of a dancer in Surya's skating routines. Suzanne Bonaly believes that she was criticized because of others' jealousy about Bonaly's abilities. Bonaly and her mother moved to Pralognan-la-Vanoise, where the skater could train out of the public eye.

At the 1994 World Championships in Chiba, Japan, Bonaly's final overall score was equal to that of home country favorite Yuka Sato. Sato was awarded the gold medal after a 5–4 tiebreaker decision.

Bonaly had expected the judges to reward her for improving her gracefulness, having stopped trying to land quadruple jumps, and having improved from previous championships, where she also finished second. Bonaly also cut her thickly braided ponytail because the judges didn't like it. She claims to have made concessions to please the judges but did not believe she was sufficiently recognized or rewarded for them. Bonaly told the French podcast Surya Bonaly, corps et lames: "I did everything I could, but I didn't paint myself white, that's for sure."

Upset by the result in Chiba, Bonaly stood beside the medals platform rather than on it. She eventually was coaxed onto the platform but took off her silver medal after it was presented to her; the crowd booed her for this action. After the medals presentation, Bonaly's only statement to reporters was: "I'm just not lucky."

The international judge Anne Hardy-Thomas, from France, who did not participate in this competition, commented on the judges' decision. She said that the judges are under great pressure, as their names are displayed opposite their notes. She said she had sometimes placed a French skater lower in order to avoid being accused of favoritism. American judges were thought to value a graceful skater who meets the beauty standards, such as Nancy Kerrigan, while European judges, particularly of the Eastern bloc, favored skaters who were strong athletes and creative in their programs, such as Bonaly.

The international federation first thought of punishing Bonaly for her actions, but decided to let it go, understanding that she was severely disappointed by the results.

1994–1995 season: Fifth European title
In 1995, Bonaly won the European Championships for the fifth time, overtaking short-program winner Markova. At the 1995 World Championships in Birmingham, England, she placed fourth in the short program but rose to second after the free skate. She was awarded her third World silver medal, behind Chen Lu of China. For the third consecutive year, she lost the gold medal by one-tenth of a point, the score of one judge. Her free skate had the most difficult technical content, with two triple Lutzes, two triple-triple combos, and seven triples.

1995–1996 season
In autumn 1995, Bonaly competed in the inaugural ISU Champions Series. She finished third and fourth at her assignments, which was not enough to qualify to the seven-woman final. Ranked first in the short program and second in the free skate, Bonaly took silver behind Russia's Irina Slutskaya at the 1996 European Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. She finished fifth at the 1996 World Championships in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She had placed seventh in the short, where she fell on a triple Lutz, and fifth in the free.

1996–1997 season
In May 1996, Bonaly ruptured her achilles tendon while doing acrobatics. Due to the injury, she missed much of the following season. The French federation initially decided not to name her to the 1997 European Championships in Paris, believing that she lacked fitness, but Bonaly successfully appealed. She finished 9th overall after placing 6th in qualifying group B, 6th in the short program, and 10th in the free skate. She was not included in France's two-women team to the World Championships, passed over in favor of Vanessa Gusmeroli, the top French finisher at Europeans, and Laetitia Hubert, who placed behind Bonaly at the same event.

1997–1998 season: Third Olympics
During the season, Bonaly was coached by her mother Suzanne Bonaly and Tatiana Tarasova in Marlborough, Massachusetts, United States. For her free skating program, Bonaly returned to music from Vivaldi's Four Seasons, which she had used in previous seasons. Prior to the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Bonaly ruptured her achilles tendon. She placed 6th in the short program. Unable to complete her planned routine or a successful triple Lutz due to injury, she decided to perform a backflip with a split landing on one blade during the free skate. (This move is now dubbed a "Bonaly"). Backflips had been banned since 1976 from competitions held under ISU rules. Having landed on one foot, Bonaly hoped to avoid a deduction but did have points deducted. She was still pleased to have performed it. Bonaly is the first and only Olympic figure skater to land a backflip on one blade.

She turned her back to the judges when she completed her program. Anne Hardy-Thomas, the French judge of the event, was approached by the technical delegate, who told her that Bonaly was insolent and had behaved unacceptably. The judge replied, "She did well for all the past years". According to figure skating writer and historian Ellyn Kestnbaum, represented Bonaly's statement that at that point in her career, she was skating more for her fans than for the judges. Kestnbaum reports that observers interpreted Bonaly's behavior as disrespectful towards the judges and towards figure skating officials, and that it "signified Bonaly's decision to play a game she could win—popularity with fans—rather than placing herself in the position of being determined worthy, or on this occasion more likely unworthy, according to the technical judging criteria".

Bonaly finished tenth in Nagano and retired from amateur competition after the event.

Her skating clubs were CSG Pralognan and CSG Champigny.

Jump combinations
Bonaly was known for her way of performing jumps and making very difficult new combinations :
 * 1989 European Championships in Birmingham and 1989 World championships in Paris: 1st female figure skater to attempt the Lutz – triple toe loop combination.
 * 1991 Skate America in Oakland: 1st female figure skater to attempt the flip – triple toe loop combination.
 * 1991 Skate Canada in London: 1st female figure skater to attempt the triple – triple – double (triple toe loop – triple toe loop – double toe loop) combination.
 * 1992 NHK Trophy in Tokyo: 1st female figure skater to attempt the Salchow – triple toe loop combination.
 * 1993 World Championships in Prague: 1st female figure skater to attempt the toe loop – half loop – triple Salchow combination.
 * 1993 Piruetten in Hamar: 1st female figure skater to attempt two triple – triple combinations in a free skate. She attempted the combination again at the 1994 Olympic Games and at the World Championships in 1994 and in 1995 by performing in the same free skate the flip – triple toe loop combination and the toe loop – half loop – triple Salchow jump sequence.
 * 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano: 1st female figure skater to attempt a triple – triple combination at the Olympic Games in the short program (triple toe loop – triple toe loop).

Quadruple jumps

 * Bonaly was the first female figure skater to attempt a quadruple jump in competition at the 1990 European Championships.
 * She tried at least thirteen times to do the quadruple toe loop or / and the quadruple Salchow in competition: two attempts at quad jumps at the 1990 European Championships (salchow and toe loop), a quad toe loop attempt at the 1990 World Championships, a quad toe loop attempt at the 1990 Goodwill Games, a quad Salchow attempt at the 1990 Trophée Lalique, a quad toe loop attempt at the World Championships in 1991, a quad toe loop attempt at the 1991 NHK Trophy, a quad toe loop attempt at the 1991 French Championships, a quad toe loop attempt at the 1992 Olympic Games, a quad toe loop attempt at the 1992 World Championships, a quad Salchow attempt at the 1993 Skate America, a quad Salchow attempt at the 1993 Piruetten and a quad Salchow attempt at the 1996 World Championships.
 * She landed four times the quad toe loop in competition: at the 1991 World Championships, at the 1991 NHK Trophy, at the 1992 Olympic Games, and at the 1992 World Championships, but always with incomplete rotation that cost her points.
 * At the 1990 European Championships in Leningrad, she was the first figure skater to attempt two different quads in the same free skate (Salchow and toe loop).

Backflip

 * Bonaly performed her first backflip at an exhibition at the age of twelve in Annecy. Bonaly is also the first and only Olympic figure skater to land a backflip on one blade. On several occasions she has completed a backflip landing on two blades, followed by a triple toe loop, a backflip landing on one blade, followed by a triple Salchow, and two backflips in a row. The backflip remains prohibited in competition. Bonaly performed it at her last amateur competition at the 1998 Olympic Games. After turning professional, at age 40, she performed her last backflip in public at an exhibition in São Paulo, Brazil.

Later professional career
Bonaly toured with the Champions on Ice skating show for several years; it went out of business after 2007. She also performed in shows in Russia with Evgeni Plushenko and was a guest skater at Ice Theatre of New York's December 2008 gala in NYC. She successfully performed her backflip there.

Bonaly was an off-screen character on the "Will on Ice" episode of NBC's Will & Grace, which originally aired on 12 January 1999. In 2010, she was a finalist on La Ferme Célébrités season 3.

She appeared in the Netflix documentary series Losers, which explores the lives of individuals who bounced back from loss or perceived failure. Bonaly's episode, entitled "Judgement", focused on her defiance, "longevity" on the ice, and refusal to submit to conventions. In 2015, she underwent surgery after the discovery of numerous cysts along her spinal cord. This ended her performing career.

Bonaly is coaching in Las Vegas while regularly doing seminars abroad.

Racism in figure skating
In an interview with the BBC, when asked if she ever felt that things were harder for her as one of the first black figure skaters, Bonaly said: "'It was a mix of so many things. First, because I was black for sure and I didn't try to copy anyone. Second, because I came from a small country. Third, because I've had a different hairstyle and look and also because my mother made my skating costumes for so many years. All those things together was just too much for some people to handle.'"

In an interview with The Root, Bonaly said: "...Race matters for sure, because I know that if I'd been white, I would have had more [endorsement] contracts and been bigger."

Bonaly elaborated on the matter when interviewed by Mathieu Méranville for his book Sport, malédiction des Noirs? (2007): "'There aren't many black figure skaters in the world. In France, it's starting to get better. If I were white, I would have been a gold medalist a long time ago. My motto was to tell myself that there was this obstacle but that I had to go beyond and work more because I knew it would be harder for me. I told myself that if my rival made five triples, I had to make seven. I tried not to think about race even if it was a reality. But how much influence race had on my marks? Two percent? More? I don't know. If I were light-skinned, it probably would have been easier. I preferred to be philosophical about it, since I was evolving with white parents.'"

Activism
Bonaly takes part in numerous conferences and events directed to encourage the participation in sport of people of colour.

She also became active in animal issues, participating in numerous PETA's campaigns against Canada's seal hunt and the fur trade.

Bonaly is also against bullfighting. She asked to meet with president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, who received her at the Élysée Palace on 26 September 2007, to address the abolition of bullfighting and to prohibit attendance at bullfighting by children under age 16.

Bonaly was a member of the federal council of the French Federation of Ice Sports from 2010 to 2014. She served as the cultural attaché for the Monaco consulate in Las Vegas.

She was the ambassador of the association "France of talents and colors", which aims to fight against racism, violence, and discrimination in sport.

Personal life
Bonaly became an American citizen in January 2004. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bonaly became engaged to skating coach Peter Biver on 18 September 2016.

Bonaly was raised as a vegetarian by her parents and has maintained that practice.

Awards and honors

 * Legion Honneur Chevalier ribbon.svg Commander of the Legion of Honour: Knight (2019)''.

title: Surya Bonaly


text:
Parallelogram law

In mathematics, the simplest form of the parallelogram law (also called the parallelogram identity) belongs to elementary geometry. It states that the sum of the squares of the lengths of the four sides of a parallelogram equals the sum of the squares of the lengths of the two diagonals. We use these notations for the sides: AB, BC, CD, DA. But since in Euclidean geometry a parallelogram necessarily has opposite sides equal, that is, AB = CD and BC = DA, the law can be stated as $$2(A\_B)^2 + 2(B\_C)^2 = (A\_C)^2 + (B\_D)^2\,$$

If the parallelogram is a rectangle, the two diagonals are of equal lengths AC = BD, so $$2(A\_B)^2 + 2(B\_C)^2 = 2(A\_C)^2$$ and the statement reduces to the Pythagorean theorem. For the general quadrilateral (with four sides not necessarily equal) Euler's quadrilateral theorem states $$AB^2 + BC^2 + CD^2+DA^2 = AC^2+BD^2 + 4x^2,$$ where $$x$$ is the length of the line segment joining the midpoints of the diagonals. It can be seen from the diagram that $$x = 0$$ for a parallelogram, and so the general formula simplifies to the parallelogram law.

Proof
In the parallelogram on the right, let AD = BC = a, AB = DC = b, $$\angle BAD = \alpha.$$ By using the law of cosines in triangle $$\triangle BAD,$$ we get: $$a^2 + b^2-2ab\cos(\alpha) = BD^2.$$

In a parallelogram, adjacent angles are supplementary, therefore $$\angle ADC = 180^{\circ} - \alpha.$$ Using the law of cosines in triangle $$\triangle ADC,$$ produces: $$a^2 + b^2 - 2ab\cos(180^{\circ}-\alpha) = AC^2.$$

By applying the trigonometric identity $$\cos(180^{\circ} - x) = -\cos x$$ to the former result proves: $$a^2 + b^2 + 2ab\cos(\alpha) = AC^2.$$

Now the sum of squares $$BD^2 + AC^2$$ can be expressed as: $$BD^2 + AC^2 = a^2 + b^2 -2ab\cos(\alpha) + a^2 + b^2 +2ab\cos(\alpha).$$

Simplifying this expression, it becomes: $$BD^2 + AC^2 = 2a^2 + 2b^2.$$

The parallelogram law in inner product spaces
In a normed space, the statement of the parallelogram law is an equation relating norms: $$2\|x\|^2 + 2\|y\|^2 = \|x+y\|^2 + \|x-y\|^2 \quad \text{ for all } x, y.$$

The parallelogram law is equivalent to the seemingly weaker statement: $$2\|x\|^2 + 2\|y\|^2 \leq \|x + y\|^2 + \|x - y\|^2 \quad \text{ for all } x, y$$ because the reverse inequality can be obtained from it by substituting $\frac{1}{2}\left( x + y \right)$ for $$x,$$ and $\frac{1}{2}\left( x - y \right)$  for $$y,$$ and then simplifying. With the same proof, the parallelogram law is also equivalent to: $$\|x + y\|^2 + \|x - y\|^2 \leq 2\|x\|^2 + 2\|y\|^2 \quad \text{ for all } x, y.$$

In an inner product space, the norm is determined using the inner product: $$\|x\|^2 = \langle x, x\rangle.$$

As a consequence of this definition, in an inner product space the parallelogram law is an algebraic identity, readily established using the properties of the inner product: $$\|x+y\|^2 = \langle x+y, x+y\rangle = \langle x, x\rangle + \langle x, y\rangle + \langle y, x\rangle + \langle y, y\rangle,$$ $$\|x-y\|^2 = \langle x-y, x-y\rangle = \langle x, x\rangle - \langle x, y\rangle - \langle y, x\rangle + \langle y, y\rangle.$$

Adding these two expressions: $$\|x+y\|^2 + \|x-y\|^2 = 2\langle x, x\rangle + 2\langle y, y\rangle = 2\|x\|^2 + 2\|y\|^2,$$ as required.

If $$x$$ is orthogonal to $$y,$$ meaning $$\langle x ,\ y \rangle = 0,$$ and the above equation for the norm of a sum becomes: $$\|x+y\|^2 = \langle x, x\rangle + \langle x, y\rangle + \langle y, x\rangle + \langle y, y\rangle = \|x\|^2 + \|y\|^2,$$ which is Pythagoras' theorem.

Normed vector spaces satisfying the parallelogram law
Most real and complex normed vector spaces do not have inner products, but all normed vector spaces have norms (by definition). For example, a commonly used norm for a vector $$x = (x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n)$$ in the real coordinate space $$\R^n$$ is the $p$-norm: $$\|x\| _p = \left(|x_1|^p + |x_2|^p + \dotsb + |x_n|^p\right)^{1/p}.$$

Given a norm, one can evaluate both sides of the parallelogram law above. A remarkable fact is that if the parallelogram law holds, then the norm must arise in the usual way from some inner product. In particular, it holds for the $$p$$-norm if and only if $$p = 2,$$ the so-called norm or  norm.

For any norm satisfying the parallelogram law (which necessarily is an inner product norm), the inner product generating the norm is unique as a consequence of the polarization identity. In the real case, the polarization identity is given by: $$\langle x, y \rangle = \frac{\|x+y\|^2 - \|x-y\|^2}{4},$$ or equivalently by $$\frac{\|x+y\|^2 - \|x\|^2 - \|y\|^2}{2} \qquad \text{ or } \qquad \frac{\|x\|^2 + \|y\|^2 - \|x-y\|^2}{2}.$$

In the complex case it is given by: $$\langle x, y \rangle = \frac{\|x+y\|^2 - \|x-y\|^2}{4} + i \frac{\|ix-y\|^2 - \|ix+y\|^2}{4}.$$

For example, using the $$p$$-norm with $$p = 2$$ and real vectors $$x$$ and $$y,$$ the evaluation of the inner product proceeds as follows: $$\begin{align} \langle x, y \rangle &= \frac{\|x+y\|^2 - \|x-y\|^2}{4}\\[4mu] &= \tfrac{1}{4} \left(\sum_i |x_i +y_i|^2 - \sum_i |x_i-y_i|^2\right)\\[2mu] &= \tfrac{1}{4} \left(4 \sum_i x_i y_i\right)\\ &= x \cdot y,\\ \end{align}$$ which is the standard dot product of two vectors.

Another necessary and sufficient condition for there to exist an inner product that induces the given norm $$\|\cdot\|$$ is for the norm to satisfy Ptolemy's inequality: $$\|x - y\| \, \|z\| ~+~ \|y - z\| \, \|x\| ~\geq~ \|x - z\| \, \|y\| \qquad \text{ for all vectors } x, y, z.$$

title: Parallelogram law


text:
Carl Walther GmbH

Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen, or simply known as Walther, is a German firearm manufacturer, and a subsidiary of the PW Group. Founded by Carl Walther in 1886, the company has manufactured firearms and air guns at its facility in Germany for more than 100 years. Walther Arms, Inc. is the United States Walther business unit and is based in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

History
The history of Walther started with the factory created by Matthias Conrad Pistor, the chief armorer of the Kassel Armory. Pistor is the ancestor of the Walther family. This plant was operating in 1780 and made pistols and other weapons. The granddaughter of Gustave Wilhelm Pistor married August Theodore Walther, whose son Carl Wilhelm Freund established the factory that employed apprentice Carl Walther. This small shop was established in 1886 in Zella-Mehlis, in what is today Thuringia. The company originally manufactured hunting and target rifles. Then in 1888, he married Minna Georgine Pickert, daughter of Christian Friedrich Pickert, from the well-established revolver manufacturer "Arminius Waffenwerk", in the same town. It was not until 1908 that, under the initiative of Fritz Walther, the oldest son of Carl Walther, they began to make pistols. Models 1 to 5 and 7 to 9 were in calibers .25 ACP (6.35mm) and .32 ACP (7.65mm). The Model 6 was Walther's first attempt at a 9mm Luger pistol. It used blowback rather than a locked breech and proved unsuccessful, with only around 1,000 made. Its rarity has made it highly sought after on the collectors market.

In 1929 Walther began to make the popular Walther PP Polizeipistole (police pistol) models. Walther followed this in 1931 with the first PPKs (Polizeipistole Kriminalmodell, or Police Pistol Detective Model). Walther manufactured both PP and PPKs in .22 Long Rifle, .32 ACP (the most common caliber), .380 ACP and a minimal number in .25 ACP. The PP models were the first mass-produced pistols with stamped parts. Still, the overall increase in dependability and high production quality with lower relative manufacturing costs made them the best option to replace the P-08 Luger. In 1938, Nazi Germany awarded the contract for that replacement to Walther for the 9mm P38.

From 1942 until 1945, the company used slave labour at the Neuengamme concentration camp, and operated its own factory at the camp.

With his factory destroyed in World War II and Zella-Mehlis in the Soviet occupation zone, Walther was reduced to just a collection of designs and patents. Fritz Walther started anew and began manufacturing in Ulm, West Germany in 1953. The company resumed production of the P38 (renamed the P1) in 1957 to equip the new West German Army, the Bundeswehr, with sidearms. When Fritz Walther died in December 1966, his son, Karl-Heinz, took over the company, concentrating on the sports sector.

In 1993, Umarex Sportwaffen (now part of PW Group) of Arnsberg, Germany, acquired Walther. It continued to manufacture under the Walther name in Ulm and Arnsberg. The German Walther company is known as Carl Walther Sportwaffen.

In 1999, the U.S.-based Smith & Wesson company became the authorized importer for Walther Firearms. In 2012, the PW Group formed a new subsidiary, Walther Arms, Inc., located in Fort Smith, Arkansas, to take over the distribution of Walther arms in the United States.

Handguns

 * Competition Air Pistols
 * Walther LP300
 * Walther LP400
 * Walther LP500

 * Target Pistols
 * Walther OSP
 * Walther GSP
 * Walther SSP
 * Walther Olympia
 * Walther CSP

 * Cartridge & Police Pistols

 * Walther Model 8 (1920-1940)
 * Walther Model 9 (1921-1945)
 * Walther PP (1929-1999)
 * Walther PPK (1931–present)
 * Walther P38 (1938-1945)
 * Walther P1 (1963-2004)
 * Walther TPH (1968-2000)
 * Walther P5 (1977-1993)
 * Walther P88 (1988-2000)
 * Walther P99 (1997–2023)
 * Walther P22 (2002–present)
 * Walther PPS (2007–present)
 * Walther SP22 (2008-2010)
 * Walther PK380 (2009-2022)
 * Walther PPQ (2011-2023)
 * Walther PPX (2013-2016)
 * Walther CCP (2014–present)
 * Walther Creed (2016-2019)
 * Walther Q5 Match (2019–2023)
 * Walther Q4 SF (2020–2023)
 * Walther PDP (2021–present)
 * Walther WMP (2022–present)
 * Walther PD380 (2023–present)

Rifles & submachine guns

 * Air Rifles
 * Walther Reign M2 Bullpup
 * Walther LGR
 * Walther LGV
 * Walther LG300
 * Walther LG400

 * Target Rifles
 * Walther KK200
 * Walther KK300
 * Walther KK500

 * Other Rifles
 * Gewehr 41
 * Gewehr 43
 * MKb 42(W)
 * Walther G22
 * Walther WA 2000

 * Submachine guns
 * Walther MPK/MPL
 * Walther MPSD

Shotguns

 * Walther automatic shotgun

title: Carl Walther GmbH


text:
User:Yuunik

yuunik is not actually a eunuch

title: User:Yuunik


text:
Houston Zoo

The Houston Zoo is a 55 acre zoological park located within Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, United States. The zoo houses over 6,000 animals from more than 900 species. It receives around 2 million visitors each year and is the second most visited zoo in the United States, surpassed only by the San Diego Zoo. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

The Houston Zoo's mission statement is "The Houston Zoo connects communities with animals, inspiring action to save wildlife."

The zoo has been operated by the non-profit corporation Houston Zoo since 2002, and was previously operated by the City of Houston.

History
Due to the successful repopulation of American bison in the country, the United States government had an excess of bison on managed lands and donated several bison. Earl was a bison that was donated in 1922 and he would be the zoo's first animal.

African Forest
Called the most ambitious project in the zoo's then 88-year history, the African Forest officially opened on December 10, 2010. The exhibit is home to many African species, including the Grant's zebra, white rhinoceros, red river hog, Masai giraffe, ostrich, chimpanzee, and western lowland gorilla. In 2011, the Houston Press gave the Houston Zoo the Best of Houston® Award for Best New Ecosystem. In November 24, 2020, a new male Pygmy hippopotamus named Silas first arrived to the Houston Zoo from the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. Silas died due to an illness on October 10, 2022.

McNair Asian Elephant Habitat
The McNair Asian Elephant Habitat is home to the Houston Zoo's herd of Asian elephants. It features a 7,000-square-foot barn custom-built to house the bull elephants, a brand-new expanded habitat with a boardwalk with an unobstructed view of the elephants in their new yard, and a 160,000-gallon pool.

Birds
The Houston Zoo boasts one of the largest collections in any US zoo, with more than 800 birds from over 200 species. It includes a range of diverse birds, including the Mariana fruit dove, Micronesian kingfisher, Congo peafowl, and green-winged macaw.

Carnivores
Hosting the University of Houston's mascot Shasta the Cougar, the carnivore exhibit is also home to the lion, Malayan tiger, clouded leopard, American black bear, African wild dog, leopard, and cheetah.

Allen H. and Ethel G. Carruth Natural Encounters
The Allen H. and Ethel G. Carruth Natural Encounters is a special building at the zoo where an adventure through an entire continent is simulated. Visitors learn about animals from the river’s edge, rainforest canopy, desert, and coral reef. Animals housed in the exhibit include the Asian small-clawed otter, Damaraland mole-rat, golden lion tamarin, golden-headed lion tamarin, meerkat, naked mole-rat, Pygmy marmoset, white-faced saki, Hoffmann's two-toed sloth, Eastern collared lizard, and Victoria crowned pigeon.

Wortham World of Primates
A winding boardwalk through a natural setting, this exhibit displays a variety of rare and endangered primates, including lemurs, monkeys, gibbons, and orangutans.

Texas Wetlands
Opened in March 2019, this new exhibit displays three native species: American alligators, whooping cranes, and bald eagles.

Reptile and Amphibian House
This building displays several venomous reptiles and exotic amphibians, including the blue iguana, crocodile monitor, and reticulated python.

Bug House
Opened in 2014, this exhibit displays several insects and arachnids from a variety of forests, jungles, and deserts.

John P. McGovern Children’s Zoo
This area features a petting zoo and a realistic bat cave.

South America's Pantanal
The South America's Pantanal is a 4.2-acre exhibit that opened on October 10, 2020. It displays the blue-throated macaw, jaguar, giant river otter, Baird's tapir, greater rhea, capybara, and giant anteater.

Galapagos Islands
This exhibit, opening April 7th, 2023, focuses on the animals and habitats found in the Galapagos Islands, featuring species including Galapagos tortoises, Humboldt penguins, California sea lions, Peruvian pelicans, bonnethead sharks, and Sally Lightfoot crabs.

Live webcams
The zoo offers nine exhibit webcams, including the Rhino Cam, Elephant Yard Cam, and Leafcutter Ant Cam.

Conservation
The Houston Zoo is an active partner in the AZA's Species Survival Plan (SSP) Program, a population management and conservation program for selected species housed in North American zoos.

The zoo supports more than a dozen conservation projects in Texas and across the globe that assist in the survival of endangered wildlife and habitats. Projects include the Houston toad, sea turtle, Attwater's prairie chicken, Galapagos tortoise, Bornean orangutan, elephant, clouded leopard, African lion, frogs, Brazilian tapir, rhinoceros, African wild dog, chimpanzee, okapi, and cheetah.

title: Houston Zoo


text:
Peremptory norm

A peremptory norm (also called jus cogens) is a fundamental principle of international law that is accepted by the international community of states as a norm from which no derogation is permitted.

There is no universal agreement regarding precisely which norms are jus cogens nor how a norm reaches that status, but it is generally accepted that jus cogens bans genocide, maritime piracy, enslaving in general (i.e. slavery as well as slave trade), wars of aggression and territorial aggrandizement, and generally as well torture, and refoulement.

Status of peremptory norms under international law
Unlike ordinary customary law, which has traditionally required consent and allows the alteration of its obligations between states through treaties, peremptory norms may not be violated by any state "through international treaties or local or special customs or even general customary rules not endowed with the same normative force".

Discussions of the necessity of such norms could be traced back as far as 1758 (in Vattel's The Law of Nations) and 1764 (in Christian Wolff's Jus Gentium), clearly rooted in principles of natural law. But it was the judgments of the Permanent Court of International Justice that indicate the existence of such a peremptory norm, in the S.S. Wimbledon case in 1923, not mentioning peremptory norms explicitly but stating how state sovereignty is not inalienable.

Under Article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, championed by Third World and socialist states during the 1960s, any treaty that conflicts with a peremptory norm is void. The treaty allows for the emergence of new peremptory norms, but does not specify any peremptory norms. It does mention the prohibition on the threat of use of force and on the use of coercion to conclude an agreement:

A treaty is void if, at the time of its conclusion, it conflicts with a peremptory norm of general international law. For the purposes of the present Convention, a peremptory norm of general international law is a norm accepted and recognized by the international community of states as a whole as a norm from which no derogation is permitted and which can be modified only by a subsequent norm of general international law having the same character.

The number of peremptory norms is considered limited but not exclusively catalogued. They are not listed or defined by any authoritative body, but arise out of case law and changing social and political attitudes. Generally included are prohibitions on waging aggressive war, crimes against humanity, war crimes, maritime piracy, genocide, apartheid, slavery, and torture. As an example, international tribunals have held that it is impermissible for a state to acquire territory through war.

Despite the seemingly clear weight of condemnation of such practices, some critics disagree with the division of international legal norms into a hierarchy. There is also disagreement over how such norms are recognized or established. The relatively new concept of peremptory norms seems to be at odds with the traditionally consensual nature of international law considered necessary to state sovereignty.

Some peremptory norms define criminal offences considered to be enforceable against not only states but also individuals. That has been increasingly accepted since the Nuremberg Trials (the first enforcement in world history of international norms upon individuals) and now might be considered uncontroversial. However, the language of peremptory norms was not used in connection with these trials; rather, the basis of criminalisation and punishment of Nazi atrocities was that civilisation could not tolerate their being ignored because it could not survive their being repeated.

There are often disagreements over whether a particular case violates a peremptory norm. As in other areas of law, states generally reserve the right to interpret the concept for themselves.

Many large states have accepted this concept. Some of them have ratified the Vienna Convention, while others have stated in their official statements that they accept the Vienna Convention as "codificatory". Some have applied the concept in their dealings with international organizations and other states.

Execution of juvenile offenders
The case of Michael Domingues v. United States provides an example of an international body's opinion that a particular norm is of a jus cogens nature. Michael Domingues had been convicted and sentenced to death in Nevada, United States for two murders committed when he was 16 years old. Domingues brought the case in front of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights which delivered a non-legally binding report. The United States argued that there was no jus cogens norm that "establishes eighteen years as the minimum age at which an offender can receive a sentence of death". The Commission concluded that there was a "jus cogens norm not to impose capital punishment on individuals who committed their crimes when they had not yet reached 18 years of age".

The United States has subsequently banned the execution of juvenile offenders. Although not necessarily in response to the above non-binding report, the Supreme Court cited evolving international norms as one of the reasons for the ban (Roper v. Simmons).

Torture
The prohibition of torture is a rule of customary international law regarded as jus cogens. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia stated in Prosecutor v. Furundžija that there is a jus cogens for the prohibition against torture. It also stated that every state is entitled "to investigate, prosecute and punish or extradite individuals accused of torture, who are present in a territory under its jurisdiction". The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit stated in Filártiga v. Peña-Irala that "the torturer has become, like the pirate and the slave trader before him, hostis humani generis, an enemy of all mankind".

title: Peremptory norm


text:
Capriccio Espagnol

Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34, is the common Western title for a five movement orchestral suite, based on Spanish folk melodies, composed by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1887. It received its premiere on 31 October 1887, in St. Petersburg, performed by the Imperial Orchestra conducted by the composer. Rimsky-Korsakov originally intended to write the work for a solo violin with orchestra, but later decided that a purely orchestral work would do better justice to the lively melodies. The Russian title is Каприччио на испанские темы (literally, Capriccio on Spanish Themes).

Structure
The work has five movements, divided into two parts comprising the first three and the latter two movements respectively.

 * 1) The first movement, Alborada, is a festive and exciting dance, typically from traditional Asturian music to celebrate the rising of the sun. It features the clarinet with two solos, and later features a solo violin with a solo similar to the clarinet's.
 * 2) The second movement, Variazioni, begins with a melody in the horn section.  Variations of this melody are then repeated by other instruments and sections of the orchestra.
 * 3) The third movement, Alborada, presents the same Asturian dance as the first movement.  The two movements are nearly identical, in fact, except that this movement has a different instrumentation and key.
 * 4) The fourth movement, Scena e canto gitano ("Scene and Gypsy song") opens with five cadenzas — first by the horns and trumpets, then solo violin, flute, clarinet, and harp — played over rolls on various percussion instruments. It is then followed by a dance in triple time leading attacca into the final movement.
 * 5) The fifth and final movement, Fandango asturiano, is also an energetic dance from the Asturias region of northern Spain.  The piece ends with an even more rousing statement of the Alborada theme.

A complete performance of the Capriccio takes approximately 16 minutes.

It is scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes (one doubling on cor anglais), 2 clarinets (in B♭ and A), 2 bassoons, 4 horns (in F), 2 trumpets (in B♭, A), 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, side drum, bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, castanets, harp, and strings.

Characteristics
The piece is often lauded for its orchestration, which features a large percussion section and many special techniques and articulations, such as in the fourth movement when the violinists, violists, and cellists are asked to imitate guitars (the violin and viola parts are marked "quasi guitara"). Despite the critical praise, Rimsky-Korsakov was annoyed that the other aspects of the piece were being ignored. In his autobiography, he wrote:

"The opinion formed by both critics and the public, that the Capriccio is a magnificently orchestrated piece — is wrong. The Capriccio is a brilliant composition for the orchestra. The change of timbres, the felicitous choice of melodic designs and figuration patterns, exactly suiting each kind of instrument, brief virtuoso cadenzas for instruments solo, the rhythm of the percussion instruments, etc., constitute here the very essence of the composition and not its garb or orchestration. The Spanish themes, of dance character, furnished me with rich material for putting in use multiform orchestral effects. All in all, the Capriccio is undoubtedly a purely external piece, but vividly brilliant for all that. It was a little less successful in its third section (Alborada, in B-flat major), where the brasses somewhat drown the melodic designs of the woodwinds; but this is very easy to remedy, if the conductor will pay attention to it and moderate the indications of the shades of force in the brass instruments by replacing the fortissimo by a simple forte."

In popular culture

 * The work is played during the opening credits and as the Spanish Carnival background music during Josef von Sternberg's film The Devil Is a Woman (1935), credited on screen as 'Music based on Rimsky-Korsakoff's "Spanish Caprice" and Old Spanish Melodies'.
 * Excerpts were heard in the fictional 1947 biopic of Rimsky-Korsakov, Song of Scheherazade.
 * A recording by the Moscow Radio Symphony in the film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988).
 * A recording by "Philharmonia Slavonica" featured in the film Brokeback Mountain (2005). The "Philharmonia Slavonica" is a pseudonymous group that appears on a number of recordings of the bargain-record producer Alfred Scholz. The performances attributed to them are often by the Austrian Radio (ORF) Orchestra.
 * The work's fourth movement is featured prominently in a 1998 television commercial for Pizza Hut, famously starring the former leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev.
 * An orchestra performs the opening of the piece in the series Little Fires Everywhere (2020).

Notable recordings

 * London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ataúlfo Argenta (Decca Records, 1957)
 * New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein (Sony Classical, 1959)
 * Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Lorin Maazel (Deutsche Grammophon, 1959)
 * Czech Philharmonic conducted by Karel Ančerl (Supraphon, 1964)
 * Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy (Sony Classical, 1965)
 * London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras (Telarc, 1990)
 * Oslo Philharmonic conducted by Vasily Petrenko (LAWO Classics, 2020)

title: Capriccio Espagnol


text:
Schönbrunn Zoo

Schönbrunn Zoo (Tiergarten Schönbrunn; also simply called Vienna Zoo) is a 17-hectare (42-acre) zoo in the city of Vienna, Austria. Established in 1752, it is the world's oldest zoo still in operation. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, being a part of the Schönbrunn Palace gardens. It generally receives more than 2 million visitors every year.

As of 2021, it presented a total of 707 different species with around 8,250 specimens. Its primary attractions include the giant pandas, being one of only 27 zoos in the world to house them.

Anthony Sheridan's zoo rankings recognised Schönbrunn Zoo as the best zoo in Europe in years 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2021. Zoologist Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck has been the zoo's director since 2019.

Founding and early years
Schönbrunn Zoo was the brainchild of Francis Stephen of Lorraine, the husband of Maria Theresa, the empress of the Habsburg monarchy at the time. In 1745, Francis Stephen commissioned the architect Jean Nicolas Jadot de Ville-Issey to design a menagerie in the park at the Habsburg-Lorraine’s summer residence in Schönbrunn.

Twelve enclosures were created at the park, each with equally sized structures for the animals, and an administration building with a front garden. A pond and two yards were added later. The menagerie was presented to guests after around one year of construction in the summer of 1752. The last section to be completed was the octagonal pavilion at the heart of the site, which was laid out as a breakfast and social room in 1759. It still constitutes the zoo's historical centre to this day. It has been used as a restaurant since 1949.The first elephant arrived at Schönbrunn Zoo in 1770 and wolves and bears were the first predators to arrive in 1781. The first polar bears, big cats, hyenas and kangaroos arrived along with another pair of Asian elephants in around 1800.

The menagerie was initially reserved for the imperial family but schools were subsequently also permitted to visit the zoo along with diplomats and private guests. The menagerie, the palace and the park were later opened to "decently dressed persons" (at first only on Sundays) in 1778. The exotic animals attracted many visitors not only from Vienna and the surrounding areas but also guests from other countries. By that point, the zoo was already opening to visitors on a daily basis and the first detailed descriptions and zoo guides were being written.

In the 19th century
Schönbrunn Zoo received its first giraffe as a gift from the Viceroy of Egypt in 1828. Its arrival triggered a genuine craze and influenced fashion, handicrafts and social life in Vienna. Clothes, shoes and utensils with giraffe motifs, hairstyles, a perfume, a play and two compositions à la giraffe were created.

The menagerie's look changed significantly towards the end of the 19th century. Alois Kraus, who headed the zoo from 1879 to early 1919, rearranged the historic grounds to make them more suitable for the animals and easier for the public to visit. Animal enclosures and farm buildings were newly built or modernized and the zoo was extended east and south. Schönbrunn Zoo had already come to be regarded as one of the most beautiful zoos in the world by the beginning of the 20th century.

In 1906, the first elephant to be conceived in a zoological garden was born at Schönbrunn.

The complex remained private property of the imperial family until the end of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

World Wars and the 20th century
Only 400 animals survived World War I due to supply shortages and associated hygiene problems. The zoo was only able to survive as a result of the residents of Vienna organising a relief campaign and making donations of animals and materials.

Otto Antonius, who headed Schönbrunn Zoo from 1924 to 1945, was the first director who was a biologist. His tenure saw the number of animals at the zoo increasing to more than 3,000 by 1930. He also introduced the idea of breeding endangered species for conservation. He involved himself in raising awareness among the general public, promoted nature conservation and intensified the increasingly important contacts to the media, universities and museums. The term ‘menagerie’ was officially replaced with the term ‘zoo’ in 1926.

The zoo had suffered aerial bombing attacks at the end of World War II that destroyed and damaged many of the animal enclosures and more than one thousand animals died. The Soviet and later the British occupation forces helped with the reconstruction following the end of hostilities.

Julius Brachetka, who headed the zoo from 1945 to 1958, revived public interest with entertaining appearances in the media that were frequently accompanied by animals from the zoo. The first posters were created and photography competitions were held. A new aquarium and terrarium building was opened in 1959 to replace the one for the ostriches and reptiles that had been damaged during the bombing.

Walter Fiedler, who headed the zoo from 1967 to 1987, doubled the zoo's original area to 12 hectares with the conversion of the former Kleinen Fasangarten (Little Pheasant Garden) to the east. Other milestones included the opening of a children's zoo in 1969 and the establishment of an education department at the zoo in 1976, one of the first in Europe.

Criticism of outmoded animal husbandry reached its peak in the late 1980s. Discussions about the dissolution of the zoo or a relocation to another district in Vienna ended in 1991. The zoo was subsequently spun off from administration by the federal government as Schönbrunner Tiergarten-Ges.m.b.H. – but the Republic of Austria remained the sole shareholder. Veterinarian Helmut Pechlaner who had been the director at the Alpenzoo Innsbruck, was appointed the managing director.

With the support of the Republic of Austria, numerous donors and sponsors as well as new admission fees, Helmut Pechlaner was able to modernise and expand many of the enclosures. The first construction project to be completed was the small monkey house in 1992 with two ‘monkey islands’ in the baroque pond as an outdoor enclosure that is now home to ring-tailed lemurs and gibbons. The zoo was extended to the south with a section from the Vienna Woods. The Tirolerhof (Tyrolean Farmyard), a new elephant park, the modern big cat enclosure, an enclosure for giant pandas, an insectarium and one of the largest rhino enclosures in Europe were created. The two Indian rhinos that arrived in 2006 were a gift from the former royal family of Nepal. The animals had been picked up as orphans and it had not been possible to reintegrate them into the wild.

The ensemble of Schönbrunn Palace, Zoo and Palace Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. The same year saw the unveiling of the first large bronze sculpture by Gottfried Kumpf, a lion. More bronze sculptures that remain a popular photo motif to this day were added over the following decades. The Rainforest House was opened to celebrate the zoo's 250th anniversary in 2002, which was also the year in which the first koalas arrived at Schönbrunn and the panorama railway experience was opened.

Recent years
Dagmar Schratter succeeded Helmut Pechlaner on 1 January 2007 and filled the position of the zoo's sole managing director until the end of 2019. Her tenure stood out for five awards that recognised the zoo as the best in Europe, five giant panda cubs and the record year of 2008 during which the zoo recorded a total of 2.6 million visitors. Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck, who previously worked at Tierpark Hagenbeck (Hagenbeck Zoo) in Hamburg, was introduced as her successor in autumn 2019. He assumed the role in January 2020.

Exhibits
The polar bear exhibit is located in the Franz Josef Land facility, which features a pool that allows visitors to see the bears swimming underwater. The facility is 1,700 square metres large. The name is a tribute to the successful expedition to the Arctic achieved by Austria-Hungary in the past. The visitor centre, known as the Polar Dome, has been designated an ‘Arctic Ambassador Centre’ by Polar Bears International. The South American sea lion is located outside of the Polarium exhibit. Inside are located king penguins and northern rockhopper penguins, for whom the seasonal light and climate conditions of native habitats are simulated, being around 10 °C room temperature and 8 °C water temperature.

The Rainforest House exhibit was opened in 2002, the year of the zoo's 250th anniversary. Inside the glass house is located an imitation of a mountain slope of a south-east Asian rainforest. This is where, among others, the rare northern river terrapin, Asian small-clawed otters, various species of birds, flying foxes and Fiji banded iguanas are located. It is ensured that temperatures don't fall below a minimum of 25 °C and the humidity below 80% at any time of the year.

Now called the ORANG.erie, the first Palm House, which was built in the 19th century under Emperor Franz I and used as a film studio from 1920, was revitalised in 2009 and has been home to the orangutans since then. Reproductions of the works by Nonja, a female orangutan, are on display at ‘Atelier Nonja’, the adjacent café-restaurant. Nonja is famous for the paintings she produced with the paints and brushes she was presented with to occupy her in the 1990s.

The Insectarium was opened in 2005 and presents insects in 14 terrariums.

The Aquarium and Terrarium House is entered through the crocodile pavilion. Species kept in the aquarium include piranhas, lionfish, moray eels and rays as well as a large coral reef with hundreds of fish from the Indo-Pacific. The Schönbrunn Zoo is home to the most species of jellyfish in the world. A tunnel aquarium with arapaimas takes visitors into the terrarium building where snakes, iguanas, Aldabra giant tortoises and other reptiles live.

The Haidachhof, a two-storey Lower Inn Valley single-structure farm that dates back to 1722, is a listed building that was dismantled at its original location in Brandenberg in Tyrol and rebuilt at the zoo. Endangered breeds of farm animals such as Tux-Zillertal, Pustertaler Sprinzen, Noriker horses, Carinthian sheep, Original Braunvieh, Tauernsheck goats and Sulmtaler chickens have been kept here in the stables since then.

The Nature Discovery Trail is a path leading from the Tirolerhof (Tyrolean farmyard) up 10 metres into the tree canopy to enable visitors to observe the native species of birds. The forest path continues past outdoor terrariums with native reptiles and amphibians. The world of native fish is presented in large aquariums in the ‘Am Wasser’ (At the Waterside) section.

Giant anteaters, capybaras, Brazilian tapirs, vicuñas and greater rhea are exhibited together in the South America Park. The outdoor area has been laid out to resemble a pampas landscape with hills and ponds.

The Pet Park nearby keeps small domestic animals such as the guinea pig that visitors are allowed to interact with. The Big Cat House leads to the indoor enclosures where Amur leopards and Siberian tigers live. Each species is able to enjoy a large landscaped outdoor area adjacent to the building that features raised platforms, ponds and shrubs for concealment. The cheetah enclosure is often cited as an example of Helmut Pechlaner's ingenuity. He had the asphalted visitor area converted into an outdoor landscape in 1994 that allowed visitors to observe the animals from the old cages.

The Birdhouse, two open-air halls each present different landscapes and their native wildlife: the African savannah and the South American tropics with dozens of birds in a lush jungle of plants. The central hall is home to the zoo's Linnaeus's two-toed sloths.

The Rat House is home to fancy rats, Gambian pouched rats and Northern Luzon giant cloud rats. Special lighting technology has been installed to adapt the rhythms of the day and night so that visitors may observe the nocturnal rodents climbing, bathing and burrowing.

The historic Monkey House building, which dates back to 1841, underwent a general renovation in 2012 after two previous conversions (1906, 1930) and is home to king colobus, meerkats, red ruffed lemurs, pygmy marmosets, common squirrel monkeys, emperor tamarins, and Goeldi's marmosets.

Two Indian rhinos live on 6,000 square metres in the Rhino Park, alongside other species native to Asia such as nilgais, indochinese sika deer and blackbucks. The historic Giraffe House was restored in 2017. A winter garden was added in accordance with conservation requirements to the rear of the building for the purposes of providing more space for the giraffes during the winter months. The photovoltaic system that has been incorporated into the glass roof produces all the electricity that the enclosure requires. A layer of gravel in the basement converts the heat that accumulates during the day into night-time heating. The zoo was awarded the City of Vienna's environmental prize for the use of these technologies.

The East Africa House is home to smaller species of animals from the same habitat that is occupied by the giraffes like common dwarf mongooses and Von der Decken's hornbills, which forage together in the wild, and southern ground hornbills, which live in the same outdoor enclosure as the giraffes.

The Desert House is located at the zoo's entrance gates opposite the Palm House. A circuit trail leads through a desert habitat with rattlesnakes, naked mole-rats, colourful birds and other creatures of the desert. The botanical focus is on the cacti and other succulents.

Giant pandas
Schönbrunn Zoo is one of few zoos in Europe that is able to boast giant pandas as an attraction. The female Yang Yang (阳阳 ‘Sunshine’) and the male Long Hui (龙辉 ‘Sign of the Dragon’) arrived in 2003 and are known for successful breeding.

Yang Yang gave birth to the first baby panda (a male) to be conceived naturally and not by artificial insemination in Europe on 23 August 2007. In accordance with traditions in China, it was named 100 days after its birth: Fu Long (福龙, ‘Happy Dragon’). The second baby panda, also a male, was born at Schönbrunn exactly three years after Fu Long 's birth on 23 August 2010. It was named Fu Hu (福虎, ‘Happy Tiger’). A third panda cub, another male, was born on 14 August 2013. It was named Fu Bao (福豹), which means ‘Happy Leopard’. These animals were followed by twins, which were born on 7 August 2016, and named Fu Feng (福凤 ‘Happy Phoenix’) and Fu Ban (福伴 ‘Happy Companion’). Yang Yang was the first panda in captivity to raise twins without the help of her keepers.

The cubs were transferred to China to zoos or panda breeding stations at the age of two. Long Hui passed away in December 2016 as a result of a tumour. A new male panda, Yuan Yuan, arrived at the zoo in April 2019.

Wildlife conservation and research
Schönbrunn Zoo participates in international breeding programmes for the purposes of wildlife conservation. It is responsible here within the scope of the EAZA Ex-situ Programme for maintaining the studbook for the southern and northern rockhopper penguins as well as the Fiji banded iguana.

Giant pandas – wildlife conservation project
Schönbrunn Zoo cooperates with the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) in its efforts to protect giant pandas. Joint research activities, conservation breeding, regular training courses, the establishment of panda reserves and the reforestation of bamboo forests are regarded as some of the most important pillars of the project.

Northern bald ibis – wildlife conservation project
Schönbrunn Zoo is a partner to the team that is working within a European Life+ project to reintroduce the northern bald ibis, which is a highly endangered species, to central Europe. These birds’ chicks that are hatched in zoos and wildlife parks are imprinted on human foster parents, who then use ultralight aircraft to teach the birds how to navigate to suitable overwintering quarters.

Northern river terrapin – wildlife conservation project
Northern river terrapins belong to the three rarest species of turtle in the world. Schönbrunn Zoo was the first to successfully breed these terrapins in captivity in 2010. The zoo has – in addition to its important breeding efforts – also initiated a rescue mission in Bangladesh.

Polar bears – wildlife conservation project
The zoo supports ‘Polar Bears International’ (PBI), an initiative to save polar bears. The PBI researches how polar bears live in their native habitats. Transmitters are fitted to animals in the wild to track their migratory routes, which have changed due to the disappearing pack ice.

Barbary apes – wildlife conservation project
The zoo also supports the Barbary Macaque Awareness and Conservation (BMAC) wildlife conservation project in Morocco, which, among other things, runs educational programmes and is working to reintroduce illegally captured Barbary macaques to the wild.

Brasilian tapirs – wildlife conservation project
As part of a research project in the Pantanal in South America, collar transmitters provide information about what tapirs need to survive. The project also keeps local residents informed about the animal world.

Pond turtles – wildlife conservation project
European pond turtles are the only species of turtle that is native to Austria. The zoo is working with the Donau-Auen National Park, where the last intact population in Austria lives, to protect the clutches.

Bearded vultures – wildlife conservation project
Bearded vultures were wiped out at the beginning of the 20th century. Animals have been successfully reintroduced from breeding programmes such as those that have taken place at Schönbrunn Zoo since the 1980s.

Ural owl – wildlife conservation project
Habitat loss resulted in the extinction of the Ural owl in Austria. Living conditions have improved again and so a decision was made to launch a reintroduction project, which Schönbrunn Zoo is supporting with, among other things, chicks from its breeding programmes. Several hundred birds have already been released into the wild.

Zoological, historical and veterinary research is also carried out at the zoo – mainly in cooperation with the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna and the Department of Evolutionary Biology of the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Vienna.

Significant breeding successes
The five Giant panda cubs were the first in Europe to be born as a result of natural conception. Yang Yang was the world's first panda in captivity to raise twins without help from her keepers.

A female anteater was also able to successfully raise her twins for the first time in the world at a zoo in 2000.

The first elephant calf to be conceived with the help of artificial insemination using frozen semen was born at the zoo in 2013. Schönbrunn Zoo is the only zoo in Europe to successfully breed the endangered northern rockhopper penguins every year.

First conservation breeding successes in the world

 * 2010 Northern river terrapin (Batagur baska)
 * 2011 Bornean rock frog species Staurois guttatus and Staurois parvus
 * 2012 South American snapping turtle (Chelydra acutirostris)
 * 2015 Gigant jellyfish (Rhizostoma luteum)
 * 2015 Green keel-bellied lizard (Gastropholis prasina)
 * 2016 Broadley's flat lizard (Platysaurus broadleyi)

Company data
Zoologist Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck has been the zoo's sole managing director since 1 January 2020, Ana Haschka is the company officer with statutory authority. The members of the Supervisory Board are Wolfgang Schüssel, Elke Koch, Monika Geppl, Alexander Palma, Alexander Keller and Thomas Sedlak. Schönbrunner Tiergarten-Gesellschaft m.b.H. is a shareholder in Tiergarten Schönbrunn Gastronomie GmbH and a limited partner in ''Dipl. Tzt. Thomas Voracek KG Tierärztliche Ordination Tiergarten Schönbrunn''.

Schönbrunner Tiergarten-Gesellschaft m.b.H. has been registered in the commercial register under the number 47954x since 30 December 1991, the capital contribution amounts to €600,000.00 and is solely owned by the Republic of Austria, represented by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs.The company further operates the Desert House at the gates of the zoo in conjunction with the Österreichische Bundesgärten (Austrian Federal Gardens) in the form of the ‘ARGE Sonnenuhrhaus’ (‘Joint Venture Sundial House’).

The zoo has been certified by TÜV Süd since 2015 in accordance with international standards ISO 9001 (quality management), ISO 14001 (environmental management) and ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety).

Literature

 * Mitchell G. Ash, Lothar Dittrich (Hrsg.): Menagerie des Kaisers. Zoo der Wiener. Pichler, Wien 2002, ISBN 3-85431-269-5.
 * Gerhard Heindl: Start in die Moderne. Die kaiserliche Menagerie unter Alois Kraus. Braumüller, Wien 2006, ISBN 3-7003-1540-6.
 * Gerhard Kunze: Tiergarten Schönbrunn. Zoo der glücklichen Tiere. Österreichs magischer Kraftort. Holzhausen, Wien 2005, ISBN 3-85493-102-6.
 * Gerhard Kunze: Tiergarten Schönbrunn: von der Menagerie des Kaisers zu Helmut Pechlaners Zoo der glücklichen Tiere. LW Werbe- und Verlagsgesellschaft, Wien 2001, ISBN 3-9501179-0-3.
 * E. Minoggio: Mit Kinderaugen Tiere sehen. Ein Kinder-Zooführer durch den Tiergarten Schönbrunn. Manz, Wien 2004, ISBN 3-7067-0014-X.
 * Sigrid Laube, Maria Blazejovsky: Zoogeschichten. Jungbrunnen, Wien 2002, ISBN 3-7026-5740-1.
 * Oliver E. Paget: Tierisch heiter. Ein historisch-kulturell-tierischer Rundgang. Stangl, Wien 2002, ISBN 3-934969-21-6.
 * Helmut Pechlaner, Gaby V. Schwammer: Zooführer. Schönbrunner Tiergarten, Wien 2006, ISBN 3-902243-14-7.
 * Helmut Pechlaner, Dagmar Schratter, Gerhard Heindl (Hrsg.): Tiergarten Schönbrunn. Geschichte. Braumüller, Wien 2005, ISSN 1994-5116
 * Helmut Pechlaner: Meine Schönbrunner Tiergeschichten. Holzhausen, Wien 1997, ISBN 3-900518-68-8.
 * Christa Riedl-Dorn: Hohes Tier. Die Geschichte der ersten Giraffe in Schönbrunn. Braumüller, Wien 2008, ISBN 3-7003-1633-X.
 * Dagmar Schratter (Herausgeberin), Gerhard Heindl: Tiere unterwegs. Historisches und Aktuelles über Tiererwerb und Tiertransporte. Braumüller, Wien 2007, ISBN 3-7003-1575-9.
 * Dagmar Schratter, Regina Pfistermüller, Petra Stefan: Der Koala: Koalas in Schönbrunn – Austria hilft Australien. Schönbrunner Tiergarten, Wien 2002, ISBN 3-902243-01-5.
 * Gaby Schwammer, Hanno Fürnwein: Die Botschaft der Regenwälder. Schönbrunner Tiergarten, Wien 2002, ISBN 3-902243-03-1.
 * Daniel Zupanc, Regina Pfistermüller: Wildnis Zoo. Impressionen aus Schönbrunn. KIKO Verlag, Wien 2008, ISBN 978-3-902644-00-8.
 * Gabriele Pechlaner, Helmut Pechlaner: Das Wunderwerk Zoo. 24 Stunden im Tiergarten Schönbrunn. Holzhausen Verlag, Wien 2001, ISBN 3-85493-042-9.
 * Gaby Schwammer, Harald Schwammer: Im Einsatz für gefährdete Arten. Vom Tiergarten Schönbrunn um die ganze Welt. Leopold Stocker Verlag, Graz 2018, ISBN 978-3-7020-1712-5.
 * Johanna Bukovsky, Daniel Zupanc: Erlebnis Zoo. Begegnungen im Tiergarten Schönbrunn, KIKO Verlag, Wien 2018, ISBN 978-3-902644-24-4.
 * Johanna Bukovsky, Daniel Zupanc: Pandas. Eine Erfolgsgeschichte aus dem Tiergarten Schönbrunn, KIKO Verlag, Wien 2018, ISBN 978-3-902644-35-0.

title: Schönbrunn Zoo