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Spermicide

Spermicide is a contraceptive substance that destroys sperm, inserted vaginally prior to intercourse to prevent pregnancy. As a contraceptive, spermicide may be used alone. However, the pregnancy rate experienced by couples using only spermicide is higher than that of couples using other methods. Usually, spermicides are combined with contraceptive barrier methods such as diaphragms, condoms, cervical caps, and sponges. Combined methods are believed to result in lower pregnancy rates than either method alone.

Spermicides are typically unscented, clear, unflavored, non-staining, and lubricative.

Types and effectiveness
The most common active ingredient of spermicides is nonoxynol-9. Spermicides containing nonoxynol-9 are available in many forms, such as jelly (gel), films, and foams. Used alone, spermicides have a perfect use failure rate of 6% per year when used correctly and consistently, and 16% failure rate per year in typical use.

Spermicide brands
This list of examples was provided by the Mayo Clinic:
 * 1) VCF Vaginal Contraceptive Film
 * 2) VCF Vaginal Contraceptive Gel
 * 3) VCF Contraceptive Foam
 * 4) Conceptrol
 * 5) Crinone
 * 6) Encare
 * 7) Endometrin
 * 8) First-Progesterone VGS
 * 9) Gynol II
 * 10) Prochieve
 * 11) Today Sponge
 * 12) Vagi-Gard Douche Non-Staining

Nonoxynol-9 is the primary chemical in spermicides to inhibit sperm motility. Active secondary spermicidal ingredients can include octoxynol-9, benzalkonium chloride and menfegol. These secondary ingredients are not mainstream in the United States, where nonoxynol-9 alone is typical. Preventing sperm motility will inhibit the sperm from travelling towards the egg moving down the fallopian tubes to the uterus. The deep proper insertion of spermicide should effectively block the cervix so that sperm cannot make it past the cervix to the uterus or the fallopian tubes. A study observing the distribution of spermicide containing nonoxynol-9 in the vaginal tract showed “After 10 min the gel spread within the vaginal canal providing a contiguous covering of the epithelium of variable thickness.” The sole goal of spermicide is to prevent fertilization.

Menfegol is a spermicide manufactured as a foaming tablet. It is available only in Europe.

Octoxynol-9 was previously a common spermicide, but was removed from the U.S. market in 2002 after manufacturers failed to perform new studies required by the FDA.

The spermicides benzalkonium chloride and sodium cholate are used in some contraceptive sponges. Benzalkonium chloride might also be available in Canada as a suppository.

The 2008 Ig Nobel Prize (a parody of the Nobel Prizes) in Chemistry was awarded to Sheree Umpierre, Joseph Hill, and Deborah Anderson, for discovering that Coca-Cola is an effective spermicide, and to C.Y. Hong, C.C. Shieh, P. Wu, and B.N. Chiang for proving it is not.

Lemon juice solutions have been shown to immobilize sperm in the laboratory, as has Krest Bitter Lemon drink. While the authors of the Krest Bitter Lemon study suggested its use as a postcoital douche, this is unlikely to be effective, as sperm begin leaving the ejaculate (out of the reach of any douche) within 1.5 minutes of deposition. No published studies appear to have been done on the effectiveness of lemon juice preparations in preventing pregnancy, though they are advocated by some as 'natural' spermicides.

Lactic acid preparations have also been shown to have some spermicidal effect, and commercial lactic acid-based spermicides are available. A contraceptive containing lactic acid, citric acid, and potassium bitartrate (Phexxi) was approved for use in the United States in May 2020.

Extractives of the neem plant such as neem oil have also been proposed as spermicides based on laboratory studies. Animal studies of creams and pessaries derived from neem have shown they have contraceptive effects; however, trials in humans to determine its effectiveness in preventing pregnancy have not yet been conducted.

Use with condoms
Spermicides are believed to increase the contraceptive effectiveness of condoms.

However, condoms that are spermicidally lubricated by the manufacturer have a shorter shelf life and may cause urinary tract infections in women. The World Health Organization says that spermicidally lubricated condoms should no longer be promoted. However, they recommend using a nonoxynol-9 lubricated condom over no condom at all.

Spermicides used alone are only about 91 percent effective. When spermicides are used in conjunction with condoms and other barrier methods there is a 97 percent effective rate for pregnancy prevention.

Side effects
Temporary local skin irritation involving the vulva, vagina, or penis is the most common problem associated with spermicide use. p. 399:"Currently available spermicides containing nonoxynol-9 are ineffective as microbicides, in particular as HIV-preventive measures.17 Thus, spermicides used alone are not recommended to prevent HIV or other STIs. Furthermore, frequent use (more than 2 times a day) of spermicide causes more vulvovovaginal epithelial disruption,18 which theoretically could increase susceptibility to HIV. In a high-risk population using a vaginal gel with nonoxynol-9 more than three applications per day on average, the risk of HIV acquisition was increased compared with placebo.19"p.399–400:"Disadvantages and cautions Local irritation Temporary skin irritation involving the vulva, vagina, or penis caused by either local toxicity or allergy to the formulation is the most common problem associated with spermicide use... Although vaginal epithelial disruption has been associated with frequent use (twice a day or more) of spermicides containing N-9, this is usually asymptomatic. In a low risk population, long-term use of N-9 containing methods was not associated with epithelial disruption.22"p. 401:"N-9 spermicides are inadvisable if STI/HIV exposure is likely in situations that would involve frequent use defined as 2 times or more a day."

Frequent use (two times or more a day) of nonoxynol-9 containing spermicide is inadvisable if STI/HIV exposure is likely, because in this situation there is increased vulvovaginal epithelial disruption and increased risk of HIV acquisition.

In 2007, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated that labels for nonoxynol-9 over-the-counter (OTC) contraceptive products carry a new warning saying they do not protect against STDs and HIV/AIDS.

History
The first written record of spermicide use is found in the Kahun Papyrus, an Egyptian document dating to 1850 BCE. It described a pessary of crocodile dung and fermented dough. It is believed that the low pH of the dung may have had a spermicidal effect.

Further formulations are found in the Ebers Papyrus from approximately 1500 BCE. It recommended mixing seed wool, acacia, dates and honey, and placing the mixture in the vagina. It probably had some effectiveness, in part as a physical barrier due to the thick, sticky consistency, and also because of the lactic acid (a known spermicide) formed from the acacia.

Writings by Soranus, a 2nd-century Greek physician, contained formulations for a number of acidic concoctions claimed to be spermicidal. His instructions were to soak wool in one of the mixtures, then place near the cervix.

Laboratory testing of substances to see if they inhibited sperm motility began in the 1800s. Modern spermicides nonoxynol-9 and menfegol were developed from this line of research. However, many other substances of dubious contraceptive value were also promoted. Especially after the prohibition of contraception in the U.S. by the 1873 Comstock Act, spermicides—the most popular of which was Lysol—were marketed only as "feminine hygiene" products and were not held to any standard of effectiveness. Worse, many manufacturers recommended using the products as a douche after intercourse, too late to affect all the sperm. Medical estimates during the 1930s placed the pregnancy rate of women using many over-the-counter spermicides at seventy percent per year.

A misconception about spermicides existed in the 1980s and 1990s. A 1988 literature review article noted that in vitro studies of nonoxynol-9 and other spermicides showed inactivation of STI pathogens, including HIV. But a 2002 systemic review and meta-analysis of nine randomized controlled trials of vaginal nonoxynol-9 for HIV and STI prevention involving more than 5,000 women (predominantly sex workers) found no statistically significant reduction in risk of HIV and STIs, but found a small statistically significant increase in genital lesions among nonoxynol-9 spermicide users. And in a high-risk population using a nonoxynol-9 vaginal gel more than three applications per day on average, the risk of HIV acquisition was increased.

title: Spermicide


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Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

Buckinghamshire Railway Centre is a railway museum operated by the Quainton Railway Society Ltd. at Quainton Road railway station, about 5 mi west of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. The site is divided into two halves which are joined by two foot-bridges, one of which provides wheelchair access. Each side has a demonstration line with various workshop buildings as well as museum buildings.

History
In 1962, the London Railway Preservation Society was formed. It bought a series of former London Underground vehicles and collectables, and holds the largest collection of London and North Western Railway memorabilia. These were held at various sites around London, mainly two government depots at Luton and Bishop's Stortford, making both access, restoration and preservation difficult.

While other closed stations on the former MR lines north of Aylesbury were generally demolished or sold, in 1969 the Quainton Railway Society was formed to operate a working museum at the station. On 24 April 1971 the society absorbed the London Railway Preservation Society, taking custody of its collection of historic railway equipment.

Restoration
The station was maintained in working order, used as a bookshop and ticket office. The extensive sidings were still intact, and although disconnected from the mainline in 1967, were used for locomotive restoration work. The Society eventually restored the main station building to its 1900 appearance, renaming the site the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. A smaller building on the former Brill platform, once a shelter for passengers waiting for Brill and down trains, was used first as a store then as a shop for a number of years before its current use to house an exhibit on the history of the Brill Tramway. A former London Transport building from Wembley Park was dismantled and re-erected at Quainton Road to serve as a maintenance shed.

Mainline services
Although the BRC's trains are run on the former station sidings, the station still has a working Network Rail line passing through it. This connects Aylesbury with the Bletchley to Oxford cross-country route at Claydon (LNE) Junction. Regular landfill freight trains and High Speed 2 spoil trains traverse the line from waste transfer depots in Greater London as well as some from the freight terminal at Tytherington and other freight locations in the South-West of England to the former brick pits at Calvert. The High Speed 2 trains also terminate here, but are used for the construction of the new High Speed 2 depot at Calvert.

From 1984 until 1990, the station briefly came back into passenger use, when special Christmas shopping services between Aylesbury and Bletchley were operated by British Rail Network SouthEast on Saturdays only, and stopped at Quainton Road. From August Bank Holiday 1971 until the 1987 season, and again from August Bank Holiday 2001 until May 2017 the station has had special passenger trains from Aylesbury in connection with events at the Centre - these shuttles ran regularly each Spring and August Bank Holiday weekend.

Present
With an extensively redeveloped site on both sides of the working mainline, BRC houses around 170 items of locomotives and rolling stock, in buildings dating from 1874 to the 1960s. The adjacent World War II warehouses of the Ministry of Food Buffer Depot in the former downside yard have been taken over to display many items awaiting restoration, whilst the Society have added a members' reference library.

Rewley Road
Rewley Road, the Oxford terminus of Harry Verney's Buckinghamshire Railway and of the Oxford to Cambridge Line, closed to passengers on 1 October 1951 with trains diverted to the former GWR Oxford General, the current Oxford station. In co-operation with the Science Museum, Rewley Road was dismantled in 1999. The main station building and part of the platform canopy were then moved to BRC and re-erected in 2002 at the north-west corner of the site, now providing improved visitor facilities and the main offices of the QRS.

Media
As one of the best-preserved period railway stations in England, Quainton Road is regularly used as a filming location for programmes such as The Jewel in the Crown, the Doctor Who serial Black Orchid, Midsomer Murders and was a recurring location for the eighth series of Taskmaster.

Future developments
High Speed 2's planned route passes immediately to the west of the site, not impacting the centre directly, although it will preclude any restoration of the Brill Tramway.

Collection
The collection includes locomotives, carriages, and assorted rolling stock, plus a large amount of memorabilia and documents.

Diesel multiple units

 * BR Class 115 unit 51886+59761+51889 "Aylesbury College Silver Jubilee 1987"

Electric multiple units

 * Post Office Railway (London) 1930 Stock No. 803
 * London Underground CO/CP Stock unit 53028+013063+54233
 * New York City Subway car No. 1144, an R6, converted into a cafeteria for the museum.

Carriages and vans

 * BR Mk 1 TPO sorting van no. 80394
 * London Transport brake vans nos. B557 and FB578

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

title: Buckinghamshire Railway Centre


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Armenians

Armenians (հայեր, ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Armenian highlands of West Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of the Republic of Armenia and constituted the main population of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh until the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh and the subsequent flight of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians. There is a wide-ranging diaspora of around five million people of full or partial Armenian ancestry living outside modern Armenia. The largest Armenian populations today exist in Russia, the United States, France, Georgia, Iran, Germany, Ukraine, Lebanon, Brazil, Argentina, Syria, and Turkey. The present-day Armenian diaspora was formed mainly as a result of the Armenian genocide with the exceptions of Iran, former Soviet states, and parts of the Levant.

Armenian is an Indo-European language. It has two mutually intelligible spoken and written forms: Eastern Armenian, today spoken mainly in Armenia, Artsakh, Iran, and the former Soviet republics; and Western Armenian, used in the historical Western Armenia and, after the Armenian genocide, primarily in the Armenian diasporan communities. The unique Armenian alphabet was invented in 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots.

Most Armenians adhere to the Armenian Apostolic Church, a non-Chalcedonian Christian church, which is also the world's oldest national church. Christianity began to spread in Armenia soon after Jesus' death, due to the efforts of two of his apostles, St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew. In the early 4th century, the Kingdom of Armenia became the first state to adopt Christianity as a state religion, followed by the first pilgrimages to the Holy Land where a community established the Armenian Quarter of Old Jerusalem.

Etymology

The earliest attestations of the exonym Armenia date around the 6th century BC. In his trilingual Behistun Inscription dated to 517 BC, Darius I the Great of Persia refers to Urashtu (in Babylonian) as Armina (Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐎷𐎡𐎴) and Harminuya (in Elamite). In Greek, Armenios (Αρμένιοι) is attested from about the same time, perhaps the earliest reference being a fragment attributed to Hecataeus of Miletus (476 BC). Xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality in around 401 BC.

Some have linked the name Armenia with the Early Bronze Age state of Armani (Armanum, Armi) or the Late Bronze Age state of Arme (Shupria). Armini, Urartian for "inhabitant of Arme" or "Armean country", referring to the region of Shupria, to the immediate west of Lake Van. The Arme tribe of Urartian texts may have been the Urumu, who in the 12th century BC attempted to invade Assyria from the north with their allies the Mushki and the Kaskians. The Urumu apparently settled in the vicinity of Sason, lending their name to the regions of Arme and the nearby lands of Urme and Inner Urumu. The location of the older site of Armani is a matter of debate. Some modern researchers have placed it in the same general area as Arme, near modern Samsat, and have suggested it was populated, at least partially, by an early Indo-European-speaking people. The relationship between Armani and the later Arme-Shupria, if any, is undetermined. Additionally, their connections to Armenians is inconclusive as it is not known what languages were spoken in these regions.

It has also been speculated that the land of Ermenen (located in or near Minni), mentioned by the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III in 1446 BCE, could be a reference to Armenia.

Armenians call themselves Hay (հայ, pronounced [ˈhaj]; plural: հայեր, [haˈjɛɾ]). The name has traditionally been derived from Hayk (Հայկ), the legendary patriarch of the Armenians and a great-great-grandson of Noah, who, according to Movses Khorenatsi (Moses of Khorene), defeated the Babylonian king Bel in 2492 BC and established his nation in the Ararat region. It is also further postulated that the name Hay comes from, or is related to, one of the two confederated, Hittite vassal states—Hayasa-Azzi (1600–1200 BC). Ultimately, Hay may derive from the Proto Indo-European words póti (meaning "lord" or "master") or *h₂éyos/*áyos (meaning "metal").

Khorenatsi wrote that the word Armenian originated from the name Armenak or Aram (the descendant of Hayk). Khorenatsi refers to both Armenia and Armenians as Hayk‘ (Armenian: Հայք) (not to be confused with the aforementioned patriarch, Hayk).

Origin
While the Armenian language is classified as an Indo-European language, its placement within the broader Indo-European language family is a matter of debate. Until fairly recently, scholars believed Armenian to be most closely related to Greek and Ancient Macedonian. Eric P. Hamp placed Armenian in the "Pontic Indo-European" (also called Graeco-Armenian or Helleno-Armenian) subgroup of Indo-European languages in his 2012 Indo-European family tree. There are two possible explanations, not mutually exclusive, for a common origin of the Armenian and Greek languages.
 * In Hamp's view, the homeland of the proposed Graeco-Armenian subgroup is the northeast coast of the Black Sea and its hinterlands. He assumes that they migrated from there southeast through the Caucasus with the Armenians remaining after Batumi while the pre-Greeks proceeded westward along the southern coast of the Black Sea.
 * Ancient Greek historian Herodotus (writing c. 440 BCE), suggested that Armenians migrated from Phrygia, a region that encompassed much of western and central Anatolia during the Iron Age: "the Armenians were equipped like Phrygians, being Phrygian colonists" (7.73) (Ἀρμένιοι δὲ κατά περ Φρύγες ἐσεσάχατο, ἐόντες Φρυγῶν ἄποικοι.). This statement was interpreted by later scholars as meaning that Armenians spoke a language derived from Phrygian, a poorly attested Indo-European language. However, this theory has been discredited. Ancient Greek writers believed that the Phrygians had originated in the Balkans, in an area adjoining Macedonia, from where they had emigrated to Anatolia during the Bronze Age collapse. This led later scholars to theorize that Armenians also originated in the Balkans. However, an Armenian origin in the Balkans, although once widely accepted, has been facing increased scrutiny in recent years due to discrepancies in the timeline and lack of genetic and archeological evidence. The view that Armenians are native to the South Caucasus is supported by ancient Armenian historical accounts and legends, which place the Ararat Plain as the cradle of Armenian culture, as well as modern genetic research. In fact, some scholars have suggested that the Phrygians or the apparently related Mushki people were originally from Armenia and moved westward.

Some linguists tentatively conclude that Armenian, Greek (and Phrygian) and Indo-Iranian were dialectally close to each other;    within this hypothetical dialect group, Proto-Armenian was situated between Proto-Greek (centum subgroup) and Proto-Indo-Iranian (satem subgroup). This has led some scholars to propose a hypothetical Graeco-Armenian-Aryan clade within the Indo-European language family from which the Armenian, Greek, Indo-Iranian, and possibly Phrygian languages all descend. According to Kim (2018), however, there is insufficient evidence for a cladistic connection between Armenian and Greek, and common features between these two languages can be explained as a result of contact. Contact is also the most likely explanation for morphological features shared by Armenian with Indo-Iranian and Balto-Slavic languages.

It has been suggested that the Bronze Age Trialeti-Vanadzor culture and sites such as the burial complexes at Verin and Nerkin Naver are indicative of an Indo-European presence in Armenia by the end of the 3rd millennium BCE. The controversial Armenian hypothesis, put forward by some scholars, such as Thomas Gamkrelidze and Vyacheslav V. Ivanov, proposes that the Indo-European homeland was around the Armenian Highland. This theory was partially confirmed by the research of geneticist David Reich (et al. 2018), among others. Similarly Grolle (et al. 2018) supports not only a homeland for Armenians on the Armenian highlands, but also that the Armenian highlands are the homeland for the "pre-proto-Indo-Europeans". A large genetic study in 2022 showed that many Armenians are "direct patrilineal descendants of the Yamnaya". Genetic studies explain Armenian diversity by several mixtures of Eurasian populations that occurred between 3000 and 2000 BCE. But genetic signals of population mixture cease after 1200 BCE when Bronze Age civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean world suddenly and violently collapsed. Armenians have since remained isolated and genetic structure within the population developed ~500 years ago when Armenia was divided between the Ottomans and the Safavid Empire in Iran. A genetic study (Wang et al. 2018) supports the indigenous origin for Armenians in a region south of the Caucasus which he calls "Greater Caucasus".

In the Bronze Age, several states flourished in the area of Greater Armenia, including the Hittite Empire (at the height of its power in the 14th century BCE), (Mitanni (South-Western historical Armenia, 1500–1300 BCE), and Hayasa-Azzi (1500–1200 BCE). Soon after Hayasa-Azzi came Arme-Shupria (1300s–1190 BCE), the Nairi Confederation (1200–900 BCE), and the Kingdom of Urartu (860–590 BCE), who successively established their sovereignty over the Armenian Highland. Each of the aforementioned nations and tribes participated in the ethnogenesis of the Armenian people. Under Ashurbanipal (669–627 BCE), the Assyrian empire reached the Caucasus Mountains (modern Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan).

Luwianologist John D. Hawkins proposed that "Hai" people were possibly mentioned in the 10th century BCE Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions from Carchemish. A.E. Redgate later clarified that these "Hai" people may have been Armenians.

Antiquity
The first geographical entity that was called Armenia by neighboring peoples (such as by Hecataeus of Miletus and on the Achaemenid Behistun Inscription) was the Satrapy of Armenia, established in the late 6th century BCE under the Orontid (Yervanduni) dynasty within the Achaemenid Persian Empire. The Orontids later ruled the independent Kingdom of Armenia. At its zenith (95–65 BCE), under the imperial reign of Tigran the Great, a member of the Artaxiad (Artashesian) dynasty, the Kingdom of Armenia extended from the Caucasus all the way to what is now central Turkey, Lebanon, and northern Iran.

The Arsacid Kingdom of Armenia, itself a branch of the Arsacid dynasty of Parthia, was the first state to adopt Christianity as its religion (it had formerly been adherent to Armenian paganism, which was influenced by Zoroastrianism, while later on adopting a few elements regarding identification of its pantheon with Greco-Roman deities). In the early years of the 4th century, likely 301 CE, partly in defiance of the Sassanids it seems. In the late Parthian period, Armenia was a predominantly Zoroastrian-adhering land, but by the Christianisation, previously predominant Zoroastrianism and paganism in Armenia gradually declined. This is the period that an Armenian community was established in Judea (modern-day Palestine-Israel), leading to the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem. Later on, to further strengthen Armenian national identity, Mesrop Mashtots invented the Armenian alphabet, in 405 CE. This event ushered the Golden Age of Armenia, during which many foreign books and manuscripts were translated to Armenian by Mesrop's pupils. Armenia lost its sovereignty again in 428 CE to the rivaling Byzantine and Sassanid Persian empires, until the Muslim conquest of Persia overran also the regions in which Armenians lived.

Middle Ages
In 885 CE the Armenians reestablished themselves as a sovereign kingdom under the leadership of Ashot I of the Bagratid Dynasty. A considerable portion of the Armenian nobility and peasantry fled the Byzantine occupation of Bagratid Armenia in 1045, and the subsequent invasion of the region by Seljuk Turks in 1064. They settled in large numbers in Cilicia, an Anatolian region where Armenians were already established as a minority since Roman times. In 1080, they founded an independent Armenian Principality then Kingdom of Cilicia, which became the focus of Armenian nationalism. The Armenians developed close social, cultural, military, and religious ties with nearby Crusader States, but eventually succumbed to Mamluk invasions. In the next few centuries, Djenghis Khan, Timurids, and the tribal Turkic federations of the Ak Koyunlu and the Kara Koyunlu ruled over the Armenians.

Early modern history
From the early 16th century, both Western Armenia and Eastern Armenia fell under Iranian Safavid rule. Owing to the century long Turco-Iranian geo-political rivalry that would last in Western Asia, significant parts of the region were frequently fought over between the two rivalling empires. From the mid 16th century with the Peace of Amasya, and decisively from the first half of the 17th century with the Treaty of Zuhab until the first half of the 19th century, Eastern Armenia was ruled by the successive Iranian Safavid, Afsharid and Qajar empires, while Western Armenia remained under Ottoman rule. In the late 1820s, the parts of historic Armenia under Iranian control centering on Yerevan and Lake Sevan (all of Eastern Armenia) were incorporated into the Russian Empire following Iran's forced ceding of the territories after its loss in the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828) and the outcoming Treaty of Turkmenchay. Western Armenia however, remained in Ottoman hands.

Modern history
The ethnic cleansing of Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire is widely considered a genocide, resulting in an estimated 1.2 million victims. The first wave of persecution was in the years 1894 to 1896, the second one culminating in the events of the Armenian genocide in 1915 and 1916. With World War I in progress, the Ottoman Empire accused the (Christian) Armenians as liable to ally with Imperial Russia, and used it as a pretext to deal with the entire Armenian population as an enemy within their empire.

Governments of the Republic of Turkey since that time have consistently rejected charges of genocide, typically arguing either that those Armenians who died were simply in the way of a war, or that killings of Armenians were justified by their individual or collective support for the enemies of the Ottoman Empire. Passage of legislation in various foreign countries, condemning the persecution of the Armenians as genocide, has often provoked diplomatic conflict. (See recognition of the Armenian genocide)

Following the breakup of the Russian Empire in the aftermath of World War I for a brief period, from 1918 to 1920, Armenia was an independent republic plagued by socio-economic crises such as large-scale Muslim uprisings. In late 1920, the communists came to power following an invasion of Armenia by the Red Army; in 1922, Armenia became part of the Transcaucasian SFSR of the Soviet Union, later on forming the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (1936 to 21 September 1991). In 1991, Armenia declared independence from the USSR and established the second Republic of Armenia. Also in 1991, the ethnic Armenian-majority Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (later the Republic of Artsakh), declared independence from Azerbaijan which lasted until 2023.

Armenia
Armenians are believed to have had a presence in the Armenian Highland for over 4,000 years. According to legend, Hayk, the patriarch and founder of the Armenian nation, led Armenians to victory over Bel of Babylon and settled in the Armenian Highland. Today, with a population of 3.5 million (although more recent estimates place the population closer to 2.9 million), they constitute an overwhelming majority in Armenia, Armenians in the diaspora informally refer to them as Hayastantsis (հայաստանցի), meaning those that are from Armenia (that is, those born and raised in Armenia). They, as well as the Armenians of Iran and Russia, speak the Eastern dialect of the Armenian language. The country itself is secular as a result of Soviet domination, but most of its citizens identify themselves as Apostolic Armenian Christian.

Diaspora
While the largest Armenian diaspora populations reside in Russia, the United States, France, and other countries, small Armenian trading and religious communities have existed outside Armenia for centuries. A prominent community has continued since the 4th century in the Holy Land, and one of the quarters of the walled Old City of Jerusalem is called the Armenian Quarter. An Armenian Catholic monastic community of 35 founded in 1717 exists on an island near Venice, Italy.

The region of Western Armenia was an influential part of the Eastern Roman Empire, which was absorbed by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. The Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire is estimated to have been between 1.5 and 2.5 million in the early 20th century. Most of the modern Armenian diaspora consists of Armenians scattered throughout the world as a direct consequence of massacres and genocide in the Ottoman Empire. However, Armenian communities in Iran, Georgia (Tbilisi), and Syria existed since antiquity. During the Middle Ages and the centuries prior to the genocide, additional communities were formed in Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Kievan Rus' and the territories of Russia, Poland, Austria, and Lebanon. There are also remnants of historic communities in Turkey (Istanbul), India, Myanmar, Thailand, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, Israel-Palestine, Iraq, Romania, Serbia, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.

The Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan had an absolute Armenian majority until 2023. From 1991 to 2023, the region was governed by the Armenia-backed Republic of Artsakh, a largely unrecognized breakway state. After Azerbaijan defeated Artsakh in 2023 after decades of conflict, nearly the entire population fled into Armenia.

Within the diasporan Armenian community, there is an unofficial classification of the different kinds of Armenians. For example, Armenians who originate from Iran are referred to as Parskahay (պարսկահայ), while Armenians from Lebanon are usually referred to as Lipananahay (լիբանանահայ). Armenians of the Diaspora are the primary speakers of the Western dialect of the Armenian language. This dialect has considerable differences with Eastern Armenian, but speakers of either of the two variations can usually understand each other. Eastern Armenian in the diaspora is primarily spoken in Iran and European countries such as Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia (where they form a majority in the Samtskhe-Javakheti province). In diverse communities (such as in the United States and Canada) where many different kinds of Armenians live together, there is a tendency for the different groups to cluster together.

Religion
Before Christianity, Armenians adhered to Armenian Indo-European native religion: a type of indigenous polytheism that pre-dated the Urartu period but which subsequently adopted several Greco-Roman and Iranian religious characteristics.

In 301 AD, Armenia adopted Christianity as a state religion, becoming the first state to do so. The claim is primarily based on the fifth-century work of Agathangelos titled "The History of the Armenians." Agathangelos witnessed at first hand the baptism of the Armenian King Trdat III (c. 301/314 A.D.) by St. Gregory the Illuminator. Trdat III decreed Christianity was the state religion.

Armenia established a Church that still exists independently of both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches, having become so in 451 AD as a result of its stance regarding the Council of Chalcedon. Today this church is known as the Armenian Apostolic Church, which is a part of the Oriental Orthodox communion, not to be confused with the Eastern Orthodox communion. During its later political eclipses, Armenia depended on the church to preserve and protect its unique identity. The original location of the Armenian Catholicosate is Echmiadzin. However, the continuous upheavals, which characterized the political scenes of Armenia, made the political power move to safer places. The Church center moved as well to different locations together with the political authority. Therefore, it eventually moved to Cilicia as the Holy See of Cilicia.

Armenia has, at times, constituted a Christian "island" in a mostly Muslim region. There are, however, a minority of ethnic Armenian Muslims, known as Hamshenis and Crypto-Armenians, although the former are often regarded as a distinct group or subgroup. In the late tsarist Caucasus, individual conversions of Muslims, Yazidis, Jews, and Assyrians into Armenian Christianity have been documented. The history of the Jews in Armenia dates back over 2,000 years. The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia had close ties to European Crusader States. Later on, the deteriorating situation in the region led the bishops of Armenia to elect a Catholicos in Etchmiadzin, the original seat of the Catholicosate. In 1441, a new Catholicos was elected in Etchmiadzin in the person of Kirakos Virapetsi, while Krikor Moussapegiants preserved his title as Catholicos of Cilicia. Therefore, since 1441, there have been two Catholicosates in the Armenian Church with equal rights and privileges, and with their respective jurisdictions. The primacy of honor of the Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin has always been recognized by the Catholicosate of Cilicia.

While the Armenian Apostolic Church remains the most prominent church in the Armenian community throughout the world, Armenians (especially in the diaspora) subscribe to any number of other Christian denominations. These include the Armenian Catholic Church (which follows its own liturgy but recognizes the Roman Catholic Pope), the Armenian Evangelical Church, which started as a reformation in the Mother church but later broke away, and the Armenian Brotherhood Church, which was born in the Armenian Evangelical Church, but later broke apart from it. There are other numerous Armenian churches belonging to Protestant denominations of all kinds.

Through the ages many Armenians have collectively belonged to other faiths or Christian movements, including the Paulicians which is a form of Gnostic and Manichaean Christianity. Paulicians sought to restore the pure Christianity of Paul and in c.660 founded the first congregation in Kibossa, Armenia.

Another example is the Tondrakians, who flourished in medieval Armenia between the early 9th century and 11th century. Tondrakians advocated the abolishment of the church, denied the immortality of the soul, did not believe in an afterlife, supported property rights for peasants, and equality between men and women.

The Orthodox Armenians or the Chalcedonian Armenians in the Byzantine Empire were called Iberians ("Georgians") or "Greeks". A notable Orthodox "Iberian" Armenian was the Byzantine General Gregory Pakourianos. The descendants of these Orthodox and Chalcedonic Armenians are the Hayhurum of Greece and Catholic Armenians of Georgia.

Language and literature
Armenian is a sub-branch of the Indo-European family, and with some 8 million speakers one of the smallest surviving branches, comparable to Albanian or the somewhat more widely spoken Greek, with which it may be connected (see Graeco-Armenian). Today, that branch has just one language – Armenian.

Five million Eastern Armenian speakers live in the Caucasus, Russia, and Iran, and approximately two to three million people in the rest of the Armenian diaspora speak Western Armenian. According to US Census figures, there are 300,000 Americans who speak Armenian at home. It is in fact the twentieth most commonly spoken language in the United States, having slightly fewer speakers than Haitian Creole, and slightly more than Navajo.

Armenian literature dates back to 400 AD, when Mesrop Mashtots first invented the Armenian alphabet. This period of time is often viewed as the Golden Age of Armenian literature. Early Armenian literature was written by the "father of Armenian history", Moses of Chorene, who authored The History of Armenia. The book covers the time-frame from the formation of the Armenian people to the fifth century AD. The nineteenth century beheld a great literary movement that was to give rise to modern Armenian literature. This period of time, during which Armenian culture flourished, is known as the Revival period (Zartonki sherchan). The Revivalist authors of Constantinople and Tiflis, almost identical to the Romanticists of Europe, were interested in encouraging Armenian nationalism. Most of them adopted the newly created Eastern or Western variants of the Armenian language depending on the targeted audience, and preferred them over classical Armenian (grabar). This period ended after the Hamidian massacres, when Armenians experienced turbulent times. As Armenian history of the 1920s and of the Genocide came to be more openly discussed, writers like Paruyr Sevak, Gevork Emin, Silva Kaputikyan and Hovhannes Shiraz began a new era of literature.

Architecture
The first Armenian churches were built on the orders of St. Gregory the Illuminator, and were often built on top of pagan temples, and imitated some aspects of Armenian pre-Christian architecture.

Classical and Medieval Armenian Architecture is divided into four separate periods.

The first Armenian churches were built between the 4th and 7th century, beginning when Armenia converted to Christianity, and ending with the Arab invasion of Armenia. The early churches were mostly simple basilicas, but some with side apses. By the fifth century the typical cupola cone in the center had become widely used. By the seventh century, centrally planned churches had been built and a more complicated niched buttress and radiating Hrip'simé style had formed. By the time of the Arab invasion, most of what we now know as classical Armenian architecture had formed.

From the 9th to 11th century, Armenian architecture underwent a revival under the patronage of the Bagratid Dynasty with a great deal of building done in the area of Lake Van, this included both traditional styles and new innovations. Ornately carved Armenian Khachkars were developed during this time. Many new cities and churches were built during this time, including a new capital at Lake Van and a new Cathedral on Akdamar Island to match. The Cathedral of Ani was also completed during this dynasty. It was during this time that the first major monasteries, such as Haghpat and Haritchavank were built. This period was ended by the Seljuk invasion.

Sports
Many types of sports are played in Armenia, among the most popular being football, chess, boxing, basketball, ice hockey, sambo, wrestling, weightlifting, and volleyball. Since independence, the Armenian government has been actively rebuilding its sports program in the country.

During Soviet rule, Armenian athletes rose to prominence winning plenty of medals and helping the USSR win the medal standings at the Olympics on numerous occasions. The first medal won by an Armenian in modern Olympic history was by Hrant Shahinyan, who won two golds and two silvers in gymnastics at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. To highlight the level of success of Armenians in the Olympics, Shahinyan was quoted as saying:

"Armenian sportsmen had to outdo their opponents by several notches for the shot at being accepted into any Soviet team. But those difficulties notwithstanding, 90 percent of Armenian athletes on Soviet Olympic teams came back with medals."

In football, their most successful team was Yerevan's FC Ararat, which had claimed most of the Soviet championships in the 70s and had also gone to post victories against professional clubs like FC Bayern Munich in the Euro cup. Notable players include Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Youri Djorkaeff, Alain Boghossian, Andranik Eskandarian, Andranik Teymourian, Edgar Manucharyan, Khoren Oganesian and Nikita Simonyan.

Armenians have also been successful in chess, which is the most popular mind sport in Armenia. Some of the most prominent chess players in the world are Armenian such as Tigran Petrosian and Levon Aronian. Garry Kasparov is half-Armenian through his mother. As a nation, Armenia won the World Champion in 2011 and the World Chess Olympiad on three occasions.

Armenians have also been successful in weightlifting and wrestling, the latter having been a successful sport in the Olympics for Armenia. At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Armen Nazaryan won the gold in the Men's Greco-Roman Flyweight (52 kg) category and Armen Mkrtchyan won the silver in Men's Freestyle Paperweight (48 kg) category, securing Armenia's first two medals in its Olympic history. There are also successful Armenians in boxing: Arthur Abraham and Vic Darchinyan.

Music and dance
Armenian music is a mix of indigenous folk music, perhaps best-represented by Djivan Gasparyan's well-known duduk music, as well as light pop, and extensive Christian music.

Instruments like the duduk, the dhol, the zurna and the kanun are commonly found in Armenian folk music. Artists such as Sayat Nova are famous due to their influence in the development of Armenian folk music. One of the oldest types of Armenian music is the Armenian chant which is the most common kind of religious music in Armenia. Many of these chants are ancient in origin, extending to pre-Christian times, while others are relatively modern, including several composed by Saint Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet. While under Soviet rule, Armenian classical music composer Aram Khatchaturian became internationally well known for his music, for various ballets and the Sabre Dance from his composition for the ballet Gayane.

The Armenian genocide caused widespread emigration that led to the settlement of Armenians in various countries in the world. Armenians kept to their traditions and certain diasporans rose to fame with their music. In the post-Genocide Armenian community of the United States, the so-called "kef" style Armenian dance music, using Armenian and Middle Eastern folk instruments (often electrified/amplified) and some western instruments, was popular. This style preserved the folk songs and dances of Western Armenia, and many artists also played the contemporary popular songs of Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries from which the Armenians emigrated. Richard Hagopian is perhaps the most famous artist of the traditional "kef" style and the Vosbikian Band was notable in the 40s and 50s for developing their own style of "kef music" heavily influenced by the popular American Big Band Jazz of the time. Later, stemming from the Middle Eastern Armenian diaspora and influenced by Continental European (especially French) pop music, the Armenian pop music genre grew to fame in the 60s and 70s with artists such as Adiss Harmandian and Harout Pamboukjian performing to the Armenian diaspora and Armenia. Also with artists such as Sirusho, performing pop music combined with Armenian folk music in today's entertainment industry. Other Armenian diasporans that rose to fame in classical or international music circles are world-renowned French-Armenian singer and composer Charles Aznavour, pianist Sahan Arzruni, prominent opera sopranos such as Hasmik Papian and more recently Isabel Bayrakdarian and Anna Kasyan. Certain Armenians settled to sing non-Armenian tunes such as the heavy metal band System of a Down (which nonetheless often incorporates traditional Armenian instrumentals and styling into their songs) or pop star Cher (whose father was Armenian). Ruben Hakobyan (Ruben Sasuntsi) is a well recognized Armenian ethnographic and patriotic folk singer who has achieved widespread national recognition due to his devotion to Armenian folk music and exceptional talent. In the Armenian diaspora, Armenian Revolutionary Songs are popular with the youth. These songs encourage Armenian patriotism and are generally about Armenian history and national heroes.

Carpet weaving
Carpet-weaving is historically a major traditional profession for the majority of Armenian women, including many Armenian families. Prominent Karabakh carpet weavers there were men too. The oldest extant Armenian carpet from the region, referred to as Artsakh (see also Karabakh carpet) during the medieval era, is from the village of Banants (near Gandzak) and dates to the early 13th century. The first time that the Armenian word for carpet, kork, was used in historical sources was in a 1242–1243 Armenian inscription on the wall of the Kaptavan Church in Artsakh.

Common themes and patterns found on Armenian carpets were the depiction of dragons and eagles. They were diverse in style, rich in color and ornamental motifs, and were even separated in categories depending on what sort of animals were depicted on them, such as artsvagorgs (eagle-carpets), vishapagorgs (dragon-carpets) and otsagorgs (serpent-carpets). The rug mentioned in the Kaptavan inscriptions is composed of three arches, "covered with vegatative ornaments", and bears an artistic resemblance to the illuminated manuscripts produced in Artsakh.

The art of carpet weaving was in addition intimately connected to the making of curtains as evidenced in a passage by Kirakos Gandzaketsi, a 13th-century Armenian historian from Artsakh, who praised Arzu-Khatun, the wife of regional prince Vakhtang Khachenatsi, and her daughters for their expertise and skill in weaving.

Armenian carpets were also renowned by foreigners who traveled to Artsakh; the Arab geographer and historian Al-Masudi noted that, among other works of art, he had never seen such carpets elsewhere in his life.

Cuisine
Khorovats, an Armenian-styled barbecue, is arguably the favorite Armenian dish. Lavash is a very popular Armenian flat bread, and Armenian paklava is a popular dessert made from filo dough. Other famous Armenian foods include the kabob (a skewer of marinated roasted meat and vegetables), various dolmas (minced lamb, or beef meat and rice wrapped in grape leaves, cabbage leaves, or stuffed into hollowed vegetables), and pilaf, a rice dish. Also, ghapama, a rice-stuffed pumpkin dish, and many different salads are popular in Armenian culture. Fruits play a large part in the Armenian diet. Apricots (Prunus armeniaca, also known as Armenian Plum) have been grown in Armenia for centuries and have a reputation for having an especially good flavor. Peaches are popular as well, as are grapes, figs, pomegranates, and melons. Preserves are made from many fruits, including cornelian cherries, young walnuts, sea buckthorn, mulberries, sour cherries, and many others.

Institutions

 * The Armenian Apostolic Church, the world's oldest National Church
 * The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) founded in 1906 and the largest Armenian non-profit organization in the world, with educational, cultural and humanitarian projects on all continents
 * The Armenian Revolutionary Federation, founded in 1890. It is generally referred to as the Dashnaktsutyun, which means Federation in Armenian. The ARF is the strongest worldwide Armenian political organization and the only diasporan Armenian organization with a significant political presence in Armenia.
 * Hamazkayin, an Armenian cultural and educational society founded in Cairo in 1928, and responsible for the founding of Armenian secondary schools and institutions of higher education in several countries
 * The Armenian Catholic Church, representing small communities of Armeno-Catholics in different countries around the world, as well as important monastic and cultural institutions in Venice and Vienna
 * Homenetmen, an Armenian Scouting and athletic organization founded in 1910 with a worldwide membership of about 25,000
 * The Armenian Relief Society, founded in 1910

Y-DNA
A 2012 study found that haplogroups R1b, J2, and T were the most notable haplogroups among Armenians.

MtDNA
Most notable mtDNA haplogroups among the Armenian samples are H, U, T, J, K and X while the rest of remaining Mtdna of the Armenians are HV, I, X, W, R0 and N.

title: Armenians


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User:Tom perrett

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title: User:Tom perrett


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Skiffy

Skiffy is a deliberate humorous misspelling or mispronunciation of the controversial term "sci-fi", a neologism referring to science fiction.

Background
The term "sci-fi" was suggested as an abbreviated term for "science fiction" by Forrest J Ackerman in 1954, an analogy to the then-cutting edge term "hi-fi" (for audio high fidelity). Ackerman was a long-time fan, and at the time was the literary agent for science fiction authors Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, A. E. van Vogt, Curt Siodmak and L. Ron Hubbard. Ackerman pronounced his new term as or "sigh figh". In the 1970s, some members of science fiction fandom began to pronounce the term or "skiffy" for unclear reasons.

Peter Nicholls writes that "SF" (or "sf") is "the preferred abbreviation within the community of sf writers and readers." David Langford's monthly fanzine Ansible includes a regular section "As Others See Us" which offers numerous examples of "sci-fi" and "skiffy" being used in a pejorative sense by people outside the genre.

Skiffy is the name of the science fiction and fantasy club at the College of William & Mary, and VCU, as well as not always affectionate shorthand for the American cable channel once named the Sci-Fi Channel.

In 1998, Mike Resnick and Patrick Nielsen Hayden released a book called Alternate Skiffy. In keeping with the tongue-in-cheek intent of the term, this was an anthology featuring stories about what might have happened if the lives of various well-known science fiction writers had turned out differently.

title: Skiffy


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The McLaughlin Group

The McLaughlin Group was a syndicated half-hour weekly public affairs television program in the United States, hosted by John McLaughlin from 1982 until his death in 2016. Prompted by the host, the group of four pundits discussed current political issues in a round table format. A revival reuniting the regular panelists aired intermittently between 2018 and 2020.

Format
The general format for the show consisted of moderator John McLaughin questioning four commentators, among them Pat Buchanan, Eleanor Clift, Clarence Page, Morton Kondracke, Fred Barnes, Jack Germond and Mort Zuckerman. Members of the regular panel varied over the years.

A typical episode covered three or four issues. The first was introduced by McLaughlin, beginning with, "Issue one..." which was explained by him, usually in a prerecorded video segment accompanied by his voice-over. He then proposed a question for the panelists, starting with Buchanan (if present). The conversation was usually sedate at the beginning of the program, but as opposing viewpoints emerged there was more verbal rough-housing, good-natured gamesmanship and occasionally very loud crosstalk as panelists attempted to out-yell the others, all of which were the show's trademarks.

Two episodes at the turn of the calendar year were reserved for "The McLaughlin Group Year-End Awards". Each panelist announced his or her choice for each category such as “Biggest Winner of 2008,” ”Best Politician,” “Most Boring,” “Turncoat of the Year,” “Enough Already,” “Most Underrated,” etc., followed by McLaughlin's choice. During the first of these special episodes, the participants typically dressed in festive Christmas attire; in the second, they typically dressed in formal evening wear for the New Year.

Criticism
Journalists James Fallows and ex-McLaughlin Group panelist Jack Germond opined that the show gloried too much in sensationalism and simplification, to the detriment of serious journalism. Ronald Reagan, while in office as U.S. president, once referred to McLaughlin and his group as taking the traditional Sunday morning talk show format of a moderator with a group of journalists and turning it into "a political version of Animal House."

Despite the president's remark, Christopher Hitchens wrote in 1987 that The McLaughlin Group was firmly aligned with the Reagan administration. Not only did it accept all sorts of preconditions for access to official guests (servitude Hitchens attributed to all major political talk shows of the time), it actively assisted the White House – McLaughlin's wife Ann served in the cabinet, and Pat Buchanan was "hired straight off the set" to be Reagan's director of communications. As for McLaughlin himself, Hitchens said, "he likes to canvass all opinions from the extreme right to the moderate right".

Syndication
The original incarnation aired on PBS member TV stations and the PBS digital subchannel World as well as on some local commercial TV stations, including WCBS-TV in New York City. During its run, underwriters included Pfizer, the New York Stock Exchange, and GE (the longest-serving, which spent 16 years).

The show was distributed by Chicago-based PBS member station WTTW. In the United States, it was carried on numerous public broadcasting stations and, from May 2007 to August 2016, a small number of CBS-affiliated stations. Most stations carried the program on weekends, but there were a few, like WGBH in Boston, Kentucky Educational Television stations across Kentucky, Mississippi ETV in Jackson, Mississippi, PBS channel 8 KUHT in Houston, Texas, WGVU Channel 35/WGVK Channel 52 Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo, Michigan, and PBS channel 28 KBTC in Tacoma, Washington, that ran it on Friday evenings, and WHUT-TV Channel 32 in Washington, D.C., aired it on Tuesdays. Internationally, the show was carried on several satellite channels, such as Voice of America TV and it was on the London-based CNBC Europe. It was also carried by CTV in Christchurch, New Zealand, and by Triangle TV in Auckland, New Zealand.

From its start until May 2008, the program originated from WRC-TV, the NBC-owned station in Washington, D.C. From May 2008 until it ended in August 2016, the show was produced at and aired by WUSA-TV, the Tegna-owned CBS affiliate for Washington, D.C.

Final episode
In the final months of the show's run, McLaughlin took a smaller role in the panel's weekly discussions due to health issues and a wavering voice. The McLaughlin Group recorded its last episode on August 12, 2016 without him on camera. It was the only episode he missed in the original run's 34-year history, although his voice introduced the week's issues via pre-recorded voiceovers. The episode began with a written statement from McLaughlin, which read:

Dear Friends of The McLaughlin Group, Dr. McLaughlin here. As the panel′s recent absences attest, I am under the weather. The final issue of this episode has my voice, but please forgive me for its weaker than usual quality. Yet my spirit is strong and my dedication to this show remains absolute!

Panelist Pat Buchanan then began the episode by saying, "This is our first time in 34 years that our distinguished leader Dr. McLaughlin is not in his chair and we miss him. But let's get on with the show." Buchanan, Eleanor Clift, Clarence Page, and Tom Rogan recorded the show without a moderator. Rogan closed the episode by saying, "On behalf of the panel, we want to say to John that we're thinking of you and you have our very best."

Four days after the recording of the last episode, John McLaughlin died at the age of 89 on August 16, 2016. On August 18, 2016, WTTW's chief content officer Dan Soles announced that The McLaughlin Group had ended production. He told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement, "This long-running political commentary and discussion show was consistently an audience favorite, and we will miss this important contribution to our political coverage. WTTW is proud to have brought the series, and Dr. McLaughlin, to the PBS system."

Revival
The program was revived January 7, 2018 – retaining McLaughlin's name posthumously – reuniting the same panelists from the later years of the original run, joined by Tom Rogan as host.

Airing on WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C. during its first few months, and then available only online through December 30, 2018. The revival went into hiatus from January 4, 2019 through August 30, 2019, but returned to the air on Maryland Public Television on September 6, 2019. The show began airing nationally on PBS in the United States on January 3, 2020. It again went into hiatus after its broadcast of December 25, 2020.

WJLA-TV
In a chance meeting with Eleanor Clift in March 2017, BL Media Group chief executive officer Seth Berenzweig proposed a revival of The McLaughlin Group. Although Clift initially opposed the idea, arguing that the show could not go on without McLaughlin as host, she became more positive about the proposal after meeting with Berenzweig, Clarence Page, Pat Buchanan, McLaughlin Group producer and director Shelly Schwartz, and BL Media Group president Tod Castleberry. They decided to offer Tom Rogan the position of host of the revived show, and he accepted.

On August 12, 2017, a pilot episode for a revived The McLaughlin Group appeared on YouTube. The panelists were Buchanan, Clift, Page, and former Central Intelligence Agency officer and 2016 presidential candidate Evan McMullin. Rogan served as the host of the program. According to Buchanan's official website, the panelists were hoping to sell the revived show to a network so that The McLaughlin Group could be "back on the air on a full-time basis."

Berenzweig and Castleberry believed that a revived McLaughlin Group could not survive commercially as merely a regional show in the Washington, D.C., area and needed national distribution to be financially viable. At the time the pilot appeared on YouTube, Sinclair Broadcast Group was trying to acquire Tribune Media, and Berenzweig and Castleberry approached WJLA-TV, the Sinclair-owned ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C., about a deal to carry the revived show locally. Based on the YouTube pilot, BL Media Group and WJLA-TV agreed to a deal, with the expectation that the merger of Sinclair and Tribune would go through as expected and lead to national distribution of The McLaughlin Group not long after its WJLA-TV debut. On December 22, 2017, it was announced that the program would return in 2018 with Rogan as host and longtime panelists Buchanan, Clift, and Page also set to return. The new version of The McLaughlin Group premiered on January 7, 2018, airing only on WJLA-TV. It was broadcast on Sundays at noon Eastern Time, with its episodes also available online. Sinclair Broadcasting expressed hopes to syndicate the show during the 2018–19 television season, most likely in a news block also featuring Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.

The proposed Sinclair-Tribune merger came under scrutiny by the Federal Communications Commission, and within three months Tribune Media decided to pull out of the potential deal. Without the merger, there was no chance of national distribution of The McLaughlin Group via Sinclair alone, so BL Media Group opted not to renew its contract with WJLA-TV and parted company amicably with the station. As a result, after a few months, The McLaughlin Group ceased to air on WJLA-TV and became available online only. After it revived the original program's two-part end-of-year annual "awards" show in its episodes of December 23 and 30, 2018, the new show went into hiatus. With The McLaughlin Group having no prospect of national distribution at the time, BL Media Group believed that it was unlikely to survive.

Maryland Public Television
From January 4, 2019 to August 30, 2019, The McLaughlin Group web site featured a banner that said: "Exciting news coming soon for McLaughlin Group fans! We are taking a brief hiatus on-air and will have a major announcement coming soon. 'The American Original' for over three decades, the sharpest minds, best sources and hardest talk will be bigger and better in 2019. Thanks for your support and stay tuned right here and on our social media for the latest." Meanwhile, BL Media Group decided that public television offered the best chance of resurrecting the revived show and approached several PBS stations during 2019 about carrying it. Ultimately, they chose Maryland Public Television (MPT) because of MPT's mutual familiarity with BL Media Group, proximity to Washington, D.C., and willingness to promote The McLauglin Group as a marquee show.

In August 2019, a redesigned version of the web site announced that the show would return to the air on MPT and would premiere there on September 6, 2019, again moderated by Rogan and with Buchanan, Clift, and Page returning as regular panelists. A redesigned opening title sequence in high definition (the previous opening was letterboxed), featuring a caricature drawing of McLaughlin before the new logo, was added.

On August 12, 2019, MPT and The McLaughlin Group production company, Re-Group Media, LLC, announced an agreement under which the show was recorded on Fridays at a studio in Washington, D.C., and aired on MPT on Fridays at 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time and again on Saturdays at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time; the most recent episode became available online at 12:00 noon Eastern Time on Sunday. Telecasts began on September 6, 2019, with a new logo and set but otherwise retaining the format of the 2018 revival. MPT produced, marketed, promoted, and distributed the program nationally through an agreement with American Public Television, with plans to begin national distribution in January 2020. On January 3, 2020, the program began to air nationally in the United States, exclusively on PBS stations and digital platforms.

The McLaughlin Group also produced a "Web Exclusive" each week. Available on the show's web site, each "Web Exclusive" was a continuation of that week's episode in which the panelists discuss an additional topic using footage not included in the broadcast. The first "Web Exclusive" was recorded as a continuation of the television episode of November 1, 2019.

On November 1, 2019, Westwood One began to produce the show for its podcast network. During the weekend of December 7–8, 2019, the show premiered around the United States on the Westwood One radio network.

By early March 2020, The McLaughlin Group aired on 204 television stations around the United States, reaching 60 percent of the American population, including outlets in 14 of the top 25 U.S. television markets, among them Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. At the time, an expanded one-hour version of the show aired on 40 radio stations around the United States through Westwood One, in addition to the Westwood One-produced podcast version of the show.

In the revived McLaughlin Group, the panel sought a calmer tone from that fostered by McLaughlin during his years as host, adopting a more conversational style with less shouting and crosstalk and no demands by the host for one-word answers to questions. As host, Rogan also took on a different persona and approach from McLaughlin, weaving his opinions into conversations rather than barking them out at panelists. Reflecting this new tone, the revived show adopted the slogan "Where friends disagree, agreeably."

When public health restrictions to address the COVID-19 pandemic became widespread and commonplace in the United States in March 2020, The McLaughlin Group stopped taping episodes in a studio and moved to a format in which members of the panel participated remotely. This format continued through the broadcast of December 25, 2020.

After the two-part annual end-of-year "awards" show was broadcast in the episodes of December 18 and 25, 2020, The McLaughlin Group again ceased to air on television or post episodes or "Web Exclusives" on its Web site. On January 8, 2021, the show's Twitter feed posted a message that stated "As we kick-off the new year, The McLaughlin Group and its producers would like to thank all of our loyal viewers and listeners. We are taking a brief hiatus as we work with our broadcast partners to continue to bring to you this landmark and vital show during this important time in our country." An identical message appeared on the show's Web page, from which all other content disappeared. During the second half of June 2022, the Web page disappeared, and, both the show's website and Facebook page are permanently offline.

Panelists

 * Regular panelists, revival and original
 * Pat Buchanan: political commentator and author
 * Eleanor Clift: contributor, MSNBC and The Daily Beast
 * Clarence Page: columnist, The Chicago Tribune

 * Original series regular panelists
 * Paul Glastris: editor, Washington Monthly
 * Mort Zuckerman: owner, New York Daily News and U.S. News & World Report
 * David Rennie: columnist, The Economist

 * Original series recurring panelists
 * Fred Barnes
 * Michael Barone
 * Tony Blankley
 * Jay Carney
 * Monica Crowley
 * Susan Ferrechio
 * Jack Germond
 * Al Hunt
 * Katty Kay
 * Michael Kinsley
 * Morton Kondracke
 * Lawrence Kudlow
 * Rich Lowry
 * Chris Matthews
 * Laura Ingraham
 * Robert Novak
 * Tucker Carlson
 * Lawrence O'Donnell
 * Tom Rogan
 * Mark Shields

In popular culture
McLaughlin's loud and forceful style of presentation was parodied by Dana Carvey on Saturday Night Live. McLaughlin made a cameo appearance on one of Carvey's parody sketches.

title: The McLaughlin Group


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Cervical cap

The cervical cap is a form of barrier contraception. A cervical cap fits over the cervix and blocks sperm from entering the uterus through the external orifice of the uterus, called the os.

Terminology
The term cervical cap has been used to refer to a number of barrier contraceptives, including the Prentif, Dumas, Vimule, and Oves devices. In the United States, Prentif was the only brand available for several decades (Prentif was withdrawn from the U.S. market in 2005). During this time, it was common to use the term cervical cap to refer exclusively to the Prentif brand.

The Lea's Shield was a cervical barrier device which was discontinued as of 2008. Some sources use cervical cap to refer to the FemCap and Lea's Shield. Other sources include FemCap in the term cervical cap, but classified the Lea's Shield as a distinct device.

In the 1920s, cervical caps (and also diaphragms) were often just called pessaries.

Cervical caps or conception caps have also been designed as a form of assisted reproductive technology, used to help people experiencing infertility.

Medical use
The effectiveness of cervical caps, as with most other forms of contraception, can be assessed two ways: method effectiveness and actual effectiveness. The method effectiveness is the proportion of couples correctly and consistently using the method who do not become pregnant. Actual effectiveness is the proportion of couples who intended that method as their sole form of birth control and do not become pregnant; it includes couples who sometimes use the method incorrectly, or sometimes not at all. Rates are generally presented for the first year of use. Most commonly the Pearl Index is used to calculate effectiveness rates, but some studies use decrement tables.

Contraceptive Technology reports that the method failure rate of the Prentif cervical cap with spermicide is 9% per year for nulliparous women (women who have never given birth), and 26% per year for parous women (who have given birth). The actual pregnancy rates among Prentif users vary depending on the population being studied, with yearly rates of 11% to 32% being reported. An FDA-mandated study reported failure rates: Method rate 6.4% (vs. 4.6% for the diaphragm);  Overall rate 17.4% (vs. 16.7% for the diaphragm).

Little data is available on the effectiveness of the Oves cap and FemCap. The Oves manufacturer cites one small study of 17 users. The FemCap website does not cite any data on the current version of the FemCap, but lists data for an older version which is no longer approved by the FDA.

The effectiveness trial of Lea's Shield was too small to determine method effectiveness. The actual pregnancy rate was 15% per year. Of the women in the trial, 85% were parous (had given birth). The study authors estimate that for nulliparous women (those who have never given birth) the pregnancy rate in typical use may be lower, around 5% per year.

Compared to other barrier methods
In the 1920s, Marie Stopes considered the cervical cap to be the best method of contraception available. Among barrier methods it provides the least intervention of a barrier surface between the penis and vagina resulting in natural contact between them. Except for the Fem-Cap, it also leaves exposed all the vaginal wall so that the hormones, etc. in the seminal fluid of the man can be better absorbed by the woman. The condom does not allow any absorption and the diaphragm exposes less area. However the condom does significantly reduce the likelihood of transmission of STDs. The diaphragm is inserted painlessly. It does not stretch the vagina, nor does it interfere with internal muscle movements during sex, as it is too high up in the vagina. The tip of the penis might touch the cap depending on the position and the size of the penis. Note that what Stopes calls the "Dutch cap" is today known as the "diaphragm". A partial objection to this claim is that most women do not know how to voluntarily control these muscles, and that some size diaphragms do not stretch the vagina that much, especially if they are smaller in size  The cervical cap can be worn for a significantly longer period of time than the diaphragm. It can be inserted several hours before intercourse and used successfully even if a woman's partner is drunk, etc. Stopes concludes in favor of the cervical cap and "condemns" the diaphragm "for general use"

Insertion and removal
There are more complaints about difficulties in removal than difficulties with insertion. Since suction holds the cap on, it may sometimes be difficult to remove unless one knows the tricks of removal. Marie Stopes wrote that for rim caps, one should work the tip of one's finger under the rim and pull with a jerk. The idea is to release suction before pulling hard. If one's fingers are too short (and/or the vagina too long), one can use an inserter (intended for diaphragms) or have one's partner do it.

Odor
Since the cervical cap can be worn for longer periods of time than the diaphragm, it is more prone to develop odors which might begin to appear after three continuous days of wear.

Types

Several brands of caps were manufactured during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. They can be divided into two types: cavity rim caps, and other caps. Cavity rim caps adhere to the cervix, while other caps adhere to the vaginal walls around the cervix. However, the FemCap (the only cervical cap sold in the United States after 2008) adheres to both.

The cavity rim caps are Prentif, made of latex, and the disposable cap Oves, made of silicone. There are four sizes of Prentif: 22, 25, 28, and 31 mm. There are three sizes of Oves: 26, 28, and 30 mm. Unique among cervical caps, it adheres to the cervix by surface tension, rather than by suction.

The other devices are the latex Dumas and Vimule, and the silicone FemCap, Lea's Shield, and Shanghai Lily. There are five sizes of Dumas: 50, 55, 60, 65, and 75 mm. There are three sizes of Vimule: 42, 48, and 52 mm. There are three sizes of FemCap: 22, 26, and 30 mm. There are four sizes of Shanghai Lily: 54, 58, 62, and 66 mm. Lea's Shield is manufactured in a single size. Unlike the other caps, Lea's Shield has a one-way air valve that helps it seal to the vaginal walls. The valve also allows the passage of cervical mucus. FemCap does not have such a valve and as such can be used to collect cervical mucus to support the Billings method. Both Lea's Shield and FemCap have loops to assist in removal.

Shanghai Lily is only available in China. As of 2008, many of the other devices are no longer being manufactured: Prentif, Vimule, and Dumas have been discontinued. Oves is only being sold as a conception cap, not as a birth control device. As of February 2009, FemCap was the only brand of cervical cap available in the United States. FemCap is also available in the UK via the NHS on prescription and is often distributed free from Family Planning Clinics depending on the health authority. Lea's Shield is only available as the German brand LEA contraceptivum.

FemCap
As of 2009, FemCap is the only brand available in the United States. A new FemCap performed poorly in a user acceptability study, suggesting that the modifications increased coital pain or discomfort among female users and their male sex partners, and that the modifications did not improve ease of use overall. However, FemCap users are still less likely to report such pain or discomfort than diaphragm users.

Sponge covered cap
A cap of the 1920'a had a sponge permanently attached to the outer surface of the cap to hold a liquid spermaticide such as vinegar. It was not as easy to clean the cap when removed, due to the sponge part.

2-part cap
This cap of the 1920s (the "Mizpah") had a separate ring (rim) which went around the base of the cervix and was worn constantly. The cap portion (which has its own ring/rim) is snapped into the base ring for use. A criticism of it was that due to the groove in the base ring (so it could attach itself to the cap part) it could not be kept perfectly clean without removing it.

Height of dome
The dome of a cervical cap may be low with little air space between the dome and the cervix, or high with plenty of air space above the cervix enclosed under the dome. Stopes recommends the high dome type for the following reasons: 1. The high dome cap has room to store secretions from the uterus such as menstrual flow or flow possibly resulting from an orgasm. 2. The high dome cap is allegedly less likely to become dislodged should the penis push hard against the cervix.

Rim
Per Stopes (in the 1920s) they should be made of very pliable soft rubber which should not be wrinkled or withered.

Caps of the 1920s had three types of rims: solid rubber (like an o-ring), air-inflated rubber, or a spring encased in rubber. Stopes recommended the all-rubber cap with the solid rubber rim There is also the question as to what is the best shape of the rim cross-section so that the penis is less likely to dislodge the cap by contact with the rim. Some caps such as the Prorace, advocated by Stopes, had a wide but flat thin rim so that a penis contact would tend to push the rim against the fornix which it is already resting against.

Stopes recommendations
The type of rim cap recommended by Stopes in the 1920s with a high dome of thin rubber was experimentally revived by Lamberts in England in 1981 and called the "test cap". It came in six sizes and its light weight meant that it was not as apt to be felt during sexual activity. It was not received well. Some thought it was too flimsy and more likely to dislodge, but Stopes had (in the 1920s) claimed just the opposite for this design, as did the director of a woman's health center who tried it out.

Fitting
Individuals who wish to use a cervical cap are screened by a health care provider to determine if a cervical cap, or one brand of cap, is appropriate for them. If a cap is determined to be appropriate, the provider will determine the proper size. The user must be refitted after any duration of pregnancy, whether the pregnancy is aborted, miscarried, or carried to term through vaginal childbirth or caesarean section.

Several factors may make a cap inappropriate for a particular woman. Women who have given birth may have scar tissue or irregularly shaped cervixes that interfere with the cap forming a good seal. For some women, available sizes of cervical caps do not provide a correct fit. Also, cavity rim caps are not recommended for women with an anteflexed uterus. In infrequent cases a woman may have a long vagina but short fingers and thus may not be able to place the cap correctly. Overall, 80% to 85% of women who want caps can be fitted without issues.

The rim cap should be such that the rim tucks into the fornix snugly and evenly so as to maintain good suction to hold it in place.

In some countries, some devices (such as the Lea's Shield) are available without a prescription.

Method of use
The first step in inserting or removing a cervical cap is handwashing, to avoid introducing harmful bacteria into the vaginal canal. The cap is inserted prior to sexual intercourse; some sources state that insertion prior to sexual arousal decreases the risk of incorrect placement. Most sources recommend the use of spermicide with the cap,  but some sources say spermicide use is optional.

The cap remains in the vagina for a minimum of 6 - 8  hours after the last intravaginal ejaculation. It is recommended the cap be removed within 72 hours (within 48 hours is recommended in the U.S.). Other than the disposable Oves cap, cervical caps can be washed and stored for reuse. Silicone devices may be boiled to sterilize them. Reusable caps may last for one or two years.

Some caps have a pull tab for removal but it is claimed that pulling on it should not be done since it the cap tends to adhere very tightly to the cervix. Instead, putting a finger under the rim and pulling with a jerk should easily detach it.

Acceptability
It was reported in the 1980s (during the cervical cap renaissance in the U.S.) that "women overwhelmingly preferred the cap to the diaphragm". On average, women also reported an increase in libido and frequency of sex.

The Oves cap and the new version of the FemCap performed poorly in user acceptability studies. The study on the FemCap concluded that the modifications to the FemCap significantly increased pain and discomfort among female users and their male sex partners, and that the modifications decreased acceptability of the device compared with the earlier version. The study of the Oves cap reported that few women indicated that they would use the cap in the future.

A pilot study conducted in Britain prior to the Lea's Shield's approval concluded that the Lea's Shield "may be acceptable to a highly select minority of women".

As of 2002, the cervical cap was one of the least common methods of contraception in the United States. A 2002 study indicated that of sexually active American women, 0.6% are currently using either the cervical cap, contraceptive sponge, or female condom as their primary method of contraception, and fewer than 1% have ever used a cervical cap.

Ancient
The idea of blocking the cervix to prevent pregnancy is thousands of years old. Various cultures have used cervix-shaped devices such as oiled paper cones or lemon halves. Others made sticky mixtures that included honey or cedar rosin, to be applied to the os. The modern idea of a cervical cap as a fitted device that seals itself against the vaginal walls is of more recent origin; it emerged within the past century.

19th century
In 1838, German gynecologist Friedrich Wilde created the first modern cervical cap by making custom-made rubber molds of the cervix for some of his patients. These caps were probably short-lived, as uncured rubber degrades fairly quickly. An important precursor to the invention of more lasting caps was the rubber vulcanization process, patented by Charles Goodyear in 1844. In the 1840s or 1860s E.B. Foote, a U.S. physician claims to have invented the cervical cap but it's reported that his patent was denied since the device could be used for obscene purposes. Foote claimed that his invention was "widely counterfeited". An occlusive pessary marketed in the United States as the "womb veil" seems to have been an early form of diaphragm or cervical cap.

Over the next several decades, the cervical cap became the most widely used barrier contraceptive method in Western Europe and Britain. Although the diaphragm was always more popular in the United States than the cervical cap, the cap was also common.

20th century
Many designs were developed in the later 19th and early 20th century in various countries. The Vimule cap became available as early as 1927. A book by Vimule and Co., published in 1898, advertises the Vimule Cap. The Prentif brand cap was introduced in the early 1930s. The Dumas cap was initially made of plastic, and was available by the 1940s. Lamberts (Dalston) Ltd. of the UK manufactured these three cap types. Other types of caps had stems to hold them in place in the cervix; some of the stems actually extended into the uterus. These stem pessaries became precursors to the modern intrauterine device (IUD).

Margaret Sanger brought cervical caps to the U.S. in the 1910s, but later on seemingly preferred the diaphragm, and never repudiated the cap. This may have been influenced by her visit to the Netherlands where the diaphragm (also known as the "Dutch Cap") reigned supreme.

Use of all barrier methods, but especially cervical barriers, dropped dramatically after the 1960s introduction of the combined oral contraceptive pill and the IUD. In 1976, the U.S. government enacted the Medical Device Regulation Act. This law required all manufacturers of medical devices to provide the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with data on the safety and efficacy of those devices. Lamberts (Dalston) Ltd., the only manufacturer at that time, failed to provide this information, and the FDA banned the use of cervical caps in the United States.

In the late 1970s, the FDA reclassified the cervical cap as an investigational device, and it regained limited availability. Within a few years, the FDA withdrew investigational status from the Vimule cap, following a study that associated its use with vaginal lacerations. In 1988, the then 60-year-old Prentif cap gained FDA approval. The feminist movement played a large role in re-introducing the cervical cap to the United States. One paper called its involvement at all steps of the FDA approval process "unprecedented". This renewed interest in the cervical cap has been called "The cervical cap renaissance".

Quality
In the 1920s it was reported from England that "careless and hasty construction" could sometimes be found in many brands. Some caps had a seam in the dome (two parts of it were welded together making a seam) and the seam might be defective and even contain minute perforations. Also the junction between the rim and the dome might be rough and difficult to clean. Caps that were seamless avoided the "seam" problem. It was suggested that caps should be inspected for possible defects by the user under a magnifying glass.

In popular culture
Cervical cap is very likely to be the contraceptive that maid Anna Bates buys for her mistress Lady Mary Crawley in the second episode of the fifth serie of the historical drama Downton Abbey. Mary Crawley is inspired by the book Married Love, from Marie Stopes.

title: Cervical cap


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Science fiction comics

Publication of comic strips and comic books focusing on science fiction became increasingly common during the early 1930s in newspapers published in the United States. They have since spread to many countries around the world.

History
The first science fiction comic was the gag cartoon Mr. Skygack, from Mars by A.D. Condo, which debuted in newspapers in 1907. The first non-humorous science fiction comic strip, Buck Rogers, appeared in 1929, and was based on a story published that year in Amazing Stories. It was quickly followed by others in the genre, such as Flash Gordon, Brick Bradford, and the British strip Dan Dare. This influence spread to comic books, in which science fiction themes became increasingly more popular; one title was Planet Comics. With the introduction of Superman, the superhero genre was born, which often included science fiction elements. EC Comics had success and popularity in publishing science fiction comics of increasing complexity. However, a wave of anti-comic feeling stirred-up among parents and educators by Dr. Fredric Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent threatened to drive them out of business. In spite of opposition, science fiction in comics continued in the U.S. through the 1960s with stories for children and teenagers, and began to return to the adult market again in the late 1960s with the wave of hippy underground comics.

Japanese manga also featured science fiction elements. In the 1950s, Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy was one of the first major manga that centered around science fiction. In the following decades, many other creators and works would follow, including Leiji Matsumoto (e.g. Galaxy Express 999), Katsuhiro Otomo (e.g. Akira) and Masamune Shirow (e.g. Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell).

In the UK, the publication of Eagle gave a platform for the launch of Dan Dare in 1950. Dan Dare and other comics in Briton at this time were aimed at children and they were printed on newsprint. Magazines on the other hand were aimed at adults and were printed on better glossier paper these magazines were mostly in black and white. Starting in the mid-sixties, The Trigan Empire, drawn by Don Lawrence (who would later go on to create Storm) was featured in Look and Learn. In the 1970s, publications, such as 2000 AD, featured a selection of regular stories putting a science fiction spin on popular themes, like sports or war. Its success spawned a number of spin-offs in imitators like Tornado, Starlord, and Crisis, none of which lasted more than a few years, with the earlier titles being merged back into 2000 AD.

The first French comic with a science fiction theme was Zig et Puce au XXIème Siècle (Zig & Puce In The 21st Century), originally serialized in a French Sunday newspaper before being published as an album in 1935; this was one of the many adventures of the teenage characters Zig and Puce first created in 1925. The first French science fiction comics story that was not geared toward the adolescent audience was Futuropolis, serialized in the comics magazine Junior in 1937-1938; the pseudo-sequel Electropolis followed in 1940. When the Nazi occupation forces banned the import of Flash Gordon into France, Le Rayon U (The U Ray) was created as replacement in the magazine Bravo which had been running the former. Other French science fiction comics which debuted in 1943 include Otomox, featuring a powerful robot, serialized in Pic et Nic, and L'Épervier Bleu (The Blue Hawk), serialized in Spirou magazine. The first French comics magazine exclusively featuring a science fiction hero was in 1947 with the relatively short-lived Radar. A far longer lasting French comics magazine would be the small-format Meteor, published from 1953 through 1964; its main feature was Les Connquerants de l'espace (The Conquerors of Space). Subsequent notable French science fiction include publications like Métal Hurlant and authors like Enki Bilal (e.g. The Nikopol Trilogy) and Moebius.

With the invention of the Internet, a number of science fiction comics have been published primarily online. Among the earliest science fiction webcomics was Polymer City Chronicles, which first appeared in 1994. Other notable comics include Schlock Mercenary, and Starslip Crisis.

Graphic novels
A science fiction graphic novel is a full-length book that uses images necessarily to depict a story of a fictional nature that explores different/future time lines, theoretical societies, technology and/or both.

The first recorded usage of the term, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), is in 1978 by Will Eisner: "A contract with God: and other tenement stories... A graphic novel", though graphic novels existed for years prior. While predating the term, a graphic novel based on science fiction, Astro Boy, by Osamu Tezuka, was published in 1951, starring a childlike robot Astro Boy who was activated in the year 2003.

List of science fiction comic books
The following list is based on A complete history of American comic books.

 * Weird Fantasy (1950)
 * Weird Science (1950)
 * Strange Adventures (1950)
 * Strange Worlds (1950)
 * Flying Saucers (1950)
 * Mystery in Space (1951)
 * House of Mystery (1951)
 * Weird Thrillers (1951)
 * Earthman on Venus (1951)
 * Space Detective (1951)
 * Space Adventures (1952)
 * Space Busters (1952)
 * Space Western Comics (1952)
 * Mysteries and Unexplored Words (1956)
 * Outer Space (1958)
 * Tales to Astonish (1959)
 * Space Man (1962)
 * Outer Limits (1964)
 * Star Trek (1967)
 * Outer Space (1968)
 * Planet of the Apes (1968)
 * Worlds Unknown (1973)
 * Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction (1975)
 * Space: 1999 (1975)
 * Doomsday + 1 (1975)
 * Star Reach (1975)
 * Imagine (1976)
 * Starstream (1976)
 * 2001: A Space Odyssey (1976)
 * 2000 AD (1977)
 * Heavy Metal (1977)
 * Star Wars (1977)
 * Space War (1978)
 * Micronauts (1979)
 * Starblazer (1979)
 * Alien Encounters (1981)
 * Alien Worlds (1985)
 * Men in Black (1990)

title: Science fiction comics