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List of Disney theatrical animated feature films

This list of theatrical animated feature films consists of animated films produced or released by The Walt Disney Studios, the film division of The Walt Disney Company.

The Walt Disney Studios releases films from Disney-owned and non-Disney-owned animation studios. Most films listed below are from Walt Disney Animation Studios, which began as the feature-animation department of Walt Disney Productions, producing its first feature-length animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937;, it has produced a total of 62 feature films. Beginning with Toy Story in 1995, The Walt Disney Studios has also released animated films by Pixar Animation Studios, which Disney would eventually acquire in 2006. In 2019, as part of its acquisition of 21st Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios acquired Blue Sky Studios (now closed down in 2021), as well as 20th Century Fox Animation (now simply 20th Century Animation) which operates as a label and the animation division of 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios).

Other studio units have also released films theatrically, namely, Walt Disney Television Animation's Disney MovieToons/Video Premiere unit (later renamed Disneytoon Studios) and the studio's distribution unit, which acquires film rights from outside animation studios to release films under the Walt Disney Pictures, 20th Century Studios, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax film labels.

Released
‡—Includes theatrical reissue(s).

US produced films distributed by Miramax
The following is a list of films that were released by Miramax Films when the studio was a subsidiary of Disney at the time of release. Neither of these films is officially recognized as Disney films, as they were from pre-existing distribution deals before Disney's acquisition of Miramax, and Disney sold Miramax to Filmyard Holdings in 2010.

US produced / International releases only
The following films were only released direct-to-video within the US. While they were given a theatrical billboard internationally, these films are not recognized by Disney's D23 as theatrical films because of a lack of US theatrical releases.

International films distributed by Miramax
The following is a list of films that were released by Miramax Films when the studio was a subsidiary of Disney at the time of release. None of these films are officially recognized as Disney films due to Disney's sale of Miramax to Filmyard Holdings in 2010.

Highest-grossing films

 * {{legend|#b6fcb6|Background shading indicates films playing in the week commencing in theaters around the world.|text=}}

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


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Airmail etiquette

An airmail etiquette, often shortened to just etiquette, is a label used to indicate that a letter is to be sent by airmail.

Etymology
The term "airmail etiquette" derived from the French word  ("label, sticker"), from which is also derived the English word etiquette ("rules of behavior").

Use
Because airmail etiquettes are just instructions to postal clerks, and have no monetary value, their printing and distribution need not be as carefully controlled as for postage stamps, and most are privately produced. The usual design is a plain blue oblong, with the phrases "AIR MAIL" and/or "PAR AVION" in white letters. Various airlines and hotels have also produced etiquettes.

The airmail etiquette may be omitted if airmail stamps are used on the letter, and in some cases even this is not necessary if a country sends out all its foreign mail by air. In some regions, such as the United Kingdom, one may simply write "PAR AVION -- BY AIR MAIL" on the envelope, even though etiquettes are available free of charge from post offices.

The United States officially requires international First Class and Priority Mail letters to be marked with "AIRMAIL/PAR AVION". This requirement is often ignored in modern practice since the United States Postal Service discontinued international surface mail in 2007; all international mail from the US is now sent via airmail. Pre-printed airmail etiquettes are no longer produced by the USPS. If USPS customers purchase international stamps from self-service kiosks, from post offices, or online, the letters must then have "AIRMAIL/PAR AVION" written on the address side of the letter. This applies to both First Class Mail International and Priority Mail International services.

China Post does not use any airmail stickers, but an official "par avion" rubber stamp is used if an international letter or postcard is sent by airmail. In contrast, if the international letter or postcard is not sent by airmail, an official "surface" rubber stamp is used.

title: Airmail etiquette


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Airmail stamp

An airmail stamp is a postage stamp intended to pay either an airmail fee that is charged in addition to the surface rate, or the full airmail rate, for an item of mail to be transported by air.

Airmail stamps should not be confused with airmail etiquettes, which are affixed to mail as an instruction to the postal authority that the mail should be transmitted by air.

History
With aviation developments, several countries started to experiment with flights, and postal authorities considered flying the mails. Initially flights were unofficial, but some flights such as the 1877 Buffalo balloon flight, carried mail, to which stamp-like labels were affixed. At the beginning airmail letters cost more than surface mail.

Both airmail stamps and stamps surcharged for airmail were issued, though some countries restricted the use of airmail stamps only to letters sent by airmail, while others allowed them to be used for other mail services.

The first stamp depicting an aeroplane was a US 20-cent parcel post stamp issued on 1 January 1913 but not intended for airmail duty: the set of 12 showed transportation and delivery methods. Four years later an airmail stamp was issued in Italy. Several of the early ones were produced by surcharging other stamps with overprints; at first in 1917, Italy used express stamps; regular stamps were used by Austria in 1918, Sweden used official stamps in 1920. Some other examples are the use of fiscal stamps, telegraph stamps, postage due stamps, and parcel stamps by other countries. Airmail stamps have been issued for extra services, such as registered airmail, express airmail, airmail fieldpost, and even with welfare surcharges.

A new branch of collecting
In the 1920s and 1930s, when many countries issued airmail stamps to publicise their new airmail routes, a new branch of stamp collecting started. This led to an expansion that includes the collection of covers, and other postal items carried by aircraft. Airmail items from the early days are expensive due to the popularity of this collecting area. Specialised catalogues and albums are produced for collectors of airmail stamps and other aerophilatelic items. Many airmail stamps feature aviation themes that are an area of topical stamp collecting.

First airmail stamps
The first postage stamp to be issued for an airmail flight was in May 1917 when Poste italiane overprinted their existing special delivery stamps. The following year, the United States Post Office Department issued the first airmail stamp specifically issued for the purpose; while it does not have "airmail" or "air post" printed on it, it illustrates a Curtiss JN-4 airplane. One pane of 100 stamps were found to have an invert error, known as the Inverted Jenny, because the airplane image in the centre is inverted relative to the outer frame. The error is one of the most well known airmail stamps. Several countries, such as Germany, Finland, Russia and the United States, issued special airmail stamps, or overprinted stamps, for the Zeppelin flights that took place in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Local airmail stamp issues
Semi-official airmail stamps are not issued by the postal authority but have official sanction and are sometimes used for local posts, they are more accurately referred to a labels rather than stamps. For example, as noted above the privately produced 5¢ Buffalo balloon stamps were used on June 18, 1877, for a balloon flight from Nashville to Gallatin, Tennessee. The Vin Fiz Flyer, an early airplane, also carried semi-official stamps on its 1911 flight across the United States.

References and sources
Notes

Sources

Further reading

title: Airmail stamp


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Oriental pratincole

The oriental pratincole (Glareola maldivarum), also known as the grasshopper-bird or swallow-plover, is a wader in the pratincole family, Glareolidae.

Etymology
The genus name is a diminutive of Latin glarea, "gravel", referring to a typical nesting habitat for pratincoles. The species name maldivarum refers to the type locality, the ocean near the Maldive Islands; the type specimen, caught alive at sea, survived for a month on flies.

Description
These birds have short legs, long pointed wings and long forked tails. They have short bills, which is an adaptation to aerial feeding. The back and head are brown, and the wings are brown with black flight feathers. The belly is white. The underwings are chestnut. Very good views are needed to distinguish this species from other pratincoles, such as the very similar collared pratincole, which also has a chestnut underwing, and black-winged pratincole which shares the black upperwing flight feathers and lack of a white trailing edge to the wing. These features are not always readily seen in the field, especially as the chestnut underwing appears black unless excellent views are obtained.

Habits
An unusual feature of all pratincoles is that although classed as waders they typically hunt their insect prey on the wing like swallows, although they can also feed on the ground. The oriental praticole is a bird of open country, and they are often seen near water in the evening, hawking for insects.

Nesting
Their 2–3 eggs are laid on the ground.

Distribution
The Oriental pratincole is native to Asia, breeding from North Pakistan and the Kashmir region, sporadically southwards towards the Maldives and Sri Lanka, Indochina, eastern China, Manchuria and the Philippines. It is migratory and winters throughout the Indomalayan realm and western Australasia.

Vagrancy
They are rare north or west of the breeding range, but, amazingly, this species has occurred as far away as Great Britain more than once. The first record for the Western Palearctic was in Suffolk, England, in June 1981. On 7 February 2004, 2.5 million oriental pratincoles were recorded on Eighty Mile Beach in Australia's north-west by the Australasian Wader Studies Group. There had previously been no records of this magnitude and it is supposed that weather conditions caused much of the world's population of this species to congregate in one area.

title: Oriental pratincole


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The World of David the Gnome

The World of David the Gnome, originally titled David, el Gnomo and also known as David, the Gnome, is a Spanish animated television series based on The Secret Book of Gnomes, a series of children's books by Dutch author Wil Huygen and illustrator Rien Poortvliet. The series was originally created in Spain by BRB Internacional, who were also responsible for the Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds franchise and other animated series, such as Bobobobs and Around the World with Willy Fog, and Televisión Española. Twenty-six episodes were produced. There was also a spin-off series, Wisdom of the Gnomes.

The English-language dub, The World of David the Gnome, was produced by Canadian studio CINAR in association with Miramax Films. Christopher Plummer was narrator, with Tom Bosley voicing David. David the Gnome aired weekdays on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block from 1988 until 1995 in the United States.

Synopsis
The series follows the gnomes, a kind species who are 15 centimetres (6 inches) tall and weigh between 250 and 300 grams (8 and 10 ounces). There are several types of gnomes: those of the forest, garden, farm, house, dunes, and Siberia, as well as nomadic "gypsy" gnomes, who are generally looked down upon by other gnomes. With few exceptions, a gnome's lifespan is exactly 400 years, though one couple in the Balkans lived for 550 years. When they reach the end of their lifespan, they transform into large trees; though they seem to have some control over when and where this happens, they cannot avoid it. For this reason, gnomes are dedicated to protecting forests and the environment, as trees are their ancestors. Gnomes such as the main characters live in pairs in caves or holes under trees, and have a mainly vegetarian diet. They are often aided by forest animals when traveling long distances or need to reach a specific location quickly. They also have the powers of telepathy and mind control. Their main enemies are the trolls, malevolent and clumsy creatures who cause trouble, as well as gnome poachers.

Characters

 * David (voiced by Tom Bosley) is a gnome of the forest who is 399 years old, making him the oldest gnome around except for Franklin, a gnome from the West who lived for 550 years. David is a doctor and uses his knowledge of many fields, such as hypnosis and acupuncture, to heal his patients, usually animals or other gnomes. David also befriends a bird that, when he whistles, arrives to transport him to where he needs to go. For longer trips, he sometimes travels in a basket attached to its neck.
 * Lisa (voiced by Jane Woods) is David's wife and companion, who is also 399 years old. They have two children, Lily and Harold. She is in charge of the household, but occasionally accompanies him on his adventures.
 * Swift the Fox (voiced by Vlasta Vrána) is David's best friend, who lives in the forest and is loyal to him, always being ready to transport David to where he needs to go. He is the cub of David's former fox mount, Nimble.
 * The Trolls, Pit, Pat, Pot, and Holler, are four trolls that cause trouble for the gnomes and the inhabitants of the forest. They possess some supernatural powers and can cast magical spells too powerful for gnome magic to break. However, they are unintelligent and are vulnerable to sunlight, as direct exposure to it turns them to stone. Holler was voiced by A.J. Henderson, Pit was voiced by Marc Denis, Pat was voiced by Rob Roy, and Pot was voiced by Adrian Knight.
 * Susan (voiced by Barbara Pogenmiller) is David and Lisa's granddaughter.
 * King (voiced by Richard Dumont)
 * Paul (voiced by Walter Massey) is David's twin brother, who has a normal moustache in contrast to David's handlebar moustache. He also wears differently colored clothing, as he wears a dark blue jumper and hat, as well as beige trousers and dark boots.

Episodes
David the Gnome ran for twenty-six episodes, each approximately 24 minutes in length. In the U.S., the series originally aired between January 4, 1988, and February 9, 1988. The English-language episode titles are listed below, along with brief episode synopses:

Telecast and home media
The series aired on weekdays on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block for seven years from 1988 until 1995 in the U.S. Later, it aired on TLC (as part of the channel's Ready Set Learn block). The series aired on The Family Channel in Canada from its launch in 1988 until 1990. It was later aired on British Columbia's statewide Knowledge Network.

In England, the series ran on various channels. It was first picked up on ITV's Children's ITV block, then The Children's Channel, and finally Nickelodeon. In Australia, the show was first picked up on ABC, and later aired on Nickelodeon. In Ireland, this show was picked up on RTE's The Den block in the early 90s.

In 1989, Family Home Entertainment released four VHS tapes of the series in the U.S., each containing two episodes. In the United Kingdom, Video Collection International Ltd released one VHS tape of The World of David the Gnome (Cat. No. VC1178) with the first two episodes, Good Medicine and Witch Way Out, on 14 May 1990.

A complete series DVD set was released in the United Kingdom in 2006 by Revelation Films. The complete series was also released on DVD in 2011 in Spain and Italy. Most episodes are available on DVD in Germany and the Netherlands. The Italian and Spanish-language versions can currently be found on their respective countries' Amazon websites. The complete series was released on DVD in the U.S. in 2012 by Oasis DVDs.

Wisdom of the Gnomes
Wisdom of the Gnomes (La llamada de los gnomos, literally "Call of the gnomes") is the first spin-off of The World of David the Gnome. It follows Klaus, a judge who travels with his assistant Danny on Henry the Swan and aims to solve disputes and lawsuits between animals peacefully and wisely. Like in The World of David the Gnome, trolls also appear. David also appears in the final episode. The penultimate episode features Wil Huygen and his wife, the only pair of humans in direct communication with Gnomes. Klaus and Danny complain to Huygen of "inaccuracies" in his book, though what these errors are is not made specific.

Cast

 * Robert Axelrod - Adaptation
 * Richard Epcar - Adaptation
 * Melora Harte - Adaptation
 * Dave Mallow - Adaptation, Director
 * Doug Stone - Adaptation, Director

Episodes

 * 1) Klaus the Judge (27 September 1989)
 * 2) Loch Ness (4 October 1989)
 * 3) Trip to Canada (11 October 1989)
 * 4) The Magic Carpet (18 October 1989)
 * 5) The Chamois (25 October 1989)
 * 6) Trip to Nepal (1 November 1989)
 * 7) The Gold-Diggers (8 November 1989)
 * 8) Adventure in the Arctic (15 November 1989)
 * 9) The Discovery of Ithaca (22 November 1989)
 * 10) The Carpathians (29 November 1989)
 * 11) Trip to Venice (6 December 1989)
 * 12) The Ballad of Gnomoshima (13 December 1989)
 * 13) The Gnome-Olympics (20 December 1989)
 * 14) Trip to Siberia (10 June 1993)
 * 15) Andalusia (17 June 1993)
 * 16) China (24 June 1993)
 * 17) France (1 July 1993)
 * 18) Hawaii (8 July 1993)
 * 19) The Stolen Mirror (15 July 1993)
 * 20) The Winter Race (22 July 1993)
 * 21) Mystery in the Forest (29 July 1993)
 * 22) The Gnomewegians (5 August 1993)
 * 23) Argentina (12 August 1993)
 * 24) Dany's Wedding (19 August 1993)
 * 25) Holland (26 August 1993)
 * 26) Goodbye Klaus (2 September 1993)

Later sequels
Other sequels, both in serial and movie form, were The Gnomes' Great Adventure (1987), The Great Adventure of the Gnomes (1995), The Gnomes in the Snow (1999) and The Fantastic Adventures of the Gnomes (2000).

The series was also preceded by the popular television movie Gnomes in 1980, which was based on the same series of books as The World of David the Gnome.

In 1997, there was a series called The New World of the Gnomes which was a retelling of the original series as David and his nephew Tomte now travel the world to save animals and preserve nature as it is endangered by problems of modern-day pollution and environmental dangers. Lisa, David's wife from the original series, also appears in the show. Other than the humans who cause either unintentional or intentional destruction to nature and harm to animals, the show's other antagonists are three trolls who run into David and the gnomes now and then, their names are Stinky, Brute, and Drool. The show was made in collaboration with the World Wildlife Foundation.

In popular culture
A still shot of the titular character became a meme through images with explicit phrases; most commonly "I am a motherf***er" and "How about I slap your sh*t?"

Cancelled revival
In 2015, The Weinstein Company announced a revival titled Gnomes. No update has been given since The Weinstein Company went defunct on July 16, 2018 due to the sex abuse scandal.

title: The World of David the Gnome


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Postage stamp block

In philately, a block is a group of four or more un-separated stamps. Blocks are of interest not only because they are rarer than individual stamps, but they also preserve relative positions of stamps as they were originally printed, information that is crucial to understanding how the stamps were produced.

Format
Blocks of stamps from the edges of the original sheet or pane often include sections of the sheet's margin, which may have a wide variety of information. For instance, arrow blocks preserve the guide lines used by line up the sheets for perforation or other production steps (these are usually angled in an arrow shape, thus the name), and center line blocks includes lines printed down the middle of a sheet. An imprint block includes the name of the printer, while for many United States stamps the zip block includes a promotional mention of the ZIP code. Typical examples of blocks are:

Traffic Lights Block

Traffic Lights block contains the color registration markings in the stamp margins.

Imprint Block

Imprint block contains the name of printer in either bottom or top margin of the stamp sheet.

Plate Block

The most commonly collected kind of block is the plate block, which includes the part of the margin where the serial numbers of the printing plates may be found.

Gutter Block

Gutter block contains stamp margins which are normally at corners of stamps are in the centre of block of stamps.

Values
Although blocks of rare stamps are highly valued, a block's price may actually be so high that no buyers can be found, leaving the owner with the agonizing prospect of breaking up the block, so as to be able to sell the stamps individually. In some cases, dealers have publicized plans to break up a famous block, in the hopes of that someone will come forward to save the block from destruction.

title: Postage stamp block


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User talk:Bmcdaniel

Hello, and welcome to Wikipedia! That's such a beautiful picture you have at Lassen Peak that I hate to say anything, but it's a little on the large size; if you resize the browser window, you see that the text gets kind of squished. Image use policy suggests 300 pixels across, and I usually like to have a larger picture, 600-800px across, linked from "larger version", so that interested persons can groove on the detail. Also, Image markup has suggested markup that helps us maintain a consistent style that works well with a variety of browsers. I'm hoping you have lots more great pictures that you'll contribute; they're a huge benefit to WP! Stan 07:34, 5 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Welcome to Wikipedia Brian! You wouldn't happen to be the same Brian I went on a field study with to Lassen Volcanic National Park, would you? Sorry if you aren't but that Lassen photo looks like it was taken on the same day mine was (I still haven't had time to format my photos yet - grr!). --mav 07:29, 7 Nov 2003 (UTC)

title: User talk:Bmcdaniel


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Alf Morgans

Alfred Edward Morgans (17 February 1850 – 10 August 1933) was the fourth Premier of Western Australia, serving for just over a month, from 21 November to 23 December 1901.

Born in Wales, Morgans trained as an engineer, and supervised mining operations in the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Central America. He arrived in Western Australia in 1896, during the gold rush, and developed the Mount Morgans Gold Mine. Morgans was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia in 1897, representing the seat of Coolgardie. He was appointed Premier in late 1901, as a compromise candidate to replace George Leake, but his government was brought down after only 32 days. Leake returned as Premier, and Morgans left parliament in 1904, at the end of his term. His career in politics lasted just over seven years, the shortest of any Premier of Western Australia, except for Hal Colebatch who served as Premier for an even shorter period.

Early life and career
Alf Morgans was born at Ochr Chwith Machen Lower, Machen, Monmouthshire in Wales on 17 February 1850. He was educated at private schools and subsequently attended the Welsh School of Mines. After completing his studies, he was apprenticed to a mechanical engineering firm at Ebbw Vale.

On 19 March 1872, he married Fanny Ridler at Gloucester in England. In 1878, Morgans' employers sent him to Mexico to supervise their gold and silver mines. He worked in Central America for a period of 18 years, representing British investments in mining and railways, especially in Guatemala and Nicaragua, during which time he learned to speak Spanish fluently, and developed an interest in Aztec and Mayan archaeology and sent artefacts to British museums.

Morgans arrived at Albany, Western Australia on RMS Himalaya from London on 18 March 1896, as a representative of Morgans' Syndicate Ltd. to inspect mining properties for London-based investors seeking sound investment opportunities. He acquired numerous properties and mining interests throughout the state, including Westralia Mount Morgans, and he was generally considered to be a leading authority on mining investment.

Political career
On 4 May 1897, Morgans was elected to the Legislative Assembly seat of Coolgardie.

In parliament, he was a supporter of Premier Sir John Forrest. After Forrest resigned from state politics, the former supporters of Forrest continued to work together; the group became known under the moniker of ministerialists. In November 1901, the ministerialists defeated Premier George Leake on a no-confidence vote, and he was compelled to resign. However, they were initially unable to agree on a nominee for premier, and when the governor invited Frederick Henry Piesse to form a government, he could not secure enough support.

The ministerialists eventually agreed on Morgans as a compromise candidate, and he took office as premier and colonial treasurer on 21 November 1901, despite having never previously held any ministerial office.

However, in the subsequent ministerial by-election 1, supporters of Leake stood against Morgans' newly appointed cabinet, and three of the six new ministers were defeated. Morgans then asked Governor Lawley for a dissolution of the Assembly, but this was refused. He resigned as premier on 23 December 1901, and Leake took office again, this time with clearly defined support. Morgans did not re-nominate at the subsequent election.

Later career
Alf Morgans' life after politics consisted of a number of consular appointments in Western Australia. From 1910 to 1917, he was Austro-Hungarian Consul for Western Australia; in 1915 he was also Vice-Consul for Spain. In 1921 he was appointed Consular Agent at Perth and Fremantle for the United States of America, remaining in the position until 1930, when he resigned due to ill-health.

He died on 10 August 1933 at South Perth in Western Australia.

title: Alf Morgans


text: User talk:202.72.131.230

title: User talk:202.72.131.230


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Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Are You Afraid of the Dark? is a children's horror anthology television series created by D. J. MacHale and Ned Kandel. The original series aired on Nickelodeon from 1992 to 1996; the pilot episode aired respectively on YTV and Nickelodeon in 1990 and 1991. It led to two revival series, with the first airing from 1999 to 2000, and the second airing from 2019 to 2022.

The original series was distributed worldwide by D. J. MacHale and Ned Kandel and was picked up by Nickelodeon in 1991. MacHale, Kandel, and Nickelodeon teamed up with the Canadian company CINAR, and as a part of the deal the show was filmed primarily in Montreal, Quebec, with some additional filming taking place in Richmond, British Columbia. The production teams were respectively represented by the ACTRA and SCTVQ (Syndicat des techniciens du cinéma et de la vidéo du Québec) labour unions. It premiered with the episode "The Tale of the Twisted Claw" as a pilot on October 31, 1990, on the Canadian television network YTV. The pilot aired on Nickelodeon on October 25, 1991, as a Halloween special. The series premiered the following year on Nickelodeon's SNICK on August 15, 1992, and on Family Channel on September 2, 1992. The series moved from Family Channel to YTV on September 6, 1993. The original series ended on April 20, 1996.

The first revival series, with new directors, writers, and a cast, was produced by Nickelodeon from 1999 to 2000 and also aired on the SNICK block. The only member from the original lineup to return for the first and second seasons of the revival was Tucker (Daniel DeSanto), although Gary (Ross Hull) returned for the concluding show, which notably broke from the show's established format by blurring the line between story and "reality".

On November 13, 2017, it was announced that Paramount Players would make a live-action feature film adaptation. However, the film was later removed from Paramount's schedule. On February 14, 2019, it was announced that the series would be revived again for a limited series, which premiered on October 11, 2019. On February 19, 2020, this revival was renewed for a second season, titled Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Curse of the Shadows, which premiered on February 12, 2021, featuring a different cast. In March 2022, the revival was renewed for a third and final season, which premiered on July 30, 2022.

On March 28, 2024, the revival series was removed from Paramount+ as part of a "strategic decision to focus on content with mass global appeal."

Background
Are You Afraid of the Dark? was filmed in Montreal by CINAR and created by producer D. J. MacHale, an American television producer. The show is a co-production between Montreal-based CINAR Films and the U.S. Nickelodeon network. It had its American debut on Nickelodeon in the United States during August, while Canada's Family Channel had the series premiere in September 1992. By 1993, the series had moved from Family Channel to YTV.

Both series of Are You Afraid of the Dark? revolved around a group of teenagers who referred to themselves as "The Midnight Society". Every episode, at a secret location in the woods at night, one member would tell a scary story to the group. The actual story, rather than the telling, was displayed to the television viewer. The story was shown between the group's arrival at the site and their departure.

Each storyteller would begin their story by saying "Submitted for the approval of The Midnight Society, I call this story '(story name)'", at which point they would toss a handful of "midnight dust" (actually Coffee-Mate ) from a leather pouch into a campfire to heighten the flames and produce an eerie white smoke.

MacHale wrote the line "submitted for the approval of" as a nod to The Twilight Zone, in which creator Rod Serling would, after introducing the episode, say "submitted for your approval." The storyteller would continue by announcing its title (The Tale of...). The themes of the stories usually revolve around a variety of paranormal phenomena, such as demons, ghosts, magic, haunted houses, magical curses, aliens, witches, vampires, werewolves, and the like coming into contact with average youths. Usually, the episodes were either filmed in the woods, in abandoned houses, or in public places like schools or libraries. Sources of these tales vary in different ways; many were adaptations of public domain fairy tales and short stories or urban legends. For example, the episode "The Tale of the Twisted Claw" is an adaptation of W. W. Jacobs' short story The Monkey's Paw.

Sometimes, the stories were inspired by a certain event in the life of the storyteller. In the episode "The Tale of the Crimson Clown," for instance, Tucker blackmailed his brother Gary with a poem he had found, which Gary had written for Samantha. Gary then told a story in which a naughty younger brother was punished cruelly for his evil deeds. At the end of the episode, Tucker gave the poem back to his brother. The majority of the horror stories on Are You Afraid of the Dark? had happy endings (or at least endings in which their characters were in decent places), but some of them (albeit a very small number of them) had either bad endings or twist endings like "The Tale of the Lonely Ghost," "The Tale of the Dark Music," "The Tale of the Chameleons," "The Tale of Vampire Town," and "The Tale of the Pinball Wizard."

At the end of most episodes, one character (usually Gary in the first run and Tucker in the second run of the show) would throw a red bucket of water onto the fire, stating, "I declare this meeting of The Midnight Society closed", and the group would leave the campsite, thus ending the storytelling. Sometimes, the story would be related to an event (e.g. in "The Tale of Laughing in the Dark," Kristen, who was afraid of clowns, ran off when Eric put on a clown mask. Then, everyone chased after her). This would cause either Gary or Tucker to hurriedly dump the water on the fire, and The Midnight Society would run off to wherever they go after meetings.

Characters and cast
Each member of The Midnight Society from 1991 to 1996 has a distinct personality, and a notable trend in their storytelling. Though not all of their stories have similar styles and plots, in many of the stories, each character carries a unique aspect that reflects the nature of the storyteller, and what they find to be the most important to themselves. In the second generation, the characters derive their stories more from events that happen during the days leading up to the society meetings instead of from their personal interests and views. Many of the later episodes were simply given to a random society member to tell.

Original

 * Gary: An unassuming, bookish-looking boy and the founder of this generation of The Midnight Society. Gary has a distinct fascination with magic, especially where the magician Houdini is concerned. His stories tend to revolve around cursed or enchanted objects with supernatural properties, and how – in the wrong hands – they can cause disaster, for both the holder and those around them. His stories have the recurring character "Sardo" in them; most of his stories have the main character buying an enchanted item from Sardo's shop. In the 3-part episode, "The Tale of the Silver Sight", Gary reveals that his grandfather was the founder of The Midnight Society and that it was his grandfather's stories that inspired him to recreate the group.
 * Betty Ann: A vibrant girl who has an open and eager passion for the bizarre and twisted. Her stories often include themes where an alien or supernatural force is either trying to break into the world of the characters, or else trying to drag them into their own unnatural realms. Her stories tend to have twists reminiscent of Twilight Zone episodes, hinting that even after the protagonists of her stories manage to defeat the antagonists, they still have yet to fully escape danger by the end.
 * Kiki: A spunky, tomboyish girl who often makes fun of others. Many of her stories involve plots where the danger of carelessness or deceitfulness, as well as the danger of the past, repeats itself. Also notable is that a large number of the characters in her stories are also of African descent (likely due to Kiki herself being African-Canadian), though the trend dies off later on in the series. One story she came up with had to be read by Gary due to her suffering from laryngitis at the time.
 * Frank: A punkish teenager with an in-your-face attitude. Though his stories do not often have a running theme, they do often have the recurring character Dr. Vink appear as the villain, or at least, the creator of the story's antagonist. The first episode of the series has Frank attempting to impress the Midnight Society with a story to be allowed membership, which he does with "The Tale of the Phantom Cab". In season five, he and his family moved away, and he was replaced in the group by Stig.
 * Tucker: Gary's younger brother and the youngest member of The Midnight Society. Due to his age, he is often portrayed as youthfully obnoxious. His stories tend to involve family relationships that are at first sour but grow in strength in the face of adversity, possibly reflecting his relationship with his brother Gary. There is also a running theme of the characters accidentally unleashing evil upon their world. After Gary left, he took over his place as the president of The Midnight Society. Once Tucker is in charge, he is less of a brat and more of a serious leader like his older brother. He is the only character to appear in both generations of The Midnight Society.
 * Sam: A shy girl with an obvious mutual crush on Gary, which becomes one of the highlighted arcs of both their developments in the series. Reflecting this affection for Gary, Sam's stories tend to have more of a strong theme of love, and its endurance even beyond death.
 * Kristen: A girl who, though squeamish about much else, has a fondness for ghost stories and fairy tales. She has a growing crush on David, and their affection for each other is a developing arc in the first few seasons. She loves to dress up for her stories or bring something for effect, sometimes to scare the others with and her stories almost always deal with ghosts from the past who have unfinished business that they cannot complete without the aid of the living. In season 3, she left The Midnight Society due to her and her family moving, and she was replaced in the group by Sam.
 * David: A quiet boy with a mysterious expression. Reflecting his introverted nature and need to deal with his crush on Kristen, David's stories tend to be less about malignant outside forces, and more to do with the evil of past events left unresolved, or the darkness inside normal people, and the consequences of not dealing with their actions. In season 3, he and his family moved away, and he was replaced in the group by Tucker.
 * Stig: His nickname may come from the term stigma, as he is marked an outsider for his notable lack of hygiene. Stig is the last member to be initiated into this generation of The Midnight Society. As such, he has only two stories in the series before the cast is changed: "The Tale of the Dead Man's Float" and "The Tale of Station 109.1." Due to the aversion people seem to have against him for his looks, both of his stories seem to revolve around outsiders judged for their appearances and/or tastes.
 * Eric: Eric is portrayed as a diminutive teenager with visible Irish ancestry that influences his first story. As he has only had two stories in the first season before his character was cut, there is no visible theme in his storytelling but they seem to be about incredibly powerful evil forces (ones never proven innocent or misunderstood like some others). In his short run on the show, Eric was shown to be rather snide and negative, spending most of the time making sarcastic remarks and antagonizing the other members, especially Frank. He is the only character to leave the show without any explanation for his departure.

First revival
Several years after the last meeting of The Midnight Society, Tucker returns to reinitialize the meetings, inviting his own circle of friends to reform The Midnight Society.
 * Quinn: Quinn is usually getting in trouble at school and at home, but he is a smart kid that likes to make fun of Andy teamed up with Vange. Quinn's stories have little in common though usually involve the protagonists' actions unleashing or bringing them face-to-face with the villain.
 * Vange: Vange (short for "Evangeline") is the youngest of the New Midnight Society. She is a tomboy and does not have a problem with speaking her mind. Teamed up with Quinn she makes fun of Andy a lot. Vange's stories have little in common though most seem to be about how wanting something too badly can cause the main character to play into the villain's hands.
 * Andy: Andy is very sweet and kind. He is always being made fun of by Quinn and Vange for having more muscle than brains. He lives on a farm with his family. He often works there before and after school. Andy is the closest to Megan. Andy's stories have little in common but are often about how characters' dark sides can unleash evil. Usually, the inspiration for his stories are based on his own real-life personal experiences.
 * Megan: Megan is a rich kid who is not very comfortable in the woods. She would rather hold the New Midnight Society Meetings in her own well-managed backyard. Tucker, not being the stickler his brother was, lets Megan refurnish the campfire with some comfortable old couches. She seems to have a soft spot for Andy. Megan's stories have little in common though most seem to somehow involve romance. Sometimes she brings a prop or starts a brief game relating to her story.

Second revival
In 2019, a second revival of the show began. The first season is known as "Carnival of Doom", the second season is known as "Curse of the Shadows" and the third season is known as "Ghost Island".

Carnival of Doom
The Midnight Society:
 * Rachel Carpenter: A shy girl who recently moved to the town of Argento. She quickly resigns herself to life as a social outsider, but when some classmates notice her interest in the horror genre, she earns an invite to the mysterious Midnight Society. She suffers from recurring nightmares and uses that to form her first story to submit to the group, The Carnival of Doom. She's named after John Carpenter.
 * Gavin Coscarelli: An outgoing member who lives next door to Rachel and quickly takes an interest in her. He's good friends with Louise and is shown to be fairly popular at school. He's also a vegetarian. He's named after Don Coscarelli.
 * Akiko Yamato: A blunt and pragmatic member of the Midnight Society who enjoys filmmaking and is seen directing her own scary movie throughout the series. Her older brother, Hideo, is a rookie police officer.
 * Graham Raimi: A horror film fanatic who loves gushing about his favorite movies, although he often comes off awkward to his peers. He is also a talented artist and a germaphobe. He sits behind Rachel in class and is the first to pick up on Rachel's horror obsession, eventually inviting her to the group. He's named after Sam Raimi.
 * Louise Fulci: A cheerleader and one of the popular girls at school who holds her reputation dearly. Although she's friends with Gavin, she avoids speaking to the other members of the Midnight Society outside of meetings, particularly Graham, in fear that it will affect her social status. She's named after Lucio Fulci.

Curse of the Shadows
The Midnight Society:
 * Luke McCoy
 * Hanna Romero
 * Gabby Lewis
 * Jai Malya
 * Seth Romero
 * Connor Stevens

Ghost Island
The Midnight Society:
 * Kayla King
 * Max Matheson
 * Leo B. Stoker
 * Summer DaCosta
 * Ferris Poe

Recurring characters
One of the more significant recurring characters was Sardo (Richard Dumont), owner of "Sardo's Magic Mansion" (a magic shop). He would often attempt to sell a character a "prized" item, succeeding almost every single time. He often had items in his shop that contained real properties of magic, yet did not know until it was revealed in the story. One of the most memorable recurring jokes in the series occurred when someone would address him as "Mr. Sardo." He would then get irritated and exclaim: "That's SarDO (Sardôh)! No mister; accent on the doh!"

Another recurring gag is Sardo attempting to sell a series of cheap novelty items before revealing the magical artifact, culminating with fake vomit, asking the protagonists, "Have you seen our vomit?" Additionally, when selling someone an item, he would often ask a rather high price. The main character would mention how much money they had, and Sardo would grab the money saying, "But I'm losing on the deal." Although he rarely got what he wanted, he would often end up helping the characters, often unintentionally. He appeared in Gary's stories, although in the later seasons, he appeared in two of Tucker's and one of David's in the episode "The Tale of The Dark Dragon."

Sardo's character is revived in the second season of the second revival, "Curse of the Shadows." Sardo's son (Ryan Beil) is the owner of "Sardo's Magic Shop". Richard Dumont appears in the finale as Sardo.

Another recurring character was Dr. Vink (Aron Tager). He was a physically imposing man who would often appear as a mad scientist, sorcerer, and the like. When he enters, he introduces himself by saying, "Vink's the name. Dr. Vink." He would also get his name mispronounced, usually something like "Dr. Fink?" When this happened, he would respond "Vink. With a va-va-va!" Often, the protagonist would call him a "nutbag" behind his back, assuming he could not hear him, only to have him reply later, "...and I am not a nutbag".

Unlike Sardo, whose character was set in a magic shop, Dr. Vink had many 'unique endeavors' as he called them, for his stories. These ranged from living deep in the woods conducting strange nature experiments, being a retired filmmaker, owning his own restaurant as head chef and lastly a barbershop. His activities were usually villainous, designed to put the characters in peril and allow him the last laugh. However, in his last appearance, "The Tale of Cutter's Treasure" (which was told by both Frank and Gary), he allied himself with Sardo and the main characters without his usual maliciousness. He appeared in Frank's stories. Aron Tager also played the carnival worker who stands in front of the Funhouse and invites people to go inside in the episode "The Tale of the Laughing in the Dark".

The character of Zeebo the Clown, also played by Tager, who appeared in "The Tale of the Laughing in the Dark" is referenced in several other stories, for example, in the episode "The Tale of the Whispering Walls", two children mention seeing him at a fun park, in the episode "The Tale of the Mystical Mirror", a girl says she will look like Zeebo if she wears too much lipstick, and in the episode "The Tale of the Crimson Clown" in the boys' room a video game called Zeebo's Big House can be seen on the desk with a picture of Zeebo on it as the title character. The video game was also mentioned in the episode "The Tale of Train Magic." Finally, in the episode "The Tale of the Night Shift," the teenage janitor is called Zeebo by his supervisor a few times at the beginning of the episode.

The villain, the "Ghastly Grinner" (star of "The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner"), like Zeebo the Clown, appears in a comic book that "Dark" characters read. In "Tale of the Ghastly Grinner", The Grinner is shown as being the star of a comic book.

Legacy
The show became a weekly staple for children and tweens in the 1990s. Kids “were old enough to stay up but not old enough to stay out, so [they] spent nearly every Saturday night huddled around television sets with friends or siblings, pretending not to be terrified by that week’s tale.” As written by Matt Melis,"“But there’s also a lot to admire in the care that went into trying to frighten us. We saw the protagonists encountering the creepy and supernatural in the same suburban settings we hailed from. They were remarkably vulnerable and insecure kids, too, ones with problems we could relate to; they were new kids, outcasts, rival siblings, and children experiencing rough patches like deaths in the family or parents filing for divorce.”"Said series co-creator D.J. MacHale, “I wanted stories about real kids who were facing challenges that had nothing to do with the supernatural situation they ended up in.” He added, “But I'd like to believe that by depicting kids taking charge of difficult situations, it opened up kid-viewers to the idea that they aren't powerless in their own lives.” The show has also been hailed for its diversity in characters and stories. “I write about kids who find themselves in challenging situations, and ultimately solve the problems themselves ... no matter their sex, race, or age. We wanted to depict a wide variety of stories, characters, and situations. It was all about diversity,” says MacHale. “We didn't play to stereotypes.” The series was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in 1996. The show has also been seen as helping to create a generation of feminist horror fans, as it showed kids a world “where girls got to be the imperfect heroes as often as the boys did.” According to MacHale, “in the first season alone, half of the scripts focused on female characters and were written by female writers.”

VHS releases
Three VHS tapes were released by Sony Wonder. Ghostly Tales, which included the episodes "The Tale of the Shiny Red Bicycle" and "The Tale of the Frozen Ghost" plus a bonus "Feel the Fear" music video, was released on March 22, 1994; Nightmare Tales, which included the episodes "The Tale of the Final Wish" and "The Tale of the Dream Machine", was released on May 31, 1994; and The Tale of Cutter's Treasure was released on June 13, 1995.

In addition, episodes of the series were included on two compilation tapes of SNICK programming, both of which were released on August 31, 1993; "The Tale of the Lonely Ghost" was included on Nick Snicks Friendship, and "The Tale of the Hungry Hounds" was included on Nick Snicks the Family.

DVD releases
Direct Source released all seven seasons of Are You Afraid of the Dark? on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time between 2006 and 2008. These releases featured group shots of the Midnight Society on the front. The first five seasons were released in Canada and the United States, while seasons 1 and 2 of the revival series were released in Canada only. The company also released a joint collection of seasons 1–2/seasons 3–4 as a box set. These releases have been discontinued and are now out-of-print.

On April 8, 2013, it was announced that Berkshire Axis Media had acquired the rights to the series (Canada only) and would be re-releasing it. Season 1 was re-released on May 28, 2013. Season 2 was re-released on October 15, 2013.

In Region 2, Revelation Films released the first four seasons on DVD in the UK in 2007/2008.

Nickelodeon also re-released the series on DVD in the US through Amazon.com's CreateSpace service beginning with two random-episode "volumes" released in 2013. However, those releases were canceled and were followed by proper season set releases beginning in 2014. These releases were designed to look like books.

On December 1, 2014, it was announced that Madman Films had acquired the rights to the series in Australia, and would be releasing the series through Via Vision Entertainment. In 2015 Via Vision released seasons 1–3 individually. It was announced on September 22, 2017, that Via Vision Entertainment have no plans to release the remaining seasons of Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Online distribution
The first five complete seasons of the series have been released (non-sequentially) across ten volumes in digital format on iTunes, Amazon, and Vudu:

In September 2016, all seven seasons of the first two series were made available for free on YouTube for non-United States viewers. On November 6, 2017, Season one was released for free on Canada Media Fund's Encore+ YouTube channel. As of 2021, Are You Afraid of the Dark? is available on Paramount+. However, there are some missing episodes: "Tale of the Super Specs", "Tale of the Dark Dragon", "Tale of the Midnight Ride", "Tale of the Dream Girl", "Tale of Quicksilver", "Tale of the Long Ago Locket", "Tale of the Fire Ghost", "Tale of the Closet Keepers", "Tale of the Unfinished Painting", "Tale of the Chameleons", "Tale of C7", and the revival seasons six and seven.

On March 28, 2024, series 8–10 was removed from Paramount+.

Reboot
On February 14, 2019, it was announced that the series itself would be revived for a miniseries to air in October 2019. On June 10, 2019, the cast for the miniseries was announced, with Sam Ashe Arnold as Gavin, Miya Cech as Akiko, Tamara Smart as Louise, Jeremy Ray Taylor as Graham, and Lyliana Wray as Rachel as the New Midnight Society and Rafael Casal as the Carnival of Doom's ringmaster, Mr. Tophat. The miniseries aired on Friday, October 11, 18, and 25, 2019, and was a ratings success. Brandon Routh guest starred in part two.

On February 19, 2020, it was renewed for a second season, titled Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Curse of the Shadows. On October 29, 2020, the casting for a second season was announced with Bryce Gheisar, Arjun Athalye, Beatrice Kitsos, Malia Baker, Dominic Mariche and Parker Queenan as the new Midnight Society. The second season premiered on February 12, 2021.

On March 24, 2022, the series was renewed for a third season, subtitled Ghost Island. Telci Huynh, Conor Sherry, Luca Padovan, Dior Goodjohn and Chance Hurstfield joined the cast as new members of the Midnight Society, while Julian Curtis joined the cast as a hotel manager. The third season premiered on July 30, 2022.

Other media
A music video with the horror-themed dance song "Feel the Fear" was aired on Nickelodeon and included as a bonus feature on VHS tapes. The television series also spawned multiple licensed products. A PC game based on the show titled Are You Afraid of the Dark? The Tale of Orpheo's Curse was released in 1994. A board game titled Are You Afraid of the Dark?: The Game was also released. They also released a series of audio cassettes entitled Are You Afraid of the Dark?: More Tales From The Midnight Society which were narrated and voiced by actors from the show who reprised their respective characters. Perhaps the most prominent of products from the franchise's merchandising was a series of books written by various authors between 1995 and 1998.

On November 13, 2017, it was announced that a film adaptation of the series was in the works at Paramount Players. It writer Gary Dauberman was set to write the screenplay with Matt Kaplan producing and D.J. Caruso directing. The film was scheduled to be released on October 4, 2019. However, on February 27, 2019, Paramount removed the film from their schedule.

On November 16, 2022, a series of novels and graphic novels were announced in a partnership between Abrams Children's Books and Paramount. The first middle grade novel, titled The Tale of the Gravemother and written by Rin Chupeco, was released on June 27, 2023. Horror novelist Danielle Valentine is signed on to write book two. The first graphic novel in the series, titled The Witch's Wings and Other Terrifying Tales, will be written by Tehlor Kay Mejia and illustrated by Justin Hernandez, Alexis Hernandez, Junyi Wu, and Kaylee Rowena, and is planned to be released on October 3, 2023.

On August 24, 2023, an official podcast was announced in a partnership between Audible and Nickelodeon. The podcast, titled ''Are You Afraid of The Dark? The Official Podcast'', was released on September 28, 2023.

title: Are You Afraid of the Dark?


text:
Talk:Know-how

Redirect
Thanks for helping. But unfortunately, I think that the redirection for "Know-how" is not appropriate. There is a huge difference between knowledge and know-how. In the first case, time is not taken into account. Knowledge is ... "to do right". In the second, time is crucial. Know-how (alias expertise) is ... "to do right (maybe not so right) and fast (speed matters)". Therefore I do not think that it is wise to redirect know-how towards (procedural) knowledge. A sentence on the past Know-how page gives the link to procedural knowledge page if a (soft) redirection is desired.

(Now a second reason which makes me uncomfortable with this redirection is that procedural knowledge is ambiguous to me: it is a tautology to speak of procedural knowledge if we only imply that time is needed to yield results; on the other hand if procedural implies a computer-based, programmed implementation of knowledge it is too reductive, we might than have to introduce other types of knowledge, such as structural knowledge, or human knowledge for example.) -- (User:Dessimoz|Dessimoz), 8:41, Nov 5, 2003 (UTC)

Disclosure agreements
The Section on disclosure agreements is very messy, and best omitted or given a distinct entry. GioCM GioCM (talk) 02:43, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

Alternate spelling
Note that knowhow is a recognized alternative spelling (per sister publication Wiktionary), and given general trends in language, the usage will probably coalesce around the single word knowhow in the future (???). Thus I added this as an alternative at the beginning of the article. Zagraniczniak (talk) 10:33, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

title: Talk:Know-how


text:
Talk:Brahmagupta

Mayan
User:Infrogmation changed the reference to the independent Mayan innovation of zero from Mayan civilization to Maya numerals, I suppose on the theory that the latter is a more specific reference -- except that zero is only mentioned under Maya numerals as a digit, whereas it is made clear in the "Mathematics" section of Mayan civilization that they knew zero as a number in its own right.

Also, the change makes the parenthetical clause read "...outside the Maya numerals mathematical tradition" which is awkward.

It might be good to discuss Mayan mathematics more thoroughly under Maya numerals or perhaps give Maya mathematics its own article. Until then, though, I think it would be best to change the link back.

Zack 07:48, 5 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Gravity
This sentence is there in the top itself. But cannot find the original verse in which the word gurutvākarṣaṇam is mentioned. none of the source cited mentions saṃskṛta verse. Among the sources, earliest available one is Al Beruni, who lived nearly half a millennium after Brahmgupta. Al Beruni's work are mostly in translation. He also doesn't quote the exact word. So where exactly is the word gurutvākarṣaṇam in Brahmagupta's works?. ChandlerMinh (talk) 11:39, 21 May 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Brahmagupta


text:
Cambodia: A Book for People Who Find Television Too Slow

Cambodia: A Book For People Who Find Television too Slow is a book of short stories by Brian Fawcett. It was first published in 1986 (with subsequent US publication: ISBN 0-8021-1082-7).

In addition to its unusual title, this collection of thirteen short stories and essays is notable also for having a division three quarters of the way down the page, above which appear the stories, below which appears an essay about Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge. Many of the stories and essays deal with the turbulence caused by modernization, colonialism, and multiculturalism. In his essays, Fawcett makes frequent references both to the short Joseph Conrad novel Heart of Darkness, and to the film Apocalypse Now. One of Fawcett's theses is that the societal desire to turn back the hands of time and expunge the traces of modernization is a root cause of genocide. The book also talks about Reggie Jackson.

The book was the basis of a one-actor play by the same name co-written with Ken Brown, who was the performer, and a multi-media performance project directed by Ken Brown in 1991 and staged in Edmonton, Alberta.


text:
Margaret II, Countess of Flanders

Margaret, often called Margaret of Constantinople (1202 – 10 February 1280), ruled as Countess of Flanders during 1244–1278 and Countess of Hainaut during 1244–1253 and 1257–1280. She was the younger daughter of Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders and Hainaut, and Marie of Champagne.

Called the Black (la Noire) due to her scandalous life, the children of both her marriages disputed the inheritance of her counties in the War of the Succession of Flanders and Hainault.

Childhood
Her father left on the Fourth Crusade before she was born, and her mother left two years later, leaving Margaret and her older sister Joan in the guardianship of their uncle Philip of Namur.

After her mother died in 1204, and her father the next year, the now-orphaned Margaret and her sister remained under Philip of Namur's guardianship until he gave their wardship to King Philip II of France. During her time in Paris, she and her sister became familiar with the Cistercian Order, probably under influence of Blanche of Castile, the future Queen consort of France.

In 1211 Enguerrand III of Coucy offered the King the sum of 50,000 livres to marry Joan, while his brother Thomas would marry Margaret. However, the Flemish nobility was hostile to the project, which was finally dropped.

First Marriage
After her sister's marriage with Infante Ferdinand of Portugal, Margaret was placed under the care of Bouchard of Avesnes, Lord of Etroen and a prominent Hainaut nobleman, who was knighted by Baldwin IX before he parted to the Crusades. In the middle of the war against France for the possession of the Artois and the forced territorial concession made by the Treaty of Pont-à-Vendin, Joan and Ferdinand wanted to marry Margaret with William II Longespée, heir of the Earldom of Salisbury, in order to reinforce the bonds of Flanders with England; however Bouchard of Avesnes, with the consent of the King of France, prevented the union.

In the presence of a significant number of bourgeois of Hainaut, she declared she did not want another husband than Bouchard, and before 23 July 1212 they were married. Margaret was then twelve years old, while her new husband was twenty-eight.

After the capture of Ferdinand of Portugal at the Battle of Bouvines (27 July 1214), Bouchard of Avesnes claimed to Joan in the name of his wife her share of their inheritance, which led Joan to attempt to get Margaret's marriage dissolved; in addition, the French King began to see Bouchard with suspicion because he fought in the Flemish army.

Philip II informed Pope Innocent III that before his wedding, Bouchard of Avesnes had already received holy orders as sub-deacon, so technically his union was illegal. In 1215, at the Fourth Council of the Lateran, the Pope annulled the marriage on this ground; however, Margaret and Bouchard refused to submit and they took refuge at the Castle of Houffalize in the Ardennes under the protection of Waleran, Count of Luxembourg. In the following four years, they had three sons:

 * Baldwin of Avesnes (1217 – 1219), who died in infancy.
 * John of Avesnes (1 May 1218 – 24 December 1257)
 * Baldwin of Avesnes (September 1219 – 10 April 1295)

Second Marriage
In 1219, in a battle against Joan, Bouchard of Avesnes was captured and imprisoned for two years, until 1221, when he was released on the condition that he separate from his wife and made a trip to Rome to get the absolution from the Pope. While he was in Rome to obtain forgiveness and the orders that would make his union legitimate, Joan took advantage of this to convince Margaret (who after Bouchard's capture came to live at her court, leaving her two sons in France under custody ) to contract a new wedding. Finally, Margaret gave in to her sister's pressures, and between 18 August and 15 November 1223, she married William II of Dampierre, a nobleman from Champagne. They had five children:

 * William II, Count of Flanders (1224 – 6 June 1251).
 * Joan of Dampierre (c. 1225 – 1245/1246), married in 1239 to Hugh III of Rethel, then in 1243 to Theobald II, Count of Bar.
 * Guy, Count of Flanders (c. 1226 – 7 March 1305).
 * John of Dampierre (c. 1228 – 1258), Lord of Dampierre-sur-l'Aube, Sompuis and Saint-Dizier, Viscount of Troyes and Constable of Champagne.
 * Marie of Dampierre (c. 1230 – 21 December 1302), Abbess of Flines, near Douai.

This situation caused something of a scandal, for the marriage was possibly bigamous, and violated the church's strictures on consanguinity as well. The disputes regarding the validity of the two marriages and the legitimacy of Margaret's children by each husband continued for decades, becoming entangled in the politics of the Holy Roman Empire and resulting in the long War of the Flemish Succession.

Countess of Flanders and Hainaut
At the death of her sister Joan in 1244, Margaret succeeded her as Countess of Flanders and Hainaut. Almost immediately, her sons from both marriages began the fight for the inheritance of the Counties, with the question of the validity of her first marriage to Bouchard of Avesnes was then raised, as if it was indeed illegitimate the inheritance of Flanders and Hainaut was passed only to the children from her second marriage, already favored by Margaret in 1245 when she paid homage to King Louis IX of France: at that point, she tried to obtain from the French King the recognition of William of Dampierre, the eldest son of her second marriage, as sole heir, arguing that Pope Gregory IX declared her first marriage invalid on 31 March 1237 and thus her sons from this union were illegitimate.

In 1246 Louis IX, acting as an arbitrator, gave the right to inherit Flanders to the Dampierre children, and the rights to Hainaut to the Avesnes children. This would seem to have settled the matter, but neither party accepted the solomonic decision of the French King, while responding to the spirit of fairness of the monarch, it had a political effect clearly advantageous for the interests of France, to dislocate the county, and served to avoid war. However, in 1248 John of Avesnes took advantage of the departure of Louis IX and William of Dampierre for the Crusades, to initiate war against his mother, taking Hainaut and Alost with other surrounding Flemish lands.

Margaret, thinking that the inheritance disputes were finally over after her son William of Dampierre paid homage for Flanders as her co-ruler to both Louis IX (in October 1246) and Emperor Frederick II (in 1248), made the political mistake of obtaining from the Pope, in 1251, the legitimation of both John and Baldwin of Avesnes; this gave them rights of birth over the Counties.

The unexpected death of William of Dampierre (6 June 1251) –who reportedly died from injuries received during a tournament, although his mother suspected that the allies of Avesnes were responsible– caused the renewal of the hostilities when John of Avesnes, who was uneasy about his rights, convinced William II of Holland, the German King recognized by the pro-papal forces, to seize Hainaut and the parts of Flanders which were within the bounds of the Holy Roman Empire. William II was theoretically, as King, overlord of these territories, and also John's brother-in-law. A civil war followed, which ended when the Avesnes forces defeated and imprisoned Guy of Dampierre (who had succeeded his brother as co-ruler of Flanders) at Westkappel, on the island of Walcheren, in July 1253.

Margaret offered the County of Hainaut to Charles of Anjou (brother of Louis IX) in order to obtain his military intervention against William II. Charles besieged Valenciennes, but a truce was negotiated between all parties on 26 July 1254, which included an agreement to submit the dispute to Louis IX for adjudication. Guy of Dampierre was ransomed in 1256 and Louis IX confirmed his 1246 decision regarding the Hainaut-Flanders split between the Avesnes and Dampierre children, while Charles of Anjou renounced to all his claims over Hainaut. The death of John of Avesnes in 1257 put a temporary halt over the already costly internecine quarrel.

The chronicler Matthew Paris called Margaret "...a new Medea guilty of the death of many honest knights". He related that after the capture of Guy and John of Dampierre at Westkappel, John of Avesnes sought to use them as hostages to force his mother to negotiate peace; supposedly, the harsh response of the Countess was:

"Sacrifice them, truculent meat eater, and devour one of them cooked with pepper sauce and the other roasted with garlic."

Because the Avesnes heir, her grandson John II was still under-age, Margaret managed to recover the government of Hainaut, while in Flanders she remained co-ruler with her son Guy of Dampierre until 29 December 1278, when she abdicated in his favor. She administered Hainaut as solely ruling countess until May 1279, when she appointed John II as her co-ruler in Hainaut. She died nine months later, in February 1280. John II of Avesnes succeeded her as sole Count of Hainaut.

Margaret's death ended the personal union between Flanders and Hainaut, which had lasted for nearly a century. The two counties were reunited again only in 1432 when Jacqueline of Bavaria, the Avesnes heiress, surrendered her domains to Philip III, Duke of Burgundy, the Dampierre heir.

Economy
Like her sister, Margaret conducted an economic policy designed to encourage international commerce. She removed restrictions on foreigner traders, despite pressures from local traders, who wanted to maintain monopolies. She also issued a new coinage. The huge debts that she contracted due to the War of Succession, however, forced Margaret to make concessions to the main Flemish cities, which became autonomous entities.

Her policies also helped to turn Bruges into an international port, granting privileges to the merchants of Poitou, Gascony and Castile, in addition to improvements in the water gates. During 1270-1275 she became involved in a trade war with England, probably the first time that the economy was openly used as a weapon in a conflict between states with unfavorable outcome. Margaret demanded from England payments for her support during the revolt of Simon de Montfort. King Henry III claimed that because he recruited mercenary soldiers, he did not see any reason to make payments.

In retaliation, Margaret seized the possessions of English merchants in Flanders. Henry III and later his son and successor Edward I seized those of Flemish merchants in England and also stopped the exports of wool to Flanders. Townspeople who depended on the textile trade pressured the Countess and her son Guy to enter into negotiations with the English; henceforth the Flemish no longer dominated the transport of goods between the continent and England.

Religion

Like her sister, Margaret supported and founded religious houses. In 1245, she founded the Béguinage in Bruges. She also had an interest in architecture and patronized writers and poets. In 1260 she founded the Abbey of Saint Elizabeth du Quesnoy, now destroyed.

Closely related to the Dominican Order during her stay in Valenciennes after her marital separation, Margaret founded convents of this order in Ypres and Douai.

title: Margaret II, Countess of Flanders