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Beat Street

Beat Street is a 1984 American dance drama film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to various elements of early hip hop culture, including breakdancing, DJing and graffiti.

Plot
In the South Bronx, New York City, budding disc jockey and MC Kenny "Double K" Kirkland is hired as a featured DJ at a house party at an abandoned building, accompanied by his best friend Ramon Franco, a graffiti artist known by his tag "Ramo", and his friend/manager Chollie Wilson. Kenny's younger brother Lee crashes the party with his dance crew the Beat Street Breakers, who begin sparring with rival crew the Bronx Rockers. The next day, Chollie informs Kenny of complimentary tickets to the Roxy, one of Manhattan's most popular nightclubs. Meanwhile, Ramon's father, Domingo, implores his son to get a job and marry Carmen Carraro, the young mother of his illegitimate baby.

While visiting The Roxy a few nights later, Kenny meets composer Tracy Carlson. During an ensuing breakdance battle between the Breakers and Bronx Rockers, Tracy notices Lee's performance, inviting him to audition for a dancing television show. Lee, Kenny and their crew visit a dance rehearsal at the City College of New York (CCNY), where she is contributing a dance composition to a television program, and Lee performs only to be rejected. Kenny accuses Tracy of being condescending towards Lee.

Later, Ramon visits with Carmen and their baby. After her mother accuses him of shirking his responsibility, Carmen begs him to take them away. Meanwhile, Tracy visits the Kirklands' apartment to apologize. She and Kenny bond over some of his musical mixes that he plays for her. Later, the pair visits the subway tunnels, where Ramon and Lee are spray-painting a wall. Ramon longingly watches a clean, white train pass, claiming it his dream canvas. Startled by rival graffiti artist Spit, a shadowy and taciturn hooded street punk who has been defacing Ramon's artwork and is tagging a freshly painted wall, the group departs.

Walking Tracy home, Kenny explains that his older brother Franklin, a gang member, was killed a year ago. The next day, Chollie invites him to play at the Burning Spear club, run by DJ Kool Herc. Accompanied by Tracy, Kenny delights the crowd, and Kool Herc hires him for the following weekend. The next day, Ramon asks his father if Carmen can live with them. Domingo declines, calling Ramon a criminal, then orders him to marry Carmen and provide for his child.

Later, Chollie takes Kenny to the Roxy, where a talent scout is auditioning local performers, and invites the scout to see Kenny deejay at the Burning Spear. Afterward, Kenny visits CCNY to surprise Tracy and sees her intimately embracing her professor, Robert. Ramon tells his friends he plans to move Carmen and the baby into an empty apartment upstairs, and gets a job at a hardware store. His friends help him furnish the apartment, surprising Carmen with a small housewarming party.

On Saturday night at the Burning Spear, Kenny impresses the talent scout, who invites him to perform at the Roxy on New Year's Eve. Meanwhile, Tracy permits Kenny to use the college's computerized studio, while she assists Robert at a nearby piano. Kenny accidentally deletes his work, and rejects Robert and Tracy's attempts to help him. He tells Tracy their relationship might not last.

At the college, Tracy premieres her dance composition. Waiting for a train with Ramon, Kenny worries that he offended Tracy. Ramon explains that his job interferes with his artwork. He sees an all-white train on the "A" line, realizing he can paint it that night after work. Later that evening, Kenny helps Ramon paint the train, but Spit, lurking nearby, tags the train even before Ramon can finish the other side. The two chase Spit through the subway tunnels and a fight ensues. Spit sprays paint in Ramon's eyes and both tussle on the roadbed before rolling onto the electrified third rail, which kills both of them instantly.

After Ramon's funeral, Kenny contemplates forgoing the Roxy's New Year's Eve show, but Tracy and Chollie dissuade him. Kenny ultimately uses his big break to celebrate Ramon's life, starting with a rap performance while images of Ramon and his work appear on a screen behind him, impressing Domingo, followed by Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five and a Bronx gospel choir, and backed by the City College Dancers and a group of twenty-five breakdancers.

Cast

 * Rae Dawn Chong – Tracy Carlson
 * Guy Davis – Kenny "Double K" Kirkland
 * Jon Chardiet – Ramon "Ramo" Franco
 * Leon W. Grant – Chollie Wilson
 * Saundra Santiago – Carmen Carraro
 * Robert Taylor – Lee Kirkland
 * Mary Alice – Cora Kirkland
 * Shawn Elliott – Domingo
 * Bill Anagnos – Spit
 * Jim Borelli – Monte
 * Dean Elliot – Henri
 * Franc Reyes – Luis
 * Tonya Pinkins – Angela
 * Lee Chamberlin – Alicia
 * Duane Jones – Robert
 * Afrika Bambaataa – Himself
 * Soulsonic Force – Themselves
 * Jazzy Jay – Himself
 * Doug E. Fresh – Himself
 * Bernard Fowler – Himself
 * New York City Breakers – Beat Street Breakers
 * Tony Lopez – Pex
 * Rock Steady Crew – Bronx Rockers
 * Kuriaki – Bronx Rocker
 * Devious Doze – Bronx Rocker
 * Crazy Legs – Bronx Rocker
 * Prince Ken Swift – Bronx Rocker
 * Buck Four – Bronx Rocker
 * Baby Love – Bronx Rocker
 * Clive "Kool Herc" Campbell – Himself
 * Treacherous Three – Themselves
 * Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five – Themselves
 * Wanda Dee – Herself
 * Brenda K. Starr – Herself
 * The System – Themselves

Kadeem Hardison was credited as "High School Student" in the director's cut of the film. However, his scenes were all cut from the final theatrical version.

Background
The movie was inspired by an original story, "The Perfect Beat", by journalist Steven Hager, who sold the idea to producer Harry Belafonte. Only a few character names from Hager's story made it into the final film. The 1983 film Wild Style was an obvious inspiration and model, in terms of story, style, characters, and themes. In addition, some of the plotline of the film was based on the New York City graffiti documentary, Style Wars, also released in 1983. Most visibly, the antagonist, Spit, in Beat Street was lifted from the real-life graffiti artist CAP MPC, who was portrayed in Style Wars.

Filming locations
Beat Street was filmed in New York City in December 1983, in the boroughs of The Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Several scenes were shot inside the city's subway system, both onboard trains and in stations, notably Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets, 57th Street-Sixth Avenue and Fresh Pond Road. Scenes were also filmed on the campus of the City College of New York, which includes the concert venue Aaron Davis Hall. Many of the internal dance sequences were filmed at the popular night club, the Roxy, located in the Chelsea section of Manhattan.

Musical performances and soundtrack
There are several performances in the movie, notably from established early hip hop groups, Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five, Doug E. Fresh, Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force and the Treacherous Three. As a member of the Treacherous Three, Kool Moe Dee also appeared in the film.

The musical performance of Kool Moe Dee stands as one of the few media appearances he has ever made without his trademark sunglasses (a style he had not yet adopted at the time). In addition to these acts, Guy Davis, who played Kenny, is also a blues musician in real life.

Three female MCs appear in a party scene in Beat Street: Debbie D, Sha-Rock and Lisa Lee. They perform a limited and limiting performance as a group called "Us Girls" (see video). The first lyrics you hear are sung (vs. rapped). This moment tends to diminish the significance of women in early hip hop performance as if by 1984 female emcees were already exceptional to a musical genre that was still emerging and developing. The group sings in unison, "Us Girls / Can Boogie, too," then each emcee performs a short rhyme.

The film also includes other musical performances from Tina B and The System, both of whom appear on the soundtrack album. Though not featured on the album, there were also appearances by rapper Richard Lee Sisco and singers Bernard Fowler and Brenda K. Starr, known as the Queen of freestyle who later became a Latin artist.

At least three breakdancing battles between the New York City Breakers and the Rock Steady Crew were also included in the film. In addition, the Roxy audition scene features a pair of breakdancing boys known as the Fantastic Duo.

This was the first American film to feature more than one soundtrack album. Originally, Atlantic Records, which released the soundtrack albums, had three volumes planned, but only two of these were released. The second volume was never released on compact disc.

The trailer includes an alternate version of the title song performed by Kool Moe Dee, a version that was not featured in the movie or on the original soundtrack albums.

Reception
Beat Street was screened out of competition at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. It received mixed critical reviews and the film holds a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on seven reviews.

Legacy
Beat Street ' s impact was felt internationally as well as throughout the United States. In Germany, for example, movies such as Beat Street and Wild Style are credited with introducing the hip hop movement to the country. Because movies are so easily distributed over borders, part of the importance of this movie lay in its ability to influence both East Germany and West Germany, which at the time were still divided. Beat Street was of particular importance in the East, where it is said to illustrate for young people the evils of capitalism. Because the film focused so heavily on the visual aspects of hip hop, such as breaking and graffiti, these aspects had the heaviest influence on the emerging German hip hop scene.

It was precisely these visual aspects that helped bring hip hop culture to Germany, rather than simply a genre of music. Beat Street appeared in the German Democratic Republic at almost the same time as in the West. Dresden, the center of the Beat Street scene was geographically out of western media range, making it a perfect center to explore this genre of music. The hip hop scene for the entire public would meet at breakdancing competitions, emceeing competitions, and graffiti spraying. Puerto Rican and African American breakdancing, hip hop and Latin freestyle dance sounds, and inner-city American graffiti made up what Germans knew as hip hop culture. The aftermath of Beat Street propelled events such as competitions in emceeing, break dancing, and graffiti spraying throughout Germany.

In popular culture

 * AZ mentions the film in his song "The Come Up", in the line "Before Beat Street, streets was heavily in deep with the ryders."
 * The Notorious B.I.G. in his song "Suicidal Thoughts" said, "Should I die on the train tracks like Ramo in Beat Street/People at my funeral frontin' like they miss me."
 * Jay Electronica mentions the film in his song "Exhibit A (Transformations)" in the line "Who gone bring the game back/who gone spit that Ramo on the train tracks".
 * Ras Kass in his song "Won't Catch Me Runnin'" said, "When my voice hits the mic, I electrocute Spit like Beat Street."
 * Mr. Lif, on "Elektro", rapped the lines: "So I use the same flow to put niggas under in The Serpent and the Rainbow/Go back to Beat Street and resurrect Ramo knock the shit out of Spit verbal eclipse"
 * In The Proud Family Movie, Oscar offhandedly mentions Beat Street.
 * In 2022, author Steven Hager published the inside story of what went wrong with the film.

title: Beat Street


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Ginzburg–Landau theory

In physics, Ginzburg–Landau theory, often called Landau–Ginzburg theory, named after Vitaly Ginzburg and Lev Landau, is a mathematical physical theory used to describe superconductivity. In its initial form, it was postulated as a phenomenological model which could describe type-I superconductors without examining their microscopic properties. One GL-type superconductor is the famous YBCO, and generally all cuprates.

Later, a version of Ginzburg–Landau theory was derived from the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer microscopic theory by Lev Gor'kov, thus showing that it also appears in some limit of microscopic theory and giving microscopic interpretation of all its parameters. The theory can also be given a general geometric setting, placing it in the context of Riemannian geometry, where in many cases exact solutions can be given. This general setting then extends to quantum field theory and string theory, again owing to its solvability, and its close relation to other, similar systems.

Introduction
Based on Landau's previously established theory of second-order phase transitions, Ginzburg and Landau argued that the free energy density $$f_s$$ of a superconductor near the superconducting transition can be expressed in terms of a complex order parameter field $$\psi(r) = |\psi(r)|e^{i\phi(r)}$$, where the quantity $$|\psi(r)|^2$$ is a measure of the local density of superconducting electrons $$n_s(r)$$ analogous to a quantum mechanical wave function. While $$\psi(r)$$ is nonzero below a phase transition into a superconducting state, no direct interpretation of this parameter was given in the original paper. Assuming smallness of $$|\psi|$$ and smallness of its gradients, the free energy density has the form of a field theory and exhibits U(1) gauge symmetry:

$$ f_s = f_n + \alpha(T)|\psi|^2 + \frac{1}{2}\beta(T)|\psi|^4 + \frac{1}{2m^*}\left|\left(-i\hbar\nabla - \frac{e^*}{c}\mathbf{A}\right)\psi\right|^2 + \frac{\mathbf{B}^2}{8\pi},$$

where
 * $$f_n$$ is the free energy density of the normal phase,
 * $$\alpha(T)$$ and $$\beta(T)$$ are phenomenological parameters that are functions of T (and often written just $$\alpha$$ and $$\beta$$).
 * $$m^*$$ is an effective mass,
 * $$e^*$$ is an effective charge (usually $$2e$$, where e is the charge of an electron),
 * $$\mathbf{A}$$ is the magnetic vector potential, and
 * $$\mathbf{B}=\nabla \times \mathbf{A}$$ is the magnetic field.

The total free energy is given by $$F = \int f_s d^3r$$. By minimizing $$F$$ with respect to variations in the order parameter $$\psi$$ and the vector potential $$\mathbf{A}$$, one arrives at the Ginzburg–Landau equations

$$ \alpha \psi + \beta |\psi|^2 \psi + \frac{1}{2m^*} \left(-i\hbar\nabla - \frac{e^*}{c}\mathbf{A} \right)^2 \psi = 0 $$

$$ \nabla \times \mathbf{B} = \frac{4\pi}{c}\mathbf{J} \;\; ; \;\; \mathbf{J} = \frac{e^*}{m^*} \operatorname{Re} \left\{ \psi^* \left(-i\hbar\nabla - \frac{e^*}{c}\mathbf{A} \right) \psi \right\},$$

where $$J$$ denotes the dissipation-free electric current density and Re the real part. The first equation — which bears some similarities to the time-independent Schrödinger equation, but is principally different due to a nonlinear term — determines the order parameter, $$\psi$$. The second equation then provides the superconducting current.

Simple interpretation
Consider a homogeneous superconductor where there is no superconducting current and the equation for ψ simplifies to: $$ \alpha \psi + \beta |\psi|^2 \psi = 0. $$

This equation has a trivial solution: $ψ = 0$. This corresponds to the normal conducting state, that is for temperatures above the superconducting transition temperature, $T > T_{c}$.

Below the superconducting transition temperature, the above equation is expected to have a non-trivial solution (that is $$\psi \neq 0$$). Under this assumption the equation above can be rearranged into: $$ |\psi|^2 = - \frac\alpha \beta.$$

When the right hand side of this equation is positive, there is a nonzero solution for $ψ$ (remember that the magnitude of a complex number can be positive or zero). This can be achieved by assuming the following temperature dependence of $$\alpha: \alpha(T) = \alpha_0 (T- T_{\rm c}) $$ with $$ \alpha_0/\beta > 0$$:

 * Above the superconducting transition temperature, T > Tc, the expression $α$(T) / $β$ is positive and the right hand side of the equation above is negative. The magnitude of a complex number must be a non-negative number, so only $ψ = 0$ solves the Ginzburg–Landau equation.
 * Below the superconducting transition temperature, T < Tc, the right hand side of the equation above is positive and there is a non-trivial solution for $ψ$. Furthermore, $$ |\psi|^2 = - \frac{\alpha_0 (T - T_c)} \beta,$$ that is $ψ$ approaches zero as T gets closer to Tc from below. Such a behavior is typical for a second order phase transition.

In Ginzburg–Landau theory the electrons that contribute to superconductivity were proposed to form a superfluid. In this interpretation, |$ψ$|2 indicates the fraction of electrons that have condensed into a superfluid.

Coherence length and penetration depth
The Ginzburg–Landau equations predicted two new characteristic lengths in a superconductor. The first characteristic length was termed coherence length, ξ. For T > Tc (normal phase), it is given by

 * $$ \xi = \sqrt{\frac{\hbar^2}{2 m^* |\alpha|}}. $$

while for T < Tc (superconducting phase), where it is more relevant, it is given by

 * $$ \xi = \sqrt{\frac{\hbar^2}{4 m^* |\alpha|}}. $$

It sets the exponential law according to which small perturbations of density of superconducting electrons recover their equilibrium value ψ0. Thus this theory characterized all superconductors by two length scales. The second one is the penetration depth, λ. It was previously introduced by the London brothers in their London theory. Expressed in terms of the parameters of Ginzburg–Landau model it is

 * $$ \lambda = \sqrt{\frac{m^*}{\mu_0 e^{*2} \psi_0^2}} = \sqrt{\frac{m^*\beta}{\mu_0 e^{*2} |\alpha|}}, $$

where ψ0 is the equilibrium value of the order parameter in the absence of an electromagnetic field. The penetration depth sets the exponential law according to which an external magnetic field decays inside the superconductor.

The original idea on the parameter κ belongs to Landau. The ratio κ = λ/ξ is presently known as the Ginzburg–Landau parameter. It has been proposed by Landau that Type I superconductors are those with 0 < κ < 1/$\sqrt{2}$, and Type II superconductors those with κ > 1/$\sqrt{2}$.

Fluctuations
The phase transition from the normal state is of second order for Type II superconductors, taking into account fluctuations, as demonstrated by Dasgupta and Halperin, while for Type I superconductors it is of first order, as demonstrated by Halperin, Lubensky and Ma.

Classification of superconductors
In the original paper Ginzburg and Landau observed the existence of two types of superconductors depending on the energy of the interface between the normal and superconducting states. The Meissner state breaks down when the applied magnetic field is too large. Superconductors can be divided into two classes according to how this breakdown occurs. In Type I superconductors, superconductivity is abruptly destroyed when the strength of the applied field rises above a critical value Hc. Depending on the geometry of the sample, one may obtain an intermediate state consisting of a baroque pattern of regions of normal material carrying a magnetic field mixed with regions of superconducting material containing no field. In Type II superconductors, raising the applied field past a critical value Hc1 leads to a mixed state (also known as the vortex state) in which an increasing amount of magnetic flux penetrates the material, but there remains no resistance to the flow of electric current as long as the current is not too large. At a second critical field strength Hc2, superconductivity is destroyed. The mixed state is actually caused by vortices in the electronic superfluid, sometimes called fluxons because the flux carried by these vortices is quantized. Most pure elemental superconductors, except niobium and carbon nanotubes, are Type I, while almost all impure and compound superconductors are Type II.

The most important finding from Ginzburg–Landau theory was made by Alexei Abrikosov in 1957. He used Ginzburg–Landau theory to explain experiments on superconducting alloys and thin films. He found that in a type-II superconductor in a high magnetic field, the field penetrates in a triangular lattice of quantized tubes of flux vortices.

Geometric formulation
The Ginzburg–Landau functional can be formulated in the general setting of a complex vector bundle over a compact Riemannian manifold. This is the same functional as given above, transposed to the notation commonly used in Riemannian geometry. In multiple interesting cases, it can be shown to exhibit the same phenomena as the above, including Abrikosov vortices (see discussion below).

For a complex vector bundle $$E$$ over a Riemannian manifold $$M$$ with fiber $$\Complex^n$$, the order parameter $$\psi$$ is understood as a section of the vector bundle $$E$$. The Ginzburg–Landau functional is then a Lagrangian for that section:

\mathcal{L}(\psi, A) = \int_M \sqrt{|g|} dx^1 \wedge \dotsm \wedge dx^m \left[ \vert F \vert^2 + \vert D \psi\vert^2 + \frac{1}{4} \left(\sigma - \vert\psi\vert^2\right)^2 \right] $$

The notation used here is as follows. The fibers $$\Complex^n$$ are assumed to be equipped with a Hermitian inner product $$\langle\cdot,\cdot\rangle$$ so that the square of the norm is written as $$\vert\psi\vert^2 = \langle\psi,\psi\rangle$$. The phenomenological parameters $$\alpha$$ and $$\beta$$ have been absorbed so that the potential energy term is a quartic mexican hat potential; i.e., exhibiting spontaneous symmetry breaking, with a minimum at some real value $$\sigma\in\R$$. The integral is explicitly over the volume form
 * $$*(1) = \sqrt{|g|} dx^1 \wedge \dotsm \wedge dx^m$$

for an $$m$$-dimensional manifold $$M$$ with determinant $$|g|$$ of the metric tensor $$g$$.

The $$D = d + A$$ is the connection one-form and $$F$$ is the corresponding curvature 2-form (this is not the same as the free energy $$F$$ given up top; here, $$F$$ corresponds to the electromagnetic field strength tensor). The $$A$$ corresponds to the vector potential, but is in general non-Abelian when $$n> 1$$, and is normalized differently. In physics, one conventionally writes the connection as $$d-ieA$$ for the electric charge $$e$$ and vector potential $$A$$; in Riemannian geometry, it is more convenient to drop the $$e$$ (and all other physical units) and take $$A = A_\mu dx^\mu$$ to be a one-form taking values in the Lie algebra corresponding to the symmetry group of the fiber. Here, the symmetry group is SU(n), as that leaves the inner product $$\langle\cdot,\cdot\rangle$$ invariant; so here, $$A$$ is a form taking values in the algebra $$\mathfrak{su}(n)$$.

The curvature $$F$$ generalizes the electromagnetic field strength to the non-Abelian setting, as the curvature form of an affine connection on a vector bundle. It is conventionally written as
 * $$\begin{align}

F &= D \circ D \\ &= dA + A \wedge A \\ &= \left(\frac{\partial A_\nu}{\partial x^\mu} + A_\mu A_\nu\right) dx^\mu \wedge dx^\nu \\ &= \frac{1}{2} \left(\frac{\partial A_\nu}{\partial x^\mu} - \frac{\partial A_\mu}{\partial x^\nu} + [A_\mu, A_\nu]\right) dx^\mu \wedge dx^\nu \\ \end{align}$$

That is, each $$A_\mu$$ is an $$n \times n$$ skew-symmetric matrix. (See the article on the metric connection for additional articulation of this specific notation.) To emphasize this, note that the first term of the Ginzburg–Landau functional, involving the field-strength only, is
 * $$\mathcal{L}(A) = YM(A) = \int_M *(1) \vert F \vert^2 $$

which is just the Yang–Mills action on a compact Riemannian manifold.

The Euler–Lagrange equations for the Ginzburg–Landau functional are the Yang–Mills equations
 * $$D^*D\psi = \frac{1}{2}\left(\sigma - \vert\psi\vert^2\right)\psi$$

and
 * $$D^*F = -\operatorname{Re}\langle D\psi, \psi\rangle$$

where $$D^*$$ is the adjoint of $$D$$, analogous to the codifferential $$\delta = d^*$$. Note that these are closely related to the Yang–Mills–Higgs equations.

Specific results
In string theory, it is conventional to study the Ginzburg–Landau functional for the manifold $$M$$ being a Riemann surface, and taking $$n = 1$$; i.e., a line bundle. The phenomenon of Abrikosov vortices persists in these general cases, including $$M=\R^2$$, where one can specify any finite set of points where $$\psi$$ vanishes, including multiplicity. The proof generalizes to arbitrary Riemann surfaces and to Kähler manifolds. In the limit of weak coupling, it can be shown that $$\vert\psi\vert$$ converges uniformly to 1, while $$D\psi$$ and $$dA$$ converge uniformly to zero, and the curvature becomes a sum over delta-function distributions at the vortices. The sum over vortices, with multiplicity, just equals the degree of the line bundle; as a result, one may write a line bundle on a Riemann surface as a flat bundle, with N singular points and a covariantly constant section.

When the manifold is four-dimensional, possessing a spinc structure, then one may write a very similar functional, the Seiberg–Witten functional, which may be analyzed in a similar fashion, and which possesses many similar properties, including self-duality. When such systems are integrable, they are studied as Hitchin systems.

Self-duality
When the manifold $$M$$ is a Riemann surface $$M=\Sigma$$, the functional can be re-written so as to explicitly show self-duality. One achieves this by writing the exterior derivative as a sum of Dolbeault operators $$d=\partial+\overline\partial$$. Likewise, the space $$\Omega^1$$ of one-forms over a Riemann surface decomposes into a space that is holomorphic, and one that is anti-holomorphic: $$\Omega^1=\Omega^{1,0}\oplus\Omega^{0,1}$$, so that forms in $$\Omega^{1,0}$$ are holomorphic in $$z$$ and have no dependence on $$\overline z$$; and vice-versa for $$\Omega^{0,1}$$. This allows the vector potential to be written as $$A=A^{1,0}+A^{0,1}$$ and likewise $$D=\partial_A + \overline\partial_A$$ with $$\partial_A=\partial+A^{1,0}$$ and $$\overline\partial_A=\overline\partial+A^{0,1}$$.

For the case of $$n=1$$, where the fiber is $$\Complex$$ so that the bundle is a line bundle, the field strength can similarly be written as
 * $$F=-\left(\partial_A \overline\partial_A + \overline\partial_A \partial_A\right)$$

Note that in the sign-convention being used here, both $$A^{1,0}, A^{0,1}$$ and $$F$$ are purely imaginary (viz U(1) is generated by $$e^{i\theta}$$ so derivatives are purely imaginary). The functional then becomes
 * $$\mathcal{L}\left(\psi,A\right)=

2\pi\sigma \operatorname{deg} L + \int_\Sigma \frac{i}{2} dz \wedge d\overline z \left[2 \vert\overline\partial_A\psi\vert^2 + \left(*(-iF) - \frac{1}{2} (\sigma - \vert\psi\vert^2 \right)^2 \right] $$ The integral is understood to be over the volume form
 * $$*(1) = \frac{i}{2} dz \wedge d\overline z$$,

so that
 * $$\operatorname{Area}\Sigma = \int_\Sigma *(1)$$

is the total area of the surface $$\Sigma$$. The $$*$$ is the Hodge star, as before. The degree $$\operatorname{deg} L$$ of the line bundle $$L$$ over the surface $$\Sigma$$ is
 * $$\operatorname{deg}L = c_1(L) = \frac{1}{2\pi} \int_\Sigma iF$$

where $$c_1(L) = c_1(L)[\Sigma]\in H^2(\Sigma)$$ is the first Chern class.

The Lagrangian is minimized (stationary) when $$\psi,A$$ solve the Ginzberg–Landau equations
 * $$\begin{align}

\overline\partial_A \psi &= 0 \\ \end{align}$$ Note that these are both first-order differential equations, manifestly self-dual. Integrating the second of these, one quickly finds that a non-trivial solution must obey
 * (iF) &= \frac{1}{2} \left(\sigma - \vert\psi\vert^2 \right) \\
 * $$4\pi \operatorname{deg}L \le \sigma \operatorname{Area} \Sigma$$.

Roughly speaking, this can be interpreted as an upper limit to the density of the Abrikosov vortecies. One can also show that the solutions are bounded; one must have $$|\psi|\le\sigma$$.

In string theory
In particle physics, any quantum field theory with a unique classical vacuum state and a potential energy with a degenerate critical point is called a Landau–Ginzburg theory. The generalization to N = (2,2) supersymmetric theories in 2 spacetime dimensions was proposed by Cumrun Vafa and Nicholas Warner in November 1988; in this generalization one imposes that the superpotential possess a degenerate critical point. The same month, together with Brian Greene they argued that these theories are related by a renormalization group flow to sigma models on Calabi–Yau manifolds. In his 1993 paper "Phases of N = 2 theories in two-dimensions", Edward Witten argued that Landau–Ginzburg theories and sigma models on Calabi–Yau manifolds are different phases of the same theory. A construction of such a duality was given by relating the Gromov–Witten theory of Calabi–Yau orbifolds to FJRW theory an analogous Landau–Ginzburg "FJRW" theory. Witten's sigma models were later used to describe the low energy dynamics of 4-dimensional gauge theories with monopoles as well as brane constructions.

Papers

 * V.L. Ginzburg and L.D. Landau, Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 20, 1064 (1950). English translation in: L. D. Landau, Collected papers (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1965) p. 546
 * A.A. Abrikosov, Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 32, 1442 (1957) (English translation: Sov. Phys. JETP 5 1174 (1957)].) Abrikosov's original paper on vortex structure of Type-II superconductors derived as a solution of G–L equations for κ > 1/√2
 * L.P. Gor'kov, Sov. Phys. JETP 36, 1364 (1959)
 * A.A. Abrikosov's 2003 Nobel lecture: pdf file or video
 * V.L. Ginzburg's 2003 Nobel Lecture: pdf file or video

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

title: Ginzburg–Landau theory


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Independent Order of Odd Fellows

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political, non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Order of Odd Fellows founded in England during the 18th century, the IOOF was originally chartered by the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity in England but has operated as an independent organization since 1842, although it maintains an inter-fraternal relationship with the English Order. The order is also known as the Triple Link Fraternity, referring to the order's "Triple Links" symbol, alluding to its motto "Friendship, Love and Truth".

While several unofficial Odd Fellows Lodges had existed in New York City circa 1806–1818, because of its charter relationship, the American Odd Fellows is regarded as being founded with Washington Lodge No 1 in Baltimore at the Seven Stars Tavern on April 26, 1819, by Thomas Wildey along with some associates who assembled in response to an advertisement in the New Republic. The following year, the lodge affiliated with the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity and was granted the authority to institute new lodges. Previously, Wildey had joined the Grand United Order of Oddfellows (1798-) in 1804 but followed through with the split of Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity (1810–) before immigrating to the United States in 1817.

In 1842, after a dispute on authority, the American Lodges formed a governing system separate from the English Order, and in 1843 assumed the name Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Like other fraternities, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows began by limiting their membership to white men only. On September 20, 1851, the IOOF became the first fraternity in the United States to include white women when it adopted the "Beautiful Rebekah Degree" by initiative of Schuyler Colfax, later Vice-President of the United States. Daughters of Rebekah are an auxiliary organization to the Odd Fellows.

Beyond fraternal and recreational activities, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows promotes the ethic of reciprocity and charity, by implied inspiration of Judeo-Christian ethics. The largest Sovereign Grand Lodge of all fraternal orders of Odd Fellows since the 19th century, it enrolls some 600,000 members divided in approximately 10,000 lodges into 26 countries, inter-fraternally recognized by the second largest, the British-seated Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity.

Precursor
Odd Fellows lodges were first documented in 1730 in England from which many organizations emerged.

While several unofficial Odd Fellows lodges had existed in New York City sometime in the period 1806 to 1818, the American Odd Fellows is regarded as being founded with Washington Lodge No 1 in Baltimore at the Seven Stars Tavern on April 26, 1819, by Thomas Wildey along with some associates who assembled in response to a newspaper advertisement. The following year, the lodge affiliated with the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity was granted the authority to institute new lodges. Wildey had joined the Grand United Order of Oddfellows in 1804, then joined its splinter order, Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity, before immigrating to the United States in 1817.

Foundation
In 1842, after an elementary dispute on whether the American lodges were to be involved in decision-making procedures, in a split along racial lines, some American Lodges formed with exclusively whites-only membership and a separate governing system from the English Order. In 1843, they changed the name of their organization to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

19th century
In the following years, lodges were instituted all over the country, first in the east and later in the west. After rejection from the Independent Order of Odd Fellows due to race, an African American sailor, Peter Ogden, petitioned the Grand United Order of Oddfellows for a charter which was granted. Grand United Order of Odd Fellows in America are still headquartered in Philadelphia.

On September 20, 1851, IOOF became the first national fraternity to accept both men and women when it formed the Daughters of Rebekah as an auxiliary organization. Schuyler Colfax (Vice President of the United States (1869–1873) under President Ulysses S. Grant) was the force behind the movement. Both the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs have appendant branches known as Encampments and Patriarchs Militant.

The American Civil War (1861–1865) shattered the IOOF in America; membership decreased and many lodges were unable to continue their work, especially in the southern states. After the Civil War, with the beginning of industrialization, the deteriorating social circumstances brought large numbers of people to the IOOF and the lodges rallied.

Over the next half-century, also known as the "Golden age of fraternalism" in America, the Odd Fellows became the largest among all fraternal organizations (at the time, even larger than Freemasonry). By 1889, the IOOF had lodges in every American state. Compared to Masonic lodges, membership in the Odd Fellows lodges tended to be more common among the lower middle class and skilled workers and less common among the wealthy white collar workers and professionals.

In 1896, the World Almanac showed the Odd Fellows as the largest among all fraternal organizations.

By the late nineteenth century, the Order had spread to most of the rest of the world, establishing lodges in the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. According to the Journal of the Annual Communication of the Sovereign Grand Lodge 1922, page 426, there were a reported 2,676,582 members. While this data from 1921 may not be the exact zenith of its membership, the organization experienced a loss in membership of 23.5% between 1920 and 1930, explained in large part by the development of the commercial insurance industry, and has continually declined.

20th century
The Great Depression and the introduction of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal brought a decline in membership. During the depression, people could not afford Odd Fellows membership fees, and when the New Deal's social reforms started to take effect, the need for the social work of the Odd Fellows declined.

In 1971 the IOOF changed its constitution, removing its whites only clause. In 1979 the Order had 243,000 members.

Some branches of the order (i.e., some countries) have allowed women to join the Odd Fellows itself, leading to the Rebekahs' decline in importance. Also, the appendant branches and their degrees are, in some countries, becoming regarded as less important or too time-consuming, and are gradually being abandoned.

21st century
Although there was a decline in membership in fraternal organizations in general during the 20th century, membership in the 21st century started to increase.

The Odd Fellows scholarship has extended financial assistance to the youth for their education from time to time.

Current status
The IOOF continues in the 21st century with lodges around the world, and is claimed to be the "largest united international fraternal order in the world under one head", with every lodge working with the Sovereign Grand Lodge located in the United States. Also, the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity and the IOOF have recognized each other inter-fraternally; members of the Manchester Unity and the IOOF can visit each other's lodges, and are welcome as brothers and sisters. Currently, there are about 12,000 lodges with nearly 600,000 members.

Units of the order in the United States include:
 * Odd Fellows Lodge
 * Rebekahs Lodge
 * Encampment
 * Ladies Encampment Auxiliary (LEA)
 * Patriarchs Militant
 * Ladies Auxiliary Patriarchs Militant (LAPM)
 * Junior Odd Fellows Lodge
 * Theta Rho Girls Club
 * United Youth Groups
 * Zeta Lambda Tau

Objectives
As an organization, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows aims to provide a framework that promotes personal and social development. Lodge degrees and activities aim to improve and elevate every person to a higher, nobler plane; to extend sympathy and aid to those in need, making their burdens lighter, relieving the darkness of despair; to war against vice in every form, and to be a great moral power and influence for the good of humanity. Teachings in the Order are conducted through the exemplification of the Degrees of membership. The Degrees are conferred on the candidate by their Lodge, and are teachings of principles and truths by ceremonies and symbols. The Degrees are presented largely by means of allegory and drama. For Odd Fellows, the degrees in Odd Fellowship emphasize a leaving of the old life and the start of a better one, of welcoming travelers, and of helping those in need. Lodges also provide an international social network of members in 26 countries. The command of the IOOF is to "visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan". Specifically, IOOF has stated the following purposes:

 * To improve and elevate the character of mankind by promoting the principles of friendship, love, truth, faith, hope, charity and universal justice.
 * To help make the world a better place to live by aiding each other in times of need and by organizing charitable projects and activities that would benefit the less fortunate, the youth, the elderly, the environment and the community in every way possible.
 * To promote good will and harmony amongst peoples and nations through the principle of universal fraternity, holding the belief that all men and women regardless of race, nationality, religion, social status, gender, rank and station are brothers and sisters.
 * To promote a wholesome fraternal experience without violence, vices and discrimination of every form.

International
There was one Odd Fellows Lodge in the country, Buenos Ayres Lodge no.1 instituted on January 1, 1903, with 32 members. The most recent report from the lodge was received by the Sovereign Grand Lodge in 1912.
 * Argentina

A lodge of the Order of Loyal and Independent Odd Fellows was in existence in the state of New South Wales on February 24, 1836. The lodge was established in New Zealand in 1843. An Australian Supreme Grand Lodge was established in Victoria sometime in the year 1850 and this body made negotiations for affiliation with the Grand Lodge of the United States in 1861. It is also noted that an Ancient Independent Order of Odd Fellows was in existence from 1861 to 1954 in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.
 * Australasia

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Austria was first formed as a club in 1911. After WWI, conditions changed and the club was instituted as Friedens Lodge no.1 on June 4, 1922, in Vienna followed by Ikarius Lodge no.2, Pestalozzi Lodge no.3 and Fridtjof Nansen Lodge no.4. Mozart Lager Encampment no.1 was also instituted on June 3, 1932.
 * Austria

The first lodge under the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Belgia Lodge no.1, was instituted on June 13, 1911, in Antwerp. On March 15, 1975, Aurora Rebekah Lodge no.1 was instituted in Antwerp. Two more Odd Fellows Lodges were opened in the country.
 * Belgium

The first I.O.O.F store in Brazil was established on February 16, 2020. It was a historic date for the country. A special delegation was sent to the country with 3 people, Edward Johnson, Michelle Heckart and Hank Dupray to assist in the foundation. Brazil Lodge N 01. was opened with 18 founding members and the first Noble Grand in Brazil was Gabriel Boni Sutil. Brazil Lodge N 01 remains open and members are working on the growth of the IOOF in the country.
 * Brazil

Two lodges under the Manchester Unity of Independent Order of Odd Fellows known as Royal Wellington Lodge no.1 and Loyal Bon Accorde Lodge no.2 existed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as early as 1815. The IOOF in Canada has 7 Grand Lodges, namely: Grand Lodge of Alberta, Grand Lodge of Atlantic Provinces, Grand Lodge of British Columbia, Grand Lodge of Manitoba, Grand Lodge of Ontario, Grand Lodge of Quebec and Grand Lodge of Saskatchewan.
 * Canada

The first Lodge under the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, known as Valparaiso Lodge No.1, was instituted by Dr. Cornelius Logan, Grand Sire, on April 15, 1874. Four additional lodges were instituted in the following years, and a Grand Lodge of Chile was instituted on November 18, 1875. However, due to the political situation in the country, the lodges in the country were reduced to 3 active lodges in 1888 and the charter of the Grand Lodge was surrendered. In September 2012, there were 3 Odd Fellows Lodges and 3 Rebekahs Lodges in the country.
 * Chile

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established in Cuba when Porvenir Lodge no.1 was instituted in Havana on August 26, 1883. More lodges were then instituted the following years. In 2012 there were about 116 Odd Fellows Lodges, 50 Rebekahs Lodges, 33 Encampments, 12 cantons and 2 Junior Lodges, totaling to about 15,000 members in Cuba.
 * Cuba

The first attempt to establish the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in what later became the Czech Republic was in 1905 through the formation of Friendship Lodge No. 8 in Saxony. But the unstable political and social condition of the country hampered development. The actual development of the IOOF began after the creation of Czechoslovakia. However, Lodges were banned and cancelled during WWII. The IOOF began to re-activate lodges in 1989, building the first Odd Fellows Hall in the Czech Republic in 1996. In 2010, Martel Rebekah Lodge No.4 was founded as the lodge for women.
 * Czech Republic

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established in the Kingdom of Denmark in 1878 and the Rebekahs in 1881. In September 2012, IOOF had over 112 Odd Fellow Lodges and 94 Rebekah Lodges, with a total membership of 14,500 in Denmark. The IOOF Grand Lodge headquarters of the Kingdom of Denmark is located at the Odd Fellow Palace in Copenhagen.
 * Denmark

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was formally established in the Dominican Republic when Dr. Joaquin Balaguer Lodge no.1 was founded on February 24, 2007, in the City of San Cristobal.
 * Dominican Republic

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was founded in Estonia when 1 Odd Fellows Lodge was founded by the Grand Lodge of Finland in 1993 and a Rebekah lodge in 1995.
 * Estonia

After the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Grand Lodge of Sweden was established in 1895, the interest in Odd Fellowship was awakened in Finland. After Finland had declared independence in 1917, the idea of an Odd Fellows Lodge in Finland was raised again. A few interested people from the town Vaasa in Ostrobothnia province were able to join the Swedish Odd Fellow lodges until the Sovereign Grand Lodge finally permitted the Grand Lodge of Sweden to officially establish the IOOF in Finland in 1925. The first lodge established was named Wasa Lodge no.1 in the coastal town of Vaasa. Additional lodges were then formed in Helsinki in 1927 and a third lodge in Turku in 1931. Odd Fellows in Finland encountered great difficulties in the 1930s and during the wartime. Especially the question of premises was quite difficult for many years. However, all three lodges which had been established before the war continued their activities almost without interruption. Only after the war, in the year 1951 was the next lodge established. Since then, the development has been steady and quite rapid. In the beginning of the 1980s, the number of brother lodges was 35 and the number of sister lodges 19 leading to the institution of the Grand Lodge of Finland on June 2, 1984. In the year 2008, there were 57 Odd Fellows lodges and 48 Rebekah lodges in Finland with about 8,200 members.
 * Finland

The first lodge under the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established on December 1, 1870, in Württemberg, Germany, by Dr. John F. Morse, a Past Grand Master in California and a member of California Odd Fellows Lodge No. 1 of San Francisco, California, U.S.A. After the institution of Württemberg Lodge, other lodges were instituted including Germania Lodge No. 1 in Berlin on March 30, 1871; Helvetia Lodge No. 1 in Zurich, Switzerland on April 2, 1871; Saxonia Lodge No. 1 in Dresden on June 6, 1871; and Schiller Lodge No. 3 in Stuttgart on May 25, 1872. During the first decades, many lodges were instituted including 56 lodges in the 1870s, 20 lodges in the 1880s, 41 lodges in the 1890s, and the membership totaled almost 4,000 brothers. The formal establishment of the IOOF Grand Lodge of the German Empire was on December 28, 1872.
 * Germany

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Iceland was founded in August 1897 under the Jurisdiction of the IOOF Grand Lodge of Kingdom of Denmark, until it established the Grand Lodge of Iceland on January 31, 1948. In December 2017, there were 28 Odd Fellows Lodges, 18 Rebekah Lodges, 6 Odd Fellow Encampments and 5 Rebekah Encampments – about 3,900 members.
 * Iceland

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was first introduced in the country when Colombo Lodge no.1 was instituted in Naples in 1895.
 * Italy

The first lodge in Mexico under the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, known as Ridgely Lodge no.1, was instituted on August 5, 1882. Several Lodges were opened the following years reaching up to 5 Lodges in 1895. However, the political situation affected their progress. In 2012, there was one Odd Fellows Lodge and one Rebekah Lodge re-instituted in 1996.
 * Mexico

''Paradijs Loge nr. 1 (Paradise Lodge No. 1) was founded in Amsterdam on March 19, 1877, by L. Elkan and G.E. van Erpen'', former members of an Odd Fellows lodge in the United States. This initiative commenced in 1876, but initially the Dutch Government was not pleased. It subsequently stopped its resistance later in the same year. The translation of the rituals was the next problem, combined with the recognition by the Soeverine Loge (Sovereign Grand Lodge). Eventually the founder of the German Order, Ostheim, was appointed Gedeputeerd Groot Sire voor Nederland and installed the first Dutch board. In 1899, lodges were established in The Hague and Groningen. Also in 1899, the first Nederlandse Grootorde (Grand Lodge of Netherlands) was founded. On September 2, 1911, the first Belgian Lodge, ''Belgia Loge nr. 201, was established in Antwerp, and the Order changed its name to Orde in Nederland en België''.
 * Netherlands

Various orders of Odd Fellows have existed in Nigeria since the 1800s. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows re-established lodges in the country in 2008. In January 2012, there were four Odd Fellow lodges in the country.
 * Nigeria

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established in Norway in 1898 and is one of the strongest jurisdictions in terms of membership. In January 2010, there were 151 Odd Fellow Lodges and 125 Rebekah Lodges and about 23,414 members in the country.
 * Norway

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Isthmian Canal Lodge No. 1, was instituted at Gorgona, September 17, 1907, in Panama. The charter was secured upon the application of named petitioners. Officers were installed. A special meeting was announced to institute a class of 25 on October 5, 1907.
 * Panama

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established in Poland in Poznan in 1876 and in Wroclaw (then Breslau) in 1879. A Regional Grand Lodge of Silesia and Poznan was established in 1885, which opened lodges in Bydgoszcz in 1895, Gniezno in 1896, Torun in 1898, Gdansk in 1899, Pila 1899 and Grudziadz in 1901. After World War I, six Odd Fellows lodges worked in the Polish lands: in Poznań "Kosmos-Loge" in Inowroclaw "Astrea-Loge" in Bydgoszcz "Emanuel Schweizer Gedächnits Loge" in Gniezno "Friedens-Loge" in Torun "Coppernicus -Loge" and Grudziadz "Ostheim-Loge." Moreover, in Gdansk Gedania-Loge "and the camp" Vistula-Lager" existed. In addition to the above-mentioned, there were 18 IOOF lodges in the Lower Silesia, including as many as five in Wroclaw, "Morse", "Moltke," Phönix "Freundschaft" and "Caritas". In the years 1925 to 1926, they built a new, modern building for their headquarters. It was projected by A. Radig, and it stands in today's Hallera Street in Wroclaw.
 * Poland

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was formally established in Puerto Rico when Boriken Lodge No. 1 was instituted on November 6, 1899, with the help of several members from Florida, New Jersey and New York Lodges of the IOOF. Naborias Rebekahs Lodge No. 1 was also formed in the country.
 * Puerto Rico

Filipinos first embraced the fraternalism of the Odd Fellows during the revolutionary era as a reaction to the perceived abuses by their Spanish colonists, and by 1898, had formed several military lodges and Odd Fellows Association in Manila. According to their own records, the early membership consisted primarily of military officers and government officials. The organization failed during World War II, and was not reformed until November 21, 2009. In 2019 there were 25 active Odd Fellows lodges, 1 Rebekah Lodge, 3 Encampments and 2 Cantons of the Patriarchs Militant located in various towns and cities in the country.
 * Philippines

Andalucia Rebekah Lodge no.1 was established in 1995, and Costa del Sol Lodge no.1 was founded in the country by members of the IOOF from Denmark and Norway in 2002.
 * Spain

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Sweden was first established in Malmo, Sweden, in 1884, and a Grand Lodge of the Kingdom of Sweden was instituted in 1895. In 2012, Sweden held the strongest membership in IOOF with more than 174 Odd Fellow Lodges, 113 Rebekah Lodges, and over 40,000 members.
 * Sweden

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was first established in Switzerland on June 19, 1871, when Helvetia Lodge no.1 was instituted in Zurich by Dr. Morse of California and Mr. Schaettle and Bernheim, members of the fraternity in Germany. The IOOF Grand Lodge of Switzerland was established on April 22, 1874.
 * Switzerland

The first Lodge under the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established in Uruguay on February 9, 1966, known as Artigas Lodge no.1. The Rebekahs was also established on November 19, 1966, known as Amanecer Rebekah Lodge no.1. Additional lodges, Uruguay Lodge no.2, Horizontes Rebekah Lodge no.2 and El Ceibo Lodge have been instituted and 5 lodges meet in the same hall in Montevideo.
 * Uruguay

The first lodge under the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was founded in the City of Caracas, Venezuela, on August 2, 1986, known as Pakritti Lodge no.1.
 * Venezuela

Regional grand lodges

There are IOOF lodges in at least 29 countries:  Each Grand Lodge has a number of subordinate lodges that report to them.

Degrees and initiation
In the IOOF system, different degrees are conferred depending on whether one is initiated into the Daughters of Rebekah or the Oddfellows proper.

For Oddfellows, four lodge degrees; three higher, encampment degrees; and one Patriarchs Militant degree are conferred.

For Rebekahs, one lodge degree, one encampment degree, and one Ladies Auxiliary Patriarchs Militant (LAPM) degree are conferred.

The Ancient Mystic Order of Samaritans (AMOS), an IOOF appendant body, confers two degrees. The Ladies of the Orient (LOTO), an appendant body of the Daughters of Rebekahs, similarly confers two degrees.

Lodge degrees

 * Initiatory (White degree)
 * Friendship (First degree, Pink degree)
 * "Brotherly" Love (Second degree, Blue degree)
 * Truth (Third degree, Scarlet degree)

Encampment degrees

 * Patriarchal (Faith degree)
 * Golden Rule (Hope degree)
 * Royal Purple (Charity degree)

Patriarchs Militant degree

 * Chevalier (Patriarch Militant degree)

Lodge degree

 * Rebekah degree

Ladies Encampment Auxiliary (LEA) degree

 * LEA degree

Ladies Auxiliary Patriarchs Militant (LAPM) degree

 * LAPM degree

AMOS degrees

 * Humility (Samaritan degree)
 * Perfection (Sheikh degree)

Ladies of the Orient (LOTO) degrees

 * Persecution
 * Purification

Symbols and regalia
To fully understand the purposes and principles of Odd Fellowship, instruction in ceremonial form is divided into degrees. These degrees are dramatic in form and aim to emulate and impart the principles of the fraternity: Friendship, Love, Truth, Faith, Hope, Charity and Universal Justice. Each degree consists of symbols that aim to teach a practical moral code and encourages members to live and act upon them to act positive change upon the world. In the past, when most Odd Fellows lodges offered financial benefits for the sick and distressed members, such symbols, passwords and hand signs were used as proof of membership and to protect the lodge funds from impostors. These symbols, signs and passwords have been carried forward to modern times as a tradition. The most widely encountered symbol of the IOOF – on signs, buildings and gravemarkers – is the three-link chain ("the Chain With Three Links", the "Triple Links") with initials 'F', 'L' and 'T' signifying Friendship, Love and Truth.

Female auxiliaries
The Rebekah Lodges were founded on September 20, 1851, when, after considerable debate, the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows voted to adopt the Rebekah Degree, largely due to the efforts of Schuyler Colfax. The first Rebekah Degrees were honorary awards only, conferred on wives and daughters of Odd Fellows at special lodge meetings, and recipients were known as "Daughters of Rebekah," taken from the Biblical character of Rebekah.
 * International Association of Rebekah Assemblies
 * Theta Rho Girls

Ancient Mystic Order of Samaritans
The Ancient Mystic Order of Samaritans (AMOS) is an unofficial, oriental-styled auxiliary body of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, formed in 1924 by amalgamation of several previous bodies dating back to the end of the 19th century. Only male Odd Fellows in good standing with their subordinate lodges are eligible to join. In 1950, the Sovereign Grand Lodge recognized AMOS as "The Playground of Odd Fellowship." AMOS is only presently active in the United States and Canada, though it once also existed in Cuba and the Panama Canal Zone.

Junior lodge
The Junior Lodge was established in 1921 initially under the name the Loyal Sons of the Junior Order of Odd fellows, for boys interested in odd fellowship. The ritual and ceremonies were supervised by a member of the senior order. There were 4,873 members in 1970. Membership is open to boys of age 8–21, its motto being "Honor and Fidelity", and its symbolic colours silver and dark blue.

Baltimore monument
In April 1865, a monument was erected to Wildey in Baltimore, consisting of a statue atop a Doric column that is 52 feet in height. The monument is located on 123 North Broadway at Lamley St. (between East Baltimore and East Fayette Streets).

Notable members

Some notable members are:
 * James Ashman, Los Angeles City Council
 * Warren Austin, mayor, Senator (Vermont 1931–1946), Ambassador to the UN
 * Hugo Black, politician and jurist
 * Owen Brewster, lawyer, politician, Governor, Senator
 * Wilber M. Brucker, Governor of Michigan (1931–1932)
 * Elwood Bruner, California state legislator in the 1890s
 * William Jennings Bryan, U.S. Secretary of State (1913–1915)
 * Robert C. Byrd, U.S. Senator (1959–2010)
 * Edwin Hubbell Chapin, Universalist minister, author, lecturer, and social reformer
 * Charlie Chaplin, comedic actor and film director
 * John Simpson Chisum, Cattle baron in Texas and New Mexico (1824–1884)
 * Parley P. Christensen, Utah and California politician, Esperantist
 * Ernest E. Cole, Commissioner of Education for New York State (1940–1942)
 * Schuyler Colfax, U.S. Vice President (1869–1873)
 * John J. Cornwell, Governor (WV) and Senator (MD)
 * Wyatt Earp, law officer in the American Old West
 * Ulysses S. Grant, 18th U.S. President (1869–1877)
 * Warren Harding, 29th U.S. President (1921–1923)
 * Rutherford Hayes, 19th U.S. President (1877–1881)
 * Thomas Hendricks, 21st Vice President of the United States
 * Orange Jacobs, Chief justice of the supreme court of The Territory of Washington (1871–1875), U.S. Congressman from the Washington Territory (1875–1879), Mayor of Seattle (1879–1880)
 * Anson Jones, Last President of the Republic of Texas
 * Nathan Kelley, architect of Ohio State House
 * Goodwin Knight, Governor of California
 * Charles Lindbergh, American aviator, author, inventor, explorer and early environmentalist
 * Albert Dutton MacDade, Pennsylvania State Senator (1921–1929), Judge Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Delaware County (1942–1948)
 * William McKinley, 25th U.S. President (1897–1901)
 * David Myers, Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court (1917-1934)
 * Robert Pfeifle, 3rd mayor of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
 * Albert Pike, author, poet, orator, editor, lawyer, jurist and Confederate States Army general
 * William Marsh Rice, Founder of Rice University
 * John Buchanan Robinson, U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district (1891–1897)
 * Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd U.S. President (1933–1945)
 * George B. Sparkman, 19th & 22nd Mayor of Tampa (1881–1883, 1887–1888)
 * Levi and Matilda Stanley, considered as King and Queen of the Gypsies
 * Ele Stansbury, 23rd Indiana Attorney General (1917-1921)
 * David Ivar Swanson, member of the Illinois House of Representatives beginning in 1922
 * Lucy Hobbs Taylor, first U.S. female dentist
 * Earl Warren, U.S. Chief Justice (1953–1969)
 * Albert Winn, U.S. Army general (1810–1883)
 * George W. Wolff, Wisconsin politician

title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows


text:
Aero Spacelines Super Guppy

The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy is a large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft that is used for hauling outsize cargo components. It was the successor to the Pregnant Guppy, the first of the Guppy aircraft produced by Aero Spacelines. Five were built in two variants, both of which were colloquially referred to as the "Super Guppy".

The Super Guppy is the only airplane to carry a complete S-IVB stage, the third stage of the Saturn V rocket. It did so several times during the Apollo program.

Design and development
The first Super Guppy, or "SG", was built directly from the fuselage of a C-97J Turbo Stratocruiser, the military version of the 1950s Boeing 377 Stratocruiser passenger plane. The fuselage was lengthened to 141 ft, and ballooned out to a maximum inside diameter of 25 ft, the length of the cargo compartment being 94 ft. The floor of the cargo compartment was still only 8 ft wide, as necessitated by the use of the Stratocruiser fuselage.

In addition to the fuselage modifications, the Super Guppy used Pratt & Whitney T-34-P-7WA turboprop engines for increased power and range, and modified wing and tail surfaces. It could carry a load of 54000 lb and cruise at 300 mph.

After a month of tests, Super Guppy suffered fuselage collapse on September 25, 1965, when undergoing high speed dives during certification tests. After starting a dive at 10,000 feet the upper fuselage collapsed. The plane had been carrying 30,000 pounds of borate in 100-pound sacks, which were damaged and spilled powder that temporarily blinded the crew. With the help of a DC-9 chase plane, the crew was able to land on the dry bed of Rogers Dry Lake and save the aircraft. After that, Guppy's upper superstructure was redesigned and rebuilt at Edwards Air Force Base.

The second version was officially known as the Super Guppy Turbine (SGT), although the first Super Guppy also used turboprop engines. However, this variant used Allison 501-D22C engines. Unlike the previous Guppy, the main portion of its fuselage was constructed from scratch. By building from scratch, Aero Spacelines was able to widen the floor of the cargo compartment to 13 ft. The overall cargo-compartment length was increased to 111 ft, and the improved fuselage and engines allowed for a maximum load of 52500 lb. These design improvements, combined with a pressurized crew cabin that allowed for higher-altitude cruising, allowed the SGT to transport more cargo than its predecessors.

The SGT retained only the cockpit, wings, tail, and main landing gear of the 377. The nose gear was taken from a Boeing 707 and rotated 180 degrees. This dropped the front of the aircraft slightly, levelling the cargo-bay floor and simplifying loading operations.

In the early 1970s, two SGT aircraft were used by Airbus to transport airplane parts from production facilities to the final assembly plant in Toulouse. In 1982 and 1983, two additional Super Guppy Turbines were built by Union de Transports Aériens Industries in France after Airbus bought the right to produce the aircraft. The four Super Guppies were later replaced in this role by the Airbus Beluga, capable of carrying twice as much cargo by weight.

Variants

 * Aero Spacelines B-377-SG Super Guppy, prototype of a much enlarged version of the Guppy using C-97J components, powered by four Pratt & Whitney T-34-P-7WA turbo-prop engines.
 * Aero Spacelines B-377-SGT Super Guppy Turbine (Guppy 201), production version powered by Allison 501-D22C turbo-prop engines, using an enlarged cargo section built from scratch instead of being converted from original C-97J components.

Aircraft
One Super Guppy remains in service with NASA. Three are on display, and one was scrapped.

 * Super Guppy N940NS (previously N1038V), serial number 52-2693, is on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum near Tucson, Arizona.
 * Super Guppy Turbine F-BTGV (formerly N211AS), serial number 0001, was on static display at the former British Aviation Heritage Centre at the Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome. The aircraft was broken up in December 2020 with the cockpit preserved by the South Wales Aviation Museum.
 * Super Guppy Turbine F-BPPA (formerly N212AS), serial number 0002, is on static display at Aeroscopia near the Airbus factory at Toulouse–Blagnac Airport in France.
 * Super Guppy Turbine F-GDSG, serial number 0003, is on static display near the Airbus factory at Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport in Germany.
 * Super Guppy Turbine N941NA (formerly F-GEAI), serial number 0004, is still in service with NASA as a transport aircraft and is based at the El Paso International Airport.

Current

 * NASA

Former

 * Aero Spacelines
 * Aeromaritime
 * Airbus
 * Boeing

title: Aero Spacelines Super Guppy


text:
Rapid transit in South Korea

Rapid transit systems operate in six major South Korean cities, except for Sejong.

Seoul Capital Area

 * Metropolitan Rail
 * Korail operates the following commuter lines: Bundang Line, Gyeongchun Line, Gyeongui–Jungang Line, Suin Line, Gyeonggang Line, and parts of metro lines Line 1, Line 3, Line 4.
 * Korail Airport Railroad operates AREX
 * NeoTrans operates Shinbundang Line
 * E-Rail operates Seohae Line
 * Urban Rail
 * Seoul Metro operates Line 2, Line 5, Line 6, Line 7, Line 8, and parts of lines Line 1, Line 3, Line 4, and Line 9 Second Extension.
 * Seoul Metro Line9 (a joint venture between Veolia Transport and Hyundai Rotem) operates Line 9 First Extension
 * Incheon Transit operates the whole Incheon subway system (I1 & I2), as well as sections of Seoul Subway Line 7.
 * Light Metro Rail
 * Uijeongbu Light Rail operates U Line
 * Yongin Rapid Transit operates EverLine
 * UI trans operates Ui LRT

Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam Area

 * Metropolitan Rail
 * Korail operates the following commuter line: Donghae
 * Urban Rail
 * Busan Transportation operates lines 1, 2, 3, and 4
 * Light Metro Rail
 * B&G Metro operates the Busan–Gimhae light rail

Daegu-Gyeongbuk Area

 * Daegu Metropolitan Transit operates the whole subway system.

Daejeon

 * Daejeon Metropolitan Express Transit operates the whole subway system.

Gwangju

 * Gwangju Metropolitan Rapid Transit operates the whole subway system.

title: Rapid transit in South Korea


text:
Thomas Conway

Thomas Conway (February 27, 1735 – March 1795) served as a major general in the American Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He became involved with the alleged Conway Cabal with Horatio Gates. He later served with Émigré forces during the French Revolutionary Wars.

Early life
Conway was born in County Kerry, Ireland to James Conway and his wife Julieanne Conway. Though born to a Catholic family, it is unclear how closely he adhered to the faith. As a child, he immigrated to France with his parents. At 14, he enrolled in the Irish Brigade of the French Army and rose rapidly to colonel by 1772.

Arrival in America
Following the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War he volunteered to the Congress to service with the American rebels in 1777. Based on an introduction from Silas Deane, the Congress appointed him a brigadier general on May 13, and sent him on to George Washington.

Conway commanded the leading brigade on the American right flank at the Battle of Germantown, and was justly praised for his actions. However, Washington opposed his promotion to major general, believing that many American-born officers with longer and valuable service deserved the rank; this caused a falling out between Washington and Conway. Congress appointed Conway a major general despite Washington's objections in December 1777, and made him Inspector General of the army.

Conway Cabal
When his name was used politically, it was used to describe the infighting known as the Conway Cabal. During the affair, he had written a letter to General Horatio Gates in which he referred to Washington as a "weak general," criticizing General Washington's failed tactics against British General William Howe. The letter stated: "Heaven has been determined to save your country; or a weak general [George Washington] and bad counselors would have ruined it." The letter was intercepted by Washington and his backers after its delivery was botched by Brigadier General James Wilkinson, and brought before the Congress for inquiry. When the contents of the letter were made public, Conway lost his command as a result. He tried a ploy that had worked before his promotion, and submitted his resignation to Congress in March 1778. This time it was accepted, so he was forced to leave the continental army. John Cadwalader shot him in a duel on July 4, 1778. When he recovered, he wrote an apology to Washington and returned to France.

There is also a slightly different version of these happenings:

"He was challenged to a duel by Washington's friend, Gen. Cadwallader, who proceeded to fire a bullet through Conway's mouth. Regarding Conway lying on the ground in agony, Gen. Cadwallader observed:"I have stopped the damned rascal's lying tongue at any rate."

Conway, believing himself dying, wrote one more letter. This time to Washington, asking forgiveness for his villainies and declaring the chief to be a "great and good man." Then he "conditionally" resigned his commission as an officer in the American service. Congress accepted the resignation, unconditionally. Astonishingly, Conway survived and proceeded to return back to France."

Later life
Conway later returned to the French Army, in 1787 he received promotion to Maréchal-de-camp (Major General) and an appointment as Governor of French colonies in India.

In 1793 he fought with royalist forces in opposition to French Revolution in southern France.

During the French Revolution he was condemned to death. He was saved only by an appeal to Great Britain (against which he had fought in the American Revolution), but was compelled to flee from France for his life.

Having been aided by the British government, in 1794 Conway was named commander of one of the six regiments of the so-called Irish Brigade formed by Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. Although people in positions of authority remained impressed with his military accomplishments, he continued to suffer from ill health. He visited Bath, Somerset on several occasions in the hopes of improving his health; the Bath Chronicle recorded his arrival for the final time on February 12, 1795. He died soon after and was interred in Bath Abbey on March 3; the exact location of his memorial is unknown due to major renovations conducted in the 1860s.

Conway was survived by his wife, Francois Antoinette Langlois du Bouchet who was created the Contesse de Conway, whom he married on June 1, 1775 and had a daughter the following year, on July 12, 1776, named Caroline. The Countess lived until 1828 and as a widow of a British colonel she continued to receive a government pension.

title: Thomas Conway


text:
Halkirk

Halkirk (Hàcraig) is a village on the River Thurso in Caithness, in the Highland council area of Scotland. From Halkirk the B874 road runs towards Thurso in the north and towards Georgemas in the east. The village is within the parish of Halkirk, and is said by locals to be Scotland's first planned village.

In 1222 Jon Haraldsson, the last native Scandinavian to be Jarl of Orkney, was indirectly implicated in the burning of Adam of Melrose at his hall at Halkirk by local farmers when this part of Caithness was still part of the Kingdom of Norway. A contemporary chronicler, Boethius the Dane blamed Haraldsson for the bishop's death. After the jarl swore oaths to his own innocence, Alexander II took the opportunity to assert his claims to the mainland part of the Orkney jarldom. He visited Caithness in person, and hanged the majority of the farmers, while mutilating the rest. His actions were applauded by Pope Honorius III, and a quarter of a century later, he was continuing to receive commendation from the Catholic Church, as in the reward of a bull from Pope Celestine IV.

Cathedral
It was at one time the site of the cathedral of the Diocese of Caithness. In the early 13th century, a revolt against the tithe, imposed by the Bishop, led the local husbandmen to lay siege to the cathedral kitchen, and burn it down, with Adam of Melrose, the Bishop, still inside. Adam's successor Gilbert de Moravia moved the seat of the Diocese to Dornoch, and there are no remains of the Halkirk cathedral church or the bishop's seat.

Historic distilleries
Halkirk has had two whisky distilleries, Gerston from 1796 to 1885, and Ben Morven (also known as Gerston II) from 1886 to circa 1911. Both were established on the banks of the River Thurso, near Gerston Farm, and both drew water from Calder Burn. The Ben Morven distillery was named for the mountain, the highest point in Caithness.

The original Gerston distillery was first registered by a Francis Swanson, and was expanded by two sons, John and James, in 1825. Sir Robert Peel is said to have acquired a taste for the whisky. The distillery closed not long after it was sold to new owners in 1872, and a London company, calling themselves the Gerston Distillery Company, decided to build a new distillery.

In 1897 the new distillery was sold to Northern Distilleries Limited, who gave it the Ben Morven name. It was never very successful, and it closed circa 1911. The stillhouse is still standing.

Fairview House
Fairview House is a former poorhouse dating from 1856, which is now a residential complex.

Notable residents
Halkirk is the birthplace of Alexander Keith (1795–1873), who settled in Halifax, Nova Scotia and became established as a respected politician and brewer. He is known across Canada for his most famous beer, Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale.

Prof John Malcolm FRSE (1873–1954) was also born and raised in Halkirk.

title: Halkirk


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Castletown, Isle of Man

Castletown  (Balley y Chashtal, pronounced ) is a town in the Isle of Man, geographically within the historical parish of Malew but administered separately. Lying at the south of the island, it was the Manx capital until 1869. The centre of town is dominated by Castle Rushen, a well-preserved medieval castle, originally built for a Viking king.

History
Castletown is the former capital of the Isle of Man and site of the Tynwald, and can trace its roots back to 1090. The town has narrow streets and small fishing cottages. Castle Rushen (at the centre of the town) was originally built in 1265 for a Norse king, then fortified and added to by successive rulers between the 13th and 16th centuries. The castle has been used as a fortress, a residence for the Kings and Lords of Mann, the site of a mint and even a prison (past prisoners include a bishop and two newspaper editors). The town and castle were the site of a number of sieges and battles, especially during the years when control of the island passed between the Norse, Scots and English. Robert the Bruce laid siege to and captured the castle three times.

The history of the town and island is illustrated in four Manx National Heritage sites in the centre of Castletown: Castle Rushen, the Nautical Museum (in the secret passage-filled home of inventor, politician, banker and probable smuggler George Quayle), the Old Grammar School (originally a church from 1200 AD) and the Old House of Keys. Fishing boats still go out to fish from the harbour. Commercial traffic to the port ended in the 1970s, although there has been an ongoing expansion of financial and industrial businesses in the area. The first telephones on the Isle of Man appeared in Castletown in 1901.

Politics
Castletown is, along with Peel, Ramsey, and formerly Douglas (now designated a city) one of four town local authorities. They were all designated as towns by the Town Act 1852. Castletown became a local authority in 1883.

Until 2016 Castletown was also a House of Keys constituency, electing one Member of the House of Keys (MHK). The town's representative for 30 years until 2011 was Tony Brown, who was the Chief Minister of the Isle of Man after the 2006 Manx general election. He retired in 2011 and was replaced as MHK for Castletown by Richard Ronan. Since 2016 Castletown has been part of the Arbory, Castletown & Malew constituency.

In 1874, the House of Keys moved from Castletown to Douglas.

Demographics
The Isle of Man Census 2011 lists the town's population as 3,097 (2006: 3,109) It is the fourth largest town on the island, after Douglas, Ramsey and Peel, but is also smaller than Onchan and Port Erin, which have the status of villages.

Geography and geology
The town lies on the northwest side of Castletown Bay. The opposite shore of the bay is the west coast of the distinctively-shaped Langness Peninsula. To the north-east are Ronaldsway Airport and industrial zone, and the village of Ballasalla; to the north-west the villages of Ballabeg and Colby; and to the west Port St Mary and Port Erin.

The older parts of the town are largely built of local grey limestone. At, a short distance to the south of the town, there are the remains of an ancient volcano and various other features such as fossils and thick sheets of limestone.

Roads
The A3 road connects Castletown with Ramsey via St John's, while the A5 road (also known as New Castletown Road as opposed to the Old Castletown Road which takes a more rural route nearer the coast) connects the town with Douglas to the north-east and Port Erin to the west.

The A25 road was the historical route to Douglas and is now bypassed by the A5. There are free electric car charging stations available in a car park in the centre of the town. The town has several car parks including one above the harbour close to the old school house, to the rear of the Castle Arms and off Victoria Road as well as dedicated parking for the local bank, supermarkets and the railway station.

Buses
Bus services operate through the town to Douglas, Port St Mary and Port Erin using route numbers 1, 2, 11 and 12; these run about every twenty minutes on weekdays and Saturdays with a less frequent service at weekends and after 6.00 pm. Some of these services (1c and 11b) do not run through the town but use the bypass road. These routes are the island's busiest, in part because they also serve Ronaldsway Airport just outside the town. A late evening service also operates on Friday and Saturday evenings, called the Hullad Oie (Night Owl), which charges premium fare rates. There are also occasional buses to Peel (Service No. 8) via Foxdale; all these buses are within the island's transport network Bus Vannin, a government-run service which replaced the railway-operated Isle of Man Road Services in 1976.

Railway
The town is also served by Castletown railway station, on the sole remaining section of the Isle of Man Railway, a narrow gauge steam-operated railway which now runs 15 miles from Douglas to Port Erin. The railway station is on the northeasterly edge of the town next to Poulsom Park and playing fields, and was at one time used to transport beer from the Castletown Brewery as well as cattle and other livestock; remnants of the cattle dock are still visible at the railway station, which is open seasonally between March and November as well as at weekends around Christmas; there is a small volunteer group, the Friends of Castletown Railway Station, who tend to the area in association with the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association, a local charity.

Air
The island's only commercial airport, Ronaldsway Airport, is 2 km (just over one mile) northeast of the town and is served by both Bus Vannin and Castletown railway station as well as local taxi services. There is a closer railway station at Ronaldsway. The airport runways and aprons spread over the area to the edge of the grounds of King William's College and close to the Janet's Corner local authority housing estate. The airport was first used as an airfield in 1928, with passenger services to the United Kingdom commencing in 1933.

Long-distance footpaths

 * The southern end of the Millennium Way long-distance footpath is at Castletown.
 * The Raad ny Foillan long distance coastal footpath, opened in 1986, runs along the coast in the town.

Private college
King William's College is a private school. Founded in 1668 with funds from the Bishop Barrow Trust, it opened in 1833 with 46 boys. It is now co-educational, with about 500 pupils. The college has two sites in the town: the main estate is near the shore of Castletown Bay at the end of the main airport runway, and the Buchan School, the college's junior school, is in the Westhill area of Castletown, about 2 km from the main campus.

State schools
Other schools are: Castle Rushen High School, a co-educational secondary state school in the south-west of the town; and one primary school, Victoria Road School, originally opened as a boys' school in 1895, with a girls' school in Hope Street. The old grammar school in the town, which later became a chapel, is now an exhibit of a Victorian period schoolroom, part of the Story of Mann. This is open to the public between Easter and November and can be found close to the castle and the Old House of Keys.

Church of England
On the town square is Old St Mary's Church, the original parish and garrison church, which is now office accommodation. It once had a spire, but this was lost in the early 1900s.

The new St Mary's Church is located on the harbour. It was consecrated in 1985 when the congregation moved from the Garrison (Old St Mary's) Church in Castletown Square. The new church can be found in Hope Street, to the side of Thirtle Bridge. Known as St Mary's on the Harbour, it is the parish church of Castletown.

Malew Church is located about one mile north of the town on the A3 road towards St John's, a road which forms part of the Billown Circuit. The church's name is derived from its original dedication to the early Celtic saint, Saint Moluag, who is said to have converted the Picts to Christianity in the west of Scotland. Malew Church has its own graveyard, unlike the churches in the town; the minor bend around the church grounds has the title Church Bends on the racing circuit.

St Thomas' chapel is the school chapel at King William's College, and was built in 1878, and consecrated on 28 January 1879. Designed by local architect James Cowle, it features a scissor-braced roof, canopied stalls, wall paintings, and stained glass windows. Windows commemorate T. E. Brown, an old boy of the college. The chapel is staffed by a Church of England priest who is employed by the college and licensed by the Bishop of Sodor and Man.

Catholic
St Mary's Roman Catholic Church is on Bowling Green Road, near Janet's Corner. It was built in the 1820s; it was the first post-Reformation Catholic Church to be built on the island. It is the third church in the town to be dedicated to St Mary the Virgin ("Our Lady of Rushen"). It has two intricate and colourful Celtic Revival/Art Nouveau windows, which depict the Annunciation and the Resurrection. These were made by the Clarke Brothers of Dublin.

Methodist
Castletown Methodist Church on Arbory Street, founded in 1932, is part of the Methodist Church in the Isle of Man, which in turn is part of the British Methodist Connexion. It can trace its history back to the visits of the founder of Methodism John Wesley to the town in the 18th century. It is sometimes known locally as Arbory Street, formerly to distinguish it from the Malew Street chapel when the former was the Wesleyan Methodist and the latter the Primitive Methodist Chapel.

Football
Castletown Metropolitan F.C. play in the Isle of Man Football League and are based at the Castletown Football Stadium, Malew Road. Formed in 1904, the club is one of the most successful on the Isle of Man. They have been champions of the Isle of Man League eight times, including three consecutive seasons from 1922–23 to 1924-25 and won the Manx F.A. Cup seven times.

Rugby
There are two Rugby Union football clubs in the town; both play in the Manx Shield:

Castletown R.U.F.C. are based at Poulsom Park. The club now has permanent changing facilities. These were officially opened in October 2006 and built with the support of the Rugby Football Union (RFU), Manx Lottery Trust, Manx Sports Council, Castletown Commissioners and the members of the team. With the newly formed Castletown Rugby Union Football Club Limited, the club has secured the tenure on the pitch at Poulsom Park, having taken on a lease from the Castletown Commissioners.

Southern Nomads R.U.F.C. are based at King William's College.

Cricket
Castletown cricket club is based at King William's College and is a member of the Isle of Man Cricket Association.

Golf
Castletown Golf & Country Club is located on the Langness Peninsula. It is a tournament golf course, and is a Top 100 course designed by Old Tom Morris and redesigned by Mackenzie Ross. The 17th hole has the unusual feature of a drive over the Irish Sea. The links has hosted, among other events, the PGA Cup (1979), Europro Tour 2002, Manx Classic Pro Am and the Duke of York Young Champions Trophy in 2003 and again in 2005.

Racing
The Billown Circuit motor cycling course has its start line in the town. The course is home to the Southern 100, a motorcycle racing event held on the Isle of Man in July of each year. The event was first held in 1955, when there were three races for different classes of motorcycles; the current calendar includes twelve races for various classes. The paddock, clubhouse and race control are all located on the outskirts of the town.

 Hockey

Castletown Hockey Club are the only hockey club in the south of the Isle of Man. They field 3 men's, 4 women's and 6 mixed teams plus 10 junior sides. They train at Castle Rushen High School, which is also their home pitch. Their website is https://castletownhockey.wordpress.com/.

Bowls
Castletown Bowling Club is located at the Crofts.

Tennis
Next to the bowling green is Castletown Lawn Tennis Club with teams in local leagues. The club won 6 leagues in the 2010–11 season.

Swimming
Southern Swimming Pool is a 25-metre, four lane short course pool.

World Championship Tin Bath Races
This annual event takes place in the middle harbour; it is organised by the Castletown Ale Drinkers' Society and sponsored by local breweries, with support from the Isle of Man Department of Community, Culture and Leisure and further sponsorship from local radio station Three FM. It raises money for local charities. Each year there are over 100 competitors and teams from the Isle of Man and elsewhere. In 2011 the event celebrated its 40th anniversary.

2011 Commonwealth Youth Games
The "culture day" prior to the closing ceremony of the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games was held in Castletown on 12 September 2011 with competitors all travelling by steam train to the town square, where a number of attractions were laid on.

Places of interest
Much of the attraction of Castletown is in the quality of its many 18th- and early 19th-century buildings, many constructed in the local silver-grey limestone. The town centre retains its early layout, echoing the cluster of houses around the Castle, the harbour and the military parade ground, is still used as a market place. The interested visitor can still identify the original building plots, and the crofts attached to them, which have given their name to a residential area close to the town centre.

 * Castle Rushen is a medieval castle which towers over the Market Square to the south-east and the harbour to the north-east. HMS Rushen Castle (K372), a former Castle-class corvette of the Royal Navy, was named after the castle. It is the focal point of the town and is open to the public between Easter and October.
 * The Old House of Keys was the location of Tynwald, the Manx parliament, from 1821 until it moved in 1874 to Douglas. The house was renovated in 2000 and is run as a museum by Manx National Heritage. Tynwald used to meet in Castletown except on Tynwald Day, when it traditionally met (and still meets) on Tynwald Hill in St John's.
 * The Old Grammar School is next to the harbour to the rear of the town square at the side of a large car park. It was originally built as a chapel about 1190–1230. The building ceased to be a school in the 1930s and is now a museum exhibit opened seasonally in connection with the other Story of Mann sites in the town.
 * The Nautical Museum (also known as the Peggy Story in recent times) in Bridge Street opened in 1951; the main focus of the museum is an 18th-century yacht, the Peggy (Peggy of Castletown), housed in the boat cellar, where she has been since the 19th century. She had been bricked up and forgotten before being rediscovered by workmen. In early 2015, Peggy was moved to Douglas for conservation in a climate-controlled facility. The Nautical Museum is based in the house of local inventor (and politician, trader and possible smuggler) George Quayle, who had the house built with secret passages, doorways, and a replica of a captain's cabin. Quayle had a bank next door at Bridge House, known as George Quayle & Co. and also known as the Isle of Man Bank Company and Quayle's Bank. Opening the safe involved posting a series of cannonballs, which ran through a mechanism invented by Quayle.
 * Castletown Police Station (by the Castle entrance) was designed by the noted Arts & Crafts architect Baillie Scott.
 * The Museum of Witchcraft was in existence in the town for a short period at the Witches Mill which has since been redeveloped as flats. It was operated by the self-proclaimed witch Gerald Gardner who ran it under the title Folklore Centre of Superstition and Witchcraft, becoming a familiar figure in the town.
 * The railway station was constructed in 1902 from locally sourced limestone from Scarlett Point and has been extensively refurbished in recent times, notably being overhauled in 1994 to original form. It is open seasonally and many people's first encounter with the town is their arrival at the railway station, which is a short walk from the centre.
 * The Smelt Monument is an unusual monument in the Parade in the town centre.
 * Hango Hill, the execution site of Illiam Dhone, is on the outskirts of the town on the road to Derbyhaven.
 * Scarlett Point Visitor Centre is at the south-western tip of Castletown Bay.
 * An unusual feature of the town is a permanent trail of over 70 "fairy doors" for tourists to find.

Tunnels and legends
Castle Rushen and the town have long been said to have networks of tunnels. In 1938 tunnels under the town square were found (by Ramsey Quayle, the local baker, who was replacing an oven in his basement) leading to the Castle from nearby houses. Bagnio House also had a tunnel leading from it. The legend of Ivar and Matilda tells how in 1249 the knight Ivar saved his betrothed Matilda from the attentions of King Reginald (Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson) and killed the king, after discovering a tunnel to the Castle, where Matilda was being kept prisoner. The killing continued an ongoing struggle between different factions of the royal family. There are also legends of giants in the tunnels under the Castle.

Notable people

 * Bishop Thomas Wilson (born 1663 in Cheshire – 1755 in Michael) imprisoned at Castle Rushen during his tenure as Bishop of Sodor and Man
 * Captain John Quilliam (born Marown, 1771 - died Michael 1829) a Royal Navy officer; he steered HMS Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar.
 * John Christian (1776 in Castletown – 1852 in Lezayre) a Justice of the Peace and First Deemster of the island.
 * Hugh Gill (Castletown 1830 - 1912) an Anglican priest, the Archdeacon of Man from 1895
 * John Kewish (died 1 August 1872) the last person to be hanged on the island, in Castle Rushen on 1 August 1872. He was convicted and executed for the crime of patricide.
 * James Stowell Gell QC (1855 in Castletown – 1919 in Castletown) a Manx advocate who became High Bailiff of both Castletown and Douglas.
 * John Quayle-Dickson, military officer and colonial officer.
 * Sir Frank Gill KCMG OBE (1866 in Castletown – 1950 in Geneva, Switzerland) was a British engineer and a pioneer of international telephony.
 * Robert Henry Cain VC (1909 Shanghai, China – 1974 Crowborough, Sussex) grew up in Castletown and attended King William's College; first Manxman to earn the Victoria Cross

Politics

 * Illiam Dhone (1608 – 1663) a local nationalist and politician, executed at Hango Hill outside the town.
 * Major John Taubman (1746 in Castletown – 1822 in Braddan) a Manx politician, he entered the House of Keys in 1799. He served as Speaker from 1799 until his death in 1822
 * John Ready (1777 in Castletown – 1845 in Castletown) a British army officer who served as Lieutenant Governor of the island (1832–1845)
 * John Moore Jeffcott QC (1817 in Castletown – 1892 in Castletown) a Manx advocate who became High Bailiff of Castletown and a Member of the House of Keys for the constituency of Castletown.
 * Sir Joseph Qualtrough (1885 in Castletown – 1960) Speaker of the House of Keys from 1937 to 1960.

Members of the House of Keys and elections
In 2016 the constituency was abolished.

title: Castletown, Isle of Man