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Transverse mode

A transverse mode of electromagnetic radiation is a particular electromagnetic field pattern of the radiation in the plane perpendicular (i.e., transverse) to the radiation's propagation direction. Transverse modes occur in radio waves and microwaves confined to a waveguide, and also in light waves in an optical fiber and in a laser's optical resonator.

Transverse modes occur because of boundary conditions imposed on the wave by the waveguide. For example, a radio wave in a hollow metal waveguide must have zero tangential electric field amplitude at the walls of the waveguide, so the transverse pattern of the electric field of waves is restricted to those that fit between the walls. For this reason, the modes supported by a waveguide are quantized. The allowed modes can be found by solving Maxwell's equations for the boundary conditions of a given waveguide.

Types of modes
Unguided electromagnetic waves in free space, or in a bulk isotropic dielectric, can be described as a superposition of plane waves; these can be described as TEM modes as defined below.

However in any sort of waveguide where boundary conditions are imposed by a physical structure, a wave of a particular frequency can be described in terms of a transverse mode (or superposition of such modes). These modes generally follow different propagation constants. When two or more modes have an identical propagation constant along the waveguide, then there is more than one modal decomposition possible in order to describe a wave with that propagation constant (for instance, a non-central Gaussian laser mode can be equivalently described as a superposition of Hermite-Gaussian modes or Laguerre-Gaussian modes which are described below).

Waveguides
Modes in waveguides can be classified as follows:
 * Transverse electromagnetic (TEM) modes: Neither electric nor magnetic field in the direction of propagation.
 * Transverse electric (TE) modes: No electric field in the direction of propagation. These are sometimes called H modes because there is only a magnetic field along the direction of propagation (H is the conventional symbol for magnetic field).
 * Transverse magnetic (TM) modes: No magnetic field in the direction of propagation. These are sometimes called E modes because there is only an electric field along the direction of propagation.
 * Hybrid modes: Non-zero electric and magnetic fields in the direction of propagation. See also .

Hollow metallic waveguides filled with a homogeneous, isotropic material (usually air) support TE and TM modes but not the TEM mode. In coaxial cable energy is normally transported in the fundamental TEM mode. The TEM mode is also usually assumed for most other electrical conductor line formats as well. This is mostly an accurate assumption, but a major exception is microstrip which has a significant longitudinal component to the propagated wave due to the inhomogeneity at the boundary of the dielectric substrate below the conductor and the air above it. In an optical fiber or other dielectric waveguide, modes are generally of the hybrid type.

In rectangular waveguides, rectangular mode numbers are designated by two suffix numbers attached to the mode type, such as TEmn or TMmn, where m is the number of half-wave patterns across the width of the waveguide and n is the number of half-wave patterns across the height of the waveguide. In circular waveguides, circular modes exist and here m is the number of full-wave patterns along the circumference and n is the number of half-wave patterns along the diameter.

Optical fibers
The number of modes in an optical fiber distinguishes multi-mode optical fiber from single-mode optical fiber. To determine the number of modes in a step-index fiber, the V number needs to be determined: $V = k_0 a \sqrt{n_1^2 - n_2^2}$ where $$k_0$$ is the wavenumber, $$a$$ is the fiber's core radius, and $$n_1$$ and $$n_2$$ are the refractive indices of the core and cladding, respectively. Fiber with a V-parameter of less than 2.405 only supports the fundamental mode (a hybrid mode), and is therefore a single-mode fiber whereas fiber with a higher V-parameter has multiple modes.

Decomposition of field distributions into modes is useful because a large number of field amplitudes readings can be simplified into a much smaller number of mode amplitudes. Because these modes change over time according to a simple set of rules, it is also possible to anticipate future behavior of the field distribution. These simplifications of complex field distributions ease the signal processing requirements of fiber-optic communication systems.

The modes in typical low refractive index contrast fibers are usually referred to as LP (linear polarization) modes, which refers to a scalar approximation for the field solution, treating it as if it contains only one transverse field component.

Lasers
In a laser with cylindrical symmetry, the transverse mode patterns are described by a combination of a Gaussian beam profile with a Laguerre polynomial. The modes are denoted $TEM_{pl}$ where $p$ and $l$ are integers labeling the radial and angular mode orders, respectively. The intensity at a point $(r,φ)$ (in polar coordinates) from the centre of the mode is given by: $$I_{pl} (\rho, \varphi) = I_0 \rho^l \left[L_p^l (\rho)\right]^2 \cos^2 (l\varphi) e^{-\rho}$$ where $ρ = 2r^{2}/w^{2}$, $Ll p$ is the associated Laguerre polynomial of order $p$ and index $l$, and $w$ is the spot size of the mode corresponding to the Gaussian beam radius.

With $p = l = 0$, the TEM00 mode is the lowest order. It is the fundamental transverse mode of the laser resonator and has the same form as a Gaussian beam. The pattern has a single lobe, and has a constant phase across the mode. Modes with increasing $p$ show concentric rings of intensity, and modes with increasing $l$ show angularly distributed lobes. In general there are $2l(p+1)$ spots in the mode pattern (except for $l = 0$). The $TEM_{0i*}$ mode, the so-called doughnut mode, is a special case consisting of a superposition of two $TEM_{0i}$ modes ($i = 1, 2, 3$), rotated $360°/4i$ with respect to one another.

The overall size of the mode is determined by the Gaussian beam radius $w$, and this may increase or decrease with the propagation of the beam, however the modes preserve their general shape during propagation. Higher order modes are relatively larger compared to the $TEM_{00}$ mode, and thus the fundamental Gaussian mode of a laser may be selected by placing an appropriately sized aperture in the laser cavity.

In many lasers, the symmetry of the optical resonator is restricted by polarizing elements such as Brewster's angle windows. In these lasers, transverse modes with rectangular symmetry are formed. These modes are designated $TEM_{mn}$ with $m$ and $n$ being the horizontal and vertical orders of the pattern. The electric field pattern at a point $(x,y,z)$ for a beam propagating along the z-axis is given by $$E_{mn}(x, y, z) = E_0 \frac{w_0}{w} H_m\left(\frac{\sqrt{2}x}{w}\right) H_n\left(\frac{\sqrt{2}y}{w}\right)\exp\left[-(x^2 + y^2) \left(\frac{1}{w^2} + \frac{jk}{2R}\right) - jkz - j(m + n + 1)\zeta\right]$$ where $$w_0$$, $$w(z)$$, $$R(z)$$, and $$\zeta(z)$$ are the waist, spot size, radius of curvature, and Gouy phase shift as given for a Gaussian beam; $$E_0$$ is a normalization constant; and $$H_k$$ is the $k$-th physicist's Hermite polynomial. The corresponding intensity pattern is $$I_{mn}(x, y, z) = I_0 \left( \frac{w_0}{w} \right)^2 \left[ H_m \left( \frac{ \sqrt{2} x}{w} \right) \exp \left( \frac{-x^2}{w^2} \right) \right]^2 \left[ H_n \left( \frac{ \sqrt{2} y}{w} \right) \exp \left( \frac{-y^2}{w^2} \right) \right]^2$$

The TEM00 mode corresponds to exactly the same fundamental mode as in the cylindrical geometry. Modes with increasing $m$ and $n$ show lobes appearing in the horizontal and vertical directions, with in general $(m + 1)(n + 1)$ lobes present in the pattern. As before, higher-order modes have a larger spatial extent than the 00 mode.

The phase of each lobe of a $TEM_{mn}$ is offset by $π$ radians with respect to its horizontal or vertical neighbours. This is equivalent to the polarization of each lobe being flipped in direction.

The overall intensity profile of a laser's output may be made up from the superposition of any of the allowed transverse modes of the laser's cavity, though often it is desirable to operate only on the fundamental mode.

title: Transverse mode


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Williams Fork (Yampa River tributary)

The Williams Fork is a 27.4 mi tributary of the Yampa River, in north central Colorado in the United States.

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

title: Williams Fork (Yampa River tributary)


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Williams Fork

Williams Fork may refer to a river in the U.S. state of Colorado:

 * Williams Fork (Colorado River)
 * Williams Fork (Yampa River)

title: Williams Fork


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Crypto.com Arena

Crypto.com Arena (stylized as crypto.com Arena; formerly Staples Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angeles. Opened on October 17, 1999, as the Staples Center, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street, and has since been considered a part of L.A. Live. Owned and operated by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), it is the home venue of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL)—which are both owned in part by AEG's founder Philip Anschutz, as well as the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks.

The Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA also played in the arena from 1999 to 2024, before leaving for their new arena, the Intuit Dome, located in Inglewood.

From 1999 to 2024, it was the only arena in the NBA shared by two teams, as well as one of only three North American professional sports venues (alongside SoFi Stadium in nearby Inglewood, and New Jersey's MetLife Stadium) to have hosted two teams from the same league. The venue is also frequently used for major concerts, and has been the most frequent host of the Grammy Awards ceremony since its opening.

Crypto.com Arena will host the gymnastics competition during the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Description
Crypto.com Arena has 950,000 sqft of total space, with a 94 ft by 200 ft arena floor. It stands 150 ft tall. The arena seats up to 19,067 for basketball, 18,145 for ice hockey, and around 20,000 for concerts or other sporting events. Two-thirds of the arena's seating, including 2,500 club seats, are in the lower bowl. There are also 160 luxury suites, including 15 event suites, on three levels between the lower and upper bowls. The arena's attendance record is held by the fight between World WBA Welterweight Champion Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley with a crowd of 20,820, set on January 25, 2009.

Star Plaza
Outside the arena at the Star Plaza are 12 statues of famous Los Angeles athletes and broadcasters. Additionally, the Los Angeles Kings Monument was erected in Star Plaza in 2016.

Following is a list of statues on display:

History
The arena has been referred to as "the deal that almost wasn't." Long before construction broke ground, plans for the arena were negotiated between elected city officials and real estate developers Edward P. Roski of Majestic Realty and Philip Anschutz. Roski and Anschutz had acquired the Los Angeles Kings in 1995 and in 1996 began looking for a new home for their team, which then played at the Forum in Inglewood.

Majestic Realty Co. and AEG were scouring the Los Angeles area for available land to develop an arena when they were approached by Steve Soboroff, then president of the LA Recreation and Parks Commission. Soboroff requested that they consider building the arena in downtown Los Angeles adjacent to the convention center. This proposal intrigued Roski and Anschutz, and soon a plan to develop the arena was devised.

Months of negotiations ensued between Anschutz and city officials, with Roski and John Semcken of Majestic Realty Co. spearheading the negotiations for the real estate developers. The negotiations grew contentious at times and the real estate developers threatened to pull out altogether on more than one occasion. The main opposition came from Councilman Joel Wachs, who opposed utilizing public funds to subsidize the proposed project, and councilwoman Rita Walters, who objected to parts of it.

Ultimately, the developers and city leaders reached an agreement, and in 1997, construction broke ground on the new building, which opened two years later. It was financed privately at a cost of US$375 million and was named for the office-supply company Staples, Inc., which was one of the center's corporate sponsors that paid for naming rights. Staples' 20-year naming rights deal was renewed in 2009. The arena opened on October 17, 1999, with a Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band concert as its inaugural event.

On October 21, 2009, the arena celebrated its tenth anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, the venue's official web site nominated 25 of the arena's greatest moments from its first ten years with fans voting on the top ten.

The Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League (AFL) and the South Bay Lakers of the NBA G League were also tenants of Staples Center; the Avengers folded in 2009, and the D-Fenders moved to the Lakers' practice facility at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California for the 2011–12 season.

During the 2010 NBA and NHL offseason, the arena was renovated with refurbished locker rooms for the Lakers, Kings, and Clippers, and the installation of a new US$10 million HD center-hung video scoreboard and jumbotron, replacing the original one that had been in place since the building opened in 1999. The Panasonic Live 4HD scoreboard was officially unveiled on September 22, 2010, as AEG and Staples Center executives, as well as player representatives from the Lakers (Sasha Vujacic), Clippers (Craig Smith), and Kings (Matt Greene) were on hand for the presentation.

On January 15, 2018, in the aftermath of an NBA basketball game between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Clippers, point guard Chris Paul utilized a secret tunnel (connecting the away team's locker room to the backdoor of the Clippers locker room) to confront former Clipper teammates Austin Rivers and Blake Griffin. Paul was joined by teammates Trevor Ariza, James Harden, and Gerald Green to confront the opponents, which only resulted in verbal altercations.

Following the death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others in a helicopter crash in January 2020, a number of media outlets picked up on a phrase used by some, referring to the arena as "The House That Kobe Built", due to his historic 20-year career with the Lakers. On August 24, 2020, Los Angeles City Council president Herb Wesson announced a proposal to rename the stretch of Figueroa Street around Staples Center to "Kobe Bryant Boulevard".

In September 2021, the Clippers broke ground on a new arena in Inglewood, California known as Intuit Dome, which is expected to become its new home arena in 2024.

On November 16, 2021, it was announced that the naming rights to the Staples Center had been acquired by Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, renaming it Crypto.com Arena effective December 25, 2021 (with the changeover coinciding with the Lakers' nationally televised Christmas Day game). The deal was reported to be valued at $700 million over 20 years, in comparison to the $116 million paid by Staples under its previous 20-year agreement—making it the most valuable naming rights contract in all of sports. The name change was met with opposition and many fans still refer to this arena as the Staples Center.

In 2022, the arena began to undergo a multi-phase renovation, expected to be completed in 2024; the first phase over the 2022 NBA and NHL offseason included new video boards and ribbon displays, and updated concessions. There are plans for the City View Terrace to be converted into an indoor outdoor deck, a new area known as the Tunnel Club, Chick Hearn Court to be converted into a pedestrian plaza between the arena and the rest of L.A. Live, and updated player facilities such as locker rooms.

Music
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band were the first act to perform at the venue on its opening in 1999. Dave Matthews Band famously played the venue twice in 2008, despite the first show being the day of founding member and saxophonist LeRoi Moore's death.

After the American singer Michael Jackson died in 2009, a televised memorial service was held at the arena. Its operator, AEG, had promoted the This Is It concert residency that Jackson had been scheduled to perform at The O2 Arena in London. Jackson had been rehearsing at the arena in the weeks prior to his death; he last had rehearsed there approximately 12 hours before his death (on the same day).

It hosted the 1st Annual Latin Grammy Awards in 2000 and the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards. In 2011, Jenni Rivera became the first female regional Mexican musician to perform a sell-out at the arena.

Taylor Swift has performed 16 sellouts at Crypto.com Arena—the most of any performer at the venue. On August 21, 2015, prior to one of her performances on the 1989 Tour, Kobe Bryant presented Swift with a banner commemorating this achievement, which was hung in the arena's rafters. The Taylor Swift banner, however, became the subject of a curse among Lakers and Kings fans, who suspected that the banner was contributing to their teams' respective playoff droughts. Eventually, the Kings began to hide the Taylor Swift banner during home games, and the banner was taken down entirely in December 2020.

Mexican musicians Gloria Trevi and Alejandra Guzmán played two sellout shows at the arena in 2017. Rapper Nipsey Hussle's memorial service was held at the venue on April 11, 2019. As part of Super Bowl LVI festivities, the arena hosted the "Super Bowl Music Fest" in February 2022, headlined by Halsey, Machine Gun Kelly, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, Miley Cyrus, and Green Day.

Grammy Awards
The annual Grammy Awards ceremony has been held at Crypto.com Arena since 2000, with the exception of 2003, 2018, 2021 and 2022. As of 2023, the venue has hosted the Grammy Awards 20 times, hosting more than any other venue in the history of the Grammy Awards.

Sports
The venue opened in 1999 as the home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers (NBA), and Los Angeles Kings of the NHL. The Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA joined in 2001, while the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA D-League joined in 2006. It became home to the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League in 2000 until the team's discontinuation in 2009.

Since its opening day, the arena has hosted seven NBA Finals series with the Lakers, the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup Finals, three WNBA Finals, the 2002 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the 52nd and 62nd NHL All-Star game, three NBA All-Star Games (2004, 2011 and 2018), the Pac-10 Conference men's basketball tournament (2002–12), the WTA Tour Championships (2002–05), UFC 60 in 2006, UFC 104 in 2009, UFC 184 in 2015, UFC 227 in 2018, the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships, the Summer X Games indoor competitions (2003–13), and several HBO Championship Boxing matches.

On January 22, 2006, Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant scored a career-high 81 points in the Crypto.com Arena against the Toronto Raptors, the second-highest number of points scored in a single game in NBA history, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point performance. Of the team's six NBA championships since moving to the venue, the Lakers have celebrated their and  victories at Crypto.com Arena with series-winning victories at home.

Prior to the 2006–07 NBA season, the lighting inside the arena was modified for Lakers games. The lights were focused only on the court itself (hence the promotional Lights Out campaign), reminiscent of the Lakers' early years at The Forum. The initial fan reaction was positive and has been a fixture on home games since. The Daktronics see-through shot clock was first installed prior to the 2008–09 NBA season. The Clippers adopted the new see-through shot clock prior to the 2010–11 NBA season. For Sparks games, the court used is named after Sparks player Lisa Leslie, and was officially named prior to the 2009 home opener against the Shock on June 23, 2006.

The Los Angeles Kings hosted the 2010 NHL Entry Draft at the arena in June 2010. In 2012, the Clippers, Kings, and Lakers all advanced to their leagues' respective playoffs, with the Kings ultimately playing their first Stanley Cup Finals at the arena; on June 11, the Kings defeated the New Jersey Devils in Game 6 to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

The Lakers unveiled a new hardwood court before their preseason game on October 13, 2012. Taking a cue from soccer clubs, the primary center court logo was adorned with 16 stars, representing the first 16 championships the Lakers franchise had won. A 17th star was added to the court and unveiled before their regular season opener on December 22, 2020, to represent the franchise winning its 17th championship in the 2020 NBA Finals.

Crypto.com Arena has hosted the following championship events:
 * NBA Finals:
 * : On June 19, 2000, the Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers 116–111 in game 6, which took place at home, to win their twelfth championship title. This was also notable for being their first championship since.
 * : The Lakers hosted games 1 and 2 versus the Philadelphia 76ers. They eventually won the series in five games.
 * : The Lakers hosted games 1 and 2 versus the New Jersey Nets. They eventually swept the series in four games.
 * : The Lakers hosted games 1 and 2 versus the Detroit Pistons. They eventually lost the series in five games.
 * : The Lakers hosted games 3, 4 and 5 versus the Boston Celtics. They eventually lost the series in six games.
 * : The Lakers hosted games 1 and 2 versus the Orlando Magic. They eventually won the series in five games.
 * : On June 17, 2010, the Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics 83–79 in game 7, which took place at home, to win their sixteenth championship title.

 * Stanley Cup Finals:
 * : On June 11, 2012, the Kings captured their first Stanley Cup in franchise history after defeating the New Jersey Devils 6–1 in game 6.
 * : On June 13, 2014, the Kings captured their second Stanley Cup in franchise history after defeating the New York Rangers 3–2 in double overtime of game 5.

In 2018, the arena hosted Monster Jam for the first time. In 2019, the PBR Unleash the Beast Series hosted its Iron Cowboy event at the arena, marking the first PBR event to be held there. On June 9, 2019, the ACE Family hosted a charity basketball game against singer Chris Brown.

On November 9, 2019, the arena hosted KSI vs. Logan Paul II, a boxing event headlined by a rematch between the two YouTubers. On November 28, 2020, the arena hosted the boxing event Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr.

On April 14, 2024, the Clippers played their final regular season home game at the arena against the Houston Rockets, losing 116–105. On May 1, 2024, the Clippers played their final game at the arena against the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs, losing 123–93.

2028 Summer Olympics
Crypto.com Arena is expected to host gymnastics during the 2028 Summer Olympics. Per IOC rules, the venue must be referred to under a generic name for the duration of the Games.

Esports
In 2013 and 2016, the arena hosted the finals of the League of Legends World Championship.

Professional wrestling
Along with hosting many episodes of Raw and SmackDown, such as the latter's 20th anniversary season premiere on October 4, 2019, Crypto.com Arena has also hosted the following WWE pay-per-views:

 * Unforgiven (2002)
 * Judgment Day (2004)
 * WrestleMania 21
 * No Way Out (2007)
 * SummerSlam (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014)
 * Hell in a Cell (2015)
 * No Mercy (2017)
 * NXT TakeOver: WarGames (2018)
 * Survivor Series (2018)
 * NXT Stand & Deliver (2023)

A broadcast of WCW Monday Nitro was held at the arena on January 24, 2000.

The arena hosted SmackDown and the 2023 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony on March 31 as well as NXT Stand & Deliver on April 1 and Raw on April 3, as part of WrestleMania 39 weekend.

Politics
The 2000 Democratic National Convention was held at the venue.

Celebrity memorials
The arena has hosted three public memorials for celebrities.

First, it was for the memorial of musician Michael Jackson following his death on June 25, 2009. The memorial took place on July 7, 2009. It included eulogies or performances from Smokey Robinson, Mariah Carey, Macaulay Culkin, Trey Lorenz, Queen Latifah, Lionel Richie, John Mayer, Stevie Wonder, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Jennifer Hudson, Berry Gordy, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Brooke Shields, Martin Luther King III, Bernice King, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Usher, Shaheen Jafargholi, Kenny Ortega, Judith Hill, Orianthi Panagaris, his siblings Marlon, Jermaine, and Janet, and his daughter Paris.

In 2019, a memorial took place at the arena for rapper Nipsey Hussle following his death on March 31, 2019. The memorial service took place on April 11, 2019. Attendees and performers included rapper YG, Stevie Wonder who sang "Tears in Heaven", his wife Lauren London, Jhené Aiko, Anthony Anderson, Marsha Ambrosius and Snoop Dogg who gave a eulogy. A hurst procession after the service followed through various South Los Angeles communities.

In 2020, it served as the location for the public memorial of basketball player Kobe Bryant following the death of him and his daughter Gianna, among others, in the 2020 Calabasas helicopter crash. It took place on February 24 (2/24, a reference to Gianna's and Kobe's basketball numbers) 2020. It included eulogies from his wife Vanessa, Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Jordan, Rob Pelinka, Diana Taurasi, and Sabrina Ionescu.

Awards and recognitions
Staples Center was named Best Major Concert Venue for 1998 and Arena of the Year for 1999, 2000 and 2001 by Pollstar Magazine and has been nominated each year since 2000. In February 2013, PETA named the arena the most "vegetarian-friendly" arena in the NBA.

title: Crypto.com Arena


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Sadler's Wells Theatre

Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre building in the 1680s.

Lacking the requisite licence to perform straight drama, the house became known for dancing, performing animals, pantomime, and spectacular entertainments such as sea battles in a huge water tank on the stage. In the mid-19th century, when the law was changed to remove restrictions on staging drama, Sadler's Wells became celebrated for the seasons of plays by Shakespeare and others presented by Samuel Phelps between 1844 and 1862. From then until the early 20th century the theatre had mixed fortunes, eventually becoming abandoned and derelict.

The philanthropist and theatre owner Lilian Baylis bought and rebuilt the theatre in 1926. Together with Baylis's Old Vic, Sadler's Wells became home to dance, drama and opera companies that developed into the Royal Ballet, the National Theatre and English National Opera. From the 1930s to the 1980s the theatre was home to 21 London seasons by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company; from the 1950s to the 1970s the English Opera Group, founded by Benjamin Britten, had its London base at Sadler's Wells; and between the 1950s and 1980s the Handel Opera Society staged productions there. Visiting dance troupes included the Alvin Ailey and Merce Cunningham companies, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, London Contemporary Dance Theatre and the Ballet Rambert.

The current theatre dates from 1998. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive rehearsal rooms and technical facilities also housed within the site. Sadler's Wells is now chiefly known as a dance venue. As well as hosting visiting companies, the theatre is also a producing house, with associated artists and companies who create original works for the theatre. Sadler's Wells maintains an additional base at the Peacock Theatre in the West End.

First theatre: 1683–1765
Details of the origins of Sadler's Wells are disputed. According to Dennis Arundell in his history of the theatre, its founder was called Dick Sadler. Many other sources, from the 18th century onwards, say the same, but others give Sadler the forename Thomas, and according to the Survey of London he was Edward. It is also uncertain when Sadler established his auditorium: many sources give the year as 1683; others give it as 1684 or 1685. According to Arundell, Sadler had already opened his "Musick-House" at an unspecified date before 1683; a history of the house published in 1847 confines itself to saying that the house was built at some time after the creation of the adjoining New River in 1614.

A well with water from a mineral spring was discovered on Sadler's land in Islington, near the boundary with Clerkenwell. After an eminent physician tested the water and praised its supposed health-giving properties, Sadler found two more wells nearby. Taking the waters was fashionable at the time – there were popular spas at Bath, Tunbridge and Epsom – and Sadler started marketing the water from his wells. Visitors to the Musick-House began to drink it, and many London physicians recommended their patients to do so. By the end of the summer of 1685 five or six hundred people frequented the Musick-House every morning for the water. Sadler laid out ornamental gardens and engaged entertainers to amuse his patrons: there were tumblers, rope-dancers and musicians. Sadler took as his business partner a violinist, Francis Forcer, who was both dancing-master and composer.

The initial popularity of Sadler's spa did not last long, and by 1691 it had ceased to be a fashionable resort. He sold two of his wells, and the original one dried up for a time; his entertainments became the main draw for those of the public still interested. There is no documentary proof, but Arundell conjectures that by 1697 Sadler had either died or retired; Forcer went into partnership with a glover, James Miles, and the wooden auditorium was renamed "Miles's Musick-House". Under their management the public could hear ballad singers and see jugglers, wrestlers, fighters, dancing dogs and, according to the theatre's 21st-century historian, "even a singing duck". In the early years of the 18th century the reputation of the spa declined. By the time Hogarth produced his Four Times of the Day series in 1736, the theatre had lost any vestiges of fashionability and was satirised as having an audience consisting of tradesmen and their pretentious wives. Ned Ward described the clientele in 1699 as:

"Butchers and bailiffs, and such sort of fellows, Mixed with a vermin train'd up for the gallows, As Bullocks and files, housebreakers and padders, With prize-fighters, sweetners, and such sort of traders, Informers, thief-takers, deer stealers, and bullies."

The proprietors advertised for a new manager in 1700, but the decline continued. In 1711, after its fashionable clients had taken their trade elsewhere, Sadler's Wells was described in The Inquisitor as "a nursery of debauchery", and the place was frequented by many "unaccountable and disorderly" people. In 1712 a man called French was sentenced to death at the Old Bailey for killing a Mr Thwaits at Sadler's Wells.

Miles died in 1724, and under Forcer's son the auditorium was "entirely new modelled and made every way more commodious than heretofore for the better reception of company". Forcer junior sought to improve standards – according to one historian he "succeeded, to a great degree," in driving away "the mass of incomprehensible vagabonds" – but after his death in 1743 John Warren took over, and standards fell again, to the extent that the authorities closed the place. The lease was acquired by Thomas Rosoman and Peter Hough, who reopened Sadler's Wells in April 1746. According to Arundell they "thereby started twenty years' prosperity for the old wooden theatre". Rosoman substantially reconstructed the wooden building in 1748–49. Rosoman engaged a regular resident company of actors, and the old Musick-House became a theatre. Rosoman introduced burlettas, at that time a genre new to England. According to the current laws, only the two patent companies were permitted to present non-musical dramas. Sadler's Wells and other theatres were obliged by the Minor Theatres Act (1751) to avoid spoken dialogue. To circumvent this rule, theatre managers had their actors speaking against a continuous background of instrumental music, so that it was passed off as a musical entertainment. In general the authorities did not enforce the letter of the law with particular rigour. The Tempest was performed there in 1764, but Arundell suggests it was not Shakespeare's original, but "Garrick's version of the Dryden-Shakespeare-Purcell work castrated into an opera".

In 1763 Rosoman engaged the dancers from the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. This suited both theatres, as at that time Sadler's Wells customarily opened from late spring to early autumn and the patent theatres were open for the other half of the year. Arundell comments that this engagement added to the prestige of Sadler's Wells "and ultimately benefited the place enormously, for the new Ballet Master was Giuseppe Grimaldi". (Grimaldi's son, Joseph, later became one of Sadler's Wells's star attractions.) Rosoman prospered and in the summer of 1764 he announced that Sadler's Wells would be pulled down at the end of the season and rebuilt "in a most elegant manner".

Second theatre: 1765–1802

Rosoman was a builder by trade, and he had the wooden theatre replaced with a brick structure. The new building was completed in seven weeks, and cost £4,225; it opened in April 1765. The new house was well received: a London newspaper reported, "Sadler's Wells is now rebuilt and considerably enlarged; each of the entrances is decorated with an elegant iron gate and pallisades [with] a degree of splendor and magnificence ... that do equal honour to the taste and liberality of the Proprietor".

In 1771 Rosoman retired. He sold his three-quarter share in the theatre to Thomas King, a friend and Drury Lane colleague of Garrick. King took over the management from December 1771, and continued to offer entertainments of the traditional variety – tumblers, singers, acrobats and "Several surprising and pleasing Performances by Messrs Sigels, lately arrived from Paris". Although his own tastes favoured the dramatic, King catered for the tastes of his audiences, and in particular featured pantomimes, establishing the theatre as a rival to the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in that genre. His shows, with music by Charles Dibdin, included such pieces as Vineyard Revels, or, The Harlequin Bacchanal, and The Whim-Wham, or, Harlequin Captive. In 1781 Joseph Grimaldi made his debut, aged two, dancing with his sister.

In the 1790s Dibdin was stage manager as well as composer, with Grimaldi as comic star. The theatre was by now in need of renovation, not least because of concerns about safety. The proprietors, led by William Siddons, husband of Sarah Siddons, proposed "an Entire new inside" so that "the Building will be a stable one for fifty years to come".

Third theatre: 1802–1879
Sadler's Wells reopened in 1802 with an interior "entirely re-built at an immense Expence". In 1804 it acquired a new attraction, dubbed the Aqua-show. A huge water tank was installed under the stage for the production of aquatic spectacles. This tank and a second, above the stage to provide waterfall effects, were supplied with water from the New River alongside the theatre. The historian Shirley S. Allen writes that such was the remarkable realism in the performance of sea stories that Sadler's Wells became for thirty years the home of the "nautical drama". Grimaldi, by the early 19th century established as "the unchallenged king of clowns", continued as the theatre's principal clown until 1820, while pursuing a parallel career at Drury Lane.

The law restricting non-musical drama to the two patent theatres was repealed by the Theatres Act 1843, and the following year serious drama came to Sadler's Wells. From 1844 to 1862 the actor Samuel Phelps managed and starred at the theatre. He intended to bring Shakespeare to the masses. Sadler's Wells at this stage had a largely local Islington audience, working class and relatively uneducated; economically the theatre had its advantages: a large capacity (2,500) and a low rent.

Phelps believed that the theatre should be a "place for justly representing the works of our great dramatic poets", particularly since the leading London theatres were not presenting "the real drama of England". His biographer J. P. Wearing writes:

Among the leading players in Phelps's company were Laura Addison, George Bennett, Fanny Cooper and Isabella Glyn; Phelps starred in roles from Hamlet to Falstaff. His productions purged Shakespeare's texts of 18th-century alterations and additions, and he presented the plays with attention to period detail and dramatic veracity. The theatre began to attract audiences from beyond Islington, including literary figures such as Charles Dickens and John Forster.

After Phelps's withdrawal in 1862 the theatre presented a variety of shows, but despite appearances by stars such as J. L. Toole, Hermann Vezin and the young Nellie Farren, they made little impact. A succession of managements tried unsuccessfully to make the theatre pay; in 1874 it closed, and there were plans to turn it into baths and washhouses. The building, by that time in a perilous state of repair, was used as a roller-skating rink and for lectures, boxing and wrestling, until in August 1878 Sidney Bateman, who had been running the Lyceum Theatre in the West End, bought the unexpired thirty-three year term of the lease of Sadler's Wells.

Fourth theatre: 1879–1915

Bateman commissioned C. J. Phipps to design a new interior for the theatre, which reopened in October 1879. Phipps remodelled the auditorium, with a stronger horseshoe profile for the front of the dress circle and the gallery above. These extended further toward the stage than the previous circle and gallery, increasing the theatre's capacity. The theatrical newspaper The Era reported, "The changes made are so remarkable that Sadler's Wells may now claim to be one of the largest and most conveniently-constructed London Theatres". By this time Islington was no longer an isolated village but an inner suburb of the capital, and The Era remarked, "no part of London can be reached with greater facility, as omnibuses, trams, &c, from various directions pass the Angel, not two hundred yards from Sadler's Wells."

Bateman hoped to restore the theatre's reputation as a classical playhouse, as in Phelps's time, but she died in 1881. The historian Philip Temple quotes an earlier writer's comment that despite Bateman's improvements, "in the 1880s the Saturday night gallery contained the most villainous, desperate, hatchet-faced assembly of ruffians to be found in all London". There were several attempts to convert the theatre into a music hall, but the authorities refused to license it.

The only major changes to Phipps's building was the addition by the architect Bertie Crewe of a new portico in 1894, aligned to the newly completed Rosebery Avenue. In the early years of the 20th century the theatre doubled as a cinema, showing films on Sundays, with live shows – described as "cowboy melodramas" – during the week, but it did not prosper. The drama critic of The Daily Chronicle wrote in February 1914, "Poor wounded old playhouse! Here it stands even now, shabby and disconsolate, its once familiar frontage half hidden with glaring posters".

With the support of leading theatre figures including Bernard Shaw, Arthur Wing Pinero and Seymour Hicks, a plan was put forward in 1914 for saving the building and turning it into "a people's theatre". The outbreak of the First World War led to the abandonment of the plan, and Sadler's Wells declined into dereliction. It closed in 1915 and did not reopen after the war.

Fifth theatre: 1931–1998
Since 1914 the theatre proprietor and philanthropist Lilian Baylis had run drama and opera companies at her south London theatre, the Old Vic, with cheap prices aimed at attracting a local, working-class audience. In 1925 she began a campaign to reopen the derelict Sadler's Wells on a similar basis. She raised the necessary funds and the new theatre was designed by F.G.M. Chancellor, who had succeeded Frank Matcham as senior partner of Matcham and Co..

The new theatre opened with a gala performance on 6 January 1931 of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night starring John Gielgud as Malvolio and Ralph Richardson as Toby Belch. Acquiring Sadler's Wells enabled Baylis to set up a dance company, something she had wished to do since 1926 when she engaged Ninette de Valois to improve the standard of dancing in operas and plays at the Old Vic. The three companies Baylis founded developed over the next three decades to become the Royal Ballet, the National Theatre and English National Opera.

For the first few years the opera, drama and ballet companies, known as the "Vic-Wells" companies, moved between the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells but by 1935 the established pattern was drama at the former and opera and ballet at the latter. In 1935 both the opera and ballet companies went on summer tours for the first time. In their absence the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company took the theatre for a season of Gilbert and Sullivan, the first of 21 such London seasons at Sadler's Wells, returning in every decade until the 1980s.

After Baylis died in 1937 the Vic-Wells Ballet was led by de Valois and the opera company was under the direction of Tyrone Guthrie. In the Second World War the government requisitioned Sadler's Wells as a refuge for those made homeless by air-raids. The two companies toured for the duration of the war. When the theatre reopened in 1945 the companies were briefly reunited there, but de Valois objected to Guthrie's treatment of her company as the junior partner, more valued for financial than for artistic reasons. She accepted an invitation from David Webster to base her main ballet company at the reopened Covent Garden, opening there in 1946, leaving Sadler's Wells with a small company known as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet. The previous year the theatre had hosted the world premiere of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes and over the next twenty years the opera company gave British premieres of works by Verdi, Janáček, Stravinsky, Weill and others. Britten's ensemble the English Opera Group had London seasons at Sadler's Wells between 1954 and 1975. From 1959 to 1985 the theatre was the main venue for the annual seasons of the Handel Opera Society.

In the 1960s there were plans for a new opera house on the South Bank; Norman Tucker and his successor, Stephen Arlen, the directors of Sadler's Wells Opera, hoped to relocate the company there. The plans fell through when the government declined to contribute to the capital cost of the proposed building, but Arlen remained convinced that Sadler's Wells was too small for productions of large-scale works such as Wagner's Ring cycle, and in 1968 the company left Sadler's Wells and moved to the London Coliseum. Sadler's Wells turned to dance as its main focus. By the 1970s, the historian Sarah Crompton records, the dance programme of Sadler's Wells had diversified considerably. Among the companies appearing there were the Ballet Rambert and London Contemporary Dance Theatre, who both held residencies there, and visiting ensembles including those of Alvin Ailey and Merce Cunningham, Nederlands Dans Theater and the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

After the opera company moved out, Sadler's Wells hosted operatic productions by, among others, Cologne Opera (1969) and the Camden Festival (1972). In 1983 a new opera company was established, with its base at Sadler's Wells. With a four-year sponsorship from the National Westminster Bank, the New Sadler's Wells Opera company focused on operetta, sung in English, in London and on tour. The first season opened with Lehar's The Count of Luxembourg, followed by Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado and Kálmán's Countess Maritza. Later productions included Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore, Ruddigore and The Gondoliers, Offenbach's La belle Hélène, Lehár's The Merry Widow and Noël Coward's Bitter Sweet. Most of these productions were commercially recorded and released on LP and CD. After the sponsorship ended, costs outstripped income, and the opera company – though not the theatre – went into liquidation with heavy debts in 1989.

In 1994 a new chief executive, Ian Albery, led a campaign to transform Sadler's Wells into a purpose-built dance theatre. During the two-year rebuilding, Sadler's Wells moved temporarily to the Peacock Theatre in the West End, where it has maintained a presence ever since.

Sixth theatre: 1998–

The new theatre was designed by the Arts Team division of the architects RHWL. It opened in October 1998 with a design that incorporates the skeleton of the 1931 Chancellor theatre (which itself contained bricks from the Victorian structure). It has an expanded 15 m2 sprung stage, a 1,500-seat auditorium, three rehearsal studios and the smaller 200-seat Lilian Baylis studio theatre for the development and presentation of small-scale work. The current building retains the Grade II listing applied to the Matcham theatre in 1950.

The opening season included performances by Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertal, William Forsythe's Ballett Frankfurt, and Rambert Dance. Operatic productions at the new house have included seasons by the Royal Opera (1999), Welsh National Opera (1999 and 2001), Polish National Opera (2004), Glyndebourne Touring Opera (2007) and English Touring Opera (2010).

In 2004 a new director, Alistair Spalding, concluded that Sadler's Wells "had been at its best when it had had resident companies and new works being created within its walls". He announced:

In accordance with this policy Sadler's Wells has appointed an increasing number of choreographers and other associate artists and has commissioned and produced new work. In 2004 Breakin' Convention joined Sadler's Wells, "representing the origins and evolution of hip hop culture through performance and education." The theatre now claims to create and share more new work than any other dance organisation in the world.

title: Sadler's Wells Theatre


text:
Joshua Cooper

Josh(ua) Cooper may refer to:

Politicians

 * Joshua Cooper (died 1757) (c. 1696–1757), Irish landowner and politician, MP for County Sligo 1719–57
 * Joshua Cooper (1732–1800), Irish landowner and politician, MP for Castlebar 1761–68, for County Sligo 1768–83
 * Joshua Edward Cooper (c. 1761–1837), Irish landowner and politician, MP for County Sligo 1790–1806
 * Josh Cooper, Canadian political candidate (Ontario), see Conservative Party of Canada candidates, 2004 Canadian federal election

Others

 * Josh Cooper (cryptographer) (1901–1981), British cryptographer
 * Josh Cooper (defensive end) (born 1980), American football defensive end
 * Josh Cooper (wide receiver) (born 1989), American football wide receiver

title: Joshua Cooper


text:
Mason Locke Weems

Mason Locke Weems (October 11, 1759 – May 23, 1825), usually referred to as Parson Weems, was an American minister, evangelical bookseller and author who wrote (and rewrote and republished) the first biography of George Washington immediately after his death. Some popular stories about Washington thought during the 20th century to be apocryphal can be traced to Weems, including the cherry tree tale ("I cannot tell a lie, I did it with my little hatchet"). Weems' biography of Washington was a bestseller that depicted Washington's virtues and was intended to provide morally instructive tales for the youth of the young nation.

Early life
Mason Weems was born on October 11, 1759, in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, the youngest of nineteen children. His family traced their ancestry to Scotland. When he was ten years old, his parents sent him away to study at the Kent County Free School in Chestertown, Maryland (which later became Washington College). During the 1770s, Weems studied medicine in Edinburgh, then in the 1780s after a religious conversion, Weems studied theology in London.

Minister and traveling bookseller
Returning to the new United States, and with the help of John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, Weems was ordained in the Episcopal Church. In 1784, he became the rector All Hallows Parish, in his native Anne Arundel County, and also served as chaplain of a school for girls, and preached to local African Americans. He soon began disseminating prayer books, as well as established a charitable society to relieve widows and orphans. However, his tendencies toward Methodism (whose ministers were itinerant) proved unpopular with his bishop, Thomas John Claggett, so by 1792 Weems resigned as rector and began a traveling ministry, which included selling books on behalf of Mathew Carey, a prominent Philadelphia publisher who had emigrated from Ireland to flee persecution based on his Catholic faith.

In 1795 Weems married Frances Ewell, the daughter of prominent local patriot and planter Jesse Ewell (1734-1805) and established a household in Dumfries, Virginia. He had a small bookstore in Dumfries that now houses the Weems–Botts Museum, but continued to travel extensively, particularly in the Mid-Atlantic states and South, a market previously dominated by British booksellers, selling books and preaching.

Dumfries is not far from Pohick Church, part of Truro Parish, in Lorton, Virginia, where both George Washington and his father Augustine had worshiped in pre-Revolutionary days. Weems occasionally preached at Pohick Church, but later inflated this Washington connection and promoted himself as the former "rector of Mount-Vernon parish". In fact, Washington had provided an invaluable endorsement to what would be Weems's first bestselling pamphlet, condemning partisanship shortly before the former President's death, The Philanthropist: or a Good Twenty-Five Cents Worth of Political Love Powder, for Honest Adamites and Jeffersonists. In 1792 and 1793, Weems received Washington's endorsement of his first publishing venture, a two-volume edition of sermons by Hugh Blair, and would receive other endorsements from later presidents, as well as prominent local figures. Furthermore, Weems learned from his interaction with bishop Claggett. When Virginia's evangelically-oriented bishop William Meade complained about Weems selling works by confirmed atheist Thomas Paine, Weems responded that he would only sell it together with Richard Watson's reply, An Apology for the Bible.

In 1800 he published A History of the Life and Death, Virtues and Exploits of General George Washington, a popular book in its time that went into many reprints. Other notable works by Weems include Life of General Francis Marion (1805); Life of Benjamin Franklin, with Essays (1817); and Life of William Penn (1819). Weems also wrote several morality pamphlets, including God's Revenge Against Gambling, Against Duelling, and The Drunkard's Looking Glass.

Not long after his father-in-law died in 1805, Weems began managing the Ewell family estate, and by 1808 moved his family within Prince William County to the Ewell family mansion, Bel Air. However, he had debts, so in 1808 sold Carey the copyright to his biography of George Washington for $1000, a sale which he soon regretted. In 1830, Weems owned two slaves, a young man and woman both between 10 and 24 years old. Although Weems continued to travel extensively, Bel Air became his base, where his wife and family lived.

He was an accomplished violinist, and took the instrument with him on his trips.

While traveling in Beaufort, South Carolina, Weems died on May 23, 1825, of unspecified causes. He is buried at Bel Air.

Influence and historical reliability
The New York Times has described Weems as one of the "early hagiographers" of American literature "who elevated the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion, into the American pantheon and helped secure a place there for George Washington".

Weems's name would probably be forgotten today were it not for the tension between the liveliness of his narratives and what Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography (1889) called "this charge of a want of veracity [that] is brought against all Weems's writings," adding that "it is probable he would have accounted it excusable to tell any good story to the credit of his heroes." The cherry-tree anecdote illustrates this point. Another dubious anecdote found in Weems's biography is that of Washington's prayer during the winter at Valley Forge.

According to the historian James M. McPherson, Weems's biography of George Washington was likely Abraham Lincoln's only exposure to the study of history as a boy. In a lecture given on Lincoln's birthday in 2010 at Washington and Lee University, McPherson explained how Lincoln, as president-elect, had spoken to the Legislature at Trenton, New Jersey near where, on the day after Christmas 1776, the American Revolution had been saved from collapse by Washington's ragged troops. According to McPherson, Lincoln said: "I remember all the accounts in Weems's books of the battlefields and struggles for the liberty of the country and none fixed themselves upon my imagination so deeply as the struggle here at Trenton: the crossing of the river, the contest with the Hessians, the great hardships endured at that time-- all fixed themselves on my memory more than any single revolutionary event. I recollect thinking then, boy even though I was, that there must have been something more than common that those men struggled for."

Weems's book Life of George Washington (1800) is an early source that helped popularize the phrase "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!", said to have come from the Battle of Bunker Hill. According to modern scholarly consensus, it was never said at the battle and originated elsewhere.

Exaltation of Washington
The exalted esteem in which the Founding Fathers of the United States, especially George Washington, were held by 19th-century Americans may seem absurd today, but that Washington was so regarded is undisputed. The strength of this esteem can be seen on the ceiling of the United States Capitol Building in the form of Constantino Brumidi's fresco The Apotheosis of Washington.

Weems's A History of the Life and Death, Virtues and Exploits of General George Washington, was a biography written in this spirit, amplified by the florid, rollicksome style that was Weems's trademark. According to this account, his subject was "... Washington, the hero, and the Demigod ..." and at a level above that "... what he really was, [was] 'the Jupiter Conservator,' the friend and benefactor of men." With this hyperbole, Weems elevated Washington to the Augustan level of the god "Jupiter Conservator [Orbis]" (that is, "Jupiter, Conservator of the Empire", later rendered "Jupiter, Savior of the World").

Cherry-tree anecdote

Among the exaggerated or invented anecdotes is that of the cherry tree, attributed by Weems to "... an aged lady, who was a distant relative, and, when a girl, spent much of her time in the family ..." who referred to young George as "cousin".

"The following anecdote is a case in point. It is too valuable to be lost, and too true to be doubted; for it was communicated to me by the same excellent lady to whom I am indebted for the last.

"When George," said she, "was about six years old, he was made the wealthy master of a hatchet! Of which, like most little boys, he was immoderately fond, and was constantly going about chopping everything that came in his way. One day, in the garden, where he often amused himself hacking his mother's pea-sticks, he unluckily tried the edge of his hatchet on the body of a beautiful young English cherry-tree, which he barked so terribly, that I don't believe the tree ever got the better of it. The next morning the old gentleman, finding out what had befallen his tree, which, by the by, was a great favourite, came into the house; and with much warmth asked for the mischievous author, declaring at the same time, that he would not have taken five guineas for his tree. Nobody could tell him anything about it. Presently George and his hatchet made their appearance. "George," said his father, "do you know who killed that beautiful little cherry tree yonder in the garden?" This was a tough question; and George staggered under it for a moment; but quickly recovered himself: and looking at his father, with the sweet face of youth brightened with the inexpressible charm of all-conquering truth, he bravely cried out, "I can't tell a lie, Pa; you know I can't tell a lie. I did cut it with my hatchet." "Run to my arms, you dearest boy," cried his father in transports, "run to my arms; glad am I, George, that you killed my tree; for you have paid me for it a thousand fold. Such an act of heroism in my son is more worth than a thousand trees, though blossomed with silver, and their fruits of purest gold.""

It went on to be reprinted in the popular McGuffey Reader used by schoolchildren, making it part of American culture, causing Washington's February 22 birthday to be celebrated with cherry dishes, with the cherry often claimed to be a favorite of his.

As early as 1889, in Henry Cabot Lodge's biography of Washington, historians have acknowledged that while there was "nothing intrinsically impossible" about the story, it and other stories recounted by Weems were "on their face hopelessly and ridiculously false."

Cultural references
In 1911 Lawrence C. Wroth published Parson Weems: A Biographical and Critical Study. In this he confronts the fact that Weems is best known for the story of the cherry tree (p. 6) and examines the evidence for its likelihood (pp. 65ff).

Grant Wood painted the scene under the title "Parson Weems' Fable" in 1939. It is among his gently ironic depictions of Americana and shows the parson pulling back a curtain rimmed with cherries to show the story.

title: Mason Locke Weems


text:
Dmitrii Bogrov

Dmitrii Grigor'evich Bogrov (Дмитрий Григорьевич Богров; 10 February 1887 – 25 September 1911) was a Ukrainian Jewish lawyer, known for his assassination of the Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin.

Raised in a wealthy Jewish family in Kyiv, Bogrov developed sympathies for revolutionary socialism from an early age and became involved with the Ukrainian anarchist movement while studying law at university. Disillusioned by the local anarchist group's activism, he was hired as an informant by the Okhrana and kept tabs on the group's activities. After graduating, he moved to Saint Petersburg in order to practice law and seek safety from the rising environment of antisemitism in the Russian Empire.

Disturbed by the pogroms in the Russian Empire and feeling guilty for his collaboration with the police, he began to plot the assassination of the Russian prime minister Pyotr Stolypin, who he held responsible for the attacks. He unsuccessfully attempted to elicit the support of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, which caused him to have a nervous breakdown. After returning to Kyiv, he was confronted by members of his former anarchist group, who had discovered his involvement with the Okhrana and made threats against his life for it.

He again resolved to assassinate Stolypin. He told the Okhrana that assassins were planning to kill a government official, convincing them to grant him a ticket to the Kyiv Opera House, where the prime minister was due to attend a play. Having convinced the authorities that he was still on their side, he managed to get close to the prime minister and shot him twice. Stolypin died four days later. Bogrov himself was executed days after his target's death.

Bogrov's actions have become the subject of conspiracy theories, as well as numerous historiographical debates about his motives.

Early life and activism
Dmitrii Grigor'evich Bogrov was born in Kyiv, on 10 February 1887, into a wealthy Jewish family. His grandfather was a well-known writer and maskil; and his father was a prominent lawyer in Kyiv, who had converted to Russian Orthodoxy. Despite his father's conversion, Dmitrii himself continued to practice Judaism, which was the religion that was marked on his school diploma.

The Bogrov family was deeply involved in left-wing politics: Dmitrii's cousin was a member of the Bolsheviks, while his father supported the left of the Constitutional Democratic Party. By the time he was a teenager, Dmitrii Bogrov himself had developed sympathies for revolutionary socialism and became involved in revolutionary activities, initially as a supporter of the Union of Socialists-Revolutionaries-Maximalists. He came to identify himself as an "anarchist-individualist", as he resented formal organisation, rejected conventional morality and believed revolutionaries ought to operate alone under their own direction, even once declaring "I am my own party".

Law education and informant activities
In the wake of the 1905 Russian Revolution, Bogrov enrolled in the law school of Kyiv University. As the government began cracking down on the revolution, Bogrov's parents sent him abroad to study at the University of Munich. There he familiarised himself with the works of Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin, before returning in 1906 to resume his studies in Kyiv. By December 1906, he had joined an anarchist communist group in Kyiv, but soon became disillusioned with their activities.

Although his father paid for his education and provided him with a generous allowance, Bogrov started to experience financial difficulties due to his gambling habit. In February 1907, he took a job as an informant for the Okhrana. Working under the pseudonym of "Alensky", he supplied the police with information on the Kyiv anarchists' activities. Many the group's members were imprisoned or deported to Siberia during this period, including its leaders Herman Sandomirskyi and Naum Tysh, although it's uncertain how many of these were due to Bogrov's reports.

By 1908, some of the group's members began to suspect that Bogrov was an agent provocateur. Naum Tysh and Peter Liatkovskyi accused him of betraying them to the police, but he was defended against the charges by Sandomirskyi. He also managed to convince Ivan Knizhnik and Juda Grossman that he was innocent of the charges against him. In July of that year, Bogrov supplied the Okhrana with information about the bomb-manufacturing activities of the Maximalists, although he would later claim that he deliberately kept the exact address from them in order to prevent a police raid from taking place. In September, he informed the police of a Maximalist plot to break Naum Tysh out of prison, resulting in the arrest of all conspirators. Bogrov himself took the opportunity to go abroad, where he told the editor of an anarchist newspaper that either Tsar Nikolai II or prime minister Pyotr Stolypin ought to be assassinated. He returned to Kyiv in April 1909.

After graduating from university in February 1910, he decided to move away from Kyiv in order to work as a lawyer's apprentice in Saint Petersburg, believing the city was safer for Jewish people than either Kyiv or Moscow, due to the rising environment of antisemitism and pogroms in the Russian Empire. By this time, he had ceased all contact with the Okhrana in Kyiv. After a few months in Saint Petersburg, he again approached the Okhrana and was hired as an agent, working under the pseudonym "Nadezhdin". But this time, he provided the police with unvaluable and even fabricated information, later claiming he did this "for revolutionary purposes, so that I could make close contacts in these institutions and learn how they work."

Assassination plot and motivation
In June 1910, Bogrov contacted Egor Lazarev, informing him of his intention to assassinate the prime minister Pyotr Stolypin. He claimed that his motivations were both personal and ideological, although he concealed his feelings of guilt over his past role as an informant. According to Lazarev, Bogrov claimed that he sought revenge for the antisemitic pogroms that had been carried out in the Russian Empire and held Stolypin to be responsible. He requested the official sanction of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, declaring that he wished "to have the certainty that, after my death, there will remain people and a party who will interpret my conduct correctly, explaining it on the basis of a social and not from a personal motive." Although Lazarev himself was worried about Bogrov's apparent indifference towards his own life, he took the proposal to the party. The SRs were initially divided over their enthusiasm for the plan, but ultimately deciding against it, fearing that it would bring repression against the party. Bogrov was devastated by the party's rejection and subsequently suffered from a nervous breakdown. On the advice of his physician and his parents, he went abroad to Nice, in southern France, where he spent the next few months in recovery.

By March 1911, Bogrov had recovered and returned to Kyiv, where he attempted to resume his legal apprenticeship. As rumours of his past involvement with the police circulated, he received an angry letter from Juda Grossman, who demanded answers, but Bogrov responded that he was no longer involved in political activity and refused to engage further in correspondence. On 16 August, Bogrov was visited by a member of the anarchist group, who informed him that the revolutionaries intended to kill him for his collaboration with the police. When Bogrov asked how he could prevent this and "rehabilitate" himself, they demanded that he assassinate a Tsarist official.

Bogrov again committed himself to his plan to assassinate Stolypin, who he considered to be the "source of all evil in Russia". In late August, he went to the Okhrana and told them that revolutionaries by the names of "Nikolai Iakovlevich" and "Nina Aleksandrovna" intended to assassinate a member of the government during the Tsar's upcoming visit to the city, claiming they had a bomb and were staying at his flat. Convinced of his reliability due to his past work as an informant, the Okhrana gave him a pass to attend the events, so that he could identify and apprehend the assassin. He was provided with a ticket to a performance of The Tale of Tsar Saltan at the Kyiv Opera House, where Stolypin was due to attend and where Bogrov claimed the assassin planned to carry out his attack.

Assassination of Stolypin
On the evening of 1 September, while police agents staked out Bogrov's flat, he went to the theatre and was questioned on the whereabouts of the assassins. He pretended to return to his flat and claimed that the assassin was still eating supper. Bogrov went to his seat in the seventeenth row, while Stolypin arrived and took his seat in the front row. Also among the attendees were Tsar Nikolai II, his daughters Olga and Tatiana, and the Bulgarian crown prince Boris.

The performance started at 21:00. During the first intermission, Bogrov stayed back, as Stolypin was surrounded by other people. During the second intermission, at 23:30, Bogrov was ordered to return to his flat and keep tabs on the assassins. Noticing that Stolypin was standing alone, he decided that was the moment to act. He made his way down the aisle towards the front row and all the way up to the prime minister. When he arrived in front of Stolypin, Bogrov drew his revolver and shot him twice. One bullet ricocheted off Stolypin's wrist into the orchestra pit and hit a violinist's leg, the other hit Stolypin in his chest, piercing through a medallion of Vladimir the Great.

As those around the prime minister were left stunned by the attack, Bogrov calmly walked away towards the exit, making it halfway down the aisle before he was apprehended. He was disarmed and removed from the theatre by the police, while people attempted to aid the dying prime minister. Stolypin was taken away to a clinic, but died four days later. When the police raided Bogrov's flat, they found nobody there. Russian nationalists in Kyiv responded by calling for a pogrom, but the authorities refused to support their invocation, as the Tsar was still in the city. In order to pre-empt such a pogrom from taking place, Kyiv's Jewish community denounced Bogrov's actions and held a special service wishing health for the Tsar's family and to Stolypin. For its part, the Socialist Revolutionary Party publicly denied taking part in the assassination.

Interrogation, trial and execution
When he was interrogated about the attack, Bogrov confessed that he had fabricated the story of the two assassins so that he could get access to Stolypin. He claimed that he had been threatened by revolutionaries due to their discovery of his past as an agent provocateur; he thought that this revelation alone was "worse than death" and desired to free himself from the guilt he felt due to his collaboration with the police. He also repeatedly identified himself as a member of the Jewish faith and claimed that he was acting in the interests of the Jewish people. He declared that he had not attempted an attack against the Tsar, as he feared it would have provoked further antisemitic pogroms.

On 22 September 1911, Bogrov was tried by a court martial, which found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to death by hanging. He was executed on 25 September 1911, in Lysa Hora. He died in the presence of thirty witnesses, including representatives of reactionary groups such as the Black Hundreds. The religious representative at Bogrov's execution was Iakov Aleshkovskii, the Chief Rabbi of Kyiv. In his final words to Aleskhovskii, Bogrov asked him: "Please tell the Jews that I did not want to harm them in any way, on the contrary, I struggle for their good and for the happiness of the Jewish people." His death was mourned by young Jewish and Ukrainian radicals, who had sympathised with his motive's for assassinating Stolypin.

Legacy and historical debate
Bogrov's assassination of Stolypin was the last major attack in a sustained period of terrorism in the Russian Empire, which had started in 1866 with Dmitrii Karakazov's attempted assassination of Alexander II. The assassination of Stolypin further destabilised the Empire, leading to its ultimate collapse in the 1917 Revolution. Bogrov's actions have been compared to those of Marinus van der Lubbe and Lee Harvey Oswald, who likewise acted individually, but whose acts were nevertheless subject to widespread conspiracy theories.

Since the assassination, there has been some historical debate about Bogrov's motives for the assassination and whether or not he acted on behalf of one group or another. Although Bogrov acted alone, he was variously accused of acting on behalf of revolutionaries, reactionaries or even the police. In his book A People's Tragedy, British historian Orlando Figes commented that this variety of possible explanations for Bogrov's actions stemmed from Stolypin having had enemies on all sides of the political spectrum: "Long before Bogrov's bullet killed him, he [Stolypin] was politically dead." Documents regarding the assassination were also published in a heavily redacted form in 1914; it took until 2003 for a complete volume of more than 700 pages of evidence to finally be published by ROSSPEN.

The most common explanation for the assassination is that Bogrov was motivated by the threats against his life by the revolutionary anarchist group, a version which is supported by historians Abraham Ascher, Anna Geifman, George Tokmakoff, and Jonathan Daly. Geifman further suggested that Bogrov, known to have suffered from depression, had decided to commit suicide by way of homicide. Russian historian Sergei Stepanov and American historian Victoria Khiterer have also theorised that Bogrov sought revenge for the recent pogroms in the Russian Empire. American historian Norman Naimark depicted the actions of Bogrov and other Jewish assassins of the period as having resulted from the direct antisemitic oppression that they faced and a consequential disillusionment with the results of assimilation. American historian Paul Avrich also considered the assassination to have been a "personal act" by Bogrov, rather than having been influenced by his associations with the police or revolutionary groups. In his historical fiction novel The Red Wheel, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn suggested that Bogrov was motivated by protecting the interests of his Jewish family against rising Russian nationalism. The 2012 Russian docu-drama Stolypin: A Shot at Russia likewise highlighted Bogrov's Jewish background as a motivation for the assassination, while also portraying his character as a gambler and insect collector. This "Jewish motivation" has been disputed by Ascher and Geifman, as well as Simon Dixon, who each highlighted the assimilation of Bogrov's family into the Russian elite.

Other hypotheses included that of Stolypin's own brother Aleksandr Stolypin, who speculated that Grigori Rasputin had directed the assassination, although there is no evidence that Rasputin and Bogrov were ever in contact. The hypothesis of police manipulation claims that the Tsar had become jealous of Stolypin's popularity and pressed the Okhrana to have him eliminated; but the Tsar himself had the power to dismiss ministers, so he could have already done so. Solzhenitsyn also alleged Bogrov to have been working as a double agent for the Okhrana. Yakov Protazanov's 1928 film The White Eagle also makes allusions to the culpability of the Tsarist government in Bogrov's assassination of Stolypin. But allegations of a conspiracy on the part of the police are disputed, with evidence pointing to police incompetence rather than malice.

title: Dmitrii Bogrov


text:
Willow Creek (Colorado)

Willow Creek is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately 35 mi long, in north central Colorado in the United States.

It rises in northwestern Grand County, in the Arapaho National Forest south of Willow Creek Pass at the continental divide. It flows southeast through Willow Creek Reservoir and joins the Colorado three miles northeast of Granby.

title: Willow Creek (Colorado)


text:
Lake Makgadikgadi

Lake Makgadikgadi (Letsha la Makgadikgadi, ) was a paleolake that existed in what is now the Kalahari Desert in Botswana from 2,000,000 years BP to 10,000 years BP. It may have once covered an area of from 80000 to 275000 km2 and was 30 m deep. The Okavango, Upper Zambezi, and Cuando rivers once all emptied into the lake. Its remains are seen in the Makgadikgadi salt pans, one of the largest salt pans in the world.

DNA research suggests the lake region is the homeland of Homo sapiens, where humans first evolved as a distinct species about 200,000 years ago, before expanding to other parts of Africa about 70,000 years later.

Origin and history
Approximately 3 million years ago, strong easterly winds formed long dunes, which ran from east to west across the middle of the Kalahari Desert. During wetter times, these dunes channeled the great rivers of the area, the Okavango, Chobe, and Upper Zambezi, southeastward to join with the Limpopo River and drain into the Indian Ocean.

Northern Botswana has a series of deep, underlying fault lines running beneath its sands. These faults are thought to be the southernmost extensions of the same system of parallel fault lines that are pulling away from each other and have formed East Africa's Great Rift Valley. Parts of the courses of both the Linyanti River and Chobe River, mark the line of these faults today.

Approximately 2 million years ago, the fault known as the Ovamboland-Kalahari-Zimbabwe axis (which runs from NE to SW from Harare through Bulawayo and ends in the east side of the Kalahari desert) moved in an epeirogenic flexure, and cut off the drainage route into the Limpopo. The blocked outflow allowed for the creation of Lake Makgadikgadi.

The great Magwikwe Sand Ridge between Savuti and North Gate probably defined one of its northwestern shorelines. Another is thought to have been the less obvious Gidikwe Sand Ridge lying just to the west of the western border of the present Makgadikgadi National Park.

Wave-washed features can be found on several of the Kalahari's higher places in this region. The eastern side of the Ghoha Hills, north of Savuti, is a particularly clear example of this. Round, water-eroded pebbles can also be found.

As the millennia passed, the lake filled to capacity. It began to overflow about 20,000 years ago, taking the lowest point in the watershed in the north east as its new outlet. This caused the middle and lower Zambezi Rivers to connect, forming the Victoria Falls. With the water now able to flow out of the basin, Lake Makgadikgadi drained partially and its average level decreased.

A drier climatic period followed, which increased evaporation and decreased the flow of the rivers that fed the lake. By about 10,000 years ago the drying of Lake Makgadikgadi was in an advanced stage. Sediment and debris from the Okavango River and windblown sand were gradually filling the lake.

The Gumare fault formed and lowered the land. As a result, the water of the Okavango River spread out over a much larger area of land than it previously had, forming the now characteristic fan-shaped inland delta of the Okavango, which further reduced the water that flowed into Lake Makgadikgadi and hastened its demise.

Human origin theory
In October 2019, a team led by Vanessa Hayes proposed that land around Lake Makgadikgadi was the area where modern humans (Homo sapiens) first evolved. The findings are based on 1,217 samples of mitochondrial DNA, taken from populations in Southern Africa. The researchers were able to trace where the earliest maternal lineage of modern Homo sapiens emerged, about 200,000 years ago (200 kya). They concluded this was in an area south of the Zambezi River, encompassing parts of what’s now known as Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. This corresponds to the shores of the ancient Lake Makgadikgadi.

The conclusion is disputed by Chris Stringer, head of human origins at the Natural History Museum in London, and Sarah Tishkoff, a geneticist at the University of Pennsylvania.

Excavations of early Homo sapiens activities have been found at Ga-Mohana Hill in Northern Cape dated to 105,000 years ago (105 kya).

Ecology
Lake Makgadikgadi is theorised to have been the birthplace of the vast number of cichlids that once swam the Congo, Zambezi, Okavango and Limpopo rivers—as many as 100 to 400 new species, of which approximately 25 survive today. The lake's sheer size may have provided the ancestors of these fish with an extremely wide range of new ecological niches to exploit and thus could have served as the stimulus for the evolution of the new species, which they may have done in record time before the lake drained completely. The theory further says that the new species, after having evolved within the confines of the lake, could have escaped with the lakewater as it drained, and populated the rivers of the region to evolve into the cichlids that exist today.

In current times this land is desiccated most of the year and is a seasonal wetland in the rainy summer months.

Legacy
Today the only remains of Lake Makgadikgadi are the Okavango Delta, the Nxai Pan, Lake Ngami, Lake Xau, the Mababe Depression, and the two main Makgadikgadi pans: the Sua Pan and the Nwetwe Pan.

The Makgadikgadi Salt Pans are among the largest in the world and are formed from the last remnants of this great lake. The Okavango Delta is a very large, swampy inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches the former bed of the lake. It is now an endorheic basin in which all the water reaching the basin is ultimately evaporated and transpired.

The other south draining rivers that once fed the lake have now all been captured by the Zambezi.

title: Lake Makgadikgadi


text:
Westward Ho!

Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England. The A39 road provides access from the towns of Barnstaple, Bideford, and Bude. It lies at the south end of Northam Burrows and faces westward into Bideford Bay, opposite Saunton Sands and Braunton Burrows. There is an electoral ward with the same name. The population at the 2011 census was 2,112.

Name
Westward Ho! is noted for its unusual place name. The village name comes from the title of Charles Kingsley's novel Westward Ho! (1855), which was set in nearby Bideford. The book was a bestseller, and entrepreneurs saw the opportunity to develop tourism in the area. The Northam Burrows Hotel and Villa Building Company, chaired by Isaac Newton Wallop, 5th Earl of Portsmouth, was formed in 1863, and its prospectus stated:

"This Company has been formed for the erection of a Family Hotel, on an Estate purchased for the purpose immediately contiguous to Northam Burrows, and of Villas and Lodging Houses for Sale or Lease. The want of such accommodation has long been felt, and as no attempt to supply it has hitherto been made by individuals, it is deemed to be a legitimate project to be undertaken by a Company. The salubrity and beauty of the North of Devon have long been known and appreciated. Sir James Clark has placed it in the highest position for health-giving qualities; and the recent publication of Professor Kingsley's "Westward Ho" has excited increased public attention to the western part, more especially, of this romantic and beautiful coast. Nothing but a want of accommodation for visitors has hitherto prevented its being the resort of families seeking the advantages of sea bathing, combined with the invigorating breezes of the Atlantic...."

The hotel was named the Westward Ho!-tel, and the adjacent villas were also named after the book. As further development took place, the expanding settlement also acquired the name of Westward Ho! The exclamation mark is therefore an intentional part of the village's name. It is the only such place name in the British Isles; Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, Quebec, Canada, shares the distinction of having an exclamation mark in its name.

Development
Development of the village began ten years after the 1855 Kingsley novel was published, in order to satisfy the Victorians' passion for seaside holidays. The United Services College was founded in the village in 1874.

Shell middens and a submerged forest that date to the Mesolithic period have been excavated on the shoreline at Westward Ho!.

The village has become more residential as holiday camps closed and houses and flats were erected. One former camp was Torville Camp. The two major holiday camps still running are Surfbay Holiday Park and Braddick's Holiday Centre.

United Services College
The United Services College, a public school for boys aged about thirteen to eighteen, was founded at Westward Ho! in 1874 and had the aim of preparing boys for the army and navy and for the service of the British Empire. It lasted until 1906, when it merged with the Imperial Service College in Berkshire and closed its site at Westward Ho!. Notable old boys included Rudyard Kipling, whose book Stalky & Co. (1899) is based on his time at the College.

Geography
Westward Ho! is known for its surfing seas and the long expanse of clean sand backed by a pebble ridge and grasslands which extends for about three miles. It has two churches, Westward Ho! Baptist Church and Holy Trinity Church.

The seaward part of the village lies within the North Devon Coast, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Geology
The rocks on the coastline of Westward Ho! are of Upper Carboniferous age. The rocks were tilted during the Variscan Orogeny; in the present day they dip at 50–70 degrees north and south. The wave-cut platform is an example of a multi-scale fault system, with the phases of tectonic activity exposed at low tide.

Bus services

 * Stagecoach 21 – The North Devon Wave – Westward Ho! – Northam – Bideford – Instow Anstey Way – Fremington – Bickington – Railway Station – Barnstaple Bus Station - Braunton - Ilfracombe
 * Stagecoach services run right through the day at 30-minute intervals, 2 buses an hour during the summer months and hourly during the winter.
 * Stagecoach 16 runs to Appledore – Northam – Bideford 6 times a week only on Tuesdays and Thursdays 3x per day.
 * National Express Coaches used to serve Westward Ho!.

Railway
A railway served Westward Ho! from 1901 to 1917. The Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway was a standard gauge railway which ran between these places, but had no connection with the rest of the railway system, though there was a pedestrian ferry link from Appledore to Instow which was connected to the rest of the rail network of Britain. A section of the trackbed is used as part of the South West Coast Path.

The West Country class locomotive number 21C136 (later 34036), built initially for Southern Railways and later British Rail, was named "Westward Ho!" after the town.

Sports
It is also known for the Royal North Devon Golf Club, the oldest golf course in England and Wales. Other attractions of the village include the arcades, a go-kart track and the Rock Pool a tidal lido.

World War II
Adapted Bailey bridges were tested at Westward Ho! as part of the Mulberry Harbour project, as well as the Panjandrum by the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development.

Notable resident
Rudyard Kipling spent several of his childhood years at Westward Ho!, where he attended the United Services College (later absorbed by Haileybury College, which is now in Hertfordshire). His collection of stories, Stalky & Co, published in 1899, was based on his experiences at the College. To commemorate his living there, the first stanza of his poem "If—" is set into the pavement on the promenade in granite setts.

Twin towns
Westward Ho! is twinned with Mondeville in France, and Büddenstedt in Germany.

In popular culture
The town lends its name to the song "Westward Ho! - Massive Letdown" by the band Half Man Half Biscuit which recounts a dream about holidaying in the town. The song also mentions the nearby town of Northam.

title: Westward Ho!


text:
Willow Creek

Willow Creek may refer to:

Places

 * Willow Creek Border Crossing, at Canada–US border

Canada

 * Municipal District of Willow Creek No. 26, Alberta
 * Willow Creek Provincial Park, Alberta
 * Rural Municipality of Willow Creek No. 458, Saskatchewan

United States

 * Willow Creek, Alaska
 * Willow Creek, California
 * Willow Creek, Indiana
 * Willow Creek, Minnesota
 * Willow Creek, Montana
 * Willow Creek AVA, a California wine region
 * Willow Creek-Lurline Wildlife Management Area, northern California
 * Willow Creek Pass (Colorado)
 * Willow Creek Wildlife Area, Oregon
 * Willow Creek Winery, a winery in New Jersey

Hydrology

 * Willow Creek (Colorado), a tributary of the Colorado River
 * Willow Creek (Calaveras County, California), which flows into New Hogan Lake
 * Willow Creek (Lassen County, California), a tributary of the Susan River
 * Willow Creek (Madera County, California), a primary inflow to Bass Lake in Madera County
 * Willow Creek (New York), a tributary of Cayuga Lake in Tompkins County
 * Willow Creek (Sacramento County, California), a tributary of the American River
 * Willow Creek (Montana), a list of streams named Willow Creek in Montana
 * Willow Creek (Long Pine Creek tributary), a stream in Brown County, Nebraska
 * Willow Creek (Niobrara River tributary), a stream in Rock County, Nebraska
 * Willow Creek (Goose Lake), Oregon, primary inflow to Goose Lake on the Oregon-California border
 * Willow Creek (Columbia River tributary), Oregon
 * Willow Creek (Deschutes River tributary), Oregon
 * Willow Creek (Grand and Uintah counties, Utah)
 * Willow Creek (Jordan River tributary), Utah
 * Willow Creek (Price River tributary), Utah, a tributary of the Price River
 * Willow Creek Dam (Oregon)
 * Willow Creek Dam (Colorado)
 * Willow Creek Dam (Montana)

Other

 * Willow Creek (film), a 2013 film
 * Willow Creek Association, a Christian organization;
 * Willow Creek Community Church, in South Barrington, Illinois
 * Willow Creek/Southwest 185th Avenue Transit Center, a light rail station in Oregon, United States
 * Willow Creek, a fictional neighborhood in the life simulation video game The Sims 4

title: Willow Creek


text:
Talk:Air (classical element)

Would this page (and the equivalent pages for the other three elements) be an appropriate place to include information about the place of the elements in magick? Sara 23:02, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I don't see why not. Concepts can always be split from one another later. Courtland 02:37, 2005 Mar 14 (UTC)

This is horrible
Oh come on! There are no sources and people give associations to elements willy nilly. Lets see some refferences. And what is up with the "anonymous poem". That doesn't deserve to be there. This whole thing depresses me

 * I fully agree. The article is in desperate need of citations.154.20.208.181 23:26, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

do you happen to recall what the poem was, i cant remember the name or who wrote it.

Associations
At least in the Golden Dawn and subsequent Thelemic traditions, Air is associated with the suit of Swords; Fire is associated with wands. More information on this page about its real Greek roots I think would be most illuminating and useful to all.

Why is this just about modern usage? It would have been nice to have some information about the original Greek use of the concept. 9:18 March 26 2006 (UTC)

Spring?
I thought that wind was associated with autumn, earth was attributed to spring, and water to winter. I also thought that Djinns were fire elementals. AncientNova 03:24, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

Rewrite needed
Everyone seems to be in agreement that the articles on different classical elements are in need of serious help. I am preparing a new version of the Air article that will provide more structure, history, and references, and maybe serve as a model for revising the other element articles. This note is so anyone who is attached to the current version has a chance to speak up. I'm afraid it will be pretty eurocentric though, because of my own limitations. Maestlin 23:12, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Downward-pointing?
The article includes a point-up triangle, and says 'The alchemical symbol for air is a downward-pointing triangle, bisected by a horizontal line.' and references a page where the triangle is shown point-up again. I would have thought 'downward pointing' would mean 'point-down'.--Jcvamp 05:52, 20 July 2006 (UTC)
 * My mistake. Thanks for catching that! It is now fixed. Maestlin 17:51, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. My nit-picking paid off for once ;-)--Jcvamp 18:08, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

The Color Yellow
Where does this association of air with the color yellow originate from? I thought that earth was supposed to be associated with the color yellow!

I know that I've seen it associated with blue (azure dragon of the east) and even green in other sources. Wood is characterized by the color brown or green in the eastern tradition, and is supposed to be the element closet to air in most comparisons. Is there any basis for any of these characterizations? 24.107.44.119 10:01, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

 * There is some backing to the color yellow and the element of air, usually in relation to gold and metals or the sun's illumination. I believe it's traditionally a Celtic link, but, there does need to be citation on this and in this whole group of article sas well. Argentak (talk) 09:44, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Two Arals?
I don't get it. Why are there two Arals? One's the Fire Angel, while the other is the Air Ruler. Are they the same? --68.82.228.237 (talk) 18:38, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

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Lacking Content
Should contain more information about the non-western parallels of the concept. Simply referring to them as "appearing" to be there is not sufficient.Kespos (talk) 21:17, 30 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Only if they are genuinely connected in some way to the Ancient Greek classical element, not just some vague similarity that WP:OR links them in your mind. SpinningSpark 12:22, 31 October 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Air (classical element)