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Roger Bresnahan

Roger Philip Bresnahan (June 11, 1879 – December 4, 1944), nicknamed "the Duke of Tralee", was an American player and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player, Bresnahan competed in MLB for the Washington Senators (1897), Chicago Orphans (1900), Baltimore Orioles (1901–02), New York Giants (1902–1908), St. Louis Cardinals (1909–1912) and Chicago Cubs (1913–1915). Bresnahan also managed the Cardinals (1909–1912) and Cubs (1915). He was a member of the 1905 World Series champions.

Bresnahan began his MLB career as a pitcher. He also served as an outfielder, before becoming a regular catcher. For his MLB career, Bresnahan had a .279 batting average in 4,480 at bats and a 328–432 managerial win–loss record. Bresnahan popularized the use of protective equipment in baseball by introducing shin guards, to be worn by catchers, in 1907. He also developed the first batting helmet.

After retiring as a player, Bresnahan remained active in professional baseball. He owned the minor league Toledo Mud Hens and coached for the Giants and Detroit Tigers. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945 by the Veterans Committee.

Early life
Roger Philip Bresnahan was born on June 11, 1879, in Toledo, Ohio. He was the seventh child of Michael and Mary Bresnahan, who had immigrated to the United States from Tralee, Ireland. Bresnahan used to claim that he was also from Tralee, and early in his life, he earned the nickname "The Duke of Tralee".

Bresnahan began playing baseball in grade school, becoming one of the best known sandlot baseball players. He continued to play baseball at Toledo's Central High School.

Semiprofessional career
At 16, Bresnahan signed with a semi-professional team from Manistee, Michigan. After he graduated high school, Bresnahan signed with Lima of the Ohio State League, where he played primarily as a pitcher, but also as a catcher in 1895 and 1896.

Washington Senators (1897)
On August 10, 1897, the Washington Senators of the National League (NL) in Major League Baseball (MLB) purchased Bresnahan from Lima. He began his MLB career as a pitcher, throwing a six-hit shutout in his MLB debut against the St. Louis Browns on August 27, 1897, recording three strikeouts and walking two batters. He had six hits in 16 at bats (a .375 batting average) and had a 4–0 win–loss record for the 1897 Senators. However, the Senators released Bresnahan after the season over a salary dispute, when he attempted to hold out for more money. The Senators offered Bresnahan $2,000 ($0 in current dollar terms), but Bresnahan wanted $2,400 ($0 in current dollar terms).

Bresnahan played for the Toledo Mud Hens of the Interstate League and the Minneapolis Millers of the Western League in 1898, and the Millers and Buffalo Bisons of the Western League in 1899.

Chicago Orphans (1900)
Bresnahan appeared in two games at catcher for the Chicago Orphans of the NL in 1900, which served as a tryout.

With the formation of the American League (AL) as a competitor to the NL, Bresnahan, among others, jumped to the AL from the NL. John McGraw, manager of the Baltimore Orioles of the AL saw Bresnahan pitch for Chicago, and decided to sign him for the Orioles before the 1901 season. For the Orioles, Bresnahan filled in at catcher behind Wilbert Robinson, and also appeared in the outfield. A faster baserunner than the average catcher, Bresnahan had two inside-the-park home runs on May 30, 1902.

New York Giants (1902–1908)
With the Orioles reportedly in significant debt, part-owner John Mahon purchased shares of the team from star players Joe Kelley and John McGraw, who had resigned from the team and signed with the New York Giants of the NL, becoming the majority shareholder. On July 17, 1902, he sold his interest in the Orioles to Andrew Freedman, principal owner of the Giants, and John T. Brush, principal owner of the Cincinnati Reds, also of the NL. That day, Freedman and Brush released Bresnahan, Kelley, Joe McGinnity, Jack Cronin, Cy Seymour, and Dan McGann from their contracts. Brush then signed Kelley and Seymour to the Reds, while Freedman signed McGinnity, Bresnahan, Cronin, Gilbert, and McGann, joining McGraw, his new player-manager, on the Giants.

With Frank Bowerman and Jack Warner established as the Giants' catchers, McGraw played Bresnahan as the center fielder for the Giants. In 1903, Bresnahan batted .350, trailing Honus Wagner's .355 average atop the NL. Bresnahan batted .284 in the 1904 season, playing 96 games in the outfield, ten games at first base, four games at shortstop, and one game apiece at second base and third base, as the Giants were champions of the NL.

Bresnahan shifted to catcher full-time in 1905, as Bowerman became less effective and Warner left the Giants. Christy Mathewson preferred pitching to Bresnahan. Bresnahan caught all five games in the 1905 World Series, including three shutouts by Mathewson, and one shutout thrown by Joe McGinnity. Bresnahan led the Giants with a .313 batting average in the World Series.

On Opening Day in 1907, Bresnahan began to experiment with protective gear. Though Negro league catcher Chappie Johnson wore protective gear and Nig Clarke wore similar gear in MLB in 1905, most catchers did not wear any protective equipment at that time. Bresnahan practiced in shin guards that are worn in cricket during spring training, and debuted them on April 11, 1907. Fans, used to seeing catchers play without protective equipment, threw snowballs on the field, and without police at the game, umpire Bill Klem called off the game, with the Giants forfeiting to the Philadelphia Phillies. The press also criticized the use of shin guards. However, other catchers began to adopt Bresnahan's idea. Though Pittsburgh Pirates manager Fred Clarke protested Bresnahan's gear to the league, the protest was denied and the equipment was approved. Bresnahan caught a career-high 138 games in 1908, batting .283 and leading the NL in walks.

Bresnahan also developed the first batting helmet. He was hit in the head with a pitch by Andy Coakley of the Cincinnati Reds on June 18, 1907. Bresnahan was unconscious, and a Catholic priest read him his last rites. Bresnahan was hospitalized for ten days, during which time he developed schematics for a plastic batting helmet, though this piece of equipment did not become commonplace until the 1940s. Bresnahan was also the first catcher to wear a padded facemask while catching.

St. Louis Cardinals (1909–1912)
The Giants obtained younger and faster players in 1909; McGraw had Chief Meyers ready to succeed Bresnahan at catcher. Stanley Robison of the St. Louis Cardinals became interested in hiring Bresnahan to be a player-manager. As McGraw did not want to block Bresnahan from the opportunity, the Giants traded Bresnahan to the Cardinals for Red Murray, Bugs Raymond and Admiral Schlei after the 1908 season. Bresnahan led the Cardinals, who won only 49 games in 1908, to 54 wins in 1909 and 63 wins in 1910. Attendance increased from 205,000 fans in 1908 to 299,000 fans in 1909, and 355,000 fans in 1910.

Grateful for the improvement at the box office, Robison signed Bresnahan to a five-year contract to manage the team for a salary of $10,000 per season ($0 in current dollar terms), plus ten percent of the club's profits. Robison died in March 1911, and ownership of the team transferred to Helene Hathaway Britton, his niece.

On July 11, 1911, with the Cardinals only three games out of first place, the team was involved in a train wreck while riding the Federal Express from Philadelphia to Boston. Fourteen passengers were killed after the train derailed and plunged down an 18 ft embankment outside Bridgeport, Connecticut. None of the Cardinals were seriously injured, due to a fortuitous pre-trip change in the location of their Pullman car, requested by Bresnahan. The Cardinals helped remove bodies and rescue the injured.

Bresnahan and Britton feuded publicly in 1912, as the Cardinals fell to sixth place in the NL. The Cardinals fired Bresnahan after the 1912 season due to various arguments Bresnahan had with Britton, including over Bresnahan's desire to sell Miller Huggins to another franchise. Britton cited decreased profits as a sign that Bresnahan was uninterested in the job. Huggins succeeded Bresnahan as Cardinals' manager, as she preferred Huggins' "gentlemanly" manner, as opposed to Bresnahan's rougher personality. Brenahan hired an attorney to obtain the remainder of his salary. He eventually settled the lawsuit against Britton for $20,000 ($0 in current dollar terms).

Chicago Cubs (1913–1915)
Following his termination by the Cardinals, the NL declared Bresnahan a free agent. He signed a three-year contract with the Cubs, receiving $10,000 ($0 in current dollar terms) per season with a $25,000 signing bonus ($0 in current dollar terms). He served as player-manager for the Cubs in 1915, but was released when his batting average slipped.

Later career
As the rival Federal League collapsed and the Cubs merged with the Chicago Whales of the Federal League, the Cubs decided to replace Bresnahan with Whales manager Joe Tinker.

The Cubs paid Bresnahan for the remaining two years on his contract and aided Bresnahan in purchasing the Toledo Mud Hens, then in the American Association, in 1916. The club had moved to Cleveland to block the Federal League from placing a team there, but returned to Toledo under Bresnahan's control. Bresnahan played for the team until 1918, when he announced his retirement. He played for a semi-professional team in 1919, and appeared in five games for the Mud Hens in 1921. Bresnahan worked to add lights to Toledo's stadium, so that they could play night games.

Bresnahan sold the Mud Hens before the 1924 season. McGraw then hired Bresnahan as a coach for the Giants, a position he held from 1925 through 1928. He coached for the Detroit Tigers in 1930 and 1931.

Post-baseball career
During the offseasons, Bresnahan returned to Toledo. He worked as a hotel detective at the Boody House, which he later purchased. Bresnahan lost much of his money in the stock market crash of 1929. He worked as a manual laborer, as a guard at the Toledo Workhouse, and as a salesman for Toledo's Buckeye Brewing Company.

Bresnahan ran for sheriff of Lucas County as a member of the Democratic Party in 1932. He lost, and endorsed the victorious candidate in his reelection bid two years later. Bresnahan ran for county commissioner in 1944, winning the Democratic Party nomination, but losing in the general election by a few hundred votes out of 140,000 votes cast.

Bresnahan died of a heart attack at his home in Toledo on December 4, 1944, at the age of 65. He was survived by his wife, Gertrude, and his daughter, Marian. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Toledo.

Profile and legacy
In 1,446 games, he had a batting average of .279 with 26 home runs and 530 runs batted in in 4,480 at-bats. His overall managerial record was .430. Miller Huggins named Bresnahan the catcher on his all-time team.

Bresnahan stood approximately 5 ft. He was described as "highly strung and almost abnormally emotional" by a reporter. Bill James wrote that Bresnahan "was one of those guys that if you were on his team and played hard he was as nice to you as could be, but if you got on his bad side you'd think he was the Breath of Hell."

Bresnahan was known for baiting umpires. He and McGraw were often ejected from games, suspended, and on a few occasions escorted from the field by police. A 1911 directive by NL president Thomas Lynch, compelling umpires to prevent catchers from antagonizing batters with verbal abuse, mentioned only Bresnahan by name.

Bresnahan was elected to the Hall of Fame the year after his death. He had received 47 votes of the 226 electors in the 1936 Hall of Fame balloting, and between 43 and 67 votes each time from 1937 through 1942. In the 1945 balloting, occurring one month after Bresnahan's death, he received 133 votes, still falling short of enshrinement. However, the Permanent Committee noticed the surge in votes and elected him in April 1945.

Regarding his Hall of Fame induction, James has criticized the election, saying that Bresnahan "wandered in the Hall of Fame on a series of miscalculations", and regarding his election, that "the Hall of Fame had, for the first time, selected a player who clearly had no damn business being there".

Commemorations
Bresnahan was mentioned in the 1949 poem "Line-Up for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash:

title: Roger Bresnahan


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User:Abqwildcat

I began contributing on February 20, 2004 as a result of repeated linking and the addition of a wikipedia search in my installation of Mozilla FireFox.

I am currently an Engineer living and working in Seattle, Washington. My degree is in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in physics.

I lived in Tucson for 7 years over the course of my stay at the University of Arizona. During my time there, I definitely came to understand that Tucson is hot in the summer, mild in the winter, dusty year-round, and smells like a sewer at night. The Roger Road Sewage Treatment Plant is many miles from where you may be living, but at night the whole city stinks.

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Dwight Howard

Dwight David Howard II (born December 8, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for the Taiwan Mustangs of The Asian Tournament (TAT). He began his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was an NBA champion, eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA Team honoree, five-time All-Defensive Team member, and three-time Defensive Player of the Year.

Howard, who plays center, spent his high school career at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. He chose to forgo college, entered the 2004 NBA draft, and was selected first overall by the Orlando Magic. Howard set numerous franchise and league records with the Magic. He led the team to the 2009 NBA Finals.

In 2012, after eight seasons with Orlando, Howard was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he spent three separate one year-stints over the course of his career, winning the NBA Finals in 2020. He has also played for the Houston Rockets, the Atlanta Hawks, the Charlotte Hornets, the Washington Wizards, and the Philadelphia 76ers.

After playing with the Lakers in 2021–22, Howard moved overseas and signed with the Taiwanese-based Leopards. In his first season with the team, he was named a T1 All-Star.

Early life
Howard was born in Atlanta, to Dwight Sr. and Sheryl Howard, a family with strong athletic connections. His father is a Georgia State Trooper and is the athletic director at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, a private academy with one of the country's best high school basketball programs; his mother played on the inaugural women's basketball team at Morris Brown College. Howard's mother had seven miscarriages before he was born. A devout Christian since his youth, Howard became serious about basketball around the age of nine. Despite his large frame, Howard was quick and versatile enough to play the guard position. He attended Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy and played mostly as power forward, averaging 16.6 points, 13.4 rebounds and 6.3 blocks per game in 129 appearances. As a senior, Howard led his team to a 31–2 record and the 2004 state title, while averaging 25 points, 18 rebounds, 8.1 blocks and 3.5 assists per game. The same year, he was widely recognized as the best American high school basketball player, and received the Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award, the Morgan Wootten High School Player of the Year Award, Gatorade National Player of the Year and the McDonald's National High School Player of the Year honor. He was also co-MVP (with J. R. Smith) of the McDonald's All-American Game that year. On January 31, 2012, Howard was honored as one of the 35 greatest McDonald's All-Americans.

Early years (2004–2008)
Following his high school successes, Howard chose to forego college and declared for the 2004 NBA draft—a decision partly inspired by his idol Kevin Garnett who had done the same in 1995—where the Orlando Magic selected him first overall over UConn junior Emeka Okafor. He took the number 12 for his jersey, in part because it was the reverse of Garnett's 21 when he played for Minnesota. Howard joined a depleted Magic squad that had finished with only 21 victories the previous season; further, the club had just lost perennial NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady. Howard, however, made an immediate impact. He finished his rookie season with an average of 12 points and 10 rebounds, setting several NBA records in the process. He became the youngest player in NBA history to average a double double in the regular season. He also became the youngest player in NBA history to average at least 10 rebounds in a season and youngest NBA player ever to record at least 20 rebounds in a game. Howard's importance to the Magic was highlighted when he became the first player in NBA history directly out of high school to start all 82 games during his rookie season. For his efforts, he was selected to play in the 2005 NBA Rookie Challenge, and was unanimously selected to the All-Rookie Team. He also finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting.

Howard reported to camp for his second NBA season having added 20 pounds of muscle during the off-season. Orlando coach Brian Hill—responsible for grooming former Magic superstar Shaquille O'Neal—decided that Howard should be converted into a full-fledged center. Hill identified two areas where Howard needed to improve: his post-up game and his defense. He exerted extra pressure on Howard, saying that the Magic would need him to emerge as a force in the middle before the team had a chance at the playoffs. On November 15, 2005, in a home game against the Charlotte Bobcats, Howard recorded 21 points and 20 rebounds, becoming the youngest player ever to score 20 or more points and gather 20 or more rebounds in the same game. He was selected to play on the Sophomore Team in the 2006 Rookie Challenge during the All-Star break. Overall, he averaged 15.8 points and 12.5 rebounds per game, ranking second in the NBA in rebounds per game, offensive rebounds, and double-doubles and sixth in field goal percentage. Despite Howard's improvement, the Magic finished the season with a 36–46 record and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season since Howard's arrival.

In the 2006–07 season (and for the third consecutive season), Howard played in all 82 regular-season games. On February 1, 2007, he received his first NBA All-Star selection as a reserve on the Eastern Conference squad for the 2007 NBA All-Star Game. On February 9, he made a game-winning alley-oop off an inbound pass at the buzzer against the San Antonio Spurs. Howard set a new career high with 35 points against the Philadelphia 76ers on April 14. Under his leadership, the Magic qualified for the 2007 NBA Playoffs as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. There, the Magic were swept by the Detroit Pistons in the first round. For the season, Howard averaged 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds per game, finishing first in the NBA in total rebounds, second in field goal percentage, and ninth in blocks. He was named to the All-NBA Third Team at the end of the 2006–07 campaign.

Howard continued posting impressive numbers in the 2007–08 season and helped the Magic have their best season to date. Howard was named as a starter for the Eastern Conference All-Star team. On February 16, 2008, he won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest by receiving 78% of the fan's votes via text messaging or online voting; in that contest, he performed a series of innovative dunks said to have rejuvenated the contest, including donning a Superman cape for one of the dunks. Howard led the Magic to their first division title in 12 years and to the third seed for the 2008 NBA Playoffs. In their first round match-up against the Toronto Raptors, Howard's dominance (three 20-point/20-rebound games) helped Orlando to prevail in five games. Howard's series total of 91 rebounds was also greater than the total rebounds collected by the entire Toronto frontcourt. In the second round against the Pistons, the Magic lost in five games. For the season, Howard was named to the All-NBA First Team for the first time, and was also named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team.

Dominance and NBA Finals appearance (2008–2011)
The 2008–09 season began well for Howard. Ten games into the season, the center was leading the league in blocks per game (4.2). In December, Howard injured his left knee, which caused him to miss a game due to injury for the first time in his NBA career; previously, he had played in 351 consecutive games. He garnered a record 3.1 million votes to earn the starting berth on the Eastern Conference team for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game. Howard led Orlando to its second straight Southeast Division title and to the third seed for the 2009 NBA Playoffs; the team finished the season with a 59–23 record. In the first round of the playoffs against the 76ers, Howard recorded 24 points and 24 rebounds in Game 5 to give Orlando a 3–2 lead before the Magic closed out the series in six games. In the second round against the Boston Celtics, after the Magic blew a lead in Game 5 to fall behind 3–2 in the series, Howard publicly stated that he should have been given the ball more and questioned coach Stan Van Gundy's tactics. The Magic went on to defeat Boston to win the series and move on to the Eastern Conference Finals. There they, defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 4–2. Howard had a playoff career-high 40 points to go with his 14 rebounds in the deciding Game 6, leading Orlando to the NBA Finals for the first time in 14 years. In the NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers took the first two home games, before a home win by the Magic brought the deficit to 2–1. In Game 4, despite Howard putting up 21 rebounds and a Finals record of 9 blocks in a game, the Magic lost in overtime. The Lakers went on to clinch the series with a win in Game 5. For the season, Howard became the youngest player ever to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. He was also named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team, and to the All-NBA First Team.

In the 2009–10 season, the Magic got off to a strong start, winning 17 of their first 21 games and setting a franchise record. On January 21, 2010, Howard was named as the starting center for the East in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. The Magic completed the regular season with 59 wins and their third consecutive division title. The Magic's playoff run resulted another Eastern Conference Finals appearance, where they lost in six games to the Celtics. Howard won the Defensive Player of the Year Award for the second straight year. He became the first player in NBA history to lead the league in blocks and rebounds in the same season twice—and for two years in a row.

In the 2010–11 season, Howard posted career highs in points and field goal percentage. He became the first player in league history to win Defensive Player of the Year honors for three consecutive seasons. Howard led the league in double-doubles and also averaged 14.1 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and a career-high 1.3 steals this season. He led the Magic to 52 wins, as they finished as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. They went on to lose to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of 2011 NBA Playoffs. He had a playoff career-high 46 points and 19 rebounds in Orlando's 103–93 loss to Atlanta in Game 1. Howard led the NBA in technical fouls with 18 in the regular season, and received one-game suspensions after his 16th and 18th technicals.

Final season in Orlando (2011–2012)
Due to a lockout, the 2011–12 regular season was shortened to 66 games. Not long after the lockout ended, Howard, who was eligible to become a free agent at the end of the season, demanded a trade to the New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers or Dallas Mavericks. Howard stated that although his preference was to remain in Orlando, he did not feel the Magic organization was doing enough to build a championship contender. He would later meet with Magic officials and agree to back off his trade demands, but stated that he also felt the team needed to make changes to the roster if they wanted to contend for a championship.

On January 12, 2012, Howard attempted an NBA regular season record 39 free throws against the Golden State Warriors. Howard entered the game making 42 percent of his free throws for the season and just below 60 percent for his career. The Warriors hacked Howard intentionally throughout the game, and he broke Wilt Chamberlain's regular-season record of 34 set in 1962. Howard made 21 of the 39 attempts, finishing with 45 points and 23 rebounds in the Magic's 117–109 victory. On January 24, 2012, Howard became the Magic's all-time scoring leader.

On March 15, 2012, on the day of the trading deadline for the 2011–12 NBA season, Howard waived his right to opt out of his contract at the end of the season and committed to stay with the Magic through the 2012–13 season. He had previously asked to be traded to the New Jersey Nets. Had he not signed the amendment, the Magic were prepared to trade him to avoid losing him as a free agent. On April 5, Van Gundy said that he had been informed by management that Howard wanted him fired. During the interview, the center walked up and hugged his coach, unaware that Van Gundy had confirmed a report that Howard denied. Van Gundy was let go after the season.

On April 19, 2012, Howard's agent said that Howard would undergo surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back and would miss the rest of the 2011–12 season, as well as the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. During the offseason, Howard again requested a trade to the Nets, who had relocated to Brooklyn. He intended to become a free agent at the end of the 2012–13 season if he was not traded to Brooklyn.

Los Angeles Lakers (2012–2013)
On August 10, 2012, Howard was traded from Orlando to the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal that also involved the Philadelphia 76ers and the Denver Nuggets. Howard took six months off from basketball after his April back surgery, and only had the combined four weeks of training camp and preseason to prepare for the season. Still working himself into shape, Howard paced himself throughout the season on both offense and defense. On January 4, 2013, Howard injured his right shoulder in the second half of the Lakers' 107–102 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. At the midpoint of the season, the Lakers were a disappointing 17–24. Howard was averaging 17.1 points on 58.2% shooting, 12.3 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks, but also 3.6 fouls a game with 3.2 turnovers while making only 50.4% of his free throws.

Howard was upset that he was not getting the ball enough, and he felt that Kobe Bryant was shooting too much. Moving forward, Howard said he needed to "bring it" and dominate in more ways than just scoring. Howard missed games due to his recurring shoulder injury in January and February. In February, Bryant said that Howard "worries too much" and "doesn't want to let anyone down", urging him to play through the pain when Pau Gasol was sidelined with a torn plantar fascia. Howard returned the next game after commenting that Bryant was "not a doctor, I'm not a doctor. That's his opinion."

During the All-Star break, Howard adopted a healthier diet to get into better shape to anchor the Lakers' defense and run head coach Mike D'Antoni's preferred pick and rolls. Still, on February 23, Howard said he was "not even close" to physically being where he wanted to be. Coach Mike D'Antoni attributed Howard's difficulty running the pick-and-roll—a play the coach had expected would be a staple for the team—with Steve Nash to Howard's lack of conditioning. The Lakers were 8–2 after the All-Star break, passing Utah for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and Howard averaged 15.5 points, 14.8 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks. In his first game back in Orlando on March 12, Howard scored a season-high 39 points and had 16 rebounds in a 106–97 Lakers win. Booed throughout the game, he made 25 of 39 free throws, setting franchise records for free throws made and attempted while tying his own NBA record for attempts. Howard made 16 of 20 free throws when he was fouled intentionally by the Magic. With Howard anchoring the Lakers defense and his improved overall play, the Lakers made the playoffs, but were swept in the opening round by San Antonio. Howard was ejected in Game 4 with over nine minutes left in the third quarter.

Howard finished the season with his lowest scoring average since his second year in the NBA, but he was the league leader in rebounding and ranked second in field goal percentage. Although he was recovering from his back surgery, he only missed six games all season—all due to his torn labrum. Howard was named to the All-NBA Third Team after having received five consecutive first-team honors. He became a free agent in the summer, and he was offered a maximum contract of five years and $118 million by the Lakers.

Houston Rockets (2013–2016)
On July 13, 2013, Howard signed with the Houston Rockets, joining James Harden to form a formidable duo. Howard finished the regular season with averages of 18.3 points and 12.2 rebounds and earned All-NBA Second Team honors. During the 2014 playoffs, Howard averaged 26 points and 13.7 rebounds per game, but the Rockets were eliminated by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, losing the series 4–2.

After playing in the Rockets' first 10 out of 11 games to start the 2014–15 season, Howard missed 11 straight due to a strained right knee before returning to action on December 13 against the Denver Nuggets and recording his 10,000th career rebound. However, on January 31, Howard was ruled out for a further month due to persistent trouble with his right knee. After setbacks forced him out for a further month and a total of 26 games, Howard returned to action on March 25 against the New Orleans Pelicans. He started the game but was held under 17 minutes by coach Kevin McHale and finished with just four points and seven rebounds in a 95–93 win. Howard played only 41 games in the regular season. The Rockets clinched their first division title in over 20 years and made it to the Western Conference Finals, where they lost 4–1 to the Golden State Warriors.

On November 4, 2015, Howard had 23 points and 14 rebounds against the Orlando Magic. He shot 10-of-10 to become the first Rocket to make 10 or more field goals without a miss since Yao Ming went 12-of-12 in 2009. On December 26, he eclipsed 15,000 points for his career in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. On January 18, 2016, in an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, Howard had 36 points and tied a career high with 26 rebounds en route to his 10th straight double-double, the league's longest active streak at the time, and his longest since a 14-game run in 2012–13. On June 22, 2016, Howard declined his $23 million player option for the 2016–17 season and became an unrestricted free agent.

Atlanta Hawks (2016–2017)
On July 12, 2016, Howard signed a three-year, $70 million contract with his hometown team the Atlanta Hawks. With the retirement of Tim Duncan, Howard entered the 2016–17 season as the NBA's active leader in rebounds (12,089) and blocked shots (1,916). In his debut for the Hawks in their season opener on October 27, Howard grabbed 19 rebounds in a 114–99 win over the Washington Wizards. It was the most rebounds for anyone in their Atlanta debut, breaking the mark of 18 that Shareef Abdur-Rahim set on October 30, 2001. On November 2, he scored a season-high 31 points in a 123–116 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. On February 2, he had a season-best game with 24 points and 23 rebounds in a 113–108 win over the Rockets in Houston.

Charlotte Hornets (2017–2018)
On June 20, 2017, the Hawks traded Howard, along with the 31st overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Marco Belinelli, Miles Plumlee and the 41st overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft. To begin the season, Howard became the first Charlotte player since Emeka Okafor in 2007 with four consecutive 15-rebound games. In the fifth game of the season, he had another 15-rebound game. On March 15, he scored 20 of his season-high 33 points in the second half of the Hornets' 129–117 win over the Atlanta Hawks. On March 21, Howard recorded 32 points and a franchise-record 30 rebounds in a 111–105 win over the Nets, becoming just the eighth player in league history with a 30–30 game. He became the first NBA player with a 30-point, 30-rebound game since Kevin Love in November 2010, and the first player with a 30–30 game against the Nets since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in February 1978. The next day, Howard was suspended for one game without pay due to receiving his 16th technical foul of the season. Howard finished the season with a franchise-record 53 double-doubles and joined Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to hold single-season records with two teams. Howard also became one of six players to average a double-double in each of his first 13 seasons in the league.

On July 6, 2018, Howard was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Timofey Mozgov, the draft rights to Hamidou Diallo, a 2021 second-round draft pick and cash considerations. He was waived by the Nets immediately upon being acquired.

Washington Wizards (2018–2019)
On July 12, 2018, Howard signed with the Washington Wizards. He missed all of training camp, every exhibition game and the first seven regular-season games with a sore backside. He appeared in nine games in November before missing the rest of the season after undergoing spinal surgery to relieve pain in his glutes. In March 2019, it was revealed that Howard, in addition to his back injury, was also dealing with a hamstring issue. On April 18, 2019, Howard exercised his $5.6 million player option to play a second season with the Wizards.

On July 6, 2019, Howard was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for forward C. J. Miles. On August 24, 2019, Howard was waived by the Grizzlies.

Second stint with the Lakers (2019–2020)
On August 26, 2019, Howard signed a $2.6 million veteran's minimum contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, reuniting him with his former team. He was replacing DeMarcus Cousins, a free agent signed earlier in the offseason who was lost for the year after suffering a knee injury. To assure the team that he would accept any role the team asked, Howard offered to sign a non-guaranteed contract, freeing the Lakers to cut him at any time.

During the season, the Lakers split time fairly evenly between him and starting center JaVale McGee. On January 13, 2020, Howard scored a season-high 21 points on a 9-of-11 shooting and got a season-high 15 rebounds. In Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against the Denver Nuggets, Lakers coach Frank Vogel started Howard to match up against the Nuggets' Nikola Jokić. Howard had 12 points and 11 rebounds in 23 minutes to help the Lakers win and take a 3–1 lead in the series. He had started twice during the regular season, but this was his first start by coach's decision when McGee was available. The Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals, winning the series 4–2 over the Miami Heat and giving Howard his first NBA championship.

Philadelphia 76ers (2020–2021)
On November 21, 2020, the Philadelphia 76ers signed Howard to a one-year deal worth $2,564,753. With the 76ers he averaged 7 points and 8.4 rebounds. Howard played 69 games with the Sixers with six starts in 17.3 minutes. He was suspended for one game after getting into a scuffle with Udonis Haslem where both were assessed technical fouls and Haslem was ejected. Howard was suspended because he incurred his 16th technical foul of the year. Despite winning the Atlantic division and the Eastern Conference regular season, in the Conference Semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks, the 76ers would lose in seven games which included a squandered 26-point lead in Game 5.

Third stint with the Lakers (2021–2022)
Howard signed a $2.6 million veteran's minimum contract with the Los Angeles Lakers on August 6, 2021. He averaged 6.2 points and 5.9 rebounds playing 60 games, starting 27 for the injury-ridden Anthony Davis. Despite one of the strongest rosters in the league, the Lakers, viewed by many as the premier championship contender, failed to make the playoffs, which was widely regarded by experts to be one of the greatest underachievements in NBA history.

Taoyuan Leopards (2022–2023)
On November 7, 2022, Howard signed with the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League in Taiwan. While the league usually caps the salary of foreign players to US$200,000, it approved an exception for Howard, who would receive over $1 million. The league argued that Howard would raise the level of competition and boost the audience’s interest. On November 19, Howard made his Leopards debut, putting up 38 points, 25 rebounds, 9 assists, and 4 blocks in a 120–115 win over New Taipei CTBC DEA. However, just one day later, after playing his first two games back-to-back and nearly averaging a triple-double, Howard was sidelined with a knee injury until mid-December. Howard attributed this to playing over 90 minutes within 26 hours, which he was no longer used to. His knee injury resurfaced after playing another string of back-to-back games from December 16 to 17, causing him to sit out another two weeks and it was decided that in the future, Howard would mostly be used in home games to not further aggravate the injury.

In February 2023, Howard was named an All-Star for the T1 League as well as the All-Star Game Most Famous Player, and was also selected to participate in the Three-Point Contest. He scored 37 points and was named All-Star game MVP. He was the league's rebounds leader for the 2022–23 season. On May 10, 2023, Howard was selected to the T1 League All-Defensive First Team in 2022–23 season. The next day, Howard was selected to the all-T1 League first team, and was awarded the Most Valuable Import of the T1 League for the 2022–23 season a day after that.

After the end of the season, Howard reportedly had talks about joining the Australian National Basketball League and joined non-league Philippine-based team Strong Group for the Dubai International Basketball Championship in January 2024 where he helped secured a silver medal finish. He later expressed openness to play in the Philippine Basketball Association as well.

Taiwan Mustangs (2024–present)
On March 1, 2024, Howard signed with the Mets de Guaynabo of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional, but never played for them.

On May 30, 2024, Howard joined the Taiwan Mustangs of The Asian Tournament (TAT).

National team career
On March 5, 2006, Howard was named to the 2006–2008 USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team program. As the team's regular starting center, he helped lead the team to a 5–0 record during its pre-World Championship tour, and subsequently helped the team win the bronze medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. During the FIBA Americas Championship 2007, Howard was on the team which won its first nine games en route to qualifying for the finals and a spot for the 2008 Olympics. He started in eight of those nine games, averaging 8.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg and led the team in shooting .778 from the field. In the finals, he made all seven of his shots and scored 20 points as the USA defeated Argentina to win the gold medal.

On June 23, 2008, Howard was named as one of the members of the 12-man squad representing the United States in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. With Howard starting as center, Team USA won all of its games en route to the gold medal, restarting a streak of gold medals interrupted at the 2004 Olympics. Howard averaged 10.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in the tournament.

Player profile
Standing 6 ft and weighing 265 lb, Howard plays the center position. He led the NBA in rebounding from 2007 to 2010, and again from 2012 to 2013. Howard's rebounding is in part facilitated by his extraordinary athleticism; his running vertical leap was tested at 39.5 in in 2011, rare for a player of his size. He demonstrated this skill in the 2007 Slam Dunk Contest, where he completed an alley oop dunk from teammate Jameer Nelson while slapping a sticker onto the backboard at 12ft 6in high. The sticker showed an image of his own smiling face with a handwritten "All things through Christ Phil: 4:13", a paraphrase of.

Howard's abilities and powerful physique have drawn attention from fellow NBA All-Stars. Tim Duncan remarked in 2007, "[Howard] is so developed... He has so much promise and I am glad that I will be out of the league when he is peaking." Kevin Garnett echoed those sentiments: "[Howard] is a freak of nature, man... I was nowhere near that physically talented. I wasn't that gifted, as far as body and physical presence." After a game in the 2009 NBA Playoffs, Philadelphia 76ers swingman Andre Iguodala said: "It's like he can guard two guys at once. He can guard his guy and the guy coming off the pick-and-roll, which is almost impossible to do... If he gets any more athletic or jumps any higher, they're going to have to change the rules." In December 2007, ESPN writer David Thorpe declared Howard the most dominant center in the NBA. Early in his career, many sports pundits rated Howard one of the top young prospects in the NBA.

Howard has a reputation as a negative locker room presence. In a 2013 interview, he called his former Orlando Magic teammates a "team full of people no one wanted". In a 2013 article titled "Is Dwight Howard the NBA's Worst Teammate?", Bleacher Report asserted that Howard had "extinguished all bridges with the franchise where he spent his first eight NBA seasons". Howard did not get along with Kobe Bryant when he first played for the Lakers and did not get along with James Harden when he played for the Rockets. When he was traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the Charlotte Hornets, some of his Hawks teammates reportedly cheered. After Charlotte traded Howard to the Washington Wizards, Charlotte player Brendan Haywood asserted that Howard's teammates were "sick and tired of his act". In 2018, NBC News reported that "Howard’s time with the Magic, Lakers and Rockets devolved into interpersonal strife well before he left those teams". Also in 2018, The Ringer published a piece titled "Everybody (Still) Hates Dwight" in which it called Howard "almost certainly the least popular player in the NBA". Before signing with the Lakers in 2019, Howard reportedly met with the team multiple times, "promising not to live up to his reputation as a difficult teammate who disrupts locker rooms"; the team warned him that he would be released if he became a disruptive presence.

Other media
Howard appeared as a special guest on an episode of the ABC series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that aired April 2, 2006, in which Ty Pennington and his team built a new home and ministry offices for Sadie Holmes, who operates a social services ministry in the Orlando area.

Howard competed in season 6 of The Masked Singer as "Octopus". He was the first one to be eliminated during the two-night premiere alongside Vivica A. Fox as "Mother Nature" and Toni Braxton as "Pufferfish".

Starting with 2004's ESPN NBA 2K5, Howard appeared in every entry of the NBA 2K series of basketball simulation video games up until 2021's NBA 2K22, totaling 18 entries and covering his entire NBA career. Similarly, he appeared in every NBA Live entry from 2004's NBA Live 2005 onwards until the series was canceled in 2018 following NBA Live 19, totaling 11 games. Additionally, he was the cover athlete of NBA Live 10. Furthermore, he appeared in multiple spin-off titles for both series, such as NBA Street V3, NBA Street Homecourt, NBA Jam, NBA Elite 11, NBA Playgrounds, and NBA 2K Playgrounds 2.

In 2011, he played himself on an episode of The Suite Life on Deck alongside fellow NBA players Deron Williams and Kevin Love.

In 2023, he finished third on Special Forces: World's Toughest Test.

Personal life
Howard has five children by five women. In 2010, Howard won a defamation judgment against Royce Reed, the mother of his oldest child Braylon. A Florida judge ruled that she violated a court order prohibiting her from mentioning Howard in the media. He had initially sought about half a billion dollars in damages, claiming that she had disparaged him through Twitter and her appearances on the reality television show Basketball Wives, as the couple's paternity agreement stipulated a $500 fine for each time she mentioned him in public.

In October 2014, police in Cobb County, Georgia, investigated claims by Reed that Howard abused their son. Howard had admitted to hitting Braylon with a belt; he had been disciplined in the same manner while growing up, and he stated that he did not realize it was wrong to do so. Howard was not charged in connection with the allegations. Howard was also involved in a civil case with Reed over custody of their son.

Howard keeps approximately 20 snakes as pets and has appeared twice on Animal Planet's reality TV series Tanked. He owns a farm "in north Georgia where he relaxes [with] cows, hogs, turkeys and deer," and also grows vegetables on his estate in Suwanee, Georgia.

Melissa Rios, the mother of his son, David, died on March 27, 2020, following an epileptic seizure. David was with Howard at his home in Georgia at the time.

Philanthropy, faith, and public image
Before he was drafted in 2004, Howard said that he wanted to use his NBA career and Christian faith to "raise the name of God within the league and throughout the world". He has stated he believes in reaching out to his community and fans and thus contributes substantially in the field of philanthropy. Together with his parents, Howard established the Dwight D. Howard Foundation Inc. in 2004. In November 2009, the center was named one of the 10 finalists for the Jefferson Awards for Public Service, which awards athletes for their charitable work.

In 2014, Epix featured Howard as the focal point of a documentary about his life called In the Moment.

Assault and battery allegation
In July 2023, a man sued Howard for assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment. The lawsuit stemmed from an encounter with the man at Howard's Georgia residence in July 2021. The plaintiff alleged that Howard coerced him into a threesome with another man and forced himself sexually on the plaintiff. Howard denied the allegations and asked that the lawsuit be dismissed, stating that the two had engaged in "consensual sexual activity" and that the "case had been made public for profit".

title: Dwight Howard


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Carl Gustaf 8.4 cm recoilless rifle

The Carl Gustaf 8.4 cm recoilless rifle (, named after Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori, which initially produced it) is a Swedish-developed 84 mm caliber shoulder-fired recoilless rifle, initially developed by the Royal Swedish Army Materiel Administration during the second half of the 1940s as a crew-served man-portable infantry support gun for close-range multi-role anti-armour, anti-personnel, battlefield illumination, smoke screening and marking fire, which has seen great export success around the globe and continues to be a popular multi-purpose support weapon in use by many nations. The Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless rifle is a lightweight, low-cost weapon that uses a wide range of ammunition, which makes it extremely flexible and suitable for a wide variety of roles.

Development of the initial model started from 1946 as one of the many recoilless rifle designs of that era, based on the experience from the earlier Carl Gustaf 20 mm recoilless rifle and the success of man-portable rocket launchers during World War II, such as the Bazooka and Panzerschreck. Production of the initial model was handled by Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori led by Försvarets Fabriksverk (FFV) and the weapon received the designation 8,4 cm granatgevär m/48, (8,4 cm grg m/48 – "8,4 cm grenade rifle", model 1948) in Swedish service. FFV would continue to further develop the weapon for the international market, later being merged into Saab Bofors Dynamics which handles development and export today. While similar weapons have generally disappeared from service, the Carl Gustaf is still in production and remains in widespread use today.

Name
The weapon goes under many names around the globe. It is most frequently called the "Carl Gustaf" or similar for short. British troops, for example, refer to it as the "Charlie G", while Canadian troops often refer to it as "Carl G". In Australia, it is irreverently known as "Charlie Gutsache" (guts ache, meaning stomach pain), or "Charlie Swede".

In U.S. military service, it is officially known as the M3 Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon System (MAAWS) or Ranger Antitank Weapons System (RAWS), but is often simply called the "M3 Carl Gustaf" or just "Gustaf".

In Swedish military service, it is officially known as the 8,4 cm granatgevär m/48, m/86 and m/18, depending on the model (M1, M3, M4), but is often simply referred to as the "GRG" (gé-er-gé) after their type designation abbreviation (from granatgevär, meaning "grenade rifle"), since all models fire the same general ammunition and are used in much the same way (although the 84 mm grg m/18 can use programmable and guided ammunition).

Description
The basic weapon consists of the main tube with the breech-mounted Venturi recoil damper, with two grips near the front and a shoulder mount. The weapon is fitted with iron sights, but is normally aimed with the attached 3× optical sight with a 17 degree (300 mil) field of view. The most modern variants fielded by Swedish rifle companies have been fitted with the Swedish Aimpoint sighting system. Luminous front and rear sight inserts are available for the iron sights when aiming at night, and an image intensification system may also be used.

The Gustaf can be fired from the standing, kneeling, sitting or prone positions, and a bipod may be attached in front of the shoulder piece. An operating handle called the "Venturi lock" is used to move the hinged breech to one side for reloading.

Operation
The weapon is normally operated by a two-man crew, a gunner who carries and fires the weapon and a loader, carrying two canisters for a total of four rounds of ammunition. One or two extra ammunition carriers can be assigned if heavy use is expected. In the firing procedure it is the loader's responsibility to check the area behind the weapon for people and for obstacles that can interfere with the back-blast; this is needed due to the inherent dangers of the back-blast. Any person within the back-blast cone can suffer severe burn injuries and solid objects closely behind can reflect the blast back onto the crew.

Safety precautions
The overpressure, or blast wave, generated by the Gustaf will cause blast- and burn-related injuries to those behind the weapon, and is dangerous to 30 m and hazardous to about 50 to 75 m. Repeatedly firing the Gustaf can also cause related shock wave injuries to gunners and those nearby.

Gunners are only allowed to fire six rounds a day during training. The assistant gunners would also often move away from the overpressure zone, so that they too can fire six rounds a day. Sweden, the first user of Carl-Gustaf, has the regulation that both gunner and assistant gunner are allowed to have 20 full caliber rounds each day.

1946 – M1 in Sweden (8,4 cm grg m/48)
The Carl Gustaf M1 was developed around 1946 by Hugo Abramson and Harald Jentzen at the Royal Swedish Army Materiel Administration (Kungliga Arméförvaltningens Tygavdelning) and produced at Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori from where it derives its name. Development of the weapons system was preceded by a line of other recoilless developments between 1940 and 1946, featuring relatively small-bore ammunition:
 * Carl Gustaf 20 mm recoilless rifle – 1942 (Swedish designation: 20 mm pansarvärnsgevär m/42)
 * Carl Gustaf 37 mm recoilless rifle – 1943 (Swedish designation: 37 mm granatgevär fm/43)
 * Carl Gustaf 47 mm recoilless rifle – 1945 (Swedish designation: 47 mm granatgevär fm/45)
 * Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless rifle – 1948 (Swedish designation: 84 mm granatgevär m/48)

Despite advances in recoilless rifle technology introduced by the development family, it was quickly discovered that small-bore solid steel penetrators were obsolete for shoulder-fired antitank weapons, thus caliber was gradually increased to focus on multirole shell-type ammunition and the recent advances in shaped charge projectiles. By 1946 a caliber of 84 mm was decided upon (although larger calibers were proposed and tested).

The 84 mm weapon was first introduced into Swedish service in 1948 as the 8,4 cm granatgevär m/48, filling a similar role as the U.S. Army's bazooka, British PIAT and German Panzerschreck, albeit with a higher focus on multirole and fire support than pure anti-tank warfare. Unlike the aforementioned weapons, however, the 84 mm Carl Gustaf used a rifled barrel for spin-stabilising its rounds, as opposed to fins used by the other systems. Sweden did, however, also adopt a true man-portable anti-tank system around the same time, the 8 cm raketgevär m/49 (fixed) and 8 cm raketgevär m/51 (foldable) rocket launchers, only featuring anti-tank ammunition.

The use of the recoilless firing system allowed the Gustaf to use ammunition containing considerably more propellant, firing its rounds at 290 m/s, as opposed to about 105 m/s for the Panzerschreck and Bazooka and about 75 m/s for the PIAT. The result was superior accuracy at longer ranges. The Gustaf can be used to attack larger stationary targets at up to 700 m, but the relatively low speed of the projectile restricts attacks on moving targets to a range of 400 m or less.

The Gustaf was soon sold around the world and became one of the primary squad-level anti-tank weapons for many West European armies.

1964 – M2 export
The Carl Gustaf M2 was introduced in 1964 as an improved, lighter and slightly shorter version of the original M1 for the export market. It quickly replaced the original version.

The German Bundeswehr maintains a small number of M2s for battlefield illumination.

1986 – M3 in Sweden (8,4 cm grg m/86)
The Carl Gustaf M3 started development in the 1980s and initially entered service with the Swedish Armed Forces as the \8,4 cm granatgevär m/86 ("8,4 cm grenade rifle", model 1986). While similar to the export M3, it shares some spare parts with the original 1948 M1 model. It reduced the weight even further by replacing the forged steel tube with a thin steel liner containing the rifling, strengthened by a carbon fibre outer sleeve. The external steel parts were also replaced with plastics and aluminium alloys.

1991 – M3 export
The current export Carl-Gustaf M3 version was introduced in 1991. In recent years, the M3 has found new life in a variety of roles. The British Special Air Service, United States Army Special Forces and United States Army Rangers use M3s in bunker-busting and anti-vehicle roles. Many armies continue to use it as a viable anti-armour weapon, especially against 1950s- and 1960s-era tanks and other armoured vehicles still in use worldwide.

2011 – M3 in USA (M3 MAAWS)
In the late 1980s, the Special Operations Forces Modernization Action Plan indicated need for a Ranger Anti-Armor/Anti-Personnel Weapon System (RAAWS) to replace the M67 recoilless rifle in use by the 75th Ranger Regiment. A market survey in 1987 indicated that the Carl Gustaf M3 was the best candidate for satisfying RAAWS requirements. On 29 September 1988, the M3 was selected as the RAAWS from candidate proposals submitted in response to the market survey compiled by ARDEC. A subsequent review of the contractor-supplied fatigue test data determined that the data did not meet U.S. Army requirements. Benét Laboratories conducted fatigue tests of two tubes to establish an interim safe service life for the weapon. Tests were conducted in 1993. The manufacturer's recommended life for the weapon was 500 rounds, but bore surfaces showed no indications of erosion until 2,360 rounds. The U.S. Navy SEALs became interested in the program and moved it to a Joint Integrated Product Team. The program name subsequently changed from the RAAWS to the Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon System (MAAWS).

The M3 Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon System is the U.S. military designation for the Carl-Gustaf M3 recoilless rifle. It is primarily used by United States Special Operations Command such as the Army Rangers, Army Special Forces, Marine Raiders, Navy SEALs, and JSOC operators. When used by the U.S. Army's 75th Ranger Regiment, the M3 is known as the Ranger Anti-tank Weapons System (RAWS).

Army Rangers found the M3 was best employed using a two-man team. One person would carry the launcher and be armed with a pistol for personal protection, and the other would carry 5–6 rounds of ammunition and act as a spotter for the gunner. Although the single-shot AT4 is lighter and can be carried by one person, a Gustaf team with the heavier recoilless rifle can reload and fire more rounds.

The M3 MAAWS fires the following ammunition:
 * High explosive (HE 441/441B) round
 * High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT/751) round
 * High-explosive anti-tank – rocket-assisted projectile (HEAT-RAP/551) round
 * High-explosive dual-purpose (HEDP/502) round
 * Area defense munition (ADM/401) round
 * Anti-structure munition (ASM/509) round
 * Smoke (Smk/469) round
 * Illumination (Illum/545) round
 * Target practice, tracer(TPT/141) round
 * Target practice rocket-assisted projectile (TP RAP/551) round

2014 – M4 export
While the M3 MAAWS provided enhanced effectiveness over other launchers, its 9.5 kg weight burdened troops. On 28 March 2013, USSOCOM announced a call for sources to develop a kit to lighten the weapon and reduce overall length without affecting handling or ruggedness. By that time, Saab was developing a weight-reduced version prior to the SOCOM release that demonstrated no decrease in performance, no increase in recoil, and nearly equivalent barrel life that could be ready for government testing in 2014. Saab has also developed a new high explosive round that has a direct fire range of 1,500 meters when using a fire control system.

The Carl Gustaf M4 was revealed by Saab at Association of the U.S. Army 2014. Compared to the M3 MAAWS, the M4 is 3.4 kg lighter, weighing 6.6 kg, and shorter with a 950 mm overall length. The shorter length was in response to the need to wield the weapon in urban terrain, and weight savings were achieved through using lighter components whenever possible including a carbon fibre tube with titanium liner, and a new venturi design. Other new features include a red-dot sight, a travel safety catch to allow the M4 to be carried while loaded, an adjustable shoulder rest and forward grip for improved ergonomics, a shot counter to keep track of how many rounds have been fired to manage the weapon's 1,000-round barrel life, double that of the M3, picatinny rails for grips and sight mounts, and a remote round management function so intelligent sights can communicate with programmable rounds.

2017 – M4 in USA (M3E1 MAAWS)
Following its reveal in 2014, the US Defence Department agreed to evaluate the shorter and lighter M4 version over the next two years; testing and qualifications were planned to be completed in spring 2017, and the weapon type classified as the M3E1 Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon System in fall 2017, making the system available for procurement to all Department of Defence services. The first unit was planned to be equipped with the M3E1 in 2018.

In April 2019, a contract of SEK 168 million (US$18.1 million) was approved to supply the Australian Army with ammunition for the Carl-Gustaf M4 84 mm multipurpose weapon systems ordered by the service in September 2018.

M3 was the name used for decades worldwide for the basic weapon. For the new, improved, lighter, titanium-employing weapon first displayed in 2014, most used the name M4, except for the US. In the US, the Army designation for the US version of the improved M4 mentioned above is M3E1.

In 2017, the U.S. Army approved a requirement for 1,111 M3E1 units to be fielded to soldiers as part of an Urgent Material Release. The M3E1 is part of the Product Manager Crew Served Weapon portfolio. A key benefit of the M3E1 is that it can fire multiple types of rounds, giving soldiers increased capability on the battlefield. By using titanium, the updated M3E1, based on the M3A1 introduced in 2014, is more than six pounds lighter. The M3E1 is also 2.5 inches shorter and has an improved carrying handle, shoulder padding and an improved sighting system that can be adjusted for better comfort without sacrificing performance. The wiring harness was included in the M3E1 configuration that provides a foregrip controller and programmable fuze setter for an interchangeable fire control system. For added safety and cost savings, an automatic round counter enables soldiers and logisticians to accurately track the service life of each weapon. The M3E1 uses the same family of ammunition as the M3, which has been successfully tested. In November 2017, the U.S. Marine Corps announced they planned to procure the M3E1 MAAWS. 1,200 M3E1s would be acquired with one fielded to every infantry squad. In addition to infantry use, the Marines are considering it to replace the Mk 153 SMAW in combat engineer squads. The weapons perform similar functions and the improvements incorporated into the new M3E1 place it in the same size and approximate weight class as the SMAW. While the SMAW weighs 2.5 lb less when loaded, the MAAWS has a greater variety of ammunition available and a maximum effective range of 1,000 meters, twice that of the SMAW. The Marines plan to test both weapons' effectiveness against bunkers to inform their decision.

2018 – M4 in Sweden (8,4 cm grg m/18)
In 2018 the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (Försvarets materielverk, FMV) signed a contract with Saab to purchase the Carl Gustaf M4 as the 8,4 cm granatgevär m/18 ("8,4 cm grenade rifle", model 2018), often written without the "m/" to distinguish it from older m/18 (model 1918) systems (8,4 cm granatgevär 18, abbr. 8,4 cm grg 18). The M4 will replace the old M1 models (8,4 cm grg m/48) models still in service as some units are pushing 70+ years in service. The 8,4 cm grg 18 will feature an advanced laser rangefinder and will be acquired with new programmable ammunition (preliminary name HE 448), and a new, improved HEAT shell.

2024 – M4 in India
Saab announced in September 2022 that it would establish a manufacturing facility to produce the Carl-Gustaf M4 weapons system in India. It will be the company's first facility producing the M4 system outside Sweden. The facility is expected to open in 2024 and will produce weapons for the Indian Armed Forces as well as export components to users worldwide. Construction of the facility started on 4 March 2024. Previous versions of the Carl Gustaf system have been in service with India since 1976.

1961–1964: Congo Crisis
As part of the Congo Crisis 1960–1965, Swedish troops were sent to Congo as ONUC peacekeepers in mid to late 1960. They initially lacked any heavy weaponry, but due to rising threat levels they received tgb m/42 KP infantry fighting vehicles and heavy weaponry such as the M1 Carl Gustaf in time for the violent fighting in Elisabethville in 1961.

The weapon proved its worth as a man-portable multi-purpose weapon and came to great use during the conflict. One famous incident happened on 14 September 1961, when Swedish soldier Torsten Stålnacke, then part of a M1 Carl-Gustaf squad, had his two squadmates shocked in connection with repelling a Gendarmerie armoured car attack on a refugee camp and their nearby depot, forcing him to operate the M1 on his own. Stålnacke advanced by himself against an enemy firing position, meanwhile managing to take out an enemy armoured car and a number of enemies before his jaw was shot to pieces. His chin hung down to his chest and he was suffocating. With his fingers he cleared the throat from bone fragments and pulled the tongue up, thereby able to breath again. During the retreat, and with whistling bullets around him, Stålnacke kept his chin up with one hand and held the M1 with the other and managed with hand gestures and kicks get his two badly shocked comrades with him from the battlefield.

2011–2021: War in Afghanistan
In November 2011, the U.S. Army began ordering the M3 MAAWS for regular units deployed in Afghanistan. Soldiers were being engaged with RPGs at 900 meters, while their light weapons had effective ranges of 500–600 meters. The Gustaf allows airburst capability of troops in defilade out to 1,250 meters, and high explosive use out to 1,300 meters.

In late 2012, the Army fielded 58 M3s and 1,500 rounds of ammunition to units deployed to Afghanistan to destroy enemy targets out to 1,000 meters. This was because RPG and machine gun teams could attack 900 meters away, while existing weaponry such as the M141 Bunker Defeat Munition, M72 LAW, M136 AT4, and MK153 SMAW have effective ranges of only 500 meters. The AT4 is lighter and cheaper but is made of reinforced fiberglass, while the M3's rifled metal/carbon fiber launch tube allows for reloading. Employing the 22 lb M3 is easier than the 50 lb FGM-148 Javelin with its launcher with missile and reusable command launch unit, is faster than waiting on mortars, and is cheaper than the Javelin and artillery shells for engaging targets in hard cover. Although Special Operations forces had been using the M3 since the early 1990s, light infantry unit commanders in Afghanistan had to submit operational needs statements to get the weapon. The M3 became an official Program of Record in the conventional Army in 2014, and a conditional materiel release was authorized in late 2015 to equip all brigade combat teams with one M3 launcher per infantry platoon.

2022–: Russian invasion of Ukraine
Since 2022, the Carl Gustaf has been used in combat in the Russian invasion of Ukraine by Ukrainian forces, being used to target both tanks and infantry. According to Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, a Carl Gustaf was used to destroy the first Russian T-90M main battle tank of the war.

Ammunition
The Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless gun fires a 84 × 245 mm rimmed recoilless (84×245R RCL) cartridge with a blowout base for propellant gas ventilation. Ammunition initially consisted of high-explosive (HE), high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT), airburst (HE-TF) and smoke shells, not counting target-practice (TP) ammunition, but improvements to the ammunition family have been continual. While the older HEAT rounds are not particularly effective against modern tank armor, the weapon has found new life as a bunker-buster with a high-explosive dual-purpose (HEDP) round. Also, improved HEAT, high explosive (HE), smoke and illumination (star shell or flare) ammunition is also available. For full effectiveness, illumination rounds must be fired at a very high angle, creating a danger for the gunner who can be burned from the backblast. For this reason, several armies have retired the illumination rounds, while the U.S. Army requires that they be fired from a standing position. AEI Systems Ltd., a British defence products manufacturer headquartered in Ascot, Berkshire, offers a variant of the platform dubbed the AE84-RCL designed to fire the M540/M550 line of 84×245 mm R ammunition manufactured in Belgium by Mecar.

Note that the following are the Swedish manufacturer designations (other countries use similar terminology, replacing the "FFV - Försvarets Fabriksverk")
 * FFV401 is an Area Defence Munition designed as a close-range anti-personnel round. It fires 1100 flechettes over a wide area.
 * FFV441 is an HE round, useful in a "lobbed" trajectory to 1,000m, which can be fused to either detonate on impact or as an airburst.
 * FFV441B is an HE round with an effective range against personnel in the open of 1,100 m. The round arms after 20 to 70 m of flight, weighs 3.1 kg, and is fired at a muzzle velocity of 255 m/s.
 * FFV469 is a smoke round fired like the FFV441, with a range of about 1,300 m. The 3.1 kg round is also fired at 255 m/s.
 * FFV502 is an HEDP round with the ability to be set to detonate on either impact or one-tenth second later. Effective range is 1,000 m against dispersed soft targets such as infantry in the open, 500 m against stationary targets and 300 m against moving targets. Minimum range is 15 to 40 m to arm the warhead. Penetration exceeds 150 mm of rolled homogeneous armour (RHA). Ammunition weight is 3.3 kg and muzzle velocity is 230 m/s.
 * FFV509 is an ASM (Anti-Structure Munition), designed especially to destroy buildings and other types of urban constructions. The fuse has two modes: impact or a delayed function.
 * FFV545 is an illuminating star shell, fired up to 2,300 m maximum range, but with an effective envelope of 300 to 2,100 m. Suspended by parachute, the star shell burns for 30 seconds while producing 650,000 candela, providing a 400 to 500 m diameter area of illumination.
 * FFV551 is the primary HEAT round and is a rocket-assisted projectile (RAP). Effective range is up to 700 m (400 m against moving targets) and penetration up to 400 mm of RHA. Ammunition weight is 3.2 kg and muzzle velocity is 255 m/s.
 * FFV552 is a practice round with the same ballistics as the 551.
 * FFV651 is a newer HEAT round using mid-flight rocket assistance for ranges up to 1,000m. In theory, it has less penetration than the FFV551, but it includes a stand-off probe for the fuse to improve performance against reactive armour.
 * HEAT 655 CS (Confined Spaces) "high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) round that can be fired by the 84 mm Carl Gustaf recoilless weapon from within small enclosures."
 * FFV751 is a tandem-warhead HEAT round with an effective range of 500 m and ability to penetrate more than 500 mm of armour. Weight is 4 kg.
 * FFV756 is an MT (Multi Target) ammunition, designed for combat in built-up areas and for incapacitating an enemy under cover inside a building or some type of fortification. The MT 756 uses a tandem charge.
 * Guided Multipurpose Munition (GMM) is a laser guided projectile developed between Saab and Raytheon, featuring a multipurpose warhead capable of defeating bunkers and moving light armored vehicles at a range of 2,500 m and can be fired from enclosed spaces.

Users

 * 🇦🇷 Argentina
 * 🇦🇺 Australia: M2 replaced by M3 variant. M4 on order.
 * 🇦🇹 Austria
 * 🇧🇩 Bangladesh
 * 🇧🇪 Belgium
 * 🇧🇿 Belize
 * 🇧🇼 Botswana
 * 🇧🇷 Brazil
 * 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso
 * 🇨🇦 Canada
 * 🇨🇴 Colombia: M3 variant
 * 🇨🇱 Chile
 * 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
 * 🇩🇰 Denmark: M1 officially called M/65, M2 called M/79, M3 called M/85. M4 to be delivered in 2022. With each new variant, older variant phased out. All variants have commonly been referred to as "Dysekanon" in the Danish army.
 * 🇪🇪 Estonia: M2, M3 variants. Purchased 250 M4s in 2021 for $12.7 million to replace M2 variants.
 * 🇩🇪 Germany
 * 🇬🇭 Ghana
 * 🇬🇷 Greece
 * 🇭🇺 Hungary: M4
 * 🇭🇳 Honduras
 * 🇮🇳 India: A modified version has also been developed by the DRDO which is significantly lighter due to use of advanced composites.
 * 🇮🇩 Indonesia: Used by the Komando Pasukan Katak (Kopaska) tactical diver group and Komando Pasukan Khusus (Kopassus) special forces group.
 * Kurdistan: Peshmerga 43 launchers and +1,000 projectiles
 * 🇮🇪 Ireland: Defence Forces specialist units, including Army Ranger Wing (ARW).
 * 🇮🇱 Israel
 * 🇯🇵 Japan: M2 called 84 mm Recoilless Rifle, M3 called multi-purpose gun (多用途ガン)'
 * 🇰🇪 Kenya
 * 🇰🇼 Kuwait.
 * 🇱🇻 Latvia: M4 on order.
 * 🇱🇾 Libya
 * 🇱🇹 Lithuania: M2, M3 and M4.
 * 🇲🇾 Malaysia: M2 and M3 variant in service. 110 new units of M4 variant ordered in 2021.
 * 🇲🇲 Myanmar: Used by divisional heavy weapon companies in bunker busting/infantry support/light artillery role for counter-insurgency campaigns. Clones made as BA-84(MA-84) MK and MK-II.
 * 🇳🇵 Nepal
 * 🇳🇿 New Zealand
 * 🇳🇬 Nigeria
 * 🇳🇴 Norway: M2, M3, M4
 * 🇵🇱 Poland: Used by special forces. On 5 March 2024, the Polish Armament Agency announced the purchase of over 6,000 Carl Gustaf M4 anti-tank weapons, complemented by a vast arsenal of various types of ammunition, such as armor-piercing, high-explosive, smoke, and training rounds, among others.
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal: M2 and M3 variants used by Portuguese Army and Portuguese Marine Corps.
 * 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
 * 🇷🇸 Serbia
 * 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone
 * 🇸🇰 Slovakia: M3, launch customer for the M4 variant, which became operational in July 2017.
 * 🇸🇪 Sweden: M2, M3. M4 on order will replace all old M2, M3 between 2020 and 2023.
 * Tamil Eelam: Used by the Tamil Tigers during the Final Eelam War.
 * 🇹🇭 Thailand
 * 🇺🇦 Ukraine 100 units with 2,000 rounds of ammunition donated by the Government of Canada due to the Russo-Ukrainian War.
 * 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: M2 variant was used as the L14A1 Infantry Anti-Tank Gun or Medium Anti-Tank Weapon from the 1960s until the early 1990s, when it was replaced by LAW 80. Procurement of M4 variant was announced in 2023 to replenish munitions granted to Ukraine.
 * 🇺🇸 United States: Used by USSOCOM, U.S. Army Ranger battalions, and some regular U.S. Army infantry units in the War in Afghanistan. In February 2014, the M3 MAAWS was designated as a Program of Record within the U.S. Army and became standard-issue in Army Light Infantry units.
 * 🇿🇲 Zambia
 * 🇿🇲 Zambia

Former users

 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands: The M2 was in service with the Royal Netherlands Army since 1964, known as the Terugstootloze vuurmond (TLV) 84 mm, Carl Gustaf M-2. It is used in combination with the Kijker, richt, recht, 2x12 Wöhler scope. The same model was also used in the Dutch Marine Corps, where it was known as the Terugstootloze vuurmond (TLV) van 84 mm, Carl Gustaf, M2. It was replaced by the Panzerfaust 3.
 * 🇸🇬 Singapore: Replaced by MATADOR in 2013.

Wars

 * Congo Crisis
 * Falklands War
 * Lebanese Civil War
 * Gulf War
 * Kargil War
 * Chiapas conflict
 * War in Afghanistan
 * Iraq War
 * Mexican drug war
 * Eelam War IV
 * 2011 Libyan Civil War
 * 2013 Lahad Datu standoff
 * Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017)
 * 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

title: Carl Gustaf 8.4 cm recoilless rifle


text:
List of cities in Morocco

The basic unit of local government in Morocco is the commune. At the time of the 2014 population census, Morocco was divided into 1538 communes, 256 of which were classified as urban and also called municipalities. The remaining 1282 communes were classified as rural. Urban centres were defined by the High Commission for Planning for some rural communes.

The following list includes all Moroccan municipalities with 50,000 or more inhabitants according to the 2014 census, as well as one urban centre of a rural commune whose population also exceeds 50,000 inhabitants. In its 2014 census report, the High Commission for Planning also published a list of the legal populations of seven major Moroccan cities, some of which comprise more than one administrative unit. Those legal population figures are incorporated into the list, and the city definitions they are based upon are provided in the notes.

title: List of cities in Morocco


text:
Rough Trade

Rough Trade may refer to:
 * Rough Trade (shops), London record stores
 * Rough Trade Records, a record label from the stores
 * Rough Trade Books, a publishing house from the label
 * Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band
 * "Rough Trade" (American Dad!), an episode of American Dad!
 * Rough trade (slang), a gay slang term
 * "Rough Trade", a song by Stephanie Mills from the album I've Got the Cure

title: Rough Trade


text:
Pirogue

A pirogue ( or ), also called a piragua or piraga, is any of various small boats, particularly dugouts and native canoes. The word is French and is derived from Spanish piragua, which comes from the Carib piraua.

Description
The term 'pirogue' does not refer to a specific kind of boat, but is a generic term for small native boats in regions once colonized by France and Spain, particularly dugouts made from a log. In French West Africa, the term refers to handcrafted banana-shaped boats used by traditional fishermen. In Madagascar, it also includes the more elaborate Austronesian lakana outrigger canoe.

Pirogues are usually propelled by paddles that have one blade (as opposed to a kayak paddle, which has two). It can also be punted with a push pole in shallow water. Small sails are built by local fishermen and they can also be employed. There are two types of sails with differences in their shapes, the square one is used mainly for fishing near the coast and is only useful for tailwinds, while the triangular-shaped ones are used to transfer goods from one place to another by maintaining a bowline direction. Outboard motors are increasingly being used in many regions.

Uses in military and piracy contexts

There are accounts of 17th and 18th century Caribbean pirates using pirogues to attack and take by force much larger vessels including sloops and even barca-longas. Pirogues were used extensively by pirates and buccaneers throughout the Caribbean, the now-Mexican and Gulf Coasts and the East Coast of what is now the United States. For the most part, though, such vessels were used for scouting or as tenders.

Pirogues were used by Lewis and Clark on the Missouri River and westward from 1804–1806, in addition to bateaux, larger flat-bottomed boats that could only be used in large rivers. Their pirogues were medium-sized boats of the company carrying eight rowers and a pilot, capable of carrying eight tons of cargo. Henry D. Thoreau writes of using heavy pirogues in his book The Maine Woods.

Louisiana
Pirogues in the United States are associated particularly with the Cajuns of the Louisiana marsh. The early Creole pirogues were cypress dugouts but today they are usually flat-bottomed boats. Pirogues are not usually intended for overnight travel but are light and small enough to be easily taken onto land. The design also allows the pirogue to move through the very shallow water of marshes and be easily turned over to drain any water that may get into the boat. A pirogue has "hard chines" which means that instead of a smooth curve from the gunwales to the keel, there is often a flat bottom which meets the plane of the side.

In his 1952 classic song "Jambalaya", Hank Williams refers to the pirogue in the line "me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou". Johnny Horton, an avid Louisiana fisherman who celebrated Cajun customs and culture, also mentions pirogues in his 1956 song "I Got a Hole in My Pirogue". Hank Williams, Jr. (son of the aforementioned Hank Williams) had a hit song in 1969 "Cajun Baby", which refers to the pirogue in the line "ride around in my old pirogue".

Doug Kershaw's 1961 hit "Louisiana Man" includes the line "he jumps in his pirogue headed down the bayou". Many online lyrics sites misunderstand this line, saying 'hero' or sometimes 'biro' instead.

title: Pirogue


text:
Center for Complex Quantum Systems

The Center for Complex Quantum Systems is a research institute within the Department of Physics of The University of Texas at Austin in the United States.

The center, founded in 1967 by Ilya Prigogine, is dedicated to the theoretical and computational research of complex systems, statistical mechanics and chaos theory.

The current research staff includes William C. Schieve and Linda Reichl, the center's director.

title: Center for Complex Quantum Systems


text:
Japanese macaque

The Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata), also known as the snow monkey, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species that is native to Japan. Colloquially, they are referred to as "snow monkeys" because some live in areas where snow covers the ground for months each year – no other non-human primate lives farther north, nor in a colder climate. Individuals have brownish grey fur, pinkish-red faces, and short tails. Two subspecies are known.

In Japan, the species is known as Nihonzaru (ニホンザル, a combination of Nihon 日本 "Japan" + saru 猿 "monkey") to distinguish it from other primates, but the Japanese macaque is very familiar in Japan — as it is the only species of monkey in Japan — so when Japanese people simply say saru, they usually have the Japanese macaque in mind.

Physical characteristics
The Japanese macaque is sexually dimorphic. Males weigh on average 11.3 kg, while females average 8.4 kg. Macaques from colder areas tend to weigh more than ones from warmer areas. The average height for males is 57.0 cm, while the average female height is 52.3 cm. The weight of their brain is approximately 95 g. Japanese macaques have short stumps for tails that average 92.5 mm in males and 79.1 mm in females. The macaque has a pinkish face and posterior. The rest of its body is covered in brown or greyish hair. The coat of the macaque is well-adapted to the cold and its thickness increases as temperatures decrease. The macaque can cope with temperatures as low as −20 °C (−4 °F).

Macaques mostly move on all fours. They are semiterrestrial, with females spending more time in the trees and males spending more time on the ground. Macaques are known to leap. They are very good swimmers and have been reported to swim a distance of more than half a kilometer. The lifespan of Japanese macaques is up to 32 years for females and up to 28 years for males, which is high when compared to what typically is seen in other macaque species.

Group structure
Japanese macaques live in matrilineal societies, and females stay in their natal groups for life, while males move out before they are sexually mature. Macaque groups tend to contain adults of both sexes. In addition, a Japanese macaque troop contains several matrilines. These matrilines may exist in a dominance hierarchy with all members of a specific group ranking over members of a lower-ranking group. Temporary all-male groups also exist, composed of those who have recently left their natal groups and are about to transfer to another group. However, many males spend ample time away from any group, and may leave and join several groups.

Females of the troop exist in a stable dominance hierarchy and a female's rank depends on that of her mother. Younger females tend to rank higher than their older siblings. Higher-ranking matrilines have greater social cohesion. Strong relationships with dominant females can allow dominant males to retain their rank when they otherwise would not. Males within a group normally have a dominance hierarchy, with one male having alpha status. The dominance status of male macaques usually changes when a former alpha male leaves or dies. Other ways in which status of male hierarchy changes, is when an alpha male loses his rank or when a troop splits, leaving a new alpha male position open. The longer a male is in a troop, the higher his status is likely to be.

Females typically maintain both social relationships and hygiene through grooming. Grooming occurs regardless of climate or season. Females who are matrilineally related groom each other more often than unrelated individuals. Females will groom unrelated females to maintain group cohesion and social relationships between different kinships in a troop. Nevertheless, a female will only groom a limited number of other females, even if the group expands. Females will groom males, usually for hygienic purposes, but that behavior also may serve to attract dominant males to the group. Mothers pass their grooming techniques to their offspring, most probably through social rather than genetic means, as a cultural characteristic.

Documented female troop leadership
Yakei is a female who rose to leadership of her troop at Takasakiyama Natural Zoological Garden in 2021. Her troop consists of 677 Japanese macaque monkeys who live in a sanctuary that was established in 1952 at the zoological garden. At age nine, she overthrew the dominant males in her troop and displaced her high-ranking mother as well. She became the first female leader of the troop during its recorded history of seventy years. Yakei has retained her leadership position through her first breeding season that had been thought to be a time when she might have been challenged successfully. Both scientific and popular interest is leading to extensive coverage of Yakei's behavior.

Mating and parenting
A male and female macaque form a pair bond and mate, feed, rest, and travel together during the mating season, and on average, this relationship typically lasts 16 days. Females enter into consortships with an average of four males a season. Higher-ranking males have longer consortships than their subordinates. In addition, higher-ranking males try to disrupt consortships of lower-ranking males. Females may choose to mate with males of any rank. However, dominant males mate more frequently than others, as they are more successful in mate guarding. The female decides whether mating takes place. In addition, a dominant position does not mean a male will successfully mate with a female. Males may join other troops temporarily during the mating season and mate with those females.

During the mating season, the face and genitalia of males redden and their tails stand erect, and the faces and anogenital regions of females turn scarlet. Macaques copulate both on the ground and in the trees. Roughly one in three copulations leads to ejaculation. Macaques signal when they are ready to mate by looking backward over a shoulder, staying still, or walking backward toward their potential partner. A female emits a "squawk", a "squeak", or produces an atonal "cackle" during copulation. Males have no copulatory vocalizations.

Females engage in same-sex mounting unrelated to the mating season and therefore, are mounted more often by other females than by males. This behavior has led to proposals in literature that female Japanese macaques are generally bisexual, rather than preferentially homo- or heterosexual. A macaque mother moves to the periphery of her troop to give birth in a secluded spot, unless the group is moving, when the female must stay with it. Macaques usually give birth on the ground. Infants are born with dark-brown hair. A mother and her infant tend to avoid other troop members. The infants consume their first solid food at five to six weeks old, and by seven weeks, can forage independently from their mothers. A mother carries her infant on her belly for its first four weeks. After this time, the mother carries her infant on her back, as well. Infants continue to be carried past a year. The mother may socialize again very slowly. However, alloparenting has been observed, usually by females who have not had infants of their own. Male care of infants occurs in some groups, but not in others; when they do, usually, older males protect, groom, and carry an infant as a female would.

Infants have fully developed their locomotive abilities within three to four months. When an infant is seven months old, its mother discourages suckling; full weaning happens by its eighteenth month.

In some populations, male infants tend to play in larger groups more often than females. However, female infants have more social interaction than their male counterparts, and female infants will associate with individuals of all ages and sexes. When males are two years old, they prefer to associate with other males around the same age.

Communication
During feeding or moving, Japanese macaques often emit sounds that are called "coos". These vocalizations most likely serve to keep the troop together and strengthen social relations among females. Macaques usually respond to coos with coos of their own. Coos also are uttered before grooming along with vocalizations identified as "girney" calls. Variants of the "girney" calls are made in different contexts. This call also serves as appeasement between individuals in aggressive encounters. Macaques have alarm calls for alerting to danger and other calls to signal estrus that sound similar to danger alerts. Threat calls are heard during aggressive encounters and are often uttered by supporters of those involved in antagonistic interactions. The individual being supported supports those callers in the future.

Intelligence and culture
The Japanese macaque is an intelligent species. Researchers studying this species at Koshima Island in Japan left sweet potatoes out on the beach for them to eat, then witnessed one female, named Imo (Japanese for yam or potato), washing the food off with river water rather than brushing it off as the others were doing, and later even dipping her clean food into salty seawater. After a while, other members of her troop started to copy her behavior. This trait was then passed on from generation to generation, until eventually all except the oldest members of the troop were washing their food and even seasoning it in the sea. Similarly, she was the first observed balling up wheat with air pockets and soil, throwing it all into the water, and waiting for the wheat to float back up free from the soil to consume it. An altered misaccount of this incident is the basis for the "hundredth monkey" effect. That behavior also spread among her troop members.

The macaque has other unusual behaviours, including bathing together in hot springs and rolling snowballs for fun. In winter, the bathing is associated with lower levels of stress, with the higher ranking females dominating the restricted resource to compensate for the higher rates of stress outside of the spring. Also, in recent studies, the Japanese macaque has been found to develop different accents, similar to human cultures. Macaques in areas separated by only a few hundred miles may have very different pitches in their calls, their form of communication. The Japanese macaque has been involved in many studies concerning neuroscience and also is used in drug testing.

Ecology
The Japanese macaque is diurnal. In colder areas, from autumn to early winter, macaques feed in between different activities. In the winter, macaques have two to four feeding bouts each day, with fewer daily activities. In the spring and summer, they have two or three bouts of feeding daily. In warmer areas such as Yakushima, daily activities are more varied. The typical day for a macaque is 20.9% inactive, 22.8% traveling, 23.5% feeding, 27.9% social grooming, 1.2% self-grooming, and 3.7% other activities. Macaques usually sleep in trees, but they also sleep on the ground, as well as on or near rocks and fallen trees. During the winter, macaques huddle together for warmth on sleeping grounds. Macaques at Jigokudani Monkey Park are notable for visiting the hot springs in the winter to warm up.

Diet
The Japanese macaque is omnivorous and eats a variety of foods. More than 213 species of plants are included in the macaque's diet. They also eat insects, bark, and soil. On Yakushima Island, fruit, mature leaves, and fallen seeds are primarily eaten. The macaque also eats fungi, ferns, invertebrates, and other parts of plants. In addition, in Yakushima, their diets vary seasonally with fruits being eaten in the summer and herbs being eaten in the winter. Farther north, macaques mostly eat seasonal foods such as fruit and nuts to store fat for the winter, when food is scarce. On the northern island of Kinkasan, macaques mostly eat fallen seeds, herbs, young leaves, and fruits. When preferred food items are not available, macaques dig up underground plant parts (roots or rhizomes) or eat soil and fish.

Distribution and habitat
The Japanese macaque is the northernmost-living non-human primate. It is found on three of the four main Japanese islands, south of the Blakiston's Line: Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. The northernmost populations live on the Shimokita Peninsula, the northernmost point of Honshu. Several of Japan's smaller islands are inhabited by macaques as well. The southernmost population living on Yakushima Island is a subspecies of the mainland macaques, M. fuscata yakui. A study in 1989 estimated the total population of wild Japanese macaques to be 114,431 individuals.

The Japanese macaque lives in a variety of habitats. It inhabits subtropical forests in the southern part of its range and subarctic forests in mountainous areas in the northern part of its range. It can be found in both warm and cool forests, such as the deciduous forests of central and northern Japan and the broadleaf evergreen forests in the southwest of the islands. Warm temperate evergreen and broadleaf forests and cool temperate deciduous broadleaf forests are the most important habitats for macaques.

In 1972, a troop of approximately 150 Japanese macaques was relocated from Kyoto to a primate observatory in southwest Texas, United States. The observatory is an enclosed ranch-style environment and the macaques have been allowed to roam with minimal human interference. At first, many perished in the unfamiliar habitat, which consists of arid brushland. The macaques eventually adapted to the environment, learned to avoid predators (such as eagles, coyotes, and rattlesnakes), and they learned to forage for mesquite beans, cactus fruits, and other foods. The surviving macaques flourished, and by 1995, the troop consisted of 500 to 600 individuals. In 1996, hunters maimed or killed four escaped macaques; as a result, legal restrictions were publicly clarified and funds were raised to establish a new 186 acre sanctuary near Dilley, Texas. In 1999, the Animal Protection Institute took over management of the sanctuary and began to rescue other species of primates. As of 2017, the troop cohabitated with six other species of macaque.

Relationship with humans
Traditional human behaviors that are threats to macaques have been slash-and-burn agriculture, use of forest woods for construction and fuel, and hunting. Since World War II, these threats have declined due to social and economic changes in Japan, but other threats have emerged. The replacement of natural forests with lumber plantations is the most serious threat. As human prosperity has grown, macaques have lost their fear of humans and have increased their presence in both rural and urban areas, with one macaque recorded living in central Tokyo for several months. In 2022 the city of Yamaguchi experienced aggression from the monkeys with at least 50 people attacked.

Cultural depictions
The Japanese macaque (snow monkey) has featured prominently in the religion, folklore, and art of Japan, as well as in proverbs and idiomatic expressions in the Japanese language.

In Shinto belief, mythical beasts known as raijū sometimes appeared as monkeys and kept Raijin, the god of lightning, company. The "three wise monkeys", who warn people to "see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil", are carved in relief over the door of the famous Tōshō-gū shrine in Nikkō.

The Japanese macaque is a feature of several fairy tales, such as the tale of Momotarō and the fable about The Crab and the Monkey.

The monkey is part of the Chinese zodiac. That zodiac has been used for centuries in Japan and led to many representations of the macaque for that figure.

The creature was sometimes portrayed in paintings of the rich cultural epoch, the Edo period that flourished from 1603 to 1867, as a tangible metaphor for a particular year. The early nineteenth-century artist and samurai, Watanabe Kazan (1793–1841), created a painting of a macaque. The last great master of the ukiyo-e genre of woodblock printing and painting, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, also featured the macaques in his prints. Also during the Edo period, numerous clasps for kimono or tobacco pouches (collectively called netsuke) were carved in the shape of macaques.

Spoken references to macaques abound in the history of Japan. Originating from before his rise to power, the famed samurai, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was compared to a monkey in appearance and nicknamed Kozaru ("Little Monkey"). In modern Japanese culture, because monkeys are considered to indulge their libido openly and frequently (much the same way as rabbits are thought to in some Western cultures), a man who is preoccupied with sex might be compared to or metaphorically referred to as a monkey, as might a romantically involved couple who are exceptionally amorous.

title: Japanese macaque