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Hiddenite

Hiddenite is a pale-to-emerald green variety of spodumene that is sometimes used as a gemstone.

The first specimens of the hiddenite variety of spodumene were recovered circa 1879 near the settlement of White Plains, west of Stony Point, Alexander County, North Carolina. According to contemporary accounts, a man named Lackey brought them to the attention of J.A.D. Stephenson, a local merchant who was a collector of minerals. Initially, the yellowish to greenish-yellow hiddenites were thought to be gemmy diopside. Stephenson brought the discovery to the attention of exploration geologist William Earl Hidden, who had been commissioned by Thomas Edison to seek sources of platinum in North Carolina (an effort that was unsuccessful). Hidden sent samples of the odd green material to J. Lawrence Smith, a prominent chemist and mineralogist in Louisville, Kentucky. Smith correctly identified the specimens as being a variety of spodumene and named them "hiddenite" in honor of Hidden. The community in which the gemstones were first found was later renamed "Hiddenite". During the heyday of hiddenite mining in the 1880s and 1890s it was also known as "lithia emerald".

Hidden recognized the value of the emeralds and the potential of the new gemmy green spodumene. He acquired a tract of poor quality land, which was either the site of the initial discovery or near to it, for $1500. The Emerald and Hiddenite Mining Company was organized and excavations on the site recovered loose hiddenites and emeralds in the red, gravelly clay. At a depth of about 26 feet they struck bedrock, and soon were recovering hiddenites from solid rock. Oddly, period newspaper accounts and statements by George Frederick Kunz (1892) indicate that mining on the site was never undertaken as a full-time operation, but was only prosecuted a few weeks or months during the summer.

Writing in 1892, Kunz described the hiddenite being recovered as "always transparent, ranges from colorless (rare) to a light yellow, into a yellowish green, then into a deep yellow emerald green. Sometimes an entire crystal has a uniform green color, but generally one end is yellow and the other green." Kunz noted that the finest crystal recovered prior to 1892 measured 68 mm tall, and could have cut a gem of 5.5ct estimated weight. The size of most cut gems were small, with a 2ct hiddenite in the Augustus C. Hamlin collection being considered among the finest of the large stones.

The coloring agent is chromium. Colors can gradually fade. Hiddenite has a strong vitreous luster and displays strong colors due to pleochroism.

In addition to the North Carolina locality, Hiddenite has been found in Brazil, China, and Madagascar. Green spodumene found in Afghanistan and Pakistan has excited modest amounts of controversy in the mineral and gemological communities with debate over whether or not it should be truly considered "hiddenite" as well as claims that the green coloration is induced by irradiation and is fugitive.

Deposits occur in granite pegmatite.

title: Hiddenite


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Mitry–Claye station

Mitry–Claye station is a railway station near Paris, France. It is in the commune of Mitry-Mory, and also serves nearby Claye-Souilly. It is served by regional Transilien trains and the Paris RER trains, so is an important transit point.

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

title: Mitry–Claye station


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List of noise topics

This is a list of noise topics.

Engineering and physics

 * 1/f noise
 * A-weighting
 * Ambient noise level
 * Antenna noise temperature
 * Artificial noise
 * Audio noise reduction
 * Audio system measurements
 * Black noise
 * Blue noise
 * Burst noise
 * Carrier-to-receiver noise density
 * Channel noise level
 * Circuit noise level
 * Colors of noise
 * Comfort noise
 * Comfort noise generator
 * Cosmic noise
 * Crackling noise
 * DBa
 * DBrn
 * Decibel
 * Detection theory
 * Dither
 * Dynamic range
 * Effective input noise temperature
 * Environmental noise
 * Equivalent noise resistance
 * Equivalent pulse code modulation noise
 * Errors and residuals in statistics
 * Fixed pattern noise
 * Flicker noise
 * Gaussian noise
 * Generation-recombination noise
 * Image noise
 * Image noise reduction
 * Intermodulation noise
 * Internet background noise
 * ITU-R 468 noise weighting
 * Jansky noise
 * Johnson–Nyquist noise, Johnson noise
 * Line noise
 * Mode partition noise
 * Neuronal noise
 * Noise
 * Noise (audio)
 * Noise (economic)
 * Noise (electronic)
 * Noise (environmental)
 * Noise (physics)
 * Noise (radio)
 * Noise (video)
 * Noise current
 * Noise-equivalent power
 * Noise figure
 * Noise floor
 * Noise gate
 * Noise generator
 * Noise level
 * Noise measurement
 * Noise power
 * Noise print
 * Noise shaping
 * Noise temperature
 * Noise wall
 * Noise weighting
 * Noisy black
 * Noisy white
 * Peak signal-to-noise ratio
 * Perlin noise
 * Phase noise
 * Photon noise
 * Pink noise
 * Pseudonoise=pseudorandom noise
 * Quantization noise
 * Quantum 1/f noise
 * Radio noise source
 * Random noise
 * Received noise power
 * Red noise
 * Reference noise
 * Salt and pepper noise
 * Shot noise
 * Signal-to-noise ratio
 * Statistical noise
 * Stochastic resonance
 * Tape hiss
 * Thermal noise
 * Underwater acoustics
 * White noise
 * White noise machine

Environmental

 * Acoustic noise
 * Artificial noise
 * Aircraft noise
 * Background noise
 * Impulse noise
 * Industrial noise
 * Noise barrier
 * Noise control
 * Noise health effects
 * Noise pollution
 * Noise regulation
 * Roadway noise
 * Train noise

Noise reduction

 * Active noise control = anti-noise
 * DBX (noise reduction)
 * Differential signaling
 * Dolby noise reduction system
 * Helicopter noise reduction
 * Hush kit
 * Low-noise amplifier
 * Low-noise block converter
 * Muffler
 * Noise barrier
 * Noise cancellation
 * Noise-cancelling headphone
 * Noise control
 * Noise mitigation
 * Noise reduction
 * Noise regulation
 * RF shielding
 * Sound proofing
 * Suppressor

Music

 * Noise in music
 * Art of Noises
 * Difference between music and noise
 * Harsh noise
 * Harsh noise wall
 * List of noise musicians
 * List of Japanoise artists
 * Noise music
 * Noise pop
 * Noise rock
 * Power noise

title: List of noise topics


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Cryptosystem

In cryptography, a cryptosystem is a suite of cryptographic algorithms needed to implement a particular security service, such as confidentiality (encryption).

Typically, a cryptosystem consists of three algorithms: one for key generation, one for encryption, and one for decryption. The term cipher (sometimes cypher) is often used to refer to a pair of algorithms, one for encryption and one for decryption. Therefore, the term cryptosystem is most often used when the key generation algorithm is important. For this reason, the term cryptosystem is commonly used to refer to public key techniques; however both "cipher" and "cryptosystem" are used for symmetric key techniques.

Formal definition
Mathematically, a cryptosystem or encryption scheme can be defined as a tuple $$(\mathcal{P},\mathcal{C},\mathcal{K},\mathcal{E},\mathcal{D})$$ with the following properties.

 * 1) $$ \mathcal{P}$$ is a set called the "plaintext space". Its elements are called plaintexts.
 * 2) $$ \mathcal{C}$$ is a set called the "ciphertext space". Its elements are called ciphertexts.
 * 3) $$ \mathcal{K}$$ is a set called the "key space". Its elements are called keys.
 * 4) $$ \mathcal{E} = \{ E_k : k \in \mathcal{K} \} $$ is a set of functions $$E_k : \mathcal{P} \rightarrow \mathcal{C}$$. Its elements are called "encryption functions".
 * 5) $$ \mathcal{D} = \{ D_k : k \in \mathcal{K} \} $$ is a set of functions $$D_k : \mathcal{C} \rightarrow \mathcal{P}$$. Its elements are called "decryption functions".

For each $$e \in \mathcal{K}$$, there is $$d \in \mathcal{K}$$ such that $$D_d(E_e(p)) = p$$ for all $$p \in \mathcal{P}$$.

Note; typically this definition is modified in order to distinguish an encryption scheme as being either a symmetric-key or public-key type of cryptosystem.

Examples
A classical example of a cryptosystem is the Caesar cipher. A more contemporary example is the RSA cryptosystem.

Another example of a cryptosystem is the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). AES is a widely used symmetric encryption algorithm that has become the standard for securing data in various applications.

Pallier cryptosystem is another example used to preserve and maintain privacy and sensitive information. It is featured in electronic voting, electronic lotteries and electronic auctions.

title: Cryptosystem


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Rouge River (Ontario)

The Rouge River is a river in Markham, Pickering, Richmond Hill and Toronto in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. The river flows from the Oak Ridges Moraine to Lake Ontario at the eastern border of Toronto, and is the location of Rouge Park, the only national park in Canada within a municipality. At its southern end, the Rouge River is the boundary between Toronto and southwestern Pickering in the Regional Municipality of Durham.

History
The Rouge River is part of the Carolinian life zone that is found in Southern Ontario. After the eradication of both the Petun and the Wyandot (Huron), Senecas from New York attempted to establish/expand their fur trade activities by establishing a village named Gandechiagaiagon (recorded variously as "Gandatsekiagon", "Ganatsekwyagon", "Gandatchekiagon", or "Katabokokonk"), meaning "sand-cut" at the mouth of Rouge River. According to a 1796 list by English surveyor Augustus Jones, the Mississauga name for the river was Gichi-ziibiins (recorded as "Che-sippi"), meaning "large creek." The river's name likely is French for "red river", based on the mappings by French explorer Louis Jolliet.

In the early 19th century, pioneer settlers could spear large salmon spawning as far north as the upper tributaries of the Rouge in what is today Whitchurch-Stouffville

In the former City of Scarborough, the Rouge was the "third rail" issue of municipal politics, and many minor candidates for mayor often ran on a platform to preserve it. However, since Scarborough was annexed into the City of Toronto, Toronto City Council has voted on occasion to allow development around the river. For much of the course of the system in Toronto is still parkland or farmland.

As for the York Region sections, the southern watershed runs through residential areas and is lined with a few small parks. The source of the system is either natural or farmland.

Currently, there is a degree of abandonment in the area, of former farmlands, and historic houses. There also remain many historic houses which are still lived in, some even farmed. Research on Toronto's website listing its holdings of historic properties reveals over 20 historic buildings in the area, including Hillside PS, Scarborough's first schoolhouse, which sits across the street from a house built by the Pearse family in 1855.

Watershed
The Rouge River begins in the Oak Ridges Moraine in Richmond Hill and flows past: Markham, northwest, central, to the south, including a couple of conservation areas, the eastern edge of Scarborough and Rouge Valley Park. The watershed of the Rouge River is located in the municipalities of Richmond Hill and Markham in the Regional Municipality of York; Pickering in the Regional Municipality of Durham; and Toronto.

Tributaries of the Rouge River also extend into the municipalities of Aurora and Whitchurch-Stouffville in the Regional Municipality of York. The total area of the watershed is 336 km2, of which 40% is agricultural land, 35% urban, 24% forest/wetland/meadow and 1% watercourses/waterbodies.

The headwaters of the Rouge River and its tributaries are found in the Oak Ridges Moraine. Water flows down from the elevated moraine to Lake Ontario. The Rouge River meets Lake Ontario at Rouge Beach. At Rouge Beach, the Rouge Marsh is to the north and Lake Ontario to the south. More than half the remaining wetlands in the Greater Toronto Area are located here in the southern Rouge River.

It is one of a few wilderness areas left in South-Central Ontario and has been virtually untouched by development since the arrival of Europeans. While many exclusive homes and conclaves border this area on the southern tip, it is currently surrounded largely by agricultural land. It is even devoid of recreational development but sports a considerable network of walking or bicycle paths. Unlike other rivers in the Toronto area, it is allowed to fill its entire flood plain on a regular basis rather than being forced through an artificial channel. However, parts of its watershed include the Toronto Zoo and the Beare Road Landfill.

Tributaries

 * Little Rouge Creek (left) - runs northeast via Cedar Grove, Locust Hill, Dickson Hill, Ringwood, Lemonville, and Bloomington (Kennedy Road-Bethesda Road to Kingston Road and Altona Road)
 * Katabokokonk Creek - a short creek runs in northeast Markham (west of Reesor Road and Don Cousens Parkway to Major Mackenzie Drive and west of Reesor Road) and bears the original First Nations name of the Rouge
 * Morningside Creek (right) - flows from an area near Dennison Avenue and Markham Road to southwest of the Toronto Zoo and east of Morningside Road
 * Exhibition Creek - runs from north of 16th Avenue and Highway 48 to Markham and Highway 7
 * Robinson Creek (left)- runs from north of Elgin Mills between McCowan Road and Kennedy Road to the east end of Milne Park at 48 and Highway 7
 * Eckardt Creek (left) runs from storm management ponds at west of The Bridle Walk and 16th Avenue north to Bur Oak Avenue and east of The Bridle Walk
 * Bruce Creek (left) - starts in several ponds in the southeast corner of Aurora, flows briefly through the northeast corner of Richmond Hill, then southeast in the southwest corner of Whitchurch-Stouffville, through Bruce's Mill Conservation Area and into Markham. It flows through Angus Glen Golf Club and into Toogood Pond in Unionville, just before which the tributary Berczy Creek joins. The creek runs several hundred metres more to its mouth just east of Kennedy Road (Kennedy-Highway 7 to Woodbine Avenue north of Bloomington Road)
 * Berczy Creek - runs from north of Stouffville Road and Woodbine Avenue into Bruce Creek just upstream of Toogood Pond
 * Carleton Creek - runs from Woodbine Avenue and Major Mackenzie Drive to Berczy Creek at 16th Avenue and Warden Avenue
 * Beaver Creek (right); flows from Richmond Hill to the future Downtown Markham development area; bounded by Major Mackenzie Drive-Bayview Avenue to Warden-Highway 407
 * Apple Creek - a small creek near Apple Creek Blvd, Rodick Road and runs between residential developments in a northwest direction to 16th Avenue and Buttonfield Road (just south of Cachet Centre shopping mall)

National Park
Rouge National Urban Park is a national urban park managed by Parks Canada. The Park the largest urban park in North America, comprising a significant portion of the Rouge River. The Park was created after the Ministry of Stephen Harper proposed, in the 41st Canadian Parliament throne speech, the creation of the national park.

Municipal parks
There are a number of local parks around of the Rouge watershed managed by the municipalities of Markham, Pickering, Richmond Hill, and Toronto. In addition, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority manages a number of parks and conservation areas. These parks include:

 * Bob Hunter Memorial Park
 * Littles Road Park
 * Morningview Ravine Park
 * Woodlands Park
 * Glen Rouge Park
 * Rouge Valley Park, Markham
 * Rouge Beach Park
 * Milne Park, Markham
 * Apple Creek Park
 * Cedar Valley Park
 * Mount Joy Lake Park
 * Springdale Park
 * Monarch Park
 * Ashton Meadows Park
 * Artisan Park - Beaver Creek
 * Beaver Greenway - Beaver Creek
 * Bruce Creek Park
 * Berczy Creek Park
 * Boyton Woods Park
 * Elgin Mills Cemetery
 * Headwaters Park

Metro East Freeway
The Rouge was threatened by the proposed Metro East Freeway which would have run along the river valley like the Don Valley Parkway from north Scarborough through Markham between Ninth Line and York-Durham Town Line terminating in Stouffville. The roadway came into existence following the cancellation of the Spadina Expressway and pause on Scarborough Expressway in 1971. It was removed from planning in 1994. Markham continues to seek an arterial connection to Ontario Highway 401 which led to the construction of Donald Cousens Parkway with planned connection to Highway 401 via extension of Morningside Avenue to Steeles Avenue.

Golf courses

 * Parkview Golf Course - created from former IBM Canada Course
 * Markham Green Golf Course - created from former IBM Canada Course (c. 1960) and Box Grove Golf Club (c. 1940); part of clubhouse became Rouge River Community Centre in the 1990s (pool added 1999)
 * Cedar Brae Golf & Country Club (c. 1922)
 * York Downs Golf and Country Club
 * Angus Glen Golf Club - opened in 1992 built on the former Angus Glen Farm (c. 1957)
 * Markham Golf Club
 * Buttonville Fairways Golf Centre

A 18-hole golf course, Unionville Golf Centre, operated from 1961 to 2007 on Main Street Unionville south of Highway 7 along the Rouge River. It is now site of Bill Crothers Secondary School. The golf greens area along the river have now been restored as natural habitat.

title: Rouge River (Ontario)


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David Wechsler

David "Weshy" Wechsler (January 12, 1896 – May 2, 1981) was a Romanian-American psychologist. He developed well-known intelligence scales, such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) to get to know his patients at Bellevue Hospital. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Wechsler as the 51st most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

Early life and education
Wechsler was born in a Jewish family in Lespezi, Romania, and emigrated with his parents to the United States as a child. He studied at the City College of New York and Columbia University, where he earned his master's degree in 1917 and his Ph.D. in 1925 under the direction of Robert S. Woodworth. During World War I, he worked with the United States Army to develop psychological tests to screen new draftees while studying under Charles Spearman and Karl Pearson.

Bellevue Hospital
After short stints at various locations (including five years in private practice), Wechsler became chief psychologist at Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital in 1932, where he stayed until 1967.

Wechsler was member of a 1947 mission to set up a mental health program and clinic for Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.

Intelligence scales
Wechsler is best known for his intelligence tests. He was one of the most influential advocates of the role of nonintellective factors in testing. He emphasized that factors other than intellectual ability are involved in intelligent behavior. Wechsler objected to the single score offered by the 1937 Binet scale, finding the then-current Binet IQ test unsatisfactory. Wechsler originally created his tests to find out more about his patients at the Bellevue clinic. This battery differed greatly from the Binet scale which, in Wechsler's day, was generally considered the supreme authority with regard to intelligence testing. As the 1960 form of Lewis Terman's Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales was less carefully developed than previous versions, Form I of the WAIS surpassed the Stanford–Binet tests in popularity by the 1960s.

Although his test did not directly measure nonintellective factors, it took these factors into careful account in its underlying theory. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) was developed first in 1939 and then called the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Test. From these he derived the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) in 1949 and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) in 1967. The tests are still based on his philosophy that intelligence is "the global capacity to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with [one's] environment" (cited in Kaplan & Saccuzzo, p. 256).

The Wechsler scales introduced many novel concepts and breakthroughs to the intelligence testing movement. First, he did away with the quotient scores of older intelligence tests (the Q in "I.Q."). Instead, he assigned an arbitrary value of 100 to the mean intelligence and added or subtracted another 15 points for each standard deviation above or below the mean the subject was. While not rejecting the concept of general intelligence (as conceptualized by his teacher Charles Spearman), he divided the concept of intelligence into two main areas: verbal and performance (non-verbal) scales, each evaluated with different subtests.

Personal life
He died on May 2, 1981.

title: David Wechsler


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Ian & Sylvia

Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson. They began performing together in 1959 (full-time in 1961), married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975.

Early lives
Ian Tyson, CM, AOE was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1933. In his teens, he decided upon a career as a rodeo rider. Recovering from injuries sustained from a fall during the mid-1950s, he started learning guitar. In the late 1950s, he relocated to Toronto, aspiring to a career as a commercial artist. He also started playing clubs and coffeehouses in Toronto. By 1959 he was performing music as a full-time occupation.

Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker, CM, was born in Chatham, Ontario in 1940. While still in her teens, she started frequenting the folk clubs of Toronto.

Folk duo
The two started performing together in Toronto in 1959. By 1962, they were living in New York City, where they caught the attention of manager Albert Grossman, who managed Peter, Paul and Mary and would soon become Bob Dylan's manager. Grossman secured them a contract with Vanguard Records and they released their first album late in the year.

Their first album, self-titled Ian & Sylvia, on Vanguard Records consists mainly of traditional songs. There were British and Canadian folk songs, spiritual music, and a few blues songs thrown into the mix. The album was moderately successful and they made the list of performers for the 1963 Newport Folk Festival.

Four Strong Winds, their second album, was similar to the first, with the exception of the inclusion of the early Dylan composition "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" and the title song "Four Strong Winds", written by Ian Tyson. "Four Strong Winds" was a major hit in Canada and ensured their stardom. Years later, the song was named as the greatest Canadian song of all time by the CBC-Radio program 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version.

The two married in June 1964; they also released their third album, Northern Journey, that year. It included a blues song written by Sylvia, titled "You Were on My Mind", recorded by both the California group We Five (a 1965 #4 on the RPM charts, #1 on the Cashbox chart, #3 on the Billboard Hot 100) and British folk rock singer Crispian St. Peters (#29 on the RPM charts, #36 in 1967). A recording of "Four Strong Winds" by Bobby Bare made it to #3 on the country charts around that time.

On the Northern Journey album was the song "Someday Soon", a composition by Ian Tyson that would rival "Four Strong Winds" in its popularity. (Both songs would eventually be recorded by dozens of singers.)

Their fourth album, Early Morning Rain, consisted in large part of new songs. They introduced the work of the couple's fellow Canadian songwriter and performer Gordon Lightfoot through the title song and "(That's What You Get) For Lovin' Me". They also included the first recording of the song "Darcy Farrow" by Steve Gillette and Tom Campbell, as well as a number of their own compositions. They performed at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Play One More, their offering of 1965, showed a move toward the electrified folk-like music that was becoming popular with groups like the Byrds and the Lovin' Spoonful. The title tune used horns to evoke the mariachi style.

In 1967, they released two albums, one recorded for Vanguard, the other for MGM. These two efforts, So Much For Dreaming and Lovin' Sound, were far less dynamic presentations.

From 1970 to 1975, Ian Tyson hosted The Ian Tyson Show on CTV, known as Nashville North in its first season. Sylvia Tyson and the Great Speckled Bird appeared often on the series.

Country rock pioneers
They moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where they recorded two albums; one to fulfill the terms of their Vanguard contract, the other to supply MGM with a second (and last) album for that label. The albums can be defined as early country rock music; Nashville for Vanguard was cut in February 1968, one month before the Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo, widely considered the first collaboration of rock and Nashville players. Three of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes songs are included on their Nashville albums; most of the rest were written by Ian or Sylvia.

In 1969, Ian & Sylvia formed the country rock group Great Speckled Bird. In addition to participating in the cross-Canada rock-and-roll rail tour Festival Express, they recorded a self-titled album for the short-lived Ampex label. Produced by Todd Rundgren, the record failed when Ampex was unable to establish widespread distribution. Thousands of copies never left the warehouse, and it has become a much sought-after collector's item. Initially, the album artist was given as Great Speckled Bird but later copies had a sticker saying that it featured the duo.

Ian & Sylvia's last two albums were recorded on Columbia Records. The first, 1971's Ian and Sylvia (not to be confused with their 1962 self-titled release) consists largely of mainstream country-flavored songs. This album was released on CD, with extra tracks, as The Beginning of the End in 1996. Their second Columbia record, 1972's You Were on My Mind, featured a later incarnation of Great Speckled Bird. The songs range from hard country rock to middle-of-the-road country material. Neither of the Columbia albums sold well. They were eventually combined and released as 1974's The Best of Ian and Sylvia.

In 1972, Ian & Sylvia performed the song "Let Her Alone" for Walt Disney Productions' live-action drama Run, Cougar, Run. Ian also served as the film's narrator.

By 1975, Ian & Sylvia had stopped performing together and soon afterwards were divorced. Their final appearance as a duo was in May 1975 at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto.

Post-divorce
After their marriage ended in 1975, Ian returned to Southern Alberta to farm and train horses, but continued his musical career. His autobiography The Long Trail: My Life in the West was published in 2010.

Sylvia wrote, performed, and involved herself in various projects. In recent years, she has been recording new material, working as a member of the group Quartette, and performing a one-woman show entitled River Road and Other Stories.

The duo's son, Clay Tyson (Clayton Dawson Tyson, born 1966), is also a musician and recording artist.

On August 16, 1986, folk singers who had recorded or written Ian and Sylvia songs, reunited for a concert that was filmed for the CBC. The group at the Kingswood Music Theatre in Maple, Ontario included Gordon Lightfoot, Judy Collins, Emmylou Harris, and Murray McLauchlan.

Ian & Sylvia sang their signature song "Four Strong Winds" at the 50th anniversary of the Mariposa Folk Festival on July 11, 2010, in Orillia, Ontario.

Honours
In 1992, they were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

In 1994, they were both made Members of the Order of Canada.

In 2005, an extensive Canadian Broadcasting Corporation poll on the CBC-Radio program 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version named "Four Strong Winds" to be the greatest Canadian song of all time. Artists Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Sarah McLachlan, Harry Belafonte, and Bob Dylan recorded this song.

In 2006, they were both inducted into the Mariposa Hall of Fame; the duo performed a song together at that time, long after they had gone their separate ways. Back in 1961, Ian and Sylvia had headlined at the Mariposa Folk Festival.

In a poll of the Western Writers of America, two Ian & Sylvia songs, "Someday Soon" and "Summer Wages" (both written by Tyson), were selected among the "Top 100 Western Songs" of all time.

Ian Tyson was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989. Sylvia Tyson was inducted in 2003.

In July 2019, it was announced that Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson would be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame individually, not as a duo. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation stated that its 1964 hit "Four Strong Winds" "has been deemed one of the most influential songs in Canadian history". The report also referenced the song "You Were on My Mind", written by Sylvia Tyson, as well as her four albums from 1975 to 1980.

Albums
(Canadian album charts did not start until 1967)

title: Ian & Sylvia


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Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa

Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa is a hotel located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. The hotel was constructed as part of a major expansion of the Disneyland Resort in 2001. It was constructed and operated by The Walt Disney Company. The hotel was designed in the American Craftsman style of architecture. It also features a Disney Vacation Club wing that opened on September 23, 2009. The hotel has a private entrance to Disney California Adventure Park. In 2017, Disney remodeled the rooms, along with the lobby.

Description
The hotel was designed by architect Peter Dominick of 4240 Architecture Inc. (formerly part of Urban Design Group Inc.). It has 948 rooms, in addition to 44 suites and 71 villas.

Craftsman style buildings often use garden themes, which was Peter Dominick's inspiration for the hotel's forest theme. The reception hall is based on the interior of the Swedenborgian Church in San Francisco, increased in scale to accommodate the large reception desk. The central lobby has a large fireplace and arching beams overhead, and is furnished with chairs and sofas arranged around small coffee tables.

Many of the items found throughout the hotel have been crafted by modern practitioners of the Arts and Crafts style, and some early Roycroft items are on display in the lobby.

Some of the hotel's rooms are tributes to various Craftsman-era architects and designers such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles Rennie MacKintosh, and the Gladding, McBean Company.

Its name is based on Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, its sister resort and Walt Disney World's flagship resort hotel.

History
The hotel opened on January 2, 2001, as a part of the parks expansion for Disneyland Resort.

At about 3:00 am on December 28, 2005, a Christmas tree in the main lobby caught fire after electric maintenance workers replaced lights on the tree. All 2,300 guests at the hotel were evacuated within four minutes. The fire was contained by the hotel's sprinkler system and by the Anaheim Fire Department. Two guests were treated for minor injuries, one of which was a severe headache. Guests were returned to their rooms by 7:00 am.

On September 18, 2007, the Disneyland Resort announced an expansion of Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa that would increase accommodations by more than 30 percent and include the first Disney Vacation Club villas in Anaheim.

The 2.5 acre expansion on the hotel's south side added more than 200 hotel rooms and 50 two-bedroom equivalent vacation villas and marked the West Coast debut of Disney Vacation Club, Disney's vacation ownership program. During this expansion and renovation, a swimming pool was added as well as a 300 space underground parking garage. Peter Dominick designed the ambitious expansion to complement the existing hotel. The project was completed in September 2009.

With the completion of this major expansion, Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa became the fourth-largest hotel in Orange County.

The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel
The Disney Vacation Club villas, added as part of the hotel's expansion, include kitchens, living and dining areas and other home-like amenities. The guest rooms feature the same decor as the hotel rooms in the original structure and continue the Californian Craftsman motif.

Napa Rose
Napa Rose is a restaurant in Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa that opened in 2001 as part of Disney's expansion of its Anaheim property from one theme park (Disneyland) into a multi-park resort complex. It specializes in California cuisine and has a Napa Valley wine theme. The restaurant's design is inspired by Scottish art nouveau designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Napa Rose's head chef, Andrew Sutton, formerly of the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek's restaurant in Dallas, was hired from Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley, and former general manager and sommelier Michael Jordan was hired from the Patina Restaurant Group. Disney hired Sutton and Jordan in order to raise the credibility of its food and wine program. The restaurant has won multiple awards from different organizations, such as the Wine Spectator, Zagat, The Southern California Restaurant Writers and the Orange County Business Journal.

Craftsman Bar & Grill
Craftsman Bar & Grill, formerly known as White Water Snacks, is the refurbished quick service restaurant located in Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. Initially opened in 2001 with the hotel, it re-opened in 2019 under this new name with an expanded pool deck and revised menu.

Books

 * Winter, Robert; Vertikoff, Alexander (2004). Craftsman Style, pp 227–233. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0-8109-4336-0.

title: Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa


text:
Downtown Disney (disambiguation)

Downtown Disney is an outdoor shopping center at the Disneyland Resort.

Downtown Disney may also refer to:
 * Disney Springs, formerly named Downtown Disney, at Walt Disney World

title: Downtown Disney (disambiguation)


text:
Grolsch Brewery

Grolsch Brewery (Koninklijke Grolsch N.V. - "Royal Grolsch"), known simply as Grolsch, is a Dutch brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo. In 1895, the de Groen family bought the brewery. They had started their own brewery in Enschede in the early 19th century. It held a significant stake until November 2007. Today the main brewery is located in Enschede.

It was awarded the Koninklijk (Royal) title in 1995. The Grolsch brand became a part of the SABMiller group in March 2008.

As part of the agreements made with regulators before Anheuser-Busch InBev was allowed to acquire SABMiller, the company sold Grolsch to Asahi Breweries in late 2016. The deal was expected to close during the first half of 2017.

History
The Grolsch brewery was founded in 1615 in Groenlo. The city of Groenlo was then known as Grolle, hence the name Grolsch, meaning 'of Grolle'. Grolsch is best known for its 5% abv pale lager, Grolsch Premium Pilsner. The brewery was first operated by Willem Neerfeldt. Neerfeldt's son-in-law, Peter Sanford Kuyper, later took over. Grolsch was, as of February 2006, the second largest brewer in the Netherlands (after Heineken) with annual production of 320 million litres. The domestic market comprises fifty-one per cent of total production.

Change of ownership
On 19 November 2007, the board of Royal Grolsch NV accepted an €816 million offer for the company by SABMiller. The takeover was completed with the delisting of Grolsch's shares on 20 March 2008.

SABMiller subsequently sold the company to Anheuser-Busch InBev and in April 2016, the latter accepted Asahi Group Holdings Ltd.'s offer to buy not only Grolsch but also the Peroni and Meantime beer brands for €2.55 billion (US $2.9 billion).

International market
Grolsch is the 21st largest provider of beer in the world, and is available in 70 countries. Grolsch focuses primarily on the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. These primary markets make up 78 per cent of Grolsch's international sales (by volume). Grolsch Premium Pilsner is by far the most important beer in its international profile, while its Amsterdam brand grew by 40 per cent in 2006, primarily in Russia and France.

For 25 years Grolsch Premium Pilsner was brewed under licence in the UK by Grolsch (UK) Ltd., a joint venture with Coors Brewers Ltd until November 2019. It was no longer available in the UK after Asahi ended the JV. However, it was reintroduced into the UK in late October 2020 with a lower ABV recipe at 4%.

In 2002, the Canadian Sleeman Breweries purchased the rights to distribute Grolsch in Canada.

United States
In 2006, Grolsch ended its five-year relationship with importer United States Beverage, LLC, and signed a distribution agreement with Anheuser-Busch effective 1 April 2006, which was terminated following the SABMiller acquisition as A-B did not want to promote a rival's product.

Five beers are featured in the US market: Grolsch Lager, Grolsch Amber, Grolsch Blonde and Grolsch Light. Grolsch Premium Pilsner is available in a wide variety of serving sizes, including swing-top bottles, mini-kegs and half-barrels. The others have only been confirmed available in 6 pack, 12 oz bottles.

The brewery
Though built as a secondary facility, the Enschede brewery over the years became the main producer of Grolsch. This brewery was heavily damaged during a fireworks explosion on 13 May 2000. The brewery in Groenlo has closed and a new brewery in Boekelo, near Enschede (replacing both the Groenlo and the old Enschede affiliate) was opened in 2004.

To underline their ties with Enschede and the whole region Grolsch signed a deal with professional football club FC Twente to sponsor their stadium starting the 2008–2009 season. The stadium is named De Grolsch Veste (Grolsch Fortress), a reference to the history of fortified city Grol, the hometown of Grolsch.

Price fixing conviction
On 18 April 2007, the European Commission imposed fines on Heineken International of €219.3m, Grolsch of €31.65m and Bavaria of €22.85m for operating a price-fixing cartel in the Netherlands, totalling €273.7m. InBev, (formerly Interbrew), escaped without a penalty because it provided "decisive information" about the cartel which operated between 1996 and 1999 with others in the EU market. The brewers controlled 95% of the Dutch market, with Heineken claiming a half and the three others 15% each.

Former EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said, at the time, that she was "very disappointed" that the collusion took place at the very highest (boardroom) level. She added, Heineken, Grolsch, Bavaria and InBev tried to cover their tracks by using code names and abbreviations for secret meetings to carve up the market for beer sold to supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and cafes. The price fixing extended to cheaper own-brand labels and rebates for bars. This is simply unacceptable: that major beer suppliers colluded to up prices and to carve up markets among themselves

Beers
Grolsch produces a range of mainly pale lager beers from alcohol free to 11.6% abv:

 * Grolsch Premium Pilsner - Known internationally as Grolsch Premium Lager, is its flagship beer and comprises 95% of all sales. It contains 5.0% abv.
 * Grolsch Premium Blond - Blond is a lighter version of the Pilsner, with 30 per cent fewer calories and 4% abv.
 * Grolsch Premium Light - A light version of the Pilsner with 3.7% abv, available only in the United States.
 * Grolsch Premium Weizen - A traditional hefeweizen brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot. It finishes soft and wet and has 5.5% abv.

Speciality brews:
 * Grolsch Premium Lentebok (6.5% abv)
 * Grolsch Premium Herfstbok (6.5% abv)
 * Grolsch Premium Malt (alcohol free)
 * Grolsch Oud Bruin (2.5% abv)
 * Grolsch Het Kanon (11.6% abv)
 * Grolsch Premium 2.5 (2.5% abv)
 * Grolsch Lemon 2.5 (2.5% abv)
 * Grolsch Cranberry Rosé (5.5% abv)
 * Grolsch Radler (2% abv)

Grolsch also produces the Amsterdam brand of low-priced, mainly strong lagers for the European market. It is also sold in Singapore and Australia.

 * Amsterdam Maximator (11.6% abv)
 * Amsterdam Navigator (8.4% abv)
 * Amsterdam Explorator (6.8% abv)
 * Amsterdam Mariner (4.8% abv)
 * Amsterdam Liberator (alcohol free)

Beugel
In addition to the 'new' bottle, Grolsch uses a distinctively shaped bottle for some of its products, known as de beugel or ' swingtop '. Bottles of this type use a flip-top cap, eliminating the need for an opener. The brown domestic bottle contains 450ml, which is over one-third more than the capacity of the average Dutch beer bottle, while the green export bottle is slightly larger, at 467 mL. In 2008, the brewery introduced a slimmer design that is a consistent 450ml for both the domestic market and export. The new bottles can be opened by hand, using a lever at the side of the bottleneck. The label is applied over the lever in order to make any tampering evident. The top used to be made of porcelain, but is now made of plastic. Bottles with porcelain tops are still in circulation in the Netherlands. They are popular with homebrewers, as they are very robust and can easily be sealed by hand without the expense of new crown seals.

Occasionally Grolsch will use different color bottles, depending on the brew, e.g. the bottle for blonde lager is yellow, while the 2.5 lemon variety came in a clear 250 mL bottle.

The new bottle
In 2007, Grolsch also started using green bottles for the home market. Grolsch was the first major brewery to stop using the brown refillable bottles which were used by nearly every brewery in the Netherlands. The new green bottles have the Grolsch logo marked in the glass and come in a new package. The label is now placed higher at the neck of the bottle, and the bottles contain 10% more beer (now 330ml). The new bottle was introduced through the slogan 'Bier mag weer gezien worden', which translates roughly as, "Beer that is fit to be seen again." In November 2014, the brewery changed to new, smaller bottles that contain 300 mL for Grolsch Premium Pilsner, Grolsch Stender, Grolsch Radler and Kornuit.

title: Grolsch Brewery


text:
Alos

Alos may refer to:

 * Alos, Greece, an ancient city in Greece
 * Alos, Ariège, a commune of France
 * Alos, Tarn, a commune of France
 * ALOS (health care), an initialism used in managed health care, meaning "average length of stay"
 * Advanced Land Observation Satellite, a Japanese satellite
 * Aloş, a Turkish sculptor

title: Alos


text:
Aulnay-sous-Bois station

Aulnay-sous-Bois station is the major railway station in the town of Aulnay-sous-Bois, in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis). It is on the RER B and the Transilien K lines. The station is also the terminus for tramway T4.

title: Aulnay-sous-Bois station


text:
Fairey Barracuda

The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal.

The Barracuda was developed as a replacement for the Fairey Albacore biplanes. Development was protracted due to the original powerplant intended for the type, the Rolls-Royce Exe, being cancelled. It was replaced by the less powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. On 7 December 1940, the first Fairey prototype conducted its maiden flight. Early testing revealed it to be somewhat underpowered. However, the definitive Barracuda Mk II had a more powerful model of the Merlin engine, while later versions were powered by the larger and even more powerful Rolls-Royce Griffon engine. The type was ordered in bulk to equip the FAA. In addition to Fairey's own production line, Barracudas were also built by Blackburn Aircraft, Boulton Paul, and Westland Aircraft.

The type participated in numerous carrier operations during the conflict, being deployed in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean against the Germans, Italians, and Japanese respectively during the latter half of the war. One of the Barracuda's most noteworthy engagements was a large-scale attack upon the German battleship Tirpitz on 3 April 1944. In addition to the FAA, the Barracuda was also used by the Royal Air Force, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Dutch Naval Aviation Service and the French Air Force. After its withdrawal from service during the 1950s, no intact examples of the Barracuda were preserved despite its once-large numbers, although the Fleet Air Arm Museum has ambitions to assemble a full reproduction.

Background
In 1937 the British Air Ministry issued Specification S.24/37, which sought a monoplane torpedo bomber to satisfy Operational Requirement OR.35. The envisioned aircraft was a three-seater that would possess a high payload capacity and a high maximum speed. Six submissions were received by the Air Ministry, from which the designs of Fairey and Supermarine (Type 322) were selected. A pair of prototypes of each design were ordered. On 7 December 1940, the first Fairey prototype conducted its maiden flight. The Supermarine Type 322 did not fly until 1943 and, as the Barracuda was already in production by then, its development did not progress further.

The Barracuda was a shoulder-wing cantilever monoplane It had a retractable undercarriage and non-retracting tailwheel. The hydraulically-actuated main landing gear struts were of an "L" shape which retracted into a recess in the side of the fuselage and the wing, with the wheels within the wing. A flush arrestor hook was fitted directly ahead of the tail wheel. It was operated by a crew of three, who were seated in a tandem arrangement under a continuous-glazed canopy. The pilot had a sliding canopy while the other two crew members' canopy was hinged. The two rear-crew had alternate locations in the fuselage, the navigator's position having bay windows below the wings for downward visibility. The wings were furnished with large Fairey-Youngman flaps which doubled as dive brakes. Originally fitted with a conventional tail, flight tests suggested that stability would be improved by mounting the stabiliser higher, similar to a T-tail, an arrangement that was implemented on the second prototype. For carrier stowage the wings folded back horizontally at the roots; the small vertical protrusions on the upper wingtips held hooks that attached to the tailplane.

The Barracuda had originally been intended to be powered by the Rolls-Royce Exe X block, sleeve valve engine, but production of this powerplant was problematic and eventually abandoned, which in turn delayed the prototype's trials. Instead, it was decided to adopt the lower-powered 12-cylinder V-type Rolls-Royce Merlin Mark 30 engine (1,260 hp/940 kW) to drive a three-bladed de Havilland propeller and the prototypes eventually flew with this configuration. Experiences gained from the prototype's flight testing, as well as operations with the first production aircraft, designated Barracuda Mk I, revealed the aircraft to be underpowered which apparently resulted from the weight of extra equipment that had been added since the initial design phase. Only 23 Barracuda Mk Is were constructed, including five by Westland Aircraft. These aircraft were only used for trials and conversion training.

Carrier landing the Barracuda was relatively straightforward due to a combination of the powerful flaps/airbrakes fitted to the aircraft and good visibility from the cockpit. Retracting the airbrakes at high speeds whilst simultaneously applying rudder would cause a sudden change in trim, which could throw the aircraft into an inverted dive. Incidents of this occurrence proved fatal on at least five occasions during practice torpedo runs; once the problem was identified, appropriate pilot instructions were issued prior to the aircraft entering carrier service.

Further development
The definitive version of the aircraft was the Barracuda Mk II which had the more powerful 1,640 hp Merlin 32 driving a four-bladed propeller. A total of 1,688 Mk IIs were manufactured by several companies, including Fairey (at Stockport and Ringway) (675), Blackburn Aircraft (700), Boulton Paul (300), and Westland (13). The Barracuda Mk II carried the metric wavelength ASV II (Air to Surface Vessel) radar, with the Yagi-Uda antennae carried above the wings.

The Barracuda Mk III was a Mk II optimised for anti-submarine work; changes included the replacement of the metric wavelength ASV set by a centimetric ASV III variant, the scanner for which was housed in a blister under the rear fuselage. 852 Barracuda Mk IIIs were eventually produced, 460 by Fairey and 392 by Boulton Paul.

The Barracuda Mk IV never left the drawing board. The next and final variant was the Barracuda Mk V, in which the Merlin was replaced with the larger Rolls-Royce Griffon engine. The increased power and torque of the Griffon necessitated various changes, which included the enlargement of the vertical stabiliser and increased wing span with tips being clipped. The first Barracuda Mk V, which was converted from a Mk II, did not fly until 16 November 1944. Fairey had only built 37 aircraft before the war in Europe was over.

Early Merlin 30-powered Barracuda Mk 1s were deemed to be underpowered and suffered from a poor rate of climb, but once airborne the type proved relatively easy to fly. During October 1941, trials of the Barracuda Mk 1 were conducted at RAF Boscombe Down, which found that the aircraft possessed an overall weight of 12,820 lb (5,830 kg) when equipped with 1,566 lb (712 kg) torpedo. At this weight the Mk 1 had a maximum speed of 251 mph (405 km/h) at 10,900 ft, a climb to 15,000 ft took 19.5 minutes, with a maximum climb rate of 925 ft/min (4.7 m/s) at 8,400 ft (2,560 m), and a service ceiling of 19,100 ft.

The later Barracuda Mk II had the more powerful Merlin 32, providing a 400 hp (300 kW) increase in power. During late 1942 testing of the Mk II was performed at RAF Boscombe Down. When flown by naval test pilot Lieutenant Roy Sydney Baker-Falkner at 14,250 lb (6,477 kg) it achieved a climb to 10,000 ft in 13.6 minutes, with a maximum climb rate of 840 ft/min (4.3 m/s) at 5,200 ft and an effective ceiling of 15,000 ft. During June 1943, further testing at Boscombe Down by test pilot Baker-Falkner demonstrated a maximum range while carrying either a 1,630 lb (750 kg) torpedo or a single 2,000 lb bomb (909 kg), of 840 statute miles (1,360 km), and a practical range of 650 statute miles (1,050 km), while carrying 6 x 250 lb (114 kg) bombs reduced the range to 780 miles (1,260 km) and 625 miles (1,010 km), respectively.

During the earlier part of its service life the Barracuda suffered a fairly high rate of unexplained fatal crashes, often involving experienced pilots. Experienced test pilot Baker-Falkner was brought in to address the issues and boost morale amongst operational squadrons. During 1945 the cause was traced to small leaks developing in the hydraulic system. The most common point for such a leak to happen was at the point of entry to the pilot's pressure gauge and was situated such that the resulting spray was directed straight into the pilot's face. The chosen hydraulic fluid contained ether and, as the aircraft were only rarely equipped with oxygen masks and few aircrew wore them below 10,000 ft/3,000 m anyway, the pilot quickly became unconscious during such a leak, inevitably leading to a crash. At the end of May 1945 an Admiralty order was issued that required all examples of the type to be fitted with oxygen as soon as possible, and for pilots to use the system at all times.

British service

The first Barracudas entered operational service on 10 January 1943 with 827 Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) under the command of Lieutenant Commander Roy Sydney Baker-Falkner, the former Admiralty test pilot at RAF Boscombe Down, who were deployed in the North Atlantic. Eventually a total of 24 front-line FAA squadrons were equipped with Barracudas. While intended to principally function as a torpedo bomber, by the time the Barracuda arrived in quantity relatively little Axis-aligned shipping remained, so it was instead largely used as a dive-bomber. From 1944 onwards, the Barracuda Mk II was accompanied in service by radar-equipped, but otherwise similar, Barracuda Mk IIIs; these were typically used to conduct anti-submarine operations.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) also operated the Barracuda Mk II. During 1943 the first of the RAF's aircraft were assigned to No. 567 Sqn., based at RAF Detling. During 1944 similar models went to various squadrons, including 667 Sqn. at RAF Gosport, 679 Sqn. at RAF Ipswich and 691 Sqn. at RAF Roborough. Between March and July 1945 all of the RAF's Barracudas were withdrawn from service.

During July 1943, the Barracuda first saw action with 810 Squadron aboard HMS Illustrious (87) off the coast of Norway; shortly thereafter, the squadron was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea to support the landings at Salerno, a critical element of the Allied invasion of Italy. During the following year, the Barracuda entered service in the Pacific Theatre.

As the only British naval aircraft in service stressed for dive bombing following the retirement of the Blackburn Skua the Barracuda participated in Operation Tungsten, an attack on the GERMAN BATTLESHIP Tirpitz while it was moored in Kåfjord, Alta, Norway. On 3 April 1944, Strike Leader Roy Sydney Baker-Falkner led two Naval Air Wings with a total of 42 aircraft dispatched from British carriers HMS Victorious (R38) and HMS Furious (47) scored 14 direct hits on Tirpitz using a combination of 1,600 lb and 500 lb bombs for the loss of one bomber. This attack damaged Tirpitz, killing 122 of her crew and injuring 316, as well as disabling the ship for over two months during the critical period leading up to the Normandy invasion. However, the slow speed of the Barracudas contributed to the failure of the subsequent Operation Mascot and Operation Goodwood attacks on Tirpitz during July and August of that year, but were effective as diversionary tactics whilst the Normandy landings in Operation Overlord were underway.

On 21 April 1944 Barracudas of No 827 Squadron aboard Illustrious began operations against Japanese forces. The type participated in air raids on Sabang in Sumatra, known as Operation Cockpit. In the Pacific theatre, the Barracuda's performance was considerably reduced by the prevailing high temperatures; reportedly, its combat radius in the Pacific was reduced by as much as 30%. This diminished performance was a factor in the decision to re-equip the torpedo bomber squadrons aboard the fleet carriers of the British Pacific Fleet with American-built Grumman Avengers.

In the Pacific, a major problem hindering the Barracuda was the need to fly over Indonesian mountain ranges to strike at targets located on the eastern side of Java, which necessitated a high-altitude performance that the Barracuda's low-altitude-rated Merlin 32 engine with its single-stage supercharger could not effectively provide. Additionally, the carriage of maximum underwing bomb loads resulted in additional drag, which further reduced performance. However, the Light Fleet Carriers of the 11th ACS (which joined the BPF in June 1945) were all equipped with a single Barracuda and single Corsair squadron; by Victory over Japan Day, the BPF had a total of five Avenger and four Barracuda squadrons embarked on its carriers.

A number of Barracudas participated in trial flights, during which several innovations were tested, including RATOG rockets for boosting takeoff performance (which ended up being regularly used when operating off escort carriers at high weights), and a braking propeller, which slowed the aircraft by reversing the blade pitch.

Following the end of the conflict, the Barracuda was relegated to secondary roles, for the most part being used as a trainer aircraft. The type continued to be operated by FAA squadrons up until the mid-1950s, by which time the type were withdrawn entirely in favour of the Avengers.

Canadian service
On 24 January 1946, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) took delivery of 12 radar-equipped Barracuda Mk II aircraft; this was a Canadian designation, in British service these aircraft were referred to as the Barracuda Mk. III. The first acquired aircraft were assigned to the newly-formed 825 Sqn. aboard aircraft carrier HMCS Warrior. The majority of Canadian aircraft mechanics had served during the war and had been deployed on numerous British aircraft carriers, notably HMS Puncher (D79) and HMS Nabob (D77) which, along with some Canadian pilots, the RCN crewed and operated on behalf of the RN. During 1948, the Warrior was paid off and returned to Britain along with the Barracuda aircraft.

Variants

 * Barracuda: Two prototypes (serial numbers P1767 and P1770) based on the Fairey Type 100 design.
 * Mk I: First production version, Rolls-Royce Merlin 30 engine with 1,260 hp (940 kW), 30 built
 * Mk II: Upgraded Merlin 32 engine with 1,640 hp (1,225 kW), four-bladed propeller, ASV II radar, 1,688 built
 * Mk III: Anti-submarine warfare version of Mk II with ASV III radar in a blister under rear fuselage, 852 built
 * Mk IV: Mk II (number P9976) fitted with a Rolls-Royce Griffon engine with 1,850 hp (1,380 kW), first flight 11 November 1944, abandoned in favour of Fairey Spearfish.
 * Mk V: Griffon 37 engine with 2,020 hp (1,510 kW), payload increased to 2,000 lb (910 kg), ASH radar under the left wing, revised tailfin, 37 built

Operators
 Fleet Air Arm
 * 🇨🇦 Canada
 * Royal Canadian Navy
 * French Air Force - Postwar
 * Dutch Naval Aviation Service in exile in the United Kingdom
 * No.860 Squadron (Dutch) Fleet Air Arms
 * Dutch Naval Aviation Service in exile in the United Kingdom
 * No.860 Squadron (Dutch) Fleet Air Arms

 * 810 Naval Air Squadron
 * 812 Naval Air Squadron
 * 814 Naval Air Squadron
 * 815 Naval Air Squadron
 * 816 Naval Air Squadron
 * 817 Naval Air Squadron
 * 818 Naval Air Squadron
 * 820 Naval Air Squadron
 * 821 Naval Air Squadron
 * 822 Naval Air Squadron
 * 823 Naval Air Squadron
 * 824 Naval Air Squadron
 * 825 Naval Air Squadron
 * 826 Naval Air Squadron
 * 827 Naval Air Squadron
 * 828 Naval Air Squadron
 * 829 Naval Air Squadron
 * 830 Naval Air Squadron
 * 831 Naval Air Squadron
 * 831 Naval Air Squadron
 * 837 Naval Air Squadron
 * 841 Naval Air Squadron
 * 847 Naval Air Squadron
 * 860 Naval Air Squadron
 * 700 Naval Air Squadron
 * 701 Naval Air Squadron
 * 702 Naval Air Squadron
 * 703 Naval Air Squadron
 * 705 Naval Air Squadron
 * 706 Naval Air Squadron
 * 707 Naval Air Squadron
 * 710 Naval Air Squadron
 * 711 Naval Air Squadron
 * 713 Naval Air Squadron
 * 714 Naval Air Squadron
 * 716 Naval Air Squadron
 * 717 Naval Air Squadron
 * 719 Naval Air Squadron
 * 731 Naval Air Squadron
 * 733 Naval Air Squadron
 * 735 Naval Air Squadron
 * 736 Naval Air Squadron
 * 737 Naval Air Squadron
 * 744 Naval Air Squadron
 * 747 Naval Air Squadron
 * 750 Naval Air Squadron
 * 753 Naval Air Squadron
 * 756 Naval Air Squadron
 * 764 Naval Air Squadron
 * 767 Naval Air Squadron
 * 768 Naval Air Squadron
 * 769 Naval Air Squadron
 * 774 Naval Air Squadron
 * 778 Naval Air Squadron
 * 783 Naval Air Squadron
 * 785 Naval Air Squadron
 * 786 Naval Air Squadron
 * 787 Naval Air Squadron
 * 796 Naval Air Squadron
 * 798 Naval Air Squadron
 * 799 Naval Air Squadron

 Royal Air Force
 * No. 567 Squadron RAF
 * No. 618 Squadron RAF
 * No. 667 Squadron RAF
 * No. 679 Squadron RAF
 * No. 691 Squadron RAF

Surviving aircraft
Over 2,500 Barracudas were delivered to the FAA, more than any other type ordered by the Royal Navy at that date. However, unlike numerous other aircraft of its era, none were retained for posterity and no complete examples of the aircraft exist today.

Since the early 1970s, the Fleet Air Arm Museum has been collecting Barracuda components from a wide variety of sources throughout the British Isles; it has the long-term aim of rebuilding an example. In 2010, help was sought from the team rebuilding Donald Campbell's record-breaking speed boat, Bluebird, as the processes and skills involved were related to those needed to recreating the aircraft from the crashed remains, so between May 2013 and February 2015 'The Barracuda Project' operated as a sister project to the Bluebird rebuild. The tail section of LS931 was reconstructed using only original material. During September 2014, the wreckage of a rear fuselage was delivered to the workshops to undergo the same processes. In February 2015, the Barracuda sections were transported back to the Fleet Air Arm Museum, where the work continues.

During 2018 the wreckage of a Fairey Barracuda was discovered by engineers surveying the seabed for an electricity cable between England and France. According to Wessex Archaeology it is the only example of the type to have ever been found in one piece and represents the last of its kind in the UK. During 2019 the wreckage was successfully recovered and it was intended at that time to be reassembled and transported to the Fleet Air Arm Museum for preservation.

As of November 2023, the Fleet Air Arm Museum is running a project, including online content to rebuild a Barracuda based on DP872, a Barracuda Mk II built by Boulton Paul in 1943. The project is expected to take 10 years and although based on DP872, will use parts from at least 4 other aircraft, LS931, DR306, MD956 and PM870.

DP872 crashed on 29 August 1944 shortly after takeoff from RNAS Maydown (HMS Shrike) in Northern Ireland. The recovery crew arrived promptly but found the aircraft already sinking in a bog, Blackhead Moss, about 5 miles from the airfield and were unable to recover the crew of 3 before the aircraft sank. The remains of the aircraft were recovered in 1971 and stored at the Fleet Air Arm Museum store in Wroughton, Wiltshire.

title: Fairey Barracuda


text:
User:User9669

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title: User:User9669


text:
Toronto Zoo

The Toronto Zoo is a zoo located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Encompassing 287 ha, the Toronto Zoo is the largest zoo in Canada averaging around 1.2 million visitors a year. The zoo is divided into seven zoogeographic regions: Indo-Malaya, Africa, Americas, Tundra Trek, Australasia, Eurasia, and the Canadian Domain. Some animals are displayed indoors in pavilions and outdoors in what would be their naturalistic environments, with viewing at many levels. The zoo also has areas such as the Kids Zoo, Waterside Theatre, and Splash Island. The zoo has one of the most taxonomically diverse collection of animals on display of any zoo worldwide and is currently home to over 3,000 animals (including invertebrates and fish) representing over 300 species. The zoo is open to the public every day of the year.

The zoo is a corporation owned by the municipal government of Toronto. Founded by Hugh A. Crothers and business partner, John Cameron Egan, who became the first Chairman of the Metro Toronto Zoological Society in 1966, the zoo opened on August 15, 1974, as the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo. The word "Metropolitan" was dropped from its name when the individual municipalities that made up the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto were amalgamated into the current city in 1998. The zoo is located near the Rouge River on the western border of Rouge Park in the city's east end district of Scarborough.

Predecessor
Around 1880, businessman Harry L. Piper (1839–1921) established a Zoological and Acclimatization Society (also as Toronto Zoological Garden) and opened a zoological garden at Old Post Office Lane at Toronto Street north of King Street East, then in 1881 to a lot at Front Street and York Street next to the Queen's Hotel and finally to the eastern end of the Exhibition Grounds in 1885. Piper was also Alderman for St. John's Ward from 1877 to 1880 and 1883 to 1888. In 1888, the Riverdale Zoo opened in Toronto, as a typical example of a zoo during this time, with animals displayed as curiosities in dark cages and cramped enclosures. Animals for Piper's zoo moved to this site.

In 1963, a private citizen's brief to build a new zoo was introduced by Hugh Crothers to the Chairman of the Council of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, William Allen. Allen asked Crothers to head up a committee to investigate the feasibility of a new zoo. By 1966, a group of eleven people became The Metro Toronto Zoological Society with Crothers as the first chairman.

Original plans were to have the park be located in the Leaside area, but the site was later used to create the E.T. Seton Park and the Ontario Science Centre. In 1966, Mr. Crothers and the 10 other citizens met at City Hall to form the Metropolitan Toronto Zoological Society. In 1967, the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (Metro Toronto) approved the Rouge Park site in Scarborough for a new zoo. The following year, a feasibility study on the new zoo was produced by architect Raymond Moriyama. In 1969, a master plan was created by Johnson Sustronk Weinstein and Associates that was approved by the Zoological Society. Construction of the new zoo began in 1970. On August 15, 1974, the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo was open to the public. The zoo increased from the original Riverdale Zoo's 3 ha to 287 ha, and is now one of the largest zoos in the world. The Zoo introduced some designs to enhance the public's viewing experience and the animals' living comfort. Animals were displayed in naturalized environments and grouped according to their zoogeographic region. The old zoo was converted into an urban farm called Riverdale Farm, which opened in 1978.

Since opening
In 1976, the Zoo opened the Canadian Domain Ride, a monorail-like automated guideway transit service that travelled into the Zoo's Canadian Domain area, located in the Rouge Valley. The ride's operations were placed on hold in July 1994 after an accident. The monorail has since been mothballed with many sections becoming overgrown with vegetation. A 2009 study determined it would cost upwards of $800,000 to return the infrastructure to use and upgrade it to current standards. A fundraising drive was started in 2010 and has since raised $1.15 million. In the interim, the current Zoomobile uses five (4-car set) Chance Coach Sunliner trams.

Between 1980 and 1984, several new exhibits were added to the zoo, including snow leopards, gaur, a children's zoo (Littlefootland), and a new indoor habitat for African elephants, and the Indian Rhinoceros Pavilion, as well as the official opening of the Zoomobile.

In 1985, Qing Qing and Quan Quan – a pair of giant pandas, on loan for three months from the People's Republic of China, were displayed at the Zoo. The Zoo broke all previous attendance records as thousands of visitors came to see these rare animals. Over the years, the Zoo has presented other rare or unusual animals, including golden monkeys (1986), koalas (1988, 1996, 2002), Tasmanian devils (the late 1970s until 1998), and white lions (1995, 2012 onwards).

In 1987, the zoo rebranded the South American Waterfall area as the Maya Temple Ruin exhibits, featuring some architectural decor. Animals such as capybaras, jaguars and spider monkeys remained while llamas and similar animals were relocated. In 1988, the zoo completed new reptile exhibits in the Australasia Pavilion, the spotted-necked otter exhibit in the Africa Pavilion, and the Primate Wing in the Americas Pavilion.

The Malayan Woods Pavilion opened in 1983. The Sumatran tigers arrived in 1994. Naked mole-rats went on exhibit in 1996. Komodo dragons become a feature exhibit in 1997.

In 1997, zoo workers went on strike for nine weeks, however, the zoo remained open. After the strike, they signed a minimum compliment contract.

In 1998, with the amalgamation of the individual municipalities that made up Metro Toronto, the Zoo was officially renamed the Toronto Zoo. That same year, the Zoo opened the Africa Savanna, the largest expansion in its history.

2000s
In 2001, the zoo remodeled half of the Africa Pavilion into the Gorilla Rainforest, featuring the world's largest indoor habitat for western lowland gorillas, as well as a giant fish tank for Lake Malawi cichlids. The zoo's Splash Island, an educationally themed water play area, opened in 2002. This was followed by an open-air amphitheatre in 2003 and the Kids Zoo in 2004.

While the SARS outbreak in 2003 had a devastating effect on the tourism industry in Toronto, the Zoo fared well with local residents supporting the zoo by visiting often. The Zoo's attendance has recovered well with many record-breaking annual attendance numbers since then, with the exception of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In November 2006, the Toronto Zoo temporarily closed the Australasia Pavilion for redevelopment. The pavilion underwent two years of construction, resulting in new exhibits including a Great Barrier Reef area in the location of the former Edge of Night area. The Great Barrier Reef exhibit consists of a large 7 m long community tank featuring brownbanded bamboo sharks, damselfish, and triggerfish. Lionfish were also added, as well as enlarged seahorse tanks, sea anemones and moon jellyfish. The exhibit opened on May 16, 2008, alongside the reopening of the Australasia Pavilion.

In May 2007, Dinosaurs Alive opened, which featured 18 animated dinosaur models and life-size skeleton replicas. It featured the largest T-Rex model in North America. This exhibit was enjoyed by over 600,000 visitors and was included with zoo admission. The exhibit closed in October 2007.

On August 21, 2007, the polar bear, llama, Dall sheep and mara exhibits were closed for the construction of the new 10 acre Tundra Trek area. Tundra Trek featured new exhibits for the polar bears, reindeer, and Arctic wolves, as well as new additions to the zoo, such as Arctic foxes, snow geese and snowy owls. Returning to the zoo to take up residence in the new polar bear exhibit were three orphaned polar bears initially raised at the zoo and named by the community: Aurora, Nikita, and Inukshuk. The Tundra Trek opened on August 1, 2009.

On May 16, 2008, Stingray Bay opened for the first time. This interactive exhibit allowed the public to touch, feel, and feed live stingrays. The exhibit returned to the zoo on a regular basis but closed permanently on October 8, 2012, to make room for the Giant Panda Research Center. In September 2008, the Toronto Zoo Board approved a motion to dissolve the Toronto Zoo Foundation and bring fundraising and development in-house. All parties agreed to the transfer of existing donor funds to the Toronto Community Foundation.

On August 15, 2009, the Toronto Zoo celebrated its 35-year anniversary. During that weekend, the public got to learn about some of the zoo's oldest residents, including Marg the demoiselle crane and Monty the West African dwarf crocodile.

On September 9, 2009, the south side of the African Rainforest Pavilion was closed for construction. The pavilion opened in early 2011, with new exhibits for pygmy hippos, red river hogs, an African softshell turtle, and ring-tailed lemurs replacing the mandrills, as well as a variety of exhibits for fish and reptiles.

2010s
The Frank Schofield Memorial / Asian Gardens opened the first phase in June 2010 and includes a statue erected in Schofield's honour.

On May 21, 2011, the black-footed penguin exhibit opened to the public. This exhibit once housed South African fur seals and was closed in 2010 and modified to house the black-footed penguins.

In 2011, the city started looking at the process of selling the zoo to a third party after Toronto Mayor Rob Ford claimed there were many interested buyers. This process was short-lived with the city later deciding the zoo will remain an entity of the city.

In April 2012, the zoo lost its accreditation in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums due to a disagreement regarding sending its three elephants to PAWS, an animal sanctuary in California that is not AZA-accredited. The zoo began looking for a new accredited home for its elephants in October 2011, but the Toronto city council voted to send the elephants to California instead, ignoring the recommendations of the zoo's professional staff. The zoo re-applied for AZA accreditation in March 2013, and they later returned to the AZA program. The three elephants were transported to the PAWS sanctuary in California on October 16, 2013.

In 2012, on a trade mission to China, it was announced that the Toronto Zoo and the Calgary Zoo would be lent two giant pandas from China for the span of ten years, with the pandas splitting the time equally between the two facilities. The pandas, named Er Shun and Da Mao, arrived at the Toronto Zoo on Monday, March 25, 2013, greeted by prime minister Stephen Harper. Their exhibit opened on May 18, 2013. The pandas originated from the Chongqing Zoo and Chengdu Panda Base. In October 2015, Er Shun gave birth to twin cubs named Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue. The exhibit closed on March 18, 2018, when the pandas were moved to the Calgary Zoo. In December 2014, the renovated Eurasia area, renamed the Eurasia Wilds, opened, featuring a new aviary with Eurasian eagle-owls and Steller's sea eagles and a new exhibit for the snow leopards.

In April 2016, plans to install a maglev operation to replace the Zoo Domain Ride surfaced. Plans have been confirmed in November 2018 with the consortium (which includes Magna International and Lockheed Martin) paying for construction and the first 15 years of operation.

On May 11, 2017, over 400 employees went on strike, and zoo management decided to close the zoo, due to job security negotiations falling out, though conservation programs continued. During the strike, three snow leopard cubs, two clouded leopard cubs, five cheetah cubs, and three Vancouver Island marmot pups were born. The strike ended on June 15, 2017, after the Union and Zoo Board of Management signed and ratified a four-year agreement.

In December 2019, the zoo opened an after-hours night walk experience called Terra Lumina, in partnership with Montréal-based company Moment Factory. The experience is designed as a hypothetical look into the year 2099, showing positive change having occurred in the world as humanity made changes in the decades between now and then to respect and live in harmony with wildlife, with strong indigenous influences. The experience closed early on March 14, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed on August 14, 2020.

2020s
The Toronto Zoo closed to all visitors starting March 14, 2020, due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. Essential zoo staff remained on-site during the closure to continue caring for the animals. During this closure, a Masai giraffe calf was born. The zoo reopened as a drive-through experience beginning May 23, 2020, and began re-admitting walkthrough guests beginning July 4, 2020, with the drive-through experience continuing to run until October 5, 2020. The zoo closed to visitors once again starting November 23, 2020, due to the second lockdown of the Greater Toronto Area, and reopened June 12, 2021. The zoo implemented a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy starting October 25, 2021, which requires all staff and visitors aged 12 years and older to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and to show their proof-of-vaccination documents in order to enter the entire Zoo grounds. The zoo closed for a third time on January 5, 2022, due to growing concerns around the COVID-19 Omicron variant, and reopened on February 10, 2022.

In June 2023, the zoo opened an outdoor habitat for the Sumatran orangutans, marking the first time at the zoo that the species would be viewable outside of the Indo-Malaya Pavilion.

In late 2023, extensive renovations on the main entrance began, with plans set for it to become a "Conservation Campus" featuring a new exhibit for the zoo's North American river otters as well as updated guest services buildings and research facilities.

Exhibits
The Toronto Zoo is divided up into seven different geographic regions. Each region showcases animals and plants from that area of the world.

Indo-Malaya
The Indo-Malayan area contains an outdoor area, as well as a pavilion that exhibits plants and animals from South and Southeast Asia. Featured animals in this area include Indian rhinoceroses, babirusas, Indian peafowl, Sumatran orangutans, great hornbills, false gharials, reticulated pythons, Sumatran tigers, clouded leopards, and white-handed gibbons.

Species previously held in the Indo-Malaya section include gaur and Malayan tapirs.

In 2023, the zoo completed construction on a large outdoor orangutan exhibit on the site of the gaur habitat that allowed for further study of orangutan social behaviours.

Africa
Opened in 1998, the African Savanna became the zoo's largest expansion in history. The African Savanna combined with the African Rainforest Pavilion encompasses most of the southern third of the zoo. The African Savanna featured species include white lions, Grévy's zebras, olive baboons, greater kudus, a white-headed vulture, cheetahs, southern white rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, spotted hyenas, watusi cattle, warthogs, elands, African penguins and Masai giraffes.

The African Rainforest Pavilion holds the world's largest indoor gorilla exhibit, home to Charles, as well as dozens of other African species, including meerkats, red river hogs, dwarf crocodiles, and pygmy hippopotamuses. The south side of the pavilion was completely refurbished in 2011 and showcases ring-tailed lemurs and Aldabra giant tortoises.

Species previously held in the Africa section include African elephants, mandrills, sable antelopes, caracals, spotted-necked otters and South African fur seals.

Canadian Domain
The Canadian Domain is situated in the Rouge Valley. The Canadian Domain was built in accompaniment with the Canadian Domain Ride, which exhibited North American animals in their native environment. Featured species in this area include wood bison, moose, cougars, bald eagles, raccoons, and grizzly bears.

Species previously held in the Canadian Domain section include muskoxen, elk and Canada lynxes.

Americas
This area of the zoo houses animals from both North and South America. The Americas Pavilion displays a wide variety of New World monkeys, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and insects. Some of its most popular residents are the white-faced sakis, golden lion tamarins, two-toed sloths, American alligators, black-footed ferrets, and river otters. The Mayan Temple Ruins subsection features capybaras, blue-and-yellow macaws, American flamingos and jaguars.

Species previously held in the Americas section include black-handed spider monkeys, giant Pacific octopuses, prehensile-tailed porcupines, llamas, dall sheep, and maras.

Tundra Trek
The Tundra Trek opened in 2009, taking over land that used to feature several Americas exhibits. This area became the sixth region of the zoo, and showcases a variety of Arctic animals including porcupine caribou, polar bears, snow geese, and Arctic wolves. The new state-of-the-art exhibits are larger in order to encourage breeding. Educational theming emphasizes the lives of the Inuit and the effects of climate change on wildlife.

Species previously held in the Tundra Trek section include Arctic foxes and snowy owls.

Australasia
The Australasia Pavilion features animals from the Australian mainland, as well as surrounding islands. Featured species in this area include Western grey kangaroos, red-necked wallabies, short-beaked echidnas, southern hairy-nosed wombats, kookaburras, Victoria crowned pigeons, Fly River turtles, Lau banded iguanas and Komodo dragons. This pavilion once had an "Edge of Night" section to highlight crepuscular and nocturnal marsupials, but this was later converted into the Great Barrier Reef exhibit featuring pot-bellied seahorses, moon jellyfish, lionfish, clown triggerfish, and a 7 m long community tank.

Species previously held in the Australasia section include koalas, Matschie's tree kangaroos, emus and Tasmanian devils.

Eurasia Wilds
Often regarded as the oldest part of the zoo, Eurasia received a large overhaul in 2014. The featured species in this section of the zoo are snow leopards, Amur tigers, West Caucasian tur, mouflon, red pandas, and Bactrian camels. With the area's redesign to the Eurasia Wilds Steller's sea eagles were added; while several other species are now only viewable from the Zoomobile, including lion-tailed macaques, yak, and the herd of Przewalski's horses.

Species previously held in the Eurasia section include scimitar oryxes, wisents, dholes, chamois, and Japanese macaques.

From May 18, 2013, to March 18, 2018, the area included two giant pandas: Er Shun (female) and Da Mao (male). With the pandas' arrival, the zoo has refurbished its seasonal attraction area into an extensive educational centre – the Giant Panda Interpretive Centre. In 2014, after her first estrus, Er Shun was artificially inseminated – the first such procedure performed on a panda in Canada. No baby was born in 2014 and it was believed that Er Shun experienced a pseudopregnancy, a phenomenon common in giant pandas. In 2015, Er Shun was again artificially inseminated, resulting in the first birth of giant pandas in Canada. Twin cubs, one male (later named "Jia Panpan" indicating "Canadian Hope") and one female ("Jia Yueyue" indicating "Canadian Joy"), were born on October 13, 2015. The cubs were raised by Er Shun, with "twin swapping" occurring through the first four months of their lives until they were large and healthy enough that zoo staff were confident of their survival.

Discovery Zone
The Discovery Zone is geared towards children by featuring educational themes and exhibits. The most prominent area is a children's water park, Splash Island, which features landscaping and themed objects depicting the three states of water. Exhibits are grouped around various themed groups of aquatic animals, including rivers, lakes, and oceans. Waterside Theatre is an open-air enclosure where live demonstrations of a variety of animals are shown, including goats, grey crowned cranes, ravens, macaws, and ground hornbills. A third area, the Kids Zoo, consists of a variety of animals that children can interact with, such as ferrets, skunks, and Eurasian eagle-owls. The Discovery Zone also hosted Dinosaurs Alive and the Stingray Bay exhibit for their respective durations.

Conservation
The Toronto Zoo makes considerable effort to conserve endangered species from around the world with the help of other accredited zoos. Captive breeding is often considered one of the most difficult and elusive rewards of captive animal care, but the Toronto Zoo's efforts have been met with much success, and even resulted in the re-introduction of many species.

Some of the conservation initiatives that the Toronto Zoo has participated in are as follows:
 * The Toronto Zoo was the first zoo to establish a captive-breeding program for black-footed ferrets with the goal of releasing them back into their wild habitat and, after years of successful breeding, had released more than 120 animals by 2011. This included re-introducing the ferrets, which had been extinct in the wild, to Saskatchewan's Grasslands National Park beginning in 2009.
 * The zoo has rescued orphaned polar bears from the wild: two in 2001, later named Aurora and Nikita and one in 2003, later named Inukshuk after the Inuit wayfinding landmark.
 * In 2008, the Toronto Zoo participated in 2008 Year of the Frog, where researchers were sent to study a deadly fungus causing problems to amphibians and reptiles worldwide.
 * The Toronto Zoo has acted and continues to act in the captive breeding, and re-introduction into the wild of critically endangered and otherwise threatened Canadian species, including the Vancouver Island marmot, loggerhead shrike, and Blanding's turtle, as well as Great Lakes fishes. The zoo also runs a program for habitat preservation within the Great Lakes Region, focusing on the protection of endemic species of freshwater mussels. In the past, the zoo contributed heavily to increasing the numbers of threatened species, including the wood bison and the trumpeter swan.
 * The Toronto Zoo has actively contributed to international conservation efforts and reintroduction programs, including for the Puerto Rican crested toad, and for fish in the African Great Lakes (including the Singidia tilapia, or ngege).
 * The zoo has bred additional rare Ontario species such as the redside dace and eastern massasauga rattlesnake.
 * One zoo staff member has been key in preservation of critically endangered Malagasy freshwater fish species, both at the zoo and in Madagascar.

The Toronto Zoo has been collecting and recycling cell phones since 2006. In 2010, it was awarded the distinction of being the top cell phone recycler out of the Eco-Cell's 175 participating wildlife organizations in North America. Other participating wildlife organizations include the San Diego Zoo and the Philadelphia Zoo. Coltan is a mineral ore mined and refined in central Africa for metals used in the electronics industry. This unregulated mining industry has a dramatic impact on the region's biodiversity. Recycling cell phones helps to preserve the critical Lowland gorilla rainforest habitat in Africa by decreasing the demand for these minerals. This is of particular interest to the Toronto Zoo as its gorilla habitat has expanded with the addition of a newly born baby gorilla. The Toronto Zoo's cell phone recycling program is composed of two parts: Retrocell is the zoo's official cell phone refurbisher and the Ontario Electronic Stewardship Program processes the remainder of the phones that are collected by the Toronto Zoo.

In addition, the Toronto Zoo also participates in, and has been a key centre for, the Species Survival Plans of dozens of species, maintaining healthy captive populations of animals which may one-day be re-introduced to their former homes. Some notable SSP species the zoo has successfully bred over the years include the western lowland gorilla, Sumatran orangutan, golden lion tamarin, Sumatran tiger, Amur tiger, snow leopard, cheetah, Przewalski's horse, Indian rhinoceros, Matschie's tree-kangaroo, African penguin, and Komodo dragon. The Toronto Zoo has bred hundreds of species, with many of these breedings being firsts for Canada, North America, and even the world.

Notable births and hatches
In 2003, a Komodo dragon was hatched for the first time in Canada.

In 2004, two female West African dwarf crocodiles successfully hatched on October 1, the first hatching of this species in Canada.

Three Sumatran tigers were born at the zoo to parents Brytne and Rengat in 2003, and two more were born in 2006.

In 2006, three orangutans were born and named Jingga, Kembali, and Budi through a TVOKids naming contest.

In 2006, a Matschie's tree kangaroo was born, one of three born in North America in 2006. Later named Noru, it was sent to the Lincoln Zoo, and was paired with a mate named Milla who gave birth to twins – a first for this species.

On June 5, 2007, two rare snow leopards were born, the first birth in thirteen years. Another snow leopard was born in 2009, alongside three more in 2017, and two more in 2024.

Two Przewalski's horses, one male and one female, were born on June 22, 2007, the first birth in fifteen years. The zoo also successfully bred Przewalski's horses in 2008, 2009 and 2020.

The zoo has also been very successful in breeding Bactrian camels, the most recent birth coming in 2023.

In July 2015, two wood bison calves were born as the result of artificial insemination using frozen-thawed sperm that had been collected from a male wood bison in Elk Island, Alberta, in 1980.

Through the weekend of September 26–27, 2015, the zoo's white lioness Makali gave birth to four cubs: the first pure-bred white lions born at the Toronto Zoo.

On October 13, 2015, Er Shun, the visiting female giant panda, gave birth to two cubs. This was the first successful reproduction of giant pandas in Canada. A male, later named Jia Panpan, was born at 3:31 AM with a weight 187.7 g, while the other, a female, later named Jia Yueyue, was born at 3:44 AM and weighed 115 g. Their sexes were unknown during the first few months of their lives, being determined in February 2016. The cubs were kept off display until the age of 5 months. In March 2016, the cubs were given the names Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue to signify Canadian hope and Canadian joy, respectively, and revealed to the public before the March Break of that year.

On Remembrance Day (November 11) of 2015, a female polar bear named Juno was born to mother, Aurora.

On February 17, 2016, 11-year-old Indian rhinoceros Ashakiran, on loan from the Los Angeles Zoo, gave birth to a male named Nandu. With fewer than 3,555 left in the wild, Indian rhinos are classified as a vulnerable species.

In May 2017, the Toronto Zoo had its first births of clouded leopards to mom, Parvati, and dad, Mingma.

On July 17, 2017, a wood bison calf was born at the Toronto Zoo as a result of embryo transfer from a bison at the University of Saskatchewan.

On May 1, 2021, three Amur tiger cubs were born to mom, Mayzira, with one surviving.

On June 13th, 2024, two Red panda cubs were born to mom, Sakura.

Scientific contributions
The Toronto Zoo has conducted extensive reproduction research on wood bison (Bison bison athabascae), in an effort to find means of supporting wild populations in northwestern Canada which may be reproductively compromised due to disease. In July 2015, two wood bison calves were born as the result of artificial insemination using frozen-thawed sperm that had been collected from a male wood bison in Elk Island, Alberta, in 1980. On July 17, 2017, a wood bison calf was born at the Toronto Zoo as a result of embryo transfer from a bison at the University of Saskatchewan.

Controversies
On November 30, 2009, Tara, the zoo's largest African elephant, died. She was found lying down when staff arrived in the morning and was unable to be raised to her feet. Tara was the third elephant in 14 months to die at the zoo and the fourth in three years.

Elephant deaths preceding Tara's:
 * June 2009: Tessa was knocked to the ground by another elephant, unable to stand unassisted after being raised to her feet by staff and equipment.
 * September 2008: Tequila, cause of death not released.
 * July 2006: Patsy was euthanized due to long-term degenerative arthritis

In the days following Tara's death, both Zoocheck Canada and U.S.-based In Defence of Animals, as well as game show host Bob Barker of The Price is Right fame, called for the zoo to close the exhibit and send the remaining three elephants to a sanctuary. Toronto City Council endorsed this highly controversial decision. In September 2013, plans were finalized to move Toka, Thika and Iringa to a sanctuary in California in October 2013. The three elephants were transported on land during a 50-hour-long drive with stopovers. Iringa died on July 22, 2015, at the sanctuary in California.

Media

 * Zoo Diaries was a Canadian documentary television series which aired on Life Network. Its focus was on the relationship between the animals and their keepers, allowing viewers to experience what it is like to bond with some of the world's most exotic creatures. There have been 74 episodes produced since 2000 by DocuTainment Productions. The first two seasons of the show were also released on DVD/VHS.
 * Undercover Boss Canada took place in 2011 and was filmed at the Toronto Zoo with the CEO.
 * Rick Mercer Report featured Canadian comedian Rick Mercer at the Toronto Zoo in 2008 and early 2016 with Mercer visiting the pandas.
 * Multiple YouTube videos released by the zoo have gone viral, being shared by news agencies and social media sites to millions of viewers around the world. Notably, videos of visiting giant panda Da Mao have received significant attention.
 * The Zoo began releasing the Wild for Life podcast in early 2019 sharing interviews with staff on the behind-the-scenes conservation, animal care and research work done by the facility.

title: Toronto Zoo