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Ventspils

Ventspils is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country.

At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It is situated on the Venta River and the Baltic Sea, and has an ice-free port. The city's name literally means "castle on the Venta", referring to the Livonian Order's castle built alongside the Venta River.

Other names
Ventspils was historically known as Windau in German.

It had a Russian name from the time of the Russian Empire, called Виндава (Vindava) or Виндау (Vindau), although Вентспилс (Ventspils) has been used since World War II.

Some other names for the city include Vǟnta, Estonian: Vindavi, and Windawa.

History
Ventspils developed around the Livonian Order Ventspils Castle, built along the Venta River. It was chartered in 1314 and became an important mercantile city of the Hanseatic League.

As part of the Duchy of Courland, Ventspils blossomed as a shipbuilding centre. 44 warships and 79 trading ships were built in the town, and it was from Ventspils that the Duke's fleet set out to colonize Gambia and Tobago. Metal, amber, and wood-working shops also became important to the city's development. During the Polish-Swedish War and the Great Northern War, Ventspils was destroyed, and in 1711 a plague wiped out most of the remaining inhabitants. After the Third Partition of Poland in 1795 Ventspils fell under the control of Russian Empire.

It was not until about 1850 that shipbuilding and trade became important again. The port was modernized in the 1890s and connected to Moscow by rail. It became one of Imperial Russia's most profitable ports, by 1913 turning a yearly profit of 130 million rubles. The population soared as well, growing from 7,000 in 1897, to 29,000 in 1913.

During the German occupation from 1915 to 1919, the population decreased almost by half, though some returned home during the First Republic of Latvia (1918–1940).

In 1939, the Red Army established a base in Ventspils. During World War II, the city was under Soviet occupation from 1940, and then under German occupation from 1941 to 1944. Under Soviet rule, an oil pipeline was built to Ventspils, and became the USSR's leading port in crude oil export. 30 km north of Ventspils is the ex-Soviet radioastronomy installation VIRAC (Ventspils Starptautiskais radioastronomijas centrs or Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre). The existence of the Centrs was unknown to most Latvians until 1994. After independence, the Latvian government began a city-beautification process to make the city more attractive to tourists.

In 2004, Ventspils was a host city for a multi-national (United States, United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden, Russia, Latvia, Denmark, Finland, Norway) naval exercise called Baltic Operations XXXIII (BALTOPS). The force was led by the guided missile cruiser USS Anzio and the destroyer USS Cole (DDG-67). The US vessels were the first American warships to visit the port of Ventspils since Latvian independence was declared.

Climate
Ventspils is in the transition zone between an oceanic climate and a humid continental climate (Cfb and Dfb in the Köppen climate classification) with winters just below freezing point and warm summers. Ventspils holds the national record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Latvia with 37.8 °C on 4 August 2014.

Demography
At the beginning of 2017, Ventspils had an official population of 39,447 (54.3% of them were women compared with 45.7% men).

63% of Ventspils population (24,762 people) are 15–62 years old, 14.3% (5,647 people) are 0–14 years old, and 22.6% (8,877 people) are 62 years and over.

Population of Ventspils according to ethnic group:

Education
Institutions of higher education and science include:
 * Ventspils University College
 * Riga Technical University, Ventspils branch
 * Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy, Ventspils branch
 * College of Law, Ventspils branch

Economy
Ventspils is situated at the mouth of the Venta River, where it empties into the Baltic Sea, and is an important ice-free port. Large amounts of oil and other mineral resources from Russia are loaded aboard ships at Ventspils. Ventspils Airport, one of the three international airports in Latvia, is located in the city. Ventspils High Technology Park provides infrastructure and services to IT and electronics companies.

Culture
Every winter Ventspils hosts the awarding ceremony of the Latvian Radio broadcast Musical Bank and the televised national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. On the second weekend of July the Sea Festival takes place, and on the first weekend of August there is an annual city festival for the city birthday. Festivals Ghetto games and Vakara pastaiga are popular.

There are several institutions taking responsibility for the cultural life of Ventspils, including:
 * The Theatre House "Juras varti" presents professional performing arts of various genres.
 * The Ventspils Museum is engaged in the research and the recording of the history of Ventspils. It writes the Ventspils City Chronicle, builds up the collections of the museum and carries out scientific work.
 * The Ventspils Library is a municipal, cultural, educational, and information institution.
 * The International Writers and Translators' House is an international centre for writers and translators.

Sport
Ventspils has a well developed sports infrastructure. One of the most popular sporting facility in Ventspils is the Olympic Centre 'Ventspils' offering a basketball hall, ice hall, track-and-field arena, and football stadiums. One can also enjoy the Water Adventure Park,Seaside Aqua-Park, and Adventure Park that turns into a Skiing Hill 'Lemberga hūte during the winter.

The city has a basketball team that has won the Latvian championship in the last several years. In the 2001/2002 season, the team took third place in the North European Basketball League (NEBL). Ventspils also has a football team in FK Ventspils who compete in the Virsliga. In the 2006 season the team has won the Latvian championship for the first time.

Adventure Park
Ventspils has an Adventure Park (Latvian: Piedzīvojumu parks) that consists of Tube Sliding Track, Airsoft Shooting Range, Bumper boats, Trampoline Complex, Trampoline with Rubber Ribbons, Mad Rotor, Catapult, Trampoline boat, Playhouse for children, Inflatable Attractions in the summer.

In the winter you can skiing, snowboarding and sledding.

There is also a rodeo track (Latvian: Rodeļu trase) which is available to use all year round

Ventspils has a narrow gauge train; a beach and dunes and an observatory with a telescope and digital planetarium.

Old Town of Ventspils
Ventspils developed rapidly as a commercial harbour in the years of growth of Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. The most active building works took place in the vicinity of the present Market Square where a number of former storehouses from the 17th century are preserved. A dwelling house at the crossing of Tirgus and Skolas Streets is one of the oldest houses of such type in Latvia (built in 1646).

Next to the Market Square, in a historical school building on Skolas street, there is the Ventspils House of the Crafts (2007). The International Writers’ and Translators’ House (2006) was opened on the premises of the former City Hall (1850), on the City-Hall Square. The building is reconstructed to accommodate creative work and everyday needs of its writers. Located next to it are the recently renovated Ventspils Central Library (2006) and Evangelic-Lutheran Church of Nicholas (1835). The City-Hall Square, the Market Square and the Ostas Street Promenade are popular walking places.

Cow sculptures
CowParade in Ventspils took place in 2002, and now several cow sculptures reside in the city:

There are also three considerably larger cows:
 * ‘Latvijas melnā’ (Latvian Black Cow) dwells on the Promenade of Ostas iela;
 * ‘Pretim gaismai’ (Towards the Light) that usually climbs the lamp post on Pils iela next to ‘Latvenergo’ JSC;
 * ‘Ms. Moo-Dunk’ the basketball cow resides near the Basketball Hall of the Olympic Centre ‘Ventspils’;
 * ‘Dzīve ir skaista’ (Life is Beautiful) is situated at the Children's Park ‘Bērnu pilsētiņa’ (Children's Town);
 * ‘Jūras govs’ (Cow of the Sea) dwells next to the Livonian Order Castle facing the River Venta;
 * ‘Nafta’ (Oil) lives next to the Children's Home ‘Selga’;
 * ‘Londonas govs’ (London Cow) welcomes the residents of the camping site ‘Piejūras kempings’.
 * ‘Ceļojošā govs’ (Travelling Cow) is shaped like a huge suitcase and awaits the city guests on the Promenade of Ostas iela to take some pictures;
 * ‘Govs-Matrozis’ (The Sailor Cow) is a giant blue-coloured cow dressed as a seafarer and situated at the Southern Pier of Ventspils;
 * ‘Šūpojošā govs’ (Cow on the Swings) is a large, but cute and girly cow sitting on the swings not far from the excursion boat ‘Hercogs Jēkabs’.

Notable people

 * Fred Rebell (1886–1968) – single-handed sailor
 * Dorothy Dworkin (1889-1976) – nurse, businesswoman, and philanthropist.
 * Fricis Kaņeps (1916–1981) – footballer
 * Francis Rudolph (1921–2005) – painter
 * Imant Raminsh (1943) – composer
 * Dzintars Ābiķis (1952) – politician
 * Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis (1962) – politician
 * Sandis Prūsis (1965) – bobsleigh pilot
 * Gundars Vētra (1967) – basketball star
 * Oleg Belozyorov (1969) - Russian politician and manager; serving as president of Russian Railways since August 20, 2015.
 * Ēriks Rags (1975) – javelin thrower
 * Gatis Gūts (1976) – bobsleigh pilot
 * Valērijs Žolnerovičs (1985) – athlete
 * Ingus Janevics (1986) – speedwalker
 * Laura Ikauniece (1992) – athlete
 * Rebeka Ibrahima (1998) – Olympic weightlifter
 * Rūta Kate Lasmane (2000) – athlete
 * Artūrs Šilovs (2001) – NHL goaltender

Twin towns – sister cities
Ventspils is twinned with:
 * 🇫🇷 Lorient, France
 * 🇨🇳 Ningbo, China
 * 🇧🇾 Novopolotsk, Belarus
 * 🇧🇾 Polotsk, Belarus
 * 🇩🇪 Stralsund, Germany
 * 🇸🇪 Västervik, Sweden

Significant depictions in popular culture

 * Windau (Ventspils) is one of the starting towns of the State of the Teutonic Order in the turn-based strategy game Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms.
 * Windau can be established in trading simulation game Patrician III as an Alderman Task

title: Ventspils


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Learjet 60

The Learjet 60 is a mid-size cabin, medium-range business jet aircraft manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace in Wichita, Kansas. Powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305A engines, it has a range (with 4 passengers and 2 crew) of 2405 nmi with NBAA 100 nmi reserves, ISA. In July 2012 Bombardier Aerospace announced a temporary "production pause" of the latest variant Learjet 60XR to begin in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Development

The Learjet 60 is an improved version of the Learjet 55, with a longer fuselage and more powerful turbofan engines. It first flew on 10 October 1990 and received FAA certification in January 1993.

The modifications that converted the Learjet Model 55 into a Model 60 resulted from an aerodynamics improvement program and a need to increase the capacity of the Learjet product line. Several of these modifications were a first for Learjet, including an all-new inboard wing cuff added to the inboard sections of the “Longhorn” wing and an all-new wing-to-body fairing. By increasing the wing chord and the leading edge droop, the wing cuff improved handling during approach and landing, while the wing-to-body fairing reduced the interference drag between the wing and the fuselage. Since the engines were new for this aircraft, a new engine pylon had to be designed.

The lines of the cockpit have not changed but the fuselage was lengthened. In addition, the blend between the fuselage and the empennage was all new. While it appears as if area ruling was the intention of the blending, the blend design was really driven by attaching the original Learjet Model 35 empennage onto the larger Learjet Model 60 fuselage.

The final aerodynamic improvements to the Model 60 included the creation of the distinctive "ogive" winglet trailing edge. This lengthening of the chord near the interface of the winglet and the wing improved the interaction of the wing's pressure spike with the winglet's pressure spike. The result was a significant lowering of the drag in this area and a significant improvement of the wing's efficiency. On the prior “Longhorn” wing the interference between the winglet and the wing nearly canceled the effects of the winglet. The single ventral fin was also replaced with two ventral fins that Learjet called "Delta Fins" to improve stall characteristics and promote aerodynamic stability.

The Learjet 60 is notable for its time-to-climb performance, climbing to 41000 ft in 18.5 minutes at maximum weight. It also distinguished as the last legacy Learjet, using a variation of the wing that designer Bill Lear adapted from the Swiss military aircraft, the FFA P-16. The next-generation Learjet was to be the Learjet 85 and was an all-new design by Bombardier Aerospace slated for delivery in 2013.

The Learjet 60, while a tremendous performer, also maintains the highest incident/accident rate in its class with most accidents occurring during landing. The use of the original Lear 23 gear and wheels (albeit it with an added brake rotor, bringing the total to 3 per wheel assembly) left the 60 (and the 55 before it) notably under-geared and under-braked. According to the NTSB most of these failures are caused by pilot-error as the aircraft can be unforgiving.

Production of the Learjet 60 ended in 2007 after 318 aircraft had been built. The Learjet 60XR was a variation with upgraded Proline 21 avionics and slight improvements to the cabin, with production beginning at serial number 319.

By 2018, a Learjet 60 could be purchased for $1 million or less.

Learjet 60XR

Bombardier launched a new variant in 2005 designated the Learjet 60XR and following certification deliveries started in 2007.

Grandfathered on the 1966 Learjet 24 type certificate, it was built until 2013. It features three-rotor disc brakes, good for 450–600 landings, Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics, upgraded AHRS and FMS, electronic charts, enhanced MFD and optional XM radio weather. Cabin space is better utilized with five floor plans, LED lighting, better insulation and improved cabin management system. The 60XR has the largest Learjet cabin, its cross-section is competitive but its length is 2 to 5 ft shorter than other mid-size jets like the Hawker 800XP. The small 265 sqft wing evolved from the Learjet 23, with the tip tanks replaced by winglets, and runway requirements are long for the 23,500 lb aircraft.

A typically equipped 60XR weighs 940 lb more than the original Model 60, tanks-full payload is 600 lb and four-passenger range is 2,240 nmi. It climbs to FL 410 in 18 min and cruise at 440 kn TAS with an average fuel burn of 1,300 lb/h. Long-range cruise varies from 387 to 420 kn TAS at FL 350–430 and ISA conditions, while normal cruise speed is Mach 0.76 or 436 kn TAS.

The FADEC-controlled 4,600 lbf PW305A turbofans have a 6,000 h TBO and reserves amount to $360 per hour per engine.

In September 2018, there were 112 Model 60XRs in service, priced between $2.5 million for a 2007 model to $4.0 million for a 2013 one.

Civilian
The Learjet 60 is used by private operators, companies and fractional jet operators.

Military and government
• ;🇦🇷

• :One Learjet 60XR used by Tucumán Government.

• :One Learjet 60 used by the "Jefatura Del Estado Mayor"

• ;🇨🇴

• : Colombian Air Force: One Learjet 60 used for VIP transport by Grupo Aereo de Vuelos especiales 82.

• ;🇲🇰

• :One Learjet 60 delivered in April 2005 to replace the lost King Air 200. Used by the Government for VIP transport.

• ;🇲🇾

• :Two operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) Flight Calibration Division used for calibrated aerodrome equipment.

• ;🇲🇽

• :One Learjet 60 delivered for the Mexican Navy.

• ;🇲🇩

• :One operated by Nobil Air, used for civilian and governmental VIP transport.

• ;🇺🇸

• :Six Learjet 60 aircraft are operated by the Federal Aviation Administration to carry out airborne accuracy checks of navigational facilities.

Incidents and accidents

 * On September 19, 2008, a Learjet 60 crashed while taking off from Columbia Metropolitan Airport in Columbia, South Carolina. Performers Travis Barker and DJ AM were injured, while both crew members and two other passengers were killed in the crash.
 * NTSB identified "greatly underinflated tires" and "rejected takeoff after V1" as probable causes for the crash; it was exacerbated by a tire breaking a microswitch which caused reverse thrust to become a forward thrust. After the post-accident investigation, the Federal Aviation Administration issued new directives for operators of the Learjet 60 and 60XR aircraft to check tire pressures every four days.

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

title: Learjet 60


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Tōdai-ji

Tōdai-ji (東大寺) is a Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Japan. Though it was originally founded in the year 738 CE, Tōdai-ji was not opened until the year 752 CE. The construction of the temple was an attempt to imitate Chinese temples from the much-admired Tang dynasty. The temple has undergone several reconstructions since then, with the most significant reconstruction (that of the Great Buddha Hall) taking place in 1709. Its Great Buddha Hall (大仏殿 Daibutsuden) houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese as Daibutsu (大仏). The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism. The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara", together with seven other sites including temples, shrines and places in the city of Nara.

Origins

Emperor Shomu (r. 724–749) ordered the monk-architect Roben to build a temple at Nara between 728 and 749. This decree represented an attempt to imitate Chinese temples from the much-admired Tang dynasty. Todaiji is well-known for the Nara Daibutsu, also known as "The Great Buddha of Nara," which is an image of the Buddha Birushana. The current Buddha was repaired after suffering significant damage in 1692. Under the leadership of Abbot Shunjobo Chogen (1121–1206), numerous structures at Todaiji were rebuilt in 1180 in the fashion of the Southern Song dynasty of China.

During the Tenpyō era, Japan suffered from a series of disasters and epidemics. It was after experiencing these problems that Emperor Shōmu issued an edict in 741 to promote the construction of provincial temples throughout the nation. Later in 743 during the Tenpyō era the Emperor commissioned the Daibutsu to be built in 743. Tōdai-ji (still Kinshōsen-ji at the time) was appointed as the provincial temple of Yamato Province and the head of all the provincial temples. With the alleged coup d'état by Nagaya in 729, a major outbreak of smallpox around 735–737, worsened by several consecutive years of poor crops, followed by a rebellion led by Fujiwara no Hirotsugu in 740, the country was in a chaotic situation. Emperor Shōmu had been forced to move the capital four times, indicating a certain level of instability during this period.

Role in early Japanese Buddhism
According to legend, the monk Gyōki went to Ise Grand Shrine to reconcile Shinto with Buddhism. He spent seven days and nights reciting sutras until the oracle declared Vairocana Buddha compatible with worship of the sun goddess Amaterasu. Under the Ritsuryō system of government in the Nara period, Buddhism was heavily regulated by the state through the Sōgō (僧綱). During this time, Tōdai-ji served as the central administrative temple for the provincial temples and for the six Buddhist schools in Japan at the time: the Hossō, Kegon, Jōjitsu, Sanron, Ritsu and Kusha. Letters dating from this time also show that all six Buddhist schools had offices at Tōdai-ji, complete with administrators, shrines and their own library.

Japanese Buddhism during this time still maintained the lineage of the Vinaya and all officially licensed monks were required to take their ordination under the Vinaya at Tōdai-ji. In 754 CE, ordination was given by Ganjin, who arrived in Japan after traveling over 12 years and six attempts of crossing the sea from China, to Empress Kōken, former Emperor Shōmu and others. Later Buddhist monks, including Kūkai and Saichō received their ordination here as well. During Kūkai's administration of the Sōgō, additional ordination ceremonies were added to Tōdai-ji, including the ordination of the Bodhisattva Precepts from the Brahma Net Sutra and the esoteric Precepts, or Samaya, from Kukai's own newly established Shingon school of Buddhism. Kūkai added an Abhiseka Hall to use for initiating monks of the six Nara schools into the esoteric teachings by 829 CE.

Decline
As the center of power in Japanese Buddhism shifted away from Nara to Mount Hiei and the Tendai sect, and when the centre of political power in Japan moved from the emperor's capital to the shōgun's base in Kamakura in the aftermath of the Genpei war, Tōdai-ji's role in maintaining authority declined. In later generations, the Vinaya lineage also died out, despite repeated attempts to revive it; thus no more ordination ceremonies take place at Tōdai-ji.

Initial construction

In 743, Emperor Shōmu issued a law stating that the people should become directly involved with the establishment of new Buddhist temples throughout Japan. The Emperor believed that such piety would inspire Buddha to protect his country from further disaster. Gyōki, with his pupils, traveled the provinces asking for donations. According to records kept by Tōdai-ji, more than 2,600,000 people in total helped construct the Great Buddha and its Hall, contributing rice, wood, metal, cloth, or labour, with 350,000 working directly on the statue's construction. The 16 m (52 ft) high statue was built through eight castings over three years, the head and neck being cast together as a separate element. The making of the statue was started first in Shigaraki. After enduring multiple fires and earthquakes, the construction was eventually resumed in Nara in 745, and the Buddha was finally completed in 751. A year later, in 752, the eye-opening ceremony was held with an attendance of 10,000 monks and 4,000 dancers to celebrate the completion of the Buddha. The Indian priest Bodhisena performed the eye-opening for Emperor Shōmu. The project cost Japan greatly, as the statue used much of Japan's bronze and relied entirely on imported gold. 48 lacquered cinnabar pillars, 1.5 m in diameter and 30 m long, support the blue tiled roof of the Daibutsu-den.

Maps that include some of the original structures of Tōdai-ji are rare, though some still exist today. Some of these structures include, the two pagodas, the library, lecture hall, refectory, and the monk's quarters located behind the main hall. Tōdai-ji functioned not only as a place of worship and Buddhist practice, but as a place of higher learning and study. Much of what contemporaries now know about the original layout of the temple comes from the writings of monks who lived and studied there.

The original complex contained two 100 m pagodas, making them some of the tallest structures at the time. They were located on either side of the complex, one on the western (西塔) and one on the eastern side (東塔). The pagodas themselves were surrounded by a walled courtyard with four gates. These were destroyed by an earthquake. One of the sōrin finials survived and is standing at the spot where one of the pagodas used to stand.

The Shōsōin was its storehouse, and now contains many artifacts from the Tenpyō period of Japanese history.

Reconstructions post-Nara Period
The Great Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden) has been rebuilt twice after fire. The current building was finished in 1709, and although immense—57 m long, 50 m wide and 49 m high—it is actually 30% smaller than its predecessor, being reduced from 11 to 7 bays wide due to lack of funds. Until 1998, it was the world's largest wooden building. It has been surpassed by modern structures, such as the Japanese baseball stadium Odate Jukai Dome, amongst others. The Great Buddha statue has been recast several times for various reasons, including earthquake damage. The current hands of the statue were made in the Momoyama Period (1568–1615), and the head was made in the Edo period (1615–1867).

The existing Nandaimon (Great South Gate) was constructed at the end of the 12th century based on Daibutsuyō style, after the original gate was destroyed by a typhoon during the Heian period. The dancing figures of the Nio, the two 28 ft guardians at the Nandaimon, were built around the same time by the artists Unkei, Kaikei, and their workshop staff. The Nio are an A-un pair known as Ungyo, which by tradition has a facial expression with a closed mouth, and Agyo, which has an open mouthed expression. The two figures were closely evaluated and extensively restored by a team of art conservators between 1988 and 1993. Until then, these sculptures had never before been moved from the niches in which they were originally installed. This complex preservation project, costing $4.7 million, involved a restoration team of 15 experts from the National Treasure Repairing Institute in Kyoto.

Dimensions of the Daibutsu
The temple gives the following dimensions for the statue:
 * Height: 14.98 m
 * Face: 5.33 m
 * Eyes: 1.02 m
 * Nose: 0.5 m
 * Ears: 2.54 m

The statue's shoulders are 28 meters across and there are 960 six curls atop its head. The Birushana Buddha's golden halo is 87 ft in diameter with 16 images each 8 ft tall.

Recently, using x-rays, a human tooth, along with pearls, mirrors, swords, and jewels were discovered inside of the knee of the Great Buddha; these are believed to be the relics of Emperor Shomu.

The statue weighs 500 t.

Temple precincts and gardens
Various buildings of the Tōdai-ji have been incorporated within the overall aesthetic intention of the gardens' design. Adjacent villas are today considered part of Tōdai-ji. Some of these structures are now open to the public.

Over the centuries, the buildings and gardens have evolved together as to become an integral part of an organic and living temple community.

The Tōdai-ji Culture Center opened on October 10, 2011, comprising a museum to exhibit the many sculptures and other treasures enshrined in the various temple halls, along with a library and research centre, storage facility, and auditorium.

Japanese national treasures
The architectural master-works are classified as:

Major historical events

 * 728: Kinshōsen-ji, the forerunner of Tōdai-ji, is established as a gesture of appeasement for the troubled spirit of Prince Motoi.
 * 741: Emperor Shōmu calls for nationwide establishment of provincial temples, and Kinshōsen-ji appointed as the head provincial temple of Yamato.
 * 743: The Emperor commands that a very large Buddha image statue shall be built—the Daibutsu or Great Buddha—and initial work is begun at Shigaraki-no-miya.
 * 745: The capital returns to Heijō-kyō, construction of the Great Buddha resumes in Nara. Usage of the name Tōdai-ji appears on record.
 * 752: The Eye-opening Ceremony celebrating the completion of the Great Buddha held.
 * 855: The head of the great statue of the Buddha Vairocana suddenly fell to the ground; and gifts from the pious throughout the empire were collected to create another, more well-seated head for the restored Daibutsu.

In popular culture
Matsuo Bashō refers to the Great Buddha statue in a haiku (1689–1670): 初雪や / いつ大仏 /  の柱立.

"First snow!/ When Buddha's great statue/ pillar-erection"

And,

"First snow and / there stands the great Buddha / a pillar of strength"

Tōdai-ji has been used as a location in several Japanese films and television dramas. It was also used in the 1950s John Wayne movie The Barbarian and the Geisha when Nandaimon, the Great South Gate, doubled as a city's gates.

On May 20, 1994, the international music festival The Great Music Experience was held at Tōdai-ji, supported by UNESCO. Performers included the Tokyo New Philharmonic Orchestra, X Japan, INXS, Jon Bon Jovi, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Tomoyasu Hotei, Roger Taylor, classic Japanese drummers, and a Buddhist monk choir. This event, organized by British producer Tony Hollingsworth, was simultaneously broadcast in 55 countries on May 22 and 23, 1994.

The 2007 animation series Mononoke (モノノ怪), which is a spin-off of the 2006 horror anthology series Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales, references the Tōdai-ji, particularly the treasure room Shōsōin, in Episodes 8 and 9.

The Tōdai-ji is used as the Japanese wonder in Age of Empires II.

The Tōdai-ji is the subject of the 2003 novella "A Mountain to the North, A Lake to the South, Paths to the West, A River to the East" ("Északról hegy, Délről tó, Nyugatról utak, Keletről folyó") by László Krasznahorkai.

International outreach
Following the catastrophic Notre-Dame de Paris fire in April 2019, Japanese authorities declared plans to expand fire prevention measures at several historic locations, including Tōdai-ji in Nara, partly by hiring new, younger employees in a context where temple and shrine staff are aging. Custodians of Todaiji temple also installed a donation box, stating "Let's Rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral", in the hallway behind the Great Buddha statue. In June 2019, a sign next to the box, in Japanese and English, explained why Tōdai-ji, as headquarters of the Kegon sect of Buddhism, was soliciting funds in this way. The English version declared, "Todai-ji temple has been reconstructed every time it burned down by big fires thanks to the significant effort of many people. We sincerely express our deepest sympathy for the tragedy that hit the Notre-Dame de Paris. Going beyond the creed, we would like to ask everyone for your support to reconstruct the cathedral."

title: Tōdai-ji


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Kay Yow

Sandra Kay Yow (March 14, 1942 – January 24, 2009) was an American basketball coach. She was the head coach of the NC State Wolfpack women's basketball team from 1975 to 2009. A member of the Naismith Hall of Fame, she had more than 700 career wins. She also coached the U.S. women's basketball team to an Olympic gold medal in 1988 despite having been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987. In 2000, Yow was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2009, she was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.

In April 2010, CollegeInsider.com created a new award called the Kay Yow National Coach of the Year Award in her honor. It will be presented annually to the women's college basketball head coach who displays great personal character on and off the court.

Education and coaching career
Yow received her Bachelor of Science degree in English from East Carolina University in 1964, she was a member of the Delta Zeta Sorority. After graduation she worked as English teacher, librarian and girls' basketball coach at Allen Jay High School in High Point, North Carolina. She then earned her Master's degree in Physical Education from UNC-Greensboro in 1970 and then took the position of women's athletics coordinator and women's basketball coach at Elon College.

In 1975, Yow became NC State's first full-time women's basketball coach and also coached women's volleyball and softball. She led the women's basketball team to an ACC championship in the first season of league play in 1978.

On January 11, 2001, she reached the 600-win milestone for her career with a 71–64 win over Temple University. On February 5, 2007, she reached the 700-win milestone for her career with a 68–51 win over Florida State University. At the time of her death, she ranked as the fifth winningest active NCAA Division I women's basketball coach. In recognition for her dedication and success, Yow was selected for induction into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on June 5, 2002, the fifth female coach to be selected. On February 16, 2007, the basketball court at Reynolds Coliseum was renamed Kay Yow Court in her honor. On July 11, 2007, Yow received the inaugural Jimmy V ESPY Award for Perseverance, an award named for fellow NC State basketball coach and friend Jim Valvano. She received a standing ovation.

Yow also coached the silver-medal-winning U.S. women's basketball team in the 1981 World University Games; the 1986 gold-winning U.S. teams in the Goodwill Games and the FIBA World Championship; and the gold-medal-winning U.S. women's basketball team in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

USA Basketball
Yow was the assistant coach of the team representing the US at the World University Games held in Mexico City, Mexico in August 1979. The opening game was against Costa Rica, and the USA almost outscored them by triple digits, falling just shy at 132–34. The next three games were closer, but all margins were in double digits. The fifth game was against the USSR who had won the event in 1973 and 1977. The Soviet team led at halftime, but the USA team outscored the USSR by three points in the second half to win 83–81, the first win by the USA over the USSR in a major competition in two decades. The next game was a rematch against Canada, the team they had beaten by 14 points a few days earlier. This time the Canadian team would take a nine-point lead at halftime, but the USA team came back and won 68–60. The final game of the competition was against Cuba, which the USA won 73–60 to claim their first gold medal in a World University Games event.

Yow was the head coach of the team representing the US at the World University Games held in Bucharest, Romania in July 1981. The team started with a game against Finland and won easily, 68–49. They trailed at halftime in their next game against China, but came back to win a close game 76–74. After beating Poland, they played Czechoslovakia in a game that was close at the half, but the USA team went on to win 86–67. In the following game against Canada, the USA team was again behind at the half, but played a close match in the second half and pulled ahead to win 79–76. Despite being undefeated, they needed a win against Romania to advance to the gold medal game. They had only a one-point lead at halftime, but went on to win 75–64 to meet the undefeated USSR for the gold medal. The USA fell behind by sixteen and could not close the gap—the USSR team won 98–79 to claim the gold medal, leaving the US with the silver. Denise Curry was the leading scorer for the USA team with 18.1 points per game. Anne Donovan led the team in rebounds with 6.7 per game.

Yow served as an assistant coach of the team representing the US in 1984 at the William Jones Cup competition in Taipei, Taiwan. The team chosen to represent the USA was the team expected to be selected as the National Team for the Olympics. This resulted in a very strong team which was able to dominate the competition. In the opening game against Australia, the USA won 82–20. While other games were closer, Italy's 23-point loss to the USA was the closest of the eight games. The USA won all eight games, and won the gold medal. The USA team was led by Cheryl Miller, who led the team in scoring at over 15 points per game, rebounding, free throw percentage, assists and steals. Miller was named to the All-Tournament Team, along with Lynette Woodard, and Denise Curry.

Yow was named head coach of the USA National Team which would compete at the 1986 World Championships and the 1990 Olympics. The World Championships were held in Moscow, Soviet Union in August. The USA team started strong with a more than 50-point victory over Taipei. The USA team continued to dominate their opponents, winning the next three preliminary rounds games, with a 15-point victory over Hungary being the closest margin, then advanced to the medal play rounds. They defeated China in the quarterfinals, and Canada in the semifinals, to set up the championship match against the undefeated host Soviet Union. Although the USA had recently defeated the Soviets in the Goodwill Games, Americans wanted to demonstrate that the victory was no "fluke". The Soviet team was taller, but the USA team was able to outscore them. The USA team started the game with the first eight points, and had a 15–1 run during the second half, and won in convincing fashion 108–88 to win the gold medal and the world championship. Every one of the starters achieved double-digit scoring in the final game, led by Cheryl Miller who had 24 points along with 15 rebounds in the championship game.

Personal life
Yow lived in Cary, North Carolina.

Yow and her two sisters are natives of Gibsonville, North Carolina. They were all three active in collegiate sports. Deborah Yow was the athletic director at North Carolina State University, and Susan Yow coached women's basketball at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Kansas State University, Drake University, East Tennessee State University, Providence College, and Belmont Abbey College. Susan Yow was in her second season as head coach at Belmont Abbey College. Susan served as an assistant coach for two now-defunct WNBA teams, the Charlotte Sting and the Cleveland Rockers. In 2006, Susan was named as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Lynx, but resigned along with head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio on July 23, 2006.

After her 1987 breast cancer diagnosis, Yow became active in raising awareness as well as money to battle the disease. In 2007, the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund was instituted by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and the V Foundation for Cancer Research, of which she served on the board of directors. Her cancer recurred in November 2004 and she began radiation treatments the following month after having surgery.

Death
Yow had been on a leave of absence from coaching since early January 2009 because of her disease. She died from stage 4 breast cancer on January 24, 2009, in Cary, North Carolina. In her obituary, the Charlotte Observer said, "Yow never lost her folksy, easygoing manner and refused to dwell on her health issues, though they colored everything she did almost as much as basketball. Ultimately, her philosophy on both were the same."

Yow planned her own funeral before she died and recorded a 25-minute video to be played at the service. More than 1,400 people attended the funeral on January 30 at Colonial Baptist Church in Cary, as Yow thanked her supporters on the video. "And now I say farewell," she bade the mourners, "and it's been a wonderful journey, especially since the time I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior".

Awards

 * 1987—Amos Alonzo Stagg Coaching Award
 * 1988—Carol Eckman Award
 * 1990—Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coach of the Year
 * 2007—Coach Yow received the Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Courage Award from the United States Sports Academy in recognition of courageous action in overcoming adversity to excel in sport.
 * 2007 - Jimmy V ESPY Award for Perseverance
 * 2009—FIBA Hall of Fame

title: Kay Yow


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Fagus grandifolia

Fagus grandifolia, the American beech or North American beech, is the only species of beech native to North America. Its current range comprises the eastern United States, isolated pockets of Mexico and southeastern Canada. Prior to the glacial maximum of the Pleistocene epoch, the tree flourished over most of North America, reaching California.

Description
Fagus grandifolia is a large deciduous tree growing to 16 - 35 m tall, with smooth, silver-gray bark. The leaves are dark green, simple and sparsely-toothed with small teeth that terminate each vein, 6 - 12 cm long (rarely 15 cm), with a short petiole. The winter twigs are distinctive among North American trees, being long and slender (15 - 20 mm by 2 - 3 mm) with two rows of overlapping scales on the buds. Beech buds are distinctly thin and long, resembling cigars; this characteristic makes beech trees relatively easy to identify. The tree is monoecious, with flowers of both sexes on the same tree. The fruit is a small, sharply-angled nut, borne in pairs in a soft-spined, four-lobed husk. It has two means of reproduction: one is through the usual dispersal of seedlings, and the other is through root sprouts, which grow into new trees.

Taxonomy
Trees in the southern half of the range are sometimes distinguished as a variety, F. grandifolia var. caroliniana, but this is not considered distinct in the Flora of North America. The Mexican beech (F. grandifolia subsp. mexicana), native to the mountains of central Mexico, is closely related, and is treated as a subspecies of American beech, but some botanists classify it as a distinct species. The only Fagus species found in the Western Hemisphere (assuming the Mexican subspecies is treated as such), F. grandifolia is believed to have spanned the width of the North American continent all the way to the Pacific coast before the last ice age.

Two subspecies are generally recognized:

Etymology
The genus name Fagus is Latin for "beech", and the specific epithet grandifolia comes from grandis "large" and folium "leaf", in reference to the American beech's larger leaves when compared to the European beech.

Distribution and habitat
The American beech is native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario in southeastern Canada, west to Wisconsin and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida in the United States, as well as the states of Hidalgo, Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, and Tabasco in Mexico. Mature specimens are rare in lowland areas as early settlers quickly discovered that the presence of the tree indicated good farmland.

The American beech is a shade-tolerant species, commonly found in forests in the final stage of succession. Few trees in its natural range other than sugar maple match it for shade tolerance. Ecological succession is essentially the process of forests changing their composition through time; it is a pattern of events often observed on disturbed sites. Although sometimes found in pure stands, it is more often associated with sugar maple (forming the beech–maple climax community), yellow birch, and eastern hemlock, typically on moist, well-drained slopes and rich bottomlands. Near its southern limit, it often shares canopy dominance with southern magnolia. Although it has a reputation for slow growth (sometimes only 13 feet in 20 years), rich soil and ample moisture will greatly speed the process up. American beech favours a well-watered, but also well-drained spot and is intolerant of urban pollution, salt, and soil compaction. It also casts heavy shade and is an extremely thirsty tree with high moisture requirements compared to oaks, so it has a dense, shallow root system.

Ecology
The mast (crop of nuts) from American beech provides food for numerous species of animals. Among vertebrates alone, these include various birds including ruffed grouse and wild turkeys, raccoons, foxes, white-tailed deer, rabbits, squirrels, opossums, pheasants, black bears, and porcupines. Beech nuts were one of the primary foods of the now-extinct passenger pigeon; the clearing of beech and oak forests is pointed to as one of the major factors that may have contributed to the bird's extinction. Some Lepidoptera caterpillars feed on beeches. Deer occasionally browse on beech foliage, but it is not a preferred food.

Diseases and pests
Beech bark disease has become a major killer of beech trees in the Northeastern United States. This disease occurs when the European beech scale insect, Cryptococcus fagisuga, attacks the bark, creating a wound that is then infected by Neonectria ditissima or Neonectria faginata, two species of fungi. This causes a canker to develop and the tree is eventually killed.

Beech leaf disease is caused by the nematode Litylenchus crenatae mccannii. It was discovered in Ohio in 2012 and identified as far south as Virginia in 2022. Beech leaf disease causes severe damage to the American beech and also to the related European beech.

The beech leaf-miner weevil, a species native to Europe, has been identified in North America as a cause of defoliation of American beech trees. American beech trees have small gaps and crevices at the base of their trunks in which the pest overwinter before eventually making their way to the buds of the trees and finally laying eggs on the underside of the leaves. Once hatched, the larvae mine the leaves, causing destruction to the foliage.

Beech blight aphids colonize branches of the tree, but without serious harm to otherwise healthy trees. Below these colonies, deposits of sooty mold develop caused by the fungus Scorias spongiosa growing saprophytically on the honeydew the insects exude. This is also harmless to the trees.

Despite their high moisture needs, beeches succumb to flooding easily and their thin bark invites damage from animals, fire, and human activities. Late spring frosts can cause complete defoliation of the tree, although they typically recover by using reserve pools of sugar. The trunks of mature beeches often rot and develop cavities that are used by wildlife for habitation.

Uses
American beech is an important tree in forestry. The wood is hard and difficult to cut or split, although at 43 lb/cuft it is not exceptionally heavy, and it also rots relatively easily. It is used for a wide variety of purposes, most notably bentwood furniture as beech wood easily bends when steamed. It also makes high quality, long-burning firewood.

Like European beech bark, the American beech bark is smooth and uniform, making it an attraction for people to carve names, dates, decorative symbols such as love hearts or gang identifiers, and other material into its surface. One such beech tree in Louisville, Kentucky, in what is now the southern part of Iroquois Park, bore the legend "D. Boone kill a Bar 1803." The beech finally fell over in 1916 during a storm; its age was estimated at around 325 years. Its trunk is now on display at the Filson Historical Society.

It is sometimes planted as an ornamental tree, but even within its native area, it is planted much less often than the European beech. Although American beech can handle hotter climates, its European cousin is faster-growing and more pollution-tolerant, in addition to being easier to propagate.

American beech does not produce significant quantities of nuts until the tree is about 40 years old. Large crops are produced by 60 years. The oldest documented tree is 246 years old. The fruit is a triangle-shaped shell containing 2–3 nuts inside, but many of them do not fill in, especially on solitary trees. Beech nuts are sweet and nutritious, can be eaten raw by wildlife and humans, or can be cooked. They can also be roasted and ground into a coffee substitute.

The leaves are edible when cooked. The inner bark can be dried and pulverized into bread flour as an emergency food.

title: Fagus grandifolia


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Cordillera de Oncol

The Cordillera de Oncol (sometimes called Valdivian Coast Range) is a mountain range, located along the Pacific coast in southern Chile. It is part of the Chilean Coast Range System (Cordillera de la Costa). It was named for the city of Valdivia. The highest point of the range is Cerro Oncol, at 715 m.

Natural history
The Valdivian Coastal Range has about 1 million acres (4,000 km2) of Valdivian temperate rain forests habitat, approximately one-quarter of which are protected.

The region has long been geographically isolated, making it a haven for endemic species. Some of the rare species that inhabit the Valdivian Coastal Range include the pudu (the smallest deer in the world), the common degu, the marine otter, and the monito del monte, or mountain monkey (actually a marsupial).

title: Cordillera de Oncol


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Ferrum

Ferrum can refer to:

 * Iron, for which ferrum is the Latin term and the source of its chemical symbol Fe.
 * Ferrum, Virginia
 * Ferrum College, in Ferrum, Virginia
 * Ferrum 49, Polish locomotive class
 * Ferrum SA, a Polish steel pipe producer established in 1874.

title: Ferrum


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Peace Preservation Law

The Peace Preservation Law (治安維持法) was a Japanese law enacted on April 22, 1925, with the aim of allowing the Special Higher Police to more effectively suppress alleged socialists and communists. In addition to criminalizing forming an association with the aim of altering the kokutai ("national essence") of Japan, the law also explicitly criminalized criticism of the system of private property and became the centerpiece of a broad apparatus of thought control in Imperial Japan. Altogether, more than 70,000 people were arrested under the provisions of the law until its repeal by Allied occupation authorities at the end of World War II.

Passage
Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, socialist and communist ideas began spreading in Japan, and the government became increasingly concerned that socialism and communism represented a threat to the emperor system and Japan's divine kokutai (国体, "national essence"). The 1918 Rice Riots and the assassination of Prime Minister Hara Kei only deepened concerns that dangerous ideas were spreading through society. Efforts to pass a Peace Preservation Law began within the Diet as early as 1921, and gathered momentum after the formation of the Japan Communist Party in 1922, although opposition to the law remained strong. Finally, the law was passed in 1925, in conjunction with the passage of the Universal Manhood Suffrage Law, which allowed all male citizens to vote in elections, regardless of wealth or status. Fears that newly enfranchised working-class voters might vote for socialists or communists played an important role in overcoming earlier opposition to the law.

Provisions
The law provided:

"Anyone who has formed an association with the aim of altering the kokutai or the system of private property, and anyone who has joined such an association with full knowledge of its object, shall be liable to imprisonment with or without hard labor, for a term not exceeding ten years."

By using the highly vague and subjective term kokutai, the law attempted to blend politics and ethics, but the result was that any political opposition could be branded as "altering the kokutai". Thus the government had carte blanche to outlaw any form of dissent.

Consequences
In 1927, a sub-bureau, the "Thought Section," was established within the Criminal Affairs Bureau of the Special Higher Police within the Home Ministry in order to make use of the new legal authority granted by the Peace Preservation Law to ferret out and suppress subversive ideologies. The new "Thought Police" established local branches throughout Japan as well as in Japan's overseas territories to monitor dangerous thoughts and ideologies among Japan's imperial subjects. A "Student Section" was also established within the Ministry of Education to monitor subversive thought among university professors and students. Within the Ministry of Justice, special "Thought Prosecutors" (思想検事) were appointed to suppress "thought crime" (思想犯).

Renewed underground activity by the banned Japan Communist Party in 1928 led to the March 15 incident, in which police arrested more than 1,600 Communists and suspected Communists under the provisions of the Peace Preservation Law. The same year, the highly anti-Communist government of Tanaka Giichi pushed through an amendment to the law, raising the maximum penalty from ten years to death.

By 1933, coerced "ideological conversions" (転向, tenkō) had become the main means of enforcing the Peace Preservation Law, rather than judicial punishment. In order to elicit tenkō from prisoners suspected of ideological radicalism, the police employed physical torture, as well as psychological torture and familial pressure.

In the 1930s, with Japan's increasing militarism and totalitarianism, dissent was tolerated less and less. In early February 1941, the original Peace Preservation Law of 1925 was heavily amended to make punishments even more severe. Terms for people suspected of socialist and communist sympathies were made harsher, and for the first time religious organizations were included within the purview of the Thought Police. In addition, the appeals court for thought crimes was abolished, and the Ministry of Justice given the right to appoint defense attorneys in cases of thought crime. The new provisions became effective on May 15, 1941.

From 1925 through 1945, over 70,000 people were arrested under the provisions of the Peace Preservation Law, but only about 10% reached trial, and the death penalty was imposed on only two offenders, spy Richard Sorge and his informant, Hotsumi Ozaki. The Peace Preservation Law was repealed following the end of World War II by the American occupation authorities. The repeal was effected on October 15, 1945.

title: Peace Preservation Law


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List of The Jetsons characters

The following is a list of major characters in The Jetsons, an American animated comic science fiction sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and first broadcast in prime-time on ABC as part of the 1962–63 United States network television schedule. Additional episodes were produced from 1985 to 1987 in syndication, with the same cast of characters.

George Jetson
George J. Jetson (voiced by George O'Hanlon in the TV series, Herb Duncan in The Jetsons: New Songs of the TV Family of the Future, Jeff Bergman since 1990, Wally Wingert in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law and an LG Electronics commercial ) is a fictional character and the 40-year-old head of the Jetson family. He is the husband of Jane Jetson and the father of teenage daughter Judy and elementary school aged son Elroy.

George resides with his family in the Skypad Apartments in Orbit City, in a future with the trappings of science fantasy depictions of American life in the future, such as robot servants, flying saucer-like cars, and moving sidewalks. All the apartment buildings are set on giant poles, resembling Seattle's Space Needle; the ground is almost never seen, though in Jetsons: The Movie, it is suggested that the earth is extremely polluted, thus everyone lives in the sky.

When George was a kid, he had to fly through ten miles of asteroid storms to go to Orbit High School, where he was the star pitcher of its Spaceball team. At Orbit High School, he was labeled as an outsider and a geek. George is now an employee at Spacely Space Sprockets, a manufacturer of "sprockets" and other high tech equipment. His job title is "digital index operator." His boss is Cosmo G. Spacely, noted for being short in both height and temper. Spacely usually treats his employees (particularly George) in a rather tyrannical fashion. George's job primarily requires him to repeatedly push a single button (or on occasion a series of buttons) on a computer (named RUDI {Short for: Referential Universal Digital Indexer} in the 1980s series of Jetsons episodes). George complains of his heavy work load: pushing a button as many as five times for three hours, three days a week. Often, Mr. Spacely will fire George in a fit of anger, only to hire him back by the end of the same episode.

Physically, George is a rather slim man of average height with short red hair and a cartoonishly large nose. His personality is that of a well-meaning, caring father, but he is often befuddled and stressed out by the problems of both his work and family lives. As The Jetsons was partially based on the comic strip Blondie, George himself was probably based on that strip's lead character, Dagwood Bumstead. His wife Jane is voiced by Penny Singleton who played the movie version of Blondie in the 1930s to 1950s.

George's most famous catchphrase is "Jane! Stop this crazy thing!" seen at the end credits of the 1960s Jetsons episodes, but is also known for frequently uttering the phrase "Hooba-dooba-dooba!" to express wonder or astonishment (probably inspired by Fred Flintstone's similar-sounding "Yabba Dabba Doo!!").

O'Hanlon was known for his portrayal of everyman characters in film and television. O'Hanlon once said of his character: "George Jetson is an average man. He has trouble with his boss, he has problems with his kids, and so on. The only difference is that he lives in the next century." O'Hanlon last did the voice for George Jetson in Jetsons: The Movie, which was released posthumously.

In the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Back to the Present", George leads the Jetsons in returning to Earth to sue the planet for causing global warming.

George Jetson also appeared in a cameo appearance on The Powerpuff Girls episode "Mime for a Change".

In The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania!, George Jetson is assigned by Mr. Spacely to supervise a project that involves robots drilling through the surface of the Earth.

George Jetson also appears at the Cedar Fair Entertainment Company and formerly Universal Studios Florida as a meetable character seen in 1996 video called "Kids for Character".

He also appears on Kanye West's music video "Heartless". He is also seen along with his family, Rosie, and Mr. Spacely in a MetLife commercial that aired in 2012.

The inspiration for George's name sake (aside from its voice actor) is believed to be a tribute to the prolific Danish designer, Georg Jensen, who defined modern design in the early and mid twentieth century.

Jane Jetson
Jane Jetson (voiced by Penny Singleton in the TV series, Rose Mary Jun in The Jetsons: New Songs of the TV Family of the Future, B. J. Baker (singing voice), Jo Hayden in Flintstones/Jetsons: Timewarp, Lauri Fraser in The Jetsons: The Best Son, Diane Michelle in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Grey DeLisle in The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania!, Andi Gibson in an LG Electronics commercial, Annie Mumolo in Jellystone!) is George's 33-year-old wife, mother of their two children, and a homemaker. Because she is so much younger than George, she would have been only 18 at the time of Judy's birth. Jane is obsessed with fashion and new gadgetry. Her favorite store is Mooning Dales. She is also a dutiful wife who always tries to make life as pleasant as possible for her family. Although she is usually pleasant natured, she is quite protective of her family, and she can be angered whenever they are threatened. She is also unafraid to stand up to Mr. Spacely, especially when he antagonizes her family and her husband.

Outside of the home, she is a member of the Galaxy Women Historical Society and is a fan of Leonardo de Venus and Picasso Pia. Although this wife of the future has both a robot maid and automated apartment appliances, even pushing buttons for housework gets to be too much for her and she has to take a vacation ("Dude Planet"). A running gag is that she has terrible driving skills, turning her driving instructor, and her husband into nervous wrecks ("The Space Car" and "Jane's Driving Lesson").

Jane appears, with Wilma Flintstone and Velma Dinkley, in a commercial for Dove shampoo. She even appears on Kanye West's music video "Heartless". In one episode of Animaniacs, a female space alien resembling Jane appears twice; once as a receptionist, and then again when a male alien trapped on a treadmill calls out the famous catchphrase "Jane! Stop this crazy thing!" where she comes to his aid.

She was included in Yahoo!'s Top 10 TV Moms from Six Decades of Television.

Jane Jetson appears in the Jellystone! season 3 episode "Meet the Jetsons".

Judy Jetson
Judy Jetson (voiced by Janet Waldo in the TV series, Rose Mary Jun in The Jetsons: New Songs of the TV Family of the Future, B.J. Ward in Rockin' with Judy Jetson (singing voice), Tiffany Darwish in the film, Danica McKellar in The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania!, 2017–present) is the daughter of George and Jane Jetson who acts just like a typical teenage girl only with more futuristic tastes. In the first episode of the original series, it is revealed that Judy is 15 years old, by her mother Jane Jetson.

Despite Judy still keeping modern-day "teenage girl" likes and dislikes, such as seemingly never-ending conversations on the telephone and shopping for futuristic outfits, she does not live exactly like a modern teenager. For example, she enjoys taking advantage of the many technology gadgets at her grasp such as controllable zero-gravity switches (made for accomplishing popular dance moves of the show's time or for other uses). She also gives a summary of how her day went and the problems which she faced to a floating robotic diary, appropriately named, "DiDi" (voiced by Selma Diamond later by Brenda Vaccaro).

Judy is also very fond of a rock singer named Jet Screamer, whom George despises at first until Judy wins a date with him as the grand prize in a songwriting contest. George had secretly switched Judy's song with her younger brother Elroy's secret code, hoping to sabotage her entry, but she won, nonetheless. When George accompanies Judy on the date in an attempt to call it off, he instead winds up playing drums during a live performance of the song and soon develops a liking for Jet and his music.

Judy is depicted wearing a deep pinkish-purple, futuristic slight crop top outfit and, like a few other Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters (such as Bamm-Bamm Rubble from The Flintstones and some background characters in various cartoons) has white hair that is colored to resemble platinum blonde or bleached blonde hair, which she wears in a ponytail on top of her head. She attends Orbit High School, which her father had also attended.

Judy went unvoiced in her appearance in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, due to the fact a voice actress could not be secured for her (Waldo by this point was in her 80s and retired from voice acting).

Judy Jetson appears in the Jellystone! season 3 episode "Meet the Jetsons".

Elroy Jetson
Elroy Jetson (voiced by Daws Butler in the TV series, Herb Duncan in The Jetsons: New Songs of the TV Family of the Future, Billy West in a WBCN commercial, Patric Zimmerman in the film and Cartoon Network bumpers, Jeff Bergman in two RadioShack commercials, The Jetsons: Father & Son Day and The Jetsons: The Best Son, Tom Kenny in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, and a Cartoon Network bumper, and Trevor Devall in The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania!, 2017–present) is a $6 1/2$-year-old (self-reported in the first episode) boy who is the younger of the two children in the Jetson family. He is highly intelligent and an expert in all space sciences. Elroy attends Little Dipper School, where he studies space history, astrophysics and star geometry. He is a mild-mannered and good child.

Elroy Jetson appears in the Jellystone! season 3 episode "Meet the Jetsons". Elroy is mute in this version.

Astro
Astro (voiced by Don Messick in the TV series, Daws Butler in The Jetsons in First Family On The Moon, Scott Innes in several RadioShack commercials, Wally Wingert in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law and an LG Electronics commercial,  Jeff Bergman in a Tums commercial, Frank Welker in The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania, 2017, Ron Funches in Jellystone!) is the Jetson family's Great Dane. He was designed by Iwao Takamoto, and originally voiced by Don Messick. Despite the stress he tends to cause him, George often regards Astro as his genuine best friend. Astro, despite being clumsy and dim-witted, was very loyal (to a fault) to the Jetsons, particularly George and Elroy. A GMO he was more advanced than present-day dogs, in that he had a rudimentary grasp of the English language. In a recurring gag, while George is walking Astro on a gravity-suspended treadmill, Astro begins chasing a cat that stumbles onto it, eventually forcing it to go at speeds too fast for George to keep up with, trapping him. This led to George's trademark phrase "Jane! Stop this crazy thing!".

Don Messick would usually give Astro a speech pattern involving replacing the first letter of any word with an R, such as "I love you, George" becoming "I ruv roo, Reorge". Astro is similar to Scooby-Doo in the cartoon Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!; which was also voiced by Messick (of the two voices, Astro's was slightly higher and raspier than Scooby's).

Astro was introduced in the season one episode, "The Coming of Astro". When Jane, Judy, and Elroy proposed keeping him to George, he was against it, claiming an apartment is no place for a dog. In an effort to make his family happy, he gets an electronic dog, 'Lectronimo. Through mishaps, 'Lectronimo fails to catch a burglar whom Astro inadvertently stops. The family gives 'Lectronimo to the police and keeps Astro. In Season 1, Episode 16, a millionaire named J.P. Gottrockets shows up and claims to be Astro's original owner and his original name was Tralfaz. Astro had no memory of his past life with the millionaire, but understood why he ran away, with Elroy rescuing him from the dog catcher - he didn't want wealth and privilege, he wanted a real family. After seeing how much he loved the Jetsons, Gottrockets gives Astro back to them. Despite this, Astro makes an appearance in the ending credits prior to the episode.

Astro was also in 11 episodes of a 1981 spin-off called Astro and the Space Mutts.

Astro makes five cameo appearances as a portrait in the music video for the 2008 Kanye West song "Heartless", which takes place in West's actual apartment den.

Most recently, Astro appears in the Jellystone! season 3 episode "Meet the Jetsons".

Rosie
Rosie (voiced by Jean Vander Pyl in the TV series, Ann Thomas in The Jetsons: New Songs of the TV Family of the Future, Jeff Bergman in Flintstones/Jetsons: Timewarp, Grey DeLisle in an AT&T commercial, Tress MacNeille in The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania!, 2008–2017, Annie Mumolo in Jellystone!) is the Jetson family's robotic maid and housekeeper. Rosie is depicted as wearing a frilly apron and was often seen using a separate vacuum cleaner. Her torso is mounted atop a single leg, and she rolls about on a set of caster wheels. She frequently calls George Jetson "Mr. J" in a Brooklyn accent (a nod to the character of Hazel the maid on the TV sitcom Hazel calling her boss "Mr. B."). In seasons 1 and 3 her name is spelled as Rosey on the episode title cards.

Rosie was an old demonstrator model hired by the Jetson family from U-Rent a Maid. The series' first episode, "Rosey the Robot", gives her model number as XB-500. She was in fact outdated when introduced, and her obsolescence was the focus of several episodes focused on her. In one episode, Rosie became depressed because she had never seen her "mother" [a prototype]. George cheered her up when he found a set of prototype plans of the (First) Rosie robot. In the episode "Rosie's Boyfriend", we learn she has a boyfriend, the robot Mac, a helper for Henry Orbit. Rosie clearly cares a great deal for Mac, but is obviously the more intelligent between them, often chiding him for his childish behavior.

She was spoofed in the Futurama movie Bender's Game, with a robot that looked like her saying "Everything must be clean. Very clean. That's why the dog had to die. He was a dirty dog. Also, that boy Elroy. Dirty. Dirty." She was voiced by Tress MacNeille in this parody.

In 2017, a Jetsons comic was published by DC Comics. In it, Rosie is re-imagined as George's mother who was placed in a robotic body by Nexlyfe. She only informed Judy that she was going through with the procedure prior to it.

Rosie appears in the Jellystone! season 3 episode "Meet the Jetsons".

Orbitty
Orbitty (voiced by Frank Welker in the TV series, Diane Michelle in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law) is the 2nd pet of the Jetson family. Orbitty is an alien with springlike legs and suction-cup feet. He has the ability to express his emotions by changing color. He is also excellent in fixing and repairing things. This character was introduced in the 1980s version of the series, but didn't appear in the third season (aside from one cameo) or any of the movies that came after it.

Mr. Spacely
Cosmo G. Spacely (voiced by Mel Blanc in the TV series, Daws Butler in The Jetsons in First Family On The Moon, Billy West in a WBCN commercial, Frank Welker as a teenager in The Jetsons Christmas Carol, Jeff Bergman since 1990, and Greg Burson in Bloopers of the Cartoon Stars (1997)) is George's moneygrubbing and arrogant boss.

Spacely is president and owner of Spacely Space Sprockets, where George Jetson works. He frequently yells at George for perceived poor work performance, or just when he feels like it. A typical videophone call from Spacely starts with him yelling "JETSON!!!" He attempts to fire George for the slightest offense, though Spacely gives George his job back at the end of the episode or the beginning of the next episode. Though money is often the sole objective of his life, Spacely is not completely heartless, and will at times empathize or go out of his way to genuinely help George (albeit rarely). Spacely also often finds excuses to get involved in George's personal life, with the same vindictive peril for George Jetson's job in the event of mishap.

He appears as an antihero in the TV series.

Mrs. Spacely
Mrs. Petunia Spacely (voiced by Jean Vander Pyl) is Mr. Spacely's wife whom he loves, but lives in constant fear of. In the pilot episode, Mr. Spacely calls her by the name Stella.

Arthur Spacely
Arthur Spacely (voiced by Dick Beals) is Mr. Spacely's son who is extremely snobbish and is a rival to Elroy.

Orwell Spacely
Orwell Spacely (voiced by Howard Morris) is Mr. Spacely's nephew. He is an inventor and works at his uncle's factory, where he is constantly inventing things to help his uncle Cosmo out. Orwell once invented a spot remover spray that turned George Invisible. He also clones George Jetson on one occasion.

R.U.D.I.
R.U.D.I. (voiced by Don Messick) is George's work computer as well as his best friend in the workplace. R.U.D.I. is sentient, free thinking and openly fond of George, recognizing his value as an employee and friend. His name is an acronym for Referential Universal Digital Indexer. He has a human personality and is a member of the Society Preventing Cruelty to Humans. Though capable and loyal, R.U.D.I. is implied to be antiquated technology, as George mentions his model is no longer made.

In the episode "Family Fallout", the Jetsons are up against the Spacelys on a game show. The last question to come up was "what does R.U.D.I. stand for?" George's response was Referential Universal Differential Indexer – this was accepted by the game show host as the correct answer, even though earlier episodes had it as Digital instead of Differential.

Mr. Cogswell
Mr. Cogswell (voiced by Daws Butler in the TV series) is Spacely's big competitor. He owns Cogswell's Cosmic Cogs company and causes a lot of trouble for Spacely and George. To a lesser extent, Cogswell is another of the series' antagonists. He and Spacely are always finding ways to bring each other's businesses down. Cogswell has often tried to steal Spacely's ideas and make them his own to gain an advantage (only for it to backfire on both bosses). Just like Spacely, he is also cheap and greedy and not above firing his employees when any little thing goes wrong. Mr. Cogswell's first name of "Spencer" is revealed in the second season of The Jetsons.

He bears something of a resemblance to Fred Flintstone's boss Mr. Slate.

Harlan
Harlan (voiced by Howard Morris) is Mr. Cogswell's sycophant right-hand man. His name may be a nod to science-fiction writer Harlan Ellison.

Sentro
Sentro is a robotic dog used by Mr. Cogswell.

In his first appearance in "Solar Snoops", Sentro was operated by the Galactic Sneak where he and Cogswell controlled Sentro into stealing the prototype Microchip Cookie that Mr. Spacely was working on where Sentro posed as a security guard dog that was delivered to Mr. Spacely.

In The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones, Sentro is used again by Mr. Cogswell to steal the information about the prehistoric car that Mr. Spacely plans to market. Sentro is thwarted by both the Flintstones and the Jetsons.

Sentro later appeared as a boss in the video game The Jetsons: Cogswell's Caper.

Henry Orbit
Henry Orbit (voiced by Daws Butler) is the apartment building superintendent of the Skypad Apartments. He has an assistant robot M.A.C.C. who is also dating Rosie the Jetson's housekeeper robot. Henry is known for giving George advice and is a part-time inventor, although both more often than not tend to backfire on him.

M.A.C.C.
M.A.C.C. (voiced by Don Messick) is the robotic assistant of Henry Orbit who started dating Rosie after Elroy figured out that they fell in love.

Montague Jetson
Montague Jetson (voiced by Howard Morris) is the 110-year-old grandfather of George Jetson and the great-grandfather of Elroy and Judy.

Marcia Van Marsdale
Marcia Van Marsdale is Judy's high school rival. Marcia is a snobbish girl who tries to outdo Judy, be it by trying to get a boy that Judy fancies or beating Judy and her father at the Father-Daughter Dance.

Uniblab
Uniblab (voiced by Don Messick) is George's mortal enemy, an obnoxious robot who was also his supervisor at work. Appearing in "Uniblab", he becomes George's supervisor and exposes information that caused Mr. Spacely to fire George. Thanks to the meddling of George and Henry, Uniblab went haywire and Mr. Spacely threw Uniblab out. Henry later hired Uniblab only for George to throw Uniblab out. In "G.I. Jetson", Uniblab becomes the Sergeant of George's platoon. General Missile stated that "Cost the government millions ... enough for two officers' clubs". George and Henry swapped out his A/C pack with a D/C pack which caused Uniblab to malfunction.

Uniblab later appeared in the 1980s episode, "Wedding Bells for Rosey", where he reveals to Rosie that the new "B.E.B.O.P." law enforcement was a ruse. Uniblab later made a cameo in "The Jetsons Christmas Carol" attending an office Christmas party at Spacely Sprockets before Mr. Spacely put an end to it and ordered everybody to get back to work.

His name is a pun of UNIVAC.

Di-Di
Di-Di (voiced by Selma Diamond in "Di-Di's Birthday Surprise", Brenda Vaccaro in "9 to 5 to 9" and The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones) is Judy's interactive digital diary.

Miss Galaxy
Miss Galaxy (voiced by Jean Vander Pyl) is a secretary at Spacely Sprockets.

Miss Brainmocker
Miss Brainmocker (voiced by Janet Waldo) is Elroy's robot teacher at Little Dipper School.

title: List of The Jetsons characters