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Drukpa Kagyu

The Drukpa or Drukpa Kagyu (འབྲུག་པ་བཀའ་བརྒྱུད) lineage, sometimes called Dugpa in older sources, is a branch of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Kagyu school is one of the Sarma or "New Translation" schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Drukpa lineage was founded in the Tsang region of Tibet by Tsangpa Gyare (1161–1211), and later became influential in Ladakh and Bhutan. It is one of several lineages known as "Red Hat sects".

Within the Drukpa lineage, there are further sub-schools, most notably the eastern Kham tradition and middle Drukpa school which prospered in Ladakh and surrounding areas. In Bhutan the Drukpa lineage is the dominant school and state religion.

History
The Drukpa lineage was founded in the Tsang region of Tibet by Tsangpa Gyare (1161–1211), a student of Ling Repa, who mastered the Vajrayana practices of the mahamudra and Six Yogas of Naropa at an early age. As a tertön or "finder of spiritual relics", he discovered the text of the Six Equal Tastes, previously hidden by Rechung Dorje Drakpa, the student of Milarepa. While on a pilgrimage, Tsangpa Gyare and his disciples witnessed a set of nine dragons (Tibetan: druk) roaring out of the earth and into the skies, as flowers rained down everywhere. From this incident they named their sect Drukpa.

Also important in the lineage were the root guru of Tsangpa Gyare, Ling Repa and his guru, Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo, who was in turn a principal disciple of Gampopa as well as Dampa Sumpa, one of Rechung Dorje Drakpa's main disciples.

A prominent disciple of Tsangpa Gyare's nephew, Onre Darma Sengye, was Phajo Drugom Zhigpo (1208–1276) who in 1222 went to establish the Drukapa Kagyu teachings in the valleys of western Bhutan.

Branches
The disciples of Tsangpa Gyare Yeshi Dorje (1161–1211), the first Gyalwang Drukpa, may be divided into two categories: blood relatives and spiritual sons. His nephew, Onre Darma Sengye (1177–1237), ascended the throne at Ralung, the main seat of the Drukpa lineage. Darma Sengye guided the later disciples of Tsangpa Gyare, such as Gotsangpa Gonpo Dorje (1189–1258), onto the path of realization, thus becoming their guru as well. Darma Sengye's nephew and their descendants held the seat at Ralung and continued the lineage.

Gyalwa Lorepa, Gyalwa Gotsangpa and his disciple Gyalwa Yang Gonpa, are known as Gyalwa Namsum or the Three Victorious Ones in recognition of their spiritual realization. The followers of Gyalwa Lorepa came to be called the 'Lower Drukpas'. The followers of Gyalwa Gotsangpa came to be called the 'Upper Drukpas'. And the followers of Onre Darma Sengye came to be called the 'Middle Drukpas'.

After the death of 4th Gyalwang Drukpa, Kunkhyen Pema Karpo, in 1592, there were two rival candidates for his reincarnation. Gyalwang Pagsam Wangpo, one of the candidates, was favored by the King of Tsang and prevailed. His rival, Ngawang Namgyal, was then invited to Western Bhutan and eventually he unified the entire country and established Drukpa as the preeminent Buddhist school from Haa all the way to Trongsa.

The Drukpa lineage was divided from that time on into the Northern Drukpa (བྱང་འབྲུག་, ) branch in Tibet headed by the Gyalwang Drukpa and the Southern Drukpa (ལྷོ་འབྲུག་, ) based in Bhutan and headed by the Zhabdrung incarnations. Ever since Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal appointed Pekar Jungne as the 1st Je Khenpo, the spiritual head of all monasteries in Bhutan, successive Je Khenpos have acted to date as spiritual regents of Bhutan.

Sub-schools
Several of Tsangpa Gyare's students started sub-schools, the most important of which were the Lower Drukpa founded by Gyalwa Lorepa Wangchug Tsondru and the Upper Drukpa founded by Gyalwa Gotsangpa Gonpo Dorje. This branch further gave rise to several important sub-schools. However the chief monasteries and succession of Gyalwang Drukpa Tsangpa Gyare passed to his nephew, Önre Darma Senge, at Ralung Monastery; this lineage was known as the Central Drukpa. This lineage of hereditary "prince-abbots" of Ralung continued until 1616, when Ngawang Namgyal, the Zhabdrung Rinpoche, fled to Bhutan due to a dispute over the incarnation of the 4th Gyalwang Drukpa and the enmity of the Tsangpa ruler. Due to those events, the Central Drukpa split into the Southern Drukpa led by the Zhabdrung and his successors in Bhutan and the Northern Drukpa led by Gyalwang Pagsam Wangpo and the successive Gyalwang Drukpa tulkus in Tibet.

Lower Drukpa
The Lower Drukpa was founded by Tsangpa Gyare's disciple Loré Wangchuk Tsöndrü (, 1187-1250). Lorepa built the Üri and Sengeri  monasteries and visited Bhutan, where he founded Tharpaling Monastery  in Jakar. A special transmission of the Lower Drukpa lineage is known as The Five Capabilities, which are:
 * 1) Being capable of [facing] death: capability of Mahāmudrā
 * 2) Being capable of [wearing only] the cotton cloth: capability of tummo
 * 3) Being capable of the tantric activities done in seclusion
 * 4) Being capable of [facing] the disturbances of  ' don spirits: sickness
 * 5) Being capable of [facing] circumstances: capability of [applying] antidotes

Upper Drukpa
The Upper Drukpa was founded Tsangpa Gyare's disciple Götsangpa Gönpo Dorjé (, 1189-1258), a highly realized yogi who had many disciples. His main disciples were Orgyenpa Rinchenpel (, 1230—1309), Yanggönpa, Chilkarpa and Neringpa.

Orgyenpa, who was also a disciple of Karma Pakshi, 2nd Karmapa Lama, became a great siddha who traveled to Bodhgaya, Jalandhar, Oddiyana and China. In Oddiyana he received teachings related to the Six Branch Yoga of the Kalachakra system known as the "Approach and Attainment of the Three Adamantine States" and, after returning to Tibet, founded the Orgyen Nyendrup tradition and wrote many works including a famous guide to the land of Oddiyana. Ogyenpa had many disciples including Rangjung Dorje, 3rd Karmapa Lama, Kharchupa (, 1284—1339) and Tokden Daseng.

Barawa Gyeltsen Pelzang (1255-1343) was a great scholar of the Upper Drukpa succession of Yanggönpa. He established the Barawa sub-school, which for a time was widespread in Tibet and survived as an independent lineage until 1959. For a time this lineage was also important in Bhutan.

Central Drukpa
The Middle Drukpa was the hereditary lineage of Tsangpa Gyare centered at Ralung. Following Tsangpa Gyare, the next holder of this lineage was his nephew Darma Sengge (, 1177-1237), son of Tsangpa Gyare's brother Lhanyen. Darma Sengge was succeeded by his own nephew Zhönnu Sengge (, 1200–66) and he by his nephew Nyima Sengge (, 1251-1287).

The lineage then went to his cousin Dorje Lingpa Sengge Sherap (, 1238-1287), son of Wöntak, a member of the branch of the Drukpa lineage descended from Tsangpa Gyare's brother Lhambum ). The lineage passed to Sengge Sherap's brother Sengge Rinchen (, 1258-1313), who was succeeded in turn by his son Sengge Gyelpo (, 1289-1326), grandson Jamyang Künga Senggé (, 1289-1326), great-grandson Lodrö Sengge (, 1345–90) and great-great-grandson Sherap Sengge (, 1371–92). These first nine holders of Tsangpa Gyare's lineage were known as the "Incomparable Nine Lions".

Sherap Sengge, who died at the age of 21, was succeeded on the throne of Ralung by his elder brother Yeshe Rinchen (, 1364-1413) and he by his sons Namkha Pelzang (, 1398-1425) and Sherap Zangpo (, 1400–38). These three were considered the emanations of the three mahāsattvas Manjusri, Vajrapani and Avalokiteśvara, respectively. Sherap Zangpo's son was the second Gyalwang Drukpa, Gyelwang Jé Künga Penjor (, 1428–76), who received teachings from the most renowned lamas of his age and became a great author and teacher.

From the 2nd Gyalwang Drukpa, the lineage passed to his nephew Ngakwang Chögyel (, 1465-1540), then successively in turns from father to son to Ngak gi Wangchuk Drakpa Gyeltsen (, 1517-1554), Mipham Chögyal (, 1543-1604), Mipham Tenpa'i Nyima (, 1567-1619) and Ngawang Namgyal, who was the great-great-grandson of Ngawang Chögyal.

In the Middle Drukpa tradition many great scholars appeared including the fourth Gyalwang Drukpa, Kunkhyen Pema Karpo (kun mkhyen padma dkar po) [1527—1592], Khewang Sangay Dorji (mkhas dbang sangs rgyas rdo rje) [1569—1645] and Bod Khepa Mipham Geleg Namgyal (bod mkhas pa mi pham dge legs rnam rgyal) (1618—1685) who was famed for his knowledge of poetics, grammar and medicine. His collected works fill over twenty volumes in modern editions. He founded Sangngak Chö Monastery in 1571 to "subdue the klo pa", the inhabitants of southeastern Tibet. This monastery, which is located in modern Lhoka Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region near the border with Arunachal Pradesh, India, became the seat of the successive Gyalwang Drukpa incarnations in Tibet and thus the center of the Northern Drukpa.

Three great siddhas of Middle Drukpa school were Tsangnyön Heruka (1452-1507), author of the Life of Milarepa, the Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, the Life of Rechungpa, and compiler of the Demchog Khandro Nyengyud; Drukpa Kunley (1455-1529); and Ünyön Künga Zangpo (, 1458-1532). All three were disciples of the 4th Gyalwang Drukpa.

Following the death of the 4th Gyalwang Drukpa, two incarnations were recognized: Paksam Wangpo, who was the offspring of the Chongje Depa, and Ngawang Namgyal, who was also the heir to Drukpa lineage of Ralung. Paksam Wangpo gained the backing of the powerful Tsangpa Desi, who was a patron of the Karma Kagyu and hostile to Ngawang Namgyal. The latter subsequently fled to Bhutan, where his lineage already had many followers, established the Southern Drukpa, and became both the spiritual and temporal head of the country, after which the country became known as Drukyül in Standard Tibetan and Dzongkha.

Contemporary organisation
The Southern Drukpa are led by the Je Khenpo (an elected office, not a tulku lineage), who is the chief abbot of the Dratshang Lhentshog of Bhutan.

The Northern Drukpa are led by the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa or incarnation of the Gyalwang Drukpa. In Kham, Khamtrul Rinpoche traditionally has been the most prominent Drukpa lineage master, and still commands a huge following in Kham.

Unlike previously where the lineage was divided geographically into Northern, Middle and Southern Drukpa, the Drukpa lineage masters today often cross these traditional borders and communicate to strengthen the lineage and the teachings. In April 2009, the first of a yearly event known as the Annual Drukpa Council (ADC) was held on Druk Amitabha Mountain in Kathmandu, Nepal. More than 40 masters of the lineage from India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet attended this event and over 10,000 lay practitioners and at least 1,000 monks and nuns or more met on this occasion. This was the first time an annual event for the Drukpa lineage involving all the three major branches will be held, as a concerted effort to reunite the strengths of the Drukpa lineage and to mend the historical connections of different monasteries and organizations.

In July 2007, when the lineage celebrated its 800-plus-years' legacy in Shey, Ladakh, more than 100,000 attended the event that included celebrations and prayers, as well as mask dancing by 300 nuns. This event, boasted of the first firework in the Himalayas, the first 800 sky lanterns being lit in the Himalayas and the first 12,000 biodegradable balloons sent to the sky, was covered by international media

In 2010, the Gyalwang Drukpa launched an initiative to plant one million trees in Ladakh, as part of the 'one million trees' campaign initiated by Wangari Maathaï, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. As part of this initiative, the Gyalwang Drukpa led the Live to Love volunteers to break the Guinness World Record twice for most trees planted simultaneously. The first in October 2010, 9,313 volunteers planted 50,033 trees within half an hour, breaking their first Guinness World Records for the "Most Trees Planted" category. In October 2012, they broke again the Guinness World Records for the same category, with over 9,800 volunteers planted nearly 100,000 trees, safeguarding villages from mudslides and cleaning polluted air.

The Drukpa lineage under the guidance of its spiritual masters, in particular the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa, has established centers across the world, especially in Europe.

In 2016, National Geographic Books published the book StarTalk: Everything You Ever Need to Know About Space Travel, Sci-Fi, the Human Race, the Universe, and Beyond, in which a fragment of an interview Neil deGrasse Tyson, Eugene Mirman, and Jason Sudekis had with the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa was released where the Drukpa discussed his views on trees and religion. He believes that trees, plants, and nature communicate with Buddhists, Christians, and those of every religion and lack thereof.

Commemorative stamp
On 14 May 2014, the Department of Posts celebrated Buddha Purnima with the release of a commemorative stamp on the Drukpa Buddhists, a rare and perhaps the first recognition given by the Indian government to a particular Buddhist lineage.

Conversion by Karma Kagyu
On 10 September 2014, the Gyalwang Drukpa issued an official statement accusing Beijing of fanning intra-sect rivalries by using the Chinese-led subset-under-occupation of the Karma Kagyu to forcibly take over Drukpa monasteries in the holy Mount Kailash area of Tibet, with Drukpa monks and yogis being forced out of their monasteries, and photographs of Drukpa masters replaced with photographs of the (Chinese-recognized) Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje. The Gyalwang Drukpa stated, "They are using (the Karmapa's) name, but I don't think he is responsible."

The office of Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje quickly replied, saying, "His Holiness does not believe in (forced) conversion. He has a broad outlook, and there is no conversion plan. He believes in harmony and dialogue between all sects, and we all belong to the broad Buddhist tradition." Spokesperson Kunzang Chunvyalp added that the Karmapa has urged that Drukpa monasteries which have been desecrated "be restored because they are very sacred."

Kung-Fu Nuns
In 2018 BBC reported on the Kung Fu Nuns from the Drukpa Kagyu school who are mostly black belts in kung fu. After a visit to Vietnam where the Gyalwang Drukpa saw nuns receiving combat training, he decided to bring the idea back to Nepal by encouraging nuns to learn self-defence. His motive was simple: promote gender equality and empower young women who mostly came from poor backgrounds in India and Tibet. Kung-Fu Nuns also learn skills that are available only to monks in other lineages, such as plumbing, driving, and electrical fitting.

Monasteries
Important monasteries of the Drukpa order include:
 * Druk Sangag Choeling Monastery
 * Hemis Monastery
 * Kardang Monastery, the main monastery in Lahaul
 * Punakha Dzong, the winter home of the Dratshang Lhentshog
 * Ralung Monastery in Central Tibet just north of Bhutan
 * Tashichho Dzong, Thimphu, which houses the Dratshang Lhentshog in summer

title: Drukpa Kagyu


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Okavango Delta

The Okavango Delta (or Okavango Grassland; formerly spelled "Okovango" or "Okovanggo") in Botswana is a vast inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an altitude of 930–1,000 m in the central part of the endorheic basin of the Kalahari.

It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the few interior delta systems that do not flow into a sea or ocean, with a wetland system that is largely intact. All the water reaching the delta is ultimately evaporated and transpired. Each year, about 11 km3 of water spreads over the 6000-15000 km2 area. Some flood waters drain into Lake Ngami. The area was once part of Lake Makgadikgadi, an ancient lake that had mostly dried up by the early Holocene.

The Moremi Game Reserve is on the eastern side of the delta. The delta was named one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa, which were officially declared on 11 February 2013 in Arusha, Tanzania. On 22 June 2014, the Okavango Delta became the 1000th site to be officially inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Floods
The Okavango is produced by seasonal flooding. The Okavango River drains the summer (January–February) rainfall from the Angola highlands and the surge flows 1200 km in around one month. The waters then spread over the 250 by area of the delta over the next four months (March–June).

The high temperature of the delta causes rapid transpiration and evaporation, resulting in three cycles of rising and falling water levels that were not fully understood until the early 20th century. The flood peaks between June and August, during Botswana's dry winter months, when the delta swells to three times its permanent size, attracting animals from kilometres around and creating one of Africa’s greatest concentrations of wildlife.

The delta is very flat, with less than 2 m variation in height across its 15,000 km2, while the water drops about 60 m from Mohembo to Maun.

Lagoons
When the water levels gradually recede, water remains in major canals and river beds, in waterholes and in a number of larger lagoons, which then attract increasing numbers of animals. Photo-safari camps and lodges are found near some of these lagoons. Among the larger lagoons are:
 * Dombo Hippo Pool (-19.19944°N, 23.64028°W)
 * Gcodikwe Lagoon (-19.1675°N, 23.24°W)
 * Guma Lagoon (-18.96444°N, 22.37806°W)
 * Jerejere Lagoon/Hippo Pool (-19.08806°N, 23.02°W)
 * Moanachira Lagoon/Sausage Island (-19.05639°N, 23.06222°W)
 * Moanachira Lagoon (-19.0625°N, 23.09°W)
 * Shinde Lagoon (-19.105°N, 23.155°W)
 * Xakanaxa Lagoon (-19.18°N, 23.395°W)
 * Xhamu Lagoon (-19.1675°N, 23.27°W)
 * Xhobega Lagoon (-19.1775°N, 23.21°W)
 * Xugana Lagoon (-19.07°N, 23.1°W)
 * Zibadiania Lagoon (-18.57°N, 23.535°W)

Salt islands
The agglomeration of salt around plant roots leads to barren white patches in the centre of many of the thousands of islands, which have become too salty to support plants, aside from the odd salt-resistant palm tree. Trees and grasses grow in the sand around the edges of the islands that have not become too salty yet.

About 70% of the islands began as termite mounds (often Macrotermes spp.), where a tree then takes root on the mound of soil.

Chief's Island
Chief's Island (-19.2°N, 22.8°W), the largest island in the delta, was formed by a fault line which uplifted an area over 70 km and 15 km. Historically, it was reserved as an exclusive hunting area for the chief, but is now a protected area for wildlife. It now provides the core area for much of the resident wildlife when the waters rise.

Climate
The Delta's profuse greenery is not the result of a wet climate; rather, it is an oasis in an arid country. The average annual rainfall is 450 mm (approximately one-third that of its Angolan catchment area) and most of it falls between December and March in the form of heavy afternoon thunderstorms.

December to February are hot wet months with daytime temperatures as high as 40 C, warm nights, and humidity levels fluctuating between 50 and 80%. From March to May, the temperature reduces, with a maximum of 30 C during the day and mild to cool nights. The rains quickly dry up leading into the dry, cool winter months of June to August. Daytime temperatures at this time of year are mild to warm, but the temperature falls considerably after sunset. Nights can be cold in the delta, with temperatures barely above freezing. Frost is sometimes seen over the winter.

The September to November span has the heat and atmospheric pressure build up once more, as the dry season slides into the rainy season. October is the most challenging month for visitors: daytime temperatures often push past 40 C and the dryness is only occasionally broken by a sudden cloudburst.

Fauna of the delta

The Okavango Delta is both a permanent and seasonal home to a wide variety of wildlife which is now a popular tourist attraction. All of the big five game animals—the lion, leopard, African buffalo, African bush elephant and rhinoceros (both black and white rhinoceros)—are present.

Other species include giraffe, blue wildebeest, plains zebra, hippopotamus, impala, common eland, greater kudu, sable antelope, roan antelope, puku, lechwe, waterbuck, sitatunga, tsessebe, cheetah, African wild dog, spotted hyena, black-backed jackal, caracal, serval, aardvark, aardwolf, bat-eared fox, African savanna hare, honey badger, crested porcupine, common warthog, chacma baboon, vervet monkey and Nile crocodile.

The delta also hosts over 400 bird species, including the helmeted guineafowl, African fish eagle, Pel's fishing owl, Egyptian goose, South African shelduck, African jacana, African skimmer, marabou stork, crested crane, African spoonbill, African darter, southern ground hornbill, wattled crane, lilac-breasted roller, secretary bird, and common ostrich. Prime bird-watching areas are those with a mix of habitats such as the panhandle, the seasonal delta and the parts of the Moremi Game Reserve that are close to the water.

Since 2005, the protected area has been considered a Lion Conservation Unit together with Hwange National Park.

In 1992, the black rhino was thought to be extinct in the Okavango Delta, while only 19 white rhinos remained. By 1993, all rhinos had been killed in Botswana. Hundreds of white and black rhinos were reintroduced by the Botswana Rhino Reintroduction Project founded in 2000. From 2010 to 2018, seven rhinos were killed by poachers. By 2019, the rhino population in Botswana had decreased to an estimated 400, with the largest population of roughly 150 living in the northern Okavango Delta. From 2020 to 2021, 92 rhinos were killed by poachers in the delta region leaving only 40 individuals, prompting the government to move those rhinos out of the Okavango Delta.

The most abundant large mammal is the lechwe, with estimates suggesting approximately 88,000 individuals. The lechwe a bit larger than an impala, with elongated hooves and a water-repellent substance on its legs that enable rapid movement through knee-deep water. Lechwe graze on aquatic plants and, like the waterbuck, take to water when threatened by predators. Only the males have horns.

Fish
The Okavango Delta is home to 71 fish species, including the tigerfish, species of tilapia, and various species of catfish. Fish sizes range from the 1.4 m African sharptooth catfish to the 3.2 cm sickle barb. The same species are found in the Zambezi River, indicating an historic link between the two river systems.

Flora of the delta
The Okavango Delta is home to 1068 plants which belong to 134 families and 530 genera. There are five important plant communities in the perennial swamp: Papyrus cyperus in the deeper waters, Miscanthus in the shallowly flooded sites, and Phragmites australis, Typha capensis and Pycreus in between. The swamp-dominant species, which are usually found in the perennial swamp, also extend far into the seasonally inundated area. Papyrus cyperus reeds beds grow best in slow flowing waters of medium depth and are prominent at the channel sides. On the islands and mainlands edges above the flooded grasslands different communities of flora are found. These species are located according to their water preference: for instance Philenoptera violacea requires little water, is found at the highest elevations in the perennial swamps, and is common on drier seasonal swamp islands. Trees restricted to islands within the perennial swamp are a mixture of the palm Hyphaene petersiana and acacias.

The plants of the delta play an important role in providing cohesion for the sand. The banks or levees of a river normally have a high mud content, and this combines with the sand in the river’s load to continuously build up the river banks. The river’s load In the delta consists almost entirely of sand, because the clean waters of the Okavango contain little mud. The plants capture the sand, acting as the glue and making up for the lack of mud, and in the process creating further islands on which more plants can take root.

This process is not important in the formation of linear islands. They are long and thin and often curved like a gently meandering river because they are actually the natural banks of old river channels which have become blocked up by plant growth and sand deposition, resulting in the river changing course and the old river levees becoming islands. Due to the flatness of the delta and the large tonnage of sand flowing into it from the Okavango River, the floor of the delta is slowly but constantly rising. Where channels are today, islands will be tomorrow and then new channels may wash away these existing islands.

People
The Okavango Delta peoples consist of five ethnic groups, each with its own ethnic identity and language. They are Hambukushu (also known as Mbukushu, Bukushu, Bukusu, Mabukuschu, Ghuva, Haghuva), Dceriku (Dxeriku, Diriku, Gciriku, Gceriku, Giriku, Niriku), Wayeyi (Bayei, Bayeyi, Yei), Bugakhwe (Kxoe, Khwe, Kwengo, Barakwena, ) and (Gxanekwe,, River Bushmen, Swamp Bushmen, , , Xanekwe). The Hambukushu, Dceriku, and Wayeyi have traditionally engaged in mixed economies of millet/sorghum agriculture, fishing, hunting, the collection of wild plant foods, and pastoralism.

The Bugakhwe and are Bushmen, who have traditionally practised fishing, hunting, and the collection of wild plant foods; Bugakhwe used both forest and riverine resources, while the  mostly focused on riverine resources. The Hambukushu, Dceriku, and Bugakhwe are present along the Okavango River in Angola and in the Caprivi Strip of Namibia, and small numbers of Hambukushu and Bugakhwe are in Zambia, as well. Within the Okavango Delta, over the past 150 years or so, Hambukushu, Dceriku, and Bugakhwe have inhabited the panhandle and the Magwegqana in the northeastern delta. have inhabited the panhandle and the area along the Boro River through the delta, as well as the area along the Boteti River.

The Wayeyi have inhabited the area around Seronga as well as the southern delta around Maun, and a few Wayeyi live in their putative ancestral home in the Caprivi Strip. Within the past 20 years many people from all over the Okavango have migrated to Maun, the late 1960s and early 1970s over 4,000 Hambukushu refugees from Angola were settled in the area around Etsha in the western Panhandle.

The Okavango Delta has been under the political control of the Batawana (a Tswana nation) since the late 18th century. Led by the house of Mathiba I, the leader of a Bangwato offshoot, the Batawana established complete control over the delta in the 1850s as the regional ivory trade exploded. Most Batawana, however, have traditionally lived on the edges of the delta, due to the threat that the tsetse fly poses to their cattle. During a hiatus of some 40 years, the tsetse fly retreated and most Batawana lived in the swamps from 1896 through the late 1930s. Since then, the edge of the delta has become increasingly crowded with its growing human and livestock populations.

Molapos (water streams)
After the flooding season, the waters in the lower parts of the delta, near the base, recede, leaving moisture behind in the soil. This residual moisture is used for planting fodder and other crops that can thrive on it. This land is locally known as molapo.

During 1974 to 1978, the floods were more intensive than normal and flood recession cropping was not possible, so severe food and fodder shortages occurred. In response, the Molapo Development Project was initiated. It protected the molapo areas with bunds to control the flooding and prevent severe flooding. The bunds are provided with sluice gates so the stored water can be released and flood recession cropping can start.

Possible threats
One possible threat is oil exploration by Canadian company ReconAfrica. Initial exploration in April 2021 revealed oil deposits in sedimentary rock. Environmentalists are concerned that the project will have a negative ecological impact and that some of the main bodies of water could be threatened. ReconAfrica has stated, "There will be no damage to the ecosystem from the planned activities."

The Namibian government has presented plans to build a hydropower station in the Zambezi Region, which would regulate the Okavango's flow to some extent. While proponents argue that the effect would be minimal, environmentalists argue that this project could destroy most of the rich animal and plant life in the delta. Other threats include local human encroachment and regional extraction of water in both Angola and Namibia.

South African filmmaker and conservationist Rick Lomba warned in the 1980s of the threat of cattle invasion to the area. His documentary The End of Eden portrayed his lobbying on behalf of the delta.

The Okavango catchment is projected to experience decreasing annual rainfall as well as increasing temperatures as a result of global warming. The effects of global warming are likely to result in reductions in the extent of floodplains in the Okavango Delta, which will have significant impacts on water availability as well as livestock rearing and agricultural activities in the region.

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

title: Okavango Delta


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Talk:PC speaker

Untitled
Is the page still really a stub? Richard cocks 02:14, Mar 9, 2004 (UTC)

 * I've it Start class, Low importance. ~KvnG 14:23, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

He don't forget Access Software's Realsound for their memorable games such as Crimewave, Links, and that point and click adventure set in an asylum in Turkey. Unfortunately I forget the name of this game. (It was Countdown. --Trixter 18:07, 15 March 2007 (UTC))

Meursault2004 23:03, 8 Apr 2004 (UTC)

This page is missing information on the hardware surrounding the PC speaker, e.g. the fact that it's based on a timer etc. — Timwi 18:43, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

This is 131.107.0.106 regarding my edits on 2 Feb 2006 (UTC). In previous versions before my edits, there were significant factual errors and inaccuracies in this article regarding the explanation of how to drive the PC speaker to produce PCM digital audio. I have taken information from the articles referenced by the external links (which has been selected, included and retained in this article long ago by others) as my basis for making the edits.

 * I had added some info based on my programming experiences too. On my machine, I could savely write hrxadecimal values between 0-40 (0-63) decimal directly to I/O port 61H and they would more or less play correctly, to the point that I wondered why digital PC speaker sound wasn't commonplace on commercial games :-p. On my machine again, I could actually READ the 61H I/O port, even shortly after writing and I would get back a sort of noisy reading of what I had previously written. However, the technique described in the article (which looks a lot like PWM) seems to be the most common and generic, as I don't know if all "PC speaker hardware" could work the way mine did. EpiVictor 17:21, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

 * I saw your PWM edits, they are excellent, thank you (I originally wrote that part). As for reading the port, that is most definitely NOT the case on my original IBM 5150 (I get 0 every time) so I hope that's not something you want to keep in the article. Trixter 21:23, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

 * Well, I added more details to PWM (especially about filtering, which is crucial) and stressed that reading of the 61H port is implementation dependant. I could try that same old program on an Athlon-class machine and see what happens :-) Besides, the exact implementation of the PC Speaker seems to be something left to the manufacturers...some may just use a simple current-driving transistor, others use an op-amp, others a logic gate + amplifier + filter (IBM even had a monitor with built in speaker + volume knob for PC speaker).EpiVictor 12:30, 3 February 2006 (UTC) ''Addendum: according to this source, reading of port 61H is not only possible, but NECESSARY since the other bits (other than bits 0 and 1) must not be modified when writing back...EpiVictor 12:49, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

 * I wasn't generating sound, which would explain why I got 0 reading the port. However, the original notes (don't remember who original author was) state that you could read those ports to turn the speaker into a microphone... I find that extremely difficult to believe and would need to see it happening to believe it. --Trixter 00:28, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

 * I believe I had written those notes, but never wrote that the PC speaker is so reversible that it can work as a microphone, I know very well it cannot. At most, it can give an output-dependant reading (e.g. if you are playing back a sound and trying to "read" the 61H port, you will get a heavily correlated reading, which looks like a waveform and/or static noise), and that's about it. Anyway, most PC speaker tutorials state that the full 8 bits of port 61H must be read before writing back, so this likely means they don't all stay to 0 during playback or normal functioning of the PC. EpiVictor 12:50, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

 * After checking this some more, it looks like you're referring to port C of the 8253, which has bit 5 wired as Timer 2 output read-back. Reading this from port 62h means that, yes, you'd get some random value, but it's coming from the timer and not the speaker.  Also, port 62h is only wired that way on PCs and XTs and not ATs and later.  So I removed the section as it was written; if you'd like to clarify and put it back, that's fine, but please note that the random value you get is from the timer and a better way to get it is just to latch the actual timer output. --Trixter 15:54, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Tiny PC speakers are NOT piezo.
The depicted type of small PC speaker is moving-iron, not a piezo. I.e. it functions like a traditional telephone receiver or earphone, containing a steel diaphragem attracted by a magnetic ring and a fixed solenoid (coil) in the center, which varies the intensity of the static magnetic field to make it move. While a piezo would have infinite DC resistance (like a capacitor), the standard tiny PC speaker still has 8 Ohm which proves the presence of a coil. User:CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler 92.193.120.28 (talk) 05:32, 28 November 2020 (UTC)

Output levels
The PC speaker is normally meant to provide only 2 levels of output .

That is, on and off, right? --Abdull 14:58, 27 June 2006 (UTC)

 * Yeah, it can only be either activated by TTL voltage (+5 V) or not (0V). Claims of it having accuracy comparable to 6 bits DAC are only indicative of the sound quality, not of the way it actually works, as digitized sound output on the PC-SPEAKER relies on PWM techniques instead of a true multiple level wave. EpiVictor 16:16, 27 June 2006 (UTC)

Regular speakers
I was looking for information on the difference between regular speakers for audio equipment, and speakers for home computers, as I have heard the former emit magnetic fields which if used nearby might harm my computer.--Darrelljon 19:55, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
 * "Computer Speakers" are usually no different than speakers meant to be used with other audio equipment, other than these details:

 * They are usually "active", e.g. have their own built-in amplifier, even if for a couple of watts. This sets them apart e.g. from "passive" speakers such as those used with walkmans or portable CD players, which only use headphone-level output.
 * The cheapest products usually claim delivering "100 W" or "200 W" of "PMPO Watts" or "Music Power" but that's a scam at best, real powers range from 1-2 Watts for the cheapest models, and expect anything with over 10 Watt per channel and a subwoofer to come with a separate amplifier module or really bulky speakers.
 * Also, the really cheap ones do not have a true line-level input, but work better with a pre-amplified headphone output.
 * Luckily, most speakers specifically designed for "computer" or "multimedia" use are also magnetically shielded and quite safe to keep near a CRT. Beware: speakers meant for use with portable audio equipment is usually *not* shielded, and even a tiny 0.5 Watt "walkman" speaker set can cause visible distortion on most CRT's, if placed close enough.

 * Anyway, this talk page is about the PC Speaker sound system, not about "Speakers for PCs" :-( EpiVictor 20:38, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

PC Speaker not on new computers?
I'm no expert on the matter, but I've noticed that the beeping internal speaker (which I'm pretty sure is the PC speaker) often doesn't work on newer computers (such as mine). For example, if I try to print ASCII 07 (Bell) on my computer, nothing will happen. Does anyone have any information on this? (Or am I perhaps crazy?) 65.188.254.26 01:33, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

 * If your computer is a laptop or a "brand" desktop machine, it might just be that the PC speaker is hardwired to the audio card sound output, instead of using its own speaker. You should still hear a beeping when it boots, the very least. When the OS is loaded however, the sound mixer settings take effect, and the PC speaker may be effectively cut off. Try checking these for volume/enabled lines. EpiVictor 08:45, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

 * No problems here, will check it out. I'm sure almost every computer still has them but you can indeed control them using the mixer settings in Microsoft Windows. Towel401 (talk) 20:53, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

 * I built my PC from individual components purchased separatedly, but later while assembling it i found out that neither the motherboard nor the case came with the internal speaker; luckly they are cheap enough that the guys at the store just handed me a spare one for free when i came back to buy it. --TiagoTiago (talk) 16:06, 19 June 2012 (UTC)

PWM edits
I removed the parts of the PWM section that claimed the technique was flawed due to interrupt noise; you can disable all hardware and software interrupts (I've done it) during playback so that's not a good reason to claim the method is flawed. There are other, perfectly legit reasons why it is flawed :-) but background interrupt noise is not one of them. --Trixter 15:50, 5 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I reviewed all of your edits...they seem alright, although I'm not sure if the bit about having to store the status of port 61h should have been removed...well, that's the definitive time I'm going to try it on an oldskool machine as possible :-p Also there's that external link saying that you must read and store whatever is in that port before writing back. EpiVictor 17:59, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

citation required on Programmable Interval Timer
There is a [citation needed] on the following sentence: "A PC speaker generates waveforms using the Programmable Interval Timer."

I don't think we really need a citation for this. I have one, but before I add it I want to understand why that is necessary.

Someone humor me here, and please try this: From that sentence: click "Programmable Interval Timer" then go to "Well Known PITs" then "Intel 8253" then "Mode 3 (X11): Square Wave Generator" then scroll down to the last external link which is to the Intel 8253 overview which shows the square wave generator that was used in the IBM PC Speaker.

Is it really worth adding a link to that document just to satisfy this citation? It's already linked from Wikipedia under much more relevant conditions. Do we need a tree of links on every sentence in Wikipedia just so that someone doesn't have to follow the links to the real data? This isn't a political debate or something.

 * I've added a citation. Totsugeki (talk) 14:09, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

Missing highest possible PWM carrier frequency
Before my 24 November 2007 edit, there was misinformation regarding the audio fidelity of PWM with the PC speaker. The article contained:"'Getting a high fidelity sound output out of this technique requires the switching frequency between the minimum and maximum sound levels to be much higher than the audio frequencies meant to be reproduced (typically with a ratio of 10:1 or more), and the output voltage to be bipolar in order to make better use the output devices' dynamic range and power (e.g. by making a loudspeaker vibrate in both directions).'"Which is fine so far. But:"'On the PC speaker, however, most of these conditions don't hold; for example, the physical properties of the speaker lacks the response time for such high rates, and the output voltage is either zero or TTL level (unipolar).'"I had removed the first part of that sentence. As I explained already:"The physical speaker doesn't need to have extremely good response time and/or ability to reproduce high frequencies for PWM to work... in fact it better not because it serves as a natural low-pass filter."Still, we need to address the switching frequency not being high enough problem. In other words, the problem is not the response time of the physical speaker itself, but more how many samples per second can be sent to the speaker, which will limit the PWM switching frequency. If someone can find a source for the maximal sampling frequency, please add this missing information. Then, one could add my comment on the speaker serving as a natural low-pass filter, partially filtering out the carrier frequency. 74.56.90.14, now 206.248.158.111 (talk) 05:10, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

Drastic changes
As per WP:BOLD no discussion is required for drastic changes. I believe my edits improved the article and I have restored them. If the article is still not where it needs to be, please feel free to improve further upon my edits. One does not WP:OWN an article on WP. --Kvng (talk) 15:27, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

Playback quality / technical info
I've added (and referenced) some technical info regarding playback quality of digital audio using the PWM method, with a comparison of effective bitrates.

It would be nice to have more information here (especially regarding the difference between the original magnetic PC speaker and the piezo buzzers present in more modern machines), if someone can find it. 109.64.185.243 (talk) 17:13, 15 May 2011 (UTC)

 * I don't find any error in your calculations but I've marked this as original research. Aside from that, I feel it the new content goes beyond what an encyclopedia should cover (WP:HOWTO, WP:UNDUE...). A few months ago, I removed a bunch of similar content that I felt got in the way of understaning the topic. Please state your case for including it. --Kvng (talk) 13:45, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

 * I don't really see how this would be original research: you will find that those same calculations do appear in the references cited - specifically the second source - and are thus verifiable; the context is the same, and my usage of this data does not attempt to advance any new or original position outside that of the source. The only thing I've really added is the comparison to PCM bitrates - simple routine calculations relevant to the topic at hand (playback quality).
 * As for why I think this content belongs here - it clarifies the technical limitations of audio playback, which is relevant information for any sound device. FWIW, I agree that the older content you removed wasn't really fit for inclusion, as it was badly worded, poorly referenced, and too long and dense to be informative within the scope of the article.  I took a different approach though - hopefully we can enhance this article with informative facts, while keeping concise and adhering to standards. 109.64.185.243 (talk) 12:16, 19 May 2011 (UTC)

 * I apologize for not reading the Schlunder reference carefully. It is in there. I have done some work on the section. Let me know what you think. --Kvng (talk) 16:19, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

 * That does 'flow' better. The exact calculations don't really need to be there, but I think it would be helpful to include the comparison to PCM bitrates (giving readers a point of reference, so they can get an idea of what the limitation means, quality-wise).  Just not sure how to convey that part without the calculations being there, but that was the informative point I intended with my edit. 79.176.185.170 (talk) 02:33, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

 * Those details are available in the ref and in some of the linked articles (e.g. Pulse-width modulation). This article is about the PC speaker, not PWM theory. --Kvng (talk) 14:31, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

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title: Talk:PC speaker


text:
U.S. Route 57

U.S. Highway 57 (US 57) is a 98 mi north–south intrastate United States highway that follows a nearly east–west route in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Texas. The highway's northern (eastern) terminus is about 50 mi south of San Antonio, Texas, between Devine and Pearsall, at an intersection with Interstate 35 (I-35; old U.S. Highway 81). Its southern (western) terminus is in Eagle Pass, at the Rio Grande (Río Bravo), where it continues into Piedras Negras, Coahuila, as Mexican Federal Highway 57.

Route description
US 57 begins at the Eagle Pass – Piedras Negras International Bridge in Eagle Pass. The highway travels eastward through Eagle Pass on Garrison Street. On the east side of town, it turns northeast briefly and intersects US 277 Business on Main Street before turning back to the east. Six blocks later, it reaches the intersection with the main branch of US 277 and FM 3443. US 57 continues east, now concurrent with southbound US 277. About 1 mi further, the highways diverge, with US 57 veering to the northeast. The highway travels through ranchland in Maverick County and travels through a United States Border Patrol interior checkpoint before reaching La Pryor, where it intersects US 83. US 57 continues eastward through Batesville and unincorporated areas of Zavala and Frio counties, intersecting several Farm to Market roads, before reaching its eastern terminus at Interstate 35 (I-35) southwest of the town of Moore.

History
This 98 mi highway was originally designated in 1933 as Texas State Highway 76, which was previously designated in 1926 on a route from Nacogdoches to Joaquin which was replaced by SH 7 in 1933. From 1942 to 1964, its eastern half was reassigned to Farm to Market Road 394 (FM 394). In 1966, the state changed the highway's number to 57 to provide continuity with Mexican Federal Highway 57, a similarly-numbered route across the Mexican border.

In 1970, the highway was commissioned as a United States Highway, and retained its "57" designation to create a single-numbered international corridor. The highway is signed south–north, even though it travels much closer to an east-west direction. However, Mexican Federal Highway 57 travels south to Mexico City, so the unusual directional signing prevents confusion.

title: U.S. Route 57


text:
Piracicaba

Piracicaba ( or ) is a city located in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. The population is 423,323 (2022) in an area of 1,378.07 km2. It is at an elevation of 547 m above sea level.

Name
The place name comes from a word in the Tupi language that means "place where the fish stops", and it is formed by the junction of the terms pirá ("fish"), syk ("stop") and aba ("place"). The name refers to the waterfalls of the Piracicaba River, which bisects the city, which is a point where the "piracema"—fish swimming upstream to reproduce— are stopped.

History
In 1766, Antonio Correa Barbosa, charged with the task of establishing a settlement on the estuary of Piracicaba river, opted for a location about 90 km from it. The settlement was officially founded on August 1, 1767, as a povoação subordinated to the vila of Itu. In 1784, Piracicaba got emancipated from Itu, becoming a freguesia.

In 1821, the freguesia was promoted to vila, known as Vila Nova da Constituição. In 1856, Vila Nova da Constituição was promoted to city status and in 1877 it was officially named "Piracicaba", following a law by the then councilman and future Brazilian president Prudente de Morais.

In 1944, the city was made the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Piracicaba.

Notable institutions, events, resources
Piracicaba is home to the oldest agricultural university in Brazil, the Luiz de Queiroz School of Agriculture of the University of São Paulo. Founded in 1901, the school is located on a farm with a large collection of trees and plants. It is also recognized as a leader in the field of precision agriculture. Other universities based in Piracicaba are the Methodist University of Piracicaba (UNIMEP) and the University of Campinas' School of Dentistry.

Piracicaba is known by the nickname "Noiva da Colina", meaning "Bride of the Hill", and is the annual host to the "Festa das Nações" (Nations' Party, where people may find foods from all over the world), and to the "Salão Internacional do Humor" (International Humor Exhibition), where cartoonists from around the world display comic drawings.

Piracicaba is famous for its sugarcane plantations, traditional cachaça production, and traditional music.

Economy

The city is an important and traditional producer of sugarcane. The harvest of sugarcane allows for the production of many derivates, including sugar, oil, and ethanol. Copersucar, a large company that has a center of research on genetic improvement of sugarcane, participates in this growing industry.

Another characteristic economic feature is the presence of large industries, the main ones being Caterpillar, ArcelorMittal, Raizen and Hyundai.

Geography
Piracicaba's altitude is 554 meters. Temperatures through the year vary from average highs of 30 °C to average lows of 12.0 °C, and Piracicaba experiences an average annual rainfall of 123 centimeters. The area of the city is 1,378 square kilometers, making it the 13th largest city in the State of São Paulo. The urban area of Piracicaba is 233.36 square kilometers.

Demographics
The population in 2019 was 423.323. The Human Development Index for the city was 0.710 in 2000, and 0.785 in 2010, both falling in the "high" category.

Religion
Like the cultural variety in Piracicaba, there are several religious manifestations in the city. It is possible to find in the city dozens of different Protestant denominations, as well as the practice of Buddhism, Islamism, Spiritism, and others. In the last decades, Buddhism and Eastern religions have grown in the city. There also are the Jewish, Mormon and Afro-Brazilian religions. According to data from the 2019 Census conducted by the IBGE, the population of Piracicaba was composed that year by Catholics (59.78%), Evangelicals (27.42%), no religious affiliation (7.47%), Spiritist (2.9%) and Jehovah's Witnesses (0.95%). The remaining 2.09% of the resident population declared themselves of other denominations or of undetermined religion.

Source: IBGE - Census 2019

Catholic Church
The Catholic church in the municipality is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Piracicaba.

Protestant Church
The most diverse evangelical beliefs are present in the city, mainly Pentecostal, including the Assemblies of God in Brazil (the largest evangelical church in the country), Christian Congregation in Brazil, among others. These denominations are growing more and more throughout Brazil.

Utilities
As of 2010, water and power are supplied at a level approaching 100% of the households. As of 2019 there were 2.15 inhabitants per car in the city, and, in 2022, roughly 0.72 inhabitants per mobile phone line, with 99% of the city's population calculated as having access to a mobile phone.

Media
In telecommunications, the city was served by Telecomunicações de São Paulo. In July 1998, this company was acquired by Telefónica, which adopted the Vivo brand in 2012. The company is currently an operator of cell phones, fixed lines, internet (fiber optics/4G) and television (satellite and cable).

Notable people

 * José Altafini, also known as "Mazola", a professional footballer.
 * Jonathan Cafú, footballer
 * Erik Cardoso, sprinter
 * Cassiano Leal, swimmer
 * Evaristo Conrado Engelberg, engineer and inventor
 * André Cypriano, professional fotographer and documentarist
 * Ronaldo Guiaro, footballer
 * Marcos Pizzelli - footballer who played for the Armenian national team.
 * Rubens Ometto Silveira Mello, the owner of Cosan.

Sister cities

 * 🇰🇷 Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
 * 🇸🇻 Santa Ana, El Salvador

title: Piracicaba


text:
Hull Kingston Rovers

Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league.

Hull KR have won the League Championship five times and Challenge Cup once.

The clubs traditional home colours are white shirts with a red band and red shorts. The City of Hull is split in two by the River Hull with Hull Kingston Rovers representing the East side and cross city rivals Hull F.C. representing the West side.

Introduction
Hull Kingston Rovers are one of two professional rugby league teams in Hull. Hull F.C. play on the west side of the city, and Hull KR on the east side, at Hull College Craven Park. The River Hull is the divide between the two. Hull KR's nickname, "The Robins", originates from their traditional playing colours of red and white.

After a ten-year stay in the Super League (2007–2016), they were relegated from the Super League to the Championship in the 2016 season, due to the Million Pound Game.

After winning the majority of their matches in the 2017 Championship season, Hull KR successfully gained automatic promotion back to the Super League, at the first time of asking.

19th century
Hull Kingston Rovers began in 1882 when a group of apprentice boilermakers in the Hessle Road area of Hull came together to start a team, Kingston Amateurs. Their first ground was a piece of wasteland in Albert Street, the club started playing in the Hull and District League in the autumn of 1883. By 1885 Kingston Amateurs had played at three grounds, Albert Street, Anlaby Road and finally Chalk Lane. The club name was also changed to Kingston Rovers as they entered the Times Cup in the 1885–86 season. A number of clubs joined the league and the club entered the new Hull and District Rugby Union Cup, losing to Hull A in the final. The club won its first trophy in the 1887–88 season by winning the Times Cup, beating Selby A in the final. The Hull Kingston Rovers moved to their fourth ground, down Hessle Road.

In 1888–89, 6,000 fans turned up to the cup game against Hull A at the Holderness Road ground, which ended as a draw. Rovers went through the next season losing just two games, defeating Britannia in the Times Cup final.

Rovers beat Hull A for the first time in 1889–90, and moved to their fifth ground, again down Hessle Road. The Red and Whites won the Times Cup for the third year running in 1891–92 beating York A in the final. 1892 saw Rovers play at the Boulevard for the first time and they leased the ground for three years from the following season. Only one away win was recorded this season and six home wins, but Rovers entered the Yorkshire Cup for the first time although they were knocked out by Dewsbury in the second round. In 1893 Rovers played out of the Boulevard, and they lost to Bradford Northern that season in the first round of the Yorkshire Cup. Amos Law, a drop kicker joined the club from Cleckheaton and Huddersfield, while George William Lofthouse played at the age of 14; the youngest ever player to turn out for the senior side.

In 1895 the Northern Football Union was founded, when the leading rugby union sides in the North of England broke away to form a league of their own, comprising 22 clubs. Rovers, then nicknamed "the redbreasts" did not join the new organisation and were instead promoted to the second division of the RFU finishing joint second. They moved to their first ground in East Hull in Craven Street off Holderness Road. In 1896–97, they were denied a place in the first division when several sides resigned but when the West Riding club dropped out, Rovers moved up.

Hull KR amalgamated with Albany Soccer Club. After a successful amalgamation the clubs resources they then went onto win the Yorkshire Cup for the first time beating Shipley 11–5 in the final. The club also won the league competition and beat the rest of the league 26–8 in a challenge match. Rovers applied to join the Northern Union and played their first match under the new code in 1897–98.

Rovers were elected into the inaugural Yorkshire Second competition in 1898–99 winning all 17 matches. A club record of 19 consecutive league play-off and cup wins was set in that season with the club subsequently defeating Heckmondwike in a promotion/relegation match to qualify for the Yorkshire Senior Competition. Hull Kingston Rovers were thus admitted into full membership of the Yorkshire Northern Union and finished 6th out of 16 beating Hull 8–2 in the first local derby on 16 September 1899, in front of a 14,000 crowd.

Early 20th century
In 1901–02, the top Yorkshire clubs formed their own 'super league' and Rovers played in the Lancashire League finishing 5th out of 13. Hull Kingston Rovers were one of the new teams to join the second division and finished joint second.

In 1904–05, Rovers reached the Challenge Cup Final losing 0–6 to Warrington in front of a crowd of 19,638. In the first round on 4 March 1905, Rovers beat Brookland Rovers 73–5 with G.H. 'Tich' West scoring 53 of the points with 11 tries and 10 goals, still a club and world rugby league record. In 1906/07 they reached the final of the Yorkshire Cup only to lose to Bradford F.C. 5–8.

In 1908, Rovers gained a memorable 21–16 win over the first touring Australian side. In 1911/12 they finished 3rd out of 27 but lost 10–22 to Huddersfield in the final of the Yorkshire Cup. In 1912/13 Rovers finished 3rd again out of 26 clubs and lost to Wigan in the Championship semi final play-off and finished runners-up in the Yorkshire League Championship.

Leagues were suspended in 1915 due to the First World War. When an official regional league resumed on 18 January 1919, Rovers finished 19th out of 25. In 1920/21, Rovers finished top of the Rugby League but lost 14–16 to Hull F.C. in the play-off final at Headingley. They had their revenge in the Yorkshire Cup final beating Hull 2–0 to win their first cup as a professional side.

Rovers then moved to their second ground in East Hull, Old Craven Park, behind the tram and bus depot on the eastern end of Holderness Road in 1922. The land cost £18,281 and included 14 tennis courts. They lost their first match at the new ground 0-0-0 to 0–1–3 Wakefield Trinity on 2 September 1922, Albert Rosenfeld scoring Trinity's try. The club finished 4th out of 27 in the league and they won the League Championship Cup beating Huddersfield 15–5. In season 1923/4 Gilbert Austin voluntarily ended a run of 190 consecutive appearances when he was selected to play for Yorkshire, which he considered a great honour.

1924–25 saw Rovers finish 2nd in the league, win the League Championship Cup, the Yorkshire League Cup, were semi-finalists in the Yorkshire Cup and runners-up in the Challenge Cup final. In 1925/26 Rovers finished 6th and won the Yorkshire League Championship. In 1926/27 the club finished 6th out of 29 but managed to beat a touring New Zealand side 20–15.

In 1929–30 Rovers won the Yorkshire Cup beating Hunslet 13–7 in the final, and finished 6th in the league. In 1933/34 the club lost 4–10 to York F.C. in the Yorkshire Cup Final.

Hull Kingston Rovers sold Craven Park for £10,750 to the Greyhound Racing Company in 1938 due to financial difficulties, securing a 21-year lease to continue playing there.

Post-Second World War
Leagues were again suspended during the Second World War. When the league resumed in 1945 Rovers finished 18th out of 27. Between 1947 and 1957, Rovers finished between 17th and 29th in the league. Colin Hutton was Hull KR coach from 1957–70. In 1958 the club's fortunes started improving, finishing 18th out of 30. In 1959–60 the club finished 13th out of 30, the first time the club had finished in the top half of the table since 1930–31 – the players shared a bonus of £500 to share.

In 1961–62, the club won 17 successive matches and finished 8th out of 30. In 1962, the league was split into East and West of the Pennines; Huddersfield and Hull Kingston Rovers met at Headingley, Leeds in the first final of the Eastern Division Championship on Saturday 10 November 1962. Reigning champions, Huddersfield were favourites to lift the Eastern Division title, especially as Rovers were missing five first choice players with injuries. The Robins, however, set the early pace and were 10–0 up after 30 minutes. Despite a rally by Huddersfield, Rovers hung on to win 13–10. Rovers win was their first trophy for more than 30 years. In 1962–63 as two division rugby returned, they finished the season tenth out of sixteen in Division 1.

In 1963–64, Rovers reached the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley for the first time, losing 5–13 to Widnes in front of 84,488 fans. A return to Division One rugby was made in 1964–65 when Rovers finished 8th out of 30. In 1965/66 Rovers finished 12th out of 30. Rovers finished second in 1966–67, their highest place for over 40 years and the Yorkshire Cup was won with a 25–12 victory over Featherstone Rovers.

The club bought Roger Millward from Castleford on 8 August 1966 for the sum of £6,000. Rovers won the Mackeson Trophy for being the top points scorers in the Rugby League. Rovers won the Yorkshire Cup for the second year running in 1967–68, beating Hull 8–7 in the final; the first all-Hull final in 47 years. The club finished third in the league and lost 10–17 to Wakefield Trinity in the play-off final; Rovers were runners-up in the Yorkshire League and beat the Australians 27–15 with Millward scoring a hat-trick.

The 1970s
Johnny Whiteley joined Hull Kingston Rovers as coach in 1970 and stayed until 1972.

In the early 1970s Hull KR purchased a site at Winchester Avenue with the aim of building a new stadium. The plans never came to fruition and the site was later sold to a private developer. The profit made from this land was used to buy back Craven Park with greyhound racing continuing as a subsidiary concern.

New Zealand visited Craven Park on 8 September 1971. The Kiwis, playing their third game in five days, were unable to match the Robins, who beat the Kiwis 12–10.

Rovers won a further two Yorkshire Cup winners medals in 1971/72 and 1974/75. In 1973/74 the club was relegated to Division 2 when they finished 14 out of 16 in Division 1. Rovers gained promotion back to Division 1 the next year and won the Yorkshire Cup for the sixth time beating Wakefield Trinity 16–13 in the final. They also reached the semi-finals of the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy, the John Player Trophy and the Premiership Trophy. In 1975/76 the club were runners-up in the Yorkshire Cup losing 11–15 to Leeds.

Coach Harry Poole died in 1976/77, and Millward took over as temporary player-coach and in his first season guided the club to their first ever BBC2 Floodlit Trophy victory as the Robins beat St. Helens 26–11. The club finished 4th out of 16 in the league.

Phil Hogan was transferred to Hull KR in 1978 for a then world record fee of £35,000. Rovers topped the league for the first time since 1925. In 1979/80, under coach Roger Millward, Hull KR achieved a famous defeat of neighbours Hull, by a margin of 10–5 in the final of the Challenge Cup, at Wembley in front of 95,000 fans. A makeshift sign was left on the A63 (the major westerly road out of Hull) that read "last one out turn the lights off!" due to most of the city travelling to Wembley for the final. Also, a '10–5' bar is now situated inside Craven Park.

Steve Hubbard scored nine out of the ten points for Rovers. Millward played the full game, despite having his jaw broken early in the game. Earlier in the same season, Rovers had lost in the final of the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy against Hull.

1980s and early 1990s
In 1980/81, Millward retired as a player after having his jaw broken for the third time, the club finished 3rd in the league but lost 18–9 to Widnes in the final of the Challenge Cup in front of 94,496. Rovers lost in the final of the Yorkshire Cup 7–8 to Leeds but won the Premiership Trophy beating Hull 11–7. International full back George Fairbairn was signed from Wigan suring the summer of 1981 for a then world record fee of £72.500. In 1981/82 Rovers finished 4th in the league and lost in the final of the John Player Trophy 4–12 against Hull.

In 1982/83 Rovers finished as runners-up in the league. In 1983/84 Rovers were crowned champions of the 1st Division and went on to win the Divisional Premiership beating Castleford 18–10 in the final at Headingley; becoming the first team to win the Championship / Premiership double. In 1984–85 they nearly repeated the feat winning the Division 1 Championship but narrowly missing out in the final of the Premiership. Rovers also won the John Player Trophy beating Hull 12–0 in the final at Boothferry Park but lost 12–29 to Hull in the final of the Yorkshire Cup.

On 25 August 1985, professional rugby league was played for the first time on the Isle of Man. The Charity Shield between Hull Kingston Rovers and Challenge Cup winners Wigan drew a crowd of 4,066 to the Douglas Bowl. The final score was 34–6 to Wigan.

In 1985/86, Millward took Rovers to their sixth win in the Yorkshire Cup before they were defeated in the John Player Final and the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley narrowly losing 15–14 to Castleford. This proved to be Rovers last major final to date, as the team that had part dominated the English game faded away.

By the late 1980s, time had taken its toll on Craven Park stadium, following the Bradford City stadium fire, capacity was restricted and the cost of safety work spiraled. Major renovations were needed to bring it up to scratch. Large amounts of money were spent on the ground each year repairing sections but once one section was repaired another would fall into disrepair. In 1988/89, their last full season at Craven Park, Rovers were relegated to the 2nd Division and Millward decided to stand down as coach. Wright Properties Ltd purchased Craven Park from the club and the final game was played there on 9 April 1989.

A new stadium, New Craven Park, was built on a site off Preston Road. New Craven Park was officially opened on Sunday 24 September 1989 as Rovers beat Trafford Borough 48–8 in front of 8,500 spectators. Rovers started the new era convincingly, and were crowned Second Division champions with promotion back to the top flight.

George Fairbairn was brought in as a player-coach in 1992 for a record fee of £72,500. In 1994/95, Rovers were relegated to the third division despite finishing mid table.

1996–2006: Summer era
In 1996, the first tier of British rugby league clubs played the inaugural Super League season and changed from a winter to a summer season. When the Super League competition had been proposed, it was suggested Hull Kingston Rovers should merge with Hull F.C. to form 'Humberside' and compete in the Super League. This was resisted but despite finishing top of the Third Division, they were not promoted. As the sport in Britain entered a new era, it would be ten years before Rovers rose again to the top level of the game.

Rovers were again crowned champions of the now renamed Second Division in 1996 and were this time promoted to the First Division. Hull Kingston Rovers entered administration in January 1997, and, but for the diligence of administrator Edward Klemka and the fund-raising activity of the Hull Kingston Rovers Supporters Group, the 1997 season would almost certainly have been their last. On the field though, Rovers won the Challenge Cup plate in its only season, beating Hunslet at Wembley 60–14. Then, against all odds, they finished second in the division the following season.

Rovers finished second in the league in 1998, and came close to a Grand Final spot with a Super League spot at stake. The Robins were expected to go one better in 1999 and topped the table for most of the season before their run ended and the final six games saw them drop from first place to sixth, missing out on a play-off place. Disappointment followed the year after when the Robins finished in seventh place in the league after a mid-season collapse and exited the play-offs in the first round.

After being in Administration from 1997 an acceptable buyer for the club was finally found in 2000, and the club came out of administration. Don Robinson took control in 2001 and Gary Wilkinson became head coach. Despite reaching the National Cup Final and finishing fourth in the league, Wilkinson made way for the club's first overseas coach, Steve Linnane.

Under Linnane, the Robins came within eighty minutes of their first Grand Final appearance in 2002, after a largely successful end to the season, while the arrival of former player Nick Halafihi as chief executive, boosted the club's off-field activities.

In 2004 the club appointed Mal Reilly as Director of Rugby and Martin Hall as first team coach after Steve Linnane's resignation. But Reilly left the club midway through the season, while Hall took the club to the play-off semi-final before leaving once the season had finished. Halafihi also left the club.

Harvey Howard was appointed first team coach and Paul Lakin appointed chief executive in late 2004. Howard was dismissed shortly before the Northern Rail Cup Final, which Rovers went on to win 18–16 over Castleford, with the Robins utilising the temporary player-coaching abilities of James Webster.

Permanently taking over from Howard was the former Toulouse coach, Justin Morgan. October 2005 who saw the club still in the National League, after failing to get past the semi-final stage of the National League One play-offs. Rovers also started a number of ground improvements, including the laying of a new pitch, and widening of the playing surface. They also made some significant signings for the 2006 season.

Up to that time unbeaten in their 2006 fixtures, in early June they were drawn to meet Super League side Warrington, in the quarter-final of the Challenge Cup. It was arguably their biggest fixture for some years. Against all the odds the Robins won, 40–36, their best result in the competition since their 1980 Challenge Cup win against local rivals Hull. This result also created a new club record of 18 consecutive wins. The victory set up a semi final tie against Super League leaders, St. Helens.

Rovers also progressed to the final of the Northern Rail Cup for the second successive season, against Leigh at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool on 16 July. Leigh won this game 22–18, thus ending Rovers' twenty four match unbeaten run. The club's Challenge Cup campaign also came to an abrupt halt, Rovers gamely succumbing 50–0 to triple-winning St Helens at the Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield.

September 2006 saw Rovers crowned National League One Minor Premier winners, and qualify for an automatic place in the National League One play-off semi final at Craven Park against Widnes whom they beat 29–22 to reach the first Grand Final in their history, which they won 29–16, earning a place in the following season's Super League competition.

2007–2014: Super League
After close-season signings and an overseas training camp, Rovers made a better than expected start to their first Super League campaign, winning their first two games – Wakefield Trinity at home and Huddersfield away. After suffering a reversal to Harlequins RL, they then had an away win (26–16) at Wigan, followed by a hard-fought victory at home to in-form Leeds, to go joint top of the early season table. However, inconsistent form, injuries and the effects of the first Super League sending-off (after 96 games) saw Rovers slip to near the bottom, despite a historic double away win over Wigan, and beating local rivals Hull at the Millennium Magic weekend. Improved late season results, including the safety-clinching win in the derby against Hull by the shock margin of 6–42 (played at the KC Stadium), ensured Super League status for another campaign.

Hull KR made significant changes to their squad for the 2008 season, which saw eleven new players brought in and a number of players released or sold. On 2 May the club announced that former captain James Webster had been released from the final six months of his contract due to a three to four-month lay off with a shoulder injury. He was replaced by new signing Michael Dobson, who was formerly a target of Hull. Canberra Raiders scrum half took squad number 26, and made his début against Harlequins RL on 25 May, scoring two tries. Rovers finished one point away from a play-off place.

2009 saw further consolidation of Hull KR's Super League status with away victories at St Helens, Wigan and Warrington in a seven match winning run, taking Rovers briefly to the top position in the table. A less successful spell followed, due to inconsistency, injuries and international calls, but by mid August 2009 Rovers were fourth in the table, five points clear of the next placed side.

2011 saw the end of Justin Morgan's reign as head coach and the club appointed Craig Sandercock as the new head coach for the 2012 season. Finishing 10th in his first season as a head coach and then making the play-offs in 2013, finishing 8th.

Despite making several big name signings for the 2014 season, Rovers failed to make any kind of impact in the league and with 8 games remaining they parted company with Sandercock, appointing assistant coach and ex-player Chris Chester as the new First-team coach of Hull KR. Chester could not steer the club to a playoff spot in his first 8 games in charge and they finished the season in 9th position.

2015–present: Progress and Challenge Cup final
Chester took charge of his first full season as Hull Kingston Rovers Head Coach in 2015 and despite a mass clearout of the 2014 squad, he made several high-profile signings, notably, Ken Sio, Albert Kelly, Maurice Blair, Terry Campese, Mitch Allgood, Ryan Bailey and Darrell Goulding.

The club's first major final in 29 years ended in a record defeat along with the highest losing margin in a Challenge Cup final against Leeds by 50 points to nil.

Chester was sacked on 24 February 2016 just three matches into the 2016 season (two losses and a draw). James Webster took the reins, and led the Robins to four defeats in the following five games; the club also suffered a shock cup loss to Championship side Oldham R.L.F.C., as well as relegation to the Kingstone Press Championship in the 2016 Million Pound Game.

In September 2016, it was announced that Tim Sheens would be coaching the club for the next three years. In his first season, Rovers were promoted without having to play the Million Pound Game.

Over the next three seasons, Hull KR finished 10th, 11th and 11th. In the 2020 Super League season, the club only avoided relegation due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and Toronto's expulsion from the league.

In the 2021 Super League season, Hull KR were predicted to fight against relegation after finishing the previous season on the bottom of the table. The club however finished in sixth place and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2013. In the elimination playoff against Warrington, Hull KR produced a major upset winning the game 19–0 and booking their place in the semi-final against Catalans Dragons. In the 2021 semi-final, Hull KR lost the match 28–10 at a sold out Stade Gilbert Brutus.

Hull Kingston Rovers started the 2022 Super League season looking to build on the events of 2021. Midway through the year however, head coach Tony Smith announced he would be leaving at the end of the year. In May 2022, Hull KR reached the semi-final of the Challenge Cup were defeated by Huddersfield at Elland Road. In July 2022, Smith left Hull Kingston Rovers after a humiliating loss to Toulouse Olympique and he was replaced by interim head coach Danny McGuire. Hull Kingston Rovers would finish the year in 8th place on the table. In the 2023 Super League season, the club finished fourth on the table and qualified for the playoffs. They defeated Leigh in the elimination playoff to reach the semi-final against Wigan. Wigan would defeat Hull Kingston Rovers 42–12. The club also reached the final of the 2023 Challenge Cup but were defeated by Leigh in extra-time.

1895–1922: Craven Street
Hull KR first played on Craven Street in 1895 and played there until 1922 when they built and developed a bigger stadium at Old Craven Park with better facilities.

1922–1989: Old Craven Park
Hull KR moved to Craven Park from their cramped Craven Street ground in 1922. The club purchased and developed a site behind the tram and bus depot on the eastern end of Holderness Road and it hosted its first game on 2 September 1922. Craven Park also hosted greyhound racing. Hull Kingston Rovers sold the ground to the Greyhound Racing Company in 1930s due to financial difficulties, securing a long term lease to continue playing there.

In the early 1970s Hull Kingston Rovers purchased a site at Winchester Avenue with the aim of building a new stadium there. These plans never came to fruition and the site was later sold to a private developer. The profit made from this land was used to buy back Craven Park with greyhound racing continuing as a subsidiary concern. Following the Bradford City stadium fire, capacity was restricted and costs of safety work spiraled. With the club in debt the ground was sold to developers and the final game was played there on 9 April 1989.

1989–present: Craven Park
The club moved to the new ground in 1989 from the "Old" Craven Park which was sited on Holderness Road. The first match was played against Trafford Borough packing in a full capacity 8,500 crowd to watch.

In 2006 the ground and pitch were substantially improved as the club sought a return to the top flight of English rugby league. On 25 January 2014, Hull Kingston Rovers announced that it had secured a new stadium naming rights partnership with local communications provider, KC. Under a five-year agreement, Craven Park was renamed the KC Lightstream Stadium. After a corporate rebrand, the stadium was renamed again as KCOM Craven Park. In 2019 it was renamed the Hull College Craven Park Stadium.

A further renaming deal was signed in January 2022 when Hull-based company, Sewell Group, signed a two-year deal for rights to the stadium naming. The stadium to be known as the Sewell Group Craven Park.

On 28 March 2022 the club announced that they had purchased the ground from Kingston Community Developments Ltd (KCDL). KCDL had been the club's landlord since the 1990s. The club also announced that they have the option to buy up to 15 acres of land surrounding the ground from Hull City Council.

Colours
Hull Kingston Rovers have played in red jerseys throughout their history. From their inception the club's colours were agreed to be red jerseys with a blue band across the chest, white shorts and red socks.

Badge
Hull KR's badge is similar to city rivals Hull F.C. in that they use the city coat of arms, but KR's club badge is mainly red within a shield.

Rivalries
The club's main rivalry is with cross-city side Hull F.C. in which they contest the Hull Derby.

Greatest ever team
In 2012, Hull KR supporters voted for the best players in the club's history. The players who received the most votes in each position were named in the club's "Greatest Ever Hull KR 13".

Other notable players
These players have either won Challenge Cup, Rugby Football League Championship, Yorkshire County Cup, Yorkshire League; played during Super League; received a Testimonial match; been international representatives before, or after, their time at Hull Kingston Rovers; or are notable outside of rugby league. For a comprehensive list of players, see List of Hull Kingston Rovers players. Figures in (brackets) are total club appearances.

 * Allan Agar
 * Chris Anderson
 * Gilbert Austin (348) 1919 – 1928
 * Damian Ball
 * Dwayne Barker
 * Arthur Beetson
 * Edwin "Ted" Bonner (#13) (72) circa 1962
 * Kerry Boustead
 * B. Britton (332) circa 1924 – circa 1930
 * Mark Broadhurst
 * Matty Brooks
 * Arthur Bunting (237) 1959 – circa 1968
 * Brian Burwell (#4) (93) circa 1962
 * George Carmichael captain circa 1936
 * Leslie Chamberlain
 * Josh Charnley
 * Chris Chester
 * Dean Clark
 * Geoffrey Clarkson
 * Joel Clinton
 * Ben Cockayne
 * Liam Colbon
 * J. Cook (365) 1920 – 1931
 * Matt Cook
 * Paul Cooke
 * Colin Cooper (#7) circa-1968
 * Philip "Phil" Coupland circa-1968
 * Robin "Bob" Coverdale (161) 1957 – circa 1963
 * Mick Crane
 * H. "Scrubber" Dale (305) circa 1929 – circa 1937
 * Andy Dannatt
 * Michael Dixon
 * Michael Dobson
 * John Dorahy
 * Jim Drake (78) 1961 – 1965
 * Paul Eastwood
 * David "Dave" Elliott (300) circa 1962 – 1968
 * Andrew Ellis
 * Asuquo "Zook" Ema circa 1983 (Testimonial match 1990)
 * Craig Farrell
 * Daniel Fitzhenry
 * Paul Fletcher (Testimonial match 1998)
 * Byron Ford
 * Leslie "Les" Foster (#8) circa-1968
 * Neil Fox
 * Peter Fox (born 1984)
 * Ben Galea
 * Jim Gannon
 * Stanley Gene
 * Jon Goddard
 * Blake Green
 * Mike Hall
 * Graeme Hallas
 * Ian Hardman
 * Lewis Harris, 1920s.
 * Robert "Bob" Harris (#5) (128) 1959 – c 1964
 * Danny Hill
 * Dale Holdstock
 * Roy Holdstock
 * Chaz I'Anson
 * Fred Jowett
 * Cyril Kellett (#1) (382) 1957 – 1967
 * Bryn Knowelden
 * Sam Latus
 * Tracey Lazenby
 * Paul Longstaff (#5) circa-1968
 * Rhys Lovegrove
 * John Lydiat (Testimonial match 1982)
 * Terrence "Terry" Major (#3) (274) 1959 – circa 1969
 * J. McIntyre (303) circa 1920 – circa 1925
 * Wilfred "Wilf" McWatt (323)
 * Frankie Mariano
 * Brian Mennell (#10) début in 1963–64 Challenge Cup Final circa-1968
 * Luke Menzies
 * Gavin Miller
 * John Millington
 * John Moore (430) 1962 – (Testimonial match 1973)
 * Iain Morrison
 * Gareth Morton
 * Peter Murphy (#12) (36) circa 1962
 * Scott Murrell
 * Jason Netherton
 * Kirk Netherton
 * Clint Newton
 * Bryan Niebling
 * Mark O'Neill
 * Jonty Parkin
 * Graham 'The Cornish Express' Paul (#2) (197) 1958 – 1966
 * Dave Page
 * Gareth Price
 * Gary Prohm
 * Andy Raleigh
 * Joseph "Joe" Ramsden (348)
 * Michael Ratu
 * Dan Rees
 * Emlyn Richards (109) 1945 – 1952
 * Leroy Rivett
 * Ian Robinson (Testimonial match 1984)
 * Michael Smith
 * Bright Sodje
 * John "Jack" T. Spamer (440) circa 1928 – circa 1938
 * Scott Spaven
 * Jon Steel
 * David Stephenson
 * Francis Stephenson
 * Lynton Stott
 * Anthony Sullivan 1988 – 1991
 * Whetu Taewa
 * Ryan Tandy
 * David Tangata-Toa
 * Latham Tawhai
 * John Taylor
 * Scott Taylor
 * Len Trump
 * Derek 'Rocky' Turner (141) 1950 – 1955
 * Yank van Rooyen circa-1920
 * Michael Vella
 * David Wainwright (#1) circa-1968
 * Chev Walker
 * Danny Ward
 * Dave Watson
 * Kevin Watson
 * Liam Watts
 * Jake Webster
 * James Webster
 * Pat Weisner
 * Kris Welham
 * C.T. Westerdale (319) circa 1924 – circa 1930
 * Scott Wheeldon
 * Jon Wilkin
 * Desi Williams
 * Dave Wilson

Past coaches
Also see Category:Hull Kingston Rovers coaches.

 * Lewis Harris
 * Bryn Knowelden 1952–1955
 * Colin Hutton 1957–1970
 * Johnny Whiteley 1970–1972
 * Harry Poole 1975–1977
 * Roger Millward 1977–1991
 * George Fairbairn 1991–1994
 * Steve Crooks 1994–1997
 * Dave Harrison 1997–2000
 * Gary Wilkinson 2000–2002
 * Steve Linnane 2002–2004
 * Martin Hall 2003–2004
 * Mal Reilly 2003–2004
 * Harvey Howard 2004–2005
 * Justin Morgan 2005–2011
 * Craig Sandercock 2012–2014
 * Chris Chester 2014–2016
 * James Webster 2016–2017
 * Tim Sheens 2017–2019
 * James Webster (caretaker) 2019
 * Tony Smith 2019–2022
 * Danny McGuire (interim) 2022
 * Willie Peters 2023–present

League

 * First Division / Super League
 * Winners (5):1922–23, 1924–25, 1978–79, 1983–84, 1984–85

 * Second Division / Championship
 * Winners (2): 2006, 2017
 * RFL Championship Leaders' Shield
 * Winners (2): 2006, 2017

 * RFL Yorkshire League
 * Winners (2): 1924–25, 1925–26

 * Eastern Division Championship
 * Winners (1): 1962–63

Cup

 * Challenge Cup
 * Winners (1): 1979–80

 * Premiership
 * Winners (2): 1980–81, 1983–84

 * League Cup
 * Winners (1): 1984–85

 * BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
 * Winners (1): 1977–78

 * RFL Yorkshire Cup
 * Winners (7): 1920–21, 1929–30, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1985–86

 * RFU Yorkshire Cup
 * Winners (1): 1897

 * Championship Cup
 * Winners (1): 2005

 * Challenge Cup Plate
 * Winners (1): 1997

Match records

 * Goals: 14 (10 placed 4 drop) by Alf 'Bunker' Carmichael vs Merthyr Tydfil, 8 October 1910
 * 14 by Mike Fletcher vs Whitehaven, 18 March 1990
 * 14 by Colin Armstrong vs Nottingham City, 19 August 1990
 * 14 by Damien Couturier vs Halifax, Northern Rail Cup, 23 April 2006
 * Tries: 11 by George Henry 'Tich' West vs Brooklands Rovers, 4 March 1905
 * Points: 53 (11 tries, 10 goals) by George Henry 'Tich' West vs Brooklands Rovers, 4 March 1905 (a rugby league world record)

Season records

 * Goals: 199 by Mike Fletcher, 1989–90
 * Tries: 45 by Gary Prohm, 1984–85
 * Points: 450 by Mike Fletcher, 1989–90

Career records

 * Goals: 1,268 by Mike Fletcher, 1987–98
 * Tries: 207 by Roger Millward, 1966–80
 * Points: 2,760 by Mike Fletcher, 1987–98
 * Appearances: 481 by Mike Smith, 1974–1991

Other records

 * Highest score: 100–6 vs Nottingham City, 19 August 1990
 * Highest against: 6–84 vs Wigan (KCOM Craven Park), 1 April 2013
 * Attendance record: 22,282 vs Hull F.C. (Craven Park), 7 October 1922
 * Attendance record: 16,084 vs Hull F.C. (Craven Park), 20 April 1984 (post-war record)
 * Attendance record: 18,000 vs Hull F.C. (Craven Street), 11 March 1922
 * Attendance record: 27,670 vs Hull F.C. (Boothferry Park), 3 April 1953
 * Attendance record: 12,090 vs Hull F.C (KCOM Craven Park), 30 March 2018 (current stadium record)
 * All-time attendance record: 95,000 vs Hull F.C. (Wembley Stadium), 3 May 1980 – 1980 Challenge Cup Final
 * Attendance record vs international touring team: 13,000 vs Australasia (Craven Street), 24 September 1921 – 1921–22 Kangaroo Tour
 * Longest sequence of appearances: 190 by Gilbert Austin, 1918–19 to 1923–24
 * International appearances: 45 plus 2 as sub by Roger Millward between 1966–78

Women's team
The Hull KR women's team was established in 2019. They played their first match, a 40–8 win over Rochdale, in April. In 2019, they competed in League 1 and made their Women's Challenge Cup debut with a 24–14 loss to Halifax in the first round. In 2021, Hull KR defeated Dewsbury Moor Ladies in the League 1 Grand Final to earn promotion to the Championship and in November it was announced that the team, which had until that time been supported by the Hull KR Community Trust, was to become integrated into the club's structure. In 2022, the team reached the semi-finals of the League Cup by defeating Hull FC in the first derby fixture between the two sides. They had previously been due to face each other in the cancelled 2020 Challenge Cup. In the 2023 season, Hull KR suffered a 122–0 defeat to York Valkyrie in the group stage of Challenge Cup, but then won the League Cup with a 22–6 win over Stanningley in the final. They also finished top of the Championship and defeated Oulton Raidettes 30–16 in the Grand Final but were denied the opportunity for promotion due to the restructuring of the national pyramid in 2024. In January 2024, it was announced that they would be in the 2024 Northern Women's Championship.

title: Hull Kingston Rovers


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I'm a twenty-something computer geek in Sydney, Australia, and you can find my homepage here.

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Caroline Aherne

Caroline Mary Aherne (24 December 1963 – 2 July 2016) was an English actress, comedian, writer and director. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host Mrs Merton, in various roles in The Fast Show, and as Denise in The Royle Family (1998–2012), a series which she co-wrote. She won BAFTA awards for her work on The Mrs Merton Show and The Royle Family.

Aherne narrated the Channel 4 reality television series Gogglebox from its inception in 2013 until 8 April 2016. She died of cancer at the age of 52.

Early life
Aherne was born in Ealing, London, on 24 December 1963, the second child of Irish parents Bartholomew Edmond "Bert" Aherne, a railwayman with London Transport, and Mary Frances "Maureen" Aherne (née Regan). From the age of two, Aherne was brought up in Wythenshawe, Manchester. Like her brother Patrick, Aherne had retinoblastoma in childhood, which left her partially sighted in one eye.

She attended the Hollies Convent FCJ School in West Didsbury, Xaverian College in Rusholme in Manchester and then studied drama at Liverpool Polytechnic.

Early career
Aherne began performing on the Manchester comedy circuit as characters such as Mitzi Goldberg, lead singer of the comedy country and western act the Mitzi Goldberg Experience, and Sister Mary Immaculate, an Irish nun.

The Mrs Merton character originated as a voice on the 1988 Frank Sidebottom album titled 5:9:88, after Aherne worked as a receptionist for his show on Piccadilly Radio. Aherne was then invited by DJ Martin Kelner to develop the character on his show, where she would spend many years appearing as a comedy agony aunt across the north of England on the BBC Night Network.

In 1990 Aherne became a late night radio presenter on KFM Radio in Stockport, joining a line-up which included Craig Cash as well as Jon Ronson, Spence MacDonnald and The Word's Terry Christian.

Aherne's first TV appearances were as Mrs Merton in a semi-regular spot on the Granada TV discussion show Upfront in 1990. After that Mrs Merton became the regular celebrity interviewer on Granada's Saturday morning show Express!, a youth TV programme presented by I Am Kloot's John 'Johnny Dangerously' Bramwell and Sumy Kuraishe from a number of random locations in the north west. In 1992 Aherne appeared as Mrs Merton in the local Yorkshire Television series Frank's Fantastic Shed Show, with Chris Sievey in his Frank Sidebottom persona. For this Leeds-based ITV station Aherne had recorded a pilot of Mrs Murton's Nightcap, but they had not pursued the concept. In 1993, she made brief appearances in The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer and alongside Steve Coogan and John Thomson in a Granada TV pilot entitled The Dead Good Show.

She rose to prominence in 1994 as her created character Mrs Merton on the mock chat show The Mrs Merton Show under her married name of Caroline Hook. The guests were real-life celebrities, not actors, who found themselves the subject of outrageous faux-naïf questions – in one memorable example the wife of magician Paul Daniels, Debbie McGee, was asked "So, what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?" - while a regular audience of pensioners were used each week for Mrs Merton to bounce questions off.

Another episode featured comedian Bernard Manning and actor Richard Wilson. Manning clashed with Wilson and Aherne as she asked him about his racist attitudes at one point saying, “Who do you vote for now Hitler's dead?”, although he acknowledged that One Foot in the Grave was funny. The series ran in various formats from 1994 to 1997, winning a BAFTA for Best Talk Show in 1997. The success of the show was partly attributed to the "round vowel sounds of the North West accent" which "naturally sound safe and unthreatening" and which allowed the character "to ask the most outrageous, below-the-belt questions of her guest stars".

The Mrs Merton character was given a sitcom, Mrs Merton and Malcolm, which depicted her home life with her "mummy's boy" son (played by co-writer Craig Cash). This aspect of Malcolm's character was exaggerated to the point that many complained the series ridiculed those with learning difficulties. Mrs Merton and Malcolm lasted one series, and was released on DVD in 2008.

Between 1994 and 2004 she appeared alongside Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson in The Fast Show, where her characters included "Our Janine", a teenage mum with a unique world outlook; Renée, the endlessly chattering Northern wife of hen-pecked Roy; Checkout Girl, a simple and chatty young supermarket employee; and Chanel 9 meteorologist Poula Fisch, whose weather forecasts invariably included the word "Scorchio!".

The Royle Family
Aherne's most popular creation is the situation comedy The Royle Family, which she co-created and wrote with Cash, and directed in its third series. The programme ran for three series from 1998 to 2000. Aherne starred alongside Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston, as their daughter Denise Royle. The show was a commercial and critical success, and ran for three series with a total of 20 episodes as well as five one-offs made for showing at Christmas. After a 2000 spoof documentary with Cash entitled Back Passage to India, Aherne said The Royle Family would end in December 2000 after a Christmas special, and that she would not appear on television again, although she would continue to write. Aherne received BAFTAs for Best Sitcom in 2000 and 2007, and she won the BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance in 2000. She was nominated for directing in 2001.

Later career
Following a disagreement with Cash, Aherne moved to Australia and retreated from the press. She wrote Dossa and Joe which was screened on BBC Two in 2002. Although critics applauded it, the show failed to attract viewers and did not return for a second series. Returning to Britain, she began work on another sitcom with Cash, but pulled out, after which Cash wrote Early Doors with Phil Mealey; Aherne was listed in the credits in the "Thanks To" section.

After Dossa and Joe, Aherne avoided media attention. When The Fast Show was featured on the BBC One show Comedy Connections, Aherne was the only cast member not interviewed. In April 2006, the BBC said Aherne and Cash were developing a script for a one-off special of The Royle Family. The Royle Family: The Queen of Sheba was broadcast on 29 October 2006, to an audience of 7.8 million. Aherne subsequently made few TV appearances. On 14 October 2008, she appeared in the BBC comedy drama Sunshine, written by Cash and Phil Mealey, as a barmaid. She appeared in The Royle Family special "The New Sofa" on Christmas Day 2008. In 2009, she appeared in another special for Comic Relief, as well as another Christmas Day special entitled "The Golden Eggcup".

She co-wrote the ITV comedy-drama The Fattest Man in Britain, which was broadcast in December 2009. In November 2010, Aherne appeared in the special The Royle Family: Behind the Sofa shown on Gold, featuring clips of The Royle Family and interviews with Aherne, Cash and the cast, which was followed by another Christmas Day special, "Joe's Crackers". She narrated a BBC1 documentary series Pound Shop Wars broadcast in November 2012. She also appeared in The Fast Show internet specials, sponsored by the lager brand Fosters, which reunited most of the original principal cast; only Mark Williams was unable to participate.

Aherne wrote the 2013 one-off sitcom The Security Men, along with Jeff Pope for ITV. The episode starred Paddy McGuinness, Brendan O'Carroll, Dean Andrews, Bobby Ball and Peter Wight.

Aherne's final major role was as narrator of the Channel 4 comedy reality series Gogglebox, reflecting her character in The Royle Family, who would frequently be watching TV and commenting on it. Cash filled in when she was unavailable and took over the role permanently in April 2016.

Aherne's final on-screen appearance came in the Sky One show After Hours, where she was reunited with Cash who produced and directed the show. She played the role of Sheila.

Personal life, illness and death
Aherne was married to Peter Hook of the bands Joy Division and New Order from 1994 until 1997. During their marriage, he appeared in her TV series The Mrs Merton Show as leader of Hooky & the Boys, the show's house band. After her death, Hook said that he was repeatedly physically abused by Aherne during their marriage. Charities supporting victims of domestic violence welcomed his statements.

Aherne struggled with depression and alcoholism. She attempted suicide in July 1998 after the death of her former boyfriend, BBC technician Matt Bowers, from stomach cancer in 1997 and the end of a relationship with American actor Alexis Denisof. She checked in to the Priory, where she was diagnosed as a binge alcoholic.

She had suffered from bladder cancer and had been born with a rare cancer of the retina. In 2014, she also embarked on a programme of treatment for lung cancer. In June 2014, Aherne appeared in Manchester at the launch of the Macmillan Cancer Improvement Partnership (MCIP), a £3.4 million scheme to co-ordinate cancer care in the city. She spoke about how a sense of humour had helped her cope with the disease. In 2016, Aherne became the voice behind the UK government's "One You" health campaign, to persuade people to cut down on cigarettes and alcohol.

On the morning of 2 July 2016, Aherne died of lung cancer at her home in Timperley aged 52. Aherne had told family and close friends in May that she was terminally ill. Her funeral took place on 14 July 2016. Many friends and co-stars were in attendance.

In October 2016, Steve Coogan paid tribute to Aherne at the Stand Up to Cancer 2016 event, speaking about her before a video was played of her TV moments, and then Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds performed The Royle Family theme tune "Half the World Away".

title: Caroline Aherne