text:
Operation Cobra

Operation Cobra was an offensive launched by the First United States Army under Lieutenant General Omar Bradley seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Normandy campaign of World War II. The intention was to take advantage of the distraction of the Germans by the British and Canadian attacks around Caen in Operation Goodwood, and thereby break through the German defenses that were penning in their forces, while the Germans were unbalanced. Once a corridor had been created, the First Army would then be able to advance into Brittany, rolling up the German flanks once free of the constraints of the bocage country. After a slow start, the offensive gathered momentum and German resistance collapsed as scattered remnants of broken units fought to escape to the Seine. Lacking the resources to cope with the situation, the German response was ineffectual and the entire Normandy front soon collapsed. Operation Cobra, together with concurrent offensives by the British Second Army and the Canadian First Army, was decisive in securing an Allied victory in the Normandy campaign.

Having been delayed several times by poor weather, Operation Cobra commenced on 25 July 1944, with a concentrated aerial bombardment from thousands of Allied aircraft. Supporting offensives had drawn the bulk of German armored reserves toward the British and Canadian sector and, coupled with the general lack of men and materiel available to the Germans, it was impossible for them to form successive lines of defense. Units of the U.S. VII Corps led the initial two-division assault, while other First U.S. Army corps mounted supporting attacks designed to pin German units in place. Progress was slow on the first day but opposition started to crumble once the defensive crust had been broken. By 27 July, most organized resistance had been overcome and the VII and VIII Corps advanced rapidly, isolating the Cotentin Peninsula.

By 31 July, XIX Corps had destroyed the last forces opposing the First Army, which emerged from the bocage. Reinforcements were moved west by Field Marshal Günther von Kluge and employed in various counterattacks, the largest of which, Unternehmen Lüttich (Operation Liège), was launched on 7August between Mortain and Avranches. Although this led to the bloodiest phase of the battle, it was mounted by already exhausted and understrength units and was a costly failure. On 8August, troops of the newly activated Third United States Army captured the city of Le Mans, formerly the German 7th Army headquarters. Operation Cobra transformed the high-intensity infantry combat of Normandy into rapid maneuver warfare and led to the creation of the Falaise pocket and the loss of the German strategic position in northwestern France.

Background
Following the successful Allied invasion of Normandy on 6June 1944, progress inland was slow. To facilitate the Allied build-up in France and to secure room for further expansion, the deep water port of Cherbourg on the western flank of the U.S. sector and the historic town of Caen in the British and Canadian sector to the east, were early objectives. The original plan for the Normandy campaign envisioned strong offensive efforts in both sectors, in which the Second Army (Lieutenant-General Sir Miles Dempsey) would secure Caen and the area south of it and the First U.S. Army (Lieutenant General Omar Bradley) would "wheel round" to the Loire valley.

General Sir Bernard Montgomery—commanding all Allied ground forces in Normandy—intended Caen to be taken on D-Day, while Cherbourg was expected to fall 15 days later. The Second Army was to seize Caen and then form a front to the southeast, extending to Caumont-l'Éventé, to acquire airfields and protect the left flank of the First U.S. Army as it moved on Cherbourg. Possession of Caen and its surroundings—desirable for open terrain that would permit maneuver warfare—would also give the Second Army a suitable staging area for a push south to capture Falaise, which could be used as the pivot for a swing east to advance on Argentan and then the Touques River. The capture of Caen has been described by the British official historian Lionel Ellis as the most important D-Day objective assigned to the British I Corps (Lieutenant-General John Crocker). Ellis and Chester Wilmot called the Allied plan "ambitious" since the Caen sector contained the strongest defenses in Normandy.

The initial attempt by I Corps to reach the city on D-Day was blocked by elements of the 21st Panzer Division and with the Germans committing most of the reinforcements sent to meet the invasion to the defense of Caen, the Anglo-Canadian front rapidly congealed short of the Second Army's objectives. Operation Perch in the week following D-Day and Operation Epsom (26–30 June) brought some territorial gains and depleted its defenders but Caen remained in German hands until Operation Charnwood (7–9 July), when the Second Army managed to take the northern part of the city up to the River Orne in a frontal assault.

The successive Anglo-Canadian offensives around Caen kept the best of the German forces in Normandy, including most of the armor, to the eastern end of the Allied lodgement but even so the First U.S. Army made slow progress against dogged German resistance. In part, operations were slow due to the constraints of the bocage landscape of densely packed banked hedgerows, sunken lanes and small woods, for which U.S. units had not trained. With no ports in Allied hands, all reinforcement and supply had to take place over the beaches via the two Mulberry harbors and were at the mercy of the weather.

On 19 June, a severe storm descended on the English Channel, lasting for three days and causing significant delays to the Allied build-up and the cancellation of some operations. The First U.S. Army advance in the western sector was eventually halted by Bradley before the town of Saint-Lô, to concentrate on the seizure of Cherbourg. The defense of Cherbourg consisted largely of four German battlegroups formed from the remnants of units that had retreated up the Cotentin Peninsula, but the port defenses had been designed principally to meet an attack from the sea. Organized German resistance finally ended on 27 June, when the U.S. 9th Infantry Division managed to reduce the defenses of Cap de la Hague, north-west of the port. Within four days, VII Corps (Major General J. Lawton Collins) resumed the offensive toward Saint-Lô, alongside XIX Corps and VIII Corps, causing the Germans to move more armor into the U.S. sector.

Planning
The originator of the idea for Operation Cobra is disputed. According to Montgomery's official biographer, the foundation of Operation Cobra was laid on 13 June. Planning was immensely aided by detailed Ultra intelligence which supplied up-to-date decodes of communications between Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW, the German armed forces high command) and Hitler's generals. Montgomery's plan at that time called for the U.S. First Army to take Saint-Lô and Coutances and then make two southward thrusts; one from Caumont toward Vire and Mortain and the other from Saint-Lô toward Villedieu and Avranches. Although pressure was to be kept up along the Cotentin Peninsula towards La Haye-du-Puits and Valognes, the capture of Cherbourg was not the priority. With the capture of Cherbourg by VII Corps on 27 June, Montgomery's initial timetable was overtaken by events and the thrust from Caumont was never adopted.

Following the conclusion of Operation Charnwood and the cancellation of the First Army offensive towards Saint-Lô, Montgomery met with Bradley and Dempsey on 10 July to discuss plans for the 21st Army Group. Bradley said that progress on the western flank was very slow but that plans had been laid for another breakout attempt, codenamed Operation Cobra, to be launched by the First Army on 18 July. Montgomery approved the plan and that the strategy would remain the diversion of German attention from the First Army to the British and Canadian sector. Dempsey was instructed to "go on hitting, drawing the German strength, especially the armour, onto yourself—so as to ease the way for Brad". To accomplish this, Operation Goodwood was planned and Eisenhower ensured that both operations would have the support of the Allied strategic bombers.

On 12 July, Bradley briefed his commanders on the Cobra plan, which consisted of three phases. The main effort would be under the control of VII Corps. In the first phase, the breakthrough attack would be conducted by the 9th Infantry Division (Major General Manton S. Eddy) and the 30th Infantry Division (Major General Leland Hobbs), which would break into the German defensive zone and then hold the flanks of the penetration while the 1st Infantry Division (Major General Clarence Huebner) and 2nd Armored Division (Major General Edward H. Brooks) pushed into the depth of the position until resistance collapsed. The 1st Infantry Division "was to take Marigny, with this objective exploited by a stream of General Watson's 3rd Armored Division armor that would move south toward Coutances". The 2nd Armored Division—part of "Collins' exploitation force" of the 2nd Armored Division in the east of the VII Corps sector and the "1st Infantry Division reinforced by Combat Command B (CCB) of the 3rd Armored division in the west" —would "pass through the 30th Infantry Division sector... and guard the overall American left flank." If VII Corps succeeded, the western German position would become untenable, permitting a relatively easy advance to the southwest end of the bocage to cut off and seize the Brittany peninsula. First Army intelligence estimated that no German counterattack would occur in the first few days after Cobra's launch and that if they did later, they would be no more than battalion-sized operations.

Cobra was to be a concentrated attack on a 7000 yd front, unlike previous U.S. broad front offensives and would have a mass of air support. Fighter-bombers would concentrate on hitting forward German defenses in a 250 yd belt immediately south of the Saint-Lô–Periers road, while General Spaatz's heavy bombers would bomb to a depth of 2500 yd behind the German main line of resistance. It was anticipated that the physical destruction and shock value of a short, intense preliminary bombardment would greatly weaken the German defense so in addition to divisional artillery, Army- and Corps-level units would provide support, including nine heavy, five medium and seven light artillery battalions. More than a thousand divisional and corps artillery pieces were committed to the offensive and approximately 140,000 artillery rounds were allocated to the operation in VII Corps, with another 27,000 for VIII Corps.

To overcome the constraints of the bocage that had made attacks so difficult and costly for both sides, Rhino modifications were made to some M4 Sherman, M5A1 Stuart tanks and M10 tank destroyers, by fitting them with hedge-breaching 'tusks' that could force a path through hedgerows. German tanks remained restricted to the roads but U.S. armored vehicles could maneuver more freely, although the effectiveness of the devices was exaggerated. By the eve of Cobra, 60 percent of the tanks of the First Army had the rhino modification. To preserve operational security, Bradley forbade their use until Cobra was launched. In all, 1,269 M4 medium tanks, 694 M5A1 light tanks and 288 M10 tank destroyers were available.

Supporting operations

On 18 July, the British VIII and I Corps—to the east of Caen—launched Operation Goodwood. The offensive began with the largest air bombardment in support of ground forces yet, with more than 1,000 aircraft dropping 6000 ST of high explosive and fragmentation bombs from low altitude. German positions to the east of Caen were shelled by 400 artillery pieces and many villages were reduced to rubble but German artillery further to the south, on the Bourguébus Ridge, was outside the range of the British artillery and the defenders of Cagny and Émiéville were largely unscathed by the bombardment. This contributed to the losses suffered by Second Army, which sustained over 4,800 casualties. Principally an armored offensive in order to conserve infantry manpower, between 250 and 400 British tanks were put out of action, although recent examination suggests that only 140 were completely destroyed with an additional 174 damaged. The operation remains the largest tank battle ever fought by the British Army and resulted in the expansion of the Orne bridgehead and the capture of Caen on the south bank of the Orne.

Simultaneously, the II Canadian Corps on the western flank of Goodwood began Operation Atlantic to strengthen the Allied foothold along the banks of the Orne river and take Verrières Ridge to the south of Caen. Atlantic made initial gains but ran out of steam as casualties mounted. Having cost the Canadians 1,349 men and with the heavily defended ridge firmly in German hands, Atlantic was closed down on 20 July. At Montgomery's urging, "strongly underlined in the Supreme Commander's communications to Montgomery", the II Canadian Corps commander, Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds, began a second offensive a few days later, codenamed Operation Spring. This had the limited but important aim of tying down German units to prevent them from being transferred to the U.S. sector, although Simonds took the opportunity to make another bid for Verrières Ridge. Again the fighting for Verrières Ridge proved extremely bloody for the Canadians, with 25 July marking the costliest day for a Canadian battalion—The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada—since the Dieppe Raid of 1942. A counterstroke by two German divisions pushed the Canadians back past their start lines and Simonds had to commit reinforcements to stabilize the front. With Goodwood, the Canadian operations caused the Germans to commit most of their armor and reinforcements to the eastern sector. Operation Spring—despite its cost—had drawn the 9th SS Panzer Division away from the U.S. sector on the eve of Operation Cobra. Only two Panzer divisions with 190 tanks now faced the First Army. Seven Panzer divisions with 750 tanks were around Caen, far away from Operation Cobra as were all the heavy Tiger tank battalions and the three Nebelwerfer brigades in Normandy.

Logistics
Each division consumed 750 ST of supplies daily.

Preliminary attacks

To gain good terrain for Operation Cobra, Bradley and Collins conceived a plan to push forward to the Saint-Lô–Periers road, along which VII and VIII Corps were securing jumping-off positions. On 18 July, at a cost of 5,000 casualties, the U.S. 29th and 35th Infantry Divisions managed to gain the vital heights of Saint-Lô, driving back General der Fallschirmtruppen Eugen Meindl's II Parachute Corps. Meindl's paratroopers, together with the 352nd Infantry Division (which had been in action since its D-Day defense of Omaha Beach) were now in ruins, and the stage for the main offensive was set. Due to poor weather conditions that had also been hampering Goodwood and Atlantic, Bradley decided to postpone Cobra for a few days—a decision that worried Montgomery, as the British and Canadian operations had been launched to support a breakout attempt that was failing to materialize. By 24 July the skies had cleared enough for the start order to be given, and 1,600 Allied aircraft took off for Normandy. However, the weather closed in again over the battlefield. Under poor visibility conditions, more than 25 Americans were killed and 130 wounded in the bombing before the air support operation was postponed until the following day. Some enraged soldiers opened fire on their own aircraft, a not uncommon practice in Normandy when suffering from friendly fire.

Main attack and breakthrough 25–27 July

After the one-day postponement, Cobra got underway at 09:38 on 25 July, when around 600 Allied fighter-bombers attacked strongpoints and enemy artillery along a 300 yd-wide strip of ground located in the St. Lô area. For the next hour, 1,800 heavy bombers of the U.S. Eighth Air Force saturated a 6000 x area on the Saint-Lô–Periers road, succeeded by a third and final wave of medium bombers. Approximately 3,000 U.S. aircraft had carpet-bombed a narrow section of the front, with the Panzer-Lehr-Division taking the brunt of the attack. However, once again not all the casualties were German; Bradley had specifically requested that the bombers approach the target from the east, out of the sun and parallel to the Saint-Lô–Periers road, in order to minimize the risk of friendly losses, but most of the airmen instead came in from the north, perpendicular to the front line. Bradley, however, had apparently misunderstood explanations from the heavy bomber commanders that a parallel approach was impossible because of the time and space constraints Bradley had set. Additionally, a parallel approach would not in any event have assured that all bombs would fall behind German lines because of deflection errors or obscured aim points due to dust and smoke. Despite efforts by U.S. units to identify their positions, inaccurate bombing by the Eighth Air Force killed 111 men and wounded 490. The dead included Bradley's friend and fellow West Pointer Lieutenant General Lesley McNair—the highest-ranking U.S. soldier to be killed in action in the European Theater of Operations.

By 11:00, the infantry began to move forward, advancing from crater to crater beyond what had been the German outpost line. Although no serious opposition was forecast, the remnants of Fritz Bayerlein's Panzer Lehr—consisting of roughly 2,200 men and 45 armored vehicles —had regrouped and were prepared to meet the advancing U.S. troops, and to the west of Panzer Lehr the German 5th Parachute Division had escaped the bombing almost intact. Collins' VII Corps were quite disheartened to meet fierce enemy artillery fire, which they expected to have been suppressed by the bombing. Several U.S. units found themselves entangled in fights against strongpoints held by a handful of German tanks, supporting infantry and 88 mm guns —VII Corps gained only 2200 yd during the rest of the day. However, if the first day's results had been disappointing, General Collins found cause for encouragement; although the Germans were fiercely holding their positions, these did not seem to form a continuous line and were susceptible to being outflanked or bypassed. Even with prior warning of the U.S. offensive, the British and Canadian actions around Caen had convinced the Germans that the real threat lay there, and tied down their available forces to such an extent that a succession of meticulously prepared defensive positions in depth, as encountered during Goodwood and Atlantic, were not created to meet Cobra.

On the morning of 26 July, the U.S. 2nd Armored Division and the 1st Infantry Division joined the attack as planned, reaching one of Cobra's first objectives—a road junction north of Le Mesnil-Herman—the following day. Also on 26 July, VIII Corps (Major General Troy H. Middleton) entered the battle, led by the 8th U.S. Infantry Division and 90th U.S. Infantry Division. Despite clear paths of advance through the floods and swamps across their front, both divisions initially disappointed the First Army by failing to gain significant ground but first light the next morning revealed that the Germans had been compelled to retreat by their crumbling left flank, leaving only immense minefields to delay VIII Corps. By noon on 27 July, the U.S. 9th Infantry Division was also clear of any organized German resistance and was advancing rapidly.

Breakout and advance 28–30 July
By 28 July, the German defenses across the U.S. front had largely collapsed under the full weight of the VII and VIII Corps advance and resistance was disorganized and patchy. The 4th Armored Division (VIII Corps)—entering combat for the first time—captured Coutances but met stiff opposition east of the town and U.S. units penetrating into the depth of the German positions were counter-attacked by elements of the 2nd SS Panzer Division, 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division and the 353rd Infantry Division, seeking to escape entrapment. Around Roncey, P-47 Thunderbolts of the 405th Fighter Group destroyed a German column of 122 tanks, 259 other vehicles and 11 artillery pieces. An attack by British Hawker Typhoon fighter-bombers close to La Baleine destroyed ninetanks, eightother armored vehicles and 20 other vehicles. A counter-attack was mounted against the U.S. 2nd Armored Division by German remnants but this was a disaster and the Germans abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot. Two columns of the 2nd SS Panzer Division were mauled by the U.S. 2nd Armored Division. A column around La Chapelle was bombarded at point blank range by 2nd Armored Division artillery. In two hours, U.S. artillery fired over 700 rounds, into the column. The Germans suffered the loss of 50 dead, 60 wounded and 197 taken prisoner. Material losses were over 260 German combat vehicles destroyed. Beyond the town another 1,150 German soldiers were killed and the Germans lost 96 armored combat vehicles and trucks. The U.S. 2nd Armored Division destroyed 64 German tanks and 538 other German combat vehicles during Operation Cobra. The U.S. 2nd Armored Division suffered 49 tank losses in the process. The 2nd Armored Division also inflicted over 7,370 casualties on the Germans while suffering 914 casualties. At the beginning of Operation Cobra the German Panzer Lehr Division had only 2,200 combat troops, 12 Panzer IV and 16 Panthers fit for action and 30 tanks in various states of repair behind the lines. Panzer Lehr was in the path of Allied bombing that consisted of 1,500 bombers. The division suffered about 1,000 casualties during this bombardment. An exhausted and demoralized Bayerlein reported that his Panzer Lehr Division, which had been ground down in the fighting against the British in June and before moving to the American front and suffering further losses around St Lo at start of July, was "finally annihilated", with its armor wiped out, its personnel either casualties or missing and all headquarters records lost.

Field Marshal Günther von Kluge Oberbefehlshaber West (commander of German forces on the Western Front)—was mustering reinforcements, and elements of the 2nd Panzer Division and the 116th Panzer Division were approaching the battlefield. The U.S. XIX Corps (Major General Charles H. Corlett) entered the battle on 28 July on the left of VII Corps and between 28 and 31 July became embroiled with these reinforcements in the fiercest fighting since Cobra began. During the night of 29/30 July near Saint-Denis-le-Gast, to the east of Coutances, elements of the 2nd Armored Division found themselves fighting for their lives against a German column from the 2nd SS Panzer Division and 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division, which passed through the U.S. lines in the darkness. Other elements of the 2nd Armored Division were attacked near Cambry and fought for six hours; Bradley and his commanders knew that they were dominating the battlefield and such desperate assaults were no threat to the U.S. position. When ordered to concentrate his division, Colonel Heinz Günther Guderian the senior staff officer of the 116th Panzer Division was frustrated by the high level of Allied fighter-bomber activity. Without receiving direct support from the 2nd Panzer Division as promised, Guderian stated that his panzergrenadiers could not succeed in a counterattack against the Americans. Advancing southward along the coast, later that day, the U.S. VIII Corps seized the town of Avranches—described by historian Andrew Williams as "the gateway to Brittany and southern Normandy" —and by 31 July XIX Corps had thrown back the last German counterattacks after fierce fighting, inflicting heavy losses in men and tanks. The U.S. advance was now relentless, and the First Army was finally free of the bocage.

Operation Bluecoat, 30 July – 7 August
On 30 July, to protect Cobra's flank and prevent the disengagement and relocation of further German forces, VIII Corps and XXX Corps of the Second Army began Operation Bluecoat southwards from Caumont toward Vire and Mont Pinçon. Bluecoat kept German armored units fixed on the British eastern front and continued the wearing down of the strength of German armored formations in the area. The breakthrough in the center of the Allied front surprised the Germans, when they were distracted by the Allied attacks at both ends of the Normandy bridgehead. By the time of the U.S. breakout at Avranches, there was little to no reserve strength left for Unternehmen Lüttich, which had been defeated by 12 August, leaving the 7th Army with no choice but to retire rapidly east of the Orne river, with a rearguard of the remaining armored and motorized units, to allow time for the surviving infantry to reach the Seine. After the first stage of the withdrawal beyond the Orne, the maneuver collapsed for a lack of fuel, Allied air attacks and the constant pressure of the Allied armies, culminating in the encirclement of German forces in the Falaise pocket.

Aftermath

At noon on 1 August, the U.S. Third Army was activated under the command of Lieutenant General George S. Patton. Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges assumed command of the First Army and Bradley was promoted to the overall command of both armies, named the U.S. 12th Army Group. Patton wrote a poem containing the words, "So let us do real fighting, boring in and gouging, biting. Let's take a chance now that we have the ball. Let's forget those fine firm bases in the dreary shell raked spaces, Let's shoot the works and win! Yes, win it all!"

The U.S. advance following Cobra was extraordinarily rapid. Between 1and 4August, seven divisions of Patton's Third Army had swept through Avranches and over the bridge at Pontaubault into Brittany. The Westheer (German army in the west) had been reduced to such a poor state by the Allied offensives that, with no prospect of reinforcement in the wake of Operation Bagration, the Soviet summer offensive against Army Group Centre, very few Germans believed they could now avoid defeat. Rather than order his remaining forces to withdraw to the Seine, Adolf Hitler sent a directive to von Kluge demanding "an immediate counterattack between Mortain and Avranches" (Unternehmen Lüttich) to "annihilate" the enemy and make contact with the west coast of the Cotentin peninsula. Eight of the nine Panzer divisions in Normandy were to be used in the attack but only four (one of them incomplete) could be relieved from their defensive tasks and assembled in time. German commanders immediately protested that such an operation was impossible given their remaining resources but these objections were overruled and the counter-offensive commenced, on 7August around Mortain. The 2nd, 1st SS and 2nd SS Panzer Divisions led the assault, although with only 75 Panzer IVs, 70 Panthers and 32 self-propelled guns. Hopelessly optimistic, the offensive was over within 24 hours, although fighting continued until 13 August.

By 8 August, the city of Le Mans—the former headquarters of the German 7th Army—had fallen to the Americans. With von Kluge's few remaining battleworthy formations destroyed by the First Army, the Allied commanders realized that the entire German position in Normandy was collapsing. Bradley declared:

"This is an opportunity that comes to a commander not more than once in a century. We're about to destroy an entire hostile army and go all the way from here to the German border."

On 14 August, in conjunction with U.S. movements northward to Chambois, Canadian forces launched Operation Tractable; the Allied intention was to trap and destroy the German 7th Army and 5th Panzer Army near the town of Falaise. Five days later, the two arms of the encirclement were almost complete; the advancing U.S. 90th Infantry Division had made contact with the Polish 1st Armored Division and the first Allied units crossed the Seine at Mantes Gassicourt, while German units were fleeing eastward by any means they could find. By 22 August, the Falaise Pocket—which the Germans had been fighting desperately to keep open to allow their trapped forces to escape—was finally sealed, ending the Battle of Normandy with a major Allied victory. All German forces west of the Allied lines were now dead or in captivity and although perhaps 100,000 German troops escaped they left behind 40,000–50,000 prisoners and more than 10,000 dead. A total of 344 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2,447 soft-skinned vehicles and 252 artillery pieces were found abandoned or destroyed in the northern sector of the pocket. The Allies were able to advance freely through undefended territory and by 25 August all four Allied armies (First Canadian, Second British, First U.S., and Third U.S.) involved in the Normandy campaign were on the river Seine.

title: Operation Cobra


text:
Mihara, Kōchi

Mihara (三原村) is a village located in Hata District, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 1449 in 751 households and a population density of 17 persons per km2. The total area of the village is 39.60 sqkm.

Geography
Mihara is located in a mountainous region in western Kōchi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It is approximately 153 km from the Kōchi prefectural capital, Kōchi city. Surrounded by mountains of 450 to 850 meters, it is located independently of the neighboring three cities of Nakamura, Sukumo, and Tosashimizu. Most of the village is forest, and villages and cultivated land are scattered along the Shimonokae River and its tributaries.

Neighboring municipalities
Kōchi Prefecture
 * Shimanto city
 * Sukumo
 * Tosashimizu

Climate
Mihara has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light snowfall. The average annual temperature in Mihara is 16.7 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2074 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in January at around 21.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 7.0 °C.

Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Mihara has decreased steadily since the 1960s.

History
As with all of Kōchi Prefecture, the area of Mihara was part of ancient Tosa Province. During the Edo period, the area was part of the holdings of Tosa Domain ruled by the Yamauchi clan from their seat at Kōchi Castle. The village of Mihara was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on October 1, 1889.

Government
Mihara has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral village council of eight members. Mihara, together with Sukumo and Ōtsuki, contributes two members to the Kōchi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the village is part of Kōchi 2nd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy
The local economy is centered on forestry and agriculture. Mihara Village is surrounded by dense mountain forests and clear, pristine rivers providing ideal conditions for farming and agriculture. As a result, Mihara Village has become well known for its superior rice and vegetable produce.

Education
Mihara has one public elementary school and one public middle school operated by the village government. The village does not have a high school.

Railway
Mihara has no passenger railway service. The nearest station is Hirata Station on the Tosa Kuroshio Railway Sukumo Line in the neighboring city of Sukumo.

Highway
Mihara is not on any national highway or expressway.

Local attractions
Doburoku - Doburoku is a type of undistllled rice wine which is creamy in texture with a unique flavor and very potent. Although Doburoku is not exclusive to the village, Mihara is one of the few places that still produce doburoku. In addition, there is a Doburoku Festival held annually in Mihara on 3 November.

Tosa Suzuri Factory - Mihara is also home to the Tosa Suzuri Factory. Suzuri (硯) is the Japanese word for the inkstone used for Japanese calligraphy or shodō (書道). Tosa Ink stones have a strong reputation nationwide for producing a high quality Ink and are sought after by calligraphers all over Japan.

Noted people from Mihara

 * Norio Takeuchi, politician

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

title: Mihara, Kōchi


text:
Hata District, Kōchi

Hata (幡多郡) is a district located in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan.

As of the Shimanto merger but with 2003 population statistics, the district has an estimated population of 22,402 and a density of 59.4 persons per km2. The total area is 376.77 km2.

Towns and villages

 * Kuroshio
 * Ōtsuki
 * Mihara

Mergers

 * On April 10, 2005 the old city of Nakamura, and the village of Nishitosa merged to form the new city of Shimanto.
 * On March 20, 2006 the towns of Taishō and Towa merged with the town of Kubokawa, from Takaoka District, to form the new town of Shimanto, in Takaoka District.

 * On March 20, 2006 the towns of Ōgata and Saga merged to form the new town of Kuroshio.

title: Hata District, Kōchi


text:
Un Concert pour Mazarin

Un Concert pour Mazarin is a music recording released on compact disc in early 2004 by Virgin Classics. It is a performance of 17th century Italian music selected by the conductor, Jean Tubéry to have been influential in French culture at the time of Cardinal Mazarin, a 17th-century chief minister of France. The music is performed by the countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, along with the instrumentalists of Ensemble La Fenice.

Track listing
The following list shows the tracks of this recording. Composers of each of the pieces, if known, are indicated in parentheses. Composers of the remaining pieces are unknown. The recording is sixty minutes and forty-eight seconds in length.

1. "In caligne umbrosa / Festinate, o penæ terrenæ / Ah! non conturbate", recitative, aria, recitative
 * 1) Acclamate de terra, motet (Maurizio Cazzati)
 * 2) Capriccio for keyboard in G major (Girolamo Frescobaldi)
 * 3) O quam clemens, motet (Francesco Foggia)
 * 4) Sonata à tre "sopra la Monica" (Francesco Turini)
 * 5) "Fugue à quatre parties sur un sujet italien" (François Roberday)
 * 6) "Sancta Maria" (Claudio Monteverdi)
 * 7) Canzon francese in riposta, per cornetto e violino (Lodovico Viadana)
 * 8) "Surge, propera, amica mea" (Giovanni Paolo Cima)
 * 9) "Laudate pueri" for voice and three instruments (Nicolò Fontei)
 * 10) "Capriccio e ciaccona" for chamber ensemble (Maurizio Cazzati)
 * 11) "Passacaille pour le clavecin" (Luigi Rossi)
 * In caligine umbrosa cantata (Giovanni Battista Bassani):

2. "Alta gloria, cara vita! / Anhelo spe costante", aria, recitative

3. "O auræ serenaæ / Ardeno suspiro / Jam gratæ memoriæ", aria, recitative, aria

title: Un Concert pour Mazarin


text:
Claudia Cohen

Claudia Lynn Cohen (December 16, 1950 – June 15, 2007) was an American gossip columnist, socialite, and television reporter. She is credited with putting the New York Post's Page Six gossip column on the map. The building housing the University of Pennsylvania's College of Arts and Sciences was renamed in her honor in 2008.

Early life and education
Claudia Cohen was born to a Jewish family, the daughter of Harriet (née Brandwein) and businessman Robert B. Cohen, the founder of Hudson News and the president of the Hudson County News Company, a magazine wholesaler. She grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, and attended the Dwight School for Girls (now the Dwight-Englewood School) and the University of Pennsylvania.

Journalism career
In 1976, she joined the New York Post as a reporter for its fledgling gossip column Page Six. She succeeded Neal Travis as editor of Page Six in 1978. Noted for going for the jugular, and creating a column with savvy and a sharp edge, Cohen is credited with putting Page Six on the map. Cohen left the Post in 1980 to start her own short-lived gossip column, I, Claudia (a play on words of the book title I, Claudius) at a rival newspaper, the New York Daily News. While that column was not a success, it did maintain Cohen's profile. Cohen was a regular on Live with Regis and Kelly and an active member of the Manhattan and Hamptons social scene.

Death
Cohen died on June 15, 2007, from ovarian cancer.

Personal life
In 1984, Cohen began a relationship with businessman Ronald Perelman. The two married in 1985, and had one daughter, Samantha. After nine years, the couple divorced, and Cohen reportedly received a settlement of $80,000,000 (eighty million U.S. dollars).

Cohen later dated former U.S. senator from New York state, Al D'Amato.

At the request of Ronald Perelman, the University of Pennsylvania renamed the historic Logan Hall, sitting next to College Hall and originally named after James Logan, secretary to William Penn, "Claudia Cohen Hall," much to the surprise and dismay of some Penn faculty, alumni, and students. The rear of the newly renamed building overlooks Perelman Quadrangle.

title: Claudia Cohen


text:
Gelato

Gelato (lit. 'frozen') is the common word in Italian for all types of ice cream. In English, it specifically refers to a frozen dessert of Italian origin. Artisanal gelato in Italy generally contains 6–9% butterfat, which is lower than other styles of frozen dessert. Gelato typically contains 35% air (substantially less than American-style ice cream) and more flavoring than other types of frozen desserts, giving it a density and richness that distinguishes it from other ice creams.

Name
In Italian, gelato means simply 'frozen' and is the generic word for any type or style of ice cream. In English, however, the term has come to be used to refer to a specific style of ice cream derived from the Italian artisanal tradition.

History
In the 9th century, after the Muslim conquest of Sicily, frozen dessert such as sherbet was introduced in the island.

In 1295, Marco Polo returned to Venice from China with a recipe similar to sorbet.

Cosimo Ruggeri and Bernardo Buontalenti were 16th-century contemporaries who are credited by some sources with the invention of gelato, while other sources claims that Sicilian cooks gradually modified the sherbet recipe over time, giving birth to the earliest form of gelato.

In Florence, Cosimo Ruggeri is credited with creating one of the first gelati, fior di latte, at the court of Catherine de' Medici, in a competition with the theme "il piatto più singolare che si fosse mai visto" (lit. 'the most unique dish that had ever been seen').

In the 1530s, Catherine de' Medici took gelato to Paris.

Circa 1565, Bernardo Buontalenti, an innovator in ice conservation, made a sorbet with ice, salt, lemon, wine, milk, sugar, egg, and honey, "plus orange and bergamot flavouring". Buontalenti is credited with inventing gelato alla crema, whipped cream or egg cream gelato, the precursor to modern Florentine gelato.

In 1686, Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, a Sicilian, brought his grandfather Francesco's gelato-making machine to Paris, opened Café Procope and introduced the dessert. Procopio obtained French citizenship, and a royal license from Louis XIV, making him the sole producer of the frozen dessert in the kingdom. Being one of the first to sell gelato directly to the public (prior to then it was reserved only for nobles), and making it known in the rest of Europe, Procopio is sometimes referred to as "The Father of Italian gelato".

In 1843, in the United States, Nancy Johnson patented the hand-cranked ice cream freezer: this innovation led to the broader dissemination of ice cream and eventually to industrial production. In 1904, in the United States, Emery Thompson built the first automated ice cream machine.

In 1945, in Bologna, Bruto Carpigiani began selling gelato-making equipment, and created Motogelatiera, the first automated gelato machine. The batch freezer made it easier to store frozen desserts. Carpigiani is a big manufacturer of gelato machinery.

The largest ice cream cone in the world was created in 2011 in Rimini during the 32nd edition of the International Exhibition of Handcrafted Gelato, Pastry, and Bakery. The cone, made with over 2000 wafers, was 2.81 meters tall and weighed 70 kg. Leading the team of 7 artisans who accomplished the feat was the chocolatier Mirco Della Vecchia.

Commercial production
The process consists of heating the ingredients to 85 °C (185 °F) for pasteurization. Then, it is lowered to 5 °C (41 °F) and mixed to the desired texture. The mixed gelato is then batched in the freezer. In the "sprint" process, milk or water is added to a package of ingredients which is then mixed and batched.

As with other ice creams, the sugar in gelato prevents it from freezing solid by binding to the water and interfering with the normal formation of ice crystals. This creates smaller ice crystals and results in the smooth texture of gelato. Commercial gelati are often sweetened with inverted sugar, sucrose, dextrose, or xylitol, and may include a stabilizer such as guar gum.

Flavors
The original fior di latte is a plain, base ice cream with no flavor and no eggs added. Stracciatella is fior di latte gelato with chocolate chunks. Traditional flavors of gelato include crema ('custard'), vanilla, chocolate, hazelnut, almond, and pistachio. Modern flavors include a variety of fruit flavors and also new, unexpected flavors such as extra virgin olive oil or basil.

title: Gelato


text:
Revlon

Revlon, Inc. is an American multinational company dealing in cosmetics, skin care, perfume, and personal care. The headquarters of Revlon was established in New York City on March 1, 1932, where it remains. Revlon was founded by brothers Charles and Joseph Revson, and chemist Charles Lachman. Revlon products are sold in 150 countries and the company has many global locations including Mexico City, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Sydney, Singapore, and Tokyo.

On June 16, 2022, Revlon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Founding and Charles Revson control (1932–1975)
Revlon was founded in New York City on March 1, 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression, by Jewish American brothers Charles Revson and Joseph Revson along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon name. The three men started with one single product, a new type of nail enamel and pooled their resources to develop a unique manufacturing process. Using pigments instead of dyes, Revlon developed a variety of new shades of nail enamel. In 1937, Revlon started selling the polishes in department stores and pharmacies. In six short years, the company became a multimillion-dollar organization. By 1940, Revlon offered an entire manicure line and added lipstick to the collection. During World War II, Revlon created makeup and related products for the United States Army, which was honored in 1944 with the Army-Navy "E" Award for Excellence.

By the end of World War II, Revlon was the number two cosmetics producer in the United States. Expanding its capabilities, the company bought Graef & Schmidt, a cutlery manufacturer seized by the government in 1943 because of German business ties. This acquisition made it possible for Revlon to produce its own manicure and pedicure instruments instead of buying them from outside supply sources.

Stock market
On February 28, 1996, Revlon was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as a public limited company. The IPO price was $24 per share.

Divisions
In the 1960s, Revson segmented Revlon Inc. into different divisions, each focusing on a different market. He borrowed this strategy from General Motors. Each division had its own target customer:

 * Revlon, the largest and most popular-priced brand
 * Princess Marcella Borghese, upscale/international
 * Ultima II, premium
 * Natural Wonder, juniors
 * Moon Drops, dry skin
 * Etherea, hypo-allergenic

Early acquisitions
In 1957, Revlon acquired Knomark, a shoe-polish company, and sold its shoe-polish line Esquire Shoe Polish in 1969. Other acquisitions, such as Ty-D-Bol, the maker of toilet cleansers, and a 27 percent interest in the Schick electric shaver company, were soon discarded. Evan Picone, a women's sportswear manufacturer with a price tag of $12 million in 1962, was sold back to one of the original partners four years later for $1 million. However, the 1967 acquisition of the U.S. Vitamin and Pharmaceutical Corporation made Revlon a leader in diabetes drugs.

The company began to market its products overseas at the end of the 1950s. By 1962, when Revlon debuted in Japan, there were subsidiaries in France, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, and Asia. In Japan Revlon used its basic U.S. advertising and models instead of adapting its advertisements and using Japanese models. Sales for 1962 came to $164 million.

In 1968, Revlon introduced Eterna27, the first cosmetic cream with an estrogen precursor called Progenitin (pregnenolone acetate). Later Revlon launched Braggi Pub, Bill Blass for men, and a line of wig maintenance products called Wig Wonder.

In 1970, Revlon acquired the Mitchum line of deodorants. In 1971, Flex shampoo and conditioner were introduced.

In 1973, Revlon introduced Charlie perfume. It was aimed at people under 30 and promoted by model Shelley Hack who was wearing trousers in the advertisements. Shelley Hack appeared on Oprah in 2007 to talk about the power of the Charlie advertisements.

After the introduction of Charlie, Revlon's net sales figures were $506 million in 1973 and $606 million the following year.

Jontue perfume also sold well.

Revlon also owns the perfume brand Jean Nate.

The company then bought Elizabeth Arden in an $870 million deal in 2016.

Models
In 1973, model Lauren Hutton signed an exclusive modeling contract, agreeing to pose for Revlon's Ultima line for $400,000 for two years, and was portrayed on the cover of Newsweek. Richard Avedon was signed on as the exclusive photographer for the brand.

Michel Bergerac control (1975–1985)
In 1975, Charles Revson died. Michel Bergerac, whom Revson had hired as President of the company, continued to expand the company holdings. Revlon acquired Coburn Optical Industries, an Oklahoma-based ophthalmic and optical processing equipment and supplies manufacturer. Barnes-Hind, the largest U.S. marketer of hard contact lens solutions, was bought in 1976 and strengthened Revlon's share of the eye-care market. Revlon purchased Armour Pharmaceutical Company, a division of Armour and Company, from The Greyhound Corporation in 1977. Other acquisitions included the Lewis-Howe Company, makers of Tums antacid in 1978. These health-care operations helped sales figures surpass the $1 billion mark in 1977, bringing total sales to $1.7 billion in 1979.

In the mid-1980s, Revlon lost ground to Estée Lauder, and Armour Pharmaceutical's haemophilia product "Factorate" infected many people worldwide with HIV and hepatitis C. Estee Lauder spent millions of dollars on numerous magazine ads featuring Czech supermodel Paulina Porizkova, shot by famed Chicago fashion photographer Victor Skrebneski. Revlon's share dropped from 20 percent to 10 percent of department store cosmetics sales. Sales at the drugstore also declined as Revlon lost shares to Noxell's Cover Girl brand. Revlon compensated with more acquisitions; Max Factor, Ellen Betrix, Charles of the Ritz, Germaine Monteil, Almay, Fermodyl, Lancaster, Aziza, and Halston. The 1977 acquisition of Carlos Colomer, a Spanish professional beauty supply distributor, brought Fermodyl and Roux and helped introduce Revlon to the world of ethnic care: Creme of Nature, Realistic, Lovely Color and Milk and Honey. In 1983 the company attempted an unsuccessful hostile takeover of Gillette. In 1989, Revlon became one of the first companies to replace animal tests with alternative safety testing methods.

Ronald Perelman control (since 1985)
On November 5, 1985, at a price of $58 per share, totaling $2.7 billion, Revlon was sold to Pantry Pride (later renamed to Revlon Group, Inc.), a subsidiary of Ronald Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes. The buyout—engineered with the help of junk bond king Michael P. Milken—saddled Revlon with a huge $2.9 billion debt load, which became an albatross around the company's neck for years to come. Pantry Pride Inc. offered to buy any or all of Revlon's 38.2 million outstanding shares for $47.5 a share when its street price stood at $45 a share. Initially rejected, he repeatedly raised his offer until it reached $53 a share while fighting Revlon's management every step of the way. Forstmann Little & Company swooped in at $56 a share, a brief public bidding war ensued, and Perelman triumphed with an offer of $58 a share. Perelman paid $1.8 billion to Revlon's shareholders, but he also paid $900 million of other costs associated with the purchase. Perelman filed suit in the Delaware Court of Chancery to force Revlon to accept Perelman's offer, and the resulting appellate decision, Revlon v. MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, was a landmark case in determining the obligations of public company directors in hostile takeover situations under Delaware law.

Perelman had Revlon sell four divisions: two for $1 billion, the vision care division for $574 million, and the National Health Laboratories division which became a publicly owned corporation in 1988. Additional make-up lines were purchased for Revlon: Max Factor in 1987 and Betrix in 1989, later sold to Procter & Gamble in 1991. Also in 1991, Revlon sold the Clean & Clear brand to Johnson & Johnson.

In 2011, PETA removed Revlon and other high-profile cosmetic brands from its list of companies who do not test their products on animals after the organization learned they were paying Chinese laboratories to test their cosmetics on rabbits and other animals.

In August 2013, Revlon Consumer Products Corp. bought the Colomer Group from CVC Capital Partners, a private equity firm, for $660 million.

After suffering business loss in 2011 and 2012, at the end of 2013, Revlon announced that it will exit the Chinese market, which employs 1,100 people. The business in China accounted for just 2 percent portion of net sales of Revlon's international operations.

On November 1, 2013, Revlon named Lorenzo Delpani as president and CEO.

In March 2014, Revlon announced leaving midtown and relocate headquarters to the top two floors of One New York Plaza.

On September 22, 2014, Revlon's board of directors elected Roberto Simon as executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective as of Sept. 30.

On April 30, 2015, Revlon completed the acquisition of U.K. based fragrance management company CBBeauty including its U.K. distributor SAS & Company.

On June 16, 2016, Revlon announced its intention to purchase its competitor Elizabeth Arden, Inc. for $870 million. The acquisition was completed on September 7, 2016. Revlon also acquired Cutex from Coty Inc. in 2016.

The company announced on January 29, 2017, that CEO Fabian Garcia would leave the company at the end of February. Board member, Paul Meister, would become executive vice chairman of the board and run the day-to-day operations. A quarterly report from the end of 2017 estimated its quarterly loss falling approximately between $60 million and $80 million.

In May 2018, the company announced the appointment of Debra Perelman, the daughter of Ronald Perelman, to the position of chief executive officer. She will be the first ever female CEO of the company after serving as COO starting in January 2018 and serving on the board since 2015.

In January 2019, Seeking Alpha published an article regarding trading anomalies on the Revlon stock (REV); it is under investigation.

In August 2020, American bank Citi wrongly wired $900 million to creditors of Revlon. The wire sparked a "protracted legal fight". In October of the same year, the bank was fined $400 million by the US bank regulators as a result of their risk in control systems and was ordered to update their technology.

On September 28, 2021, the UK's Infected Blood Inquiry heard evidence about Armour's use of hemophilia treatment products during the 1970s and 80s, which caused Hepatitis C and HIV infections, including its period under the control of Revlon Healthcare.

Bankruptcy protection
On June 16, 2022, Revlon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after struggling with debt, rising competition, supply chain challenges, and falling behind evolving beauty standards. A few hours after the bankruptcy announcement, Revlon's shares lost more than 13% of their value. According to a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Revlon listed assets and liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion. Revlon which had been managed by Perelman's daughter Debra Perelman since mid-2018, had long-term debt of $3.31 billion as of March 31, 2022. The company narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 2020 after restructuring its debt. It was one of the last remaining holdings of Ronald Perelman. Bloomberg News reported that the company's bankruptcy process could be "complicated by financial controversies." MarketWatch quoted industry analysts and commentators as saying that bankruptcy would allow the firm a chance to refresh and regroup as it attempts to compete with newer brands, like Kylie Cosmetics or Fenty. CNBC reported that Revlon's bankruptcy might be the start of broader bankruptcy problems for the retail sector. It was delisted from the NYSE on October 21, 2022. In December 2022, Revlon announced plans to raise $650 million in equity and transferring majority of the ownership to senior leaders. The company also announced plans to wipe out the interests of Ron Perelman by striking an agreement with creditors to give lenders and bondholders ownership of the bankrupt cosmetics maker.

In February 2023, Revlon reached a lender settlement that would allow the company to exit from bankruptcy by April.

Advertising
Until the 1940s Revlon's magazine ads were drawn by hand and mostly in black and white. In 1945, Revlon began launching full-color photographic advertisements in major magazines and stores across the country. Revlon introduced matching nail polish and lipsticks with exotic and unique names. These ads were taken by the top fashion photographers of the day including Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, and John Rawlings. Some of these ads were for "Paint the Town Pink" and 1945's "Fatal Apple" with Dorian Leigh. In 1947 Revlon introduced "Bachelor's Carnation" and in 1948, "Sweet Talk".

In 1950, Revlon introduced a red lipstick and nail enamel called "Where's the Fire?", and later used "Fire and Ice" ads. One of the world's first supermodels, Dorian Leigh, starred in some of Revlon's most memorable advertisements of all time. In 1946, Dorian was covered in purple flowers and wrapped in a pale purple sheet for "Ultra Violet." In 1947, Dorian appeared in "Fashion Plate." In 1953, at the age of 36, she appeared in "Cherries in the Snow." Later that year she appeared in the legendary "Fire and Ice" ad shot by Richard Avedon. Originally, Dorian appeared in a tight, silver-beaded dress with an enormous red wrap. Her black hair had a silver swirl in it and she had her hands, with long red nails, positioned in front of her breasts. Charles Revson rejected Avedon's original ad as "too sexual." They re-shot the ad, this time with her open hand in front of one hip, the other in front of her cheek. The advertisement became Madison Avenue legend because of the full-page quiz next to the sensual ad. Almost 50 years later, in November 2010, Revlon re-created 1953's "Fire and Ice" magazine ad with actress Jessica Biel, and announced that they were issuing a limited-edition Fire and Ice lipstick and nail color, calling this campaign, "lips and tips."

Dorian Leigh's 15-years-younger red-headed sister, Suzy Parker, also shot numerous Revlon magazine ads in the 1950s. Suzy and Charles Revson, who wanted to marry Dorian at some point, despised each other. At one point, he refused to hire Suzy anymore because she complained about the "peanut" paycheck she received from Revlon. Richard Avedon, however, after photographing other models for a particular Revlon ad, would call in Suzy at the last minute, sometimes late at night, to do re-takes with him. This happened with "Stormy Pink," an ad Suzy shot very late at night with a wild white horse in the ocean. Avedon would then tell Revson that it was not Suzy in the ad, but a model named "Bubbles" or another made-up name.

In 1970, Revlon became the first American cosmetics company to feature an African American model, icon Naomi Sims, in their advertising. In the late 1970s, Revlon also made history when it created their line of cosmetics, specifically for women of color, called "The Polished Ambers Collection" and selected fashion model icon Iman to be featured in the advertising campaigns. Revlon was also noted for featuring models of a wide age range in the 1980s, including 13-year-old Milla Jovovich and 60-year-old Audrey Hepburn. Despite the successful campaigns of the 1980s and 1990s featuring models, in particular Cindy Crawford, Revlon decided to drop fashion models and focus on movie stars, among them Kate Bosworth, Jaime King, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Melanie Griffith, Julianne Moore, Eva Mendes, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Connelly, Beau Garrett, Jessica Biel, Olivia Wilde, Emma Stone and Bond girls. In 2009, Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson became one of a long line of spokesmodels for the company. American actress Jessica Biel modelled for the brand, first shown in advertisements in January 2010.

In 2008, celebrity makeup artist Gucci Westman was hired as Revlon's Global Artistic Director, representing the company at runway shows and brand events and designing collections. In 2017, Gwen Stefani became the global ambassador of the cosmetic brand. In 2020, Korean-American singer, actress and fashion designer Jessica Jung was announced as the new global ambassador for the company. In 2023, the digital artist Nailea Devora became the new Revlon Global Brand Ambassador. In January 2024, Madelyn Cline became Revlon's Global Brand Ambassador.

Philanthropy
Revlon is a corporate sponsor of several charity projects. The largest of these is the Revlon Run Walk, founded in 1994, in partnership with the Entertainment Industry Foundation. It is a run and walk event held in New York and Los Angeles to raise money and awareness for breast and ovarian cancer, which has raised and distributed more than $70 million to women's cancer research and support programs since its inception. Revlon also supports other cancer charities such as Look Good Feel Better and the National Breast Cancer Coalition and operates a mobile mammography clinic in and around Oxford, North Carolina, where the company's primary manufacturing operations are located. In 1996, Revlon supported the development of a breast center at the University of California, Los Angeles. Renamed Revlon/UCLA Breast Center, the center is a well-known institute for treatment and research of breast cancer and other breast diseases and disorders. A Revlon lip gloss shade whose proceeds support Revlon's cancer charities was also created in 2009.

In September 2010, Revlon, with global artistic director Gucci Westman and spokesmodel Halle Berry hosted an event at Fashion's Night Out in New York City to raise funds for the Jenesse Center, a Los Angeles organization for domestic violence victims. Revlon also hosted luncheons and various other events to benefit the center and partnered with then-online retailer drugstore.com to donate portions of lipstick sales to the organization.

In September 2015, Revlon donated $1 million through its LOVE IS ON million-dollar challenge dedicated to women's cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. In 2016, hosted its second LOVE IS ON million-dollar challenge to raise for women's health-related causes.

In 2018, the company launched an Employee Volunteer Program (EVP) which was created to provide each full time U.S. employee with eight hours of time to engage in community service.

title: Revlon


text:
User:Niteowlneils

I had been an administrator since spring or summer 2004, and am always happy to help with cleaning up after cut&paste moves, and many other things that require admin abilities. However, I really try to keep totally clear of edit wars. I've only blocked a handful of users for vandalism, never for 3RR, and have never protected a page. I have also never unblocked someone blocked by someone else, and I probably never will, as it would have to be a very clear case of one-sided bad faith or bad judgement, and I believe that is highly unlikely to ever be the case. If you are seeking help with edit war issues, I'd recommend contacting another admin, or posting the issue at Administrators' noticeboard or Village pump.

Wanna see what/who I've deleted/blocked/protected/uploaded? click here

I agree to multi-license all my contributions, with the exception of my user/user talk pages and subpages, as described below: My home page: http://www.niteowlneils.com/ My resume: http://www.freelancesoftwaretester.com/

Music I like

I've been editing Wikipedia since February 23 2004. I have been averaging 300-700 edits per week, but that number will drop considerably June 2, 2004, when I start working at a new contract job. Update: As of the end of December 2004, I'm unemployed again--great for my Wikipedia editing and everything else, except my bank account. :/ I made my 15,000th edit 17:04, 7 Feb 2005. 20,000th around 17:32, 5 May 2005. (up-to-date edit count, by namespace--thanks Kate!)

I initially did Recent Changes patrol, but since then have mostly done New Pages patrol, and occasionally Random page patrol. Being an introvert IRL, the pattern continues here--I rarely leave "welcome" messages.

My primary contributions

My Edit summary glossary

My personal WIWO (a start)

Tips
Tips for teachers and professors considering starting a Wikipedia-related school/class project: School and university projects

Pages that take forever to find and tools

 * How to fix cut and paste moves
 * History of Wikipedia
 * Wikipedia's oldest articles
 * Pushing to 1.0
 * Mirrors and forks
 * Mirrors and forks/GFDL Compliance
 * Topical index
 * Special:Specialpages
 * Talk:Fort Charlotte, Shetland--example of documenting permission use of text
 * Image:PerthZooMalleefowl.jpg--example of documenting permission use of images

 * For titles incorrect because of technical limitations; eg EBay
 * Links movie to IMDb article; id=seven digit number in the IMDb URL
 * Links actor to IMDb article; id=seven digit number in the IMDb URL
 * Adds year of birth and death cats to biographies--doesn't work for people still alive
 * Adds year of birth and death cats to biographies--doesn't work for people still alive

Notability
User:Niteowlneils/2500 Augustine wheelchair ramp is factual, verifiable, and NPOV, meeting the guidelines stated by Jimmy Wales at Wikipedia_talk:Fame_and_importance. Still, should it be in the main article space? I'd say no.

See also: User:Niteowlneils/Copy of kept prank article and votes

Actor lists
Note: From http://www.starseeker.com. I've linked the names blindly (mostly search and replace), so, especially with movie and TV series names, check for alternate spellings/forms (EG +/- "A", "The", etc.). Also, please feel free to add any names that are missing.
 * User:Niteowlneils/actors-a-b
 * User:Niteowlneils/actors-c
 * User:Niteowlneils/actors-d
 * User:Niteowlneils/actors-e-f-g
 * User:Niteowlneils/actors-h-i-j-k
 * User:Niteowlneils/actors-l
 * User:Niteowlneils/actors-m-n-o
 * User:Niteowlneils/actors-p-q-r
 * User:Niteowlneils/actors-s
 * User:Niteowlneils/actors-t-u-v-w-x-y-z

Browser versions I test with

 * Mozilla 1.4
 * Opera 7.02
 * IE 5.5
 * Netscape 7.1
 * Firefox 0.8
 * (rarely) SBC/Yahoo 1.0.05.409

Tutorial
My "sandbox" copies of articles I'm thinking of suggesting adding to the tutorial:
 * a shorter glossary (altho' I think an even shorter one might be better for the basic tutorial, or maybe divide it between fairly simple concepts (EG page, stub), and more complex ones (EG Infobox, Transwiki)--I'm still working on this suggestion.
 * I got it down to 10 entries, and added a link to it from the wrap-up page of the Tutorial on 4/29/04

 * a page about registration (I think this one's pretty much done--my current inclination would be to put it before the page listing other tutorials (currently page 7)).
 * I added it to the flow 4/28/04 Niteowlneils 22:09, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Guide
My "sandbox" copies of articles I'm thinking of adding to a new Advanced tutorial, the goal of which I see being giving people that have mastered the basics covered in the tutorial, guidance in writing good Wikipedia-style articles, some info on key backend processes/areas, any shortcuts they can use, and ideas about various ways they can contribute.
 * User:Niteowlneils/Guide outline
 * User:Niteowlneils/Guide outline/Content problems

New Pages study

 * User:Niteowlneils/NewPagesStudy (list of 100 articles from a 4-day old "New Pages" list, with notes on their condition when I checked them) (Work in progress--less than 20% complete)

Initial stats: approx 76 by registered Wikipedians; 11 by PZFUN, 9 by Sfoskett, 9 by Darra

Alternate Admin Accountability Policy
User:Niteowlneils/Draft AAAP

CSD or Not
Just starting to collect samples--not ready for votes yet.

User:Niteowlneils/csdornot/

Sample 'schools of {state}' table
Work in progress. Done, at least for the time being.

User:Niteowlneils/SchoolTable

User:Niteowlneils/Rhode Island schools

User:Niteowlneils/Providence County, Rhode Island schools

User:Niteowlneils/Sandbox

title: User:Niteowlneils