text:
Earnshaw's theorem

Earnshaw's theorem states that a collection of point charges cannot be maintained in a stable stationary equilibrium configuration solely by the electrostatic interaction of the charges. This was first proven by British mathematician Samuel Earnshaw in 1842. It is usually cited in reference to magnetic fields, but was first applied to electrostatic field.

Earnshaw's theorem applies to classical inverse-square law forces (electric and gravitational) and also to the magnetic forces of permanent magnets, if the magnets are hard (the magnets do not vary in strength with external fields). Earnshaw's theorem forbids magnetic levitation in many common situations.

If the materials are not hard, Braunbeck's extension shows that materials with relative magnetic permeability greater than one (paramagnetism) are further destabilising, but materials with a permeability less than one (diamagnetic materials) permit stable configurations.

Explanation
Informally, the case of a point charge in an arbitrary static electric field is a simple consequence of Gauss's law. For a particle to be in a stable equilibrium, small perturbations ("pushes") on the particle in any direction should not break the equilibrium; the particle should "fall back" to its previous position. This means that the force field lines around the particle's equilibrium position should all point inward, toward that position. If all of the surrounding field lines point toward the equilibrium point, then the divergence of the field at that point must be negative (i.e. that point acts as a sink). However, Gauss's law says that the divergence of any possible electric force field is zero in free space. In mathematical notation, an electrical force $F(r)$ deriving from a potential $U(r)$ will always be divergenceless (satisfy Laplace's equation):

$$\nabla \cdot \mathbf{F} = \nabla \cdot (-\nabla U) = -\nabla^2 U = 0.$$

Therefore, there are no local minima or maxima of the field potential in free space, only saddle points. A stable equilibrium of the particle cannot exist and there must be an instability in some direction. This argument may not be sufficient if all the second derivatives of U are null.

To be completely rigorous, strictly speaking, the existence of a stable point does not require that all neighbouring force vectors point exactly toward the stable point; the force vectors could spiral in toward the stable point, for example. One method for dealing with this invokes the fact that, in addition to the divergence, the curl of any electric field in free space is also zero (in the absence of any magnetic currents).

It is also possible to prove this theorem directly from the force/energy equations for static magnetic dipoles (below). Intuitively, though, it is plausible that if the theorem holds for a single point charge then it would also hold for two opposite point charges connected together. In particular, it would hold in the limit where the distance between the charges is decreased to zero while maintaining the dipole moment – that is, it would hold for an electric dipole. But if the theorem holds for an electric dipole, then it will also hold for a magnetic dipole, since the (static) force/energy equations take the same form for both electric and magnetic dipoles.

As a practical consequence, this theorem also states that there is no possible static configuration of ferromagnets that can stably levitate an object against gravity, even when the magnetic forces are stronger than the gravitational forces.

Earnshaw's theorem has even been proven for the general case of extended bodies, and this is so even if they are flexible and conducting, provided they are not diamagnetic, as diamagnetism constitutes a (small) repulsive force, but no attraction.

There are, however, several exceptions to the rule's assumptions, which allow magnetic levitation.

Loopholes
Earnshaw's theorem has no exceptions for non-moving permanent ferromagnets. However, Earnshaw's theorem does not necessarily apply to moving ferromagnets, certain electromagnetic systems, pseudo-levitation and diamagnetic materials. These can thus seem to be exceptions, though in fact they exploit the constraints of the theorem.

Spin-stabilized magnetic levitation: Spinning ferromagnets (such as the Levitron) can, while spinning, magnetically levitate using only permanent ferromagnets, the system adding gyroscopic forces. (The spinning ferromagnet is not a "non-moving ferromagnet").

Switching the polarity of an electromagnet or system of electromagnets can levitate a system by continuous expenditure of energy. Maglev trains are one application.

Pseudo-levitation constrains the movement of the magnets usually using some form of a tether or wall. This works because the theorem shows only that there is some direction in which there will be an instability. Limiting movement in that direction allows levitation with fewer than the full 3 dimensions available for movement (note that the theorem is proven for 3 dimensions, not 1D or 2D).

Diamagnetic materials are excepted because they exhibit only repulsion against the magnetic field, whereas the theorem requires materials that have both repulsion and attraction. An example of this is the famous levitating frog (see Diamagnetism).

Earnshaw's theorem applies in an inertial reference frame. But it is sometimes more natural to work in a rotating reference frame that contains a fictitious centrifugal force that violates the assumptions of Earnshaw's theorem. Points that are stationary in a rotating reference frame (but moving in an inertial frame) can be absolutely stable or absolutely unstable. For example, in the restricted three-body problem, the effective potential from the fictitious centrifugal force allows the Lagrange points L4 and L5 to lie at local maxima of the effective potential field even if there is only negligible mass at those locations. (Even though these Lagrange points lie at local maxima of the potential field rather than local minima, they are still absolutely stable in a certain parameter regime due to the fictitious velocity-dependent Coriolis force, which is not captured by the scalar potential field.)

Effect on physics
For quite some time, Earnshaw's theorem posed a startling question of why matter is stable and holds together, since much evidence was found that matter was held together electromagnetically despite the proven instability of static charge configurations. Since Earnshaw's theorem only applies to stationary charges, there were attempts to explain stability of atoms using planetary models, such as Nagaoka's Saturnian model (1904) and Rutherford's planetary model (1911), where the point electrons are circling a positive point charge in the center. Yet, the stability of such planetary models was immediately questioned: electrons have nonzero acceleration when moving along a circle, and hence they would radiate the energy via a non-stationary electromagnetic field. Bohr's model of 1913 formally prohibited this radiation without giving an explanation for its absence.

On the other hand, Earnshaw's theorem only applies to point charges, but not to distributed charges. This led J. J. Thomson in 1904 to his plum pudding model, where the negative point charges (electrons, or "plums") are embedded into a distributed positive charge "pudding", where they could be either stationary or moving along circles; this is a configuration which is non-point positive charges (and also non-stationary negative charges), not covered by Earnshaw's theorem. Eventually this led the way to Schrödinger's model of 1926, where the existence of non-radiative states in which the electron is not a point but rather a distributed charge density resolves the above conundrum at a fundamental level: not only there was no contradiction to Earnshaw's theorem, but also the resulting charge density and the current density are stationary, and so is the corresponding electromagnetic field, no longer radiating the energy to infinity. This gave a quantum mechanical explanation of the stability of the atom.

At a more practical level, it can be said that the Pauli exclusion principle and the existence of discrete electron orbitals are responsible for making bulk matter rigid.

Introduction
While a more general proof may be possible, three specific cases are considered here. The first case is a magnetic dipole of constant magnitude that has a fast (fixed) orientation. The second and third cases are magnetic dipoles where the orientation changes to remain aligned either parallel or antiparallel to the field lines of the external magnetic field. In paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials the dipoles are aligned parallel and antiparallel to the field lines, respectively.

Background
The proofs considered here are based on the following principles.

The energy U of a magnetic dipole with a magnetic dipole moment M in an external magnetic field B is given by $$U = -\mathbf{M}\cdot\mathbf{B} = -(M_x B_x + M_y B_y + M_z B_z).$$

The dipole will only be stably levitated at points where the energy has a minimum. The energy can only have a minimum at points where the Laplacian of the energy is greater than zero. That is, where $$\nabla^2 U = \frac{\partial^2 U}{\partial x^2} + \frac{\partial^2 U}{\partial y^2} + \frac{\partial^2 U}{\partial z^2} > 0.$$

Finally, because both the divergence and the curl of a magnetic field are zero (in the absence of current or a changing electric field), the Laplacians of the individual components of a magnetic field are zero. That is, $$\nabla^2 B_x = \nabla^2 B_y = \nabla^2 B_z = 0.$$

This is proven at the very end of this article as it is central to understanding the overall proof.

Summary of proofs
For a magnetic dipole of fixed orientation (and constant magnitude) the energy will be given by $$U = -\mathbf{M}\cdot\mathbf{B} = -(M_x B_x + M_y B_y + M_z B_z),$$ where Mx, My and Mz are constant. In this case the Laplacian of the energy is always zero, $$\nabla^2 U = 0,$$ so the dipole can have neither an energy minimum nor an energy maximum. That is, there is no point in free space where the dipole is either stable in all directions or unstable in all directions.

Magnetic dipoles aligned parallel or antiparallel to an external field with the magnitude of the dipole proportional to the external field will correspond to paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials respectively. In these cases the energy will be given by $$U = -\mathbf{M}\cdot\mathbf{B} = -k\mathbf{B}\cdot\mathbf{B} = -k \left (B_x^2 + B_y^2 + B_z^2 \right ),$$ where k is a constant greater than zero for paramagnetic materials and less than zero for diamagnetic materials.

In this case, it will be shown that $$\nabla^2 \left (B_x^2 + B_y^2 + B_z^2 \right ) \geq 0,$$ which, combined with the constant $k$, shows that paramagnetic materials can have energy maxima but not energy minima and diamagnetic materials can have energy minima but not energy maxima. That is, paramagnetic materials can be unstable in all directions but not stable in all directions and diamagnetic materials can be stable in all directions but not unstable in all directions. Of course, both materials can have saddle points.

Finally, the magnetic dipole of a ferromagnetic material (a permanent magnet) that is aligned parallel or antiparallel to a magnetic field will be given by $$\mathbf{M} = k{\mathbf{B} \over |\mathbf{B}|},$$

so the energy will be given by $$U = -\mathbf{M}\cdot\mathbf{B} = -k\frac{\mathbf{B}\cdot\mathbf{B}}{ |\mathbf{B}|} = -k\frac{|\mathbf{B}|^2 }{ |\mathbf{B}|} = -k\left (B_x^2 + B_y^2 + B_z^2 \right )^{\frac{1}{2}};$$

but this is just the square root of the energy for the paramagnetic and diamagnetic case discussed above and, since the square root function is monotonically increasing, any minimum or maximum in the paramagnetic and diamagnetic case will be a minimum or maximum here as well. There are, however, no known configurations of permanent magnets that stably levitate so there may be other reasons not discussed here why it is not possible to maintain permanent magnets in orientations antiparallel to magnetic fields (at least not without rotation—see spin-stabilized magnetic levitation.

Detailed proofs
Earnshaw's theorem was originally formulated for electrostatics (point charges) to show that there is no stable configuration of a collection of point charges. The proofs presented here for individual dipoles should be generalizable to collections of magnetic dipoles because they are formulated in terms of energy, which is additive. A rigorous treatment of this topic is, however, currently beyond the scope of this article.

Fixed-orientation magnetic dipole
It will be proven that at all points in free space $$ \nabla \cdot (\nabla U) = \nabla^2 U = {\partial^2 U \over {\partial x}^2} + {\partial^2 U \over {\partial y}^2} + {\partial^2 U \over {\partial z}^2} = 0.$$

The energy U of the magnetic dipole M in the external magnetic field B is given by $$U = -\mathbf{M}\cdot\mathbf{B} = -M_x B_x - M_y B_y - M_z B_z.$$

The Laplacian will be $$\nabla^2 U = -\frac{\partial^2}{{\partial x}^2} \left(M_x B_x + M_y B_y + M_z B_z\right) - \frac{\partial^2}{{\partial y}^2} \left(M_x B_x + M_y B_y + M_z B_z\right) - \frac{\partial^2}{{\partial z}^2} \left(M_x B_x + M_y B_y + M_z B_z\right)$$

Expanding and rearranging the terms (and noting that the dipole M is constant) we have $$\begin{align} \nabla^2 U &= -M_x\left({\partial^2 B_x \over {\partial x}^2} + {\partial^2 B_x \over {\partial y}^2} + {\partial^2 B_x \over {\partial z}^2}\right) - M_y\left({\partial^2 B_y \over {\partial x}^2} + {\partial^2 B_y \over {\partial y}^2} + {\partial^2 B_y \over {\partial z}^2}\right) - M_z\left({\partial^2 B_z \over {\partial x}^2} +{\partial^2 B_z \over {\partial y}^2} +{\partial^2 B_z \over {\partial z}^2}\right)\\[3pt] &= -M_x \nabla^2 B_x - M_y \nabla^2 B_y - M_z \nabla^2 B_z \end{align}$$

but the Laplacians of the individual components of a magnetic field are zero in free space (not counting electromagnetic radiation) so $$\nabla^2 U = -M_x 0 - M_y 0 - M_z 0 = 0,$$

which completes the proof.

Magnetic dipole aligned with external field lines
The case of a paramagnetic or diamagnetic dipole is considered first. The energy is given by $$U = -k|\mathbf{B}|^2 = -k \left (B_x^2 + B_y^2 + B_z^2 \right ).$$

Expanding and rearranging terms, $$\begin{align} \nabla^2 |\mathbf{B}|^2 &= \nabla^2 \left (B_x^2 + B_y^2 + B_z^2 \right ) \\ &= 2\left( |\nabla B_x|^2 + |\nabla B_y|^2 + |\nabla B_z|^2 +B_x\nabla^2 B_x + B_y\nabla^2 B_y + B_z\nabla^2 B_z \right) \end{align}$$

but since the Laplacian of each individual component of the magnetic field is zero, $$\nabla^2 |\mathbf{B}|^2 = 2\left( | \nabla B_x |^2 + | \nabla B_y |^2 + | \nabla B_z |^2 \right);$$

and since the square of a magnitude is always positive, $$\nabla^2 |\mathbf{B}|^2 \geq 0.$$

As discussed above, this means that the Laplacian of the energy of a paramagnetic material can never be positive (no stable levitation) and the Laplacian of the energy of a diamagnetic material can never be negative (no instability in all directions).

Further, because the energy for a dipole of fixed magnitude aligned with the external field will be the square root of the energy above, the same analysis applies.

Laplacian of individual components of a magnetic field
It is proven here that the Laplacian of each individual component of a magnetic field is zero. This shows the need to invoke the properties of magnetic fields that the divergence of a magnetic field is always zero and the curl of a magnetic field is zero in free space. (That is, in the absence of current or a changing electric field.) See Maxwell's equations for a more detailed discussion of these properties of magnetic fields.

Consider the Laplacian of the x component of the magnetic field $$\begin{align} \nabla^2 B_x &= \frac{\partial^2 B_x}{\partial x^2} + \frac{\partial^2 B_x}{\partial y^2} + \frac{\partial^2 B_x}{\partial z^2} \\ &= \frac{\partial}{\partial x} \frac{\partial B_x}{\partial x} + \frac{\partial}{\partial y} \frac{\partial B_x}{\partial y} + \frac{\partial}{\partial z} \frac{\partial B_x}{\partial z} \end{align}$$

Because the curl of B is zero, $$\frac{\partial B_x}{\partial y} = \frac{\partial B_y}{\partial x},$$ and $$\frac{\partial B_x}{\partial z} = \frac{\partial B_z}{\partial x},$$ so we have $$\nabla^2 B_x = \frac{\partial}{\partial x} \frac{\partial B_x}{\partial x} + \frac{\partial}{\partial y}\frac{\partial B_y}{\partial x} + \frac{\partial}{\partial z}\frac{\partial B_z}{\partial x}.$$

But since Bx is continuous, the order of differentiation doesn't matter giving $$\nabla^2 B_x = {\partial \over \partial x}\left({\partial B_x \over \partial x} +{\partial B_y \over \partial y} +{\partial B_z \over \partial z} \right) = {\partial \over \partial x}(\nabla \cdot \mathbf{B}).$$

The divergence of B is zero, $$\nabla \cdot \mathbf{B} = 0,$$ so $$\nabla^2 B_x = {\partial \over \partial x}(\nabla \cdot \mathbf{B}) = 0.$$

The Laplacian of the y component of the magnetic field By field and the Laplacian of the z component of the magnetic field Bz can be calculated analogously. Alternatively, one can use the identity $$\nabla^{2}\mathbf{B} = \nabla \left(\nabla \cdot \mathbf{B}\right) - \nabla \times \left( \nabla \times \mathbf{B} \right),$$ where both terms in the parentheses vanish.

title: Earnshaw's theorem


text:
Talk:Monica Bellucci

Article
The article will be split as it is getting lengthy. The filmography content will soon be removed. Oroborvs (talk) 21:04, 15 July 2023 (UTC)

It will soon be divided again. An article for Bellucci's Awards and nominations is in progress. Oroborvs (talk) 23:54, 9 August 2023 (UTC)

Official website
Concerning the website monicabellucci.net, which someone added in the external links, I deduce that it is not the official site as it is claimed, but a fansite. Indeed, Vanity Fair France published in April 2016 that Monica Bellucci's Parisian agency Karin Models had just opened an Instagram account for her. We can already see who manages this Instagram account. It is also stated in this article that she "doesn't even have an official Facebook account." There's the IMDb logo on the contact page of monicabellucci.net: If monicabellucci.net is the official website, then a quick check on Google shows that two Facebook accounts are linked to this website: one with 2.4 million followers and another with 408k followers. In the "About" tab of these Facebook accounts, we find the email address to contact monicabellucci.net as well as the web address of the site. In this "About" tab, by clicking on "Page transparency" > "See all": ''People who manage this Page. Primary country location for people who manage this Page includes: Turkey (9) for one, and People who manage this Page. Primary country location for people who manage this Page includes: Turkey (6)'' for the other. In "About" > "Page transparency", from the Facebook account with 2.4 million followers, it is written: "Created - Unofficial: Monica Bellucci April 6, 2016". Oroborvs (talk) 18:47, 17 February 2024 (UTC)

Removed source
I removed a source I believe is irrelevant to Bellucci; we don't need to state Persian is spoken in Iran here (diff of removal).

Cheers,  Baffle☿gab  23:50, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

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

title: Talk:Monica Bellucci


text:
User talk:LittleBrother

Probably a good move with regards informative... but such a shame. :( *sniff*

Ham radio!
Please see the discussion at Category talk:Amateur Radio Operator for a discussion on how to identify Hams and Ham personalities on Wikipedia. Steve Kd4ttc 02:29, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:LittleBrother


text:
List of Australian divisions in World War I

The following is a list of Australian divisions in World War I, including all infantry and mounted divisions of the Australian Army during that conflict. During the war, Australia raised an all volunteer force for overseas service, known as the Australian Imperial Force, which subsequently served in several theatres, including the Gallipoli Campaign, the Sinai and Palestine Campaign and on the Western Front in France and Belgium. Between the start of the war in August 1914 and its end in November 1918, Australia raised a total of seven infantry divisions, one of which – the New Zealand and Australian Division – was also manned by New Zealanders. Of these, six took part in combat, while one – the 6th – was broken up in the United Kingdom and disbanded in September 1917 before being deployed due to manpower shortages. In addition, there were two mounted divisions raised: the ANZAC Mounted Division and the Australian Mounted Division.


text:
Gordon Daniel Conant

Gordon Daniel Conant (January 11, 1885 – January 2, 1953) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and the 12th premier of Ontario, from 1942 to 1943.

Personal life
Born in Cedar Dale, East Whitby Township (now part of the City of Oshawa) in Ontario, Conant was a member of one of Oshawa's early European families. He was educated at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School, and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1912. He practiced law in Oshawa. In 1913 he married Verna Conant (née Smith), daughter of E. D. Smith. Together they had three children. Outside politics, Conant served as president of Oshawa General Hospital, Oshawa Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club and South Ontario Canadian Club. In 1933, he was made a King's Counsel. From 1943 to 1951, he was a Master of the Supreme Court of Ontario. In 1944, he was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Toronto. Conant died on January 2, 1953.

Municipal politics
In 1914, he was Deputy Reeve of Oshawa and Reeve in 1915. In 1916–1917, Conant became the youngest Mayor of Oshawa. After his office he dedicated himself to the development of hydro-electric power in Ontario. Due to his efforts, Ontario gained controlled of its own electrical system. In 1934, he became Crown Attorney for Ontario County.

Provincial politics
In 1937 elections, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario representing the electoral district of Ontario. A Liberal, he was appointed Attorney-General of Ontario in 1937 in the government of Mitchell Hepburn.

Hepburn resigned suddenly, in October 1942, after a long series of erratic acts and especially due to his feud with Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King that split Hepburn's cabinet and threatened the unity of his party. Hepburn announced that he was remaining leader of the party and Conant was selected as the new Premier by the Lieutenant Governor. The party, led by King's supporters, demanded a leadership convention and Conant and Hepburn were forced to acquiesce. Conant ran for the leadership but collapsed hours before the leadership vote and withdrew his candidacy. Former Provincial Secretary and Registrar Harry Nixon was elected new Liberal leader and was thus appointed Premier in May 1943.

Commemorations
"Conant Street" in the Cedardale area of Oshawa is named after his family, as was the Conant Public School (now closed). Two other streets in the same neighbourhood were also named after him, "Gordon Street" and "Daniel Street".

On July 20, 1966, the Ontario Archaeological and Historic Sites Board unveiled a blue and gold plaque in Lakeview Park. On August 14, 1966, the plaque was stolen and a week later was found in 26 feet of water at the Oshawa Harbour by local diver Robert Stevenson. The plaque was later moved closer to Henry House (one-third of the Oshawa Museum).

In 2010, the Ontario Heritage Trust's Premier Gravesites Program placed a bronze/granite plaque and a Provincial flag outside the Mausoleum at Oshawa's Union Cemetery, where Conant is interred.

title: Gordon Daniel Conant


text:
File:BelleAndSebastianTigermilk.jpg

Belle & Sebastian's first album, Tigermilk.

The woman featured in the photograph is Joanne Kenney. The photograph was taken by Stuart Murdoch.

title: File:BelleAndSebastianTigermilk.jpg


text:
Tigermilk

Tigermilk is the 1996 debut album from Scottish pop group Belle and Sebastian. Originally given a limited release (1,000 copies) by Electric Honey, the album was subsequently re-released in 1999 by Jeepster Records.

The album is named after an instrumental that did not end up on the album – it was later performed on Belle and Sebastian's early tours. All of the songs on the album were written by Stuart Murdoch between 1993 and 1996, and originally performed solo on the Glasgow open mic circuit. Though he performs on the album, trumpet player Mick Cooke was not then an official member of the band.

Recording and production
Belle and Sebastian formed after vocalist Stuart Murdoch and bassist Stuart David met at a café in Glasgow, Scotland in January 1996. The pair reportedly enlisted the first five musicians they came across, settling on a line-up of Murdoch, David, guitarist Stevie Jackson, drummer Richard Colburn, keyboardist Chris Geddes and cellist Isobel Campbell. Their initial performances took places at venues such as church crypts, libraries and house parties. Concurrently, Murdoch attended a music business course at the local Stow College, run by Alan Rankine of the Associates. The end goal of the course was to take two songs from the class and record and release them through Rankine's record label Electric Honey. Murdoch's material was eventually chosen; the band subsequently spent three days recording, finishing with an album's worth of songs.

He and Colburn provided a demo tape the group had recorded titled Rhode Island (later released as the Dog on Wheels EP) and the college was extremely impressed and chose to support them in creating a full album.

Murdoch recalls that the group was still quite loose knit at the time Tigermilk was recorded and that the full ensemble had not played together before getting into the studio. Many of the supporting instrument parts were shaped as the group recorded. After recording, though, "we were a group, no question."

Composition
Author Dave Thompson, in his book Alternative Rock (2000), called it as a "gentle masterpiece, utterly in debt to Nick Drake (and a bit of Donovan too)". He said "The State I Am In", the album's opening track, "buoys the occasional sag; that and the slickly loose instrumentation, harmonies which haunt the fringe of fear, and a wealth of emotionally crippled reflection." Nine of the ten songs featured on the album were recorded live over a three-day period, followed by two days of mixing. The only track not recorded during these sessions, "Electronic Renaissance", originated as a demo Murdoch made at Beatbox using Cubase, and was mastered directly from a cassette recording Murdoch had made of the song being played on a local radio station, hence its lo-fidelity sound. Due to its stylistic difference from the other songs, its inclusion on the album initially proved controversial.

Release
Electric Honey issued Tigermilk in mid-1996, initially limited to 1,000 copies, which sold out in months. The band received praised from BBC radio DJs John Peel and Mark Radcliffe, subsequently earning them a radio session for the latter DJ in July 1996. Colburn said "then record companies and fans started calling, and we thought 'My God, what have done? They soon signed to the London-based label Jeepster Records. Tigermilk was reissued in 1999; by this point, copies of the original were being sold for $600.

The album's cover photograph was taken by Murdoch and features his girlfriend Joanne Kenney. Kenney also appeared on the cover of the Dog on Wheels EP.

Legacy
Tigermilk was well-received upon its initial release, and earned a glowing review from Scottish culture magazine The List, who gave the band their first national press. The album has since sold over 124,000 copies. Pitchfork included "The State I Am In" at number 17 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

An eBay charity auction of the stuffed animal in the cover art of the Tigermilk album in 2019 was won by Lisa Carr of Washington, DC. Lisa Carr had also previously won an auction for bandleader Stuart Murdoch's car in 2002 and an auction of the stuffed animal on the cover of Dog on Wheels in 2004.

Personnel

 * Stuart Murdoch – vocals, guitar, programming on "Electronic Renaissance"
 * Stuart David – bass
 * Isobel Campbell – cello
 * Chris Geddes – keyboards, piano
 * Richard Colburn – drums
 * Stevie Jackson – guitar
 * Mick Cooke – trumpet
 * Joe Togher – violin
 * Keith Jones – Korg Poly-61 synthesizer, sound manipulation on "Electronic Renaissance"

title: Tigermilk


text:
Peter MacNicol

Peter MacNicol (born April 10, 1954) is an American actor. He received a Theatre World Award for his 1981 Broadway debut in the play Crimes of the Heart. His film roles include Galen in Dragonslayer (1981), Stingo in Sophie's Choice (1982), Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II (1989), Gary Granger in Addams Family Values (1993), Renfield in Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), and David Langley in Bean (1997).

MacNicol won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2001 for his role as the eccentric lawyer John Cage in the FOX comedy-drama Ally McBeal (1997–2002). He is also known for his television roles as attorney Alan Birch in the medical drama Chicago Hope (1994–98), X the Eliminator on Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law (2000–07), physicist Dr. Larry Fleinhardt on the CBS crime drama Numbers (2005–10), Tom Lennox in the sixth season of action-thriller 24 (2007), Doctor Octopus in The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–09), Dr. Stark on Grey's Anatomy (2010–11), Jeff Kane on the political satire series Veep (2016–19), and Nigel the Advisor on Tangled: The Series (2017–20). He also voiced the Mad Hatter in the Batman: Arkham video game series. He also played FBI Deputy Director Simon Sifter during season one of CSI: Cyber (2015-2016).

Early life
MacNicol was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, the youngest of five children of Barbara Jean (née Gottlich), a homemaker, and John Wilbur Johnson, a Norwegian-American corporate executive who became an Episcopal priest later in life. He is a graduate of MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas.

Career
MacNicol performed at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis for two seasons from 1978 to 1979. He appeared in productions, which included Hamlet and The Pretenders. He made his New York debut in the 1980 off-Broadway play, Crimes of the Heart. The production then moved to Broadway in 1981, and he won the Theatre World Award. It was during this production that a casting agent noticed him and audition him for a role in the film, Sophie's Choice. In 1981 he landed the starring role in his first film, Dragonslayer, opposite Ralph Richardson.

In 1987, MacNicol starred in the Trinity Repertory Company's original production of the stage adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men, which first appeared at the Dallas Theater Center. The adaptation was developed in consultation with the author.

Among his other stage credits is the Broadway production of Black Comedy/White Lies. He has appeared in repertory theater, including the New York Shakespeare Festival where he played title roles in Richard II and Romeo and Juliet; and in Twelfth Night, Rum and Coke and Found a Peanut.

In film, he plays the naive Southern writer who falls in love with Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice, the museum curator Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II, and camp director Gary Granger alongside future Numbers co-star David Krumholtz in Addams Family Values. Other film credits include the films Housesitter and American Blue Note.

From 1992 to 1993 he starred opposite John Forsythe, Holland Taylor, David Hyde Pierce and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as press secretary Bradley Grist in the political television comedy The Powers That Be.

In 1994 MacNicol played the role of Alan Birch for the first season and part of the second season of Chicago Hope once creator David E. Kelley departed. He later rejoined Kelley in 1997 by taking a role on another TV series, Ally McBeal, as a main guest star from Season 1 to Season 4 and a recurring character in Season 5. MacNicol is well known for his Ally McBeal performance as eccentric attorney John Cage, for which he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2001. He also starred in the drama Numbers as physicist Dr. Larry Fleinhardt, and had a role as Tom Lennox in the sixth season of the hit FOX show 24. MacNicol reprised his role as Lennox in the film 24: Redemption. He also played Mario, a hotel receptionist, in the Cheers episode, "Look Before You Sleep".

MacNicol has lent his voice to several comic book supervillains: Dr. Kirk Langstrom / Man-Bat in The Batman, David Clinton / Chronos in Justice League Unlimited, Professor Ivo in Young Justice, Dr. Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus in The Spectacular Spider-Man, X The Eliminator in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law and the Mad Hatter in the video games Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Batman: Arkham Knight. He also voiced Firefly in G.I. Joe: Renegades.

MacNicol played Dr. Stark, a pediatric surgeon, on Grey's Anatomy.

MacNicol was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding guest actor in the fifth season of Veep; however, this was rescinded because he appeared in "too many of the show’s episodes; the rules require that a guest actor nominee be in less than half of a season." He qualified when his entry was submitted, but then he appeared very briefly in one more episode. He was later nominated in the same category for the seventh season of Veep.

Personal life
MacNicol has been married to Martha Cumming since 1986.

title: Peter MacNicol


text:
Valour-class frigate

The Valour class is a class of frigates built for the South African Navy. Part of the MEKO family of warships, the German shipbuilder Blohm+Voss officially designate the class as the MEKO A-200SAN.

Designed as a multiple purpose, multi capable frigate, the Valour class encompasses the general guided-missile anti-surface and anti-air role forming the core of the South African surface fleet. The Valour class frigates employ the use of stealth technology to avoid enemy radar and infra-red detection.

Four Valour class frigates were constructed for the South African Navy as part of the Strategic Defence Package 1999. The first, SAS Amatola, was commissioned in 2006, with the fourth and final, SAS Mendi, commissioned in March 2007. The frigates have a service life of 30–40 years. However, in May 2023, Rear Admiral B.K. Mhlana, Deputy Chief of the Navy, reported to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence that Mendi was the only frigate of her class still effectively operational, given cancellations and delays in refits for her sister ships.

The Valour-class vessels are named in honor of acts of distinguished bravery in South African military history.

Development
The concept for the Valour class (Project Sitron) was first conceived in the late 1990s as part of the Strategic Defence Package, in which the new South African ANC government was keen to modernise the armed forces after decades of apartheid-era United Nations sanctions. Since the 1970s, previous attempts to replace the aging Type-12 (President class) frigates, as well as the 'W' (Jan van Riebeeck) class destroyers, had repeatedly been aborted due to sanctions, strategic considerations and financial cost. The Portuguese Carnation Revolution of 1974 axed efforts to acquire four João Coutinho-class corvettes (Project Taurus), and the delivery of three Type-69A light corvettes and twoAgosta-class submarine submarines from France was cancelled at the last minute after the imposition of mandatory UN sanctions in 1977. Following from the successful experience of constructing SAS Drakensberg in 1987, it was briefly considered that a class of frigates could be locally constructed at the same shipyard. However, an increasingly deteriorating security and financial situation by the late 1980s within South Africa put an end to the project. As the final Type-12 frigate was retired without replacement in 1985, the intensifying Border War forced the navy to shift operational focus away from the regional capabilities of large surface units to a purely localised coastal force, with a new core of offshore patrol vessels and mine hunters. As white minority rule came to a negotiated end by 1994, the Navy had lost all its major surface warships and suffered from a critical lack of anti-submarine and anti-air capability, operating nine increasingly obsolete strike craft OPVs and three aged diesel electric submarines.

The Spanish frigate design, the Álvaro de Bazán class topped an acquisition effort in 1995 under Project Falcon, however this was later cancelled in favour of the wider Strategic Defence Package.

In 1999, an initial tender of five general purpose warships that could negotiate the tough sea conditions off the South African coast was met with four designs being proposed by the United Kingdom (GEC F3000), Germany (MEKO A200), France (La Fayette-class frigate) and Spain (Bazan 59B). The ANC Government was keen that the newly democratic South Africa would play a leading role in African peacekeeping missions, and as such required a naval force that had regional capability. The winning design had to be able to conduct sustained operations at sea - potentially far from a home port, provide gunfire and transport support to land forces, have helicopter capacity, and undertake a range of general offensive and defensive missions, as well as regular maritime patrols on behalf of law enforcement.

On 3 December 1999, a contract was signed with the European South African Corvette Consortium (ESACC) to provide four warships based on the German MEKO 200 design bid. ESACC consisted of Blohm+Voss, Thyssen Rheinstahl and Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werf, African Defence Systems (part of the French Thales defence group) and a number of South African companies. Originally termed corvettes for political reasons by the South African Navy, the Valour class design, officially the MEKO A200SAN, represented a quantum leap in multi-purpose capability, with a final procurement cost of R9.65 billion in 2007.

Construction
Construction began on the Valour class when the first steel was cut on 6 August 2001 for SAS Amatola at the Blohm+Voss shipyards in Hamburg, Germany. SAS Spioenkop was also assembled here. SAS Isandlwana and SAS Mendi were constructed separately at the Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werf shipyards in Kiel. All four frigates were first laid down between August 2001 and June 2002, launched by October 2003 and later delivered to South Africa by the end of 2004. The delivery programme was delayed by up to nine months after the discovery of defects in installed electrical cabling in the lead ship SAS Amatola. Further delays were not incurred to the programme as the electrical cabling at fault had not yet been fitted to the subsequent frigates. The majority of the combat suite, weapons and sensors were designed and built by South African companies, with the integration process taking between 2–3 years per ship in South Africa. Final commissioning into service was achieved by 2007 for all four vessels.

Characteristics and design
The A200SAN design is an evolution of the MEKO 200 series of frigates that have been built for the Turkish, Australian and New Zealand navies since the late 1980s. Experience has been gained by Blohm+Voss when optimising weight distribution, trim, low noise and manoeuvrability. Focusing on providing a frigate for navies with a restricted budget, the design ensures a low crew complement, comfortable accommodation, and plenty of space for future technological upgrades on a modular construction.

The A200SAN design offers very solid sea-keeping due to high forward buoyancy and stability reserves to accommodate future upgrades, making the class perfect when engaging in sustained operations in the rough sea conditions found off the South African coast. The Valour class has a strong focus on conflict survivability and was built around the latest principles of stealth design in naval construction. The design has the extensive use of the ‘X-form’ structure in which right angles and vertical surfaces are avoided, whilst techniques to reduce an infrared signature allow for pre-cooled exhaust gasses to be expelled just above the waterline. A degree of proactive protection has also been incorporated into the design, along with an optimised layout and damage control features with light ceramic and Kevlar armour shielding critical compartments and the dividing up of the hull into zones with independent fire fighting, electrical and HVAC systems. More than 10 watertight compartments, as well as double bulkheads and box girders running lengthwise, form the steel hull which has been proven to prevent break-up. Blohm+Voss claim that the Valour class has a radar signature 50% smaller than a comparable vessel of their size, 75% less infrared emissions than previous designs, as well as 20% lower life-cycle cost, 25% lower displacement and 30% fewer crew required.

The Valour class has been designed with growth in mind, based around future technology and flexible mission requirements. The design allows for a flexible mission bay with space for two ISO containers, a recessed boat bay on either side of the ship, and wide passageways to aid maintenance, upgrades and store replenishment. Even after the fitting out of weapons systems and sensors, the A200SAN allows for a 200-tonne margin of future growth, 20% spare electrical generation, and 37% spare cooling capacity.

The propulsion system of the class is unique amongst other warships. Using a CODAG-WARP arrangement (Combined Diesel and Gas turbine - Waterjet and Refined Propellers), the design utilises two controllable pitch propellers and single water jet. In diesel-only mode the arrangement is very fuel-efficient as a single engine can drive both shafts for speeds of up to 18 kn. An independent centre-line gas turbine drives the water jet, coupled by a small reduction gear, eliminating the need for another combining gearbox. The water jet can be used alone, or combined with the diesel engines to achieve the maximum speed of nearly 30 kn. A reverse-thrust bucket is also fitted that can be raised to redirect the water jet forward, giving the class the shortest stopping distance of any other similar warship.

 * I – Economical mode: One diesel engine driving both shafts, maximum propeller speed: 150 rpm and up to 18 knots.
 * II – Maneuvering mode: Both diesel engines driving both shafts, maximum propeller speed: 200 rpm.
 * III – CODAG-WARP: Both diesel engines and the gas turbines engaged, maximum propeller speed: 215 rpm and a maximum speed of over 27 kn.
 * IV – Gas turbine only: Gas turbines powering water jet only.

These frigates are expected to spend about 80% of their at-sea time in modes I and II, allowing for a maximum range of 7,500 nmi at 16 kn. The A200SAN is also conspicuous for the lack of any funnel or uptakes in the centre of the ship, resulting in more space for above deck weapons and accommodation. The ships are exceptionally quiet and vibration-free as a result, and add further to their already high level of stealth characteristics.

The ship's steering gear consists of a steering unit and twin semi-balanced underhung rudders. There is an emergency steering station in the superstructure in the event of damage to the bridge and they can also be operated by hand from the steering gear compartment. To improve the ship's performance in a seaway, they are fitted with a B+V Simplex Compact stabiliser system.

This class of warship has seven independent Noske Kaeser air-conditioning plants allowing the ship to operate at a pre-set temperature and moisture level in ocean water ranging between 4 and 30 C, and the air temperature between −4 and 32 C. This also keeps the air pressure in the citadel five millibars higher than on the outside to prevent the drawing in of RBC (radioactive, biological, or chemical) contamination. These ships are also fitted with Sulzer und Weise seawater fire-fighting pumps and sprinkler systems. These are also ready to wet down the warship's ammunition magazines. In addition, a fire-extinguishing system protects the gas turbine and diesel engineering areas. The galleys are fitted with an ANSUL system and the flight deck and hangar with a Noske Kaeser Hy FEx foam fire extinguishing system. Two Pall Rochem reverse-osmosis plants generate 15 m3 of fresh water each every 24 hours. This water is provided to the galleys, messes, and drinking water supplies, and it is also used for cooling the guns, the air-conditioners, and the engine room, in addition for washing the helicopters. Water pumped to the guns, sensors, and air-conditioners is chilled by two Noske Kaeser refrigerators. An oil-fired hot-water boiler, made by the same company, provides the ship's heating, whereas the hot water for the galley and messes comes from a 600 L, 45-kilowatt electric geyser. With a main crew of 92, plus eight aircrew, stores can last for up to 28 days when on station.

Weapons, countermeasures, capabilities and sensors
The four Valour-class frigates are armed with surface-to-air and anti-ship missiles, a range of multi-purpose weaponry, and can operate helicopters that significantly improve and extend operational ability. The class have been hailed as the most powerful surface units in sub-Saharan Africa, and have restored South African naval pre-eminence.

The majority of the combat suite has largely been designed and built by South African companies. The "SA Corvette Group" includes Altech Defence Systems, Kentron, LIW Division of Denel, Futuristic Business Solutions, Saab Avitronics, Grintek Electronics, Reutech and African Defence Systems (a joint venture between Altech and Thales)

Naval guns
The ships are equipped with one OTO Melara 76 mm/62 compact Naval Gun. Depending on type of ammunition in use, a range of between 8 - 40 km with a rate of fire of 85 rounds per minute. For air targets, effective range is reduced to 4 km.

They also mount one Denel 35mm Dual Purpose Gun (CIWS). The weapon's primary role of providing vessel point defence against aerial hostiles and missiles, with a secondary purpose of engaging surface and shore targets. With a range of ammunition, effective firing range for air targets is 4 km, with maximum firing range for surface vessels at 6 km. High speed missiles can be intercepted at a 1.5 km range.

Two Mk1 Oerlikon 20 mm cannon are also fitted. They have a maximum engagement range of 6 km, with an effective range of 2 km. A sustained rate of fire of 900–1,000 rounds per minute.

Two 12.7 mm Reutech Rogue machine guns are mounted with rate of fire over 1,000 rounds per minute, with an effective range of 1.8 km and a maximum firing distance of 7.4 km.

Anti-air warfare
The ships have a 16-cell vertical launching system, holding up to 16 Denel Dynamics Umkhonto-IR Block 2 surface-to-air missiles, with a range of up to 15 km. Th Umkhonto system can engage up to four targets simultaneously. The all-weather missiles can reach distances of up to 8 km in 18 seconds and have countermeasure resistance.

Anti-surface warfare
The vessels are fitted with two 4-cell launchers for up to eight MBDA MM40 Block 2 Exocet surface-to-surface missiles, with a range of 72 km. Maximum speed of 1,148 kph, with sea-skimming capabilities, preprogramed manoeuvres, active radar seeker and a high explosive fragmentation warhead.

Anti-submarine warfare
The ships are fitted for but not with two 324 mm torpedo tubes.

Countermeasures
The ships are equipped with Saab Grintek Avitronics SME 100/200 ESM (Intercept and Jammer) & ELINT and two Saab Grintek Avitronics MRL Super Barricade chaff launchers (96 decoys) for countermeasures.

Electronic systems and sensors
40% of each vessel's costs are related to the combat-management system installed on the Valour class, with 75% of the combat suite being developed in South Africa. The frigates mount a Thales Naval France MRR-3D NG G-band multi-role surveillance radar which is a lightweight phased array antenna that operates as both a surveillance radar and a self-defence system sensor with automatic mode switching. The MRR-3D NG in surface mode can detect low and medium-level targets at ranges of up to 140 km, and in long-range 3D air surveillance setting up to 140 km. For self-defence, any threat within a radius of 60 km can be detected and tracked.

Two Reutech RTS 6400 monopoles X band (I/J bands) combined radar and optronic trackers are also equipped that are a high performance, domestically designed and manufactured radar tracker with a 60 km operational range. They also mount a Teutech Electro-optical Tracker, a Tellumat Integrated Naval Identification Friend or Foe System, M-Tek Target Designation Sights, a Thales UMS4132 Kingklip Sonar, and an MDS 3060 Obstacle Avoidance Sonar.

Also included is a computer-based "Naval Logistic Management System" that controls the on-board maintenance planning and execution by automatically generating weekly check-lists and repair schedules. Replenishment at sea can take place over the bow, over the stern, or amidships. Liquid and dry goods as well as passengers weighing up to 250 kg can be transferred this way. Vertical replenishment via helicopters can take place over the helideck and/or the foredeck.

Aviation
The hangar and flight deck design enables a wide range of helicopter options to fit requirements such as:

Two Westland Super Lynx or

One Westland Super Lynx and two UAVs or

One Atlas Oryx or

One Denel Rooivalk

Upgrades and future technologies
In 2016 it was announced that the Valour class would benefit from a mid-life upgrade over the next decade that would extend service life beyond 2035, with improvement to both capability and capacity. However, as of 2021 the mid-life programme is still reportedly in the concept and feasibility study phase, with further progress on hold due to lack of adequate funding. Of four frigates in the class, only Amatola had undergone a partial refit in 2014–15. Plans for refitting three of the four remaining frigates were to be finalised based on the availability of funding to enable phased refits. The navy planned to prioritize essential maintenance and repair of the frigates Spioenkop and Mendi in the interim. In August 2021 the Department of Defence reported to Parliament that the average cost estimate for a frigate refit was R687 million. Were funding to be made available, envisaged possible upgrades included:

 * The main naval gun, the OTO Melara 76 mm/62 compact, will be upgraded to enhance both fire-support and self-defence capabilities. The current calibre has long been known to be an interim cost-saving measure, with senior naval officials well aware that the gun is far too small to support operations. Improvement could range from the more affordable: upgrading the 76 mm/62 from Compact to Super Rapid, with the rate of fire increasing from 85 rounds per minute to 120, to the more costly: replacement with the 127 mm/64 Lightweight Naval Gun. Depending on the type of ammunition in use, range could increase from 40 to 120 km compared to the 76 mm/62. Although a slower rate of fire at 32 rounder per minute, the 127mm/62 would offer far greater hitting power. The naval gun is already in service with four navies, with another three as future operators, including Spain, the Netherlands and Canada. The Algerian El Radii-class frigate is equipped with the 127 mm/64, and is in essence a sister class to the Valour as the El Radii are also based on the MEKO A-200 design.
 * Land attack missiles: the class deliberately lacks a land-attack cruise missile capability for political reasons: such weapons are seen by some as “too aggressive” and out of keeping with the Valour-class's “defensive posture”. However, like its peers the South African Navy recognises the growing importance of fighting in the littoral battlespace and supporting land forces during operations. As a result, a land attack missile capability is likely to be investigated as funds become available and sensitivities are assuaged.
 * Current stock of Exocet MM40 Block 2 antiship missiles 72 km range, will be upgraded to Block 3 standard of 180 km range.
 * The Denel Umkhonto surface-to-air missile will be upgraded to maintain superiority over evolving threats. Current stocks are of the short range point-defence Umkhonto-IR missile with an operational radius of 15 km. It has not yet been announced whether the South African Navy wish to purchase the improved medium range, area defence, infrared homing (Umkhonto ER-IR) with a radius of 30 km, or the highly capable beyond visual range Umkhonto-R with a radius of over 60 km, which is still in development alongside the Brazilian Navy. Alternatively, enhancements have been made to the current IR Block 2 missile, with ranges extended from 15 km to over 20 km. This could therefore be the most affordable option.
 * The Thales MRR G-band air/surface search radar and the majority of the electronic warfare suite, such as the Grintek EWASION system and the Saab Avitronics radar support system will be replaced.
 * The existing combat management system, including the Electro-optical tracker will be replaced, or upgraded by a new system.
 * New rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) with improved communication systems will be carried.
 * Embarked Super Lynx maritime helicopters will have enhanced self-protection systems.
 * After operational experience in the Mozambique Channel on anti-piracy duty, the class will be fitted with bow thrusters to improve manoeuvrability when working in confined and austere ports in the region.
 * Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV): It is anticipated each of the frigates and the multi-purpose hull vessels will carry an AUV for minehunting purposes, obviating the need for specialist vessels.
 * Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV): The Navy is following the ongoing development of rotor-propelled UAVs and plan to purchase some, to a scale of two per ship, when the technology matures.
 * Indications suggest that the class will be equipped with close-in detection systems in order to face new threats that have emerged in the littoral environment. IED technology has spread to the African region and reports of missile attacks by non-state actors have increased in recent years.

Naming
The MEKO A-200SAN ships of the South African Navy are collectively called the Valour class, and each commemorates an incident of conspicuous bravery. "The symbolism, however, is not in the battle itself, and who the victors were, but the extreme valour shown by the forces involved — both the victors and the defeated" said navy spokesman Commander Brian Stockton.

Amatola is named for the redoubt of the famed Xhosa chief Sandile, who fought British colonial expansion in the 19th century,

Isandhlwana is named after the hill dominating the site of one of the most famous battles of the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879.

Spioenkop is named for the January 1900 battle between Boer and British forces for the possession of the hill on the banks of the Thukela (Tugela) River in what is now KwaZulu-Natal. Spioenkop hill marks the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the 1899–1902 Anglo Boer War.

There is a progression in the names and the fourth frigate takes its name from a naval incident in World War I – but unlike the others, her name commemorates not a battle, but valour during a maritime disaster. The 4,230-gross-register-ton (GRT) passenger ship SS Mendi was ferrying the mostly-Pondo 5th Battalion, SA Native Labour Corps (SANLC) from Britain to France when the steamer collided with the 11,000 GRT liner SS Darro during the early hours of 21 February 1917. Described as South Africa's worst naval disaster, 607 members of the SANLC, nine of their white countrymen and 33 British sailors died when the troopship sank 11 mi off St Catherine's Light in the English Channel. The Rev. Isaac Wauchope Dyobha led the doomed men in funeral song and dance as their ship went down. On her way home from Germany, SAS Mendi, with HMS Nottingham (D91), laid a wreath at the coordinates of the disaster on 23 August 2004.

Operational deployment
Since the Valour class were commissioned in 2006/2007, the four frigates have been the South African Navy's most capable and important surface assets. Although the likelihood of a naval engagement with another state actor in the Southern African region is highly unlikely in South African planning, the frigate force maintains a credible military deterrent and protects national interests. The main operational duties of the Valour class have been engaging in anti-smuggling operations, fishery protection, participating in African Union peacekeeping missions and tackling regional piracy with international partners. The class have also been heavily utilised in international training exercises and visits with other naval forces, particularly the United States Navy, the German Navy, the French Navy and the Royal Navy.

In 2010, the four frigates were deployed to provide air and sea security for the FIFA World Cup that was being hosted by South Africa. Three frigates, at any one time, acted as guardships off the cities of Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban.

Since 2011 the deployment to the Mozambique Channel to tackle piracy under Operation Copper has been one of the major and long-standing focuses of the frigate force. After increased piracy for a number of years, fellow South African Development Community members requested help in policing the crucial import and export sea lane. Since the beginning of operations, every frigate has been deployed on rotation and maritime piracy has fallen substantially, with marines regularly being embarked in order to board suspect vessels.

title: Valour-class frigate


text:
M&M's

M&M's are color-varied sugar-coated dragée chocolate confectionery, each of which has the letter "m" printed in lower case in white on one side, consisting of a candy shell surrounding a filling which varies depending upon the variety of M&M's. The original candy has a semi-sweet chocolate filling which, upon introduction of other variations, was branded as the "plain, normal" variety. Peanut M&M's, which feature a peanut coated in milk chocolate, and finally a candy shell, were the first variation to be introduced, and they remain a regular variety. Numerous other variations have been introduced, some of which are regular widespread varieties (peanut butter, almond, pretzel, crispy, dark chocolate, and caramel) while others are limited in duration or geographic availability. M&M's are the flagship product of the Mars Wrigley Confectionery division of Mars, Incorporated.

The candy originated in the United States in 1941, and M&M's have been sold in over 100 countries since 2003. They are produced in different colors, some of which have changed over the years. The candy-coated chocolate concept was possibly copied by Forrest Mars Sr. from Smarties, which he may have encountered during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The sugar coating made it possible to carry chocolate in warm climates without it melting. The company's longest-lasting slogan reflects this: "the milk chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hand."

A traditional milk chocolate M&M weighs about 0.91 grams / 0.032 ounces and has about 4.7 calories (kcal) of food energy (1.7 kcal from fat). Contrary to common belief, each colored M&M does not have a different flavor and all possess the same chocolate taste.

1940–70s: Beginnings

In the 1930s, Forrest Mars Sr., son of the Mars Company founder, Frank C. Mars, saw soldiers in the Spanish Civil War eating British-made Smarties. These are chocolate pellets with a colored shell of what confectioners call hard panning (essentially hardened sugar syrup) surrounding the outside, preventing the sweets (candies) from melting. Mars received a patent for his own process on March 3, 1941.

Production began in 1941 in a factory located at 285 Badger Avenue in Clinton Hill, Newark, New Jersey. When the company was founded it was M&M Limited. The two Ms represent the names of Forrest E. Mars Sr. and Bruce Murrie, the son of the Hershey Chocolate's president, William F. R. Murrie, who had a 20 percent share in the product. The arrangement allowed the candies to be made with Hershey chocolate, as Hershey had control of the rationed chocolate at the time.

Nestlé archives show that George Harris of Rowntree and Forrest Mars Sr. agreed, after much negotiation, to share the marketplace rather than compete, with Rowntree making Mars Bars in Canada, Erie and South Africa and with Mars making M&M's in America without competition from Smarties, and Rowntree did not attempt to sue Mars for stealing their concept.

The company's first big customer was the U.S. Army, which saw the invention as a way to allow soldiers to carry chocolate in tropical climates without it melting. During World War II, the candies were exclusively sold to the military. The resulting demand caused an increase in production and the company moved its factory to bigger quarters at 200 North 12th Street in Newark, New Jersey. In 1958, it moved to a bigger factory at Hackettstown. A second factory was opened in Cleveland, Tennessee, in 1978. Today, about half of the production of M&M's occurs at the New Jersey factory, and half at the Tennessee factory. In 1949, the brand introduced the tagline "The milk chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hand." In 1950, a black "M" was imprinted on the candies giving them a unique trademark. It was changed to white in 1954. In the early 1950s, the Midwest Research Institute (now MRIGlobal) in Kansas City, Missouri, worked on behalf of M&M's to perfect a process whereby 3300 lb of chocolate centers could be coated every hour. Peanut M&M's were introduced in 1954 but first appeared only in the color tan. In 1960, M&M's added the yellow, red, and green colors.

In 1976, the color orange was added to the mix to replace red, which was discontinued in response to the "red dye scare" over Red Dyes #2 and #4 having been evaluated as carcinogenic. Although M&M's were made with the less controversial Red Dye #40, the public was wary of any food being dyed red. Red M&M's were re-introduced in 1987.

1980s: Expanding internationally
In the 1980s, M&M's were introduced internationally to Australia, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom.

M&Ms Royals were marketed in the early 1980s with an advertising campaign that said: "Now chocolate's got a whisper of mint." They were colored pale green or brown and showed a crown rather than an M&Ms logo.

Although they were marketed and then withdrawn in the 1960s, almond-centred M&M's were available again in 1988 in limited release, with appearances only during Christmas and Easter times; they became a standard part of the product line in 1992.

Also in 1986, M&M's launched Holidays Chocolate Candies for Easter and Christmas, with the Easter candies having a bunny, chick, and egg symbols on pastel-colored shells, and the Christmas candies having pine tree, bell, and candle symbols on red and green shells; with the latter also having a special mint flavor. By 1993, the holiday symbols were replaced with the standard trademark "M".

1990s: New flavors ring
In 1991, Peanut Butter M&M's were released. These candies have peanut butter inside the chocolate shell and the same color scheme as the other varieties. As of at least 2013, the size of the peanut butter M&M has become slightly smaller. In 1995, tan M&Ms were discontinued to be replaced by blue. To introduce the new color, the Home Shopping Network televised a promotional video for the blue M&M. Producer Jon Watson became the first man to wear the famous blue M&M suit.

During the 1990s, Europe first began to adopt the M&M's brand name, replacing existing products. Two of these were known as "Treats" and "Bonitos." In 1996, Mars introduced "M&M's Minis", smaller candies usually sold in plastic tubes instead of bags. In 1999, Crispy M&M's were released. They were slightly larger than the milk chocolate variety and also featured a crispy wafer center. Crispy M&M's were discontinued in the United States in 2005, before being reintroduced in 2015; however, they remained continually available in Europe and Australia.

2000s–present: New flavors and re-releases
In July 2001, dulce de leche M&M's were introduced in five markets with large Hispanic populations: Los Angeles, California; San Diego, California; Miami, Florida; McAllen-Brownsville, Texas; and San Antonio, Texas. The flavor never became popular with the Hispanic community, who preferred existing M&M's flavors, and it was discontinued in most areas by early 2003.

Several other flavors of M&M debuted throughout the 2010s. These include Pretzel M&M's, released in 2010; Coffee Nut M&M's, released in 2016; Caramel M&M's, released in 2017; English Toffee M&M's, released in 2019; and Hazelnut Spread M&M's, also released in 2019.

A range of additional products was launched in the 2000s and 2010s to expand beyond the traditional line of candies. A chocolate bar called the M-Azing was initially released in 2004, and subsequently relaunched in 2013; Oversized candies titled "Mega M&M's" were briefly released in 2007 to promote the Shrek film series, before being introduced as a standalone product in 2014; M&M cookies began to be sold in the United States in 2016; and M&M chocolate blocks were released in Australia in 2017.

In 2020, Fudge Brownie M&M's were released in the United States.

On September 28, 2022, the introduction of purple M&M's was announced, as well as their newest spokescandy, Purple.

Marketing
Over the years, marketing has helped build and expand the M&M's brand. Computer-animated graphics, personification of the candies as characters with cartoon-like storytelling, and various merchandising techniques including the introduction of new flavors, colors and customizable merchandise have helped to increase the brand's recognition as a candy icon.

In 1982, the Mars candy bar company rejected the inclusion of M&M's in the new Steven Spielberg film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. However, competitor Hershey took a chance with their Reese's Pieces, which is similar to M&M's but contains a peanut butter filling. With the film's blockbuster success, Reese's Pieces sales dramatically increased, perhaps by as much as 300%.

Marketing campaigns
Between 1982 and 1987, its slogan was "All the World Loves M&M's", accompanied by a TV jingle of the same name. Actor Joel Higgins, then co-starring in the NBC-TV sitcom Silver Spoons, co-wrote the song.

In 1990, M&M's exhibited at New York's Erie County Fair a life-size fiberglass cow covered with 66,000 M&M candies—each adhered by hand with the "m" logo on each candy facing outward. According to a website run by the cow's designer, Michael Adams, the stunt earned M&M Mars $1 million in free publicity because it was reported on by Newsweek magazine, as well as the New York Post, UPI and WABC-TV, and Live with Regis.

In 1995, the company ran the M&M's Color Campaign, a contest in which participants were given the choice of selecting purple, blue, or pink as the color of a new variety of M&M's. The announcement of the winning color (blue) was carried on most of the television networks' news programs, as well as the talk shows of David Letterman and Jay Leno. As part of the contest results, the company had the Empire State Building lighted in blue. Although the financial details of these deals were not disclosed and neither was the campaign's effect on sales, one marketing book estimated that the company "collected millions" in free publicity and that the campaign "certainly" resulted in an increasing of the brand's awareness.

In 1996, Mars produced Christmas-themed advertisement for the candies in which the Red and Yellow characters run into Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Similarly to competitor Hershey's own Christmas-themed commercial, the commercial proved immensely successful and has re-aired every December since that year, becoming their longest-running television commercial.

In 1998, M&M's were styled as "The Official Candy of the New Millennium", as MM is the Roman numeral for 2000. This date was also the release of the rainbow M&M's, which are multi-colored and filled with a variety of different fillings.

In 2000, "Plain" M&M's (a name created in 1954 when "Peanut" M&M's were introduced) were renamed "Milk Chocolate" M&M's, and pictures of the candy pieces were added to the traditional brown and white packaging.

In 2004, M&M's adopted the 1967 Petula Clark song "Colour My World" for its TV ads, albeit using newly recorded versions with other singers.

Joint marketing campaigns
In 1990, Mars Snackfood US signed up to be a sponsor for NASCAR in the NASCAR Cup Series. Drivers for the M&M's-sponsored car through the years have included Ernie Irvan (1999), Ken Schrader (2000–02), Elliott Sadler (2003–06), Ricky Rudd (2007), David Gilliland (2006–07), Kyle Busch (2008–current, won 2015 Sprint Cup Series Championship & 2019 Monster Energy Cup Series Championship), Michael McDowell, Matt Crafton, Erik Jones and David Ragan. 2022 would be Mars final year as Busch’s sponsor. Mars has also sponsored Busch in the Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series along with Busch’s team, Kyle Busch Motorsports. Mars sponsored the 2022 NASCAR Cup Race at Pocono, titled the “M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400”.

The introduction of the blue M&M to Australia was promoted by the Australian Football League's Carlton Football Club, which wore sky-blue colored guernseys in one of its matches in 1997 instead of its traditional navy blue – a color which the successful and fiercely traditional club had worn since the 1870s. In 2010, Mars Snackfood Australia described it as the most successful promotional campaign it had ever engaged in.

In April 2005, M&M's ran the "mPire" promotion to tie in with the Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith film release. M&M's were offered in dark chocolate varieties (regular and Peanut) for the first time after a string of Addams Family M&M's commercials. In May 2004, M&M's ran a Shrek 2 promotion to tie in with the film's release. M&M's were offered "ogre-sized" (65% larger) in swamp/ogre colors. They were sold at many stores displayed in huge cardboard-cutout ogre displays. In the summer of 2005, Mars added "Mega M&M's" to the lineup. These candies, at 55% larger than the traditional M&M's, were a little smaller than the ogre-sized version. They were available in Milk Chocolate and Peanut varieties. The colors for Mega M&M's were changed to less-bright colors, ostensibly to appeal to older consumers: teal (replacing green), beige (replacing orange), maroon (replacing red), gold (replacing yellow), blue-gray (replacing blue), and brown. In July 2006, Dark Chocolate M&M's reappeared in a purple package, followed in 2007 by Dark Chocolate Peanut M&M's. Also in 2006, the company piloted White Chocolate M&M's as a tie-in with their Pirates of the Caribbean promotion. The company also offered eight new flavors of M&M's via online sales, as well as at M&M's World locations: "All That Razz"; "Eat, Drink, & Be Cherry"; "A Day at the Peach"; "Orange-U-Glad"; "Mint Condition"; "AlmonDeeLicious"; "Nut What You Think"; and "Cookie Monster". Mars also released a "Crispy Mint" variety in Australia that year.

Also in 2006, M&M's became the official chocolate of NASCAR.

In 2007, M&M's introduced a limited-edition raspberry flavor called "M&M's Razzberry Chocolate Candies".

Also in 2007, M&M's produced a 50-foot, smiling Lady Liberty M&M statue to kick off a campaign encouraging Americans to create their own M&M characters at mms.com. The website allows for people to log in and create their own character from scratch. They can choose features such as the color, shape, hair, and accessories.

In 2008, two limited-edition varieties of the candy were introduced – "Wildly Cherry" M&M's, and, as a marketing tie-in with the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, "Mint Crisp" M&M's.

M&M's also introduced another new product called "M&M's Premiums" in 2008. They come in five flavors – chocolate almond, mint chocolate, mocha, raspberry almond, and triple chocolate (milk, dark, and white chocolate), which are sold in small upright cartons with a plastic bag inside. M&M's Premiums do not have a candy shell, but are coated with carnauba wax and color. Dark chocolate was added in 2009, replacing mocha.

During the summer of 2008, My M&M's launched "Faces," which allows consumers to print the faces of loved ones on M&M's chocolate candies at mymms.com.

In February 2009, M&M's launched the "M&M's Colour Break-Up" promotion in Australia, where M&M's were sold in separate packs (one for each color): the packs included a code to win prizes.

In summer 2009, M&M's launched a limited-edition "Strawberried Peanut Butter" variant to tie in with the release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. In addition, M&M's launched a limited edition "Coconut M&M's", which became a permanent item in 2010.

In early 2010, M&M's Bare All were released as part of a competition in Australia and New Zealand. M&M's Bare All winning packs were ordinary M&M's, but without colored shells. An official website was launched, along with television advertisements. In April 2010, M&M's launched a new Pretzel variety. In November 2011, Mars released a limited edition M&M's Cinnamon Milk Chocolate for Christmas.

About the time Pretzel M&M's came out, the M&M's wrapper designs in the US were redone from the design used from 2004 to early 2010.

In 2012, M&M's released two new Dark Chocolate flavors: Raspberry and Mint. Also that year, M&M's released a White Chocolate flavor for the Easter season. From May 30, 2012, onwards, M&M's will be launched in Macau. In 2012, Peanut M&M's were produced in the UK in a limited edition "Red, White and Blues only" pack, in connection with the country's Diamond Jubilee and 2012 Summer Olympics. The "M" remains white on the white candies. The commercial advertising this promotional package had Yellow donning various outfits of British stereotypes to try to get into the limited edition pack. Similarly, to promote the 2014 FIFA World Cup in the UK, Peanut M&M's were produced in a pack that contained only green, yellow, and blue candies, to reflect the colors of the flag of Brazil; these were dubbed as limited-edition "Brazilian M&M's" in the accompanying commercial. "Brazilian M&M's" were re-released in 2016 to promote the 2016 Summer Olympics, but were available in both Chocolate and Peanut.

In 2013, M&M's launched the "Better with M" campaign, which included cause-related marketing. The campaign worked with Habitat for Humanity and encouraged fans to use a Facebook app to volunteer at the various sites where the homes were being built. The advertising campaign was one of the largest that Mars had ever executed. The 2013 "America Better With M" initiative sought to provide money directly to Habitat for Humanity through offering limited versions of M&M's in red, white and blue.

Since 1988, specially designed packages of red, white and blue Presidential M&M's have been given as souvenirs to guests of the President of the United States. One side of the box features the presidential seal and the signature of the current president; the other side includes an M&M's character flying the American flag. A common misconception is that every candy is stamped with the presidential seal; however, some U.S. embassies around the world do offer M&M's stamped with the seal of the United States.

M&M's World specialty shops have been established in some locations, including Las Vegas, Orlando, New York, London, and Shanghai.

Several M&Ms-themed video games have been created. The first was M&M's The Lost Formulas, released on September 28, 2000.

Related brands
Related candy brands from Mars include Minstrels, Revels, Skittles, and Treets.

M&M's characters
Early black-and-white adverts for the candy in 1954 featured two talking, anthropomorphic M&M characters—one plain and one peanut—diving into a swimming pool full of chocolate.

The first incarnation of the characters in CGI was a 1994 celebrity campaign which had the characters interacting with celebrities on which M&Ms candy color is their favorite. This campaign was created by Blue Sky Studios. Concurrent with 1995's blue M&M campaign, M&M's introduced second computer-animated "spokescandies" in their television commercials. The depiction and campaign of the M&M's were made by Will Vinton in 1995. Vinton previously created the clay-animated California Raisins in 1986. Around the time he worked on CGI projects, he made the depiction of the M&M's as more mature than most food mascots. These include the team of the cynical and sardonic Red (originally voiced by Jon Lovitz, thereafter Billy West) who is the mascot for milk chocolate, peanut butter, and crispy M&M's, and the happy and gullible Yellow (originally voiced by John Goodman, thereafter J.K. Simmons), who is the mascot for Peanut M&M's (he was originally known as "Peanut" when first introduced). Other mascots include the "cool one", Blue (voiced by Robb Pruitt) who is the mascot for Almond M&M's; the seductive Green (her personality is a reference to the 1970s urban legend that green M&Ms were aphrodisiacs) (voiced by Cree Summer and Larissa Murray), who is the mascot for both Dark Chocolate Mint and Peanut Butter M&M's, and the slightly neurotic Orange (voiced by Eric Kirchberger), who was introduced when Crispy M&M's were first released and is currently the mascot Pretzel M&M's, which debuted in 2010. As the mascot of Pretzel M&M's, Orange was joined by the second non-M&M mascot, Pretzel Guy, who "supports" him and offers helpful advice as he hates the idea of having a pretzel put inside his body.

Other mascots that were introduced, but no longer used, are Almond, the original green guy; Orange, a female peanut character; Chocolate Bar (voiced by Phil Hartman), the first non-M&M character that always gets foiled or outdone by Red and Yellow by being melted, as M&M's do not melt; and the Swarmees for M&M's Minis candies, which are portrayed as destructive yet crafty troublemakers whom Red and Yellow are always trying unsuccessfully to contain after they accidentally released them in the product's initial commercial.

Female M&M's mascots were introduced in 1995. Green was the Milk Chocolate mascot and Tan was the Peanut. Marketing discontinued Tan when they introduced the then-new Blue mascot. Green was the only female M&M's mascot from her introduction in 1995 until 2012 when M&M's unveiled a new additional spokescandy, Ms. Brown (voiced by actress Vanessa Williams), the "Chief Chocolate Officer". During a Super Bowl LII advertisement, Red was transformed into a human after finding a lucky penny and wishing that he was inedible. As a human, he is portrayed by Danny DeVito.

In January 2022, Mars announced plans to alter the design of the M&Ms characters. The company announced that the aim of this change was to make their characters more representative of a broader array of human personalities and personal backgrounds. Among these changes is the adoption of more casual clothing for the Green and Brown M&Ms, both of which are generally interpreted to be female characters. In September 2022, they introduced a new Purple M&M voiced by Amber Ruffin who first appeared in a commercial singing "I'm Just Gonna Be Me".

Referencing criticism surrounding the changes from conservative media outlets, the company teased a Super Bowl LVII commercial in January 2023 by making a fictitious announcement that the characters were being temporarily retired and replaced by comedian Maya Rudolph. In subsequent teasers leading up to the game, Rudolph was shown hijacking the M&M's brand in her own image, re-launching them as "Ma&Ya's" candy-coated clams. Concurrently, the M&M's characters were depicted as "exploring their outside passions", collaborating with other brands such as Cheddar, eBay, Snickers, Spotify, and Zappos. During the eventual ad for Ma&Ya's, Red makes a cameo during its final scene alongside Yellow, holding up a sign reading "Help!" Following the game, M&M's posted a "press conference" confirming the spokescandies had been reinstated.

Color changes
The original colors of M&M's candies were red, yellow, violet, green and brown. Violet was discontinued and replaced with tan in the late 1940s.

In 1976, Mars eliminated red-colored M&M's because of health concerns over the dye amaranth (FD&C Red #2), which was a suspected carcinogen, and replaced them with orange M&M's. This was done despite the fact that M&M's did not contain the dye; the action was purely to satisfy worried consumers. Ten years later, Paul Hethmon, then a student at University of Tennessee, started a joke campaign to reinstate red M&M's that would eventually become a worldwide phenomenon. Red M&M's were reintroduced as a result, and the orange M&M's that had originally replaced them were kept in production. In Europe, red M&M's contain the red dye carmine (E120, cochineal).

In early 1995, Mars ran a promotion in which consumers were invited to vote on which of blue, pink, or purple would replace the tan M&M's. Blue was the winner with 54% of the votes. It replaced tan in late 1995. Consumers could vote by calling 1-800-FUN-COLOR. Ads for the new blue colors featured a plain and an almond blue M&M character as Red and Yellow take notice of trying to do takes in the commercial by painting themselves blue where they appear on stage with B.B. King singing the blues, but the filmmakers had to cut the scene as they were not the real blue M&M's; another featured Red and Yellow holding their breath to look like the new blue M&M's, where Steven Weber sees the three M&M's, Red, Yellow, and Blue; and one more featuring Weber talking to the blue M&M if he had dived into the chocolate pool, but did not.

In 2002, Mars solicited votes in their first ever "M&M's Global Color Vote" to add a new color from three choices: aqua (turquoise), pink, and purple. Purple won and was featured for a limited time. To help the colors get votes, Ken Schrader and his MB2 Motorsports team, who was sponsored by M&M's at the time, ran four paint schemes during the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season representing the promotion (one for aqua, one for pink, one for purple, and another one with all three colors on the car). Specially marked packages of M&M's were released in Japan. Finding a bag of all purple M&M's entitled the customer to a prize of 100 million yen (equivalent to approximately US$852,000).

Since 2004, M&M's have been available online in 17 colors, with personalized phrases on each candy on the opposite side from the "m". Released around Christmas, these custom-printed M&M's were originally intended for holiday greetings, but are now available all year round.

For the 2008 Valentine's Day season, Mars introduced all-green bags of M&M's. This was due to common urban folklore that says green M&M's are an aphrodisiac. They were brought back for 2009 alongside the "Ms. Green Heats Up Valentine's Day" contest.

In October 2011, Mars released M&M's White Chocolate Candy Corn exclusively in the United States for Halloween. These candies come in three candy corn inspired colors: white, bright yellow, and bright orange.

The following is a summary of the changes to the colors of the flagship (milk chocolate) flavor of M&M's, the only filling manufactured continuously since the beginning of the brand. From 1941 until 1969, each package contained M&M's in five different colors; when red M&M's were reintroduced in 1987, they were added as a sixth color instead of replacing any of the existing colors.

title: M&M's


text:
Maria Schell

Maria Margarethe Anna Schell (15 January 1926 – 26 April 2005) was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She was one of the leading stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance in Helmut Käutner's war drama The Last Bridge, and in 1956, she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for Gervaise.

Early life
Schell was born in the Austrian capital Vienna, the daughter of actress Margarethe (née Noé von Nordberg; 1905–1995), who ran an acting school, and Hermann Ferdinand Schell (1900–1972), a Swiss poet, novelist, playwright, and owner of a pharmacy. Her parents were Roman Catholics. She was the older sister of actor Maximilian Schell and lesser-known actors Carl Schell (1927–2019) and Immaculata "Immy" Schell (1935–1992).

After the Anschluss in 1938, her family moved to Zürich in Switzerland. Maria Schell began commercial training, but soon entered the film business when she met the Swiss actor and director Sigfrit Steiner.

Career
Schell premiered in Steiner's 1942 film Steibruch, side by side with the well-known Swiss actor Heinrich Gretler, and took acting lessons for several theatre engagements. After World War II, she was cast in her first leading role in the 1948 film The Angel with the Trumpet, directed by Karl Hartl. She starred in such films as The Magic Box, Dr. Holl (1951), So Little Time (1952), The Heart of the Matter (1953). Her emotional acting earned her the nickname Seelchen ("little soul"), coined by her colleague Oskar Werner.

The 1956 film Gervaise directed by René Clément was also a nominee for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film; while in Hollywood, Schell met with Yul Brynner, who urged for her casting in The Brothers Karamazov (1958) in the role of Grushenka. Schell also starred with Gary Cooper in The Hanging Tree (1959), and with Glenn Ford in Cimarron (1960). Other famous movie parts included Le notti bianche (1957), Rose Bernd (1957), and Superman (1978). Schell played Mother Maria in the sequel to Lilies of the Field titled Christmas Lilies of the Field. In 1959 she appeared on What's My Line? as the mystery guest. In 1970, Schell starred opposite Christopher Lee in The Bloody Judge by Jesús Franco.

In 1976, she starred in a Kojak episode, and also had three guest appearances in the German television series Der Kommissar and two in Derrick, in the episodes "Yellow He" (1977) and "Klavierkonzert" (1978). Schell appeared on stage, including an acclaimed performance in the 1976 Broadway play Poor Murderer by Pavel Kohout and the leading role in Friedrich Dürrenmatt's play The Visit with the Schauspielhaus Zürich ensemble.

Personal life
Schell was married twice – first to film director Horst Hächler (divorced in 1965), and second to director Veit Relin (divorced in 1986). Her daughter by her second marriage, actress Marie Theres Relin (born 1966), was married to Bavarian playwright Franz Xaver Kroetz, and has three children; she made a media and internet appearance as a spokeswoman for housewives (If Pigs Could Fly. Die Hausfrauenrevolution, 2004).

Affair with Glenn Ford
Schell admitted to carrying on a passionate love affair with Glenn Ford in 1960 on location of their film Cimarron. Ford’s son Peter confirmed her story in his 2011 biography Glenn Ford: A Life. In 1981, Schell gave Ford a dachshund puppy which he named Bismarck. The dog became his favorite and a constant source of comfort for him in his later years when he became ill and bedridden. After the dog’s death, he had it cremated and requested that its ashes be buried with him upon his death, which they were when Ford died in 2006.

Death
Maria Schell's last years were overshadowed by her ill health. She attempted suicide in 1991, and suffered repeated strokes. Her final public appearance was at the premiere of her brother Maximilian's documentary film My Sister Maria (2002); both were awarded the Bambi Award for their work.

Schell lived reclusively in the remote village of Preitenegg, Carinthia, in the Austrian Alps until her death from pneumonia on 26 April 2005, aged 79. Upon her death, her brother released a statement, stating in part: "Towards the end of her life, she suffered silently, and I never heard her complain. I admire her for that. Her death might have been for her a salvation. But not for me. She is irreplaceable."

Autobiographical works

 * 1985: Die Kostbarkeit des Augenblicks. Gedanken, Erinnerungen. Langen Müller, München, ISBN 3-7844-2072-9.
 * 1998: "... und wenn's a Katz is!" Mein Weg durchs Leben. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach, ISBN 3-404-12784-6.

Filmography

 * Steibruch (1942), as Meiti / Gretl
 * The Angel with the Trumpet (1948), as Selma Rosner
 * Maresi (1948), as Blanka von Steinville - The Daughter
 * After the Storm (1948), as Gretel Aichinger
 * The Last Night (1949)
 * The Angel with the Trumpet (1950), as Anna Linden
 * A Day Will Come (1950), as Madeleine
 * Dr. Holl (1951), as Angelika Alberti
 * The Magic Box (1951), as Helena Friese-Greene
 * So Little Time (1952), as Nicole de Malvines
 * Until We Meet Again (1952), as Pamela
 * Dreaming Lips (1953), as Elisabeth
 * As Long as You're Near Me (1953), as Eva Berger
 * Diary of a Married Woman (1953), as Barbara Holzmann
 * The Heart of the Matter (1953), as Helen Rolt
 * The Last Bridge (1954), as Dr. Helga Reinbeck
 * Master of Life and Death (1955), as Barbara Bertram, geb. Hansen
 * Napoléon (1955, by Sacha Guitry), as Marie-Louise, Napoleon's Austrian wife
 * Die Ratten (1955), as Pauline Karka
 * Gervaise (1956, by Rene Clement, from Émile Zola's L'Assommoir), as Gervaise Macquart Coupeau, une blanchisseuse douce et courageuse
 * Love (1956), as Anna Ballard
 * Rose Bernd (1957), as Rose Bernd
 * Le Notti Bianche (1957), as Natalia
 * The Brothers Karamazov (1958), as Grushenka
 * One Life, by Alexandre Astruc (1958, from an eponym novel by Guy de Maupassant), as Jeanne Dandieu épouse de Lamare
 * Der Schinderhannes (1958), as Julchen
 * The Hanging Tree (1959), as Elizabeth Mahler
 * As the Sea Rages (1959), as Mana
 * Cimarron (1960), as Sabra Cravat
 * The Mark (1961), as Ruth Leighton
 * Das Riesenrad (1961), as Elisabeth von Hill
 * Only a Woman (1962), as Lilli König
 *  (1963), as Beate Dehn
 *  (1963), as Agnès Duvillard
 * The Devil by the Tail (1969), as Countess Diane
 * 99 Women (1969), as Leonie Caroll
 * The Bloody Judge (1970), as Mother Rosa
 * La Provocation (1970), as Jeanne
 * Dans la poussière du soleil (1972), as Gertie Bradford
 * Chamsin (1972), as Miriam
 * Die Pfarrhauskomödie (1972), as Irma
 * The Odessa File (1974), as Frau Miller
 * Change (1975), as Mama
 * The Twist (1976), as Gretel
 * Voyage of the Damned (1976), as Mrs. Hauser
 * Kojak - Season 4, Episode 11: "The Pride and the Princess" (1976), as Sister Lepar Angelica / Princess Viva Dushan
 * Derrick (1977-1978), as Luisa van Doom / Erika Rabes
 * Superman (1978), as Vond-Ah
 * Christmas Lilies of the Field (1979), as Valeska Piontek
 * The Martian Chronicles mini-series - Season 1 (1980), as Anna Lustig
 * Frau Jenny Treibel (1982, TV film), as Jenny Treibel
 * Inside the Third Reich (1983), as Mrs. Speer
 * Král Drozdia Brada (1984), as královna, Michalova matka
 * 1919 (1985), as Sophie Rubin
 * Die glückliche Familie (1987-1991, TV Series), as Maria Behringer

Decorations and awards

 * 1951-1957, 1987, 2002: Bambi award
 * 1954: Honorable Mention at the Cannes International Film Festival for The Last Bridge
 * 1956: Volpi Cup at the Venice International Film Festival for Gervaise
 * 1957 and 1958: Golden and Silver Bravo Otto
 * 1974: Merit Cross of the Federal Republic of Germany
 * 1977: German Film Awards, Gold Award for many years of excellent work in the German film industry
 * 1980: Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
 * 1983: Golden Camera
 * 2002: Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class
 * 2008: Maria Schell street named in Landstrasse (Vienna's 3rd District, area Aspanggründe / Euro-gate)

title: Maria Schell


text:
Robert James Manion

Robert James Manion (November 19, 1881 – July 2, 1943) was a Canadian politician who led the Conservative Party of Canada from 1938 to 1940. Prior to his leadership of the party, he served in Prime Minister Arthur Meighen and R. B. Bennett's cabinets.

A Liberal prior to World War I, Manion was elected to the House of Commons in 1917 as a member of the pro-conscription Unionist Party led by Prime Minister Robert Borden. After the war, he served as a Conservative Member of Parliament until his defeat in 1935. In 1938, Manion was elected leader of the Conservatives, which was shortly relabeled as National Government. Despite his pro-conscription stance in World War I, Manion campaigned against conscription in World War II in the 1940 federal election. Manion also ran on a platform of forming a wartime coalition national unity government. In the election, the National Government lost in a landslide, keeping their seat count exactly the same as in the 1935 federal election. Manion also lost his seat of London, and subsequently resigned as leader. Shortly after, Manion was appointed director of Civilian Air Raid Defence. He died in 1943 in Ottawa.

Early life
Manion was born in Pembroke, Ontario, of Irish Catholic descent, the son of Mary Ann (O'Brien) and Patrick James Manion. He studied medicine at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, and at the University of Edinburgh before settling in his hometown of Fort William, Ontario, where his parents had lived since 1888.

In 1915, he enrolled in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Attached to the 21st Canadian Battalion, he was awarded the Military Cross for heroism at the battle of Vimy Ridge.

Political career
Manion was elected to the House of Commons during the conscription election of 1917 as a Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) for Fort William, Ontario. A member of the Liberal Party before the war, he supported Conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden's pro-conscription Union government that was formed as a result of the Conscription Crisis of 1917. Manion remained with the Conservative Party after the war. The new prime minister, Arthur Meighen, appointed him Minister of Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment in 1921. He spent most of the 1920s on the opposition benches, except for a few months in 1926 when he served as a minister in the second Meighen administration, including the position of Postmaster-General.

Following the federal election of 1930, the new Conservative Prime minister R. B. Bennett appointed Manion Minister of Railways and Canals. However, the economic crisis of the Great Depression destroyed the Bennett government, and Manion, with many others, lost his seat in the 1935 election. According to historian Roy Piovesana, Manion's loss was partly attributable to his failure to cultivate his Fort William riding.

Conservative Party leader
Despite not having a seat, Manion won the Conservative leadership convention with backing of an "improbable coalition" of Orange Order delegates from Ontario and delegates from Quebec. Conservative Party members hoped that his Catholicism and marriage to a French-Canadian, Yvonne Desaulniers, would help the party in Quebec where the perception of the Tories as being anti-French and anti-Catholic Orangemen had hurt their prospects. Manion entered the House of Commons through a by-election in 1938 in London.

Following his by-election win, Manion subsequently campaigned against conscription despite the fact that he had joined the Unionists in 1917 because he favoured the draft. Manion moved the Conservatives to the left and was criticized as a socialist due to his call for action against unemployment and his desire to, in his words, "bring a greater measure of social justice to all our citizens."

He hoped to come to power due to the criticism the King government was facing after the brokerage of an agreement with the Union Nationale Premier of Quebec, Maurice Duplessis in which he promised federal funds for unemployment relief in Quebec in exchange for the Union Nationale's support for the Conservatives in the federal election. The onset of World War II and the re-emergence of conscription as an issue in Canada stymied Manion's hopes. In the 1939 Quebec election the federal Liberals warned that the Duplessis government's support for Manion would lead to conscription, despite Manion's claims that he opposed mandatory military enlistment. The defeat of the government of Maurice Duplessis in Quebec dashed Manion's hopes of building an electoral alliance with the conservative premier. As well, his stand against conscription turned much of the Tory base in Ontario against the leader.

1940 federal election
King had promised Manion that he would not call an election due to the war but reversed his pledge and called a March 1940 general election taking Manion's Tories by surprise and unprepared. They campaigned under the name "National Government" with the platform of forming a wartime coalition government. King and his Liberal Party were quite popular, especially after his government helped Canada recover from the depression. Therefore, the Liberals won a second consecutive landslide majority government, the renamed Tories were unable to make any gains from their 1935 result, and Manion failed to win his seat, leading to his resignation as party leader two months later.

Later life
After his election loss, Manion was appointed director of Civilian Air Raid Defence. He died in 1943 in Ottawa.

Archives
There is a Robert James Manion fonds at Library and Archives Canada.

title: Robert James Manion


text:
Baron Hemphill

Baron Hemphill, of Rathkenny and of Cashel in the County of Tipperary, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 12 January 1906 for the lawyer and Liberal politician Charles Hemphill, Solicitor-General for Ireland between 1892 and 1895. His elder son, the second Baron, was Crown Prosecutor for County Wicklow. He was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Baron. He was Deputy Chairman of the London County Council from 1907 to 1908. The fifth Baron, who succeeded his father in 1957, assumed by deed poll in 1959 the additional surname of Martyn, which was the maiden name of his father's mother, a first cousin of Edward Martyn. the title is held by the latter's son, the sixth Baron, who succeeded his father in 2012.

The family seat is Raford House, near Kiltullagh, County Galway, in Ireland.

Barons Hemphill (1906)

 * Charles Hare Hemphill, 1st Baron Hemphill (1822–1908)
 * Stanhope Charles John Hemphill, 2nd Baron Hemphill (1853–1919)
 * Fitzroy Hemphill, 3rd Baron Hemphill (1860–1930)
 * Martyn Charles Andrews Hemphill, 4th Baron Hemphill (1901–1957)
 * Peter Patrick Martyn-Hemphill, 5th Baron Hemphill (1928–2012)
 * Charles Andrew Martyn-Hemphill, 6th Baron Hemphill (b. 1954)

The heir apparent is the present holder's elder son, the Hon. Richard Patrick Lumley Martyn-Hemphill (b. 1990)

title: Baron Hemphill