text:
Allan MacLeod Cormack

Allan MacLeod Cormack (February 23, 1924 – May 7, 1998) was a South African American physicist who won the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (along with Godfrey Hounsfield) for his work on X-ray computed tomography (CT), a significant and unusual achievement since Cormack did not hold a doctoral degree in any scientific field.

Early life and education
Cormack was born on February 23, 1924, in Johannesburg, South Africa. He attended Rondebosch Boys' High School in Cape Town, where he was active in the debating and tennis teams. He received his B.Sc. in physics in 1944 from the University of Cape Town and his M.Sc. in crystallography in 1945 from the same institution. He was a doctoral student at Cambridge University from 1947 to 1949, and while at Cambridge he met his future wife, Barbara Seavey, an American physics student.

Career
After marrying Barbara, he returned to the University of Cape Town in early 1950 to lecture. Following a sabbatical at Harvard in 1956–57, the couple agreed to move to the United States, and Cormack became a professor at Tufts University in the fall of 1957. Cormack became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1966. Although he was mainly working on particle physics, Cormack's side interest in x-ray technology led him to develop the theoretical underpinnings of CT scanning. This work was initiated at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital in early 1956 and continued briefly in mid-1957 after returning from his sabbatical. His results were subsequently published in two papers in the Journal of Applied Physics in 1963 and 1964. These papers generated little interest until Hounsfield and colleagues built the first CT scanner in 1971, taking Cormack's theoretical calculations into a real application. For their independent efforts, Cormack and Hounsfield shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. It is notable that the two built a very similar type of device without collaboration in different parts of the world [3]. He was member of the International Academy of Science, Munich. In 1990, he was awarded the National Medal of Science.

Death
Cormack died of cancer in Winchester, Massachusetts, at age 74. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Mapungubwe on December 10, 2002, for outstanding achievements as a scientist and for co-inventing the CT scanner.

title: Allan MacLeod Cormack


text:
Icehouse (band)

Icehouse are an Australian rock band, formed in Sydney in 1977 as Flowers. Initially known in their homeland for their pub rock style, the band later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synth-pop music and attained Top 10 singles chart success locally and in both Europe and the U.S. The mainstay of both Flowers and Icehouse has been Iva Davies (singer-songwriter, record producer, guitar, bass, keyboards, oboe) supplying additional musicians as required. The name "Icehouse", adopted in 1981, comes from an old, cold flat Davies lived in and the strange building across the road populated by itinerant people.

Davies and Icehouse extended the use of synthesisers particularly the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 ("Love in Motion", 1981), Linn drum machine ("Hey Little Girl", 1982) and Fairlight CMI (Razorback trailer, 1983) in Australian popular music. Their best known singles on the Australian charts include "Great Southern Land", "Hey Little Girl", "Crazy", "Electric Blue" and "My Obsession"; with Top Three albums being Icehouse (1980, as Flowers), Primitive Man (1982) and Man of Colours (1987).

Icehouse was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame on 16 August 2006. ARIA described Icehouse as "one of the most successful Australian bands of the eighties and nineties... With an uncompromising approach to music production they created songs that ranged from pure pop escapism to edgy, lavish synthesised pieces..." Icehouse has produced eight top-ten albums and twenty top-forty singles in Australia, multiple top-ten hits in Europe and North America and album sales of over 28-times platinum in Australasia alone.

1977–1980: Flowers
Flowers were formed in Sydney in 1977 by Iva Davies (vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, oboe), a classically trained musician, and their main creative force; with bass player Keith Welsh. Davies was working as a part-time cleaner at a Lindfield squash court managed by Welsh's mother, they lived nearby and were both interested in forming a band. Additional musicians used by Flowers in 1978 were Michael Hoste on keyboards and Don Brown on drums. The band built up a strong following as a live act around the pub circuit, providing distinctive cover versions of songs by Roxy Music, David Bowie, Lou Reed, T-Rex, Ultravox and Brian Eno. The band performed at Cloudland on 28 July 1979, with The Numbers and British group XTC. By the middle of 1979 John Lloyd (ex-Paul Kelly and the Dots) replaced Don Brown on drums, with Anthony Smith (who was sometimes called Adam Hall), on keyboards, replacing Michael Hoste who remained associated with the band and later rejoined.

After signing to the independent Regular Records label, distributed by Festival, Flowers released their debut single in May 1980, "Can't Help Myself" (written by Davies), which reached the Australian Top 10 in June 1980. This was followed by their debut album Icehouse, which reached No. 4 on the National albums chart and became one of the year's biggest selling albums in Australia. The album, co-produced by Cameron Allan (Mental As Anything's producer) and Davies, made use of synthesisers, including the Minimoog, Solina Strings and Oberheim OB-1. Hoste co-wrote four tracks with Davies and played additional keyboards, with Smith continuing to provide the main keyboards. Further singles "We Can Get Together" and "Walls" from Icehouse also hit the Top 20.

Flowers' popularity was recognised when they were awarded the 1980 TV Week / Countdown Rock Awards 'Johnny O'Keefe New Talent Award' ahead of The Dugites, INXS and Karen Knowles. They were also nominated for 'Best Album' and 'Best Album Cover' for Icehouse but lost on both to Cold Chisel's East, Iva Davies was nominated as 'Best Songwriter' but lost to Cold Chisel's Don Walker. At the award ceremony, Flowers performed "Icehouse" with Davies framed within a cube of white neon tubing. In early 1981, Flowers signed to Chrysalis Records for European, Japanese, UK and U.S. releases; they had to change their name due to legal restrictions and to prevent confusion with a Scottish group The Flowers. Their last performance under the name Flowers was on 27 June 1981 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, they chose the name of their album to become known as Icehouse.

1981–1989: Icehouse
As Icehouse, the band spent the second half of 1981 touring the UK, Canada and the U.S., whilst Chrysalis released most of their Flowers material under the name Icehouse. The single "Icehouse" was released in Europe and created some interest in the UK, partly because of a video directed by Russell Mulcahy, while in the U.S. the song peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart in 1981. "Icehouse" had been written by Davies when he lived at 18 Tryon Road, Lindfield in an old, cold flat of a two-storey mansion – across the street was a dishevelled house which had its lights on all night peopled by short-term residents. Davies later learned it was a half-way house for psychiatric and drug rehab patients. The first U.S. single "We Can Get Together" peaked at No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100. A single-only release, "Love in Motion", was recorded by Davies using the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, and became the first new recording credited to Icehouse; it hit the Australian Top 10 in November 1981. Icehouse split up late in 1981, Keith Welsh later becoming manager of Australian bands Do-Ré-Mi and Boom Crash Opera.

1981–1983: Primitive Man, Fresco EP
In January 1982 Davies recorded Primitive Man essentially as a solo project, it was co-produced with Keith Forsey who had worked with Giorgio Moroder and later worked with Simple Minds. Forsey supplied additional percussion; Davies supplied vocals, guitars, keyboards (Prophet 5), bass and programmed the Linn drum machine. Released on September 20, 1982, as an Icehouse album, Primitive Man reached No. 3 on the National album charts and provided their international breakthrough single, "Hey Little Girl" which peaked at No. 7 in Australia, No. 2 in Switzerland, No. 5 in Germany and top 20 in UK, Sweden and Netherlands. The album was less successful in the U.S where it peaked at number 129 on the Billboard 200 and the song "Hey Little Girl" appeared on the Billboard Top Tracks chart for one week at number 31.

Another single "Great Southern Land" made the Australian Top 5, and was later featured in the 1988 Yahoo Serious film Young Einstein. To promote Primitive Man on tour, Davies re-assembled Icehouse with Hoste and Lloyd, and new members: Robert Kretschmer (guitar, backing vocals), Guy Pratt (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Andy Qunta (keyboards, backing vocals). Fresco was a five-track EP released in 1983 by this line-up, they supported David Bowie on the European section of his Serious Moonlight tour. Love in Motion was released in 1983 by Chrysalis for the UK market, it was the Primitive Man album with "Love in Motion" replacing album track "Break These Chains". Back in 1982, Russell Mulcahy had directed two of their video clips: "Hey Little Girl" and "Street Cafe" (released February 1983), after these Mulcahy asked Davies to record the score for his film Razorback; it was entirely instrumental, and featured Davies' first recorded use of the Australian designed Fairlight Music Computer. The trailer for the movie was released in 1983, the film itself in April 1984.

"I use the Fairlight mostly, but I like the Prophet5 for harmonies. I use the Fairlight as a sort of sketchpad for arranging and editing... I've been working with a Fairlight for two and a half years now. They're built not very far away from where I live, so when they need to test out some software, I have a look at it... The first time I used a Fairlight was to do the soundtrack to Russell Mulcahy's first feature film Razorback, which is about a huge killer pig."

1984–1986: Sidewalk and Measure for Measure
Icehouse's third studio album Sidewalk was released in 1984 and peaked at No. 8 on the National albums chart with singles "Taking the Town" peaked at No. 29 in May, "Don't Believe Anymore" peaked at No. 31 August and "Dusty Pages" peaked at No. 82 in November. Davies used the Fairlight CMI digital sampling synthesiser exclusively.

Davies was commissioned to compose and record the score for the Sydney Dance Company production of Graeme Murphy's work Boxes. Davies only used Kretschmer, with percussion being supplied by Masaki Tanazawa. Boxes was first performed live at the Sydney Opera House on 7 November 1985. After the Boxes project, Icehouse was Davies, Kretschmer, Pratt and Qunta with former Members member Simon Lloyd (sax, trumpet, keyboards) and Steve Jansen (drums, percussion).

In 1986, their fourth studio album, Measure for Measure featured Brian Eno as an additional performer; it provided the Australian singles of "No Promises" No. 19, "Baby, You're So Strange" No. 12, "Mr. Big" No. 14 and "Cross the Border". Further inroads into the U.S. market occurred with "No Promises" peaking at No. 9 on Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and "Cross the Border" reaching No. 19. In Canada, "No Promises" reached No.61. On tour for Measure for Measure, Icehouse were Davies, Kretschmer, Lloyd and Qunta with Glenn Krawczyk on bass (replacing new member Vito Portolesi after nine shows) and Paul Wheeler on drums. On 14 August 1986 their performance at New York City's The Ritz was recorded as Icehouse: Live at the Ritz, directed by John Jopson and broadcast on U.S. TV on 9 September 1987 and on Australian TV on 15 November 1987; it was released on VHS and NTSC formats. Jopson was subsequently used to direct four music videos for Icehouse. Stephen Morgan replaced Krawczyk on bass during 1987.

1987–1989: Man of Colours and Great Southern Land
Their best-selling album is 1987's Man of Colours, which contained the Australian hit singles "Crazy" which peaked at No. 4 in July, "Electric Blue", co-written by Davies and John Oates of U.S. band Hall & Oates, peaked at No. 1 in October, "My Obsession" No. 12 in December, "Man of Colours" No. 28 in February 1988 and "Nothing Too Serious" No. 29 in May 1988. It was the first Australian album to have five singles charting in the top 30, it remained at No. 1 on the Australian album charts for eleven weeks and has sold over 700,000 copies.

In Canada, "Crazy" reached No. 22, "Electric Blue" reached No. 10, and "My Obsession" reached No. 84. With U.S. chart success for "Crazy", which reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 10 on its Mainstream Rock chart, and "Electric Blue" peaked at No. 7 Hot 100 and No. 10 Mainstream, the band had reached their zenith of popularity, the album Man of Colours reached No. 43 on the Billboard 200. Man of Colours was lauded in Australia during 1988, it won two ARIA Awards, 'Album of the Year' and 'Highest-Selling Album'. The associated song "Electric Blue" won 'Most Performed Australasian Popular Work' at the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) Music Awards in 1989 for its writers, Davies and Oates. The cover artwork, designed by Davies and Kretschmer, depicts a human figure holding three different coloured flowers.

The only Icehouse releases for 1989 were a single "Touch the Fire" which reached No. 13 in Australia in November and a compilation double album / video collection Great Southern Land. December 1989 saw the release of "Jimmy Dean" as a single which reached No. 47 on the ARIA singles charts.

1990–1992: Code Blue, Masterfile
Qunta left at about this time with Icehouse recording their next album, Code Blue released in October. Singles released from the album were "Big Fun" which peaked at No. 47 on the ARIA singles charts in August, "Miss Divine" at No. 16 in October and "Anything is Possible" at No. 49 in January 1991. For Code Blue recording, Icehouse were Davies, Lloyd, Morgan and Wheeler, for touring they added guitarist Paul Gildea and keyboardist Roger Mason (ex-Models). In 1992, EMI released a compilation, Masterfile containing a new version of "Love in Motion" also released as a single featuring Davies in a duet with Christina Amphlett of Divinyls.

1993–1995: Full Circle, Big Wheel, and Berlin
Full Circle, an entire album of remixes was recorded during 1993, it included the track "Shakin' the Cage" which was released on the Spin One EP in early 1993 and was followed by their seventh and final studio album, Big Wheel in November, which contained the singles "Satellite" in October and "Big Wheel" in March 1994, while the Full Circle album itself was not released until December 1994; neither albums nor singles had any Top 40 chart success.

By 1995, Davies was again involved with the Sydney Dance Company, this time with their production of Berlin. The musical score was a collection of cover versions of songs by David Bowie, Brian Eno, Simple Minds, The Psychedelic Furs, Frank Sinatra, Lou Reed, Roxy Music, XTC, Talking Heads, The Velvet Underground, PiL, The Cure and Killing Joke, which saw Davies collaborating with pianist Max Lambert in the development of the music. Sessions were released as The Berlin Tapes under the name Iva Davies and Icehouse in 1995 on DIVA (Iva Davies own label) / Massive Records for Australian release and Warner Records for international release in 2002. As well as recording the ballet score, Davies and Icehouse performed live at each performance, Berlin ran for two seasons. During 1999 Davies, together with Richard Tognetti and Christopher Gordon, composed The Ghost of Time as an expansion of "Great Southern Land" into a forty-minute performance for Sydney's part of the worldwide millennial celebrations. On New Year's Eve in 1999, Davies (vocals, guitar), Tognetti (violin), Guy Pratt (bass), Krawczyk (drums) ROM=Pari (Taiko – Japanese drums) and Sydney Symphony Orchestra performed The Ghost of Time on the northern forecourt of Sydney Opera House alongside Sydney Harbour and was televised around the world on CNN and other news networks. Davies had released the solo album, The Ghost of Time earlier in December 1999.

2001–2010: Bipolar Poems, remasters
Davies has been working since 2001 on a proposed Icehouse album to be titled Bi-polar Poems with certain tracks available between 2004 and 2008 from the Official Iva Davies – Icehouse website including "Your God Not Mine". As of 2024, the album is still unreleased, and no updates on the album's progress—if any—have been issued in over a decade.

In 2002, The Whitlams covered "Don't Believe Anymore" from Sidewalk for their album Torch the Moon, which enjoyed moderate radio success. During 2002, Davies digitally remastered all of Flowers' / Icehouse's studio albums adding bonus tracks to each—they were released by Warner Music Australia. In 2003 Iva Davies contributed "Ghost of Time" and other music to the film score of the Russell Crowe epic Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. In 2004, Heroes, which was The Berlin Tapes repackaged from the Australian and Japanese versions, was released. On 16 August 2006, Icehouse were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame alongside Midnight Oil, Divinyls and Rose Tattoo. Icehouse performed on 21 September 2007 with the line-up: Davies, Paul Gildea (guitars), Steve Morgan (bass), Peter Maslen (drums) and Glen Reither (keyboards, saxophone).

Icehouse / Flowers featured on Triple M's 2007 Essential Countdown with 14 songs including: "Great Southern Land" at No. 13, "Don't Believe Any More" No. 78, "Street Cafe" No. 187, "Love in Motion" No. 327, "We Can Get Together" No. 428, and "Electric Blue" No. 454.

From 15 June 2008, Davies was a judge on Seven Network TV series Battle of the Choirs. Davies commented on the status of Icehouse: "'Last year and January this year we did a couple of private, corporate shows... but as far as live touring in front of the public, we haven't done that for a very long time... It's an extremely difficult thing to have to sing for two hours and in sheer practical terms I'd have to be a lot fitter than I am now... I wrote and recorded an album a while ago. That song ['Your God Not Mine'] was written in 1998... The album [Bi-polar Poems] is in various states of unfinished, but I keep getting projects which interrupt me working on it...'" The grand final show of Battle of the Choirs, broadcast on 3 August 2008, had Icehouse provide a rare live performance of "Great Southern Land". For the performance, Icehouse were Iva Davies (vocals, guitar), Paul Wheeler (drums, percussion), Paul Gildea (guitar), David Chapman (guitar), Steve Bull (bass guitar); they were supported by the three grand-finalist choirs.

On 14 March 2009, Icehouse reformed for Sound Relief benefit concert at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Sound Relief is a benefit concert for victims of the Victorian Bushfire Crisis and the Queensland Floods. Appearing with Icehouse at the Sydney concert were, Coldplay, Eskimo Joe, Hoodoo Gurus, Jet, Josh Pyke, Little Birdy, The Presets, Wolfmother, You Am I and additional artists.

On 4 June 2009, Icehouse performed at the Sacred Heart Mission's "Heart of St Kilda Concert". The concert featured many Australian performers such as Kate Ceberano, Joe Camilleri, Dave Hughes, Mark Seymour, Mick Molloy, Tex Perkins, Tim Rogers, Corinne Grant, Ash Grunwald and Greg Fleet. On stage with Iva Davies were Paul Gildea (guitar), Paul Wheeler (drums), Steve Morgan (bass) and Glen Reither (sax/keys).

2011–present: Icehouse 30th anniversary, White Heat: 30 Hits and DubHouse Live
On 6 April 2011, Icehouse and Universal Music Australia publicly announced a new partnership for sales and distribution of the band's material. Accompanying this were details of the planned issue of a 30th-anniversary edition of the band's debut album Icehouse. This release marked the first time any of the band's catalogue had been available for commercial download. The album was released on 20 May 2011 digitally and as a multi-disc set.

On 7 July 2011, the band issued a press release about the forthcoming release of a new greatest hits compilation, titled White Heat: 30 Hits. The album was released on 26 August 2011.

Since 2011 Icehouse started to play regular live concerts again in Australia. One of the concerts was at the December Homebake 2011 concert, performing under the moniker of "Icehouse Plays Flowers", where they played songs from their first two albums (both released singles and unreleased songs) — "Icehouse", "We Can Get Together", "Skin", "Boulevard", "Great Southern Land" and "Sister." Keith Welsh joined them on stage, playing bass-guitar. Black-and-white original PR photos from the early 1980s were flashed as a backdrop behind the band as they played.

On 12 July 2012, the entire Icehouse studio catalogue was reissued. Primitive Man and Man of Colours also received a bonus DVD to celebrate their 30th and 25th anniversaries, respectively. The band will be promoting the two anniversary albums with the "Primitive Colours" tour.

On 4 and 7 December, Icehouse performed two shows at the Esplanade Hotel in Melbourne and the Oxford Art Factory in Sydney, respectively, under the moniker of "DubHouse performing reggae-styled versions of classic Icehouse songs and old reggae favourites". These concerts spawned the release of a live album released in January 2014. They also performed a 40th Anniversary concert at the Roche Estate, in the NSW Hunter Valley in March 2017.

On 9 February 2020, Icehouse played the St. Kilda Festival in Melbourne, Flowers had played the first festival in 1980, so for the 40th anniversary Icehouse played the majority of the Flowers album plus a few covers that they would have played back then, a recording of the concert was released in October 2020 as Icehouse Plays Flowers.

In 2021, a remix of "Hey Little Girl" was released by Australian duo Mark Vick and Danny Muller, with the record credited to The Antipodeans Vs Icehouse.

In 2022, they performed "Great Southern Land" and "We Can Get Together" on the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia.

Members
Current members

 * Iva Davies – lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, oboe (1977–present)
 * Paul Wheeler – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1986–present)
 * Paul Gildea – guitar, backing vocals (1990–present)
 * Steve Bull – bass guitar, backing vocals, 12-string (1990–present)
 * Michael Paynter – keyboards, guitar, backing and lead vocals (2011–present)
 * Hugo Lee - saxophone, keyboards (2021–present)

Former members

 * Keith Welsh – bass guitar, backing vocals (1977–1981)
 * Ashley Sharpe - guitar (1977-1978)
 * Don Brown – drums (1977–1979)
 * Michael Hoste – keyboards, backing vocals (1978, 1982–1983)
 * Anthony Smith (aka Adam Hall) – keyboards, backing vocals (1979–1982)
 * John Lloyd – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1979–1984)
 * Bob Kretschmer – guitar, backing vocals (1982–1989)
 * Guy Pratt – bass guitar, backing vocals (1982–1986)
 * Andy Qunta – keyboards, keytar, backing vocals, occasional guitar (1982–1988)
 * Gary Hughes – keyboards (1983–1984)
 * Simon Lloyd – saxophone, trumpet, keyboards, backing vocals (1984–1991)
 * Steve Jansen – drums, percussion (1985)
 * Glenn Krawczyk – bass guitar (1986)
 * Steve Morgan – bass guitar, backing vocals (1987–1989)
 * Roger Mason – keyboards (1989–1990)
 * Tony Llewellyn – keyboards (1991–2004)
 * David Chapman – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1993–1995)
 * Max Lambert – piano (1995)
 * Adrian Wallis – cello (1995–2004)
 * Glenn Reither – saxophone, keyboards (2007–2021)

Timeline

Discography

 * Icehouse (1980) (as Flowers)
 * Primitive Man (1982)
 * Sidewalk (1984)
 * Measure for Measure (1986)
 * Man of Colours (1987)
 * Code Blue (1990)
 * Big Wheel (1993)
 * The Berlin Tapes (1995) (as Iva Davies and Icehouse)

ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. Icehouse were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.

 * 1987
 * Measure for Measure
 * Highest Selling Album
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="5" | 1988
 * rowspan="2" | Man of Colours
 * Album of the Year
 * Won
 * Highest Selling Album
 * Won
 * Themselves
 * Best Group
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="2" | "Crazy"
 * Single of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Song of the Year
 * Nominated
 * 1991
 * Iva Davies and David Barnes for Code Blue by Icehouse
 * Best Cover Art
 * Nominated
 * 2006
 * Themselves
 * ARIA Hall of Fame
 * inductee
 * Iva Davies and David Barnes for Code Blue by Icehouse
 * Best Cover Art
 * Nominated
 * 2006
 * Themselves
 * ARIA Hall of Fame
 * inductee
 * inductee

APRA Awards
The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually.

 * 1989
 * "Electric Blue" (Iva Davies, John Oates) by Icehouse
 * Most Performed Australasian Popular Work
 * Won
 * Won

Countdown Awards
Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979–1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards.

 * rowspan="4" |1980
 * rowspan="2" | Icehouse
 * Best Australian Album
 * Nominated
 * Best Australian Record Cover Design
 * Nominated
 * Themselves
 * Best New Talent
 * Won
 * Iva Davies – Flowers/Icehouse
 * Best Recorded Songwriter
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="5" | 1982
 * Primitive Man
 * Best Australian Album
 * Nominated
 * "Great Southern Land"
 * Best Australian Single
 * Nominated
 * Themselves
 * Most Popular Group
 * Nominated
 * Iva Davies – Flowers/Icehouse
 * Best Recorded Songwriter
 * Nominated
 * Iva Davies (Icehouse)
 * Most Popular Male Performer
 * Won
 * Nominated
 * Iva Davies – Flowers/Icehouse
 * Best Recorded Songwriter
 * Nominated
 * Iva Davies (Icehouse)
 * Most Popular Male Performer
 * Won
 * Most Popular Male Performer
 * Won

Mo Awards
The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Icehouse won one award in that time. (wins only)
 * 1987
 * Icehouse
 * Rock Group of the Year
 * Won
 * Won

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

title: Icehouse (band)


text:
Maxime Du Camp

Maxime Du Camp (8 February 1822 – 9 February 1894) was a French writer and photographer.

Biography
Born in Paris, Du Camp was the son of a successful surgeon. After finishing college, he indulged in his strong desire for travel, thanks to his father's assets. Du Camp traveled in Europe and the East between 1844 and 1845, and again between 1849 and 1851 in company with Gustave Flaubert. After his return, Du Camp wrote about his traveling experiences. Flaubert also wrote about his experiences with Maxime.

In 1851, Du Camp became a founder of the Revue de Paris (suppressed in 1858), in which his friend Flaubert's Madame Bovary was first published in serialised form in 1856, as well as a frequent contributor to the Revue des deux mondes. In 1853, he became an officer of the Legion of Honour. Serving as a volunteer with Garibaldi in his 1860 conquest of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Du Camp recounted his experiences in Expédition des deux Siciles (1861). In 1870 he was nominated for the senate, but his election was frustrated by the downfall of the Empire. He was elected a member of the Académie française in 1880, mainly, it is said, on account of his history of the Commune, published under the title of Les Convulsions de Paris (1878–1880).

Du Camp was an early amateur photographer who learned the craft from Gustave Le Gray shortly prior to departing on his 1849–1859 trip to Egypt. His travel books were among the first to be illustrated with photographs.

Du Camp, the most famous traveller of his time, was the dedicatee of the final poem, Le Voyage, written in 1859, from Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal. Du Camp's 1855 poetry collection, Les Chants Modernes, includes a poem titled Le Voyageur. Baudelaire's original title for Le Voyage was Les Voyageurs. The original title has obvious echoes of Du C amp's poem.

Maxime Du Camp died in 1894 and was buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris.

Works

Works on travel: Works of art criticism: Novels: Literary studies:
 * Chants modernes (1855)
 * Convictions (1858)
 * Souvenirs et paysages d'orient (1848)
 * Egypte, Nubie, Palestine, Syrie (1852)
 * Les Salons de 1857, 1859, 1861
 * L'Homme au bracelet d'or (1862)
 * Une histoire d'amour (1889)
 * Théophile Gautier (1890)

Du Camp authored a valuable 6-volume book on the daily life of Paris, Paris, ses organes, ses fonctions, sa vie dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle (1869–1875). He published several works on social questions, one of which, the Auteurs de mon temps, was to be kept sealed in the Bibliothèque Nationale until 1910. His Souvenirs littéraires (2 vols., 1882–1883) contain much information about contemporary writers, especially Gustave Flaubert, of whom Du Camp was an early and intimate friend. In 1878, he published an account of the Paris Commune called Les Convulsions de Paris, drawing from articles on the subject he had written for the Revue des deux mondes.

title: Maxime Du Camp


text:
User talk:MorbidSoul

Thanks for the M3 photo! Where'd you get such a nice shot? --Stephen 13:00, Aug 7, 2004 (UTC)

Your uploaded image
Thanks for uploading Image:Opel ascona(c)(1983).jpg. I notice it currently doesn't have an image copyright tag. Could you add one to let us know its copyright status? (You can use if you release it under the GFDL, or  if you claim fair use, etc.) Thanks so much,    – Quadell (talk) (help)   16:57, Oct 6, 2004 (UTC)

title: User talk:MorbidSoul


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Fruculence

From Fruculence: This phrase was coined in 2002 by Dr. Andrew Bowman-Finney, PhD, who holds the Rollofze Chair in Human Resources in the Department of Management and Organizations at the University of Iowa's Henry B. Tippie School of Business. Zero Google hits. -- Pjacobi 13:00, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete: If it has caught on in HR departments, we can't find evidence. Otherwise, the word is a synonymn for "prolix, productive, fertile" and isn't really a needed neologism, so catching on is going to be difficult. Geogre 13:53, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * delete Dunc_Harris|☺ 15:02, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete: fabrication. There is a Dept of Management and Organizations at U Iowa, but there is no Rollofze Chair and no Andrew Bowman-Finney . Wile E. Heresiarch 21:33, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. Read "Rollofze Chair" aloud, preferably in a mock-Nazi-cum-SS-commander accent if you're still not convinced.
 * D'oh! And we have another Rollof*.* above with another fake article.  Hmm, patterns emerging or coincidence?   (If you have fruculence, you'll rollofze chair.) Geogre 01:30, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete patent nonsense by User:216.51.227.202, who is evidently getting a kick out of wasting other people's time. --Ardonik 05:17, 2004 Aug 8 (UTC)
 * I've managed to stay in my chair long enough to vote to delete. Fire Star 15:11, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Wouldn't this be a candidate for a speedy deletion? Obviously delete. Skyler 11:27, Aug 9, 2004 (UTC)


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Atomic Vortex Theory

(William M. Connolley 13:04, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)) Just looks like somesones pet wacky theory.

 * Quote: Atomic Vortex Theory has received very little critical attention or reviews. When pursued upon the world wide web it is apparent that the theory has been mostly latched onto by various “fringe” groups (I.e. free energy, vortex sites) which has likely tended to dissuade critical evaluation. Let the scientific community get on with their job of doing the science, let us get on with the job of documenting the paradigms. Let's not let the nutters write NPOV articles on silly pet theories. Dunc_Harris|☺ 14:54, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * delete -- Jmabel 15:47, Aug 7, 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete non-notable Timecubery. —No-One Jones 15:51, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete: 2nd hand research. It's interesting that it attempts to separate itself from quack users, and yet it offers no scientific peer review or use.  Geogre 17:23, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete: Doesn't belong on Wikipedia. See No original research. --Slowking Man 22:05, Aug 7, 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. I did a search of a comprehensive journal database and was not able to find anything relating to this. Without published findings, I would have to call this original research is violation of No original research policy. If it becomes published, it can be put up for review again by the original author. Skyler 14:39, Aug 9, 2004 (UTC)


text: Category:Women in war

title: Category:Women in war


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Iain Wright

Iain David Wright (born 9 May 1972) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hartlepool from 2004 to 2017, and served also as the Chairman of Business Innovation and Skills Committee. He was previously Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for apprenticeships, and 14 to 19 reform in the Department for Children, Schools and Families until 11 May 2010.

In April 2017, he announced that he would not be seeking re election at the snap election of 2017. On 12 July 2017, fellow Labour MP Rachel Reeves succeeded Wright as Chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee.

Early life
Wright was born in Hartlepool and graduated with a BA in 1994, and MA in 1995 in History from University College London. That year, he joined the Labour Party and was elected as an officer of Cleveland and Richmond Young Labour. He worked as a chartered accountant for Deloitte & Touche from 1996 to 2003, and for the One NorthEast RDA from 2003 to 2004, prior to his election to Parliament.

He was elected as a councillor for the Rift House ward of Hartlepool Borough Council in 2002, and a served on the council's Cabinet with responsibility for performance management.

Parliamentary career
He was the only Hartlepool member on the shortlist when Peter Mandelson stepped down as Labour MP for the town in September 2004, and was easily selected as the Labour Party candidate for the by election.

During the later stages of the campaign, three local members, one of whom featured in Conservative Party leaflets and another of whom had earlier failed to win the nomination, were reported in the Guardian (which subsequently endorsed Liberal Democrat rival Jody Dunn) to have been unhappy that no other local candidate had been available.

The Labour Party dismissed the claims as having come from the "usual suspects". One subsequently apologised, and another was expelled.

During the campaign, Wright highlighted the Labour government's controversial policies for tackling anti-social behaviour as well as the Liberal Democrats' refusal to support such measures in Parliament and stressed his local origins, in contrast to his main rival's. On polling day (30 September 2004), Wright was elected with a majority of 2,033, reduced from Mandelson's majority of 14,571.

The campaign was unusually long for British by elections, effectively having begun on 22 July (the day Peter Mandelson announced his intention to become a European Commissioner), seventy one days before polling day itself. His first act as an MP was to actively campaign for the proposed North East Regional Assembly, in the referendum held in November 2004. The proposal for an assembly was rejected by 78% to 22%.

Wright was re elected at the 2005 General Election, with an increased majority of 7,478 votes. In June 2005, he was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Health Minister Rosie Winterton, a role he resigned from on 7 September 2006.

In 2006, he became Chairman of Labour Friends of Israel. He returned to Government in July 2007, as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Communities and Local Government, before moving to the Department for Children, Schools and Families in the Cabinet reshuffle of June 2009.

In May 2009, during the MP's expenses row, Wright and fellow Labour MP Tom Watson were criticised by the Daily Telegraph for "lavishing" £100,000 on a "shared Central London crash pad".

Wright and Watson claimed the legal fees for buying the property and the following year claimed £1,431.46 legal fees for buying the freehold, which significantly enhanced the property value. Rules at the time did not require them to reimburse any profits made on the sale of the property.

In response, Wright said "As a new MP, I purchased furniture and electrical equipment once I was in the process of purchasing a half share of a small two bedroom flat in London." His expenses for 2008 to 2009 were £136,725 and ranked 489 out of 647 MPs. The Legg Report stated that he was reimbursed £805.97 for an extra month mortgage interest during 2006 to 2007, which he subsequently repaid.

At the 2015 General Election, Wright's majority was cut to 3,024 votes by UKIP candidate Phillip Broughton. On 19 June 2015, he was announced as having been elected to the chairmanship of the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee. He supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election. On 19 April 2017, he announced his intention not to stand for re election at the snap election, scheduled for Thursday 8 June 2017.

Charity work
Wright completed the 2011 Great North Run in aid of the Stroke Association. He joined his son Benjamin, 17, on the half marathon. The pair ran in aid of the Stroke Association, a cause which has been close to their hearts, since Ben suffered a serious stroke in 2006. Wright completed the course in his personal best time of two hours and fifty minutes, with Ben achieving a time of two hours thirty minutes.

Wright has also supported Whizz-Kidz, a charity for disabled children.

News items

 * Problems with YouTube in October 2006
 * Being elected in October 2004
 * Election night October 2004

title: Iain Wright


text:
List of prime ministers of Guinea-Bissau

This article lists the prime ministers of Guinea-Bissau, since the establishment of the office of prime minister in 1973.

Since Guinea-Bissau's declaration of independence from Portugal on 24 September 1973, there have been twenty-two prime ministers and two acting prime ministers. The current holder of the office is Rui Duarte de Barros, who was appointed by a decree of president Umaro Sissoco Embaló on 21 December 2023.

List of officeholders
{{legend||African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC)|border=1px solid #aaa}} {{legend||Party for Social Renewal (PRS)|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||Assembly of the People United (APU)|border=1px solid #aaa}}
 * Political parties

{{legend||Independent|border=1px solid #aaa}}
 * Other factions

{{legend|#E6E6AA|Denotes Acting Prime Minister}}
 * Symbols

 * Symbols

Died in office


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Teufelsberg

Teufelsberg (German for Devil's Hill) is a non-natural hill in Berlin, Germany, in the Grunewald locality of former West Berlin. It rises about 80 m above the surrounding Teltow plateau and 120.1 m above the sea level, in the north of Berlin's Grunewald Forest. It was named after the Teufelssee (Devil's Lake) in its southerly vicinity. The hill is made of debris and rubble, and covers an unfinished Nazi military-technical college (Wehrtechnische Fakultät). During the Cold War, there was a U.S. listening station on the hill, Field Station Berlin. The site of the former field station is now fenced off and is currently being managed by an organisation which charges 10 euros for public access.

History
Teufelsberg is a non-natural hill, created in the 20 years following the Second World War by moving approximately 75 e6m3 of debris from Berlin.

After the Communist putsch in the city parliament of Greater Berlin (for all four sectors of Berlin) in September 1948, separate parliaments and magistrates (Magistrat von Groß-Berlin; city government) were formed for East and West Berlin. This also ended much of the cooperation between West Berlin and the state of Brandenburg, surrounding West Berlin in the North, West and South.

While part of the rubble from destroyed quarters in East Berlin was deposited outside the city boundary, all the debris from West Berlin had to be dumped within the western boundary. Due to the shortage of fuel in West Berlin, the rubble transport stopped during the Berlin Blockade.

Although there are many similar man-made rubble mounds in Germany (see Schuttberg) and other war-torn cities of Europe, Teufelsberg is unique in that the never completed Nazi military-technical college (Wehrtechnische Fakultät) designed by Albert Speer is buried beneath. The Allies tried using explosives to demolish the school, but it was so sturdy that covering it with debris turned out to be easier. In June 1950 the West Berlin Magistrate decided to open a new rubble disposal on that site. The disposal was planned for 12 e6m3.

With the end of material shortages after the blockade, an average of 600 trucks deposited 6800 m3 of material daily. On 14 November 1957, the ten millionth cubic metre arrived. The site was closed to dumping in 1972, leaving approximately 26 e6m3 of debris, and to a lesser extent construction waste. The Senate of (West) Berlin opted to plant greenery on the hill as a beautification project.

Teufelsberg was originally thought to be 115 m high, which placed it at the same elevation as Großer Müggelberg (the summit of Müggelberge), and was the highest point in West Berlin. New measurements show that Teufelsberg is actually 120.1 m high, making it higher than Großer Müggelberg.

In February 1955, a 24 m ski jump opened on the hill, designed by the ski jumper and architect Heini Klopfer. A larger ski jump opened March 4, 1962, offering space for 5,000 spectators. Ski jumping ceased in 1969, allowing the ski jumps to fall into decay. The jumps were removed in 1999.

Teufelsberg has been a location for several recent movies and television programmes, such as The Gamblers, Berlin Station, Covert Affairs (second-season episode titled "Uberlin") and We Are the Night in which the finale takes place on Teufelsberg.

As in the whole of Grunewald Forest, wild boar frequently roam the hill.

Listening station: Field Station Berlin
The US National Security Agency (NSA) built one of its largest listening stations atop the hill in 1963, supposedly as part of the global ECHELON intelligence gathering network. "The Hill", as it was known colloquially by the many American soldiers who worked there around the clock and who commuted there from their quarters in the American Sector, was located in the British Sector. In July 1961, mobile Allied listening units began operations on Teufelsberg, having surveyed various other locales throughout West Berlin in a search for the best vantage point for listening to Soviet, East German, and other Warsaw Pact nations’ military traffic. They found that operations from atop Teufelsberg offered a marked improvement in listening ability. This discovery eventually led to a large structure being built atop the hill, which would come to be run by the NSA (National Security Agency). Construction of a permanent facility was begun in October 1963. At the request of the US government, the ski lifts were removed because they allegedly disturbed the signals. The station continued to operate until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall, but after that the station was closed and the equipment removed. The buildings and antenna radomes still remain in place.

During the NSA operations some other curious things happened: It was noticed that during certain seasons the reception of radio signals was better than during the rest of the year. The 'culprit' was found after a while: it was the Ferris wheel of the annual German-American Volksfest Festival on the Hüttenweg in Zehlendorf. From then on, the Ferris wheel was left standing for some time after the festival was over.

While there were rumors that the Americans had excavated a shaft down into the ruins beneath, that was never proven, and was likely based on reports that those who maintained equipment in one of the first enclosed antenna structures accessed the upper levels of the inflated dome via an airlock that led to a "tunnel" that was embedded in the structure's central column. Speculation as to what might have existed within the highly restricted area frequently gave rise to rather elaborate but false rumors; one theory stated that "the tunnel" was an underground escape route, another that it housed a submarine base. In the 1990s, as Berlin experienced an economic boom after German reunification, a group of investors bought the former listening station area from the City of Berlin with the intention to build hotels and apartments. There was talk of preserving the listening station as a spy museum. Berlin's building boom produced a glut of buildings, however, and the Teufelsberg project became unprofitable. The construction project was then aborted. As of the early 2000s, there has been talk of the city buying back the hill. However, this is unlikely, as the area is encumbered with a mortgage of nearly 50 million dollars. The site has been heavily covered in graffiti since the company abandoned the project. Since 1996, the site has been privately owned and is currently fenced off from the surrounding forest. In the summer of 2016, landlord Marvin Schutte opened the site to visitors who are able to climb the listening station towers and admire the ever-evolving "street art gallery" that fills the site's abandoned buildings. The site and buildings have uneven surfaces, broken glass, and building debris. Accessing the main dome involves ascending a pitch dark stairwell in the centre of the building. As of April 2017, entry to the site is €8 payable at the main entrance gate and a sign informs visitors that it is open from 10am to "one hour before sunset."

Following the announcement of plans to raze the facility and reforest the hill, talk of preserving the facility resurfaced in 2009, spearheaded by the Field Station Berlin Veterans Group, which hopes to have the memorial named in honor of Major Arthur D. Nicholson, the last military Cold War casualty, the U.S. Military Liaison Mission tour officer who was shot and killed by a Russian sentry near Ludwigslust on March 24, 1985. After no further construction was done after 2004, in 2006 the hilltop was categorised as forest in the land use plan of Berlin, thereby eliminating the possibility of building.

In September 2013, U.S. Army Teufelsberg veterans marked the fiftieth anniversary (1963-2013) of the construction of the permanent buildings for Field Station Berlin atop Teufelsberg with a special commemorative issue of Cinderella stamps, and with the dedication of a commemorative plaque. The designer is T. H. E. Hill, the award-winning author of two novels about Field Station Berlin.

In popular culture
Art
 * Hito Steyerl's "Factory of the Sun" and "The Identity Factory" both feature the location as an integral part of the respective works.

Memoirs
 * C Trick: Sort of a Memoir, a memoir by Don Cooper (2000). Republished and expanded in 2003 in soft-cover as Worth the Trip. Re-republished as C Trick in 2010 with a prologue, new epilogue, and four new chapters. An ASA German linguist at Field Station Berlin in the mid-1960s.
 * From Pin Stripes to Army Stripes by Sergeant Michael Riles, a memoir of experiences in occupied Germany from 1977-1981.
 * The United States Garrison Berlin 1945-1994 by William Durie, 2014. ISBN 978-1-63068-540-9.
 * Berlin Daze - Tales of The Cold War on the Island of Freedom by C. Eric Estberg, 2018. ISBN 978-1726471299.

Novels
 * By insiders

 * Death On Devil's Mountain by David Von Norden (2009). ASA on Teufelsberg at Field Station Berlin in the late 1960s.
 * McCurry's War by Chuck Thompson (2012): Field Station Berlin atop Teufelsberg in the 1960s. A closer look at the escapades of the soldiers of Teufelsberg with a little bit of humor mixed in that only the Army could provide.
 * Voices Under Berlin: The Tale of a Monterey Mary by T.H.E. Hill (2008): An ASA Russian linguist in Berlin ostensibly in the mid-1950s, but closer in reality to the Field Station in the mid-1970s.
 * Reunification: A Monterey Mary Returns to Berlin by T.H.E. Hill (2013): A comparison of Berlin in the 1970s with Berlin in the 2010s, spiced up with the stories of escapades that only ASA-ers at the Field Station could have pulled off.

 * By outsiders

 * The Wall by John Marks (1999): an officer at the Field Station defects to the East just hours before the Wall falls; an outsider’s view of Field Station Berlin.

Audio
 * Devil's Mountain by the Walrus & Bear podcast
 * Cold War Linguists: The NSA's Spies of Teufelsberg (interviews with former workers)

Video

Music videos
 * In 2010 Dutch band Ilanois recorded the music video for their single "Chase the Sundown with Me" at the roof of the station.
 * "Lost Faith" by Bob Mould, a music video in which the listening station is featured as a backdrop.
 * "A Million Stars" by the Australian band The Faim was recorded in the station in 2018.

Television
 * The Same Sky, a 2017 series set in 1974, where several characters work at the listening station
 * Berlin Station, a 2016 series set in the modern-day CIA Berlin Station

Film
 * Manifesto, a 2015 multi-screen film installation by Julian Rosefeldt, features a scene at the station, involving a homeless man reciting various Situationist manifestos.

Video Games
 * Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, a 2020 first-person shooter video game, features Teufelsberg, and the listening station, as the multiplayer map Echelon.

title: Teufelsberg


text:
Category talk:American painters

Untitled
I think the "Category:United States painters" would be prefered in our naming conventions for painters from the United States. -- Infrogmation 13:17, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Yes, the category "American painters" confuse the people, because exist an American continent but not an American country. --201.252.16.182 23:15, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

I would like to appreciatively recommend that renowned American painters Albert Henry Krehbiel (1873-1945) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Henry_Krehbiel -- and Dulah Marie Evans (1875-1951) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulah_Marie_Evans -- be included in the Wikipedia category listing of American Painters.

Thank you very much for your continuous kind consideration and assistance.

Don Ryan The Krehbiel Corporation www.KrehbielArt.com Email: DRyan@KrehbielArt.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.14.34.101 (talk) 08:09, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

title: Category talk:American painters


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Wu Ding

Wu Ding (died ); personal name Zi Zhao (子昭), was a king of the Chinese Shang dynasty who ruled the central Yellow River valley c. 1250 – 1200 BCE. He is the earliest figure in Chinese history mentioned in contemporary records. The annals of the Shang dynasty compiled by later historians were once thought to be little more than legends until oracle script inscriptions on bones dating from his reign were unearthed at the ruins of his capital Yin (near modern Anyang) in 1899. Oracle bone inscriptions from his reign have been radiocarbon dated to 1254–1197 BC ±10 years, closely according with regnal dates derived by modern scholars from received texts, epigraphic evidence, and astronomical calculations.

Wu Ding's reign is considered one of the most prosperous period of early ancient Chinese civilization. Spanning from the mid 13th century BC to the early 12th century BC, the era saw the appearance of the earliest Chinese writing as well as technological developments. Ancient Chinese culture flourished, and, through its religious and artistic aspects, left an important legacy. The spiritual beliefs along with social structure from his reign passed down to the Zhou dynasty, which would later embrace and further develop them into unique features of classical Chinese society. It was also this time that the Shang kingdom increased their territorial extent greatly, and experienced one of the most glorious time in the second millennium BC. Due to successes in wars with neighboring tribes and annexation of dependent chiefdoms, the Shang expanded away from its heartland and increased its influence on once-distant tribal peoples.

In classical Chinese historiography, Wu Ding is often depicted as a meritorious king. The narrative of Wu Ding in Zhou traditional history books features elements of the Mandate of Heaven (and the associated concept "Son of Heaven") which only appeared two centuries after Wu Ding's time. He appeared in various conversations as the Son of Heaven, being addressed by his relatives and ministers. Zhou romanticization of his life, although having misinterpreted Wu Ding as being influenced by their ideology, has the effect of portraying him as a model of an ancient virtuous ruler of a kingdom.

Dating
Because Wu Ding is the earliest Chinese ruler whose reign is confirmed by contemporary material, dating his reign is a matter of significant historical interest.

According to the traditional chronology, he reigned from 1324 BC–1266 BC. This has been shown to be an artifact of incorrect backdating due to misunderstanding of King Wen of Zhou's Mandate calendar. In the Records of the Grand Historian, Han dynasty scholar Sima Qian wrote of his reign as beginning in the year dingwei (丁未), which can be either 1333 BC or 1273 BC according to the ganzhi calendar's 60-year repetition. The Guben Zhushu Jinian ("ancient version" of Bamboo Annals) gives Wu Ding's regnal dates as 1273–1213 BC. The Cambridge History of Ancient China gives 1189 BC as the end date of his reign based on records of lunar eclipses. The Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project draft release (2000), sponsored by the Chinese government and disbanded without producing a final report, gives his reign as 1250–1192 BC. Inscriptions from twenty-six oracle bone divinations of his reign have been radiocarbon dated to 1254–1197 BC ±10 years. It is important to note that the methodology of the radiocarbon investigators involved accepting uncritically the purported reign length of 59 years attributed to Wu Ding in the transmitted record.

Early life
The Shang dynasty practiced royal succession using a form of agnatic seniority, at times distributed across multiple lines of descent. In the generations preceding Wu Ding, succession had been split between the descendants of Zu Yi (祖乙) through his two sons Zu Xin (祖辛) and Qiang Jia (沃甲). This was interpreted by later historians as a weakening of an incorrectly reconstructed system of primogeniture. The Shang kings immediately preceding Wu Ding were three of his uncles (including the famous Pan Geng, who moved the capital to Huanbei) and finally his father, Xiao Yi. By the custom of the time, Xiao Yi could potentially have been succeeded by one of his second cousins from the alternate royal line. The fact that Xiao Yi was able to place his son on the throne despite the claims of a rival lineage may explain why Wu Ding built a new capital for the second time in living memory, as well as the transmitted tradition that he was sent away from the capital during his father's reign.

He happened to be Xiao Yi's only son, and therefore was created crown prince. The Bamboo Annals carry an entry stating that in the sixth year of his father's reign, Wu Ding was ordered to live at He (河) (ancient name for the Yellow River). Gan Pan (甘盤), a prominent minister in Xiao Yi's court, was chosen to be Zi Zhao's tutor. A late chapter in the Shangshu asserts that during these early years, he worked together with the local peasants. The times spent among the common people allowed Wu Ding to become familiar with their daily problems, which affected the ruling method of the future king.

King of the Shang dynasty
In Sima Qian's Shiji he was listed as the twenty-second Shang king. Oracle bone script inscriptions unearthed at Yinxu alternatively record that he was the twenty-first Shang king. The Shiji says that he was enthroned with Yin (殷) as his capital.

Although his ruling period was characterized with wars, traditional Chinese historiography still portrayed him as a virtuous monarch who showed great care to his country. Chapter XXI of the Book of Documents describes him remaining silent in the beginning of his reign as to cultivate his virtue. According to the text, Wu Ding restrained himself from speaking even after his three-year mourning for his father's death (during which all the state affairs were discussed and managed by his court ministers) had ended:

"The king passed the season of sorrow in the mourning shed for three years, and when the period of mourning was over, he (still) did not speak (to give any commands). All the ministers remonstrated with him, saying, 'Oh! him who is (the first) to apprehend we pronounce intelligent, and the intelligent man is the model for others. The Son of Heaven rules over the myriad regions, and all the officers look up to and reverence him. They are the king's words which form the commands (for them). If he do not speak, the ministers have no way to receive their orders.' On this the king made a writing, for their information, to the following effect: 'As it is mine to serve as the director for the four quarters (of the kingdom), I have been afraid that my virtue is not equal to (that of my predecessors), and therefore have not spoken.'"

(By referring to the anecdote, classical historians have emphasized on his righteousness, filial piety and the desire to be an upright ruler like his predecessors.)

According to the Bamboo Annals, in the twenty-fifth year of his reign, his son Zu Ji (祖己) died at a remote area after being exiled.

Participation in Shang religious activities
Later Chinese historians when referring to him tended to stress on him attending ceremonies through romanticized anecdotes. According to the Book of Documents, in the twenty-ninth year of his reign, he conducted rituals in honour of his ancestor Da Yi (大乙), the first king of the Shang dynasty, at the Royal Temple. When he saw a crowing pheasant on one of the ceremonial bronze vessels, he became frightened and considered it an ominous omen. Zu Ji, who was accompanying his father during the rituals, is said to have wanted to advocate religious modifications. Following this thought, Zu decided to discuss the omen with his father. He was quoted as saying: "'In its inspection of men below, Heaven's first consideration is of their righteousness, and it bestows on them (accordingly) length of years or the contrary [...] our Majesty's business is to care reverently for the people. And all (your ancestors) were the heirs of the kingdom by the gift of Heaven;−−in attending to the sacrifices (to them), be not so excessive in those to your father.'"

Wu Ding was actively involved in divination and sacrifice. The king, with the assistance of his priests, was responsible for a large proportion of oracle bone divinations found at Yin. Wu Ding specifically divined about his queen, both when she was alive and after her departure. In particular, one inscription on Fu Hao's being pregnant said that the conception was "inauspicious" (that the child was a girl). Aside from pregnancy, he also divined on her health, prosperity, as well as praying for her in the afterlife. (He is believed to have married her three more times to his ancestors, since he believed they would act as her guardians after death). He also asked divinatory questions on human sacrifice as well as warfare. He also seemed to be in awe of his ancestors, especially his second uncle Pan Geng. He regularly wrote questions on weathers, agricultural issues for his deceased predecessors, and he held a thought that they were capable of indirectly supporting his army in battles. Moreover, Pan Geng was specifically perceived to be involved in his nephew's health. One example based on contemporary records is a reconstructed ceremony by Keightley, which aimed to seek improvement for Wu's dental problems. In the ritual, Wu Ding offered one dog and one sheep to Pan Geng and tried to convince him to treat his toothache.

Oracle bones often include the names of diviners. Wu Ding particularly divined exceptionally many times; numerous bone texts feature the king himself as the chief diviner. He interpreted the cracks on oracle bones to predict future events, of which four notable examples are:

 * Crack-making divination on the day guiwei: Wu's assistants predicted no disaster, but he divined that the near future would be misfortune. It is purportedly said that six days after, a relative of Wu died. The relative was possibly Zu Ji, although the texts do not specify his identity. He allegedly died in wuzi day of the First Month.
 * Another time, he interpreted the signs as negative. It is said that eight days later, the Sun was covered by large clouds, and a rainbow appeared in the Yellow River.
 * Divinations on wars and territorial defense: on the day guisi, Wu Ding predicted the opposite future from his diviners that confrontational polities were going to launch attacks on his border. In the day dingyou, it is believed that bad news came from the West by an entrusted regional lord, Guo. The lord reported that Tu Fang had attacked the territory and destroyed two towns, and another tribe had taken over the kingdom's western fields. However, this is somewhat contradictory, since Tu Fang supposedly mobilized its men from the east, contrary to their being located northwestern of Yin.
 * A prognostication of disasters gave the outcome that one of Wu Ding's accompanying ministers would fell off his chariot during a hunting expedition. The misfortune occurred on jiawu day, when the king was seeking for rhinoceros. Two person, one of his xiaochen (petty minister) and his child fell off their chariots.

The divinations of the scribes often included the prediction of fortune in a certain period (usually a Shang week). An ox scapula records thư divinations by Zhēng (爭), one of the Bīn (賓) group of diviners serving Wu Ding. On the piece of bone, four separated divinations were carved (either by the king or Zheng himself):

 * On the top: 卜，☐，貞[旬]亡𡆥. "... divined: In the next ten days (week), there will be no disasters."
 * On the left: 癸卯卜，爭，貞旬亡𡆥. 甲辰☐大掫風，之曰皿，乙巳[疛]𰙫(止幸)☐五人. 五月在[𦎧]. "guǐmǎo (day 40) Zheng divined: in the next ten days there will be no disasters. jiǎchén (day 41) ... strong gale, evening cleaved to yǐsì (day 42), captured ... five people. Fifth month, in Dun."Shang dynasty inscribed scapula.jpg
 * On the middle: 癸丑卜，爭，貞旬亡𡆥. 王(占)曰：有祟，有夢. 甲寅，允有來艱. 左告曰：有往芻自(皿)，十人又二. "guǐchǒu (day 50) Zheng divined: in the next ten days there will be no disasters." The character 王 (king) indicates the personal involvement of Wu Ding in this specific divination. Wu Ding added to Zheng's conclusion that there would be ominous spirits, and on the day jiayin there would be obstacles.
 * On the right: 癸丑卜，爭，貞旬亡𡆥. 三日乙卯[有](壴女)艱，單邑豊[尿]于彔......丁已貍子豊尿......鬼亦得疾. "guǐchǒu (day 50) Zheng divined: in the next ten days there will be no disasters. Third day, yǐmǎo (day 52) ... dīngsì (day 54) ... Gui will also have sickness."

Wu Ding's royal family, predictably, also played a part in religious practice. They appeared to have been granted their own authorization of exercising power as priests, and some oracle texts carved by the assistants might have been made in the service of the princes. The majority (70%) of oracle characters date back to Wu Ding's reign, which indicates his emphasis on the religion.

First chancellor Gan Pan
It is believed that two individuals were chosen as administrative chancellors by this king. Several texts state that after becoming king, Wu Ding appointed his former tutor, Gan Pan (甘盘), as the chief minister at his court. Gan began to arrange military formations of the country while also acting as an adviser to the new ruler. In the work "Shangshu Zhengyi", Kong Anguo mentioned Gan Pan as an exemplary minister that could be compared with Yi Yin. The Book of Documents makes the same analogy in its chapter on the Duke of Shao, who would act as one of the Three Regents under King Cheng of Zhou approximately 250 years after Gan Pan. In the text, the Duke of Zhou is quoted as delivering a lesson about Shang meritorious officials that ought to be viewed as models of loyal and capable ministers:

"The duke said, 'Prince Shih (i.e. Duke of Shao), I have heard that aforetime, when Tang the Successful had received the appointment (to the throne), he had with him Yi Yin, making his virtue like that of great Heaven; that Tai Jia had (the same Yi Yin)' [...] 'through whom his virtue was made to affect God, and Wuxian who regulated the royal House' [...] 'and that Wu-Ting had Kan Pan (Gan Pan). These ministers carried out their principles, and displayed their merits, preserving and regulating the dynasty of Yin, so that, while its ceremonies lasted, (those sovereigns), when deceased, were assessors to Heaven, and its duration extended over many years."

Second chancellor Fu Yue
According to Kong Anguo's source, Gan Pan died shortly after Wu Ding inherited the throne. After his death, the chancellor position was replaced by Fu Yue (傅說) (alternatively called Fu Shuo). The Records of the Grand Historian and the Shangshu contain paragraphs mentioning the story of Wu Ding encountering Fu Yue. According to the source, Wu Ding was informed by Heaven that he would receive a man named "Yue" who would assist him in governing the country. After waking up, he consulted his court but no one recognized the man. Therefore, he produced a painting of the man from his memory and dispatched his troops to seek for the person. Yue was found as a worker at a defense construction; his appearance was said to perfectly match the description of the desired person. Seeing that Yue was intelligent and learned, Wu Ding appointed him as his chancellor and gave him the surname "Fu".

It is indicated that Fu Yue was potentially a historical character. Based on information on the oracle bones, historians have constructed a list of ten court officials at the time of Wu Ding's reign: Gan Pan, Hou Que, Wangcheng, Jun He, Jichen, Jian, Qin Dian, Xi Li Zhi, Cang Hou Hu, Hou Gao. It is thought that Fu Yue was likely to be identical to Hou Que: in fact, several oracle bones describing Hou Que handling affairs that were very similar to those of Fu Yue mentioned in the Tsinghua Bamboo Slips as well as other texts. Hou Que, similar to the romanticized Fu Yue, had an important part in Wu Ding's assistants. (The list, however, remains controversial because necessary information about many of the ten individuals included are yet to be found.)

Regional lords
As Wu Ding achieved greatly in his expansion schemes, his rule was established on a much larger area than that of his ancestors. However, the king's control of regions that were farther from Yin was practically nominal. Ruling from modern-day Anyang, the monarch was unable to protect the most vulnerable lands of his state. The primitive conditions of transportation also proved an obstacle to his ability to immediately respond to urgent situations in remote lands. That led to the fact that he had to resort to the strategy of sharing power with other people. He divided the country into portions which served as autonomous lands. Unlike the central governing body which only included a certain number of people who controlled court affairs and central military, regional administration was performed by numerous local lords of varied backgrounds. They were given personal lands and expected to give tributes, portions of harvest, and military support to the Shang monarch, a practice similar to the system used by later dynastic regimes. Obedient lords were accepted as trustable allies of the central government and were given nobility titles. A notable chief is Guo of Zhi, mentioned several times in contemporary texts; he was apparently an ally and a chief of Wu Ding's distant lands. In two inscriptions, Guo of Zhi is recorded to have merged his local troops into the central army, which-at that time commanded by Wu-was mobilizing to battle.

Military structure and equipment
Although little is known about military arrangements during the king's reign, their armies contributed significantly to the kingdom's warfare and defense. The central government disposed of 3 regiments: zhongshi (中師), zuoshi (左師), youshi (右師). These were used to defend the royal domain as well as secure the new territories gained. In order to defend border regions, the royal troops (wangshi 王師, woshi 我師) were sent and garrisoned in remote regions. Wu Ding's court also had military conscriptions reserved for dangers. They were called "deng" (登) or "zheng" (征) (conscripts), and were trained to react to urgent situations such as enemies' attack of the capital. However, such conscriptions were still rare during the Shang dynasty, and records of them are few. The royal force numbered at thousands and were militaristically trained during royal hunts. The royal servants were able to be promoted to official positions by taking part in battles.

The Shang armed forces employ a wide range of weapons and supporting equipment. Troops had both bone and bronze weapons, including máo (矛) spears, yuè (鉞) pole-axes, gē (戈) pole-based dagger-axes, composite bows. At the time of Wu Ding, bronze weapons became widely distributed in the kingdom, both in the capital and provincial regions; in the preceding periods, they appeared in smaller numbers. Weapons found in Shang royal tombs reveal an advanced bronze metallurgy that makes the instruments more useful in utilization than in the reign of previous rulers. Soldiers also possessed defensive instruments such as bronze and leather helmets. The presence of chariots in Wu Ding's period gave the forces an advantage over other chiefdoms and tribes. According to literary sources, a chariot was drawn by more than one horse, and accompany 3 people with swords, halberds, and bows.

Major expansions
Oracle bone inscriptions dating back to Wu Ding mention a wide range of unstable connections with tribes and chiefdoms, generally addressed as fang (方). Oracle bone scripts record that the Shang dynasty maintained contact with Guifang (鬼方), a chiefdom northwest of Yin that was sometimes interpreted as "unfriendly" to the central region. According to the Bamboo Annals, the thirty-second year of Wu's reign, he sent troops to counter Guifang, stationing the army at Jing (荊). After three years of fighting, he conquered it and annexed it into the kingdom, turning Guifang into his supporters in expeditions against other foes.

In the eastern neighboring regions, the state of Dapeng (大彭) had been a vassal of the Shang dynasty since the early 14th century BC. This was a notable autonomous region of the kingdom that lay in the eastern direction relative to Yin. According to traditional texts, the first ruler of Dapeng was given the title hou by Wu Ding's ancestors. During the previous kings' reign, the region is recorded to have maintained a relationship with Shang through rare tributes. However, during Wu Ding's period, Dapeng began to show hostilities towards the suzerainty held by the Shang king. In the forty-third year of his reign (c. 1200 BC), Wu Ding waged war on Dapeng and annexed the territory into the kingdom. Seven years later, his army went on to conquer Tunwei (豕韋).

Relations with Predynastic Zhou
During Wu Ding's reign, the western regions (west of the western "fang" tribes) were inhabited by the Ji clan, predecessor of the Zhou dynasty. The center of the chiefdom had been Bin (modern Xunyi County) for thousands of years, located very far from Wu Ding's seat in Yin. It was not fully brought under Shang suzerainty, but instead maintained a loose connection with the Shang kings. Wu Ding's reign had considerably more inscriptions about Predynastic Zhou than later periods, concerning Zhou soldiers' welfare, inquiries on Zhou hunts. On the other hand, Wu Ding never visit Zhou territory to tour or hunt. He also did not order Zhou manpower to aid Shang's public construction works and wars. Furthermore, despite his concerns about Zhou people's prosperity, he made no questions and divinations about whether their harvests were successful.

Predynastic Zhou did not actually participate in any expansion schemes of Wu Ding, and they also did not show discontent with the court (oracle bones dating back to Wu Ding do not show any signs of military conflicts between the chiefdom and his court). Only after 1200 BC, the Ji leaders began to involve themselves more in their relationship with the last Shang kings.

Southern wars
Wu Ding's campaigns in the southern areas include his conflict with the Hufang (虎方), a Jingman tribe located between the Han River Basin and Huai River Basin. During his reign, the general and official Wangcheng (望乘) was ordered to command a force to engage with Hufang. The army arrived at the Yangtze River's bank, in what is now between Suizhou and Jingshan (Hubei), and launched an offense via Gui (now Zigui County). The Hu Fang tribe, upon being attacked, surrendered to Wangcheng without much resistance. Subsequently, their land was merged into Shang's southern territory.

Oracle bone inscriptions rarely mention a southern polity that was hostile to Wu Ding. He expanded his rule further south than his predecessors had done. Several tribes submitted themselves under Shang rule and acted as supportive forces in its northwestern wars.

Roughly seventy-five percent of human sacrifices of Shang dynasty excavated at Yinxu date back to his reign. This shows his great military successes, since Shang human sacrifices consisted mostly of prisoners of war. Since Shang dynasty practiced slavery, the captured peoples that were not executed for sacrificial ceremonies were shown little mercy and forced to work for the king. For example, the Qiang slaves were expected to prepare oracle bones for diviners in coming ceremonies.

War with other peoples
The Shang dynasty was contemporary to civilization in parts of Sichuan, located considerably distant from major Shang cities like Yin and Zhengzhou. Traditional histories say that the region was home to two states, Ba and Shu. Ba was an ancient confederation of tribes, and its history extended back to the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. The state had recorded relations with Wu Ding's kingdom around the 13th century BC, although the relation was mostly conflicts. The oracle bones documented on the division of Shang army attacking Ba. The Shang forces, numbered up to thirteen thousand, were led by Xi Li Zhi and Hou Gao, under the commands of Fu Hao. One of the battles with Ba was a large-scale ambush schemed by the Shang, the first one ever recorded in Chinese history. However, Ba seemed to be unaffected by Wu Ding's influence, and it continued to be independent after his wars (the presence of Ba as an independent state during the Zhou dynasty proves that the state did not belong to the Shang).

Significant events
The earliest version of Chinese writing, Oracle bone script (甲骨文; jiaguwen), found on tortoise plastrons and ox scapulae, was unearthed at the royal tombs in Yinxu. Wu Ding was the earliest monarch at that Shang capital. The contents are divinatory questions on war, human sacrifice, and national economy. The scripts are found to have almost all principles of modern Chinese writing, which suggests a previous period of development. Another major type of Shang writing, bronze inscriptions ("jinwen" 金文), also came into use the same time as their bone counterpart. Shang bronze script was used in a smaller extent than oracle scripts, especially in Wu Ding's reign when only a few characters were cast on cerremonial vessels. They often contain information about family names and personal names of the individual being honored.

Wu Ding's reign is the latest point at which chariots entered China. They were acquired as a mature technology through interactions with nomadic tribes in Central Asia and the Northern Steppe (probably a branch of the then-Proto-Indo-European peoples), and used for royal hunts and military command. Contemporary oracle bone inscriptions of the character 車 depict a chariot-like two wheeled vehicle with a single pole for the attachment of horses. Many Shang chariots were eventually interred with royal family members in tombs. The Shang chariots, despite their limited utilization in tactical combats, remain prevalent throughout the Shang period and early Zhou era.

Astronomy in China traces its origin back to Wu Ding's time. Since the 13th century BC, numerous stars (that were later categorized) have been recorded on oracle bones at Anyang. The system of "xiu" (宿, lit."mansion") that played an important role in ancient astronomy also appeared during his reign. It is commonly thought that the earliest examples of calendrical use also appeared along with astronomy. The Shang calendar, which served to organize days, appeared from the start of literacy. It arranges ten days into a week, a feature that was used by the royal house to schedule sacrifices. Calendrical use later attracted a religious or magical focus.

Bronze technology underwent a significant change starting from the late Shang era, whose beginning is taken from the reign of Wu. Quantity and quality of the products increased drastically. The most notable utilizations of them are war uses and tomb furnishings; the latter reflects a parallel between advancement in bronze weaponry and the sociopolitical development seen from Wu Ding's reign onward. Large numbers of bronze weapons were excavated in tombs, suggesting the affluency and wealthy lives of the nobility. In terms of warfare, qualified bronzemaking settled differences between Wu Ding's armies and their rivals, which enabled him to extend both influence and land area. Along with the bronze products, the writing that was inscribed on them provides insights into the "artisan" class who made the bronze. Bronze scripts indicate that they enjoyed certain privileges, and had a defined occupation that was separated from the common people.

Women in government
At the time of Wu Ding's accession to the throne, women had a greater role to play in the exercise of official power than in subsequent Chinese culture. This is mainly due to the fact that the Shang was not influenced by Confucian ideologies which only appeared 700 years after Wu Ding (although its succession traditions preferred masculine children to feminine ones similar to Confucianism). The most prominent females in Shang dynasty were verified to have lived during his period. Most of them acquired power through marriage to the king. Wu Ding's spouses participated in warfare and divination, worshipping the Shang celestial ancestor Shangdi (上帝), along with participation in managing the kingdom's agricultural-based economy.

Fu Hao
Fu Hao, the queen consort, was recorded in oracle bones as a renowned military commander. Being skilled in warfare, she was trusted by her husband and was appointed a general. She held various campaigns against several groups in the west of Shang territory. At its peak, the forces of Fu Hao reached over 13,000 troops, headed by herself and subordinate generals. The force helped Shang dynasty conquer many opposing tribes and further expand their territory.

Although Fu Hao raised and commanded troops on behalf of Wu Ding, she did not have her own army or independent base of power like a vassal chieftain might. Nevertheless, she was Wu Ding's favorite consort, being mentioned the most among the large number of his wives. Fu Hao's militaristic operations was dictated by divinatory inquiries, which decides her army's mobilization. For example, a divination says: Cheng divined: "Fu Hao shall follow Guo of Zhi to attack the enemy. The King shall attack Zhonglu from the East to where Fu Hao shall be." Another text reads: "The King should not order Fu Hao to follow Guo, [because] we will not perhaps receive enough support."

Along with warfare, it is known that the queen also played a religious role as a priestess. She was allowed to take part in ceremonies, sacrifices, and divination with Wu Ding's diviners. She featured herself in human sacrifices, as the humans killed were often prisoners taken from her post-war opponents. Some oracle bones contain graphics depicting her organizing executions of captured enemy for ancestor sacrifices. As a priestess, she was one of very few women in Shang China who had full literacy. Many paragraphs on oracle bones happen to feature her as the diviner.

When Fu Hao died (c. 1200 BC), Wu Ding had a famous tomb built for her, the Tomb of Fu Hao, located at Yin. Inside the tomb archaeologists found numerous Shang vessels, mirrors, bronze artifacts, weapons (probably to honour her contributions to warfare), as well as sacrificial remains of sixteen humans and six dogs. The size of the construction was that of a room, indicating the importance of the queen and showing Wu Ding's favor towards her. Fu Hao's body remains itself was believed to have been buried in a lacquered coffin that has long been rotten away. There also seems to have once been a structure built over the tomb for holding memorial ceremonies. Posthumously, she was given the temple name Mu Xin (母辛) by the subsequent generation of kings and Bi Xin (妣辛) thereafter. She was one of three of Wu Ding's wives to receive sacrifices in the later Shang ritual cycle.

Other women
Another of Wu Ding's wives, Fu Jing (referred to in oracle bones as "Biwu" 妣戊), was probably responsible for overseeing agricultural production, as this was the subject she divined about most frequently. She also received a royal burial in Yin and was interred in Tomb 260. Unfortunately, the tomb was found to have been looted by grave robbers. Evidence from oracle bones indicates at least 60 female individuals (Wu Ding's spouses) who contributed to the court, mainly through military achievements. Nevertheless, their marriages seemed to be only for political purposes; Fu Jing and Fu Hao were the most active females among them and were recorded the most. Wu Ding's daughter, Princess Zi Tao (子妥) also received similar privileges. Her father enfeoffed her as a noble, and she acted as a local lord of her fief, paying tributes to the central government regularly. She was additionally promoted to the rank of a minister, xiao chen (小臣) ("humble servant"; hence her alternative name "Xiao Chen Tao"), which in turn allowed her to participate in court discussions and political actions. Her enfranchisement is not detailed but has been proof of the Shang's reverence of women.

Family
Uncles: Consorts: Children:
 * Father: Xiao Yi (小乙),personal name Zi Lian (子敛). Recorded on oracle bones as the 20th Shang king. Nivison proposed that he succeeded the throne on xinwei, 26 January 1263 BC.
 * Mother: Oracle bone scripts mention the name of one of Xiao Yi's wives as Bi Geng (妣庚): "小乙配妣庚" (Xiao Yi married Bi Geng). She might or might not be Wu Ding's mother.
 * Yang Jia (陽甲), personal name Zi He (子和). 17th Shang king. Reigned from jiazi, 23 January 1298 BC according to Nivison.
 * Pan Geng (盘庚), personal name Zi Xun (子旬). 18th Shang king. Reigned from gengyin, 17 January 1292 BC.
 * Xiao Xin (小辛), personal name Zi Song (子颂). 19th Shang king. Reigned from xinchou, 22 January 1268 BC.
 * Fu Hao (婦好), died c. 1200 BC, posthumous temple name Mu Xin (母辛). One of the primary consorts that are known as queens.
 * Fu Jing (婦妌), known for overseeing millet farming. Also, a queen like Fu Hao.
 * Fu Jie (妇嬕) or Fu Gui (妣癸). The third primary queen consort.
 * There were more than 60 other consorts, many of which were titled "Fu" (lit. "priest", "wife"). Some of those recorded by oracle bones include Fu Bi (妇嫀), Fu Zhou (妇周), Fu Chu (妇楚), Fu Zhi (妇蛭), Fu Qi (妇杞), Fu Zheng (妇妊), Fu Pang (妇庞), Fu Tuo (妇妥).
 * Zu Ji (祖己), personal name Zi Jie (子卩), initially crown prince but died young.
 * Zu Geng (祖庚), personal name Zi Yue (子曜), son of Fu Gui. Appointed as crown prince, officially received the title "Xiaowang" (Expectant King) after Zu Ji's death and later became the 22nd Shang king.
 * Zu Jia (祖甲), personal name Zi Zai (子載). Succeeded Zu Geng to be the 23rd Shang king.
 * Xiao Chen Tao (小臣妥), personal name Zi Tao (子妥) (died during Geng Ding's regnal era). Wu Ding's daughter.

A large store of well-preserved turtle plastrons with inscriptions was discovered in 1991 at a place called Huayuanzhuang (outside the palaces at Yin). The initial "owner" of the plastrons appeared to be a male relative of Wu Ding. The oracle texts mention Wu Ding and Fu Hao visiting the prince frequently, which suggests his close relations with the king himself. The person was similarly licensed to carry out divinations: several texts in the found plastrons contain future foretellings. One divination records his inquiries about the central governments' decisions: in the day xinwei, the Prince asked whether Wu Ding would send Fu Hao to launch offensive campaigns or not.

Burial of royal relatives
All the members in Wu Ding's family, except Fu Hao, were buried in the royal cemetery at Xibeigang. Half of his relatives, including his father and sons, were buried in the West zone of Xibeigang. Meanwhile, his uncles and wives's tombs were constructed in the East zone. It is known that the two zones were separated by Wu Ding, who was the first king and the head of the "late Shang". He founded the West zone for his future successors' burial, apart from the section for his predecessors. Ancestor rituals that honored kings before Wu Ding were conducted in the East zone. Investigating tombs in both sections, archaeologists have identified specific tombs that contained the royal family's corpses. Three tombs, numbered 1550, 1400 and 1004, belong to the late Wu Ding era and are the most convincingly identified graves (that archaeologists are certain about the persons who were buried in). The study of the tombs' relative locations to each other suggests that the construction planners designed them so that respect was paid to several individuals.

Attempts in determining death year
He died in the fifty-ninth year of his reign according to all the sources available, none of which are contemporary. His year of death is unknown. Opinions vary from 1197 BC to 1180 BC, with the commonly accepted year being 1192 BC (the year proposed by the defunct Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project). Many attempts to find his exact death year have used varied methods. One of the prevalent ones is to use astronomical records in dating. Oracle bone inscriptions from Wu Ding's reign mention lunar eclipses, of which those from 1199 BC to 1180 BC are usually associated with his death. The celestial phenomena were often linked to the Shang king's destiny: in fact, during the eclipse series, Wu Ding was recorded in oracle bones as having already declined in health. David Keightley studied four oracle bones that record eclipses, and suggested various death years. David Nivison, using Keightley's results, ruled out the possibility of a 1180 BC death, claiming that that year actually refers to an eclipse in 1201 BC. He concluded that Wu Ding died in 1189 BC, during which the corrected period's last eclipse happened. This conclusion is reached by counting Wu Ding's 3 years of filial mourning as separated from his 59-year reign. The factor is not considered in the 1192 BC approximation.

Burial
The king's place of burial is uncertain. However, there is one site that is very likely to be his grave, Tomb 1400 (located in Xibeigang's East zone). The most obvious evidence lies in its location: it was built to be near his consort Fu Jing's grave. Wu Ding's tomb's construction layout later became a symbol of glory and the height of power. In the last years of the 12th century BC, his descendants tended to commission their graves identical to his. The notable example is Wen Wu Ding, Wu Ding's 5th-generation descendant (and one of his admirer, who took his regnal name to be a component of his own). His actions took place when the Shang dynasty had been experiencing sharp declines; therefore, they have been perceived as attempts to revitalize power using connecting the ruler with his most exemplary ancestors.

Honor and succession issues
Widely regarded in later tradition as one of the greatest kings of the Shang dynasty, he was given the name Wu Ding (武丁) in accordance with the sexagenary cycle. As to comply with the religious tradition of worshipping royal ancestors in the day which the ancestors were named after, he was honoured by subsequent kings on the ding day. He additionally received the temple name "Gaozong" and later posthumously titled "Xiangwang". Following his passing away, he was given a royal funeral and buried in the Shang cemetery. Having become a deified being in Shang pantheon, he was addressed as "Grandfather Ding" and "Ancestor Ding" by subsequent generations and was offered numerous sacrifices.

After Wu's passing away, the Shang throne's rule of succession was changed. His successors happened to be his offspring, who were namely his three documented sons. Following his death, his child Zi Yue (子曜) became the next Shang king and was later known by the regnal name Zu Geng (祖庚). Zu Geng, according to Nivison, succeeded Wu Ding in 1188 BC. The Bamboo Annals fixes Zu's succession at the beginning of the year renshen, which most probably lied on January or February 1188 BC. The year began with a ding day; according to Shang traditional naming, Zu Geng could not use his father's regnal name. Instead, he used the stem geng, the first day of the first year after his mourning preamble (1185 BC).

title: Wu Ding


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Willem van de Velde the Elder

Willem van de Velde the Elder (1610/11 – 13 December 1693) was a Dutch Golden Age seascape painter, who produced many precise drawings of ships and ink paintings of fleets, but later learned to use oil paints like his son.

Biography
Willem van de Velde, known as the Elder, a marine draughtsman and painter, was born in Leiden, the son of a Flemish skipper, Willem Willemsz. van de Velde, and is commonly said to have been bred to the sea. He married Judith Adriaens van Leeuwen in Leiden in 1631.

His three known legitimate children were named Magdalena, born 1632; Willem, known as the Younger, also a marine painter, born 1633 in Leiden; and Adriaen, a landscape painter, baptized in 1636 in Amsterdam. Meanwhile the family lived Korte Koningstraat, close to the harbour, an area known as the Lastage.

His marriage was stormy, at least in its later years. David Cordingly relates that Willem the Elder fathered two children out of wedlock in 1653, one “by his maidservant, and the other by her friend. Nine years later the Elder and his wife went through a legal separation, ‘on account of legal disputes and the most violent quarrels’. The immediate cause of the dispute was his affair with a married woman.” Michael S. Robinson noted that “on 17/27 July 1662, he and his wife agreed to part. A condition of the separation was that the Elder could recover from his son Adriaen ‘two royal gifts’, presumably gifts from Charles II for work done in England.” Cordingly’s account further relates that the dispute was still continuing after another ten years, since “in the autumn of 1672 Judith complained to the woman’s husband.” Robinson adds that by 1674 the couple “must have been reconciled”, for at a chance meeting with Pieter Blaeu in Amsterdam in July the Elder explained that he was only visiting for a few days “in order to fetch his wife”. His son, Adriaen, had died in Amsterdam early 1672, and Willem the Elder was also fetching his grandson, similarly named Adriaen, who was then aged two.

After his move to England, the exact date of which is uncertain, but reportedly at the end of 1672 or beginning of 1673, he is said to have lived with his family in East Lane, Greenwich, and to have used the Queen's House, now part of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, as a studio. Following the accession of William III and Mary II as King and Queen of England, it appears that this facility was no longer provided, and by 1691 he was living in Sackville Street, now close to Piccadilly Circus. He died in London, and was buried in St James's Church, Piccadilly, at the south end of the street. A memorial to him and his son lies with in the church.

Professional career
He was the official artist of the Dutch fleet for a period, being present at the Four Days Battle, 1–4 June 1666, and the St James's Day Battle, 25 July 1666, to make sketches. In his work on the biographies of artists, Arnold Houbraken quotes Gerard Brandt's biography of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, relating the anecdote where Willem van de Velde asked Admiral de Ruyter permission to have a galley row him around for a good view of the proceedings on the evening of the Four Days battle in 1666. He wasn't the only artist to paint the scenes of this battle, his son, Ludolf Bakhuysen and Pieter Cornelisz van Soest also made paintings of it. This act later was the reason that van Velde gained his marine commission in London. The date, 1672, commonly given for his entry into the service of Charles II of England, was at a time when the Dutch Republic was at war with England (Third Anglo-Dutch War).

According to the inventory Bartholomeus van der Helst owned or stored many paintings by Van de Velde. They lived close to each other (near Nieuwmarkt) and must have been friends.

title: Willem van de Velde the Elder


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Prime Minister of Burundi

This article lists the prime ministers of Burundi since the formation of the post of Prime Minister of Burundi in 1961 until the present day. The office of Prime Minister was most recently abolished in 1998, and reinstated in 2020 with the appointment of Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni.

Counting both the Kingdom and Republic periods, a total of fifteen people have served in the office (not counting one Acting Prime Minister). Additionally, two people, Pierre Ngendandumwe and Albin Nyamoya, served on two non-consecutive occasions.

List of officeholders
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 * Political parties

{{legend||Military|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
 * Other factions

{{legend|#E6E6AA|Acting Prime Minister|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
 * Status

title: Prime Minister of Burundi