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University of Richmond

The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 3,900 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School of Arts and Sciences; the E. Claiborne Robins School of Business; the Jepson School of Leadership Studies; the University of Richmond School of Law; and the School of Professional & Continuing Studies. It is classified among "Baccalaureate Colleges: Arts & Sciences Focus".

History
The University of Richmond traces its history to a meeting of the Baptist General Association of Virginia held on June 8, 1830. The BGAV resolved "that the Baptists of this State form an education society for the improvement of the ministry." Thus, the Virginia Baptist Education Society was instituted. However, the society did not have enough funds for a proper school yet. In the meantime, they asked their vice-president, Rev. Edward Baptist, "to accept into his home young men wishing to prepare for the ministry." Baptist was an 1813 graduate of Hampden–Sydney College. In August 1830, William Allgood, the first student of this ministry school, came to Baptist's Dunlora Plantation to attend classes in "a building of three or four rooms." The school, eventually known as Dunlora Academy, enrolled nine students overall in its first year. After two years, the society purchased for $4,000 "Spring Farm," located about five miles north of Richmond. This farm was the home of the Virginia Baptist Seminary which opened July 1, 1832, and began classes July 4 under the leadership of Robert Ryland.

The Virginia Baptist Seminary offered courses in Latin, Greek, and mathematics. Each day, students worked for three hours at farm labor. President Ryland thought highly of this system as it was "improving the health, diminishing the expenses, and perhaps guarding the humility of the young preachers." In reality, the farming experiment proved to be unprofitable and was dropped from the school after a couple years. Over time, enrollment and faculty increased to a point where the education society began looking for a more suitable property than small "Spring Farm," where dorms consisted of log cabins while the schoolrooms and the chapel were in a barn.

In 1834, the Virginia Baptist Education Society bought the former Haxall family plantation. This property was much larger and more efficient than "Spring Farm." It was situated of the main house, Columbia, and other brick buildings. As the seminary grew, it became in need of funds. The education society was unable to receive bequests or hold property as it was an unincorporated organization. The seminary could not receive a charter from the legislature as it was a theological school. Therefore, around 1840 the seminary applied for a charter as a liberal arts college, which was granted on March 4 of that year. At this time, the society turned over the land and buildings of the school to the trustees of newly minted Richmond College.

Richmond College officially opened on January 2, 1843. It had "68 students, 3 teachers, land and buildings valued at $20,000, a small endowment, and a library of 700 volumes". For an eleven-month session, tuition and room and board cost $120. The salaries of the teachers were $900 for President Ryland, and $600 and $500 for the other two.

During the American Civil War, the entire student body formed a regiment and joined the Confederate army. Richmond College's buildings were used as a hospital for Confederate troops and later as a barracks for Union soldiers. The college invested all of its funds in Confederate war bonds, and the outcome of the war left it bankrupt. In 1866, James Thomas donated $5,000 to reopen the college. The T.C. Williams School of Law opened in 1870.

In 1894, the college elected Frederic W. Boatwright president. President Boatwright would serve for 51 years. He is most remembered for raising the funds needed to move the college in 1914 from its original uptown location to a new 350-acre campus in what is now Westhampton area of Richmond, and in doing so created Westhampton College for women.

The institution's main library, Boatwright Memorial Library, is named in Boatwright's honor. Symbolically, the library and its soaring academic gothic tower occupy the highest spot on the grounds. Its grounds were landscaped in 1913, by Warren H. Manning under the supervision of Charles Gillette.

The institution was renamed University of Richmond in 1920 with the men's college renamed Richmond College. The respective parts of the campus continue to be referred to as the Westhampton and the Richmond "sides".

In 1949, the E. Claiborne Robins School of Business opened, followed by the School of Continuing Studies in 1962. In 1969, when financial issues threatened closing the institution or turning it over to the Commonwealth of Virginia, E. Claiborne Robins Sr., a trustee and alumnus, donated $50 million to the institution, the largest gift made to an institution of higher education at the time. In constant dollars, it remains among the largest. Robins' goal was to make Richmond one of the best private universities in the country. In partnership with the institution's president E. Bruce Heilman and development director H. Gerald Quigg the $10 million matching grant component of the gift raised over an additional $60 million, making the institution's total endowment at the time one of the highest in the country.

During World War II, Richmond was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission.

In 1987, a donation of $20 million by Robert S. Jepson Jr. facilitated the opening of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies. The school, which opened in 1992, was the first of its kind in the U.S.

In 1990, the academic missions of Richmond and Westhampton Colleges were combined to form the School of Arts and Sciences.

The Weinstein-Jecklin Speech Center was formed in 1996. Its purpose of The Weinstein-Jecklin Speech Center is to offer assistance to those who wish to pursue effective speaking and articulate behavior across academic disciplines.

On October 15, 1992, presidential candidates George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot came to campus for the first-ever "town hall" televised presidential debate, viewed by 200 million people worldwide. Addressing a crowd of nearly 9,000, President Obama visited the University of Richmond to present the American Jobs Act on September 11, 2011.

On, February 23, 2015, the University of Richmond announced to the student body via email that the board of trustees elected Ronald Crutcher as the tenth president of the institution. He took office July 1, 2015, and his inauguration ceremony was held at the Robins Center on October 30, 2015, becoming the first African American president of the institution.

In August 2021, Kevin F. Hallock became the 11th president of the institution. Hallock, a labor economist, previously served as the Dean of the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University.

The Henry Mansfield Cannon Memorial Chapel, North Court, and Ryland Hall were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

School of Arts & Sciences
All Richmond undergraduate students begin their course work in the School of Arts & Sciences (A&S), which offers 38 majors and 10 concentrations in the arts, sciences, social sciences, and humanities. The School of Arts & Sciences is composed of 22 departments and 10 interdisciplinary programs. After one full year of study, students may decide to pursue majors in the other undergraduate schools, though 70 percent of students choose to remain in A&S.

Robins School of Business
The Robins School of Business was established in 1949 and offers undergraduate, graduate and executive education programs. It is named after alumnus E. Claiborne Robins. Admission into the Robins School of Business is granted to students who have completed basic Accounting, Economics and Math courses at the end of three semester while maintaining a Grade Point Average of 2.7 or higher.

Jepson School of Leadership Studies
The Jepson School of Leadership Studies was founded to address a perceived need in the modern world for the academic study of leadership. The school blends a curriculum of economics, history, literature, philosophy, politics, psychology and religion so that students can learn conceptual tools that support the exercise of leadership in varied settings. As of 2016, the Jepson School remains as the only school of its kind in the United States that is completely devoted to the study of leadership.

School of Law
Chartered in 1840, Richmond College was only 30 years old when it added a Law Department. The initial years were very successful for the new Law Department but during the difficult financial times that followed the Civil War, legal education was intermittent at Richmond College until 1890. In that year, the family of the late T.C. Williams Sr., endowed a Professorship of Law, thus assuring the continuous teaching of law at Richmond College. The law school was granted membership in the Association of American Law Schools in 1930 and now enrolls approximately 500 full-time students and has 4,300 active alumni.

School of Professional and Continuing Studies
The School of Professional & Continuing Studies was established in 1962. It offers degree and certificate programs, enrichment opportunities, professional training, and college course work for part-time and non-traditional students of all ages. A variety of evening programs with credit and non-credit courses make it possible for those with busy schedules to further their education or explore new interests.

The school was originally named University College and included both a two-year junior college and an evening division. It was located on the original location of Richmond College on the corner of Grace and Lombardy Streets in Richmond's Fan district. In 1974, the school moved from the Columbia Building at Grace & Lombardy to the main campus in Richmond's West End.

In 1994, the school was renamed the School of Continuing Studies in alignment with names of the other schools of the institution. In 2012, it was renamed the School of Professional & Continuing Studies to better reflect the character of its students and the nature of its programs.

Academics
All students must complete general education requirements as part of the liberal arts curriculum. These requirements include two first-year seminars that all first-year students must complete. Other general education requirements include expository writing, wellness, foreign language, and one class each in six fields of study.

Richmond offers more than 100 majors, minors, and concentrations in three undergraduate schools—the School of Arts and Sciences, the Robins School of Business, and the Jepson School of Leadership Studies. The School of Continuing Studies, primarily an evening school focused on part-time adult students, offers additional degree programs in selected areas.

Admissions
The University of Richmond admitted 23 percent of applicants for the class of 2027. The University of Richmond is among the 100 most selective colleges and universities in the United States. The 833-member class of 2027 has a middle 50 percent range for core unweighted GPA of 3.8-4.0, a middle 50 percent range for SAT scores of 1440–1530 and a middle 50 percent range for ACT scores of 33–35.

Reputation and rankings
In 2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked Richmond tied with Colby College for 25th out of 186 among national liberal arts colleges and was ranked the 34th of 93 in "Best Value".

In its 2024 edition of The Best 389 Colleges The Princeton Review named Richmond No. 30 of 50 in Top Green Colleges, No. 24 of 25 in "Their Students Love These Colleges", No. 19 of 25 in "Students Study the Most", No. 16 of 25 in Best Student Support and Counseling Services, No. 15 Best College Dorms, No. 15 of 25 in Professors Get High Marks, No. 14 of 25 in Best College Library, No. 11 of 25 in Best Campus Food, No. 11 of 25 in Best Career Services, No. 10 of 25 Happiest Students, No. 9 of 25 in Best Quality of Life, No. 7 of 25 in Best Science Lab Facilities, No. 7 of 25 in Best Athletic Facilities, No. 5 of 25 in Most Accessible Professors, No. 3 of 25 Best-Run College, No. 3 of 25 in Best Private Schools for Internships, No. 3 of 25 Best Classroom Experience, and No. 1 of 25 Most Beautiful Campus.

Kiplinger ranked Richmond 18th among the "Best Private Colleges" in the U.S. for 2018. Richmond was ranked eighth by SmartMoney in the category "Best Private Colleges of 2011", leaving two Ivy League Universities behind in the top 10.

In 2019, Richmond was ranked as the 20th best liberal arts college in America by Niche.

Financial aid
Richmond administers a generous financial aid program, with more than 60 percent of all students receiving some form of financial assistance. Richmond offers a need-blind admissions policy that does not consider an applicant's ability to pay in the admission decision, and it pledges to meet 100 percent of an admitted domestic student's demonstrated need. UR also offers 25 merit-based, full tuition and room and board scholarships to students in each entering class (approximately 1 out of every 30 students). These scholarships are housed under the Richmond Scholars program that also includes benefits like priority class registration, a one-time academic activity stipend, and free admission to Modlin Center events. Recently, to encourage enrollment from Virginia residents, admitted students from Virginia with family incomes of $60,000 or less receive full-tuition/room and board financial aid packages without loans. Richmond's financial aid program is due, in no small part, to its endowment of over $3 billion, placing it within the top 40 nationally among college and university endowments.

Student research
The University of Richmond offers numerous research opportunities for students. In addition to research-based courses, independent studies, and practicums in most disciplines, many special opportunities exist for students to participate in close research collaborations with faculty. Student research occurs in all academic areas, including the arts, sciences, social sciences, and other fields. In 2019 Richmond graduated the fourth most Fulbright Scholars out of American undergraduate institutions.

Greek Life
Richmond also has an active Greek life with 15 recognized national fraternities and sororities. The fraternities include Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Order, Kappa Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Gamma Delta, and the founding chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon. Unrecognized fraternities include Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Chi, and Theta Chi, suspended in 2015, 2019, and 2020, respectively, which maintain underground operations. The sororities are Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Pi Beta Phi. In 2018, 50 percent of the women and 35 percent of the men participated in the Greek system.

Traditions
Noted University of Richmond traditions include: an honor code administered by student honor councils; Investiture and Proclamation Night, ceremonies for first year men and women to reflect on their next four years; Ring Dance, a dance held at the Jefferson Hotel by the junior class women; and Pig Roast, a large annual event held during the spring semester which draws significant gatherings of current students and alumni to the fraternity lodges and have featured musical acts such as Flo Rida and Afroman. Another long-standing Richmond tradition is the crowning of the largest goose on Westhampton Lake with the title "Triceragoose." This establishes that goose as the king of the lake, ruling over all ducks, geese, and freshmen.

Main campus
The University of Richmond's campus consists of 350 acre in a suburban setting on the western edge of the city. Most of the campus lies within the city limits; a small section of the south campus, including the Special Programs Building (home to the campus police), intramural sports fields, and most of the campus apartments, lies within Henrico County.

The institution has, with few exceptions, remained true to the original architectural plans for the campus—red brick buildings in a collegiate gothic style set around shared open lawns. Many of the original buildings, including Jeter Hall and North Court, both residence halls, and Ryland Hall, the original administration building and library for Richmond College, were designed by Ralph Adams Cram in 1910. Cram, a noted institutional architect, also designed buildings for Princeton, Cornell, Rice, and Williams, among other universities. Warren H. Manning, a former apprentice to Frederick Law Olmsted, designed the original landscape plan. The overall effect of the gothic architecture set amid a landscape of pines, rolling hills, and Westhampton Lake, is intimate and tranquil. In 2000 and again in 2021, the campus was recognized by The Princeton Review as the most beautiful in the United States.

The University of Richmond campus was used to film portions of the pilot of the ABC TV series Commander in Chief, and lead character Mackenzie Allen (played by Geena Davis) served as chancellor of a fictionalized University of Richmond prior to her election as Vice President of the United States. Much of the film Cry Wolf (2005) was filmed on the Westhampton side of campus, with several dormitories, including South Court, North Court, and Keller Hall, serving as locations. An episode of the television show Dawson's Creek was filmed on campus, which served as an unnamed "beautiful Ivy League campus". The filming itself took place in locations throughout the campus, even including rowing on Westhampton Lake.

The University of Richmond owns the former Reynolds Metals Executive Office Building, a gift-purchase from Alcoa in 2001. Located a short distance from campus, the 250000 sqft building was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and opened in 1958. The building, which incorporates nearly 1400000 lb of aluminum, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It currently serves as the headquarters of Altria Group and its subsidiary, Philip Morris USA, which lease it from the institution.

In early 2001, the institution finalized the purchase of 115 acre of land in eastern Goochland County, a short distance from the main campus. The land is currently used for biology research, but future uses could include intramural athletic fields.

The University of Richmond campus used to be home to the Virginia Governor's School for Visual and Performing Arts and Humanities during the summer.

UR Downtown
The institution also operates UR Downtown, a downtown campus of sorts occupying leased space within a larger building at 626 East Broad street. Despite its small size, UR Downtown hosts the Richmond on Broad café (owned and operated by the institution), a mixed-purpose lower-level, art gallery spaces, offices, two classrooms, and a conference room. Located in the city's Arts District, UR Downtown also participates in the monthly art festival, First Fridays. Moreover, the space hosts multiple exhibits each year, often in collaboration with local organizations. The UR Downtown conference room is also home to an original 1956 sgraffito style mural by Hans E. Gassman, created for the bank that occupied the building in the past. Other than art, UR Downtown serves as a VITA site, providing free tax assistance to low-income families. The spaces inside UR Downtown are made available to advocacy and non-profit organizations in need of meeting space. The Caricco Center for Pro Bono law service, the Richmond Families Initiative, and Partners in the Arts also operate out of UR Downtown.

Athletics
The institution won its first national championship in 1982 when women's tennis won the AIAW national championship. The institution won its first NCAA national championship in any sport on December 19, 2008, when the Spiders football team defeated the Montana Grizzlies 24–7 in the NCAA Division I Football Championship (which is exclusively for teams in the Football Championship Subdivision, the second tier of NCAA Division I football). Richmond was ranked 23rd in men's basketball at one point during the 2009–10 season. During its 2010 season the Richmond Men's Cross Country team placed 24th at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. In the 2020-2021 Cross Country season, Richmond Men's Cross Country team became the first NCAA Division I program without any scholarships or an indoor or outdoor track team to win a conference title. The 2010-11 Richmond Spiders men's basketball team won the 2011 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament, earning the team a spot in the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The Spiders fell to Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen.

title: University of Richmond


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Richmond College, Galle

Richmond College (රිච්මන්ඩ් විද්‍යාලය) is a primary and secondary school in Galle, Sri Lanka which was established as Galle High School in 1876. The founder of school was the Wesleyan Missionary George Bough. The first principal of the school was Rev Samuel Langdon. In 1882, it was renamed Richmond College. Richmond College is the first Wesleyan Methodist school to be established in Asia. The former school of Richmond College known as the 'Galle School' dates back to July 1814.

Founding (Unofficial)
The first missionaries from the Wesleyan Methodist Church to Ceylon were led by the Rev. Dr. Thomas Coke, and consisted of William Ault, James Lynch, George Erskine, William Martin Harvard, Thomas Hall Squance, and John Mckenny, leaving England on 30 December 1813. During their journey, Coke died at sea on 2 May. They reached Ceylon on 29 June 1814. They held an inaugural church service on 3 July 1814 at the Old Dutch Church at Galle Fort. Governor Robert Brownrigg, sent his brother-in-law, Rev Bisset, the senior colonial chaplain, to meet and confer with the missionaries, inviting the missionaries to establish schools for the Ceylonese. Following a conference on 11 July, Benjamin Clough (1791-1853) was elected to take charge of the Galle station. Subsequently, Clough was visited by the Maha Mudaliyár of Galle, Don Abraham Dias Abeysinghe Amarasekera, on 25 July 1814, who upon hearing that Clough was going to establish a school offered his deceased brother's house to be used for the school. The house, 'Doornberg', located on Upper Dickson Road, was built by the Dutch in 1712. According to Clough’s journal, which was archived in the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, he notes - "“the Maha Mudaliyar Don Abraham Dias Abeysinha Amarasekere came in full regalia of a Mudaliyár to the Government House earlier in the day on 25th July 1814 and offered his deceased brother’s residence ‘Doornberg’ to him. Having inspected the premises and rejoiced, Rev. Clough moved to the new dwellings on the same day”."

Mission documents record, "“Mr. Clough, after acknowledging the liberal offer of the Mudaliyár, went to view the premises, which are about a mile from the Fort, and only a stone’s-throw from the house of the generous proprietor. They are situated in a very retired and romantic spot; and appeared in most respects to be so eligible, that Mr. Clough did not hesitate to accept the liberal proposal. He immediately had his luggage removed; and was thus, without any expense to the Mission Fund, placed at once in a situation of comfort and respectability; and in circumstances of all others the best; calculated to promote his improvement in the language, and his usefulness among the natives. His school was soon commenced, and attended by some of the most intelligent boys on the island.”" The school had only five children and one adult, the Mudaliyár himself. It was initially an English school, the Galle School, and then subsequently became known as Galle Boys’ School or as Galle English School.

History
The first College magazine was published in 1887. It was only the second occasion that a school in Ceylon had produced a magazine. The same year, the English Literary Union was formed and cricket was started in the school. In 1894, under the principal-ship of Horatius Hartley, the Richmond College Old Boys' Association was formed. Another important occurrence during that year was the establishment of the College Cadet Corps. Main Hall James Horne Darrel assumed duties as principal in 1896. The school experienced both physical expansion as well as qualitative growth. During his period, Richmond rose to be recognised as one of the best schools in the island. At the local University of Cambridge Examinations of 1905, Richmond earned a top position among assisted schools and second place among all schools in Ceylon. The same year, the Richmond-Mahinda Cricket Encounter was played for the first time, with the two principals, Darrell of Richmond and F. L. Woodward of Mahinda College, officiating as umpires. Darrell sacrificed his life for the college nursing the pupils who were afflicted with 'typhoid' when there was an outbreak in the country and was buried at the Dadalla Cemetery, Galle. W. J. T. Small became principal following the death of Darrell. Darrell and Small are the only two principals of Richmond who have been buried side by side and both principals met with their deaths under tragic circumstances; the former due to typhoid fever and the latter due to an accident.

Commerce was introduced as a subject in 1912. This was also the year in which football was started at Richmond. In 1915, the 2nd Galle (Richmond) Scouts Group was established. Scouting at Richmond College enjoyed remarkable success from the beginning. The first two King's Scouts in the island were produced by Richmond. In 1916, Ceylon's first cub pack was started at Richmond College. A notable event during the Small's period was the formation of the National Association at Richmond in 1915. It was in effect a forum within the school for the emerging nationalist movement. In 1922, Alec Sneath took over the reins of Richmond College. He was responsible for many measures which brought refinement and qualitative development to the school. In 1926, a well-equipped library was established in a new building. The Science Society was started the same year. In 1931, the Sinhala Literary Union came into being.

In 1940, the last of the missionary principals left, leaving the school in the hands of local graduates. E. R. de Silva, an old boy (alumni) of the school, had the distinction of becoming the first Ceylonese principal of Richmond College. This was a period which saw major changes in the educational structure of Ceylon. The Free Education Scheme which was devised by C. W. W. Kannangara, an old boy of Richmond College, was being implemented, and the school had to be geared to suit the changes. The history of Richmond are from original Mission Records held in the Methodist Mission Library, in Colombo and in England.

In 1962, Richmond College, which was owned by the Methodist Mission, was vested in the government with no compensation to the Mission. D. G. Welikala, the first head of Richmond College under state management, was also its first Buddhist principal. With the takeover, the Methodist Vernacular School on Richmond Hill was amalgamated with Richmond. This school was referred to as the "Kaha Iskole (කහ ඉස්කෝලේ)" by some and "Pin Iskole (පිං ඉස්කෝලෙ)" meaning Charity school by others has been in existence from the time the Missionaries established a learning seat on Richmond Hill in 1858. During this period, considerable expansion and change had to take place to cater to the new situation. Richmond College faced the challenge of transition so successfully that the then Minister of Education commended Richmond on several occasions, describing it as a model institution among nationalised schools.

Richmond College was one of the first schools in the island to start teaching agriculture as a subject. In 1969, it became the first school in the country to start an agricultural stream for the Advanced Level. In 1976, the College celebrated its centenary of upgrading. In terms of the provisions of the White Paper on Education, Richmond College was named a National School in 1986. Richmond College Old Boys' Association was incorporated in 1998 by Act #04 of Parliament of Sri Lanka.

In 2013 the Methodist Church at Richmond Hill was declared was formally recognised by the Government as an Archaeological Protected Monument.

Principals
The following are the heads of the school from 1876, to-date
 * Samuel Langdon (1876 – 1879)
 * Robert Tebb BSc (London) MA(Cantab)(1879)
 * Samuel Hill (1879 – 1882)
 * Samuel R. Wilkins (1882 – 1888)
 * Arthur Triggs (1888 – 1893)
 * Horatius Hartley (1893 – 1896)
 * James Horne Darrell BSc(Cambs) MA(Cantab) (1896 – 1906)
 * Percy T. Cash (1914 – 1915)
 * W. J. T. Small (1906 – 1922)
 * Alec A. Sneath MA(Manch) (1922 – 1939)
 * John Dalby MA(Oxon) (1939 – 1940)
 * E. R. de Silva MA (1940 – 1957), first Ceylonese principal
 * A. Shelton Wirasinghe BA (1957 – 1961)
 * Claude Ivor de Silva BA (1961), acting

Richmond College (1962 onwards)

 * D. G. Welikala (1962–1971), the first principal after nationalisation
 * J. Munasinghe (1971–1973)
 * S. Kariyawasam (1973–1977)
 * N. P. G. Amarakeerthi (1978–1979)
 * B. Suriarachchi (1979–1986)
 * S. Illayperuma (1986–1994)
 * W. N. R. P. Daniyas (1994–2004)
 * G. V. S. B. Shanthasiri (2004–2008)
 * E. M. S. Ekanayake (2008–2015)
 * Sampath Weragoda (2015–2020)
 * Thilak Waththuhewa (2020–2021)
 * W. P. Niluka Dilruk Weerasinghe (2021–2022)
 * P. S. Pushpakumara (2022 – present)

Cricket
The annual cricket match between Richmond College and Mahinda College is known as "the lovers' quarrel". It is one of the longest cricket match series in Sri Lanka, having been played for over 114 years. The match which is also known as the "Lovers' Quarrel" in public, is played at the Galle International Stadium. The Lovers' Quarrel was begun in 1905, under the two principals Rev. James Horne Darrel of Richmond College and Sir. Frank Lee Woodward of Mahinda College.

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

title: Richmond College, Galle


text: Category:Ozzy Osbourne albums

title: Category:Ozzy Osbourne albums


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Denton, Kentucky

Denton is an unincorporated community near Grayson in Carter County, Kentucky, United States. The community's postal zip code is 41132. A post office existed here from 1881 until 2004 when it was closed and mail service was transferred to nearby Hitchins although the community retained its zip code. It is centered around the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway track where several stores and a hotel once operated. The former hotel and a store building are still standing.

title: Denton, Kentucky


text:
Talk:ISO rating

 * I expanded Film speed, and made ISO rating redirect to Film speed. It might be better to make ISO rating a disambiguation page that refers to many different ISO standards (e.g. a company can have an ISO 9001 rating, a photographic film can have an ISO film speed rating, ...) --AlanBarrett 09:16, 19 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Since I asked on Talk:International Organization for Standardization, I thought I'd drop a note here too: give that the ISO rating is in fact an ISO standard, I added a entry on List of ISO standards and created a redirect from ISO 5800 to Film speed. If you want ISO rating to be a disambig page, I might suggest just redirecting it to ISO, where there's a link to List of ISO standards. --Bcordes 21:57, Jul 25, 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:ISO rating


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Marston Morse

Harold Calvin Marston Morse (March 24, 1892 – June 22, 1977) was an American mathematician best known for his work on the calculus of variations in the large, a subject where he introduced the technique of differential topology now known as Morse theory. The Morse–Palais lemma, one of the key results in Morse theory, is named after him, as is the Thue–Morse sequence, an infinite binary sequence with many applications.

He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1929, the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1932, and the American Philosophical Society in 1936. In 1933 he was awarded the Bôcher Memorial Prize for his work in mathematical analysis. J. Robert Oppenheimer described Morse as "almost a statesman of mathematics."

Biography
He was born in Waterville, Maine to Ella Phoebe Marston and Howard Calvin Morse in 1892. He received his bachelor's degree from Colby College (also in Waterville) in 1914. At Harvard University, he received both his master's degree in 1915 and his PhD in 1917. He wrote his PhD thesis, Certain Types of Geodesic Motion of a Surface of Negative Curvature, under the direction of George David Birkhoff.

Morse was a Benjamin Peirce Instructor at Harvard in 1919–1920, after which he served as an assistant professor at Cornell University from 1920 to 1925 and at Brown University in 1925–1926. He returned to Harvard in 1926, advancing to professor in 1929, and teaching there until 1935. That year, he accepted a position at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he remained until his retirement in 1962.

He spent most of his career on a single subject, now known as Morse theory, a branch of differential topology that enables one to analyze the topology of a smooth manifold by studying differentiable functions on that manifold. Morse originally applied his theory to geodesics (critical points of the energy functional on paths); these techniques were used in Raoul Bott's proof of his periodicity theorem. Morse theory is a very important subject in modern mathematical physics, such as string theory.

He died on June 22, 1977, at his home in Princeton, New Jersey. His second wife, Louise Jeffreys, died in 2016.

Marston Morse should not be confused with either his 5th cousin twice removed Samuel Morse,   famous for Morse code, nor Anthony Morse, famous for the Morse–Sard theorem.

Books

 * with Stewart Cairns:
 * with Stewart Cairns:
 * with Stewart Cairns:
 * with Stewart Cairns:
 * with Stewart Cairns:

Film

 * "Pits, Peaks, and Passes: A Lecture on Critical Point Theory", Mathematical Association of America Lecture Films, 1966

title: Marston Morse


text:
Iopolis

Iopolis or Ione was a town on Mount Silpion near Antioch, where Io was worshipped as a moon goddess.

title: Iopolis


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Racer (simulator)

Racer, fully named Racer Free Car Simulator, is a freeware and source available video game simulator that runs on Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

Although Racer started out as a driving simulator, it also has features that are usually seen in racing games, such as racing against AI cars, or against human opponents in multiplayer mode. Its weak points, when compared with commercial racing games, is the absence of wear/damage physics or a career mode.

History
The first version of Racer was released on 29 August 2000. Over the years, a community has grown around Racer. The software itself is maintained exclusively by creator Ruud van Gaal. An important characteristic of Racer is its openness; the formats for cars, tracks and other data are documented. Furthermore, tools to aid in car and track creation are part of the release. As a result, a large number of cars has been created and published, in a large variety: Formula One, GT, vintage, trucks, daily drivers, luxury sedans, and even a shopping trolley has been modeled. Likewise, tracks are available in various types, from true racing circuits to drag strips, mountain roads, and even a car park.

Licensing
The Racer software is free, in the sense of freeware for non-commercial users. While the source code of an older version (0.5) was made available under GPL, later versions are not under an open-source license. The cars and tracks have various forms of license, but can all be downloaded for free.

Whilst one of the strengths of Racer is its open file format, perhaps one of its weaknesses is its closed-source stance and development team. The Racer community contributes to testing and suggesting features that should be added, but the development side of Racer is much based on the amount of time the developers have to contribute towards it. This translates to infrequent updates of varying quality, but updates are often feature-rich and inspire a new burst of energy into the development and modification of cars and tracks.

title: Racer (simulator)


text:
Nemea

Nemea (Νεμέα; ) is an ancient site in the northeastern part of the Peloponnese, in Greece. Formerly part of the territory of Cleonae in ancient Argolis, it is today situated in the regional unit of Corinthia. The small village of Archaia Nemea (formerly known as "Iraklion") is immediately southwest of the archaeological site, while the new town of Nemea lies to the west.

Here, in Greek mythology, Heracles overcame the Nemean Lion, and here, during Antiquity, the Nemean Games were held (ending c. 235 BC) and were celebrated in the eleven Nemean odes of Pindar.

Myth, legend and history
In Greek mythology, Nemea was ruled by king Lycurgus and queen Eurydice. Nemea was famous in Greek myth as the home of the Nemean Lion, which was killed by the hero Heracles, and as the place where the infant Opheltes, lying on a bed of parsley, was killed by a serpent while his nurse Hypsipyle fetched water for the Seven against Thebes on their way from Argos to Thebes. The Seven founded the Nemean Games in his memory, according to its aition, or founding myth, accounting for the crown of victory being made of parsley or the wild form of celery and for the black robes of the judges, interpreted as a sign of mourning. The Nemean Games were documented from 573 BC, or earlier, at the sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea.

At the temenos, the grave of Opheltes was surrounded by open-air altars and enclosed within a stone wall. The sanctuary's necessary spring was named Adrasteia: Pausanias wondered whether it had the name because an "Adrastos" had "discovered" it, but Adrasteia, the "inescapable one", was a nurse of the infant Zeus in Crete. The tumulus nearby was credited as the burial mound of his father, and the men of Argos had the privilege of naming the priest of Nemean Zeus, Pausanias was informed when he visited in the late 2nd century CE. In his time the temple, which he noted was "worth seeing", stood in a grove of cypresses; its roof had fallen in and there was no cult image within the temple. Three limestone columns of the Temple of Nemean Zeus of about 330 BC have stood since their construction, and two more were reconstructed in 2002. As of late 2007, four more are being re-erected. Three orders of architecture were employed at this temple, which stands at the end of the Classic period and presages this and other developments of Hellenistic architecture, such as the slenderness (a height of 6.34 column diameters) of the Doric columns of the exterior. The site around the temple has been excavated in annual campaigns since 1973: the great open-air altar, baths, and ancient accommodations for visitors have been unearthed. The temple stands on the site of an Archaic period temple, of which only a foundation wall is still visible. The stadion has recently been discovered. It is notable for its well-preserved vaulted entrance tunnel, dated to about 320 BC, with ancient graffiti on the walls.

The material discovered in the excavations is on display in an on-site museum constructed as a part of the University of California's excavations.

In 2018, archaeologists discovered a large, intact tomb dating to the early Mycenaean era (1650–1400 B.C.).

The Battle of the Nemea River
In 394 BC the Battle of the Nemea River was fought between Sparta and her Achaian, Elean, Mantinean, and the Tegeate allies against a coalition of Boeotians, Euboeans, Athenians, Corinthians, and Argives. This was to be the last clear-cut victory that Sparta enjoyed. The tactics were similar to all other Greek hoplite battles, except that when the armies were arrayed, with the Spartans having the customary honour of being on the right, the army drifted right as it advanced. This was not good for the Spartan allies, as it exposed the soldiers to a flanking attack, but it gave the Spartans the opportunity to use their superior coordination and discipline to roll up the flank of the Athenians, who were stationed opposite.

The result of the battle was a victory for Sparta, even though her allies on the left suffered significant losses. This willingness to accept losses on the left flank for flanking position on the right was a dramatic change from typical conservative hoplite military tactics.

Temple of Zeus
The Temple of Zeus at Nemea is the most popular feature of the ancient Nemea site. The temple is located within a large sacred area with many buildings and features. The Temple remains today date back to the 4th century BC (~330 BC) but the temple was built on top of an earlier version dating back to the 6th century BC. The older version of the Temple of Zeus was destroyed in fire, so the people of ancient Nemea built the current temple on top of the site.

The current temple is 9,240 feet large and mostly made of limestone. It had 32 columns along the perimeter, only three of which remain standing today. Six columns have been reconstructed for reference when visiting the site. The temple was partially reconstructed to give visitors a clearer idea its magnitude and greatness. The Temple of Zeus uses three of the architectural orders: Doric, Corinthian, and Ionic. The doric peristyle is used on the exterior of the Temple, the corinthian style for the colonnade, and the ionic order for the second story of the Temple. The finished Temple of Zeus did not have any sculpted decoration. The design is traditional and displays precision and care.

The Hellenistic Stadium
The Nemean Stadium was excavated from 1974 to 1981. The natural earth where the stadium was built was perfect for the construction. Two ridges extending north from Evangelistria Hill created a natural space for an amphitheater. The track originally was 600 feet long. The eastern side of the track has a water channel, water basin, and a 300-foot marker, all of which correspond to the western side of the track. There are also thought to be "front row seats" in the Nemean Stadium. These "seats" are scattered limestone blocks parallel to the water channel.

The stadium includes a tunnel that is 36 meter long. The tunnel serves to prove that Ancient Greek architects understood how to create the complex architectural form. Along the walls of the tunnel, there is graffiti from the Ancient Greeks. The name "Telestas", who is a known ancient olympic victor, was carved into the wall. There is also the apodyterion, or locker room. Athletes would use this space to prepare for the competitions by removing their clothing and rubbing their body with olive oil. The apodyterion has stamps on the roof-tiles that reveal the architects name, Sosikles.

The Nemean Games were held at the Stadium every two years. Nemea was one of the four sites for the competitions, the other sites were Delphi, Isthmia, and Olympia. All Greeks gathered for the celebration, and there was established a sacred truce to suspend all wars and hostilities so everyone could come see the competition. The track of the stadium had to be dug up, leveled, and rolled over every two years to keep its level below the water channel on the sides. Found in the excavation of the site are two black marble bases that may have been where the victors of the games stood.

The Oikoi
South of the Temple of Zeus, there are nine poorly preserved buildings, now commonly called oikoi. The Greek word “oikos”, usually meaning “house”, is used since the purpose of these buildings is unclear. These buildings face north along an east–west line and resemble the position of the treasuries at Olympia, and possibly served a similar purpose as both a treasury and meeting hall, as at Delos.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth oikos have been dated to the first half of the 5th century BC, following the Persian Wars, which suggest a general date for the others. The first oikoi were discovered during the 1920s but were not completely excavated until the 1970s. Farming activity and robbing of the building materials in the post-classical period has caused extensive damage to the site, so that only the limestone foundations of the oikoi remain.

The first oikos is the largest and measures 22.40 by 13.15 meters. It lies just east of the modern path to the Temple of Zeus. The eighth oikos, which is located much farther east, features a well in its back room that could have been used in association with preparing and eating meals. It was later remodeled as a bronze sculpting workshop. The ninth oikos was used as a cooking area for the conjoined dining establishment but suffered early destruction. The dining establishment connected to the eighth and ninth oikos measured 9.82 by 7.44 meters and had a sacrificial pit 6.20 meters west of it. The establishment allowed up to eleven dining couches and the ash and pig bones located in the pit suggest the use of ritual dining. Located just southwest of the dining establishment, there were four kilns that used to produce roof tiles most likely during the later years of the 4th century BC when the site was renovated with funding from the Macedonian kings.

title: Nemea


text:
Imagine FM

Imagine FM was an Independent Local Radio station based in Stockport broadcasting to South Manchester and Cheshire in the North West of England.

History
The station began its life as KFM, initially as a pirate local radio station based in Stockport and broadcasting to the South Manchester/North Cheshire area on 94.2 MHz and then on 1017 kHz.

KFM ran during the 1980s and then relaunched legitimately as one of the first 'incremental' local commercial stations in 1990, set up to provide more localised and specialised programming.

Stoke-on-Trent based Signal Radio assumed control of the station, following difficulties in its latter incarnation, and KFM became memorable almost solely for its 7:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. Night-time KFM output. This combined local and global new indie music with innovative DJing.

Presenters on air at this time include Craig Cash, Caroline Aherne, Jon Ronson, Terry Christian and Neil Cossar, all of which have gone on to forge successful careers in the media and performing arts.

KFM was succeeded by Signal Cheshire.

Imagine FM is now trading as an independent radio station since it was bought from UTV Radio in January 2009.

Signal Cheshire
In 1990 a new service was launched, in Cheshire, on 96.4 FM called Echo 96. In 1991, this was renamed Signal Cheshire upon the acquisition of the KFM 104.9 transmitter. Based in Stockport, Signal Cheshire targeted the surrounding area of South Manchester and much of Cheshire, opting into networked programming from the Stoke-on-Trent site by night. There was a further change of identity in 1997 to Signal FM.

In 2000, Imagine FM became the new rebranded service on 104.9 and 96.4, and when the 104.9 frequency was readvertised, the then-owners of both stations, The Wireless Group, decided that the 96.4 transmitter should return to Signal One.

The station uses the tag line Cheshire's No.1 More Music Station and prides itself on updating the area on local news and information.

The transmitter is based close to Stockport town centre.

2009 sale
On Wednesday 21 May 2008, Ofcom rejected a request by UTV to co-locate the station to Warrington alongside three of its stations. As a result of Ofcom's decision, UTV placed Imagine FM up for sale in June 2008, stating that if a buyer cannot be found by 30 June 2008 then the stations licence would be handed back to Ofcom. The station was sold by former Imagine owners UTV Radio in January 2009 and now trades as Imagine FM Limited. After 20 years of the 104.9 wavelength being based at Regent House, Stockport, Imagine FM moved to Waterloo Place, Stockport in November 2010 and now broadcasts from the legendary Strawberry Studios.

The transmitter was also relocated from Romiley to Stockport centre at the same time.

Under the ownership of the Helius Media Group, Imagine came under common ownership, and began to share programming with, High Peak Radio in the Derbyshire dales.

2021 sale and relaunch
On 17 June 2021, it was announced that Bauer Radio would acquire the Imagine Radio services and add these to the Greatest Hits Radio network, further expanding GHR's coverage of both the Greater Manchester environs (following the earlier addition of Tower FM, Wish FM, Wire FM and most recently 96.2 The Revolution to the group) and Derbyshire (where GHR already occupies the former Peak FM).

title: Imagine FM


text:
Green Zone

The Green Zone (المنطقة الخضراء) is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It is a 10 km2 area in the Karkh district of central Baghdad, Iraq, and the seat of the Iraqi government.

Pre-2003
The International Zone was a heavily fortified zone in the center of the Iraqi capital that served as the headquarters of successive Iraqi regimes. It was the administrative center for the Ba'ath Party. The area was not originally home to the villas of government officials though it was the location of a number of military bases, government ministries, and presidential palaces inhabited by Saddam Hussein and his family. The largest of these was the Republican Palace that was President Saddam Hussein's primary seat of power. The area is also known as Karradat Mariam, so named for a locally famous woman who helped the poor people of Baghdad.

Invasion of Iraq (2003)
The area was taken by US military forces in April 2003 in some of the heaviest fighting during the capture of Baghdad. In the lead-up to the US invasion of Iraq, Saddam and many high status residents of the area were evacuated because of the anticipated aerial bombardment of the area by US forces. Most of the remaining residents fled as US ground forces closed in on the Iraqi capital out of a fear of arrest by Coalition forces or possible reprisals by disgruntled Iraqis. Some of the original inhabitants who did not flee continued to live in the area but many are also undocumented squatters referred to as the "215 Apartments".

Coalition airstrikes at the outset of the fighting left a sizable number of buildings in central Baghdad abandoned. The Coalition Provisional Authority administrators who arrived on the heels of the forward invading forces decided they were ideal for use by Coalition administrators. Jay Garner, head of the reconstruction team, set up his headquarters in the former Republican Palace; other villas were taken by groups of government officials and private contractors. Eventually some five thousand officials and civil contractors settled in the area.

The abandoned buildings were not only attractive to Coalition forces, but also to homeless Iraqis. Among these were individuals who had lost their homes in the conflict, but most were urban poor who had been homeless or lived in slums before the war and saw moving into the abandoned houses as a sizable increase in their standard of living. They felt that since they were not Ba'athist, they had as much right to the vacated houses as the Coalition authorities. As of 2009, there continued to be some five thousand of these Iraqis living in the International Zone.

Under Coalition Forces control
The area came to be known as the Green Zone during the occupation to refer to an area under the full control of the Coalition Forces, in contrast to the Red Zone.

The Green Zone was the governmental headquarters of the Coalition Provisional Authority that oversaw the public administration of the country from April 2003 until June 2004, when it was succeeded by the Iraqi Interim Government. The latter facilitated the first elections held after the US-led invasion, in 2005.

Entry to the Green Zone was under the control of a small garrison of American troops who manned the various checkpoints. They were typically a battalion of soldiers at FOB Prosperity, under the command of the Multi-National Division – Baghdad. Additionally, a battalion of coalition soldiers from the Republic of Georgia also manned the entry checkpoints.

The Green Zone was completely surrounded by high concrete blast walls, T-Walls and barbed wire fences with access only available through a handful of entry control points, all controlled by Coalition troops. It is this security that made the Green Zone the safest area of Baghdad, and gave its name colloquially as "the bubble". The southern and eastern side of the zone is protected by the Tigris River – the only entrance to the zone from this side is the Arbataash Tamuz (July 14) Bridge (named for the date that the former regime came to power).

The Green Zone was frequently shelled by insurgents with mortars and rockets, though these attacks caused few casualties. In October 2004 it was hit by two suicide bombings, which destroyed the bazaar and the Green Zone Cafe. On April 12, 2007, a bomb went off in the Iraqi Parliament cafeteria, killing Mohammed Awad (a member of the Sunni National Dialogue Front) and injuring 22, including one of the vice presidents. The Green Zone was shelled with rocket and mortar fire almost daily from March 23, 2008, until May 5, 2008, causing numerous civilian and military casualties; as stated in a USA Today article, a high percentage of the rocket and mortar fire originated in Sadr City. On April 6, 2008, two U.S. soldiers were killed and 17 more wounded when a rocket or mortar attack struck inside the Green Zone. On July 22, 2010, three Triple Canopy security guard contractors (two Ugandans and one Peruvian) were killed and 15 more wounded (including two U.S. nationals) when a rocket attack struck inside the International Zone.

Handover to the Iraqi government
Since the handover of sovereignty to Iraqis, many of the facilities in the Green Zone have been turned over to the new Iraqi government. A number of embassies are located there. The largest embassy in the world, namely, the U.S. embassy is located in the southern part of the International or "Green" Zone overlooking the Tigris River.

On 1 January 2009, full control of the International Zone (formerly "Green Zone") was handed over to Iraqi security forces, though the Zone remained off-limits to the public. This changed on 4 October 2015, when it was opened to the public with certain restrictions, and again on 10 December 2018, when parts of the Green Zone were opened to the public without restrictions for the first time in over 15 years.

2020 Rocket Attack
On 8 January 2020, following the assassination of Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, two Katyusha rockets struck within the Green Zone.

Public Administration

 * Council of Representatives
 * Council of Ministers (The General Secretariat)
 * Supreme Judicial Council
 * National Security Council
 * CTS headquarters
 * Independent High Electoral Commission main office
 * Commission of Integrity
 * The Republican Palace, former Royal Palace
 * Unfinished addition to Ba'ath Party Headquarters (Location of trial of Saddam Hussein) – pictured in gallery, below

Embassies

 * U.S Embassy (largest embassy in the world)

Gates

 * Assassins' Gate
 * Al Quds Gate (or Jerusalem Gate)

Hotels & Resorts

 * Al Rasheed Hotel
 * Rixos Baghdad (under construction)
 * Mövenpick Baghdad (under construction)

Landmarks and Squares

 * Unknown Soldier
 * Victory Arch
 * Grand Festivities Square
 * Baghdad Clock

title: Green Zone


text:
Plone (band)

Plone are an electronic music band from Birmingham, England.

Career
Plone formed in late 1994 when Mark Cancellara and Mike Johnston started to buy old analogue keyboards and guitar effects units, and began to rehearse and make soundscapes under the name Rehab. Johnston was living with Billy Bainbridge (who was in another band at the time, Supernal, also containing members of electro band sol dat) who bought himself a keyboard and joined the band, changing their name to Plone.

The band started gigging as support to local bands such as Pram and Broadcast. In 1997, the band was approached by Wurlitzer Jukebox who released the single, "Press a Key". On the strength of this the band was signed to Warp and, in September 1998, released the single "Plock". This was tipped as one of the singles of the year by NME, Melody Maker and Dazed & Confused.

Rob Mitchell (who had originally signed the band to Warp) was diagnosed with cancer in 2001 and died in September that year, which caused their second album to never officially be released. Although never released, it has appeared on torrent and other file-sharing sites on the internet.

Bainbridge went on to play keyboards with Broadcast (on the 'Ha Ha Sound' tour), and is now a member of Seeland with Tim Felton (now also ex-Broadcast), and released a single "Wander" / "Pherox" on Duophonic in 2005. Johnston went on to form Mike in Mono, and is also 'Clive 2' in ZX Spectrum Orchestra and a member of the Modified Toy Orchestra.

Mark Cancellara is currently a magician's assistant and DJ.

Starting in the summer of 2009, Plone's song "Plaything" appeared on a Reese's Peanut Butter Cups commercial.

In October 2019, it was announced that Bainbridge and Johnston had reconvened as Plone and that a new album would be released on the Ghost Box label in 2020. On 25 February 2020 the new album was announced, named Puzzlewood and set to be released on 17 April. It is compiled from material recorded at various points since the “lost second album”, right up to the present day.

Band members

 * Mike 'Billy' Bainbridge
 * Michael Johnston
 * Mark Cancellara (no longer in Plone)

Singles

 * "Press A Key" (Wurlitzer Jukebox)
 * "Plock" (Warp Records)

Albums

 * For Beginner Piano (Warp Records) (1999)
 * Untitled second album - never released
 * Puzzlewood (Ghost Box Records) (2020)

Remixes

 * Warp 10+3 (2xCD) "Tricky Disco (Plone Remix)" (Warp Records)
 * "Me And Jerry D" / "On Furry Cushion (Plone Mix)" (7") "On Furry Cushion (Plone Mix)" (Octave Kitten Recordings)
 * Somniloquy (CD) "Bewitched (Plone Mix)" (Domino Recording Company Ltd.)

Tracks appeared on

 * wap100. We Are Reasonable People (CD) "Plaything" (Warp Records)
 * Round Squared: Weirdbag Vol. 1 (CD) "Somebody Is Alive And Well... Somewhere" (Round Records)
 * For Wearing A Phone W/Q (CD) "Simple Song" (not on a label)
 * The Mediterranean Beat Cook (Cassette) "Sunday Laid Moo" (Spotlight Records, Japan)
 * Music Sampler (CD) "Plock", "Top & Low Rent" (Warp Records)

title: Plone (band)


text:
Methyl salicylate

Methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen or wintergreen oil) is an organic compound with the formula C8H8O3. It is the methyl ester of salicylic acid. It is a colorless, viscous liquid with a sweet, fruity odor reminiscent of root beer (in which it is used as a flavoring), but often associatively called "minty", as it is an ingredient in mint candies. It is produced by many species of plants, particularly wintergreens. It is also produced synthetically, used as a fragrance and as a flavoring agent.

Biosynthesis and occurrence
Methyl salicylate was first isolated (from the plant Gaultheria procumbens) in 1843 by the French chemist Auguste André Thomas Cahours (1813–1891), who identified it as an ester of salicylic acid and methanol.

The biosynthesis of methyl salicylate arises via the hydroxylation of benzoic acid by a cytochrome P450 followed by reaction with a methyltransferase enzyme.

Methyl salicylate as a plant metabolite
Many plants produce methyl salicylate in small quantities. Methyl salicylate levels are often upregulated in response to biotic stress, especially infection by pathogens, where it plays a role in the induction of resistance. Methyl salicylate is believed to function by being metabolized to the plant hormone salicylic acid. Since methyl salicylate is volatile, these signals can spread through the air to distal parts of the same plant or even to neighboring plants, whereupon they can function as a mechanism of plant-to-plant communication, "warning" neighbors of danger. Methyl salicylate is also released in some plants when they are damaged by herbivorous insects, where they may function as a cue aiding in the recruitment of predators.

Some plants produce methyl salicylate in larger quantities, where it likely involved in direct defense against predators or pathogens. Examples of this latter class include: some species of the genus Gaultheria in the family Ericaceae, including Gaultheria procumbens, the wintergreen or eastern teaberry; some species of the genus Betula in the family Betulaceae, particularly those in the subgenus Betulenta such as B. lenta, the black birch; all species of the genus Spiraea in the family Rosaceae, also called the meadowsweets; species of the genus Polygala in the family Polygalaceae. Methyl salicylate can also be a component of floral scents, especially in plants dependent on nocturnal pollinators like moths, scarab beetles, and (nocturnal) bees.

Commercial production
Methyl salicylate can be produced by esterifying salicylic acid with methanol. Commercial methyl salicylate is now synthesized, but in the past, it was commonly distilled from the twigs of Betula lenta (sweet birch) and Gaultheria procumbens (eastern teaberry or wintergreen).

Uses
Methyl salicylate is used in high concentrations as a rubefacient and analgesic in deep heating liniments (such as Bengay) to treat joint and muscular pain. Randomised double blind trials report that evidence of its effectiveness is weak, but stronger for acute pain than chronic pain, and that effectiveness may be due entirely to counterirritation. However, in the body it metabolizes into salicylates, including salicylic acid, a known NSAID.

Methyl salicylate is used in low concentrations (0.04% and under) as a flavoring agent in root beer, chewing gum and mints. When mixed with sugar and dried, it is a potentially entertaining source of triboluminescence, for example by crushing Wint-O-Green Life Savers in a dark room. When crushed, sugar crystals emit light; methyl salicylate amplifies the spark because it fluoresces, absorbing ultraviolet light and re-emitting it in the visible spectrum. It is used as an antiseptic in Listerine mouthwash produced by the Johnson & Johnson company. It provides fragrance to various products and as an odor-masking agent for some organophosphate pesticides.

Methyl salicylate is also used as a bait for attracting male orchid bees for study, which apparently gather the chemical to synthesize pheromones, and to clear plant or animal tissue samples of color, and as such is useful for microscopy and immunohistochemistry when excess pigments obscure structures or block light in the tissue being examined. This clearing generally only takes a few minutes, but the tissue must first be dehydrated in alcohol. It has also been discovered that methyl salicylate works as a kairomone that attracts some insects, such as the spotted lanternfly.

Additional applications include: used as a simulant or surrogate for the research of chemical warfare agent sulfur mustard, due to its similar chemical and physical properties, in restoring (at least temporarily) the elastomeric properties of old rubber rollers, especially in printers, as a transfer agent in printmaking (to release toner from photocopied images and apply them to other surfaces), and as a penetrating oil to loosen rusted parts.

Safety and toxicity
Methyl salicylate is potentially deadly, especially for young children who may accidentally ingest preparations containing methyl salicylate such as an essential oil solution. A single teaspoon (5 mL) of methyl salicylate contains approximately 6 g of salicylate, which is equivalent to almost twenty 300 mg aspirin tablets (5mL × 1.174g/mL = 5.87g). Toxic ingestions of salicylates typically occur with doses of approximately 150 mg/kg body weight. This can be achieved with 1 mL of oil of wintergreen, which equates to 140mg/kg of salicylates for a 10kg child (22lbs). The lowest published lethal dose is 101 mg/kg body weight in adult humans, (or 7.07 grams for a 70 kg adult). It has proven fatal to small children in doses as small as 4 mL. A seventeen-year-old cross-country runner at Notre Dame Academy on Staten Island died in April 2007 after her body absorbed methyl salicylate through excessive use of topical muscle-pain relief products (using multiple patches against the manufacturer's instructions).

Most instances of human toxicity due to methyl salicylate are a result of overapplication of topical analgesics, especially involving children. Salicylate, the major metabolite of methyl salicylate, may accumulate in blood, plasma or serum which may help professionals to confirm a diagnosis of poisoning in hospitalized patients or to assist in an autopsy.

Compendial status

 * British Pharmacopoeia
 * Japanese Pharmacopoeia

title: Methyl salicylate


text: Category:Belarusian politicians

title: Category:Belarusian politicians


text:
Cockney Wanker

Cockney Wanker is a character created by Graham Dury and Simon Thorpe in Viz based on a stereotyped male Cockney. Wanker speaks in rhyming slang (often slang invented by the writers) and spends his days drinking and selling stolen or unworkable goods to passers-by from an East End market stall. Another of Wanker's specialities is trading used cars. Playing upon the stereotype of the indigenous population of London being fantasists, Wanker often buys a car, sells it back to the same person for the same amount of money, then declares the transaction to have been "A nice little earner!" He wears cheap gold jewellery or Argos bling and 'Laahndan' gangster dark glasses, and is often seen smoking a cigar.

He is a wife-beater and lifelong racist who complains about "Sooties", yet respects Frank Bruno. He is established as a royalist, especially supportive of the Queen Mother, spouting received wisdom such as "Ninety Free she is. Ninety Free. Wahn the bladdy war for us she did!"

Wanker's appearance is based on a combination of a stereotypical London taxi driver and Mike Reid's character Frank Butcher from EastEnders. His characterisation also draws elements from David Jason's "Del Trotter" in Only Fools and Horses. Other characters in the strip closely resemble EastEnders characters, e.g. Shirl, his long suffering and battered wife (Kathy Beale) and Lou, Shirl's fearsome old-school East End mother (Lou Beale).

title: Cockney Wanker


text:
Pram (band)

Pram are a British post-rock band formed in Birmingham, England in 1988 by Rosie Cuckston (vocals, keyboards), Matt Eaton (guitar), Andy Weir (drums), and Samantha Owen (bass). Subsequent lineups have changed frequently, most notably with Cuckston's departure in 2008. Their electronic pop sound, described by AllMusic as "equally quaint and unsettling," employs unconventional instruments and draws on stylistic influences such as krautrock, exotica, and dub.

The group signed to Too Pure Records in 1993, where they released their debut LP The Stars Are So Big, The Earth Is So Small... Stay as You Are. They later signed to Domino. Following the 2007 album The Moving Frontier, they took a lengthy hiatus, returning in 2018 with Across the Meridian.

Early years
Rosie Cuckston, Matt Eaton and Andy Weir grew up together attending Harrogate Grammar School in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. In the late 1980s Cuckston and Eaton moved to Birmingham to study at Birmingham Polytechnic (now Birmingham City University), where Cuckston met Shropshire-born Samantha "Sam" Owen by chance (at a local supermarket's Singles Night). Weir had moved to London to study art, but kept in touch: in the meantime, Cuckston and Eaton played together in bands and got as far as recording in commercial studios, but Eaton would later recall that "the process didn’t lend itself to diversity and experimentation." In 1988, Weir reunited with the other three and they began playing music together in Birmingham under the temporary name Hole (at that point, performing solely with vocals and a homemade theremin).

Some time later Hole changed their name to Pram, with Cuckston singing and playing keyboards, Eaton mostly playing guitar, Weir drumming, and Owen playing bass guitar. A little later the group added a fifth member, public school-educated Max Simpson, on keyboard and sampler. Over time, the various band members introduced their multi-instrumental skills to the project. Sam Owen and Matt Eaton frequently shared bass guitar and six-string guitar roles (as well as adding to the keyboards), while Owen also performed on various woodwind and reed instruments as well as singing backing vocals. The band were also quick to incorporate unusual instruments, including toys, into their sound - their performance and recording armoury included the theremin, a zither, a toy piano, a glass hammer, a glockenspiel, and a Hawaiian bubble machine.

Pram's name emphasised their unearthly, childlike tone and presentation, with Rosie Cuckston's eerie vocals and lyrics dealing with depression, loneliness and the dark side of childhood. The band's early recordings had a Krautrock-influenced blend of rhythmic guitar, keyboards and percussion which would eventually see them associated with the emerging post-rock genre, as would other elements of their work (although the band have rejected the label). The band was also inspired by multimedia and by memories of broadcast material: Sam Owen has commented that "in some ways film, animation, children's TV, Play for Today and public information broadcasts all lodged their spirit into our songs as much as the music we listened to.".

In 2011, Matt Eaton recalled "there was never any discussion at that time what the group would sound like. We appropriated some of the working methods of Can and Faust... if a piece had a similarity/reminded someone of another work it was generally rejected. The emphasis was on new. We were inspired a lot by groups like The Slits, and especially The Raincoats. They invented their own ways of playing music - that's a surefire way towards artistic fulfilment." Other cited influences on the nascent Pram included Sonic Youth, Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, The Fall, Big Black, The Residents and Alice Coltrane as well as various dub and bhangra artists.

Too Pure years
Pram's first mini-LP, Gash was self-released on their own label 'Howl Records' and sold by mail order and at gigs. While much harsher and more immediate than the band's subsequent recordings, it presented them as an inventive and dedicated experimental band and got them early attention from record labels.

Pram's growing reputation soon engaged the interest of Too Pure Records (then home to Stereolab, Mouse on Mars and PJ Harvey). Signing to Too Pure in 1993, Pram embarked on the release of several increasingly sophisticated recordings, the first of which was the Iron Lung EP.

Andy Weir left shortly after the release of the EP and was replaced as drummer by Daren Garratt, who would perform on all subsequent recordings until the dawn of the new millennium. This new line-up gelled instantly and would write, record and mix the band's debut album, 1993's The Stars Are So Big, The Earth Is So Small... Stay as You Are in time to meet their agreed, scheduled September release date. During the recording sessions, a trumpeter (credited only as "The Verdigris Horn") also joined the band and played on several album tracks, including the quarter-hour "In Dreams You Too Can Fly".

In April 1994, Pram released the Meshes EP, which was followed in September by their second album Helium. This record featured increasing use of the sampler. Pram's subsequent recordings began to show a marked interest in exotica.

Although their third album, 1995's Sargasso Sea, was awarded a rating of 0/10 when reviewed by the NME (which Pram took as a compliment), the band continued to gain momentum and popularity. Despite this, the band's sales were insufficient to save their business relationship with Too Pure, and the label dropped the band in late 1995. Pram have acknowledged that, despite the end of the business relationship, the label had always respected their artistic integrity and let them be themselves.

Between labels
For a couple of years, Pram performed and recorded without a long-term record deal. Their first release during this period was a 1995 self-released cassette compilation of early demos and live recordings called Perambulations.

The band's next EP, Music for Your Movies, was released in November 1996 through Stereolab's label Duophonic Records. It was followed by the vinyl-only "Omnichord/Sixty Years of Telephony" single on the small independent label Wurlitzer Jukebox Records. Another non-album single, "The Last Astronaut", was released in 1997 on the Kooky label. Also in 1997, the band expanded and reissued their debut EP Gash as a full-length album on the æ label, adding five tracks from Perambulations and doubling the length.

Pram's lineup changed several times during this period. A theremin player known only as "The Colonel" joined the band in 1996, bringing his own home-made theremin with him. By late 1997, Daren Garratt would be replaced on drums by Mark Butterworth, although pre-recorded material with Daren would continue to feature on records for the following two years. Former Long Fin Killie drummer Dave Turner would also have a stint with the band.

Domino years, Part 1
By 1998, Pram had found a new home at Domino Records (distributed by Merge Records in the USA). Their fourth album, North Pole Radio Station (which had originally been recorded for release on Wurlitzer Jukebox before the label shut down) was released on Domino in March 1998. A related EP called Sleepy Sweet was released the following August.

In 1998, Pram recorded the soundtrack to Martin Davies of bolexbrothers 10-minute animated film "Keep in a Dry Place and Away From Children" and in 1999, they released it as an EP, including a remix by Mouse on Mars. Also in 1999, Domino collected various single and EP tracks from the previous two years and compiled them on the Telemetric Melodies compilation. These were the final recordings to feature Daren Garratt on drums (with the notable exceptions of the "Last Astronaut" 7", the Sleepy Sweet EP and around half of the tracks on the North Pole Radio Station album).

By 2000, three new members had joined Pram - former Broadcast drummer Steve Perkins, multi-instrumentalist Nick Sales (of the long-running Birmingham performance art group Blissbody) and trumpeter Alex Clare. All three performed on the band's fifth album, The Museum of Imaginary Animals which was released in 2000. The album featured the single "The Owl Service", named after the Alan Garner book of the same name.

The Somniloquy LP was released in 2001, featuring both new tracks and remixes of various recent album tracks and singles. Remix contributors were Andy Votel, fellow Brummie experimentalists Plone and Tele:funken (the latter credited as "Terry Funken").

Domino years, Part 2
Pram's sixth album - 2003's Dark Island - proved to be more of a breakthrough in terms of the band's profile. One of its songs, "Track of the Cat", was used on a BT Group advert. A remix of "Simon from Sydney/Untitled 2", commissioned by Warp Records, was used on Volkswagen's "30 years in the Making" advertising campaign. By now, the band's lineup had changed again. While Steve Perkins had drummed on three tracks on Dark Island, he was replaced during the sessions by Laurence Hunt. Trumpeter Hannah Baines (of Misty's Big Adventure) was briefly a member of the band for live performances in 2003. In spite of the relatively greater success of Dark Island, Pram did not release a new album for another four years.

In 2004, NME finally reversed their previous scathing opinion of Pram by tipping them as the next big band to watch out for.

In 2006, trombonist Harry Dawes (who also played theremin and stylophone) joined the band. By this time, both Sales and Clare had left for other projects.

In September 2007 Pram released their seventh studio album The Moving Frontier. It was named number 7 in Wire Magazine's Top Ten records of the year. A remix EP based on various Moving Frontier tracks, Prisoner of the Seven Pines, followed in 2008 as did a full self-released collection of the band's visual work (short films, music videos and animations), collated on a limited edition 90-minute DVD called Shadow Shows of the Phantascope These would be the band's last commercial releases for a decade.

Release hiatus/work in other artistic areas
Following the release of Prisoner of the Seven Pines and Shadow Shows of the Phantascope, Rosie Cuckston permanently left the band in 2008 to concentrate on academia (and, later, politics). Partly as a consequence of this, Pram went into a period of dormancy (as far as commercial releases were concerned) for almost a decade. The remaining band members worked on other projects, both separately and together.

In 2010 and 2001, Pram collaborated with visual artist "Film Ficciones" (filmmaker Scott Johnston) on a large scale multi platform show that used early cinematic techniques, shadow-play, theater and a live musical performance in silhouette to soundtrack a three-screen film produced by Johnston and the band. The piece "Shadow Shows" premiered at Supersonic Festival Birmingham, touring to Germany and then headlining the closing day of the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2011. In 2012 the group recorded a series of experimental works at Jochen Hans Irmler's Klangbad Studio, with the intention of releasing a new LP of experimental works.

As Pram, the group conducted workshops in sound art and field recording, producing as yet unreleased work that was performed live in 2016.

Now working as a semi-instrumental project, with an increased interest in film and site-specific work, the band performed at the Imaginary Musics festival in Switzerland in May 2017 (playing an audio-visual "Music for Kopfkino" set) and at a combined sound-art installation and concert ('Under the Blossom That Hangs On The Bough') in Birmingham's Martineau Gardens as part of the for-Wards project and festival for June 2017.

Return to album releases
In 2018 Pram released a new album, Across the Meridian, on Domino Records (with Sam Owen now handling vocals). The album was launched at a Club Integrale Midlands concert at the Edge, on 20 July 2018, followed by concerts at The Lexington, London, on 22 July and the Soup Kitchen, Manchester, on 26 July (with Fliss Kitson of The Nightingales playing drums).

During 2019 the band were working on further editing and arranging for the 2012 Klangbad Studio session recordings.

Work as remixers
Pram have remixed LFO and the Aphex Twin for the Warp Records 10th anniversary compilation. They have also remixed a song for the Indian singer Mohammed Rafi.

Outside band activities
Rosie Cuckston recorded songs with Lætitia Sadier as Monade in the late 90s. She appeared on their "M Is The Thirteenth Letter/Monade" and "Split" singles.

Matt Eaton produces his own music under the name 'Micronormous' and has released a number of tracks on compilation albums - in Autumn 2009 he was reporting as working on an album for Warm Circuit records (home of the Modified Toy Orchestra). Eaton also DJs with Mark Cancellara (ex-Plone) at Silver Dollar, a reggae club in Birmingham.

Sam Owen and Max Simpson record and perform their own work as 'Moths of the Moon'. Their first mini-LP 'Another Place' was released in July 2021 on Ondes Positives Recordings.

Current members

 * Sam Owen (vocals, flute, clarinet, soprano saxophone, accordion, keyboards, melodica, guitar, bass guitar)
 * Matthew Eaton (guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, sampler, strings)
 * Max Simpson (sampler, keyboards, bass guitar, melodica, synthesisers)
 * Harry Dawes (trombone, theremin, stylophone)

Past members

 * Rosie Cuckston (vocals, keyboards)
 * Laurence Hunt (drums)
 * Andy Weir (drums)
 * Daren Garratt (drums)
 * Steve Perkins (drums)
 * Nick Sales (zither, theremin, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, sampler, melodica)
 * Alex Clare (trumpet)
 * Dave Turner (drums)
 * Mark Butterworth (drums)
 * Hannah Baines (trumpet, cello)
 * "Mr. Verdigris Horn" (horns) ''AKA "Verdigris", "Mr. Verdigris", "Verdigris Al", "The Mysterious Verdigris Horn"
 * "The Colonel" (theremin)

Albums

 * The Stars Are So Big, The Earth Is So Small... Stay as You Are (1993), Too Pure
 * Helium (1994), Too Pure
 * Sargasso Sea (1995), Too Pure
 * North Pole Radio Station (1998), Domino
 * The Museum of Imaginary Animals (2000), Domino
 * Dark Island (2003), Domino
 * The Moving Frontier (2007), Domino
 * Across the Meridian (2018), Domino

Singles and EPs

 * Gash (1992), Howl - original 6-song EP
 * Iron Lung EP (1993), Too Pure
 * Meshes EP (1994), Too Pure
 * Music for Your Movies EP (1996), Duophonic
 * Omnichord (1997), Wurlitzer Jukebox
 * Sleepy Sweet EP (1998), Domino
 * The Last Astronaut (1998), Kooky
 * Keep in a Dry Place and Away From Children (1999), Domino
 * The Owl Service (2000), Domino
 * Somniloquy (2001), Domino - mini-album
 * Prisoner of the Seven Pines EP (2008), Domino

Compilations

 * Perambulations (1995) - self-released on 'Howl Record'. Cassette-only collection of early recordings, some live.
 * Gash (1997), æ. Debut EP expanded to album length via the addition of 5 songs from Perambulations
 * Telemetric Melodies (1999), Domino. Album collecting various single/EP tracks from 1997 to 1999

Compilation appearances

 * Brum Brum (1989, Pram's song "Jack Sabbath" appears on this compilation, along with other Brummie bands)

 * In The Light Of Time: UK Post-Rock and Leftfield Pop 1992 - 1998 (Jumbo Records, 2023)

DVDs

 * Shadow Shows of the Phantascope (2008)

title: Pram (band)