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User:Zanimum/Wikijunior PR test

Hello all,

Wikimedia, a charitable organization that has created the infamous Wikipedia encyclopedia, has now got a sizable grant from the Beck Foundation to create a kids magazine in English. Eventually, we hope the Wikijunior project to expand our magazine into at least 10 languages, and distribute to all corners of the areas of the world, for as minimal a price as possible.

We're looking for an illustrator/cartoonist to join our ranks of volunteers. Applicants will have the chance to design the character of "Kiki", a curious Hawaiian girl who appears in various spots of our magazine.

If you want to try your hand, the rules and requirements are below. We're only looking for a design right now. We'll recruit others to illustrate each issue if you're not wanting to commit actual illustrating the magazine. No matter what, every issue of the magazine will include credit to you. Remember, the more you have fun, the better it'll turn out. Anything goes really. As long as it looks good, I'm honestly open to any style, whatsoever.

As magazine art director, I will narrow down all of the entries to my 3-5 favourites, at which point the Wikijunior community will decide.

Our first issue will either be Big Cats, the Solar System, or South America, depending on which one our writing team ends up writing first.

Any questions, post here, or e-mail nicholasmoreau@gmail.com. The project is being developed at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikijunior.

What to draw:
 * Kiki's whole body: climbing, shocked, thinking
 * Kiki's face, by itself: confused, happy, cringing

 * At least one must be inked, not necessarily coloured, and at least one must be left as the original pencil rough, not cleaned up. The other four drawings can be in whatever state.
 * You can omit one of the necessary drawings, if you so choose. Don't worry, I won't hold it against you.

Criteria:
 * She should preferably be Hawaiian. But no grass skirts. A flower in her hair might be okay, depending on how it's done, but she's just your average girl, she doesn't work at a tourist giftshop, getting people lei'd.
 * She should be a proper weight; not anorexic, not obese. Not to rule out something design well like Violet Incredible, the highly exaggerated look.
 * She can be nerdy, but don't make her gawky.
 * She should be at least relatively attractive.
 * She's intelligent, curious, asks tons of questions.
 * I'd love if her clothing could be timeless. Fairly in style, but not fashion-forward. No Velmas.
 * Make sure its possible to draw her doing anything. The illustrations shouldn't have to faked toooo much.
 * As for style, don't do anything stoopid. You're designing for 8-11 year olds, they generally don't want Precious Moments. (http://www.preciousmoments.com/)

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

title: User:Zanimum/Wikijunior PR test


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Vanderbilt Cup

The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing.

History
An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held on October 8 on a course set out in Nassau County on Long Island, New York. The announcement that the race was to be held caused considerable controversy in New York, bringing a flood of legal actions in an attempt to stop the race. The politicians soon jumped in, holding public hearings on the issue. Vanderbilt prevailed and the inaugural race was run over a 30.24 mi course of winding dirt roads through the Nassau County area.

Vanderbilt put up a large cash prize hoping to encourage American manufacturers to get into racing, a sport already well organized in Europe that was yielding many factory improvements to motor vehicle technology. The race drew the top drivers and their vehicles from across the Atlantic Ocean, some of whom had competed in Europe's Gordon Bennett Cup. The first Long Island race featured seventeen vehicles and the newspaper and poster art promotion drew large crowds hoping to see an American car defeat the mighty European vehicles. However, George Heath won the race in a Panhard and another French vehicle, a Darracq, took the Cup the next two years straight. Crowd control was a problem from the start and after a spectator, Curt Gruner, was killed in 1906, the race was cancelled. Meanwhile, in France, the first Grand Prix motor racing event had been run on June 26, 1906, under the auspices of the Automobile Club de France in Le Mans. One of the competitors was American Elliot Shepard, the son of Margaret Vanderbilt-Shepard and a cousin of William Kissam Vanderbilt.

Learning from his cousin about the success of the French Grand Prix and the rapid expansion of Grand Prix racing in other European countries, William Vanderbilt conceived a way to solve the safety issue as well as improve attendance to his race. Vanderbilt formed a company to build the Long Island Motor Parkway, one of the country's first modern paved parkways that could not only be used for the race but would open up Long Island for easy access and economic development. Construction began in 1907 of the multimillion-dollar toll highway, to run from the Kissena Corridor in Queens County over numerous bridges and overpasses to Lake Ronkonkoma, a distance of 48 mi. The 1908 race was held over parts of the new highway and much to the delight of the large crowd on hand, 23-year-old local hero George Robertson from Garden City, New York became the first American to win the event driving the American Locomobile, which was the company's first gas-powered car and designed by famed engineer Andrew L. Riker (built in Bridgeport, Connecticut) (in 1908, George Robertson (wearing #16) took the win in this car, ahead of fellow Locomobile pilot Joe Florida in third, becoming the first United States-built car to win in international competition).

The Vanderbilt Cup was held successfully on Long Island until 1911 when it was showcased at Savannah, Georgia in combination with the American Grand Prize. The next year it moved to a racecourse in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, then for three years in California: Santa Monica in 1914 and 1916, San Francisco in 1915. The race was canceled after the United States joined the Allies in World War I in 1917. Some of the drivers who participated in the Vanderbilt Cup became famous names, synonymous with automobiles and racing such as Louis Chevrolet, Vincenzo Lancia and Ralph DePalma.

The Vanderbilt Cup was not held again until 1936 when William Kissam Vanderbilt II's nephew, George Washington Vanderbilt III picked up the cause and sponsored a 300 mi race at the new facilities at Roosevelt Raceway. Once again, the Europeans were enticed by the substantial prize money and Scuderia Ferrari entered three Alfa Romeo racers. A lack of American competition and a less-than-exciting course layout saw the race run for only two years, both won by Europeans.

Trophies
The original Cup is cast of silver and measures 2.5 feet (0.76 m) in height. It bears the image of William K. Vanderbilt II driving his record-setting Mercedes at the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1904. The trophy today is stored at a Smithsonian Institution storage facility and is not available to be seen by the public.

The George Vanderbilt Cup is on display at Museo Nicolis in Verona.

1960s attempted revivals

After the 1937 event, the Vanderbilt name would not return to the United States motor racing scene for more than twenty years. During the 1960s, in an attempt to "leverage the legacy" the of Vanderbilt Cup history and name, the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) sanctioned several events featuring tertiary levels of competition, with the exception of the 1960 event, which drew two notable drivers: Jim Rathmann and Rodger Ward. Sponsored by Cornelius Vanderbilt IV, the 1960 race was run as a Formula Junior event and held again at Roosevelt Raceway. In 1965, 1967, and 1968, the Bridgehampton Sports Car Races were billed as the Vanderbilt Cup. Upon conclusion of the SCCA-sanctioned Bridgehampton event in 1968, the Vanderbilt Cup name disappeared for 28 years.

Revival trophy
In 1996, the sport of Indy car racing had become embroiled in a "Split" between Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) and the Indy Racing League (IRL). Tony George, the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IRL, announced that the top 25 entries in IRL points standings would be guaranteed starting positions in the 1996 Indianapolis 500. That would leave only 8 "at-large" spots for the CART-based teams. On December 18, 1995 CART teams, convinced they were being deliberately locked out from the 1996 Indy 500, and the victims of a "power grab" by Tony George, announced their intentions to boycott that event. The owners, along with CART president and CEO Andrew Craig, jointly announced plans for a new race, the Inaugural U.S. 500, to be held at Michigan International Speedway the same day.

In an attempt to enhance the prestige of their new event and in recognition of William Kissam Vanderbilt's place in automotive racing history, CART had a facsimile of the original Vanderbilt Cup created as the winner's trophy for the 1996 U.S. 500. After only one running, the U.S. 500 on Memorial Day weekend was discontinued. The U.S. 500 name was instead used for the July race (formerly known as the Michigan 500).

After serving as the U.S. 500 winner's trophy through 1999, CART designated the Vanderbilt Cup as its series championship trophy in 2000. Names of U.S. 500 winners from 1996 to 1999, and the CART series champions from 2000 on-wards, were to be etched into the new Cup. Upon CART's demise in 2003 its successor, the Champ Car World Series (CCWS), continued using the Vanderbilt Cup copy.

After the bankruptcy of the CCWS in 2008 its assets were purchased by the IRL, unifying the most prestigious level of American open-wheel racing under a single sanctioning body. Tony George expressed an interest in having the Vanderbilt Cup copy replace the IRL's then-current Indy car National Champion's trophy, known as the Silver Cup. However, no change was made. Since the 2011 season the IRL - rebranded as the IndyCar Series since 2012 - has awarded National Champions the Astor Challenge Cup.

title: Vanderbilt Cup


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W.I.T.C.H.

W.I.T.C.H. (stylised as W.i.t.c.h.) is an Italian fantasy Disney comics series created by Elisabetta Gnone, Alessandro Barbucci, and Barbara Canepa. The series features a group of five teenage girls who become the guardians of the classical elements of energy, water, fire, earth, and air, and protectors of the mythical Kandrakar, the center of the universe. The story follows them as they handle their new magical powers and responsibilities, as well as their lives as adolescents. The comics art style draws heavy inspiration from manga and its drawing conventions. The names of the five characters form the titular acronym, despite the characters not actually being witches.

The series was first published by Disney Italy in April 2001. The final issue of W.I.T.C.H. was released in October 2012, concluding the series' 139 issue run.

The comics spawned a franchise with a variety of printed media, including both reprinted and original content, as well as audiovisual media. The first two arcs (The Twelve Portals and Nerissa's Revenge) were loosely adapted into an animated series, itself influenced by anime, which aired from 2004 to 2006. In 2005, a video game based on the franchise was released in Europe, and in 2007 a soundtrack album including theme songs for the TV series as well as music inspired by the comics was released.

In 2004, series creators Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa unsuccessfully sued Disney for rights to W.I.T.C.H. after issues with management at the publishing company. As a result, Canepa founded her own comics company.

On October 4, 2023, a reboot graphic novel, W.I.T.C.H. - Il cuore dell'amicizia, was published in Italy.

Background and production
Upon seeing the success of PKNA - Paperinik New Adventures with young male audiences, some of the writers began thinking of a similar concept that would work for young female audiences. Elisabetta Gnone, Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa came up with the original concepts and designs. Gnone co-wrote the first issue of the series with Francesco Artibani. Gnone and Artibani originally created a concept that would last nine issues, but upon seeing the impressive sales numbers, a further three issues were ordered, rounding out the 12-issue first saga.

In 2004, tensions arose between the W.I.T.C.H. artists and Disney's publishing (Buena Vista). Series creators Barbucci and Canepa unsuccessfully sued Disney for the initial rights to W.I.T.C.H., with Artibani acting as a witness in support of the two artists in court. After the lawsuit failed, Artibani and other artists decided to end their working relationships with Disney due to the "difficult management and company."

After breaking off with Buena Vista and in the middle of her trial against them, Canepa created her own comic book company, Soleil. She described it as a way to become "more sincere and uncensored" with her comics. Soleil was unable to secure the rights to W.I.T.C.H. from Disney, and instead focused on original projects. Canepa stated that she intended to keep all the rights to her comics; she said, "After my experience with Disney, it's important for me to protect myself."

Around the same time as the rights trial, Disney filed an unsuccessful copyright infringement lawsuit against Rainbow SpA, the studio behind Winx Club (a series cited as the main competition for W.I.T.C.H.). In its April 2004 suit, the corporation claimed the Winx Club concept copied that of W.I.T.C.H.; all of the claims were rejected in August, when Rainbow SpA won the case against Disney by providing proof that Winx Club production began before the W.I.T.C.H. comic was available.

Characters
The main characters are the five current Guardians (with respective elemental powers in parentheses):

 * Wilhelmina "Will" Vandom (energy)
 * Irma Lair (water)
 * Taranee Cook (fire)
 * Cornelia Hale (earth)
 * Hay Lin (air)

Each of the five Guardians' powers are fueled by Kandrakar itself, and transmitted to the Heart via the Aurameres, the physical representations of the five elements in the forms of colored orbs. The Aurameres grant the same powers to each generation of Guardians.

When the Guardians transform, they change form and grow wings. The wings do not allow them to fly (except for Hay Lin), but after they get the New Powers they can all fly.

Heatherfield
Located on Earth, this city is the home of the five Guardians.

Kandrakar
A sacred, ethereal, spiritual world in the very center of the entire universe itself, where time and space do not exist. In the Fortress, the wisest of thousands of other planets and worlds are gathered to discuss the state of the worlds which are of their concern. They simply observe and do not interfere. The fifth and last Guardian is rightful keeper of the mystical Heart of Kandrakar, an ancient and immensely powerful crystal orbicular pendant which gives the girls' their ability to transform into their taller, stronger and more elaborate Guardian costumes. Hay Lin's paternal grandmother lives here with the Oracle when she "dies" unexpectedly on Earth.

Metamoor
Metamoor is a world ruled by the Escanor, who originates from Earth. For a long time Metamoor, and its capital Meridian, was isolated from the rest of the universe because it was ruled by the evil prince Phobos. With help of the Guardians and the Meridian people the rightful heiress to the throne, Elyon, could reign again. Elyon is the last of the Escanor.

Arkhanta
Arkhanta is an Earth-like world ruled by Ari. Ari accused the Oracle for not wanting to cure his son. Even the banshee Yua was unable to help him. With trickery, Ari could keep Yua in his scarlet citadel forever. Despite all this, Ari brought prosperity to his people. Knowing they had received everything thanks to the powers of Yua, the people are both happy and disturbed. Fortunately, after the Guardians released Yua and healed Ari's son Maqui, any threat of Yua's anger was over. On his turn Ari ended his hostility against Kandrakar.

Basiliade
Basiliade is the home world of the Oracle (Himerish), Endarno, and Orube. It makes up part of a binary solar system.

Part I: The Twelve Portals
The first saga introduced a world called Metamoor, ruled by a tyrannical ruler named Prince Phobos. Years ago, Prince Phobos caused the disappearances of his parents and took over the capital city of Metamoor, Meridian. To prevent him from spreading tyranny throughout the universe, the Oracle - the ruler of Kandrakar - lowered a veil over the planet, separating Metamoor from the rest of the universe under Kandrakar's protection. However, twelve portals opened between Meridian and Earth, creating a series of passageways for the desperate refugees and monsters of Meridian to infiltrate Earth. The portals also weakened the veil; in order to prevent its total collapse, generations of Guardians were sent to protect it. In the present day, five girls are chosen to become the new Guardians: Will Vandom, the Guardian of Energy and the Keeper of the Heart; Irma Lair, the new Guardian of Water; Taranee Cook, the Guardian of Fire; Cornelia Hale, the Guardian of Earth; and Hay Lin, the Guardian of Air. Together, they must prevent the collapse of the veil and promote justice throughout the universe under the guidance of the Oracle of Kandrakar.

The first saga also introduced Elyon Brown, a childhood friend of Cornelia. The Guardians' first mission was to close the twelve portals, but as they found out for themselves, Elyon had betrayed them. It is revealed that Elyon is Prince Phobos's younger sister who had disappeared from Meridian more than a decade ago. After Prince Phobos's right-hand man, Lord Cedric, revealed Elyon of her true alien heritage, he manipulated her into thinking that the Guardians were her enemies. The Guardians had to find a way to defeat Prince Phobos and bring Elyon back home. In Meridian, however, there is a rebellion taking place led by Caleb, whom Cornelia had seen in her dreams for years. They sought to overthrow Prince Phobos and put Elyon on the throne, as she is the legitimate ruler. The Guardians later worked together with the rebels and eventually, Elyon realized her mistake for trusting Lord Cedric. Prince Phobos had planned to absorb his sister's powers for himself during her coronation, but with the Guardians' help Elyon escaped and later battled against him for the crown. The final battle was successful, but not without some losses. Prince Phobos transformed Caleb back into a crystal flower, his most primitive form as a Murmurer. This devastated Cornelia greatly to the point where it would haunt her in the next series. As Elyon is crowned Queen and the Light of Meridian, the world of Metamoor is finally liberated. The Oracle lifted the veil off of Metamoor and light shines on the world once again. Both Prince Phobos and Cedric are imprisoned in the Tower of Mist.

Part II: Nerissa's Revenge
The Guardians must face an old enemy of Kandrakar – Nerissa, the corrupted ex-Guardian and the previous Keeper of the Heart. When the Oracle realized how the immense power of the Heart was corrupting Nerissa, he took it away from her and gave it to Cassidy, the former Guardian of Water. Obsessed with her lost power and blinded by jealousy, Nerissa tricked Cassidy and killed her. As punishment, Nerissa was stripped of her magic and sentenced to sleep, alone and friendless, in Mount Thanos for an eternity, only until all five elements-Water, Fire, Earth, Air and Pure/Absolute Energy- united into one single being.

When Cornelia accidentally, and unknowingly, absorbed all five elements into herself, the seal on Nerissa's tomb broke, setting her free. When Caleb is kidnapped, the Guardians must face Nerissa along with her four Knights of Vengeance. While successful in their rescue mission, they end up losing Luba who sacrificed herself to save them. Hoping to steal the Heart she craved for so long, Nerissa later attacked the girls through their dreams in order to weaken them but failed. She was later successful in stealing the Heart back by tricking Will into giving it to her.

With the very symbol and essence of Kandrakar itself now entirely corrupted by Nerissa's hatred and vengeance, the former Guardian leader and her Knights of Vengeance attacked the sacred Temple of Kandrakar itself. Will later acquired the Star of Cassidy, a copy of the mystical Heart from the spirit/ghost of Cassidy, the late and original Guardian of Water. With it, Will and her fellow Guardians faced Nerissa in Kandrakar. In the final battle, Nerissa was ultimately destroyed by the combined strength of the second generation of Guardians. Despite their victory, Cornelia is deeply heartbroken when Caleb left her due to their complicated relationship.

Part III: A Crisis on Both Worlds
Crisis after crisis threatens to break up the girls once and for all. Will's father, Thomas Vandom, returns into her life after years of absence, and his intentions are anything but loving and trustful. Later, Taranee went on strike because she felt that the Oracle is using them to carry out his missions and sentences. A new character, Orube, joins the remaining Guardians on their new mission to defeat a new enemy; Ari, the powerful lord of Arkhanta and they must prevent him from rising and destroying the Oracle. Ari's son, Maqi, suffered from a strange disorder since birth and the Oracle had refused to help Ari cure his son. Angered and blinded by rage, Ari captured a banshee, named Yua, and tried to use her wish-granting power to oppose the Oracle and Kandrakar (but it could not be done). The longer Yua was held prisoner and serving as Ari's slave, the more powerful Ari becomes, and soon, he would have enough power to overthrow the Oracle.

Taranee later rejoined the quintet and together, they were able to defeat Ari and set Yua free. Liberated, Yua kidnapped Maqi because she wanted Ari to suffer for holding her imprisoned for many years against her will. Ari and the Guardians followed her into the swamp where she and her banshee sisters live and fought them to bring Maqi back. However, Maqi was nearly killed during the confusion of the battle. He was later saved and cured when the Guardians and Orube offered their magical, elemental gifts from the nymph Xin Jing herself to him.

Although their missions on the world Arkhanta was successful, the girls have a whole bunch of new problems on Earth that needs their attention: Interpol discovers the secret of the five Guardians' and wants to capture them and use their astounding abilities as Guardians of Kandrakar for their dark intentions. As if that was not enough, the girls' Astral Drops decide to rebel after months of being taken advantage of by the Guardians. The Astral Drops started to cause numerous problems between the Guardians' families, teachers, and individual boyfriends' and eventually they ran away to another city. The Guardians later recaptured the Astral Drops and decided to liberate them from slavery by sending to another city entirely.

Part IV: Trial of the Oracle
The members of the Congregation are questioning the Oracle's recent actions, and he shocked everyone by putting himself on trial. The Guardians are called in to recall his recent unsatisfactory deeds and he was later found guilty by Endarno and was banished back into his home world, Basilíade. Back home in Heatherfield, Will confronted Orube and Matt, while Principal Knickerbocker goes to drastic measures to raise the girls' grades at Sheffield. In Kandrakar, the council has elected Endarno the new Oracle. After Endarno has been chosen, he makes the life of the Guardians difficult by trying to prove to the Congregation that they are too young and immature. He also convinced the Congregation that Elyon, the queen and the Light of Meridian, is dangerous and unfit to rule over Metamoor. Many times he tried to get the Guardians to arrest their old friend and bring him the Crown of Light. But W.I.T.C.H. managed to hide Elyon from Endarno by smuggling her back to Earth and had Orube protect her. Moreover, Endarno is someone else than he appears to be...an old enemy coming back for revenge and an even bigger thirst for more power. Elyon and Yan Lin discovered that "Endarno" is actually the consciousness and evil will of Prince Phobos, who has been using the physical self of the true Endarno, in his new quest for power and revenge.

Queen Elyon then wields her vital life energy to Yan Lin, who then gives it to Will to hide within the Heart of Kandrakar for safeguarding. The Guardians were able locate the old Oracle, now called Himerish, upon the discovery of his old identity before leaving for Kandrakar, with the help of Orube. Together, they tried to free Elyon from her prison and put a stop to Cedric and Phobos before Endarno (Phobos) is formally instated as the Oracle. In the end, Himerish was able to locate the real Endarno and he, in turn, revealed to the Council that the Endarno that they knew was, in actuality, the malicious Prince Phobos' mind and spirit in his body. Elyon returned to power on her world of Meridian, Cedric was back in the Tower of Mist, and Prince Phobos, rather than being locked up in prison again, threw himself into the endless void of Kandrakar.

Part V: The Book of Elements
The five classical elements themselves have something in store for the Guardians who utilize and represent them. Each Guardian has discovered new and much stronger abilities, yet their elemental abilities are going out of control. Even the Triumvirate of Kandrakar does not have full understanding about it. At the same time, Cedric is disposed of his magical strength and power and gets a second chance from Oracle Himerish. He returns to "Ye Olde Book Shop" to live a decent life, under supervision from the Guardians. Nevertheless, he searches for a useful resource to regain his powers in hopes of getting revenge on the Guardians. He finds his luck in the Book of Elements, written by Jonathan Ludmoore (which the Guardians later found out). About a century before, Jonathan Ludmoore was an alchemist who came from Metamoor and it was Prince Phobos who had sent him to Heatherfield in order to open the Twelve Portals. After completing his mission, Ludmoore discovered that the city is a place where all five elements—Water, Fire, Earth, Air, Quintessence—met and stayed. He experimented on the elements but it trapped Ludmoore in his own book and released all five elemental stones throughout the city.

After Matt was swallowed by the Book of Elements (thanks to Cedric), the Guardians must cooperate with Cedric in order to save Matt. The book gives them riddles as clues and the Guardians must use these riddles to look for the scattered elemental stones. Endarno warned the Guardians that in order to capture these stones, they must face the Elemental Guards that stand and protect them. One by one, the girls were able to find the stones, and back in the bookstore, Cedric and Orube slowly fell deeply in love. However, the Guardians, Cedric, and Orube were sucked into the world of the book when Will refuses to surrender the Heart of Kandrakar. Cedric was later killed by Ludmoore and dissolved into ink when he tried to protect Orube from Ludmoore's deadly gaze. The Guardians later found Matt and managed to defeat Ludmoore once and for all (with Matt's help). While Orube mourns for Cedric's death, Will's mother, Susan Vandom, married her history teacher, Dean Collins. Orube left and a magical portal in the shape of the Heart of Kandrakar later appeared in the basement of the "Ye Olde Book Shop".

Part VI: Ragorlang
When Hay Lin stayed over at the Lyndons' home, she meets Karl and Tecla Ibsen, an elderly couple who appeared to have a connection with Eric's new school. Karl tells Hay Lin about the Ragorlang, a monster that absorbs the thoughts, the voices, and the sounds of its victims. Coincidentally, a few students at Eric's school are getting inactive as if they had lost their youthful strength. The same evening, Hay Lin gets attacked by a Ragorlang and was saved just in time by the other Guardians. Soon they discover who is behind the new threat: Tecla Ibsen. She wanted to be young and beautiful again and used her magical ability to conjure up and control the Ragorlangs, ordering them to steal the youthful strength of the teenagers by absorbing their thoughts and voices. The Guardians managed to defeat her and her Ragorlang. Unfortunately, Tecla returns, but as a frail, older woman, who cannot summon a fully grown Ragorlang. Tecla brainwashed a magical girl named Erin, making her believe that the Guardians are the Ragorlangs and that it was their fault that her brother, Kader, went missing. At first, Erin uses her magic to make the girls hate each other while posing as an exchange student. The Guardians eventually helped her find her brother despite their hate for her.

This saga also introduced a strange optometrist, named Folkner, who stationed himself in Sheffield to monitor the students' health. The Guardians found out that he is a Ragorlang hunter who wishes to hunt down Tecla Ibsen. She later regain full power due to leaked magics from Kandrakar and attacked the Guardians with a new pact of Ragorlangs. Despite being able to use the Shadow Heart against the Guardians, she was defeated when the last of her Ragorlangs was absorbed into a box created by Folkner. Obsessed with the dark power, Folkner unleashed the powers and became a supreme Ragorlang himself. He was later killed by the Guardians and was sucked into his own Ragorlang box at the end of the saga, and Karl and Tecla were both accepted into the Congregation of Kandrakar after admitting their mistakes.

Part VII: New Power
The Guardians must face another, more ancient enemy: Dark Mother! She was once Queen Meter of Spring and made flowers bloom beneath her feet. But when she became corrupted, she transformed into "the Dark Mother" and attacked Kandrakar with a vengeance. She was ultimately defeated by the combined strength of the elemental Queens of Water, Fire and Air and was cast into the dark void where she continued to wait patiently in chains until she could be released. In silence, Dark Mother sent a seed and planted it deep within kandrakar, where it would serve as her infiltrator against the Fortress of Light.

The five Guardians of Kandrakar each receive further developed and considerably stronger Guardian powers over the five elements upon undergoing a vision-quest to unlock the very roots of their abilities as well as their highest potential. Matt now serves as their new trainer and mentor after being recruited by the Oracle to prepare them for their upcoming battle against Dark Mother. One by one, the Guardians found the root of their elements and obtained full control over their new and much stronger abilities. Meanwhile, Dark Mother escaped (thanks to Will) and set off to take over Kandrakar. Thanks to her tree, which she had planted beforehand, Dark Mother enslaved the minds of Kandrakar, except for Yan Lin. The Guardians later faced her in one last battle and Dark Mother was sealed in a stone tomb. Oracle Himerish relinquished his place to the original Air Guardian, Yan Lin, who foresaw the incoming threat and departed without even saying goodbye.

In the side story, Susan became pregnant to Dean's child. Issue #80 focuses on the birth of Will's younger half-brother, William Vandom-Collins who happens to possess a little magic of his own.

Part VIII: Teach 2b Witch
The Guardians must find and teach the magical people of Heatherfield how to fully control their new abilities. Oracle Yan Lin assisted them by giving them new weapons to help greatly strengthen and magnify their powers and abilities as well as the key to the W.I.T.C.H. Van, a special on-the-road-school which houses five magical laboratories connected to each Guardians' elements, personalities, and skills. Kandor, a member of the Congregation is sent to be their new bus driver and care-taker. Meanwhile, a new enemy is watching their every move: Foreman Takeda the CEO and scientist of Takeshita Inc. Takeda vowed to destroy all magic because he believed that it is responsible for his daughter's illness. Mariko, his eldest daughter, discovered the Fast World and her mind now trapped there. Takeda enlisted the help of Liam, a mysterious boy that Mariko met in the Fast World and they fell in love, to spy on the Guardians and ordered him to kidnap Will's little brother. Using Liam and William as bait, Takeda lured the Guardians into his lair and used his cold technologies to trap the Guardians into the 'Fast World forever'. However, his plan was thwarted by his youngest daughter, Shinobu, who saw her father's cruelty and had him frozen by his own robotic minions.

While looking for Liam and William in the Fast World, the Guardians encounter the malicious ruler Arkaam, the White Queen, who wished to rule all of the Fast World under her tyranny and possessed a deep desire to kill the Black Queen. It is revealed that the identity of the Black Queen is Mariko's conscious and Shinobu's sister. In the confusing of their escape, Liam was killed by the White Queen after she stabbed him with her sword. Although successful in bringing William back, Will and her friends are horrified that the White Queen and her army had followed them to their world. In their last battle, invading White Queen and her army were dissipated by the Guardians' powerful sound frequency. After hearing Mariko's accusation and Shinobu's forgiveness, Takeda forgot his vendetta and rejoined his family.

 * Beginning from issue #97 onward, most W.I.T.C.H. comic issue is its own story.

Part IX: 100% Witch
Starting from issue #97 of the previous saga, each issue has its own story. The Guardians now face their daily problems from families, friends, and school. The stories ranged from facing their first day of returning to Sheffield Institute to finding out more about both of their parents' pasts and abilities. At the same time, they must face several new enemies who wanted to destroy them. Many of these villains included the Runics, a group of five evil wizards who control the dark powers of the elements; and Nihila, the Queen of Darkness who desire to weave and control everyone's destinies with her magical Loom. The series also introduced new missions where the Guardians must assist the beings of the natural worlds; from listening to the voice of the Earth to helping Mareeve, the Saarineen, avoid marrying the King of the Sharks, Orristurr. Later on, the stories ranged from the girls delivering a letter to the North Pole, Dean's parents visiting the girls and their mothers having lunch together.

Part X: Ladies vs. W.I.T.C.H.
From issue number 118 onwards, the concept of arcs is dropped. All issues are self-contained stories, though issues 120, 123, and 126 are connected to each other, as the Guardians deals with siblings Lady Giga, Lady Crash and Lady Kimikal, who wanted to steal their energies. Issues 128 and 129 are also connected as it focuses on Will and Matt's fight.

Part XI: Magical Sovereigns
From issue 130 through issue 139, the saga has been named the "Magical Sovereigns", with individual stories. Elyon the Queen of Meridian returns to Kandakar in this saga, giving away missions to the Guardians in order for them to become Magical Sovereigns. Oracle Himerish also returns at Issue 139.

Special issues
Aside from the original series, the Walt Disney Company Italia had published several special issues depicting the lives of the Guardians and their friends taking places on the side lines from the original canon issues. The following is a list of special issues that have been published thus far:

 * The Year Before
 * Elyon: Return of the Queen
 * Cornelia and Caleb: A Love Not Meant to Be
 * Core of Kandrakar
 * Planet Boys
 * Orube Special
 * Two Hearts for a Ball: World Cup Special
 * Christmas Special 2004
 * Christmas Special 2005
 * Christmas Special 2006
 * W.I.T.C.H. Look Book
 * Caleb and Elyon - Two Destinies
 * W.I.T.C.H. on Stage
 * Halloween Special 2007
 * Olympic Games 2008 Special
 * Night of Magic

Critical response
Valentina De Zanche of i-D described the main characters of W.I.T.C.H. as the "emblem of the Y2K style," writing, "One of the strengths of the comic, which has become an essential model emulated by dozens of products of the same genre, was in fact to propose five protagonists with as many different and well-defined profiles in terms of character and, of course, of style and choice of looks. Despite being endowed with super powers, it was easy to empathize with one of the W.I.T.C.H. and feel like one of them, empathizing with their difficult situations and worrying about them when the secret of double identity was put at risk—always more fascinating trick than any superhero." Mara Pace of Corriere della Sera called W.I.T.C.H. a "very successful product," saying, "What prompted American Mickey Mouse managers to export this comic made in italy? The captivating narrative structure and the quality of the design, which mixes European tradition and Japanese suggestions, have certainly played a fundamental role." Beatrice Manca of Fanpage.it stated that the comic book series became a "cult," stating, "For many women now almost in their thirties, the W.I.T.C.H have been confidants, friends, models. Once transformed, with their wings and mythical green and purple costumes, they joined forces to fight enemies. But in everyday life they experienced the powers of friendship, loyalty, courage. They had their flaws: they quarreled, walked away, lied to their parents. But that's exactly what we felt close to them: they were looking for their way."

La Nazione referred to W.I.T.C.H as a "truly magical editorial phenomenon," asserting, "The masterful characterization of the characters is among the most striking strengths of the series, along with the centrality given to the emotional sphere of the heroines." Laura Thornton of Comic Book Resources compared the W.I.T.C.H comic books to the 2004 television adaptation of the same name, writing, "While both comic and show are wonderful stories, they aren't the same story. The comic puts more focus on interpersonal relationships and realistically depicting how the girls come to terms with their newfound duties and friendship, while the show focuses more on the action, adventure and laughs to be had along the way." Fumettologica included W.I.T.C.H in their "20 Comics To Remember Released In 2001" list, asserting, "Not (only) the best, not (only) guilty pleasure, but the most indicative of our memory, partly because they are truly representative of that publishing year, partly because their influence extended well beyond 2001 alone."

Sales and revenue
In 2001, W.I.T.C.H. sold more than 6 million copies in the first year of its publication, making it the most successful tween magazine launch ever. In 2004, The Walt Disney Company announced that the W.I.T.C.H. comic book series was available in more than 60 countries, with more than 1 million copies of the comic book series being sold every month. In France and Germany, more than 100 000 copies were sold monthly. In Italy, more than 200 000 copies were sold every month. The company revealed that the W.I.T.C.H. comic book series sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and generated more than 100 million dollars. In 2005, the comic book series had been released in over 65 countries. The W.I.T.C.H. franchise generated more than 500 million dollars in revenues so far, including from comic books sales. In 2022, Angelo Delos Trinos of Comic Book Resources called the comic book series a "massive success" in Scandinavia.

Accolades
In 2001, the W.I.T.C.H. comic book series won the Lucca Comics & Games' Gran Guinigi for Best Italian Series. In 2004, it won the Max & Moritz Prize for Best German-language Comic/Comic-related Publication: For Children and Young People.

Other printed media
After the success of the 2001 release of the W.I.T.C.H. comic magazines, Disney Publishing Worldwide expanded the W.I.T.C.H. franchise.

Chapter books
The W.I.T.C.H. book series consists of twenty-six books; all are adapted from the comic series by either Elizabeth Lenhard or Alice Alfonsi, but have entirely different titles than those of the graphic novel series. Each contains comic inserts from the original comics. The book series was designed for UK and USA release and preceded the graphic novel adaptation in the United States.

 * The Power of Five (Elizabeth Lenhard)
 * The Disappearance (Elizabeth Lenhard)
 * Finding Meridian (Elizabeth Lenhard)
 * The Fire of Friendship (Elizabeth Lenhard)
 * The Last Tear (Elizabeth Lenhard)
 * Illusions and Lies (Elizabeth Lenhard)
 * The Light of Meridian (Julie Komorn)
 * Out of the Dark (Julie Komorn)
 * The Four Dragons (Elizabeth Lenhard)
 * A Bridge Between Worlds (Alice Alfonsi)
 * The Crown of Light (Elizabeth Lenhard)
 * The Return of a Queen (Elizabeth Lenhard)
 * A Different Path (Elizabeth Lenhard)
 * Worlds Apart (Alice Alfonsi)
 * The Courage to Choose (Alice Alfonsi)
 * Path of Revenge (Alice Alfonsi)
 * The Darkest Dream (Alice Alfonsi)
 * Keeping Hope (Alice Alfonsi)
 * The Other Truth (Alice Alfonsi)
 * Whispers of Doubt (Alice Alfonsi)
 * A Weakened Heart (Alice Alfonsi)
 * A Choice is Made (Alice Alfonsi)
 * Farewell to Love (Alice Alfonsi)
 * Trust Your Heart (Alice Alfonsi)
 * Enchanted Waters (Alice Alfonsi)
 * Friends Forever (Alice Alfonsi)

Original Adventures
A miniseries of five chapter books were produced in 2004 and 2005, each one featuring one of the five Guardians of the Veil narrating her own story in fighting a certain antagonist relating to one of them, or ancient evil being, with her four fellow Guardians. The second book, told in the eyes of Irma Lair, has not been available at either Amazon or any other book stores; said to be the only one out of print.
 * When Lightning Strikes (by Will Vandom, Energy Guardian and Keeper of the Heart of Candracar)
 * Enchanted Music (by Irma Lair, Water Guardian)
 * Heartbreak Island (by Taranee Cook Fire Guardian)
 * Stolen Spring (by Cornelia Hale, Earth Guardian)
 * The Cruel Empress (by Hay Lin, Air Guardian)

Graphic novels
Eight graphic novels were published by Hyperion Books in the United States. They were first released in 2005, each of them containing two issues from the comic book series. Included in every graphic novel was a miniature poster relating to the W.I.T.C.H. franchise. The titles of the graphic novels are as follows:

 * 1) The Power of Friendship (Halloween and The Twelve Portals)
 * 2) Meridian Magic (The Dark Dimension and The Power of Fire)
 * 3) The Revealing (So Be It Forever and Illusions and Lies)
 * 4) Between Light and Dark (One Day You'll Meet Him and The Black Roses of Meridian)
 * 5) Legends Revealed (The Four Dragons and A Bridge Between Worlds)
 * 6) Forces of Change (The Crown of Light and The Challenge of Phobos)
 * 7) Under Pressure (I Know Who You Are and The End of a Dream)
 * 8) An Unexpected Return (The Courage to Choose and Nerissa's Seal).

Yen Press republication
In 2017, Yen Press announced at the San Diego Comic-Con that they would be reprinting the comics as W.I.T.C.H.: The Graphic Novel with new translations and will be releasing new graphic novels in the series for every 4 months beginning with the first story arc of the comic book series on Halloween. Each volume contains 3 or 4 chapters of the original comic, plus a few pages of additional content from the original magazines such as character profiles, bedrooms and wardrobes, information on various locations in the series, and how-to-draws. The books were published by Disney Comics in JY imprint. The following volumes, with some chapter names changed from the original release, have been published or announced so far:

Manga
The comic was never published in Japan, and instead a manga based on the comic, with art by Haruko Iida (飯田晴子), was published by Kadokawa Publishing (角川書店) in their monthly magazine Asuka Monthly (月刊あすか) and later collected in two tankoban volumes, upon which the comic was canceled. The paperback volumes contained covers by Daisuke Ehara (江原大介). The two volumes were also published in Italy and Eastern Europe by the Italian Disney Manga.

Indonesian version
W.I.T.C.H. has also published in Indonesia by m&c! Publishing (PT Gramedia Majalah). It ran from June 2001 until December 2006. Including extra 30 pages, and also bonuses inside of magazine.

Welcome Magazine
Welcome is a side magazine of W.I.T.C.H. In total, there are eleven issues of the magazine. It is only published in parts of Europe, and is not published in the UK or Australia. Its mascot is We, a creature from Basilíade. Welcome was included with the Italian W.I.T.C.H. magazine, starting with issue #64. The Swedish W.I.T.C.H. magazine started publishing Welcome stories much earlier, instead of publishing a separate magazine.

Lene Kaaberbøl
Danish author Lene Kaaberbøl has written nine novels set in the W.I.T.C.H. universe, which have been published in 2002 and 2003 in Denmark. The first five of them each have one of the five girls as the main character in the order of the first letters in their names (Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin).

 * When Lightning Strikes (The Heart of the Salamander)
 * Enchanted Music (The Music of the Silencer)
 * Heartbreak Island (The Fire of the Ocean)
 * Stolen Spring (Green Magic)
 * The Cruel Empress (The Gruesome Empress)

Her next series of W.I.T.C.H. pockets is called Crystal Birds. It contains the following titles:
 * The Stone Falcon
 * The Talons of the Eagle
 * The Shadow of the Owl
 * The Golden Phoenix

Scandinavian releases
Books that have been released in The Czech Republic, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Romania and Russia.

Ruben Eliassen Josefine Ottesen Maud Mangold Lene Møller Jørgensen Cecilie Eken
 * Ibenholt Pyramiden (The Ebony Pyramid)
 * Isblomsten (The Iceflower) 2004
 * Den Gyldne Kilde (The Golden Spring) 2005
 * Queen of the Night
 * The Flame of Clarity
 * The Pristine Rose
 * A Touch of a Star
 * The Wells of Fog
 * The Storms of Windmor

Soundtrack
A soundtrack album for the series was released in 2007: Music From and Inspired By W.I.T.C.H. Among other tracks inspired by the series, it includes full-length renditions of the first international TV series theme as well as the US version.

The song "The Power of Five" by Jillian Escobosa was used for promotional material, and official websites, prior to the TV series' launch. An official music video, featuring 3D models of the main characters and airing on MTV in Italy in 2007, was created by Marco Pavone for "W.I.T.C.H. Is In the House."

title: W.I.T.C.H.


text:
George Washington Vanderbilt III

George Washington Vanderbilt III (September 23, 1914 – June 24, 1961) was an American yachtsman and scientific explorer who was a member of the prominent Vanderbilt family.

Early life
Born in Newport, Rhode Island, he was the younger son of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt and Margaret Emerson. He was the brother of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. and a half-brother to William Henry Vanderbilt III from his father's first marriage to Ellen "Elsie" French. In 1915, when George was less than a year old, his father perished in the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. His inheritance was estimated as high as US$40000000 1915. He received the first quarter of his inheritance at 21, then 25, 30, and the last at 35. Contemporary newspaper articles covering the 1917 appraisal of his father's estate in the New York Surrogate's Court report that he received $2,553,204 under his father's Will.

His mother, Margaret, remarried two more times, first to Raymond T. Baker, with whom she had a daughter, Gloria Baker (1920–1975), and second, to Charles Minot Amory.

He was a grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and Alice Claypoole Gwynne and was named in honor of his great-great-uncle George Washington Vanderbilt and his great-uncle George Washington Vanderbilt II. Vanderbilt's maternal grandfather, Isaac Edward Emerson, was a very wealthy businessman who made a fortune in a variety of business ventures including patent medicines, the most notable of which was Bromo-Seltzer. A sailing enthusiast, Emerson instilled a love for the sport in young George from an early age and as an adult, he used his sailing skills and wealth for scientific research.

He attended the St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire and the Adirondack-Florida School studying at the Saranac branch in New York as well as in Miami.

Career
In 1936 and 1937, George Vanderbilt sponsored a renewal of auto races for the Vanderbilt Cup, founded by his uncle, William Kissam Vanderbilt II, in 1904.

During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy like his two brothers. He was promoted to lieutenant on May 1, 1943, and received the Legion of Merit award.

Scientific research
Vanderbilt did not attend college, but by the time he turned 21, he had already led two expeditions to Panama and Africa, with some lasting up to 10 months, bringing back various snakes, fish, insects and birds. In 1937, he went on a six month with the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences to the South Seas, bringing back 20,000 species of birds, fish and reptiles. He owned several yachts and used them to conduct scientific expeditions all over the globe. His voyages conducted important research in expeditions to Africa in 1934 and aboard the schooner Cressida, he made an ocean journey in 1937 to the South Pacific (visiting many islands with a wide geographic range) that carried out a systematic study of more than 10,000 fish specimens (434 species in 210 genera).

His fifth major expedition was on the schooner Pioneer in 1941 to the Bahamas, Caribbean Sea, Panama, Galapagos Archipelago and Mexican Pacific Islands.

He established the George Vanderbilt Foundation, of which he was president, for scientific research around marine biology. However, outside of academic circles, his important work has mostly been overshadowed by the lavish lifestyles and the Vanderbilt mansions of some of the other members of the Vanderbilt family.

Personal life
George Vanderbilt was married four times throughout his life. His first marriage was in 1935, when he married Lucille "Lulu" Miriam Parsons (1912–2013). Lulu was born in Montclair, New Jersey and her father, J. Lester Parsons, founded the international re-insurance firm of Crum & Forster in 1896. Together, George and Lulu had:
 * Lucille Margaret Vanderbilt (1938 - 2018), who was married to Philip Brady, Jr from 1958 until their divorce 1962. Later in 1962, she married Robert Mathews Balding, divorcing in 1970. Her third and final marriage was to Wallace Fennel Pate (1933-1993).

In 1950, the Vanderbilts divorced, and Lulu married Ronald Bush Balcom (d. 1994), a champion skier who had previous attained celebrity when he became the third husband of Standard Oil heiress Millicent Rogers. Also in 1950, George Vanderbilt married Anita C. Zabala Howard at his home in South Carolina. She was a descendant of one of California's first Spanish families and the former wife of California sportsman Lindsay C. Howard. They divorced in 1958 after nearly 8 years of marriage.

In 1958, he married for the third time to Joyce "Josh" Branning, (1926–2016) daughter of Enid and Ralph Branning. They later divorced and, in 1963, she married Edward L. Doheny III (d. 1999), grandson of Edward L. Doheny.

On March 23, 1961, he married Louise Mitchell Paine in Scottsdale, Arizona. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Children’s Cancer Fund of America and was the daughter of Harold E. Mitchell and had previously been married to Edward Bragg Paine (d. 1951). Edward's widow later married Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton. They were only married for three months as Vanderbilt died in June 1961.

Residences
In 1935, he purchased the 32 acre Charles W. Sloane estate on Middle Neck Road in Sands Point on the Long Island Sound, shortly after his first marriage. In 1937, he had commissioned a home by society architects Treanor & Fatio on the property. He sold the home to Henry Lustig, founder of the Longchamps chain of restaurants, in 1945.

In 1946, he purchased 1500 acre in Siskiyou County near Lake Shastina and the Shasta–Trinity National Forest in northern California. In 1949, he built a large ranch house known as "Shadow Valley Ranch", along with a guest cottage, carriage house, tennis court, riding trails, waterfalls and several barns. The home was host to many important people of the times, including overnight guests Harry Truman, John Wayne, Audrey Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable, Alan Ladd and Ginger Rogers. The house was sold by his widow in 1990 and burned down in 2012.

He also lived in Honolulu, Hawaii for 25 years and owned the Arcadia Plantation in Georgetown, South Carolina, which had been purchased by his grandfather, Dr. Emerson, in 1906.

His former yacht, the Pioneer, is now the Yankee Clipper, which sails with passengers in the Caribbean for Windjammer Barefoot Cruises.

Death
On June 24, 1961, George Washington Vanderbilt apparently committed suicide by leaping from his 10th floor suite at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco, California. His wife said he was despondent over unspecified business setbacks. Investigators found large amounts of alcohol in his blood stream.

title: George Washington Vanderbilt III


text:
User:Viktor Pravilov

Phaestos Disk! As against existing decodings the text, safely I declare, that on - Phaestos Disk - the text - is not present !!!. What is -?. Rising of sea level - as a result of the begun warming a climate 16 000 years ago and the flooding which have created threat of a land in the unknown sizes, "has pushed" the author of a disk to leave memory of the world in which it lived and to write the letter to the future generations of people - with the description of a life of people of his period ! . And that it was clear to the future population of the ground, without dependence from a spoken language, by him has been thought up - "language": the semantic maintenance - a silhouette of the form - subjects, animal, plants and etc.. That is that "language" ("writing") which started to be fulfilled by the person in an extreme antiquity, since figures on rocks , in caves , etc. And charm of his letter consists that the author of a disk has managed not only to unit all existing ways "silhouette" letters for that period, but also has managed to find - the form of the letter - adequate to his purpose. Namely the form of a mollusc and his bowl - Nautiliusa Pompiliusa !!! .   Having taken advantage : a silhouette of his bowl - silhouettes of the central sectors of the parties of a disk ; an internal structure of a bowl, with sectors - a spiral pattern with sectors - the parties of a disk ; a principle of a life of the mollusc - promotion from a bowl for a life and returning in a bowl for rest and etc.. Author Phaestos Disk managed to display a life of our planet, switching : the sky , the ground , the underwater world , etc. ... . With the account of that a disk ! - too a sign ; a line with points ! at the end of a spiral - too a sign, etc. ... .  More detailed description - Secrets - Phaestos Disk, web: http://www.phaestosdisk.narod.ru     Respect - Viktor Pravilov.

title: User:Viktor Pravilov


text: Category:Swimming competitions

title: Category:Swimming competitions


text:
John Ralston (American football)

John R. Ralston (April 26, 1927 – September 14, 2019) was an American football player, coach, and sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Utah State University (1959–1962), Stanford University (1963–1971), and San Jose State University (1993–1996), compiling a career college football record of 97–81–4. Ralston also coached the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1972 to 1976, amassing a record of 34–33–3, and the Oakland Invaders of the United States Football League (USFL) in 1983 and part of the 1984 season, tallying a mark of 9–12. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1992.

Early life, education, and playing career
Born in Oakland, California, Ralston and his family moved to Norway, Michigan, when he was eight years old. On graduating from Norway High School in 1944, he went to the University of California, Berkeley and played linebacker there on two Rose Bowl teams before earning his physical education degree in 1951.

Coaching career
Ralston began his coaching career in 1952 at San Lorenzo High School in San Lorenzo, California, just south of Oakland. He subsequently was an assistant coach at Mt. Diablo High School in Concord, California. in 1953 and 1954. He then spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Cal from 1955 to 1958. Ralston was then named head coach at Utah State University in 1959. In four years there, he compiled a 31–11–1 record and won two Skyline Conference championships. Ralston moved to Stanford University in 1963 and, over nine seasons, built a mark of 55–36–3. In his last two seasons, 1970–1971, Ralston's teams won two Pacific-8 titles and notched back-to-back Rose Bowl victories over Ohio State and Michigan, both of whom were undefeated coming into the Rose Bowl game. Under Ralston's tutelage, Stanford quarterback Jim Plunkett won the Heisman Trophy in 1970.

In 1972, Ralston departed the San Francisco Bay Area again, this time for the Rocky Mountains and the Denver Broncos. The Broncos finished with a 5–9 record in 1972. In 1973, a year which included the "Orange Monday" game played in front of a prime-time national television audience in which the Broncos came from behind to earn a tie on Jim Turner's 35-yard field goal, Ralston coached the team into first place with a 6–3–2 record. With their first winning season in franchise history under their belt and with the AFC West title on the line, the Broncos' season ended with a 21–17 loss to the Oakland Raiders. Ralston was the UPI's choice as AFC Coach of the Year after Denver achieved its first-ever winning season at 7–5–2. In 1974, Ralston coached the Broncos to a 7–6–1 record for their second consecutive winning season. In 1975 the Broncos finished with a 6–8 record, but the following year the team improved and finished with a 9–5 record. The record was not, however, good enough qualify the Broncos for the playoffs. In five seasons with the Broncos, Ralston guided the team to winning seasons three times and an overall record of 34–33–3; despite this, he never went to the playoffs during his Bronco (and NFL head coaching) tenure.

After leaving the Broncos, Ralston held several assistant coaching jobs which included the Philadelphia Eagles, the San Francisco 49ers, the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League, and as a head coach in the USFL with the Oakland Invaders. Ralston also coached in Europe. He was the head coach of the Dutch Lions, the national football team of the Netherlands. With the Lions, Ralston won the bronze medal in the European Championships in Helsinki, Finland in 1991. After being inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992, Ralston came out of retirement in 1993 to be head coach at San Jose State University. After the 1996 season, Ralston resigned from the position to become special assistant to athletic director Tom Brennan. Ralston later became special assistant to the football team, where he remained until the 2013 season. He died on September 14, 2019, at the age of 92.

title: John Ralston (American football)


text: Talk:John de Lancie

title: Talk:John de Lancie


text:
Koupéla

Koupéla is a city in Burkina Faso, lying east of Ouagadougou (137 km) and west of Fada-Ngourma (82 km) in an area settled by the Mossi people. It is known for its pottery and sculptures; these were made from natural clays found in the area. In 1900 Koupéla became the site of the first Catholic mission in Burkina Faso. Today it is the seat of an archdiocese, and contains a cathedral.

title: Koupéla


text:
Talk:Academy of Persian Language and Literature

Untitled
The Wikipedia text is cut and pasted from http://www.worldhistory.com/wiki/A/Academy-of-Persian-Language-and-Literature.htm There must be copyright issues. --Wetman 18:02, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * The worldhistory.com site is a Wikipedia mirror, and they have a notice on the page attributing their material to Wikipedia. Russ Blau (talk) 20:26, Jun 24, 2005 (UTC)

Yeh. Go ahead and merge onto this article.--Zereshk 22:44, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

"Persian Laguage and Literature Academy" listed at Redirects for discussion
The redirect [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Persian_Laguage_and_Literature_Academy&redirect=no Persian Laguage and Literature Academy] has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at  until a consensus is reached. –LaundryPizza03 ( d c̄ ) 03:59, 31 October 2023 (UTC)


text:
Morgan 4/4

The Morgan 4/4 is a British motor car which was produced by the Morgan Motor Company from 1936 to 2018. It was Morgan's first car with four wheels, the name indicating that the model has four wheels and four cylinders (earlier Morgans had been three-wheelers, typically with V-twin engines). Early publicity and advertising material variously referred to the model as "4/4", "4-4", "Four Four", and similar names, but from the outset the factory designation was always "4/4".

Apart from a break during World War II (and the period March 1951 to September 1955) the 4/4 was in continuous production from its debut until 2018. Engine capacity has increased from the 1,122cc Coventry Climax engine in 1936 to a 1.8-litre Ford engine in 2004. From 2009 until the model was discontinued in 2018 a Ford Sigma engine of 1,595cc was fitted.

4/4 Two-Seater
The original open two-seater 4/4 was introduced in 1936 and became the most popular of the three body options available. 663 were built by 1939 and 249 more from 1946 to 1950, representing 53% of the overall production.

For the first years, the car had a 1,122cc Coventry Climax engine with 34 bhp, superseded from 1939 by a Standard Special 1,267cc overhead valve engine with 38.8 bhp. A four-speed Meadows gearbox was used until 1938, then a Moss gearbox.

4/4 Four-Seater
The four-seat version was introduced in 1937 and 99 were built by 1939 and a further 140 from 1946 to 1950.

4/4 Drophead Coupé
The Drophead Coupé was introduced in 1938 with 58 built by 1939 and another 106 from 1946 to 1950. This has a better folding roof and permanent window frames, along with certain other creature comforts.

4/4 Series II
The Series II was introduced in 1955 with 386 built by October 1960. Although very similar in appearance to the model it replaced, it was virtually a new car with a chassis based on the one used in the Morgan Plus 4. The traditional independent front suspension using sliding pillars and coil springs was fitted with a rigid axle and semi-elliptic leaf springs at the rear. Disc wheels were fitted as standard items.

A side-valve 1,172 cc Ford 100E engine was used with a Ford three-speed gearbox. The engine produced 36 bhp. Hydraulic brakes with 9 in drums were fitted. It was also available in 40 bhp 'Competition' form with Aquaplane head conversion, twin S.U. carburettors, and an improved gearshift linkage.

Inside there was a bench seat back and individual squabs covered in PVC, with leather as an option, and rubber floor covering. A heater was available as an option as was a rev counter and more surprisingly, direction indicators.

In 1956, The Motor magazine tested a Series II and recorded a top speed of 75.3 mph, acceleration from 0-60 mph in 26.9 seconds and a fuel consumption of 35.1 mpgimp. The test car cost £713 including taxes.

4/4 Series III
The short-lived Series III was introduced in October 1960 and 58 were built by November 1961 when the Series IV arrived. The chassis was essentially the same as that used on the Series II but the track was increased by 2 inches (50mm). Hydraulic shock absorbers replaced the old Hartford friction type.

A 39 bhp overhead valve 997cc Ford Anglia 105E engine and Ford four-speed gearbox were used.

4/4 Series IV
The Series IV introduced October 1961 with 114 built by March 1963 had a 62 bhp, 1340 cc, Ford Classic 109E engine and Ford four-speed gearbox. Front 11 in disc brakes were now fitted.

The Motor magazine tested a Series IV in 1962 and found it had a top speed of 80.3 mph, acceleration from 0-60 mph in 18.6 seconds and a touring fuel consumption of 32.0 mpgimp. The test car cost £729 including taxes on the home market.

4/4 Series V
The Series V was introduced in February 1963 with 639 built by March 1968.

A 65 bhp, 1498cc, Ford Cortina 116E engine and Ford four-speed gearbox were used.

4/4 1600
The car was further updated in 1968 to become the 1600 with two- and four-seat open bodies available.

Ford Kent Crossflow engine
The 4/4 1600 was introduced in February 1968 fitted with a variety of Ford 1599 cc Kent engines of type 2737E (70 bhp), type 2737GT (95.5 bhp) and type 2265E (95.5 bhp) from 1971 and a Ford four-speed gearbox.

A total of 3513 were built by March 1982.

Fiat Twin-Cam engine
Introduced in November 1981 was a 98 bhp Fiat 1584 cc twin-cam engine and five-speed Fiat gearbox.

96 were built by November 1985.

Ford CVH engine
Introduced in March 1982 with a Ford 1597 cc CVH engine and Ford four-speed gearbox until 1984, then a Ford five-speed gearbox from Ford Sierra. From 1986 steering was changed from the original cam and peg to a Gemmer recirculating ball system.

1652 were built by November 1991.

Ford CVH EFI engine
From November 1991, a 100 bhp Ford 1597cc CVH engine with electronic fuel injection was used. 187 were built by January 1993, when the 1800 version was introduced.

Ford Zetec engine
Starting in April 1993, the Morgan 4/4 used a 114 bhp Ford 1,796cc 16-valve Zetec R engine.

Runabout
In 2003, Morgan launched a new entry-level model named the Runabout based on the 4/4. It was available in three standard colours only with a standard no-option specification. The Runabout could be recognised by the reduced number of bonnet louvres.

Ford Duratec engine
From 2006 to 2009, the 4/4 sported a 125 bhp Ford Duratec 1,798 cc 16-valve all-alloy engine. On these models the exhaust is on the right side. In January 2006, a "70th Anniversary Special edition" was presented, celebrating 70 years having passed since the introduction of the 4/4. This received black paint and special wheels, similar to those used on the original "flat-rad" Morgan. 142 were planned to be made. In spite of seventy years of production, the accumulated figure had not yet reached 10,000 in 2006.

4/4 1.6 Litre (2009–2018)
From 2009 to 2018, the Ford Sigma engine used is 1,595cc and produces 110 bhp, enough for a 185 km/h top speed. The engine drives the rear wheels via a five-speed manual gearbox. Initially, a Ford gearbox was used, then from 2012 a Mazda unit was fitted.

title: Morgan 4/4


text:
Congolese Civil War

Congolese Civil War or Congo War may refer to any of a number of armed internal conflicts in the present-day countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in Central Africa.

Pre-colonial Congo

 * Kongo Civil War (1665–1709), in the historic Kingdom of Kongo

Congo-Kinshasa
Civil wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (also known as Congo-Kinshasa and DR Congo, formerly known as Congo-Léopoldville and Zaire):
 * Congo Crisis (1960–1965), dating from the country's independence from Belgium to the rise of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko
 * Kwilu rebellion (1963–1965)
 * Kanyarwanda War (1963-1966)
 * Simba rebellion (1964)
 * Katanga insurgency (1963–present), sub-conflict of Congo Crisis that continued as ongoing insurgency
 * Batwa–Luba clashes (2013–2018)
 * Shaba invasions (Shaba I 1977, Shaba II 1978)
 * Lord's Resistance Army insurgency (1987–present)
 * Allied Democratic Forces insurgency (1996–present)
 * First Congo War (1996–1997), which led to the overthrow of Mobutu by Laurent-Désiré Kabila and his rebels
 * Second Congo War (1998–2003), involved nine nations and led to ongoing low-level warfare, despite an official peace treaty and the first democratic elections in 2006
 * Ituri conflict (1999–present) and Kivu conflict (2004–present), sub-conflicts of the Second Congo War that continued as ongoing insurgencies
 * M23 rebellion (2012–2013)
 * M23 offensive (2022–present)
 * Dongo conflict (2009)
 * Kamwina Nsapu rebellion (2016-2019)

Congo-Brazzaville
Civil wars in the Republic of the Congo (also known as Congo-Brazzaville and the Congo Republic):
 * Republic of the Congo Civil War (1993–1994)
 * Republic of the Congo Civil War (1997–1999)
 * Pool Department conflict (2002-2003)
 * Pool War (2016-2017)

title: Congolese Civil War


text:
Tichit

Tichit, or Tichitt (Ticit, تيشيت), is a partly abandoned village at the foot of the Tagant Plateau in central southern Mauritania that is known for its vernacular architecture. The main agriculture in Tichit is date farming, and the village is also home to a small museum.

Tichitt Airport has two unpaved runways designated in a barren area 1 km southeast of the village.

Archaeological significance
This region includes a long sandstone cliff formation that defines the northern limit of the Hodh depression, near the former lake of Aoukar.

The medieval trading settlement at Tichit is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Neolithic site of Dhar Tichitt in this area was settled by agropastoral communities around 2000 BC. Their settlements were generally situated on the cliffs and included stone building. These are the oldest surviving archaeological settlements in West Africa and the oldest of all stone base settlements south of the Sahara. They are thought to have been built by the Soninke people and were possibly the precursor of the Ghana empire. The area was abandoned around 500 BC probably because of the onset of more arid conditions. Hundreds of rock art images have been discovered, depicting various animals and hunting scenes. Archaeologists including P.J. Munson, Augustin F.C. Holl, and S. Amblard have found some evidence that millet was farmed seasonally as early as 2000 BC.

title: Tichit


text:
Postage stamps and postal history of Tete

In 1913 and 1914, Portugal issued postage stamps specifically for Tete Province, now part of Mozambique.

Background
The 1913 stamps were those of the Vasco da Gama issue of 1898, overprinted "REPUBLICA / TETE" and a new denomination in centavos. Each of the eight values from Macau, Portuguese Africa and Timor were overprinted, yielding a total of 24 stamps. In 1914, the omnibus Ceres issue of Portugal included 16 values for Tete, ranging from 1/4 centavo to one escudo. Subsequently, Tete reverted to using the stamps of Mozambique. Although these stamps are not rare, none costing the collector over about US$10, genuinely-used examples are harder to find, and command a premium of about 50-100% over unused.


text:
Printemps de Bourges

Le Printemps de Bourges is an annual music festival that is held in Bourges, France, over the course of five days. It is now a major event in France and Europe.

History
The festival was created in 1977 (by, , and ). With its span of 35 years, its history reflects musical trends and evolution over time. Every springtime, thousands of spectators come from all parts of France and foreign countries to see an eclectic variety of concerts. The festival encompasses some 60 shows, with over 200 artists on 13 stages within a week; these shows represent diverse genres, and both well-known artists and young musical talents. The ever-growing public is composed primarily of young people (91% are under 35), and over 200,000 people attend the festival each year. Music professionals (over 600 each year) are present to recruit new talents. The festival also attracts media professionals (press, TV, radio), numbering over 500 each year. A parallel festival is hosted in the city, called Les Découvertes du Printemps de Bourges; its aim is to showcase the talents of new artists. Many bars and restaurants also host a multitude of gigs through a partnership with le Printemps de Bourges.

COVID-19 pandemic
On 13 March 2020, the festival announced that the 2020 edition of the festival would be cancelled because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2021 edition was rescheduled from April to June, and events were greatly cut back, to comply with public health restrictions.

title: Printemps de Bourges


text:
Tidjikja

Tidjikja (تجكجة) is the capital of the Tagant region of central Mauritania, lying on the Tagant plateau. Founded in 1680, it has a population of around 11,000 people.

The town is known for its palm trees and its vernacular architecture. The town is also home to an airport.

It is the birthplace of former President of Mauritania Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Louly.

The city annually welcomes hundreds of tourists from all over Mauritania for the Date Festival. It is marked by its stands, concerts and recreational evenings. Several tents are set up in the large Bathaa of Tidjidkja, each of which is reserved for a theme linked to oasis life (agricultural popularization, traditional medicine of Ehel Maghary, exhibition of dates ...). The city is famous for its delicious dates. An NGO called 'Association for the Safeguarding of the Ghadima' (ASG) was approved by the Ministry of the Interior by decree n ° 230 MID of August 30, 2017, since it has been working on the restoration of the heritage and the conservation of the old Ksar.

Nearby towns and villages include Moudjeria (65.8 nm), Ksar el Barka (46.4 nm), Rachid (21.3 nm), Ksar el Khali (143.4 nm), Ouadane (143.4 nm), Boumdeid (67.1 nm) and Serotandi (46.0 nm).

title: Tidjikja


text: File:Ashanti - Ashanti.jpg

title: File:Ashanti - Ashanti.jpg


text:
Category:Fair use

 * For Wikipedia issues relating to copyright and fair use, please use Category:Wikipedia copyright and Category:Wikipedia non-free content.

sq:Kategoria:Fair use

title: Category:Fair use


text:
Ashanti (album)

Ashanti is the debut studio album by American singer Ashanti, released on April 2, 2002, by Murder Inc. and Def Jam Recordings. It was recorded in New York City and Los Angeles between 2001 and 2002, during the period of time where Ashanti was writing for other artists. The album features guest vocals from Gotti, Ja Rule, and the late the Notorious B.I.G. Contributions to the album's production came from a wide range of producers, including Irv Gotti, 7 Aurelius, Chink Santana, Jared Thomas and Reggie Wright.

Ashanti debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with first-week sales of 503,000 units, the biggest first-week sales for a debut female artist up to then. The album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of three million copies on December 17, 2002. It earned Ashanti three Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best Contemporary R&B Album, winning in the latter category. Billboard magazine ranked Ashanti at number 100 on its Top 200 Albums of the Decade. The album has sold six million copies worldwide.

The album was promoted by four singles. "Foolish" was released as the lead single from the project and peaked atop the record charts of 15 nations, including the US Billboard Hot 100. Two subsequent singles additionally became top ten charting hits: "Happy", "Baby". She also performed on several television shows and award ceremonies. Furthermore, Ashanti later opened for the North American leg for Mariah Carey's worldwide concert tour Charmbracelet World Tour.

Background
When Ashanti was 14, she was discovered by P. Diddy's Bad Boy Records. Initially, she went to Bad Boy Records and sang one of Mary J. Blige's songs in front of P. Diddy and Biggie Smalls. After being impressed by her singing ability, Diddy later signed her to a development deal, but, due to a bad contract, Ashanti did not sign with Diddy. This ultimately led to a record deal with Jive Records in 1994. This relationship soured when Jive tried to make Ashanti into a pop singer. Ashanti subsequently involved herself in schoolwork, cheerleading, and running on her school's track team. She was an honor student in English and belonged to the English club where she began writing poetry. She was also in the Drama club and performed in a few plays. She put college pursuits aside when Epic Records approached her with a contract in 1998. However, the label's management changes quickly made Ashanti a low priority. She continued to perform at local New York clubs and began hanging out at the Murder Inc. recording studio, hoping for another big break.

Ashanti was first noticed by Irv Gotti because of her vocal skills. Ashanti initially asked him to produce a few demo songs for her to record so she could say she had some strong tracks by the big time producer but Gotti had a different idea. He asked her to pen hooks for his rap artists and to perform with them in duets. Ashanti provided the melodic response to their call. Ashanti was first featured as a background vocalist on rapper Big Pun's song "How We Roll". In the same year, Ashanti was featured on fellow labelmate Cadillac Tah's singles "Pov City Anthem" and "Just Like a Thug". She also appeared on the 2001 The Fast and the Furious soundtrack as a featured artist on rapper Vita's 2001 hip hop remake of Madonna's "Justify My Love" and on the solo track "When a Man Does Wrong". She appeared as a background vocalist on "I'm Real (Murder Remix)", a collaboration by labelmate Ja Rule and Jennifer Lopez (she also appeared in the music video for "Aint It Funny (Murder Remix)", the second duet between Lopez and Rule, for which she wrote and also sang background vocals on), and was featured on Fat Joe's "What's Luv?" and Ja Rule's "Always on Time". "What's Luv?" and "Always on Time" were released simultaneously and became two of the biggest hit songs of 2002. Ashanti became the first female artist to occupy the top two positions on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously when "Always on Time" and "What's Luv?" were at numbers one and two, respectively.

Promotion
The album's lead single, titled "Foolish" was released on February 11, 2002. The song became Ashanti's biggest solo successes to date, spending ten consecutive weeks on top of the US Billboard Hot 100, and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts. It was eventually first ranked on the US Billboard Hot 100, and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles 2002 year-end charts for eleven straight weeks (Tying with Nelly's single "Dilemma", but not for eleven straights weeks). It was a breakthrough hit internationally entering the top five in the United Kingdom, the top ten in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany and Japan, and the top twenty in Switzerland and the Netherlands. "Foolish" was later officially remixed, titled "Unfoolish", with guest appearances from a decease rapper The Notorious B.I.G., was released only just for radio ads.

The album's second single, "Happy" was released on June 17, 2002. The song peaked at number 8 on US Billboard Hot 100, and number 6 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. The single became Ashanti's second top ten hit as a solo artist. It was a moderate success internationally, reaching the top ten in the Netherlands, the top twenty in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and the top forty in Australia, Ireland, Switzerland and France. The album's third single, "Baby" was released on September 9, 2002. The song peaked at number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and number 7 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. The single became Ashanti's third top-twenty hit as a solo artist in her career. "Dreams" was released as a promotional single, with a live-performance music video with clips from Ashanti's career.

Critical reception
Ashanti earned generally mixed reviews from music critics. AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it a three-out-of-five-star rating and praised the "modern, post-hip-hop soul" sound, stating the album has "fairly fresh beats and lightly insistent hooks, and is just naughty enough". However, he felt it lacked distinctive material: "It's not bad by any means, and it has its moments, but at 17 tracks, including skits, it all becomes a blur. A pleasing blur, one that shows promise, but a blur all the same." Entertainment Weekly commended the album's "coy hooks" and "jagged-edged rappers", continuing to say "her voice is supple and pretty but rarely rises above a whisper, making it a background instrument even when it's Ashanti's turn to shine". The Los Angeles Times had a mixed view of the album, writing "Ashanti's breathy, cooing vocals are well suited to the mellow mood of this collection", however was unimpressed because it was not "substantial".

In another mixed review, Slant critic Sal Cinqueman found that, "the songs are infectious and fine-tuned and most of the album is underscored with bristling live instrumentation [...] But tracks like the flute-infused "Happy" are admittedly — and perhaps too obviously — influenced by other R&B divas like Mary J. Blige and rarely give way to anything fresh or new. Ultimately, Ashanti fails to carve a unique niche for the budding singer." Rolling Stone's Kris Ex complimented the album's overall production with its "bass-heavy, slow-burning R&B grooves that sound like everything else on R&B radio" and noted that Ashanti's "voice is the perfect radio-ready R&B; instrument: strong enough to ride over street-savvy beats but unassuming enough to be open to interpretation; better than Britney but less distinctive than Mary J. Blige." Alluding to her previous collaborations, People magazine wrote that "it’s one thing to sing a hook on someone else’s record, quite another to carry your own album, as Ashanti fails to do on this desultory debut [...] Ashanti, with her sweet but slight soprano, doesn’t have the grit and power of [other] divas. It doesn’t help that, despite sporadic sampling [...] lack memorable melodies."

Legacy
Her debut album earned Ashanti three Grammy nominations for Best New Artist, Best Contemporary R&B Album and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards. The same year, she also received two additional Grammy nominations for other projects, both in the category of Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Ashanti took home a record 8 Billboard Music Awards, winning all the categories she was nominated for.

Billboard magazine ranked Ashanti at number 100 on magazine's Top 200 Albums of the Decade. In April 2002, Ashanti sold 503,000 copies in its first week of release in the United States, becoming a record-breaking feat. It was the highest first week sales for a female artist's debut ever. The album stayed atop the Billboard 200 for three consecutive weeks. In the same week, she became the first female performer to simultaneously hold the top two places on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with "Foolish" and "What's Luv" (with Fat Joe).

She broke records again by having three top ten songs ("Foolish", "What's Luv", and "Always on Time" (with Ja Rule)) on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the same week. Only The Beatles have achieved this up to that point. In 2009, Billboard.com reported that Ashanti has had the most top 10 songs (16 to date) on the R&B/Hip-hop charts by a female for that respective decade. The album's lead single was named the 19th most successful song of the 2000s (decade) on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade. As of June 2012, it is the third best selling physical single of the 21st century.

Commercial performance
On April 20, 2002, Ashanti debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 502,500 copies sold. In total, the album remained on the Billboard 200 albums chart for 55 consecutive weeks. In addition, it reached the top position on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart, where it stayed at the top spot for four consecutive weeks; it remained on the chart for 64 weeks. On December 17, 2002 the album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). As of June 2022, Ashanti has sold 3.7 million copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.

In Canada, it peaked at number 15 on the chart and was certified two times platinum for shipments of 200,000 copies. As of March 2005, the album had sold six million copies worldwide.

Sample credits

 * "Intro" contains elements of "Always on Time" (with Ja Rule), "What's Luv?" (with Fat Joe & Ja Rule), "Just Like a Thug" & "POV City Anthem" (both with Cadillac Tah), "The I.N.C." (with Ja Rule, Cadillac Tah and Black Child), "How We Roll" (with Big Pun) and "When a Man Does Wrong" which are all previous Ashanti songs and features.
 * "Foolish" and "Unfoolish" contains a sample from "Stay with Me" by DeBarge.
 * "Happy" contains an interpolation of "Outstanding" by the Gap Band.
 * "Baby" contains an interpolation of "Mary Jane" by Scarface.
 * "Unfoolish" contains samples from "F*** You Tonight" by the Notorious B.I.G.
 * "Dreams" contains a portion of "Love Me in a Special Way" by DeBarge.

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Ashanti.

 * Ashanti – lead vocals (1-4, 6-11, 13–14, 16–17), background vocals (1-4, 6-11, 13–14, 16,17)
 * Irv Gotti – vocals (7, additional on 8), audio mixing (2-4, 6-11, 13–14, 16–17)
 * Ja Rule – vocals (1, 4, additional on 3)
 * Robert Bacon – guitar (4, 8, acoustic on 16), bass guitar (16)
 * Courtnie Cox – additional vocals (16)
 * Steven Cox – additional vocals (16)
 * Kenneth Crouch – grand piano (16)
 * Free – additional vocals (1)
 * Kevin T. Green – additional vocals (16)
 * Janae Huff – additional vocals (16)
 * Darwin Johnson – bass (3)
 * Trevor Lawrence Jr. – drums (16)
 * Jasmine L. Morris – additional vocals (16)
 * Chink Santana – live drums (13), instruments (7, 9, 13, additional on 3)
 * 7 Aurelius – grand piano, electric guitar (16), instruments (6, 10–11, additional on 2, 4, 8, 14, 16), additional music programming (9), audio mixing (4, 6, 8, 10–11, 14, 16)
 * Shia – vocals (15)
 * Butch Small – percussion (14)
 * Asif Ali – recording engineer (4, 17)
 * Chris Dela Pena – assistant engineer (16), assistant mixing (4, 8, 10–11, 13–14, 17)
 * Tony Duran – photography
 * (Supa Engineer) Duro – audio mixing (2, 9)
 * Brian "Big Bass" Gardener – mastering
 * Deidre Graham – marketing
 * Charles "Chee" Heath – assistant engineer (3, 7, 9, 13)
 * Terry "Murda Mac" Herbert – assistant engineer (2, 6, 8, 10–11, 14)
 * Jeremy Makenzie – assistant engineer (4, 17)
 * Milwaukee Buck – recording engineer (2-3, 6-11, 13–14)
 * Brian Springer – recording engineer (16), audio mixing (1, 3–4, 6–8, 10–11, 13–14, 16–17)
 * David Tan – marketing
 * Tony Vanias – recording coordinator

title: Ashanti (album)


text:
Talk:Ashanti (album)

untitled
ashanti first album sold more than 8.5 million albums worldwide including 4.5 in the united states

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Improvements needed
This article does not have much information and there is a lot of unsourced content and not enough info about the album. Can everyone please help by adding more sources, chart positions, certificates, etc... Thank you! --Panther Coulee (talk) 19:57, 28 April 2019 (UTC)

title: Talk:Ashanti (album)