text:
Talk:Fathom

etymology
Article stated that fæthm meant bosom. I found two sources saying it meant outstretched arms so I changed this. Oska 11:30, Dec 20, 2004 (UTC)
 * I don't know whether this was one of them but if not, then it's another. Jimp 2Nov05
 * In the singular it was indeed bosom. It's the plural that meant outstretched arms and has come down to us as the measurement. Old Moonraker 15:13, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
 * The Old English word can be translated in various ways, e.g. bosom, outstretched arms, embrace, grasp, protection, expanse, abyss. In each case, the sense may be literal or figurative or somewhere in between, depending on the context:

 * http://beowulf.engl.uky.edu/cgi-bin/Bosworth-Toller/ebind2html3.cgi/bosworth?seq=285

 * (Note: The letters þ and ð were used interchangeably by Old English scribes for the dental fricative sounds which we represent with th in Modern English.)

 * The OED does indeed claim a distinction in Old English between sg. bosom and pl. the embracing arms. But both examples it cites of the latter sense refer to the outstretched arms of more than one person.  The entry in Bosworth & Toller, at the link above, cites examples of both singular and plural with the sense embrace (sg. on fremdes fæðm, pl. of brimes fæðmum), as well as examples of both singular and plural under the sense lap, bosom, breast (sg. on bates fæðm, pl. to fæder fæðmum).  But in some cases, especially where the meaning is figurative, this distinction between bosom or embrace may be more or less arbitrary, or at least open to interpretation.  As a measure of length, the Old English Corpus Glossary (c. 800) glosses Latin passus as sg. faeðm.  This is cited by the OED under the sense "The length covered by the outstretched arms, including the hands to the tip of the longest finger; hence, a definite measure of 6 feet."

 * Even if the OED is correct, it would be misleading to say that the name derives from the Old English word fæthm (plural) meaning 'outstretched arms' , since fæðm is grammatically singular.

-- Dependent Variable.

Why is depth measured in fathoms?
As an English man born in England in 1954 and brought up in England, I have been aware since Primary School that depths of water were measured in fathoms. However no-one has ever told me why this should be; why do we measure depth in fathoms?

In those pre-metrication days length and distance were generically expressed in combinations of inches, feet, yards and miles. Horse races were measured in furlongs, but that was about the only unusual measure in use ...apart from the fathom. It struck me as perverse that fathoms should still be in common use. There must have been a important reason.

The (to me) obvious answer occurred to me a few years ago after mowing my back lawn. As I coiled the mower cable I realised I was forming each loop of the coil from the length of cable between my two outstretched arms – my personal ‘’fathom’’. I was also aware how easy this coiling action was. I’m not particularly fit, but my left hand, (holding the growing coil) swung easily back and forward like a pendulum, balancing the action of my right hand. As my left hand stretched out, it pulled the next length of cable through my right hand (“measuring�? the “fathom�?) and as my two hands came together I made another coil. How long is my cable? Easy! Count the coils; it’s that many fathoms! How long is a rope stowed aboard ship? Count the coils; it’s that many fathoms!

This, to me, seems an obvious explanation of why a fathom is a measure of length corresponding to the outstretched arms (see wiktionary), rather than being an mere defintion, but I’ve never heard anyone give it as a reason and I've never come across it in any book, not that I have looked too hard! Does any Wikipedian know of an authority for this idea other than me in my back garden?

Further thoughts:
 * If I am correct, the determining factor for using fathoms as a unit of measurement is not that you’re at sea but that you are using rope. Have fathoms been used anywhere other than at sea because people were measuring with coils of rope? The article says fathoms were used in Cornish mines – is this the reason?
 * Not just in Cornwall. It was used throughout the UK. See Scottish example at http://www.mining-villages.co.uk/252.html. --ML5 14:44, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

 * Found a link for "throughout UK" and added it to ML5's correction — thanks for putting me right! --Old Moonraker 15:33, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

 * The article list units of similar length from other cultures. I wonder if any of those relate closely to coiling rope?
 * This also seems to tie in with the “encircling�?, “embracing�? meaning of fathom (see wiktionary again). It seems very reasonable for a circular loop of rope formed this way to be called, effectively, “an embrace�? of rope.

Brother Francis 12:20, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

 * It's an interesting theory, but unfortunately, without an authoritative cite, it is mere speculation, and shouldn't be in this article. Rhialto 13:40, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

 * I agree and so I hope there is someone out there who is able to cite a reference. In time, because that's how some coils of rope are (there's nothing speculative about the way I coil my mower cable!), I would consider proposing text that addresed the matter for this discussion to consider ... but before I do that I hope for a citation. Brother Francis 23:22, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
 * It's because depths were originally measured using a lead sinker attached to a line. The lead was dropped over the side of the ship and allowed to bottom. The line was then hauled-in manually using the distance between the outstretched arms as a measure and the number of 'arms'-used counted. This gave the depth in measures of approximately six feet. When the person doing the sounding was lax or lazy he wouldn't wait for the sinker to bottom and would haul-in prematurely giving inaccurate readings - hence the term swinging the lead. Ian Dunster (talk) 10:05, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Ian Dunster's suggestion, of measuring rope as it's hauled in by counting the number of "arms", is highly persuasive: does anybody have a WP:SOURCE so it can be put in? --Old Moonraker (talk) 20:25, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I included a description of this in the article back in 2004. It has been removed in the interim period. Oska (talk) 09:34, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Mines
I can't think of a better wording right now, or I'd fix it. But reading this article, mainly about a maritime measurement, on being told that it was used for the depth of mines, I naturally assumed the military kind of mine. It was only when, out of curiosity, I followed the link, that I found it concerned mineral extraction! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.187.202.205 (talk) 03:01, 23 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Ouch—good catch! Now fixed, using your terminology. Thanks. --Old Moonraker (talk) 22:40, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Other fathoms and similar units of length
where do the differing numbers for some of the other fathoms come from? and is the implied accuracy of some of them really justified?Rody1990 (talk) 02:15, 2 April 2010 (UTC)
 * No, it looks like WP:NOR. For example, in what context (since Moses, that is) has there ever been a comparison between measuring the height of horses using hands and the fathom? Nearly all of these could go, leaving just the ones that are actually used, for example metres and feet on maritime charts, at a realistic level of precision. --Old Moonraker (talk) 07:44, 2 April 2010 (UTC)
 * going ahead and deleting the section as several of the indicated numbers seem false, and there seems little justification of their inclusion anyway (most of these are simply the same unit, but translated and somehow given a different value perhaps due to WP:NOR). if you feel this is wrong at least justify all the numbers used.Rody1990 (talk) 11:18, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

Abbreviation "ftm"
I didn't want to splatter the lede paragraph with a link, so I'm asking here: What's the source for this, please? The American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary (Houghton Mifflin) has "fm.". --Old Moonraker (talk) 08:14, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

 * The American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary is obviously wrong. "fm" is the SI symbol for femtometres. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.105.199.216 (talk • contribs)  12:38, 4 February 2012  (UTC)
 * OK, tried a little harder and found some. Not one of them agrees with another (e.g. fth, fthm, fat, and fm) and one authoritative publication from OUP can't make up its mind: it offers two, on different pages. So, there doesn't seem to be a definitive one. Thanks for the nudge, and I'll shut up now. --Old Moonraker (talk) 13:38, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

 * To say that The American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary is obviously wrong because "fm" is also the SI symbol for femtometres makes no sense. Look at any dictionary of English abbreviations: nearly all two- and three-letter abbreviations have multiple meanings, depending on the context. The letters "fm" can mean Frequency Modulation, the Federated States of Micronesia, Family Medicine, etc. Zyxwv99 (talk) 15:55, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

The American Practical Navigator (Bowditch)lists fm(s) Fathom(s) as the proper abbreviation (Page 851). "Bowditch" is certainly considered a authoritative publication. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.102.52.157 (talk) 17:24, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

WP:BOLD I removed the abbreviations: there was just one ('ftm') at the beginning, and someone had added a list of (some of the) possible abbreviations. If there is no standard abbreviation -- which the above discussion shows to be the case -- then it is wrong to list one, and there is no value in a shopping list. Any word in the English language can be abbreviated where necessary and appropriate, in any reasonable way. Imaginatorium (talk) 17:17, 10 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks for removing ftm, but now there is a problem with convert. In the past, convert used "acre" as the symbol for acre, and "fathom" as the symbol for fathom, and so on for a few other similar units. The space saved by showing "ftm" rather than "fathom" is negligible, particularly given that the units rarely appear in articles, and "ftm" would have very little meaning to most readers today. Unfortunately, convert was changed with this edit to show "ftm" as the symbol for fathom, with the result that several articles are now unnecessarily obscure. For example, Atlantic Ocean has:
 * The average depth of the Atlantic with its adjacent seas, is 3339 m
 * The change to the symbol caught me at a delicate time because I try to not OWN convert too much (I wrote its module), so I took a very neutral line when raising the issue at convert's talk. I actually think "ftm" is very unhelpful in 2015, but when I checked this article, it assured me that "ftm" was correct! It was this edit on 27 June 2010 which added "'(abbreviation: ftm)" and it is bogus because there is no official symbol for a unit like fathom. Assuming we can get agreement here, I should revert the change to convert when I next update it, perhaps in a few weeks. Johnuniq (talk) 10:43, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

Dubious arithmetic
The section "On land" seems to include obvious errors: the expression "six foot square" means a square of side 6 ft, so 36 sq. ft., not 6 sq. ft. I also notice that the claim about referring to amounts of wood in Britain should be past tense: the quote cited in the SOED is from 1577! And I am removing the bit about Hungary: almost exactly the same claim could be made about Japan (I happen to know), and there really is not coherent point in including such random factoids.

I'm also puzzled about "full fathom five" (see the catchphrase entry): generally it seems to be assumed that this means "five fathoms", i.e. 30 ft., but "deep six" is said to mean being buried in 6 fathoms of water, yet one fathom (i.e. 5 or 6 ft.) is said to be the burial depth on land. I can't find any authoritative-looking statement on this, but I would have guessed that if anything "full fathom five" meant a full fathom of five feet. Imaginatorium (talk) 05:37, 3 September 2016 (UTC)

 * I'm an obscure unit geek, and this is literally the first time ever I have seen anyone suggest that a fathom might be exactly five feet. Definitions I have seen are either exactly six feet or exactly 6.08 feet. Rhialto (talk) 08:33, 5 September 2016 (UTC)

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"the most frequently employed maritime measure of depth in the English-speaking world"
This sounds like an assumption that "English-speaking world" = "USA". Charts produced by other English-speaking nations use metres, and have done so for many years. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 11:11, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

 * I agree completely. It is my understanding, that of the primary Anglophone nations, (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States) ONLY the United States still use Fathom as an official, or accepted, unit of measurement on such documents or charts... At this point some would make a point regarding Amican world views, Americentrism etc, but I shall refrain in order to maintain an even dialogue, and encourage others, on both sides, to do the same... Anyhow, I move that this section be removed entirely, or be rewritten to indicate that, of all the Anglophone nations, only the US still uses Fathom on its official documents, whereas the rest use Metres (or something like that). Any thoughts, objections, contributions etc? M R G WIKI999 (talk) 12:50, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I've been bold and tried to fix it to reflect the history and current position. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 13:15, 14 April 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Fathom


text:
Hershey's Kisses

Hershey's Kisses is a brand of chocolate first produced by the Hershey Company in 1907. The bite-sized pieces of chocolate have a distinctive conical shape, sometimes described as flat-bottomed teardrops. Hershey's Kisses chocolates are wrapped in squares of lightweight aluminum foil. A narrow strip of paper, called a plume, protrudes from the top of each Hershey's Kiss wrapper. Originally designed as a flag for the "Hershey's" brand, the printed paper plumes were added to the Kisses product wrapper in 1921 to distinguish the Hershey's Kiss from its competitors who were offering similar products.

History
When first manufactured in 1907, Hershey's Kisses were wrapped by hand. In 1921, a machine was used so the Kisses would be wrapped automatically. This machinery also added the paper plume or paper strip flag to the aluminum foil wrapper to identify Hershey's Kisses, replacing the original small square of printed tissue that was inside the foil wrapper.

In 1924, Milton S. Hershey received a registered design trademark (Reg. 0186828) for "foil wrapped conical configuration with plume" which included the paper plume sticking out from the top of the aluminum foil wrapper. In 1976, Hershey received a registered trademark for the Hershey's Kisses foil wrapper.

During 1942, production of Hershey's Kisses was briefly interrupted due to the rationing of aluminum foil. Instead, the machines were re-purposed to create military chocolate D ration bars for the soldiers in World War II. By the end of World War II, Hershey's had produced more than three billion D ration chocolate bars.

Popularity
Kisses are one of the most popular brands of candies in the US. In 1989, the chocolate drops were the fifth-most popular chocolate brand in the United States, spawning sales that topped $400 million. More than 70 million Hershey's Kisses chocolates are produced each day at the company's two factories. Today's Kisses brand chocolates use Hershey's original milk chocolate formula.

Kisses brand varieties
Though originally made of solely milk chocolate, many variations of the Kisses brand of chocolates and candies have since been introduced. Hershey introduces and discontinues new Kisses flavors constantly as part of its standard Kisses offering, including holidays. In addition to the standard milk chocolate, year-round varieties include caramel, Special Dark, hazelnut (deluxe), birthday cake, cookies'n'cream, milk chocolate almond, and white chocolate (Hugs). Seasonal varieties include cherry cordial, hot cocoa, mint truffle, sugar cookie, candy cane, lava cake, "vampire" milk chocolate with strawberry creme and Kisses Special Selections milk chocolate with strawberry creme, truffle creme, yogurt, and mocha cream.

Discontinued and Limited Edition Kisses
Throughout the years, Hershey's has created many different flavors of kisses, most of which are currently discontinued. The following list, updated in December 2021, is not necessarily exhaustive.

Hershey's Kissables
Introduced in late 2005, these mini candy-coated milk chocolate kisses were similar to M&Ms and Reese's Pieces. Colors included red, orange, yellow, green, and blue, as well as pastels for Easter, pink, red, and white for Valentine's Day, and red, purple, and brown Special Dark Kissables. In 2008, Hershey's attempted to cut production costs by changing the recipe for these (and other chocolates), opting to use vegetable oils instead of cocoa butter. Customers were not pleased and this change ultimately led to the death of Kissables in July 2009.

Candy Corn Kisses
These candy corn limited edition Halloween kisses were introduced in 2007, and had three layers of white chocolate flavored candy; yellow on bottom, orange in the middle, and a white tip. Discontinued in 2011, Hershey's opted not to bring them back for future Halloween's due to poor sales.

Strawberry Ice Cream Cone Kisses
This limited edition flavor was only available for a few months around Easter 2021. Strawberry Ice Cream Cone kisses were available for purchase as of July 2022 at Hershey's Chocolate World.

Pumpkin Spice Kisses
Released in fall of 2008, shortly following Hershey's Kiss 100th anniversary, this limited edition candy was well received by the public. The kisses had a pumpkin spice scent; comparable to that of snickerdoodles or ginger snaps. The orange kiss was filled with a white pumpkin-flavored creme, and wrapped in a special gold and brown foil wrapper.

Wrapper history and varieties
When introduced in 1907, Hershey's Kisses chocolates originally were wrapped by hand. The automated wrapping machinery was introduced in 1921.

The original wrapper was silver-colored foil and Hershey's Kisses were only available in this single color for decades. In 1962, Hershey became one of the first companies to change its wrappers for seasonal sales. That was the first year that Kisses chocolates were available in different colored foil wrappers: red, green, and silver-wrapped candies were manufactured to coincide with the Christmas season. This idea was the suggestion of John Figi, owner of Figi's "Gifts in Good Taste"—a mail-order food gifts company based in Marshfield, Wisconsin. The green and red colored wrapped chocolates were featured for the first time in the Figi's Christmas catalog.

In 1968, pastel blue, pink, and green wrappers were introduced for Easter, and in 1986, Valentine's Day-themed wrappers of red and silver were introduced. Xs and Os have also appeared on pink and red wrappers as well as little red hearts on silver wrappers for Valentine's Day. "Fall Harvest" colors were introduced in 1991. Independence Day has silver with red stripes and blue-starred wrappers. Pink wrappers with "ribbons" on them to support breast cancer research have also appeared. Camouflage wrappers are also available, primarily on military bases. Kisses Dark Chocolates come in a deep purple wrapper. The Halloween themed Kisses Candy Corn candies come in a wrapper whose colors imitate the color of a candy corn with yellow, white and orange stripes swirling around the candy.

In 2016, four limited Holiday wrapper varieties were released: Santa hats, Kissmas sweaters that resemble knit Christmas sweaters, Kissmas Trees with plumes that read "Fa La La", and "Kissmas" Presents with plumes that read from me to you. The Christmas themed Kisses Candy Cane candies also come in a wrapper whose colors imitate the color pattern (red stripes and white chocolate). The original silver (for regular) and gold (for almonds) wrappers are available year-round.

Paper plume
All Kisses wrappers have an edible paper strip called a plume as an identification tag sticking from the top of the foil wrapper. When the paper plume was added to the Kisses wrapper in 1921, originally it was a flag for the "Hershey's" brand, distinguishing Hershey's Kisses from its competitors. A few years later in 1924, Hershey received a registered US trademark for its wrapper design, consisting of the conical foil wrapper plus the paper plume.

Later "KISSES" was printed on the paper plume, as well as other Kisses flavors. The company has also added special variety plumes (such as "cheesecake"). Special messages have been available for various occasions, including "Happy Halloween", "Get Spooky", "Gobble Gobble", "Lucky You", and "Love is in the air bud “

Advertising
Christmas Bells is a commercial in which Hershey's Kisses, fashioned as a handbell choir, perform the Christmas carol "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". The advertisement premiered in 1989 and has run each holiday season since in the United States, representing the longest-running television commercial for the Hershey brand. In 2020, Hershey's introduced a new "Bells to Blossoms" version of the ad, in which one of the candies is removed from the choir and used to make cookies, but was criticized for changing a 30-year running iconic holiday tradition. The company made the decision to air both the "classic" and newer versions of the holiday ad throughout the holiday season.

Ingredients and nutrition information
Beginning with its own consumer research into product information, in 2015 Hershey led the SmartLabel initiative. Hershey's was the first brand to adopt this Grocery Manufacturers Association mobile-scannable packaging standard.

Kisses ingredients are cane sugar, milk, chocolate, cocoa butter, milk fat, lecithin, and natural flavor. A 1.45-ounce (41.1 g) serving of Hershey's Kisses consists of seven Kisses pieces. Kisses has the following nutrition information:

 * 200 Calories
 * Total fat 12g
 * Saturated fat 7g
 * Trans fat 0g
 * Cholesterol 10 mg
 * Sodium 35 mg
 * Total carbohydrate 25g
 * Dietary fiber 1g
 * Total sugars 23g
 * Protein 3g
 * Vitamin D 25.8 iu
 * Calcium 80.8 mg
 * Iron 1.4 mg
 * Potassium 147.7 mg

Additives
Hershey's Hugs and Hershey's Kisses Cookies 'N' Creme are made with the ingredient PGPR (Polyglycerol polyricinoleate, E476), which is used as a cheaper replacement for cocoa butter.

Broken tip controversy
On December 9, 2018, a member of the Wedding Cookie Table Community on Facebook posted a picture of a tip-less Kiss, wondering “Do this year’s Kisses look like this for you? Or are the tops broken off?” Other members of the group began to check their Kisses and as a result, dozens of others posted in the group that many, but not all, of them were found to be missing their tips. Twitter users soon picked up on the controversy and began to post pictures of Kisses that were also tip less.

Hershey representatives had responded to the group's messages. At first, customer service told consumers that it was deliberate so the pieces did not fall off after production, but later on, they said the company was looking into the cause. In a statement, Jeff Beckman, a Hershey spokesman, said, "We love our Kisses as much as our consumers. We make more than 70 million Kisses a day here in Hershey, PA, and we want each of them looking as great as they taste. The iconic, conical shape is one of the reasons families have loved Kisses for generations. We shape the tip on our classic, solid Milk and Dark Chocolate Kisses to create that iconic appearance. And while there has always been some variability in that process, we are working to improve the appearance because it's as important to us as it is to our fans."

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

title: Hershey's Kisses


text:
Agip

Agip S.p.A., acronym for Azienda generale italiana petroli, was an Italian automotive gasoline, diesel, LPG, lubricants, fuel oil, and bitumen retailer established in 1926 and subsidiary of Eni S.p.A.

In 2013 Agip merged into Eni, creating the Refining and Marketing Division (R&M).

History
In 1924, Sinclair Oil, a U.S. oil company, and the Italian Ministry of National Economy created a fifty-year joint venture agreement to explore oil in Emilia-Romagna and Sicily, over an area of 40,000 km2. 40% of the capital was held by the ministry, all expenditure was incurred by Sinclair Oil and 25% of profits went to the Italian ministry. The political opposition, headed by Giacomo Matteotti and Don Sturzo, alleged that the joint venture was damaging to the nation and started a controversy which led to suspicions of corruption; Matteotti indeed was killed two days before he was due to give a speech on this issue. Don Sturzo continued the controversy, stating that a public company was the only way to maintain national energy independence.

Coal in Italy was scarce and of poor quality. It was imported from abroad at prices that weighed on Italy’s trade balance and limited industrial growth. Power plants, which were not very developed and mainly concentrated in the north of the country, could not satisfy the needs of energy.

The constitution of the company and the ad aziendam laws
With a royal decree on April 3, 1926, the government of the Kingdom of Italy established the Azienda generale italiana petroli (Agip), a joint-stock company, to conduct all activities relating to the petroleum industry. 60 percent of the share capital was held by the Ministry of the Treasury, 20% by Istituto Nazionale Assicurazioni (INA), and the remaining 20% by the Italian Social Insurance fund. The first president was Ettore Conti, a contractor in the electricity sector. The establishment of the company was attributed by many analysts to Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, Ministry of Finance, and Giuseppe Belluzzo, Ministry for the National Economy. Volpi di Misurata, however, was directly involved in oil-related interests, working together with FIAT of Giovanni Agnelli, and with the financial backing of Banca Commerciale Italiana, which had searched unsuccessfully for oil in Emilia-Romagna. In 1927 a Mining Act was enacted, which gave the ownership of the subsoil to the State and imposed the rule that any oil-related activity was subject to government authorization and/or grant.

Agip experienced difficulties after the crisis of 1929 but began to flourish in the 1930s. In 1933 a new law was issued that restrained protectionist refineries and Agip could operate with greater ease in this area.

Early stages and development
Agip had a facility for refining at Fiume and in 1936 it took over a refinery at Porto Marghera, owned by Volpi di Misurata. Soon after it made an agreement with Montecatini to create a joint enterprise, Anic (Fuel Hydrogenation National Company), which was to pursue the derivation of fuel by hydrogenation of brown coal. Anic built two refineries to process the oil extracted in Albania from Azienda Italiana Petroli Albanesi (AIPA), a subsidiary of Agip. However, the Albanian oil was of poor quality and its processing proved uneconomical.

Simultaneously, however, because of the costs to support colonial campaigns, Agip had to exit some foreign investments, in particular their exploration campaigns in Iraq. It was the explorer Ardito Desio who found oil in Libya and in 1939 came the so-called "Petrolibia operation", in which Agip was linked to FIAT, with which the year before it had created an Italian company for synthetic fuels, to explore the possibility of obtaining gasoline from synthetic chemistry.

title: Agip


text:
Chumphon

Chumphon (ชุมพร, ) is a town (thesaban mueang) in southern Thailand, capital of the Chumphon Province and Mueang Chumphon District. The city is about 463 kilometers (288 miles) from Bangkok. As of 2018 it had a population of around 33,600. The town covers the commune (tambon) Tha Taphao completely and parts of tambons Bang Mak, Wang Phai, Na Thung, Tak Daet, and Khun Krathing. Its main economic activity is agriculture.

History
Chumphon volunteers fought invading Japanese during World War II. Chumphon became a rail hub for Imperial Japan. It was a station on the Southern Line and connected to the short-lived Kra Isthmus Railway.

Geography
Chumphon lies just inland from the west coast of the Gulf of Thailand. To the west are the northern hills of the Phuket Range, a subrange of the Tenasserim Hills. These hills reach 400 m in the area near Chumphon. There are also many smaller peaks in the area in the range of 100 m to 200 m high.

Climate
Chumphon has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification Am) just falling short of a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af). Temperatures are hot throughout the year. The period from December to April has relatively less rainfall than from May to November, when rainfall can be very heavy, particularly in October and November.

Transport

 * Bus: There is a small bus system within the city itself. Trains and buses run to and from Bangkok every day.

 * Road: The main road through Chumphon is Thailand Highway 4, also known as Phetkasem Road, leading north to Bangkok, and south to Ranong, Phang Nga, Krabi, Trang, Phatthalung, and the border with Malaysia near Sadao.

 * Rail: The Chumphon railway station is on the Southern Line of the State Railway of Thailand. Trains also stop at Pathio railway station in Chumphon Province.

 * Air: The city's airport, Chumphon Airport (IATA: CJM, ICAO: VTSE) is 30 km north in Pathio District. The airport has daily flights to Bangkok.

 * Nok Air and Thai AirAsia operate multiple daily flights between Bangkok (Don Mueang, DMK) and Chumphon Airport. The airport is a hub and regional gateway providing connecting services to Chumphon city and high speed ferry services to the islands of the Gulf of Thailand including Ko Tao and Ko Samui.

Popular culture

 * In the science fiction novel, The Chronoliths, Chumphon is the landing site of the first chronolith.

title: Chumphon


text:
Manuel Almunia

Manuel Almunia Rivero (born 19 May 1977) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

He competed mainly in the Spanish lower leagues in his early years, only appearing in 26 La Liga games over the course of two seasons with Recreativo and Albacete, after starting out at Osasuna. Most of his professional career was spent with Arsenal, for whom he signed in 2004, going on to play 175 official matches and winning the 2005 FA Cup. He also had a short loan spell at West Ham United.

In 2012, after his contract expired, Almunia joined Watford and played there for two years, following which he retired on medical advice.

Early career
Born in Pamplona, Navarre, Almunia started his senior career with CA Osasuna's reserves in 1995, going on to spend four seasons with the team in the Segunda División B. Subsequently, he stayed in the same level, where he represented FC Cartagonova and CE Sabadell FC.

In the summer of 2001, Almunia first reached La Liga, after signing with RC Celta de Vigo. He never represented the club officially, however, being loaned to SD Eibar (where he won the Ricardo Zamora Trophy in the Segunda División for the 2001–02 campaign), Recreativo de Huelva and Albacete Balompié, the last two in the top flight.

Playing understudy to José Antonio Luque and César at Recre, Almunia's debut in the Spanish top tier came on 17 November 2002, following a red card to the latter in a 3–0 away loss against Deportivo Alavés. It was one of only two league appearances during the season, as the Andalusians suffered relegation after ranking 18th.

At Albacete Balompié, Almunia started as backup to Carlos Roa. However, after the Argentine came down with illness he became first-choice, going on to help his team easily escape relegation through a 14th-place finish; his first league appearance was on 9 November 2003, in a 1–0 home defeat to Málaga CF as Roa was suspended.

Arsenal
Almunia joined Arsenal on 14 July 2004 for an undisclosed sum, to provide backup to Jens Lehmann. He made his debut for his new team on 27 October in a 2–1 win at Manchester City in that season's League Cup, and his maiden Premier League appearance came on 4 December against Birmingham City; the highlight of his first year came in the fifth round of the FA Cup, a replay at Sheffield United: with the game finishing 0–0 after extra time and heading to penalties, he saved Alan Quinn and Jon Harley's attempts to book his team a place in the quarter-finals, and was an unused substitute in the final win over Manchester United.

In the 2005–06 campaign, Almunia continued as second-choice to Lehmann, but found himself thrust into the spotlight when he replaced Robert Pires in the 20th minute of the final of the UEFA Champions League against FC Barcelona after Lehmann was sent off. He performed well for the most part, only conceding both goals in the 2–1 loss late in the game.

2006–07 brought Almunia 14 appearances in all competitions. This included the League Cup final, lost to Chelsea. He and Lehmann were by all accounts rivals off the pitch as well. In an interview with German television in October 2007, speaking about manager Arsène Wenger's decision to drop him in favour of the Spaniard, Lehmann said: "It’s possible that some day I’ll feel like talking about the whole issue. But at the moment I’m just swallowing it all as part of the humiliation. But I think – and this is aimed at my dear manager – one shouldn’t humiliate players for too long. I won’t just fade away quietly. Almunia has not yet showed he can win matches for us. I’ve experienced this before and know what the others are expecting from the goalkeeper". Five months later, Almunia responded: "I treat people the way I would like to be treated myself. To have someone here who hates me is just amazing. Every morning I wake up I know it is going to be the same. But I don’t care any more. I come into training and work with Łukasz Fabiański and Vito Mannone. They are better than him anyway".

Almunia finally won the battle for first-choice duties in the 2007–08 season. Highlights included saving a penalty from Robbie Keane to help Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur 2–1. He was given the number one shirt after Lehmann left for VfB Stuttgart at the beginning of the 2008–09 campaign, and he saved another important penalty on 21 March 2009, this time from Newcastle United's Obafemi Martins in a 3–1 victory. In June 2008 he signed a new four-year contract with the English club, but his subsequent performances were highly inconsistent, with brilliant displays in the Champions League semi-final first leg against Manchester United and the 2010 Champions League quarter-finals against Barcelona, and poorly received ones which resulted in rumours arising that he would be sold.

Despite the speculation, Almunia began 2010–11 as starter. However, on 25 September against West Bromwich Albion, he conceded a penalty (which he saved), let a weak shot slip through the near post and was caught out of position in the opposition's third goal; he lost his place through injury and, upon his return, found himself third-choice behind the Polish duo of Fabiański and Wojciech Szczęsny.

Almunia made a return to the team on 30 January 2011 against Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup, and went on to play both games in the next round against Leyton Orient. On 8 March, he came on as a 19th-minute substitute for the injured Szczęsny against Barcelona in the Champions League last-16 stage, and made a series of saves as Arsenal lost 3–1 at the Camp Nou to exit the tournament, 4–3 on aggregate; he was voted Player of the match by fans on the club's official website.

With Szczęsny (dislocated finger), Fabianski (shoulder) and Mannone all out with injury, Almunia again became first-choice. On 19 March, during a 2–2 draw at West Bromwich, he was caught out of position along with Sébastien Squillaci, gifting the home team their second goal; already with Lehmann back in the club as an emergency signing, he injured his knee during warm-up of the fixture against Blackpool, and did not appear in any more matches for the rest of the season.

On 30 September 2011, Almunia signed an initial one-month emergency loan deal with Championship club West Ham United after Robert Green was ruled out for six weeks with a knee cartilage injury. He made his debut for the Hammers on 1 October in a 2–2 away draw against Crystal Palace but, at the end of October and with Green's return to fitness, he returned to Arsenal.

On 22 May 2012, Arsenal announced that Almunia and six other players would be released from their contracts as of 30 June.

Watford
In July 2012, aged 35, Almunia signed a one-year contract with Championship's Watford, replacing Scott Loach who had moved to Ipswich Town. He played his first game on 11 August in a League Cup tie at home to Wycombe Wanderers, and kept a clean sheet.

Having appeared in all thirty four of Watford's league games, Almunia injured his hamstring against Derby County on 23 February 2013. He missed the next six contests as youngster Jonathan Bond deputised in his absence, returning in a 0–0 home draw against Cardiff City on 6 April 2013.

On 12 May 2013, in the play-off semi-final second leg at home to Leicester City, Almunia made a double save from Anthony Knockaert's penalty in injury time, with Watford leading 2–1 but still level on aggregate. Watford counter-attacked from the resulting saves and Troy Deeney's goal to put his team in the decisive match against Crystal Palace, where a Kevin Phillips penalty in extra time resulted in a 1–0 loss.

Watford announced that Almunia had signed a new twelve-month deal on 5 July 2013, to keep him at the club for one further season. Manager Gianfranco Zola commented: "His experience and influence are so important for us and the impact he had at Watford last season was magnificent." He left in June of the following year, as his link expired.

Almunia retired on 28 August 2014 on medical advice, after a rare heart condition was picked up during a medical with Serie A side Cagliari Calcio. In 2016, he was appointed to the role of goalkeeping coach at UAE Pro League club Al Jazira Club.

International career
Almunia did not represent Spain at any level. He stated on more than one occasion his desire to play for England, only provided that he did not receive a call-up from his nation of birth first.

Personal life
Almunia, whose brother served in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in Kosovo, has an interest in the Second World War and regularly visited sites associated with the conflict before European games with Arsenal.

Honours
Arsenal
 * FA Cup: 2004–05
 * FA Community Shield: 2004
 * Football League Cup runner-up: 2006–07, 2010–11
 * UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2005–06

Individual
 * Ricardo Zamora Trophy: 2001–02 Segunda División

title: Manuel Almunia


text:
Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags

Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags is a play written in 1829 by John Augustus Stone. It was first performed December 15, 1829, at the Park Theater in New York City, starring Edwin Forrest.

History
On November 28, 1828, a contest was posted in the New York Critic by American actor Edwin Forrest offering a prize of 500 dollars for an original play which met such criteria as, “a tragedy, in five acts, of which the hero, or principal character, shall be an aboriginal of this country". Forrest, looking to produce a play suiting his strengths, created the contest as an opportunity to boost his acting career. With his play, Metamora, or the Last of the Wampanoags, playwright and actor John Augustus Stone stood out among his competitors and took home the prize. The play, which opened on December 15, 1829, was an instant hit. Due to a combination of the highly publicized contest, Forrest's growing celebrity, and the timely subject matter of the play itself, the performances resonated with audiences across the growing country, earning theaters record profits, of which Stone received very little. Although Stone had written many other plays Metamora was by far the most critically acclaimed. After its debut the play quickly spread into various cities where it was continuously performed. During the 19th century there were over seventy-five Indian Dramas written, and even though Metamora shared a very similar plot line as the rest of plays, it was the only one to be successful.

John Augustus Stone
John Augustus Stone was born in Concord, Massachusetts on December 15, 1800. He started his theatrical career as an actor in his early 20s, portraying mostly comic roles, and was considered a crowd favorite in the New York Theatres. Later on, he married an actress and together they had two sons who became actors as well. Again, while Stone was respected and known for the play, the name associated with Metamora was Edwin Forrest- in fact Stone's name is not on one surviving poster. Stone struggled with poor health issues and at the age of thirty-three committed suicide by jumping off the Spruce Street landing on June 1, 1834. Forrest was extremely grateful to Stone not only for his friendship, but for the role that changed his life, as well as his career. When Stone died, Forrest placed a monument on his grave that said, “To the Memory of John Augustus Stone, Author of Metamora, by His Friend Edwin Forrest."

Synopsis
Metamora is set in 17th century New England around the arrival of the Puritans. The story deals with the conflict between the New English settlers, specifically Walter and Oceana, and the Wampanoags, specifically Metamora and his wife, Nehmeokee. Metamora is a tragic, noble Indian hero turned violent only by force. In the beginning there is actually peace, and a willingness to collaborate between the Wampanoags and the Puritans, however, as the play progresses, so does the rising conflict that leads to the full-on attack on Metamora's tribe. During the ending scene, Stone provides the long-awaited marriage between Walter and Oceana. However, in the last moment, Metamora kills his wife in order to protect her from the New English settlers’ invasion, leaving the audience with the image of Metamora, his wife, and his son all slain as a result of the white man. He cursed the English with his final breath.

Themes and criticism
Though Metamora is referred to as an Indian tragedy, its themes of love, war, dramatic deaths and suicides, and declaratory speeches make the play better described as a romantic melodrama. The depiction of Metamora as a kind and “noble savage,” turned violent by force especially resonated with the mid-19th century audience. Most critics raved over the play, however, some critical response was negative, and as one critic very harshly put it, “Mr. Stone did what he could to atone for the injury which he had inflicted upon the world by the production of this play. He drowned himself. We will accept the presumptive apology.”

American character types: the Indian
In the years following such pivotal events in history as the American Revolution and the War of 1812, a strong feeling of nationalism infiltrated early America. This sense of national pride influenced not only everyday life, but also became evident in the arts, including early American theatre. After a time when mostly British theatre was performed in America, a desire to create drama specific to America emerged. America needed to establish itself in the midst of the well-developed drama and literature of other nations, as well as set a standard for what is uniquely American. However, this need for nationalism soon manifested itself in drama through American character types: the Negro, the Yankee, and in the case of Metamora, the Indian. As historian Walter Meserve points out, “American literature became identifiable only after writers had recognized the potential of American scenery, custom, characters, and ideas... in a sense, they were bound together by a similar desire for freedom: the Yankee from the English, the Indian from the Yankees, and the Negro from bondage.” Depictions of oppressed, underdog characters such as the Yankee, Negro, and Indian overcoming captivity, or dying gloriously, represented the themes of freedom and liberty that characterized the newly independent America.

Indian drama
In the nineteenth century, about seventy-five Indian-related plays were written. The success of Metamora was due to Stone's ability to create a lead character that was a combination of the sublime, the grotesque, and the natural state in order to produce a believable and gratifying story. Not only did he create a character that the audience could believe, but that the audience could sympathize with. The first American play with an Indian hero was a closet drama from 1776, marking the beginning of what would become one of the biggest trends of the century. The character Metamora was inspired by New England Chief, Metacom or King Philip, who was famous for attacking the English in 1675–1676. In 1671 the English settlers grew suspicious of Metacom and demanded that the tribe surrender their guns. Finally in 1675 when three Wampanoag's were tried and executed for the murder of another Native American, who had been acting as an informer for the settlers, Metacom led a bloody uprising. This marked the last major attempt by the Indians to drive out the New England Settlers. It lasted for fourteen months and twelve frontier towns were destroyed as a result. The war came to an end in August 1676 when Metacom was captured and executed. Though King Philip's War was greatly ignored by the public, it “stands as perhaps the most devastating war in this country’s history."

Metamora and the Indian Removal Act
Opening only one year before the passage of Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act, Metamora’s depiction of a scorned and violent savage against English settler victims raises questions about the motives of both Forrest and Stone. In an essay analyzing the issue, Scott Martin remarks, “Recent interpretations insist that Stone’s play and Forrest’s personation of the title character, coming as they did when the fate of the southeastern tribes emerged as an urgent issue in congressional debate and the public mind, represented more than a mere coincidence in the realm of popular culture." Mark Mallett argues that Forrest's partiality to the Democratic Party, and to Jackson, was the driving force behind Metamora. “Forrest’s play,” he asserts, “brought the Democrat’s message back into the theatre... effectively distracting public attention from the horrors of the government’s Indian Removal campaign.” However, others contend that Metamora was simply a vehicle for Forrest's career and a story that suited the romantic ideals of its audience. “The overemphasis of political and racial ideology as the preeminent analytical context may cloud rather than clarify the relationship between Metamora and Jacksonian Indian policy. A close consideration of Metamora’s place in antebellum culture, and the contexts in which it can be interpreted, should give pause to scholars who are quick to detect efforts to engineer political advantage in every corner of art and popular culture."

Revivals
In October 2004, the play was performed at the Metropolitan Playhouse in New York City as Metamora: Last of the Wampanoags!, directed by Alex Roe and starring Matthew Trumbull as Metamora.


text:
Mendota

Mendota can refer to any of the following places in the United States:
 * Mendota, California
 * Mendota, Illinois, a city in LaSalle County
 * Mendota Township, LaSalle County, Illinois
 * Mendota, Minnesota
 * Mendota Heights, Minnesota
 * Mendota, Virginia
 * Mendota, Washington
 * Lake Mendota, Madison, Wisconsin
 * The Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison, Wisconsin

title: Mendota


text:
Adaptive equalizer

An adaptive equalizer is an equalizer that automatically adapts to time-varying properties of the communication channel. It is frequently used with coherent modulations such as phase-shift keying, mitigating the effects of multipath propagation and Doppler spreading.

Adaptive equalizers are a subclass of adaptive filters. The central idea is altering the filter's coefficients to optimize a filter characteristic. For example, in case of linear discrete-time filters, the following equation can be used:
 * $$ \mathbf{w}_{opt} = \mathbf{R}^{-1}\mathbf{p}$$

where $$\mathbf{w}_{opt}$$ is the vector of the filter's coefficients, $$\mathbf{R}$$ is the received signal covariance matrix and $$\mathbf{p}$$ is the cross-correlation vector between the tap-input vector and the desired response. In practice, the last quantities are not known and, if necessary, must be estimated during the equalization procedure either explicitly or implicitly. Many adaptation strategies exist. They include, e.g.:

 * Least mean squares filter (LMS) Note that the receiver does not have access to the transmitted signal $$x$$ when it is not in training mode. If the probability that the equalizer makes a mistake is sufficiently small, the symbol decisions $$d(n)$$ made by the equalizer may be substituted for $$x$$.
 * Stochastic gradient descent (SG)
 * Recursive least squares filter (RLS)

A well-known example is the decision feedback equalizer, a filter that uses feedback of detected symbols in addition to conventional equalization of future symbols. Some systems use predefined training sequences to provide reference points for the adaptation process.

title: Adaptive equalizer


text: User talk:81.152.19.164

title: User talk:81.152.19.164


text:
Baseboard

In architecture, a baseboard (also called skirting board, skirting, wainscoting, mopboard, trim, floor molding, or base molding) is usually wooden, MDF or vinyl board covering the lowest part of an interior wall. Its purpose is to cover the joint between the wall surface and the floor. It covers the uneven edge of flooring next to the wall; protects the wall from kicks, abrasion, and furniture; and can serve as a decorative molding.

At its simplest, baseboard consists of a simple plank nailed, screwed or glued to the wall; however, particularly in older houses, it can be made up of a number of moldings for decoration. A baseboard differs from a wainscot; a wainscot typically covers from the floor to around 1-1.5 metres (3' to 5') high (waist or chest height), whereas a baseboard is typically under 0.2 metres (8") high (ankle height).

Plastic baseboard comes in various plastic compounds, the most common of which is UPVC. It is usually available in white or a flexible version in several colors and is usually glued to the wall. Vinyl baseboard is glued with adhesive and can be difficult to remove or to replace. It has a long lifespan, which can mean lower maintenance.

Wooden baseboard can be available in untreated, lacquered or prepainted versions. Prepainted baseboards can be made from a single piece or finger jointed wood, often softwoods, while hardwoods are either lacquered, or raw for staining and made from a single piece of wood.

MDF (medium-density fiberboard) is a common material used for baseboard trim and molding. It is an engineered wood product manufactured from refined wood fibers combined with wax and resin binders. MDF is denser and more rigid than standard particle board. Compared to solid wood trim, MDF baseboard has the advantage of being consistent in thickness and profile. It resists warping, swelling, and shrinking that can occur with natural wood. MDF provides a smooth, stable surface for painting that resists absorption of paint. It is also typically cheaper than solid wood alternatives.

Tiles can also be used as a baseboard.

Heaters are sometimes installed in place of or in front of baseboards. These come in electrical and radiator varieties, the latter relying on hot water as their heat source.

title: Baseboard


text: User talk:80.95.114.29

title: User talk:80.95.114.29


text:
Dykes

Dykes, Dyke or Dikes may refer to:

People

 * Dyke (slang), used as a noun meaning lesbian or used as an adjective to describe things associated with lesbians
 * Dykes Potter (1910–2002), American baseball player
 * Dykes (surname)

Places

 * Dykes, Missouri

title: Dykes


text:
Jérémie Aliadière

Jérémie Aliadière (born 30 March 1983) is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker.

As a graduate of the elite Clairefontaine academy, he signed for Arsenal at the age of 16. During his career he also played for Celtic in the Scottish Premier League, West Ham United in the Premier League, and Wolverhampton Wanderers, before returning to Arsenal for another season. At the beginning of the 2007–08 season he was sold to Premier League club Middlesbrough for £2.5 million.

In 2011 the striker signed for Lorient playing for Les Merlus til 2014. In September 2016, it was announced that Aliadière would be returning to the Stade du Moustoir, once again playing for Lorient.

Early life
Aliadière was born in Rambouillet, Yvelines.

Arsenal
Aliadière signed for Arsenal at the age of 16 before the beginning of the 1999–2000 season. He made his Premier League debut for Arsenal against Fulham in the 2001–02 season, replacing Thierry Henry in a 4–1 victory. That game was his only league appearance that season, meaning he was not eligible for a medal as Arsenal won the 2001–02 FA Premier League. He scored his first goal for the club the following season, in a 5–2 victory over West Bromwich Albion on 27 August 2002.

In the 2003–04 season, Aliadière was mainly played in the 2003–04 League Cup rather than the league, scoring Arsenal's first League Cup goal of the season against Rotherham United. The match finished 1–1 after extra time, with Arsenal winning 9–8 on penalties. He also scored twice against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the following round of the League Cup, his second winning goal for the month for December. In total, he scored four goals in the cup run, having also scored against West Brom in the quarter-finals, with Arsenal finally being eliminated by Middlesbrough in the semi-finals. He was voted best young talent in the 2003–04 League Cup. As the season progressed, he made further inroads into the Arsenal first team, playing ten Premier League matches, seven as a substitute, to gain a Premier League winners' medal, as well as making his FA Cup debut in a 1–0 defeat against Manchester United in the semi-finals. He also came on as a late substitute in Arsenal's 5–1 victory over Inter Milan in the San Siro. Seconds after coming on, he set up the fifth goal for Robert Pires.

Aliadière missed much of the following 2004–05 season after picking up an injury in the 2004 FA Community Shield, and was kept out of action until March. On his return, he made six substitute appearances for the first team, including the FA Cup semi-final against Blackburn Rovers. Although he failed to score in these matches, he scored eight goals in five games for Arsenal's reserves. Despite his limited opportunities and being linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain, he was offered and signed a new Arsenal contract, running until the summer of 2009, announced at the same time as a loan move to Celtic.

Loan to Celtic
In the summer of 2005, Aliadière was sent on loan to Scottish club Celtic for the entire 2005–06 season in order to play regular first team football. Despite his limited appearances, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger had stated he had a future at Arsenal, despite being kept out of the side at the time by the form of Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp. In the end, his time at Celtic was forgettable; he made just two substitute appearances for the club, one in each leg of their loss to Artmedia Bratislava in the Champions League. He accused Celtic manager Gordon Strachan of not giving him a chance.

Loan to West Ham United
On 24 August 2005, Aliadière decided to move back to London after a lack of first team opportunities, where West Ham United took over his year-long loan deal, having been promoted back to the Premier League after two seasons in the lower leagues. Once again affected by injury, he only made eight appearances for West Ham, seven as a substitute.

Loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers
On 31 January 2006, West Ham terminated the loan, and Aliadière joined Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan for the remainder of the 2005–06 season. He scored two league goals for Wolves, in games against Hull City and Watford.

Return to Arsenal
Aliadière returned to Arsenal during the 2006–07 season but was again mainly used in the League Cup, scoring both goals in their 2–0 win over West Brom on 24 October 2006. His first Premier League appearance of the season came on 16 December 2006, a 2–2 draw against Portsmouth, with Aliadière playing for 55 minutes before being replaced by Emmanuel Adebayor. Continuing appearances in Arsenal's League Cup campaign saw him score in the quarter-final against Liverpool in a 6–3 victory, and in the second leg of the semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur, with Arsenal advancing with a 3–1 win. Arsenal ultimately lost the final 2–1 to Chelsea, with Aliadière featuring for 80 minutes.

With four appearances in Premier League matches during the season, as of 9 January 2007 he had played 37 times for Arsenal, 25 as a substitute, scoring nine goals, all but one coming in the League Cup, four against West Brom. In the January 2007 transfer window, Aliadière was linked with a move to the Premier League club Middlesbrough in North East England, after Wenger said he would be allowed to leave the club. The move, however, failed to happen after Robin van Persie broke his foot, and he was told to stay at Arsenal for the time being. He made his final Arsenal appearance on the final day of the 2006–07 season against Portsmouth in a 0–0 draw at Fratton Park.

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough signed Aliadière on 19 June 2007, for an initial fee of £2 million. He scored his first goal in a Premier League match against Manchester United at Old Trafford in October 2007, with a header to draw level at 1–1, before Middlesbrough went on to lose the game 4–1. This was his first Premier League goal, since scoring his first ever for Arsenal on 27 August 2002. He scored for Middlesbrough against old club Arsenal on 15 March in a 1–1 draw, before rounding off the season, scoring in the final day 8–1 victory over Manchester City on 11 May 2008.

Aliadière got a red card and three match ban for slapping Javier Mascherano in a 23 February 2008 Premier League match against Liverpool, after Mascherano had raised his hands against him, in full view of the referee. It was the cause of controversy after Middlesbrough's consequent appeal was deemed as "frivolous" by The Football Association (FA) and extended by one more game, with the club's chairman and chief executive, and Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, deeming this unfair and criticising The FA, contrasting it with a recent appeal by Chelsea's Michael Essien.

Before the start of the 2008–09 season, Aliadière switched to wearing the number 10, previously worn by midfielder Fábio Rochemback, when his number 11 was given to £3.2 million summer signing Marvin Emnes. He scored his first goal of the season in Middlesbrough's 5–1 home victory against Yeovil Town on 26 August 2008. His first Premier League goal of the season came in a 1–0 win against Wigan Athletic at the JJB Stadium on 4 October 2008, scoring in the 89th minute of the match. After a run of not scoring in his next ten matches, he again scored against his old club Arsenal, with a headed equaliser in a home 1–1 draw on 13 December 2008. At the end of the season, Middlesbrough finished equal bottom of the Premier League with West Brom, on 32 points, and as a result were relegated to the Championship.

On 12 September 2009, he came off the bench against Ipswich Town to score two goals after 30 minutes of being on the pitch, and scored another goal in the same week against Sheffield Wednesday. His next goal came on 26 December against Scunthorpe United, in his first start under new manager Gordon Strachan due to injury. Having failed to reach the play-offs, and after three injury hit seasons at Middlesbrough, he left the club on 30 June 2010 at the end of his contract having decided not to take up the option of extending his contract. In total, he made 86 appearances and scored 12 goals for the club. The 2010–11 pre-season found Aliadière training with West Ham with a view to a permanent move to the London club. The deal fell through when he damaged his knee ligaments playing in a reserve game against Crystal Palace. Subsequently, his old club Middlesbrough offered the player full use of their rehabilitation and training facilities in order to overcome the injury and regain full fitness.

In January 2011, Aliadière also revealed he was linked with a move to Blackpool, but the move collapsed over contract issues; he described the experience as hitting "rock-bottom". Al Ain, a club based in the United Arab Emirates, announced on 13 February 2011 that they had signed Aliadière, but he subsequently denounced their claim, stating that he had rejected a move and Al Ain had "been very unprofessional in their conduct".

Post-Middlesbrough
In March 2011, Aliadière trained with former club Arsenal while looking for a club. Along with the newly re-signed goalkeeper Jens Lehmann he played the full 90 minutes in a reserve game against Wigan on 29 March 2011, losing the game 2–1.

Lorient

On 5 July 2011, Aliadière signed for Ligue 1 club Lorient on a free transfer, with an option for a three-year deal. It was revealed that Arsène Wenger helped Aliadiere seal his move to Lorient. He made his debut for Lorient in a 2–0 win against Valenciennes, then scored his first two goals in a 3–0 win over Saint-Étienne. On 18 October 2011, he agreed to a newly designed three-year deal with Lorient, which he officially signed on 1 November 2011.

In Lorient's 2–2 draw with Paris Saint-Germain to start the 2012–13 Ligue 1 season, Aliadière scored Lorient's second, putting them up 2–0 at the time. With his side down 4–1 at home to Ajaccio on 28 October 2012, he scored a second-half brace to help Lorient earn a point, as Gilles Sunu scored Lorient's fourth goal in the dying seconds. On 9 December, Aliadière opened the scoring against title contenders Marseille, striking from the penalty spot and also provided the assist for Kévin Monnet-Paquet's strike, as Lorient won comfortably 3–0 at the Stade Vélodrome.

On 12 December, Aliadière received the ball from a poor clearance by Sochaux goalkeeper Simon Pouplin and found Alain Traoré, who fizzed a long-range effort in off the left-hand post, giving Lorient a 1–0 lead; Lorient went on to win 2–0 and moved up to fourth in the Ligue 1 table. Lorient continued their ascent up the Ligue 1 table with a 2–0 defeat of Saint-Étienne on 16 December, Aliadière opening the scoring in the 20th minute after defeating two defenders and finishing past the goalkeeper. In the January transfer window, Aliadière was linked to a return move to England by joining Middlesbrough's rival Newcastle United, for personal reasons, but the move was rejected by the club. Eventually, he remained at the club throughout the transfer window and said that transfer speculation did not affect his form, and even hints to play for the France national team.

In Lorient's Brittany derby with Rennes on 2 February 2013, Aliadière scored the team's second goal in a 2–2 draw. Ahead of the match, Aliadière told Ligue 1.com when asked about comparing the derbies, "You can't really compare them to be honest. The derbies I played in the UK were Arsenal versus Spurs or even Middlesbrough against Sunderland or Newcastle. The derbies here are not as fanatical as those in England. It's obviously a big game and a game that the fans want to win but it won't be the end of the world for them if they don't. They are not as passionate as the people in the UK so it's not as big."

Aliadière converted a penalty to open the scoring in a 2–1 defeat of Evian on 16 February, keeping Lorient within reach of securing European football. Aliadière expressed his pleasure at playing for manager Christian Gourcuff, stating that "his vision of football ... means very good organization defensively".

Umm Salal
On 25 July 2014, it was announced that Aliadière had completed a transfer to Qatari side Umm Salal.

Lorient
In September 2016, Aliadère once again joined Lorient, signing on a free transfer. He left at the end of the 2016–17 season.

Aliadère retired from playing in 2018.

International career
Aliadière made five appearances and scored one goal for the France national under-21 team.

Personal life
Aliadière is of Swiss and Algerian descent and bears a tattoo with the flag of Algeria. Aliadière said that Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, during his six-year spell at the Gunners, was like a father to him. They remain in contact to the present day.

Honours
Arsenal U18
 * FA Youth Cup: 2000–01

Arsenal
 * Premier League: 2003–04
 * FA Community Shield: 2002, 2004
 * Football League Cup runner-up: 2006–07

France U21
 * Toulon Tournament: 2004

Individual
 * FC Lorient Player of the Year: 2013

title: Jérémie Aliadière


text: Template:Pakistan-stub

title: Template:Pakistan-stub


text:
Larry Johnson (basketball, born 1969)

Larry Demetric Johnson (born March 14, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who spent his career as a power forward with the Charlotte Hornets and the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In 2008, Johnson was inducted into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame. He was then inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame on November 24, 2019.

High school career
In his senior year at Skyline High School in Dallas, Texas, Johnson was a member of the 1987 McDonald's High School All-American Team.

Odessa (1987–1989)
Johnson originally made a verbal commitment to play for Dave Bliss at Southern Methodist University, but he instead enrolled at Odessa College in Texas following a dispute with the SMU administration about the legitimacy of one of his SAT scores. He played the 1987–88 and 1988–89 seasons at Odessa, averaging 22.3 points per game as a freshman and over 29 points per game his sophomore year, becoming the first and, to date, only player ever to win the National Junior College Athletic Association Division 1 Player of the Year award both years played. There were even some basketball analysts who believed Johnson could have been a first round selection in the 1989 NBA draft (even a possible NBA lottery selection) if he had declared for early entry.

UNLV (1989–1991)
Johnson eventually transferred to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to play under head coach Jerry Tarkanian. Alongside future NBA players Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony, Johnson faced the Duke Blue Devils in the title game of the 1990 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. UNLV went on to win the contest by a score of 103–73, with Johnson contributing 22 points and 11 rebounds. The Runnin' Rebels set numerous NCAA records in the tournament, including simultaneous NCAA records for the largest margin of victory and highest score in an NCAA Tournament championship game.

In a post-season mired by charges of recruiting violations and misconduct by UNLV, an agreement was reached between the university and the NCAA to allow for the defense of their title for the 1990–91 season, which would be followed by a suspension from post-season play the following season. Johnson and the Runnin' Rebels responded with a perfect regular season record of 27–0, with an average scoring margin of 26.7 points per game; this total included a 112–105 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks, ranked second in the country at the time.

In the 1991 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, UNLV won the West Regional Tournament only to be upset by eventual champion Duke in the Final Four. Johnson was named a First Team All-American twice, and won the Big West Conference Player of the Year and tournament Most Valuable Player awards in 1990 and 1991. He also won the prestigious John R. Wooden Award and was named Naismith College Player of the Year in 1991. To this day, Johnson is ranked 12th in career scoring and 7th in rebounding at UNLV despite playing only two seasons. He also holds the record for single-season and career field goal percentage. In 2002, Johnson and teammates Augmon and Anthony were inducted into the UNLV Athletic Hall of Fame along with the 1990–91 UNLV men's basketball team. To date they are the only UNLV team to make back-to-back Final Four appearances.

Charlotte Hornets (1991–1996)
Johnson was selected first overall in the 1991 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets, and won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in his first season. He also competed in the 1992 Slam Dunk Contest at the NBA All-Star Weekend in Orlando, finishing second to Cedric Ceballos of the Phoenix Suns.

In 1993, Johnson was voted to start in that year's All-Star Game, making him the first Hornet in franchise history to receive that honor; he enjoyed his best statistical season with averages of 22.1 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game in 82 games, which earned him All-NBA Second Team honors. Along with Alonzo Mourning, Muggsy Bogues and Dell Curry, Johnson played with the Hornets at the height of their popularity in the early to mid-1990s. During this time, Johnson, who went by his initialism "LJ" and the nickname "Grandmama" (because of a popular series of commercials for Converse, who signed Johnson to an endorsement contract following his entry into the NBA), was featured on the cover of the premiere issue of SLAM.

In October 1993, Johnson signed what was at the time the most lucrative contract in NBA history, a 12-year, $84 million deal with the Hornets. However, he missed 31 games after spraining his back on December 27, 1993 in a game against the Detroit Pistons. During the summer he played for the U.S. national team (nicknamed Dream Team II) in the 1994 FIBA World Championship, winning the gold medal.

Johnson had entered the league as an explosive power forward, averaging over 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. However, after the injury to his back, Johnson was forced to develop an all-around game with an improved outside shot. In the 1994–95 season, he made 81 three-pointers, nearly 60 more than in his first three years combined, and was selected to the 1995 NBA All-Star Game.

Friction between Johnson and Mourning forced the organization to make a change, and the resulting moves made by the Hornets left both players on other teams. Prior to the 1995–96 season, Mourning was traded to the Miami Heat for Glen Rice and Matt Geiger. Following that season, Johnson was dealt to the New York Knicks for Anthony Mason and Brad Lohaus.

New York Knicks (1996–2001)
Johnson averaged 12.8 points, a career-low, in his first season as a Knick, and although he would never return to his former All-Star form, he was a key member of the Knicks' 1999 Eastern Conference championship team.

During Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, he was involved in a critical play in which he was fouled by Antonio Davis of the Indiana Pacers. Standing outside the three-point line with 11.9 seconds left, Johnson held the ball, and then began to dribble. He leaned into defender Davis before jumping up. The referee called the foul about a half-second before Johnson released the ball, but it was counted as a continuation shooting foul. Johnson made the shot and converted the free throw following the basket for a four-point play, which turned out to be the winning margin in a 92–91 Knicks victory.

During the 1999 NBA Finals, Johnson characterized the Knicks as a band of "rebellious slaves". Bill Walton later called Johnson and his performance a "disgrace". When Johnson was asked about the play of San Antonio Spurs point guard Avery Johnson in Game 4, Johnson again shifted the topic to slavery: "Ave, man, we're from the same plantation. You tell Bill Walton that. We from Massa Johnson's plantation." He went on to say, "Here's the NBA, full of blacks, great opportunities, they made beautiful strides. But what's the sense of that ... when I go back to my neighborhood and see the same thing? I'm the only one who came out of my neighborhood. Everybody ended up dead, in jail, on drugs, selling drugs. So I'm supposed to be honored and happy or whatever by my success. Yes, I am. But I can't deny the fact of what has happened to us over years and years and years and we're still at the bottom of the totem pole."

Johnson also played a central role in the developing rivalry between the Knicks and the Heat. In Game 5 of the 1997 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Johnson was one of several players who left the Knicks bench during a brawl involving teammate Charlie Ward and Miami's P. J. Brown; he was eventually suspended for Game 7 which the Knicks lost. Then in Game 4 of the 1998 Eastern Conference First Round, Johnson and former Hornets teammate Mourning engaged in a fight which also involved Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy holding onto Mourning's leg. Both Johnson and Mourning were suspended for Game 5, in which the seventh-seed Knicks eliminated the second-seed Heat.

On October 10, 2001, Johnson announced his early retirement from basketball due to chronic back problems that had plagued him for several years, after his point production had decreased for three straight years.

Post-playing career
In July 2007, Johnson expressed interest in making a comeback with the Knicks in some type of "leadership role". On December 21, 2007, Johnson received a bachelor of arts degree in social science studies from UNLV. In 2008, Johnson was inducted into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame. He was hired by the Knicks as a basketball and business operations representative on April 8, 2012. In 2014, he was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

Personal life
Johnson converted to Islam. During the NBA season, he observed Ramadan, the holy month of fasting.

Johnson has five children with four women. In 2015, he filed for bankruptcy in a California court, claiming he owed more than $120,000 in unpaid child support.

Film and television
In 1993, Johnson appeared in the episode "Grandmama" of the sitcom Family Matters as his alter ego "Grandmama" (pronounced Grand Ma-Ma), who becomes Steve Urkel's teammate in a basketball tournament. Later that year, he was a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman. Three years later he appeared as himself in the movies Eddie and Space Jam; in the latter he had a supporting role as a fictionalized version of himself. He was one of the NBA stars who had their basketball abilities stolen alongside Muggsy Bogues, Shawn Bradley, Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing.

title: Larry Johnson (basketball, born 1969)


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User talk:Todd Kloos

Welcome to the Wikipedia
Here are some links I thought useful:

 * Tutorial
 * Help desk
 * Foundation issues
 * Policy Library
 * Utilities
 * Cite your sources
 * Verifiability
 * Wikiquette
 * Civility
 * Conflict resolution
 * Neutral point of view
 * Pages needing attention
 * Peer review
 * Bad jokes and other deleted nonsense
 * Brilliant prose
 * Featured pictures
 * Boilerplate text
 * Current polls
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 * IRC channel

Feel free to contact me personally with any questions you might have. The Village pump is also a good place to go for quick answers to general questions. You can sign your name by typing 4 tildes, like this: ~.

Be Bold!

[[User:Sam Spade|Sam]] Spade wishes you a merry Christmas! 12:00, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

title: User talk:Todd Kloos


text:
User talk:Tipthepizzaguy

Welcome to the Wikipedia
Here are some links I thought useful:

 * Tutorial
 * Help desk
 * Foundation issues
 * Policy Library
 * Utilities
 * Cite your sources
 * Verifiability
 * Wikiquette
 * Civility
 * Conflict resolution
 * Neutral point of view
 * Pages needing attention
 * Peer review
 * Bad jokes and other deleted nonsense
 * Brilliant prose
 * Featured pictures
 * Boilerplate text
 * Current polls
 * Mailing lists
 * IRC channel

Feel free to contact me personally with any questions you might have. The Village pump is also a good place to go for quick answers to general questions. You can sign your name by typing 4 tildes, like this: ~.

Be Bold!

[[User:Sam Spade|Sam]] Spade wishes you a merry Christmas! 12:01, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Image copyright problem with Image:Alan Watts.jpg
Thanks for uploading Image:Alan Watts.jpg. You've indicated that the image is being used under a claim of fair use, but you have not provided an adequate explanation for why it meets Wikipedia's requirements for such images. In particular, for each page the image is used on, the image must have an explanation linking to that page which explains why it needs to be used on that page. Can you please check

 * That there is a non-free use rationale on the image's escription page for each article the image is used in.
 * That every article it is used on is linked to from its description page.

This is an automated notice by FairuseBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Media copyright questions. --20:04, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Alan_Watts.jpg
Thanks for uploading or contributing to Image:Alan_Watts.jpg. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in Wikipedia articles constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use. Suggestions on how to do so can be found here.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to ensure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If you have uploaded other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on those pages too. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any non-free media lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Do you want to opt out of receiving this notice? Rettetast (talk) 20:54, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Tipthepizzaguy


text:
Never Breathe What You Can't See

Never Breathe What You Can't See is a studio album by Jello Biafra and The Melvins, released in 2004 through Alternative Tentacles.

Songs recorded during the same sessions and remixes of four songs were used for the follow-up album, Sieg Howdy!, released in 2005.

Track listing

 * All songs written by Buzz Osborne and lyrics by Jello Biafra, except where noted.
 * 1) "Plethysmograph" (Music: Biafra) – 4:49
 * 2) "McGruff the Crime Dog" – 4:18
 * 3) "Yuppie Cadillac" (Music: Biafra) – 4:31
 * 4) "Islamic Bomb" (Music: Biafra) – 6:19
 * 5) "The Lighter Side of Global Terrorism" – 4:35
 * 6) "Caped Crusader" (Music: Biafra, Osborne) – 6:08
 * 7) "Enchanted Thoughtfist" – 4:18
 * 8) "Dawn of the Locusts" – 5:12

Personnel

 * Osama McDonald – vocals
 * Jon Benet Milosevic – guitars, backing vocals
 * George W. McVeigh – bass, slide bass (8)
 * Saddam Disney – drums, percussion, lead guitar (3, 5)
 * with
 * Adam Jones – guitars (4, 6-8)

Additional personnel

 * Tom 5 – backing vocals
 * John The Baker – backing vocals
 * Adrienne Droogas – backing vocals
 * Wendy-O-Matik – backing vocals
 * Loto Ball – backing vocals
 * Johnny NoMoniker – backing vocals
 * Ali G. North – backing vocals, producer
 * Lady Monster – backing vocals
 * Jesse Luscious – backing vocals
 * Marshall Lawless – producer
 * Toshi Kasai – engineer, mixing
 * Matt Kelley – engineer
 * Drew Fischer – engineer
 * Javier E. Javier – asst. engineer
 * Mackie Osborne – art direction & design

title: Never Breathe What You Can't See


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Talk:America (continent)

Merge??? What is there to merge? I say just make a redirect to The Americas and be done with it. Shanes 12:02, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Merge
I moved the passage about early Bristol fisherman into The Americas and am now redirecting. - Trick 17:47, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:America (continent)


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Powellite

Powellite is a calcium molybdate mineral with formula CaMoO4. Powellite crystallizes with tetragonal – dipyramidal crystal structure as transparent adamantine blue, greenish-brown, yellow-to-grey typically anhedral forms. It exhibits distinct cleavage, and has a brittle-to-conchoidal fracture. It has a Mohs hardness of 3.5 to 4 and a specific gravity of 4.25. It forms a solid solution series with scheelite (calcium tungstate, CaWO4). It has refractive index values of nω=1.974 and nε=1.984.

Powellite was first described by William Harlow Melville in 1891 for an occurrence in the Peacock Mine, Adams County, Idaho, and named for American explorer and geologist, John Wesley Powell (1834–1902).

It occurs in hydrothermal ore deposits of molybdenum within the near-surface oxidized zones. It also appears as a rare mineral phase in pegmatite, tactite and basalt. Minerals found in association with powellite include molybdenite, ferrimolybdite, stilbite, laumontite and apophyllite.

title: Powellite


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OBA

Oba or OBA may refer to:

Science, technology, business, management

 * Office Business Applications, software which uses applications within the Microsoft Office system
 * On base average, a baseball statistic
 * Online Behavioral Advertising, a range of technologies and techniques used by online website publishers and advertisers
 * Optical Brightening Agent, a type of dye used in fabric and paper
 * Output-based aid, a type of aid to support the delivery of public services in developing countries
 * Out-of-band agreement, in communications
 * Oxygen Breathing Apparatus, an oxygen supply system used by the US Navy for firefighting

Organisations and institutions

 * Oklahoma Bible Academy, a Christian secondary institution in Enid, Oklahoma, U.S.
 * Oklahoma Bankers Association, a trade association in Oklahoma, U.S.
 * Oklahoma Bar Association, the state bar (legal association) of Oklahoma, U.S.
 * One Bermuda Alliance, a Bermuda political party
 * Only Boys Aloud, Welsh male voice choir
 * Ontario Bar Association
 * Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam, the public library of Amsterdam
 * Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy, a school in Runcorn, England

People

 * Oba (king), a Bini and Yoruba title for certain royal rulers
 * Ōba, a Japanese surname
 * Oba Chandler (1946–2011), an American murderer executed in 2011

Places

 * Oba, Ontario a remote hamlet in Ontario, Canada
 * Oba Island, in Vanuatu
 * Oba-Igbomina, a town in Nigeria
 * Oba, Anambra, a town in Anambra State, Nigeria
 * Oba River, a river in Nigeria
 * Orange Beach, Alabama
 * Oba, Indonesia - that part of the administered area of the town of Tidore lying on Halmahera Island
 * Oba Market, Historical market at Ring Road in Edo State, Nigeria

Other

 * Oba: The Last Samurai, a 2011 Japanese film
 * Oba (orisha), a spirit who is prominent in various Traditional African religions and Afro-American religions

title: OBA


text: User talk:68.237.7.74

title: User talk:68.237.7.74


text:
Kashan

Kashan is a city in the Central District of Kashan County, in the northern part of Isfahan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.

History
Earliest evidence of human presence around Kashan date back to Paleolithic period that have been found at Niasar, Kaftar Khoun and Sefid-Ab. Middle Paleolithic stone tools were discovered at travertine spring of Niasar and the travertine of Kaftar Khoun. Upper Paleolithic groups were living around Sefid-Ab spring at SW of Kashan.

By some accounts, although not all, Kashan was the origin of the three wise men who followed the star that guided them to Bethlehem to witness the nativity of Jesus, as recounted in the Bible. For example, medieval traveler Friar Odoric of Pordenone related this story in 1330 after having visited there.

According to a legend dating from the Safavid era, Abu Lu'lu'a, the Persian skilled craftsman who was enslaved by the Islamic conquerors and who eventually assassinated the caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab in 644, fled to Kashan after the assassination. The shrine that was built over his supposed tomb is one of Kashan's landmarks (see gallery below).

During the rule of Timurid Empire, Kashan were patronized by Ulugh Beg, grandson of Timur. After the era of Timurid rulers, Kashan then came simultaneously under the rule of Qara Qoyunlu, and then Aq Qoyunlu. Kashan was also a leisure vacation spot for Safavid kings.

The earthquake of 1778 leveled the city of Kashan and all the edifices of Shah Abbas Safavi, leaving 8000 casualties. But the city started afresh.

Population
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 248,789 in 67,464 households. The following census in 2011 counted 275,325 people in 80,015 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 304,487 people in 91,935 households.

Geography
Kashan is divided into two parts, mountainous and desert.

Location
The city of Kashan is located in the north of Isfahan province, north of the Karkas Mountains and west of Dasht-e Kavir desert, where it is poor in terms of vegetation and where bushes and shrubs are more or less found.

Mountains
Dare mountain is next to Dare village and 14 kilometers southwest of Kashan with a height of 2,985 meters overlooking the city of Kashan, and Gargash peak is the second highest peak of the Karkas mountain range (the first is mount Karakas in Natanz), 33 kilometers southwest of Kashan and 12 kilometers southwest of Qamsar and 7 kilometers northeast of Kamu with a height of 3,600 meters is located near the city of Kamu and Chogan. Kashan has the least light and air pollution. For this reason, it was chosen by international experts as the most appropriate and best place to establish the National Observatory of Iran, and the home of one of the largest large telescopes in the Middle East with the latest technology.

Ardahal peak is located 35 kilometers west of Kashan with a height of 3505 meters after Gargash, is the highest point of Kashan heights (continuation of the central mountain range) in the vicinity of Niaser and the villages Nashlej and Mashhad.

Climate
Kashan has a hot desert climate, with (BWh) designation in Köppen climate classification and (BW) in Trewartha climate classification, with cold winters (although warmer than other Iranian cities) and very hot and dry summers. Kashan is significantly warmer than other cities in the Iranian Plateau due to its lower elevation.

Main sights
On August 9, 2007, Iran placed the Historical Axis of Fin, Sialk, Kashan on its Tentative List for possible future nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The exact definition of what locations within Kashan proper might be nominated was not made clear. In 2012 Iran successfully nominated the Fin Garden separately for inscription by UNESCO as a part of its Persian Gardens World Heritage Site. Despite this the "Historical-Cultural Axis of Fin, Sialk, Kashan" remains in full on Iran's Tentative List. The Boroujerdiha house is one of the historical places from the Qajar period.

Kashan's architectural sights include:

 * Abbāsi House
 * Agha Bozorg Mosque
 * Āmeri House
 * Bazaar of Kashan
 * Boroujerdi House
 * Fin Garden
 * Jalali Castle
 * Jameh Mosque of Kashan
 * Meydan Mosque
 * Shrine of Abu Lu'lu'a (shrine dedicated to the assassin of Umar, the second Islamic caliph)
 * Sultan Amir Ahmad Bathhouse
 * Tabātabāei House
 * Tabriziha Mosque
 * Tepe Sialk

Today
Kashan is known for the manufacture of carpets, silk and other textiles.

Education
There are more than 10,000 students currently studying in various fields (e.g.:Applied sciences, Engineering, Art, Law, Medical sciences, Nano technology, literature, Carpet and Handicrafts, etc.) at universities of Kashan. Colleges and universities in Kashan include:
 * Kashan University of Medical Sciences
 * Islamic Azad University of Kashan
 * University of Kashan

Accessibility

 * Road 71
 * Freeway 7, located near the city

Kashan is connected via freeways to Isfahan and Natanz to the South, and Qom, which is an hour drive away to the north. Kashan railway station is along the main north–south railways of Iran. Kashan Airport reopened on 2 June 2016 after twenty years hiatus with an ATA Airlines flight from Mashhad International Airport.

Notable people

 * David Alliance, Baron Alliance
 * Ghyath ad-Din Jamshid Kashani
 * Kamal-ol-Molk
 * Amir Ghafour
 * Ehsan Hajsafi
 * Javad Kazemian
 * Mohsen Feyz Kashani
 * Sohrab Sepehri
 * Ustad Ali Maryam
 * Afdal al-Din Kashani
 * Reza Abbasi
 * Sani ol molk
 * Kalim Kashani
 * Muhtasham Kashani
 * Ghotb Ravandi
 * Saeed Hajjarian
 * Mohammad Motamedi
 * Mulla Muhammad Mahdi Naraqi
 * Molla Fathollah Kashani
 * Sani ol molk
 * Moluk Zarabi
 * Pari Zangeneh

Twin towns – sister cities

 * 🇮🇷 Neishabour, Iran

title: Kashan