text:
Talk:Matilda I (tank)

Supposedly this tank (A-11) was never officially named "Matilda", and possibly this is only incorrect (nevertheless popular) post-war nickname, taken from A-12 Matilda. It should be checked. Pibwl 23:03, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * The nickname is not post war, but contemporary. The lack of an official 'christening' would not be one that would bother the British Army. I believe the sources are good enough. GraemeLeggett 15:17, 12 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * I have seen the reference to the Mk 1 as Mailtda in print. Comparison of the profile of the two also shows the Mk 1 to be the more ducklike. GraemeLeggett

 * I am not sure the nickname refers to Matilda Mc Duck - as far as I know, and could find on the internet, Matilda Mc Duck first appeared after WW2. Possibly it is named to another cartoon duck called Matilda? 151.41.207.236 12:30, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Surely. Matilda McDuck first appeared in Carl Barks' private sketches in the 50's and in printed comics not before the 90's, when Don Rosa used her in his stories. There seems to be no references in the Internet to this cartoon duck the tank really got its name from. --Haltiamieli 12:43, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Re the tank's name: the best source I could get my hands on was Chamberlain & Ellis' excellent British and American Tanks of World War II, but the connection between the name Matilda and a duck remains unexplained. Perhaps the truth can be found in Christy Campbell's Band of Brigands: The First Men in Tanks: see http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/000721460X, and note the review by Mr B.M. Smith. Smith says 'Interesting fact from the book; Matilda (Infantry Tank MkI), meaning "'mighty in battle' in old German." Not a comic duck or Hugh Elles's mistress...' Unfortunately I don't own the book, and can't seem to search it online. Mr Smith's claim is secondhand and doesn't qualify as a reliable source. Jack Garfield (talk) 09:33, 14 June 2009 (UTC)
 * The Christy Campbell book is on the 1914-18 period, so I wouldn't expect much on British tanks of the rearmament period. Matilda is an old German name with a meaning whether or not it was taken from a dcuk or anything else. I have seen it mentioned that it was a Vickers project name given by Carden.GraemeLeggett (talk) 10:33, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

I think "matilda" has always been a popular name for ducks (similar to "daisy" for cows). The Disney character was probably named in recognition of this association. Drutt (talk) 19:20, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

 * "Matilda" is an old Anglo-Saxon girl's name that IIRC means something like 'Mighty in Battle'. It is also sometimes spelt "Mathilda".

 * See Matilda (name). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.7.147.13 (talk) 12:50, 5 January 2014 (UTC)

WikiProject Military history/Assessment/Tag & Assess 2008
Article reassessed and graded as start class. --dashiellx (talk) 17:58, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Matilda the cartoon duck -a military museum source.
An exceptionally late response I know but having just visited the Queen's royal lancers and Nottinghamshire yeomanry museum museum, I have a photo of an info board which claims "The Matilda tank was named after a cartoon duck when the prototype was seen to travel with a continuous waddling' Photo available via email for editor wanting to see it. Possibly a case where "sources disagree" JRPG (talk) 15:23, 22 July 2014 (UTC)

 * My concern would be, is that Yeomanry Museum infoboard a reliable source?GraemeLeggett (talk) 17:58, 22 July 2014 (UTC)

 * The recently retired director of the Tank Museum, David Fletcher, has been quite clear about this and it is correct in the article now. 'Matilda' was a project code name that got attached to the tank. His upcoming book (aug 2017) will repeat this content. regards, DMorpheus2 (talk) 20:31, 21 June 2017 (UTC)

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Dimensions
The imperial dimensions given in the info box don't agree with the metric values. They appear to be those for the Matilda Mk II, a much larger tank. I don't have authoritative sources on the tank so I've only checked some of the other WP pages on the Matilda I and they all quote the metric values.

English WP

Mk 1

Length	18 ft 5 in (4.85 m)

Width	8 ft 6 in (2.28 m)

Height	8 ft 3 in (1.86 m)

Mk 2

Length	18 ft 5 in (5.61 m)[3]

Width	8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)[4]

Height	8 ft 3 in (2.51 m)

I don't know what background magic is used to create/maintain these info boxes, so I'll leave it up to someone else to make the edits (if edits are necessary) Scartboy (talk) 16:38, 9 July 2020 (UTC)

Outdated sources and Info?
I noticed that the article states the tank was outdated before it entered service, citing two videos from The Tank Museum from 2017 and 2020, however more recent videos from them (such as Matilda I – The Little Tank That Did | Tank Chat #176 ) assert the opposite. Given the tanks success in its only combat use (in 1940), and that it was comparably armed to many other mid 1930s tank, I'm inclined to the more recent scholarship.

Additionally the video I link provides proof of the origin of the Matilda name coming from the 1935 specifications, as it shows notes from the meeting where the tank is given that name as a code word

Not sure what the proper way to go about removing outdated sourced information is, I would think that more recent publications by the same authority have precedence other their older work. BenErroneous (talk) 03:18, 25 June 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Matilda I (tank)


text:
Cambridge Castle

Cambridge Castle, locally also known as Castle Mound, is located in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. Originally built after the Norman conquest to control the strategically important route to the north of England, it played a role in the conflicts of the Anarchy, the First and Second Barons' Wars. Hugely expanded by Edward I, the castle then fell rapidly into disuse in the late medieval era, its stonework recycled for building purposes in the surrounding colleges. Cambridge Castle was refortified during the English Civil War but once again fell into disuse, used primarily as the county gaol. The castle gaol was finally demolished in 1842, with a new prison built in the castle bailey. This prison was demolished in 1932, replaced with the modern Shire Hall, and only the castle motte and limited earthworks still stand. The site is open to the public daily and offers views over the historic buildings of the city.

11th century
Cambridge Castle was one of three castles built across the east of England in late 1068 by William the Conqueror in the aftermath of his northern campaign to capture York. Cambridge, or Grantabridge as it was then known, was on the old Roman route from London to York and was both strategically significant and at risk of rebellion. The initial building work was conducted by Picot, the high sheriff, who later founded a priory beside the castle. The castle was built in a motte and bailey design, within the existing town, and 27 houses had to be destroyed to make space for it.

12th–13th centuries
The castle was held by the Norman kings until the civil war of the Anarchy broke out in 1139. Castles played a key role in the conflict between the Empress Matilda and King Stephen, and in 1143 Geoffrey de Mandeville, a supporter of the Empress, attacked Cambridge; the town was raided and the castle temporarily captured. Stephen responded with a counter-attack, forcing Geoffrey to retreat into the Fens and retaking the castle. Cambridge Castle remained exposed, however, and Stephen decided to build a supporting fortification at Burwell to provide additional protection. Geoffrey died attacking Burwell Castle the following year, leaving Cambridge Castle secure.

Under Henry II the castle was adequately maintained, but little additional work was undertaken to improve it. A castle-guard system was established, under which lands around Cambridge were granted to local lords on the condition that they provide guard forces for the castle, and the castle was primarily used to hold the sheriff's court and records. King John expanded the castle in the years before the First Barons' War of 1215 to 1217, but this work was concentrated on constructing a new hall and chamber, at the cost of £200. During the war, the rebel barons, supported by Prince Louis of France, captured much of eastern England; Cambridge Castle fell in 1216. The castle was returned to royal control after the war, but Henry III only conducted basic maintenance of the fortification. Cambridge was attacked again during the Second Barons' War in 1266. This time the town and castle held long enough to be relieved by Henry's forces, but the king reinforced the city defences with a large ditch, later known as King's Ditch.

Cambridge Castle remained only a basic fortification until 1284 when Edward I decided to undertake major expansion works. Over the next 14 years the king spent at least £2,630 on rebuilding the castle in stone. Edward's castle was four-sided, with circular towers at each corner, guarded by a gatehouse and a barbican. A circular stone keep was built on the motte. The result was a "major fortress in the latest fashion", albeit never quite completed. Edward stayed at the castle for two nights in 1294.

14th–17th centuries
During the 14th century the castle was allowed to fall into disrepair. From Edward III onwards, little money was spent on maintaining the property and by the 15th century the castle was in ruins. The castle hall and chamber were roofless by the 15th century, and Henry VI ordered these buildings to be destroyed and the stone reused for constructing King's College in 1441, with other parts of the castle being used to help build Trinity College's chapel. More stonework was given away by Mary I in the 16th century for building a mansion at nearby Sawston in the Fens, and other grants of stone given to Emmanuel and Magdalene colleges. By 1604 only the gatehouse, used as a gaol, and the keep remained intact, with the surrounding walls described by contemporaries as "rased and utterly ruinated".

Civil war broke out in England in 1642 between the rival factions of the Royalists and Parliament. Cambridge Castle was occupied by Parliamentary forces in the first year of the war. Oliver Cromwell ordered emergency work to be conducted to repair the defences, resulting in two new earthwork bastions being added to the castle and a brick barracks constructed in the old bailey. The governor of Cambridge described in 1643 that "our town and castle are now very strongly fortified... with breastworks and bulwarks". The castle saw no further fighting during the war, and in 1647 parliament ordered the remaining fortifications to be slighted, damaged beyond further use.

18th–19th centuries
The castle rapidly deteriorated after the slighting and the remaining walls and bastions were taken down in 1785, leaving only the gatehouse and the earth motte. The gatehouse remained in use as the county gaol into the 19th century, being run, like other similar prisons, as a private business – the keeper of the castle gaol was paid £200 a year by the county in 1807 (equivalent to £ in ). This came to an end when a new county prison was built in the grounds of the castle's former bailey. The new prison was built by G. Byfield between 1807 and 1811 with an innovative octagonal structure, influenced by the designs of the prison reformer John Howard; the castle gatehouse was destroyed to make way for a new county court building.

By the end of the 19th century, the gaol was deemed to be surplus to requirements as Huntingdon Gaol was sufficient to hold prisoners from both Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire. By 1920 the building had become a branch repository of the Public Record Office and remained so until 1928 when it was acquired by Cambridgeshire County Council. The gaol was demolished in 1932 and the bricks used to build Shire Hall on the same site.

Preservation
The castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Its only remains are the 10 m high motte (which stands on the highest point in the city) and some fragments of earthworks. It is open to the public daily with no admission fee, and offers views over the historic buildings of the city. The site of the castle bailey and the 19th-century prison is now occupied by Shire Hall, which was built in 1932 as the headquarters of Cambridgeshire County Council.

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

title: Cambridge Castle


text:
Yermolaev Design Bureau

Yermolaev Design Bureau was a Soviet OKB (design bureau) formed in 1939 around Vladimir Yermolaev. After his death in on 31 December 1944, it was absorbed into the Sukhoi OKB in March 1945.

Aircraft

 * Yermolaev Yer-2

title: Yermolaev Design Bureau


text:
User talk:Maestral/Archive 1

Welcome
Hi Neoneo13! Welcome to Wikipedia :)

I've noticed your many edits to the topics related to Croatian culture. Are you from Croatia perhaps, or do you speak Croatian? You may be interested in the Croatian Wikipedia.

If you need any help, please don't hesitate to ask. Good luck. --Joy [shallot]   23:06, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Well, yes - I am Croatian, but I'm not living there. I'm currently working on different entries in the German Wikipedia (along with the English Wikipedia). Maybe I'll join the Croatian Wikipedia as well, but there's still so much to do and I thought it would be better to continue with the more widely used versions first... :) --Neoneo13 11:43, 12 Feb 2005 (UTC)

flag and coat of Croatia
Please see Talk:Croatia. --Joy [shallot]   18:57, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

Thanks a lot for the hints. Work is done! I'll continue working in PNG format. Hope it's fine now - if not, please change it. --Neoneo13 22:41, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

Carlstatt
Hello Neoneo13! I noticed at Karlovac that you had added "Carlstatt" as an older German name. I'm not familiar with that term; could you have meant Carlstadt, or was Carlstatt a name possibly used centuries ago? Happy editing! Olessi 23:18, 28 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Hi! Well found it yesterday in a book stating "Carlstatt" above an image of ancient Karlovac. Its a very old name and Croatian cities often have hundreds of names throughout history. Carlstadt is surely one of these possibilities. Must be a tough German who wrote down "Carlstatt" (very hard pronunciation). Thought it might be useful to add if historians are searching for this old name. --Neoneo13 12:51, 29 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the info! Because "Carlstatt" does not seem to be a common name in use by scholarly material, I have moved its mention to within the body of the article and replaced it with the more common Carlstadt in the introduction. I also created a redirect for Carlstatt to Karlovac. Olessi 19:51, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

User page
Who says it is forbiden to change user pages? So what if I changed your usr page u can always put it back as u want. And who r u tell us what language we speak or what nation we are or what country dissapeared or which didnt? U think everything your father thought u is truth and that he is only and undisputed source of information. Luka Jačov 19:18, 13 January 2006 (UTC)
 * History. --Neoneo13 00:03, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

Warning: WP:3RR on Šokci
You are in danger of violating the three revert rule. Please cease further reverts or you may be blocked from further editing. --Tznkai 08:44, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
 * It was not me who reverted the text. User User:PANNONIAN and me are protecting article Šokci from vandalism. Please have a look at the history before posting warnings. See discussion @ Šokci. Agreement will be reached soon. --Neoneo13 11:45, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Marija Bistrica
The Coat of arms in the Marija Bistrica article isn't the same as in the croatian wikipedia http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marija_Bistrica. Which one is correct? Nice to see there are more Croatian Catholics here in wikipedia. Sporki 22:13, 14 March 2006 (UTC)
 * I guess then the croatian is rather correct. those her are older ones... --Neoneo13 22:47, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

Pronunciation of Dubrovnik
Hi, thanks for your contributions to Dubrovnik. I was wondering why you added the phrase "stress on first syllable", when that is already indicated both in the fully-accented Croatian orthography and in the standard IPA transcription. You'll note for example that the Italian city Erice has the accent indicated using IPA and nothing else. --Macrakis 01:46, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Yeah, but still I thought it might be necessary, since not everybody can really correctly read the IPA script. Heard so many wrong pronunciations on british radio and TV (du-BROV-nik) that it might be at hand. Well, we need to decide, whether it's really necessary...  --Neoneo13 10:37, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
 * WP standard is to use IPA for pronunciation. As for the British radio/TV pronunciation, I don't think there's much to be done.... --Macrakis 02:32, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

thanks!
Posted by (^'-')^ Covington 07:50, 24 April 2006 (UTC), on behalf of the the AID Maintenance Team

Name of the Homeland war
You might want to join the discussion here:. I'm sorry for disturbance if you are not interested the discussion. --Dijxtra 12:37, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

hungary map
Okay, Image:Kingdom of Hungary counties.svg is supposed to be the replacement map, does everything look okay? I will have to look at the others on Commons and see what needs updating, I didn't make the rest. --iMb~Meow 18:47, 30 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Just an update, both the PNG files you noted are revised, I found the rest on Commons and will sart to whack away at them. --iMb~Meow 20:32, 30 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Wow, I like this look :)! Thanks for changing Krbava. Just have a look at the following counties: should be "Belovár-Kőrös" and "Verőce" (long "ő" with two lines) Can't really see it very good on the map, but just have a look if it's ok on your version. Guess You could also be a competent person to enhance and enlarge the Croatian county maps (Commons:Category:Maps of Croatia)... But don't want to put a too heavy burden on you. I greatly appreciate Your work. THANKS A LOT! :)) --Neoneo13 15:31, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

 * Okay, will do :) This has been an ongoing source of amusement; the old maps I used as sources seem to be full of weird spellings, all different!  I'll sift through wikipedia and try to get everything consistent with the usage here!

 * Sure, I'll give Croatia a look too. --iMb~Meow 15:57, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

 * Thanks! :) --Neoneo13 16:06, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

IPA help
Hi, I see you seem to be familiar with the IPA. Could you perhaps incorporate an IPA pronounciation into the article on Jusuf Prazina? I'm currently working on it and it'd be much appreciated. Live Forever 05:41, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Dubrovnik
(also on your commons page) Your Dubrovnik Image is up for a featured pic, however there seems to be some JPEG artifacts. Can you upload a larger version, preferably with less compression? -Ravedave 22:04, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

 * In fact, could you please explain why this image should be in the "public domain"? See Featured picture candidates/Dubrovnik... Lupo 11:07, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

 * Sorry, haven't got any better version. --Neoneo13 18:21, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

 * Did you take the photo yourself? It appears to be the same as this . chowells 22:13, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

 * No, it is a scan of a photo from a tourist leaflet published for the public domain. --Neoneo13 22:26, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

Croatia football team
This croatian flag is really better. thx. --84.113.1.225 10:08, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Image Tagging Image:Stjepan Radic founder of the Croatian Farmers' Party in the beginning of the 20 century.jpg
Thanks for uploading Image:Stjepan Radic founder of the Croatian Farmers' Party in the beginning of the 20 century.jpg. I notice the 'image' page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you have not created this media yourself then there needs to be an argument why we have the right to use the media on Wikipedia (see copyright tagging below). If you have not created the media yourself then it needs to be specified where it was found, i.e., in most cases link to the website where it was taken from, and the terms of use for content from that page.

If the media also doesn't have a copyright tag then one should be added. If you created/took the picture, audio, or video then the GFDL-self tag can be used to release it under the GFDL. If you believe the media meets the criteria at Fair use, use a tag such as or one of the other tags listed at Image copyright tags. See Image copyright tags for the full list of copyright tags that you can use.

If you have uploaded other media, consider checking that you have specified their source and copyright tagged them, 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 unsourced and untagged images 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. Thuresson 21:52, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

Dubovac coat of arms
Which Dubovac does Image:Dubovac - coat.png refer to - the old part of Karlovac or the part of Okučani? --Joy [shallot] 11:57, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

Križevci (former county) move proposal
You might want to discuss move proposals of Hungarian counties at Talk:Križevci (former county). -  AjaxSmack   18:17, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

Renamed
I renamed you as per request. -- Pakaran 17:51, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Thanks a lot! :) --Maestral 21:29, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:Maestral/Archive 1


text:
User:Marky1981

Please sign my guestbook.

Marky1981 is the Wikipedia username of Mark Bagnall who was born in the city of Sheffield, England. The username is derived by adding a 'y' to his first name and appending his year of birth.

Mark has continued to live in Sheffield, studied Computer science at The University of Sheffield between 1999 and 2003. Since graduating, he has worked for HD Lifestyle, a small computer programming company branching from parent company HD Sports. Mark and his colleagues program a large web-based sports science- and fitness-related program using Java and Flash.

Mark's interests include Star Trek, playing the keyboard, line dancing, using the computer, surfing the Internet, contributing to Wikipedia and socialising with friends.

Mark is a Christian and attends a local Assemblies of God church.

Contents

 * Sign my guestbook
 * Wikipedia contributions
 * Uploaded images gallery
 * To do list
 * Userboxes
 * Talk archive

Trivia

 * Mark started editing Wikipedia on 3 February 2005.
 * Mark shares his birthday with Natalie Portman.

title: User:Marky1981


text:
Talk:List of cities in Tajikistan

Comment
Surely if this is a complete list then it doesn't need to be a stub anymore... LukeSurl
 * It is hardly complete, but now it is a list, not a stub.--DThomsen8 (talk) 16:34, 19 January 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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title: Talk:List of cities in Tajikistan


text:
Wikipedia:Wikiday

Wikiday is an idea to break up the 24-hour day into three color zones to make for easier real-time meeting and coordination. The graph is intended to make understanding time zone shifts easier, by using color to represent the local time of day: from light-blue morning to orange dusk to dark-blue late night. Vertically, the zones are placed in same-time relation to each other. (See main article on Wikiday)

The three main timezones used are China (CST), United Kingdom (GMT), and the west coast of North America (PST). The color zones are blue, green, and orange, representing the synergy times between main local areas; for example the Blue zone is where Asia and Europe share daylight. Where the zones change represents common meeting times for all zones, although one must rise early and another must stay up late to coordinate a meeting. Considering that members of a group may be skewed to one region or another, more convenient meeting times can quickly be calculated.

A day progresses from left to right. If GMT 12 noon is the base, PST local time is early morning, and China time is 8 pm, etc.

title: Wikipedia:Wikiday


text:
Pico da Pedra

Pico da Pedra (peak of the rock) is a civil parish in the municipality of Ribeira Grande in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The population in 2011 was 2,909, in an area of 6.58 km2.

History
The settlement of the area began at the beginning of the 16th century.

The origin of its name derives from the 340 m hilltop that was situated south of the settlement, a volcanic cone that first encountered during exploration of the island in the 16th century (and which scattered basaltic lava in its surroundings). The hilltop that the parish takes its name is today covered in Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) while its top is occupied by to large Araucaria trees. The development of the settlement was conditioned by a lack of water. Owing to few watercourses and higher elevations, wells were difficult to provide water. The populations were, therefore, dependent on gathering rainwater or collecting water from Rabo de Peixe or Ribeira Grande. While wells were excavated in Calhetas, the waters extracted were usually contaminated by seawater. By the 19th century, some local residents spent a days' wages for a barrel of freshwater. When the Baron of Fonte Bela channeled water from the Serra de Água de Pau to his estate in Livramento, the parish's residents requested a portion of this water, which they paid for to channel to the town. On the day that the main water fountain was inaugurated (on 24 June 1836), a celebration was held, where one of the two faucets provided free water and the other celebratory wine. The area was elevated to curate in 1735. By the 19th century, there 900 inhabitants in the parish, resulting in the construction (between 1802 and 1807) of the parochial church dedicated to Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres ("Our Lady of Pleasures"). On 16 June 1835 the parish was elevated to the status of civil parish, and the following the year the channeling of the first potable waters was succeed into the town. It was only in the 20th century that the parish developed initiatives to improve the quality of life in Pico da Pedra, which included the establishment of social centre, cooperative for habitation and consume, sports fields, a Casa do Povo, daycare (in 1961) and seniors centres, and informative services. This included the full electrification of the center and neighborhoods in 1931.

Geography
Pico da Pedra is a landlocked parish situated in the interior of the northern coast of the island of São Miguel, approximately eight kilometres away from the town of Ponta Delgada and ten kilometres from municipal seat of Ribeira Grande. It is surrounded in the north and west by the parishes of Calhetas and Fenais da Luz, south by Fajã de Cima, São Roque and Livramento and east by the parish of Rabo de Peixe. It contains the localities Cancela, Pico da Pedra, Pico do Ataíde, Pico do Boi, Tapada do Fernandes and Tronqueira. The population of the parish hovers around 3000 residents. The growth of pedestrianism on the islands of the Azores was the impetus for the creation of the ecological association Amigos dos Açores, whose headquarters is located in Pico da Pedra.

Economy
Over that last decades of the 20th century, the population of Pico da Pedra transformed from a typically rural population, dedicated to agriculture, into a population dedicated to essentially serviced-based activities, employed primarily in the city of Ponta Delgada.

Civic

 * Largo de São João - square marking the location of the annual feast celebrations to Saint John
 * Largo do Trabalhador - square named for the agricultural workers of the village who gathered there to be collected by estate owners for work

 * Quinta de Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres ("Manor of Our Lady of Pleasures") - location of the hermitage of the same name, and one of the first locations mentioned by Gaspar Frutuoso in his treasties Saudades da Terra. It was owned by Adão and Maria Moniz, and inherited by their son Manuel Moniz.

Religious

 * Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres ("Church of Our Lady of Pleasures") - supported from contributions from local and neighboring residents, the cornerstone was laid on 2 February 1802, and completed in 1807, being blessed on 3 September 1807.

 * Ermida de Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres ("Hermitage of Our Lady of Pleasures") - ordered constructed by Manuel Moniz, it outgrew is local worshipers in the 19th century and was substituted by the Church of the same name. `

title: Pico da Pedra


text:
User talk:Betsythedevine

Useful links

 * Antandrus's good-humored, funny, and charming list of Wikipedia behaviors and pitfalls
 * Multi-article starting sandbox One article at a time sandbox
 * My code snippets
 * My Wikimedia stuff
 * WP:EITW : Resources for editors
 * WP:G : Wikipedia glossary
 * WP:NOTVAND : Page discussing what is and isn't vandalism
 * WP:DIS : Dealing with disruptive editors
 * WP:NPOVD aka WP:DRIVEBY : Essay about NPOV disputes, a useful supplement to the guidance at WP:NPOV
 * WP:AIV : Page to report vandalism
 * FeydHuxtable: Search Techniques
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 * FeydHuxtable: Search Techniques
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A kitten for you!
good luck with the restart :) glad you're not gone forever.

phoebe / (talk to me) 21:36, 9 July 2011 (UTC)
 * What a cute kitten! Thank you so much, Phoebe. I am indeed enjoying being elsewhere and elsewho. betsythedevine (talk) 20:42, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

Photos of scientists
Maybe I should edit the page header to say "mostly retired," but every now and again these days I have a chance to take a photo of a scientist whose Wikipedia article does not have a good photo. So I will use this account to add such photos when I have them. betsythedevine (talk) 22:41, 12 January 2016 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for January 13
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Sunday July 16: New England Wiknic @ Cambridge, MA
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Thanks, I wish I could join you, but I'm in Sweden that day. Have a great Wicnic! betsythedevine (talk) 15:10, 14 July 2017 (UTC)

title: User talk:Betsythedevine


text:
Lambert Puppet Theatre

The Lambert Puppet Theatre & Museum was a puppet theatre located in Monkstown, County Dublin, Ireland. It was a family-run business established in 1972 by Eugene Lambert, and hosted an international puppet festival annually. It produced children's television series on Radio Telefís Éireann such as Wanderly Wagon.

After the death of Eugene Lambert in 2010, the theatre was run by his son, Liam. On August 28, 2015, the building was badly damaged in an arson attack, which caused damage with a cost in excess of €150,000.

On 13 November 2015, the theatre re-opened to the public with re-built puppets, for the Christmas performance of Aladdin, however this re-opening was not to last, and it closed permanently in 2018.

title: Lambert Puppet Theatre


text:
Petlyakov

V.M. Petlyakov Design Bureau (Опытное конструкторское бюро Петлякова, Opytnoe Konstructorskoe Byuro Petlyakova) was a Soviet OKB (design bureau) for military aircraft, headed by designer Vladimir Petlyakov. Following his death in 1942, the bureau was controlled by Izakson, Putliov, and Myasishchyev before being dissolved in 1946.

Developments

 * Pe-2 'Buck'/PB-100, 1939.
 * VI-100/"100" prototype, "high altitude fighter", 1939.
 * Pe-2I fighter
 * Pe-3 multirole fighter, 207 were built, 1941.
 * Pe-3bis multirole fighter, about 300 were built, 1941.
 * Pe-4 Pe-2 with Klimov VK-105PF engines.
 * Vb-109 (by V.Myasichev) high-altitude bomber.
 * Pe-8/TB-7 The only four-engined bomber the USSR used during World War II, 1935.

title: Petlyakov


text:
Gonna Fly Now

"Gonna Fly Now", also known as "Theme from Rocky", is the theme song from the movie Rocky, composed by Bill Conti with lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins, and performed by DeEtta West and Nelson Pigford. Released in 1976 with Rocky, the song became part of 1970s American popular culture after the film's main character and namesake Rocky Balboa as part of his daily training regimen runs up the 72 stone steps leading to the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia and raises his arms in a victory pose, while the song plays. The song was written in Philadelphia. The song is often played at sporting events, especially in Philadelphia. Most notably, the Philadelphia Eagles play the song before the opening kickoff of every home game at Lincoln Financial Field.

Reception
Gonna Fly Now (whose lyrics are only 30 words long) was nominated for Best Original Song at the 49th Academy Awards. The version of the song from the movie, performed by Conti with an orchestra, hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1977, while a version by jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson hit the top 30. Disco versions by Rhythm Heritage and Current were on the chart at the same time (Conti's own version reveals some early disco influence in the orchestration). Billboard ranked Conti's version as the No. 21 song of 1977. Conti's single was certified Gold by the RIAA, for shipments exceeding one million in the United States. The American Film Institute placed it 58th on its AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs list.

New York Times critic John Rockwell called it "a classic bit of movie-music pomposity" but said it had a "cheesy inspirational appeal."

Variations
In Rocky II, an alternative version of the song was used, with a children's choir singing the chorus. Rocky III included an updated disco influenced arrangement during the training montage on the beach. This recording is however missing from the soundtrack album, the sleeve notes of which say "All music on this album selected by Sylvester Stallone", who instead opted to reprise the original versions of "Reflections" from the first film, and "Gonna Fly Now" and "Conquest" from the second installment.

Rocky IV was scored by Vince DiCola who mainly introduced new themes of his own but "Gonna Fly Now" returned with its composer for later installments. In Rocky V, two different versions of the song are played: an instrumental horn version and a different orchestral version. In Rocky Balboa, a slightly different version of the song used more trumpets and different vocal tones. The soundtrack for that film also includes a vocal remix performed by Natalie Wilde. Creed samples the first few notes of the track during the film's last fight, as does its sequel, Creed II.

Personnel

 * Writing – Bill Conti, Carol Connors, Ayn Robbins
 * Producer – Bill Conti
 * Recording engineer – Ami Hadani
 * Vocals – DeEtta Little and Nelson Pigford
 * Drums – Johnny Guerin
 * Bass – Max Bennett
 * Guitar – Dennis Budimir
 * Piano – Mike Melvoin
 * Horns performed by uncredited Los Angeles-based studio musicians group

Weekly charts
Rhythm Heritage

Bill Conti

Year-end charts

 * Maynard Ferguson

In popular culture
The daily French radio program Les Grosses Têtes, on the RTL French radio network, uses an arrangement by Gaya Bécaud from "Gonna Fly Now".

American businessman Donald Trump used "Gonna Fly Now" at his 2016 presidential campaign rallies. When composer Bill Conti was asked what he thought of Trump's use of the song, Conti stated: “I think it’s great. I’m an equal opportunity kind of guy. The song is my creation. And anytime something I create is used, I am happy about that. Music has no politics attached to it."

title: Gonna Fly Now


text: User talk:66.173.220.47

title: User talk:66.173.220.47


text:
Eugene Lambert

Eugene Lambert (1928 – 22 February 2010) was an Irish puppeteer and actor from County Sligo. He was owner of the Lambert Puppet Theatre in Monkstown, County Dublin. He was noted for co-starring as O'Brien in the RTÉ television series Wanderly Wagon and for the Murphy agus a Cháirde ("Murphy and Friends") puppet television programme in the 1960s. He died in 2010 at the age of 82.

Early life
Lambert was born and raised in County Sligo. His father was the county librarian and died at the age of 35. His mother took on his father's old job and Lambert was raised in a bookish home. He made his first puppet when he was 8 years old and was a proficient ventriloquist by the time he reached his early teens.

Career
Lambert was long a stalwart of the Irish vaudeville scene, particularly in Dublin, although he also toured the country frequently with his wife Mai. His most common acts were with Finnegan, a mischievous storyteller, and Judge, a pensive dog. With the rise of television in the 1960s, the Lambert puppet theatre became a fixture in Irish broadcasting. In the early 1960s, Lambert devised a puppet series for children entitled Murphy agus a Chairde ("Murphy and His Friends"). Murphy was a giant who lived in a magical kingdom. Its king, "An Rí", only had one problem - constant mischief from two witches, Feemy and Babóg. RTÉ was the only station most people in Ireland could then access and Murphy's adventures were soon an important part of most children's viewing. Murphy himself appeared as the in-vision continuity announcer all through one of RTÉ's Christmas Day broadcasts.

In November 1963, Lambert drew international attention after he successfully acquired a driver's license for his puppet Finnegan. Lambert reported that he did so simply to show how easy it was for anybody in Ireland to obtain a license.

He later co-starred in the children's television series Wanderly Wagon as the mischievous and greedy O'Brien, known for his childlike curiosity and cowardice in the face of magical events. Lambert and his family provided many regular (puppet) characters — Judge the dog, Mr Crow (who lived in a cuckoo clock), the mysterious Foxy Loxy, and the untrustworthy Sneaky Snake. The series also featured Irish actor Frank Kelly who played the villainous Dr Astro.

Another series created by Eugene Lambert was adapted from a children's book by Patricia Lynch, Brógeen Follows The Magic Tune. Brógeen was a leprechaun who teamed up with a fiddler who had heard a piece of music created by the fairies - and they wanted it back. The series was a great success and won several awards internationally. Some years later, when Lambert enquired about the 2" master video tapes, RTÉ admitted to having re-used them. Brogeen (and most of Wanderly Wagon) was gone forever, although a dubbed version of Brogeen still exists in the archives of NRK.

Lambert Puppet Theatre and Museum
Lambert and his wife Mai visited The Harlequin Puppet Theatre in Colwyn Bay, Wales and an International Puppet Festival in Prague. Inspired, they decided to open a puppet theatre of their own, The Lambert Puppet Theatre.

The Lambert Puppet Theatre was established in 1972. In the early years with Finnegan, Eugene toured UK and Ireland extensively and in later years he promoted Ireland for Irish Tourist Board, touring USA, Japan and Australia.

Lambert's Puppet Theatre was responsible for producing the popular 1980s children's television character Bosco who was an ever-present fixture on the Irish national station, with Lambert's daughters, Miriam and then Paula voicing and operating Bosco.

Personal life
Lambert and his wife, Mai had ten children, two of whom predeceased him. In the 1950s, Lambert supplemented his day job as a refrigeration engineer with evenings appearing with his vent act at Gala concerts and dinners. The Lambert family participated in Jury's Irish Cabaret for seven years bringing topical puppet acts to the American audience.

Lambert died at his home in Monkstown, County Dublin on Monday 22 February 2010, aged 82. His funeral on 26 February 2010 was attended by entertainers and politicians, with Liam Ó Maonlaí and Sinéad O'Connor singing at his Mass and a miniature Wanderly Wagon featuring in the ceremony.

title: Eugene Lambert


text:
Hew Strachan

Sir Hew Francis Anthony Strachan, (born 1 September 1949) is a British military historian, well known for his leadership in scholarly studies of the British Army and the history of the First World War. He is currently professor of international relations at the University of St Andrews. Before that Strachan was the Chichele Professor of the History of War at All Souls College, Oxford.

Early life
Strachan was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was educated at Rugby School, then in 1968 was a merchant seaman for three months, working his passage around the world on ships of Ben Line Steamers Ltd. He then spent three years at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, graduating BA in 1971 and proceeding to M.A. in 1975. In 1973, he joined a survey of antiquities in the Sudan.

Career
In 1975, Strachan was elected a research fellow of Corpus Christi College, and in 1977–1978 was a senior lecturer in war studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. In 1978, he returned to his Cambridge college as a tutor.

He became admissions tutor and then senior tutor of Corpus Christi College, and in 1992 was elected a life fellow. He was Professor of Modern History at the University of Glasgow from 1992 to 2000, then migrated to Oxford as Chichele Professor of the History of War at All Souls.

He was director of the Oxford Programme on the Changing Character of War from 2004 to 2015, and published a series of important articles on strategy, as well as editing books which have arisen from the project.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Historical Society. He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Tweeddale in 2006. He is a member of the Academic Advisory Panel of the Royal Air Force Centre for Air Power Studies. In addition, he is on the Chief of the Defence Staff's strategic advisory panel, the UK Defence Academy Advisory Board, and is an advisory fellow of the Barsanti Military History Center at the University of North Texas. He was on the council of the National Army Museum and is currently a trustee of the Imperial War Museum. In 2016, he became Patron of Western Front Association. He is a visiting professor of the Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy in Trondheim and in 2009 was the Sir Howard Kippenberger Professor at Victoria University Wellington. He sits on the advisory board of the Centre for War and Diplomacy at Lancaster University.

On 20 May 2014, Strachan was appointed as Lord Lieutenant of Tweeddale, in succession to Captain David Bingham Younger.

In 2015, he left Oxford to serve as professor of international relations at the University of St Andrews.

Research
Strachan's early research and published work focussed on the history of the British Army, and he was awarded the Templer Medal for From Waterloo to Balaclava and the Westminster Medal for The Politics of the British Army. Commissioned by the Oxford University Press to write a history of the First World War to replace C. R. M. F. Cruttwell's one-volume A History of the Great War, 1914-1918, Strachan completed the first of three volumes, The First World War: Volume 1: To Arms in 2001 to wide acclaim and is acknowledged as one of the world's authorities on the subject. Accompanying the print publication of his one volume survey The First World War (2004) was a multi-part documentary series for television entitled The First World War, with some episodes being titled after the chapters in the written work. This set was also released on DVD by Image Entertainment.

According to Jonathan Boff, he became "the most influential British historian of the First World War of his generation." He broke through traditional intra-disciplinary boundaries and national borders. He tirelessly encouraged others, both inside academia and out. His impact produces histories of the Great War that are global and multi-dimensional, while rooted in the detail of military operations. The results exemplify the new military historiography.

Strachan is editor of the Great Battles series published by Oxford University Press.

Views
In January 2014, Strachan told The Daily Beast that President Barack Obama's failures in Afghanistan and Syria have shown that he is "chronically incapable" of military strategy. He said, "Bush may have had totally fanciful political objectives in terms of trying to fight a global War on Terror, which was inherently astrategic, but at least he had a clear sense of what he wanted to do in the world. Obama has no sense of what he wants to do in the world."

Awards and honours
In 2005 Strachan was bestowed with the Honorary degree of Doctor of the University (D.Univ) from the University of Paisley. He was knighted in the 2013 New Years Honours List for services to the Ministry of Defence. In 2016, he won the Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. He was appointed as the Lord Lieutenant of Tweeddale on 7 June 2014 by HM Queen Elizabeth II.

In July 2017, Strachan was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.

In 2018, Strachan received the Morison Prize from The Society for Military History.

In 2023, he was named a Society for Army Historical Research Fellow.

Selected publications
Prefaces :
 * British Military Uniforms, 1768–1796 (Arms and Armour, 1975)
 * History of the Cambridge University Officers Training Corps (1976) ISBN 0-85936-059-8
 * European Armies and the Conduct of War (London, 1983) ISBN 0-415-07863-6
 * Wellington's Legacy: The Reform of the British Army 1830–54 (Manchester, 1984) ISBN 0-7190-0994-4
 * From Waterloo to Balaclava: Tactics, Technology and the British Army (Cambridge, 1985) ISBN 0-521-30439-3
 * The Politics of the British Army (Oxford, 1997) ISBN 0-19-820670-4
 * The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War (ed.) (Oxford, 1998) ISBN 0-19-820614-3
 * The First World War: Volume 1: To Arms (Oxford, 2001) ISBN 0-19-926191-1 (first of an expected three volume history)
 * Military Lives Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-19-860532-3
 * The First World War: A New Illustrated History (Simon & Schuster, 2003)
 * The First World War (Viking, 2004) ISBN 0-670-03295-6 (single volume survey of the war)
 * The First World War in Africa (Oxford, 2004) ISBN 0199257280
 * German Strategy in the First World War in Wolfgang Elz and Sönke Neitzel: Internationale Beziehungen im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, pp. 127–144 (2003) ISBN 3-506-70140-1
 * Clausewitz's On War: a Biography (Atlantic Monthly Press 2007) ISBN 0-87113-956-1.
 * with Holger Afflerbach: How Fighting Ends. A History of Surrender. Oxford University Press, Oxford/New York 2012, ISBN 978-0-19-969362-7.
 * The Direction of War: Contemporary Strategy in Historical Perspective 2013. ISBN 1-107-04785-4
 * British Generals in Blair's Wars, eds. Jonathan Bailey, Richard Iron and Hew Strachan (Ashgate Publishing, 2013).

 * Flesh and Steel During the Great War: The Transformation of the French Army and the Invention of Modern Warfare, Michel Goya (Pen and Sword Military, 2018) - ISBN 978-1473886964
 * A Military History of Scotland, eds. Edward M. Spiers, Jeremy Crang, Matthew Strickland ( 2013). ISBN 978-0748633357

Media

 * Channel 4 DVD: The First World War – The Complete Series OCLC: 63265523 (region 1), 883640397 (region 4) ASIN: B0009S2K9C (based on his book)

title: Hew Strachan


text:
Age of Empires III

Age of Empires III is a real-time strategy video game developed by Microsoft Corporation's Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The Mac version was ported over and developed and published by Destineer's MacSoft. The PC version was released on October 18, 2005, in North America and November 4, 2005, in Europe, while the Mac version was released on November 21, 2006, in North America and September 29, 2006, in Europe. An N-Gage version of the game developed by Glu Mobile was released on April 28, 2009. It is the third game of the Age of Empires series and the sequel to Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. A remaster titled Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition was released on October 15, 2020. Its successor, Age of Empires IV was released October 28, 2021, for Windows.

The game portrays the European colonization of the Americas, between approximately 1492 and 1876 AD. There are fourteen civilizations to play within the game. Age of Empires III has made several innovations in the series, in particular with the addition of the "Home City", which combines real-time strategy and role-playing features. Two expansion packs have been released: the first, Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs, was released on October 17, 2006, and introduced three Native American civilizations; the second, Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, was released on October 23, 2007, and included three Asian civilizations.

Age of Empires III has sold over 2 million copies as of May 2008. As well as receiving favorable reviews, it has garnered awards, including GameSpy's "Best RTS game of 2005", and was one of the best-selling games of 2005. In 2007, Age of Empires III was the seventh best-selling computer game, with over 313,000 copies sold that year.

Gameplay
Players begin with a constructed town center or a wagon that will build into such, an armed explorer, and a modest number of villagers. Players explore the map and begin gathering resources used to build additional units and buildings and to research upgrades or technologies. Actions such as training units, constructing buildings, killing enemy units, etc., earn the player experience points. At certain experience point thresholds, players earn shipments that may be turned in for cards from the player's Home City, which can include units, upgrades, or resources. The game progresses similarly to most real-time strategy games until one side resigns.

In Age of Empires III, the player advances through technological "Ages", representing historical time periods; these provide access to greater improvements, units, and buildings. They include the Discovery Age, which represents the discovery and exploration of the Americas by Europeans and allows the player to explore and develop their economy; the Colonial Age, which represents the European Expansion into the "New World" and unlocks early military units; the Fortress Age, which represents the fortification of the European colonies, unlocks forts, and allows the player to have a more complete military; the Industrial Age, which triggers a strong economy, due in part to factories—advanced buildings that automatically produce resources or artillery—and unlocks all units and shipments; and the Imperial Age, which unlocks all buildings and upgrades, and allows you to send unit and resource shipments a second time. All Ages cost food and coin to advance to, except the Colonial Age, which only costs food (800). The price of age advancement is incremental but does not vary between civilizations.

Similar to the "minor gods" system in Age of Mythology, Age of Empires III uses a "Politician System" to grant bonuses on a successful advancement to another age. When the player chooses to advance to the next age, who is given the choice of two or more "Politicians" that provide them with a different bonus on choosing them. The Politician is given a generalized title from the period that usually reflects the bonus that it gives: for example, "The Naturalist" gives the player four cows, while "The General" gives twelve musketeers and one piece of heavy artillery. As the player's Home City increases in level, more Politicians are unlocked—at a rate of one for every ten Home City levels—up to level 60.

Civilizations
Age of Empires III allows the player to play as eight different civilizations: Spanish, British, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, German, and Ottomans. Each of the eight civilizations has its own strengths and weaknesses and unique units available only to that civilization. Specific units for each civilization are designated Royal Guard units, receiving greater bonuses on the Guard upgrade in the Industrial Age, but at an increased price. The player can change the name of their Home City, the Explorer name, and is given a pre-named leader from part of the period (for example, Napoleon Bonaparte for the French Colonial Empire, Suleiman the Magnificent for Ottoman Empire, and Ivan the Terrible for the Russian Empire). Each civilization has unique shipments to aid its cultural, economy and military (for example, the Ottomans are able to order a shipment of gold for both them and their teammates).

There are other civilizations playable via the campaign, which include The Knights of St. John, John Black's Mercenaries, and the United States of America, which are played as the Spanish, German and British civilizations, respectively, with slight modifications. Non-playable campaign civilizations include the Pirates, Circle of Ossus and Native Americans, although these civilizations are playable using the Scenario Editor.

Twelve different tribes of Native Americans are in the game as well, but these are not in themselves playable factions. However, players can gain access to unique units and improvements by forming an alliance with the tribes by building a trading post at their camps. The native tribes featured are the Aztec, Carib, Cherokee, Comanche, Cree, Inca, Iroquois, Lakota, Maya, Nootka, Seminole, and Tupi. Three of these tribes were made playable in the expansion pack Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs: the Iroquois, Lakota (under the name Sioux) and Aztecs. These civilizations were removed as the smaller, alliance based tribes and were replaced by the Huron, Cheyenne, and Zapotec, respectively. In The Asian Dynasties another three civilizations were added, along with several new native tribes. The civilizations are the Indian, the Japanese, and the Chinese.

Home Cities
Age of Empires III is the first game in the series to introduce the "Home City" concept. The Home City functions as a second city, a powerhouse that is separated from the active game. It cannot be attacked or destroyed, although an Imperial Age upgrade called "Blockade" stops the player's opponents from receiving Home City shipments. Similar to a role-playing game character, the Home City is persistent between games, meaning that upgrades gained through separate games can be applied and stay applied for as long as that particular city exists. Multiple Home Cities can be created and maintained, although each supports only one civilization.

The Home City is composed of five main buildings from which the player chooses their new shipment cards and customizations: The New World Trading Company, the Military Academy, the Cathedral, the Manufacturing Plant and the Harbor. Players can also access the Home City during a match by clicking on the "Home City" button represented on the HUD as the nation's flag. The Home City functions differently inside a game. Instead of customizing a Home City or choosing cards, a player can ship cards chosen before the game (and added to a deck).

During the course of a game, players gain XP (experience) by completing actions such as constructing buildings, training units, killing enemies, and collecting treasures. Whenever a certain number of experience points are gained, the player can make use of a shipment from their respective Home City. Shipments slow down as the game goes on since more XP is required with every consecutive shipment. This XP is also added directly to the home city and is collected over multiple games, allowing it to level up over time. Players can gear their cards into three different combinations: "Boom" (economic combinations), "Rush" (military combinations), or "Turtle" (defensive combinations). The first few cards chosen are automatically added to the player's portfolio, where it can be copied onto a deck for use in a game. Later in the game, cards have to be manually chosen because of the limit of cards in one deck. Most cards are available to all civilizations, but some are unique to one. If the Home City being played has more than one deck, the player must select which to use when the first shipment is sent. During a game, players keep this initial deck; this feature encourages players to build decks that are customized for the map being played on, or that counter other civilizations. The decks support twenty cards. As the Home City improves by level, you may gain an extra card slot for the decks for every 10 levels.

Units
The units of Age of Empires III are based, as in previous iterations of the game, around military classes of the historic time period. The player controls a variety of civilian and military units, and uses them to expand and develop their civilization, as well as wage war against opponents. The base unit of a game is the settler, responsible for gathering resources and constructing buildings, in order to improve the economy of the civilization. The number of units a player can control in a scenario is limited by a "population limit", a common real-time strategy game mechanic. Houses and town centers raise the starting limit, to a maximum of 200, while each unit that is produced increases the population count. Basic units such as settlers and infantry count as 1, but others, including most cavalry and mercenary infantry count as 2. More powerful units, especially artillery or mercenary cavalry, can count for a population as high as 7. Native warriors, explorers, tamed and grazing animals, hot air balloons and warships do not count towards the population limit, but generally have a build limit, allowing the player to deploy only a certain number of those specific units at a time.

Military units are used for combat against other players. Infantry are the cheapest unit type and all are land-based, using weapons ranging from crossbows to early muskets to more advanced rifles. The heavier artillery classes also make use of ranged weapons, primarily cannon and mortars; however, there is also artillery armed with grenades. Mounted troops are also present, and are armed with either hand weapons, such as swords, or ranged weapons, such as pistols. These units also have significant features, such as skirmishers which do bonus damage against infantry, and ranged cavalry does bonus damage against other cavalry. A new unit introduced in Age of Empires III is the explorer, which is chiefly responsible for scouting and gathering treasure but is also capable of building Trading Posts and has a special attack, used at the player's command. This unit cannot be killed, but can be rendered unconscious, to be revived when friendly units are in range; also, a ransom can be paid to have it reappear at the player's town center. This ransom is credited to the player that disabled him, when applicable. Some shipment cards increase the explorer's effectiveness in gameplay; for example, providing it with "war dogs" can aid scouting and combat. In Age of Empires III, ships are available on most maps. Military ships makes use of cannon or flaming arrows, while some ships can collect resources or transport land units.

Mercenaries may aid the player in their campaigns in the New World. Mercenaries are not trained like standard units; instead, they can be shipped from the Home City or hired from saloons for a lot of gold, so that only economically powerful players can employ them. Most are powerful, but hiring them does not provide experience points, so mercenaries cannot effectively replace the player's standard army, and can negatively affect a player's economy if used excessively. Incidentally, along with hero/explorer units, Mercenaries were vulnerable to assassin units such as spies, agents and ninjas. In most cases, a selection of Native American tribes populate game maps and support their own brand of military units that can be trained once an alliance has been formed. Some Native American military units use mêlée weapons, a few use indigenous ranged weapons, such as bows and arrows or atl-atls, while still others adopt ranged European gunpowder weapons. These units usually pertain to the infantry or cavalry classes, but, on maps with water, canoes are also available to the player through the dock.

Buildings
Buildings play a big role in gameplay, as they are used for training civilian and military units, researching improvements, supporting population, providing structural defense, or as resource providers. The buildings portrayed in Age of Empires III resemble the architectural design of that era. All of the games in the series share several buildings, including the Town Center and Docks. The appearance and attributes of a building change as the player advances through the Ages, and some civilizations have their own unique buildings. The appearance of these buildings depends on civilization. Some buildings can only be built at certain times like the defensive towers.

There are certain architectural styles present in the game; architectural styles determine the appearance of in-game buildings. Each civilization is automatically assigned its architectural style. These three architectural styles are the Western European, which consists of classical styled wooden buildings and is shared by the British, French and Dutch; the Eastern European, which consists of wooden and straw structures and is shared by the Germans and Russians, and the Mediterranean, which consists of buildings made of stucco cement and dry brick, which is shared by the Spanish, Portuguese and Ottomans.

Plot
The campaign follows the fictional Black family in a series of three "Acts", which divide the story arc into three generations. All three acts are narrated by Amelia Black (Tasia Valenza).

Instead of playing as one of the standard civilizations, the player controls special civilizations linked to the character or period that each Act portrays: the Knights of St. John for Act I, John Black's Mercenaries for Act II, and the United States for Act III.

Act I: Blood
In the late 16th century, Morgan Black —a Scottish-born mid-level commander of the Knights of Saint John— defends their last stronghold on Malta from the forces of Sahin "The Falcon" of the Ottoman Empire (in a telling of the Great Siege of Malta). When the Turks flee, Morgan and his superior Alain Magnan discover a stone library telling of the Lake of the Moon; the Fountain of Youth, a rumored source of eternal life; and a secret society called the Circle of Ossus, who seek the Fountain for their own gain. Alain orders Morgan to sail to the New World to search for the Lake, but Morgan is attacked by the pirate Elisabeth "Lizzie" Ramsey and lands in the Caribbean islands. Morgan and his men defeat Lizzie and sail to New Spain. There, Spanish conquistador Francisco Juan Delgado de Leon captures Sahin. Morgan defends his new Aztec allies from the Spanish and learns Delgado was looking for the map to the Lake of the Moon. Morgan sets sail for Florida, but his fleet is damaged by a hurricane and docks in Havana, Cuba, where he earns Lizzie's respect and promises her the gold from the Spanish treasure fleet if she takes him to Florida.

In Florida, while Alain claims the lake, Morgan and Lizzie capture Spanish treasure ships and Sahin, killing Delgado in the process. Sahin tells Morgan that he only wanted to keep the Circle from claiming the Fountain. Alain orders Morgan to execute Sahin, but Sahin and Lizzie convince Morgan that Alain actually leads the Circle of Ossus. At the Lake of the Moon, the group captures defeats Alain and destroys the Fountain. Sahin returns to Turkey, and Lizzie, having lost her Spanish gold, leaves for the Caribbean, although it is hinted she and Morgan will reunite. Morgan wonders whether they really found the Fountain of Youth, then refills his empty canteen with water from the lake.

Act II: Ice
In the mid-eighteenth century, Morgan's grandson, John Black, his Mohawk friend Ká꞉nien, and their mercenaries are summoned by John's uncle, Stuart Black, to defend the colony of Brunswick against Cherokee raiders. After saving the colony, John and Ká꞉nien attack the Cherokee war camps, forcing the Cherokee to arrange a truce. While John, Ká꞉nien, and most of the colony's garrison are negotiating, British General Warwick leads an army to attack them and capture Brunswick. John and Ká꞉nien return to liberate Brunswick but learn Warwick has abducted Stuart. John concludes that the Circle of Ossus has returned. Ká꞉nien believes that his sister, Nonahkee, could be in danger, so they leave for New England. They find Warwick attacking Nonahkee's village, hoping to extract John's location from her. After the ensuing battle, Ká꞉nien discovers that John and Nonahkee are in love.

John and Ká꞉nien soon ally with the French in the Seven Years' War to continue fighting against Warwick. When Colonel George Washington tells them that Warwick is a renegade and from the British, John agrees to help them track him down. John's mercenaries and Washington's forces destroy Warwick's base in the Great Lakes region, where John finds Stuart's decapitated body. John and Ká꞉nien continue to pursue Warwick to the Rocky Mountains, where they intercept Warwick's supply train and destroy a fortified Circle base. Warwick and his troops flee even farther west to Colorado, where they have allied with the Russians. John and Ká꞉nien discover that the Circle plans to capture British and French colonies and towns while they are fighting, ultimately taking over North America. While John pursues Warwick, Ká꞉nien and some miners bring down rock bridges to stop the Russians' artillery from advancing. He and the mercenaries return east as Warwick ambushes John, who detonates explosives he has planted, killing himself and Warwick while burying the Russians and the Circle's troops in an avalanche. In the spring, Ká꞉nien returns to his village and learns Nonahkee has mothered John's son Nathaniel, whom he begins to help raise.

Act III: Steel
In 1817 (five years after Nathaniel's death in 1812), Amelia Black, Nathaniel's daughter and heiress owner of The Falcon Company, an American railroad company, seeks to expand operations after Nathaniel exhausted the compensation given by the British and Americans for John's sacrifice. After laying track to supply the US Cavalry near the Mexican border, Amelia meets French prospector Pierre Beaumont, who helps her and US Cavalry commander Major Ryan Cooper defeat a Mexican army attacking a fort. Beaumont leads Amelia to a Colorado mine, where an aged Ká꞉nien arrives to warn Amelia that Beaumont now leads the Circle of Ossus. Amelia, Ká꞉nien, and Cooper chase Beaumont through the mines and find a map to the Lake of the Moon. At the Lake, now a swamp, the three destroy a Circle base, after which one of Beaumont's wolves kills Cooper. Amelia, now wanting to avenge Cooper, learns from local Seminoles that an Inca city in Pacamayo Valley houses several barrels of the Fountain's water.

Amelia and Ká꞉nien sail to South America and help Simón Bolívar defeat the Spanish. Bolívar offers them guides, and, with the Circle's army in pursuit, they make a dangerous passage through the Andes. They discover the Inca city in Pacamayo Valley and defend it from the Circle. Amelia soon finds that Beaumont has once again escaped, this time with the barrels of the Fountain's water. Amelia and Ká꞉nien next fight the Circle at their last stronghold, the Ossuary, in Cuba. After they destroy the Ossuary with help from Havana, Beaumont ambushes Amelia and Ká꞉nien, but Amelia shoots and kills him. She then uses the Circle's stored treasure to revive the Falcon Company and builds railroads to the future west coast of the United States. Back in the US, an elderly man congratulates Amelia and states that she broke the Circle in one lifetime, hinting that he is Morgan Black and that he greatly extended his life using water from the Fountain of Youth.

Technical features
Age of Empires III builds on and introduces new features to the Age of Mythology engine, called ''Bang! Engine''. One new feature is the inclusion of the Havok physics simulation middleware engine on the Windows version and the similar PhysX engine on Mac OS X. This means that many events such as building destruction and tree falls will not be pre-created animations, but will be calculated according to the physics engine, in an innovation for the series. Other graphical features of the game include bloom lighting and support for pixel shader 3.0.

Audio
The Age of Empires III original soundtrack features an original musical score composed by Ensemble Studios musicians Stephen Rippy and Kevin McMullan, whose previous work includes other games in the Age of Empires series as well as Age of Mythology. It was released on November 11, 2005, by Sumthing Else Music Works. Stephen Rippy, music and sound director at Ensemble Studios, said, "Age of Empires III is a game with an epic topic — it covers the colonization of the Americas over a period of some three hundred years, so it needed to have an epic-sounding score to match. Using a full orchestra and choir as well as some more period-inspired instrumentation, the music follows the story of Morgan Black and his descendants as they battle the Circle of Ossus for a foothold in the New World." The soundtrack also features a bonus DVD that includes fourteen tracks remixed in 5.1 surround, a behind-the-scenes video of the studio session, the Age of Empires III cinematic trailer and five exclusive bonus tracks.

Unlike previous versions of Age of Empires, the AI nations in single player skirmish mode will send voice messages to the player at various points in the game, taunting the player if they are selected as enemies or sharing military plans with the player if they are allies. All the AI characters have different personalities and many different quotes exist in the game. The feature can be easily removed if required.

Release history
Following the announcement of the game on January 4, 2005, a trial version was released on September 7, 2005. This contained a cut-down version of the game, introducing new features, such as two campaign scenarios, two random map scenarios (New England and Texas) and access to two civilizations (British and Spanish), and a variety of modifications. An updated demo version was made available with the game's release on September 22, 2005.

As part of Age of Empires III launch, Ensemble Studios announced the release of Age of Empires III Fan Site Kit on September 9, 2005.

The release of the game on September 22, 2005, saw two separate editions being made available. The standard edition included the game and manual, a collector's edition version in a presentation box that includes the official soundtrack, extra documentation, a hardback book titled Art of Empires that contains concept art and 3D renders from the game and a DVD entitled The Making of Age of Empires III.

The release of the game has been followed by a series of patches that have fixed minor bugs in the software or added new features.

Ensemble Studios released an expansion for the game named Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs on October 17, 2006. It contains three new native civilizations that can be completely controlled: the Aztecs, Iroquois, and Sioux. New content for existing European civilizations, maps and gameplay additions (such as the "revolution" feature, in which players can "revolt" from their mother country and start an active military coup in the game) was added.

A second expansion pack, Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, was announced on May 18, 2007, and features three Asian civilizations: the Chinese, Indians, and Japanese. It was released on October 23, 2007.

A Mac OS X port of the game was released on November 13, 2006, by MacSoft, followed by the first expansion on June 18, 2007.

In 2009, when Ensemble Studios was closed and no support was to expect by the successor company Robot Entertainment, the game community tried to provide game support and fixes of remaining issues themselves, for instance with fan patches.

Both the original game and the first expansion were made available in a single collection titled Gold Edition on October 23, 2007.

On November 21, 2010, Microsoft sold the game including its two expansion packs as a part of the relaunch of its Games for Windows Live platform for 10 cents or 10 Microsoft points. The overwhelming and unanticipated demand created a shortage of account keys leaving some of those who had purchased the game through the promotion unable to install the game. Microsoft remedied this issue by assuring all customers who purchased the game that account keys would be generated within one week and automatically uploaded to each profile. As a result of this promotion the overall sales of the game have sharply increased.

Age of Empires III Mobile
A mobile game titled Age of Empires III was released on September 16, 2007 for J2ME. The game features a campaign about the Great Siege of Malta that consists of 15 missions in which the player can control the Knights Hospitaller and must repel the invading Ottoman forces. The game has several limitations, such as a considerably low population limit of 30 per player.

Skirmish Maps
The game features 12 skirmish maps that can be played against computer opponents either. Maps that allow 3 players can be played either 2 vs 1, 1 vs 2, or free-for-all.

 * St. Paul's Bay (2 players)
 * St. Elmo (3 players)
 * Buskett Valley (3 players)
 * St. Elmo Mountains (3 players)
 * Mellieha Bay (3 players)
 * Birgu (3 players)
 * St. Angelo (2 players)
 * The Outpost (3 players)
 * Forest Skirmish (3 players)
 * The Crossing (2 players)
 * Volcanic Island (2 players)
 * Head To Head (2 players)

Credits

 * Lead Developer: Marcus Lagerstrom
 * Artists: Kenneth Fejer, Nick Lee
 * Game Designer: Mark Bendon
 * Music: Jeremy Corbett
 * Porting Engineers: Kai Ma, David Jimenez, John Mahoney, Laurence Gosden, Michal Skorupka, Mariusz Buras, Scott Carrington
 * Quality Assurance: Bob Moir, Mathew Baker
 * Producer: Mark Klocek
 * Executive Producer for Ensemble Studios: Patrick Hudson
 * Program Manager for Ensemble Studios: Brian Lemon

Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties Mobile
A sequel mobile game, Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, was released in 2010 also for J2ME.

Definitive Edition
On August 21, 2017, Microsoft announced a remaster titled Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition at Gamescom 2017. The remaster included updated 4K graphics and the two previous expansions Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs and Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. It also introduced new content in the form of two new playable civilizations, the Incas and Swedes, as well a new set of "Historical Battles" and "The Art of War" challenge missions similar to those implemented in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.

The Definitive Edition of Age of Empires III was developed by Tantalus Media, overseen by Xbox Game Studios' internal World's Edge studio. The game was released on October 15, 2020. On April 13, 2021, an expansion pack adding the United States civilization was released. On August 2, 2021, an expansion pack adding the Ethiopians and Hausa civilizations was released. On December 1, 2021, an expansion pack adding the Mexico civilization was released. Another expansion pack, Knights of the Mediterranean, was announced on May 12, 2022 adding both Italian and Maltese (Knights Hospitaller) civilizations, and released on May 26, 2022.

Reception
Age of Empires III was well received by critics and reviewers. The game received an average score of 82% according to GameRankings. Age of Empires III was listed as the eighth best-selling PC game of 2005, and over two million copies of it had been sold by May 2007. GameSpot pointed out that "Age of Empires III has some very big shoes to fill", and GameSpy remarked that it "may not redefine real-time strategy gaming, but it sets the bar so high that we will be comparing games to this for years". IGN also commented on the game, saying "Age of Empires III is a superbly balanced and polished game", and: "Discounting a few niggles in the interface, the whole presentation is rock solid." Game Revolution said that it is "as detailed as a history book, and about as much fun", while GameZone stated it is "one purchase you will not come to regret".

Age of Empires III was the eighth best-selling PC game of 2005 despite its late release, and sold over 2 million copies by May 2007. It received a "Gold" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom.

Graphics
The game's visuals were highly praised by reviewers. In a preview, IGN said that "After seeing the screenshots, our jaws hit the floor at the amount of detail", while in their review, 1UP.com described it as "one of the most beautiful games you will put on your computer for the foreseeable future;" GameSpy agreed, stating, "Age III's graphics are unmatched in the strategy genre." GameSpot also admired the graphics, but had a negative comment as well; they said, "Were it not for the awkward unit behavior...Age of Empires III would look truly amazing." GameSpy awarded Age of Empires III the "Best Graphics" award at GameSpy's "Game of the Year 2005", mentioning that the graphics engine boasted "all the high-end technology you would normally find in first-person shooters".

Sound effects
GameZone praised the game's sound effects, saying that "you will feel the explosions of the cannon balls, the muskets firing their endless volleys, and the destruction of a building. It all sounds extremely realistic, and makes the game come that much more alive." Eurogamer said "AoE3 ... sounds fantastic", while Game Revolution mentioned, "The ambient sounds, music and voice work all suit the colonial theme."

Single-player campaign
Reviewers were divided about the single-player campaign. GameSpot thought it was "standard for a real-time strategy game", but also complained that it had "less-than-stellar voice work and awkward cutscenes"; GameSpy agreed that "Age of Empires III's campaign is not revolutionary", but thought that "the voice acting is great". IGN praised the campaign's story, in that it gave the player a "nice sense of purpose"; they thought "The 24-mission campaign is very well designed." Eurogamer said the campaign lacked originality, stating, though "well-written and imaginatively framed", the campaign "offers exactly the same kind of challenges that RTS campaigns have been offering for years;" Game Revolution disliked the campaign more than the other reviewers. Comparing it to Age of Empires II's campaign, they said: "The plot actually got worse. Age of Empires III...avoids all the interesting and prickly issues like genocide, epidemics and slavery, instead subbing in a wimpy tale of a family destined to protect the Holy Grail from a Satanic Cult."

Multiplayer
Age of Empires III's multiplayer was the first in the series to be integrated into the game interface and was highly lauded, as was the Home City concept. The topic of multiplayer was touched by GameZone, who said "this game demands multiplayer mode, and Ensemble Studios provided this for the players", while at 1UP, the reviewer commented similarly, stating, "Multiplayer support has been significantly upgraded with a slick interface, support for clans and a number of other useful features." GameSpy commented on the Home City as well, saying, "the 'home city' system creates long-term depth and strategy". EuroGamer, however, stated: "Stop with the gifts! ... You do not need to let me flick to a home city screen every few minutes so that I can select a free unit or resource windfall. I'm not some spoilt toddler that needs to be bribed with endless sweeties." Age of Empires III uses the ESO server for multiplayer.

Awards
Age of Empires III won PC Gamer US's "Best Real-Time Strategy Game 2005" award. The magazine's Brett Todd wrote, "It was astounding how Ensemble managed to stick to the historical RTS formula yet keep the gameplay feeling fresh." The game was presented with two awards by GameSpy in 2005: "Real-time strategy game of the year" and "Best Graphics". GameSpy highly praised the game overall, giving it 5 stars in its review, which particularly noted the graphics and multiplayer experience. The game was named fifth-best game of 2005 by GameSpy.

Other awards, including an "Outstanding" from GameZone, reflect the positive critical reception of the game.

The game was given an 'honorable mention' in the 'Best Music' category.

During the 9th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awarded Age of Empires III with "Computer Game of the Year"; it also received nominations for "Strategy Game of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay".

Yahoo!'s report differed, but still had many positive features. Like GameSpy, Yahoo! also praised the effort put into the graphics and physics, but maintained that these are essentially eye-candy. Both Yahoo! and Eurogamer were disappointed by the traditional economics-based strategy of the game and believed that this, with the lack of useful formation and tactics, meant that the game does not stand up to other modern real-time strategy games. Eurogamer shared these final thoughts and described the new Home City shipments, along with all the treasures scattered around the map, as silly and childish ways of trying to complement the game's lack of strategy and tactical choices. However, Eurogamer recognized that Ensemble Studios was brave to implement "something quite different" from other real time strategy games — the Home City concept.

title: Age of Empires III


text:
Grampian Police

Grampian Police was, between 1975 and 2013 (replaced by Police Scotland), the territorial police force of the northeast region of Scotland, covering, from 1996, the council areas of Aberdeenshire, the Aberdeen City, and Moray (the former Grampian region). The Force area also covered some of the North Sea, giving Grampian Police the responsibility of policing the oil and gas platforms of the North East. The force was headquartered in Aberdeen.

The Police Authority had six representatives from Aberdeen City, six from Aberdeenshire, and four from Moray.

The force produced a quarterly magazine called The Informer for its staff, and, in 2009, launched a YouTube channel.

History
Grampian Police was formed on 16 May 1975, when Grampian Region was created, a merger of the previously formed Scottish North Eastern Counties Constabulary and the Aberdeen City Police. The North Eastern force had been formed on 16 May 1949, by the merger of Aberdeenshire Constabulary, Banffshire Constabulary, Kincardineshire Constabulary, and Moray and Nairn Constabulary. The headquarters were situated in a newly constructed building on Queen Street in Aberdeen.

An Act of the Scottish Parliament, the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, created a single Police Service of Scotland - known as Police Scotland - with effect from 1 April 2013. This merged the eight regional police forces in Scotland (including Grampian Police), together with the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, into a single service covering the whole of Scotland. Police Scotland has its headquarters at the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan in Fife.

The former Aberdeen headquarters has remained in use, however, in October 2020 Police Scotland announced that the building would be vacated the following year. Staff will move to other offices in Aberdeen and the area is set to be redeveloped. The public counter for the police will move to Marischal College.

Areas covered
Grampian Police covered the local authority areas of Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray. In addition to this, Grampian have a lead role in incidents on offshore installations in Scottish areas of the North Sea, irrespective of which police area the installation is situated. This arrangement exists due to Grampian's extensive experience in dealing with the offshore industry.

The railway stations and lines in the area are the responsibility of the British Transport Police, and a number of Ministry of Defence installations in the region are policed by the Ministry of Defence Police. However, as with all territorial police forces, the chief officer of Grampian Police is ultimately responsible in statute for all law and order in Grampian police area, irrespective as to whether a special police force is present.

Departments and units
Grampian Police had a number of specialist departments and units, with officers joining them and undertaking this as their primary role. Amongst others, these included:

 * Grampian Police Mountain Rescue Team
 * Dog Section
 * Underwater Search Unit (Grampian's Underwater Search Unit is the regional USU for Grampian, Northern Constabulary, and Tayside Police. However, it is staffed entirely by Grampian.)
 * Armed Response Vehicles
 * Oil and Energy Liaison Unit
 * Criminal Investigation Department
 * Wildlife Crime Unit
 * Roads Policing Department (formerly the Traffic Department)
 * Special Branch
 * Financial Investigation Unit
 * Family Protection Unit
 * Education Liaison
 * Professional Standards and Conduct Department
 * Human Resources (Recruitment & Training)
 * General Enquiries Department
 * Major Investigation Teams

Pipe band
The Grampian Police Pipe Band, established in 1907, often played at events and competitions throughout Scotland. The group rehearses on a weekly basis in Aberdeen and comprises both police staff and civilians. The band launched its own design of tartan in 2007 and performed for Queen Elizabeth at Balmoral Castle to celebrate its unveiling.

Grampian Racist Incident Partnership
Grampian Racist Incident Partnership (GRIP) is a coalition of race equality groups led by Grampian Police officers. It was formed in May 2008 in response to a series of highly publicised racist assaults against Pakistani migrants and English travellers in Aberdeen.

In 2008 Grampian Police took part in the first GRIP campaign, designed to increase awareness in the bars and pubs of Aberdeen with an eye towards to protecting patrons from racist assaults. In 2010 it launched a campaign in conjunction with GRIP called 'RACISM – Report it Now!' The campaign involved putting up posters and stickers in shops, bars, restaurants, and post offices throughout the region urging people to report racist incidents.

GRIP had mixed results in its first two years. While the number of racist assaults against Pakistanis has been declining, there was a dramatic spike in 2009 in the number of assaults against people classified as "Other White" and "White British". Lewis Macdonald, the Labour member for Aberdeen Central, said the spike shows that "police are getting much better at recording a racial incident." Robert Brown, the Liberal Democrat member for Glasgow, said the spike was "truly shocking."

Significant events and incidents
Grampian Police were involved in many high-profile cases throughout Scotland, either as the investigating force, reviewing investigations on behalf of other forces, or providing specialist support.

 * Piper Alpha disaster (investigating force)
 * Arlene Fraser murder case (investigating force)
 * George Murdoch murder (investigating force)
 * Michael Holding murder (investigating force)
 * Scott Simpson murder (investigating force)
 * Renee MacRae mystery (reviewing force)
 * Jolanta Bledaite murder (specialist support – underwater search)
 * April 2009 North Sea helicopter crash (investigating police force, in partnership with Air Accident Investigation Branch and other agencies)

Chief Constables

 * Alexander Morrison (1975–1983)
 * Alistair G. Lynn (1983–1990)
 * Ian Oliver (1990–1998)
 * Andrew Gibson Brown (1998–2004)
 * Colin McKerracher (2004–2013)

title: Grampian Police