Multiple sub-Nyquist sampling encoding

# Multiple sub-Nyquist sampling encoding

## Abstract

MUSE (Multiple sub-Nyquist Sampling Encoding), commercially known as Hi-Vision (a contraction of HI gh-definition tele VISION) was a Japanese analog high-definition television system, with design efforts going back to 1979.

It used dot-interlacing and digital video compression to deliver 1125 line, 60 field-per-second (1125i60) signals to the home. The system was standardized as ITU -R recommendation BO.786 and specified by SMPTE 260M, using a colorimetry matrix specified by SMPTE 240M. As with other analog systems, not all lines carry visible information. On MUSE there are 1035 active interlaced lines, therefore this system is sometimes also mentioned as 1035i. It employed 2-dimensional filtering, dot-interlacing, motion-vector compensation and line-sequential color encoding with time compression to "fold" an original 20 MHz bandwidth Hi-Vision source signal into just 8.1 MHz.

Japan began broadcasting wideband analog HDTV signals in December 1988, initially with an aspect ratio of 2:1. The Sony HDVS high-definition video system was used to create content for the MUSE system, but didn't record MUSE signals. By the time of its commercial launch in 1991, digital HDTV was already under development in the United States. Hi-Vision was mainly broadcast by NHK through their BShi satellite TV channel, although other channels such as WOWOW, TV Asahi, Fuji Television, TBS Television, Nippon Television, and TV Tokyo also broadcast in MUSE.

On May 20, 1994, Panasonic released the first MUSE LaserDisc player. There were also a number of players available from other brands like Pioneer and Sony.

Hi-Vision continued broadcasting in analog until 2007.

## History

MUSE was developed by NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories in the 1980s as a compression system for Hi-Vision HDTV signals.

- Japanese broadcast engineers immediately rejected conventional vestigial sideband broadcasting.

- It was decided early on that MUSE would be a satellite broadcast format as Japan economically supports satellite broadcasting. MUSE was transmitted at a frequency of 21 GHz or 12 GHz.

- Japanese broadcast engineers had been studying the various HDTV broadcast types for some time. It was initially thought that SHF, EHF or optic fiber would have to be used to transmit HDTV due to the high bandwidth of the signal, and HLO-PAL would be used for terrestrial broadcast. HLO-PAL is a conventionally constructed composite signal (based on Y {\displaystyle Y} for luminance and C {\displaystyle C} for chroma like NTSC and PAL) and uses a phase alternating by line with half-line offset carrier encoding of the wideband/narrowband chroma components. Only the very lowest part of the wideband chroma component overlapped the high-frequency chroma. The narrowband chroma was completely separated from luminance. PAF, or phase alternating by field (like the first NTSC color system trial) was also experimented with, and it gave much better decoding results, but NHK abandoned all composite encoding systems. Because of the use of satellite transmission, Frequency modulation (FM) should be used with power-limitation problem. FM incurs triangular noise, so if a sub-carrierred composite signal is used with FM, demodulated chroma signal has more noise than luminance. Because of this, they looked at other options, and decided to use Y / C {\displaystyle Y/C} component emission for satellite. At one point, it seemed that FCFE (Frame Conversion Fineness Enhanced), I/P conversion compression system, would be chosen, but MUSE was ultimately picked.

- Separate transmission of Y {\displaystyle Y} and C {\displaystyle C} components was explored. The MUSE format which is transmitted today, uses separated component signalling. The improvement in picture quality was so great, that the original test systems were recalled.

- One more power saving tweak was made: lack of visual response to low frequency noise allows significant reduction in transponder power if the higher video frequencies are emphasised prior to modulation at the transmitter and de-emphasized at the receiver.

## Technical specifications

MUSE's "1125 lines" are an analog measurement, which includes non-video scan lines taking place while a CRT 's electron beam returns to the top of the screen to begin scanning the next field. Only 1035 lines have picture information. Digital signals count only the lines (rows of pixels) that have actual detail, so NTSC's 525 lines become 486i (rounded to 480 to be MPEG compatible), PAL's 625 lines become 576i, and MUSE would be 1035i. To convert the bandwidth of Hi-Vision MUSE into "conventional" lines-of-horizontal resolution (as is used in the NTSC world), multiply 29.9 lines per MHz of bandwidth. (NTSC and PAL/SECAM are 79.9 lines per MHz) - this calculation of 29.9 lines works for all current HD systems including Blu-ray and HD-DVD. So, for MUSE, during a still picture, the lines of resolution would be: 598-lines of luminance resolution per-picture-height. The chroma resolution is: 209-lines. The horizontal luminance measurement approximately matches the vertical resolution of a 1080 interlaced image when the Kell factor and interlace factor are taken into account. 1125 lines was selected as a compromise between the resolution in lines of NTSC and PAL and then doubling this number.

MUSE employs time-compression integration (TCI) which is another term for time-division multiplexing, which is used to carry luminance, chrominance, PCM audio and sync signals on one carrier signal/in one carrier frequency. However, TCI achieves multiplexing by compression of the contents in the time dimension, in other words transmitting frames of video that are divided into regions with chrominance compressed into the left of the frame and luminance compressed into the right of the frame, which must then be expanded and layered to create a visible image. This makes it different from NTSC which carries luminance, audio and chrominance simultaneously in several carrier frequencies. Hi-Vision signals are component video signals with 3 channels: they were RGB initially, and later YP P.

Key features of the MUSE system:

- Scanlines (total/active): 1,125/1,035

- Pixels per line (fully interpolated): 1122 (still image)/748 (moving)

- Reference clock periods: 1920 per active line

- Interlaced ratio: 2:1

- Aspect ratio 16:9

- Refresh rate: 59.94 or 60 frames per second

- Sampling frequency for broadcast: 16.2 MHz

- Vector motion compensation: horizontal ± 16 samples (32.4 MHz clock) / frame, a vertical line ± 3 / Field

- Audio: "DANCE" discrete 2- or 4-channel digital audio system: 48 kHz/16 bit (2 channel stereo: 2 front channels)/32 kHz/12 bit (4 channel surround: 3 front channels + 1 back channel)

- DPCM Audio compression format: DPCM quasi-instantaneous companding

- Required bandwidth: 27 MHz

### Colorimetry

The MUSE luminance signal Y {\displaystyle Y} encodes Y M {\displaystyle YM}, specified as the following mix of the original RGB color channels:

The chrominance C {\displaystyle C} signal encodes B − Y M {\displaystyle B-YM} and R − Y M {\displaystyle R-YM} difference signals. By using these three signals (Y M {\displaystyle YM}, B − Y M {\displaystyle B-YM} and R − Y M {\displaystyle R-YM}), a MUSE receiver can retrieve the original RGB color components using the following matrix:

The system used a colorimetry matrix specified by SMPTE 240M (with coefficients corresponding to the SMPTE RP 145 primaries, also known as SMPTE-C, in use at the time the standard was created). The chromaticity of the primary colors and white point are:

The luma (E Y {\displaystyle EY}) function is specified as:

The blue color difference (E P B {\displaystyle EPB}) is amplitude-scaled (E B − E Y {\displaystyle EB-EY}), according to:

The red color difference (E P R {\displaystyle EPR}) is amplitude-scaled (E R − E Y {\displaystyle ER-EY}), according to:

### Signal and Transmission

MUSE is a 1125 line system (1035 visible), and is not pulse and sync compatible with the digital 1080 line system used by modern HDTV. Originally, it was a 1125 line, interlaced, 60 Hz, system with a 5:3 (1.66:1) aspect ratio and an optimal viewing distance of roughly 3.3H. In 1989 this was changed to a 16:9 aspect ratio.

For terrestrial MUSE transmission a bandwidth limited FM system was devised. A satellite transmission system uses uncompressed FM.

The pre-compression bandwidth for Y {\displaystyle Y} is 20 MHz, and the pre-compression bandwidth for chrominance is a 7.425 MHz carrier.

The Japanese initially explored the idea of frequency modulation of a conventionally constructed composite signal. This would create a signal similar in structure to the Y / C {\displaystyle Y/C} composite video NTSC signal - with the Y {\displaystyle Y} (luminance) at the lower frequencies and the C {\displaystyle C} (chrominance) above. Approximately 3 kW of power would be required, in order to get 40 dB of signal to noise ratio for a composite FM signal in the 22 GHz band. This was incompatible with satellite broadcast techniques and bandwidth.

To overcome this limitation, it was decided to use a separate transmission of Y {\displaystyle Y} and C {\displaystyle C}. This reduces the effective frequency range and lowers the required power. Approximately 570 W (360 for Y {\displaystyle Y} and 210 for C {\displaystyle C}) would be needed in order to get a 40 dB of signal to noise ratio for a separate Y / C {\displaystyle Y/C} FM signal in the 22 GHz satellite band. This was feasible.

There is one more power saving that appears from the character of the human eye. The lack of visual response to low frequency noise allows significant reduction in transponder power if the higher video frequencies are emphasized prior to modulation at the transmitter and then de-emphasized at the receiver. This method was adopted, with crossover frequencies for the emphasis/de-emphasis at 5.2 MHz for Y {\displaystyle Y} and 1.6 MHz for C {\displaystyle C}. With this in place, the power requirements drop to 260 W of power (190 for Y {\displaystyle Y} and 69 for C {\displaystyle C}).

## Sampling systems and ratios

The subsampling in a video system is usually expressed as a three part ratio. The three terms of the ratio are: the number of brightness (luma) Y {\displaystyle Y} samples, followed by the number of samples of the two color (chroma) components C b {\displaystyle Cb} and C r {\displaystyle Cr}, for each complete sample area. Traditionally the value for brightness is always 4, with the rest of the values scaled accordingly.

A sampling of 4:4:4 indicates that all three components are fully sampled. A sampling of 4:2:0, for example, indicated that the two chroma components are sampled at half the horizontal sample rate of luma - the horizontal chroma resolution is halved. This reduces the bandwidth of an uncompressed video signal by one-third.

MUSE implements a similar system as a means of reducing bandwidth, but instead of static sampling, the actual ratio varies according to the amount of motion on the screen. In practice, MUSE sampling will vary from approximately 4:2:1 to 4:0.5:0.25, depending on the amount of movement. Thus the red-green chroma component C r {\displaystyle Cr} has between one-half and one-eighth the sampling resolution of the luma component Y {\displaystyle Y}, and the blue-yellow chroma C b {\displaystyle Cb} has half the resolution of red-green.

## Audio subsystem

MUSE had a discrete 2- or 4-channel digital audio system called " DANCE ", which stood for Digital Audio Near-instantaneous Compression and Expansion.

It used differential audio transmission (differential pulse-code modulation) that was not psychoacoustics-based like MPEG-1 Layer II. It used a fixed transmission rate of 1350 kbp/s. Like the PAL NICAM stereo system, it used near-instantaneous companding (as opposed to Syllabic-companding like the dbx system uses) and non-linear 13-bit digital encoding at a 32 kHz sample rate.

It could also operate in a 48 kHz 16-bit mode. The DANCE system was well documented in numerous NHK technical papers and in a NHK-published book issued in the USA called Hi-Vision Technology.

The DANCE audio codec was superseded by Dolby AC-3 (a.k.a. Dolby Digital), DTS Coherent Acoustics (a.k.a. DTS Zeta 6x20 or ARTEC), MPEG-1 Layer III (a.k.a. MP3), MPEG-2 Layer I, MPEG-4 AAC and many other audio coders. The methods of this codec are described in the IEEE paper:

## Real world performance issues

MUSE had a four-field dot-interlacing cycle, meaning it took four fields to complete a single MUSE frame. Thus, only stationary images were transmitted at full resolution. However, as MUSE lowers the horizontal and vertical resolution of material that varies greatly from frame to frame, moving images were blurred. Because MUSE used motion-compensation, whole camera pans maintained full resolution, but individual moving elements could be reduced to only a quarter of the full frame resolution. Because the mix between motion and non-motion was encoded on a pixel-by-pixel basis, it wasn't as visible as most would think. Later, NHK came up with backwards compatible methods of MUSE encoding/decoding that greatly increased resolution in moving areas of the image as well as increasing the chroma resolution during motion. This so-called MUSE-III system was used for broadcasts starting in 1995 and a very few of the last Hi-Vision MUSE LaserDiscs used it (A River Runs Through It is one Hi-Vision LD that used it). During early demonstrations of the MUSE system, complaints were common about the decoder's large size, which led to the creation of a miniaturized decoder.

Shadows and multipath still plague this analog frequency modulated transmission mode.

Japan has since switched to a digital HDTV system based on ISDB, but the original MUSE-based BS Satellite channel 9 (NHK BS Hi-vision) was broadcast until September 30, 2007.

## Cultural and geopolitical impacts

- (1940s): The NTSC standard (as a 525 line monochrome system) was imposed by the US occupation forces.

- (1950s-1960s): Unlike Canada (that could have switched to PAL), Japan was stuck with the US TV transmission standard regardless of circumstances.

- (1960s-1970s): By the late 1960s many parts of the modern Japanese electronics industry had gotten their start by fixing the transmission and storage problems inherent with NTSC's design.

- (1970s-1980s): By the 1980s there was spare engineering talent available in Japan that could design a better television system.

MUSE, as the US public came to know it, was initially covered in the magazine Popular Science in the mid-1980s. The US television networks did not provide much coverage of MUSE until the late 1980s, as there were few public demonstrations of the system outside Japan.

Because Japan had its own domestic frequency allocation tables (that were more open to the deployment of MUSE) it became possible for this television system to be transmitted by Ku Band satellite technology by the end of the 1980s.

The US FCC in the late 1980s began to issue directives that would allow MUSE to be tested in the US, providing it could be fit into a 6 MHz System-M channel.

The Europeans (in the form of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)) were impressed with MUSE, but could never adopt it because it is a 60 Hz TV system, not a 50 Hz system that is standard in Europe and the rest of the world (outside the Americas and Japan).

The EBU development and deployment of B-MAC, D-MAC and much later on HD-MAC were made possible by Hi-Vision's technical success. In many ways MAC transmission systems are better than MUSE because of the total separation of colour from brightness in the time domain within the MAC signal structure.

Like Hi-Vision, HD-MAC could not be transmitted in 8 MHz channels without substantial modification – and a severe loss of quality and frame rate. A 6 MHz version Hi-Vision was experimented with in the US, but it too had severe quality problems so the FCC never fully sanctioned its use as a domestic terrestrial television transmission standard.

The US ATSC working group that had led to the creation of NTSC in the 1950s was reactivated in the early 1990s because of Hi-Vision's success. Many aspects of the DVB standard are based on work done by the ATSC working group, however most of the impact is in support for 60 Hz (as well as 24 Hz for film transmission) and uniform sampling rates and interoperable screen sizes.

## Device support for Hi-Vision

### Hi-Vision LaserDiscs

On May 20, 1994, Panasonic released the first MUSE LaserDisc player. There were a number of MUSE LaserDisc players available in Japan: Pioneer HLD-XØ, HLD-X9, HLD-1000, HLD-V500, HLD-V700; Sony HIL-1000, HIL-C1 and HIL-C2EX; the last two of which have OEM versions made by Panasonic, LX-HD10 and LX-HD20. Players also supported standard NTSC LaserDiscs. Hi-Vision LaserDiscs are extremely rare and expensive.

The HDL-5800 Video Disc Recorder recorded both high definition still images and continuous video onto an optical disc and was part of the early analog wideband Sony HDVS high-definition video system which supported the MUSE system. Capable of recording HD still images and video onto either the WHD-3AL0 or the WHD-33A0 optical disc; WHD-3Al0 for CLV mode (up to 10 minute video or 18,000 still frames per side); WHD-33A0 for CAV mode (up to 3 minute video or 5400 still frames per side). These video discs were used for short video content such as advertisements and product demonstrations.

The HDL-2000 was a full band high definition video disc player.

### Reel to reel VTRs

For recording Hi-Vision signals, Three reel to reel analog VTRs were released, among them are the Sony HDV-1000, the NEC TT 8-1000 and the Toshiba TVR-1000. These analog VTRs had a head drum angular speed of 3600 RPM and are similar to Type C VTRs. They have a bandwidth of 30 Mhz for luma and 7 Mhz for both chroma channels each, with a signal to noise ratio of 41 dB. They accept luma and chroma signals with bandwidths of up to 30 Mhz for both. Signals are recorded onto the tape using FM modulation. Linear tape speed is 483.1 mm/s and writing speed at the heads is 25.9 m/s. The head drum is 134.5 mm wide and has 4 video record heads, 4 video playback heads and 1 erasing head. It could record for 45 minutes on 10.5 inch reels. The video heads are made of Mn-Zn ferrite material, those used for recording have a gap of 0.7 microns and a width of 80 microns and those for playback have a gap of 0.35 microns and a width of 70 microns. It records audio on 3 linear tracks, and control signals on a linear track. Unlike conventional type C videotape recorders, Vertical Blanking Intervals are not recorded on the tape. Helical tracks have groups of 4 signals length-wise with red chrominance, blue chrominance, and two green chrominance signals with luminance information. Two tracks for green chrominance plus luminance are used to increase the bandwidth of these signals that can be recorded on the tape.

In 1987, technical standards for digital recording of Hi-Vision signals were released by NHK, and Sony and Hitachi developed the HDD-1000 and the HV-1200 digital reel to reel VTRs respectively. Audio is recorded digitally similarly to a DASH (Digital Audio Stationary Head) digital audio recorder, but several changes were made to synchronize the audio to the video. These digital VTRs can record 8 channels of digital audio on linear tracks (horizontally along the entire length of the tape). According to the standards, these VTRs operate with a head drum speed of 7200 RPM, have a bit rate of 148.5 Mb/s per video head, a linear tape speed of 805.2 mm/s and a writing speed at the heads of 51.5 m/s, are similar to Type C VTRs, have a head drum 135mm wide, 8 playback, 8 recording and 2 erase heads, with 37 micron wide helical tracks. Bandwidth is 30 Mhz for luma (Y) and 15 Mhz for chroma (P, P). Audio is recorded with a sampling rate of 48 kHz stored at 16 bits per sample in linear tape tracks, sampling rate for luma is 74.25 Mhz and 37.125 Mhz for chroma stored at 8 bits per sample. Signal to noise ratio is 56 dB for chroma and luma. Video fields are divided into 16 helical tracks on the tape. Total video bandwidth is 1.188 gigabits/s. Cue signals are recorded into 3 linear tape tracks. Video is recorded in groups of 4 tracks length-wise within each helical track, to allow for parallelization: high total data rates with relatively low data rates per head, and reduce the linear tape speed. Digital video signals are recorded line by line (1 row of pixels in every frame of video or 1 line of video at a time) with ECC (Error Correcting Code) at the end of each line and in between a number of vertical lines. Reed-Solomon code is used for ECC and each line also has an ID number for trick play such as slow motion and picture search/shuttle.

### Displays

Hi-Vision requires a display capable of handling 30 Mhz of video bandwidth simultaneously for each of the component video channels: Y, P and P. It was displayed on direct view color CRTs and CRT projectors, and plasma displays and Talaria projectors were explored to determine their ability to display Hi-Vision images.

### Cameras

Cameras based on Saticon tubes, Plumbicon tubes, Harpicon tubes and CCD image sensors were used to capture footage using the Hi-Vision format. A prototype based on Vidicon tubes was also created.

### MUSE decoders

A MUSE decoder is required for receiving MUSE broadcasts from satellites, and for viewing content in the MUSE format. The decoder converts MUSE format signals into Hi-Vision component video signals that can then be shown in a display.

### Video cassettes

W-VHS allowed home recording of Hi-Vision programmes.

For recording Hi-Vision video, NHK and 10 Japanese companies ("NEC, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Toshiba, Sharp, Sony, Hitachi, Sanyo Electric, JVC, Mitsubishi Electric, Canon") in 1989 released UniHi, a professional videocassette format. Recorders for the format were manufactured by Panasonic, Sony, NEC, and Toshiba. These machines were less expensive than their Type C counterparts. Both studio and portable versions were made. The head drum spins at 5400 RPM and uses tape that is 12.65 mm wide. It has a luminance (Y) bandwidth of 20 MHz and a chrominance (P, P) bandwidth of 7 MHz. The head drum is 76mm wide. It uses two video heads with azimuth recording and records each frame of video into 12 helical tracks; only 6 tracks are necessary for each video field if recording interlaced video. Audio is recorded digitally as a PCM signal, as a section on the helical tracks. Writing speed at the heads is 21.4 m/s. The tape also has 3 linear tracks, one for audio, control and time code each. Signal to noise ratio for luminance is 41 dB and for chrominance it is 47 dB. The tape is wrapped 180° around the head drum. Development began in 1987. It uses metal particle tape. It could record video for 1 hour (63 minutes). Linear tape speed is 120 mm/s. The cassette measures 205mm (width) x 121mm (depth) x 25mm (height). Signals are recorded using time-compression integration, in groups of two signals length-wise on each helical track. Grouping is used to increase the bandwidth that can be recorded on the tape. The cassette is intented to be air-tight with two flaps in the cassette's opening to protect the tape.

This videocassette format was developed in order to reduce the size of HD recording equipment. The Sony version of the UniHi VTR, the HDV-10, had a price of over 90,000 US dollars.


Debbie Bartlett

# Debbie Bartlett

## Abstract

Debbie Bartlett (born Deborah DuBusky in 1951) is an American actress, dancer and choreographer, known for her work in film, television, and stage during the 1970s and 1980 particularly for her role on The Love Boat.,

## Early life and family

Debbie Bartlett was born Deborah Ann DuBusky in 1951, the third of four children of Jerome Joseph “Jerry” DuBusky (1919 to 1984) and Ann Elizabeth Donahue (1927 to 1987). Her father was born in Washington D.C., with Prussian, French, Irish and Portuguese ancestry. Her mother was from Massachusetts with English and Irish ancestry.

Jerry and Ann DuBusky began raising their family in Washington DC before moving to California. The four children were raised in West Covina and attended Edgewood High School, where Debbie was crowned homecoming queen in 1969.

## Career

Debbie DuBusky began her career in 1970 when she joined the cast of Disney on Parade. It was on that tour that she met Bill Bartlett whom she married the next year, taking the name Bartlett as her stage name. The Disney on Parade show and tour took her to Canada, Mexico and around the USA. At the end of the tour she joined the Chandler Conspiracy Night Club Act, a touring show group, where she performed alongside Bill until 1974. Alongside her husband she appeared in an Orange Shasta commercial in 1977 starring Barry Williams and choreographed by Peter Gennaro. She began her film career in 1978 in the comedy Shame, Shame on the Bixby Boys, where she played Suley Blue Bixby, but continued to work on stage. In 1979 she performed alongside Peter Virgo jr and Bruce Tuthill in Bells Are Ringing at The Muny, St Louis playing Michelle.

In 1980, Bartlett was cast in Xanadu as one of the immortal Muses. She was the second muse to emerge from the mural during the "I'm Alive" sequence. However, she had to leave the production before its conclusion and was uncredited. In 1981, she made a guest appearance on the sitcom Three's Company as Marlene in the episode Some of That Jazz. Debbie then became well known as a game show cohost. In 1983 she was featured on Dream House and then filled the cohost role on Every Second Counts in 1984.

Bartlett's most significant television role came in the final season of The Love Boat (1985–1986), where she appeared in 19 episodes as Susie, one of eight dancers known as The Mermaids. Selected through a nationwide audition process from thousands of hopefuls, she was part of a team that included Teri Hatcher, who appeared as Amy in her first role. For this role she had to leave Every Second Counts midway through its run.

From June 1986 to June 1987, Bartlett performed in the touring production of Singin' in the Rain, playing Mary Margaret and participating in the ensemble. She then returned to TV to act as a gameshow cohost with Alan Thicke in Animal Crack-Ups (1987–1990). She also worked as a hostess on the short-lived syndicated series Home Shopping Game in 1987.

In the 1990s, Bartlett worked alongside her husband as a choreographer. In 1995, they choreographed F. Scott Fitzgerald 's Tender is the Night at the Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles In 1998, at The Fountain Theatre once again, they choreographed Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon for which they won the LA Weekly 1998 Production Design of the Year Award for Choreography. Other notable productions at the Fountain Theatre include Dottie! and Ancient History.

Bartlett continued to perform as well as choreograph. Although predominantly in theatre, in 2003 she played a ghost dancer alongside Bill in the Disney film The Haunted Mansion.

## Personal life

Debbie married William "Bill" Bartlett (1940–2020), a dancer and dance teacher, on August 3, 1971. She used her married name throughout her career. Bill had already begun establishing his career as a performer in Portland, Oregon, where he was discovered by Sophie Tucker. He went on to perform with luminaries such as Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor. He was most renowned as a teacher, at various schools such as the Debbie Reynolds Dance Studios and the Madilyn Clark Studios. Bill's long teaching career included a notable tenure at Plaza de la Raza starting in 1987 as well as Idyllwild Arts Academy.

Debbie assisted Bill's teaching from around 2007 at Idyllwild and began to take classes of her own. They were also close friends with dancer and choreographer Alex Romero and dancer and author Mark Knowles. They assisted Knowles in creating a lecture on the history of tap dancing, which Knowles later expanded into a book. When Bill Bartlett passed away on August 31, 2020, they had been married for forty-nine years. Latterly, the Bartlett's performed together in Hollywood in show written and directed by Cate Caplin (a former student of Bill's) called The Beat Goes On. Her final performance with Bill was in 2017 at the Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher Celebration of Life at the Forest Lawn Hall of Liberty.

Debbie's niece, Rachel DuBusky, is also a dancer and owner-director of Solid Gold Dance studios. Having spent 29 years at Pam Rossi's Dance Ten studio, in 2021, she took over the studio and renamed it in tribute to Pam Rossi's time as a dancer on the TV show Solid Gold.


C. J. Stroud

# C. J. Stroud

## Abstract

Coleridge Bernard " C. J. " Stroud IV (born October 3, 2001) is an American professional football quarterback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He is the best Texans QB of all time. No one knows where the J comes from in his name. He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, where he holds several school records, including most passing yards in a single game with 573, as well as being the first player to throw for six touchdowns three times. Stroud was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2021 and 2022 and was selected by the Texans second overall in the 2023 NFL draft. In his rookie season, he led the Texans to a division title and playoff victory en route to winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.

## Early life

Stroud was born on October 3, 2001, in Rancho Cucamonga, California, the youngest of four children. In 2016, his father, Coleridge Bernard Stroud III, received a 38-years-to-life sentence after pleading guilty to kidnapping, carjacking and robbery in connection with a drug-related incident under California's three-strikes law. As of 2023, his father has been incarcerated since Stroud was in middle school, and is serving his sentence in Folsom State Prison near Sacramento. The incarceration sent the Stroud family into severe financial debt; they lived in a small apartment above a storage facility as Stroud entered Rancho Cucamonga High School.

As a senior, he was the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin offensive player of the year after passing for 3,878 yards and 47 touchdowns. In 2019, he was the MVP of the Elite 11. Stroud was selected to play in the 2020 All-American Bowl. Initially considered a 3-star recruit, Stroud finished high school as the third-highest rated quarterback of his class. He committed to Ohio State University to play college football.

Stroud has been friends with Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young since the two went to high schools located in Southern California. The two continued their friendship in college, and ultimately were selected with the first two picks in the 2023 NFL draft.

## College career

### 2020 season

Stroud spent his true freshman year at Ohio State redshirting as a backup to Justin Fields. He played just eight snaps in 2020, throwing no passes, but did score a 48-yard rushing touchdown against Michigan State. He also played one snap in the 2021 Sugar Bowl against Clemson after Fields took a hard hit to the ribs.

### 2021 season

Stroud was named the starting quarterback as a redshirt freshman following the departure of Fields to the 2021 NFL draft. He was chosen over freshmen Kyle McCord, Quinn Ewers, and fellow redshirt freshman Jack Miller III. Coach Ryan Day credited his decision-making, leadership skills, and accuracy as the reasons that he earned the starting spot.

Stroud started every game for the Buckeyes aside from a Week 4 game against Akron in order to rest a shoulder injury he sustained in the season opener. Over the season, he earned first-team All-Big Ten Honors; was named the Big 10 quarterback of the year; won Big Ten Freshman of the Week six times; was a finalist for both the Davey O'Brien Award and the Heisman Trophy; and became the only quarterback in Ohio State history to throw five touchdowns against a Big Ten competitor four times in one season. He led the team to a 10–2 record in the regular season, with losses to Oregon and bitter rival Michigan. The loss to Michigan cost Ohio State the chance to play in the Big Ten Championship. Ohio State bounced back from this disappointment at the Rose Bowl; coming back from a 14-point deficit against Utah to win 48–45. Stroud broke both school and Rose Bowl records with 573 yards thrown in the Rose Bowl; he also tied a school record and set a Rose Bowl record with six touchdown passes. He finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting.

### 2022 season

Following a successful 2021 season, Stroud entered 2022 as one of the best players in college football, as well as the betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. On October 8, 2022, Stroud threw six touchdown passes against Michigan State, setting a conference record for “most six passing touchdown games in a career” (with 3), and passed Justin Fields to move to second place on the Ohio State career passing touchdowns list. Stroud and the Buckeyes once again came up short against rival Michigan in their annual meeting, this time losing at home in Columbus 45–23. Despite the loss, the Buckeyes were selected as the fourth and final team for the College Football Playoff. In the Peach Bowl semifinal against the top-seeded Georgia Bulldogs, Stroud had a strong performance, throwing for 348 yards and four touchdowns, but the Buckeyes lost 42–41, ending their season. At the conclusion of the regular season, he again was named a finalist for the Heisman trophy for his season. He finished third in the voting behind winner Caleb Williams from USC and Max Duggan from TCU. On January 16, 2023, Stroud announced that he would forgo his remaining two years of college eligibility and enter the 2023 NFL draft.

## Professional career

### 2023 season

Stroud was selected by the Houston Texans with the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft on April 27, 2023. Being second overall, Stroud became the highest drafted quarterback in Ohio State's history.

On September 10, 2023, Stroud made his NFL debut in Week 1 against the Baltimore Ravens, where he threw for 242 yards in the 25–9 loss. During Week 2 against the Indianapolis Colts, Stroud threw his first two NFL touchdowns, one to Nico Collins and the other to Tank Dell, and finished with 384 passing yards in the 31–20 loss. Stroud's 384 yards are the second-most in a single game by a Texans rookie quarterback. The following week, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Stroud finished 20-of-30 for 280 yards with two touchdowns as the Texans won 37–17. He also joined Cam Newton and Justin Herbert as the only players in NFL history to put up at least 900 passing yards in their first three games. Stroud was named the Offensive Rookie of the Month for September, finishing the month with 78 completions on 121 attempts with 906 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions.

In Week 5, Stroud threw his 177th pass attempt without an interception, breaking the previous NFL record set by Dak Prescott for the most pass attempts without an interception to begin a career in NFL history in a 21–19 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. The streak ended the following week against the New Orleans Saints at 191 attempts; Saints linebacker Zack Baun intercepted the pass but had the ball punched out by wide receiver Nico Collins with offensive tackle Tytus Howard recovering the ball for the Texans. In Week 8, Stroud faced his friend and fellow top draft pick Bryce Young for the first time in the NFL. Young came out on top in a defensive battle, 15–13. Stroud threw for 140 yards and had his first rushing touchdown in the loss. In Week 9, Stroud passed for 470 yards, breaking the single-game passing yard record for a rookie quarterback that was previously set by Andrew Luck in 2012. Stroud also passed for five touchdowns, during a 39–37 comeback victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The game also marked just the third time in NFL history a quarterback has thrown for at least 470 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions, joining Y.A. Tittle and Ben Roethlisberger.

In Week 14 against the New York Jets, Stroud suffered a concussion during the fourth quarter as the Texans lost 30–6. After a two-game absence, Stroud made his return in Week 17 against the Tennessee Titans, completing 24 of 32 passes for 213 yards and one touchdown in a 26–3 victory. In a win-or-go-home situation against the Colts, Stroud completed 20 of 26 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns in a 23–19 win, clinching the Texans' first playoff berth since 2019. During this game, Stroud became just the fifth quarterback in NFL history to pass for over 4,000 yards in their rookie season. Stroud also became the third player in league history to lead the league in passing yards per game (273.9) and touchdown/interception ratio (4.6) in the same season, joining Tom Brady in 2007 and Joe Montana in 1989. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.

In his playoff debut against the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card round, Stroud tied the rookie record for most passing touchdowns in a playoff game and became the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game in league history as the Texans won 45–14. Stroud finished the game completing 16 of 21 passes for 274 yards, three touchdowns, and a near-perfect passer rating of 157.2. In the Divisional round against the top-seeded Ravens in a rematch of Week 1, Stroud was held in check, completing 19 of 33 passes for 175 yards and a 72.2 rating as the Texans lost, 34–10.

## NFL career statistics

### NFL records

- Youngest starting quarterback to win a playoff game: 22 years 3 months 10 days

- Most passing attempts without an interception to start a career: 191 (2023)

- Most games with at least 350 passing yards by a rookie: 3 (tied) (2023)

- Most passing yards in a single game by a rookie: 470 (November 5, 2023, vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

- Most passing touchdowns in a single game by a rookie: 5 (tied) (November 5, 2023, vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

#### Texans franchise records

- Most passing yards in a rookie season: 4,108 (2023)

- Most passing touchdowns in a rookie season: 23 (2023)

- Most passing completions in a rookie season: 319 (2023)

- Most passing attempts in a rookie season: 499 (2023)

## Personal life

Stroud is the son of Coleridge and Kimberly Stroud. He has two older brothers and one older sister. He is a Christian.


1902 Orkney and Shetland by-election

# 1902 Orkney and Shetland by-election

## Abstract

The 1902 Orkney and Shetland by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 18–19 November 1902. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

## Vacancy

Cathcart Wason had been Liberal Unionist MP for the seat of Orkney and Shetland since 1900. In July 1902, he decided to cross the floor of the House to sit with the Liberal opposition. Leaving the Liberal Unionist Party, he cited Government policy on the army, the Education Bill and the Irish land question. He faced criticism from the Unionists in his constituency and following pressure, he resigned his seat on 7 October 1902 to contest the subsequent by-election.

## Electoral history

Since 1885, the seat had always comfortably returned the Liberal Party candidate. Then the seat was surprisingly gained by Wason; albeit with a narrow majority of forty votes, standing as a Liberal Unionist in 1900.

## Candidates

- Fifty-four-year-old sitting MP Cathcart Wason chose to fight his seat again, standing as an Independent Liberal. He had hoped to stand as the official Liberal candidate, but the local Liberal Association chose not to back him. Although born in Scotland he moved to New Zealand and had served as an Independent Member of Parliament there. He returned to the UK in 1900 in time for the general election to stand as a Liberal Unionist. His father, Rigby Wason had sat as a Whig MP and his older brother Eugene Wason was at the time a Liberal Party MP in Scotland.

- The local Liberal Unionist Association considered several candidates, including Captain John Nicholson, a native of Shetland who had contested Chester-le-Street as a Conservative at the 1900 general election. They eventually selected 59-year-old Theodore Vivian Samuel Angier as their candidate to defend the seat. He had no connection with the islands and was a member of the Liberal Unionist Council. Angier had formerly been a sailor and owned the family steamship business, having volunteered for service in the South African War as well. He was standing for Parliament for the first time.

- In August 1902, the local Liberal Association had selected 47-year-old Thomas McKinnon Wood as their prospective candidate to re-gain the seat. Although born in Stepney, his father was born in Orkney where he was a farmer. Wood was a member of the London County Council for Central Hackney from 1892 and from 1897 he was leader of the Progressive Party and also served as chairman of the council from 1898 to 1899. Wood stood unsuccessfully as a parliamentary candidate for East Islington in 1895 and Glasgow St. Rollox in 1900.

## Campaign

Polling Days were fixed for the 18–19 November 1902, over five weeks after Wason's resignation.

## Result

Wason remarkably held his seat, with an increased majority of 411 votes.

Immediately following his re-election, Wason re-took the Liberal Party whip in the House of Commons.

## Aftermath

By the time of the 1906 general election, Wason had been fully integrated with the local Liberal Party and was re-elected as their official candidate;

McKinnon Wood was elected Liberal MP for Glasgow St Rollox at the 1906 general election. Angier was knighted in 1904 and contested unsuccessfully, Gateshead at the 1906 general election.


Shenzhen–Zhanjiang high-speed railway

# Shenzhen–Zhanjiang high-speed railway

## Abstract

The Shenzhen–Zhanjiang railway is a high-speed railway across the south of Guangdong province. Currently it runs from Jiangmen to Zhanjiang West. It will link the cities of Shenzhen and Zhanjiang when complete.

## History

Announced as part of the 12th Five Year Plan for 2011–2016, it was projected that construction of this railway would begin. Tenders were called for early in 2013 with construction to begin before the end of that year. Construction officially began on 28 June 2014. The Jiangmen–Maoming section opened on 1 July 2018.

Construction of Shenzhen to Jiangmen section started on 9 October 2022.

## Route

The railway is to follow a 387 km (240 mi) route from Xili railway station to Maoming East railway station. The existing Xinhui branch of the Guangzhou–Zhuhai intercity railway will be included as a central link, with 265 km (165 mi) of new trackage extending west to Maoming and then a new tunnel across the Pearl River Delta from Shenzhen south of the Humen Pearl River Bridge.

Starting at Xili railway station, the railway will travel through a tunnel to Shenzhen Airport East railway station at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport. It will then cross through a tunnel underneath the Pearl River before reaching Xiaolan, Guzhen, Waihai, Jiangmen South, Shuangshuizhen, Taishan, Kaiping, Enping, Dahuai, Heshan, Yangjiang, Yangxi, Mata, Guanzhu, Dianbai and Maoming East.

## Construction

The Maoming–Zhanjiang section was constructed between 2009 and 2013. The project was funded jointly by the, now defunct, Ministry of Railways and the Guangdong Provincial Government. Construction commenced on 21 March 2009 and was opened to traffic on 28 December 2013. Although officially opened on 28 December 2013, no high-speed trains started using it at the time.

Construction of the 387-kilometre (240 mi) Shenzhen–Maoming railway was carried out in two sections: the Jiangmen–Maoming section and the Shenzhen–Jiangmen section. Construction of the section from Jiangmen to Maoming started in June 2014 and was opened on 1 July 2018. From this point on, thru high-speed service started along the Guangzhou–Jiangmen–Maoming–Zhanjiang route.

A special feature of the Jiangmen–Maoming section is a 2,036-metre (6,680 ft) steel tunnel protecting the Birds' Paradise from the noise of the high-speed railway line. The noise barrier reduces the noise of the train to about 50 dB SPL at the bird park, which is only 800 metres (2,625 ft) away from the high-speed railway line. The section from Shenzhen to Jiangmen was delayed due to the complicated geographic condition of the mouth of the Pearl River and the large budget, 65.2 billion yuan (US$9.88 billion).

The construction plan of China Railway Guangzhou Group Corp. shows the Shenzhen-Jiangmen section costs 51.3 billion yuan (US$7.27 billion); the project starts from Xili railway station in Nanshan District of Shenzhen, and passes through Bao'an District of Shenzhen and Dongguan, Zhongshan to end in Jiangmen. It has seven stations: Xili, Shenzhen Airport East, Dongguan Binhaiwan, Nansha, Zhongshan North, Henglan and Jiangmen. Simultaneously, a 20.4-kilometer rail line will be built to link Shenzhen Airport East railway station with Shenzhen North railway station, and a 12.6-kilometer connecting line will be built in Jiangmen and Zhongshan.

Upon completion of the Shenzhen-Jiangmen section in 2028, the trip from Qianhai to Nansha will be cut to 30 minutes and the trip between Shenzhen and Maoming will be cut to three hours. Once the Shenzhen-Jiangmen section is operational, passengers change to the Ganzhou-Shenzhen high-speed railway at Xili railway station and to the Hangzhou-Shenzhen high-speed railway and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed railway at Shenzhen North railway station. At Shenzhen Airport East railway station, the railway will offer transfers to Second Guangzhou–Shenzhen high-speed railway, which is currently under planning, and at Zhongshan railway station, it will be connected with Guangzhou-Zhuhai intercity railway.

Construction of Shenzhen to Jiangmen section started on 9 October 2022. The section is 116 km in length with 7 stations.


The Last Horror Movie

# The Last Horror Movie

## Abstract

The Last Horror Movie is a 2003 British found footage horror film directed by Julian Richards. On 24 August 2003 it premiered at the London FrightFest Film Festival and stars Kevin Howarth and Mark Stevenson. The Last Horror Movie was released onto DVD through Fangoria's Gore Zone label on 7 December 2004.

## Plot

The film follows Max Parry (Kevin Howarth), a disturbed wedding video cameraman, and his unnamed assistant (Mark Stevenson) as they perform several murders that they have videotaped. The two have used a video store tape in order to record the proceedings, breaking the fourth wall, and insinuating that the copy of the film being watched is the only existing version of the tape. Throughout the film, Max uses meta-references in order to show off his gruesome activities as a serial killer. The film raises questions surrounding visceral pleasure, this can be seen in one scene in particular during which the audience cannot see the victims (two at once) being murdered, Max Parry then asks the audience, "I bet you wanted to see that, and if you didn't, why are you still watching?"

At the end of the film the audience is left to believe that since they are watching the only copy of the film, that they will potentially become one of Max's victims.

## Cast

- Kevin Howarth as Max

- Mark Stevenson as The Assistant

- Antonia Beamish as Petra

- Christabel Muir as Sam

- Jonathan Coote as John

- Rita Davies as Grandma

- Joe Hurley as Ben (as Joe Morley)

- Jamie Langthorne as Nico

- John Berlyne as Phil

- Linda Regan as Terri

- Mandy Gordon as Sarah

- Jim Bywater as Bill

- Lisa Renée as Waitress

- Christopher Adamson as Killer (as Chris Adamson)

- Adrian Johnson as Kelly

- John MacCrossan as Groom

## Development

Richards stated that he was inspired to create The Last Horror Movie after reading Stephen King's Danse Macabre. Richards was also inspired by "the idea of using horror fiction to help people explore their anxieties about difficult issues", as he has the main character of Max Parry using it as a way to "justify his crimes to the world". The movie was filmed with a small crew on a limited budget, with most of the film's issues stemming from the prosthetic make-up effects, as they "had to work real time whilst remaining hidden from the camera".

## Release

Hart Sharp Video released the DVD Director's Cut and normal cut versions of the film on 7 December 2004. Arts Alliance America also released the film on DVD that same day. Hart Sharp Video has re-released the film several times since their original releases of the film as a part of several multi-disk sets on 4 October 2005 and 2 October 2007. The film was last released on DVD by Jinga Films on 26 August 2014.

## Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 56% based on 9 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 5.9/10. ReelFilm criticized the movie as being "repetitive" and that the film would have worked better as a short. Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian awarded the film 1/5 stars, calling it "smug and drearily nasty".

In contrast, Dread Central gave a more positive review and stated that "It's a movie that makes you think, and that's far too rare nowadays." Marc Savlov from Austin Chronicle gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, writing, " Despite the film’s horrific verisimilitude... and a genuinely smart screenplay by Richards and James Handel that simultaneously rubs our noses in the horror while allowing us to savor the flavor – and thereby become complicit in Max’s onscreen theatrics"

## Awards

- 2005 - Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre Film Festival - Best Film - Winner

- 2005 - Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre Film Festival - Best Actor (Kevin Howarth) - Winner

- 2004 - Espoo Ciné - Méliès d'Argent, Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Silver - Winner

- 2004 - Fantasporto - Critics' Award - Winner

- 2004 - Fantasporto - International Fantasy Film Award - Nominee only

- 2004 - New York City Horror Film Festival - Best Actor (Kevin Howarth) - Winner

- 2004 - New York City Horror Film Festival - Best Feature Film - Winner

- 2004 - Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival - Best Director (Julian Richards) - Winner

- 2003 - Festival of Fantastic Films (UK) - Best Independent Feature Award -Winner

- 2003 - Raindance Film Festival - Jury Prize for Best UK Feature - Winner

- 2003 - Festival de Cine de Sitges - Best Film - Nominee Only

## Sequel

Richards first expressed interest about creating a sequel in 2003, where he remarked that if it was created, the film would either remain in the found footage video diary format of its predecessor or be a "more conventional slasher movie". In 2012 Richards confirmed that he is actively developing a sequel and that it would be set several years after the events of the first film. The sequel would have Max living in Los Angeles and showing an obsession with social networking sites, which he uses to select his victims.


DuPont

# DuPont

## Abstract

DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in the development of the U.S. state of Delaware and first arose as a major supplier of gunpowder. DuPont developed many polymers such as Vespel, neoprene, nylon, Corian, Teflon, Mylar, Kapton, Kevlar, Zemdrain, M5 fiber, Nomex, Tyvek, Sorona, Corfam and Lycra in the 20th century, and its scientists developed many chemicals, most notably Freon (chlorofluorocarbons), for the refrigerant industry. It also developed synthetic pigments and paints including ChromaFlair.

In 2015, DuPont and the Dow Chemical Company agreed to a reorganization plan in which the two companies would merge and split into three. As a merged entity, DuPont simultaneously acquired Dow and renamed itself to DowDuPont on August 31, 2017, and after 18 months spun off the merged entity's material science divisions into a new corporate entity bearing Dow Chemical's name and agribusiness divisions into the newly created Corteva; DowDuPont reverted its name to DuPont and kept the specialty products divisions. Prior to the spinoffs it was the world's largest chemical company in terms of sales. The merger has been reported to be worth an estimated $130 billion. The present DuPont, as prior to the merger, is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, in the state where it is incorporated.

## History

### 1802 to 1902 – First century of business

DuPont was founded in 1802 by Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, using capital raised in France and gunpowder machinery imported from France. He started the company at the Eleutherian Mills, on the Brandywine Creek, near Wilmington, Delaware, two years after du Pont and his family left France to escape the French Revolution and religious persecution against Huguenot Protestants. The company began as a manufacturer of gunpowder, as du Pont noticed that the industry in North America was lagging behind Europe. The company grew quickly, and by the mid-19th century had become the largest supplier of preppy gunpowder to the United States military, supplying one-third to one-half the powder used by the Union Army during the American Civil War. The Eleutherian Mills site is now a museum and a National Historic Landmark.

### 1902 to 1912 – First major expansion

DuPont continued to expand, moving into the production of dynamite and smokeless powder. In 1902, DuPont's president, Eugene du Pont, died, and the surviving partners sold the company to three great-grandsons of the original founder. Charles Lee Reese was appointed as director and the company began centralizing their research departments. The company subsequently purchased several smaller chemical companies; in 1912 these actions generated government scrutiny under the Sherman Antitrust Act. The courts declared that the company's dominance of the explosives business constituted a monopoly and ordered divestment. The court ruling resulted in the creation of the Hercules Powder Company (later Hercules Inc. and now part of Ashland Inc.) and the Atlas Powder Company (purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) and now part of AkzoNobel). At the time of divestment, DuPont retained the single-base nitrocellulose powders, while Hercules held the double-base powders combining nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. DuPont subsequently developed the Improved Military Rifle (IMR) line of smokeless powders.

In 1910, DuPont published a brochure entitled "Farming with Dynamite". The pamphlet was instructional, outlining the benefits to using their dynamite products on stumps and various other obstacles that would be easier to remove with dynamite as opposed to other more conventional and inefficient means.

DuPont also established two of the first industrial laboratories in the United States, where they began the work on cellulose chemistry, lacquers and other non-explosive products. DuPont Central Research was established at the DuPont Experimental Station, across the Brandywine Creek from the original powder mills.

### 1913 to 1919 – Investments into General Motors

In 1914, Pierre S. du Pont invested in the fledgling automobile industry, buying stock in General Motors (GM). The following year he was invited to be on GM's board of directors and would eventually be appointed the company's chairman. The DuPont company would assist the struggling automobile company further with a $25 million purchase of GM stock ($ 752,960,526 in 2023 dollars). In 1920, Pierre S. du Pont was elected president of General Motors. Under du Pont's leadership, GM became the number one automobile company in the world. However, in 1957, because of DuPont's influence within GM, further action under the Clayton Antitrust Act forced DuPont to divest its shares of General Motors.

### 1920 to 1940 – Major breakthroughs

In the 1920s, DuPont continued its emphasis on materials science, hiring Wallace Carothers to work on polymers in 1928. Carothers invented neoprene, a synthetic rubber; the first polyester super polymer; and, in 1935, nylon. The invention of Teflon followed a few years later and has since been proven responsible for health problems in those exposed to the chemical through manufacturing and home use. DuPont introduced phenothiazine as an insecticide in 1935.

### 1941 to 1945 – World War II

DuPont ranked 15th among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. As the inventor and manufacturer of nylon, DuPont helped produce the raw materials for parachutes, powder bags, and tires.

DuPont also played a major role in the Manhattan Project in 1943, designing, building and operating the Hanford plutonium producing plant in Hanford, Washington. In 1950 DuPont also agreed to build the Savannah River Plant in South Carolina as part of the effort to create a hydrogen bomb.

DuPont was one of an estimated 150 American companies that provided Nazi Germany with patents, technology and material resources that proved crucial to the German war effort. DuPont maintained business connections with various corporations in the Third Reich from 1933 until 1943 when all of DuPont's assets in Germany were seized by the Nazi government along with those of all other American companies. Irénée du Pont, a descendant of Éleuthère Irénée du Pont and the president of the company during the buildup to World War II, was also a financial supporter of Nazi Führer Adolf Hitler and keenly followed Hitler since the 1920s.

### 1950 to 1970 – Space Age developments

After the war, DuPont continued its emphasis on new materials, developing Mylar, Dacron, Orlon, and Lycra in the 1950s, and Tyvek, Nomex, Qiana, Corfam, and Corian in the 1960s.

DuPont has been the key company behind the development of modern body armor. In the Second World War, DuPont's ballistic nylon was used by Britain 's Royal Air Force to make flak jackets. With the development of Kevlar in the 1960s, DuPont began tests to see if it could resist a lead bullet. This research would ultimately lead to the bullet-resistant vests that are used by police and military units.

In 1962, DuPont applied for a patent on the explosion welding process, which was granted on June 23, 1964, under US Patent 3,137,937 and resulted in the use of the Detaclad trademark to describe the process. On July 22, 1996, Dynamic Materials Corporation completed the acquisition of DuPont's Detaclad operations for a purchase price of $5,321,850 (or about $10.34 million today).

### 1981 to 1999

In 1981, DuPont acquired Conoco Inc., a major American oil and gas producing company, which gave it a secure source of petroleum feedstocks needed for the manufacturing of many of its fiber and plastics products. The acquisition, which made DuPont one of the top ten U.S.-based petroleum and natural gas producers and refiners, came about after a bidding war with the giant distillery Seagram Company Ltd. Seagram became DuPont's largest single shareholder, with four seats on the board of directors. On April 6, 1995, after being approached by Seagram Chief Executive Officer Edgar Bronfman Jr., DuPont announced a deal in which the company would buy back all the shares owned by Seagram.

In 1999, DuPont spun off Conoco and sold all of its shares. Conoco later merged with Phillips Petroleum Company.

DuPont acquired the Pioneer Hi-Bred agricultural seed company in 1999.

### 2000 to 2015 – Further growth, sales, and spinoff of Chemours

DuPont describes itself as a global science company that employs more than 60,000 people worldwide and has a diverse array of product offerings. The company ranks 86th in the Fortune 500 on the strength of nearly $36 billion in revenues, $4.848 billion in profits in 2013. In April 2014, Forbes ranked DuPont 171st on its Global 2000, the listing of the world's top public companies.

DuPont businesses are organized into the following five categories, known as marketing "platforms": Electronic and Communication Technologies, Performance Materials, Coatings and Color Technologies, Safety and Protection, and Agriculture and Nutrition. The agriculture division, DuPont Pioneer, makes and sells hybrid seed and genetically modified seed, some of which produces genetically modified food. Genes engineered into their products include LibertyLink, which provides resistance to Bayer's Ignite Herbicide /Liberty herbicides; the Herculex I Insect Protection gene, which provides protection against various insects; the Herculex RW insect protection trait, which provides protection against other insects; the YieldGard Corn Borer gene, which provides resistance to another set of insects; and the Roundup Ready Corn 2 trait that provides crop resistance against glyphosate herbicides.

In 2010, DuPont Pioneer received approval to start marketing Plenish soybeans, which contain "the highest oleic acid content of any commercial soybean product, at more than 75 percent. Plenish provides a product with no trans fat, 20 percent less saturated fat than regular soybean oil, and more stable oil with greater flexibility in food and industrial applications." Plenish is genetically engineered to "block the formation of enzymes that continue the cascade downstream from oleic acid (that produces saturated fats), resulting in an accumulation of the desirable monounsaturated acid."

In October 2001, the company sold its pharmaceutical business to Bristol Myers Squibb for $7.798 billion.

In 2002, the company sold the Clysar business to Bemis Company for $143 million.

In 2004, the company sold its textiles business, which included some of its best-known brands such as Lycra (Spandex), Dacron polyester, Orlon acrylic, Antron nylon and Thermolite, to Koch Industries.

In 2011, DuPont was the largest producer of titanium dioxide in the world, primarily provided as a white pigment used in the paper industry.

DuPont has 150 research and development facilities located in China, Brazil, India, Germany, and Switzerland, with an average investment of $2 billion annually in a diverse range of technologies for many markets including agriculture, genetic traits, biofuels, automotive, construction, electronics, chemicals, and industrial materials. DuPont employs more than 10,000 scientists and engineers around the world.

On January 9, 2011, DuPont announced that it had reached an agreement to buy Danish company Danisco for US$6.3 billion. On May 16, 2011, DuPont announced that its tender offer for Danisco had been successful and that it would proceed to redeem the remaining shares and delist the company.

On May 1, 2012, DuPont announced that it had acquired from Bunge full ownership of the Solae joint venture, a soy-based ingredients company. DuPont previously owned 72 percent of the joint venture while Bunge owned the remaining 28 percent.

In February 2013, DuPont Performance Coatings was sold to the Carlyle Group and rebranded as Axalta Coating Systems.

In October 2013, DuPont announced that it was planning to spin off its Performance Chemicals business into a new publicly traded company in mid-2015. The company filed its initial Form 10 with the SEC in December 2014 and announced that the new company would be called The Chemours Company. The spin-off to DuPont shareholders was completed on July 1, 2015, and Chemours stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on the same date. DuPont will focus on production of GMO seeds, materials for solar panels, and alternatives to fossil fuels. Chemours becomes responsible for the cleanup of 171 former DuPont sites, which DuPont says will cost between $295 million and $945 million.

In October 2015, DuPont sold the Neoprene chloroprene rubber business to Denka Performance Elastomers, a joint venture of Denka and Mitsui.

### 2015 to present – Reorganization and time as DowDuPont

On December 11, 2015, DuPont announced a merger with Dow Chemical Company, in an all-stock transaction. The combined company, DowDuPont, had an estimated value of $130 billion, being equally held by both companies’ shareholders, while also maintaining its two headquarters. The merger of the two largest U.S. chemical companies closed on August 31, 2017.

Both companies' boards of directors decided that following the merger DowDuPont would pursue a separation into three independent, publicly traded companies: an agriculture, a materials science, and a specialty products company.

- The agriculture business— Corteva Agriscience —unites Dow and DuPont's seed and crop protection unit, with an approximate revenue of $16 billion.

- The materials science segment— to be named Dow Chemical Company —consists of DuPont's Performance Materials unit, together with Dow's Performance Plastics, Materials and Chemicals, Infrastructure and Consumer Solutions, but excludes Dow's Electronic Materials business. Combined revenue for this branch totals an estimated $51 billion.

- The specialty products unit—the entity today bearing the DuPont name—includes DuPont's Nutrition & Health, Industrial Biosciences, Safety & Protection and Electronics & Communications, as well as Dow's aforementioned Electronic Materials business. Combined revenue for Specialty Products total approximately $12 billion.

Advisory Committees were established for each of the businesses. DuPont CEO Ed Breen would lead the Agriculture and Specialty Products Committees, and Dow CEO Andrew Liveris would lead the Materials Science Committee. These Committees were intended to oversee their respective businesses, and would work with both CEOs on the scheduled separation of the businesses’ standalone entities. Announced in February 2018, DowDuPont's agriculture division is named Corteva Agriscience, its materials science division is named Dow, and its specialty products division is named DuPont. In March 2018, it was announced that Jeff Fettig would become executive chairman of DowDuPont on July 1, 2018, and Jim Fitterling would become CEO of Dow Chemical on April 1, 2018. In October 2018, the company's agricultural unit recorded a $4.6 billion loss in the third quarter after lowering its long-term sales and profits targets.

In 2019, DuPont completed its spin off from DowDuPont.

In February 2020, DuPont announced that it is bringing back Edward D. Breen as its CEO after removing former Chief Executive Marc Doyle and CFO Jeanmarie Desmond less than a year after they assumed their roles. Lori D. Koch, previously head of investor relations, assumed the CFO position.

In November 2021, DuPont announced that it intended to acquire Rogers Corporation in a deal valued at $5.2 billion. While the deal had been approved by many other regulatory agencies, due to Chinese regulators prolonging the review, DuPont decided on November 1, 2022, to walk away from the deal. DuPont paid Rogers a termination fee of US$162.5 million.

On November 10, 2022, the state of California announced it was filing suit against both DuPont and 3M for their manufacturing of persistent organic pollutants following multi-year probes into both companies. DuPont denies ever manufacturing the chemicals and avers that the state's claims are meritless.

In May 2024, DuPont announced it would split into three publicly traded companies, separating its electronics and water businesses while continuing as a diversified industrial firm. CFO Lori Koch was named CEO effective 1 June 2024, as current CEO Ed Breen transitioned to executive chairman. The split, expected to be completed in 18 to 24 months.

## Operations

### Locations

The company's corporate headquarters and experimental station were located in Wilmington, Delaware. The company's manufacturing, processing, marketing, and research and development facilities, as well as regional purchasing offices and distribution centers were located throughout the world. Major manufacturing sites included the Spruance plant near Richmond, Virginia, (currently the company's largest plant), the Washington Works site in Washington, West Virginia, the Mobile Manufacturing Center (MMC) in Axis, Alabama, the Bayport plant near Houston, Texas, the Mechelen site in Belgium, and the Changshu site in China. Other locations included the Yerkes Plant on the Niagara River at Tonawanda, New York, the Sabine River Works Plant in Orange, Texas, and the Parlin Site in Sayreville, New Jersey. The facilities in Vadodara, Gujarat and Hyderabad, Telangana in India constituted the DuPont Services Center and DuPont Knowledge Center respectively.

## Regulation

The European Commission opened a probe to assess whether the proposed merger was in line with the EU's respective regulations. The Commission investigated whether the deal reduced competition in areas such as crop protection, seeds and petrochemicals. The closing date for the merger was repeatedly delayed due to these regulatory inquiries.

Ed Breen said the companies were negotiating possible divestitures in their pesticide operations to win approval for the deal. As part of their EU counterproposal, the companies offered to dispose of a portion of DuPont's crop protection business and associated R&D, as well as Dow's acrylic acid copolymers and ionomers businesses.

The remedy submission in turn delayed the commission's review deadline to April 4, 2017. The intended spins of the company businesses were expected to occur about 18 months after closing. According to the Financial Times, the merger was "on track for approval in March" 2017. Dow Chemical and DuPont postponed the planned deadline during late March, as they struck an $1.6 billion asset swap with FMC Corporation in order to win the antitrust clearances. DuPont acquired the corporation's health and nutrition business, while selling its herbicide and insecticide properties.

The European Commission conditionally approved the merger as of April, 2017, although the decision was said to consist of over a thousand pages and was expected to take several months to be released publicly. As part of the approval, Dow must also sell off two acrylic acid co-polymers manufacturing facilities in Spain and the US. China conditionally cleared the merger in May, 2017.

According to former United States Secretary of Agriculture during the Clinton administration, Dan Glickman, and former Governor of Nebraska, Mike Johanns, by creating a single, independent, U.S.-based and - owned pure agriculture company, Dow and DuPont would be able to compete against their still larger global peers. The merger was not opposed by competition authorities around the world due to the view that it did not have noticeable impact on the global seed markets.

On the other hand, if Monsanto and Bayer, the 1st and 3rd largest biotech and seed firms, together with Dow and DuPont being the 4th and 5th largest biotechnology and seed companies in the world respectively, both went through with the mergers, the so-called "Big Six" (including Syngenta and BASF) in the industry would control 63 percent of the global seed market and 76 percent of the global agriculture chemical market. They would also control 95 percent of corn, soybeans, and cotton traits in the US. Both duopolies would become the "big two" industry dominators.

## Reception and recognition

DuPont has been awarded the National Medal of Technology four times: first in 1990, for its invention of "high-performance man-made polymers such as nylon, neoprene rubber, " Teflon " fluorocarbon resin, and a wide spectrum of new fibers, films, and engineering plastics"; the second in 2002 "for policy and technology leadership in the phaseout and replacement of chlorofluorocarbons ". DuPont scientist George Levitt was honored with the medal in 1993 for the development of sulfonylurea herbicides. In 1996, DuPont scientist Stephanie Kwolek was recognized for the discovery and development of Kevlar. In the 1980s, Dr. Jacob Lahijani, Senior Chemist at DuPont, invented Kevlar 149 and was highlighted in the "Innovation: Agent of Change. Kevlar 149 is used in armor, belts, hoses, composite structures, cable sheathing, gaskets, brake pads, clutch linings, friction pads, slot insulation, phase barrier insulation, and interturn insulation. Following the DuPont and Dow merger and subsequent spinoff, this product line remained with DuPont.

On the company's 200th anniversary in 2002, it was presented with the Honor Award by the National Building Museum in recognition of DuPont's "products that directly influence the construction and design process in the building industry."

## Controversies and crimes

### Environmental record

DuPont was part of Global Climate Coalition, a group that lobbied against taking action on climate change. DuPont is additionally a company which has been criticized and called out for its activities in Cancer Alley, and while not as vocally criticized as ExxonMobil when it comes to its activities in Cancer Alley, DuPont has been blamed for emitting chloroprene and has been connected by some to anecdotes of "illnesses and ailmen" as told by residents of Cancer Alley.

In 1999, attorney Robert Bilott filed a lawsuit against DuPont, alleging chemical waste (perfluorooctanoic acid) fouled the property of a cattle rancher in Parkersburg, West Virginia. A subsequent lawsuit in 2004 alleged DuPont's actions led to widespread water contamination in West Virginia and Ohio which contributed to high rates of cancers and other health problems. Most of the over 3,000 lawsuits were ultimately settled for over $700 million, and DuPont paid $16.5 million in fines to the Environmental Protection Agency. Bilott's cases were featured in several newspapers and a book, and were adapted in the 2019 film Dark Waters.

In 2005, BusinessWeek magazine, in conjunction with the Climate Group, ranked DuPont as the best-practice leader in cutting their carbon gas emissions. DuPont reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 65 percent from the 1990 levels while using 7 percent less energy and producing 30 percent more product.

In May 2007 the $2.1 million DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion Harbor Reserve, a wildlife observatory and interpretive center on the Delaware Bay near Milford, Delaware was opened to enhance the beauty and integrity of the Delaware Estuary. The facility will be state-owned and operated by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC).

In 2010, researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts Amherst ranked DuPont as the fourth-largest corporate source of air pollution in the United States. DuPont released a statement that 2012 total releases and transfers were 13% lower than 2011 levels, and 70% lower than 1987 levels. Data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Toxic Release Inventory database included in the Political Economy Research Institute studies likewise show a reduction in DuPont's emissions from 12.4 million pounds of air releases and 22.4 million pounds of toxic incinerator transfers in 2006 to 10.94 million pounds and 22.0 million pounds, respectively, in 2010. Over the same period, the Political Economy Research Institutes Toxic score for DuPont increased from 122,426 to 7,086,303.

One of DuPont's facilities was listed No. 4 on the Mother Jones top 20 polluters of 2010, legally discharging over 5,000,000 pounds (2,300,000 kg) of toxic chemicals into New Jersey and Delaware waterways. In 2016, Carneys Point Township, New Jersey, where the facility is located, initiated a $1.1 billion lawsuit against the corporation, accusing it of divesting an unprofitable company without first remediating the property as required by law.

In 2012 DuPont was named to the Carbon Disclosure Project Global 500 Leadership Index. Inclusion is based on company performance on sustainability metrics, emissions reduction goals, and environmental performance transparency. In 2014 DuPont was the top scoring company in the chemical sector according to CDP, with a score of "A" or "B" in every evaluation area except for supply chain management.

Between 2007 and 2014 there were thirty-four accidents resulting in toxic releases at DuPont plants across the U.S., with a total of 8 fatalities. Four employees died of suffocation in a Houston, Texas, accident involving leakage of nearly 24,000 pounds (11,000 kg) of methyl mercaptan. As a result, the company became the largest of the 450 businesses placed into the Occupational Safety and Health Administration 's "severe violator program" in July 2015. The program was established for companies OSHA says have repeatedly failed to address safety infractions.

Since the 2017 spin-off, the company has adapted its marketing and branding in order to establish a new identity that is "fundamentally different" from DowDuPont. The company published a list of sustainability commitments to be achieved by 2030 in November 2019. DuPont was fined over $3 million for environmental violations in 2018. In 2019, DuPont led the Toxic 100 Water Polluters Index.

### Genetically modified foods

Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont subsidiary until 2019, manufactures genetically modified seeds, other tools, and agricultural technologies used to increase crop yield. In 2019, DowDuPont spun off its agricultural unit, which included Pioneer Hi-Bred, as an independent public company under the name Corteva.

### Chlorofluorocarbons

Dupont, along with Frigidaire and General Motors, was a part of a collaborative effort to find a replacement for toxic refrigerants in the 1920s, resulting in the invention of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by Thomas Midgley in 1928. CFCs are ozone -depleting chemicals that were used primarily in aerosol sprays and refrigerants. DuPont was the largest CFC producer in the world with a 25 percent market share in the 1980s, totaling $600 million in annual sales.

In 1974, responding to public concern about the safety of CFCs, DuPont promised to stop production of CFCs should they be proven to be harmful to the ozone layer. However, after the discovery of grave ozone depletion in 1986, DuPont, as a member of the industry group Alliance for Responsible CFC Policy, lobbied against regulations of CFCs. By 1989, it reversed course after calculating that it would profit from production of other chemicals used to replace CFCs.

In February 1988, United States Senator Max Baucus, along with two other senators, wrote to DuPont reminding the company of its pledge. The Los Angeles Times reported that the letter was "generally regarded as an embarrassment for DuPont, which prides itself on its reputation as an environmentally conscious company." The company responded with a strongly worded letter that the available evidence did not support a need to dramatically reduce CFC production and calling the proposal "unwarranted and counterproductive".

On March 14 of the same year, scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Agency announced the results of a study demonstrating a 2.3% decline in mid-latitude ozone levels between 1969 and 1986, along with evidence tying the decline to CFCs in the upper atmosphere. On March 24, DuPont reversed its position, calling the NASA results "important new information" and announcing that it would phase out CFC production. The company further called for worldwide controls on CFC production and for additional countries to ratify the Montreal Protocol. DuPont's change of policy was widely praised by environmentalists. In 2003, DuPont was awarded the National Medal of Technology, recognizing the company as the leader in developing CFC replacements.

### Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA; C8)

DuPont has faced fines from the EPA and litigation over releases of the Teflon -processing aid perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA, also known as C8) from their works in Washington, West Virginia. PFOA-contaminated drinking water led to increased levels of the compound in the bodies of residents who lived in the surrounding area. A court-appointed C8 Science Panel investigated "whether or not there is a probable link between C8 exposure and disease in the community." In 2011, the panel concluded that there is a probable link between PFOA and kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, pre-eclampsia and ulcerative colitis. Water contamination in the Netherlands and links to cancer are also being investigated.

DuPont agreed to sharply reduce its output of PFOA, and was one of eight companies to sign on with the EPA's 2010/2015 PFOA Stewardship Program. The agreement called for the reduction of "facility emissions and product content of PFOA and related chemicals on a global basis by 95 percent by 2010 and to work toward eliminating emissions and product content of these chemicals by 2015." DuPont phased out PFOA entirely in 2013.

Unlike other persistent organic pollutants, PFOA persists indefinitely and is completely resistant to bio-degradation, remaining toxic. The only way to reduce levels in the body is by physical elimination rather than degradation. In 2014, the International Agency for Research on Cancer designated PFOA as "possibly carcinogenic" in humans. In October 2015, one Ohio resident was awarded $1.6 million when a jury found that her kidney cancer was caused by PFOA in drinking water. In December 2016, $2 million was awarded when a jury found it caused the plaintiff's testicular cancer and awarded punitive damages of $10.5 million. This was the third case where a jury found DuPont liable for injuries resulting from exposure to PFOA in drinking water sources. There were 3,500 similar cases awaiting trial c. 2015. According to the co-lead counselor, internal documents revealed during trial showed DuPont had known of a link between PFOA and cancers since 1997. DuPont maintains it has always handled PFOA "reasonably and responsibly" based on the information they, and industry regulators, had available during its use. However, the jury concluded that DuPont did not act to prevent harm or inform the public, despite the information available. In 2017, DuPont settled 3,550 personal injury claims related to the Parkersburg, West Virginia plant for $671 million.

The litigation was the subject of the 2019 Todd Haynes film Dark Waters starring Mark Ruffalo.

### Imprelis

In October 2010 DuPont began marketing a herbicide called Imprelis, for control of certain plants in turf areas. DuPont voluntarily pulled Imprelis from the market in August 2011 before the EPA issued a mandatory stop-sale order on Imprelis after being alerted of numerous reports from golf courses to nurseries that the product was suspected of injuring and, in some cases, killing trees. Norway spruce, white pines and honey locust proved to be among the species of trees that were susceptible.

### Price fixing

In 2005, the company pleaded guilty to fixing prices of chemicals and products that used neoprene, a synthetic rubber, resulting in an $84 million fine.

### 2014 methyl mercaptan gas leak

In 2023, DuPont pleaded guilty for criminal negligence for its role in a poisonous gas leak that killed four workers and injured others at a Houston-area plant on November 15, 2014. 24,000 pounds of methyl mercaptan was released, and travelled downwind into surrounding areas. The company was ordered to pay a $12 million fine, and donate an additional $4 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.


Walt Disney Home Video (VHS)

# Walt Disney Home Video (VHS)

## Abstract

Walt Disney Home Video is a discontinued video line launched to release Disney animated features on home video. This was done by a division of the same name under the parent Walt Disney Telecommunications and Non-Theatrical Company (WDTNT). As an entity, the name Walt Disney Home Video is now known as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. The scope of this list is mostly limited to Disney's North American live action movie releases. Cartoon collections were concurrently released as Walt Disney Cartoon Classics which include the "Limited Gold Editions". The initial price for early Disney cassettes at the time was "prohibitory expensive" for many, this changed in the mid-1980s when VCRs became affordable.

## History

Disney started out by establishing its own video distribution operation in 1980 as part of Walt Disney Telecommunications and Non-Theatrical Company (WDTNT) with Jim Jimirro as its first president. WDTNT Co. also handled marketing of other miscellaneous ancillary items such as short 8 mm films for home movies. When Disney started with video cassettes, "Home video" was not considered to be a major market by them at the time. Their first releases on videotape were 13 titles that were licensed for rental to Fotomat on March 4, 1980. Disney was unusual among the major studios in offering a program for authorized rentals. Most of the other studios involved in the videocassette market at the time were trying to find ways to stop dealers from renting out their movie tapes. Magnetic Video (with titles from 20th Century Fox and others) ceased doing business with Fotomat after Fotomat began renting Magnetic Video cassettes without authorization.

The switchover from rental to sales was a "thorny" issue that was solved by giving dealers an option on the type of outlet they desired. For those who just wanted to rent video cassettes, a title was given (for US$52) on a 13-week cycle. The dealer could then set the price as many times as they wanted in those 13 weeks before purchasing a new title from Disney. Video cassette rentals were more "functionally" packaged with a heavier box and less elaborately detailed illustrations. For those who wanted to sell video cassettes, a "fairly straightforward" program involved 4 color packaging and a suggested retail price. In order to separate the two mediums, the cassette either featured " FOR RENTAL ONLY/Not intended for Sale " or "FOR SALE ONLY/Not intended for Rental". The 13 titles that had been licensed for rental to Fotomat subsequently became available for purchase.

Throughout their release history, "Walt Disney Home Video" cassettes were promoted by Disney. An early example is the 1981 release of "A Walt Disney Christmas" where a "Free Mickey Mouse Plush Toy" was offered as an incentive. Disney later offered a promotion for Summer 1982 called "Disney's American Summer", where they sold some of their live action movies for the first time. At the time this promotion was done in an effort to make video cassettes more affordable, and boosted the video software involved. Marketing included a 7 foot tall gazebo which was set up in stores and a free mug as an incentive. Towards the end of 1984, Disney did a “Wrapped And Ready to Give” christmas promotion which included 7 newly released titles on video cassette. Later promotions include Disney's 1986 "Wonderland Campaign" as a further attempt to bring prices down.

When the Disney Channel was launched on April 18, 1983 it gave the company an opportunity to air made for TV films such as Tiger Town and Gone Are the Dayes, both of which were released to home video in 1984. During that same year Disney also started releasing their animated feature films under the Walt Disney Classics line starting with Robin Hood. On March 8, 1985 Disney released " Love Leads the Way " which became their first title that went straight to Home Video. The Walt Disney Home Video division was legally incorporated as Buena Vista Home Video on February 13, 1987. This name change however, did not stop some VHS releases under the Walt Disney Home Video line from being released throughout the year.

## North American releases

## Worldwide releases

Disney first offered Dumbo, Mary Poppins, Mi Amigo El Dragon (Pete's Dragon), Su Mas Fiel Amigo (Old Yeller), La Montana Embrujada (Escape to Witch Mountain), Los Tres Caballeros (The Three Caballeros), Mickey's Christmas Carol, and 2 cartoon collections in Spanish on November 30, 1985 In the United Kingdom, titles from the "Walt Disney Home Video" product line such as Mary Poppins, Pete's Dragon and Bedknobs and Broomsticks were not released to video cassette until November 26, 1988. Additional VHS releases in other countries under the "Walt Disney Home Video" are possible, but need further sourcing.

## Rarity

In terms of consignment, Heritage Auctions has placed in their "Vintage VHS Tapes Value Guide" that the most desirable VHS tapes released between 1979 and 1990 are still in their original factory shrink wrap. When VCRs were first released in 1977, they were priced between $1,000 to $1,400 which would roughly equal $4,900 to $6,900 in 2023 USD. As this amount was initially unattainable for most homes fewer people were buying VHS tapes, which in turn meant fewer copies being produced. A "likely sum of money for a video cassette at the time was between $80 and $100 or $400+ in 2023 USD. These higher costs lasted until 1985 when VCRs finally began dropping in price. While this meant more tapes were produced, it did not mean that they became any less of a rarity.

In regard to Disney "Only the earliest of Disney VHS cassettes produced prior to 1985 hold any value to most collectors." Titles such as "Tron" which remains "elusive" for early copies have sold for high amounts in mint condition. Things to look for in general include a sealed tape, a studio logo on the shrink-wrap, and if the latest year listed on the back of the cover is prior to 1986.


Richard Amerike

# Richard Amerike

## Abstract

Richard ap Meryk (or ap Meurig), anglicised to Richard Amerike (or Ameryk) (c. 1440–1503) was a British merchant, royal customs officer and later, sheriff of Bristol. Several claims have been made for Amerike by popular writers of the late twentieth century. One was that he was the major funder of the voyage of exploration launched from Bristol by the Venetian John Cabot in 1497, and that Amerike was the owner of Cabot's ship, the Matthew. The other claim revived a theory first proposed in 1908 by a Bristolian scholar and amateur historian, Alfred Hudd. Hudd's theory, greatly elaborated by later writers, suggested that the continental name America was derived from Amerike's surname in gratitude for his sponsorship of Cabot's successful discovery expedition to 'the new World'. However, neither claim is backed up by hard evidence, and the consensus view is that America is named after Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian explorer.

## Biography

"Amerike" is an anglicised spelling of the Welsh name ap Meurig, ap Meuric or ap Meryk, which means "son of Meurig". It was, however, only one of the many different ways that the customs officer's name was rendered, even in official documents. The "Amerike" version was noted by some modern historians because it looked like "America" and because this was how his name was spelled on a tomb brass created for his daughter in 1538.

Ap Meryk's place and date of birth are unknown. One modern author suggests that Richard Amerike was born in 1445 at Meryk Court, Weston under Penyard, near Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire. He may have been born earlier than this, since one of Amerike's daughters, Joan, was married to a future lawyer, John Broke, by April 1479. While there were certainly Merricks in and around Weston under Penyard, Richard Amerike's genealogy and connection to Merrick Court have not been verified. The only contemporary document to refer to his background states that he was from Chepstow, a town in Monmouthshire, Wales.

Little is known of the first thirty years of Ap Meryk's life. His wife, married at an unknown date, was called Lucy. The latter part of Amerike's adult life was spent in, or near, Bristol. This was one of the largest ports of medieval England. Amerike prospered as a merchant and, after 1485, as a gentleman and an officer of the Crown. He is first found in Bristol customs accounts in 1472, trading in Irish fish. The published customs accounts of 1479–1480 show him continuing to trade to Ireland, but also participating in Bristol's valuable trade with Portugal and Bordeaux. In other years he also traded to Spain. Amerike was a burgess of Bristol by at least the mid-1470s. Becoming a burgess would have both admitted him as a freeman of the city and marked him as a member of its political elite. By this time he was sufficiently wealthy to lend £50 towards the ransom from Breton pirates of a great-nephew of William Canynges. A Bristol tax return of 1484 records that his household servants included an Icelander. He was also buying land. By the early 1490s Amerike's main landed estate, acquired by purchase, seems to have been in Long Ashton on the Somerset side of the River Avon.

When Amerike traded as a merchant, he would have used a distinctive merchant's mark to identify his goods. Unfortunately when Amerike shipped on the Trinity of Bristol for a voyage to Andalucia in 1480 the purser, whose private accounts survive, failed to record the mark of Amerike, or indeed of any other merchant shipping. The mark associated with Amerike in modern times belongs to a different man, living a century later.

In 1485 Richard Amerike was appointed to the customs service in Bristol's neighbouring port of Bridgwater, with the post of controller of customs. This should have meant that he dwelled within the confines of the port (which included Minehead and Combwich), but whether he did so is unknown. In September 1486 Amerike became one of the customs officials in Bristol, holding the post of King's Customs Officer, known as a "Customer", from 1486 until December 1502. During his period of office he was several times accused of malpractice, including false accounting, and was obliged to pay a substantial sum of money to the King, Henry VII, for his pardon. As a customs officer Amerike could not hold high civic office since this was forbidden by Statute but at the first election after he had ceased to be Customer, he was appointed as one of the city's two sheriffs. He died in post, probably around December 1503, and was replaced as sheriff by Robert Thorne. Amerike's precise date of death and place of burial are unknown. His heirs were his daughters, only one of whom is known. Joan (or Jane) Broke (née Amerike) (d. 1538) lies beside her husband, John Broke, in the church of St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol. Their tomb brass names Richard Amerike as her father, and once included the arms of both Broke and Amerike. This is now missing. Some two centuries after the armorial scutcheon disappeared, the arms of Amerike were described as "paly of six, or and azure, on a fess gules, three mullets argent".

## Richard Amerike and John Cabot

Popular interest in Amerike centres on his association with the Venetian explorer Zuan (Giovanni) Caboto, better known as John Cabot. Under the authority of King Henry VII of England John Cabot led three voyages of discovery from Bristol in search of new lands and a route to the supposed riches of the East. The first expedition, of 1496, was abortive. The second, in 1497, was the famous expedition in the Matthew of Bristol, which found 'new land' that Cabot thought was part of Asia but was probably the modern Newfoundland. The outcome of the third voyage of 1498 is unclear, and the subject of much speculation. It has always been thought that funding for the voyages came from Bristol merchants. This made sense, since under the terms of Cabot's letters patent from Henry VII, which gave him his authority, all trade from any new lands discovered was to pass through Bristol. However, no list of sponsors has ever been found, and the only proven funding, in amounts insufficient for a voyage, came from the London branch of the Florentine banking house of the Bardi and, in 1498, from Henry VII. Other names have been suggested.

The idea that Richard Amerike was an important supporter of Cabot gained currency in the late 20th century among popular historians, as did the notion that Amerike was owner and main funder of the Matthew, Cabot's ship of 1497. Evan Jones and Margaret Condon, of the University of Bristol 's 'Cabot Project' have found no documentary evidence for any of this. Indeed, they suggest that Ap Meryk may have been hostile to Cabot because the terms of the explorer's royal patent would have made it difficult for the port's customs officers to profit from any trade established to new lands. This may explain why the customs officers created problems for the explorer by refusing to pay the initial instalment of the pension he was granted in December 1497, despite the existence of an order from the King stating that this should happen.

Richard Amerike did have one important responsibility towards John Cabot. Amerike, and his fellow customs officer, Arthur Kemys, were the paymasters for the pension of £20 a year granted by Henry VII to John Cabot on 13 December 1497. Cabot's grant specified that he was to be paid out of revenues arising from the customs dues payable to the Crown on goods exported and imported in the port of Bristol by way of merchandise. Amerike and Kemys were responsible for collecting those revenues and accounting for them to the Exchequer at Westminster. Local payment in Bristol made a lot of sense for the explorer and, provided all the documentation was in order, Amerike and Kemys would then be able to claim the payment to Cabot as a legitimate expense when they accounted for their revenues in the Exchequer at the end of the accounting year. In the mid-1890s Edward Scott, a 'Keeper' or senior archivist at the British Museum, and from 1891 Keeper of the Muniments in Westminster Abbey, discovered a stray Exchequer document that showed this process and two years-worth of pension payments to Cabot by Amerike and his colleague in 1497–1499. In 1897 the document was published in transcript and facsimile by Scott and the Bristol antiquarian Alfred Hudd. Kemys and 'Richard ap Meryke' or 'a Meryk' are named at the head of every section of the account. The 'Cabot Roll' remains an important discovery for the history of John Cabot.

## Theory of the naming of America

In 1908, the local Bristol antiquarian Alfred Hudd first proposed the theory that the word America had evolved from Amerike or ap Meryk. Hudd proposed his theory in a paper which was read at 21 May 1908 meeting of the Clifton Antiquarian Club, and which appeared in Volume 7 of the club's Proceedings. Hudd's speculation has found support from more than one 21st century author, who expanded Hudd's argument with speculations about the voyages of the Matthew and later trade with the Eastern seaboard, which Amerike is known to have had financial interests in. It is proposed that as a main investor, Amerike's name would have been noted on ships' rutters or working charts, indicating the locations where his cargo had been traded. It is further supposed that such secret documents could have been seized by Spanish explorers when a British voyage was mysteriously lost during the same period that Amerigo Vespucci was mapping the coast of Brazil -this information later reaching Waldseemüller. However, this cannot be verifiably proved unless original documents come to light. The consensus view continues to be that America is named after Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian explorer.

Amerike's coat of arms is coincidentally also reminiscent of the modern Flag of the United States (Stars and Stripes).