title: "Great white shark" content: overboard, usually biting the boat from the stern. In one case in 1936, a large shark leapt completely into the South African fishing boat "Lucky Jim", knocking a crewman into the sea. Tricas and McCosker's underwater observations suggest that sharks are attracted to boats by the electrical fields they generate, which are picked up by the ampullae of Lorenzini and confuse the shark about whether or not wounded prey might be near-by. Prior to August 1981, no great white shark in captivity lived longer than 11 days. In August 1981, a great white survived for 16 days at SeaWorld San


title: "Great white shark" content: Diego before being released. The idea of containing a live great white at SeaWorld Orlando was used in the 1983 film "Jaws 3-D". Monterey Bay Aquarium first attempted to display a great white in 1984, but the shark died after 11 days because it did not eat. In July 2003, Monterey researchers captured a small female and kept it in a large netted pen near Malibu for five days. They had the rare success of getting the shark to feed in captivity before its release. Not until September 2004 was the aquarium able to place a great white on long-term


title: "Great white shark" content: exhibit. A young female, which was caught off the coast of Ventura, was kept in the aquarium's Outer Bay exhibit for 198 days before she was released in March 2005. She was tracked for 30 days after release. On the evening of 31 August 2006, the aquarium introduced a juvenile male caught outside Santa Monica Bay. His first meal as a captive was a large salmon steak on 8 September 2006, and as of that date, he was estimated to be in length and to weigh approximately . He was released on 16 January 2007, after 137 days in captivity.


title: "Great white shark" content: Monterey Bay Aquarium housed a third great white, a juvenile male, for 162 days between 27 August 2007, and 5 February 2008. On arrival, he was long and weighed . He grew to and before release. A juvenile female came to the Outer Bay Exhibit on 27 August 2008. While she did swim well, the shark fed only one time during her stay and was tagged and released on 7 September 2008. Another juvenile female was captured near Malibu on 12 August 2009, introduced to the Outer Bay exhibit on 26 August 2009, and was successfully released into the wild


title: "Great white shark" content: on 4 November 2009. The Monterey Bay Aquarium added a long male into their redesigned "Open Sea" exhibit on 31 August 2011. The animal was captured in the waters off of Malibu. One of the largest adult great whites ever exhibited was at Japan's Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in 2016, where a male was exhibited for three days before dying. Probably the most famous captive was a female named Sandy, which in August 1980 became the only great white to be housed at the California Academy of Sciences' Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, California. She was released because she would not


title: "Great white shark" content: eat and constantly bumped against the walls. Cage diving is most common at sites where great whites are frequent including the coast of South Africa, the Neptune Islands in South Australia, and Guadalupe Island in Baja California. The popularity of cage diving and swimming with sharks is at the focus of a booming tourist industry. A common practice is to chum the water with pieces of fish to attract the sharks. These practices may make sharks more accustomed to people in their environment and to associate human activity with food; a potentially dangerous situation. By drawing bait on a wire


title: "Great white shark" content: towards the cage, tour operators lure the shark to the cage, possibly striking it, exacerbating this problem. Other operators draw the bait away from the cage, causing the shark to swim past the divers. At present, hang baits are illegal off Isla Guadalupe and reputable dive operators do not use them. Operators in South Africa and Australia continue to use hang baits and pinniped decoys. In South Australia, playing rock music recordings underwater, including the AC/DC album "Back in Black" has also been used experimentally to attract sharks. Companies object to being blamed for shark bite incidents, pointing out that


title: "Great white shark" content: lightning tends to strike humans more often than sharks bite humans. Their position is that further research needs to be done before banning practices such as chumming, which may alter natural behavior. One compromise is to only use chum in areas where whites actively patrol anyway, well away from human leisure areas. Also, responsible dive operators do not feed sharks. Only sharks that are willing to scavenge follow the chum trail and if they find no food at the end then the shark soon swims off and does not associate chum with a meal. It has been suggested that government


title: "Great white shark" content: licensing strategies may help enforce these responsible tourism. The shark tourist industry has some financial leverage in conserving this animal. A single set of great white jaws can fetch up to £20,000. That is a fraction of the tourism value of a live shark; tourism is a more sustainable economic activity than shark fishing. For example, the dive industry in Gansbaai, South Africa consists of six boat operators with each boat guiding 30 people each day. With fees between £50 and £150 per person, a single live shark that visits each boat can create anywhere between £9,000 and £27,000 of


title: "Great white shark" content: revenue daily. Great white shark The great white shark ("Carcharodon carcharias"), also known as the great white, white shark or white pointer, is a species of large mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major oceans. The great white shark is notable for its size, with larger female individuals growing to in length and in weight at maturity. However, most are smaller; males measure , and females measure on average. According to a 2014 study, the lifespan of great white sharks is estimated to be as long as 70 years or more, well


title: "Petri dish" content: Petri dish A Petri dish (sometimes spelled "Petrie Dish" and alternatively known as a Petri plate or cell-culture dish), named after the German bacteriologist Julius Richard Petri, is a shallow cylindrical glass or plastic lidded dish that biologists use to culture cellssuch as bacteriaor small mosses. Modern Petri dishes usually feature rings and/or slots on their lids and bases so that when stacked, they are less prone to sliding off one another. Multiple dishes can also be incorporated into one plastic container to create a "multi-well plate". While glass Petri dishes may be reused after sterilization (via an autoclave at


title: "Petri dish" content: 121 °C for about 15-20 minutes in the case of moist heat sterlization or one hour's dry-heating in a hot-air oven at 160 °C, for example), plastic Petri dishes are often disposed of after experiments where cultures might contaminate each other. Petri dishes are often used to make agar plates for microbiology studies. The dish is partially filled with warm liquid containing agar and a mixture of specific ingredients that may include nutrients, blood, salts, carbohydrates, dyes, indicators, amino acids or antibiotics. Once the agar cools and solidifies, the dish is ready to be inoculated ("plated") with a microbe-laden sample.


title: "Petri dish" content: Virus or phage cultures require a two-stage inoculation: after the agar preparation, bacteria are grown in the dish to provide hosts for the viral inoculum. Petri plates are incubated upside-down to lessen the risk of contamination from airborne particles settling on them and to prevent the accumulation of any water condensation that may otherwise disturb or compromise a culture. While Petri dishes are widespread in microbiological research, smaller dishes tend to be used for large-scale studies in which growing cells in Petri dishes can be relatively expensive and labor-intensive. A special type of petri dishes are Replicate Organism Detection And


title: "Petri dish" content: Counting often also referred to as rodac plates or contact plates. Those are petri dishes in which the medium protrudes (raised agar level) the edges of the dish to make it easier to take samples on hard objects. The plates are also divided in squares to make counting of CFUs easier. They are often used to monitor how clean certain areas (e.g. in kitchens) are. Petri dishes are also used for eukaryotic cell culture in a liquid medium or on solid agar. They are used in immunodiffusion studies when partially filled with agar or agarose gel. Empty Petri dishes may


title: "Petri dish" content: be used to observe plant germination, the behavior of very small animals or for other day-to-day laboratory practices such as drying fluids in an oven and carrying or storing samples. Their transparency and flat profile also mean they are commonly used as temporary receptacles for viewing samples, especially liquids, under a low-power microscope. Petri dish A Petri dish (sometimes spelled "Petrie Dish" and alternatively known as a Petri plate or cell-culture dish), named after the German bacteriologist Julius Richard Petri, is a shallow cylindrical glass or plastic lidded dish that biologists use to culture cellssuch as bacteriaor small mosses. Modern


title: "Erlenmeyer flask" content: Erlenmeyer flask An Erlenmeyer flask, also known as a conical flask (BrE) or titration flask, is a type of laboratory flask which features a flat bottom, a conical body, and a cylindrical neck. It is named after the German chemist Emil Erlenmeyer (1825–1909), who created it in 1860. Erlenmeyer flasks have wide bases, with sides that taper upward to a short vertical neck. They may be graduated, and often spots of ground glass or enamel are used where they can be labeled with a pencil. It differs from the beaker in its tapered body and narrow neck. Depending on the


title: "Erlenmeyer flask" content: application, they may be constructed from glass or plastic, in a wide range of volumes. The mouth of the Erlenmeyer flask may have a beaded lip that can be stopped or covered. Alternatively, the neck may be fitted with ground glass or other connector for use with more specialized stoppers or attachment to other apparatus. A Büchner flask is a common design modification used for filtration under vacuum. The slanted sides and narrow neck of this flask allow the contents of the flask to be mixed by swirling, without risk of spillage, making them suitable for titrations by placing it


title: "Erlenmeyer flask" content: under the buret and adding solvent and the indicator in Erlenmeyer flask. Such features similarly make the flask suitable for boiling liquids. Hot vapor condenses on the upper section of the Erlenmeyer flask, reducing solvent loss. Erlenmeyer flasks' narrow necks can also support filter funnels. The last two attributes of Erlenmeyer flasks make them especially appropriate for recrystallization. The sample to be purified is heated to a boil, and sufficient solvent is added for complete dissolution. The receiving flask is filled with a small amount of solvent, and heated to a boil. The hot solution is filtered through a fluted


title: "Erlenmeyer flask" content: filter paper into the receiving flask. Hot vapors from the boiling solvent keep the filter funnel warm, avoiding the premature crystallization. Like beakers, Erlenmeyer flasks are not normally suitable for accurate volumetric measurements. Their stamped volumes are approximate within about 5% accuracy. Erlenmeyer flasks are also used in microbiology for the preparation of microbial cultures. Erlenmeyer flasks used in cell culture are sterilized and may feature vented closures to enhance gas exchange during incubation and shaking. The use of minimal liquid volumes, typically no more than one fifth of the total flask volume, and baffles molded into the flask's internal


title: "Erlenmeyer flask" content: surface both serve to maximize gas transfer and promote chaotic mixing when the flasks are orbitally shaken. The oxygen transfer rate in Erlenmeyer flasks depends on the agitation speed, the liquid volume, and the shake-flask design. The shaking frequency has the most significant impact on oxygen transfer. Oxygenation and mixing of liquid cultures further depend on rotation of the liquid "in-phase", meaning the synchronous movement of the liquid with the shaker table. Under certain conditions the shaking process leads to a breakdown of liquid motion – called "out-of-phase phenomenon". This phenomenon has been intensively characterized for shake flask bioreactors. Out-of-phase


title: "Erlenmeyer flask" content: conditions are associated with a strong decrease in mixing performance, oxygen transfer, and power input. Main factor for out-of-phase operation is the viscosity of the culture medium, but also the vessel diameter, low filling levels and/or a high number of baffles. To impede illicit drug manufacturers, the state of Texas has restricted the sale of Erlenmeyer flasks to those who have the requisite permits. Erlenmeyer flask An Erlenmeyer flask, also known as a conical flask (BrE) or titration flask, is a type of laboratory flask which features a flat bottom, a conical body, and a cylindrical neck. It is named


title: Candle content: Candle A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat, or be used as a method of keeping time. The candle can be used during the event of a power outage to provide light. A person who makes candles is traditionally known as a chandler. Various devices have been invented to hold candles, from simple tabletop candlesticks, also known as candle holders, to elaborate chandeliers. For a candle to burn, a heat source (commonly a naked flame)


title: Candle content: is used to light the candle's wick, which melts and vaporizes a small amount of fuel (the wax). Once vaporized, the fuel combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to ignite and form a constant flame. This flame provides sufficient heat to keep the candle burning via a self-sustaining chain of events: the heat of the flame melts the top of the mass of solid fuel; the liquefied fuel then moves upward through the wick via capillary action; the liquefied fuel finally vaporizes to burn within the candle's flame. As the solid fuel (wax) is melted and burned, the candle becomes


title: Candle content: shorter. Portions of the wick that are not emitting vaporized fuel are consumed in the flame. The incineration of the wick limits the exposed length of the wick, thus maintaining a constant burning temperature and rate of fuel consumption. Some wicks require regular trimming with scissors (or a specialized wick trimmer), usually to about one-quarter inch (~0.7 cm), to promote slower, steady burning, and also to prevent smoking. Special candle-scissors called "snuffers" were produced for this purpose in the 20th century and were often combined with an extinguisher. In modern candles, the wick is constructed so that it curves over


title: Candle content: as it burns. This ensures that the end of the wick gets oxygen and is then consumed by fire—a self-trimming wick. The word candle comes from Middle English "candel", from Old English and from Anglo-Norman "candele", both from Latin "candēla", from "candēre", to shine. Prior to the candle, people used oil lamps in which a lit wick rested in a container of liquid oil. Liquid oil lamps had a tendency to spill, and the wick had to be advanced by hand. Romans began making true dipped candles from tallow, beginning around 500 BC. European candles of antiquity were made from


title: Candle content: various forms of natural fat, tallow, and wax. In Ancient Rome, candles were made of tallow due to the prohibitive cost of beeswax. It is possible that they also existed in Ancient Greece, but imprecise terminology makes it difficult to determine. The earliest surviving candles originated in Han China around 200 BC. These early Chinese candles were made from whale fat. During the Middle Ages, tallow candles were most commonly used. By the 13th century, candle making had become a guild craft in England and France. The candle makers (chandlers) went from house to house making candles from the kitchen


title: Candle content: fats saved for that purpose, or made and sold their own candles from small candle shops. Beeswax, compared to animal-based tallow, burned cleanly, without smoky flame. Beeswax candles were expensive, and relatively few people could afford to burn them in their homes in medieval Europe. However, they were widely used for church ceremonies. In the 18th and 19th centuries, spermaceti, a waxy substance produced by the sperm whale, was used to produce a superior candle that burned longer, brighter and gave off no offensive smell. Later in the 18th century, colza oil and rapeseed oil came into use as much


title: Candle content: cheaper substitutes. The manufacture of candles became an industrialized mass market in the mid 19th century. In 1834, Joseph Morgan, a pewterer from Manchester, England, patented a machine that revolutionised candle making. It allowed for continuous production of molded candles by using a cylinder with a moveable piston to eject candles as they solidified. This more efficient mechanized production produced about 1,500 candles per hour. This allowed candles to be an affordable commodity for the masses. Candlemakers also began to fashion wicks out of tightly braided (rather than simply twisted) strands of cotton. This technique makes wicks curl over as


title: Candle content: they burn, maintaining the height of the wick and therefore the flame. Because much of the excess wick is incinerated, these are referred to as "self-trimming" or "self-consuming" wicks. In the mid-1850s, James Young succeeded in distilling paraffin wax from coal and oil shales at Bathgate in West Lothian and developed a commercially viable method of production. Paraffin could be used to make inexpensive candles of high quality. It was a bluish-white wax, which burned cleanly and left no unpleasant odor, unlike tallow candles. By the end of the 19th century candles were made from paraffin wax and stearic acid.


title: Candle content: By the late 19th century, Price's Candles, based in London, was the largest candle manufacturer in the world. Founded by William Wilson in 1830, the company pioneered the implementation of the technique of steam distillation, and was thus able to manufacture candles from a wide range of raw materials, including skin fat, bone fat, fish oil and industrial greases. Despite advances in candle making, the candle industry declined rapidly upon the introduction of superior methods of lighting, including kerosene and lamps and the 1879 invention of the incandescent light bulb. From this point on, candles came to be marketed as


title: Candle content: more of a decorative item. Before the invention of electric lighting, candles and oil lamps were commonly used for illumination. In areas without electricity, they are still used routinely. Until the 20th century, candles were more common in northern Europe. In southern Europe and the Mediterranean, oil lamps predominated. In the developed world today, candles are used mainly for their aesthetic value and scent, particularly to set a soft, warm, or romantic ambiance, for emergency lighting during electrical power failures, and for religious or ritual purposes. With the fairly consistent and measurable burning of a candle, a common use of


title: Candle content: candles was to tell the time. The candle designed for this purpose might have time measurements, usually in hours, marked along the wax. The Song dynasty in China (960–1279) used candle clocks. By the 18th century, candle clocks were being made with weights set into the sides of the candle. As the candle melted, the weights fell off and made a noise as they fell into a bowl. In the days leading to Christmas some people burn a candle a set amount to represent each day, as marked on the candle. The type of candle used in this way is


title: Candle content: called the "Advent candle", although this term is also used to refer to a candle that decorates an Advent wreath. For most of recorded history candles were made from tallow (rendered from beef or mutton-fat) or beeswax. From the mid 1800s they were also made from spermaceti, a waxy substance derived from the Sperm whale, which in turn spurred demand for the substance. Candles were also made from stearin (initially manufactured from animal fats but now produced almost exclusively from palm waxes). Today, most candles are made from paraffin wax, a product of petroleum refining. Candles can also be made


title: Candle content: from microcrystalline wax, beeswax (a byproduct of honey collection), gel (a mixture of polymer and mineral oil), or some plant waxes (generally palm, carnauba, bayberry, or soybean wax). The size of the flame and corresponding rate of burning is controlled largely by the candle wick. Production methods utilize extrusion moulding. More traditional production methods entail melting the solid fuel by the controlled application of heat. The liquid is then poured into a mould or a wick is repeatedly immersed in the liquid to create a dipped tapered candle. Often fragrance oils, essential oils or aniline-based dye is added. A candle


title: Candle content: wick works by capillary action, drawing ("wicking") the melted wax or fuel up to the flame. When the liquid fuel reaches the flame, it vaporizes and combusts. The candle wick influences how the candle burns. Important characteristics of the wick include diameter, stiffness, fire-resistance, and tethering. A candle wick is a piece of string or cord that holds the flame of a candle. Commercial wicks are made from braided cotton. The wick's capillarity determines the rate at which the melted hydrocarbon is conveyed to the flame. If the capillarity is too great, the molten wax streams down the side of


title: Candle content: the candle. Wicks are often infused with a variety of chemicals to modify their burning characteristics. For example, it is usually desirable that the wick not glow after the flame is extinguished. Typical agents are ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate. Based on measurements of a taper-type, paraffin wax candle, a modern candle typically burns at a steady rate of about 0.1 g/min, releasing heat at roughly 80 W. The light produced is about 13 lumens, for a luminous efficacy of about 0.16 lumens per watt (luminous efficacy of a source) – almost a hundred times lower than an incandescent light


title: Candle content: bulb. The luminous intensity of a typical candle is approximately one candela. The SI unit, candela, was in fact based on an older unit called the "candlepower", which represented the luminous intensity emitted by a candle made to particular specifications (a "standard candle"). The modern unit is defined in a more precise and repeatable way, but was chosen such that a candle's luminous intensity is still about one candela. The hottest part of a candle flame is just above the very dull blue part to one side of the flame, at the base. At this point, the flame is about


title: Candle content: 1,400 °C. However note that this part of the flame is very small and releases little heat energy. The blue color is due to chemiluminescence, while the visible yellow color is due to radiative emission from hot soot particles. The soot is formed through a series of complex chemical reactions, leading from the fuel molecule through molecular growth, until multi-carbon ring compounds are formed. The thermal structure of a flame is complex, hundreds of degrees over very short distances leading to extremely steep temperature gradients. On average, the flame temperature is about 1,000 °C. The color temperature is approximately 1,000


title: Candle content: K. A candle flame is formed because wax vaporizes on burning. It has three distinct regions. The innermost zone, directly above the wick, contains wax that has been vaporized but that is unburnt. It is the darkest zone. The middle zone is yellow and luminous. As it is an oxygen depleted zone, insufficient oxygen exists to burn all of the wax vapor. As such, partial combustion of wax takes place. The zone also contains unburnt carbon vapor. The temperature in this region is hotter than the innermost zone, but cooler than the outer zone. The outer zone is the area


title: Candle content: where the flame is the hottest and complete combustion of wax takes place. It is light blue in color and not normally visible. The main determinant of the height of a candle flame is the diameter of the wick. This is evidenced in tealights where the wick is very thin and the flame is very small. Candles whose main purpose is illumination use a much thicker wick. One of Michael Faraday's significant works was "The Chemical History of a Candle", where he gives an in-depth analysis of the evolutionary development, workings and science of candles. According to the U.S. National


title: Candle content: Fire Protection Association, candles are a leading source of residential fires in the United States with almost 10% of civilian injuries and 6% of fatalities from fire attributed to candles. A candle flame that is longer than its laminar smoke point will emit soot. Proper wick trimming will reduce soot emissions from most candles. The liquid wax is hot and can cause skin burns, but the amount and temperature are generally rather limited and the burns are seldom serious. The best way to avoid getting burned from splashed wax is to use a candle snuffer instead of blowing on the


title: Candle content: flame. A candle snuffer is usually a small metal cup on the end of a long handle. Placing the snuffer over the flame cuts off the oxygen supply. Snuffers were common in the home when candles were the main source of lighting before electric lights were available. Ornate snuffers, often combined with a taper for lighting, are still found in those churches which regularly use large candles. Glass candle-holders are sometimes cracked by thermal shock from the candle flame, particularly when the candle burns down to the end. When burning candles in glass holders or jars, users should avoid lighting


title: Candle content: candles with chipped or cracked containers, and stop use once 1/2 inch or less of wax remains. A former worry regarding the safety of candles was that a lead core was used in the wicks to keep them upright in container candles. Without a stiff core, the wicks of a container candle could sag and drown in the deep wax pool. Concerns rose that the lead in these wicks would vaporize during the burning process, releasing lead vapors — a known health and developmental hazard. Lead core wicks have not been common since the 1970s. Today, most metal-cored wicks use


title: Candle content: zinc or a zinc alloy, which has become the industry standard. Wicks made from specially treated paper and cotton are also available. International markets have developed a range of standards and regulations to ensure compliance, while maintaining and improving safety, including: Decorative candleholders, especially those shaped as a pedestal, are called candlesticks; if multiple candle tapers are held, the term "candelabrum" is also used. The root form of "chandelier" is from the word for candle, but now usually refers to an electric fixture. The word "chandelier" is sometimes now used to describe a hanging fixture designed to hold multiple tapers.


title: Candle content: Many candle holders use a friction-tight socket to keep the candle upright. In this case, a candle that is slightly too wide will not fit in the holder, and a candle that is slightly too narrow will wobble. Candles that are too big can be trimmed to fit with a knife; candles that are too small can be fitted with aluminium foil. Traditionally, the candle and candle holders were made in the same place, so they were appropriately sized, but international trade has combined the modern candle with existing holders, which makes the ill-fitting candle more common. This friction tight


title: Candle content: socket is only needed for the federals and the tapers. For tea light candles, there are a variety of candle holders, including small glass holders and elaborate multi-candle stands. The same is true for votives. Wall sconces are available for tea light and votive candles. For pillar-type candles, the assortment of candle holders is broad. A fireproof plate, such as a glass plate or small mirror, is a candle holder for a pillar-style candle. A pedestal of any kind, with the appropriate-sized fireproof top, is another option. A large glass bowl with a large flat bottom and tall mostly vertical


title: Candle content: curved sides is called a hurricane. The pillar-style candle is placed at the bottom center of the hurricane. A hurricane on a pedestal is sometimes sold as a unit. A bobèche is a drip-catching ring, which may also be affixed to a candle holder, or used independently of one. Bobèches can range from ornate metal or glass, to simple plastic, cardboard, or wax paper. Use of paper or plastic bobèches is common at events where candles are distributed to a crowd or audience, such as Christmas carolers or people at other concerts/festivals. These are glass or metal tubes with an


title: Candle content: internal stricture partway along, which sit around the top of a lit candle. As the candle burns, the wax melts and the follower holds the melted wax in, whilst the stricture rests on the topmost solid portion of wax. Candle followers are often deliberately heavy or weighted to ensure they move down as the candle burns lower, maintaining a seal and preventing wax escape. The purpose of a candle follower is threefold: Candle followers are often found in churches on altar candles. Candle snuffers are instruments used to extinguish burning candles by smothering the flame with a small metal cup


title: Candle content: that is suspended from a long handle, and thus depriving it of oxygen. An older meaning refers to a scissor-like tool used to trim the wick of a candle. With skill, this could be done without extinguishing the flame. The instrument now known as a candle snuffer was formerly called an "extinguisher" or "douter". Candle A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat, or be used as a method of keeping time. The candle can be


title: "Laurence Olivier" content: speediness and lack of reluctance which was positively hurtful." The triumvirate secured the New Theatre for their first season and recruited a company. Thorndike was joined by, among others, Harcourt Williams, Joyce Redman and Margaret Leighton. It was agreed to open with a repertory of four plays: "Peer Gynt", "Arms and the Man", "Richard III" and "Uncle Vanya". Olivier's roles were the Button Moulder, Sergius, Richard and Astrov; Richardson played Peer, Bluntschli, Richmond and Vanya. The first three productions met with acclaim from reviewers and audiences; "Uncle Vanya" had a mixed reception, although "The Times" thought Olivier's Astrov "a most


title: "Hammer throw" content: Hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consists of a metal ball attached by a steel wire to a grip. The size of the ball varies between men's and women's competitions (see Competition section below for details). With roots dating back to the 15th century, the contemporary version of the hammer throw is one of the oldest of Olympic Games competitions,


title: "Hammer throw" content: first included at the 1900 games in Paris, France (the second Olympiad of the modern era). Its history since the late 1960s and legacy prior to inclusion in the Olympics have been dominated by European and Eastern European influence, which has affected interest in the event in other parts of the world. The hammer evolved from its early informal origins to become part of the Scottish Highland games in the late 18th century, where the original version of the event is still contested today. While the men's hammer throw has been part of the Olympics since 1900, the International Association


title: "Hammer throw" content: of Athletics Federations did not start ratifying women's marks until 1995. Women's hammer throw was first included in the Olympics at the 2000 summer games in Sydney, Australia, after having been included in the World Championships a year earlier. The men's hammer weighs and measures in length, and the women's hammer weighs and in length. Like the other throwing events, the competition is decided by who can throw the implement the farthest. Although commonly thought of as a strength event, technical advancements in the last 30 years have evolved hammer throw competition to a point where more focus is on


title: "Hammer throw" content: speed in order to gain maximum distance. The throwing motion involves about two swings from stationary position, then three, four or very rarely five rotations of the body in circular motion using a complicated heel-toe movement of the foot. The ball moves in a circular path, gradually increasing in velocity with each turn with the high point of the hammer ball toward the target sector and the low point at the back of the circle. The thrower releases the ball from the front of the circle. The world record for the women's hammer is held by Anita Włodarczyk, who threw


title: "Hammer throw" content: during the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial on 28 August 2016. Below is a list of all other throws superior to 86.50 metres: Below is a list of throws equal or superior to 78.00 m: The following athletes had their performances (over 77.00 m) annulled due to doping offences: Hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consists of a metal ball attached by


title: "Catherine de' Medici" content: la Tour d'Auvergne, the countess of Boulogne. The young couple had been married the year before at Amboise as part of the alliance between King Francis I of France and Lorenzo's uncle Pope Leo X against the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. According to a contemporary chronicler, when Catherine was born, her parents were "as pleased as if it had been a boy". Within a month of Catherine's birth, both her parents were dead: Madeleine died on 28 April of puerperal fever or plague, and Lorenzo died on 4 May, his title over Urbino reverting to Francesco Maria I della


title: "Mel Gibson" content: critic Matt Zoller Seitz named Gibson as "the pre-eminent religious filmmaker in the United States". Gibson's screen acting career began in 1976, with a role on the Australian television series "The Sullivans". In his career, Gibson has appeared in 43 films, including the "Mad Max" and "Lethal Weapon" film series. In addition to acting, Gibson has also directed four films, including "Braveheart" and "The Passion of the Christ"; produced 11 films; and written two films. Films either starring or directed by Mel Gibson have earned over US$2.5 billion, in the United States alone. Gibson's filmography includes television series, feature films,


title: "UEFA Champions League" content: September to December, whilst the knock-out stage starts in February. The knock-out ties are played in a two-legged format, with the exception of the final. This is typically held in the final two weeks of May. Starting with the 2015–16 edition, the holders of the UEFA Europa League enter the Champions League, initially at the playoff round. The maximum number of teams that an association can field in the tournament has also been increased from four to five. In August 2016, UEFA announced changes in the access list of the tournament, driven to avoid the creation of a European Super


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( , , ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa. This misconception was based on the misbelief that the Cape was the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Contemporary geographic knowledge instead states the southernmost point of Africa is Cape Agulhas about to the east-southeast. The currents of the two oceans meet at the point where the warm-water Agulhas current meets the cold-water Benguela


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: current and turns back on itself. That oceanic meeting point fluctuates between Cape Agulhas and Cape Point (about east of the Cape of Good Hope). When following the western side of the African coastline from the equator, however, the Cape of Good Hope marks the point where a ship begins to travel more eastward than southward. Thus, the first modern rounding of the cape in 1488 by Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias was a milestone in the attempts by the Portuguese to establish direct trade relations with the Far East (although Herodotus mentioned a claim that the Phoenicians had done so


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: far earlier). Dias called the cape "Cabo das Tormentas" ("Cape of Storms"; ), which was the original name of the "Cape of Good Hope". As one of the great capes of the South Atlantic Ocean, the Cape of Good Hope has long been of special significance to sailors, many of whom refer to it simply as "the Cape". It is a waypoint on the Cape Route and the clipper route followed by clipper ships to the Far East and Australia, and still followed by several offshore yacht races. The term "Cape of Good Hope" is also used in three other


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: ways: Eudoxus of Cyzicus (; , "Eúdoxos"; fl. c. 130 BC) was a Greek navigator for Ptolemy VIII, king of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, who found the wreck of a ship in the Indian Ocean that appeared to have come from Gades (today's Cádiz in Spain), rounding the Cape. When Eudoxus was returning from his second voyage to India the wind forced him south of the Gulf of Aden and down the coast of Africa for some distance. Somewhere along the coast of East Africa, he found the remains of the ship. Due to its appearance and the


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: story told by the natives, Eudoxus concluded that the ship was from Gades and had sailed anti-clockwise around Africa, passing the Cape and entering the Indian Ocean. This inspired him to repeat the voyage and attempt a circumnavigation of the continent. Organising the expedition on his own account he set sail from Gades and began to work down the African coast. The difficulties were too great, however, and he was obliged to return to Europe. After this failure he again set out to circumnavigate Africa. His eventual fate is unknown. Although some, such as Pliny, claimed that Eudoxus did achieve


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: his goal, the most probable conclusion is that he perished on the journey. In the 1450 Fra Mauro map, the Indian Ocean is depicted as connected to the Atlantic. Fra Mauro puts the following inscription by the southern tip of Africa, which he names the "Cape of Diab", describing the exploration by a ship from the East around 1420: "Around 1420 a ship, or junk, from India crossed the Sea of India towards the Island of Men and the Island of Women, off Cape Diab, between the Green Islands and the shadows. It sailed for 40 days in a south-westerly


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: direction without ever finding anything other than wind and water. According to these people themselves, the ship went some 2,000 miles ahead until - once favourable conditions came to an end - it turned round and sailed back to Cape Diab in 70 days". "The ships called junks (lit. "Zonchi") that navigate these seas carry four masts or more, some of which can be raised or lowered, and have 40 to 60 cabins for the merchants and only one tiller. They can navigate without a compass, because they have an astrologer, who stands on the side and, with an astrolabe


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: in hand, gives orders to the navigator". (Text from the Fra Mauro map, 09-P25.) Fra Mauro explained that he obtained the information from "a trustworthy source", who traveled with the expedition, possibly the Venetian explorer Niccolò da Conti who happened to be in Calicut, India at the time the expedition left: "What is more, I have spoken with a person worthy of trust, who says that he sailed in an Indian ship caught in the fury of a tempest for 40 days out in the Sea of India, beyond the Cape of Soffala and the Green Islands towards west-southwest; and


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: according to the astrologers who act as their guides, they had advanced almost 2,000 miles. Thus one can believe and confirm what is said by both these and those, and that they had therefore sailed 4,000 miles". Fra Mauro also comments that the account of the expedition, together with the relation by Strabo of the travels of Eudoxus of Cyzicus from Arabia to Gibraltar through the southern Ocean in Antiquity, led him to believe that the Indian Ocean was not a closed sea and that Africa could be circumnavigated by her southern end (Text from Fra Mauro map, 11, G2).


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: This knowledge, together with the map depiction of the African continent, probably encouraged the Portuguese to intensify their effort to round the tip of Africa. In the Early Modern Era, the first European to reach the cape was the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias on 12 March 1488, who named it the "Cape of Storms" ("Cabo das Tormentas"). It was later renamed by John II of Portugal as "Cape of Good Hope" ("Cabo da Boa Esperança") because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to India and the East. The Khoikhoi people lived in the cape


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: area when the Dutch first settled there in 1652. The Khoikhoi had arrived in this area about fifteen hundred years before. The Dutch called them Hottentots, a term that has now come to be regarded as pejorative. Dutch colonial administrator Jan van Riebeeck established a resupply camp for the Dutch East India Company some 50 km north of the cape in Table Bay on 6 April 1652 and this eventually developed into Cape Town. Supplies of fresh food were vital on the long journey around Africa and Cape Town became known as "The Tavern of the Seas". On 31 December


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: 1687 a community of Huguenots (French Protestants) arrived at the Cape of Good Hope from the Netherlands. They had escaped from France and fled to the Netherlands to flee religious persecution in France. One example was Pierre Joubert who came from La Motte-d'Aigues. The Dutch East India Company needed skilled farmers at the Cape of Good Hope and the Dutch Government saw opportunities to settle Huguenots at the Cape and sent them there. The Cape colony gradually grew over the next 150 years or so until it stretched for hundreds of kilometres to the north and north-east. During the Napoleonic


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: Wars, the Dutch Republic was occupied by the French in 1795. Thus the Cape Colony became a French vassal and enemy of the British. Therefore, the United Kingdom invaded and occupied the Cape Colony that same year. The British relinquished control of the territory in 1803 but returned and reoccupied the Colony on 19 January 1806 following the Battle of Blaauwberg. The Dutch ceded the territory to the British in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 The Cape was then administered as the Cape Colony and it remained a British colony until it was incorporated into the independent Union of South


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: Africa in 1910 (now known as the Republic of South Africa). The Portuguese government erected two navigational beacons, Dias Cross and Gama Cross, to commemorate Vasco da Gama and Bartolomeu Dias as explorers who as mentioned were the first explorers to reach the cape. When lined up, the crosses point to Whittle Rock (), a large, permanently submerged shipping hazard in False Bay. Two other beacons in Simon's Town provide the intersection. The Cape of Good Hope is at the southern tip of the Cape Peninsula, about 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) west and a little south of Cape Point on


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: the south-east corner. Cape Town is about 50 kilometres to the north of the Cape, in Table Bay at the north end of the peninsula. The peninsula forms the western boundary of False Bay. Geologically, the rocks found at the two capes, and indeed over much of the peninsula, are part of the Cape Supergroup, and are formed of the same type of sandstones as Table Mountain itself. Both the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point offer spectacular scenery; the whole of the southernmost portion of the Cape Peninsula is a wild, rugged, scenic and generally unspoiled national park.


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: The term "the Cape " has also been used in a wider sense, to indicate the area of the European colony centred on Cape Town, and the later South African province. Since 1994, it has been broken up into three smaller provinces: the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape; parts of the province were also absorbed into the North West. With its diverse habitat, ranging from rocky mountain tops to beaches and open sea, the Cape of Good Hope is home to at least 250 species of birds including one of the two mainland colonies of African penguins. "Bush


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: birds" tend to be rather scarce because of the coarse, scrubby nature of fynbos vegetation. When flowering, however, proteas and ericas attract sunbirds, sugarbirds, and other species in search of nectar. For most of the year, there are more small birds in coastal thicket than in fynbos. The Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park is home to several species of antelope. Bontebok and eland are easily seen, and red hartebeest can be seen in the grazing lawns in Smitswinkel Flats. Grey rhebok are less commonly seen and are scarce, but may be observed along the beach


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: hills at Olifantsbos. Most visitors are unlikely to ever see either Cape grysbok or klipspringer. The Cape of Good Hope section is home to four Cape mountain zebra. They might be seen by the attentive or lucky visitor, usually in Smitswinkel Flats. There are a wealth of small animals such as lizards, snakes, tortoises and insects. Small mammals include rock hyrax, four-striped grass mouse, water mongoose, Cape clawless otter and fallow deer. The area offers excellent vantage points for whale watching. The southern right whale is the species most likely to be seen in False Bay between June and November.


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: Other species are the humpback whale and Bryde's whale. Seals, dusky dolphins and killer whales have also been seen. The strategic position of the Cape of Good Hope between two major ocean currents, ensures a rich diversity of marine life. There is a difference between the sea life west of Cape Point and that to the east due to the markedly differing sea temperatures. The South African Marine Living Resources Act is strictly enforced throughout the Table Mountain National Park, and especially in marine protected areas. Disturbance or removal of any marine organisms is strictly prohibited between Schusters Bay and


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: Hoek van Bobbejaan, but is allowed in other areas during season and with relevant permits. Chacma baboons ("Papio ursinus") are the mammals most intimately associated with the Cape of Good Hope. Baboons inside the Cape of Good Hope section of the park are a major tourist attraction. There are 11 troops consisting of about 375 individuals throughout the entire Cape Peninsula. Six of these 11 troops either live entirely within the Cape of Good Hope section of the park, or use the section as part of their range. The Cape Point, Kanonkop, Klein Olifantsbos, and Buffels Bay troops live entirely


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: inside the Cape of Good Hope section of the Park. The Groot Olifantsbos and Plateau Road troops range into the park. Chacma baboons are widely distributed across southern Africa and are classified as ″least concern" in the . However, the South African Parks Department states in its publication "Mountains in the Sea" that the baboon population on the Cape is "critically endangered." This is due to habitat loss, genetic isolation, and conflicts with humans. Cape baboons have been eliminated from the majority of their range across the Cape Peninsula, and the Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: Park provides a sanctuary for the troops that live within its boundaries. It provides relative safety from nearby towns, where people have killed many baboons after the baboons raid their houses looking for food. Baboons are also frequently injured or killed outside of the park by cars and by electrocution on power lines. Inside the park, some management policies such as allowing barbecues and picnics in the baboon home ranges cause detriment to the troops, as they become embroiled in conflicts with guests to the park. The Cape of Good Hope is an integral part of the Cape Floristic Kingdom,


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: the smallest but richest of the world's six floral kingdoms. This comprises a treasure trove of 1100 species of indigenous plants, of which a number are endemic (occur naturally nowhere else on earth). The main type of fynbos ("fine bush") vegetation at the Cape of Good Hope is Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos, an endangered vegetation type that is endemic to the Cape Peninsula. Coastal Hangklip Sand Fynbos grows on low-lying alkaline sands and, right by the sea, small patches of Cape Flats Dune Strandveld can be found. Characteristic fynbos plants include proteas, ericas (heath), and restios (reeds). Some of the most


title: "Cape of Good Hope" content: striking and well-known members belong to the Proteacae family, of which up to 24 species occur. These include king protea, sugarbush, tree pincushion and golden cone bush ("Leucadendron laureolum"). Many popular horticultural plants like pelargoniums, freesias, daisies, lilies and irises also have their origins in fynbos. Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( , , ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa. This misconception was based on the misbelief that the Cape


title: "Grand Union Canal" content: a long-abandoned inclined plane boat lift. This was constructed as part of a project to create a wide-beam canal route to connect the northern and southern parts of the canal system, something which does not exist to this day. Funding to deal with the narrow locks at Watford was not forthcoming and the scheme was aborted. The canal north of Foxton Junction is wide-beam to Leicester and onwards. It was originally intended to build a canal at this width all the way to the River Nene at Northampton. However, that canal never went further than the basin at Market Harborough.


title: Leopard content: Leopard The leopard ("Panthera pardus") is one of the five species in the genus "Panthera", a member of the Felidae. The leopard occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. Leopards are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because leopard populations are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, and are declining in large parts of the global range. In Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuwait, Syria, Libya, Tunisia and most likely in Morocco, leopard populations have already been extirpated. Contemporary records suggest that the leopard occurs in only 25% of its historical global range. Leopards are


title: Leopard content: hunted illegally, and their body parts are smuggled in the wildlife trade for medicinal practices and decoration. Compared to other wild cats, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull. It is similar in appearance to the jaguar, but generally has a smaller, lighter physique. Its fur is marked with rosettes similar to those of the jaguar, but the leopard's rosettes are generally smaller, more densely packed and without central spots. Both leopards and jaguars that are melanistic are known as black panthers. The leopard is distinguished by its well-camouflaged fur, opportunistic hunting behaviour,


title: Leopard content: broad diet, and strength (which it uses to move heavy carcasses into trees), as well as its ability to adapt to various habitats ranging from rainforest to steppe, including arid and montane areas, and its ability to run at speeds of up to . Fossil parts dating to the Late Pleistocene were excavated in Europe and Japan. The common name "leopard" () is a Greek compound of "leōn" ("lion") and "pardos" ("male panther"). The name reflects the fact that in antiquity, a leopard was believed to be a hybrid of a lion and a panther. The Greek word is related


title: Leopard content: to Sanskrit ("snake", "tiger" or "panther"), and probably derives from a Mediterranean language, such as Egyptian. The name was first used in the 13th century. Other vernacular names for the leopard include graupanther, panther and several regional names such as "tendwa" in India. The term "black panther" refers to leopards with melanistic genes. A term for the leopard used in Old English and later, but now very uncommon, is "pard". The scientific name of the leopard is "Panthera pardus". The generic name "Panthera" derives from Latin via Greek πάνθηρ ("pánthēr"). The term "panther", whose first recorded use dates back to


title: Leopard content: the 13th century AD, generally refers to the leopard, and less often to the cougar and the jaguar. Alternative origins suggested for "Panthera" include an Indo-Iranian word meaning "white-yellow" or "pale". In Sanskrit, this could have been derived from पाण्डर "pāṇḍara" ("tiger"), which in turn comes from पुण्डरीक "puṇḍárīka" (with the same meaning). The specific name "pardus" is derived from the Greek ("pardos") ("male panther"). The leopard is one of the five extant species of the genus "Panthera", which also includes the jaguar ("P. onca"), the lion ("P. leo"), the snow leopard ("P. uncia") and the tiger ("P. tigris"). This


title: Leopard content: genus, along with the genus "Neofelis" forms the subfamily Pantherinae. The leopard was first described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of "Systema Naturae". Linnaeus named the leopard "Felis pardus" and placed it in the genus "Felis" along with the domestic cat, the jaguar, the Eurasian lynx, the lion, the ocelot and the tiger. In the 18th and 19th centuries, most naturalists and taxonomists followed his example. In 1816, Lorenz Oken proposed a definition of the genus "Panthera", with a subgenus "Panthera" using "F. pardus" as a type species. Oken's classification was not widely accepted, and "Felis"


title: Leopard content: or "Leopardus" was used until the early 20th century. In 1916, British zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock accorded "Panthera" generic rank based on "Panthera pardus" as the type species. Following Linnaeus's first description, 27 leopard subspecies were described by naturalists between 1794 and 1956. Since 1996, only eight subspecies have been considered valid on the basis of mitochondrial analysis. Later analysis revealed a ninth valid subspecies, the Arabian leopard. The nine subspecies recognised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are summarised in the following table. Since 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group recognizes


title: Leopard content: only eight subspecies and subsumed "P. p. ciscaucasica" to "P. p. tulliana", and "P. p. japonensis" to "P. p. orientalis". The last common ancestor of the genera "Panthera" and "Neofelis" is believed to have occurred about 6.37 million years ago. The clouded leopard was the first to diverge from the rest of the "Panthera" lineage, followed by the snow leopard. The genus "Panthera" is believed to have emerged in Asia, from where they subsequently emigrated to Africa. The tiger-snow leopard clade diverged from the rest of "Panthera" around 2.9 million years ago. Johnson and colleagues suggest that the leopard diverged


title: Leopard content: next, and followed by the lion-jaguar clade. The leopard has 38 diploid chromosomes as most cat species. The chromosomes include four acrocentric, five metacentric, seven submetacentric and two telocentric pairs. The leopard is part of the "Panthera" lineage, one of the eight lineages of Felidae. This lineage comprises the species of "Panthera" and "Neofelis". The clouded leopard diverged first from the lineage, followed by a clade consisting of the tiger and the snow leopard. Subsequent branching began two to three million years ago, but the details of this are disputed. Results of phylogenetic studies based on nDNA and mtDNA analysis


title: Leopard content: showed that the leopard is a sister taxon to a clade within "Panthera" consisting of the lion and the jaguar. However, results of a different phylogenetic study revealed a swapping between the leopard and the jaguar in the cladogram. Results of a 2001 phylogenetic analysis of chemical secretions amongst cats also suggested that the leopard is closely related to the lion. Fossils of ancestors of the leopard have been found in East Africa and South Asia, dating back to the Pleistocene between 2 and 3.5 million years ago. The modern leopard is suggested to have evolved in Africa 0.5 to


title: Leopard content: 0.8 million years ago and to have radiated across Asia 0.2 to 0.3 million years ago. In Europe, the leopard occurred at least since the Pleistocene. Fossil bones and teeth dating from the Pliocene were excavated in Perrier in France, northeast of London, and in Valdarno, Italy. Similar fossils dating back to the Pleistocene were excavated mostly in loess and caves at 40 sites in the continent – from near Lisbon, near Gibraltar, and Santander Province in northern Spain to several sites in France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Germany, in the north up to Derby in England, in the east to


title: Leopard content: Přerov in the Czech Republic, and the Baranya in southern Hungary, and in Biśnik Cave in south-central Poland. Four subspecies of European Pleistocene leopards were proposed. "P. p. begoueni" known from the beginning of the early Pleistocene was replaced about 0.6 million years ago by "P. p. sickenbergi", which in turn was replaced by "P. p. antiqua" around 0.3 million years ago. The most recent "P. p. spelaea" appeared at the beginning of the Late Pleistocene and survived until about 24,000 years ago in several parts of Europe. Pleistocene fossils have also been excavated in the Japanese archipelago. Crossbreeding between


title: Leopard content: the leopard and the other members of the "Panthera" has been documented. In 1953, a lioness and a male leopard were mated in the Hanshin Park in Nishinomiya, Japan. The first litter from this pairing was born on 2 November 1959, consisting of a male and a female. Another litter was born in 1961, in which all the offspring were spotted and bigger than a juvenile leopard. The hybrid came to be known as "leopon". Unsuccessful attempts were made to mate a leopon with a tigress. Although lions and leopards may come into contact in sub-Saharan Africa, they are generally


title: Leopard content: not known to interbreed naturally. However, there have been anecdotal reports of felids larger than the cheetah but smaller than the lion, with a lion-like face, from the Central African Republic, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. This animal, known as the marozi and by several other names, is covered with grayish spots or rosettes on the back, the flanks and the legs. However, there have been no confirmed sightings of the marozi since the 1930s. A pumapard is a hybrid animal resulting from a mating between a leopard and a puma (a member of the genus "Puma", not the genus "Panthera").


title: Leopard content: Three sets of these hybrids were bred in the late 1890s and early 1900s by Carl Hagenbeck at his animal park in Hamburg, Germany. While most of these animals did not reach adulthood, one of these was purchased in 1898 by the Berlin Zoo. A similar hybrid in the Berlin Zoo purchased from Hagenbeck was a cross between a male leopard and a female puma. A specimen in the Hamburg Zoo (in the photo at right) was the reverse pairing, fathered by a puma bred to an Indian leopardess. The pumapard is characterised by a long body like the puma's,


title: Leopard content: but with shorter legs. The hybrid is in general a dwarf, smaller than either parent. The coat is variously described as sandy, tawny or greyish with brown, chestnut or faded rosettes. The leopard's skin colour varies by climate and habitat from pale yellow to yellowish brown or golden. Leopards living in forests are darker than those in arid habitats. Spots fade toward the white underbelly and the insides and lower parts of the legs. Rosettes are most prominent on the back, flanks and hindquarters. The pattern of the rosettes is unique in each individual. Rosettes are circular in East African


title: Leopard content: leopard populations, and tend to be squarish in Southern African and larger in Asian leopard populations. The fur tends to be grayish tones in colder climates, and to a darker golden hue in rainforest habitats. Its white-tipped tail is about long, white underneath and with spots that form incomplete bands toward the tails's end. Its fur is generally soft and thick, notably softer on the belly than on the back. It tends to grow longer in colder climates. The guard hairs protecting the basal hairs are short () in face and head, and increase in length toward the flanks and


title: Leopard content: the belly to about . Juveniles have woolly fur, and appear dark due to the densely arranged spots. The leopard is often confused with the cheetah; however, the cheetah is marked with small round spots instead of the larger rosettes. Moreover, the leopard lacks the facial tear streaks characteristic of the cheetah. Other similar species are the clouded leopard and jaguar. The clouded leopard can be told apart by the diffuse "clouds" of spots compared to the smaller and distinct rosettes of the leopard, longer legs and thinner tail. The jaguar has rosettes that typically have spots within them, while


title: Leopard content: those of leopards often do not. Moreover, the jaguar has larger and rounder foot pads and a larger skull. Melanistic leopards are also called black panthers. Pseudomelanism (abundism) also occurs in leopards. Melanism in leopards is inherited as a trait relatively recessive to the spotted form. Interbreeding in melanistic leopards produces a significantly smaller litter size than is produced by normal pairings. The black panther is common in the equatorial rainforest of the Malay Peninsula and the tropical rainforest on the slopes of some African mountains such as Mount Kenya. Between January 1996 and March 2009, Indochinese leopards were photographed


title: Leopard content: at 16 sites in the Malay Peninsula in a sampling effort of more than 1000 camera trap nights. Of the 445 photographs of melanistic leopards, 410 came from study sites south of the Kra Isthmus, where the non-melanistic morph was never photographed. This data suggests the near fixation of the dark allele in the region. The expected time for the fixation of this recessive allele due to genetic drift alone ranged from about 1,100 years to about 100,000 years. Pseudomelanism has also been reported in leopards. Leopards exhibiting erythrism have been very rarely reported. This form is known as the


title: Leopard content: 'strawberry' leopard due to its coloration, caused by a little-understood genetic condition that causes either an overproduction of red pigments or an underproduction of dark pigments. A review of the literature showed that there are five historic records from India, and a further seven records in the past two decades from South Africa, with the first photographed in South Africa's Madikwe Game Reserve. The leopard is sexually dimorphic, males are larger and heavier than females. It is muscular, with relatively short limbs and a broad head. Males stand at the shoulder, while females are tall. The head-and-body length is typically


title: Leopard content: between . While males weigh , females weigh . These measurements vary geographically. Usually, leopards are larger in areas where they are at the top of the food chain, with no competitive restriction from larger predators such as the lion and tiger. However, according to Alfred Edward Pease, melanistic leopards in North Africa were about as large as lions. There was a report in 1913 of an Algerian panther measuring about , before being skinned. To compare, male lions normally measure . The maximum weight of a leopard is about , recorded in Southern Africa. It was matched by an


title: Leopard content: Indian leopard killed in Himachal Pradesh in 2016 that measured . The leopard has the largest distribution of all wild cats, occurring widely in Africa as well as eastern and southern Asia, although populations have shown a declining trend, and are fragmented outside of sub-Saharan Africa. Within sub-Saharan Africa, the species is still numerous and even thriving in marginal habitats where other large cats have disappeared, although there is considerable potential for human-leopard conflict due to leopards preying on livestock. Populations in North Africa may be extinct. Data on their distribution in Asia are not consistent. Populations in southwest and


title: Leopard content: central Asia are small and fragmented; in the northeast, they are critically endangered. In the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and China, leopards are still relatively abundant. Of the species as a whole, its numbers are greater than those of other "Panthera" species, all of which face more acute conservation concerns. Leopards are exceptionally adaptable, although associated primarily with savanna and rainforest. Populations thrive anywhere in the species range where grasslands, woodlands, and riverine forests remain largely undisturbed. In the Russian Far East, they inhabit temperate forests where winter temperatures reach a low of . They are equally adept surviving in


title: Leopard content: some of the world's most humid rainforests and even semi-arid desert edges. Leopards in west and central Asia avoid deserts and areas with long snow cover and areas close to urban centres. In India, leopard populations sometimes live quite close to human settlements and even in semi-developed areas. Although occasionally adaptable to human disturbances, leopards require healthy prey populations and appropriate vegetative cover for hunting for prolonged survival and thus rarely linger in heavily developed areas. Due to the leopard's superlative stealthiness, people often remain unaware that big cats live in nearby areas. Leopards are active mainly from dusk till


title: Leopard content: dawn and rest for most of the day and for some hours at night in thickets, among rocks or over tree branches. Leopards have been observed walking across their range at night; they may even wander up to if disturbed. In some regions, they are nocturnal. In western African forests, they have been observed to be largely diurnal and hunting during twilight, when their prey animals are active; activity patterns varies between seasons. Leopards are known for their ability to climb and have been observed resting on tree branches during the day, dragging their kills up trees and hanging them


title: Leopard content: there, and descending from trees headfirst. They are powerful swimmers, although are not as disposed to swimming as some other big cats, such as the tiger. They are very agile, and can run at over , leap over horizontally, and jump up to vertically. The leopard is solitary and territorial. Adults associate only in the mating season. Females continue to interact with their offspring even after weaning, and have been observed sharing kills with their offspring when they can not obtain any prey. In Kruger National Park, most leopards tend to keep apart. Males interact with their partners and cubs


title: Leopard content: at times, and exceptionally this can extend beyond to two generations. Aggressive encounters are rare, typically limited to defending territories from intruders. In a South African reserve, a male was wounded in a male–male territorial battle over a carcass. A few instances of cannibalism have been reported. Leopards communicate with each other in tall grass using white spots on their ears and tails. They produce a number of vocalisations, including growls, snarls, meows and purrs. The roaring sequence in leopards consists mainly of grunts and is also known called "sawing", having been described as resembling the sound of sawing wood.


title: Leopard content: Cubs are known to call their mother with a "urr-urr" sound. Males occupy territories that often overlap with a few smaller female territories, probably as a strategy to enhance access to females. In the Ivory Coast, the home range of a female was completely enclosed within a male's. Females live with their cubs in territories that overlap extensively, probably due to the association between mothers and their offspring. There may be a few other fluctuating territories, belonging to young individuals. It is not clear if male territories overlap as much as those of females do. Individuals try to drive away


title: Leopard content: intruders of the same sex. A study of leopards in the Namibian farmlands showed that the size of territories was not significantly affected by sex, rainfall patterns or season; it concluded that the higher the prey availability in an area, the greater the population density of leopards and the smaller the size of territories, but territories tend to expand if there is human interference (which has been notably high in the study area). Territorial sizes vary geographically and depending on habitat and availability of prey. In the Serengeti, they are as small as for males and for females, and as


title: Leopard content: large as for males and for females in northeastern Namibia. They are even larger in arid and montane areas. Territories recorded in Nepal's Bardia National Park, for males and for females, are smaller than those generally observed in Africa. The leopard depends mainly on its acute senses of hearing and vision for hunting. It primarily hunts at night in most areas. In western African forests and Tsavo National Park, leopards have been also observed hunting by day. The leopard is a carnivore that prefers medium-sized prey with a body mass ranging from . Prey species in this weight range tend


title: Leopard content: to occur in dense habitat and to form small herds. Species that prefer open areas and developed significant anti-predator strategies are less preferred. More than 100 prey species were recorded. Impala, Thomson's gazelle, duiker, steenbok, bushbuck, warthog, water chevrotain, blue wildebeest, sitatunga, Bates's pygmy antelope, aardvark, nyala, and kudu are frequently taken in Africa, and chital, muntjac, sambar, four-horned antelope, deer, Nilgiri tahr, gaur and wild boar in Asia. Primate prey species preyed upon include "Colobus", "Mangabey", "Cercopithecus", langur, and less frequently also gorilla and baboon. Small mammals preyed upon include black-backed jackal, Cape fox, African civet, genets, hares, porcupine,


title: Leopard content: rock hyrax Prey as heavy as a giraffe is hunted if larger carnivores such as lions or tigers are absent. The largest prey killed by a leopard was reportedly a male eland weighing . The leopard stalks the prey and tries to approach as close as possible, typically within to the target, and finally pounces on it and kills it by suffocation. It kills small prey with a bite on the back of the neck, but holds larger animals by the throat and strangles them. It is able to take large prey due to its massive skull and powerful jaw


title: Leopard content: muscles, and is therefore strong enough to drag carcasses heavier than itself up into trees; an individual was seen to haul a young giraffe, weighing nearly , up into a tree. Kills are cached up to apart. Small prey is eaten immediately, while larger carcasses are dragged over several hundred metres and safely cached in trees, bushes or even caves to be consumed later. The way the kill is stored depends on local topography and individual preferences; while trees are preferred in Kruger National Park, bushes are preferred in the plain terrain of the Kalahari. Analysis of leopard scat in


title: Leopard content: Taï National Park revealed that primates except chimpanzee and potto are primary leopard prey during the day. In a reserved forest of southern India, species preyed upon by leopard, dhole and striped hyena overlapped considerably. A study in Wolong National Nature Reserve in southern China demonstrated variation in the leopard's diet over time; over the course of seven years, the vegetative cover receded, and leopards opportunistically shifted from primarily consuming tufted deer to pursuing bamboo rats and other smaller prey. A study estimated average daily consumption rates at for males and for females. A study in the southern Kalahari showed


title: Leopard content: that leopards met their water requirements by the bodily fluids of prey and succulent plants; they drink water every two to three days, and feed infrequently on moisture-rich plants such as gemsbok cucumbers ("Acanthosicyos naudinianus"), tsamma melon ("Citrullus lanatus") and Kalahari sour grass ("Schmidtia kalahariensis"). A few instances of cannibalism have been reported. Predation on bear cubs in Asia has been reported. Sub-adult giant pandas weighing up to may also be vulnerable to predation by leopards. Leopards must compete for food and shelter with other large predators such as tigers, lions, cheetahs, spotted hyenas, striped hyenas, brown hyenas, up to


title: Leopard content: five species of bear and both African and Asiatic wild dogs. These animals may steal the leopard's kill, devour its young or even kill adult leopards. Leopards co-exist alongside these other large predators by hunting for different types of prey and by avoiding areas frequented by them. Leopards may also retreat up a tree in the face of direct aggression from other large carnivores but leopards have been seen to either kill or prey on competitors such as black-backed jackal, caracal, African wild cat and the cubs of lions, cheetahs, hyenas, and wild dogs. Resource partitioning occurs where leopards share


title: Leopard content: their range with tigers. Leopards tend to take smaller prey, usually less than , where tigers are present. In areas where the leopard is sympatric with the tiger, coexistence is reportedly not the general rule, with leopards being few where tigers are numerous. The mean leopard density decreased significantly (from 9.76 to 2.07 animals per 100 km) when the mean density of tigers increased (from 3.31 animals/100km2 to 5.81 animals/100km2) from 2004–5 to 2007–8 in the Rajaji National Park in India following the relocation of pastoralists out of the park. There, the two species have high dietary overlap, and an


title: Leopard content: increase in the tiger population resulted in a sharp decrease in the leopard population and a shift in the leopard diet to small prey (from 9% to 36%) and domestic prey (from 6.8% to 31.8%). In Nepal's Chitwan National Park, the Bengal tiger coexists with the Indian leopard because there is a large prey biomass, a large proportion of prey is of smaller size, and dense vegetation exists. Here leopards killed prey ranging from less than to in weight with most kills in the range; tigers killed more prey in the range. There were also differences in the microhabitat preferences


title: Leopard content: of the individual tiger and leopard followed over five months (December to April); the tiger used roads and (except in February) forested areas more frequently, while the leopard used recently burned areas and open areas more frequently. Usually when a tiger began to kill baits at sites formerly frequented by leopards, the leopards would no longer come and hunt there. In the tropical forests of India's Nagarhole National Park, tigers selected prey weighing more than , whereas leopards selected prey in the range. In tropical forests, they do not always avoid the larger cats by hunting at different times. With


title: Leopard content: relatively abundant prey and differences in the size of prey selected, tigers and leopards seem to successfully coexist without competitive exclusion or inter-species dominance hierarchies that may be more common to the leopard's co-existence with the lion in savanna habitats. In areas with high tiger populations, such as in the central parts of India's Kanha National Park, leopards are not permanent residents, but transients. They were common near villages at the periphery of the park and outside the park. In the mid 20th century, Northeast Asian leopards were absent or very rarely encountered in the Primorye region of the Russian


title: Leopard content: Far East at places where Siberian tigers roamed. Surveys conducted at the beginning of the 21st century revealed that the range of both species overlaps in this region, especially in protected areas where ungulate densities are high and human disturbance is low. Occasionally, Nile crocodiles prey on leopards of any age. One large adult leopard was grabbed and consumed by a large crocodile while attempting to hunt along a bank in Kruger National Park. Mugger crocodiles have reportedly killed an adult leopard in India. Lions are occasionally successful in climbing trees and fetching leopard kills. Leopards are also known to


title: Leopard content: kill or prey on lion cubs. In the Kalahari desert, leopards frequently lose kills to the brown hyena, if the leopard is unable to move the kill into a tree. Single brown hyenas have been observed charging at and displacing male leopards from kills. Burmese pythons have reportedly preyed on leopards, and an adult leopard was recovered from the stomach of a specimen. Two cases of leopards killing cheetahs have been reported in 2014. In some areas of Africa, troops of large baboon species (potential leopard prey themselves) will kill and sometimes eat leopard young if they discover them. George


title: Leopard content: Schaller wrote that he had seen carcasses of a leopard and gorilla, and that both had wounds. Depending on the region, leopards may mate all year round. In Manchuria and Siberia, they mate during January and February. The estrous cycle lasts about 46 days and the female usually is in heat for 6–7 days. Gestation lasts for 90 to 105 days. Cubs are usually born in a litter of 2–4 cubs. Mortality of cubs is estimated at 41–50% during the first year. Females give birth in a cave, crevice among boulders, hollow tree, or thicket to make a den. Cubs


title: Leopard content: are born with closed eyes, which open four to nine days after birth. The fur of the young tends to be longer and thicker than that of adults. Their pelage is also more gray in colour with less defined spots. Around three months of age, the young begin to follow the mother on hunts. At one year of age, leopard young can probably fend for themselves, but remain with the mother for 18–24 months. The average typical life span of a leopard is between 12 and 17 years. The oldest recorded spotted leopard was a female named Roxanne living in


title: Leopard content: captivity at McCarthy's Wildlife Sanctuary in The Acreage, Palm Beach County, Florida. She died August 8, 2014 at the age of 24 years, 2 months and 13 days. This has been verified by the Guinness World Records. Previously, the oldest recorded leopard was a female named Bertie living in captivity in Warsaw Zoo. She died in December 2010 at the age of 24. The oldest recorded male leopard was Cezar, who reached the age of 23. He also lived at Warsaw Zoo and was Bertie's lifelong companion. Generation length of the leopard is 9.3 years. Leopards have been known to


title: Leopard content: humans throughout history, and have featured in the art, mythology, and folklore of many countries where they have historically occurred, such as ancient Greece, Persia, and Rome, as well as some where they have not existed for several millennia, such as England. The modern use of the leopard as an emblem for sport or a coat of arms is much more restricted to Africa, though numerous products worldwide have used the name. During the Benin Empire, the leopard was commonly represented on engravings and sculptures and was used to symbolise the power of the king or "oba"; since the leopard


title: Leopard content: was considered the king of the forest. Leopards were also kept and paraded as mascots, totems and sacrifices to deities. As a result of their association with kings in Africa, the leopard's pelt is often seen today as a symbol of aristocratic rank, chiefs using it as a part of their traditional regalia. The lion passant guardant or leopard is a frequently used charge in heraldry, most commonly appearing in groups of three. The heraldic leopard lacks spots and sports a mane, making it visually almost identical to the heraldic lion, and the two are often used interchangeably. These traditional


title: Leopard content: lions passant guardant appear in the Coat of arms of Dalmatia, coat of arms of England and many of its former colonies; more modern naturalistic (leopard-like) depictions appear on the coat of arms of several African nations including Benin, Malawi, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon, which uses a black panther. Leopard domestication has also been recorded—several leopards were kept in a menagerie established by King John at the Tower of London in the 13th century; around 1235, three of these animals were given to Henry III by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. In protected areas of


title: Leopard content: several countries, wildlife touring programs and safari ventures offer sightings of leopards in their natural habitat. While luxury establishments may boast the fact that wild animals can be seen at close range on a daily basis, the leopard's camouflage and propensity to hide and stalk prey typically make leopard sightings rare. In Sri Lanka's Yala National Park, leopards have been ranked by visitors to be among the least visible of all animals in the park despite their high concentration in the reserve. In South Africa, safaris are offered in numerous nature reserves such as the Sabi Sand Game Reserve. In


title: Leopard content: Sri Lanka, wildlife tours are available in the Yala and Wilpattu National Parks. In India, safaris are offered in the Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand national parks as well as in the Pali district of western Rajasthan. Most leopards avoid people, but humans may occasionally be targeted as prey. Most healthy leopards prefer wild prey to humans, but injured, sickly, or struggling cats or those with a shortage of regular prey may resort to hunting humans and become habituated to it. Although usually slightly smaller than a human, an adult leopard is much more powerful and easily capable of killing one.


title: Leopard content: Two extreme cases occurred in India: the first leopard, "the Leopard of Rudraprayag", killed more than 125 people; the second, the "Panar Leopard", was believed to have killed more than 400. Both were killed by the renowned hunter and conservationist Jim Corbett. Man-eating leopards are considered bold and difficult to track by feline standards and may enter human settlements for prey, more so than lions and tigers. Author and big game hunter Kenneth Anderson had first-hand experience with many man-eating leopards, and described them as far more threatening than tigers: Leopard The leopard ("Panthera pardus") is one of the five


title: Shallot content: Shallot The shallot is a type of onion, specifically a botanical variety of the species "Allium cepa". The shallot was formerly classified as a separate species, "A. ascalonicum", a name now considered a synonym of the currently accepted name. Its close relatives include the garlic, leek, chive, and Chinese onion. Shallots probably originated in Central or Southwest Asia, travelling from there to India and the eastern Mediterranean. The name "shallot" comes from Ashkelon, an ancient Canaanite city, where people in classical Greek times believed shallots originated. The name "shallot" is also used for the Persian shallot "(A. stipitatum)", from the


title: Shallot content: Zagros Mountains in Iran and Iraq. The term "shallot" is further used for the French red shallot ("Allium cepa" var. "aggregatum", or the "A. cepa" Aggregatum Group) and the French gray shallot or griselle ("Allium oschaninii"), a species referred to as "true shallot"; it grows wild from Central to Southwest Asia. The name "shallot" is also used for a scallion in New Orleans and among English-speaking people in Quebec while the term "French shallot" refers to the plant referred to on this page. Anglophone Quebecers and British English speakers stress the second syllable of "shallot". The term "eschalot", derived from


title: Shallot content: the French word "échalote", can also be used to refer to the shallot. Like garlic, shallots are formed in clusters of offsets with a head composed of multiple cloves. The skin colour of shallots can vary from golden brown to gray to rose red, and their off-white flesh is usually tinged with green or magenta. Shallots are extensively cultivated for culinary uses, propagated by offsets. In some regions ("long-season areas"), the offsets are usually planted in autumn (September or October in the Northern Hemisphere). In some other regions, the suggested planting time for the principal crop is early spring (typically


title: Shallot content: in February or the beginning of March in the Northern Hemisphere). In planting, the tops of the bulbs should be kept a little above ground, and the soil surrounding the bulbs is often drawn away when the roots have taken hold. They come to maturity in summer, although fresh shallots can now be found year-round in supermarkets. Shallots should not be planted on ground recently manured. In Africa, shallots are grown in the area around Anloga in southeastern Ghana. Shallots suffer damage from leek moth larvae, which mine into the leaves or bulbs of the plant. Shallots are used in


title: Shallot content: cooking. They may be pickled. Finely-sliced deep-fried shallots are used as a condiment in Asian cuisine, often served with porridge. As a species of "Allium", shallots taste somewhat like a common onion, but have a milder flavor. Like onions, when sliced, raw shallots release substances that irritate the human eye, resulting in production of tears. Shallots appear to contain more flavonoids and phenols than other members of the onion genus. Fresh shallots can be stored in cool, dry area (0 to 4 °C, 32 to 40 °F, 60 to 70% RH) for six months or longer. Chopped, dried shallots are


title: Shallot content: available. In Europe, the Pikant, Atlas, and Ed's Red types of shallots are the most common. In parts of southern France, the grey type is grown widely. In most Indian cuisines, the distinction between onions and shallots is weak; larger varieties of shallot are sometimes confused with small red onions and used interchangeably. Indeed, most parts of India use the regional name for onion interchangeably with shallot (Maharashtra, for instance, where both are called "kanda"). The southern regions of India distinguish shallots from onions in recipes more often, especially the much loved tiny varieties (about the width of a finger);


title: Shallot content: these are widely used in curries and different types of "sambar", a lentil-based dish. Shallots pickled in red vinegar are common in many Indian restaurants, served along with sauces and papad on the condiments tray. Indians also use it as a home remedy for sore throats, mixed with jaggery or sugar. In Nepal, shallots are used as one of the ingredients for making "momo". In Kashmir shallots are widely used in preparation of Wazwan Kashmiri cuisine, as they add distinct flavor and prevent curry from becoming black, which is common with onions. In Iran shallots, called "mousir" (موسیر), are used


title: Shallot content: in various ways, the most common being grated shallot mixed into dense yogurt, a combination served in almost every restaurant when one orders grills or kebabs. Shallots are also used to make different types of "torshi" (ترشی), a sour Iranian side dish consisting of a variety of vegetables under vinegar, eaten with main dishes in small quantities. Shallot is also pickled—called "shour" (شور) in Persian—along with other vegetables to be served as "torshi". In Southeast Asian cuisines, such as those of Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Brunei, both shallots and garlic ("bawang putih", white onions) are often


title: Shallot content: used as elementary spices. Raw shallots can also accompany cucumbers when pickled in mild vinegar solution. They are also often chopped finely, then fried until golden brown, resulting in tiny crispy shallot chips called "bawang goreng" (fried onions) in Indonesian, which can be bought ready-made from groceries and supermarkets. Shallots enhance the flavor of many Southeast Asian dishes, such as fried rice variants. Crispy shallot chips are also used in southern Chinese cuisine. In Indonesia, shallots are sometimes made into pickles that are added to several traditional foods; the pickles' sourness is thought to increase the appetite. Shallot The shallot


title: Typewriter content: Typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for writing characters similar to those produced by printer's movable type. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and pressing one causes a different single character to be produced on the paper, by causing a ribbon with dried ink to be struck against the paper by a type element similar to the sorts used in movable type letterpress printing. Commonly a separate type element (called a typebar) corresponds to each key, but the mechanism may also use a single type element (such as a typeball) with a different portion of


title: Typewriter content: it used for each possible character. At the end of the nineteenth century, the term "typewriter" was also applied to a person who used a typing machine. The first commercial typewriters were introduced in 1874, but did not become common in offices until after the mid-1880s. The typewriter quickly became an indispensable tool for practically all writing other than personal handwritten correspondence. It was widely used by professional writers, in offices, and for business correspondence in private homes. Notable typewriter manufacturers included E. Remington and Sons, IBM, Imperial Typewriters, Oliver Typewriter Company, Olivetti, Royal Typewriter Company, Smith Corona, Underwood Typewriter


title: Typewriter content: Company, Adler Typewriter Company and . Although many modern typewriters have one of several similar designs, their invention was incremental, developed by numerous inventors working independently or in competition with each other over a series of decades. As with the automobile, telephone, and telegraph, a number of people contributed insights and inventions that eventually resulted in ever more commercially successful instruments. Historians have estimated that some form of typewriter was invented 52 times as thinkers tried to come up with a workable design. Some of the early typing instruments: By the mid-19th century, the increasing pace of business communication had


title: Typewriter content: created a need for mechanization of the writing process. Stenographers and telegraphers could take down information at rates up to 130 words per minute, whereas a writer with a pen was limited to a maximum of 30 words per minute (the 1853 speed record). From 1829 to 1870, many printing or typing machines were patented by inventors in Europe and America, but none went into commercial production. In 1865, Rev. Rasmus Malling-Hansen of Denmark invented the Hansen Writing Ball, which went into commercial production in 1870 and was the first commercially sold typewriter. It was a success in Europe and


title: Typewriter content: was reported as being used in offices in London as late as 1909. Malling-Hansen used a solenoid escapement to return the carriage on some of his models which makes him a candidate for the title of inventor of the first "electric" typewriter. According to the book "Hvem er skrivekuglens opfinder?" (English: "Who is the inventor of the Writing Ball?"), written by Malling-Hansen's daughter, Johanne Agerskov, in 1865, Malling-Hansen made a porcelain model of the keyboard of his writing ball and experimented with different placements of the letters to achieve the fastest writing speed. Malling-Hansen placed the letters on short pistons


title: Typewriter content: that went directly through the ball and down to the paper. This, together with the placement of the letters so that the fastest writing fingers struck the most frequently used letters, made the Hansen Writing Ball the first typewriter to produce text substantially faster than a person could write by hand. The Hansen Writing Ball was produced with only upper-case characters. The Writing Ball was used as a template for inventor Frank Haven Hall to create a derivative that would produce letter prints cheaper and faster. Malling-Hansen developed his typewriter further through the 1870s and 1880s and made many improvements,


title: Typewriter content: but the writing head remained the same. On the first model of the writing ball from 1870, the paper was attached to a cylinder inside a wooden box. In 1874, the cylinder was replaced by a carriage, moving beneath the writing head. Then, in 1875, the well-known "tall model" was patented, which was the first of the writing balls that worked without electricity. Malling-Hansen attended the world exhibitions in Vienna in 1873 and Paris in 1878 and he received the first-prize for his invention at both exhibitions. The first typewriter to be commercially successful was invented in 1878 by Americans


title: Typewriter content: Christopher Latham Sholes, Frank Haven Hall, Carlos Glidden and Samuel W. Soule in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, although Sholes soon disowned the machine and refused to use, or even to recommend it. It looked "like something like a cross between a piano and a kitchen table." The working prototype was made by the machinist Matthias Schwalbach. The patent (US 79,265) was sold for $12,000 to Densmore and Yost, who made an agreement with E. Remington and Sons (then famous as a manufacturer of sewing machines) to commercialize the machine as the "Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer". This was the origin of the term


title: Typewriter content: "typewriter". Remington began production of its first typewriter on March 1, 1873, in Ilion, New York. It had a QWERTY keyboard layout, which because of the machine's success, was slowly adopted by other typewriter manufacturers. As with most other early typewriters, because the typebars strike upwards, the typist could not see the characters as they were typed. Coming into the market in the early 1880s, the index typewriter uses a pointer or stylus to choose a letter from an index. The pointer is mechanically linked so that the letter chosen could then be printed, most often by the activation of


title: Typewriter content: a lever. The index typewriter was briefly popular in niche markets. Although they were slower than keyboard type machines they were mechanically simpler and lighter, they were therefore marketed as being suitable for travellers, and because they could be produced more cheaply than keyboard machines, as budget machines for users who needed to produce small quantities of typed correspondence. The index typewriter's niche appeal however soon disappeared, as on the one hand new keyboard typewriters became lighter and more portable and on the other refurbished second hand machines began to become available. The last widely available western index machine was


title: Typewriter content: the Mignon typewriter produced by AEG which was produced until 1934. Considered one of the very best of the index typewriters, part of the Mignon's popularity was that it featured both interchangeable indexes and type, allowing the use of different fonts and character sets, something very few keyboard machines allowed and only at considerable added cost. Although pushed out of the market in most of the world by keyboard machines, successful Japanese and Chinese typewriters are of the index type albeit with a very much larger index and number of type elements. By about 1910, the "manual" or "mechanical" typewriter


title: Typewriter content: had reached a somewhat standardized design. There were minor variations from one manufacturer to another, but most typewriters followed the concept that each key was attached to a typebar that had the corresponding letter molded, in reverse, into its striking head. When a key was struck briskly and firmly, the typebar hit a ribbon (usually made of inked fabric), making a printed mark on the paper wrapped around a cylindrical platen. The platen was mounted on a carriage that moved left or right, automatically advancing the typing position horizontally after each character was typed. The paper, rolled around the typewriter's


title: Typewriter content: platen, was then advanced vertically by the carriage-return lever (at the far left, or on the far right for left handed typewriters) into position for each new line of text. A small bell was struck a few characters before the right hand margin was reached to warn the operator to complete the word and then use the carriage-return lever to shift the paper back to the beginning of the next line. In most of the early typewriters, the typebars struck upward against the paper, pressed against the bottom of the platen, so the typist could not see the text as