title: "Sea cucumber" content: do all have an endoskeleton that is secreted by the mesenchyme. This endoskeleton is composed of plates called ossicles. They are always internal but may only be covered by a thin epidermal layer like in sea urchin's spines. In the sea cucumber the ossicles are only found in the dermis, making them a very supple organism. For most echinoderms, their ossicles are found in units making up a three dimensional structure. However, in sea cucumbers the ossicles are found in a two-dimensional network. All echinoderms also possess a trait called mutable collagenous tissues, or MCT. Such tissues can rapidly change


title: "Sea cucumber" content: their passive mechanical properties from soft to stiff under the control of the nervous system and coordinated with muscle activity. Every class under the phylum Echinodermata has this MCT but uses it in different ways. The "Asteroids", sea stars, can detach limbs for self-defense and then regenerate them. The "Crinoidea", sea fans, can go from stiff to limp depending on the current for optimal filter feeding. The "Echinoidea", sand dollars, use MCT to grow and replace their rows of teeth when they need new ones. The "Holothuroidea", sea cucumbers, use MCT to eviscerate their gut as a self-defense response. MCT


title: "Sea cucumber" content: can be used in many ways but the cellular level and mechanics function the same throughout. One common trend in the uses of MCT is that it is generally used for self-defense mechanisms and in regeneration. Holothuries having no skeleton unlike the other echinoderms, their classification is more complex and their paleontological phylogeny relies on a fistful of well-preserved specimens. The modern taxonomy is based first of all on the presence or the shape of certain soft parts (podia, lungs, tentacles, peripharingal crown) to determine the main orders, and secondarily on the microscopic examination of ossicles to determine the genus


title: "Sea cucumber" content: and the species. The contemporary genetic methods largely helped to make the classification of these animals progress. Taxonomic classification according to World Register of Marine Species : To supply the markets of Southern China, Makassar trepangers traded with the Indigenous Australians of Arnhem Land from at least the 18th century and probably earlier. This is the first recorded example of trade between the inhabitants of the Australian continent and their Asian neighbours. There are many commercially important species of sea cucumber that are harvested and dried for export for use in Chinese cuisine as "hoisam". Some of the more commonly


title: "Sea cucumber" content: found species in markets include: According to the American Cancer Society, although it has been used in traditional Asian folk medicine for a variety of ailments, "there is little reliable scientific evidence to support claims that sea cucumber is effective in treating cancer, arthritis, and other diseases" but research is examining "whether some compounds made by sea cucumbers may be helpful against cancer". Various pharmaceutical companies emphasize "gamat", the traditional medicinal usage of this animal. Extracts are prepared and made into oil, cream or cosmetics. Some products are intended to be taken internally. A single study conducted on an unreported


title: "Sea cucumber" content: number of mice found intraperitoneal injection of sea cucumber extract to be somewhat effective in high doses ( or mg/kg) against internal pain, but ineffective against externally induced pain. Another study suggested that sea cucumbers contain all the fatty acids necessary to play a potentially active role in tissue repair. Sea cucumbers are under investigation for use in treating ailments including colorectal cancer. Surgical probes made of nanocomposite material based on the sea cucumber have been shown to reduce brain scarring. One study found that a lectin from "Cucumaria echinata" impaired the development of the malaria parasite when produced by


title: "Sea cucumber" content: transgenic mosquitoes. Sea cucumbers are harvested from the environment, both legally and illegally, and are increasingly farmed via aquaculture. The harvested animals are normally dried for resale. In 2016, prices on Alibaba ranged up to $1,000/kg. In recent years, the sea cucumber industry in Alaska has increased due to increased demand for the skins and muscles to China. Wild sea cucumbers are caught by divers. Wild Alaskan sea cucumbers have higher nutritional value and are larger than farmed Chinese sea cucumbers. Larger size and higher nutritional value has allowed the Alaskan fisheries to continue to compete for market share. One


title: "Sea cucumber" content: of Australia's oldest fisheries is the collection of sea cucumber, harvested by divers from throughout the Coral Sea in far North Queensland, Torres Straits and Western Australia. In the late 1800s as many as 400 divers operated from Cook Town, Queensland. Overfishing of sea cucumbers in the Great Barrier Reef is threatening their population. Their popularity as luxury seafood in East Asian countries poses a serious threat. As of 2013 a thriving black market was driven by demand in China where at its peak might have sold for the equivalent of US$300 and a single sea cucumber for about US$160.


title: "Sea cucumber" content: A crackdown by governments both in and out of China reduced both prices and consumption, particularly among government officials who had been known to eat (and were able to afford purchasing) the most expensive and rare species. In the Caribbean Sea off the shores of the Yucatán Peninsula near fishing ports such as Dzilam de Bravo, illegal harvesting had devastated the population and resulted in conflict as rival gangs struggled to control the harvest. Overexploitation of sea cucumber stocks in many parts of the world provided motivation for the development of sea cucumber aquaculture in the early 1980s. The Chinese


title: "Sea cucumber" content: and Japanese were the first to develop successful hatchery technology on "Apostichopus japonicus", prized for its high meat content and success in commercial hatcheries. Using techniques pioneered by the Chinese and Japanese, a second species, "Holothuria scabra", was cultured for the first time in India in 1988. In recent years Australia, Indonesia, New Caledonia, Maldives, Solomon Islands and Vietnam have successfully cultured "H. scabra" using the same technology, and now culture other species. Edgar Allan Poe's only novel, "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket" (1838), includes in its twentieth chapter a long, detailed description of sea cucumbers, which


title: "Sea cucumber" content: the narrator calls "biche de mer". In Kir Bulychov's science-fiction novella, "Half a Life", a human being kidnapped by alien machines described her fellow alien prisoners as "trepangs". The first movement of French pianist Erik Satie's Embryons desséchés is titled "D'Holothournie". It is said to emulate the "purring" of the Holothourian. Sea cucumbers have inspired thousands of haiku in Japan, where they are called "namako" (海鼠), written with characters that can be translated as "sea mice" (an example of gikun). In English translations of these haiku, they are usually called "sea slugs». According to the "Oxford English Dictionary", the English


title: "Sea cucumber" content: term "sea slug" was originally applied to holothurians during the 18th century. The term is now applied to several groups of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks that have no shell or only a very reduced shell, including the nudibranchs. Almost 1,000 Japanese holothurian haiku translated into English appear in the book "Rise, Ye Sea Slugs!" by Robin D. Gill. Nobel laureate poet Wisława Szymborska wrote a poem which mentions holothurians, titled "Autotomy". In the book "John Dies at the End", the character Amy Sullivan was nicknamed "Cucumber" by the narrator/author when the two were children. This is assumed by other


title: "Sea cucumber" content: characters to have a sexual connotation but is actually a reference to her frequent nausea. The name is in reference to a sea cucumber's use of vomiting as a method of self-defense. A descriptive passage in American novelist and MacArthur Fellow Cormac McCarthy's 1985 anti-Western "Blood Meridian" likens cactus embers to holothurians: "In the thorn forest through which they'd passed the little desert wolves yapped and on the dry plain before them others answered and the wind fanned the coals that he watched. The bones of cholla that glowed there in their incandescent basketry pulsed like burning holothurians in the


title: "Sea cucumber" content: phosphorous dark of the sea's deeps." Sea cucumber Like all echinoderms, sea cucumbers have an endoskeleton just below the skin, calcified structures that are usually reduced to isolated microscopic ossicles (or sclerietes) joined by connective tissue. In some species these can sometimes be enlarged to flattened plates, forming an armour. In pelagic species such as "Pelagothuria natatrix" (Order Elasipodida, family Pelagothuriidae), the skeleton is absent and there is no calcareous ring. The sea cucumbers are named after their resemblance to the fruit of the cucumber plant. Most sea cucumbers, as their name suggests, have a soft and cylindrical body, more


title: Tangerine content: Tangerine The tangerine ("Citrus tangerina") is a group of orange-colored citrus fruit consisting of hybrids of mandarin orange ("Citrus reticulata"). The name was first used for fruit coming from Tangier, Morocco, described as a mandarin variety. Under the Tanaka classification system, "Citrus tangerina" is considered a separate species. Under the Swingle system, tangerines are considered to be a group of mandarin ("C. reticulata") varieties. Genetic study has shown tangerines to be mandarin orange hybrids containing some pomelo DNA. Some differ only in disease resistance. The term is currently applied to any reddish-orange mandarin (and, in some jurisdictions, mandarin-like hybrids, including


title: Tangerine content: some tangors). Tangerines are smaller and less rounded than common oranges. The taste is considered less sour, as well as sweeter and stronger, than that of an orange. A ripe tangerine is firm to slightly soft, heavy for its size, and pebbly-skinned with no deep grooves, as well as orange in color. The peel is very thin, with very little bitter white mesocarp, which makes them usually easier to peel and to split into segments. All of these traits are shared by mandarins generally. Peak tangerine season lasts from autumn to spring. Tangerines are most commonly peeled and eaten out


title: Tangerine content: of hand. The fresh fruit is also used in salads, desserts and main dishes. The peel is used fresh or dried as a spice or zest for baking and drinks, and eaten coated in chocolate. Fresh tangerine juice and frozen juice concentrate are commonly available in the United States. Tangerines were first grown and cultivated as a distinct crop in the Americas by a Major Atway in Palatka, Florida. Atway was said to have imported them from Morocco (more specifically its third largest city Tangier), which was the origin of the name. Major Atway sold his groves to N. H.


title: Tangerine content: Moragne in 1843, giving the Moragne tangerine the other part of its name. The Moragne tangerine produced a seedling which became one of the oldest and most popular American varieties, the Dancy tangerine (zipper-skin tangerine, kid-glove orange). Genetic analysis has shown the parents of the Dancy to have been two mandarin orange hybrids each with a small pomelo contribution, a Ponkan mandarin orange and a second unidentified mandarin. The Dancy is no longer widely commercially grown; it is too delicate to handle and ship well, it is susceptible to "Alternaria" fungus, and it bears more heavily in alternate years. Dancys


title: Tangerine content: are still grown for personal consumption, and many hybrids of the Dancy are grown commercially. Until the 1970s, the Dancy was the most widely grown tangerine in the US; the popularity of the fruit led to the term "tangerine" being broadly applied as a marketing name. Florida classifies tangerine-like hybrid fruits as tangerines for the purposes of sale and regulation; this classification is widely used but regarded as technically inaccurate in the industry. Among the most important tangerine hybrids of Florida are murcotts, a late-fruiting type of tangor marketed as "honey tangerine" and Sunbursts (an early-fruiting complex tangerine-orange-grapefruit hybrid). The


title: Tangerine content: fallglo, also a three-way hybrid (5/8 tangerine, 1/4 orange and 1/8 grapefruit) is also grown. Tangerines contain 85% water, 13% carbohydrates, and negligible amounts of fat and protein (table). Among micronutrients, only vitamin C is in significant content (32% of the Daily Value) in a 100 gram reference serving, with all other nutrients in low amounts. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "tangerine" was originally an adjective meaning "Of or pertaining to, or native of Tangier, a seaport in Morocco, on the Strait of Gibraltar" and "a native of Tangier." The OED cites this usage from Addison's "The


title: Tangerine content: Tatler" in 1710 with similar uses from the 1800s. The adjective was applied to the fruit, once known scientifically as ""Citrus nobilis" var. "tangeriana"" which grew in the region of Tangiers. This usage appears in the 1800s In India it is called "Narangi" in Hindi (Hindi:नारंगी), "Narangi" means "Orange color" and hence it refers to the bright orange color of the fruit. Tangerine The tangerine ("Citrus tangerina") is a group of orange-colored citrus fruit consisting of hybrids of mandarin orange ("Citrus reticulata"). The name was first used for fruit coming from Tangier, Morocco, described as a mandarin variety. Under the


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: Bren light machine gun The Bren gun, usually called simply the Bren, are a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also used in the Korean War and saw service throughout the latter half of the 20th century, including the 1982 Falklands War. Although fitted with a bipod, it could also be mounted on a tripod or vehicle-mounted. The Bren was a licensed version of the Czechoslovak


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: ZGB 33 light machine gun which, in turn, was a modified version of the ZB vz. 26, which British Army officials had tested during a firearms service competition in the 1930s. The later Bren featured a distinctive top-mounted curved box magazine, conical flash hider, and quick change barrel. The name "Bren" was derived from Brno, the Czechoslovak city in Moravia, where the Zb vz. 26 was designed (in the Zbrojovka Brno Factory) and Enfield, site of the British Royal Small Arms Factory. The designer was Václav Holek, a gun inventor and design engineer. In the 1950s, many Brens were re-barrelled


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: to accept the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge and modified to feed from the magazine for the L1 (Commonwealth version of the FN FAL) rifle as the L4 light machine gun. It was replaced in the British Army as the section LMG by the L7 general-purpose machine gun (GPMG), a heavier belt-fed weapon. This was supplemented in the 1980s by the L86 Light Support Weapon firing the 5.56×45mm NATO round, leaving the Bren in use only as a pintle mount on some vehicles. The Bren is still manufactured by Indian Ordnance Factories as the "Gun, Machine 7.62mm 1B". At the close of


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: the First World War in 1918, the British Army was equipped with two main automatic weapons; the Vickers medium machine gun (MMG) and the Lewis light machine gun (LMG). The Vickers was heavy and required a supply of water to keep it in operation, which tended to relegate it to static defence and indirect fire support. The Lewis, although lighter, was still heavy and was prone to frequent stoppages; the barrel could not be changed in the field, which meant that sustained firing resulted in overheating until it stopped altogether. In 1922, the Small Arms Committee of the British Army


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: ran competitive trials to find replacement for the Lewis, between the Madsen, the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), the Hotchkiss, the Beardmore-Farquhar and the Lewis itself. Although the BAR was recommended, the sheer number of Lewis guns available and the difficult financial conditions meant that nothing was done. Various new models of light machine gun were tested as they became available, and in 1930, a further set of extensive trials commenced, overseen by Frederick Hubert Vinden. This time the weapons tested included the SIG Neuhausen KE7, the Vickers-Berthier and the Czechoslovak ZB vz.26. The Vickers-Berthier was later adopted by the Indian


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: Army because it could be manufactured at once, rather than wait for the British Lewis production run to finish; it too saw extensive service in World War II. Following these trials, the British Army adopted the Czechoslovak ZB vz.26 light machine gun manufactured in Brno in 1935, although a slightly modified model, the ZB vz. 27, rather than the ZB vz. 26 which had been submitted for the trials. The design was modified to British requirements under new designation ZGB 33, which was then licensed for British manufacture under the Bren name. The major changes were in the magazine and


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: barrel and the lower pistol grip assembly which went from a swiveling grip frame pivoted on the front of the trigger guard to a sliding grip frame which included the forward tripod mount and sliding ejection port cover. The magazine was curved in order to feed the rimmed .303 SAA ("Small Arms Ammunition") cartridge, a change from the various rimless Mauser-design cartridges such as the 8mm Mauser round previously used by Czech designs. These modifications were categorised in various numbered designations, ZB vz. 27, ZB vz. 30, ZB vz. 32, and finally the ZGB 33, which was licensed for manufacture


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: under the Bren name. The Bren was a gas-operated weapon, which used the same .303 ammunition as the standard British bolt-action rifle, the Lee–Enfield, firing at a rate of between 480 and 540 rounds per minute (rpm), depending on the model. Propellant gases vented from a port towards the muzzle end of the barrel through a regulator (visible in the photo, just in front of the bipod) with four quick-adjustment apertures of different sizes, intended to tailor the gas volume to different ambient temperatures (smallest flow at high temperature, e.g. summer desert, largest at low temperature, e.g. winter Arctic). The


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: vented gas drove a piston which in turn actuated the breech block. Each gun came with a spare barrel that could be quickly changed when the barrel became hot during sustained fire, though later guns featured a chrome-lined barrel, which reduced the need for a spare. To change barrels, the release catch in front of the magazine was rotated to unlock the barrel. The carrying handle above the barrel was used to grip and remove the hot barrel without burning the hands. The Bren was magazine-fed, which slowed its rate of fire and required more frequent reloading than British belt-fed


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: machine guns such as the larger .303 Vickers machine gun. The slower rate of fire prevented more rapid overheating of the Bren's air-cooled barrel, and the Bren was much lighter than belt-fed machine guns, which typically had cooling jackets, often liquid filled. The magazines also prevented the ammunition from getting dirty, which was more of a problem with the Vickers with its 250-round canvas belts. The sights were offset to the left, to avoid the magazine on the top of the weapon. The position of the sights meant that the Bren could be fired only from the right shoulder. In


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: the British and Commonwealth armies, the Bren was generally issued on a scale of one per rifle section. An infantry battalion also had a "carrier" platoon, equipped with Universal Carriers, each of which carried a Bren gun. Parachute battalions from 1944 had an extra Bren in the AT platoon. The 66-man "Assault Troop" of British Commandos had a nominal establishment of four Bren guns. Realising the need for additional section-level firepower, the British Army endeavoured to issue the Bren in great numbers, with a stated goal of one Bren to every four private soldiers. The Bren was operated by a


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: two-man crew, sometimes commanded by a Lance Corporal as an infantry section's "gun group", the remainder of the section forming the "rifle group". The gunner or "Number 1" carried and fired the Bren, and a loader or "Number 2" carried extra magazines, a spare barrel and a tool kit. Number 2 helped reload the gun and replace the barrel when it overheated, and spotted targets for Number 1. Generally, the Bren was fired from the prone position using the attached bipod. On occasion, a Bren gunner would use his weapon on the move supported by a sling, much like an


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: automatic rifle, and from standing or kneeling positions. Using the sling, Australian soldiers regularly fired the Bren from the hip, for instance in the marching fire tactic, a form of suppressive fire moving forward in assault. A Victoria Cross was awarded to Private Bruce Kingsbury for such use at Isurava, New Guinea in 1942, during the Australians' fighting retreat from Kokoda. Each British soldier's equipment normally included two magazines for his section's Bren gun. The large ammunition pouches on the 1937 Pattern Web Equipment were designed around the Bren magazine. Every soldier would be trained to fire the Bren in


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: case of an emergency, though these soldiers did not receive a Bren proficiency badge. The Bren had an effective range of around when fired from a prone position with a bipod. For a light machine gun of the interwar and early World War II era, the Bren was about average in weight. On long marches in non-operational areas it was often partially disassembled and its parts were carried by two soldiers. The top-mounted magazine vibrated and moved during fire, making the weapon more visible in combat, and many Bren gunners used paint or improvised canvas covers to disguise the prominent


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: magazine. The 30-round magazine was in practice usually filled with 27 or 28 rounds to prevent jams and avoid wearing out the magazine spring. Care needed to be taken when loading the magazine to ensure that each round went ahead of the previous round, so that the .303 cartridge rims did not overlap the wrong way, which would cause a jam. The spent cartridge cases were ejected downwards, which was an improvement on the Lewis gun, which ejected sideways, since the glint of them flying through the air could compromise a concealed firing position. In general, the Bren was considered


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: a reliable and effective light machine gun, though in North Africa it was reported to jam regularly unless kept very clean and free of sand or dirt. It was popular with British troops, who respected the Bren for its reliability and combat effectiveness. The quality of the materials used would generally ensure minimal jamming. When the gun did jam through fouling caused by prolonged firing, the operator could adjust the four-position gas regulator to feed more gas to the piston increasing the power to operate the mechanism. The barrel needed to be unlocked and slid forward slightly to allow the


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: regulator to be turned. It was even said that all problems with the Bren could simply be cleared by hitting the gun, turning the regulator or doing both. It was "by general consent the finest light machine gun in the world of its period, and the most useful weapon provided to the (French) "maquis" ... accurate up to 1,000 meters, and (it) could withstand immense maltreatment and unskilled use. "Resistants" were constantly pleading for maximum drops of Brens". Although they were generally well-liked, the high cost of £40 each gun was an issue for the British Army leadership. This became


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: a greater issue when it was discovered that only 2,300 of the 30,000 Bren guns issued to the British Expeditionary Force came back to Britain after the defeat of France. As the result, cost savings and increased rate of production became two main goals for subsequent variant designs. The Bren Mk II design simplified production by replacing the drum rear sight with a ladder rear sight, making the bipod legs non-adjustable, simplifying the gun butt, reducing the use of stainless steel, among other steps that reduced the cost by 20% to 25%; Mk II was approved in September 1940 and


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: entered production in 1941. While the Bren Mk III design also aimed at reducing cost, it also had the concurrent goal of being lightened for jungle warfare; the final product weighed 19 pounds and 5 ounces (3 pounds lighter than the original Bren Mk I design); it was standardized in July 1944 and saw a production of 57,600. Also standardized in July 1944 was the Bren Mk IV, which was further lightened to 19 pounds and 2 ounces; however, it did not enter production until July 1945, and only 250 were built before the end of the war. While Enfield


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: was able to produce only 400 Bren Mk I guns each month, with the various simplification efforts production numbers rose to 1,000 guns per week by 1943. Among the variant designs were two specialty prototypes that never entered production: The belt-fed Taden gun for stationary defense use, and the ultra-simplified Besal gun to be produced in case a German invasion of Britain actually took place (which would hinder British production efforts). Later designs of production Bren guns featured chrome-lined barrels that offered less resistance, preventing overheating and eliminating the need for quick changes of barrels . Bren guns were produced


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: outside of Britain as well. In Canada, the John Inglis plant in Toronto began tooling its facilities for production in 1938; the first of 186,000 examples was completed in Mar 1940. Some of the Inglis-built Bren guns were chambered for the 7.92-millimeter Mauser ammunition; these were destined for export to Nationalist Chinese forces rather than for British and Commonwealth forces. In Australia, the Lithgow Small Arms Factory in New South Wales began building Bren guns in 1940; a total of 17,249 were built. In India, the factory at Ishapore began building Bren guns in 1942 (it had produced Vickers-Berthier machine


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: guns prior to this time), and would continue producing them for decades long after the end of WW2. Many of the Bren guns produced at Ishapore went to Indian troops, who had lost a great number of automatic weapons during the disastrous campaigns against the Japanese in Malaya and Burma; 17th Indian Infantry Division, for example, found itself with only 56 Bren guns after fleeing out of Burma in 1942. A complicated tripod mount was available to allow the Bren to be used as an indirect-fire weapon, but this was rarely used in the field. The Bren was also used


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: on many vehicles, including on Universal Carriers, to which it gave the alternative name "Bren Gun Carrier", and on tanks and armoured cars. However, it could not be used as a co-axial weapon on tanks, as the magazine restricted its depression and was awkward to handle in confined spaces, and it was therefore used on a pintle mount only. (The belt fed Vickers or Besa, the latter being another Czechoslovak machine gun design adopted by the British, were instead used as co-axial weapons.) An unfortunate problem occurred when the Bren was fired from the Dingo Scout Car; the hot cartridge


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: cases tended to be ejected down the neck of the driver, whose position was right next to the pintle. A canvas bag was designed to catch the cartridges and overcome the problem, but it seems to have been rarely issued. The Bren was also employed in the anti-aircraft role. The tripod could be adjusted to allow high angle fire. There were also several designs of less-portable mountings, including the "Gallows" and "Motley" mounts. A 100-round pan magazine was available for the Bren for use in the anti-aircraft role. The Bren's direct ancestor, the Czechoslovak ZB vz. 26, was also used


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: in World War II by German and Romanian forces, including units of the Waffen SS. Many 7.92 mm ZB light machine guns were shipped to China, where they were employed first against the Japanese in World War II, and later against UN forces in Korea, including British and Commonwealth units. Some ex-Chinese Czech ZB weapons were also in use in the early stages of the Vietnam War. Production of a 7.92 mm round model for the Far East was carried out by Inglis of Canada. The Bren was also delivered to the Soviet Union as part of the lend-lease program


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: The British Army, and the armies of various countries of the Commonwealth, used the Bren in the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency, the Mau Mau Uprising and the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, where it was preferred to its replacement, the belt-fed GPMG, on account of its lighter weight. In the conflict in Northern Ireland (1969–1998), a British Army squad typically carried the L4A4 version of the Bren as the squad automatic weapon in the 1970s. During the Falklands War in 1982, 40 Commando Royal Marines carried one LMG and one GPMG per section. Its final operational deployment with the British Army, on


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: a limited scale, was to the First Gulf War in 1991. When the British Army adopted the 7.62 mm NATO cartridge, the Bren was re-designed to 7.62 mm calibre, fitted with a new bolt, barrel and magazine. It was redesignated as the L4 light machine gun (in various sub-versions) and remained in British Army service into the 1990s. A slotted flash hider similar to that of the contemporary L1 rifle and L7 general purpose machine gun replaced the conical flash hider. The change from a rimmed to rimless cartridge and nearly straight magazine improved feeding considerably, and allowed use of


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: 20-round magazines from the 7.62 mm L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle. The 30-round magazine from the L4 also fitted the L1A1 rifle, but the magazine spring was not always strong enough to provide enough upward pressure to feed rounds correctly, this being remedied by stretching the magazine springs. Completion of the move to a 5.56 mm NATO cartridge led to Army removing the Bren/L4 from the list of approved weapons and then withdrawing it from service. The fact that Bren guns had remained in service for so many years with so many different countries in so many wars says much about the


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: quality of the weapon's design. The Mark III Bren remained in limited use with the Army Reserve of the Irish Defence Forces until 2006, when the 7.62 mm GPMG replaced it. The Bren was popular with the soldiers who fired it (known as Brenners) as it was light and durable, and had a reputation for accuracy. The most notable use of the Bren by Irish forces was in the Congo Crisis during the 1960s, when the Bren was the regular army's standard section automatic weapon. Bren guns were in service with the Rhodesian Security Forces during the Rhodesian Bush War,


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: including a substantial number re-chambered for 7.62 mm cartridges similar to those examples in the British Army. The Rhodesian Bren guns continued to see frequent action until the 1970s, when they were largely replaced by the FN MAG. A few were captured and re-issued by the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA). Some examples were still in service with reservists of the British South Africa Police in 1980, and were inherited by the Zimbabwe Republic Police upon the country's internationally recognised independence. Zimbabwean policemen continued to deploy Bren guns during operations against ZIPRA dissidents throughout the early 1980s. The South African


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: Defence Force deployed Bren guns during the South African Border War alongside the more contemporary FN MAG as late as 1978. Introduced September 1937; the original Bren, based on the Czechoslovak gun. Features: Introduced 1941. A simpler version of the Mk1. Produced by Inglis of Canada and the Monotype Group through a number of component manufacturing factories. Sometimes known as the "Garage hands" model. Features: The Bren Mk2 was much simplified in the body, which although still being milled from a solid billet of steel, required significantly fewer milling operations than the Mk1, resulting in a much cleaner appearance. The


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: bipod was simplified in design as well as not having extending legs. Most Mk2 bipods resembled a simple A-frame and were more 'soldier proof'. The Mk2 also featured a slightly higher rate of fire than the Mk1. The woodwork on the Mk2 was simplified by being less ornate and ergonomic, which sped up the manufacturing process. The barrel was also simplified by means of a non-stepped removable flash hider and, in some cases, a barrel fore-end that was matte instead of highly polished. The buffered buttplate of the Mk1 was omitted and replaced with a sheet metal buttplate. A shorter


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: and lighter Bren made by Enfield from 1944 for the war in the East and for Airborne Forces. This was similar to the Mk2 but with the light weight features of the early Mk1. With the main distinguishing feature being a shorter barrel and serrated area in front of the barrel nut. As with the Mk3 but this was a conversion of a Mk2. (known as LMG) A conversion of the Bren to 7.62mm NATO from 1958. Indian Army variants may be new-build, not conversions. L4 Brens can easily be identified by their different magazine. The British-issue L4 magazine is


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: of 30-round capacity and has a slight curve. The L4 magazine was interchangeable with the L1A1 SLR magazine, so the L4 Bren also can be seen fitted with straight 20-round magazines from the SLR or with the straight 30-round magazine from the Australian L2A1 or Canadian C2A1 heavy-barrel SLR. The flash suppressor was changed from the cone type of .303 variants to a slotted type similar in appearance to that used on the SLR and L7 GPMG. All L4s are chambered for 7.62×51mm NATO rimless ammunition. The Taden gun was a development of the Bren to use with the .280


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: British intermediate round proposed to replace the .303 in British service. The Taden was belt-fed with spade grips and would have replaced both the Bren and the Vickers machine gun. Although reliable it was not accepted due to the US-driven standardization within NATO on the larger 7.62×51mm NATO round. Many nations' militaries have disposed of their Bren guns as surplus to their needs. Surplus Brens have been imported to the United States for sale to collectors, but due to US gun laws restricting the importation of automatic weapons such guns must be legally destroyed by cutting up the receivers. A


title: "Bren light machine gun" content: number of US gunsmiths have manufactured new semiautomatic Brens by welding the pieces of destroyed receivers back together, with modifications to prevent the use of full automatic parts, and fitting new fire-control components capable of only semiautomatic fire. The balance of the parts are surplus Bren parts. Such "semiautomatic machine guns" are legally considered rifles under US Federal law and the laws of most states. Bren light machine gun The Bren gun, usually called simply the Bren, are a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best


title: "Big Sur" content: community of millionaires, a few remaining long-term residents, and single residents working in the local hospitality industry who are forced to live in barracks or similar kinds of employee housing. Mike Caplin, a representative of the Coastal Property Owners Association, said that some coastal residents are concerned about the steady growth of public lands. "When I look out over Big Sur now, I don't just see beauty ... I see my community being dismantled, one parcel at a time." To motivate landowners to give up development rights in preferred areas like those near the ocean, the plan includes a controversial


title: "Neuschwanstein Castle" content: from the drafts to make place for a "Moorish Hall", which could not be realized due to lack of resources. Completion was originally projected for 1872, but deferred repeatedly. Neuschwanstein, the symbolic medieval knight's castle, was not Ludwig II's only huge construction project. It was followed by the rococo style Lustschloss of Linderhof Palace and the baroque palace of Herrenchiemsee, a monument to the era of absolutism. Linderhof, the smallest of the projects, was finished in 1886, and the other two remain incomplete. All three projects together drained his resources. The king paid for his construction projects by private means


title: "Blue shark" content: Blue shark The blue shark ("Prionace glauca") is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, that inhabits deep waters in the world's temperate and tropical oceans. Preferring cooler waters, blue sharks migrate long distances, such as from New England to South America. The species is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN. Although generally lethargic, they can move very quickly. Blue sharks are viviparous and are noted for large litters of 25 to over 100 pups. They feed primarily on small fish and squid, although they can take larger prey. Maximum lifespan is still unknown, but it is


title: "Blue shark" content: believed that they can live up to 20 years. Blue sharks are light-bodied with long pectoral fins. Like many other sharks, blue sharks are countershaded: the top of the body is deep blue, lighter on the sides, and the underside is white. The male blue shark commonly grows to at maturity, whereas the larger females commonly grow to at maturity. Large specimens can grow to long. Occasionally, an outsized blue shark is reported, with one widely printed claim of a length of , but no shark even approaching this size has been scientifically documented. The blue shark is fairly elongated


title: "Blue shark" content: and slender in build and typically weighs from in males and from in large females. Occasionally, a female in excess of will weigh over . The heaviest reported weight for the species was . The blue shark is also ectothermic and it has a unique sense of smell. They are viviparous, with a yolk-sac placenta, delivering four to 135 pups per litter. The gestation period is between nine and 12 months. Females mature at five to six years of age and males at four to five. Courtship is believed to involve biting by the male, as mature specimens can be


title: "Blue shark" content: accurately sexed according to the presence or absence of bite scarring. Female blue sharks have adapted to the rigorous mating ritual by developing skin three times as thick as male skin. The blue shark is an oceanic and epipelagic shark found worldwide in deep temperate and tropical waters from the surface to about . In temperate seas it may approach shore, where it can be observed by divers; while in tropical waters, it inhabits greater depths. It lives as far north as Norway and as far south as Chile. Blue sharks are found off the coasts of every continent, except


title: "Blue shark" content: Antarctica. Its greatest Pacific concentrations occur between 20° and 50° North, but with strong seasonal fluctuations. In the tropics, it spreads evenly between 20° N and 20° S. It prefers water temperatures between , but can be seen in water ranging from . Records from the Atlantic show a regular clockwise migration within the prevailing currents. Squid are important prey for blue sharks, but their diet includes other invertebrates, such as cuttlefish and pelagic octopuses, as well as lobster, shrimp, crab, a large number of bony fishes, small sharks, mammalian carrion and occasional sea birds. Whale and porpoise blubber and


title: "Blue shark" content: meat have been retrieved from the stomachs of captured specimens and they are known to take cod from trawl nets. Sharks have been observed and documented working together as a "pack" to herd prey into a concentrated group from which they can easily feed. Blue sharks may eat tuna, which have been observed taking advantage of the herding behaviour to opportunistically feed on escaping prey. The observed herding behaviour was undisturbed by different species of shark in the vicinity that normally would pursue the common prey. The blue shark can swim at fast speeds, allowing it to catch up with


title: "Blue shark" content: prey easily. Its triangular teeth allow it to easily catch hold of slippery prey. Young and smaller individuals may be eaten by larger sharks, such as the great white shark and the tiger shark. Killer whales have been reported to hunt blue sharks. This shark may host several species of parasites. For example, the blue shark is the definitive host of the tetraphyllidean tapeworm, "Pelichnibothrium speciosum" ("Prionacestus bipartitus"). It becomes infected by eating intermediate hosts, probably opah ("Lampris guttatus") and/or longnose lancetfish ("Alepisaurus ferox"). It is estimated that 10 to 20 million of these sharks are killed each year as


title: "Blue shark" content: a result of fishing. The meat is edible, but not widely sought after; it is consumed fresh, dried, smoked and salted and diverted for fishmeal. There is a report of high concentration of heavy metals (mercury and lead) in the edible flesh. The skin is used for leather, the fins for shark-fin soup and the liver for oil. Blue sharks are occasionally sought as game fish for their beauty and speed. Blue sharks rarely bite humans. From 1580 up until 2013, the blue shark was implicated in only 13 biting incidents, four of which ended fatally. Blue sharks, like most


title: "Blue shark" content: pelagic sharks, tend to fare poorly in captivity. The first attempt of keeping blue sharks in captivity was at Sea World San Diego in 1968, and since then a small number of other public aquariums in North America, Europe and Asia have attempted it. Most of these were in captivity for about three months or less, and some of them were released back to the wild afterwards. The record time for blue sharks in captivity is 246 and 224 days for two individuals at Tokyo Sea Life Park, 210 days for an individual at New Jersey Aquarium, and 194 days


title: "Blue shark" content: for one at Lisbon Oceanarium. Blue sharks have proven relatively easy to feed in captivity, and the three primary issues appear to be transport, predation by larger sharks and trouble avoiding smooth surfaces in tanks. Small blue sharks, up to long, are relatively easy to transport to aquariums, but it is much more complicated in larger individuals. However, this typical small size when introduced to aquariums means that they are highly vulnerable to predation by other sharks that often are kept, such as bull, grey reef, sandbar and sand tiger. For example, several blue sharks kept at Sea World San


title: "Blue shark" content: Diego initially did fairly well, but were eaten when bull sharks were added to their exhibit. Attempts of keeping blue sharks in tanks of various sizes, shapes and depths have shown that they have trouble avoiding walls, aquarium windows and other smooth surfaces, eventually leading to abrasions to the fins or snout, which may result in serious infections. To keep blue sharks, it is therefore necessary with tanks that allow for relatively long, optimum swimming paths where potential contact with smooth surfaces is kept at a minimum. It has been suggested that prominent rockwork may be easier to avoid for


title: "Blue shark" content: blue sharks than smooth surfaces, as has been shown in captive tiger sharks. Blue shark The blue shark ("Prionace glauca") is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, that inhabits deep waters in the world's temperate and tropical oceans. Preferring cooler waters, blue sharks migrate long distances, such as from New England to South America. The species is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN. Although generally lethargic, they can move very quickly. Blue sharks are viviparous and are noted for large litters of 25 to over 100 pups. They feed primarily on small fish and squid, although


title: "LeBron James" content: to apartment in the seedier neighborhoods of Akron while Gloria struggled to find steady work. Realizing that her son would be better off in a more stable family environment, Gloria allowed him to move in with the family of Frank Walker, a local youth football coach who introduced James to basketball when he was nine years old. James started playing organized basketball in the fifth grade. He later played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars. The team enjoyed success on a local and national level, led by James and his friends Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce


title: "Henrik Larsson" content: then on 24 September 2009 in his first start since returning from injury, he scored two goals (including the winner) against league rivals AIK. On 20 October 2009, Larsson announced his retirement from playing at the end of the 2009 Allsvenskan. The announcement followed a previous statement from the player declaring his intention to retire from international duty. Larsson had also stated his desire to move into coaching and expressed his intent to study for coaching badges in Scotland under the Scottish Football Association system. The announcement quickly sparked rumours of a return to Celtic as manager, even going so


title: "Common chaffinch" content: Common chaffinch The common chaffinch ("Fringilla coelebs"), usually known simply as the chaffinch, is a common and widespread small passerine bird in the finch family. The male is brightly coloured with a blue-grey cap and rust-red underparts. The female is much duller in colouring, but both sexes have two contrasting white wing bars and white sides to the tail. The male bird has a strong voice and sings from exposed perches to attract a mate. The chaffinch breeds in much of Europe, across Asia to Siberia and in northwest Africa. The female builds a nest with a deep cup in


title: "Common chaffinch" content: the fork of a tree. The clutch is typically four or five eggs, which hatch in about 13 days. The chicks fledge in around 14 days, but are fed by both adults for several weeks after leaving the nest. Outside the breeding season, chaffinches form flocks in open countryside and forage for seeds on the ground. During the breeding season, they forage on trees for invertebrates, especially caterpillars, and feed these to their young. They are partial migrants; birds breeding in warmer regions are sedentary, while those breeding in the colder northern areas of their range winter further south. The


title: "Common chaffinch" content: eggs and nestlings of the chaffinch are taken by a variety of mammalian and avian predators. Its large numbers and huge range mean that chaffinches are classed as of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The chaffinch was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his "Systema Naturae" under its current binomial name. "Fringilla" is the Latin word for a finch, while "caelebs" means unmarried or single. Linnaeus remarked that during the Swedish winter, only the female birds migrated south through Belgium to Italy. The English name comes from


title: "Common chaffinch" content: the Old English "ceaffinc", where "ceaf" is "chaff" and "finc" "finch". Chaffinches were likely given this name because after farmers thresh their crops, these birds sometimes spend weeks picking through heaps of discarded chaff for grain. The chaffinch is one of the many birds depicted in the marginal decoration of the 15th century English illuminated manuscript the Sherborne Missal. The English naturalist William Turner described the chaffinch in his book on birds published in 1544. Although the text is in Latin, Turner gives the English name as chaffinche and lists two folk names: sheld-appel and spink. The word "sheld" is


title: "Common chaffinch" content: a dialectal word meaning pied or multicoloured (as in shelduck). Appel may be related to "Alp", an obsolete word for a bullfinch. The name "spink" is probably derived from the bird's call note. The names spink and shell apple are among the many folk names listed for the chaffinch by Reverend Charles Swainson in his "Provincial Names and Folk Lore of British Birds" (1885). The Fringillidae are all seed-eaters with stout conical bills. They have similar skull morphologies, nine large primaries, 12 tail feathers and no crop. In all species, the female builds the nest, incubates the eggs, and broods


title: "Common chaffinch" content: the young. Finches are divided into two subfamilies, the Carduelinae, containing around 28 genera with 141 species and the Fringillinae containing a single genus, "Fringilla", with three species: the chaffinch ("F. coelebs"), the Tenerife blue chaffinch ("F. teydea"), and the brambling ("F. montifringilla"). Fringilline finches raise their young almost entirely on arthropods, while the cardueline finches raise their young on regurgitated seeds. A number of subspecies of the chaffinch have been described based principally on the differences in the pattern and colour of the adult male plumage. Subspecies can be divided into three groups: the ""coelebs" group" that occurs in


title: "Common chaffinch" content: Europe and Asia, the ""spondiogenys" group" in North Africa, and the ""canariensis" group" on the Canary Islands. The subspecies from Madeira and the Azores are placed either in the ""canariensis" group" or in the ""spondiogenys" group". Genetic studies indicate that members of the ""coelebs" group" and the ""spondiogenys" group" are more closely related to each other than they are to members of the ""canariensis" group". Within the ""spondiogenys" group", the gradual clinal variation over the large geographic range and the extensive intergradation means that the geographical limits and acceptance of the various subspecies varies between authorities. The International Ornithologists' Union


title: "Common chaffinch" content: lists 11 subspecies from this group, whereas Peter Clement in the "Handbook of Birds of the World" lists seven and considers the features of the subspecies "balearica" (Mallorca), "caucasica" (southern Caucasus), "schiebeli" (southern Greece, Crete and western Turkey), and "tyrrhenica" (Corsica) to fall within the variation of the nominate subspecies. He also suggests that the subspecies "alexandrovi", "sarda", "solomkoi", and "syriaca" may represent variations of the nominate subspecies. The authors of a 2009 molecular phylogenetic study on the three subspecies that are currently recognised on the Canary Islands concluded that they are sufficiently distinct in both genotype and phenotype to


title: "Common chaffinch" content: be considered as separate species within the genus "Fringilla". They also proposed a revised distribution of subspecies on the islands in which the birds on La Palma ("palmae") and El Hierro ("ombrioso") are grouped together as a single subspecies while the current "canariensis" subspecies is split into two with one subspecies occurring only on Gran Canaria and the other on La Gomera and Tenerife. The chaffinch is about long, with a wingspan of and a weight of . The adult male of the nominate subspecies has a black forehead and a blue-grey crown, nape and upper mantle. The rump is


title: "Common chaffinch" content: a light olive-green; the lower mantle and scapulars form a brown saddle. The side of head, throat and breast are a dull rust-red merging to a pale creamy-pink on the belly. The central pair of tail feathers are dark grey with a black shaft streak. The rest of the tail is black apart from the two outer feathers on each side which have white wedges. Each wing has a contrasting white panel on the coverts and a buff-white bar on the secondaries and inner primaries. The flight feathers are black with white on the basal portions of the vanes. The


title: "Common chaffinch" content: secondaries and inner primaries have pale yellow fringes on the outer web whereas the outer primaries have a white outer edge. After the autumn moult the tips of the new feathers have a buff fringe that adds a brown cast to the coloured plumage. The ends of the feathers wear away over the winter so that by the spring breeding season the underlying brighter colours are displayed. The eyes have dark brown irises and the legs are grey-brown. In winter the bill is a pale grey and slightly darker along the upper ridge or culmen, but in spring the bill


title: "Common chaffinch" content: becomes bluish-grey with a small black tip. The male of the subspecies resident in the British Isles ("F. c. gengleri") closely resembles the nominate subspecies but has a slightly darker mantle and underparts. The males of the two North Africa subspecies "F. c. africana" and "F. c. spodiogenys" have a blue-grey crown and nape that extends down to the sides of the head and neck, a black forehead and lore, a broken white eye-ring, a bright olive-green saddle and a pink-buff throat and breast. The males of "F. c. canariensis" and "F. c. palmae" in the Canary Islands have deep


title: "Common chaffinch" content: slate-blue upperparts and lack a contrasting mantle. Male chaffinches in Madeira ("F. c. maderensis") and the Azores ("F. c. moreletti") are similar in appearance to "F. c. canariensis" but have a bright green mantle. The adult female is much duller in appearance than the male. The head and most of upperparts are shades of grey-brown. The underparts are paler. The lower back and rump are a dull olive green. The wings and tail are similar to those of the male. The juvenile resembles the female. The powerful song is well known, and it is possible that the "fink" or "vink"


title: "Common chaffinch" content: sounding call gives the finch family its English name. Males typically sing two or three different song types, and there are regional dialects too. The acquisition by the young chaffinch of its song was the subject of an influential study by British ethologist William Thorpe. Thorpe determined that if the chaffinch is not exposed to the adult male's song during a certain critical period after hatching, it will never properly learn the song. He also found that in adult chaffinches, castration eliminates song, but injection of testosterone induces such birds to sing even in November, when they are normally silent.


title: "Common chaffinch" content: The chaffinch breeds in wooded areas where the July isotherm is between . The breeding range includes northwest Africa, most of Europe and extends eastwards across temperate Asia to the Angara River and the southern end of Lake Baikal in Siberia. There are also a number of distinctive subspecies on the Azores, the Canary Islands and the Madeira Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The chaffinch was introduced from Britain into several of its overseas territories in the second half of the 19th century. In New Zealand the chaffinch had colonised both the North and South Islands by 1900 and is


title: "Common chaffinch" content: now one of the most widespread and common passerine species. In South Africa a very small breeding colony in the suburbs of Constantia, Hout Bay and Camps Bay in Cape Town is the only remnant of another such introduction. This bird is not migratory in the milder parts of its range, but vacates the colder regions in winter. This species forms loose flocks outside the breeding season, sometimes mixed with bramblings. This bird occasionally strays to eastern North America, although some sightings may be escapees. Chaffinches first breed when they are one year old. They are mainly monogamous and the


title: "Common chaffinch" content: pair-bond for residential subspecies such as "gengleri" sometimes persists from one year to the next. The date for breeding is dependent on the spring temperature and is earlier in southwest Europe and later in the northeast. In Britain most clutches are laid between late April and the middle of June. A male attracts a female to his territory through song. Nests are built entirely by the female and are usually located in the fork of a bush or a tree several metres above the ground. The nest has a deep cup and is lined with a layer of thin roots


title: "Common chaffinch" content: and feathers. The outside is covered with a layer of lichen and spider silk over an inner layer of moss and grass. The eggs are laid in early morning at daily intervals until the clutch is complete. The clutch is typically 4–5 eggs which are smooth and slightly glossy but very variable in colour. They range from pale-blueish green to light red with purple brown blotches, spots or steaks. The average size of an egg is with a weight of . The eggs are incubated for 10–16 days by the female. The chicks are altricial, hatching nearly naked with closed


title: "Common chaffinch" content: eyes, and are fed by both parents but mainly by the female who broods them for around six days. They are mainly fed caterpillars. The nestlings fledge 11–18 days after hatching and disperse. The young birds are then assisted with feeding by both parents for a further three weeks. The parents only very rarely start a second brood, but when they do so it is always in a new nest. Juveniles undergo a partial moult at around five weeks of age in which they replace their head, body and many of their covert feathers but not their primary and secondary


title: "Common chaffinch" content: flight feathers. After breeding adult birds undergo a complete annual moult which lasts around ten weeks. In a study carried out in Britain using ring-recovery data, the survival rate for juveniles in their first year was 53 per cent, and the adult annual survival rate was 59 per cent. From these figures the typical lifespan is only three years, but the maximum age recorded is 15 years and 6 months for a bird in Switzerland. Outside the breeding season, chaffinches mainly eat seeds and other plant material that they find on the ground. They often forage in open country in


title: "Common chaffinch" content: large flocks. Chaffinches seldom take food directly from plants and only very rarely use their feet for handling food. During the breeding season, their diet switches to invertebrates especially defoliating caterpillars. They forage in trees and also occasionally make short sallies to catch insects in the air. The young are entirely fed with invertebrates which include caterpillars, aphids, earwigs, spiders and the larvae of beetles. The eggs and nestlings of the chaffinch are predated by crows, red and grey squirrels, domestic cats and probably also by stoats and weasels. Clutches begun later in the spring suffer less predation, an effect


title: "Common chaffinch" content: that is believed to be due to the increased vegetation making nests more difficult to find. Unlike the case for the closely related brambling, the chaffinch is not parasitised by the common cuckoo. The protozoal parasite "Trichomonas gallinae" was known to infect pigeons and raptors but beginning in Britain in 2005, carcases of dead European greenfinches and chaffinches were found to be infected with the parasite. The disease spread and in 2008 infected carcases were found in Norway, Sweden and Finland and a year later in Germany. The spread of the disease is believed to have been mediated by chaffinches


title: "Common chaffinch" content: as large numbers of the birds breed in northern Europe and winter in Britain. In Britain the number of infected carcases recovered each year declined after a peak in 2006. There was a reduction in the number of greenfinches but no significant decline in the overall number of chaffinches. A similar pattern occurred in Finland where, after the arrival of the disease in 2008, there was a reduction in the number of greenfinches but only a small change in the number of chaffinches. Chaffinches can develop tumors on their feet and legs caused by the "Fringilla coelebs" papillomavirus. The size


title: "Common chaffinch" content: of the papillomas range from a small nodule on a digit to a large growth involving both the foot and the leg. The disease is uncommon: in a 1973 study undertaken in the Netherlands, of around 25,000 chaffinches screened only 330 bore papillomas. The chaffinch has an extensive range, estimated at 7 million square kilometres (3.7 million square miles) and a large population including an estimated 130–240 million breeding pairs in Europe. Allowing for the birds breeding in Asia, the total population lies between 530–1,400 million individuals. There is no evidence of any serious overall decline in numbers, so the


title: "Common chaffinch" content: species is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being of Least Concern. The endemic subspecies on the Macaronesian islands in the Atlantic are vulnerable to the loss of habitat, especially "F. c. ombriosa" on El Hierro in the Canary Islands where the breeding population is between 1000-5000 pairs. The chaffinch was once popular as a caged song bird and large numbers of wild birds were trapped and sold. At the end of the 19th century trapping even depleted the number of birds in London parks. In 1882 the English publisher Samuel Orchart Beeton issued a guide


title: "Common chaffinch" content: on the care of caged birds and included the recommendation: "To parents and guardians plagued with a morose and sulky boy, my advice is, buy him a chaffinch." Competitions were held where bets were placed on which caged chaffinch would repeat its song the greatest number of times. The birds were sometimes blinded with a hot needle in the belief that this encouraged them to sing. This practice is the subject of the poem "The Blinded Bird" by the English author Thomas Hardy which contrasts the cruelty involved in blinding the birds with their zestful song. In Britain the practice


title: "Common chaffinch" content: of keeping chaffinches as pets declined after the trapping of wild birds was outlawed by the Wild Birds Protection Acts of 1880 to 1896. The chaffinch is still a popular pet bird in some European countries. In Belgium, the traditional sport of vinkenzetting pits male chaffinches against one another in a contest for the most bird calls in an hour. Common chaffinch The common chaffinch ("Fringilla coelebs"), usually known simply as the chaffinch, is a common and widespread small passerine bird in the finch family. The male is brightly coloured with a blue-grey cap and rust-red underparts. The female is


title: "St. John's University (New York City)" content: the University, and Rev. Bernard M. Tracey, C.M. serving as the executive vice president. The University is organized into six colleges and schools: St. John's is a large, four-year, primarily nonresidential doctoral/research university. The full-time, four-year undergraduate program is balanced between arts and sciences and the professional fields. The university is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and has 13 specialized accreditations. 93% of professors have their PhD, although a majority of the faculty is Catholic laity there is still a large amount of clergy members who serve the college. During the 2017–18 academic year, the


title: "European bee-eater" content: European bee-eater The European bee-eater ("Merops apiaster") is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It breeds in southern Europe and in parts of north Africa and western Asia. It is strongly migratory, wintering in tropical Africa. This species occurs as a spring overshoot north of its range, with occasional breeding in northwest Europe. The European bee-eater was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his "Systema Naturae" under its current binomial name "Merops apiaster". The genus name "Merops" is Ancient Greek for "bee-eater", and "apiaster" is Latin, also meaning


title: "European bee-eater" content: "bee-eater", from "apis", "bee". This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird. It has brown and yellow upper parts, whilst the wings are green and the beak is black. It can reach a length of , including the two elongated central tail feathers. Sexes are alike. Female tends to have greener rather than gold feathers on shoulders. Non-breeding plumage is much duller and with a blue-green back and no elongated central tail feathers. Juvenile resembles a non-breeding adult, but with less variation in the feather colours. Adults begin to moult in June or July and complete the


title: "European bee-eater" content: process by August or September. There is a further moult into breeding plumage in winter in Africa. This bird breeds in open country in warmer climates. As the name suggests, bee-eaters predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps, and hornets. They catch insects in flight, in sorties from an open perch. Before eating a bee, the European bee-eater removes the sting by repeatedly hitting the insect on a hard surface. It can eat around 250 bees a day. The most important prey item in their diet is Hymenoptera, mostly "Apis mellifera". A study in Spain found that these comprise 69.4% to


title: "European bee-eater" content: 82% of the European bee-eaters' diet. Their impact on bee populations, however, is small. They eat less than 1% of the worker bees in areas where they live. A study found that European bee-eaters "convert food to body weight more efficiently if they are fed a mixture of bees and dragonflies than if they eat only bees or only dragonflies." These bee-eaters are gregarious—nesting colonially in sandy banks, preferably near river shores, usually at the beginning of May. They make a relatively long tunnel, in which they lay five to eight spherical white eggs around the beginning of June. Both


title: "European bee-eater" content: male and female care for the eggs, which they brood for about three weeks. They also feed and roost communally. During courtship, the male feeds large items to the female while eating the small ones himself. Most males are monogamous, but occasional bigamy has been encountered. Their typical call is a distinctive, mellow, liquid and burry "prreee" or "prruup". If an apiary is set up close to a bee-eater colony, a larger number of honey bees are eaten because they are more abundant. However, studies show the bee-eaters do not intentionally fly into the apiary, rather they feed on the


title: "European bee-eater" content: insects caught on pastures and meadows within a radius of from the colony, this maximum distance being reached only when there is a lack of food. Observations show that the birds actually enter the apiary only in cold and rainy periods, when the bees do not leave the hive and other insect prey are harder for the bee-eaters to detect. Many bee-keepers believe that the bee-eaters are the main obstacle causing worker bees not to forage, and instead stay inside the hives for much of the day between May and the end of August. However, a study carried out in


title: "European bee-eater" content: eucalyptus forest in the Alalous region, east of Tripoli Libya, showed that the bee-eaters were not the main obstacle of bee foraging, which is the opposite of what beekeepers think. The foraging rate was higher in presence of the birds than in their absence in some cases. The average bird meal consisted of 90.8 % honey bees and 9.2 % beetles. Predation is more likely when the bees are queening or during peak migrations, from late March till mid-April, and in mid-September. Hives close to or under trees or overhead cables are also at increased risk as the birds pounce


title: "European bee-eater" content: on flying insects from these perches. European bee-eaters have attempted to nest in Britain on at least 5 occasions: European bee-eater The European bee-eater ("Merops apiaster") is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It breeds in southern Europe and in parts of north Africa and western Asia. It is strongly migratory, wintering in tropical Africa. This species occurs as a spring overshoot north of its range, with occasional breeding in northwest Europe. The European bee-eater was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his "Systema Naturae" under its current


title: "Cross-site scripting" content: functionality itself to exploit such a hole. Any data received by the web application (via email, system logs, IM etc.) that can be controlled by an attacker could become an injection vector. Historically XSS vulnerabilities were first found in applications that performed all data processing on the server side. User input (including an XSS vector) would be sent to the server, and then sent back to the user as a web page. The need for an improved user experience resulted in popularity of applications that had a majority of the presentation logic (maybe written in JavaScript) working on the client-side


title: "David Crosby" content: out with Terry Callier. On tour and in Chicago at that time was Miriam Makeba and her band, which included a multi intrumentalist Jim McGuinn. Terry introduced McGuinn to Crosby. Crosby joined Jim McGuinn (who later changed his name to Roger) and Gene Clark, who were then named the Jet Set. They were augmented by drummer Michael Clarke, at which point Crosby attempted, unsuccessfully, to play bass. Late in 1964, Chris Hillman joined as bassist, and Crosby relieved Gene Clark of rhythm guitar duties. Through connections that Jim Dickson (the Byrds' manager) had with Bob Dylan's publisher, the band obtained


title: "Corn snake" content: Corn snake The corn snake ("Pantherophis guttatus") is a North American species of rat snake that subdues its small prey by constriction. It is found throughout the southeastern and central United States. Their docile nature, reluctance to bite, moderate adult size, attractive pattern, and comparatively simple care make them commonly kept pet snakes. Though superficially resembling the venomous copperhead and often killed as a result of this mistaken identity, corn snakes are harmless and beneficial to humans. Corn snakes lack functional venom and help control populations of wild rodent pests that damage crops and spread disease. The corn snake is


title: "Corn snake" content: named for the species' regular presence near grain stores, where it preys on mice and rats that eat harvested corn. The "Oxford English Dictionary" cites this usage as far back as 1675. Some sources maintain that the corn snake is so-named because the distinctive, nearly-checkered pattern of the snake's belly scales resembles the kernels of variegated corn. Regardless of the name's origin, the corn reference can be a useful mnemonic for identifying corn snakes. Adult corn snakes have a body length of . In the wild, they usually live around six to eight years, but in captivity can live to


title: "Corn snake" content: an age of 23 years or more. They can be distinguished from copperheads by their brighter colors, slender build, round pupils and lack of heat-sensing pits. Until 2002, the corn snake was considered to have two subspecies: the nominate subspecies ("Pantherophis guttatus guttatus") described here and the Great Plains rat snake ("Pantherophis guttatus emoryi"). The Great Plains rat snake has since been split off as its own species ("Pantherophis emoryi"), but is still occasionally treated as a subspecies of the corn snake by hobbyists. It has been suggested that "Pantherophis guttatus" can be split into three species: the corn snake


title: "Corn snake" content: ("Pantherophis guttatus"), the Great Plains rat snake ("Pantherophis emoryi", corresponding with the subspecies "Pantherophis guttatus emoryi") and Slowinski's corn snake ("Pantherophis slowinskii", occurring in western Louisiana and adjacent Texas). "Pantherophis guttatus" was previously placed in the genus "Elaphe", but "Elaphe" was found to be paraphyletic by Utiger et al., leading to placement of this species in the genus "Pantherophis". The placement of "Pantherophis guttatus" and several related species in "Pantherophis" rather than "Elaphe" has been confirmed by further phylogenetic studies. Many reference materials still use the synonym "Elaphe guttata". Molecular data has shown that corn snakes are actually more closely


title: "Corn snake" content: related to kingsnakes (genus "Lampropeltis") than they are to the Old World rat snakes with which they were formerly classified. Corn snakes have even been bred in captivity with California kingsnakes to produce fertile hybrids known as "Jungle corn snakes". Wild corn snakes prefer habitats such as overgrown fields, forest openings, trees, palmetto flatwoods and abandoned or seldom-used buildings and farms, from sea level to as high as 6,000 feet. Typically, these snakes remain on the ground until the age of four months old but can ascend trees, cliffs and other elevated surfaces. They can be found in the southeastern


title: "Corn snake" content: United States ranging from New Jersey to the Florida Keys and as far west as Utah. In colder regions, snakes hibernate during winter. However, in the more temperate climate along the coast they shelter in rock crevices and logs during cold weather; they also can find shelter in small closed spaces, such as under a house, and come out on warm days to soak up the heat of the sun. During cold weather, snakes are less active and therefore hunt less. Corn snakes are relatively easy to breed. Although not necessary, they are usually put through a cooling (also known


title: "Corn snake" content: as brumation) period that takes 60–90 days. This is to get them ready for breeding and to tell them that it is time to reproduce. Corns brumate at around in a place where they can not be disturbed and with little sunlight. Corn snakes usually breed shortly after the winter cooling. The male courts the female primarily with tactile and chemical cues, then everts one of his hemipenes, inserts it into the female and ejaculates his sperm. If the female is ovulating, the eggs will be fertilized and she will begin sequestering nutrients into the eggs, then secreting a shell.


title: "Corn snake" content: Egg-laying occurs slightly more than a month after mating, with 12–24 eggs deposited into a warm, moist, hidden location. Once laid, the adult snake abandons the eggs and does not return to them. The eggs are oblong with a leathery, flexible shell. Approximately 10 weeks after laying, the young snakes use a specialized scale called an egg tooth to slice slits in the egg shell, from which they emerge at about 5 inches in length. Like all snakes, corn snakes are carnivorous and in the wild they eat every few days. While most corn snakes will eat small rodents, such


title: "Corn snake" content: as the white-footed mouse, they may also eat reptiles or amphibians, or climb trees to find unguarded bird eggs. Behavioral/chemosensory studies with corn snakes suggest that odor cues are of primary importance for prey detection, whereas visual cues are of secondary importance. Like many species of Colubridae, corn snakes exhibit defensive tail vibration behavior. It has been found that the American "rat snakes", such as "Pantherophis guttatus", had venomous ancestors, which lost their venom after they evolved constriction as a means of prey capture. Corn snakes are one of the most popular types of snakes to keep in captivity or


title: "Corn snake" content: as pets. Their size, calm temperament and ease of care contribute to this popularity. Captive corn snakes tolerate being handled by their owners, even for extended periods. A corn snake's space requirements are low, since a 20 to 25-gallon vivarium provides enough room for a fully grown snake. Corn snakes enjoy hiding and burrowing, usually accommodated with a loose substrate (such as aspen wood shavings or newspaper) and one or more hide boxes. Captive corn snakes are generally fed pre-killed or stunned feeder mice, because captive-bred rodents reduce the risk of pathogens or live prey-induced injuries. After many generations of


title: "Corn snake" content: selective breeding, domesticated corn snakes are found in a wide variety of different colors and patterns. These result from recombining the dominant and recessive genes that code for proteins involved in chromatophore development, maintenance, or function. New variations, or morphs, become available every year as breeders gain a better understanding of the genetics involved. There are tens of thousands of possible compound morphs. Some of the most popular ones are listed here. Hybrids between corn snakes and any other snake is very common within captivity and rarely occurs in the wild. Hybrids within the genera "Pantherophis", "Lampropeltis", or "Pituophis" so


title: "Corn snake" content: far have been proven to be completely fertile. There are many different corn snake hybrids bred in captivity. A few common examples include: When hybrids of corn snakes are found in the wild, they have usually hybridized with other "Pantherophis" species whose ranges overlap with corn snakes. Corn snake The corn snake ("Pantherophis guttatus") is a North American species of rat snake that subdues its small prey by constriction. It is found throughout the southeastern and central United States. Their docile nature, reluctance to bite, moderate adult size, attractive pattern, and comparatively simple care make them commonly kept pet snakes.


title: "Nitrogen triiodide" content: alternate method of stain removal is to simply allow the iodine time to sublime. Small amounts of nitrogen triiodide are sometimes synthesized as a demonstration to high school chemistry students or as an act of "chemical magic". To highlight the sensitivity of the compound, it is usually detonated by touching it with a feather but even the slightest air current, laser light, or other movement can cause detonation. Nitrogen triiodide is also notable for being the only known chemical explosive that detonates when exposed to alpha particles and nuclear fission products. Nitrogen triiodide Nitrogen triiodide is the inorganic compound with


title: "Sierra Club" content: to protect and then preserve Kings Canyon National Park (established in 1940). Historian Stephen Fox notes, "In the 1930s most of the three thousand members were middle-aged Republicans." The New Deal brought many conservationists to the Democratic Party, and many Democrats entered the ranks of conservationists. Leading the generation of Young Turks who revitalized the Sierra Club after World War II were attorneys Richard Leonard and Bestor Robinson, nature photographer Ansel Adams, and David Brower. Adams sponsored Brower for membership in the Club, and he was appointed to the editorial board of the "Sierra Club Bulletin." After World War II


title: "William Washington" content: of the United States, establishes the fact that William and George were second cousins. William was raised with a Southern planter upbringing and believed in the values of being a gentleman. Tutored by a Reverend Mr. Stuart, a clergyman from Virginia, William learned the Greek language and studied several areas of theology for a potential career in the church. Instead of a career in the ministry, he took up arms against the British government during the Revolutionary War. William and his elder brother, Henry, are said to have drawn straws to see who would get to join the Continental Army


title: Crossrail content: in 2007 and construction began in 2009 on the central section and connections to existing lines that will become part of the route. As of July 2018, it is 93% complete and estimated to cost £15.4 billion. Its main feature is of new twin tunnels below the city. These tunnels will run from Paddington to and in the east. An almost entirely new line will branch from the main line at to Canary Wharf, crossing under the River Thames, with a new station at and connecting with the North Kent Line at Abbey Wood. New nine-carriage Class 345 trains will


title: "How the West Was Won (Led Zeppelin album)" content: For many years, live recordings of these two shows only circulated in the form of bootlegs, and even then only certain audience recordings were available to fans and collectors (for example, "Burn Like a Candle"). Though several soundboard recordings of Led Zeppelin concerts were circulated amongst fans after having been stolen from Page's personal archive some time in the mid-1980s, no soundboards of the 1972 Long Beach or LA Forum shows were taken, meaning the release of "How the West Was Won" was the first chance fans had of hearing the soundboard versions of these concerts. The songs from the


title: "George Grossmith" content: the songs that Grossmith wrote or performed in his one-man shows have been recorded by baritone Leon Berger (a British Gilbert & Sullivan singer and Grossmith scholar), accompanied by Selwyn Tillett (G&S scholar) on two CDs: "A Society Clown: The Songs of George Grossmith" and "The Grossmith Legacy". The latter also contains the recorded voice of Grossmith's son, George Grossmith Jr. Both are on the Divine Art Label. No recordings of Grossmith's voice are known to exist, although wax cylinder recording technology was available during his lifetime. "Cups and Saucers" was recorded by Retrospect Opera in 2016, together with F.


title: "John Dolben" content: At Easter 1686, returning to York from London, he came into contact with a smallpox victim, caught the infection and died a few days later. His last months are said to have been greatly troubled by King James II's attempts to re-establish the Roman Catholic faith. He married Catherine Sheldon, a niece of Gilbert Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury. He had two sons, Gilbert, judge of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) and first of the Dolben baronets, and John Dolben, a well-known politician. From a letter Gilbert wrote in 1691 it seems that the Archbishop was much troubled in his


title: "Space Needle" content: Space Needle The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, a landmark of the Pacific Northwest and an icon of Seattle. It was built in the Seattle Center for the 1962 World's Fair, which drew over 2.3 million visitors. Nearly 20,000 people a day used its elevators. Once the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River, it is high, wide, and weighs . It is built to withstand winds of up to and earthquakes of up to 9.0 magnitude, as strong as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. It also has 25 lightning rods. The Space Needle has an observation


title: "Space Needle" content: deck at and the rotating SkyCity restaurant at . The downtown Seattle skyline, as well as the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay and surrounding islands can be viewed from the top of the Needle. Photographs of the Seattle skyline often show the Space Needle prominently, above skyscrapers and Mount Rainier. Visitors can reach the top of the Space Needle by elevators that travel at . The trip takes 41 seconds. On windy days, the elevators slow to . On April 19, 1999, the city's Landmarks Preservation Board designated it a historic landmark. In September 2017,


title: "Space Needle" content: the restaurant was temporarily closed as part of a US$100 million renovation. The renovation included the installation of a new rotation motor and see-through glass floors in the restaurant, as well as the replacement of the observation deck's wire enclosure with glass panels. As of November 2018, the restaurant is still closed with an announcement on its reopening date expected before January 2019. In August 2018, it unveiled its latest addition: the world's first and only revolving glass floor, known as "The Loupe." Standing 500 feet -- or 50 stories -- above street level, the observation deck's new see-through floor


title: "Space Needle" content: offers 360-degree views of the large city. The floor is powered by 12 motors and is constructed of 10 layers of tightly bonded glass to ensure safety. The architecture of the Space Needle is the result of a compromise between the designs of two men, Edward E. Carlson and John Graham, Jr. The two leading ideas for the World Fair involved businessman Edward E. Carlson's sketch of a giant balloon tethered to the ground (see the gently sloping base) and architect John Graham's concept of a flying saucer (see the halo that houses the restaurant and observation deck). Victor Steinbrueck


title: "Space Needle" content: introduced the hourglass profile of the tower. The Space Needle was built to withstand wind speeds of , double the requirements in the building code of 1962. The 6.8 Nisqually earthquake jolted the Needle enough in 2001 for water to slosh out of the toilets in the restrooms. The Space Needle will not sustain serious structural damage during earthquakes of magnitudes below 9.1. Also made to withstand Category 5 hurricane-force winds, the Space Needle sways only per of wind speed. For decades, the hovering disk of the Space Needle was home to 2 restaurants above the ground: the Space Needle


title: "Space Needle" content: Restaurant, which was originally named Eye of the Needle, and Emerald Suite. These were closed in 2000 to make way for SkyCity, a larger restaurant that features Pacific Northwest cuisine. It rotates 360 degrees in exactly forty-seven minutes. In 1993, the elevators were replaced with new computerized versions. The new elevators descend at a rate of . On December 31, 1999, a powerful beam of light was unveiled for the first time. Called the Legacy Light or Skybeam, it is powered by lamps that total 85 million candela shining skyward from the top of the Space Needle to honor national


title: "Space Needle" content: holidays and special occasions in Seattle. The concept of this beam was derived from the official 1962 World's Fair poster, which depicted such a light source although none was incorporated into the original design. It is somewhat controversial because of the light pollution it creates. Originally planned to be turned on 75 nights per year, it has generally been used fewer than a dozen times per year. It did remain lit for eleven days in a row from September 11, 2001, to September 22, 2001, in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. A 1962 Seattle World's Fair poster showed


title: "Space Needle" content: a grand spiral entryway leading to the elevator that was ultimately omitted from final building plans. The stairway was eventually added as part of the Pavilion and Spacebase remodel in June 2000. The main stairwell has 848 steps from the basement to the top of the observation deck. At approximately , the Space Needle was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River at the time it was built by Howard S. Wright Construction Co., but is now dwarfed by other structures along the Seattle skyline, among them the Columbia Center, at . Unlike many other similar structures, such as


title: "Space Needle" content: the CN Tower in Toronto, the Space Needle is not used for broadcasting purposes. Edward F. Carlson, chairman of the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle, had an idea for erecting a tower with a restaurant at the World's Fair. Carlson was president of a hotel company and was not recognized in art or design, but he was inspired by a recent visit to the Stuttgart Tower of Germany. Local architect John Graham soon became involved as a result of his success in designing Northgate Mall. Graham's first move was to alter the restaurant's original design to a revolving restaurant, similar


title: "Space Needle" content: to his previous design of the La Ronde tower restaurant at the Ala Moana Shopping Center in Hawaii. The proposed Space Needle had no pre-selected site. Since it was not financed by the city, land had to be purchased within the fairgrounds. The investors had been unable to find suitable land and the search for a site was nearly dead when, in 1961, they discovered a plot, , containing switching equipment for the fire and police alarm systems. The land sold for $75,000. At this point, only one year remained before the World's Fair would begin. The Needle was privately


title: "Space Needle" content: financed and built by the Pentagram Corporation, consisting of Bagley Wright, contractor Howard S. Wright, architect John Graham, Ned Skinner, and Norton Clapp. In 1977 Bagley, Skinner and Clapp sold their interest to Howard Wright who now controls it under the name of Space Needle Corporation. The earthquake stability of the Space Needle was ensured when a hole was dug deep and across, and 467 concrete trucks took one full day to fill it. The foundation weighs 5850 tons (including 250 tons of reinforcing steel), the same as the above-ground structure. The structure is bolted to the foundation with 72


title: "Space Needle" content: bolts, each one long. With time an issue, the construction team worked around the clock. The domed top, housing the top five levels (including the restaurants and observation deck), was perfectly balanced so that the restaurant could rotate with the help of one tiny electric motor, originally , later replaced with a motor. With paint colors named Orbital Olive for the body, Astronaut White for the legs, Re-entry Red for the saucer, and Galaxy Gold for the roof, the Space Needle was finished in less than one year. It was completed in April 1962 at a cost of $4.5 million.


title: "Space Needle" content: The last elevator car was installed the day before the Fair opened on April 21. During the course of the Fair nearly 20,000 people a day rode the elevators to the Observation Deck. The 20,000 mark was never reached, missed by fewer than 50 people one day. Upon completion, the Space Needle was the tallest building in the western United States, replacing the Smith Tower in downtown Seattle as the tallest building west of the Mississippi since 1914. The revolving restaurant was operated by Western International Hotels, of which Carlson was President, under a 20-year contract from April 1, 1962


title: "Space Needle" content: to April 1, 1982. An imitation carillon was installed in the Space Needle, and played several times a day during the World's Fair. The instrument, built by the Schulmerich Bells Company of Hatfield, Pennsylvania under the name "Carillon Americana," recreated the sounds of 538 bells and was the largest in the world, until eclipsed by a 732 bell instrument at the 1964 New York World's Fair. The operator's console was located in the base of the Space Needle, completely enclosed in glass to allow observation of the musician playing the instrument. It was also capable of being played from a


title: "Space Needle" content: roll, just as a player piano would be. The forty-four stentors (speakers) of the carillon were located underneath the Needle's disc at the 200 foot level, and were audible over the entire fairgrounds and up to ten miles away. The carillon was disassembled after the fair's close. The carillon bells were featured on an LP record called "Bells On Hi-Fi" (catalog number AR-8, produced by Americana Records, of Sellersville, Pennsylvania). There are 12 pieces recorded on the "Carillon Americana" before it was installed in the Space Needle, performed by noted carilloneur John Klein (1915-1981). In 1974, author Stephen Cosgrove's children's


title: "Space Needle" content: book "Wheedle on the Needle" imagined a furry creature called a Wheedle who lived on top of the Space Needle and caused its light to flash. Its closing quatrain is: "There's a Wheedle on the Needle / I know just what you're thinking / But if you look up late at night / You'll see his red nose blinking." The Wheedle has since become a fixture of Seattle. It even became the mascot of the Seattle SuperSonics National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise, who played in nearby KeyArena (originally known as the Seattle Center Coliseum). The SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City


title: "Space Needle" content: on July 3, 2008. In 1982, the SkyLine level was added at the height of . While this level had been part of the original plans for the Space Needle, it was not built until this time. Today, the SkyLine Banquet Facility can accommodate groups of 20–360 people. Renovations were completed in 2000 at a cost ($21 million) approximately the same in inflated dollars as the original construction price. Renovations between 1999 and 2000 included the SkyCity restaurant, SpaceBase retail store, Skybeam installation, Observation Deck overhaul, lighting additions and repainting. Every year on New Year's Eve, the Space Needle celebrates


title: "Space Needle" content: with a fireworks show at midnight that is synchronized to music. The fireworks artist Alberto Navarro from Bellevue, designed the show for 20 years, since its inception in 1994. In 2000, public celebrations were canceled because of perceived terror threats against the structure after investigations into the foiled millennium bombing plots, but the fireworks show was still performed. On May 19, 2007, the Space Needle welcomed its 45 millionth visitor, Greg Novoa of San Francisco. He received a free trip for two to Paris, which included a VIP dinner at the Eiffel Tower. In May 2008, the Space Needle received


title: "Space Needle" content: its first professional cleaning since the opening of the 1962 World's Fair. The monument was pressure washed by Kärcher with water at a pressure of and a temperature of . No detergents were used in consideration of the Seattle Center and the EMP building. As part of the celebration of its 50th anniversary, the Needle was painted "Galaxy Gold" in April 2012, the same color used when the needle was originally constructed for the 1962 World's Fair. This temporary makeover, intended to last through the summer, is not the Needle's first: it had the University of Washington (UW) Huskies football


title: "Space Needle" content: team logo painted after the team won the 1992 Rose Bowl, appeared as a giant "Wheel of Fortune" in 1995, was painted crimson after Washington State won the Apple Cup, and has been seen in Seattle SuperSonics colors. A renovation of the top of the Space Needle began in the summer of 2017, to add an all-glass floor to the restaurant, and replace the observation platform windows with unbroken floor-to-ceiling glass panels unobstructed by mullions to more closely match the 1962 original concept sketches, as well as upgrades and updates to the internal systems. Called the Century Project, the work


title: "Space Needle" content: is scheduled to finish by June 2018, at a cost of $100 million in private funds. The designer is Olson Kundig Architects and the general contractor is Hoffman Construction Company. The rotating restaurant's motor will be replaced, the elevator capacity will be increased by adding elevators, or double-stacking them, and the energy efficiency of the building will be improved with the aim of achieving LEED Silver Certification. The temporary scaffold's , platform under the top structure was assembled on the ground, and then lifted by cables from the ground to the underside of the structure, controlled by 12 operators standing


title: "Space Needle" content: on the platform as it was raised. The platform is the largest in circumference ever made by Safway Services, a company specializing in unique construction scaffolding. Six parachutists have leaped from the tower since its opening, in a sport known as BASE jumping. This activity is only legal with prior consent. Four of them were part of an authorized promotion in 1996, and the other two were arrested. Paul D. Baker was the first person to jump from the Space Needle in a successful suicide attempt on March 4, 1974. Mary Lucille Wolf purchased a ticket for the elevator to


title: "Space Needle" content: the observation deck on May 25, 1974 where she proceeded to scale the glass fence surrounding the deck onto the edge and jumped off in what the Seattle Police Department called "an obvious suicide". Police found a correspondence in Wolf's purse that was from a friend extending their condolences regarding the recent death of Wolf's husband. Following the two 1974 suicides, netting under and additional fencing around the observation deck were installed. In spite of the barrier additions, however, another successful suicide occurred on July 5, 1978. In this instance, an unidentified "young woman" climbed over the netting and leaped


title: "Space Needle" content: to her death from the northeast side of the structure. As a symbol of the Pacific Northwest, the Space Needle has made numerous appearances in films, TV shows and other works of fiction. Examples of films include "It Happened at the World's Fair" (1962), where it was used as a filming location, and "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993). In the 1974 film "The Parallax View", the inside and outside platforms of the observation deck are the setting for a political assassination and a brief chase takes place on the roof above it. In the 1999 film "", it served as a


title: "Space Needle" content: base of operations for the villain Doctor Evil with the word Starbucks written across its saucer after his henchman Number 2 shifted the organization's resources toward the coffee company. It is also featured prominently in "Chronicle" (2012), and is a key element in the film's climax. On April 1, 2015, public radio station "KPLU 88.5 FM" reported in the news story "Proposed Development To 'Assimilate' Seattle's Landmark Space Needle?" that a permit application "(Notice of Proposed Land Use Action)" had been submitted "to construct a 666 unit cube to assimilate" the landmark. The story is an April Fools' Day practical