:: wikimiki.org ::

January 18

January 18

January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 347 days remaining (348 in leap years)

Events

- 336 - Saint Mark elected Catholic Pope.
- 350 - General Magnentius deposes Roman Emperor Constans, proclaims himself Emperor.
- 474 - Leo II briefly becomes Byzantine emperor
- 532 - Nika riots in Constantinople fail.
- 1307 - German king Albrecht I makes his son Rudolf king of Bohemia.
- 1479 - Louis IX, the Rich, duke of Bayern (U of Ingolstadt), dies at 61.
- 1486 - King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV.
- 1520 - King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeats the Swedes at Lake Asunde.
- 1535 - Lima, Peru founded by Francisco Pizarro.
- 1670 - Henry Morgan captures Panama.
- 1701 - Frederick I becomes King of Prussia.
- 1778 - James Cook is the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the "Sandwich Islands".
- 1861 - Georgia joins the Confederacy.
- 1871 - Wilhelm I of Germany becomes the first German Emperor.
- 1884 - Dr William Price attempts to cremate the body of his infant son, Jesus Christ Price, setting a legal precedent for cremation in the UK.
- 1886 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England.
- 1896 - The X-ray machine is exhibited for the first time.
- 1911 - Eugene B. Ely lands on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania stationed in San Francisco harbor, marking the first time an aircraft landed on a ship
- 1915 - Japan issues the "Twenty-One Demands" to China in a bid to increase its power in east Asia.
- 1916 - A 611 gram chondrite type meteorite struck a house near the village of Baxter in Stone County, Missouri.
- 1919 - World War I: The Paris Peace Conference opens in Versailles, France.
- 1919 - Bentley Motors is founded.
- 1939 - Louis Armstrong records Jeepers Creepers.
- 1943 - World War II: Soviet officials announce they have broken the Wehrmacht's siege of Leningrad.
- 1943 - Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: The first uprising of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.
- 1944 - The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City for the first time hosts a jazz concert; the performers are Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge and Jack Teagarden.
- 1945 - Liberation of the Budapest ghetto by the Red Army
- 1958 - Willie O'Ree, the first African American National Hockey League player, make his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins.
- 1964 - Plans are revealed for the World Trade Center in New York City.
- 1964 - The Beatles appear on the Billboard magazine charts for the first time.
- 1967 - Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler," is convicted of numerous crimes and is sentenced to life in prison.
- 1975 - The Jeffersons debuts on CBS.
- 1977 - Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious "legionnaire's disease."
- 1977 - Australia's worst rail disaster occurs at Granville, Sydney killing 83.
- 1978 - The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.
- 1983 - The International Olympic Committee restores Jim Thorpe Olympic medals to his family.
- 1990 - Former preschool operators Raymond Buckey and his mother Peggy McMartin Buckey are acquitted in a Los Angeles, California court of 52 child molestation charges.
- 1990 - Washington, DC, Mayor Marion Barry is arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting.
- 1991 - Eastern Airlines shuts down after 62 years citing financial problems.
- 1993 - For the first time, Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is officially observed in all 50 United States states.
- 1995 - In southern France near Vallon-Pont-d'Arc a network of caves are discovered that contain paintings and engravings that are 17,000 to 20,000 years old.
- 1997 - In north west Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 3 Spanish aid workers, 3 soldiers and seriously wound one other.
- 1997 - Boerge Ousland of Norway becomes the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unaided.
- 1998 - Lewinsky scandal: Matt Drudge breaks the Bill Clinton - Monica Lewinsky affair story on his website The Drudge Report.
- 2002 - A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying anhydrous ammonia derails outside of Minot, North Dakota, killing one man and calling into question the maintenance of CP track and the policy of voice-tracking used by Clear Channel Communications.
- 2003 - Canberra firestorm, kills 4 and destroys 491 homes
- 2005 - A U.N. World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Japan begins

Births

- 885 - Daigo, Emperor of Japan (d. 930)
- 1543 - Alfonso Ferrabosco (I), Italian composer (d. 1588)
- 1641 - François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, French war minister (d. 1691)
- 1672 - Antoine Houdar de la Motte, French writer (d. 1731)
- 1688 - Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1765)
- 1689 - Montesquieu, French writer (d. 1755)
- 1779 - Peter Roget, British lexicographer (d. 1869)
- 1782 - Daniel Webster, American statesman (d. 1852)
- 1840 - Henry Austin Dobson, English poet (d. 1921)
- 1842 - Albert Alonzo Ames, Mayor of Minneapolis (d. 1911)
- 1848 - Ioan Slavici, Transylvanian writer (d. 1925)
- 1849 - Edmund Barton, first Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1920)
- 1850 - Seth Low, American politician (d. 1916)
- 1854 - Thomas Watson, American telephone pioneer (d. 1934)
- 1882 - A. A. Milne, English author (d. 1956)
- 1888 - Thomas Sopwith, British aviation pioneer (d. 1989)
- 1892 - Oliver Hardy, American comedian and actor (d. 1957)
- 1892 - Paul Rostock, German surgeon (d. 1956)
- 1904 - Cary Grant, English actor (d. 1986)
- 1905 - Joseph Bonanno, Italian-born gangster (d. 2002)
- 1908 - Jacob Bronowski, Polish-born mathematician, poet, and physicist (d. 1974)
- 1913 - Danny Kaye, American actor (d. 1987)
- 1914 - Arno Schmidt, German author (d. 1979)
- 1914 - William Stafford, American poet (d. 1993)
- 1922 - Bob Bell, American clown (d. 1997)
- 1931 - Chun Doo-hwan, President of South Korea
- 1932 - Robert Anton Wilson, American author
- 1933 - John Boorman, Irish film director
- 1934 - Raymond Briggs, English writer and illustrator
- 1937 - John Hume, Irish politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998
- 1938 - Curt Flood, baseball player (d. 1997)
- 1941 - David Ruffin, American singer (d. 1991)
- 1941 - Doodles Weaver, Amnerican singer
- 1943 - Kay Granger, American politician
- 1944 - Paul Keating, twenty-fourth Prime Minister of Australia
- 1946 - Joseph Deiss, Swiss Federal Councilor
- 1947 - Takeshi Kitano, Japanese actor and director
- 1949 - Philippe Starck, French designer
- 1950 - Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver (d. 1982)
- 1952 - R. Stevie Moore, American singer, songwriter, and home recording pioneer
- 1953 - Brett Hudson, American actor
- 1955 - Kevin Costner, American actor
- 1956 - Sharon Mitchell, American actress
- 1961 - Mark Messier, Canadian hockey player
- 1962 - Jeff Yagher, American actor
- 1964 - Jane Horrocks, British actress
- 1965 - Dave Attell, American writer and comedian
- 1966 - David Bautista, American professional wrestler
- 1967 - Kim Perrot, American basketball player (d. 1999)
- 1969 - Jesse L. Martin, American actor
- 1970 - DJ Quik, American rapper
- 1971 - Jonathan Davis, American musician (KoЯn)
- 1971 - Christian Fittipaldi, Brazilian race car driver
- 1972 - Mike Lieberthal, baseball player
- 1973 - Crispian Mills, British musician (The Jeevas and Kula Shaker)
- 1974 - Michael Tunn, Australian television and radio
- 1979 - Paulo Ferreira, Portuguese footballer
- 1980 - Julius Peppers, American football player
- 1982 - Quinn Allman, American musician (The Used)
- 1982 - Bert McCracken, American vocalist (The Used)
- 1983 - Samantha Mumba, Irish singer and actress

Deaths

- 52 BC - Publius Clodius Pulcher (murdered)
- 474 - Leo I, Byzantine Emperor (b. 401)
- 1367 - King Peter I of Portugal (b. 1320)
- 1425 - Edmund de Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, English politician (b. 1391)
- 1471 - Emperor Go-Hanazono of Japan (b. 1419)
- 1547 - Pietro Bembo, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1470)
- 1583 - Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands (b. 1522)
- 1677 - Jan van Riebeeck, Dutch merchant (b. 1619)
- 1862 - John Tyler, President of the United States (b. 1790)
- 1873 - Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, English author (b. 1803)
- 1927 - Empress Carlotta of Mexico (b. 1840)
- 1936 - Rudyard Kipling, British writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
- 1940 - Kazimierz Tetmajer, Polish writer (b. 1865)
- 1952 - Curly Howard, American actor and comedian (b. 1903)
- 1954 - Sydney Greenstreet, English actor (b. 1879)
- 1966 - Kathleen Norris, American writer (b. 1880)
- 1967 - Goose Tatum, American basketball player
- 1969 - Hans Freyer, German sociologist (b. 1887)
- 1970 - David O. McKay, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1873)
- 1980 - Sir Cecil Beaton, English fashion designer (b. 1904)
- 1984 - Vassilis Tsitsanis, Greek singer and songwriter (b. 1915)
- 1985 - Wilfrid Brambell, Irish actor (b. 1912)
- 1995 - Adolf Butenandt, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1995 - Ron Luciano, baseball umpire (b. 1937)
- 1997 - Paul Tsongas, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (b. 1941)
- 2000 - Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Austrian architect (b. 1897)
- 2001 - Laurent-Désiré Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1939)
- 2001 - Al Waxman, Canadian actor (b. 1935)
- 2003 - Edward "The Sheik" Farhat, American professional wrestler (b. 1924)
- 2005 - Lamont Bentley, American actor (b. 1973)

Holidays and observances

- Christian ecumenism - Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/18 BBC: On This Day] ---- January 17 - January 19 - December 18 - February 18 — listing of all days ko:1월 18일 ms:18 Januari ja:1月18日 simple:January 18 th:18 มกราคม

January 18

January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 347 days remaining (348 in leap years)

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

- Christian ecumenism - Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins

External links

18 (number)

18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19.

In mathematics

Eighteen is a composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. It is a heptagonal number, and as the sum of the first three pentagonal numbers, it is a pentagonal pyramidal number. It is a Harshad number.

In science

- The atomic number of argon In astronomy, : Messier object M18, a magnitude 8.0 open cluster in the constellation Sagittarius : The New General Catalogue [http://www.ngcic.org/ object] NGC 18, a double star in the constellation Pegasus :The Saros [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEsaros/SEsaros1-175.html number] of the solar eclipse series which began on -2416 June 2 and ended on -1118 July 21. The duration of Saros series 18 was 1298.1 years, and it contained 73 solar eclipses. :The Saros [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEsaros/LEsaros1-175.html number] of the lunar eclipse series which began on -2078 April 2 and ended on -780 May 21. The duration of Saros series 18 was 1298.1 years, and it contained 73 lunar eclipses.

In human affairs: Age 18

In many parts of the world, 18 is the age minimum for being allowed a driver's license and/or for purchasing alcohol or tobacco. It is also the voting age in many countries. During the Vietnam War, Americans could be drafted at an age as low at 18, but were not allowed to vote in most states until they were 21. A movement spread to lower the voting age, and in 1971, the Twenty-sixth Amendment extended a guarantee of suffrage to anyone 18 years or older in all states. The voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in the U.K. and many other nations around that time. Eighteen is also the age in most countries at which a person may appear in a pornographic video, if pornography is legal at all, or have sex with a person in a position of authority over them (a teacher, athletic coach, or employer, for instance, or in general anyone else over the age of 18). See also: 18 certificate

In Judaism

In Hebrew Numerology, the word for life (In Hebrew language "Chai" - חי), adds up to 18. As a result, the number 18 is believed to be lucky, and donations and monetary gifts are often given in multiples of 18.

In other fields

Eighteen is also used in neo-Nazi circles as a code word for Adolf Hitler. The number comes from the position of the letters in the alphabet: A = 1, H = 8. See also 88. Eighteen is also:
- Bobby Labonte's car number in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series.
- There are 18 holes on a golf course.
- 18, the title of an album by Moby.
- The number of holes in a game of golf.
- A slang term used in Soccer for the Penalty Area.
- The number of wheels on the most common type of tractor-trailer truck, which are hence often called 18-wheelers.
- Any of various historical years: 18 A.D., 18 B.C., or 1918.
- The customary percentage to tip a waitress in a restaurant by groups of four or more
- The number of the French department Cher and the Turkish province Bitlis
- DVD-18 is double-sided, double-layered DVD format 1 8 ko:18 ja:18

Leap year

A leap year (or intercalary year) is a year containing an extra day or month in order to keep the calendar year in sync with an astronomical or seasonal year. Seasons and astronomical events do not repeat at an exact number of days, so a calendar which had the same number of days in each year would over time drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting (or intercalating) an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected. Leap years (which keep the calendar in sync with the year) should not be confused with leap seconds (which keep clock time in sync with the day).

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar, the current standard calendar in most of the world, adds a 29th day to February in all years evenly divisible by 4, except for century years (those ending in -00), which receive the extra day only if they are evenly divisible by 400. Thus 1996 was a leap year whereas 1999 was not, and 1600, 2000 and 2400 are leap years but 1700, 1800, 1900 and 2100 are not. The reasoning behind this rule is as follows:
- The Gregorian calendar is designed to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21, so that the date of Easter (celebrated on the Sunday after the 14th day of the Moon that falls on or after 21 March) remains correct with respect to the vernal equinox.
- The vernal equinox year is currently about 365.242375 days long.
- The Gregorian leap year rule gives an average year length of 365.2425 days. This difference of a little over 0.0001 days means that in around 8,000 years, the calendar will be about one day behind where it should be. But in 8,000 years' time the length of the vernal equinox year will have changed by an amount we can't accurately predict (see below). So the Gregorian leap year rule does a good enough job. Image:Gregoriancalendarleap.png

Which day is the leap day?

The Gregorian calendar is a modification of the Julian calendar first used by the Romans. The Roman calendar originated as a lunar calendar (though from the 5th century BC it no longer followed the real moon) and named its days after three of the phases of the moon: the new moon (calends, hence "calendar"), the first quarter (nones) and the full moon (ides). Days were counted down (inclusively) to the next named day, so 24 February was ante diem sextum calendas martii ("the sixth day before the calends of March"). Since 45 BC, February in a leap year had two days called "the sixth day before the calends of March". The extra day was originally the second of these, but since the third century it was the first. Hence the term bissextile day for 24 February in a bissextile year. Where this custom is followed, anniversaries after the inserted day are moved in leap years. For example, the former feast day of Saint Matthias, 24 February in ordinary years, would be 25 February in leap years. This historical nicety is, however, in the process of being discarded: The European Union declared that, starting in 2000, 29 February rather than 24 February would be leap day, and the Roman Catholic Church also now uses 29 February as leap day. The only tangible difference is felt in countries that celebrate feast days.

Julian calendar

The Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4. This rule gives an average year length of 365.25 days. The excess of about 0.0076 days with respect to the vernal equinox year means that the vernal equinox moves a day earlier in the calendar every 130 years or so.

Revised Julian Calendar

The Revised Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4, except for years divisible by 100 that do not leave a remainder of 200 or 600 when divided by 900. This rule agrees with the rule for the Gregorian calendar until 2799. The first year that dates in the Revised Julian calendar will not agree with the those in the Gregorian calendar will be 2800, because it will be a leap year in the Gregorian calendar but not in the Revised Julian calendar. This rule gives an average year length of 365.242222… days. This is a very good approximation to the mean tropical year, but because the vernal equinox tropical year is slightly longer, the Revised Julian calendar does not do as good a job as the Gregorian calendar of keeping the vernal equinox on or close to 21 March.

Chinese calendar

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, so a leap year has an extra month, often called an embolismic month after the Greek word for it. In the Chinese calendar the leap month is added according to a complicated rule, which ensures that month 11 is always the month that contains the northern winter solstice. The intercalary month takes the same number as the preceding month; for example, if it follows the second month then it is simply called "leap second month".

Hebrew calendar

The Hebrew calendar is also lunisolar with an embolistic month. In the Hebrew calendar the extra month is called Adar Alef (first Adar) and is added before Adar, which then becomes Adar Sheni (second Adar). According to the Metonic cycle, this is done seven times every nineteen years, specifically, in years, 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19. In addition, the Hebrew calendar has postponement rules that postpone the start of the year by one or two days. The year before the postponement gets one or two extra days, and the year whose start is postponed loses one or two days. These postponement rules reduce the number of different combinations of year length and starting day of the week from 28 to 14, and regulate the location of certain religious holidays in relation to the Sabbath.

Hindu Calendar

In the Hindu calendar, which is a lunisolar calendar, the embolismic month is called adhika maas (extra month). It is the month in which the sun is in the same sign of the stellar zodiac on two consecutive dark moons.

Iranian calendar

The Iranian calendar also has a single intercalated day once in every four years, but every 33 years or so the leap years will be five years apart instead of four years apart. The system used is more accurate and more complicated, and is based on the time of the March equinox as observed from Teheran. The 33-year period is not completely regular; every so often the 33-year cycle will be broken by a cycle of 29 or 37 years.

Long term leap year rules

The accumulated difference between the Gregorian calendar and the vernal equinoctial year amounts to 1 day in about 8,000 years. This suggests that the calendar needs to be improved by another refinement to the leap year rule: perhaps by avoiding leap years in years divisible by 8,000. (The most common such proposal is to avoid leap years in years divisible by 4,000 [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22gregorian+calendar%22+error+%22leap+year%22+4000]. This is based on the difference between the Gregorian calendar and the mean tropical year. Others claim, erroneously, that the Gregorian calendar itself already contains a refinement of this kind [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mleapyr.html].) However, there is little point in planning a calendar so far ahead because over a timescale of tens of thousands of years the number of days in a year will change for a number of reasons, most notably: #Precession of the equinoxes moves the position of the vernal equinox with respect to perihelion and so changes the length of the vernal equinoctial year. #Tidal acceleration from the sun and moon slows the rotation of the earth, making the day longer. In particular, the second component of change depends on such things as post-glacial rebound and sea level rise due to climate change. We can't predict these changes accurately enough to be able to make a calendar that will be accurate to a day in tens of thousands of years.

Marriage proposal

There is a tradition, said to go back to Saint Patrick and Saint Bridget in 5th century Ireland, whereby women may only make marriage proposals in leap years.

Saint Patrick and the leap year

:Saint Patrick, having driven the frogs out of the bogs was walking along the shores of Lough Neagh, when he was accosted by Saint Bridget in tears, and was told that a mutiny had broken out in the nunnery over which she presided, the ladies claiming the right of popping the question. :Saint Patrick said he would concede them the right every seventh year, when Saint Bridget threw her arms round his neck, and exclaimed, "Arrah, Pathrick, jewel, I daurn't go back to the girls wid such a proposal. Make it one year in four." Saint Patrick replied, "Bridget, acushla, squeeze me that way again, an' I'll give ye leap-year, the longest of the lot." Saint Bridget, upon this, popped the question to St Patrick himself, who, of course, could not marry: so he patched up the difficulty as best he could with a kiss and a silk gown. (Source: Evans, Ivor H, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Cassell, London, 1988) According to a 1288 law in Scotland, fines were levied if the proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss to a silk gown to soften the blow. Because men felt that put them at too great a risk, the tradition was in some places tightened to restricting female proposals to 29 February.

Birthdays

A person who was born on 29 February may be called a "leapling". In non-leap years they usually celebrate their birthday on 28 February or 1 March. There are many instances in children's literature where a person's claim to be only a quarter of their actual age turns out be based on counting their leap-year birthdays. A similar device is used in the plot of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance. Category:Calendars Category:Units of time als:Schaltjahr ko:윤년 ja:閏年 simple:Leap year th:ปีอธิกสุรทิน

336

Events
- January 18 - Marcus elected pope.
- The military successes of emperor Constantine have resulted in most of Dacia having been reconquered into the Roman Empire.
- Buddhist monk Lo-tsun has a vision of "golden rays of light shining down onone thousand buddhas", resulting in the creation of the Mogao Caves. Births Deaths
- October 7 - Pope Marcus
- Arius, founder of Arianism
- Rhescuporis V, King of Bosporus Category:336 ko:336년

Pope

:This entry is about the Catholic Pontiff. For other uses of the word, see Pope (disambiguation). The pope is the Patriarch of the West and Bishop of Rome, and leader of the Catholic Church. The office of the pope is called the Papacy; his ecclesiastical jurisdiction is called the Holy See (Sancta Sedes). Early bishops of Rome were designated vicar (representative) of Peter; for later popes the more authoritative vicar of Christ was substituted; this designation was first used by the Roman Synod of AD 495 to refer to Pope Gelasius I, an originator of papal supremacy among the patriarchs. The first Patriarch of Rome to bear the title of "Pope" was Pope Boniface III in 607, the first Bishop of Rome to assume the title of "universal Bishop" by decree of Emperor Phocas. Previous Patriarchs of Rome are called "Popes" by courtesy. In addition to his service in this spiritual role, the pope is also head of state of the independent sovereign State of the Vatican City, a city-state and nation entirely enclaved by the city of Rome. Prior to 1870, the pope's temporal authority extended over a large area of central Italy, the territory of the Papal States that was formally known as the "Patrimony of St Peter". Although the document on which the territorial powers of the Pontificate was based — the so-called Donation of Constantine — was proved a forgery in the 15th century, the papacy retained sovereign authority over the Papal States until the Italian Unification of 1870; a final political settlement with the Italian government was not reached until the Lateran Treaties of 1929. The current pope is Benedict XVI (born Joseph Ratzinger), who was elected at the age of 78 on 19 April 2005. He succeeds the late John Paul II, who was elected at the age of 58 in 1978. Pope Benedict XVI is the second non-Italian to be elected to the pontificate since Adrian VI, who was pope briefly in 1522-23 — John Paul II was the first — and is the first German to take the seat since the eleventh century (unless Adrian VI, who lived in Holland but came from German ancestors before Holland was separated from Germany, is counted as German rather than Dutch).

Office and nature

In canon law, the Catholic Pope is referred to as the Roman Pontiff (Pontifex Romanus). He is styled "Your Holiness" (Sanctitas Vestra) and is frequently referred to as the Holy Father. The title "Pope" is an informal one meaning "papa"; the formal title of the pope is "Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God". This full title is rarely used. The pope's signature is usually in the format "NN. PP. x" (e.g., Pope Paul VI signed his name as "Paulus PP. VI"), the "PP." standing for Papa ("Pope") (or, according to unofficial sources, Pater Patrum, "Father of Fathers"), and his name is frequently accompanied in inscriptions by the abbreviation "Pont. Max." or "P.M." (abbreviation of the ancient title Pontifex Maximus, literally "Greatest Bridge-maker", but usually translated "Supreme Pontiff"). The signature of Papal bulls is customarily NN. Episcopus Ecclesia Catholicae ("NN. Bishop of the Catholic Church"), while the heading is NN. Episcopus Servus Servorum Dei ("NN. Bishop and Servant of the Servants of God"), the latter title dating to the time of Pope Gregory I the Great. Other titles used in some official capacity include Summus Pontifex ("Highest Pontiff"), Sanctissimus Pater and Beatissimus Pater ("Most Holy Father" and "Most Blessed Father"), Sanctissimus Dominus Noster ("Our Most Holy Lord"), and, in the Medieval period, Dominus Apostolicus ("Apostolic Lord"). This title, however, was not abandoned altogether: the pope is still refered to as "Dominum Apostolicum" in the Latin version of the Litany of the Saints, a solemn Catholic prayer, and in some translations of it. Medieval period]] The pope's official seat is the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, and his official residence is the Palace of the Vatican. He also possesses a summer palace at Castel Gandolfo (situated on the site of the ancient city-state Alba Longa). Historically the official residence of the pope was the Lateran Palace, donated by the Roman Emperor Constantinus I. The former Papal summer palace, the Quirinal Palace, has subsequently been the official residence of the Kings of Italy and President of the Italian Republic. It is the pope's ecclesiastical jurisdiction (the Holy See) and not his secular jurisdiction (Vatican City) which conducts international relations; for hundreds of years, the pope's court (the Roman Curia) has functioned as the government of the Catholic Church. The name "Holy See" (also "Apostolic See") is in ecclesiastical terminology the ordinary jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome (including the Roman Curia); the pope's various honours, powers, and privileges within the Catholic Church and the international community derive from his Episcopate of Rome in lineal succession from the Apostle St. Peter (see Apostolic Succession). Consequently Rome has traditionally occupied a central position in the Catholic Church, although this is not necessarily so. The pope derives his Pontificate from being Bishop of Rome but is not required to live there; according to the Latin formula ubi Papa, ibi Curia, wherever the pope resides is the central government of the Church, provided that the pope is Bishop of Rome. As such, between 1309 and 1378 the popes lived in Avignon (the Avignon Papacy), a period often called the Babylonian Captivity in allusion to the Biblical exile of Israel. Catholic tradition maintains that the institution of the Pontificate can be found in the Bible, and cites certain key passages in support of this contention. Chief among these passages is Matthew 16: 18 – 19, wherein Jesus Christ says to St. Peter: :"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Other important passages include Luke 22: 31 – 32, John 1: 42, and John 21: 15 – 17.

Regalia and insignia

John 21: 15 – 17 Main article: Papal regalia and insignia.
- The "triregnum" also called the "tiara" or "triple crown"; recent popes have not, however, worn the triregnum though it remains the symbol of the papacy and has not been abolished. In liturgical ceremonies popes wear an episcopal mitre (an erect cloth hat).
- Staff topped by a crucifix, a custom established before the 13th century.
- The pallium (a circular band of fabric about two inches wide, worn over the chasuble about the neck, breast and shoulders and having two twelve-inch-long pendants hanging down in front and behind, ornamented with six small, black crosses distributed about the breast, back, shoulders, and pendants).
- The "Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven", the image of two keys, one gold and one silver. The silver key symbolises the power to bind and loose on Earth, and the gold key the power to bind and loose in Heaven.
- The Fisherman's Ring, a gold ring decorated with a depiction of St. Peter in a boat casting his net, with the name of the reigning pope around it.
- The umbracullum (better known in the Italian form ombrellino) is a canopy or umbrella (consisting of alternating red and gold stripes).
- One of the most familiar (and now discontinued) trappings of the Papacy was the sedia gestatoria, a mobile throne carried by twelve footmen (palafrenieri) in red uniforms, accompanied by two attendants bearing flabella (fans made of white ostrich-feathers). The use of the sedia gestatoria and of the flabella was discontinued by Pope John Paul II, with the former being replaced by the so-called Popemobile. In heraldry, each pope has his own Papal Coat of Arms. Though unique for each pope, the arms are always surmounted by the aforementioned two keys in saltire (i.e., crossed over one another so as to form an X) behind the escutcheon (one key silver and one key gold, tied with a red cord), and above them a silver triregnum with three gold crowns and red infulae, or the red strips of fabric hanging from the back over the shoulders when worn ("two keys in saltire or and argent, interlacing in the rings or, beneath a tiara argent, crowned or"). The flag most frequently associated with the pope is the yellow and white flag of Vatican City, with the arms of the Holy See ("Gules, two keys in saltire or and argent, interlacing in the rings or, beneath a tiara argent, crowned or") on the right hand side in the white half of the flag. This flag was first adopted in 1808, whereas the previous flag had been red and gold, the traditional colours of the Pontificate.

Status and authority

1808, 2005.]] The status and authority of the pope in the Catholic Church was dogmatically defined by the First Vatican Council in its Dogmatic Constitution of the Church of Christ (July 18, 1870). The first chapter of this document is entitled "On the institution of the apostolic primacy in blessed Peter", and states that (s.1) "according to the Gospel evidence, a primacy of jurisdiction over the whole church of God was immediately and directly promised to the blessed apostle Peter and conferred on him by Christ the Lord" and that (s.6) "if anyone says that blessed Peter the apostle was not appointed by Christ the Lord as prince of all the apostles and visible head of the whole church militant; or that it was a primacy of honour only and not one of true and proper jurisdiction that he directly and immediately received from our Lord Jesus Christ Himself: let him be anathema." The Dogmatic Constitution's second chapter, "On the permanence of the primacy of blessed Peter in the Roman pontiffs", states that (s.1) "that which our Lord Jesus Christ [...] established in the blessed apostle Peter [...] must of necessity remain forever, by Christ's authority, in the church which, founded as it is upon a rock, will stand firm until the end of time," that (s.3) "whoever succeeds to the chair of Peter obtains by the institution of Christ Himself, the primacy of Peter over the whole church", and that (s.5) "if anyone says that it is not by the institution of Christ the Lord Himself (that is to say, by divine law) that blessed Peter should have perpetual successors in the primacy over the whole church; or that the Roman pontiff is not the successor of blessed Peter in this primacy: let him be anathema." The Dogmatic Constitution's third chapter, "On the power and character of the primacy of the Roman pontiff," states that (s.1) "the definition of the ecumenical council of Florence, which must be believed by all faithful Christians, namely that the apostolic see and the Roman pontiff hold a world-wide primacy, and that the Roman pontiff is the successor of blessed Peter, the prince of the apostles, true vicar of Christ, head of the whole church and father and teacher of all Christian people," that (s.2) "by divine ordinance, the Roman church possesses a pre-eminence of ordinary power over every other church, and that the jurisdictional power of the Roman pontiff is both episcopal and immediate" and that "clergy and faithful, of whatever rite and dignity, both singly and collectively, are bound to submit to this power by the duty of hierarchical subordination and true obedience, and this not only in matters concerning faith and morals, but also in those which regard the discipline and government of the church throughout the world." The powers of the pope are defined by the Dogmatic Constitution (ch.3, s.8) such that "he is the supreme judge of the faithful, and that in all cases which fall under ecclesiastical jurisdiction recourse may be had to his judgement" and that "the sentence of the apostolic see (than which there is no higher authority) is not subject to revision by anyone, nor may anyone lawfully pass judgement thereupon" (can. 331 defines the power of the pope as "supreme, full, immediate and universal ordinary power in the Church, and he can always freely exercise this power"). It also dogmatically defined (ch.4, s.9) the doctrine of Papal infallibility, sc. such that :when the Roman Pontiff speaks ex cathedra, that is, when in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed His church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals. Therefore, such definitions of the Roman pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the church, irreformable. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that "it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every creature to be united to the Roman Pontiff" (Pope Boniface VIII). This teaching is often summarized by the phrase "extra Ecclesiam nulla salus" (outside the Church exists no salvation), which has been reaffirmed by many popes throughout the centuries. Blessed John XXIII said: "Into this fold of Jesus Christ no man may enter unless he be led by the Sovereign Pontiff, and only if they be united to him can men be saved." Pope Paul VI also said: "Those outside the Church do not possess the Holy Spirit. The Catholic Church alone is the Body of Christ... and if separated from the Body of Christ he is not one of His members, nor is he fed by His Spirit." However, this dogma has been misinterpreted by both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Many popes stressed that those who are invincibly ignorant of the Catholic religion can still obtain salvation. Pope Pius IX stated in his encyclical Quanto conficiamur moeror (1868): "We all know that those who are afflicted with invincible ignorance with regard to our holy religion, if they carefully keep the precepts of the natural law that have been written by God in the hearts of all men, if they are prepared to obey God, and if they lead a virtuous and dutiful life, can attain eternal life by the power of divine light and grace." Pope John Paul II wrote in his encyclical Redemptoris Missio: "But it is clear that today, as in the past, many people do not have an opportunity to come to know or accept the Gospel revelation or to enter the Church.... For such people, salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally a part of the Church but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation. This grace comes from Christ; it is the result of his sacrifice and is communicated by the Holy Spirit. It enables each person to attain salvation through his or her free cooperation." The pope has many powers which he exercises. He can appoint bishops to dioceses, erect and suppress dioceses, appoint prefects to the Roman dicasteries, approve or veto their acts, modify the Liturgy and issue liturgical laws, revise the Code of Canon Law, canonize and beatify individuals, approve and suppress religious orders, impose canonical sanctions, act as a judge and hear cases, issue encyclicals, and issue infallible statements on matters pertaining to faith and morals which, according to the Church, must be believed by all Catholics. Most of these functions are performed by and through the various dicasteries of the Roman Curia, with the pope simply approving their actions prior to becoming official. While approval is generally granted, it is at the pope's discretion. See Donation of Constantine for discussion of the broader authority the papacy has argued the Catholic Church possesses in affairs of state.

Political role

Though the progressive Christianisation of the Roman Empire in the fourth century did not confer upon bishops civil authority within the state, the gradual withdrawal of imperial authority during the 5th century left the pope the senior Imperial civilian official in Rome, as bishops were increasingly directing civil affairs in other cities of the Western Empire. This status as a secular and civil leader was vividly displayed by Pope Leo I's confrontation with Attila in 452 and was substantially increased in 754, when the Frankish ruler Pippin the Younger donated to the pope a strip of territory which formed the core of the so-called Papal States (properly the Patrimony of St. Peter). In 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish ruler Charlemagne as Roman Emperor, a major step toward establishing what later became known as the Holy Roman Empire; from that date it became the pope's prerogative to crown the Emperor or any monarch with affiliations with the church until the crowning of Napoleon. As has been hitherto mentioned, the pope's sovereignty over the Papal States ended in 1870 with their annexation by Italy. In addition to the pope's position as a territorial ruler and foremost prince bishop of Christianity (especially prominent with the Renaissance popes like Pope Alexander VI, an ambitious if spectacularly corrupt politico, and Pope Julius II, a formidable general and statesman) and as the spiritual head of the Holy Roman Empire (especially prominent during periods of contention with the Emperors, such as during the Pontificates of Pope Gregory VII and Pope Alexander III), the pope also possessed a degree of political and temporal authority in his capacity as Supreme Pontiff. Some of the most striking examples of Papal political authority are the Bull Laudabiliter in 1155 (authorising Henry II of England to invade Ireland), the Bull Inter Caeteras in 1493 (leading to the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, which divided the world into areas of Spanish and Portuguese rule) the Bull Regnans in Excelsis in 1570 (excommunicating Elizabeth I of England and purporting to release all her subjects from their allegiance to her), the Bull Inter Gravissimas in 1582 (establishing the Gregorian Calendar).

Death, abdication, and election

Death

The current regulations regarding a papal interregnum — i.e., a sede vacante ("vacant seat") — were promulgated by John Paul II in his 1996 document Universi Dominici Gregis. During the "Reading Festival", the Sacred College of Cardinals, composed of the pope's principal advisors and assistants, is collectively responsible for the government of the Church and of the Vatican itself, under the direction of the Cardinal Chamberlain; however, canon law specifically forbids the Cardinals from introducing any innovation in the government of the Church during the vacancy of the Holy See. Any decision that needs the assent of the pope has to wait until a new pope has been elected and takes office. It has long been claimed that a pope's death is officially determined by the Cardinal Chamberlain by gently tapping the late pope's head thrice with a silver hammer and calling his birth name three times, though this is disputed and has never been confirmed by the Vatican; there is general agreement that even if this procedure ever actually occurred, it was likely not employed upon the death of John Paul II. A doctor may or may not have already determined that the pope had passed away prior to this point. The Cardinal Chamberlain then retrieves the Fisherman's Ring. Usually the ring is on the pope's right hand. But in the case of Paul VI, he had stopped wearing the ring during the last years of his reign. In other cases the ring might have been removed for medical reasons. The Chamberlain cuts the ring in two in the presence of the Cardinals. The deceased pope's seals are defaced, to keep them from ever being used again, and his personal apartment is sealed. The body then lies in state for a number of days before being interred in the crypt of a leading church or cathedral; the popes of the 20th century were all interred in St. Peter's Basilica. A nine-day period of mourning (novem dialis) follows after the interment of the late pope.

Abdication

The Code of Canon Law [http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P16.HTM 332 §2] states, If it happens that the Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it is required for validity that the resignation is made freely and properly manifested but not that it is accepted by anyone. It was widely reported in June and July 2002 that Pope John Paul II firmly refuted the speculation of his resignation using Canon 332, in a letter to the Milan daily newspaper Corriere della Sera. Nevertheless, 332 §2 gave rise to speculation that either:
- Pope John Paul II would have resigned as his health failed, or
- a properly manifested legal instrument had already been drawn up that put into effect his resignation in the event of his incapacity to perform his duties. Pope John Paul II did not resign. He died on 2 April 2005 after suffering from many diseases and was buried on 8 April 2005. [http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=Pope+Dead&btnG=Search+News Articles on the death of John Paul II] After his death it was reported that in his last will and testament he had considered abdicating in 2000 as he neared his 80th birthday. However the language of that passage of the will is not clear and others have interpreted it differently.

Election

The pope was originally chosen by those senior clergymen resident in and near Rome. In 1059, the electorate was restricted to the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, and the individual votes of all Cardinal Electors were made equal in 1179. Pope Urban VI, elected 1378, was the last pope who was not already a cardinal at the time of his election. Canon law requires that if a layman or non-bishop is elected, he receives episcopal consecration from the Dean of the College of Cardinals before assuming the Pontificate. Under present canon law, the pope is elected by the cardinal electors, comprising those cardinals who are under the age of 80. The Second Council of Lyons was convened on May 7, 1274, to regulate the election of the pope. This Council decreed that the cardinal electors must meet within ten days of the pope's death, and that they must remain in seclusion until a pope has been elected; this was prompted by the three-year Sede Vacante following the death of Pope Clement IV in 1268. By the mid-Sixteenth century, the electoral process had more or less evolved into its present form, allowing for alteration in the time between the death of the pope and the meeting of the cardinal electors. Traditionally the vote was conducted by acclamation, by selection (by committee), or by plenary vote. Acclamation was the simplest procedure, consisting entirely of a voice vote, and was last used in 1621. Pope John Paul II abolished vote by acclamation and by selection by committee, and henceforth all popes will be elected by full vote of the Sacred College of Cardinals by ballot. The election of the pope almost always takes place in the Sistine Chapel, in a meeting called a "conclave" (so called because the cardinal electors are theoretically locked in, cum clavi, until they elect a new pope). Three cardinals are chosen by lot to collect the votes of absent cardinal electors (by reason of illness), three are chosen by lot to count the votes, and three are chosen by lot to review the count of the votes. The ballots are distributed and each cardinal elector writes the name of his choice on it and pledges aloud that he is voting for "one whom under God I think ought to be elected" before folding and depositing his vote on a plate atop a large chalice placed on the altar. The plate is then used to drop the ballot into the chalice, making it difficult for any elector to insert multiple ballots. Before being read, the number of ballots are counted while still folded; if the total number of ballots does not match the number of electors, the ballots are burned unopened and a new vote is held. Assuming the number of ballots matches the number of electors, each ballot is then read aloud by the presiding Cardinal, who pierces the ballot with a needle and thread, stringing all the ballots together and tying the ends of the thread to ensure accuracy and honesty. Balloting continues until a pope is elected by a two-thirds majority (since the promulgation of Universi Dominici Gregis the rules allow for a simple majority after a deadlock of twelve days). conclave following his coronation, a tradition which has now been discontinued.]] One of the most famous aspects of the papal election process is the means by which the results of a ballot are announced to the world. Once the ballots are counted and bound together, they are burned in a special oven erected in the Sistine Chapel, with the smoke escaping through a small chimney visible from St Peter's Square. The ballots from an unsuccessful vote are burned along with a chemical compound in order to produce black smoke, or fumata nera. (Traditionally wet straw was used to help create the black smoke, but a number of "false alarms" in past conclaves have brought about this concession to modern chemistry.) When a vote is successful, the ballots are burned alone, sending white smoke (fumata bianca) through the chimney and announcing to the world the election of a new pope. At the end of the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI, church bells were also rung to signal that a new pope had been chosen. The Dean of the College of Cardinals then asks the successfully elected Cardinal two solemn questions. First he asks, "Do you freely accept your election?" If he replies with the word "Accepto," his reign as pope begins at that instant, not at the coronation ceremony several days afterward. The Dean then asks, "By what name shall you be called?" The new pope then announces the regnal name he has chosen for himself. The new pope is led through the "Door of Tears" to a dressing room in which three sets of white Papal vestments ("immantatio") await: small, medium, and large. Donning the appropriate vestments and re-emerging into the Sistine Chapel, the new pope is given the "